Military Involvement in Domestic Surveillance: Cato FOIA Lawsuit Seeks Answers

Patrick G. EddingtonOver the last year, much of the focus of civil liberties advocates has been on the potential scope of law enforcement –federal, state, and local–monitoring of activists protesting the murder of George Floyd and other people of color by police officers. In late May 2020, then‐​Attorney General William Barrauthorized the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to conduct surveillance of protestors (Cato has a FOIA pending with DoJ to determine whether that authority remains in effect). The Department of Homeland Security conductedaerial surveillance over at least 15 U.S. cities for the same purpose. But in late June 2020, theNew York Timesreported that Air National Guard RC-26 reconnaissance aircraft had been employed in multiple protest locations. The revelation triggered a subsequent Air Force Inspector General investigation, which wasreleased in August 2020.While the Air Force IG claimed that the aircraft lacked sensors precise enough to identify individual protestors, the incident was a reminder about how DoD elements have been used in the past to spy on Americans engaged in protests. Almost a year before George Floyd ’s murder, Cato initiated a FOIA campaign targeting the Defense Department and the Services seeking to learn whether a specific DoD authority,DoD Directive 5200.27, may still be in use to target political activists. As DoD and key Service components refused to provide the requested records, today Cato f...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs