Apologizes to whom? Oh! He's a democrat, must be apologizing to the Muslim terrorists.
B Pennsylvania governor apologizes for state's spying NBC Nightly News September 16, 2010 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/39221736#39221736 Pennsylvania governor apologizes for state's spying Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell reacted angrily to the disclosure that his state's homeland security department was tracking legitimate protest groups that posed no danger to public safety, saying he was "appalled" at the revelation. NBC's Pete Williams reports. TRANSCRIPT >>> when the '60s were over and the files of that era were finally thrown open, we learned about all kinds of domestic surveillance, some illegal on americans who posed zero threat to our democracy or way of life. and it has apparently happened again. it's a sign of our times that the state of pennsylvania has its own office of homeland security, and the governor of pennsylvania is reacting with shock and anger that they have been found to be tracking legitimate protest groups that pose no danger to public safety. our justice correspondent pete williams is in philadelphia tonight. pete, good evening. >> reporter: brian, this has turned out to be a big embarrassment for pennsylvania, and some of those groups targeted for intelligence gathering by the state are already talking about suing. keep an eye out warns a pennsylvania state intelligence bulletin, for the screening of movie critical of natural gas drilling. >> the neurological effects are insidious. >> reporter: the showing of the movie "gas land" was among events in an official intelligence bulletin from the pennsylvania office of homeland security sent to local law enforcement statewide. but the discovery that the state was keeping tabs on a long list of peaceful groups stunned pennsylvania's governor, who ordered an immediate stop to it. >> the fact that they disseminated this to stake holders, local law enforcement on what were legitimate protests, citizens exercising their rights under the constitution, it's especially embarrassing because this is pennsylvania. this is where the constitution was written. this is where the country started. >> reporter: along with environmentalists protesting this huge natural gas project in pennsylvania, the state was tracking gay rights events, demonstrations against bp for the gulf oil spill, and animal rights groups protesting rodeos. >> frankly, i was under the impression that enemies of the state were iran, libya, and north korea. i don't know when mother nature and granola bars became enemies of the state. >> reporter: the list was drawn up by a private contractor. the contractor says protests can be trigger events for radicals and some environmentists are becoming more violent. but " washington post" reporter says it's part of a huge growth in what she calls secret america. >> in fact, there's very little oversight at the state level on what state government is collecting on their citizens. and if anything, this example shows us a need to get ahold of that. >> reporter: pennsylvania's contract with the company responsible for that intelligence bulletin expires in a few weeks and the state now says it will not be renewed. >> pete williams in philadelphia tonight. ============================================ Thursday, September 16, 2010 Pa. ordeal raises new questions about states' info-gathering By John Gramlich, Stateline Staff Writer Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has canceled a $125,000 contract with a consulting firm that sent a bulletin to the state's Office of Homeland Security in which it described opponents of natural gas drilling as "environmental extremists" and suggested they were a threat to the state. Rendell told reporters in a news conference on Tuesday (Sept. 15) that Pennsylvania would cancel its deal with the firm, the Institute of Terrorism Response and Research, which also identified animal rights demonstrations and anti-war events as potential security threats to the state. "I am appalled that information was disseminated about groups that were exercising their constitutional right to free speech and to protest," Rendell said, according to ProPublica, an investigative journalism group in New York that broke the initial story about the security bulletin. "They shouldn't be on any list [of possible security threats]. This is extraordinarily embarrassing." While the state's contract with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response was relatively small, ProPublica notes that there are many unanswered questions about the episode, suggesting it may not be over. For one, Rendell's staffers knew about the bulletin last week, but Rendell himself claims to have found out only this week. Also, ProPublica reported that the initial description of anti-drilling activists as "environmental extremists" came from the FBI, rather than the private sector. On a national level, the events in Pennsylvania raise new questions about the information that states and their security contractors might be gathering on political groups or activists who have broken no laws. In July 2008, The Washington Post reported that Maryland State Police had spied on anti-war and