Human rights attorneys filed a lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security on Thursday for failing to release documents on the agencies’ surveillance of Black Lives Matter protests and activists.
The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic Center at Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Federal surveillance of activists started when the Movement for Black Lives began during protests against the police killing of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri. A July 2015 Intercept report by journalist George Joseph revealed that, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the Department of Homeland Security has collected information, including location data, on peaceful Black Lives Matter protests. ...