New documents reveal that “social media monitors” within the Department of Homeland Security kept watch on a Twitter feed operated by a prominent figure within a non-violent civil rights movement.
In emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Vice News’ Jason Leopold, DHS officers looking at social media posts about #BlackLivesMatter demonstrations in Baltimore last May, described activist Deray Mckesson as “known to law enforcement.”
One message, under the subject line “FYSA” (For Your Situational Awareness”) noted that “social media monitors have reported that a professional demonstrator/protester known to law enforcement (Deray Mckesson) has post on his social media account that there is going to be a 3:00 pm rally at the FOP#3 lodge located @ 3920 Baltimore Ave, Baltimore, MD 21211.”
The sender adds at the bottom, “…This is early raw unevaluated and uncorroborated reporting at this time.”
Since the August 2014 killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, by Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson, Mckesson has risen to prominence on Twitter as an organizer. Tweeting under the handle @Deray, he has repeatedly urged Americans to peacefully demonstrate against acts of police brutality against communities of color.
The DHS emails were sent on May 2, as protests and civil unrest in Baltimore raged after a black resident, Freddie Gray, was killed while in police custody following a highly dubious arrest.
In follow up emails sent later that, one official claimed they were “watching the groups the radio is calling out.”
“What’s up over there?” the officer adds.
Another responds, “Nothing at all, everybody just milling around like lost sheep.”
The documents provide yet another mosaic piece in the federal government’s persistent surveillance of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, which began in haste following Brown’s killing.
They also directly contradict public statement made by the Department of Homeland Security within just the past few weeks.
In July, following a report by The Intercept on DHS monitoring of BLM, agency spokesman S.Y. Lee issued a statement to the publication, claiming that the department “fully supports the right of individuals to exercise their First Amendment rights.”
They added that DHS “does not provide resources to monitor any specific planned or spontaneous protest, rally or public gathering.”
