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Date Posted: 16:44:49 04/02/01 Mon
Author: Anonymous
Subject: COINTELPRO LIVES ON

thought you would all appreciate this article, especially for those on
the front lines of Indian Issues... I guess we all have to keep our
eyes peeled 'cause Cointelpro lives!!
kat

_____________________________________

MSU police spy on student groups

photos at http://www.msu.edu/~godwinsh/index.html

On February 19th, 2000 students at Michigan State University held an
informational meeting to discuss the use of sweatshop labor in the
making of collegiate apparel. Participants at the meeting decided to
start a local chapter of the national group United Students Against
Sweatshops. One "student" who joined the group at this first meeting
was "Samantha Volare" who claimed to be an elementary education
junior. We have since learned that "Samantha Volare" was actually
officer Jamie Gonzalas of the MSU police department.

"Samantha Volare" was active in United Students Against Sweatshops @
MSU (now known as Students for Economic Justice) throughout the Spring
2000 semester. She attended nearly every meeting and took part in
various demonstrations including a protest on March 15th, 2000 outside
of Steve and Berry?s, in East Lansing. An article written by Tony
Paul, and photo taken by Brad Etheridge, were published in the State
News the following day. The photo features officer Jamie Gonzalas
taking part in the protest and the caption identifies her as
"elementary education junior Samantha Volare."

After about six months of steady involvement with the USAS group,
"Samantha" was spotted, in full police uniform, by a member of the
Brighter Days Collective while driving to work. After informing the
other members of the Brighter Days Collective of this sighting, with
many conversations taking place over the phone, "Samantha" suddenly
stopped attending the meetings. She also stopped attending meetings
of Lansing Anti-Racist Action which she also joined during the Spring
semester.

It took until January, for members of the Brighter Days Collective to
come into contact with "Samantha", when she was spotted at a rally
for political prisoner Leonard Peltier taking place in front of the
Breslin Center on January 9th, 2001. The group ran over to greet
"Samantha" with cameras in hand. Though she tried to cover up her
face and call for back-up, pictures were taken and her secret identity
was verified. Since this "outing" of "Samantha" as officer Jamie
Gonzales, she has appeared, in full police uniform,
at every demonstration held by Students For Economic Justice.

The MSU police have been involved in political surveillance in the
past. "After a May 1965 open-housing rally led to the arrests of 59
MSU students, the East Lansing Police Department and the MSU
Department of Public Safety formed a political surveillance unit that
spied on hundreds of faculty and students. Its files were shared with
the Michigan State Police "Red Squad" and the FBI. ("War on Campus,
Michigan State." Vietnam, August 1995. pg 28)"

Political surveillance should have stopped in 1976 when a ruling on
Benkert v. State of Michigan forced the State Police and Detroit Red
Squads to disband when "the state law upon which the state police
political surveillance unit was organized was declared
unconstitutional and the unit was disbanded. (A Blow Against the Red
Squads." The Nation, February 14, 1981. pg 68)"

It is unsurprising that various police agencies including the MSU
police and the FBI are monitoring and infiltrating student groups at
Michigan State University. There is a literal war being waged on
activists around the country, which mimics the FBI?s COINTELPRO
program, in which undercover operatives disrupt and report on the
activities of groups, which the government considers a threat.

Officer Jamie Gonzalas disrupted the activities of Students for
Economic Justice by agreeing to work on a poster with a member of the
group and then not following through with her commitment. We believe
that she reported to the MSU Administration on our strategies, plans
and activities. We believe that files are being kept on members of
the group due to the fact that officers are not assigned and paid to
go undercover without producing paper work. "I always wondered why the
Administration seemed to be one step ahead of our campaign," says
Shaun Godwin anthropology junior a member of the Brighter
Days Collective and the former spokesperson Students for Economic
Justice (during the spring 2000 semester).

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