From Frogs to Immigration, How the Secret Service Kept Tabs on Peaceful Protests
In 2011, no protest was too small.
(Photo: Ragesoss/CC BY-SA 2.0)
A version of this story originally appeared on Muckrock.com.
A 2011 FOIA request by Jason Smathers led to the release of a little over a week’s worth of the reports from the Secret Service’s Protective Research Information System Management system (PRISM, but a different PRISM than the one Snowden was talking about) regarding demonstrations.
Though the time period is fairly narrow, the variety of demonstrations is nevertheless impressive, from legalization of marijuana …
to immigration reform …
to AIDS treatment …
to the Iranian government …
and, finally, frog extinction, helpfully labeled under the keywords “Environment/Animal Rights.”
Interestingly enough, the demonstrations apparently didn’t have to involve the POTUS directly. A follow-up request specifically requesting all PRISM briefings mentioning “Anonymous” only yielded one result regarding Occupy Wall Street.
Read the full release here.
