The shooter allegedly researched several “people search” sites in an attempt to target his victims, highlighting the potential dangers of widely available personal data.

The man who allegedly assassinated a Democratic Minnesota state representative, murdered her husband, and shot a state senator and his wife at their homes in a violent spree early Saturday morning may have gotten their addresses or other personal details from online data broker services, according to court documents.

Suspect Vance Boelter, 57, is accused of shooting Minnesota representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, in their home on Saturday. The couple died from their injuries. Authorities claim the suspect also shot state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman in their home earlier that night. The pair are currently recovering and are “incredibly lucky to be alive,” according to a statement from their family.

According to an FBI affidavit, police searched the SUV believed to be the suspect's and found notebooks that included handwritten lists of “more than 45 Minnesota state and federal public officials, including Representative Hortman’s, whose home address was written next to her name.” According to the same affidavit, one notebook also listed 11 mainstream search platforms for finding people's home addresses and other personal information, like phone numbers and relatives.

The addresses for both lawmakers targeted on Saturday were readily available. Representative Hortman's campaign website listed her home address, while Senator Hoffman's appeared on his legislative webpage, The New York Times reports.

“Boelter stalked his victims like prey,” acting US attorney Joseph Thompson alleged at a press conference on Monday. “He researched his victims and their families. He used the internet and other tools to find their addresses and names, the names of their family members.” Thompson also alleged that the suspect surveilled victims' homes.

The suspect faces several charges of second-degree murder.

Privacy and public safety advocates have long argued that the US should regulate data brokers to guarantee that people have better control over the sensitive information available about them. The US has no comprehensive data privacy legislation, and efforts to regulate data brokers from within federal agencies have largely been quashed.

“The accused Minneapolis assassin allegedly used data brokers as a key part of his plot to track down and murder Democratic lawmakers,” Ron Wyden, the US senator from Oregon, tells WIRED. “Congress doesn't need any more proof that people are being killed based on data for sale to anyone with a credit card. Every single American's safety is at risk until Congress cracks down on this sleazy industry.”

In many cases, basic information like home addresses can be found through public records, including voter registration data (which is public in some states) and political donations data, says Gary Warner, a longtime digital scams researcher and director of intelligence at the cybersecurity firm DarkTower. Anything that isn't readily available through public records is almost always easy to find using popular “people search” services.

“Finding a home address, especially if someone has lived in the same place for many years is trivial,” Warner says. He adds that for “younger people, non-homeowners, and less political people, there are other favorite sites” for finding personal information.

For many in the general public as well as in politics, Saturday's violent crime spree brings new urgency to the long-standing question of how to protect sensitive personal data online.

“These are not the first murders that have been abetted by the data broker industry. But most of the previous targets were relatively unknown victims of stalking and abuse,” alleges Evan Greer, deputy director of the digital rights group Fight for the Future. “Lawmakers need to act before they have more blood on their hands.”

Minnesota Shooting Suspect Allegedly Used Data Broker Sites to Find Targets’ Addresses

The White House has undertaken initiatives to crack down on immigration, suppress speech, and curtail US public health efforts. These online tools are tracking the rapidly changing US landscape.

In just a few months, Donald Trump’s second presidential term has drastically reshaped the United States federal government and moved to consolidate the power of the executive branch. At the behest of the president, numerous federal agencies have undertaken aggressive, invasive initiatives to crack down on immigration, police speech, investigate political opponents, curtail US public health efforts and emergency preparedness, and more.

With so much happening at once, numerous organizations and individuals have launched databases, interactive maps, and other trackers to catalog these government actions and their impacts on people’s civil rights across the US. Using open source intelligence, public data, news coverage, and other research, these tools are vital resources for documenting, contextualizing, and analyzing the flood of federal activity that is fundamentally reshaping the US. Here are a few prominent examples.

**The Impact Map**

**by The Impact Project, Americans for Public Service**

This interactive map tracks changes to US federal government funding, workforce, and policy across the country, documenting things like mass worker firings, hiring freezes, funding cuts, and lease terminations. The tool also shows places where funding has subsequently been unfrozen, federal workers have been rehired or may be, or the federal government has added a new service or benefit.

The map includes notations to specifically document impacts in rural US counties, areas in which the population is majority non-white, places where 20 percent or more of the population live below the poverty line, and indigenous lands. It also catalogs responses to these initiatives, including legal actions as well as local and state responses to funding cuts.

**United States Disappeared Tracker**

**by Danielle Harlow, data analyst**

This dashboard tallies the number of people impacted by the Trump administration’s mass deportations carried out by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The number is already over 4,000. The tool also monitors the status of each individual to the degree that information is available, noting their names, original country of origin, and where they are being detained, when available.

The tracker crucially follows each individual’s status, noting whether they are in ICE custody, have been released temporarily or permanently, have been deported, have “self-deported,” or have died in ICE custody. The tool also lists how many days their ordeal has continued.

**ICE Flight Tracking**

**by Tom Cartwright, immigration rights advocate**

Tom Cartwright is a retired JP Morgan executive who uses flight monitoring data from around the country to track ICE Air deportation flights, return flights, and flights within the US. He posts regular, specific updates on his Bluesky social media page and produces monthly reports for the immigration rights group Witness at the Border about ICE Air flights and tallies. In the past 12 months, Cartwright has collected data on roughly 8,000 ICE Air flights, including 824 in April. More than 1,500 of that 12-month total were “removal flights,” while about 1,400 were “removal return” flights. The other roughly 5,000 trips were “ICE Air domestic flights” within the US.

**Regulatory Changes Tracker**

**by The Brookings Institution**

The think tank Brookings has built a database cataloging significant regulatory changes implemented since the start of the second Trump administration. It includes new executive orders and regulatory freezes as well as Trump administration changes to executive orders that were issued by past administrations. For example, the White House rescinded a 2022 Biden executive order aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs and another from that year calling for research into cryptocurrency regulation.

