ACLU ACCUSES DENVER POLICE OF KEEPING ILLEGAL FILES

DENVER - The American Civil Liberties Union accused the Denver Police
Department on Monday of keeping illegal files on peaceful protest groups.

The ACLU's Colorado legal director, Mark Silverstein, showed reporters
files he said came from the police department. "These are a small sampling
of documents we have that show Denver police are monitoring peaceful
protest activities of individuals and law-abiding groups," he said.

The groups included Amnesty International and the American Friends Service
Committee.

"The mayor thinks their concerns are legitimate and has asked the police
for a full report to answer the questions posed to the city," said Andrew
Hudson, spokesman for Mayor Wellington Webb.

Police Chief Gerry Whitman was out of town. C.L. Harmer, a spokeswoman for
the Denver Public Safety Department, said she had just received a copy of a
letter from the ACLU and would call later with a comment.

Stephen B. Nash, who was identified in one of the files as an event
organizer for Amnesty International, said police could not use the excuse
of a need for more security after Sept. 11. "My file goes back to 2000,
well before Sept. 11. 9/11 has nothing to do with it."

"This information has nothing to do with investigating terrorism,"
Silverstein said. He said he didn't know if police departments were also
monitoring protest groups.

Barry Leaman-Miller was identified as a member of the "American Friends
Service Committee (criminal extremist G)." He said the Philadelphia-based
Quaker group has won the Nobel Peace Prize and "acts in the best tradition
of nonviolence."

Silverstein said the ACLU sent a letter to the mayor asking that all
monitoring be stopped, all files be made available to their subjects,
police disclose who has been given the information and that all files be
preserved in case a lawsuit is filed.

Among the events mentioned in the files were a protest of an Italian- led
parade honoring Columbus, protests of the killing by a Denver SWAT team
that went to the wrong house, protests against the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank in Washington, D.C., and protests by the Chiapas
Coalition of alleged civil rights violations in Mexico's poorest state.

"This is really outrageous to me ... since Sept. 11 immigration equals
terrorism," said Luis Espinosa, a member of the Chiapas group and recent
arrival in the United States.

Silverstein said the ACLU would consider a class action lawsuit against the
city if the mayor allows the monitoring to continue.

He declined to say where he obtained the files. "I am convinced these files
came from law enforcement." He said they were marked as permanent, not
simply reports that would be discarded at the end of the day.

Last Friday the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the police of Denver and
nearby Golden, accusing them of an illegal search of the office of a police
group believed to have been connected to vandalism at a clothing store
selling goods from Nicaraguan sweat shops.