Activists Call for DOJ Surveillance to Be Investigated by US Attorney

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Monday, November 16, 2015

Brendan Murray, GoLocalPDX Contributor

After admitting that an employee from the Oregon Department of Justice used an online search tool to surveil Oregonians who used the #BlackLivesMatter, Oregon Attorney General announced that Stoel and Rives LLP would be performing an internal audit of the incident. Activists with Black Lives Matter Portland and Don’t Shoot PDX told GoLocal they think the matter should be investigated by the US Attorney’s Office.

“I think an investigation by the U.S. Attorney would be entirely appropriate,” Adrienne Cabouet, an activist and organizer with Black Lives Matter, told GoLocal. “This is a civil rights issue. I think that it’s inappropriate to have the Department of Justice investigate their own misconduct, or to have a law firm paid by the DOJ to conduct the investigation.”

Carolyn Walker, a lawyer with Stoel and Rives, has been tapped to lead the investigation. According to her biography on the Stoel and Rives website, she has not previously conducted a civil rights investigation, but has represented clients in discrimination cases. Walker did not respond to multiple interview requests for this story.

Teressa Raiford

“We Deserve Answers”

Teressa Raiford, an organizer and activist with Don’t Shoot PDX, a group affiliated with the national Black Lives Matter movement, told GoLocal that she believes that the investigation by Stoel and Rives, who are being paid by the Oregon DOJ, represents a conflict of interest.

“I’m no attorney, but I don’t want anyone with a relationship with the Department of Justice conducting this audit,” Raiford said. “It can’t be done by someone who is employed on contracted by the Department of Justice. We need answers to a lot of questions here, even basic questions about who the person was that did this and who they were watching. We deserve answers to those questions.”

Ben Mauer, an activist with Black Lives Matter Portland and Don’t Shoot PDX, agreed.

“I absolutely think the U.S. Attorney’s Office should investigate,” Maurer told GoLocal. “It seems that some in law enforcement, including those in the Department of Justice, fundamentally misunderstand Black Lives Matter. Someone with that kind of misunderstanding shouldn’t be investigating this.”

Cabouet said that she was not surprised the matter was not being referred to the U.S. Attorney.

“Of course it should be looked at by an impartial investigator, but it is no shock that it isn’t” Cabouet said. “It’s more of what we have come to expect. We thought for a long time that this kind of activity was happening, but it was never taken seriously. I hope that they are taking it seriously now, but I don’t know.”

Bronson James

Case Could Still Be Referred to U.S. Attorney

As GoLocal reported on Friday, attorney Bronson James was hired by Don’t Shoot PDX to protect and defend the organization against surveillance and other possible civil rights violations. 

In an interview, he told GoLocal that while he does not believe the matter should be investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office at this time, he would not rule out referring the case to the office, depending on the results of the currently ongoing investigations.

"There are some questions that need to be answered," James said. "We need to find out whether this was an isolated incident or an ongoing action. Whether this was someone doing something on their own or following an authorized directive from the Department of Justice. This is a very serious matter, and those questions need answers before we can go forward. This case may still be referred to the U.S. Attorney depending on what we do or don’t learn from these investigations. There could also be civil suits coming."

Edmundson, with the Oregon Department of Justice, said that, depending on what is revealed by the internal audits, the case may be further investigated by other law enforcement agencies.

“An investigator has been hired by the Attorney General to advise Oregon DOJ of next steps and to conduct a full audit,” Edmunson told GoLocal. “We still need a lot more information on the matter before we can determine future actions.”

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