Social media has become an important tool for documenting the activities of federal employees. In some cases, police filmed activists from directly behind them.
Demonstrators clash with ICE in Minneapolis, intensifying protests
Protests intensified in Minneapolis as thousands of people clashed with ICE over enforcement tactics following a fatal shooting.
The debate over tougher immigration enforcement has been fueled by viral videos following two shootings by federal authorities in Minnesota, part of an ongoing and extraordinary social media battle.
Local officials, including Gov. Tim Walz, called on trained advocates and concerned residents to continue documenting federal agents’ arrests and clashes with protesters. In the murders of Alex Preti and Renee Nicole Good, bystander video that was widely shared online helped contradict elements of testimony released by Trump administration officials.
“This is one of the tools that the public has at their disposal to really hold government officials accountable and to make sure that people who aren’t on the ground understand what’s going on,” said Alexa Koenig, co-director of the Center for Human Rights at the University of California, Berkeley.
Meanwhile, the administration has rolled back Americans’ rights to record law enforcement, while the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has engaged in its own sophisticated social media operations. In some cases, police officers themselves are even quick to record activists’ activities.
The use of social media videos by both sides has sometimes created an unusual dynamic.
Demonstrators film their perspectives. Federal agencies are filming their views. Both posters post videos on social media to make their points.
Efforts to monitor post-murder ICE increase
Jill Garvey, co-director of States at the Core, said the practice of monitoring law enforcement activities and documenting potential abuses dates back to the civil rights movement. The strategy was embraced again during the 2020 racial justice protests and modified for modern times, but Garvey said more people are now exercising their right to record authorities than ever before.
Garvey said that in the days after Goode’s death, attendance at training sessions held by core states on how to securely record ICE activities tripled. After Preeti’s death, the organization held an emergency training exercise that reached its maximum capacity of 5,000 participants.
“What we hear from people who come to these trainings is, ‘Yes, we’re worried. We want to do it as safely as possible, but we’re actually more willing than ever to do it.’ … More and more cities are organizing and preparing to do exactly what Renee and Alex did despite the risks,” Garvey said.
Federal authorities point cameras at protesters
But now there is evidence that federal agencies are taking a cue from the activists’ playbook.
In one video that has been viewed millions of times, a police officer appears to use a cell phone to record information about the person filming him.
When asked why they recorded the information, the officer said, “Because we have a nice little database.” “And now you are considered a domestic terrorist.”
Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot Goode, also appears to have recorded the fatal exchange. Alpha News, a Minnesota-based media outlet, published a 47-second clip on January 9th showing Ross’ perspective.
Vice President J.D. Vance said Ross acted in self-defense and criticized the “media’s dishonesty” about the incident, reposting the video multiple times on X.
The study found that the angle from which something is recorded can be “highly misleading,” and cherry-picking one video out of many to share on social media “could cause serious problems or actually mislead the public,” Koenig said.
“When it comes to U.S. government officials, they have a personal responsibility to provide accurate information to the broad public of this country,” Koenig said.
Best practice for human rights investigators like Koenig is to look at a case from as many different perspectives as possible. Activists have used various bystander footage to challenge federal authorities’ interpretation of events in Minnesota.
Video of the encounter with Good shows multiple officers approaching Good’s SUV, which is parked in the middle of the road. Good briefly retreated before moving forward and beginning to turn to the right. Ross was standing near the front driver’s side of the SUV, and as the vehicle began to move forward, he pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots.
Administration postpones filming
The dueling video accounts emerged as government agencies used immigration enforcement operations as an opportunity to film themselves, according to public records obtained by advocacy groups such as the Immigration Attorneys and the Immigrant Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School. The Washington Post reports that dramatic and sometimes misleading videos of strategic operations and raids on migrants are shared on social media.
For observers, the change in tone from federal officials is notable.
“The tone of DHS’ social media posts is assertive, emphasizing that the agency is doing the right thing, and at times kind of combative,” said Eni Chan, a professor at the University at Buffalo who studies political communication on social media.
ICE and DHS did not respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment regarding the shooting and social media policies.
And as the regime shoots and shares its own footage, authorities push back against protesters’ right to record law enforcement.
The Trump administration has said the groups that monitor and track ICE are interfering with the agency’s work. Police threatened to arrest people who filmed or followed them.
The New York Times also reported that large Facebook groups and apps used to track the movements of ICE agents were removed at the request of the Justice Department.
But Sophia Cope, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Americans have a First Amendment right to record law enforcement while they are performing their official duties, provided they do not interfere.
“It’s pretty clear at this point whether it’s on the right or not,” Cope said.
