Md. Environmental Groups Join Call for Justice and Reform
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu-md.org
SILVER SPRING, MD – Deeply troubled at learning that leaders of a large
environmental advocacy organization in Maryland have received letters from the
Maryland State Police (MSP) informing them that they have been named as
terrorists in MSP's database, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland
today joined with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) and the leaders
of several other environmental organizations and state legislative leaders
dedicated to fighting for the environment in rallying for justice and passage of
legislation to ensure such spying never again happens in Maryland.
"This revelation raises even more questions about the true scope
and targets of State Police spying," said David Rocah, Staff Attorney for the
ACLU of Maryland. "Clearly, the State Police's surveillance went well beyond
infiltrating the meetings and communications of anti-death penalty activists
ahead of an upcoming execution, as has been cited by MSP as the impetus for
their surveillance. It is striking that no one significantly involved in
anti-death penalty activism has received a letter indicating that they are
listed in the MSP's database. Whatever criteria the State Police had for placing
activists in the database had nothing to do with the rationale offered thus far.
The full story must come out, and legislation must be passed to protect the
First Amendment rights of Marylanders for the future."
At the press
conference, it was revealed that Mike Tidwell, the founder and executive
director of CCAN, and Joshua Tulkin, a former deputy director of CCAN, were
among the 53 activists who have received letters from MSP informing them that
they had been wrongly named and tracked as terrorists in MSP's Case Explorer
criminal intelligence database. Among its myriad organizing, educational, and
lobbying activities, CCAN has organized two acts of peaceful civil disobedience
to highlight the dangers of global climate change. In 2004 (prior to when the
MSP has stated any surveillance began), several CCAN protestors, including Mr.
Tidwell, were arrested for briefly sitting in the road blocking the entrance to
a coal-fired power plant in Dickerson, Maryland. In October 2006 (after the date
by which the MSP has asserted that surveillance ended), two CCAN protestors hung
a banner from a ledge at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
While he was present during the NOAA demonstration, as a media relations officer
who remained outside the protest area, Mr. Tulkin has never been arrested or
detained in his life.
Significantly, the leaders of several other
Maryland environmental organizations today stood united with the CCAN leaders in
expressing outrage at their being named as terrorists and tracked as criminals
in MSP's database, including the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, 1,000
Friends of Maryland, and Environment Maryland. Also speaking out in support were
State Senators Jamie Raskin and Paul Pinsky.
Ironically, former
Vice President Al Gore recently called on young people around the world to
engage in the precise activity that appears to have brought the CCAN staff to
the MSP's attention. In his remarks on September 24, 2008 during the
opening plenary of the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York, Mr. Gore
said: "And if you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and
looking at what is being done right now and not done, I believe we've reached
the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of
new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration." Click here
to read an official transcript: www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=2953&srcid=2827
"As an innocent citizen, it is terrorizing for me to think of the
Maryland police watching me," said Mr. Tidwell, who in addition to leading CCAN
is also an author and filmmaker who received the Audubon Naturalist Society's
prestigious "Conservation Award" in 2003. "What a waste of government resources
when the biggest threat in Maryland is the terror of 20 feet of sea-level rise
from global warming. And the real violence in our state is the combustion of
dirty coal that creates global warming."
"Young people understand
that global warming and the destruction of our national resources are serious
threats to our future, and I see my work in this fight as a moral obligation,
not a crime," said Mr. Tulkin. He continued: "It is wholly unacceptable for the
Maryland State Police to monitor activists and enter their names into databases
for doing what our Constitution calls and empowers us to do in engaging in the
political process. I am proud to work with thousands of students across the
country who are working to fight global warming. They deserve our support, not
suspicion, and I encourage young people to use their voices to vote this
November 4th for a President and Congress who understand the critical role youth
play in protecting the moral compass of society."
Go online to
learn more about Maryland ACLU's challenge to MSP spying: www.aclu-md.org/Index%20content/NoSpying/NoSpying.html