As the result of a Freedom of Information Act Request by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, the U.S. Defense Department has released documents that show Pentagon surveillance programs have targeted the e-mail communications of university students planning protests against the war in Iraq and against the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy against gay and lesbian members of the armed forces.
The Pentagon had previously acknowledged monitoring protests on campuses as “national-security threats”, it was not until recently that evidence surfaced showing that the department was also monitoring e-mail communications and listing them in its Talon reporting systems, which was established in 2003 to keep track of potential terrorist threats.
In a story published today, The Chronicle of Higher Education notes that “one e-mail message from the reports, which appears to be from an organizer, describes a protest planned for April 21, 2005, at SUNY-Albany. The message details students’ intentions to deliver a petition to the university’s president and to hold a rally at which protesters would be “playing anarchist soccer and taking part in a drum circle.” The e-mail also includes information about a “Critical Mass bike ride” for later that day in which students could ride their bicycles to express “solidarity with Earth Day.”
Follow
Well good for those SUNY-Albany students. They weren’t too activist when I was there so its good to see them planning outrageous activities like anarchist soccer (wait, is this an anti-FIFA move?).