Md. Police Infiltrated Groups Opposed to War and the Death Penalty

By Matthew Rothschild, The Progressive. Posted July 18, 2008.

Max Obuszewski is a seasoned, nonviolent peace activist in Maryland. But to the Maryland State Police, he is suspected of committing the "primary crime" of "terrorism -- anti-war protestors" and the "secondary crime" of "terrorism -- anti-govern."

That is how the Maryland State Police designated him in internal documents that the ACLU of Maryland obtained through a lawsuit and released on July 17. The documents also show that the Maryland State Police entered his name into a database dealing with "high intensity drug activity." These documents reveal an elaborate undercover operation against peace groups and anti-capital-punishment groups.

"Agents collectively spent at least 288 hours on their surveillance over the 14-month period" in 2005 and 2006, the ACLU of Maryland says. Agents "monitored private organizing meetings, public forums, and events held in several churches, as well as anti-death penalty rallies outside the state's SuperMax facility and in Lawyer's Mall in Annapolis."

Groups discussed in the documents include the ACLU, the American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International, the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, the International Socialist Organization, the NAACP, and United Catholic Charities. (The mention of the ACLU pertained to an upcoming meeting where the group was to "discuss the Patriot Act and how it is applied to the general population in relation to civil rights and liberties.")

The operation by the Maryland State Police included infiltrating undercover troopers into the small organizing sessions that the activists held. Sometimes only four people attended those meetings -- along with the snoop.

The fake name of one of those undercover troopers was revealed in the documents as Lucy Shoup.

Obuszewski remembers her.

"She was a friendly person," he says. "You could say she was an attractive woman. She was maybe ten years out of college. We never suspected her at all. We were completely trusting in her."

Ironically, one internal document, dealing with a July 11, 2005, meeting of the Pledge of Resistance, states: "Obuszewski and others at the meeting told me that they were concerned about the surveillance they thought they were occasionally under. . . . Obuszewski then briefed the members about the organization of the Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country and how part of their duties was to watch groups such as Pledge of Resistance."

Obuszewski read me three of her e-mails he says he still has in his computer, including one in which she bragged that her name "has a nice ring to it."

April 20, 2005

Hi Max,

I met you at the DP [Death Penalty] protest in Baltimore last week, and wanted to say hello and check on meeting dates/times for pledge of resistance.

Can you tell me a little more about what you do?

I want to get involved but want to make sure I've got the time.

I'm busy right now but would love to get involved if I can.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Lucy.

July 28, 2005

Due to a change in marital status, my name and e-mail have changed and I will no longer be using or checking my old address.

Please send anything to me (pledge, Save Vernon Evans, etc) at shoupy_shoup@yahoo.com.

Whoops, forgot to tell you my name is Lucy Shoup, has a nice ring, doesn't it?

Thanks, I will see you soon.

August 2, 2005

That would be great to be on the list serve for progressive news, alerts, etc., as well as the Baltimore activists' alert.

I'm in the process of moving, so I will give you my snail mail soon.

I may just get a p.o. box to make life easier.

See you soon, Lucy.

In their reports, the undercover officers repeatedly stressed that no crimes were in the making.

"No intelligence has been gathered at this point that there are any illegal or disruptive actions planned," says one document dated March 16, 2005.

"No one advocated any kind of violence or civil disobedience," says another dated April 7, 2005.

"No problems were observed," says one on June 10, 2005.

Nevertheless, the agents kept recommending that "this case remain open and updated as events warrant."

David Rocah is a staff attorney for the ACLU of Maryland.

"To say my jaw hit the floor, to say I'm stupefied, doesn't even begin to describe my reaction," Rocah says. "This is downright terrifying and ought to send chills down the spine of every American who cherishes freedom and who believes that we have freedom to voice our opinions in this country."

See more stories tagged with: death penalty, peace groups, activists, infiltration, maryland police

Matthew Rothschild is the editor of The Progressive.

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