'Some structural damage' from wildfire near Fort Nelson, B.C., mayor confirms
More than one home has been damaged or lost due to a massive wildfire outside of the B.C. community of Fort Nelson, the mayor confirmed Wednesday.
Among the scathing findings of an investigation launched after the police killing of George Floyd is that Minneapolis police used covert or bogus social media accounts to monitor Black individuals and groups despite having no clear public safety rationale for doing so.
The report released Wednesday by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights echoes numerous past revelations that the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have -- sometimes illegally -- secretly surveilled prominent people and communities of colour even though they weren't involved in any criminal activity.
Overall, the two-year investigation found that the Minneapolis Police Department engaged in a pattern of race discrimination for at least a decade, including stopping and arresting Black people at a higher rate than white people, more frequent use of force on people of colour and a department culture that tolerated racist language.
Regarding social media, it spotlighted departmental abuses turned up in a review spanning activity between 2010 and 2020.
Officers used "covert, or fake" accounts to seek and gain access to the online profiles of Black individuals including an unnamed City Council member and a state elected official, the report said, as well as groups such as the Minneapolis NAACP and Urban League. The activity included friend requests, comments on posts, private messages and participation in discussions.
"When doing so, officers posed as like-minded individuals and claimed, for example, that they met the targeted person at a prior demonstration or protest," the report said.
The report acknowledged that law enforcement can have legitimate reasons for tracking social media "if a clear investigative purpose to advance public safety exists," and if clear procedures and accountability mechanisms are in place.
But Minneapolis police fell well short of those standards, investigators determined, improperly using the accounts "to surveil and engage Black individuals, Black organizations, and elected officials unrelated to criminal activity, without a public safety objective."
The report doesn't include enough details to support criminal charges against any specific officers or lawsuits by individuals who were targeted, but some observers say it seems likely the Human Rights Department has other information from the investigation that a lawyer could use to try to build a case.
Spokesman Taylor Putz said the agency was unable to release any information beyond what's in the report because the case is still considered open while it works with the city to address the problems it identified.
Minneapolis police spokesman Howie Padilla said his department was still digesting the document and declined further comment.
Via Twitter, the Minneapolis NAACP expressed dismay over having spent years working with police to try to address problems "only for MPD to continue to stall efforts and turn around and surveil us."
Andrew Ferguson, a law professor and expert on police technology and surveillance at American University, said that of the many examples of misconduct outlined in the report, "the abuse of social media raises a red flag for all police departments."
"What is happening in Minnesota is happening in many jurisdictions, because there are few rules in place and no accountability," Ferguson said. "Police rummage though social media without limits, turning our digital lives into sources of surveillance. It might feel less violent than some of the other police misconduct, but it is still violative and wrong."
For Diala Shamas, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, the revelations are echoes of a covert FBI program from the 1950s to early '70s, known as Cointelpro, that illegally conducted surveillance and sabotage against civil rights groups and other organizations, sowing paranoia, distrust and violence. Targets included the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Black Panthers, Malcolm X and many others.
The police actions in Minneapolis, Shamas said, amount to "Cointelpro tactics with a modern twist."
Law enforcement agencies across the country have been using social media surveillance for years, however. A 2016 survey by the Urban Institute and the International Association of Chiefs of Police found that 70% of departments mined social networks during investigations.
But the rules governing how they do so are often opaque, vague or not a matter of public record.
In a study last year of every U.S. jurisdiction with at least 100,000 people, researchers at the Brennan Center for Justice found just 35 police departments had publicly available policies that in some way addressed the use of social media for collecting information. Of those, 15 had language setting some limits on undercover or covert online activity. But several were vague or set a low bar for authorization, simply requiring supervisor approval.
"I would say that very few if any of the policies really gave detailed, robust limitations on the use of undercover accounts," said Rachel Levinson-Waldman, deputy director of the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program.
Police misuse of social media has been uncovered in departments beyond Minneapolis, she noted.
In Tennessee, a lawsuit by the state chapter of the ACLU exposed the use of covert Facebook accounts by Memphis officers to target activists of colour and community justice advocates. A federal judge determined that violated a longstanding consent decree barring the department from infringing on activities protected by the First Amendment.
And in California, the Brennan Center obtained records showing that third-party social media monitoring companies had pitched their services to the Los Angeles Police Department, including the ability to create furtive accounts for officers. While the city requires approval for some undercover online activity, Levinson-Waldman said, there are exceptions such as for threat assessments that allow officers to sidestep real oversight or accountability.
Facebook and its parent company warned both departments they had violated terms of service, she added. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter all have policies prohibiting the use of their data for surveillance, and Facebook's guidelines for law enforcement specifically prohibit fake accounts.
Shamas, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said covert surveillance like that practiced in Minneapolis and elsewhere can have serious and chilling effects.
"The idea that you don't know that the person you're liaising with is undercover or an informant means you're going to be less likely to explore new ideas for strategies and campaigns," she said, "all the things that are important for a democratic society."
------
Associated Press reporters Doug Glass in Minneapolis and Stephen Groves in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, contributed to this report.
More than one home has been damaged or lost due to a massive wildfire outside of the B.C. community of Fort Nelson, the mayor confirmed Wednesday.
A warning from a Saskatoon driver about using your fast-food app while in the drive-thru line — a trip to get some free lunch cost him a lot more than he bargained for.
An 'unrepentant' YouTuber has been ordered to pay $350,000 in damages as compensation for a 'relentless' campaign of defamation waged online against a business owner and his company, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled.
Chief Robert Michell says relief isn't the right word to describe his reaction as the search begins for unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school he attended in northern British Columbia.
While it's unclear what these closures might mean for the 27 restaurants in Canada, Red Lobster is expected to file for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. this month.
A man from B.C.'s Lower Mainland has been sentenced to four years behind bars after shooting a sex worker in the back during a drug-fuelled 43rd birthday.
Nearly six dozen dogs were seized from a home Wednesday morning by the Winnipeg Humane Society. It is the largest known seizure of animals in the city’s history.
Of the $40-million Aiden Pleterski was handed over two years, documents show he invested just over one per cent and instead spent $15.9 million on "his personal lifestyle." The 25-year-old Oshawa, Ont. man was arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering on Tuesday.
A man with a long record of dangerous driving told investigators he smoked marijuana oil and took prescription drugs hours before he sideswiped a bus, killing eight Mexican farmworkers and injuring dozens more, according to an arrest report unsealed Wednesday.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.