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Intrepid Response allows officers to collect data that can be analyzed in a myriad of ways, and our research found that officers compiled watch lists of people who attended the protests. The Minnesota Fusion Center has access to facial recognition technology through the National Security Information Network, a secure network used during Operation Safety Net. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office (another OSN member agency) also uses what it calls investigative imaging technology, which is another term for facial recognition.

“This type of informal multi-agency coordination encourages “policy exchange,” where the agency with the least restrictive privacy rules can achieve surveillance that other agencies cannot, says Jake Wiener of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and an expert in fusion centers and protest surveillance. That means more surveillance overall, less surveillance, and a greater risk of harassment or political arrest.” Additionally, Intrepid can provide “a forum where many organizations can contribute, but where no agency is responsible for oversight”, making it “ready for abuse”.

It’s unclear where Duggan and other journalists’ personal data went after the Minnesota State Patrol shared it via Intrepid Response. The photos are available to the Minnesota Fusion Center and Department of Natural Resources through the Intrepid Response, Minnesota State Patrol public information officer Gordon Shank said. The Minnesota State Patrol eventually stored the photos as PDFs in an agency-owned electronic folder. Shank also said that no analysis has been made of the photos and that the photos have not yet been deleted due to pending litigation.

An “extremely disturbing” event

On the night of April 16, police photographed Duggan’s face, entire body, and media credentials. Information accompanying the images includes the coordinates of where the photos were taken, the timestamp, and a map of the immediate area. Sokotoff’s file, also dated April 16, 2021, contains the same data in the same format, in addition to the images of the state ID card.

JD DUGGAN

Duggan and other eyewitnesses say several dozen journalists were involved in the cataloging. We independently confirmed that six journalists were photographed in the same manner as Duggan, and all described them as relevant. Many said they asked officers why their data was collected and where it was stored, but the officers refused to answer.

“We didn’t commit any crime, but still, records were kept about us. Chris Taylor, a freelancer for the Minneapolis Television Network photographed by the Minnesota State Patrol, I believe this is a step towards authoritarianism and has a chilling effect on the free press. “It’s against the ethics of being an American.”

Sokotoff, a student photojournalist at the University of Michigan, also Live-tweeted the event. “It was unlike anything I had ever seen and it was extremely disturbing,” he says.

It turns out that the entire incident was initiated by the Minnesota State Patrol, which had recently settled a case regarding its treatment of journalists during the protests. On April 17, more than 25 media companies signed a letter, including local broadcasters Minnesota Public Radio and the Star Tribune, and the New York Times, Gannett, Associated Press, and Fox/UTC Holdings. He sent a letter to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz; A temporary restraining order was issued to the Minnesota State Patrol that same day. this state patrol responded to the public Via a press release issued by Operation Safety Net, police officers “photographed journalists and their credentials and driver’s licenses at the crime scene to expedite the identification process… This process was implemented in response to concerns expressed by the media last year. identified and released journalists.”

“The tactic doesn’t seem to serve any law enforcement purpose beyond intimidating journalists doing their job,” said Parker Higgins, an advocate for the Freedom of the Press Foundation that investigated the incident. “And now, almost exactly one year later, why the photos were taken, how the images were shared, or There are still no clear answers as to whether this data is stored in law enforcement databases.”