{"id":401067,"date":"2025-11-24T09:54:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T09:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/401067\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T09:54:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T09:54:14","slug":"fbi-memo-indicates-online-chats-of-immigration-court-watchers-in-nyc-were-monitored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/401067\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI memo indicates online chats of immigration court watchers in NYC were monitored"},"content":{"rendered":"

An FBI memo that claims \u201canarchist violent extremist actors\u201d are targeting law enforcement<\/a> cites a private text message chat that included immigration court observers, raising questions about whether the spy agency is monitoring political activity<\/a>, a copy of the document indicates.<\/p>\n

The \u201cjoint situational information report,\u201d released via the Freedom of Information Act to a watchdog group, indicates information about a May 2025 signal chat involving immigration court watchers was passed to authorities by \u201ca sensitive source with excellent access,\u201d the document states.<\/p>\n

The memo, which references the NYPD,<\/a> claims activists were collecting photos and videos of law enforcement officers<\/a> and sharing instructions on accessing immigration courtrooms \u2014 activities that are protected and legal. The memo was first reported by the Guardian newspaper.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDiscussions with the \u2018courtwatch\u2019 group chat also included instructions on where to go and what to say in order to gain access to federal courtrooms,\u201d the memo states.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York City Comptroller Brad Lander observes immigration court at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

City Comptroller Brad Lander, speaking outside 26 Federal Plaza<\/a> Friday, called the apparent monitoring an \u201cegregious violation of Constitutional rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FBI is reverting to the days of J. Edgar Hoover,<\/a>\u201d he said. \u201cCourt watching is constitutionally protected, nonviolent legal activity, unlike what the ICE agents are doing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m concerned as well about the involvement of NYPD \u2026 From what we can tell, it\u2019s an FBI investigation, but that the NYPD was looped into, or at least aware of, through their joint activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter, there have been dozens of \u201ccourtwatch\u201d Signal chats involving immigration advocates in New York City<\/a>. It\u2019s unclear exactly which group chat that the feds referenced.<\/p>\n

While the document indicates in the header it is a \u201cjoint\u201d memo with the NYPD, it states on the second page it was prepared by the FBI\u2019s New York office.<\/p>\n

\"AA couple leaves an immigration courtroom at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

In a statement, an NYPD spokesperson said, \u201cThis is not an NYPD document\u201d and said it was related to a specific investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt references a broader counterterrorism investigation into a range of possible criminal activities, including weapons training, violence against law enforcement, property damage and destruction, and discussions about bomb-making,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

The investigation, the NYPD statement said, was reviewed by the monitor<\/a> charged with vetting police surveillance. That monitor was created as part of the 1985 Handschu consent decree<\/a> barring the department from surveilling political groups.<\/p>\n

Ryan Shapiro, the executive director of the group Property of the People<\/a>, which obtained the memo, noted the document is titled \u201cJoint Situational Information Report FBI and NYPD.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe document is clear. (The) NYPD is involved. And unless the NYPD wants to claim the FBI is lying in the document, everything else is just smoke and mirrors to distract from the plain fact that NYPD is involved in spying on peaceful immigration activists,\u201d said Shapiro, whose Washington, D.C.-based group has been using FOIA to obtain FBI documents for the past 20 years.<\/p>\n

\"FederalFederal law enforcement officers are pictured outside immigration courtrooms at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

In a statement, the FBI New York office did not identify a specific investigation as the NYPD\u2019s statement did.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we cannot confirm or deny the existence of any FBI-authored intelligence bulletin, we routinely share information to our law enforcement and intelligence community partners alerting them of potential threats,\u201d the FBI statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FBI takes all threats to public safety seriously, including those posed to law enforcement and public safety officials. The FBI has, and will continue to, monitor any indication of potential escalating violence in accordance with our predicated investigative guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lander has been one of the elected officials at the center of protests against the Trump administration\u2019s immigration crackdown. Groups including the New York Immigration Coalition<\/a>, whose works has been lauded by elected officials like Lander and Rep. Dan Goldman, have maintained a regular presence at the lower Manhattan facility in recent months.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York City Comptroller Brad Lander observes immigration court at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Lander was arrested in June and released without charges and arrested again in September<\/a> and charged with obstruction of justice.<\/p>\n

An agency spokeswoman this week made claims about Lander being obsessed with physically and rhetorically \u201cattacking,\u201d law enforcement, which he has not legally been accused of, after he elected to go to trial on misdemeanor charges alleging he blocked hallway access on a non public floor at 26 Federal Plaza while trying to inspect the conditions migrants are being detained in.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere are the facts: Brad Lander showed up to 26 Federal Plaza unannounced with agitators and media and proceeded to obstruct law enforcement and cause a scene,\u201d said ICE spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin recently. \u201cBrad Lander\u2019s obsession with attacking the brave men and women of law enforcement, physically and rhetorically, must stop NOW.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lander said Friday it appeared ICE agents had backed off of targeting people going into their asylum hearings at the federal office building.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York City Comptroller Brad Lander observes immigration court at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The apparent move, he said, makes it harder to aid migrants being targeted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it\u2019s at court, we\u2019ve had some chance to connect with people and get them lawyers, but if they\u2019re just taken off the streets, (we) don\u2019t even know where to go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An FBI memo that claims \u201canarchist violent extremist actors\u201d are targeting law enforcement cites a private text message…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":401068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,1370,728,17259,405,403,8989,50,5226,5225,5228,5227,80,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-401067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-latest-headlines","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-national-politics","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-new-york-politics","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkcity","18":"tag-ny","19":"tag-nyc","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}