Records Show that Chicago Police Spied on Activists Since 2009
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Records Show that Chicago Police Spied on Activists Since 2009
By Mick Dumke, Chicago Sun-Times
27 September 15
he Chicago Police Department has routinely spied on activist groups during the past six years, police records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show — including union members, anti-Olympics protesters, anarchists, the Occupy movement, NATO demonstrators and critics of the Chinese government.
And it has continued to do so, according to the records, which have never previously been made public and which the police department fought to withhold.
Under the department’s rules, cops aren’t allowed to purposely interfere with people exercising their free-speech rights. In recent years, though, department officials have repeatedly justified spying on protesters by saying they fear they might engage in “disorder” and “civil disobedience.”
One investigation involving the surveillance of protest groups is still underway, 10 months after it was launched, the records show. The police won’t say who is being investigated or discuss the methods being used.
Read more: http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/32623-records-show-that-chicago-police-spied-on-activists-since-2009
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