FBI secretly extracted data from ICE protesters' phones using Cellebrite software, records show
By
Schuyler Mitchell
Summary
Previously unreported public records reveal that the FBI used Cellebrite software to secretly extract data from at least 13 mobile phones belonging to protesters at a June 2025 demonstration outside an ICE field office in Spokane, Washington. The protest was triggered by the detention of two lawful asylum seekers from Venezuela during a routine immigration check-in. The documents show the FBI conducted forensic extractions of device data without warrants or consent, raising serious constitutional and privacy concerns about government surveillance of political protest activity.
Source
Key quotes
· 3 pulledOn the evening of June 11, 2025, Shailynn Bray-Waters joined hundreds of other protesters at a demonstration outside an ICE field office in Spokane, Washington.
Previously unreported documents reveal 'extractions' from at least 13 devices after a Washington state protest last June.
The agency used software from Israeli firm Cellebrite to extract protesters' data.
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