Surveillance as Intimidation.

[reprehensor]

Spying on citizens

Brevard law enforcement surveillance chills the precious right to speak out

The American tradition of free speech is under attack across the country, as law enforcement agencies -- under the guise of the war on terror -- intimidate ordinary citizens into silence.

snip

Boettcher, 57, was near tears as she and five others named in a Brevard County Sheriff's Office report on the Jan. 20 demonstration went to the sheriff's Melbourne office Monday.

They were seeking the files deputies had secretly collected on them -- files the department must deliver, completely and promptly.

And they wanted to know why the sheriff's report tagged them as "persons of interest."

Of interest for what?

"Protesting in an anti-government assembly," says sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Andrew Walters.

more@link

[sendero]

1. They should call the ACLU...

... this is patently illegal. They should file suit and show the police force that they have to obey the law also.

[Hoping4Change]

2. Sheriff stated "they might be "here to harm our community"

"Protesting in an anti-government assembly," says sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Andrew Walters.

In other words, the sheriff's department calls a peaceful expression of opinion about Bush's policy on Iraq, Social Security and the environment "an anti-government assembly."

And considering the group included moms with kids, a woman in a wheelchair and people up to age 85, Sheriff Jack Parker's claim that they might be "here to harm our community" is both absurd and a dangerous indication of police's abuse-of-power mindset.

:wtf: