Group items tagged

Newly declassified documents reveal that an active member of Students for a Democratic Society and Port Militarization Resistance in Washington state was actually an informant for the US military. The man everyone knew as "John Jacob" was in fact John Towery, a member of the Force Protection Service at Fort Lewis. The military's role in the spying raises questions about possibly illegal activity. The Posse Comitatus law bars the use of the armed forces for law enforcement inside the United States. The Fort Lewis military base denied our request for an interview. But in a statement to Democracy Now!, the base's Public Affairs office publicly acknowledged for the first time that Towery is a military operative. "This could be one of the key revelations of this era," said Eileen Clancy, who has closely tracked government spying on activist organizations. [includes rush transcript]

In 2007, Boyd's 16-year-old son, Luqman, was killed in a car crash. "I had already been through this two years prior," she said. Don't Miss * Public's help needed in terror fight, Napolitano says * Eighth suspect sought in N.C. terrorism case * Al Qaeda conspirator resentenced to life She said authorities took her, her daughter and pregnant daughter-in-law to the hospital, where she learned that her husband and sons had not been in a car accident and were not injured. "When we got to the hospital, they brought us around back, separated us, handcuffed us, including my eight-month pregnant daughter[-in-law], and were very rude and then told us, 'They're not dying; they're detained. And you better cooperate with us.' "

1. The US government is using laws designed for dealing with a very deadly pandemic or bioterrorism to bring in a mass vaccination program for swine flu, specifically the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act of 2006.