Reporters for The Washington Post uncover that Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been compiling intelligence reports and spying on the online activity of journalists covering the Portland protests. Additionally, DHS handed over profiles of the journalists to law enforcement.

According to leaked documents, journalists have been targeted using DHS strategies normally reserved for international terrorists.

A memo by the department’s top intelligence official… says personnel relied on “FINTEL,” an acronym for financial intelligence, as well as finished intelligence “Baseball cards” of arrested protesters to try to understand their motivations and plans. Historically, military and intelligence officials have used such cards for biographical dossiers of suspected terrorists, including those targeted in lethal drone strikes.

The journalists involved had shared unclassified documents on social media about the department’s activity against protesters in Portland.

Acting DHS Security Secretary Chad Wolf claims he is unaware that the journalists had been targeted and says he is opening an investigation.

Attacks on journalists are very common in autocratic regimes.

Sources

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-who-published-leaked-documents/2020/07/30/5be5ec9e-d25b-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/31/us/politics/homeland-security-portland.html

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