PCRM President on Terrorist Watch List

It boggles my mind how our government considers animal advocates on par with people who fly planes into buildings, killing thousands.

In its mind we're all terrorists.

That includes Dr. Neal Barnard, the president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which advocates a vegan diet and opposes animal testing.

A judge this week dismissed a lawsuit Barnard had filed in pursuit of information pertaining to his being detained at airports 17 times between 2003 and 2007. On at least one occasion he saw "Terrorist Organization Member: Caution" on a computer screen at airport security.

Barnard filed the lawsuit after the Department of Homeland Security refused to release documents related to his Freedom of Information Act requests.

The ensuing litigation revealed that the feds had, at one time, "an open and pending criminal investigation" relating to Dr. Barnard, and that is why the documents couldn't be released. [...]

On Jan. 29, 2008, Judge Kollar-Kotelly accepted Homeland Security's arguments and dismissed Barnard's suit. On Feb. 4, [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] informed the judge it had discovered still more material. Turns out, among other things, Customs and Border Enforcement did have several hundred pages of documents relevant to Barnard. [...] By then, he was no longer a subject of an investigation. Barnard still sought release of the documents, hoping to find out, among other things, the extent of government monitoring that was taking place.

But in the ruling this week, Judge Kollar-Kotelly concludes the documents were properly withheld in order to protect law enforcement.

What a waste of government resources and taxpayer money to investigate a man whose work focuses on helping humans improve their health.

(Photo courtesy of PCRM.)