**Trump Administration Litigation Trackers**

**by Just Security and Lawfare**

The law and policy publications Just Security and Lawfare each offer databases that track lawsuits challenging Trump administration initiatives. The tools include case names, docket numbers, and jurisdictions, as well as the executive action being challenged and the status of the litigation. In most cases, the Trump administration has pursued its agenda without congressional oversight or corresponding legislation, and a number of Trump administration efforts that have been challenged in court thus far have either been paused or permanently blocked from continuing.

**Far Right Groups Targeting Pride Month**

**by Teddy Wilson, Radical Reports**

Anti-LGBTQ+ groups, including fundamentalist Christian nationalists and white supremacist extremist groups, have targeted Pride Month events previously and are expected to again this June, particularly given the Trump administration’s violent rhetoric and executive actions related to trans rights. This map is tracking Pride Month events around the country and indications that radical opposition groups plan to target the gatherings.

6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties

Right now, everyone seems ready to throw down. More than ever, it’s important to fight smart—and not give up until you land a decisive blow.

I don’t think there’s anything quite so satisfying as winning a fight—especially when you land that victory with a resounding and definitive punch to your opponent’s gut.

In some instances, that’s a literal victory. Just ask my third-grade playground nemesis; it’s the one and only time I ever threw that kind of breathtaking slug, and yeah, she had it coming.

But much more often, that feeling comes during fights that transcend the physical. Especially right now, when it feels like there are more of them than ever. The American electorate wants to fight President Trump, or Congress, or one another; Tesla owners, and Tesla haters, want to fight Elon Musk; Elon Musk wants to fight the entire internet, including Trump himself. (Musk later apologized, which Trump said was “nice.”) On a more serious note, scores of people—from student activists to federal workers, from immigrants to the LGBTQ+ community—find themselves forced to fight deportation, government surveillance, and the drastic erosion of fundamental human rights. Just this past weekend millions of people took to the streets in hundreds of US cities to protest Trump’s policies.

That latter battle is one for all of us to take on. It might be more possible to win than you think: Erica Chenoweth, from Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, theorizes that modern-day nonviolent protests involving more than 3.5 percent of a given population have never failed to catalyze change. Physical protests can be effective, but remember that there are plenty of ways to deliver that metaphorical gut punch—to really, decisively, _win_ a fight.

WIRED is here to help. In our latest package, we’re exploring the myriad battles—both big and small, existential and elementary—playing out all around us, and how they can best be won. WIRED reporters are here to tell you the definitive story of the Tesla Takedown, and we’re partnering with our colleagues at Them to walk you through the battle over the future of gender-affirming care. We’re also chatting with the internet’s most impressive shitposters to get their advice on out-trolling the trolls, and talking to a Hollywood stunt performer about the skills required to vanquish adversaries.

Finally, we’ve got all the guidance you could possibly need to fight the Big Fights in this moment, from locking down your digital security to protesting safely amid increasing—and increasingly dangerous—government surveillance.

So put on your big-person pants, shake off any lingering nerves, and remember: Whatever you’re fighting for in this moment, don’t stop until you land that victory blow. But please, not a physical one. WIRED doesn’t condone violence, and I still feel kinda bad about that third grade thing.

Why We Made a Guide to Winning a Fight

Plus: Spyware is found on two Italian journalists’ phones, Ukraine claims to have hacked a Russian aircraft maker, police take down major infostealer infrastructure, and more.

With demonstrations ramping up against the Trump administration, this week was all about protests. With President Donald Trump taking the historic step to deploy US Marines and the National Guard to Los Angeles, we dove into the “long-term dangers” of sending troops to LA, as well as what those troops are permitted to do while they’re there.

Of course, it’s not just the military getting involved in the LA protests against the heavy crackdowns by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). There’s also Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which further escalated federal involvement by flying Predator drones over LA. And there are local and state authorities, who’ve used “nonlethal” weapons and chemical agents like tear gas against protesters. Even Waymo’s self-driving taxis—some of which were set on fire during last weekend’s LA protests—could be used to investigate people who commit crimes during demonstrations thanks to their surveillance capabilities.

In addition to protests, the undocumented community is pushing back against ICE’s enforcement activities by turning social media platforms into DIY alert systems for ICE raids and other activities. And with thousands of protests scheduled to take place this weekend, we updated our guide to protecting your privacy—in addition to your physical safety—while demonstrating.

Even if you’re not an immigrant nor attending any protests, it’s possible your data is still getting shared with immigration authorities. In partnership with WIRED, 404 Media this week revealed that a data broker owned by major airlines sold domestic US flight data to CBP and instructed the agency to not reveal that it did so. 404 also detailed a bug that allowed a researcher to discover the phone numbers connected to any Google accounts. (The bug has since been fixed.) Finally, we dissected Apple’s AI strategy, which appears to bank more on privacy than on splashy features.

And that’s not all. Each week, we round up the privacy and security news we didn’t cover in depth ourselves. Click the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.

The Trump administration quietly ordered the transfer of Medicaid data belonging to undocumented individuals to deportation officials this week, according to the Associated Press, in a move legal experts warn is likely to erode public trust in the government's handling of personal data and result in a chilling effect among undocumented people desperate for medical care.

The transfer, which was reportedly ordered by Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s office and included names, addresses, immigration status, and health claims, pertains to millions of enrollees, many in states that pay for the coverage using their own funds, the AP reports. The transfer may also be illegal, violating the Social Security Act and other data-handling statutes. According to the AP, Medicaid officials warned the administration that they did not have legal authority to disclose the records and that doing so would carry legal and reputation risks that could lead states to begin refusing to share information with the federal government, impacting the agency's operational functions.

California governor Gavin Newsom, whose state is occupied by undesired federal military forces and ICE agents conducting continuous sweeps across neighborhoods heavily populated by immigrants, condemned the act, calling it “potentially illegal.” An HHS official rejected the claim, saying the agency acted in full compliance with the law, while declining to clarify to reporters how the data would actually be used.

