Mastodawn

“Terrorist”: How #ICE Weaponized 9/11’s Scarlet Letter

#SpencerAckerman on how the politics of #counterterrorism led to ICE and #CBP completing their transformation into a #DeathSquad — and why the agencies are unreformable.

The Intercept Briefing
February 6 2026

"The word 'terrorist' wasn’t coined on September 11, 2001, but the defining event of the early 21st century ushered it in as the United States’ go-to term for demonizing outsiders and dissenters alike. The so-called “war on terror” transformed the way the U.S. wields power at home and abroad, enabling mass surveillance and a crackdown on the right to free speech. It became reflexive for the U.S. to disparage immigrants and protesters as supporters of terrorism.

"President Donald Trump has embraced this model and manipulated it for his own ends, as author Spencer Ackerman points out. The #Trump administration often peddles spurious accusations of #terrorism against the targets of its #ImmigrationRaids."

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/7VepO

#NineEleven #USPol #ICESucks #DomesticTerrorist #CriminalizingDissent #TrumpSucks #MurderPatrol #BorderPatrol #Profiling #RacialProfing #DefundICE #DefundDHS #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity

“Terrorist”: How ICE Weaponized 9/11’s Scarlet Letter

Spencer Ackerman on how the politics of counterterrorism led to ICE and CBP completing their transformation into a death squad — and why the agencies are unreformable.

The Intercept

Show thread