SACRAMENTO, June 30 (UPI) -- The California Office of Homeland Security has been tracking political and anti-war demonstrators, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office responsible for protecting against terrorism received daily reports in recent months providing details on political demonstrations in California-- a practice that senior law enforcement officials call an abuse of civil liberties, the newspaper said.
The source of the information is listed, in some cases, as federal law enforcement agencies -- including U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
The reports provided information on an animal-rights rally in San Francisco and a demonstration in Walnut Creek, Calif., at which U.S. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and other officials spoke against the war in Iraq.
The reports also contained information about a gathering at a Santa Barbara, Calif. courthouse to support an anti-war protester facing federal trespassing charges.
California Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer's office Friday said the surveillance violated Constitutional right of free speech.
"When people exercise their First Amendment rights to rally, march and protest, they should not have to worry that intelligence officials are watching them or their activities are in any way being painted with the terrorism brush," Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar told the newspaper.