**2 Italian Journalists’ Phones Hacked With Paragon Spyware**

Move over, NSO Group. Two Italian journalists were hacked with spyware made by Israeli phone-focused surveillance firm Paragon, Citizen Lab revealed this week in a report based on forensic analyses of their phones. Two other Italians, both staffers at the immigrant rescue nonprofit Mediterranea Saving Humans, also had their phones compromised with the same malware. Paragon’s Graphite malware, like NSO’s Pegasus, infects phones with a zero-click technique that requires no interaction from the victim—in this case using a vulnerability in iPhones that was patched in iOS version 18.3 earlier this year. While Citizen Lab couldn’t determine the Paragon customer behind the intrusions, there’s reason to suspect the Italian government, given that an Italian parliamentary committee determined in a report earlier this month that two Italian intelligence agencies are Paragon customers.

**Ukraine Says It Hacked a Russian Aircraft Maker That Produces Strategic Bombers**

In its latest salvo against the Russian air force, Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence agency said that it had hacked into the network of Tupolev, an aerospace company that manufactures and services Russia’s strategic bombers. According to the cybersecurity news outlet The Record, the Ukrainian state hackers claim to have stolen 4.4 gigabytes of data, including internal communications, meeting notes, personnel files, and purchase records. Specifically, HUR says it was targeting data about individuals involved in the servicing and maintenance of Russia’s bomber fleet, which has targeted Ukrainian cities. The hackers also defaced the homepage of Tupolev’s website to show an owl clutching a Russian aircraft. “There is nothing secret left in Tupolev's activities for Ukrainian intelligence,” HUR said in a statement. “The result of the operation will be noticeable both on the ground and in the sky.” The move follows Ukraine’s unprecedented drone operation earlier this month that damaged or destroyed 41 Russian aircraft, including bombers and spy planes.

**International Law Enforcement Conducts Major Takedown of Infostealer Infrastructure**

On Wednesday, a consortium of cops from Interpol and 26 countries announced a takedown, dubbed “Operation Secure,” of domains and other digital infrastructure linked to 69 infostealer malware variants. In recent years, malicious hackers have leaned more and more on information-stealing malware, or infostealers, that grab sensitive information like passwords, cookies, and search histories to make it easier for attackers to target specific organizations and individuals. Operation Secure ran from January to April this year, Interpol said, and involved takedowns of more than 20,000 malicious IP addresses or domains and seizure of 41 servers as well as more than 100 GB of data. A total of 32 people were also arrested in connection with the investigation in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Nauru, and elsewhere. Interpol described the operation as a “regional initiative” organized by the Asia and South Pacific Joint Operations Against Cybercrime Project.

**Meta Sues a Nudify App for Advertising on Instagram**

Meta sued Hong Kong–based Joy Timeline HK Limited for repeatedly advertising an app on Instagram called CrushAI that offers “nudify” deepfakes, using artificial intelligence to remove the clothes from anyone in a photo. Meta said in its announcement of the lawsuit that the company had repeatedly violated its terms of service for advertisers and that the move is part of a larger crackdown on similar deepfake apps pushed by “adversarial advertisers,” as it dubs the companies who violate its terms. “We’ll continue to take the necessary steps—which could include legal action—against those who abuse our platforms like this,” Meta wrote in a statement.

RFK Jr. Orders HHS to Give Undocumented Migrants’ Medicaid Data to DHS

Army intelligence analysts are monitoring civilian-made ICE tracking tools, treating them as potential threats, as immigration protests spread nationwide.

As protests continue to swell across the United States in response to aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, civilians are turning to homebrew digital tools to track ICE arrests and raids in real time. But restricted government documents, obtained by the nonprofit watchdog Property of the People, show that US intelligence agencies are now eyeing the same tools as potential threats. A law enforcement investigation involving the maps is also apparently underway.

Details about Saturday’s “No Kings” protest—specifically those in California—are also under watch by domestic intelligence centers, where analysts regularly distribute speculative threat assessments among federal, state, and local agencies, according to an internal alert obtained exclusively by WIRED.

A late-February bulletin distributed by a Vermont-based regional fusion center highlights several websites hosting interactive maps that allow users to drop “pins” indicating encounters with ICE agents.

The bulletin is based on information initially shared by a US Army threat monitoring center known as ARTIC. While it acknowledges that most of the users appear to be civilians working to avoid contact with federal agents, it nevertheless raises the specter of “malicious actors” potentially relying on such open-source transparency tools to physically target law enforcement.

ARTIC, which operates under the umbrella of the Army’s Intelligence and Security Command, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Property of the People, a nonprofit focused on transparency and national security, attempted to obtain additional details about the maps using public records laws. The group was informed by the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC) that all relevant information is “associated with active law enforcement investigations.”

The NCRIC did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

“Law enforcement is sounding the alarm over implausible, hypothetical risks allegedly posed by these ICE raid tracking platforms,” Ryan Shapiro, executive director of Property of the People, tells WIRED. “But transparency is not terrorism, and the real security threat is militarized secret police invading our communities and abducting our neighbors.”

The documents identify maps and information shared across Reddit and the website Padlet, which allows users to collaborate and build interactive maps. An “OPSEC” warning concerning the maps was also separately issued in February by the Wisconsin Statewide Intelligence Center (WSIC). That report indicates the sites are being treated as a “strategic threat” and are under monitoring by a special operations division.

WSIC, which could not be immediately reached for comment, warned in its report about persistent online threats aimed at ICE officers, highlighting posts on social media apps like X and TikTok that include messages calling for Americans to stockpile weapons and “shoot back.” While some posts were judged to contain “explicit threats,” most appear to reflect cathartic outrage over the Trump administration’s punitive immigration enforcement tactics, with intelligence analysts noting that many of the users were “discussing hypothetical scenarios.” Nevertheless, the analysts flagged the sheer volume and tone of the content as a genuine officer safety concern.

Each document is marked for law enforcement eyes only—a warning not to discuss details with the public or press.

A separate report obtained by WIRED and dated mid-May shows the Central California Intelligence Center (CCIC) monitoring plans for the upcoming “No Kings” protests. It identifies Sacramento, Fresno, and Stockton, among dozens of other protest sites. The information is widely available online, including on the No Kings website.

The bulletin notes the protests are promoted as a “nonviolent action,” but says the agency plans to produce additional intelligence reports for “threat liaison officers.” It concludes with boilerplate language that states the CCIC recognizes the right of citizens to assemble, speak, and petition the government, but frames the need to gather intelligence on “First Amendment-protected activities” as essential to “assuring the safety of first responders and the public.”

