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Dear Friend,
Trump's attorney general, William Barr, has co-opted the Drug Enforcement Administration into infiltrating the Black Lives Matter protests.1
Barr has told the DEA to "conduct covert surveillance" on people participating in the protests—an abuse of power far outside the agency's mandate.
Barr is using the DEA as an intimidation tactic against the people on the front lines fighting for civil rights, and it's just another example of how the Trump administration can't be trusted with widespread surveillance powers without using them against citizens. Demand Progress is working to end Trump's surveillance powers under the Patriot Act and protect our rights to protest freely.
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Barr's use of the DEA harkens back to the FBI's misconduct during the civil rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s, when agents infiltrated groups to spread misinformation and gather data that could be used to weaken the cause.2
Trump and Barr want to collect information that can be used against the protesters who are fighting right now against police brutality and racial injustice, in order to scare people into not participating.
This isn't all that the government is doing to put down the protests. Police are using facial recognition technology and stingray cell phone locators to track protesters.3
And the Trump Administration is pushing Congress right now to reauthorize a section of the Patriot Act with language that would allow the administration to collect web browser history without a warrant.4 The prospect is terrifying—the government can collect political beliefs, financial issues, and other material that it can use to scare dissidents into staying quiet.
Our freedom to protest is paramount to preserving our democracy, and we can't let Trump's abuse of power continue at this critical moment.
Will you donate to Demand Progress and help protect our First Amendment right to protest?
For our democracy,
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
Sources:
1. BuzzFeed News, "The DEA Has Been Given Permission To Investigate People Protesting George Floyd’s Death," June 3, 2020
2. The Daily Beast, "The FBI’s War on Civil Rights Leaders," June 3, 2020
3. Marketplace, "Police can track protesters even after the demonstrations end," June 2, 2020
4. The Hill, "House to consider amendment blocking warrantless web browsing surveillance," May 22, 2020
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