Explosive allegations that Minneapolis police used covert social media accounts to spy on Black organizations and elected officials can’t be substantiated by prosecutors, the deputy city attorney said in a letter Friday.
Erik Nilsson wrote to Mayor Jacob Frey and other city leaders that a review of thousands of social media documents failed to uncover “any material proving that MPD systematically targeted covert social media to target Black leaders, Black organizations, and elected officials without a public safety objective.”
The Minnesota Department of Human Rights made the allegation last month as part of a larger report commissioned after the Memorial Day 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer. The human rights agency at the time accused the MPD of engaging in a “pattern or practice of race discrimination.”
“The City has asked MDHR repeatedly for the specific documents it is relying upon – a reasonable request for one party’s attorneys to make of another’s to support its conclusions relating to covert social media,” Nilsson wrote. “The MDHR has repeatedly refused to share this vital information.”
The MDHR on Saturday defended its findings.
“The Minnesota Department of Human Rights conducted a thorough, comprehensive investigation based on multiple data sources and found a pattern or practice of race discrimination,” the agency said in a statement that did not address the claim that it refused to share additional information with prosecutors. “MPD’s improper use of covert social media is one of multiple significant findings.”
In its report, the MDHR said one police officer used a “covert” social media account posing as a Black resident to send a message to the local NAACP branch. Officers also used similar accounts to pose as residents attacking police critics and local officials, according to the report.
But the deputy city attorney said his office has reviewed approximately 15,000 social media documents without uncovering any evidence of spying. Nilsson said the documents are being reviewed again and his office has canceled a meeting with the MDHR next week.
“Our planned meetings with MDHR cannot go forward until we have reviewed the information supporting the report’s finding or MDHR agrees to share that information with the City,” Nilsson said.
MDHR said a dispute with the one finding should not halt discussions.
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