Baker: ‘No known threats’ here after DC violence
With the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden being planned just eight days from now, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday that the state is not aware of any threats at this point that would warrant activating the National Guard after the FBI warned of possible unrest at all 50 state capitols.
Baker also said that state officials are working with federal law enforcement about the possibility of using facial recognition technology to identify any rioters from Massachusetts who participated in the violence at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday.
“That process is ongoing between state and federal and, again, local law enforcement, but one of the reasons I was so aggressive about maintaining access to the facial recognition technology was because I believed it was important tool for dealing with issues like the one that took place in Washington last week and I am glad that we are still able to use that technology here in Massachusetts within a framework that we and the Legislature all agreed on,” Baker said.
The ability for state law enforcement to continue use facial recognition software and access Registry of Motor Vehicle databases was a point of contention in the recently signed policing reform law, with some arguing that the technology disproportionately misidentified people of color.
Baker fought to loosen some of the initial restrictions proposed by the Legislature, and the compromise allowed for police to perform facial recognition searches to assist with criminal cases or to mitigate “substantial risk of harm” after submitting a written request to the
RMV, Massachusetts State Police, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Republican governor has condemned the attack on Congress last week, saying that it made him “sick to my stomach” to watch on television as protrump insurgents stormed the Capitol building while Congress was attempting to certify the results of the 2020 election.