POLICE used vehicle tracking technology to spy on activists as part of a “disruption strategy” to suppress protest during US president Donald Trump’s visit to Scotland, documents released under Freedom of Information laws have revealed.
The files obtained by the Sunday National show that Police Scotland’s “Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Unit” created instructions for uniformed officers to monitor activists on July 16, 2025 – nine days before Trump landed in Scotland for a visit which lasted from July 25-29.
Around the time the US president was in Scotland, campaigners said that they had been subjected to bail checks at an unprecedented level, which they alleged were part of a deliberate strategy to suppress their right to protest. Police Scotland said at the time that the checks were “appropriate” and “required in line with conditions imposed by the courts”.
However, the police papers acquired by the Sunday National – marked “official sensitive” and labelled “Disruption Strategy/Bail Checks” – show the activists’ suspicions were correct.
The force used automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), which allows police to track vehicles’ movements across the road network, and bail checks to monitor campaigners, some of whom it appears had never been convicted of a crime.
The police documents state: “It is requested that bail checks are carried out as part of the disruption strategy for Operation Roll 2 [the codename for Trump’s visit] from Thursday 24th July onwards.
“All nominals have been identified for their part in activities relating to the now proscribed group Palestine Action.
“All relevant vehicles have been added to ANPR and will be monitored by the Intelligence Cell.”
The documents contain a redacted list of activists to be monitored, which includes people living in Scotland and England who had been charged but not convicted for protest activity at Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Ayrshire.
The papers go on: “All efforts should be made to locate the subject, however, should enquiries prove negative, officers should update the incident accordingly, and contact should be made with the Op Roll Intelligence Cell …
“Officers should be aware of the potential for items relating to Palestine Action while conducting bail checks and take appropriate action as necessary.”
Palestine Action had been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government two weeks before the police document was created. The decision has since been ruled unlawful in the High Court, but has been allowed to stand while the Home Office appeals.
Lizzie Eldridge, the vice-president of the Scottish branch of the international free speech organisation PEN who is facing terrorism charges for allegedly supporting Palestine Action, said the revelation that police were using ANPR to surveil activists is “utterly terrifying” and “fucking Orwellian”.
“Whenever you hear some new outrage, you're shocked, but you're also not surprised. I think that's where we're at now,” she added.
Pro-Palestine activist Mick Napier said his home had been visited by police seven times over four days.
“Each pair claimed they were there to be sure I was familiar with my bail conditions. When challenged, they were adamant that was their only reason,” he went on.
“I knew at the time this was untrue and that it was a type of harassment. And I also knew that other people were subjected to similar unwarranted visits, each absurdly claiming it was only to ensure we were familiar with our bail conditions.
“Thanks to The National, we now know that this was indeed a lie. Will we or others have to face similar harassment in the future?”
Andrew Thomson, another activist who raised allegations about Police Scotland’s monitoring of campaigners last year, said: “We need a serious national discussion on how the methods being used by Police Scotland are consistent with rights guaranteed under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights [which cover freedom of expression and freedom of assembly].
“Professor Angela O'Hagan of the Scottish Human Rights Commission rightly voiced her concerns to both [Lord Advocate] Dorothy Bain and [Chief Constable] Jo Farrell when she said, ‘freedom of association, and freedom of expression are fundamental values, which duty-bearers under the Human Rights Act 1998 are legally bound to protect’.
“Put quite simply, how does bail check harassment and ANPR movement tracking by Police Scotland of a protester against genocide with no criminal record, fit into that legally bound duty of protection?”
Thomson called for the SHRC – which intervened in August 2025 to warn that human rights were being put “at risk” by the policing of Palestine protests – to conduct an inquiry.
“It is without question that Police Scotland have failed to respect the human rights of the conventions for which the commission is empowered to call them to account,” he added. “It's time now that SHRC shows its teeth.”
A spokesperson for the SHRC said: “We all have the right to peaceful protest. Policing decisions relating to protests must be proportionate and must not unnecessarily restrict people’s rights.
“As Scotland's independent National Human Rights Institution, we wrote to Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in August to remind them of their obligations under the Human Rights Act 1998.
“We will continue to engage with Police Scotland on this matter. "
Scottish Green justice spokesperson Maggie Chapman MSP said that “Police Scotland should not be spying on activists or doing the White House’s dirty work”.
“It is not their role to be curbing dissent or suppressing the right to protest,” she went on.
“These attacks on our freedoms are not happening in isolation. We have seen increased attacks on free speech and the erosion of protest rights, with new activists locked up for waving banners condemning Israel’s genocide against Gaza.
“This increasingly authoritarian use of the state’s institutions of power should alarm anyone who seeks to live in a free and democratic Scotland.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "We carry out appropriate checks as required in line with conditions imposed by the courts.
“There are clear and well-established processes in place to control retention and access to ANPR data to ensure it is used in a proportionate manner.”
The Scottish Government was also approached for a response.
