On November 8, national investigative news outlet The Intercept broke the news that police in Medford, Oregon have been continuously spying on progressive activists and organizations since 2016. The basis of this reporting came from public records obtained by Information for Public Use. This illegal surveillance of First Amendment activities has included monitoring protestors calling attention to the conditions of the Jackson County jail during COVID-19 and people attending a vigil for Aidan Ellison, a Black teenager who was murdered by a white man in Ashland.
The records show police collecting information on reproductive justice advocates after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in 2022. This was based on a “tip” from a far-right hate group. Emails also show city officials attempting to cut state funding for a harm reduction nonprofit in 2023, as previously reported by Information for Public Use.
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Since 2016, Oregon law enforcement has coordinated with FBI on surveillance and spying efforts, including during the protests against the Jordan Cove natural gas pipeline. Will Parish obtained pages 19-52 of these records, wrote about them in the The Guardian and The Intercept, and provided them to Information for Public Use for this story. Emails between the Medford police and federal agents in 2021 show continued involvement of the FBI in surveillance activities.
These documents add new detail to the long history of Oregon state police, federal agents, and corporations monitoring and in some cases trying to crush grassroots movements against environmental extraction, police brutality, and criminalization of poverty.
We welcome inquires from the press about these records. Contact us at info4publicuse [at] protonmail.com.
The records contain a number of redactions: some created by government agencies and some by Information for Public Use based on requests for anonymity. If you have questions about redactions or would like anonymity, please email the address above.
Media Generated
The Intercept, November 8, 2023
Oregon Police Obsessively Spied on Activists for Years, Even After Pipeline Fight Ended
Emails show police treating even the most placid social justice activities as sites of criminal threat.
By Natasha Lennard
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