Local officials tried to grow close to activist groups and collected information that was then shared with industry

Newly released emails show local government officials in Minneapolis have quietly surveilled environmental justice activists who are working to close a controversial waste incinerator that is emitting pollution into low-income neighborhoods around it, activist groups allege.

County officials sent an employee who is also an environmental justice activist to collect intelligence, among other tactics, emails show. The information was then used to help successfully kill state-level environmental legislation opposed by the incinerator’s leadership, and try to stay one step ahead of activist campaigns and protests. In another instance, a county employee presenting himself as an ally allegedly tried to obtain the identity of a whistleblower, a recording shows.

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© Photograph: Tony Webster

© Photograph: Tony Webster

© Photograph: Tony Webster

James O’Keefe and Cam Higby were trying to show vulnerabilities in allowing a voter to vouch for another

Two rightwing influencers have been charged with felonies in Minneapolis over attempts in the state’s election primary to disguise themselves in what they called “Muslim garb” and claim they were local voters.

James O’Keefe and Cam Higby went to polling places in Minnesota during the state’s August primary in an attempt to show vulnerabilities in the practice of “vouching”, where a registered voter from the same precinct can vouch for another voter’s eligibility.

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© Composite: Getty Images, SOPA Images, LightRocket

© Composite: Getty Images, SOPA Images, LightRocket

© Composite: Getty Images, SOPA Images, LightRocket

The Trump administration has suggested that state prosecutors don't have jurisdiction to investigate federal officers, while Minnesota officials have said they don't trust the federal government to investigate itself.