NEW: Border Patrol agents tried to delete racist and obscene Facebook posts. We archived them. interc.pt/2JsH8Gx
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NEW: Trump is blowing up a national monument in Arizona to make way for the border wall
NEW: Border Patrol chief Carla Provost was a member of secret Facebook group
Border Patrol agents on horseback cracking whips and charging into crowds of Haitian asylum seekers in Texas, shouting at them to go back to Mexico — strong reporting from on the situation in Del Rio/Ciudad Acuña
NEW: a federal judge has reversed the convictions of four humanitarian aid volunteers in Arizona, ruling that the government embraced a “gruesome logic” that criminalizes “interfering with a border enforcement strategy of deterrence by death.”
A late night march across the Brooklyn Bridge unfolding right now
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This week, government contractors began blowing apart a mountain on protected lands in southern Arizona to make way for the border wall.
The project is expected to last a month. Sacred Native American cultural sites are under threat.
BREAKING: Scott Warren not guilty on both felony harboring counts.
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Scott Warren just spoke briefly to his friends and supporters. He highlighted the 88 sets of human remains found in the desert since his arrest, and spoke of the migrants he was arrested with and how they, sadly, have not received the same attention and support that he has.
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CBP says it will have an "environmental monitor" on hand for the blasting.
says he has zero faith that the monitor "will do anything to avoid, mitigate, or even point out some of the sacrilegious things that are occurring and will continue to occur."
NEW: The scale and speed of the Biden's current effort to expel Haitian asylum seekers en masse is without comparison in recent history.
The utter absence of infrastructure and resources to support those being removed cannot be overstated.
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New info: the jury in Scott Warren’s trial broke 8 to 4, 8 for not guilty, 4 for guilty.
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BREAKING: The jurors in Scott Warren's trial have sent the judge another note indicating the same thing they said yesterday, that they're stuck.
We're looking at a possible hung jury. Heading to court now, more to come.
NEW: Rep. Ilhan Omar calls on President Biden to pardon Daniel Hale for drone leak:
"Acknowledging where we've gone wrong, and telling the truth about our shortcomings, is not only the right thing to do, but also an act of profound patriotism."
interc.pt/3koDct3
The skepticism stems from a visit to the site last month.
In a letter to the head of DHS written after the visit, voiced "serious concerns" that DHS was "not respecting tribal lands and sacred sites as they proceed with border wall plans and construction."
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The chief was the most senior of Border Patrol supervisors we identified in the group — others included chief patrol agents overseeing whole sectors, agents overseeing individual stations and union officials who have enjoyed direct access to the president
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Hung jury. The jurors told the court that they all agreed that further deliberation would not result in a unanimous decision in the case. Status conference set for July. Warren’s attorney will be providing more details shortly.
NEW: In the past week I have spoken to people on the frontline of family separation — U.S. officials, federal public defenders, childcare providers receiving an influx of kids.
Their message: there is no functioning system in place for reunification.
Attached to that letter was a second letter, this one from chair of the Tohono O’odham Nation to the Border Patrol, which revealed that border wall construction has already "resulted in the inadvertent discovery of human remains."
Today, Scott Warren, an Arizona humanitarian aid volunteer, goes to trial to face felony charges for allegedly allowing two undocumented migrants access to food, water and a place to sleep in 2018.
He faces up to 20 years in prison. My report on his case.
Last winter, I began looking into a historic wolf hunt on the northern border of Yellowstone National Park.
Nearly eight months later, here’s the end result. The wildest story I’ve ever reported.
Speaking to one of the jurors outside the court, she tells me, “I think we all agreed that what he and these people do is fantastic.”
Thousands of migrants have died in Arizona's desert. I spent a year reporting on aid volunteers whose efforts to save lives put them in the government’s crosshairs.
One, Scott Warren, faces 20 years in prison — he’s telling his story for the first time.
In addition to Trump, it's worth remembering that what's happening in southern Arizona is also attributable to ongoing post-9/11 fallout — specifically the Real ID Act, which gives DHS sweeping authority to waive laws in order to build border barriers.
Anti-crime was born out of another unit that was "disbanded" — the Street Crimes Unit, after one of the plainclothes teams killed Amadou Diallo.
As a veteran NYPD cop told me the other day: "The way the department works is they just change names."
NEW: an analysis of hundreds of leaked documents reveals that while the president and the attorney general clamored for a crackdown on antifa, law enforcement was sharing detailed reports of threats from far-right extremists to protesters and cops theintercept.com/2020/07/15/geo
Those letters are here. They are worth reading in full, as they lay out the concerns that says DHS and CBP are blatantly disregarding in pushing forward with the president's politically-motivated wall expansion.
naturalresources.house.gov/imo/media/doc/
The NYC curfew is not about public safety — it is a pretext for police to arrest people when they otherwise would have no justification to do so.
