\n<\/p>\n
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.<\/p>\n
\n These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story. \n <\/p>\n Ka\u2019ila Farrell-Smith grew up in a community that was deeply involved in the fight for Indigenous rights, protesting broken treaties and other mistreatment of Native American people. Members of the movement, she said, understood that law enforcement agencies were surveilling their activities.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been warned my entire life, \u2018The FBI\u2019s watching us,\u2019\u201d said Farrell-Smith, a member of the Klamath Tribes in Oregon.<\/p>\n Government records later confirmed wide-ranging FBI surveillance of the movement in the 1970s, and now the agency is focused on her and a new generation of Indigenous activists challenging development of a mine in northern Nevada. Farrell-Smith advises the group People of Red Mountain, which opposes a Canadian company\u2019s efforts to tap what it says is one of the world\u2019s largest lithium deposits.<\/p>\n Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, have for years worked alongside private mine security to surveil the largely peaceful protesters who oppose the mine, called Thacker Pass, according to more than 2,000 pages of internal law enforcement communications reviewed by ProPublica. Officers and agents have tracked protesters\u2019 social media, while the mining company has gathered video from a camera above a campsite protesters set up on public land near the mine. An FBI joint terrorism task force in Reno met in June 2022 \u201cwith a focus on Thacker Pass,\u201d the records also show, and Lithium Americas \u2014 the main company behind the mine \u2014 hired a former FBI agent specializing in counterterrorism to develop its security plan.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re out there doing ceremony and they\u2019re surveilling us,\u201d Farrell-Smith said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey treat us like we\u2019re domestic terrorists,\u201d added Chanda Callao, an organizer with People of Red Mountain.<\/p>\n All told, about 10 agencies have monitored the mine\u2019s opponents. In addition to the FBI, those agencies include the Bureau of Land Management, Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Nevada State Police Highway Patrol, Winnemucca Police Department and Nevada Threat Analysis Center, the records show.<\/p>\n Andrew Ferguson, who studies surveillance technology at the American University Washington College of Law, called the scrutiny of Indigenous and environmental protesters as potential terrorists \u201cchilling.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt obviously should be concerning to activists that anything they do in their local area might be seen in this broad-brush way of being a federal issue of terrorism or come under the observation of the FBI and all of the powers that come with it,\u201d Ferguson said.<\/p>\n The FBI did not respond to requests for comment. The Bureau of Land Management, which coordinated much of the interagency response, declined to comment. Most of the law enforcement activity has focused on monitoring, and one person has been arrested to date as a result of the protests.<\/p>\n Mike Allen, who served as Humboldt County\u2019s sheriff until January 2023, said his office\u2019s role was simply to monitor the situation at Thacker Pass. \u201cWe would go up there and make periodic patrol activity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Allen defended the joint terrorism task force, saying it was \u201cwhere we would just all get together and discuss things.\u201d (The FBI characterizes such task forces, which include various agencies working in an area, as the front line of defense against terrorism.)<\/p>\n In this May 2022 email, an FBI special agent invites Nevada\u2019s Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s Office to a joint terrorism task force meeting focused on Thacker Pass.<\/span><\/p>\n Tim Crowley, Lithium Americas\u2019 vice president of government and external affairs, said in a statement: \u201cProtestors have vandalized property, blocked roads and dangerously climbed on Lithium Americas\u2019 equipment. In all those cases, Lithium Americas avoided engagement with the protestors and coordinated with the local authorities when necessary for the protection of everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n Crowley noted that Lithium Americas has worked with Indigenous communities near the mine to study cultural artifacts and is offering to build projects worth millions of dollars for the Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribe, such as a community center and greenhouse.<\/p>\n But individuals and the community groups opposed to the mine don\u2019t want money. They worry mining will pollute local sources of water in the nation\u2019s driest state and harm culturally significant sites, including that of an 1865 massacre of Indigenous people.