Court Filing Details Clearview AI Use in Minnesota Protest Investigation

Federal investigators used Clearview AI facial recognition to assemble a set of online images associated with a defendant in a Minnesota case connected to protests against an immigration enforcement operation, newly released court filings show.

The documents were submitted in the case of Isaac Sant, one of 15 people charged with impeding the federal crackdown. They include Department of Homeland Security reports from investigations called Operation Puppet Master and Project Whipple Shield, which involved monitoring organizations and people active in the protests.

Investigators submitted a photograph of Sant to Clearview AI, which searches images collected from publicly accessible websites and social media. The system returned at least a dozen images, including older photographs of Sant, pictures of demonstrations and an image taken in a bar.

Defense attorney Kevin Riach said some results showed a different man and that man’s family, including his pregnant wife and young daughter. His filing states that those images were then linked with Sant in internal Homeland Security databases. Riach is asking the court to order wider disclosure of federal facial recognition use during Operation Metro Surge.

The filing includes more than 100 pages of investigative reports. Those records describe undercover agents attending meetings in churches, schools, libraries and parks, monitoring activist messaging groups, and using vehicle license plate numbers to identify people who attended gatherings. A government presentation identified 18 organizations, including unions and community groups.

DHS said Homeland Security Investigations does not comment on active investigations or its methods. The department has described the operations as efforts to address people accused of using protests as cover for assaults and attempted breaches of federal property. Riach argues that investigators examined protected political activity without evidence that the targets had committed crimes.

The disclosure adds detail to federal use of commercial facial recognition. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has contracted with Clearview AI for tactical targeting, while DHS has also outlined a plan to make facial recognition tools available to local police.

Federal immigration agencies are simultaneously exploring additional biometric hardware. A DHS budget document included funding for smart glasses intended to support ICE biometric identification. The Minnesota filing provides a separate example of web-sourced face matching feeding images into an active investigative database.

The ACLU of Minnesota said the material demonstrates how facial recognition can be used for broad surveillance of communities. The disputed Clearview results are now part of Sant’s discovery motion and the court’s consideration of what additional investigative material the government must provide to the defense.

Sources: FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul, Associated Press

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team