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The conference, led by civil rights attorney Ben Crump, was announcing a lawsuit over the killings of A.J. Crooms and Sincere Pierce.
The Florida Highway Patrol flew a surveillance plane in repeated circles above a news conference where a civil rights lawyer was demanding a federal investigation into how local law enforcement killed two unarmed Black teenagers, according to flight data reviewed by Motherboard.
The news is the latest example of police surveilling those pushing back against police brutality on Black people. But this case goes beyond spying on a traditional march-in-the-street protest: The purpose of the news conference was lawyers Ben Crump and Natalie Jackson announcing a lawsuit against a specific police officer and the Brevard County Sheriff's Office for the shootings of Sincere Pierce and Angelo "A.J." Crooms last November.
Do you have evidence of surveillance of protesters? We’d love to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, OTR chat onjfcox@jabber.ccc.de, or email joseph.cox@vice.com.