<\/p>\n \u201cWe understand how the land is sacred and how much culture and how much history is within the McDermitt Caldera,\u201d Callao said of the basin where Thacker Pass is located. \u201cWe know how much it means to not only the next generation, but the next seven generations.\u201d<\/p>\n First image: Construction at Lithium Americas\u2019 Thacker Pass mine near Orovada, Nevada. Second image: Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo, center, and Rep. Mark Amodei, left, tour the site of a future housing facility for miners in Winnemucca, Nevada.<\/span><\/p>\n Indigenous groups are increasingly at odds with mining companies as climate change brings economies around the globe to an inflection point. Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are contributing to increasingly intense hurricanes, heat waves, wildfires and droughts. The solution \u2014 powering the electrical grid, vehicles and factories with cleaner energy sources \u2014 brings tradeoffs.<\/p>\n Massive amounts of metals are required to manufacture solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable energy infrastructure. Demand for lithium will skyrocket 350% by 2040, largely to be used in electric vehicles\u2019 rechargeable batteries, according to the International Energy Agency.<\/p>\n The U.S. produces very little lithium \u2014 and China controls a majority of refining capacity worldwide \u2014 so development of Thacker Pass enjoys bipartisan support, receiving a key permit in President Donald Trump\u2019s first administration and a $2.26 billion loan from President Joe Biden\u2019s administration. (Development ran into issues in June, when a Nevada agency notified the company that it was using groundwater without the proper permit. Company representatives have said they are confident that they will resolve the matter.)<\/p>\n Many minerals needed to produce cleaner energy are found on Indigenous lands. For example, 85% of known global lithium reserves are on or near Indigenous people\u2019s lands, according to a 2022 study by researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia, the University of the Free State in South Africa and elsewhere. The situation has put Indigenous communities at odds with mining industries as tribes are asked to sacrifice land and sovereignty to combat climate change.<\/p>\n Luke Danielson is a mining consultant and lawyer who for decades has researched how mining affects Indigenous lands. \u201cWhat I fear would be we set loose a land rush where we\u2019re trampling over all the Indigenous people and we\u2019re taking all the public land and essentially privatizing it to mining companies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If companies or governments attempt to force mining on such communities, it can slow development, noted Ciaran O\u2019Faircheallaigh, a professor emeritus of Australia\u2019s Griffith University and author of \u201cIndigenous Peoples and Mining.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf there are bulldozers coming down the road and they are going to destroy an area that is central to people\u2019s identity and their existence, they are going to fight,\u201d he said. \u201cThe solution is you actually put First Peoples in a position of equal power so that they can negotiate outcomes that allow for timely, and indeed speedy, development.\u201d<\/p>\n Environmental activists Will Falk, left, and Max Wilbert led early opposition to the mine, after which the Bureau of Land Management fined them tens of thousands of dollars for the cost of monitoring them.<\/span><\/p>\n Most of the documents tracing law enforcement\u2019s involvement at Thacker Pass were obtained via public records requests by two advocacy groups focused on climate change and law enforcement, Siskiyou Rising Tide and Information for Public Use. They shared the records with ProPublica, which obtained additional documents through separate public records requests to law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n Given the monitoring of mining\u2019s opponents highlighted in the records, experts raised questions about authorities\u2019 role: Is the government there to support industrial development, protect civil liberties or act as an unbiased arbiter? At Thacker Pass, the documents show, law enforcement has helped defend the mine.<\/p>\n Protests have at times escalated.<\/p>\n A small group of more radical environmentalists led by non-Indigenous activists propelled the early movement, setting up a campsite on public land near the proposed mine site in January 2021. In June 2022, a protester from France wrote on social media, \u201cWe\u2019ll need all the AR15s We can get on the frontlines!\u201d Tensions peaked in June 2023, when several protesters entered the worksite and blocked bulldozers, leading to one arrest.