Editor’s note: this column has been updated on 8/16/20

On Juneteenth, Distributed Denial of Secrets leaked data from over 200 police departments and training centers throughout the United States. While 269 gigabits worth of data was released to the public, seemingly only a handful of news outlets have been talking about it. The content should be more widespread because what’s inside is disturbing.

“An analysis of leaked law enforcement documents reveals an obsession with ‘antifa’ [anti-fascists] despite evidence of threats of violence to police and protesters,” writes Ryan Devereaux of The Intercept. “The cache of law enforcement materials was recently hacked and posted online under the title ‘BlueLeaks,’ providing an unprecedented look at the communications between state, local and federal law enforcement in the face of the nationwide protests. In an analysis of nearly 300 documents that reference ‘antifa,’ The Intercept found repeated instances of antifa and left-wing protesting activities cast in cartoonishly grim terms alongside more substantive reports of lethal right-wing violence and threats that have received scant mention from top Trump administration officials.”

Many memos similar to this describe the FBI and law enforcement being aware of white supremacist groups posing as antifa members. A memo in June said, “OMG [outlaw motorcycle gang] members associated with white racially motivated violent extremists (WRMVEs) have discussed the perceived dissipation of civil unrest. Discussion involved inciting riots while posing as antifa members. A motivation for OMG/WRMVE group members was to portray antifa as a greater threat than it actually poses. (Source comment. OMGs associated with WRMVEs have in fact participated in civil disturbances while posing as antifa members.)”

An Intelligence Note from the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness classifies medics, jail support and lawyers/legal observers as “Anarchist Extremist Subgroups/Subgroups of Antifa-Affiliated Extremists,” even though it’s listed in the same notice that these “subgroups” do not engage in violence and are usually there as objective bystanders and/or to help the wounded and the arrested.

While it’s no secret that our social media data can be monitored, BlueLeaks confirms how the FBI is working with Twitter and data mining companies to compile a database of accounts and content related to the Black Lives Matter movement and surrounding demonstrations.

“Leveraging close ties to Twitter, controversial artificial intelligence startup Dataminr helped law enforcement digitally monitor the protests that swept the country following the killing of George Floyd, tipping off police to social media posts with the latest whereabouts and actions of demonstrators,” reports Sam Biddle of The Intercept. “Dataminr relayed tweets and other social media content about the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests directly to police, apparently across the country. In so doing, it used to great effect its privileged access to Twitter data — despite current terms of service that explicitly bar software developers ‘from tracking, alerting, or monitoring sensitive events (such as protests, rallies, or community organizing meetings)’ via Twitter.” A trusted source told The Intercept that Dataminr has been tracking protests “at the request of the police.”

Rummaging through the now publicized data shows a dreadful document from the Nevada High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Force Training with the title “WHEN DOES FORCE LOOK PRETTY?” and six pictures beneath it of cops using excessive force and, in one case, killing a man. The first picture shows an officer pressing a shotgun to the head of a person who is underneath the cop on the ground due to the cop fully kneeling on their body. The second picture is an officer above a Black man on the ground under the cop’s knee while the cop is mid-air swinging a baton. The third picture is three officers on one person who is stomach-down on the ground with one of the cops kneeling on their neck. The remaining three pictures are the most disturbing — the first two show Eric Garner’s detainment, and the last picture is of him in the chokehold that killed him.

What about Iowa? Notable surveys were leaked about instructors at the Midwest Counterdrug Training Center in Johnston. One respondent says, “While the instructor was open about his ‘anti-PC’ beliefs — this is the only time I have ever heard the [N-word] repeatedly used by instructors and students.”

“Another participant of that course, which focused on interviewing and interrogation, gave more details of those ‘inappropriate comments,’” writes Colleen Hagerty of the Daily Dot. “‘The instructor used language that was not appropriate for any classroom.  Asking students if they ‘were the pitcher or catcher’ may be funny to some but is asking for a lawsuit in front of the wrong audience. Asking if they were going to ‘spit or swallow’ was a similar inappropriate question, as well as referring to the black male in the class as ‘brotha’ multiple times when it was obvious he was uncomfortable with it. Joking about sex assault cases is probably not the best idea considering someone may know a victim.’”

“In a survey on a separate course run by the same instructor, a class member said they were led through sexually themed ‘games’ unrelated to course material at the beginning of each new section. Another member of that class felt there were ‘way too many sexual references,’ including… ‘sticking a finger in a child’s vagina.’”

“While thousands responded favorably to these courses over the past 10 years, the negative reviews call into question the culture of the organization, in which instructors saying racial slurs or homophobic jokes would still be rated highly by the majority of survey participants,” shares Hagerty. “Some, including the instructor described above, continued to teach for years, despite being flagged repeatedly. According to additional surveys, the above teacher was still leading the Midwest Counterdrug Training Center courses as recently as March 2020.”

Beyond the focus of the Black Lives Matter movement and other anti-police violence groups, the memos from training centers, fusion centers and police departments are covered in racial stereotypes, discrimination and purposeful misinformation to further fuel the false rhetoric that cops are solely the victims and shouldn’t be held accountable for their actions. The Black Lives Matter movement is not even close to being over. Cops must be held accountable, work entirely with equity and cannot continue to live above the law.

A comprehensive list of leaks/articles about the leaks per state can be found here.