DHS Targeted Left-Leaning Groups in Minnesota with Mass Surveillance Program

The New York Times reports the Trump administration carried out an expansive surveillance program targeting left-leaning groups in Minnesota, infiltrating group chats, spying on meetings at libraries and churches and secretly obtaining financial records of organizations that were never accused of crimes. Among groups targeted were labor unions, including the Communications Workers of America, the SEIU and the AFL-CIO, and climate activists with the Sunrise Movement. The massive spying operation began last winter as hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans joined protests demanding an end to a violent mass deportation campaign by ICE and other federal agencies. Government documents reveal DHS characterized the protesters as “violent opportunists and agitators,” alleging they were involved in a widespread conspiracy. The surveillance operation arose from a White House directive known as National Security Presidential Memo 7, which identifies a potential domestic terrorist as someone expressing “anti-Christian,” “anti-capitalism” or “anti-American” views. The civil liberties advocacy group Defending Rights and Dissent called the surveillance “a disturbing, invasive, and utterly unjustifiable attack on freedom of expression and political dissent.” Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen responded, “These are the actions of an authoritarian state.” www.democracynow.org