PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

FBI spying on Merton Center
by TMC Tuesday, Mar. 14, 2006 at 4:05 PM

Info on FBI spying against TMC

Dear Thomas Merton Center Friends and Members,

This morning, the Thomas Merton Center and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released documents obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) showing that the Bush administration has been spying on peace activists since before the Iraq war began. These documents are explosive in that they conclusively show that peace advocates are being spied on primarily because of their political opposition to warfare.

Who would have thought that Peace was an act of terrorism? Well, it apparently is according to the Bush Administration. Documents we obtained from the FBI show that the administration was apparently so worried about dissent to their war plans that they conducted an investigation in 2002 that focused solely on what the anti-war movement was doing – before the Iraq war had even begun. The documents show that the FBI was focusing on our connections to Muslims in Pittsburgh. The administration not only continued with its spying campaign, but in 2004 and 2005 had a confidential source participating within the Thomas Merton Center and reporting back to the FBI.

We realize that these are truly overwhelming revelations. And we encourage folks to take a look at the documents on-line at http://www.aclu.org (to be posted at 10am this morning). It is also important that we urge some caution. It will not do us any good to become overly concerned with this spying. We obviously have nothing to hide and while we should be angry about this spying, we cannot have it effect our work.

This is particularly true of the alleged informant. We, as an organization, should do our best to recognize that it does not matter who this person is or if they are still among us. The worst thing that we could do at a moment like this is to start pointing fingers. So long as that person is willing to fold brochures, hand out flyers, and count as another person against this war, there is little to concern ourselves about. Remember that this administration, and these types of FBI efforts in the past, were conducted largely to intimidate Americans from speaking out and to divide us against one another. We cannot have that happen today.

Do not fear. This spying is obviously a reaction to the good, hard work of Pittsburghers working against the war. And the Thomas Merton Center will not pause for a second in our efforts to wage against warfare and injustice. There are many opportunities to work for peace and to stop this spying. The best thing that we all can do is come out this Saturday and join the thousands of Pittsburghers in our march against the Iraq War or to join us for the many other events happening this weekend.

For information on this weekend’s events including the march go to: http://www.pittsburghendthewar.org

We also want to make sure folks know that this is only the beginning of our efforts to shut down spying programs that target Americans and foreign nationals because of their political beliefs. There is a Spy In to being planned by our Pittsburgh Bill of Rights Defense Campaign for next Tuesday, March 21, at the Federal Building downtown at noon.

We also want to encourage you to join us for a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) filing party being sponsored by the Pittsburgh Bill of Rights Defense Campaign and the ACLU. The party will be held at the Thomas Merton Center on March 29 at 7pm. It is entirely possible that there are more spying records that were withheld because they pertained to individuals instead of the organization. Please and come join us while we file our FOIAs and shed some light on the darkness that pervades this administration.

Thank you for all of your support and hard work

For Peace and Justice,

The Thomas Merton Center Board and Staff