Roughly 2,000 protests are scheduled to take place nationwide concurrent with a military parade in Washington, DC, expected to feature 6,600 US Army soldiers, 150 military vehicles, including 28 M1 Abrams tanks, rocket launchers, and precision-guided missiles.

Protests have erupted in Los Angeles and cities nationwide over the past week in response to a Trump-ordered immigration crackdown and the deployment of federal troops, including Marines and National Guard units, to support law enforcement.

Demonstrators are pushing back against what they view as an authoritarian show of force—as surveillance drones fly overhead and armored vehicles roll through immigrant-heavy neighborhoods. Tensions have flared between protesters and police, fueling concerns about surveillance, civil liberties, and the legality of using military force to suppress civil unrest.

The use of military-grade equipment and limits on troop authority have emerged as key flashpoints in a broader debate over executive power and immigration enforcement.

The No Kings organizers frame the demonstrations as a nationwide day of defiance: “From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like.”

'No Kings’ Protests, Citizen-Run ICE Trackers Trigger Intelligence Warnings

Customs and Border Protection flying powerful Predator B drones over Los Angeles further breaks the seal on federal involvement in civilian matters typically handled by state or local authorities.

On Wednesday, United States Customs and Border Protection confirmed to 404 Media that it has been flying Predator drones over Los Angeles amid the LA protests. The military drones, a CBP statement said, “are supporting our federal law enforcement partners in the Greater Los Angeles area, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, with aerial support of their operations.”

State-level law enforcement agencies across the US use various types of drones and other vehicles, like helicopters, to conduct aerial surveillance, and other agencies use drones in their operations as well. For example, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection “doubled its use of drones” this year, according to the office of Governor Gavin Newsom, as part of efforts to combat forest fires. However, CBP's MQ-9 Reaper drones, also known as Predator B drones, are military-caliber UAVs used for aerial reconnaissance that can be armed.

In 2020, during President Donald Trump's first administration, CBP flew a Predator drone over Minneapolis during the George Floyd protests. And, in the intervening years, researchers have tracked Department of Homeland Security Predator drones flying over various US cities with no clear explanation. In the case of LA, Trump has deployed more than 700 active-duty Marines and federalized the National Guard, sending nearly 4,000 guardsmen to California over Newsom's objections. In combination with these actions, the presence of the CBP drones paints a picture of expanding federal involvement—and potentially control—over what are typically state matters.

“Military gear has been used for domestic law enforcement for a long time, but flying military gear over LA at a time when the president has sent military units against the wishes of the governor is noteworthy," says Matthew Feeney, a longtime emerging technologies researcher and advocacy manager at the nonpartisan UK civil liberties group Big Brother Watch. “If the federal government portrays immigration as a national security issue, we shouldn’t be surprised if it openly uses the tools of national security—i.e., military hardware—in response.”

Carrying powerful cameras and other sensors, Predator drones can record clear, detailed footage of events like protests from high altitudes.

CBP's “Air and Marine Operations (AMO) is providing aerial support to federal law enforcement partners conducting operations in the Greater Los Angeles area,” CBP told WIRED in a statement responding to questions about whether the operation over LA is routine or anomalous. “AMO’s efforts are focused on situational awareness and officer safety support as requested.”

Patrick Eddington, a senior fellow in homeland security and civil liberties at the Cato Institute, warns that “the more the protests spread to other cities, the more of that kind of surveillance we’ll see.”

CBP told 404 Media this week that “AMO is not engaged in the surveillance of first amendment activities.” That statement aligns with a commitment the US Department of Homeland Security made in December 2015. “Unmanned aircraft system-recorded data should not be collected, disseminated or retained solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the US Constitution, such as the First Amendment’s protections of religion, speech, press, assembly, and redress of grievances (e.g., protests, demonstrations),” a DHS “Privacy, Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Unmanned Aircraft Systems Working Group” wrote at the time.

In practice, though, it is unclear how the Predator surveillance could “support” ICE agents and other federal law enforcement without monitoring the protests and capturing images of protesters.

While researchers note that the use of Predator drones over LA is not unprecedented—and, at this point, perhaps not surprising—they emphasize that this pattern of activity over time only makes it more likely that the federal government will deploy such monitoring in the future, regardless of how a state is handling a situation.

“It’s not new or even all that unexpected from a spooked Trump administration, but it’s still a terrible use of military technology on civilian populations,” says UAV researcher Faine Greenwood. “It’s basically continuing a worrying trend, but also people should be angry about it and refuse to normalize it.”

CBP's Predator Drone Flights Over LA Are a Dangerous Escalation

Pentagon rules sharply limit US Marines and National Guard activity in Los Angeles, prohibiting arrests, surveillance, and other customary police work.

For the first time in decades, active-duty US Marines are rolling into Los Angeles—not for disaster relief or training drills, but to guard federal buildings during a protest crackdown that legal experts say threatens long-standing limits on military power at home.

The deployment, announced by President Donald Trump on Monday, involves more than 700 Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 7th Regiment of the 1st Marine Division, based at Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms. Mobilized under Title 10 orders, the Marines have been commanded to protect federal property and personnel from mounting protests over aggressive immigration raids and neighborhood sweeps. It is a rare and forceful use of federal military power on US soil.

The mobilization follows Trump’s June 7 order that federalized as many as 4,000 California national guardsmen, overriding the objections of state officials and igniting a high-stakes legal fight.

A US district judge on Thursday ordered Trump to return control of the guardsmen to the state of California, saying the takeover was unlawful, only likely to inflame tensions in the city, and had deprived the state of resources necessary “to fight fires, combat the fentanyl trade, and perform other critical functions.” The injunction was quickly stayed, however, by a federal appeals court, pending a hearing next week.

Protests began Friday in Westlake, an immigrant-heavy neighborhood near downtown LA, where residents rallied in response to sweeping ICE raids that targeted day laborers outside local businesses. Demonstrators marched, held signs, and chanted for several hours before tensions escalated after police declared an unlawful assembly and advanced on the crowd. LAPD officers and federal agents deployed a range of crowd control weapons, including batons, tear gas, pepper spray, and flash-bang grenades. Reports from journalists and observers describe nonviolent protesters—and members of the press—being struck by rubber bullets and stun devices during the crackdown.

