New York police reportedly tracked activists bound for GOP convention

[maddezmom]

NEW YORK The New York police department is defending itself against allegations it sent undercover officers to spy on groups planning protests at the 2004 Republican National Convention.

~snip~
The paper cites hundreds of still-secret reports compiled by what it says was known as the "R-N-C Intelligence Squad."

N-Y-P-D spokesman Paul Browne says the surveillance was legal, calling it an essential part of getting ready for huge crowds that might have wanted to disrupt the Republican gathering. One group called "Billionaires for Bush" planned satirical performances.

http://www.wluctv6.com/Global/story.asp?S=6275798&nav=menu134_6_1

City Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention
By JIM DWYER
For at least a year before the 2004 Republican National Convention, teams of undercover New York City police officers traveled to cities across the country, Canada and Europe to conduct covert observations of people who planned to protest at the convention, according to police records and interviews.

From Albuquerque to Montreal, San Francisco to Miami, undercover New York police officers attended meetings of political groups, posing as sympathizers or fellow activists, the records show.

They made friends, shared meals, swapped e-mail messages and then filed daily reports with the department’s Intelligence Division. Other investigators mined Internet sites and chat rooms.

From these operations, run by the department’s “R.N.C. Intelligence Squad,” the police identified a handful of groups and individuals who expressed interest in creating havoc during the convention, as well as some who used Web sites to urge or predict violence.

But potential troublemakers were hardly the only ones to end up in the files. In hundreds of reports stamped “N.Y.P.D. Secret,” the Intelligence Division chronicled the views and plans of people who had no apparent intention of breaking the law, the records show.


more:http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/nyregion/25infiltrate.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

[OnyxCollie]

1. R.N.C. Intelligence Squad, a true oxymoran. nt

[azurnoir]

2. Would they have done the same for a Democratic convention?

Somehow I think they would have with a different end game in mind, not the "safety" of delegates, but a chance to bust their favorite targets.
My city is hosting the '08 puke convention, not 1 miles from where I live, already the city "needs" something like $87 million to bring the area where they will be up to their standards. I am against my tax dollars being used for this to the point that we are considering selling our house and moving to try to make sure. This article gives us even more reason.

[berner59]

3. Who hired them???

Why can't they find out...did Bushco?? Wouldn't that be another nail in the coffin...can't be legal...

[L. Coyote]

4. The Nixonian Rat F__kers are hard at work

and we should take comfort if being followed.
It does not mean you are paranoid.
It just means you are not a Republican!!!! :-)

Event organizers and activists:
Time to photograph your events to identify the brown shirts!!
Put their mug shots online with those proud to be there.