-Caveat Lector- from - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020312/ap_on_re_us/polic e_surveillance_1
Denver Police Keeping Illegal Files Tue Mar 12,11:09 AM ET By ROBERT WELLER, Associated Press Writer DENVER (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) has accused the Denver Police Department of keeping illegal files on peaceful protest groups including Amnesty International and the Nobel Peace Prize-winning American Friends Service Committee. The ACLU's Colorado legal director, Mark Silverstein, showed reporters files he said came from the police department. Silverstein wouldn't say how he obtained the files. He said they were marked as permanent, not simply reports that would be discarded at the end of the day. "These are a small sampling of documents we have that show Denver police are monitoring peaceful protest activities of individuals and law-abiding groups," he said at a news conference Monday. The ACLU has asked the mayor to stop all monitoring, make all files available to their subjects and have police disclose who has been given the information, Silverstein said. He threatened to sue if the practice (news - Y! TV) isn't stopped. Andrew Hudson, spokesman for Mayor Wellington Webb, said Webb had asked police for a full report to answer the group's concerns. "The mayor thinks their concerns are legitimate," Hudson said. Denver Public Safety Department spokeswoman C.L. Harmer said police would comply with the mayor's request. Stephen B. Nash, who was identified in one of the files as an event organizer for Amnesty International, said police could not say the files were needed for security because of the Sept. 11 attacks. "My file goes back to 2000, well before Sept. 11," Nash said. The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group, "acts in the best tradition of nonviolence," said Barry Leaman-Miller, who was identified in one file as a member of the "American Friends Service Committee (criminal extremist G)." There was no immediate explanation for the "criminal extremist" note. Harmer said people named in the files were not considered criminals and the files were collected because legal gatherings are sometimes the scene of illegal actions. "Law-abiding groups sponsoring lawful assemblies can be unwitting magnets for unlawful activity," she said. "If you go to a peaceful demonstration, is your name going to come up when you get a traffic ticket? The answer is no, because the data isn't shared," she said. "I don't think this is a retreat to the era of J. Edgar Hoover." Harmer said that although the intelligence-gathering started before the terrorist attacks, the attacks illustrated the need for such files. Among the events mentioned in the files were a protest of an Italian-led parade honoring Columbus, protests of a killing by a police SWAT team that went to the wrong house, protests against the International Monetary Fund (news - web sites) and World Bank (news - web sites), and demonstrations by the Chiapas Coalition against alleged civil rights violations in Mexico's poorest state. "This is really outrageous to me ... since Sept. 11 immigration equals terrorism," said Luis Espinosa, a member of the Chiapas group. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
