Gov. Ed Rendell last week denounced a state initiative that allowed anti-terrorism agents to track area protests and demonstrations, including Pride celebrations.
Rendell said he was unaware of the contract between the state and the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, an anti-terrorism group with offices in Philadelphia and Israel, and that he will not renew the agreement when it expires next month.
The ITRR describes its mission as “identify and analyze information that can be leveraged to prevent injury, loss of life and destruction of property.”
The no-bid $103,000 contract inked by the state Office of Homeland Security last fall allowed ITRR to submit bulletins on potential safety issues three times a week to OHS.
Rendell spokesperson Gary Tuma said OHS disseminated the reports to law-enforcement agencies and other officials.
“It’s a pretty broad list because it depends on the contents of each bulletin,” Tuma said. “Generally speaking, they could have gone to a list that includes local law enforcement, other state agencies, county and local emergency-management entities, the Attorney General’s office or college-security directors.”
The bulletins include notices about potential security threats at animal-rights demonstrations, anti-tax protests, anti-war actions and Pride events in June.
“ITRR researchers have recently noted indications of focused, anti-gay chatter among right-wing militia supporters,” read an ITRR bulletin dated June 2. “Upcoming ‘gay pride’ events worldwide may serve as trigger events for such radicals with an anti-gay agenda. This month, for example, dozens of neo-Nazis threw stones, eggs and smoke bombs into crowds taking part in gay pride parades in the Eastern European states of Belarus and Slovakia, causing the events to be halted or disrupted.”
The notice goes on to list the dates of the annual Pride festival in Philadelphia and the Dyke and Trans March and Pride March and festival in Pittsburgh.
“Anti-gay white supremacists and far-right militia communications are currently under review by ITRR domestic-terrorism analysts,” the post read. “As of this writing, no communications including activity as seen in Eastern Europe has been identified.”
Similar notices were included in four other bulletins from the end of May through June 9.
Rendell said in a news conference last week that he was “deeply embarrassed” and apologized to any groups that “had this information disseminated on their right to peacefully protest.”
Franny Price, executive director of Philly Pride Presents, which stages the annual Pride festival, said she was puzzled when she first heard reports of the ITRR notices about Pride.
“One of my first thoughts was just why? I didn’t know if they were doing it for security reasons or if they were considering gay people to be terrorists, it just didn’t make much sense,” she said.
Price said there have never been any serious altercations at Pride and proffered that the ITRR cautions were unnecessary.
“We pride ourselves on being a peaceful community, and Pride is never destructive or violent,” Price said. “There were never any problems until the protestors started coming and, even then, it really is only vocal confrontations. It seems like useless spending.”
The Pennsylvania Senate Veteran Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee will hold a public hearing on the ITRR conflict Sept. 27 in Harrisburg.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].