ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, spying on vegans who protested ham

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Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:06:49 EDT

ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, spying on vegans

who protested ham

 

 

 

 

http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/aclu_sues_dhs_arresting_vegan_ham_protestors\

..htm

 

 

 

 

ACLU sues Homeland Security for arresting, spying on vegans who

protested ham

 

Raw Story | September 23 2005

 

The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal lawsuit

in Atlanta on behalf of two vegan protesters who were subjected to

imprisonment, arrest and harassment by Homeland Security officials,

RAW STORY has learned.

 

The lawsuit stems from a Dec. 2003 incident, when vegans Caitlin

Childs and Christopher Freeman were protesting on public property

outside a Honey Baked Ham store in Georgia's DeKalb County.

 

After the protest, the duo noticed they were being watched and

photographed by a man in an unmarked car. They approached the car and

wrote down the make, model, color and license plate number on a piece

of paper. They then noticed the unmarked car was following them.

 

According to the ACLU suit, the car contained both a uniformed

police officer and an undercover detective, later identified as

Homeland Security Detective D.A. Gorman. The two pulled in behind

Childs and Freeman and ordered them to exit their car.

 

Gorman then demanded that she turn over the piece of paper on

which she had copied his license tag number. Childs refused to hand

the paper over, and was handcuffed.

 

She was searched a male officer, despite her request to be

searched only by a female officer, the ACLU says.

 

Both Childs and Freeman were arrested and charged with disorderly

conduct. Police confiscated the piece of paper and Childs' house keys.

Both were released from custody, but neither the piece of paper nor

the keys were returned. The county has not pursued a criminal case.

 

To view the surveillance photos taken by Homeland Security, go to

http://www.aclu.org/spyfiles/honeyham/1.html.

 

More from the ACLU's release:

 

" All across the country, the ACLU is uncovering information about

Americans engaged in peaceful protest being spied on by Homeland

Security, the FBI and local police, " said Debbie Seagraves, Executive of the ACLU of Georgia. " It is deeply disturbing that the

government would use resources intended to protect national security

to instead spy on innocent Americans who do nothing more than express

their opinions on social and political issues. "

 

The ACLU argues that by stopping and detaining Childs and Freeman

for no legal reason and then refusing to tell them why they had been

pulled over, Detective Gorman and the DeKalb County Police Department

deprived them of their right to be secure in their person and to be

free from unreasonable search and seizure. The officials' actions

violated the First, Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the federal

and state constitutions, charged the ACLU.

 

" People of this country need to realize that our basic human

rights are being whittled away on a daily basis, " Freeman said. " I

hope this case brings to light the fact that anyone can come under

government security and pay the price. "

 

In addition to the lawsuit, the ACLU has filed Freedom of

Information Act (FOIA) requests on behalf of Childs and Freeman to

uncover any surveillance files kept on the activists by Homeland

Security or other law enforcement agencies. ACLU affiliates in 15

other states have filed similar requests with the FBI on behalf of

more than 100 groups and individuals, as part of a nationwide effort

to expose unlawful domestic spying.

 

Last month, the ACLU of Michigan obtained an FBI report

summarizing a meeting that was intended to keep local, state and

federal law enforcement agencies apprised of planned protests and

activities by various groups and individuals. Among the groups

discussed at the meeting were an affirmative action advocacy group and

a peace and justice group.

 

The ACLU launched its national " Spy Files " effort last year in

response to widespread complaints from students and political

activists who said they were questioned by FBI agents in the months

leading up to the political conventions. The FOIA requests seek two

kinds of information: 1) the actual FBI files of groups and

individuals targeted for speaking out or practicing their faith; and,

2) information about how the practices and funding structure of joint

task forces between the FBI and local police may be encouraging

rampant and unwarranted spying.