The LAPD transcripts, first reported by the Los Angeles Times and reviewed by the Guardian, were submitted in a criminal case against activists who blocked a California freeway during an anti-Trump demonstration. In Sacramento, police worked with neo-Nazis to pursue cases against leftwing activists, including seeking charges against anti-fascist protesters who were stabbed at a white supremacist rally. LAPD did not conduct a similar spying operation on far-right groups while it targeted Refuse Fascism, according to the Los Angeles Times. On 27 September 2017, Antonio and a group of activists shut down a freeway in downtown LA to protest Trump, one year after his election. Damon Alimouri, Antonio’s lawyer, said the LAPD surveillance was “unjust and outrageous”, adding that he suspected this type of spying was likely to escalate across the country.

Source: The Guardian July 19, 2019 22:09 UTC