Texas National Guardsmen set up a secret spying mission by using WhatsApp to snoop on migrants, a watchdog found.
Top brass in Operation Lone Star — a state-run effort to combat illegal immigration — "wanted to pretend it was like Iraq," one servicemember told The Texas Tribune and The Military Times.
Insider has reached out to the Texas National Guard for comment.
After whistleblowers reported the WhatsApp surveillance, leaders in the Texas National Guard shut down Operation Lone Star's intelligence unit, the report said.
The Texas Military Department's inspector general also investigated the activity and determined it was an unauthorized foreign intelligence operation, the outlets reported.
Persons:
snoop, Greg Abbott, Greg Abbott's, Tuesday's, weren't, David Tyler
Organizations:
Texas National Guardsmen, Lone Star, The Texas Tribune, The Military Times . Texas Gov, National Guardsmen, Service, Gov, Texas Tribune, The Military Times, The Tribune, Operation Lone Star, Tribune, Texas National Guard, Star, Texas Gov, Department of Homeland Security, feds, DHS, The Texas Military
Locations:
Iraq, Wall, Silicon, Texas, Rio Grande, Lt