The Los Angeles Times is reporting the Los Angeles Police Department sent a confidential informant to record meetings of the local chapter of Refuse Fascism, a political group that organized anti-Trump protests in 2017. The LAPD’s spying on the group became public as several members of Refuse Fascism are being charged for blocking a section of an L.A. freeway during protests. The police reportedly determined that the group posed no threat to the public, but civil rights groups say the LAPD may have overstepped in its surveillance. An attorney for the Southern California ACLU told the Times, “When you know that your investigation is going to infringe on core political rights that communities have, you have to be damn near certain that there is some criminal activity afoot.”