When rumors cropped up across the country this fall suggesting that local law enforcement organizations were spying on activist groups, the American Civil Liberties Union leapt into action.

The organization filed Freedom of Information Act records release requests in 10 states — including Iowa — and the District of Columbia to determine whether local law enforcement groups had assisted the Joint Terrorism Task Forces.

“We began talking about our concerns that the war on terrorism under [Attorney General John] Ashcroft was becoming a war on dissent,” said Randall Wilson, legal director of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU decided collectively that it needed to do something, but it chose to wait until after the presidential election was over, so its actions would not be seen as political or partisan, Wilson said.

The requests asked for the actual FBI files on certain groups and individuals and information regarding policy and procedure used by the Joint Terrorism Task Forces.

In Iowa, surveillance of known peace activists, including Quakers and Catholic workers, has been discovered, Wilson said. One Iowa case involves nonviolence protest workshops held at Drake University and a protest held at the Stark Armory at Camp Dodge.

Spying on these groups is a waste of resources that should be used to find real terrorists, Wilson said.

“They’re not terrorists,” he said. “In fact, they’re out there demonstrating against terrorism.”

Law enforcement agencies employ various tactics to monitor activist groups, Wilson said. Sometimes that monitoring works to make people uncomfortable or intimidate them into silence. Other times, agencies employ provocateurs who join groups and report its actions and plans, he said. Subpoenas, video surveillance, shows of force and sham arrests are also typical, he said.

Surveillance seemed to be encouraged by federal intelligence officers, Wilson said. An FBI memo seemed to be an invitation for domestic surveillance of activist groups.

Sally Frank, professor of law at Drake Law School and co-counsel on several Freedom of Information Act requests, and other lawyers working on the ACLU cases, hope the released records lend evidence to their suspicions about surveillance of activist groups. Lawyers are looking at how activist groups’ records were obtained and how the information was used, she said. The files may help determine if the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Forces violated activists’ rights and the law and whether there are grounds to sue.

“We believe they have, but we need a lot more info,” Frank said.

There are things that indicate surveillance was happening in Iowa, she said. Last fall, activists’ e-mail was monitored. Frank said one e-mail passed to the Polk County Attorney’s Office contained information about a conference on nonviolent protest that was to be held at Drake University. Polk County sent two undercover deputies to the nonviolence training and 20 deputies in full riot gear to a peaceful protest at the Stark Armory. After the protest, a grand jury issued subpoenas to peace activists and the Drake chapter of the National Lawyers Guild requesting membership lists and agendas as well as security reports about the conference. All subpoenas were later withdrawn after protest by the ACLU and others, Frank said.

“Those are the things we know; therefore, it’s extraordinarily likely that there’s a lot more,” she said.

Bringing the problem to the public’s attention is another reason to file requests, Frank said.

“Hopefully, the public will realize if we don’t have civil liberties, then we’re not free,” she said.

If the laws are to change, the public must understand what is happening so people can decide if laws are just, she said.

These incidents almost parallel past times in U.S. history during which Americans were watched because of public fear, Wilson said.

“I think what we don’t want to do is to go back to the days of McCarthyism where everyone was looking over his shoulder,” he said.

But like in the days of McCarthy, the American people have the power to stop the FBI and law enforcement agencies from infringing on the rights of activists, he said.

Bringing these actions to people’s attention will hopefully make them uncomfortable enough to stop the surveillance and get the government headed in the right direction again, Wilson said.

“In the end, the only thing that will stop it is the will of the American public,” he said.