Minneapolis: ICE officers wear GoPros and Meta's smart glasses

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are reported to have worn, among other things, GoPro cameras, smartphones, and Meta's smart glasses during their operations in Minneapolis and used them for video recording. This is reported by the US news portal Gizmodo.

In the context of ongoing protests against ICE raids in Minneapolis, officers are using not only the usual body cameras for video recording, according to Gizmodo. Instead, both helmet-mounted GoPro cameras and smartphones, as well as the AI Glasses from Meta, created in cooperation with eyewear manufacturer Ray-Ban, are being used. Among other things, an image is circulating on Bluesky that is said to show a suspected ICE officer wearing Meta's smart glasses. The image clearly shows the two lens holes located at the outer edge of the glasses and the white-glowing LED, which signals video recording.

Meta and Ray-Ban's AI-powered glasses can record videos and photos using voice commands and stream them directly to Facebook and Instagram. To achieve this, the glasses are equipped with five microphones. The smart glasses also have AI-based image and scene recognition capabilities. Using the voice assistant Meta AI, users can ask questions about their immediate surroundings. The smart glasses provide answers via bone conduction. Calls and messages can also be answered using the smart glasses.

Reasons for increased video surveillance unclear

According to Gizmodo, it remains unclear why ICE officers are recording people on the streets of Minneapolis so extensively. On the one hand, constant video surveillance openly displayed could be intimidating; on the other hand, as in the case of Meta's AI-powered smart glasses, it could provide an actual increase in information. It is also unclear whether devices like GoPros and smart glasses were purchased privately or are being used as a result of an official procurement process, Gizmodo writes. It also remains questionable whether the recorded video material will be evaluated and where it will be stored.

The current observations are not the first of their kind. Back in August, the independent US news portal 404 Media reported on a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer who allegedly wore Meta smart glasses during a raid in Los Angeles.

Deadly Violence in ICE Raids

Since last Monday, the federal agency ICE has been conducting a large-scale operation in the US cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in the state of Minnesota. According to the US Department of Homeland Security, more than 2,000 officers are involved in the operations. The trigger for the action is an alleged fraud scandal in a daycare center within the Somali community, writes Time magazine.

ICE officers are acting with sometimes unusual brutality in their raids. Clashes with protesters occur repeatedly. Just last Wednesday, unarmed motorist Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE officer. As a result, thousands of people took to the streets in Minneapolis. Most of the demonstrations were peaceful for the demonstrators. Last night, another serious incident occurred in the city. An ICE officer shot a Venezuelan man in the leg after he resisted arrest.

(rah)