From WIRED · Ali Winston · · 3m
Chicago cops spied on Minnesota activists for ICE
Local police joined federal agents in surveilling an anti-immigration protest, raising questions about the limits of law enforcement cooperation.
In brief
Local police joined federal agents in surveilling an anti-immigration protest, raising questions about the limits of law enforcement cooperation. Chicago-area police helped ICE's investigations wing conduct undercover surveillance of an April 2 anti-ICE gathering in Bridgeport, Illinois, as part of a federal…
Chicago cops joined ICE surveillance
Chicago-area police officers participated in an undercover Homeland Security Investigations probe of Minneapolis mutual aid networks last spring as part of a federal conspiracy investigation into 15 Twin Cities activists.
The April 2 event in Bridgeport
An HSI report titled Antifa Roadshow details surveillance of an April 2 talk at Co-Prosperity, a Leftist gallery in Bridgeport. The task force included six local cops and eight HSI Chicago agents.
Who was on the task force
The Chicago HSI task force included officers from Chicago, Aurora, Downer's Grove, Cook County, and Kane County. Local cops join the unit on full- or part-time basis for two years with their superiors' sign-off.
Surveillance methods deployed
The task force used two undercover agents, electronic surveillance, audio recordings, license-plate-reader data, and surveillance cameras from Chicago's CCTV network to identify attendees and build connections to other anti-ICE protests.
Why the speakers were there
Several speakers from the Twin Cities attended to share information about resisting federal immigration surges.
How the undercover operation unfolded
A plainclothes cop from Aurora was dropped off by Officer Mike Xu from Downers Grove.
What the undercover agent recorded
The undercover HSI agent transmitted a live recording of the event to the surveillance team for an hour, until transmission was lost.
Surveillance details and vehicle tracking
The HSI Chicago surveillance team logged two hundred nineteen vehicles parked near Co-Prosperity. Ryan Wasson, a Kane County Sheriff's deputy, spotted a hooded, masked man removing an object from his trunk and identified him via…
Remarks used in federal indictment
Remarks by defendant Callum Robinet from the April 2 talk about building rapid-response networks are included in the federal conspiracy indictment against the Minnesota 15, implicating the Chicagoland law enforcement that participated in surveillance.
ACLU calls surveillance troubling
Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, says the surveillance is very troubling and calls for local law enforcement to make a full accounting of their role and participation in joint…
“No one should be subjected to surveillance and infiltration by law enforcement simply for engaging in constitutionally protected activity.”
Broader surveillance of the tour
The April 2 meeting in Bridgeport was not the only out-of-state gathering spied upon by HSI during the Minnesota 15 investigation.
The main idea
Chicago-area police helped ICE's investigations wing conduct undercover surveillance of an April 2 anti-ICE gathering in Bridgeport, Illinois, as part of a federal conspiracy case against 15 Minnesota activists.