Some of those people are now being handed off to FBI agents for interrogations about their political views.
Not new at all. Not even a little.
This looks to be a case of a DC-based team getting offered a ride on a helicopter then proceeding to write up Border Patrol talking points as news.
This week, Daniel Hale, a former intelligence analyst facing more than a decade in prison for leaking documents on the US drone program, filed an 11-page letter laying out the reasons for his actions.
It is breathtaking document, worth reading in full.
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Judge Rosemary Márquez's opinion is worth reading in full but this is the arguably the key passage — a damning critique of the core argument prosecutors have used to criminalize the provision of humanitarian aid for decades.
documentcloud.org/documents/6763
Pretty incredible after the past three and a half years and everything that’s happened and everything that Trump campaigned on in 2016 that immigration was essentially nonexistent in the first 2020 presidential debate.
NEW: DHS used a private intelligence firm to monitor more than 600 family separation protests
A West Texas jail warden and his twin brother are under arrest for allegedly driving up to a group of migrants at a water tank then fatally shooting one of the migrants in the head and wounding another
NEW: on Friday night Border Patrol agents in full battle gear raided a humanitarian aid camp in the middle of a heat wave, pointing rifles at volunteers, confiscating cellphones and medical records and slashing tents apart with knives
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News of the chief's participation in the Facebook group comes as , , and are right now testifying before and the House Oversight and Reform Committee about their recent border visit.
Watch here: c-span.org/video/?462505-
Multiple jurors tell me the same thing: the government needed to prove that it was Warren’s intent to break the law — not provide humanitarian aid — and they failed
ICE moved dozens of immigrant women at a Texas detention center onto a soccer field during a secretive visit from Kirstjen Nielsen last week.
The women, including mothers separated from their kids, screamed to the secretary for help but couldn't be heard. theintercept.com/2018/07/03/kir
One way to look at this:
A New York resident who stepped out of his home after a dubious curfew, drawn by the sound of police violence, was thrown into a van, taken to a station house and interrogated by America's secret police about his political views.
Since 9/11, the US has spent billions on fusion centers aimed at distributing police intelligence. As protests this summer showed, they often regurgitate conspiracy theories and zero in on left-wing activists while evidence of deadly threats go unchecked
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If there’s a conspiracy here, it seems most likely to emerge in the charging documents prosecutors will file sweeping up a bunch of young men of color who bought and resold some fireworks during a hot and stressful summer.
Just something to keep in mind.
The president just gave a press conference in which he announced the creation of "a joint operation center to investigate the violent left-wing civil unrest" and effectively defended a teenaged supporter of his who is currently charged with two counts of first degree homicide.
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Many people have asked me if they can donate to Warren's legal defense. He's covered on that front and has suggested that folks consider the Armadillos Búsqueda y Rescate team if they feel like giving. uk.gofundme.com/armadillos-bus
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On the eve of his trial, Warren published an op-ed highlighting the alarming precedent his conviction, resting on broad interpretations of federal harboring and smuggling statutes, could set for “millions of mixed-status families in the United States.”
washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/0
"The additional troops would mean that the number of U.S. forces deployed at the border would be greater than those currently in Syria and Iraq, and roughly half of those deployed in Afghanistan."
They're calling it "Operation Faithful Patriot."
TFW you're working on an immigration policy under Biden story, you reach out to the Biden team for comment, you receive zero response, then you see the Biden team holding an immigration policy press call that you were neither invited or encouraged to attend. Great start.
NEW: Over the weekend dozens of Iranian families, some including U.S. citizens, were detained and extensively questioned at a port on the U.S.-Canada border.
I spoke to one young woman whose family was held for more than 11 hours. Read her story here. theintercept.com/2020/01/06/bor
NEW: He tweeted that he was the leader of antifa. Then the FBI asked him to be an informant.
We also received a very significant decision in Warren’s misdemeanor case from earlier this year: the judge found that that Warren’s religious freedom defense overcame that charge he faced for leaving water for migrants on public lands.
NEW: A pair of ICE and DEA offices awarded a Mexican police commander whose elite special operations unit is accused of massacring 19 migrants and incinerating their remains, praising his "exceptional," "outstanding," and "continuous contributions"
NEW: has called on the inspector general's office at DHS to investigate the monitoring of family separation protests interc.pt/2XVFH9e
Just had a conversation with a young guy in Crown Heights about the fireworks situation in Brooklyn that might be helpful to folks trying to understand what’s happening — the source is a lifelong resident whose block has been featured in at least one viral fireworks video.
