4/6/2005: Evidence that local law enforcement is continuing to infiltrate Fresno peace groups was presented at a press conference at California State University Fresno (CSUF) on April 6, 2005. Ruth Obel-Jorgensen, president of the campus Peace & Civil Liberties Coalition said “we have recently discovered that undercover law enforcement agents were present at an event we held.” Obel-Jorgensen said that CSUF police chief David Huerta admitted that undercover agents were at a presentation by Gary Yourofsky, which the group sponsored in November 2004. Yourofsky is one of the foremost animal rights lecturers in the United States.

In addition to the undercover agents attending events sponsored by the Campus Peace and Civil Liberties group it was also reveled that Peace Fresno is again being monitored by local law enforcement. Read the story here

The original infiltration of Peace Fresno made national and international news. It was one of the first concrete examples showing that the US government used the Patriot Act to infiltrate community groups who were not suspected of criminal activity. The story of the infiltration was told on Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! Radio show, Bill Moyer’s television show on PBS, and in Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911 movie. This incident was what many observers believe prompted Attorney General Bill Lockyer to issue the directive to all law enforcement offices in the state directing them to follow the California State Constitution, which prevents them from infiltrating groups that are not under investigation for criminal activity. See the story about the first time Peace Fresno was infiltrated here