"The details are still dribbling out, but it appears that for at least three recent years, the state police antiterrorism unit spied upon, infiltrated and documented groups of Marylanders who had the nerve to disagree with the policies of their government. The police acknowledge that at least 53 individuals made their terrorist-watch list but the real number could be much higher.
The troopers zeroed in on Roman Catholic nuns, human rights activists and church groups. They monitored animal rights advocates and cyclists pushing for more bicycle lanes. They opened a dossier on Amnesty International. (That group's crime was listed as "human rights.")
For the most part, we are unknown to one another here on the board. There’s no doubt though, that despite our various backgrounds and views, and despite any belief that we participate anonymously, there’s one thing we all have in common as critics of society. Somewhere, we are known. Our personal information has been collected, stored and shared between various agencies, domestic and international.