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But these limits have not stopped the federal government from threatening to expand their presence to other cities nor has the federal government produced any information on exactly which agency in Homeland Security the anonymous operatives work for besides reports those seen were from Customs and Border Patrol and an ICE tactical unit that investigates human and drug trafficking. Instead, what we've witnessed is the threat of a proliferation of an unnamed armed force in our cities that is nearly impossible to hold accountable. The nightmare that many of the cop-watchers and activists had said was possible has now become a reality.
But unfortunately, the news gets worse. That's because in the past week, we have obtained this elite document that offers a glimpse inside the process of how secret police work in tandem with technology to forge an invisible presence in our lives. It is a confidential report filed by an FBI agent who was using Facebook to monitor protesters in Delaware.
As you can see, the report shows how the agent used the Facebook activity of protestors to gather information about the individual and the process of obstensively investigating a crime, but the information was vague and seemed to imply that the mere presence of a protestor at a gathering where property was destroyed was incriminating.
Now, we have been in touch with the FBI about this document and to talk about it, I'm joined by my cohost, Stephen Janis. Steven, what have you learned and what information is contained in this document?
Stephen Janis: Well, it seems to be a report from an FBI agent who is monitoring Facebook and using Facebook to monitor protests in Dover, Delaware. The information on it says that the agent monitored someone's Facebook watch party and then reported that close to where the watch party was filming, or the person who was filming on Facebook, some destruction of property happened. And one thing was interesting is that the FBI agent said on the post, "I will continue to monitor this anonymously."
Taya Graham: Now, you asked the FBI specifically if this information was tied to an arrest. What did they say?
Stephen Janis: I contacted the FBI. They call me back. They didn't give me any information about this particular document. In fact, they would not confirm whether or not it was authentic. The only thing they would ask or tell me or ask me was where I got it, which I refused to disclose. But as far as what this is and if this is even confirmed, we don't know yet, although I think it looks authentic.
Taya Graham: Steven, finally, how widespread is this program? Have we learned anything else about how much this methodology is being used by the FBI?
Stephen Janis: Well, at this point we know they're using Facebook to arrest people. We know because we covered the case of Michael Avery, who was arrested in St. Louis for his Facebook post, and an activist in Georgia who was arrested for his Facebook post. So we know that they're using it.
We have filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI and the Justice Department for all arrests in any sort of investigations tied to Facebook and are awaiting the results. But right now, we don't know the scope of this.
Taya Graham: Now, if you think the link between secret police and anonymous Facebook monitoring is farfetched, let's remember the arrest of Michael Avery. As we reported in a previous show, Avery was arrested by at least 50 agents in, again, unmarked uniforms for a series of Facebook posts. The arresting documents obtained by PAR revealed that Avery's charges were directly based on information he had posted on social media.
In fact, the FBI accused him of fomenting violence by using terminology Avery told us in a phone interview was misinterpreted, including the FBI's assessment that the word "shooters" actually meant gunman, while Avery meant photographers. And the misapprehension of "red level," an event as a call to violence, not a characterization of the expected police response.
The charges against Avery were ultimately dropped, but not after he had spent time in jail, and authorities say the investigation is still ongoing. But clearly, the presence of federal police in cities like Portland and the arrest of activists like Avery in St. Louis raise serious questions about the continued encroachment of law enforcement into our lives.
And to discuss what has happened in Portland, the government's threat to peaceful and constitutionally-protected protest, what might come next? I'm joined by an activist who has been in the thick of what's going on here for years. His name is Eli Richey, and he has been watching cops and reporting on it for almost a decade. He's also in the process of producing a documentary on the subject, which he hopes will premiere soon.
Thank you for joining us, Eli.
Eli Richey: No problem.
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