I got this in my email the other day...

[Stop_the_War]

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The Melbourne City Council tonight should stop heavy-handed police surveillance
February 22, 2005
Something has gone horribly wrong when ordinary Americans can't express disagreement with their government without being intimidated by the police.
But that was the appalling situation in Melbourne, FL last month, when about 36 people -- moms with children, working citizens and retirees -- walked peacefully in front of City Hall to protest Bush administration policies on the day of the president's second inauguration.
The walkers, who were exercising their constitutional right to "peaceably assemble," were watched for two hours by a total of nine officers, who parked a Crime Scene Investigation van and a patrol car nearby.
The demonstrators also were videotaped -- complete with close-ups of their faces and at least one close-up of a car license -- with the videotape then being placed "in evidence" at the police department.
What the tape was "in evidence" of, Police Chief Don Carey did not say. He did say the tapes were to make sure all "operated within the law."
But why the pre-emptive fear tactics? The police department's own report described the demonstration as "peaceful."
And why the focus on this demonstration against Bush policies? Despite Carey's claims, some far larger demonstrations got no such treatment, according to those taking part.
The situation raises the specter of an FBI memo in 2003, which discussed its intelligence-gathering operations against Iraq war demonstrators and advised local law enforcement officials nationwide to report suspicious activity at protests.
FBI officials claimed it focused only on "anarchists" and "extremist elements" plotting violence. But experts on civil liberties saw something else possibly at work:
A return to the abusive practices of the 1960s and 1970s when the FBI compiled dossiers on many regular citizens who took part in protests against the Vietnam War.
Any American should be stunned that police surveillance of any kind is taking place over citizens merely stating their views. Free expression is the bedrock of the very democracy America now is trying to export overseas.
That the Melbourne surveillance was so heavy-handed that some onlookers asked whether it was the police who were demonstrating makes us wonder if this was the goal:
To chill public speech that's contrary to the government line.
"It's like they did in Nazi Germany," said 85-year-old Allen Green, who joined his wife in walking with the demonstrators. "I don't know what they're using these pictures for. It's very disturbing."
It's also an un-American misuse of police power.
And Carey's explanation -- that protestors were taped to "to ensure they were protected in the exercise of their First Amendment rights" -- is ludicrous.
Putting the faces of law abiding, peaceful citizens "in evidence" does not protect anyone's rights.
But it can scare Americans into silence rather than expression of an opinion that gets them into police files and, maybe, into the files of the Department of Homeland Security.
That's just one of the concerns of Kevin Aplin, vice president of the Brevard Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, who questions why these particular demonstrators were so thoroughly taped.
At a Melbourne City Council meeting tonight, the ACLU will ask for a change in policy that would restrict police videotaping to cases in which a crime is ongoing or imminent.
We go further.
At public demonstrations, there should be no police cameras, the very presence of which restricts free speech. We also say police should provide only the smallest presence needed for public safety.
The council tonight should require Carey to explain why he took such unwarranted action against citizens doing nothing illegal. Members also should find out whether the department was instructed to take this action by any other agency, local, state or federal.
And, has the police department carried out such surveillance on other legally demonstrating groups? If so, which groups, when and why?
Americans must stand strong for the Constitution, and clamp down hard on those who have apparently forgotten what being an American is about.

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[havocmom]

1. Some cities now tape any demonstration, supposedly so they can ID and

press charges against anyone breaking laws if it gets too rowdy, property damage and so on. It is usually for things like sports crowds celebrating.

That will be their likely defense. Sure sounds like they were trying to intimidate this group though. Next time, the demonstrators need to bring their own cameras and tape law enforcement. Sauce for the goose and a damned good way to make the statement that you won't be intimidated OR victimized by over zealous peace officers.

We used to have cameras crammed in our faces when we stood shoulder to shoulder around Planned Parenthood Clinics to prevent patients from being harassed by bussed in fundies. We were told by clinic workers that the pictures would be put up on church bulletin boards and if we did not want to be photographed and possibly targeted, we could come in for coffee and donuts. We decided to ham it up for the cameras. One crafty old lady whipped a video camera out of her back pack and filmed them shoving their cameras in our faces. (They really did come damned close to assault with that those things.) The wackos didn't bother bringing them again.