Defense says Lowell police used Snapchat to target nonwhite users; Commonwealth urges higher proof

At oral argument before the Supreme Judicial Court, defense attorney Nancy Dolberg asked the court to allow Nathaniel Rodriguez’s motion to suppress evidence, alleging Lowell police used Snapchat surveillance in a racially discriminatory way.

Dolberg argued the officer “went out of his way to create a profile that was non white. He created an, a cartoon image, a racialized cartoon image, and he chose a profile name that was non white,” and that the composition of the account’s friend network supports an inference of selective enforcement because the officer employed “an investigatory scheme targeting people…