Way back in December 2005, we learned about a secret Pentagon database that included “intelligence” obtained by spying on anti-war protestors, who were monitored at meetings and/or events no where near military installations, posts or recruitment centers. In all, Pentagon officials kept information about four dozen protests in their “Talon” database.
What’s more, even after hundreds of protests had been deemed to be harmless and/or unconnected to the Department of Defense, they “all remained in the database.” And while the Pentagon is strictly limited in its ability to collect and retain information on American citizens, the database included “at least 20 references to U.S. citizens or U.S. persons.”
A lawsuit filed in the wake of the revelations continues to uncover interesting details.
Internal military documents released Thursday provided new details about the Defense Department’s collection of information on demonstrations nationwide last year by students, Quakers and others opposed to the Iraq war.
The documents, obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, show, for instance, that military officials labeled as “potential terrorist activity” events like a “Stop the War Now” rally in Akron, Ohio, in March 2005.
The Defense Department acknowledged last year that its analysts had maintained records on war protests in an internal database past the 90 days its guidelines allowed, and even after it was determined there was no threat.
Remember, the First Amendment explains that the “right of the people peaceably to assemble” shall not be abridged, but it doesn’t say anything about prohibiting the Pentagon spying on those same people.
I’m not saying COINTELPRO lives, but I am saying there seem to be some folks in the Bush administration who were inspired by it.