anti-death penalty activists for more than a year during the administration of Robert Ehrlich, a Republican former governor who is also the party's nominee this year to replace current Governor Martin O'Malley. The federal Department of Homeland Security assisted in the spying, which drew condemnation from Maryland politicians, activists and civil liberties groups for months. “Today’s Take” provides a quick analysis of the day’s top news in state government. —Contact John Gramlich at [email protected] http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=513864 ================= `Appalled' Pa. gov. shuts down reports on protests By MARC LEVY (AP) HARRISBURG, Pa. — Information about an anti-BP candlelight vigil, a gay and lesbian festival and other peaceful gatherings became the subject of anti-terrorism bulletins being distributed by Pennsylvania's homeland security office, an apologetic Gov. Ed Rendell admitted. Rendell, who claimed he'd just learned about the practice, said Tuesday that the information was useless to law enforcement agencies and that distributing it was tantamount to trampling on constitutional rights. In recent weeks, several acts of vandalism at drilling sites spurred the inclusion of events likely to be attended by environmentalists and the bulletins began going to representatives of Pennsylvania's booming natural gas industry. A Philadelphia rally organized by a nonprofit group to support Rendell's push for higher spending on public schools even made a bulletin, as did drilling protests at a couple of Rendell's news conferences this month as he toured the state to boost support for a tax on the natural gas industry. "I am deeply embarrassed and I apologize to any of the groups who had this information disseminated on their right to peacefully protest," Rendell said at an evening Capitol news conference. Rendell called the practice "ludicrous" and said the fact that the state was paying for such rudimentary information was "stunning." Still, Rendell said he was not firing his homeland security director, James Powers, but he ordered an end to the $125,000 contract with the Philadelphia-based organization, the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, that supplied the information. The 12-page bulletin that was issued Aug. 30 included a list of municipal zoning hearings on Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling, a forestry industry conference and a screening of the documentary "Gasland" as events likely to be attended by anti-drilling activists. Aside from the drilling-related events, the bulletin mentioned other potential security concerns that it said could involve "anarchists and Black Power radicals." It listed demonstrations by anti-war groups, deportation protesters in Philadelphia, mountaintop removal mining protesters in West Virginia and an animal rights protest at a Montgomery County rodeo. It also included "Burn the Confederate Flag Day," the Jewish high holidays and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as potential sources of risk. Rendell said he learned of the matter from a story in The Patriot-News of Harrisburg on Tuesday and was appalled that aides did not notify him before inking the contract a year ago. "I think I would have said `no' to this contract before we ever spent a dime and before we sent out any information that was wrong and violative of, in my judgment, the constitution," Rendell said. Mike Perelman, a co-director of the institute, would not respond to questions about the contract or the bulletins, saying he does not discuss client matters. Rendell said bulletins were being used — wrongly — as a way to satisfy a federal requirement to protect "critical infrastructure" and notify law enforcement of credible information about real threats. He said he has asked several top aides, including state police Commissioner Frank Pawlowski, to come up with a way to satisfy the requirement. Powers did not respond to interview requests Tuesday. The bulletins, which went out three times a week, were not intended for public distribution. But someone who received the Aug. 30 bulletin gave a copy to Virginia Cody, a retired Air Force officer who lives in Factoryville and is concerned about the rapid expansion of Marcellus Shale drilling in northeastern Pennsylvania. "The idea that my government thinks that what I'm doing is worthy of anti-terrorism interest goes against everything I stand for and everything I ever stood for," said Cody, 54. Cody gave the document to a friend, who posted it on an online forum largely read by drilling opponents in the area, she said. She would not say who gave her the bulletin, just that the person works for a private company and was an intended recipient of it. After it was posted online, Powers sent Cody an e-mail saying that the bulletin was intended for owners, operators and security personnel associated with the state's "critical infrastructure and key resources." He closed by saying, "We want to continue providing this support to the Marcellus Shale Formation natural gas stakeholders while not feeding those groups fomenting dissent against those same companies." ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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