[Marxism] Florida sheriff accused of targeting liberal, anti-war protesters

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

This reminds me of an incident in the SWP that helped speed my 
withdrawal from the SWP.

The turn had just begun, but this was the very early period--the period 
of the Disappeared Comrades. They had entered industry, but kept silent 
about what they were doing and some weren't coming to branch meetings. 
An indication of my alienation was that I hadn't even missed them!

There were vague reports about the comrades in industry--didn't even 
specify auto which is where most of them were. One or two had mentioned 
on the job that they were socialists, and their fellow blue-collar 
workers had not turned white or even red-white-and-blue. In other 
words, instead of just getting in industry and doing TU work, they 
could now talk about socialism.

All at once there was a 180° change. The TU fraction met and decided 
that they were now going to be open socialists and give detailed branch 
reports on who was working where and what was going on in their plants.

A woman comrade, who a few months earlier had moved to NYC from 
Detroit, supported my comment that neither policy seemed correct. Why 
not just give a branch report on auto and tell us what was happening. 
That's what they had done in Detroit. There was no need to make it 
easier for local Red Squads or union spies to identify us.

The branch voted 100% to support the new policy, which was of course a 
180° change from the old one. Hand-raising had become almost a 
condition of membership. I don't recall how the comrade from Detroit 
and I voted. I do remember Barbara Mutnick saying that the 
PRDF/COINTELPRO victory meant that the government agreed to stop spying 
on and disrupting us.

We didn't have to worry; it wasn't going to violate our rights any more.

I thought that I was in Neverland--the original one.


from Brian Shannon
___________________

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=15282
Florida sheriff accused of targeting liberal, anti-war protesters
By The Associated Press
05.19.05

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The American Civil Liberties Union claims political 
bias in the surveillance work of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office at 
public rallies and protests by targeting liberal and anti-war groups.

The civil liberties group has collected more than 640 pages of public 
records on surveillance work and plans to take its concerns to county 
commissioners with demands for change.

"If you're part of the peace movement or you're against the (Bush) 
administration, you can pretty much bet your personal information is 
going to be on file," said Kevin Aplin, vice president of the ACLU's 
Brevard chapter.

Bruce Parker, director of the sheriff's investigative support unit, 
maintains his unit does not pick on liberal or anti-war groups.

The 3-year-old unit has conducted clandestine surveillance at least a 
dozen times at political, religious and race-based rallies and 
demonstrations.

Aplin is seeking a protest-monitoring policy and an audit of 
surveillance costs. The ACLU believes sheriff's agents have targeted 
liberal events for greater surveillance than conservative events.

Before a Melbourne peace rally in February 2003, an undercover 
sheriff's agent infiltrated a planning meeting at a cafe, records 
indicate. Orlando, Vero Beach and Melbourne police also were consulted, 
and deputies photographed some of the 200-plus participants.

In contrast, more than 1,000 people attended a Rally for America 
supporting U.S. soldiers the following month. Two sheriff's agents were 
assigned to watch for counter demonstrators after a speaker received 
anti-Semitic e-mails, Parker said. Records show no photos were taken, 
no license plates were recorded, and no files were created of anyone 
present.

"We're looking for anarchists that are going to commit violent acts," 
Parker said.

Sheriff Jack Parker has created a committee to evaluate departmental 
policies and procedures, and some changes are expected in guidelines 
for the investigative support unit.

The ACLU started looking into surveillance practices in January after 
Melbourne police videotaped people at an anti-Bush rally at City Hall. 
The department has said it has changed its policy and no longer 
videotapes demonstrations unless it suspects an imminent threat of 
violence.
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