S.T.O.P. Condemns DHS Air Surveillance Of BLM Protests

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns DHS Air Surveillance Of BLM Protests   (NEW YORK, NY, 06/19/2020) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, condemned reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) conducted more than 270 hours of aerial surveillance of Black Lives Matter protests against police violence. Reporting from the New York Times found DHS deployed helicopters, airplanes and drones over 15 cities, including New York City; Buffalo; Dayton, Ohio; and Philadelphia.   SEE: N.Y. Times - U.S. Watched George Floyd Protests in 15 Cities Using Aerial Surveillance https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/us/politics/george-floyd-protests-surveillance.html   “It is illegal and immoral for the Trump Administration to track Americans for protesting police violence,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “This is nothing short of a direct attack on the First Amendment. Using military-grade equipment to track peaceful protesters shows exactly why we need to defund police, including the Department of Homeland Security. All to often, the tools that we pay for in the name of national security are simply turned against non-violent crimes and lawful political activity.”   The report comes just one day after the civil rights group and a coalition of more than 100 organizations successfully fought for passage of the first New York surveillance restrictions in a generation. In a 44-6 vote, the New York City Council enacted the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act, which will require the NYPD to disclose all surveillance tools used to monitor New Yorkers, including those tools aimed at monitoring political demonstrations.   Cahn continued, “Unchecked police surveillance causes more police stops, more arrests, and more police violence. These invasive tools often are no better than high-tech profiling of Black and Latin/X Americans, putting our communities of color at risk of the same deadly violence that took the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others. DHS’s illegal surveillance of political protesters here in New York and more than a dozen other cities shows why surveillance reform is so urgent.”   SEE: N.Y. Times - Council Forces N.Y.P.D. to Disclose Use of Drones and Other Spy Tech https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/nyregion/nypd-police-surveillance-technology-vote.html   POST Act Overview Website https://www.postact.org/   N.Y. Daily News A long overdue curb on NYPD spying https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-a-long-overdue-curb-on-nypd-spying-20200618-cnxvkmmrwjfvlclhteut7b365y-story.html   Sign-on letter from 70 organizations supporting the POST Act https://stopspying.org/post-act-letter The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider hosted by the Urban Justice Center. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.   - END – CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn.   Copyright © 2019 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.