The FBI employed an undercover officer with pink hair to surveil activists and fabricate offenses

pink-hair

April 3, 2023

In 2020, the FBI infiltrated racial justice groups in Colorado Springs, using undercover police officer April Rogers to spy on activists and try to entrap them in crimes. Rogers posed as a volunteer named "Chelsie" with pink hair, and gained trust among the activists before attempting to set up at least two young men in gun-running conspiracies.

The FBI's tactics in Colorado Springs mirrored those used in Denver, where paid informant Mickey Windecker drove a hearse and rose to a leadership role in the racial justice movement, encouraging activists to become violent. The investigation raises questions about FBI priorities and perceptions of threats, as the agency also launched and quickly dropped an investigation of a man running a neo-Nazi website, a decision that had deadly consequences.

This very detailed article sheds light on the FBI's undercover investigation into left-wing activist groups in Colorado Springs during the summer of 2020.

The story is told through the lens of April Rogers, a detective at the Colorado Springs Police Department who posed as an activist with pink hair named "Chelsie" to gain the trust of the activist community. The article details Rogers' attempts to entrap activists in crimes, mirroring the tactics of another FBI informant in Denver.

The investigation raises concerns about the FBI's abuse of authority to spy on peaceful First Amendment-protected activities without evidence of criminal activity or violent intent. The article is well-researched, with supporting evidence and interviews with activists targeted in the investigation, and highlights the need for accountability and transparency in law enforcement investigations.

Read full story here: https://theintercept.com/2023/03/21/fbi-colorado-springs-surveillance/