2021 United States Capitol attack and other 'protests' (Massachusetts State Police)

Emma North-Best filed this request with the Massachusetts State Police of Massachusetts.

It is a clone of this request.

Multi Request 2021 United States Capitol attack and other 'protests'
Submitted Aug. 25, 2021
Est. Completion None
Status
Fix Required

Communications

From: Emma North-Best

Subject: Massachusetts Public Records Law Request: 2021 United States Capitol attack and other 'protests' (Massachusetts State Police)

Portal

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

Records regarding the potential for violence, unrest, criminal activities or other disturbances associated with protests or other activities on either January 5 or January 6, 2021 at local, regional or national events. This request includes but is not limited to inter-departmental communications, situational reports, bulletins and other documents.

I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.

As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as we believe this request is in the public interest, as suggested but not stipulated by the recommendations of the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

I expect the request to be filled in an accessible format, including for screen readers, which provide text-to-speech for persons unable to read print. Files that are not accessible to screen readers include, for example, .pdf image files as well as physical documents.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Emma North-Best

From: Massachusetts State Police

Subject: RE: MSP Public Records Request

Email

October 6, 2021

Dear Ms. Best:

The Massachusetts Department of State Police ("Department") received your request for all reports and/or communications regarding "the potential for violence, unrest, criminal activities or other disturbances associated with protests or other activities on either January 5 or January 6, 2021 at local, regional or national events." You submitted the request pursuant to G. L. c. 66, sec. 10.

At the onset, please note that your description of the records you seek is so unduly ambiguous, overly broad, and unreasonably vague that the Department has insufficient information with which to begin to undertake the necessary research. As you may know, 950 CMR 32.06(1)(b) requires that all "requests for public records shall include a reasonable description of the requested record to the records access officer so that he or she can identify and locate it promptly." In order to properly research this request , the Department is asking that you re-submit a request and provide specific keywords (for purposes of an email search) and/or additional focused information including, but not limited to, specific event(s) or incident(s), specific location(s) of specified incident(s), and/or involved parties. Once received, the Department will process the request.

If you wish to challenge any aspect of this response, you may appeal to the Supervisor of Public Records following the procedure set forth in 950 C.M.R. 32.08, a copy of which is available at http://www.mass.gov/courts/case-legal-res/law-lib/laws-by-source/cmr/. You may also file a civil action in accordance with M.G.L. c. 66, ยง 10A.

Respectfully,

Sean W. Farrell
Sean W. Farrell
Office of the Chief Legal Counsel
Massachusetts State Police
470 Worcester Road
Framingham, MA 01702
Tel: (508) 820-2153

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