Widespread protests are expected in LA and at some 2,000 other locations around the US this weekend.

While the president holds broad emergency powers, legal scholars say that without invoking the Insurrection Act—a statute that permits domestic troop deployments only in cases of a rebellion or civil rights violations—federal law sharply limits what active-duty forces can do. Marines may not act as a _posse comitatus_, or function as law enforcement. They're barred from conducting surveillance and, in general, crowd control, as well as _officially_ arresting people, and may otherwise only support police in narrowly defined ways, according to Defense Department rules.

Pentagon directives governing “civil disturbance operations” reinforce these limits. Federal troops are prohibited from arresting civilians, searching property, and collecting evidence. They may not conduct surveillance of US persons. That includes not just individuals but vehicles, locations, and “transactions.” They may not serve as undercover agents, informants, or interrogators. Unless a crime is committed by a service member or on military property, Title 10 forces are likewise banned from engaging in any kind of forensics for the benefit of civilian police—unless they are willing to put in writing that such evidence was obtained by consent.

US Northern Command, which oversees military support to nonmilitary authorities in the contiguous 48 states, said Friday that Marines would not conduct “arrests” but are authorized to "temporarily hold" people in "specific circumstances" until police arrive to make a _formal_ arrest. The clarification follows the emergence of a video showing Marines in LA detaining a civilian with plastic handcuffs before awaiting police—the first known instance of such an action during the current deployment.

There are numerous other scenarios in which the military can provide assistance to police, including by giving them “information” obtained “in the normal course” of their duties, unless applicable privacy laws prohibit it. Military members can also provide police with a wide variety of assistance so long as it’s in a “private capacity” and they’re off duty. Additionally, they can provide “expert advice,” so long as it doesn’t count as serving a function core to civilian police work.

The Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment; however, a staff member in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy confirmed for WIRED by phone the current set of policies under which deployed federal troops must operate.

There is one major caveat to the military’s restrictions. During an “extraordinary emergency,” military commanders may take limited, immediate action to prevent massive destruction or to restore critical public services, but only so long as presidential approval is “impossible” to obtain in advance. And while military personnel are naturally expected to maintain order and discipline at all times, under no circumstances are they required to stand down when their lives, or the lives of others, are in immediate danger.

Still, enforcement of these rules in the field is far from guaranteed. Legal experts warn that adherence often varies in chaotic environments. Trump administration officials have also demonstrated a willingness to skirt the law. Last week, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem asked the Pentagon to authorize military assistance in conducting arrests and to deploy drone surveillance, according to a letter obtained by The San Francisco Chronicle—a move experts say directly contradicts standing legal prohibitions.

At a press conference on Thursday, Noem stated the federal government was on a mission to “liberate” Los Angeles from “socialists” and the “leadership” of California governor Gavin Newsom and LA mayor Karen Bass. US Senator Alex Padilla, who represents the citizens of California, was forcibly removed from the press conference after attempting to question Noem. Outside the press conference room, federal agents forced the senator to the ground, where he was temporarily placed in handcuffs.

Unlike the National Guard, which is well trained for domestic crowd control, active-duty Marines generally receive relatively little instruction in handling civil unrest. Those who do typically belong to military police or specialized security units. Nonetheless, the Marine Corps has published footage online showing various task forces training with riot-control tactics and “nonlethal” weapons. Constitutional concerns do not arise, however, when Marines face off against foreign mobs—such as in civilian zones during the Afghanistan war or on the rare occasion protesters breach the perimeter of a US embassy. And wartime rules of engagement are far more lenient than the rules of force by which Marines must adhere domestically.

In a statement on Wednesday, Northern Command confirmed the Marines had undergone training in all “mission essential tasks,” including “de-escalation” and “crowd control.” They will reportedly be accompanied by legal and law enforcement experts.

Constitutional experts warn that deploying military forces against civilian demonstrators blurs the line between law enforcement and military power, potentially setting a dangerous precedent for unchecked presidential authority. The risk deepens, they say, if federal troops overstep their legal bounds.

If lines are crossed, it could open a door that may not close easily—clearing the way for future crackdowns that erode Americans’ hard-won civil liberties.

_Updated 7:40 pm ET, June 13, 2025: This story has been updated to include details about the first known arrest in 2025 of a protester by US Marines._

Here’s What Marines and the National Guard Can (and Can’t) Do at LA Protests

Law enforcement has more tools than ever to track your movements and access your communications. Here’s how to protect your privacy if you plan to protest.

A major groundswell of nationwide protests against the second Trump administration has arrived.

If you're going to join any protests, as is your right under the First Amendment, you need to think beyond your physical well-being to your digital security, too. The same surveillance apparatus that’s enabling the Trump administration’s raids of undocumented people and targeting of left-leaning activists will no doubt be out in full force on the streets.

Two key elements of digital surveillance should be top of mind for protestors. One is the data that authorities could potentially obtain from your phone if you are detained, arrested, or they confiscate your device. The other is surveillance of all the identifying and revealing information that you produce when you attend a protest, which can include wireless interception of text messages and more, and tracking tools like license plate scanners and face recognition. You should be mindful of both.

After all, police have already demonstrated their willingness to arrest and attack entirely peaceful protesters as well as journalists observing demonstrations. In that light, you should assume that any digital evidence that you were at or near a protest could be used against you.

“The Trump administration is weaponizing essentially every lever of government to shut down, suppress, and curtail criticism of the administration and of the US government generally, and there have never been more surveillance toys available to law enforcement and to US government agencies,” says Evan Greer, the deputy director of the activist organization Fight for the Future, who also wrote a helpful X (then-Twitter) thread laying out digital security advice during the Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020. “That said, there are a number of very simple, concrete things that you can do that make it exponentially more difficult for someone to intercept your communications, for a bad actor to ascertain your real-time location, or for the government to gain access to your private information.”

