The FBI Team Sent to ‘Exploit’ Protesters’ Phones in Portland

Mattathias Schwartz   

The FBI’s Washington, D.C., headquarters sent agents from its “Fly Team,” an elite counterterrorism unit, to Portland this summer during the second weekend in July. Their task was to interview arrested protesters and carry out the “initial exploitation of phones, or other communication devices,” according to FBI emails obtained through a public records request. It is unclear whether the Fly Team operation extended either past that weekend or beyond Portland, but the emails suggest that the FBI has been using counterterrorism tools and powers to map left-wing protest networks just months before an election whose result is likely to be delayed, if not challenged.

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continua qui: https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2020/10/08/the-fbi-team-sent-to-exploit-protesters-phones-in-portland/