Nobody Voted for a GAYTRIOT Act

CQ Weekly reports (subscription required) that the Defense Department used a controversial database, which was designed to collect anti-terrorism information, to monitor college protests against the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for at least three months in early 2005.

The database is called Talon; NBC News first reported on its existence in December. Talon’s reach is supposed to be restricted to tips from military personnel and concerned citizens on suspicious and potentially terror-related activities. However, records the [Servicemembers Legal Defense Network] obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that the Pentagon also collected information on protests at New York University and at the two University of California campuses in Berkeley and Santa Cruz.

The reports clarify that the Talon team gained access to e-mail exchanges among the protest organizers, but a Pentagon statement denies that any “surveillance of dissident groups” occurred and that the information obtained had been “publicly available.” It’s not clear what, if anything, the department did with the information.

SLDN press release here.