Today is the 15th anniversary of 2003’s coordinated protest against the Iraq War. With attendance in the millions, at the time it was the “the largest protest event in human history.” Though we don’t have any records from that particular protest, Federal Bureau of Investigation files show that later demonstrations were under heavy Bureau surveillance, taking note of details as banal as a car bearing a pro-peace bumper sticker.

A memo from Howard Zinn’s FBI file shows how the Bureau relied on third-party contractors and press coverage to avoid scrutiny of its surveillance of Vietnam protestors.

In response to a public records request by Emma Best, the Ohio State Highway Patrol released a huge collection of photos and video taken during its deployment at Standing Rock. While a large amount were culled from protestor’s social media accounts, a separate .zip file contains official police records - including some that appeared to be taken by someone that had been inside the camp, and one that showed a sniper overlooking the protest.