Saoirse
08-19-2009, 10:04
They said their First Amendment rights were violated. I think it's a lot of whining because they were so easily infilitrated....
Anti-war groups claim Army civilian infiltrated
BY WILLIAM YARDLEY - The New York Times
Published: Sun, Aug. 02, 2009 02:00AM
SEATTLE -- The Army says it has opened an inquiry into a claim that one of its civilian employees spent more than two years infiltrating anti-war groups active near one of the nation's largest military bases.
The groups say the employee infiltrated their activities under an assumed name and gained access to their plans as well as names and e-mail addresses of some members.
The man, John J. Towery, a civilian employee at Fort Lewis, south of Tacoma, Wash., works as a criminal intelligence analyst for the post's Force Protection Division, according to Fort Lewis officials. The Army would not discuss the nature of the investigation or the claim that Towery had shared information about civilians. It also said Towery was not available for comment.
Brendan Maslauskas Dunn said he met Towery in 2007, when Maslauskas Dunn became involved with Port Militarization Resistance, a group that has tried to disrupt military shipments in Olympia, Tacoma and other ports. Maslauskas Dunn said Towery had identified himself as John Jacob, using his middle name as his last.
Maslauskas Dunn and another member of the group, Drew Hendricks, said Towery had been among a handful of people who maintained e-mail lists for some of the groups and that this had given him access to names and addresses.
"A lot of information he did give us was easily accessible online," Maslauskas Dunn said. "You just had to do a little research."
Hendricks and Maslauskas Dunn said Towery's identity was discovered inadvertently after a public records request made with the city of Olympia. The request yielded an e-mail message Towery had sent to another person with a military address relating to the protesters' activities.
Maslauskas Dunn said Towery told him and another group member that he was not reporting information to Fort Lewis, and that he genuinely wanted to join "the peace movement" but was under pressure to share information about protesters with local law enforcement.
"What he said is that the world isn't just in black and white, that there are areas of gray and that it's in those areas of gray that he lives his life," Maslauskas Dunn said.
http://www.newsobserver.com/nation_world/story/1630858.html
Anti-war groups claim Army civilian infiltrated
BY WILLIAM YARDLEY - The New York Times
Published: Sun, Aug. 02, 2009 02:00AM
SEATTLE -- The Army says it has opened an inquiry into a claim that one of its civilian employees spent more than two years infiltrating anti-war groups active near one of the nation's largest military bases.
The groups say the employee infiltrated their activities under an assumed name and gained access to their plans as well as names and e-mail addresses of some members.
The man, John J. Towery, a civilian employee at Fort Lewis, south of Tacoma, Wash., works as a criminal intelligence analyst for the post's Force Protection Division, according to Fort Lewis officials. The Army would not discuss the nature of the investigation or the claim that Towery had shared information about civilians. It also said Towery was not available for comment.
Brendan Maslauskas Dunn said he met Towery in 2007, when Maslauskas Dunn became involved with Port Militarization Resistance, a group that has tried to disrupt military shipments in Olympia, Tacoma and other ports. Maslauskas Dunn said Towery had identified himself as John Jacob, using his middle name as his last.
Maslauskas Dunn and another member of the group, Drew Hendricks, said Towery had been among a handful of people who maintained e-mail lists for some of the groups and that this had given him access to names and addresses.
"A lot of information he did give us was easily accessible online," Maslauskas Dunn said. "You just had to do a little research."
Hendricks and Maslauskas Dunn said Towery's identity was discovered inadvertently after a public records request made with the city of Olympia. The request yielded an e-mail message Towery had sent to another person with a military address relating to the protesters' activities.
Maslauskas Dunn said Towery told him and another group member that he was not reporting information to Fort Lewis, and that he genuinely wanted to join "the peace movement" but was under pressure to share information about protesters with local law enforcement.
"What he said is that the world isn't just in black and white, that there are areas of gray and that it's in those areas of gray that he lives his life," Maslauskas Dunn said.
http://www.newsobserver.com/nation_world/story/1630858.html