_This story was originally published on May 31, 2020 and updated on June 12, 2025._

**Your Phone**

The most important decision to make before leaving home for a protest is whether to bring your phone—or what phone to bring. A smartphone broadcasts all sorts of identifying information; law enforcement can force your mobile carrier to cough up data about what cell towers your phone connects to and when. Police in the US have also been documented using so-called stingray devices, or IMSI catchers, that impersonate cell towers and trick all the phones in a certain area into connecting to them. This can give cops the individual mobile subscriber identity number of everyone at a protest at a given time, undermining the anonymity of entire crowds en masse.

“The device in your pocket is definitely going to give off information that could be used to identify you,” says Harlo Holmes, director of digital security at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit press advocacy group. (Disclosure: WIRED’s global editorial director, Katie Drummond, serves on Freedom of the Press Foundation’s board.)

For that reason, Holmes suggests that protesters who want anonymity leave their primary phone at home altogether. If you do need a phone for coordination or as a way to call friends or a lawyer in case of an emergency, keep it off as much as possible to reduce the chances that it connects to a rogue cell tower or Wi-Fi hot spot being used by law enforcement for surveillance. Sort out logistics with friends in advance so you only need to turn your phone on if something goes awry. Or to be even more certain that your phone won’t be tracked, keep it in a Faraday bag that blocks all of its radio communications. Open the bag only when necessary. Holmes herself uses and recommends the Mission Darkness Faraday bag.

If you do need a mobile device, consider bringing only a secondary phone you don’t use often, or a burner. Your main smartphone likely has the majority of your digital accounts and data on it, all of which law enforcement could conceivably access if they confiscate your phone. But don’t assume that any backup phone you buy will grant you anonymity. If you give a prepaid carrier your identifying details, after all, your “burner” phone could be no more anonymous than your primary device. “Don’t expect because you got it from Duane Reade that you’re automatically a character from _The Wire_,” Holmes cautions.

Instead of a burner phone, Holmes argues that it may be far more practical to simply own a secondary phone that you’ve set up to be less sensitive—leaving off accounts and apps that offer your most private information to anyone who seizes it, such as social media, email, and messaging apps. “Choosing a secondary device that limits the amount of personal data that you have on you at all times is probably your best protection,” Holmes says.

Regardless of what phone you’re using, consider that traditional calls and text messages are vulnerable to surveillance. That means you need to use end-to-end encryption. Ideally, you and those you communicate with should use disappearing messages set to self-delete after a few hours or days. The encrypted messaging and calling app Signal has perhaps the best and longest track record. Just make sure you and the people you’re communicating with are using the same app, since they’re not interoperable.

Aside from protecting your phone’s communications from surveillance, be prepared in the event police seize your device and try to unlock it in search of incriminating evidence. The first order of business is to make sure your smartphone’s contents are encrypted. iOS devices have full disk encryption on by default if you enable an access lock. For Android phones, go to **Settings**, then **Security** to make sure the **Encrypt Disk** option is turned on. (These steps may differ depending on your specific device.)

Regardless of your operating system, always protect devices with a long, strong passcode rather than a fingerprint or face unlock. As convenient as biometric unlocking methods are, it may be more difficult to resist an officer forcing your thumb onto your phone’s sensor, for instance, than to refuse to tell them a passcode. So if you use biometrics day-to-day for convenience, disable them before heading into a protest.

If you insist on using biometric unlocking methods to have faster access to your devices, keep in mind that some phones have an emergency function to disable these types of locks. Hold the wake button and one of the volume buttons simultaneously on an iPhone, for instance, and it will lock itself and require a passcode to unlock rather than FaceID or TouchID, even if they’re enabled. Most devices also let you take photos or record video without unlocking them first, a good way to keep your phone locked as much as possible.

**Your Face**

Face recognition has become one of the most powerful tools to identify your presence at a protest. Consider wearing a face mask and sunglasses to make it far more difficult for you to be identified by face recognition in surveillance footage or social media photos or videos of the protest. Fight for the Future’s Greer cautions, however, that the accuracy of the most effective face recognition tools available to law enforcement remains something of an unknown, and a simple surgical mask or KN95 may no longer be enough to defeat well-honed face-tracking tech.

If you’re serious about not being identified, she says, a full-face mask may be far safer—or even a Halloween-style one. “I've seen people wear funny cosplay-style cartoon masks or mascot suits or silly costumes,” says Greer, offering as an example Donald Trump and Elon Musk masks that she’s seen protesters wear at Tesla Takedown protests against Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “That's a great way to defy facial recognition and also make the protest more fun.”

You should also consider the clothes you’re wearing before you head out. Colorful clothing or prominent logos makes you more recognizable to law enforcement and easier to track. If you have tattoos that make you identifiable, consider covering them.

Greer cautions, though, that preventing determined surveillance-empowered agencies from learning the mere fact that you attended a protest at all is increasingly difficult. For those of you in the most sensitive positions—such as undocumented immigrants at risk of deportation—she suggests that you consider staying home rather than depend on any obfuscation technique to mask their presence at an event.

If you’re driving a car to a protest—your own or someone else’s—consider that automatic license plate readers can easily identify the vehicle’s movements. And, in addition to license plates, be aware that these same sensors can also detect other words and phrases, including those on bumper stickers, signs, and even T-shirts.

More broadly, everyone who attends a protest needs to consider—perhaps more than ever before—what their tolerance for risk might be, from mere identification to the possibility of arrest or detention. “I think it's important to say that protesting in the US now comes with higher risks than it used to—it comes with a real possibility of physical violence and mass arrest,” says Danacea Vo, the founder of Cyberlixir, a cybersecurity provider for nonprofits and vulnerable communities. “Even just compared to protests that happened last month, people were able to just show up barefaced and march. Now things have changed.”

**Your Online Footprint**

Though most privacy and security considerations for attending an in-person protest naturally relate to your body, any devices you bring with you, and your physical surroundings, there are a set of other factors to think about online. It’s important to understand how posts on social media and other platforms before, during, or after a protest could be collected and used by authorities to identify and track you or others. Simply saying on an online platform that you are attending or attended a protest puts the information out there. And if you take photos or videos during a protest, that content could be used to expand law enforcement’s view of who attended a protest and what they did while there, including any strangers who appear in your images or footage.

