Friends,

I suspected that Baltimore City and County Police set up "Red Squads" after September 11, if not before. Robert Dreyfuss (The Nation, 6/3/02) confirmed this suspicion. You may be interested, as well, in some specific First Amendment exercises we have experienced in the Baltimore area.

First, note that the Baltimore City Police refused in 2001 to meet with members of the Baltimore AntiWar Coalition, who wanted to discuss First Amendment concerns. Then realize that members of the Baltimore Emergency Response Network were threatened with arrest on January 29, 2002 when they visited the Immigration & Naturalization Service office in Baltimore's federal building to ask for information about the September 11 detainees. As the police were ushering us out of the INS office, they demanded picture identification from each of us. When I refused, I was taken around the corner by two of the officers in an attempt to verbally browbeat me into providing a picture ID. When I still refused, I was told that I am banned from the building.

More recently, on May 19, two of us and Bert, a sheepdog, went to Andrews Air Force Base to protest the air show. Peace activists have protested this obscene display of militarism for the last several years, and we normally vigil across the highway from the main entrance to the base. However, a water main burst and the main entrance to the base was closed, as well as a number of roads. We were unable to meet with activists coming from Washington, as the D.C. Catholic Workers organized their protest at the bus stop, where visitors were being shuttled unto the base.

We decided to stand across the highway from another entrance and held two signs condemning the ongoing war against Iraq. At the same time, the manager of a fast food restaurant, which was closed because of low water pressure, and an employee dressed up as Popeye, the cartoon character, came over to distribute coupons to the cars stopped at the traffic light.

Two Prince George's County [Maryland] police officers approached us and indicated they received a complaint. They ignored Popeye, as he weaved around the vehicles, but we were asked for picture identification, which we refused to provide. We were told that under P.G. county law a picture ID was to be provided to a police officer upon request. We found that to be Stalinist and still refused. I provided them with my name, but the other protester saw no reason to do even that.

Eventually, two plain clothes soldiers came over from Andrews with photo albums. The police approached us, holding the albums, and I was accused me of prevaricating. I challenged the officer who made the accusation. It
appears my photograph in the intelligence file had someone else's name on it. Later, more albums were brought over from the base, and the four gendarmes continued to pore over the photographs.

Before we left to return to Baltimore, a soldier from the base took our photographs. As we were walking back to the car, a soldier in an unmarked car took more photographs. As we reached our car, we noticed another soldier in an unmarked car watching us. He drove behind us for a few blocks, as we headed for Interstate 95 to get back to Baltimore.

The surveillance of nonviolent protesters is probably occurring in many cities across the country. Is there any reason to wonder why federal government agencies, with access to the most expensive and powerful intelligence-gathering operation in world history, was unable to prevent the tragedy of September 11?

Kagiso,

Max