Interview with Nicholas DeGraff of Peace Fresno

[ Aaron Kilner, known by Peace Fresno activists as Aaron Stokes ]

Nicholas DeGraff of Peace Fresno and I spoke on the evening of April 16, 2004. He was in Santa Cruz for the Northern California Peace Centers Conference, and was a presenter at the conference.

The Fresno-based activist group Peace Fresno was infiltrated by an agent working for the Fresno Sheriff's Department. Aaron Kilner, known by Peace Fresno activists as Aaron Stokes, died in a motorcycle accident on August 30, 2003. Kilner's obituary in The Fresno Bee identified him as a member of the Fresno County Sheriff's department and went on to say that he was "assigned to the anti-terrorist team." Fresno activists believe that this "anti-terrorist team" is the recently formed Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).

Interview with Nicholas DeGraff

Aaron Kilner had been observed taking voluminous notes at several Peace Fresno meetings by Nicholas DeGraff, a member of the group. Other members say they saw him at peace vigils and on the bus local anti-globalization activists took to attend the demonstration against the WTO ministerial-level conference on Agricultural Science and Technology in Sacramento in June, 2003.

On Wednesday, April 21 Peace Fresno held a Press Conference to provide the latest information about the infiltration of their organization by the Joint Terrorism Task Force. See a one minute video, produced by SunMt, of the press conference here. With expanded police powers under the U.S.A. Patriot Act, the F.B.I. can now compel librarians to turn over lists of the books we read. The Sheriff of Fresno County, pursuant to federal guidelines, can send an undercover Deputy to infiltrate, deceive and conduct surveillance on the members of Peace Fresno for six months as part of the War on Terror. Attorney General John Ashcroft draws the line at gun registration, however, insisting that gun registration records are private, covered by the Second Amendment, and are not available as part of the War on Terror.

For more information about Peace Fresno and the infiltration of Peace Fresno, please visit:

Indybay.org:

Democracy Now!
Peace Group Infiltrated By Government Agent

Peace Fresno

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Crossposted at Santa Cruz Indymedia.