Authorities can come to your online presence by looking for information about you in particular, but can also arrive there using bulk data analysis tools like Dataminr that offer law enforcement and other customers real-time monitoring connecting people to their online activity. Such tools can also surface past posts, and if you’ve ever made violent comments online or alluded to committing crimes—even as a joke—law enforcement could discover the activity and use it against you if you are questioned or arrested during a protest. This is a particular concern for people living in the US on visas or those whose immigration status is tenuous. The US State Department has said explicitly that it is monitoring immigrants’ and travelers’ social media activity.

In addition to written posts, keep in mind that files you upload to social media might contain metadata like time stamps and location information that could help authorities track protest crowds and movement. Make sure you have permission to photograph or videotape any fellow protesters who would be potentially identifiable in your content. Also think carefully before livestreaming. It’s important to document what’s going on but difficult to be sure that everyone who could show up in your stream is comfortable being included.

Even if you take photos and videos that you don’t plan to post on social media or otherwise share, remember that this media could fall into law enforcement’s hands if they demand access to your device.

With federal crackdowns on protests ramping up around the country, Cyberlixir’s Vo says that people must assess each situation and weigh the benefits of maintaining personal privacy versus chronicling the reality of what’s happening at protests.

“Social media monitoring and online profiling is the factor that lots of people forget. Those who publish footage on social media should avoid sharing photos or videos that reveal people's faces,” she says. “But I also believe that documenting what’s going on is essential, especially in high-risk conditions, because when the state escalates we need proof for legal defense, for public record, for future organizing, and also to keep ourselves physically safe in real time.”

As protests continue—with the real possibility of even further escalated response from the Trump administration—be prepared for the emergence of forms of digital surveillance that have never been used in the US before to counter civil disobedience or to retaliate against protesters after the fact. Protesters will need to stay vigilant, and Fight for the Future’s Greer emphasizes that everyone has different potential vulnerabilities and tolerance for risk. For people of every category of risk, however, a few thoughtful privacy protections can go a long way towards empowering them to hit the streets.

“Part of the goal of governments extending and implementing mass surveillance programs is to scare people and make people think twice before they speak up,” Greer says. “I think that we should be very careful in this moment not to fall into that trap.”

How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance

The undocumented migrant community in the United States is using social networks and other digital platforms to send alerts about raids and the presence of immigration agents around the US.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (Chirla) estimates that in recent days, around 300 migrants have been detained in California as part of raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in compliance with an order issued by the Trump administration.

This figure is based on collaborative reports compiled by the Rapid Response Network, an alliance comprised of dozens of organizations that provide support to migrants and disseminate information about immigration detentions and operations.

Angelica Salas, director of Chirla, described the raids as a phenomenon “never seen before” in the three decades she has been defending migrant communities, according to statements reported by The Los Angeles Times.

Jorge Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the same organization, told the EFE news agency that most of the detainees are not criminals, “as the US government has tried to portray them.” He indicated that most of those arrested are workers from Los Angeles, although arrests have also been documented in other parts of the state.

In the midst of intense protests against Trump's immigration policies, these operations are expected to continue in Los Angeles for at least 30 days, according to US representative Nanette Barragan, citing data provided by the White House. Likewise, an escalation of these actions is anticipated nationwide, after the administration announced its goal of making up to 3,000 arrests per day.

Several migrant-rights organizations have warned about possible violations of due process of people targeted by ICE. They have denounced ICE for restricting access to detainees on multiple occasions, which could limit their right to adequate legal representation.

**Watching ICE**

This situation has generated concern among the undocumented population, most of whom are of Hispanic origin, which has intensified the use of social networks to alert people about the presence of immigration agents in different regions of the US.

In a search conducted by the WIRED en Español team, several groups and pages were identified on digital platforms dedicated to receiving, verifying, and disseminating reports about ICE checkpoints, patrols, and raids. The origin of these profiles is diverse: Some are managed by well-known nongovernmental organizations and activist collectives, while others were created by private members of the migrant community.

The family of a man apprehended by ICE agents demands that the victim be returned.

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Alerts about operations are disseminated through direct messages, WhatsApp, or posts on each page's feed. In turn, it is possible to anonymously report the presence of immigration agents through private text messages or calls to specific phone numbers.

In general, users are asked for basic data such as time, date, city, state, and exact location of the operation, as well as photographs or videos when it is possible to document them. In addition to issuing real-time alerts, many of these pages offer free legal guidance, not only on migration issues, but also on labor rights, access to health, education, and other key services.

Some of the networks active in this work include:

Union del Barrio California

This grassroots pro-immigrant organization maintains an active presence on Facebook. It conducts community patrols to detect ICE movement, shares urgent alerts, and organizes workshops on legal rights.

Chirla

With constant activity on Facebook and other platforms, Chirla publishes notifications about raids, provides legal advice, and calls for citizen mobilizations in the face of new raids.

Stop ICE Raids Alert Network

This network distributes emergency alerts and offers assistance to people affected by ICE raids. In addition to its social network accounts, it has a web page that allows people to receive geolocalized notifications in real time.

Siembra NC

This organization operates primarily in North Carolina. Through its Facebook page, it promotes a whistleblower hotline (336-543-0353). Although its focus is on Alamance, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Orange, Wake, Randolph, and Rockingham counties, it has a statewide presence across North Carolina.

RadarSafe

This project uses the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), a system for sending out digital emergency alerts, to provide secure information on immigration stops and operations. It also publishes community-submitted reports and verifies information with support from local residents.

Inmigración y Visas

Focused on immigration issues, this portal offers a WhatsApp channel where users can report raids, exchange experiences, and receive advice. It also shares informative content on its Facebook page and website.

SignalSafe

Adding to this assistance network is SignalSafe, an application created by a team of anonymous developers that provides real-time alerts on ICE activity. Through collaborative reporting, the app maps sightings of federal agents and unidentified vehicles, allowing migrants to avoid potential checkpoints.

