By PAIGE AUSTIN

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA – A civil-rights group and a coalition of Muslim activists headed by a Corona man called on Congress this week to investigate a report that surveillance records of Southland Muslims were stolen from Camp Pendleton by military and law enforcement officials.

The request stems from a news report that military officials and law enforcement members of the Los Angeles County Terrorist Early Warning Group illegally took the top-secret documents from the base’s Strategic Technical Operations Center.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Gary Maziarz has been court-martialed and convicted for his role in the thefts.

While the details of the surveillance and the alleged theft remain largely unknown, the incident provides confirmation that the military and law enforcement groups have been gathering information about local Muslim communities, said Michael German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington Legislative Office.

Groups such as the ACLU have long been fighting for more restrictions on government surveillance of U.S. citizens. The Camp Pendleton theft provides them support in their calls for increased oversight of secret surveillance programs, he said.

“One of the fundamental touchstones of our democracy is that the American military isn’t to be used against the American people,” German said. “What is the military doing with records of domestic surveillance activity?”

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