USPS Running “Covert Operation Program” To Spy On Americans’ Social Media Posts

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational & research purposes:

Though the iCOP program is scanning through these social media channels, so far claimed that “no intelligence is available to suggest the legitimacy” of violent threats made on these platforms.

“iCOP analysts are currently monitoring these social media channels for any potential threats stemming from the scheduled protests and will disseminate intelligence updates as needed,” the bulletin says.

Civil rights leaders are sounding the alarm over this supposedly innocuous government agency spying on American citizens instead of focusing on mail-related issues.

“It’s a mystery,” said University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone. “I don’t understand why the government would go to the Postal Service for examining the internet for security issues.”

“That part is puzzling. There are so many other federal agencies that could do this, I don’t understand why the post office would be doing it. There is no need for the post office to do it – you’ve got FBI, Homeland Security and so on, so I don’t know why the post office is doing this.”

“The Internet Covert Operations Program is a function within the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which assesses threats to Postal Service employees and its infrastructure by monitoring publicly available open-source information,” the agency said in a statement.

“Additionally, the Inspection Service collaborates with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to proactively identify and assess potential threats to the Postal Service, its employees and customers, and its overall mail processing and transportation network. In order to preserve operational effectiveness, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service does not discuss its protocols, investigative methods, or tools.”

Sen. Ted Cruz responded to the alarming story, suggesting that now we all know that virtually every single federal agency is spying on Americans.