Md. investigates incident of surveillance at Homewood
"These types of inquires, with no nexus to criminal activity … will not be part of the future of the Maryland State Police," Sheridan reportedly said on July 25.
The trooper assigned to the Hopkins event noted that the protesters were respectful of city laws and maintaining the peace.
The Maryland State Police Department went through official and public censure over its surveillance of activist groups, which occurred during the Ehrlich administration.
"It was our lawsuit that disclosed the documents back in July that caused O'Malley to appoint Sachs and our call from the beginning was for a full, thorough and transparent accounting of what happened," Rocah said. "The report that Sachs has done is that and has done that."
One of the earliest State Police surveillance reports begins with an unidentified trooper who "attended an organizational meeting in Takoma Park in an undercover capacity."
This March 15, 2005 report detailed the meeting events, named attendees and listed the group's discussion topics, which included "soliciting donations for signs."
The ACLU learned that such investigations led to the listing of group members in terror databases and even arrests.
Max Obuszewski has a group Pledge of Resistance, which is called a "security threat group" by the State Police. This group describes itself as "committed to non-violent resistance" and "utilizing the practices and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr."
Obuzewski was found listed in the Maryland High Intensity Drug Trafficking Database, and was listed as a terrorism suspect.
He was also arrested while protesting the Iraq War at the National Security Administration, also located in Maryland.
In other reports, two Catholic nuns are listed as terror suspects, according to Sachs's report.
The Police Superintendent's Office insisted that all surveillance of these groups permanently ceased in 2006. Greg Shipley of the Maryland State Police confirmed that surveillance ended with the Hopkins event.
The trooper assigned to the Hopkins event noted that the protesters were respectful of city laws and maintaining the peace.
The Maryland State Police Department went through official and public censure over its surveillance of activist groups, which occurred during the Ehrlich administration.
"It was our lawsuit that disclosed the documents back in July that caused O'Malley to appoint Sachs and our call from the beginning was for a full, thorough and transparent accounting of what happened," Rocah said. "The report that Sachs has done is that and has done that."
One of the earliest State Police surveillance reports begins with an unidentified trooper who "attended an organizational meeting in Takoma Park in an undercover capacity."
This March 15, 2005 report detailed the meeting events, named attendees and listed the group's discussion topics, which included "soliciting donations for signs."
The ACLU learned that such investigations led to the listing of group members in terror databases and even arrests.
Max Obuszewski has a group Pledge of Resistance, which is called a "security threat group" by the State Police. This group describes itself as "committed to non-violent resistance" and "utilizing the practices and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr."
Obuzewski was found listed in the Maryland High Intensity Drug Trafficking Database, and was listed as a terrorism suspect.
He was also arrested while protesting the Iraq War at the National Security Administration, also located in Maryland.
In other reports, two Catholic nuns are listed as terror suspects, according to Sachs's report.
The Police Superintendent's Office insisted that all surveillance of these groups permanently ceased in 2006. Greg Shipley of the Maryland State Police confirmed that surveillance ended with the Hopkins event.
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