News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
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When COINTELPRO comes calling
"Homeland Security" picked on the wrong group of activists, because we
will not be silenced.
by Dave Zirin
July 21, 2008
FINALLY, AT long last, I have something in common with Muhammad Ali. No,
I'm not the heavyweight champion of the world, and I haven't been named
spokesperson for Raid bug spray. Like "the Greatest"--not to mention far
too many others--I have been a target of state police surveillance for
activities--in my case, being against the death penalty--that were
legal, nonviolent and, so we assumed, constitutionally protected.
In classified re****ts compiled by the Maryland State Police and the
Department of Homeland Security, I am "Dave Z." This nickname was given
by an undercover agent known to us as "Lucy." She sat in our meetings of
the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, smiling and engaged, taking
copious notes about actions deemed threatening by the then-governor of
Maryland, Robert Ehrlich.
Our seditious crimes, as Lucy re****ted, involved such acts as planning
to set up a table at the local farmer's market and writing up a
petition. Adding a dash of farce to this outrage, she was monitoring us
in the liberal enclave of Takoma Park, Maryland, a place known more for
vegans than violence, more for tie-dyeing than terrorism.
Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act and the ACLU, we now know that
"Lucy" was only one part of a vast, insidious project. The Maryland
State Police's Department of Homeland Security devoted nearly 300 hours
and thousands of taxpayer dollars from 2005 and 2006 to harassing people
whose only crime was dissenting on the question of the war in Iraq and
Maryland's use of death row.
My dear friend Mike Stark, a board member of the Campaign to End the
Death Penalty is at times referred to in "Lucy's" re****t as a
"socialist" and an "anarchist." One can only assume this is the pathetic
time-honored tradition of reducing people to simple caricatures, all the
better to garner Homeland Security grant money.
Veteran peace activist in Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, who initiated the
suit, was also consistently shadowed as he walked down the streets. His
"primary crime" (their lingo) was entered into the homeland security
database as "terrorism--anti govern(ment)." His "secondary crime" was
listed as "terrorism--anti-war protestors." The database is known as the
Wa****ngton-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA.
Yes, a respected peace organizer of many decades standing is checked as
a terrorist, his actions listed as criminal, for doing nothing more than
exercising his rights. It boggles the mind.
Former police superintendent Tim Hutchins defended these totalitarian
practices by saying, "You do what you think is best to protect the
general populace of the state." (The article mentioned that Hutchins is
now a federal defense contractor. I guess the global war on terror is
just the gift that keeps on giving for the Hutchins family.)
But "protect the general populace" from what? The surveillance continued
even after it was determined that we were planning nothing more
dangerous that carrying clipboards in a public place. Hutchins and the
Ehrlich administration have undertaken an ugly violation of our civil
rights, manipulating fears of terrorism to stamp out dissent.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THIS IS COINTELPRO pure and simple. Like the infamous
counter-intelligence program, whose heyday many assume was a relic of
the 1950s and 1960s, it's an effort to harass the innocent and breed
paranoia, all for daring to question power.
Governor Ehrlich and Tim Hutchins stand in the legacy of those who
hounded Martin Luther King and facilitated the death of Malcolm X. They
stand in the tradition of those who drove the great actor, college
football superstar and activist Paul Robeson toward the mental breakdown
that claimed his life. When Robeson's files were opened under the
Freedom of Information Act, the results were terrifying.
As his son, Paul Robeson Jr. has written, "From the files I received, it
was obvious that there were agents who did nothing but follow every
public event of my father, or even of me...It took on a life of its
own...Over time, even for someone as powerful and with as many resources
as my dad had...the attrition got to him."
Now Robeson is on a postage stamp. The moral midgets who destroyed him
went unpunished. That's what has to change.
The ACLU, to their credit, is going on the offensive. As ACLU lawyer
David Rocah said at a news conference in Baltimore on Thursday, "To
invest this many hours investigating the most all-American of activities
without any scintilla of evidence there is anything criminal going on is
shocking. It's Kafkaesque."
Unfortunately, it is also "the most All-American of activities" for
people like Gov. Ehrlich to take the Constitution and use it as their
personal hand-wipe.
As the great political philosopher Ice T wrote, "Freedom of
Speech...just watch what you say."
Well, now is exactly the time not to watch what we say. I'm angry. I'm
angry for my friends, who trusted "Lucy" and others. I'm angry that my
tax dollars went to paying the salaries of people who spy and intimidate
those exercising their rights. I'm angry that Barack Obama just voted to
increase the power of the Federal government to disrupt people's lives.
And I'm angry enough that I'm joining a lawsuit initiated by the ACLU.
"Homeland Security" picked on the wrong s****ts writer. They also picked
on the wrong group of activists. We will not be silenced.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Columnist: Dave Zirin
Dave Zirin Dave Zirin is the author of the forthcoming book A People's
History of S****ts in the United States [2], as well as two collections
of his s****ts writings, Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics
and Promise of S****ts [3] and What's My Name, Fool? S****ts and
Resistance in the United States [4]. He is a columnist for TheNation.com
[5]; his writings are also featured at his Edge of S****ts [6] Web site.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
What you can do
If you want to express your outrage at the surveillance of Maryland
activists, contact the office of the current Maryland Gov. Martin
O'Malley and demand a full investigation of the Maryland State Police,
the public release of all do***ents obtained through its illegal
activities and a specific commitment that the anti-death penalty and
antiwar movements will not be targeted again. Call 800-811-8336, or
submit a comment online [7].
1. [1]
http://socialistworker.org/department/Books-and-Entertainment/Dave-Zirin
2. [2]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FPeoples-History-S****ts-United-States%2Fdp%2F1595581006%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks%26qid%3D1216142001%26sr%3D8-1&tag=socialistwork-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
3. [3]
http://www.haymarketbooks.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Haymarket&Product_Code=UHPWTTT
4. [4]
http://www.haymarketbooks.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=Haymarket&Product_Code=UHPWMN
5. [5] http://www.thenation.com/directory/bios/dave_zirin
6. [6] http://edgeofs****ts.com
7. [7] http://www.governor.maryland.gov/mail
8. [8] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0
--
Dan Clore
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://tinyurl.com/2gcoqt
Lord We˙rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
Skipper: Professor, will you tell these people who is
in charge on this island?
Professor: Why, no one.
Skipper: No one?
Thurston Howell III: No one? Good heavens, this is anarchy!
-- _Gilligan's Island_, episode #6, "President Gilligan"
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