Feds Wrongly Tracked Abortion Groups

(AP)  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security conducted a threat assessment of local pro- and anti-abortion rights activists before an expected rally last year, even though they did not pose a threat to national security.

The DHS destroyed or deleted its copies of the assessment after an internal review found it violated intelligence-gathering guidelines by collecting and sharing information about "protest groups which posed no threat to homeland security," according to a department memo written last year.

The report was only shared with police in Middleton and with the director of the Wisconsin Statewide Information Center, an intelligence-gathering hub, according to the memo, which was signed by general counsel Ivan Fong and inspector general Richard Skinner.

It concluded the report was unlikely to "have any impact on civil liberties or civil rights" given its limited dissemination. But anti-abortion groups and the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin on Monday both criticized the federal government's collection of information on law-abiding protesters.

The report was compiled prior to a February 2009 meeting in Middleton by the University of Wisconsin Hospital board to decide whether to open a clinic that would offer late-term abortions.

The analyst who compiled the report - the agency's representative to Wisconsin's intelligence center - received improper guidance that he could perform the assessment "to support local police and public safety efforts," according to the memo. The analyst was given remedial training and department lawyers counseled supervisors who were involved, it said.

The memo was made public as part of a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which was seeking reports from an intelligence oversight panel. After The New York Times reported on its contents in December, a lawyer representing anti-abortion activists who attended the rally asked Middleton police to release a copy of the assessment under Wisconsin's open records law.

In the department's Feb. 4 response, Capt. Noel Kakuske confirmed the department kept a copy of the report but declined to release it. He said the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which runs the intelligence center, and the Department of Homeland Security agreed the report should be withheld because it contains sensitive law enforcement information.

"Disclosure would result in the identification and public disclosure of individuals affiliated with groups on both sides of the issue, which would place them in danger from opposing radical extremists," he wrote.

On Monday, Kakuske told The Associated Press that the assessment was prepared after his department asked state officials for help identifying potential risks associated with the hospital board meeting. He said it's unusual for the department to handle a large protest, and "we wanted to make sure we had the best information we could get."

He said the department had received no specific threat in connection with the meeting, but was worried about the potential for violence.

The UW Hospital and Clinic Authority Board voted 11-3 to approve the plan to start the clinic at the Madison Surgery Center. Those attending the meeting at a suburban office building went through police checkpoints. No problems were reported, and protesters on both sides acted peacefully.

Peggy Hamill, state director of Pro-Life Wisconsin, said her group was considering other options to try to get the report, including appealing to the district attorney or suing.

"It's very disturbing that a local police department has tapped into the security apparatus of the federal government to potentially obstruct free speech," she said. "It's additionally disconcerting they will not release the documents in order for we the public to examine them."

[sean56v]

The university wants a clinic for eugenics. The procedure is used by a medical firm who profits by elimination of fetuses considered unworthy of life. Adolf Hitler ordered women to clinics to destroy fetuses that were not wanted by his Third Reich. The Unborn often showed signs of racial difference from blonde blue-eyed aryans, mentally handicapped, or physically disabled. Surgeons in the practice of eugenics earned billions of dollars over the years in clinic fees and subsequent investments of cash.

[sandy19731]

You know,
It's one thing when you lie about current practices.
But, you have to lie about Hitler?

[pragmatist1]

Rather than protecting the security of the nation, DHS prefers going after groups that are sanitary given the severity of the terrorists like the Christmas failed bomber, Ft. Hood attacker, military recruiting attacker, urban street gang terrorists, etc. DHS isn't capable of handling its job, since it's being run by a person who had a dismal record as a state governor that did nothing to stop the influx of illegals; her border was like a sieve. This is part of a larger problem starting with the president on down. Their focus on national security and terrorism isn't where it should be.

[tmittelstaed]

Excuse me? Let's see, how many anti-abortion doctors have the pro-choicers killed in the last decade? NONE. How many pro-abortion doctors have the pro-lifers killed in the last decade? MANY.

I think surveying of the pro-lifer movement was absolutely warranted, given it's past history. Of course, they would have had to survey the pro-choice movement so they could claim they wern't biased if the surveying was made public.

[RCC_Soldaten]

Excuse Me! 50,000,000 babies killed by a pro-choice mentality since 1973. Your people are moving into second place. Stalin first, Pro-choice second and Tojo of Japan third.

[berlinfoto-2009]

Without identifying the issue, or the organization, I personally know of one such organization where the President or the Past President was also the Main Government Informant, and Agent Provocateur.
So who can you trust? nobody1

[berlinfoto-2009]

"Disclosure would result in the identification and public disclosure of individuals affiliated with groups on both sides of the issue, which would place them in danger from opposing radical extremists," he wrote".
Disclosure would result in the identification of snitches planted in both groups. Identification of these individuals would possibly place these individuals lives at risk.
Does not everyone love snitches. If you study recent history of these type of things take for instance the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, and the surrounding protest, something like, one in ten were agents provocateurs, working for the Police.
In fact Agents Provocateurs, are !!!!!SUBVERTING DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA!!!!!! This my friend is how you have lost your freedoms.

[ALBrainTrust10]

WHY WOULD THE PUBLICLY FUNDED UNIVERSITY MEDICAL SYSTEM OPEN A LATE-TERM ABORTION CLINIC?

I'M CURIOUS IF THE SYSTEM ALLOWS THE TERMINATION OF HEALTHY, VIABLE BABIES....IN CASES WHERE THE MOTHER IS "DEPRESSED?"

I LESS WORRIED ABOUT THE DHS SNOOPING THAN THE STATE OF WISCONSIN FUNDING QUESTIONABLE ABORTION PROCEDURES.

[sandy19731]

Maybe they're studying how to diagnose and treat severe malformations in fetuses?