Newsday: NYPD Spied on Boston Activist Group Organizing for Democratic National Convention

Newsday has revealed that New York Police intelligence officers travelled to Boston to spy on activists attending a February meeting of the Bl(A)ck Tea Society related to the Democratic National Convention. And how do we know this? The Massachusetts state police were also at the meeting spying on the group. After the Massachusetts police noticed some of the attendees drove to the event in a car with New York license plates they followed the car after the meeting ended. At some point the Massachusetts police pulled over this car with New York license plates -- purportedly for speeding -- only to learn that the occupants were two New York agents with the Intelligence Division!

The New York Civil Liberties Union has strongly condemned the NYPD's actions (which the city still hasn't admitted even occurred). NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman told Newsday, "Infiltration of political organizations, whether in New York or Boston, raises very serious concerns. It is our view that such infiltration would require approval from the top Police Department officials. The Police Department should not be causally adopting the tactics of bad old days of undercover spies in political organizations. It impacts the freedom of political debate, chills political activity and ought not be done unless there is strong evidence of criminal activity."