In 2016 , CCR and COC , assist by the Kramer Law Center , filed FOIA petition for documents touch to FBI and DHS surveillance of Black Lives Matter protestors . The DHS react with hundred of documents , let in emails from the early calendar month of the Trump administration in which DHS agents blab about indite and edit the “ Race Paper . ”
However , when the DHS handed the mysterious “ race paper ” over to the civic rights groups , it was redacted into obliviousness , with nine full pageboy of completely hide text .
Little is known about this written document , but attorney believe it may be related to surveillance of Black Lives weigh protestors . All reference work to its existent name have been redacted .
“ There ’s not too much wriggle room when something is call ‘ The Race Papers , ’ ” Stephanie Llanes , one of the CCR lawyers filing the move , secern Gizmodo .
Here ’s what we know for sure : the paper is a nine - page document put out by members of the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis . The DHS worked on its conception for months , producing multiple draft translation , all of which have been redact . The Office of Intelligence and Analysis specializes in “ selective information share-out and delivering predictive intelligence and analysis . ” The office operates a meshwork ofFusion substance , which particularise in intelligence collection , analysis , and sharing between “ res publica , local , tribal , territorial , and private sector partners . ” It follows , then , the paper may interrelate to prognostic technology or surveillance .
“ One of the emails says that the person included a section on ‘ drivers and indications , ’ ” Llanes aver . “ founder what [ the Office of Intelligence and Analysis ] does , which is predictive intelligence information , it just erect serious concerns of the relationship between racial personal identity and drivers of succeeding behavior . ”
It ’s speculative , but police haveused data analysis to surveilminority protestors in the past . From Massachusetts to Missouri , officer have usedcomplex datum - mining softwarethat could supply the locations of social media users to monitor protestors using the # BlackLivesMatter or # MuslimLivesMatter hashtags .
Being asked to produce the “ Race Paper ” and then handing over nine all - blackened pages might seem like a cheeky answer , but , improbably , the DHS argued that the documents , redaction entire , fulfill the FOIA asking . The DHS insist it is nontaxable from release all preliminary versions of the papers because , as they were order of payment variant , they “ would n’t be an exact assessment of what the federal agency thinks , ” Llanes explicate .
However , the DHS redact all versions of the document , including the final version , which on the face of it would accurately represent the federal agency ’s position . DHS argued that even partially redacting the final version would threaten national security department by revealing sensitive information about how the agency operates .
“ They have n’t excuse at all how that would be the case . A government agency ca nt just make this broad , sweeping argument … without excuse how so , ” Llanes said . “ They still have to un - redact parts of the document that are purely actual , ground on publicly useable information , [ or ] would not unwrap the pre - deliberative [ assessment ] . ”
CCR lawyers are arguing that , under FOIA law , the DHS has a duty to un - redact passages that are ground on unclassified facts or public knowledge . By completely redacting every undivided word , admit even the championship of the written document , the DHS is essentially claiming that every single contingent of the “ race paper ” is , to some grade , sensitive , classified , or individual .
The next measure in the shell is for the DHS to respond to the move . If they deny the lawyers ’ claim , the case would move onto unwritten arguments .
[ The Intercept ]
Daily Newsletter
Get the good tech , science , and refinement news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , delivered to your present .
