The Hunt for Red Menace: - 4

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Private Connections

Information Collection & Sharing

David Kaplan noted that there were other agencies of the federal government who spied on citizens during the 1960's and 1970's:

=== "Until 1974, the CIA conducted a widespread, illegal spying operation within the United States. According to Congressional reports, the names of 300,000 U.S. citizens were cross-indexed within agency files, and thousands of Americans were placed on "watch lists" to have their mail opened and telegrams read. === "The Pentagon's intelligence operations spilled into a highly questionable area during the 1960s and early 1970s. The U.S. Army Intelligence Command, among others, rean a far- reaching domestic spying program that, at its height, fielded over 1500 plainclothes agents from 350 offices to spy on anti-war and civil rights groups. The Army's program was, in the words of a Congressional subcommittee, "both massive and unrestrained," and compiled an estimated 100,00 dossiers on U.S. citizens. The Secretary of the Army subsequently ordered those files destroyed, although, like the CIA, there are now indications that such activities may have continued.

Information from the private right-wing groups and federal agencies also flowed in and out of the Law Enforcement Intelligence Unit, an association of local law enforcement intelligence and investigative squads set up to compete with the sometimes less- than-cooperative FBI.

Civil liberties activist and author Richard Criley was especially concerned with local police intelligence units.

=== "In Chicago, the local police intelligence unit amassed files on over 200,000 citizens and groups ranging from the PTA to the Communist Party. They had already considered plans to computerize the file system when a series of civil lawsuits brought their activities to light. Chicago was just one of several cities with similar surveillance units.

In fact, an informal nationwide network for sharing political dossiers among police and private intelligence agencies existed for several decades prior to 1975. According to files produced in a series of lawsuits against government surveillance in Chicago, 159 agencies in 33 states throughout the nation received political spying files from, or sent such files to, the Chicago Police Department Intelligence Division, which for many years was called the Red Squad.

The agencies include 100 municipal police departments, 26 state law enforcement agencies, 16 county sheriffs offices, and 17 other public and private agencies.

"While many concerned civil libertarians have been convinced of the existence of politically-motivated activity by their local police, they have frequently been frustrated by the need for concrete proof." said Frank Donner, author of The Age of Surveillance who called for a "remedial campaign to abolish such abuses," based on the revelations.

According to attorney Richard Gutman, who obtained the police reports, the following examples are typical of the material discussed in the Chicago Police Transmittal Files: · The Texas Department of Public Safety ("Texas Rangers") sought "any pertinent information related to subversive activities or affiliations" regarding Chicago attorney Terry Yale Feiertag. The Chicago police responded that attorney Feiertag was employed by an organization whic provided legal aid to low income groups and in civil rights cases; · The Indianapolis Police Department sought "any data" regarding Clergy and Laity Concerned About Vietnam. The Chicago police in response sent information about the group's lawful anti-war activities; · The Detroit Police Department sought information regarding Lucy Montgomery. in response the Chicago police sent Detroit a four-page report detailing Mrs. Montgomery's lawful political activities.

"Many of these political surveillance units-which have also surfaced in Detroit, Seattle, and elsewhere-have been disbanded as the result of public outrage and, in some cases, lawsuits," observed journalist David Kaplan. "Civil liberties watchdogs, however, believe that other units whose activities remain secret continue to grow."

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AGENCIES EXCHANGING POLITICAL SPYING INTELLIGENCE

WITH THE CHICAGO POLICE DEPARTMENT INTELLIGENCE

DIVISION (CPD/IU)

Alabama

Alabama Dept. of Public Safety

Birmingham Police Dept.

Huntsville Police Dept.

Arizona

Phoenix Police Dept.

Maricopa County Sheriff

Temple Police Dept.

Tucson Police Dept.

California

Anaheim Police Dept.

Alameda County District Attorney's Office

Bakersfield Police Dept.

California Dept. of Justice, Organized Crime and

Criminal Intelligence Branch

California Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Criminal

Identification and Investigation

Delano Police Dept.

Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office

Los Angeles County Sheriff's OIffice

Los Angeles Police Dept.

McFarland Police Dept.

Newark Police Dept.

Oakland Police Dept.

Orange Police Dept.

Palo Alto Police Dept.

San Francisco Police Dept.

San Jose Police Dept.

San Mateo County Sheriff

Santa Ana Police Dept.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff

Torrance Police Dept.

Colorado

Aspen Police Dept.

Denver Police Dept.

Connecticut

Connnecticut State Police

Hartford State Police

Delaware

Delaware State Police

District of Columbia

Metropolitan Police Dept.

Office of Economic Opportunity, Office of Inspection

Florida

Dade County Sheriff's Office

Florida Department of Law Enforcement

Duval County Sheriff's Office

Miami Beach Police Dept.

Miami Police Dept.

Orlando Police Dept.

Tallahassee Police Dept.

Tampa Police Dept.

Hawaii

Honolulu Police Department

Illinois

Carbondale Police Dept.

Crystal Lake Police Dept.

Decatur Police Dept.

Dekalb Police Dept.

Evanston Police Dept.

Galesburg Police Dept.

Grayville Police Dept.

Hammond Corporation, Deerfield

Highland Park Police Dept.

Illinois State Police

Peoria Police Dept.

Rockford Police Dept.

Rock Island Police Dept.

Skokie Police Dept.

United States Army Intelligence, 113th MI Group,

Evanston

University of Illinois Police, Chicago Circle Campus

Woodridge Police Dept.

Indiana

Anderson Police Dept.

East Chicago Police Dept.

Gary Police Dept.

Indiana State Police

Indianapolis, Mayor

Indianapolice Police Dept.

Northwest Indiana Crime Commission, Inc.

Iowa

Cedar Rapids Police Dept.

