Maryland State Police’s Homeland Security and Intelligence Division classified peaceful gay activist group Equality Maryland as a “security threat” in its databases, the Washington Post reports:
“…the Homeland Security and Intelligence Division…also kept dossiers on dozens of activists and at least a dozen groups. Police kept files on Equality Maryland’s plans to hold rallies outside the State House in Annapolis to press for legislation reversing the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Police plan to purge the files. The files were revealed yesterday at a news conference, where a dozen Democratic lawmakers announced plans to introduce legislation to prevent future surveillance of nonviolent groups. Police would need ‘reasonable articulated suspicion of actual criminal activity’ before they could conduct surveillance, the legislation’s sponsors said. Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) also plans to call for a similar bill. The measure also would prevent police from keeping files on citizens, unless the information is part of a legitimate criminal investigation.”