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NEW: Texas jail warden charged with killing migrant was previously accused of serious abuses
The warden who was arrested yesterday and the jail he ran have a long dark history — read more here
NEW: more info about US training of the ex-Colombian soldiers accused of assassinating Haiti's president.
At least seven individuals attended courses ranging from vehicle maintenance to counterterrorism in the US and Colombia, some as recently as 2015
Right now, on protected lands in Arizona, construction crews are pumping water from the desert to build the president's border wall.
I wrote about the project, and what it says about the future of migration, border militarization and the climate crisis.
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A status conference is scheduled for July 2, so the story is not over.
As Warren’s attorney, Greg Kuykendall, told the crowd, “Scott Warren remains innocent as a legal and practical matter.”
NEW: I spoke to several men locked in a troubled ICE detention center in remote, northeast Alabama.
They feel forgotten in the face of the coronavirus and they are living in fear. They spoke up at considerable personal risk — this is what they had to say
NEW: Border Patrol Is Caging Migrants Outdoors During Deadly Arizona Heatwave
Yesterday, and I trudged up a hill in a remote corner of the Sonoran Desert where temps had reached 114 and documented some 50 people caged in direct sun
NEW: Lawyers have filed a lawsuit on behalf of two Brazilian boys — ages 9 and 15 — who were separated from their fathers and currently being held in a Chicago detention center
To put this another way: there is no indication that this was a case of jury nullification. The government lost all on its own by putting on a case that was unconvincing to the jurors.
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Bit more fallout from the BP FB group: at the end of today's oversight hearing, Jennifer Costello, acting DHS IG, confirmed that due to the reports that leadership knew about the group and did nothing, her office will be reviewing the matter in addition to CBP's investigation.
The Biden administration confirmed in court yesterday that it is moving ahead with the Oak Flat mining project.
The Arizona copper mine would be one of the largest on the planet and obliterate one of the most sacred Apache holy sites to ever exist.
BREAKING: On the eve of Arizona humanitarian volunteer Scott Warren's sentencing hearing for driving on protected lands to drop aid supplies for migrants, the U.S. attorney's office has suddenly moved to drop its case against him.
Just filed.
“How Neighbors in the Borderlands Fought Back Against Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s Illegal Wall — And Won.”
A story I’ve been working on the past couple months — about people with nobody to count on but each other who achieved something nobody expected
Happening now: following NYC officials , and as they attempt to access holding cells in Manhattan — legal advocates say many of 2,500 people arrested in the last week are disappearing in a system rife with unsafe conditions
Good to see the paper of record highlighting this important national news story that we’ve been covering at for the past eight months.
Going to provide some links and info for those who might be interested in reading more on the topic.
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The Trump administration began with prosecutors, Border Patrol agents and Fish and Wildlife officials bringing a series of charges against volunteers.
This is the second time in a matter of months that those charges have been defeated on religious liberty grounds.
"Jan 6th is gonna be crazy. … lol."
Some DHS intelligence officials were so confident that Jan. 6 would turn violent they planned to say home from work, and yet they produced zero warnings ahead of the event, according to a new OIG report. theintercept.com/2022/03/10/jan
"What Law Did We Break?": How the NYPD Weaponized a Curfew Against Protesters and Residents
My look at six historic days in the city of New York.
CBP has released video confirming that 58-year-old Raymond Mattia did not have a gun and was complying with orders when he was shot dead last month.
I spoke to his family, including those who were there that night, about their ongoing fight for justice.
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From the time the story broke to the time we published, “I’m 10-15” dropped from nearly 10k members to a little over 4k.
In that time, however, broke a story on a second CBP group. It's safe to say there’s likely more fallout to come. cnn.com/2019/07/05/pol
Having been at The Intercept from the beginning, I’ll say this: I work with some of the most dedicated, driven and talented journalists out there. The idea that we have somehow strayed from our mission is false and insulting — it erases the hard work that gets done day after day.
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Warren’s trial is expected to run a week and a half. I will be in court throughout, providing updates when possible.
I spent a week visiting migrant shelters and communities on both sides of the Arizona-Sonora border to understand how the Biden administration's first months in office are playing out for asylum seekers in northern Mexico.
Here's what I found.
Last month we published a story, based on 19 sources, revealing a sweeping intelligence-gathering effort targeting journalists, activists and lawyers working on the border: theintercept.com/2019/02/08/us-
Today got the documents that confirm it: nbcsandiego.com/investigations
"While in Portland, an interagency task force involving DHS and the Justice Department used a sophisticated cell phone cloning attack — the details of which remain classified — to intercept protesters' phone communications."
