State Police unveiled surveillance targeting black activists as a major gas emergency has the residents of the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts reeling as the disaster grows in scale.

WBUR reports that browser tabs showing the Facebook page names of notable black activist groups in the Boston area were shown after the State police shared a map of the locations of 39 fires and explosions caused by the gas emergency.

In a statement, the Massachusetts police explained, "We, obviously, need to know if large numbers of people, for whatever reason, are going to be on public roadways or public spaces, so that we may ensure the safety and rights of those who have gathered as well as of the members of the public around them."

MSP Fusion Center has current updated tally of responses to fires/explosions/investigations of gas odor at 70. Spread over wide swath of south #Lawrence and northern part of #NorthAndover with several others across Merrimack River in north Lawrence. pic.twitter.com/a7kBYaWFrJ

— Mass State Police (@MassStatePolice) September 13, 2018

Interesting that you cropped out the bookmark bar @MassStatePolice
pic.twitter.com/AAueZaw2xZ

— b (@_lowercaseb) September 14, 2018

In the pre-cropped image, tabs of pages for the Mass. Action Against Police Brutality (MAAPB) group, the Coalition to Organize and Mobilize Boston Against Trump (COMBAT) and other activist organizations were opened. Both of the previously mentioned groups appeared to be inactive and, before news of the surveillance broke, hadn't updated their pages in months. There was also a tab for the "Resistance Calendar," which serves as an event calendar for planned anti-Trump rallies.

"I wasn't surprised — but I was appalled," said Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty program at the Massachusetts branch of the ACLU. "American law enforcement has, for a very long time, targeted dissidents. A lot of people like to believe those tactics ended. But that's not true — and actually, after 9/11, they've seen a substantial resurgence."

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Emergency gas leak

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