ACLU Denounces FBI Tactics Targeting Political Protesters
by The American Civil Liberties Union

he American Civil Liberties Union today denounced the FBI’s use of the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) to monitor, interrogate and suppress anti-war and other political protesters and called on individuals who have been targeted for investigation to come forward.  The ACLU issued the public statement after an article in today’s New York Times detailed actions taken by FBI agents in Missouri, Kansas and Colorado to spy on and interrogate activists in advance of the Democratic and Republican national conventions. In Missouri, three young men in their early 20’s were subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury on July 29, the same day they planned on protesting the Democratic convention. The men, who planned to drive to Boston with an activist group based in St. Louis, first realized they were being targeted by the FBI when agents visited the homes of their parents a week before the subpoenas. In addition to asking about easily accessible information such as current addresses, the agents also asked the parents for information on their sons’ political activities.  The very next day, agents visited the three men directly and asked them if they had any knowledge of individuals planning "criminally disorderly behavior" at the national conventions, the presidential debates, the election or any other event. According to the men, the surveillance increased after the visits, and conditions did not improve until after they contacted the ACLU.

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