The report states that of the 14 individuals that the MPD officers have killed, 13 of them were people of color or Indigenous individuals.
A clear racial disparity can be seen in the widespread use of chemical and other weapons. Black people are sprayed with pepper spray at a higher rate than white people. In 25.1% of use of force incidents involving Black individuals, officers used chemical irritants. The report shows that between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2020, chemical irritants were used in 18.2% of use of force incidents involving white individuals.
The data from the Minneapolis Police Department shows that from January 1, 2017, to May 24, 2020, over 70% of all searches were done by black people.
The Minneapolis Police Department has not responded to our request.
This story is part of a series that offers an unprecedented look at the way federal and local law enforcement employed advanced technology tools to create a total surveillance system in the streets of Minneapolis, and what it means for the future of policing.
MPD officers used fake social media accounts to surveil and engage Black individuals, Black organizations, and elected officials unrelated to criminal activity.
Online, officers used covert accounts to follow, comment in, and message groups like the NAACP and the Urban League while posing as like-minded individuals.
In one case, an MPD officer posed as a Black community member in order to send a message to a local branch of the NAACP. In another case, an MPD officer posed as a community member and RSVP'd to attend the birthday party of a prominent Black civil rights lawyer and activist.
MIT Technology Review reported that officers kept at least three watch lists of people at and around protests related to race and policing. Nine state and local policing groups were part of a multi-agency response program called Operation Safety Net, which worked in concert with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Department of Homeland Security to acquire surveillance tools, collect data sets, and increase communication sharing during the racial justice protests in the state The program continued even after the demobilization announcement.
Our investigation showed that local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies learned how to make anonymous protests under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
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