Postal Service conducted SURVEILLANCE on protesters with anti-Biden agendas

The United States Postal Service is monitoring protesters across the country for anti-gun and anti-Biden activity, according to newly unearthed intelligence assessments.

According to documents obtained by the Cato Institute, postal inspectors monitored the activities of gun rights activists in Virginia and far-right groups who came to Washington DC to protest President Biden’s election.

Cato obtained heavily redacted data through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request documenting the espionage of postal inspectors from September 2020 to April 2021, including their covert social media surveillance through a program called the Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP).

Analysts working for iCOP paid particular attention to the “Million MAGA March” in Washington, DC on Nov. 20, collecting information about the march in the same “situational awareness bulletin” as an incendiary threat against a USPS distribution center.

The Postal Service (USPS) ruled that the Million MAGA March was likely to cause severe traffic delays.

Another heavily redacted intelligence summary in the bulletin was titled “Right-wing extremist website organizing violent action on inauguration day” and warned of the “Million Militia March” in DC on January 20, 2021.

Another mind-bending summary about threats against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was redacted in full.

“Of particular interest in the declassified documents is still redacted information about threats against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,” Patrick Eddington, the senior fellow at the Cato Institute who obtained the documents, told DailyMail.com. “If that information has not been provided to the January 6 Select Committee, the Committee must demand that it be transferred.”

A report from the Inspector General in March this year found that the Post Office did not have the legal authority to conduct such a sweeping intelligence gathering. ‘Then why is this program still being funded?’ Eddington wondered.

According to the bulletin, the US Postal Inspection Service also followed “peaceful armed protests,” including when Virginians demonstrated at a Second Amendment rally for “Lobby Day” in Richmond on Sept. 17, 2021.

The Inspector General’s investigation was prompted by a Yahoo News report that revealed that the secret program used facial recognition software and other advanced technology to compile and distribute reports on Americans’ online speech and movement.

The report outraged lawmakers who questioned which authority the postal service could target and gather information on citizens who were not charged with a crime.

According to the bulletin, the US Postal Inspection Service also followed “peaceful armed protests,” including when Virginians demonstrated at a Second Amendment rally for “Lobby Day” in Richmond on Sept. 17, 2021.

“The meeting lasted approximately two hours, with members identifying as members of the Proud Boys, Boogaloo Bois and Last Sons of Liberty,” the postal inspectors bulletin said. Counter-protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement were also present. The strong presence of law enforcement kept the demonstrations peaceful in nature.’

Another September 2020 intelligence digest featured threats from Louisville, Ky., as the city operated under a state of emergency pending an announcement from the state’s attorney general about the investigation into Breonna Taylor’s death.

Other bulletins show postal inspectors investigating social media sites such as Parler and Wimkin. The Postal Service assessed in January 2021 that Parler’s deplatforming likely disrupted planned protests for inauguration day.

When asked about its surveillance practices, the USPS said its inspectors are law enforcement officers responsible for protecting mail carriers, infrastructure and customers.

“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service occasionally reviews publicly available information to assess potential safety or security threats to the Postal Service’s employees, facilities, operations and infrastructure,” the agency said in a statement to the Washington Times.