Spies Placed Among Political Activists

Associated Press

According to a published report, both an FBI informant and an undercover Minnesota sheriff's deputy spied on political activists in Iowa City last year before the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

The Des Moines Register reports in Sunday's editions that it has obtained confidential FBI documents that show an informant was planted among a group described as an "anarchist collective" that met last year in Iowa City.

According to the documents, the undercover Minnesota deputy was from the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department, and accompanied two Minnesota activists who visited the University of Iowa in April 2008 for a Midwest campus anti-war conference.

Iowa City Police Chief Samuel Hagardine told the Register he was unaware of the FBI informant, but did know about the undercover officer from Minnesota.