[Peace-discuss] Federal cops keep us secure

[C. G. Estabrook]

[AWAREists might be aware that we are harboring within our
group people who hold the views that attracted the attention
of the police in this case.  --CGE]

  ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, 
  spying on vegans who protested ham
  09/22/2005 @ 10:53 am

The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal
lawsuit in Atlanta on behalf of two vegan protesters who were
subjected to imprisonment, arrest and harassment by Homeland
Security officials, RAW STORY has learned.

The lawsuit stems from a Dec. 2003 incident, when vegans
Caitlin Childs and Christopher Freeman were protesting on
public property outside a Honey Baked Ham store in Georgia's
DeKalb County.

After the protest, the duo noticed they were being watched and
photographed by a man in an unmarked car. They approached the
car and wrote down the make, model, color and license plate
number on a piece of paper. They then noticed the unmarked car
was following them.

According to the ACLU suit, the car contained both a uniformed
police officer and an undercover detective, later identified
as Homeland Security Detective D.A. Gorman. The two pulled in
behind Childs and Freeman and ordered them to exit their car.

Gorman then demanded that she turn over the piece of paper on
which she had copied his license tag number. Childs refused to
hand the paper over, and was handcuffed.

She was searched a male officer, despite her request to be
searched only by a female officer, the ACLU says.

Both Childs and Freeman were arrested and charged with
disorderly conduct. Police confiscated the piece of paper and
Childs' house keys. Both were released from custody, but
neither the piece of paper nor the keys were returned. The
county has not pursued a criminal case.

To view the surveillance photos taken by Homeland Security, go
to http://www.aclu.org/spyfiles/honeyham/1.html.

More from the ACLU's release:

"All across the country, the ACLU is uncovering information
about Americans engaged in peaceful protest being spied on by
Homeland Security, the FBI and local police," said Debbie
Seagraves, Executive Director of the ACLU of Georgia. "It is
deeply disturbing that the government would use resources
intended to protect national security to instead spy on
innocent Americans who do nothing more than express their
opinions on social and political issues."

The ACLU argues that by stopping and detaining Childs and
Freeman for no legal reason and then refusing to tell them why
they had been pulled over, Detective Gorman and the DeKalb
County Police Department deprived them of their right to be
secure in their person and to be free from unreasonable search
and seizure. The officials' actions violated the First, Fourth
and Fourteenth Amendments of the federal and state
constitutions, charged the ACLU.

"People of this country need to realize that our basic human
rights are being whittled away on a daily basis," Freeman
said. "I hope this case brings to light the fact that anyone
can come under government security and pay the price."

In addition to the lawsuit, the ACLU has filed Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) requests on behalf of Childs and
Freeman to uncover any surveillance files kept on the
activists by Homeland Security or other law enforcement
agencies. ACLU affiliates in 15 other states have filed
similar requests with the FBI on behalf of more than 100
groups and individuals, as part of a nationwide effort to
expose unlawful domestic spying.

Last month, the ACLU of Michigan obtained an FBI report
summarizing a meeting that was intended to keep local, state
and federal law enforcement agencies apprised of planned
protests and activities by various groups and individuals.
Among the groups discussed at the meeting were an affirmative
action advocacy group and a peace and justice group.

The ACLU launched its national "Spy Files" effort last year in
response to widespread complaints from students and political
activists who said they were questioned by FBI agents in the
months leading up to the political conventions. The FOIA
requests seek two kinds of information: 1) the actual FBI
files of groups and individuals targeted for speaking out or
practicing their faith; and, 2) information about how the
practices and funding structure of joint task forces between
the FBI and local police may be encouraging rampant and
unwarranted spying...

<http://rawstory.com/news/2005/ACLU_sues_Homeland_Security_
for_arresting_spying_on_vegans_who_protested_0922.html>