Lawmaker quizzes U.S. Attorney General Barr on protest surveillance

FILE PHOTO: Protesters rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Portland, Oregon, U.S. June 3, 2020. REUTERS/Terray Sylvester/File Photo

(Reuters) - A U.S. senator on Thursday urged Attorney General Bill Barr to provide an account of how surveillance technology has been deployed against Americans during protests over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in police custody.

Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey, a Democrat, told Barr that peaceful protesters "should not be subject to invasive surveillance" and asked whether the Department of Justice had authorized the use of facial recognition, unmanned aircraft, or cellphone tracking technology in connection with the rallies.