"I think its just another example of how anyone who is practicing their constitutional rights and speaking against the government is going to be considered a domestic problem. It's sad because all we're doing is speaking because we feel there is no justice for people being brutalized by the system. It's sad we have to be targets of surveillance when we're not committing crimes."—Jose LaSalle, founder of New York police watchdog group Copwatch Patrol Unit, who is among the social justice activists surveilled, tracked, and documented by "a coalition of MTA counterterrorism agents and undercover police in conjunction with NYPD intelligence officers."
The documents were released to activists after several requests under New York's Freedom of Information Law, which asked for records from the MTA, MTA Metro-North, the New York State Police, and the NYPD pertaining to Black Lives Matter protests at Grand Central Terminal between November 2014 and January 2015.I'll bet they didn't.
In the 118 pages released by the MTA, the names of undercover police officers are redacted at least 58 times in five December 2014 protests, 124 times at five protests in January 2015, and 10 times at one protest in February 2015. The Intercept has been unable to contact any of the undercover police reporting on protests because the MTA said it redacted the "names of undercover police officers," citing the New York Public Officers Law stipulating that certain records, which "if disclosed could endanger the life or safety of any person," may be withheld. Metro-North also redacted the names of undercover officers. Both entities also said they redacted location and contact information for regular MTA police named in the documents.
Together the 118 MTA and 161 Metro-North documents also showed monitoring of an additional protest in November 2014, 11 protests in December 2014, nine protests in January 2015, and two protests in February 2015 by MTA officials and undercover police working at times in conjunction with NYPD officers.
...The NYPD has not released documents in response to the request, but documents released by the MTA and Metro-North show that NYPD officials have also been involved in the surveillance of Black Lives Matter protests in Grand Central and beyond. The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.
Prove activists' point more, why don'tcha?
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