<\/p>\n That group \u2014 which calls itself Protect Thacker Pass \u2014 argued that its actions were justified. Will Falk, one of the group\u2019s organizers, said that, in any confrontation, scrutiny unfairly falls on protesters instead of companies or the government. \u201cAs a culture, we\u2019ve become so used to militarized police that we don\u2019t understand that, out of the group of people gathered, the people who are actually violent are the ones with the guns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Falk and another organizer were, as a result of their participation in protests, barred by court order from returning to Thacker Pass and disrupting construction, and the Bureau of Land Management fined them for alleged trespass on public lands during the protest. The agency charged them $49,877.71 for officers\u2019 time and mileage to monitor them, according to agency records Falk shared with ProPublica. Falk said his group tried to work with the agency to obtain permits and is disputing the fine to a federal board of appeals.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of us are armed. We\u2019re not there for an uprising,\u201d said Gary McKinney, a spokesperson for People of Red Mountain, which parted ways with Falk\u2019s group before the incident that led to an arrest.<\/p>\n McKinney, a member of the Duck Valley Shoshone-Paiute Tribe, leads annual prayer rides, journeying hundreds of miles across northern Nevada on horseback with other Native American activists to Thacker Pass. He described the rides, intended to raise awareness of mining\u2019s impact on tribes and the environment, as a way to exercise rights under the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, which protects tribes\u2019 ability to practice traditional spirituality. Still, the group feels watched. A trail camera once mysteriously appeared near their campsite along the path of the prayer ride. They also crossed paths with security personnel.<\/p>\n Beyond the trail rides, the FBI tracks McKinney\u2019s activity, the records show. The agency informed other law enforcement when he promoted a Fourth of July powwow and rodeo on his reservation, and it flagged a speech he delivered at a conference for mining-affected communities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re being watched, we\u2019re being followed, we\u2019re under the microscope,\u201d McKinney said.<\/p>\n First image: Then-Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Allen questioned whether Raymond Mey, a Lithium Americas security contractor, had a state private investigator\u2019s license in a June 2021 email. Second image: Mey pushed the Bureau of Land Management, the Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s Office and others for a coordinated law enforcement strategy to address protests at Thacker Pass in a June 2021 email.<\/span><\/p>\n The records show security personnel hired by Lithium Americas speaking as if an uprising could be imminent. \u201cTo date, there has been no violence or serious property destruction, however, the activities of these protest groups could change to a more aggressive actions and violent demeanor at any time,\u201d Raymond Mey, who joined Lithium Americas\u2019 security team for a time after a career with the FBI, wrote to law enforcement agencies in July 2022.<\/p>\n Mey also researched protesters\u2019 activities, sharing his findings with law enforcement. In an April 2021 update, for example, he provided an aerial photograph of the protesters\u2019 campsite. Law enforcement agencies worked with Mey, and he pushed to make that relationship closer, seeking \u201can integrated and coordinated law enforcement strategy to deal with the protestors at Thacker Pass.\u201d The records indicate that the FBI was open to him attending its joint terrorism task force.<\/p>\n Mey is not licensed with the Nevada Private Investigators Licensing Board, which is required to perform such work in the state, according to agency records.<\/p>\n Mey said that he didn\u2019t believe he needed a license because he wasn\u2019t pursuing investigations. He said that his advice to the company was to avoid direct conflict with protesters and only call the police when necessary.<\/p>\n First image: Gary McKinney, spokesperson for People of Red Mountain. Second image: Members of the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, People of Red Mountain, the Burns Paiute Tribe and others march in Reno, Nevada, to oppose the Thacker Pass mine.<\/span><\/p>\n The battle over Thacker Pass reflects renewed strife between mining and drilling industries and Indigenous people. Two recent fights at the heart of this clash have intersected with Thacker Pass \u2014 one concerning an oil pipeline in the Great Plains and the other over a copper mine in the Southwest.<\/p>\n Beginning in 2016 and continuing for nearly a year, a large protest camp on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation sought to halt construction of the 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline. Members of the Indigenous-led movement contended that it threatened the region\u2019s water. The protest turned violent, leading to hundreds of arrests. Law enforcement eventually cleared the camp and the pipeline was completed.