Since Trump's return to the presidency, SignalSafe has gained widespread popularity. The tool allows the integration of various filters based on the user's location, type of activity by immigration authorities, and time range.

This platform is fed by citizen reports, which are verified by a group of specialized moderators. The system is bilingual, with support for Spanish and English, and has advanced security protocols to help protect user privacy.

**Key Access**

Given the growing number of raids in the United States and the lack of certainty about the safety of those detained in these operations, examples such as the above show that some sectors of the citizenry seem to have taken an active role in digital spaces against the implementation of immigration policies.

In this context, the widespread use of social networks among the migrant community has turned these platforms into key tools within the resistance movement. According to data from the International Organization for Migration, by 2023, 64 percent of migrants in transit through Central America, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic—mostly bound for the United States—had access to a smartphone and internet connection during their journey. Of these, 47 percent of men and 35 percent of women used these devices to access social networks.

_This story was originally published on_ WIRED _en Español_ _and has been translated from Spanish._

Social Media Is Now a DIY Alert System for ICE Raids

Waymo driverless taxis capture troves of video footage in order to operate, but the company reveals very little about how much data is stored—and for how long.

Thousands of people across the United States poured into the streets this week to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies, joining a nationwide wave of resistance that began in Los Angeles. One of the most widely shared images from the city, where federal authorities have sent almost 5,000 active-duty Marines and National Guard members, is of five Waymo robotaxis that were vandalized and set on fire. The incident has become one of the most recognizable symbols of the demonstrations so far, and prompted Waymo to temporarily shut off service in several parts of the city as well as parts of San Francisco on Monday.

The charred Waymo cars have also raised fresh questions about what kinds of technology authorities can use to surveil protesters and potentially collect evidence to make arrests. According to Waymo’s website, its latest driverless cars have 29 external cameras, providing “a simultaneous 360° view around the vehicle,” as well as an unknown number of internal ones.

Over the past several years, Waymo has repeatedly shared video footage with police after receiving formal legal requests. But it’s not clear how often the self-driving company, which is owned by Google’s parent organization Alphabet, complies with these demands. Unlike Google, Waymo doesn’t disclose the number of legal requests it receives nor how it responds to them. When police do obtain footage, they could also combine it with other technology—like face recognition or nonbiometric tools for finding and tracking people in videoclips—to identify possible criminal suspects.

Waymo spokesperson Sandy Karp tells WIRED that the company's general policy is to challenge data requests that are overly broad or lack sound legal basis, but it doesn’t disclose or comment on specific cases. Karp pointed to Waymo’s privacy policy, which acknowledges that the company may share user data to comply with laws and governmental requests. A separate support page for Waymo One, the dedicated app for its robotaxi service, notes that the company “may share certain data with law enforcement as needed to comply with legal requirements, enforce agreements, and protect the safety of you and others.”

It’s not clear how much, if any, of the video footage potentially captured by the burned Waymos in Los Angeles may have been destroyed along with the cars. Waymo doesn’t specify whether the data collected by its robotaxis is stored locally in the vehicle itself or externally in the cloud. The company previously told The Washington Post that “interior camera data” isn’t stored alongside the data from external cameras.

If any footage does still exist from the destroyed vehicles, Waymo doesn’t disclose how long it may remain available. Waymo’s website and privacy policy do not specify how long the company retains camera footage captured inside or outside its vehicles. For years, self-driving companies like Waymo retained large amounts of information collected by their cars for training purposes and to optimize the underlying technology. The company has generally been trending more recently toward deleting data sooner, WIRED previously reported, though it’s unclear whether some types may be stored longer than others.

Waymo declined to answer questions from WIRED about how many cameras are inside its vehicles, exactly how long footage is retained, and whether the company has ever turned over footage to US federal law enforcement or a branch of the military. Karp did note, however, that the company’s engineering team sometimes uses information from sensors, including video footage and other data, to run simulations aimed at improving its technology. She says Waymo also puts limits on both who can access data and how long it’s retained.

Waymo’s robotaxi service is currently available in the Phoenix metro area and parts of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas. In the company’s relatively short time operating in US cities, it has shown a willingness to comply with requests for footage from law enforcement.

Officers working for the Mesa Police Department and the Chandler Police Department in Arizona have been requesting and using footage from Waymos for criminal investigations since 2016, or about as long as the vehicles have been in their towns, according to reporting from Phoenix’s ABC 15. Police told the news outlet in 2022 that they have used the footage for several cases, including an alleged road rage incident. (The individual pleaded guilty after being charged with disorderly conduct.)

In May 2022, two months after Waymo began limited robotaxi operations in San Francisco, Vice reported that a training document for San Francisco police explicitly told officers that “autonomous vehicles” have footage that could sometimes “help with investigative leads.”

As of 2023, Waymo had been issued at least nine search warrants in San Francisco and Arizona’s Maricopa County, its primary markets at the time, according to reporting from Bloomberg. One of the cases involved the murder of an Uber driver in 2021. While San Francisco police said they couldn’t identify a specific Waymo vehicle that was near the crime scene, an officer argued that there was “probable cause” that Waymo vehicles were “driving around the area” and had footage of the victim, possible suspects, and the crime scene, according to a search warrant viewed by Bloomberg. Waymo complied and provided footage, but it ultimately did not lead to the arrest of the suspect, who was convicted of the murder in 2023.

Last year, WIRED reported that Waymo had sued two individuals for allegedly vandalizing its vehicles in San Francisco and had camera footage from the cars of the alleged incidents. (One of the cases is ongoing; the other was dismissed last month.)

Waymo’s video-recording and data-collection practices aren’t unique. All vehicles with self-driving capabilities rely on a combination of lidar, radar, and video data in order to operate. Cruise, the now defunct self-driving-car venture run by General Motors, also reportedly gave camera footage to law enforcement upon request.

Private owners of camera-equipped vehicles can also voluntarily turn over camera footage to law enforcement. For example, police in Berkeley, California, have received at least two sets of footage from the owner of a Tesla Cybertruck who said their car was vandalized twice this year, according to documents obtained by WIRED via public record request.

_Additional reporting by Paresh Dave._

Source

Wired