corrente

I didn't know they could do that. Fresno

Thumbing through the Fresno Bee last year, Camille Russell came across a story about a traffic fatality accompanied by a photo of a familiar face.

She knew the dead man as Aaron Stokes, a new member in her antiwar organization, Peace Fresno. But the newspaper story listed him as Aaron Kilner, a 27-year-old Fresno County sheriff's detective who died in a motorcycle accident while off duty.

She copied the photo and showed it to other members of Peace Fresno. "Don't say anything, just look at the picture and see if you recognize this man," she said.

They did.

Now, the activists are accusing the [Fresno] Sheriff's Department of infiltrating their group with an undercover detective. After months of lobbying by the group, California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer's office said this week that it was investigating their claim.

Fresno County Sheriff Richard Pierce won't confirm or deny that Kilner was spying on Peace Fresno. But he said in a prepared statement that his department reserved the right to conduct surveillance as part of its anti-terrorism efforts.
(via LA Times)

Oh, now I get it. Being against the war is the same as being a terrorist. It all hangs together, doesn't it?

Of course, this is only the Fresno PD. We don't have to worry about this happening in other cities. Or at the Federal Government. Attorney General Ashcroft would never stand for it. Right?