Recently unearthed police logs reveal a secret FBI intelligence unit helped detain a group of war protesters in a downtown Washington parking garage in April 2002 and interrogated some of them on videotape about their political and religious beliefs. The protesters were targeted largely because they were wearing the color black and perceived by police to be anarchists. We speak with one of the protesters and an attorney filing suit against the FBI and DC police. [includes rush transcript]

New revelations have linked the FBI to the interrogation and detention of anti-war protesters in Washington, D.C. According to unearthed police records, a secret FBI intelligence unit helped detain and question a group of protesters in a downtown parking garage in April 2002. Some of the protesters were interrogated on videotape about their political and religious beliefs.

According to the police records, the protesters were targeted largely because they were wearing the color black and perceived by police to be anarchists. In one section of the police log, an officer reports: "There are reportedly 15 anarchists at 13th and K being interviewed. The subjects reportedly had a passkey to a building, but it's unknown how they came to be in possession of it."

After the protesters were detained, FBI agents dressed in street clothes separated members to question them one by one about protests they attended, whom they had spent time with recently, what political views they espoused and the significance of their tattoos and slogans.

For years, law enforcement authorities suggested the incident never happened. According to the Washington Post, the revelations provide the first public evidence that Washington-based FBI personnel used their intelligence-gathering powers in the District to collect purely political intelligence.

The police records came to light out of a lawsuit filed on behalf of the protesters by the Partnership for Civil Justice.

We are joined by two guests:

• Nat Meysenburg, arrested and questioned in Washington DC at the April 2002 protest and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
• Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney and co-founder of the Partnership for Civil Justice. She is also co-chair of the National Lawyers Guild.