Group claims Army spied on their work

SEATTLE – The Army is investigating an anti-war group’s claim that it was infiltrated by a civilian employee of Fort Lewis in violation of federal law barring the Army from conducting domestic law enforcement.

John J. Towery, a criminal intelligence analyst for the post’s Force Protection Division, attended meetings and protests and administered an e-mail list for the Olympia Port Militarization Resistance group over the past two years, members of the anti-war group said.

The members said Towery identified himself as an anarchist named “John Jacob,” and they learned his true identity after receiving documents from the city of Olympia under a public disclosure request.

Larry Hildes, a Bellingham lawyer who represents people arrested during the protests, said Thursday he planned to sue Towery, the Army and the city, claiming violations of First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly and Fourth Amendment rights to be free of unreasonable search and seizure.

“This is very serious. Domestic surveillance by the military is one of the third rails of our culture,” said Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale Law School and heads the National Institute of Military Justice. “It’s one of the things that separates the democratic society from other kinds of societies.”

Under the Reconstruction-era Posse Comitatus Act, federal troops are prohibited from performing law enforcement actions, such as making arrests, seizing property or searching people. In extreme cases, however, the president can invoke the Insurrection Act, which allows use of active-duty or National Guard troops for law enforcement.

Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Piek said in a statement that because of the sensitive work Towery does, it would not be appropriate for him to speak with reporters. Towery did not return a voicemail message left on his home number.

The Force Protection Division includes civilian and military workers who support law enforcement and security operations to ensure the security of Fort Lewis personnel, Piek said.

“To ensure all regulatory guidelines were followed, the command has decided that an inquiry is prudent, and an officer has been appointed to conduct the inquiry,” the statement said.

The port protest group – one of several in the region – formed in 2006, in objection to civilian ports being used to ship Stryker vehicles and other supplies to Iraq. Members sometimes engaged in civil disobedience by trying to block the shipments.

About 200 people were arrested over a two-week period in November 2007, but only about 35 were charged, Hildes said.

Hildes said Olympia police reports described tips provided by Army and Coast Guard intelligence sources that suggested the groups had planned to disrupt the shipments. Seeing those reports was the group’s first clue it had been watched, he said.

The group filed public disclosure requests seeking other documents relating to anarchists. Among those released was a redacted e-mail that Towery, writing from a military e-mail address, had sent to another military address.

In researching who Towery was, group member Drew Hendricks learned he lived in the same house as “John Jacob” and drove the same car. The group then did some spying of its own and confirmed visually that they were the same person.

Towery had been showing up for meetings and protests since the first part of 2007 and eventually became an administrator of the group’s e-mail list, giving him access to personal information about the protesters, group member Brendan Maslauskas Dunn said.