Posted on 12/07/2008 8:58:26 PM PST by Lorianne
TAKOMA PARK, Md. - To friends in the protest movement, Lucy was an eager 20-something who attended their events and sent encouraging e-mails to support their causes.
Only one thing seemed strange.
"At one demonstration, I remember her showing up with a laptop computer and typing away," said Mike Stark, who helped lead the anti-death penalty march in Baltimore that day. "We all thought that was odd."
Not really. The woman was an undercover Maryland State Police trooper who between 2005 and 2007 infiltrated more than two dozen rallies and meetings of nonviolent groups.
Maryland officials now concede that, based on information gathered by Lucy and others, state police wrongly listed at least 53 Americans as terrorists in a criminal intelligence database - and shared some information about them with a half-dozen state and federal agencies, including the National Security Agency.
Among those labeled as terrorists: two Catholic nuns, a former Democratic congressional candidate, a lifelong pacifist and a registered lobbyist. One suspect’s file warned that she was "involved in puppet making and allows anarchists to utilize her property for meetings."
"There wasn’t a scintilla of illegal activity" going on, said David Rocah, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit and in July obtained the first surveillance files. State police have released other heavily redacted documents in recent weeks.
Investigators, the files show, targeted groups that advocated against abortion, global warming, nuclear arms, military recruiting in high schools and bio-defense research, among other issues.
"It was unconscionable conduct," said Democratic state Sen. Brian Frosh, who is backing legislation to ban similar spying in Maryland unless the police superintendent can document a "reasonable, articulable suspicion" of criminal activity.
The case is the latest to emerge since the Sept. 11 attacks spurred a sharp increase in state and federal surveillance of Americans. In the largest known effort, the Pentagon monitored at least 186 lawful protests and meetings - including church services and silent vigils - in the U.S.
The military also compiled more than 2,800 reports on Americans in a database of supposed terrorist threats. That program, known as Talon, was ordered closed in 2007 after it was exposed in news reports.
The Maryland operation also has ended, but critics still question why police spent hundreds of hours spying on Quakers and other peace groups in a state that reported more than 36,000 violent crimes last year.
Stephen Sachs, a former Maryland attorney general, investigated the scandal for Gov. Martin O’Malley - a Democrat elected in 2006. He concluded that state police had violated federal regulations and "significantly overreached."
According to Sachs’ report and other documents, state police launched the operation in March 2005 out of concern that the planned execution of a convicted murderer might lead to violent protests.
They sent "Lucy" to join local activists at Takoma Park’s Electrik Maid, a funky community center popular with punk rockers and slam poets. Ten people attended the gathering, including a local representative from Amnesty International.
"The meeting was primarily concerned with getting people to put up fliers and getting information out to local businesses and churches about the upcoming events," the undercover officer reported later. "No other pertinent intelligence information was obtained."
That proved true for all 29 meetings, rallies and protests that Lucy ultimately attended. Most drew only a handful of people, and none involved illegal or disruptive actions.
Using the aliases Lucy Shoup and Lucy McDonald, she befriended activists. "I want to get involved in different causes," she wrote in an e-mails, citing her interest in "anti-death penalty, anti-war and pro-animal actions!!!"
Greg Shipley, a state police spokesman, said that no one in the department has been disciplined in connection with the spying program. Lucy, who has not been publicly identified, would not consent to an interview, he said.
The surveillance, Shipley said, was inappropriate. And the listing of lawful activity as terrorism "shouldn’t have happened and has been corrected."
Most of the files list terrorism as a "primary crime" and a "secondary crime," then add subgroups for designations such as anti-war protester or anarchist.
Some contain errors and inconsistencies that are almost comical.
Nancy Kricorian, 48, a novelist on the terrorist list, is coordinator for the New York City chapter of CODEPINK, an anti-war group. She serves as liaison with local police for group protests, and has never been arrested.
"I have no idea why I made the list," she said. "I’ve never been to the state of Maryland, except maybe to stop for gas on the way to Washington."
Josh Tulkin, 27, a registered lobbyist with the Virginia state legislature, is cited under "terrorism - environmental extremists." Tulkin was deputy director of Chesapeake Climate Action Network, an environmental group that claims 15,000 members and regularly meets with governors and members of Congress.
"If asking your elected officials a question about public policy is a crime, then I’m guilty," he said.
Barry Kissin, 57, a lawyer who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2006, heads the Frederick (Md.) Progressive Action Coalition, a group that works "for social, economic and environmental justice," according to his police file. Their protests "are always peaceful," it added.
He was labeled "Terrorism - Anti-Government."
Nadine Bloch, 47, runs workshops for protest groups that seek corporate responsibility and builds huge paper mache puppets often used in street marches. Her terrorism file indicates she participated in a Taking Action for Animals conference in Washington from July 16 to 18, 2005.
Animal rights, Bloch said, is one of the few causes she doesn’t actively embrace. Besides, she was attending an educators’ conference in Hawaii that week as a contractor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"This whole thing," she said, "is so absurd."
Not really. The woman was an undercover Maryland State Police trooper who between 2005 and 2007 infiltrated more than two dozen rallies and meetings of nonviolent groups.
That passes for "undercover"?!
That's sloppy!
<sarcasm>Yeah, let me whip out a laptop and starting typing. I'm a Super Secret Trooper!</sarcasm>
Is the implication of the headline that it is not possible to be a “U.S. citizen” and a “terrorist”? Guess they haven’t heard of Bill Ayers and friends.
Looks like some was guilt by association. I wonder how long it will take before FreeRepublic becomes a terrorist organization, at the very least by association. Interesting times, interesting times.
Exactly. The same powers that Bush used will be used by the Dems when they are in charge. I don’t care who is at the top, the government should always be kept on a short leash.
CodePink leaders have been in contact with communist governments and agents for nearly a decade, esp. in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, as well as mass murderers in Iraq and Iran. While individual members are not “terrorists”, and I do not know why they were on the lists, their organization definitely are terrorist-govt support groups.
Looks like the Md. State Police have gotten sloppy since the old days when they knew when a communist farted in Baltimore.
However, there are a number of convicted “vandals” in the Baltimore “Peace” movement and their actions today would be classified as “terrorist acts” so maybe the police have just got to update their files.
I hate sloppy files.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.