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As all of this was unfolding, “I’m 10-15” was renamed and archived, but not before many of the worst posts were deleted. I know this because I gained access to the group weeks ago and archived hundreds of them for a story, meaning I could watch the scrubbing happening in realtime
Pat Tillman was killed 17 years ago today in Afghanistan. Re-upping this piece I wrote in 2017 about the hijacking of his story that followed.
Greg Kuykendall, who represented volunteer Scott Warren in two other cases stemming from the administration's crackdown, said the reversal reveals what the government refuses to acknowledge.
"They need dead bodies in order for their deterrence strategies to work."
“Neither the Supreme Court police force nor the U.S. Marshals details the threats that are used to justify millions in extra security, and publicly available assessments point in the opposite direction.”
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The Supreme Court has more than doubled its security detail since overturning Roe v. Wade, budget documents reveal. 400 U.S. Marshals now protect the Justices and their families including with 24/7 monitoring of social media for "concerning communications"
theintercept.com/2023/06/27/sup
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Some of the fireworks are being set off by competing groups of young people from different blocks and areas — there are battles. In addition to fireworks, young people are also attacking their rivals with squirt guns. It’s summertime in Brooklyn. People are trying to have fun.
For the last year and I have been digging into the disturbing case of Sergio Salazar — an anarchist, anti-fascist, undocumented teenager from Texas whose political speech led to 43 days in a cage followed by deportation.
Read and watch here.
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What’s kind of amazing, my guy said, is that cliques that normally do not socialize are having these fireworks battles with each other. Sure it’s noisy and getting a lot of attention but, he noted, he’d rather see these kids using fireworks than guns.
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This is the second of two trials Warren has faced related to his humanitarian work around Ajo, Arizona, a remarkably remote stretch of the Sonoran desert where hundreds of migrants — at minimum — are known to have died.
NEW: the impact of Trump's wall cannot be measured in miles alone. This story, eight months in the making, is about the people and places swept up in the project.
We hope you'll read and watch. Video by . Images by .
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By tracking Facebook accounts and disseminating the intelligence to law enforcement fusion centers, a paid "Threat Analyst" cataloged hundreds of family separation demonstrations at schools, churches and an "old Kmart parking lot" in Wisconsin.
., a leading expert on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, told me that she expects the government will appeal.
“But," she said, “what we’ve got now is a developing record of careful analysis from federal courts on how RFRA ought to apply in contexts like this.”
DHS's Office of Intelligence and Analysis is coordinating intel gathering in Portland.
Leaked docs show that for at least two years, the office has taken a keen interests in left-wing critics of Trump's border policies, labeling them domestic terrorists
Greetings from Tucson. A few points about this piece — it’s long so I’ll try to summarize.
There’s a lot happening on the border. What all of this will look like by the end of the summer remains to be seen, but the upshot is this: the future looks grim
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Thousands of protesters streaming over the Brooklyn Bridge right now. This contingent was singing.
People at the base of the bridge are collecting trash, urging people to vote and telling them not to talk to the cops.
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Abbott described a little boy she met who showed up clutching an adult belt. He wouldn’t let it go.
When the childcare providers finally got it away from him and unrolled it, they found his dad’s name and phone number scrawled inside.
NEW: leaked documents and a pattern of surveillance and arrests over multiple years reveal that long before DHS deployed tactical units to Portland, the agency's hunt for antifa and anarchists was focused on the border and immigrant rights advocates
Acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf, who was illegally appointed to his position, is stepping down days after the siege of the capitol.
He spent the last year echoing Trump's antifa rhetoric and, according to a whistleblower, attempting to bury intelligence on far right threats.
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Here's the entry officially declaring a mistrial in Scott Warren's felony trial — just filed. documentcloud.org/documents/6150
cc:
If you have followed the trajectory of DHS over the years but especially under this administration, in which the politicization has become so overt and in your face, it's difficult to shake the feeling that we were always headed towards a moment like this. opb.org/news/article/f
There is a substantial migration from Parler to Telegram underway right now and paramilitary far-right accelerationists are attempting to capitalize on the moment to radicalize what they consider “normie” Trump supporters — here’s what we know so far
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. is knocking on the backdoor here at 100 Centre Street — no answer. Officials are invoking a city charter that empowers them to inspect jail cells
NEW: Border Patrol text messages and internal reports indicate the government is treating a faith-based humanitarian group working to prevent deaths along the border as a criminal organization
