Sheriff Admits to Spying on Peace Fresno

Sheriff Admits to Spying on Peace Fresno
Will not run for Re-election
By Mike Rhodes

February 10, 2006 - Camille Russell knew two and a half years ago that she and other members in Peace Fresno had been spied upon by an undercover agent of the Joint Terrorism Task Force. But it was not until this week that Fresno County sheriff Richard Pierce admitted his departments role in what Russell and some legal observers are calling a violation of Peace Fresno members civil liberties. It was reveled today that representatives from California Attorney General Bill Lockyer’s office have been negotiating with Pierce for months over the release of information surrounding the infiltration of Peace Fresno.

Russell, who was president of Peace Fresno at the time of the infiltration, said "our group has been expecting the release of a report from the AG’s office for months now. We were anxious to know what possible justification they would use for infiltrating a completely nonviolent group whose members are engaged in no criminal activity." Unfortunately, Nathan Barankin, who is with the Attorney General’s office, is now saying that his office might not issue the report. In an interview with The Fresno Bee, regarding potential legal action that could result from this case Barankin said "The courts are constantly moving the line in areas respecting civil rights. After 9/11, the courts have engaged in more line-drawing based on a greater threat.

"If there was a guarantee that a court would look exclusively at the Peace Fresno facts, we feel confident that we would win. But there's no guarantees.

"The issue might become more about expanding law enforcement's boundaries. In light of today's realities, further eroding civil rights and privacy for California citizens is not a good thing for law enforcement, or any of us, in the long run."

At a press conference held today, Peace Fresno representatives made it clear that they are not satisfied with the Attorney General’s response. Russell, speaking at the press conference said "Attorney General Lockyer is the top law enforcement official in the state. If law enforcement agencies don’t abide by his guidelines for protecting the privacy of people attending religious, social, political, and educational meetings, it is his job to discipline those agencies. I want to know how he plans to do that."

Past Peace Fresno president Dan Yaseen and current president Lisa Solomon echoed Russell’s frustration with the Attorney General’s response and called for supporters to contact Lockyer, asking him to release the report. Russell continued, "we deserve a full report from the Attorney General that details the extent of the infiltration of Peace Fresno, including information about other government agencies that were involved."

Peace Fresno is working with the American Civil Liberties Union and local attorneys to defend their civil liberties. Mark Schlosberg, Police Practices Policy Director of the ACLU of Northern California, applauds the Attorney General’s finding, however, Schlosberg added: "Action needs to be immediately taken to ensure the future protection of Fresno county resident’s privacy rights. We urge Attorney General Lockyer to exercise his constitutional authority and direct the Sheriff Department to put in place clear guidelines prohibiting future unlawful spying on political activists. We also urge full disclosure of the results of the investigation."

Schlosberg said the Attorney Generals Office should issue a report publicly disclosing how and why the Sheriff authorized the infiltration, what information was collected on the group and its members, and any other cases of surveillance or infiltration of political or religious groups by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department.

"This is particularly alarming in the current political climate," said Russell. "Since December, we’ve discovered that the National Security Agency is secretly monitoring the phone calls and emails of Americans and that the Pentagon monitored the peaceful anti-war activities of UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz students. Today’s revelation is only one more example of unlawful government spying."

Peace Fresno discovered that during the first six months of 2003, a member of the Fresno County Sheriff Department’s Anti-Terrorism unit infiltrated and conducted undercover surveillance of the group. The ACLU and Peace Fresno asked the Attorney General to investigate the role of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department Anti-Terrorism Unit in conducting surveillance of peace and social justice groups and to issue specific guidelines to the Fresno County Sheriff Department clearly stating that law enforcement may not monitor or spy on individuals or groups involved in First Amendment activity without reasonable suspicion of a crime; and to publicly release the Attorney General’s findings.

Peace Fresno members discovered one of its members had been a government agent when the Fresno Bee published an obituary on September 1, 2003, about Aaron Kilner’s death in a motorcycle accident. In his obituary, Kilner – known to Peace Fresno as Aaron Stokes – was identified as a member of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department’s "anti-terrorism team." When members of Peace Fresno saw the picture and read the obituary they began piecing the story together.

In the midst of the Attorney General’s investigation into the sheriff’s department infiltration of Peace Fresno, sheriff Richard Pierce announced he would not run for re-election, ending his 40 year career in law enforcement. Pierce has also been under fire and investigation for several incidents including moonlighting with a security guard agency, his departments sale of three sheriff’s cars (at a very reasonable price) to the same security company he worked for, and the revelation that security guards at Harris Ranch had been given computers and access to DMV records.

The Peace Fresno Press Conference can be seen here:
http://www.indybay.org/news/2006/02/1801553.php

More information about Peace Fresno can be found here:
www.peacefresno.org

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