State police spied on student group in 2005

Two university student activists were added to a Maryland State police terrorism watch list because of their participation in an anti-death penalty event in 2005, according to police documents released last week.

The spying on university activities is the latest revelation in a widening probe into what state police have acknowledged was a major misuse of power, which the targets fear could scare students away from political organizing.

An undercover state police officer also attended the event, which was held at the Nyumburu Cultural Center on March 30, 2005, to see if participants were planning violent protests, according to the files.

The two students police added to the terrorism watch list - doctoral Latin America studies student Shane Dillingham and former physics post-doctoral student and lecturer Laura J. Lising - were members of the campus branch of the International Socialist Organization, which co-sponsored the forum with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty.

Dillingham had once been the chapter's president and Lising was the chapter's former faculty adviser, but neither were full-time members of the group at the time of the event. Dillingham had completed his undergraduate degree the year before, he said. Lising had moved on to a job at Towson University in 2003, she said.

Neither is certain why police singled them out of what Dillingham figured were around 20 group members and 70 people at the event.

Both said their leadership roles were merely a formality.

Police added them to the watch list to provide contacts "in the event the group engages in criminal activity while involved in their protest activities," according to documents.

However, both said the forum was not held to organize a protest, and neither they nor their group ever participated in violent or terrorist activities.

"We are the opposite of terrorists," Dillingham said. "We're what people should do: get involved in politics."

Dillingham and Lising are two of 53 people police wrongly labeled terrorists for participating in anti-death penalty and anti-war activities. Others subject to the spying effort include a Quaker and two Catholic nuns.

Neither Dillingham nor Lising have suffered any repercussions since being placed on the watch list, though Dillingham said he fears it could affect him in the future when applying for jobs or traveling.

Both are concerned with how the revelation will impact students' political activities.

"The government is compiling information on people, not because of what we've done, but because of our ideas," Dillingham said. "Are students going to want to go organize if they think their name is going to be added to a terrorist watch list?"

The irony, Lising said, is that the police spying program illustrates exactly why students should speak out.

"This is a time when student activism is desperately needed," she said.

Police say they have discontinued the program and have agreed to adopt stricter policies on covert operations and purge the activists' names from state and federal databases.

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