Des Moines Police Dept.

Iowa Dept. of Pulic Safety, Bureau of Criminal

Investigation

Kansas

Columbia Police Dept.

Kansas City Police Dept.

Minneapolis Sheriff's Police Dept.

Kentucky

Kentucky Dept. of Corrections, Division of

Probation and Parole

Kentucky State Police

Louisville Police Dept.

Louisiana

Franklin Parish Sheriff's Office

New Orleans Police Dept.

Maine

Houlton Police jDept.

Maine State Police

Maryland

Baltimore County Police Dept.

Baltimore Police Dept.

Maryland State Police

University of Maryland

Massachusetts

Boston Police Dept.

Fitchburg Police Dept.

Massachusetts Dept. of Public Safety, Division of

Subversive Activities

Massachusetts State Police

Medford Police Dept.

Michigan

Ann Arbor Police Dept.

Berrien County Prosecuting Attorney

Detroit Police Dept.

Detroit Police Officers Ass'n

Eaton County Sheriff's Dept.

Flint Police Dept.

Michigan House of Representatives, Economic

Development Committee

Michigan State Police

Saginaw Police Dept.

Minnesota

Bloomington Police Dept.

Missouri

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Dept.

Minutemen

Nebraska

Omaha Police Dept.

Nevada

Reno Police Dept.

New Jersey

Atlantic City Police Dept.

Camden Police Dept.

Newark Police Dept.

New Jersey State Police

New Mexico

Albuquerque Police Dept.

New Mexico State Police

New York

Beacon Police Dept.

Buffalo Police Dept.

Ithaca Police Dept.

Nassau County Police Dept.

National Goals, Inc. (Private group, John Rees, Dir.)

New Rochelle Police Dept.

New York City Police Dept.

New York State Dept. of Civil Service

New York State Police

Port of New York Authority

Suffolk County Police Dept.

Yonkers Police Dept.

Ohio

Akron Police Dept.

Canton Police Dept.

Cincinnati Crime Bureau

Cincinnati Division of Police

Columbus Police Dept.

Cleveland Division of Police

Cuyahoga Falls Sheriffs Office

Dayton Police Dept.

Ohio State Highway Patrol

Steubenville Police Dept.

Toledo Division of Police

Wintersville Police Dept.

Zenia Police Dept.

Oregon

Eugene Police Dept.

Portland Bureau of Police

Portland District Attorney

Multnomah County Sheriffs Office

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Pennsylvania State Police

Pittsburgh Bureau of Police

Philadelphia Police Dept.

Rhode Island

Providence Police Dept.

Tennessee

Knoxville Police Dept.

Memphis Police Dept.

Nashville Metropolitan Police Dept.

Tennessee Office of the Attorney General,

Dyersburg

Texas

Dallas Police Dept.

Fort Worth Police Dept.

Houston Police Dept.

Texas Dept. of Public Safety

Utah

Salt Lake City Police Dept.

Virgin Islands

Virgin Islands Dept of Public Safety

Washington

Camas Police Dept.

Seattle Police Dept.

Wisconsin

FonduLac County Sheriffs Office

Milwaukee Police Dept.

Washington County Sheriffs Office

Wauwatosa Police Dept.

Wisconsin Dept. of Justice, Division of

Criminal Investigation

Private Connections

Break-ins and thefts were numerous during the COINTELPRO period. When a judge allowed plaintiffs in one lawsuit against government spying access to the Chicago Police Red Squad files, lawyers found original membership lists stolen from radical groups such as Medical Committee for Human Rights and Students for a Democratic Society. Former staff members from the groups remembered the lists vanishing after mysterious office break-ins where office equipment was left untouched.

In some cases break-ins and assaults were carried out by right- wing paramilitary groups coordinating their efforts with FBI informants, military intelligence agents, and local police investigative units. Chicago's Legion of Justice not only assaulted activists, but stole files and distributed photocopies to government agencies.<$FSee numerous articles in Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Daily News, Chicago Tribune, especially circa July 1970 when first grand jury indictments were handed down, and July- August 1975 when sworn testimony firmly tied members of police unit to Legion. Noteworthy are the articles by Larry Green in Chicago Daily News July 29 & 30, August 1, 1975. Also depositions from Socialist Workers Party, et. al. v. Joseph Grubisic, et. al. Also discussed in Donner.>

Detroit's Operation Breakthrough harassed activists while it was essentially controlled by police agents who sometimes outnumbered non-informant members.<$FConclusions arrived at after review of material produced in the Michigan ACLU lawsuit, Benkert v. Michigan State Police. Also unpublished academic paper by Daniel Jacobs.>

The FBI relationship to the far right reached a violent climax in San Diego, where an FBI informant testified the FBI provided him with $10,000 worth of weapons, including explosives used in a bombing by the Secret Army Organization (SAO), a right-wing group which harassed activists protesting the Vietnam war. The FBI even hid a gun used in an SAO assasination attempt against a leftist professor until an ACLU-sponsored lawsuit by a woman wounded in the assault forced the FBI to reveal the weapon's existence.<$FSee generally San Diego Door coverage of SAO, especially investigation by Doug Porter, Larry Remer and Bill Ritter. "The FBI's Secret Soldiers," Peter Biskind, New Times, Jan. 9, 1976. For hiding of gun see Donner p.444-445.>

The interlocking network of private right-wing counter-subversion operations flourished during the COINTELPRO period. Groups such as the American Security Council, Church League of America, Wackenhut Security, Research West, Agitator, Inc., FIPOL/UCC, and Anacapa Sciences gathered information about alleged subversives. Several of these groups were active in California during the governorship of Ronald Reagan and one security specialist for a California utility told investigators of a link between Research West, Governor Reagan, and Edwin Meese.

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