The Maine Civil Liberties Union received on Feb. 1 evidence that the FBI has spied on members of the Maine Peace and Justice Coalition. The evidence—an e-mail correspondence from a MPJC member regarding the Million Worker March in October 2004—was obtained through a records request filed by the MCLU in 2005 on behalf of seven peace groups and 15 individuals in the state. The groups include the Maine Civil Liberties Union; Peace Action Maine; the Maine Peace and Justice Coalition; the Peace and Justice Center of East Maine; the Maine Chapter of Veterans for Peace; the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence; and the People’s Free Space.

Sheena Bellows, executive director of MCLU, said this is the first affirmative response the MCLU received regarding the request. The MCLU asked for information on each of the seven groups and 15 individuals. Bellows said the MCLU has received a response for all but four of the requests. According to Bellows, the MPJC has been the only group identified as being monitored.

“We’re still awaiting information and we do not know that this is exhaustive … we do not know if this was all of the communications intercepted or collected,” she said.

The revelations came the same day that the American Civil Liberties Union and a number of state civil liberties groups filed requests with the Pentagon, under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking information on which groups or individuals were being targeted by the Bush administration’s domestic spying program.

Bellows said the MCLU received an FBI form letter pertaining to the MPJC. Attached to the letter is “what appears to be an e-mail communication” between a Maine resident and an anarchist group about the possibility of the group joining the Million Worker March, held in Washington, D.C., in October 2004. The names of the sender and recipient of the e-mail are blacked out.

“What we have received to date is a single incident,” Bellows said. “In the larger context of expansive surveillance across the country, we are concerned when the government says it needs expanded domestic surveillance powers under the Patriot Act to go after terrorists. … Finding out the government is spying without probable cause on innocent Mainers sends a chilling message to us.”

Bellows said the MCLU has not planned further action regarding the evidence. However, Bellows believes the revelation could have a “chilling impact” on individuals who join activist groups or attend protests.

“Is this e-mail enough to bring a lawsuit? Probably not,” she said. “Does it raise very significant concerns about whether the government has returned to the bad old days of spying on peace activists? Absolutely.”

Peter Stewart is co-coordinator of the MPJC. While the FBI’s spying program is “outrageous,” he said MPJC is not surprised. “We know this is something our government has been doing in some sort of fashion since the Nixon administration,” he said.

According to Stewart, the MCPJ had long suspected it was under surveillance.

“There had been some curious incidences during some of our rallies,” he said. During one event, Stewart said, group members spotted a man taking pictures in a car “filled with radio and telephone equipment.” The man refused to identify himself.

Stewart describes the MPJC as a “devoted, non-violent group” and said it’s unfortunate the government would resort to spying on peace activists.

The revelations will not change the MCPJ’s activities, he said.

“What we’re doing is practicing our First Amendment rights and demanding those rights. I don’t see that (we’re) going to change what we’re doing,” he said. “What we hope (our activities do) is change what the government is doing.”

The MCLU is also filing a FOIA request on behalf of Jamilla el-Shafei, a Seacoast area peace activist who led organization efforts for the Million Worker March in Maine. Since the e-mail is about the march, el-Shafei said she and the MCLU are interested “to see what (the FBI has) on me.”

The intercepted e-mail is evidence that the Bush administration is spying not on terrorists but ordinary citizens, according to el-Shafei.

“I really want people to know Bush is looking at average citizens,” she said. “I’m not a criminal, I’m not a militant. I’m a peace activist.”