PORTLAND — Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said investigators did search for social media hashtags used by the Black Lives Matter movement as part of a threat-assessment program.
Rosenblum said Tuesday she was “shocked and appalled” by the information, The Oregonian reports. Her confirmation comes after a letter from the Urban League of Portland accused the Department of Justice of digital surveillance of people involved in the racial justice movement.
The urban League’s director, Nkenge Harmon Johnson, accused the department of targeting those who used the phrase “Black Lives Matter” on social media. She wrote that the surveillance snared her husband Erious Johnson — the director of the department’s civil rights division. The letter was signed by Oregon labor officials and civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon.
“We are concerned that such unwarranted investigations are racially motivated, and create a chilling effect on social justice advocates, political activists and others who wish to engage in discourse about the issues of our time,” Harmon Johnson wrote.