PRESS CONFERENCE: VICTIMS OF STATE POLICE SPYING SCANDAL DEMAND COMPLETE INVESTIGATION

Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore, 325 East 25^th Street , Baltimore , MD 21218 Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski at verizon.net

PRESS RELEASE-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 11, 2008

Contact: Max Obuszewski [410] 366-1637 or mobuszewski at verizon.net Terry Fitzgerald [410] 925-1220

VICTIMS OF STATE POLICE SPYING SCANDAL DEMAND COMPLETE INVESTIGATION

WHO: The Pledge of Resistance-Baltimore was formed for individuals willing to engage in nonviolent civil resistance to first prevent and later to protest the war in Iraq . It is affiliated with several national peace groups, including the National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance and United For Peace & Justice. The Pledge was labeled a Security Threat Group by the Maryland State Police. The Baltimore Coalition Against the Death Penalty is affiliated with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, a grassroots organization focused on abolishing the death penalty in the U.S.

The Pledge, the Coalition and the Campaign were listed in the documents released by the Attorney General’s office after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit. The documents revealed and detailed many instances of Maryland State Police officers engaged in illegal surveillance of peace activists and opponents to the death penalty.

WHAT: Gov. Martin O'Malley announced on July 31 that former Maryland Attorney General Stephen H. Sachs will head an independent review of state police efforts to infiltrate and monitor activist groups opposed to the death penalty and the Iraq War. The victims of the surveillance are concerned that an independent review of the surveillance may not be enough. So the activists wrote a letter expressing serious reservations to Gov. O’Malley and circulated it to the progressive community. Over fifteen Maryland groups or individuals signed on to this letter which will be released at a press conference.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at noon

WHERE: outside State Police headquarters, 1201 Reisterstown Road, Pikesville , MD 21208.

WHY: Spying on peace groups and anti-death penalty advocates is a travesty of justice, an absolute waste of taxpayer money and an unproductive use of government employees. To ensure that such scandalous behavior is not ongoing or will not be repeated in the future, the progressive community in Maryland is demanding a full investigation to determine who ordered the surveillance, how long it was ongoing, what government officials were involved and what preventive measures will be taken.

The letter to Gov. O’Malley makes this point, “However, any comprehensive report, and any confidence to be given to its conclusions, can result only from a broad, independent, non-politicized, and carefully persistent examination of these activities.“ These are the suggestions listed in the letter: 1] need for more than 60 days to complete the investigation, 2] not limit the investigation to the 14-month time frame detailed in the documents, 3] involve the victims in the investigation, 4] reveal the scope of the “intelligence sharing” with police and government agencies, 5] detail other types of surveillance, electronic or otherwise, which may have occurred, 6] remove the names from all watch lists, 7] get subpoena power, 8] publish a public report and 9] call for a written apology for the victims.

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