Activists speaking truth to power at National Security Agency have case dismissed

On July 2, 2005 Ellen Barfield and I were arrested and charged with “disturbance on protected property,” after seeking a meeting with William B. Black, Jr. the interim director of the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland. Members of the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore wanted to discuss these matters: The role the NSA played in eavesdropping on members of the United Nations Security Council during the 2003 debate on Iraq; John Bolton’s request for transcripts of intercepted conversations of many prominent politicians; the Agency’s role in monitoring the Pledge of Resistance; and its refusal to release documents on the Pledge, as part of a FOIA request, without being paid a fee of $1,915.



The defendants were scheduled for trial in federal court in Baltimore before Magistrate Judge Beth Gesner on January 25, 2006, the same day George Bush made a morale-boosting visit to the NSA. In the early morning before trial, four Pledge members drove to the Puzzle Palace to protest the Bush visit, which is part of a campaign to convince the citizenry that spying on U.S. citizens is necessary, as well as legal. Under close scrutiny by security, we vigiled for close to 45 minutes. Ellen and I then dashed back to Baltimore to meet with Carrie Corcoran, an excellent public defender, prior to trial.



Since the NSA and the Maryland Terrorism Task Force were monitoring the constitutionally-protected activities of the Baltimore Pledge, the defendants requested documents prepared by security forces to counter the Pledge visit last July. While the military prosecutor admitted the documents did exist, he did not think they were relevant, though he never examined them. In trying to make the best out of a difficult situation, he sought a continuance.

However, Judge Gesner correctly recognized the case should be dismissed, since information requested in discovery was not provided to the defense. She reminded the government it should have an “institutional memory” and thus be ready to make available the documents prepared by the NSA when Pledge members visit the Agency. She also stated that the case would have been dismissed as well on “failed law.” Eight activists went to the NSA that day, and all, those not arrested and the two defendants, were on “protected property.” She then excoriated the prosecution for wasting her time and that of the defendants. To cap this heady day, after the case was dismissed, Ellen and I went back to the NSA for another protest of the Bush visit.

Some of us in the Baltimore peace community have been challenging the illegal operations of the NSA since 1996. Our belief in nonviolent direct action leads us to send a letter to the director of the NSA seeking a meeting. Invariably, we receive no response, so we venture out to the NSA with the same letter. Instead of dialogue, there are arrests.

When Ellen and I arrived in court on January 25, we were greeted by Sisters Carol Gilbert and Ardeth Platte, Plowshares activists of some renown. Both had served long prison sentences, and it was the first time I saw Ardeth in three and one half years. We had a federal court reunion. The two nuns and the two defendants were arrested at the NSA on October 12, 2001 and charged with conspiracy, destruction of government property and trespass. However, the government never prosecuted us in that case.

A friend who knows me well gave me a metal statue of Don Quixote for Christmas. So I thought it appropriate to place it on the defense table during the January 25 court proceeding. The Pledge of Resistance, and its twenty members, is challenging a corrupt government agency with a $7 billion budget and 30,000 employees. This is an obvious case of tilting at windmills.

However, with Carrie’s fine legal assistance, the defendants were able to convince a federal judge that the National Security Agency, notwithstanding the platitudes of George Bush, cannot trample on the rights of these Pledge members. As citizens, we followed our Nuremberg obligation to speak out when our government is involved in illegal activity. The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore will continue its endeavors in speaking truth to power.

The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance [www.iraqpledge.com] is urging antiwar activists around the country to consider engaging in civil resistance to end this awful war in Iraq. So as the actions multiply, may other judges, when hearing civil resistance cases, consider supporting defendants taking the risks of peace.

Max Obuszewski is a member of the Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore and active with the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance.