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Agents use facial recognition, social media monitoring and other tech tools not only to identify undocumented immigrants but also to track protesters, current and former officials said.

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[-] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 5 days ago

Yet another fash-enabling take from the NYTrash. Please don't post this rag of imperial disinformation.

Here's a better take: Was Alex Pretti the subject of a targeted assassination?

[-] mesamunefire@piefed.social 47 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

One of the tools, which was built by Paragon, an Israeli technology company, lets people take control of phones or remotely hack into them to read messages or track locations. The others were built by Penlink, a Nebraska-based software company. They use social media data scraped from the web and information from data brokers to help build dossiers of anyone with a social media account.

ICE’s use of facial recognition software was documented in videos and photos from local activist groups in Minnesota this month and reviewed by The Times. Two photos captured fatigue-clad agents using cellphones to scan the faces of protesters in Minneapolis, while in one video, agents could be heard telling people that they were being recorded with facial recognition technology and that their faces would be added to a database.

[-] artyom@piefed.social 39 points 6 days ago

i HaVe NoThInG tO hIdE! 🤡

[-] TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works 24 points 6 days ago

Can someone explain to me why this is focused on the city of Minneapolis specifically? Why is ICE focusing specifically on that city of all of them?

[-] ToTheGraveMyLove@sh.itjust.works 35 points 6 days ago

My guess is his personal vendetta against Walz.

[-] Soulg@ani.social 28 points 6 days ago

Racism against Somalis plus he hates Walz for running against him

[-] r0ertel@lemmy.world 26 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I read an opinion piece that suggested that he is upset that Minnesota is the only blue state in a region of red. Given that Minnesota is primarily white, he felt that he could use the Somali fraud as a way to turn [white] people against the democrats using xenophobia.

Edit: I found the article.

[-] artyom@piefed.social 15 points 6 days ago

It's a "sanctuary city".

[-] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 8 points 6 days ago

Personal grudge against Waltz, for running against him amongst other grudges

That's what citizens pay for now in Trump's USA. With their lives. Petty grievances of an Alzheimer patient.

[-] potpotato@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

Don’t forget Omar.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago

Among other reasons you've been given:

  • The figured MN folks would be peaceable and lay down.
  • No open carry of weapons.
  • Didn't think they'd show out in deep winter. (HAH!)
[-] dditty@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 days ago

MN does allow open carry of pistols however

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[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 19 points 6 days ago

Bruce Springstein's protest song : Streets of Minneapolis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDaPdpwA4Iw

[-] Eeyore_Syndrome@sh.itjust.works 18 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Reasons I installed GrapheneOS November 2024 and moved to Lemmy/Mastodon only in July 2023, intensifies.

[-] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 6 days ago

That only mitigates. There are still a number of ways to potentially track a hardened phone, and countless ways to breach proper OPSEC on social media that have nothing to do with the platform.

Don't rely entirely on system choices to keep you safe.

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[-] UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 11 points 6 days ago

As usual, the Trump admin is using tools that have been available to the feds for years but they use them so ineptly that it has become obvious that they exist. I guess that is better than competent administrations doing to the same thing for less trivial and obvious shit.

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this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2026
445 points (98.7% liked)

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