FBI & Colorado Springs Police Sued for Targeting & Spying on Racial Justice Protesters

The American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado has sued the FBI, the Colorado Springs Police Department and local officers for illegally spying on local activist Jacqueline "Jax" Armendariz Unzueta and the Chinook Center, a community organizing hub in Colorado Springs. "This was one of the worst moments of my life," says Unzueta, who describes the investigation by law enforcement as "incredibly invasive." The lawsuit accuses the agencies of "unconstitutional and invasive search and seizure of the phones, computers, devices, and private chats of people and groups whose message the Colorado Springs Police Department dislikes." This comes after revelations the FBI had infiltrated the Chinook Center by sending an undercover police detective named April Rogers to volunteer at the center in 2020, first exposed by the investigative reporter Trevor Aaronson, who writes for The Intercept and created the Alphabet Boys podcast. "For more than a year, she was undercover for the FBI," says Aaronson, who reports the officer, who used the name Chelsie, surveilled the Chinook Center and unsuccessfully attempted to entrap local activists in gun-running conspiracies. This was part of a broader FBI effort to infiltrate racial justice and left-wing groups in Colorado after the police killing of George Floyd.

This is an extended version of the interview that aired on television.

Transcript: democracynow.org

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