a lot of ppl in the USA would’ve said this exact thing less than a decade ago, and a lot of ppl who live in countries with large far-right political movements rapidly gaining ground (often helped by the same tech billionaire players as here) seem too busy looking askance at the States to notice

oh right the government that claims it’s remedying anti-Christian bias just having to be ordered by a judge to allow Christian prayer and sacraments, just normal stuff

I made this image (ft Brad Karp and Skadden managing partner Jeremy London) for a Substack I’ve been drafting this week… I think I’m going to abandon the draft because it’s not as strong as what I’d like to be publishing right now but I cannot abandon the below

Chicago's U.S. attorney's office has released evidence from the case against Marimar Martinez, pre-empting her press conference later today. It even released text messages it once claimed would "sully" a Border Patrol agents's rep. From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Democrats committing to the “President Trump’s ICE” talking point when they look at funding to ICE under Democratic presidents and/or Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign messaging

Appreciate that folks lift up the Panthers. Black groups pre-dating the Panthers were also doing community patrols. See one example here: nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaah... Joshua Clark Davis's Police Against the Movement offers some other examples too.

I fear I must continue discussing Brad Karp and asking questions like “did the nonsensical decisions of major corporate law firms that directly undermined legal resistance to fascism in this country last year stem from the lemmings following a guy who knew he was in the Epstein files?”

What a useful resource for organizing.

NEW: since last year, a pair of "highly trained" feds have been involved in an array of incidents attacking crowds with chemical weapons. We used public records and open source analysis to identify Edgar Vazquez and Michael Sveum, alongside some other members of their tactical team. Read more:

why are we pretending DJT isn’t testing the waters to run again instead of calling that shit out and organizing to prevent it liiiike anyway that’s @americandemands.bsky.social we aren’t as active over here and were slow over the holidays but r back to it

sooo many political strategist types continue to act like it’s ridiculous (or counterproductive) to name that Trump obviously wants to subvert the 2028 election and stay in power. meanwhile, NYT is scratching its chin noting no one seems to be gearing up to enter a Republican primary

every other powerful man in the country when

NEW: The @chicago.suntimes.com and @wbez.org have published a 12-minute excerpt of our interview with Marimar Martinez, in which she describes being shot by Border Patrol in Chicago. You can find it here: youtu.be/mCO4vI_KH1w?...

I’m sure this is old news but today is the day that I personally learned Alan Dershowitz is on Substack

anyway! read my explainer on how to get involved in mutual aid/organizing from scratch or send it to a friend who needs it—concrete steps and book recs and some gentle but still tough love open.substack.com/pub/cohen489...

me, millennial to the bone, resisting the urge to overshare pithy and cryptic observations about my personal life on social media because I am arguably a “public figure” and also “almost 32”

🔔 Immigration enforcement reporting can be dangerous. Learn how lessons from one community can apply elsewhere with local journalists @eltragon.bsky.social, @franciagarciah.bsky.social, @nigrotime.bsky.social, and @kevinhfoster.bsky.social. Feb. 5, 2 pm ET RSVP: freedom.press/covering-immigration

Kim rocks

It’s hard to put into perspective how truly massive the warehouse is that was recently sold by the Rockefeller Group to the Department of Homeland Security for $70 million to build a concentration camp in Surprise, AZ. Across the street is a huge neighborhood and a school. It’s 400,000-square-feet.

I know everyone knows this but I do think it’s worth acknowledging—as someone who went to Harvard and then worked at an elite law firm and exists in these stupid little white shoe spaces—there is no FUCKING world in which a single person was unaware that Epstein was a sex offender. NO WORLD.

Brad Karp’s DEFENSE being ‘no you don’t get it I just wanted Jeffrey Epstein to get my son a job on the Woody Allen movie’ is sending me into orbit like these people aren’t even trying

Illinois residents—we have a shot at passing superfund legislation, call ur state reps

I don't think people should say this without proof -- they are literally not "now in ICE." Most of them are in the Portland PD, if you want to make a point of it. Yes, right-wing dudes are in the police everywhere and all at once. This line is just a way to maintain police exceptionalism.

starting to feel like the country is taking a Too Big To Fail approach to the Epstein files and paired with all the fascism and Horrors it kind of feels ripe for major systems change and I think we should discuss that more openly tbh

mutual aid mutual aid the answer you are seeking is mutual aid (and probably already exists near you)

DHS said that the woman CBP shot in the chest in Portland was “involved” in a gang shooting. Her ~involvement~ was that suspected gang members sexually assaulted and robbed her.

Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com

leftist infighting again (suggesting the Democrats do something beyond passing laws calling on the authoritarian to follow the laws)

The fascism is a distraction from the fascism is a distraction from the

at a certain point we’re going to have to stop calling fascism a distraction from the Epstein files and start calling it fascism

cannot overstate how fucking stupid it feels to navigate like, breakups and dating right now. like grow UP it’s FASCISM

I sometimes wish the Democratic Party in Congress consisted of any 260 people in the Minneapolis telephone directory rather than the 260 dignitaries now representing us.

Pragmatic Optimist attorney Rachel Cohen explains the ways that the Trump administration selectively enforces the law, focused on their determination to make it impossible for immigrants to come to the United States the 'right way'.

the only war is class war people have been awfully quiet as the government builds out its secret police with the stated aim of disappearing nonwhite migrants 🤔

Spoke with @currentaffairs.bsky.social this week and gave perhaps my most said-it-with-my-chest quote to date. I am once again saying it with my chest:

many have asked me for book recs and I finally realized bookshop has an AFFILIATE PROGRAM. without further ado: my Books That Make Things Click list. more sure to come and if you buy off here I get 10% as do independent bookstores lfg bookshop.org/lists/books-...

There's apparently body cam footage of Alex's murder. Do people know this? This lets you know that a demand for body cams is USELESS and in fact just a way to give more money to the killers.

if anyone sees Tom Homan at a Speedway could you please let me know expeditiously

It’s the system, firing Greg Bovino isn’t going to do anything, ABOLISH ICE! but also like…I just know he’s crying in his SS coat eating ice cream watching The Border and I guess that’s not NOTHING

European lawyers are highlighting the USA for this year’s Day of the Endangered Lawyer—just a quick refresher about why

Free e-books from Haymarket (my favorite leftie press) about borders, ice, etc. www.haymarketbooks.org/blogs/525-fr...

no bro the next post smarmily pointing out the hypocrisy of MAGA while saying we shouldn’t be talking about Palestine because it loses us voters will be the one that tips the scales I swear just one more bro

one more statement from one more Dem about Trump’s ICE or how ICE isn’t law enforcement or some other bullshit about how this is not who we are I dare u working title for next essay: THIS IS HOW IT’S ALWAYS FUCKING WORKED Cohen489.substack.com

TikTok hasn’t let me post all day, multiple vids uploaded hours ago with zero views. many other political accounts there saying the same thing. very cool, very fun!

going insane watching people call Alex Pretti’s murder the second or third murder by ICE. going insane watching people claim ICE isn’t law enforcement and it’s bad messaging to name them as such. wake! tf! up! fuller/more eloquent thoughts on this here: open.substack.com/pub/cohen489...

2/3 of homicide deaths in Minneapolis this year are ICE murders. about 8% of male homicide deaths nationally are at the hands of police. you cannot separate acceptance of state violence at the hands of LEOs from MAGA’s justification of state violence now.

we’re rising 😤 come follow along: cohen489.substack.com

in trying to understand what makes ICE and CBP so dangerous right now, it is tempting to imagine some new lack of training or experience or professionalism—and not grapple with the truth that a white nationalist movement has put more power and force behind their existing mission