Are You Being Watched?

An ACLU open records request revealed recently that the Austin Police Department has been conducting undercover surveillance of anti-war activists. An APD assistant chief told the Daily Texan that the only reason APD doesn't constantly surveil activists covertly is that activists don't regularly plan events.

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This story was first broken in a UT student magazine called Issue, see http://www.issueonline.org/files/Feb_Small.pdf, by a researcher working with the ACLU surveillance working group. That researcher, Jordan Buckley, published a longer article in the Texas Observer, which is not available online.

Undercover officers at anti-war meetings!!!

APD officers were secretly present at protest plannings

By Clay Reddick The Daily Texan, February 19, 2004
Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas prove that undercover Austin police officers attended anti-war meetings in March.The Texas ACLU obtained two memos in November discussing undercover police protest planning meetings. One of the documents details a detective's observations at a March 23 direct-action training where protesters practiced civil disobedience. On March 24, about 40 people were arrested while protesting against the war in Iraq."In an attempt to gather intelligence information regarding mass civil disobedience, members of the Organized Crime Division were requested to participate in training sessions and actual protests in an undercover capacity," the memo says.Texas ACLU lawyer Ann Del Llano said police waste resources when investigating nonviolent protesters, and such police activities may be unconstitutional."These people intended to commit a Class C misdemeanor," said Del Llano. "Police should focus on violent crimes [instead]."APD Assistant Chief Robert Dahlstrom said the department uses undercover police to better protect both demonstrators and police."If they're using dragon sleeves or tripods, we may not have the equipment there [so] that we don't hurt people," Dahlstrom said. "That's our goal."He said protesters usually cooperate with police when planning events."We have always and will continue to work with the organizers," Dahlstrom said. "We are not against protesters."Missy Bolbecker, who attended the March 23 meeting and was arrested at the protest, said it was not surprising that police attended the meeting."What we were doing was very public," Bolbecker said. "That's part of what protects us - we're not doing anything secret."In one of the documents, Chief Stan Knee commends four undercover detectives who participated in training and protests before and after the U.S. attack on Iraq on March 19.A memo from Derry Minor, one of the undercover detectives, describes a protest training session Minor attended March 23 at the AFL-CIO building on 11th Street. Minor said attendees learned how to counter police tactics such as using tear gas, horses and special formations.Several people volunteered to be arrested and break windows at the protest the following day, and leaders discussed providing legal assistance to anyone arrested, the memo said.The protesters' plans were relayed to arrest groups in the APD organized crime unit, and undercover officers were told to wear masks during the arrests to protect their identities, the memo said.Dahlstrom said undercover officers are identified by demonstrators at almost every protest, but none have ever been attacked.APD also videotapes mass demonstrations, Dahlstrom said, but it does not keep a database of protesters."We use the videos for training our crowd management team," Dahlstrom said. "We hold on to them in case there's a civil lawsuit."If the videos are not needed for a lawsuit, they are erased after two years, Dahlstrom said.APD does not have undercover officers investigating protests all the time, Dahlstrom said, because protesters do not regularly plan events."Until then, we're doing [undercover] narcotics work," he said.He declined to comment on how many staff hours APD devotes toward undercover surveillance.Bolbecker helped organize the March 24 Unholy Trinity Tour demonstration in conjunction with American Friends Service Committee and National Youth and Student Peace Coalition. Protesters marched from the federal building to Fox 7 News and ended the event at the CSC Dyncorp building.Actions were planned by several affinity groups, and there was no single protest leader."No one can really speak for the group," Bolbecker said.Bolbecker believes police identified her as a leader anyway. She was arrested on Cesar Chavez after stepping off a curb to walk around people crowding the sidewalk. Across the street, about 30 people were intentionally arrested in front of Dyncorp.

posted by Joshua P. Angell  @ 28.8.04

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