petersuberDec 28

"Justice Department Says Filming Immigration Raids Is 'Domestic Terrorism'."
https://reason.com/2025/12/26/justice-department-says-filming-immigration-raids-is-domestic-terrorism/

This is the best evidence yet that the #Trump admin is turning the term "domestic terrorism" into an all-purpose pejorative for whatever it dislikes.

Three quick legal notes:
1. In the US, it is not a crime to video police making arrests, provided one does not interfere with their work. So said #SCOTUS in Glik v. Cunniffe (2011).
2. If an act is not already a crime, then even a high-level decision to call it "domestic terrorism" does not make it a crime.
3. Making an act a crime requires legislation (yea, constitutional legislation). In a country with no kings, an executive diktat does not suffice.

#EmptySignifier #FloatingSignifier #FirstAmendment #Terrorism #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

Could the feds throw you in jail for merely filming ICE immigration raids?

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said "videotaping" agents was violence—but Border Patrol brought a film crew to Chicago-area raids.

Reason.com
Show threadpetersuberJan 6

Update. "Filming #ICE agents is a #FirstAmendment right. So why might it land you in jail?"
https://san.com/cc/filming-ice-agents-is-a-first-amendment-right-so-why-might-it-land-you-in-jail/

#DHS says filming law enforcement intrinsically hinders law enforcement. #KristiNoem even calls it "violence" against officers. If true, it would fall into the "interference" exception SCOTUS recognized in Glik v. Cuniffe (2011).

But when DHS and Noem press their absurd claims in court, they lose. "In the ongoing legal battles about whether or not people can legally film ICE activity in public, at least seven federal courts have ruled that it is a First Amendment right to record law enforcement agents in public."

#USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

Filming ICE agents is a First Amendment right. So why might it land you in jail?

ProPublica tracked at least 130 Americans who’ve been arrested for allegedly interfering with and filming agents. 

Straight Arrow News
Show threadpetersuberJan 8

Update. Yesterday's #ICE killing of #ReneeNicoleGood is getting massive public attention 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱.

Please bring your phone to demonstrations!

Here's some advice on reducing the risks.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2020/06/tactics-to-secure-phone-before-a-protest/

Do worry about the risks, but don't forget the risks of leaving law-enforcement violence unrecorded.

#Cameras #LittleBrother #Trump #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

Tactics to secure your smartphone before joining a protest

if you are planning to join a protest, your phone is an essential tool. Here are some essential tips for mobile phone safety.

Amnesty International
Show threadpetersuberJan 11

Update. In my previous post I linked to June 2020 advice from #AmnestyInternational on how to protect your phone from police searches when you attend a protest.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2020/06/tactics-to-secure-phone-before-a-protest/

For something more recent, see this Nov 2024 advice from @eff.
https://ssd.eff.org/module/attending-protest

#Phones #Surveillance #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

Tactics to secure your smartphone before joining a protest

if you are planning to join a protest, your phone is an essential tool. Here are some essential tips for mobile phone safety.

Amnesty International
Show threadpetersuber

Update. Two welcome developments on recording #ICE:

1. "Gov. Tim Walz encourages Minnesotans to film ICE agents for future prosecutions."
https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/14/gov-tim-walz-encourages-minnesotans-to-film-ice-agents-for-future-prosecutions/

2. "How One Guy Crowdsourced More Than 500 Dashcams for Minneapolis to Film ICE."
https://archive.is/ZBjKV

#FirstAmendment #LittleBrother #Minnesota #Trump #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

Gov. Tim Walz encourages Minnesotans to film ICE agents for future prosecutions • Minnesota Reformer

“News reports simply don't do justice to the level of chaos and disruption and trauma the federal government is raining down upon our communities,” Walz said. 

Minnesota Reformer
Jan 15 at 6:23pmWeb
Show threadpetersuberJan 18

Update. There are good political reasons to observe, record, and protest #ICE agents, even with no expectation that you'll change their behavior. But it turns out there's empirical evidence that this kind of observation reduces violence.

From sociologist #NicoleBedera: "The vast majority of men are only willing to engage in public violence if they feel like the people around them will approve of — and reward them for — that violence. #ICEWatch works because it surrounds men seeking approval with people loudly expressing their 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘭…There are countless videos from ICE Watch observers that show agents leaving without detaining anyone after they encounter resistance."
https://www.ms.now/opinion/minneapolis-ice-watch-protesters-violence-research

#LittleBrother #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

I’m a Minneapolis sociologist who studies violence. Here’s how ICE observers are helping.

Research into how violence occurs shows that disapproval from the people around you can help reduce it.

MS NOW
Show threadpetersuberFeb 1

Update. This is what happens when #ICE violence is 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱.

"ICE agents initially claimed Alberto Castañeda Mondragón had tried to flee while handcuffed and “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall."…But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the man’s 31-year-old’s brain."
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minneapolis-hospitals-dc033249051cd5b72a900ca533a3718b

#Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Takeaways from AP report on ICE claims about injured immigrant

A Mexican immigrant was taken to a Minneapolis hospital earlier this month after bones in his face and skull were broken while he was in federal custody. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents initially claimed Alberto Castañeda Mondragón had tried to flee while handcuffed and ran headfirst into a brick wall. But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center told The Associated Press that they determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the man’s 31-year-old’s brain. The case offers an example of recent run-ins between immigration officers and health care workers that have contributed to mounting friction at Minneapolis hospitals.

AP News
Show threadpetersuberFeb 1

Update. More safety tips on filming #ICE.
https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-film-ice/

#LittleBrother #Trump #USPol #USPolitics

How to Film ICE

Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous—even deadly—confrontation isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to record ICE and CBP agents as safely as possible and have an impact.

WIRED
Show threadxs4me2Feb 1

@petersuber

Lies… these thugs should and will be held accountable…

Show threadCarstenJan 18
@petersuber the ice agents are visibly uncomfortable in their SUVs when they stage and a crowd of grandmas line up along the street, record, make noise and blow their whistles. They cover the inside of their windshield with tarps or cardboard. Look really embarrassed. It works in our neighborhood. #iceout
Show threadderptronJan 16
@petersuber I really hate that Amazon is being used to provide the dashcams.
Show threadAndreas KJan 16

@crazyeddie
Ford and GM were one of the bigger providers of the Wehrmacht during WWII.

As the motto of love of the school friends of my dad was, business is business.
@petersuber

Show threadderptronJan 16

@yacc143 @petersuber It makes sense for Ford and GM to do that since they supported what the Nazis were doing.

I mean... You're kinda making my point here. It's silly of us to behave like Ford here. Buying dashcams for people to record ICE with is already bad business anyway. So I'm not sure why it's even something to consider.

At best it was done for convenience, but I think there's probably a better way that wouldn't have been too insane. Probably would have been worth it.