FBI is investigating Minnesota Signal chats tracking ICE

Summary

FBI Director Kash Patel said Monday that he had opened an investigation into the Signal group text chats that Minnesota residents are using to share information about federal immigration agents’ movements, launching a new front in the Trump administration’s conflict there with potential free speech implications.Patel said in an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that he wanted to know whether any Minnesota residents had put federal agents “in harm’s way” with activities such as sharing agents’ license plate numbers and locations.“You cannot create a scenario that illegally entraps and puts law enforcement in harm’s way,” he said in the interview, which was posted to YouTube.The investigation quickly drew skepticism from free speech advocates who said the First Amendment protects members of the public who share legally obtained information, such as the names of federal agents or where they are conducting enforcement operations.“There are legitimate reasons to share such information, including enabling members of the public to observe and document law enforcement activity and to hold officials accountable for misconduct,” Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said in an email.“Given this administration’s poor track record of distinguishing protected speech from criminal conduct, any investigation like this deserves very close scrutiny,” he said.For months, digital tools have been at the center of how people have pushed back against immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota and across the country. The administration’s opponents have used group text chats to track Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, share photos of suspected ICE vehicles and raise awareness for neighbors. In June, administration officials criticized ICEBlock, an app designed to share information about ICE sightings. Apple removed the app from its app store in October, prompting a lawsuit from the app’s developer al...