The Maryland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed public information requests Tuesday to determine whether state police covertly spied on additional activist groups beyond those they have admitted to monitoring during a 14-month period.
As Gov. Martin O’Malley prepares today to release results of an independent review into state police actions, the ACLU is charging forward with information requests on behalf of 32 advocacy groups, who fear state police monitored their activities for the same reason they infiltrated anti-war and death penalty opposition groups between 2005 and 2006, said ACLU attorney David Rocah.
State police have said the surveillance of anti-death penalty groups was authorized because an inmate’s pending execution could have incited violent protests, but Rocah said that doesn’t explain why anti-war groups were infiltrated.
“Their explanation, if true, could apply to virtually any group that organizes public demonstrations on a politically controversial issue,” he said.
The additional activist groups would qualify for police surveillance because of their work with the death penalty, feminist issues, animal rights and abortion, among others, he said.
“All of these are pretty hot-button issues, so it will be interesting to see whether the MSP’s stated rational was in fact the real rationale, and whether these groups were spied on as well, which would be very troubling,” Rocah said.
Several activist groups now represented by the ACLU spoke Tuesday about concerns that police monitoring will hamper participation in lawful demonstrations.
Tyrone Powers, a member of Children First in Baltimore, which advocates for children in schools, said Baltimore City detectives came to his house Jan. 18, 2003, requesting that he call off a protest outside school headquarters regarding water contaminated with lead.
Powers, a former FBI agent, said Detective Darrell Merrick told him they knew who he was and a file had been opened on him and the upcoming protest.
The police spying, which was exposed in July after the ACLU sued state police for surveillance logs, has prompted lawmakers to consider prohibitive legislation.
“The shadow of police spying has been cast over us all now in Maryland and over the First Amendment,” said Cindy Boersma, the Maryland ACLU legislative director who confirmed Tuesday that legislation is gaining support.
State police have agreed to cooperate with investigators, but the superintendent’s preliminary review determined the officers acted lawfully.
