State Patrol engaged in massive 'purge' of emails and texts immediately after George Floyd protests, court records show

Authored by kstp.com and submitted by amnesiac7

"There was a purge of emails and text messages," he told the court.

Attorneys for the ACLU are accusing the State Patrol of targeting journalists and violating their constitutional rights.

5 INVESTIGATES previously reported on the growing number of lawsuits against the State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department for their use of force on protesters and journalists.

"The State Patrol's destruction of emails and text messages after the George Floyd protests was an attempt to cover up their unlawful conduct," the ACLU argued in a filing on Friday.

Dwyer, who also admitted to deleting his own emails and text messages, defended the self-described "purge" as "standard practice".

However, the supervisor acknowledged that practice typically varies from trooper to trooper and does not follow any sort of set schedule.

"There's no order," Dwyer testified. The supervisor went on to say "it's really a standard practice over the course of time that we remove, you know, delete text messages, delete e-mail messages."

Kevin Riach, the ACLU attorney, repeatedly questioned the supervisor about the deletion of emails and possible evidence.

"You just decided, shortly after the George Floyd protests, this would be a good time to clean out my inbox?" he asked.

Dwyer emphasized that no other official records were deleted following the protests.

On Saturday, Bruce Gordon, spokesman for the State Patrol said that the agency follows all state and agency data retention requirements.

"We are unable to comment further due to the ongoing litigation," he said.

According to the court testimony, the State Patrol also acknowledged that use of force reports were never filed because of the chaotic nature of the scene. The agency says it has since taken steps to make sure such use of force is properly documented.

The ACLU is suing the agency for its use of force in a class action lawsuit on behalf of Jared Goyette, a freelance journalist, and a coalition of journalists.

nith_wct on September 5th, 2021 at 19:50 UTC »

So it's standard practice, except it's up to individuals to decide when they do that, and they all happened to start deleting at the same time right after the protests?

ARKenneKRA on September 5th, 2021 at 18:17 UTC »

Why is a government agency able to delete official correspondence so easily? That should SOSOSOSOSO be a crime. We've been a country for HOW LONG?

halfanothersdozen on September 5th, 2021 at 16:46 UTC »

Always love a tale of police destroying evidence. Warms the heart.