The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has eyes and ears everywhere, spying even on the Burning Man art and music festival.
Burning Man is a week-long festival that takes place in the northern Nevada desert, and the FBI has apparently "attended" at least in 2010. According to some documents that have now come to light, the Bureau has spied on the festival.
California-based investigative reporter Inkoo Kang made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the FBI on the matter, and newly released documents reveal the Bureau's interest in Burning Man.
Collaborative news website MuckRock published internal documents the FBI shared with Kang, revealing that the FBI worked with local authorities at Burning Man in 2010 to "aid in the prevention of terrorist activities and intelligence collection."
The news came to light as the Burning Man festival kicked off its 29th edition in Black Rock Desert, Nevada.
"Among those paying close attention to the festivities will be the FBI's Special Events Management unit, who have kept files on 'burners' since at least 2010," MuckRock pointed out.
The memos provided by the FBI appeared heavily redacted, but it's clear that the Bureau did some surveillance on Burning Man. The documents were redacted to obscure the names of the agents who were involved, as well as any actual tactics or methods they used to collect intelligence among the festival crowd, but acknowledged the FBI's presence at the festival.
At one point, the FBI noted that the festival is seen as an artisan and cultural event that promotes participants' free expression, and that roughly 50,000 people were expected to attend the 2010 edition.
Another memo, meanwhile, revealed that a security company hired by Burning Man had requested the help of the FBI for a threat assessment. Following that assessment, the FBI concluded that it found nothing to suggest outside threats, international or domestic. In fact, the biggest threats the FBI identified were large crowds that could prove tough to control and participants who used illegal drugs.
It remains unclear whether the FBI spied on the Burning Man just in 2010, or whether it has an ongoing interest in the festival and attended other editions as well. The FBI offered no comment so far with regard to these newly released documents.
