Reply #76: In the meantime, our civil liberties are being trampled

[IndianaGreen]

Liberty in the balance: More scrutiny of peace groups

Public safety justifies surveillance since 9/11, authorities say.

By Sam Stanton and Emily Bazar -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Sunday, November 9, 2003

The first hint that their group had been infiltrated came when they saw the dead man's picture in the newspaper.

The story about his demise in a motorcycle accident said his name was Aaron Kilner and that he had been a detective with the Fresno County Sheriff's Department.

But members of Peace Fresno, an anti-war group formed soon after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, had known the nice young man as Aaron Stokes, "the guy with the short hair and the goatee who sat in the corner," as one member described him.

"He participated in demonstrations, he took fliers with him that he said he was going to distribute, and when he was asked about his occupation he said he had some kind of trust fund or inheritance that made it possible for him to not work," said Catherine Campbell, an attorney for the peace group that now is debating whether to sue the Sheriff's Department for invasion of privacy.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/7755585p-8694773c.html