[Peace-discuss] Federal cops keep us secure

[Linda Evans]

Should I just turn myself over now?  I guess it is
good for the group going to DC that we won't be able
to make it on the bus tomorrow.  The kids have come
down with the crud that is going around (maybe a germ
spread by the government???) and I don't want all the
people on the bus to come back from DC sick because of
us.  Your chances of getting arrested will go down
with four less vegans in your midst.

Linda (who is really, really, really bummed not to be
going to DC, but maybe I can find a Honey Baked Ham
place to protest)

--- "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at uiuc.edu> wrote:

> [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>
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