The Department of Defense admitted in a letter obtained by NBC News on Thursday that it had wrongly added peaceful demonstrators to a database of possible domestic terrorist threats. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Rogalski said only 43 names were improperly added to the database, and those were from protest-related reports such as the Quaker meeting in Florida.
The reports include details on potential surveillance of military bases, stolen vehicles, bomb threats and planned antiwar protests. Nearly four dozen antiwar meetings listed The Defense Department document provides an inside look at how the U.
The Department of Defense has strict guidelines. Still, the database includes at least 20 references to U. Other documents obtained by NBC News show that the Defense Department is clearly increasing its domestic monitoring activities.
During the Vietnam War, Pyle revealed the Defense Department monitored and infiltrated antiwar and civil rights protests in an article he published in the Washington Monthly in January The public was outraged and a lengthy congressional investigation followed that revealed the military had conducted probes on at least , American citizens. Pyle got more than military agents to testify that they had been ordered to spy on U.
In the wake of the investigations, Pyle helped Congress write a law placing new limits on military spying inside the U. But Pyle said some of the information in the database suggests the military may be dangerously close to repeating its past mistakes. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. NBC News Logo. Politics U. Search Search. Profile My News Sign Out.
