© 1994 - 2007
Against the Grain

Site Design, Hosting and Logo
by DNA Web Media

Our FBI is protecting us

Government file mystifies pastor

By BEN FIELDS - The Independent Posted: 05/18/05

The Rev. Raymond Payne, pastor at Mead Memorial United Methodist Church in Russell, wants answers as to why the FBI has a file on him.
Kevin Goldy /The Independent RUSSELL

'In his own words, no one could live a more low-key life'.

Raymond Payne, the pastor at Russell's Mead Memorial United Methodist Church for the past 11 years, has never been in trouble with the law, let alone the federal government.

As far as Payne knows, his only brush with law enforcement came several years ago when he got his first and only speeding ticket.

But last fall, Payne said he found himself at the U.S./Canada border surrounded by armed guards who wanted to know why he was trying to pass into another country.

Payne said he and his wife were on a trip to Niagara Falls in October when the incident occurred.

Payne claimed he and his wife were separated and questioned.

"They just kept asking me the same questions," Payne said. "They wanted to know where I was going, why and whether I had any weapons on me."

The Russell pastor said throughout the experience he kept thinking of the Franz Kafka novel "The Trial," in which the protagonist is arrested and forced to report to court on a regular basis, though he never knows what he's accused of.

"I identified with that a lot," he said. "I kept wondering if I was going to be arrested, if I would have to find a lawyer in Canada and if I would get a phone call."

After nearly two hours of questioning, Payne said he was let go and told to have a nice trip.

When he asked what the whole exercise had been about, Payne said an authority told him that the FBI had opened a file on Payne in the fall of 2001.(An event occuring to many unsuspecting Americans. All done in complete secrecy with no effort made to investigate the validity of the records.)

"I kept asking what was going on," Payne said. "Finally, that's what someone told me."

Payne said he had no clue why the nation's top crime investigation agency would be interested in his activities.

But eventually, he said, a possible connection dawned on him.

He said after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, several members of Mead Memorial expressed an interest in learning about Islam in order to better understand Middle Eastern culture.

The pastor said he ordered some books and videos about the religion - including copies of the Koran - from an online retailer to share with members of his congregation.

"That was the only thing I could think of," that might have piqued the FBI's interest, Payne said.

Payne said he doesn't know if that's why the FBI has a file on him, but it's something that he intends to find out. (This writer wishes him luck in this endeavor. Government agencies do not like being questioned about their "activities" - but citizens must answer invasive questions without explanation.)

He has enlisted the help of the American Civil Liberties Union to try and uncover the FBI's reasoning for investigating a Methodist pastor from a town of about 4,000 people.

"I want to find out if this is true," Payne said. "I know of very few people who live a quieter, more under the radar life than me."

In a statement released Wednesday, Lili Lutgens, staff attorney for the ACLU of Kentucky, said she doesn't know why the FBI would target Payne.

"The FBI seems to be on a fishing expedition and law-abiding citizens are the target," Lutgens said. "Why Rev. Payne would even have an FBI file is a mystery, but this kind of spying by the federal government has got to stop."

The national ACLU has recently filed several Freedom of Information Act requests for documents from the FBI, claiming the agency has been improperly investigating law-abiding human rights and advocacy groups across the country.

Besides Payne, the ACLU of Kentucky is seeking FBI files on several Kentucky groups and individuals active in the peace movement and other social justice causes in the state, according to the group's statement.

A spokeswoman with the FBI's Louisville office declined comment Wednesday afternoon.(As always.)

BEN FIELDS can be reached at bfields@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2651.