La US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) he rejected reports that he was spying on protesters following the death of George Floyd. However, he confirmed that he had established a "internal coordination group"To respond to the" requests for information "by the Department of Defense.
George Floyd. Floyd, 46, died on May 25 while in police custody in Minneapolis. His death, which was filmed in a video, provoked international reactions and posed a problem that was not easy to solve: the excessive repressive force on the part of police officers, particularly against members of minority groups.
The administration of the President of the United States Donald Trump responded to the demonstrations - some of which turned violent - with the deployment of federal police forces. Trump also asked for the intervention of the armed forces in the capital, receiving the opposite opinion from the generals of the Pentagon. These days the National Guard is retreating to its bases.
Earlier this month, BuzzFeed News reported that the Trump administration authorized the Drug Enforcement Administration to "conduct secret surveillance" and to gather information about individuals and groups participating in the protests.
Now Yahoo News reports that some DIA employees are wondering if their agency can follow this business.
Like the Central Intelligence Agency, the DIA cannot, by law, operate on a national level, although its staff can support internal intelligence efforts, provided that the activities are detailed to a national authority.
Secondo Jenna McLaughlin Yahoo News, the possibility that DIA personnel could be assigned to internal intelligence tasks related to protests nationwide was discussed last week during an inter-agency forum. The unclassified forum, called the "virtual city hall", was conducted last Wednesday by the director general of the DIA, the lieutenant general Robert Ashley.
McLaughlin cites "two sources" who were "briefed on what happened during the city hall forum. The DIA employee who attended reported the questions that were asked during the forum: "We have been told that the DIA is setting up a task force on" unrest "in our country." "It's true? Is it legal for it to be under the control of intelligence? What options will there be for employees who are opposed to this effort? "
According to McLaughlin, the director of the DIA replied that the "the main mission of the agency is foreign intelligence ", in the protests we are evaluating any foreign connections".
Gen. Ashley's words were interpreted as meaning that the DIA was asked to investigate possible interference in protests by foreign intelligence agencies, possibly similarly to the interference of Russian spies in the 2016 American election. The General added that the DIA “looked into the issue first to make sure the agency was operating under the law. However, General Ashley did not explain whether the DIA was proceeding with this operation.
On Saturday, DIA spokesman James M. Kudla told Yahoo News that the agency had set up "an internal coordination group to respond to requests for information from the Department". However, he added that "the mission of the Defense Intelligence Agency is to provide information on foreign military to prevent and win wars". He then added that "any allegation that the DIA has been assigned to carry out a domestic mission is false." "The DIA has not established any task force related to the current internal situation," he concluded.