Police claim ‘violent extremists’ exploit coronavirus to defeat facial recognition, leaked files show

As the coronavirus continued to ravage the country into the late spring and early summer, the Department of Homeland Security realized it had a problem on its hands: Masks worn to limit the virus’s spread had the unintentional side effect of impeding law enforcement’s facial-recognition technology. 

The fear, that “violent extremists” would exploit public health recommendations in an effort to combat digital surveillance, was laid out in a leaked May 22, 2020, DHS “intelligence note” published by , an organization — co-founded by journalist Emma Best — specializing in the publication of leaked documents. The document, one of hundreds of thousands in the so-called BlueLeaks files (cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs confirmed the leak was authentic late last month), depicts law enforcement scrambling to warn police across the country that a common sense health measure was instead a sign of something potentially sinister: violence. 

With a historic wave of Black Lives Matter demonstrations on the horizon, this warning both set the stage for, and helps contextualize, law enforcement’s sometimes violent response to the largely peaceful protests. While vandalism did take place at some protests, police also attacked peaceful protesters. If police are told that wearing a mask presages physical violence, then they may be more likely to see people wearing masks as criminals waiting to strike. 

“We assess violent extremists and other criminals who have historically maintained an interest in avoiding face recognition,” cautioned the DHS note, “are likely to opportunistically seize upon public safety measures recommending the wearing of face masks to hinder the effectiveness of face recognition systems in public spaces by security partners.” 

And then, on May 25, Minneapolis Police Department officer ‎Derek Chauvin‎ killed George Floyd. At the time, Floyd’s videotaped death marked the latest — but not the last — in a long history of brutality and discrimination against Black people in the U.S. by law enforcement. 

Police, already primed by the May 22 DHS document, were then sent a second warning.

“[Law enforcement officers] should be aware of the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) employed by criminally-minded actors to devolve peaceful protests into violence,” cautioned the Joint Regional Intelligence Center bulletin, dated (confusingly) both May 29 and May 31. “The COVID-19 guidance from public health authorities to wear face coverings makes it difficult to identify violent individuals and, later, bring them to prosecution. The wide-spread use of face coverings may embolden some individuals to escalate violence.” 

To make the warning more explicit, the same JRIC bulletin reiterated the point that the efforts of “violent actors” to obscure their identity at peaceful protests “is now facilitated by the COVID-19 guidance from public health authorities to wear face coverings.” Mashable has reached out to the DHS for comment about the guidance.

As demonstrators across the U.S. continue to protest police brutality and targeted violence against Black people, and federal troops terrorize peaceful protesters in American cities like Portland, the leaked DHS intelligence note and JRIC bulletin provide an invaluable window into the messages being sent to law enforcement behind closed doors.

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In the eyes of police, the simple act of wearing a face covering to a peaceful demonstration — a necessary precaution during a pandemic — signifies a precursor to violence. It is perhaps no wonder then that we repeatedly see law enforcement, armed to the teeth, beating and arresting nonviolent protesters. Even the moms protecting protesters from federal officers are wearing masks, after all.