New documents say that New York Police Department officers worked undercover to attend meetings of liberal groups. The intent of the police was to maintain intelligence files on different activists in the political organizations who were planning to hold protests across the country. The documents showed how police used tactics in counterterrorism to monitor activities that were lawful.
These tactics are familiar to the ones used by NYPD leading up to the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. At that time, police were monitoring anti-war groups, church organizations and advocates for the environment across the country.
Police had said that it was necessary to carry out pre-convention spying to prepare for crowds that would be huge and raucous. However, documents show that police intelligence units maintained a close eye on political groups as recently as 2008, long after the conclusion of the 2004 convention.
The undercover operation identified groups who were opposed to immigration policy in the U.S., labor laws as well as racial profiling. Jordan Flaherty and Marisa Franco, two activists, were named in one of the reports the undercover officer submitted.
The document clearly shows how law enforcement, in the name of protecting citizens against terrorism, has scrutinized different groups that have opposed government policies.
