A new article from Inside Higher Ed indicates that some campus groups at the University of Michigan that have never engaged in terrorist activities have been monitored by the government as if they were terror threats.

"Using the Freedom of Information Act, the ACLU obtained a Federal Bureau of Investigation report on a 2002 meeting involving the FBI, the Michigan State police and other law enforcement agencies to discuss groups in Michigan 'thought to be involved in terrorist activities,'" reports Scott Jaschik.

By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), a University of Michigan group that defends affirmative action policies, was one such group. The report doesn't explain why the group was targeted as a possible terrorist organization.

The reader comments on Jaschik's article have been eye-opening. Said R.A.S., "Those of us from the political middle in Michigan have watched with concern, the action of BAMN. Not their constintutional (sic) right to free speech — what sometimes happens at their demonstrations (which may, or may not, involve their members). Shouting. Screaming. Fist-shaking. Pushing. Shoving. I’ve personally witnessed BAMN’s demonstrations and I’ve wondered if violence is going to break out."

Gerry Mats, a professor at University of Calgary, responded, "Ah and so it goes. As our liberties are drained away little by little, the educated elite stand by and say, well, they were 'pushing' and 'shoving.' Why not bring the entire police and military apparatus to bear on the issue of affirmative action? After all, they might be harboring some terrorist sympathies."

A University of Michigan grad, I can tell you that I've seen BAMN up close. And my hunch is that Mats is on to something.