Oregon has been spying on its own residents’ Twitter accounts. Now, the state’s Department of Justice has placed the investigator who carried out the deed on paid administrative leave. The unnamed individual, who works for the Criminal Justice division, conducted a “threat assessment” for the agency by searching the state’s Twitter accounts for the hashtag “BlackLivesMatter.” The operation came to light because the president of Portland’s National Urban League chapter, Nkenge Harmon Johnson, sent a letter to the state’s attorney general complaining about it. It seems that one of the people who turned up in the search was her husband … who works for the Attorney General.
Johnson’s letter called attention to the fact that such surveillance might be unlawful under Oregon law and requested an immediate halt to the activity. Johnson also called for a public apology to all Oregonians, as well as disclosure on the number of people affected, the entire scope of the surveillance, and what was learned. The letter was also signed by representatives from the state’s ACLU and other labor and ethnic/cultural organizations. You can read it here.
The state’s ACLU was rather miffed about the whole thing. They put out a statement that reiterated what a chilling effect surveillance could have on dissent, and pointed out the government’s targeting of movements in the past. The group called the current targeting of Black Lives Matter similar to past federal counterintelligence measures.
Discussion of surveillance of Black Lives Matter activists has been covered elsewhere before.
In a written response to Johnson, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum stated how appalled she was at what had happened. She also said she had ordered an immediate investigation, put the investigator on paid leave, and is prepared to give the person the boot, if need be. You can read the attorney general’s letter here.
The ACLU says it plans to file records requests to learn as much as possible about this incident.