DRAGNET

FBI Warrant Seeks to ID Phone Users Near Vandalized Anti-Abortion Center

The feds have asked Google to out any customers who were in the vicinity of the alleged crime scene during a 15-minute window.

The FBI has asked Google to identify every mobile device that connected to its services near an anti-abortion pregnancy center in Virginia that was vandalized a day after the U.S. Supreme Court last year ended the constitutional right to an abortion. Following the reversal of Roe v. Wade last year, the Blue Ridge Pregnancy Center posted on Facebook, “Rejoicing with an overwhelmed heart of gratitude for the life affirming decisions that were made today.” According to a search warrant application obtained by The Daily Beast, investigators want to know who was at the alleged crime scene, as well as an adjacent parking lot, between 1:15 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. EDT on June 25, 2022. Google was ordered to ID the devices using, among other things, location history data and log-ins, and provide the FBI with the IP addresses used to create the accounts.