Trials & Litigation
Gun-Control Activist Accused of Being NRA Spy
Posted Aug 6, 2008, 08:32 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A gun control activist on the boards of two gun control groups was a spy for the National Rifle Association, according to deposition testimony.
The two groups are expelling the activist, Mary Lou McFate, and are checking their offices for bugs, report the Associated Press and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Mother Jones broke the story, reporting that McFate infiltrated gun control groups and received payment from private security firms and the NRA.
The AP story describes McFate as a former flight attendant and sex counselor who also infiltrated an animal rights group in the 1980s at the request of a medical supply business.
More recently she served on the boards of CeaseFirePA and States United to Prevent Gun Violence, but was unable to get a board position with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
The spying allegations surfaced in a lawsuit filed against a now-defunct security firm called Beckett Brown International. The firm’s former president said in a deposition that McFate, who was also known by her married name of Mary Lou Sapone, was hired to conduct NRA intelligence.
Loyola law professor Laurie Levenson said corporate spying could constitute trespassing in some circumstances. But anyone accused of infiltrating open meetings may be engaging in conduct that is "underhanded and sneaky” but not illegal, she told AP.
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