For those that think that government spying is a thing of the past, think again. It was revealed that the New York Police Department spied on various individuals before the 2004 Republican National Convention was held in New York.
Details of this were revealed in 600 pages worth of secret files released by the New York Civil Liberties Union. In the documents, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Russell Simmons and Alicia Keys were all put under surveillance in the months before the 2004 Republican National Convention arrived in New York. Each one of the artists attended a rally held by Russell Simmons