Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Maryland officials now concede that its informants "wrongly listed at least 53 Americans as terrorists in a criminal intelligence database -- and shared some information about them with half a dozen state and federal agencies, including the National Security Agency." The so-called terrorists included pacifists, environmentalists, nuns, a novelist, an IT contractor and a legal secretary. Using the pseudonym "Lucy Shoup," an undercover Maryland State Police trooper infiltrated more than two dozen rallies and meetings of nonviolent groups. The scary activies listed in the police reports included making paper-mache puppets, songs, poetry readings, prayer meetings, and hanging out at a community center popular with punk rockers and slam poets.