<\/p>\n Law enforcement agencies feared similar opposition at Thacker Pass, the records show.<\/p>\n In April 2021, Allen, then the local sheriff, and his staff met with Mark Pfeifle, president and CEO of the communications firm Off the Record Strategies, to discuss \u201clessons learned\u201d from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Pfeifle, who helped the Bush administration build support for the second Gulf War, had more recently led a public relations blitz to discredit the Standing Rock protesters. This involved suggesting using a fake news crew and mocking up wanted posters for activists, according to emails obtained by news organizations. Pfeifle sent Allen presentations about the law enforcement response at Standing Rock, including one on \u201cExamples of \u2018Fake News\u2019 and disinformation\u201d from the protesters. \u201cAs always, we stand ready to help your office and your citizens,\u201d he wrote to the sheriff.<\/p>\n The department appears not to have hired Pfeifle, although Allen directed his staff to also meet with Pfeifle\u2019s colleague who worked on the Standing Rock response.<\/p>\n Around July 2021, the Humboldt County Sheriff\u2019s Office held a meeting \u201cto plan for the reality of a large-scale incident at Thacker Pass\u201d similar to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Police referred to the ongoing protests on public land at Thacker Pass as an \u201coccupation.\u201d<\/p>\n Allen said he didn\u2019t remember meeting with Pfeifle but said he wanted to be prepared for anything. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what to expect, but from what we understand, there were professional protestors up there and more were coming in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Pfeifle didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n \n Microsoft Says It Has Stopped Using China-Based Engineers to Support Defense Department Computer Systems<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n Members of People of Red Mountain have also traveled to Arizona to object to the development of a controversial copper mine that\u2019s planned in a national forest east of Phoenix. There, some members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe oppose the development because it would destroy an area they use for ceremonies. (In May, the Supreme Court handed down a decision allowing a land transfer, removing the final key obstacle to the mine.)<\/p>\n On these trips, Callao and others have frequently found a \u201cnotice of baggage inspection\u201d from the Transportation Security Administration in their checked luggage. She provided ProPublica with photos of five such notices.<\/p>\n An agency spokesperson said that screening equipment does not know to whom the bag belongs when it triggers an alarm, and officers must search it.<\/p>\n To Callao, the surveillance, whether by luggage inspection, security camera or counterterrorism task force, adds to the weight placed on Indigenous communities amid the energy transition.<\/p>\n \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t have to accept the burden of the climate crisis,\u201d Callao said, \u201cWe should be able to protect our ancestral homelands.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week. Reporting Highlights Under Surveillance: Law enforcement agencies have collaborated with private security to surveil largely peaceful protesters opposed to a Nevada mining project called<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[5081,175,913,247,3829,251,241,5588,5587,637],"class_list":{"0":"post-12036","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-enforcement","9":"tag-law","10":"tag-pass","11":"tag-propublica","12":"tag-protesters","13":"tag-records","14":"tag-show","15":"tag-surveilled","16":"tag-thacker","17":"tag-years"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n Credit: <\/span>
\n Records obtained by Siskiyou Rising Tide and Information for Public Use. Highlighted and redacted by ProPublica.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n
\n Credit: <\/span>
\n David Calvert\/The Nevada Independent
\n <\/span><\/p>\nA Familiar Conflict<\/h3>\n
\n Credit: <\/span>
\n David Calvert\/The Nevada Independent
\n <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019re Not There for an Uprising\u201d<\/h3>\n
\n Credit: <\/span>
\n Records obtained by Siskiyou Rising Tide and Information for Public Use. Highlighted, redacted and excerpted by ProPublica.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n
\n Credit: <\/span>
\n David Calvert\/The Nevada Independent
\n <\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWe Shouldn\u2019t Have to Accept the Burden of the Climate Crisis\u201d<\/h3>\n