Civil liberties groups will hold this year’s second protest on Aug. 4 at Boston Police headquarters against a controversial anti-terrorism intelligence center that maintained files on local peace activists.
The Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC) has been criticized for overlooking the alleged Boston Marathon bombers while keeping files on legal activities of protesters, including a 2007 Jamaica Plain peace rally.
A small group of activists from Digital Fourth and MassOps held a June 1 protest at police headquarters in Roxbury following Gazette and DigBoston reports about BRIC. The same groups, along with the Massachusetts Pirate Party, will hold the Aug. 4 event, being billed as a “BRICnic” because it will include a cookout in the adjacent Southwest Corridor Park. The protest is aimed at BRIC as well as larger spying concerns about the recently revealed National Security Agency mass spying on civilian communications. The event also includes information on how to protect personal information from government surveillance. Speakers slated to appear include Gazette columnist Chris Faraone.
The protest is slated for 3 p.m. along Ruggles Street near Tremont Street in Roxbury. For more information, see warrantless.org or massops.weebly.com.