The Justice Department has reviewed the FBI's investigations of anti-war and environmental activist organizations and, according to Inspector General Glenn A. Fine the investigations were "improper" and the records are still around. This is not news to me as it was confirmed years ago that the FBI had actually spied on scary terrorist organizations like the Quakers.
From the LA Times:
FBI agents improperly opened investigations into Greenpeace and several other domestic advocacy groups after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, and put the names of some of their members on terrorist watch lists based on evidence that turned out to be "factually weak," the Justice Department said Monday.
However, the internal review by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine did not conclude that the FBI purposely targeted the groups or their members, as many civil liberties advocates had charged, after antiwar rallies and other protests were held during the administration of President George W. Bush.
But Fine said the FBI tactics appeared "troubling" in singling out some of the domestic groups for investigations that lasted up to five years, and were extended "without adequate basis." He also questioned why the FBI continued to maintain investigative files against the groups.
"In several cases there was little indication of any possible federal crimes," Fine said. "In some cases, the FBI classified some investigations relating to nonviolent civil disobedience under its 'acts of terrorism' classification."
In addition to the environmental group Greenpeace, the FBI investigated People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, and the antiwar groups Catholic Worker and Thomas Merton Center. [more...]
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