Spying On Black Lives Matter: Memphis Police Department Is Tracking Social Justice Activists

The Memphis Police Department was facing questions over surveillance of residents after the department published a list of 81 people it said required police escorts when visiting Memphis City Hall. The list, which contained local activists, Black Lives Matter protesters, former city employees and the mother of a young man killed by police was obtained Saturday through a public records request filed by the Associated Press.

The list detailed physical descriptions, prompting protesters and activists to claim police gathered the information through surveillance, a claim that law enforcement sources confirmed, a local Fox affiliate reported.

"Sometimes they sit outside our offices, sometimes this sit outside our house," union organizer Antonio Cathey told Fox 13, referring to the police. Local activist groups have repeatedly complained about surveillance by Memphis police in recent years, the Memphis Daily news reported.

On Monday, Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings said in a video statement that some people could be removed from the list.

Rallings acknowledged that many people were added to the list after a protest at Mayor Jim Strickland's house in December. But a local attorney told the Memphis Commercial Appeal that there was "no rhyme or reason" for who was on the list.

"We don't know why the 81 people are on this blacklist... But we're definitely looking into it," Bruce Kramer said, adding that he was considering filing a class action suit against the city over the list.

Memphis was barred from spying on residents in a 1978 federal court order issued in response to a ACLU lawsuit over the department's "domestic intelligence unit," the Memphis Daily News said.

Surveillance of local activists hasn't been limited to the Memphis Police Department. Earlier this month, a court ruled the NYPD must release all documents and video related to the surveillance of Black Lives Matter protests in 2014 and 2015. Last year, the FBI released footage of aerial surveillance taken during the 2015 protests in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray.