Mastodawn

Dr Neenah Estrella-Luna 5d ago

Heidi Li Feldman

Important reporting on the paramilitary forces being used by DHS in American cities. https://www.wired.com/story/border-patrol-bortac-borstar-use-of-force-midway-blitz/ 1/

‘BORTAC and its sister unit, Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue, or BORSTAR, were once reserved for desert rescues, executing high-risk warrants, conflicts with armed drug cartels, and manhunts.’

Unmasking the Paramilitary Agents Behind Trump’s Violent Immigration Crackdown

A WIRED analysis of DHS records identified dozens of specialized federal agents who used force against US civilians during the largest known deployment of its kind in US history.

WIRED

Heidi Li Feldman 5d ago

‘THE AGENTS SENT to Chicago—and Los Angeles, North Carolina, Boston, Minneapolis, New Orleans, and Sacramento—come from a secretive, tightly knit world. Their names … are typically excluded from official documents and shielded from public records requests. In the streets of American cities, they are usually masked, identified only by “call signs” that are sometimes visible on their uniforms and mean nothing to people demanding badge numbers.’ 2/

Heidi Li Feldman 5d ago

‘BORTAC and BORSTAR agents are not police—they are paramilitaries who operate by a different standard and with different rules of engagement, trained and suited not for law enforcement but for war.

A WIRED review of over 78 incident reports from Operation Midway Blitz found that BORTAC and BORSTAR agents were, as a group, the most violent of the hundreds of federal agents deployed to Chicago.’ 3/

Heidi Li Feldman 5d ago

‘Of the 234 federal law enforcement personnel WIRED identified in these reports, BORTAC and BORSTAR agents represent almost a quarter of all personnel involved in documented confrontations with civilians during Operation Midway Blitz.’ 4/

Heidi Li Feldman 5d ago

‘Hennepin County attorney Mary Moriarty is actively investigating 17 separate incidents involving federal agents for potential criminal conduct. At least two of those incidents—the January 21 gassing of a crowd in South Minneapolis and a chaotic enforcement action outside Roosevelt High School—involve BORTAC personnel, per videos and photographs taken on scene.’ 5/

Heidi Li Feldman 5d ago

‘Under Donald Trump..they have been sent into the streets of major US cities. The result is the largest known deployment of BORTAC and BORSTAR agents in US history….The decision to use an offensive, heavily armed paramilitary units for street-level immigration sweeps in American cities is a first—a bellwether of the Trump administration’s project to militarize domestic law enforcement operations.’ 6/6

Brent Guernsey, Artrocity Studio 4d ago

@heidilifeldman

Sounds like Russia's OMON paramilitary police that Gorbachev sent to kill people in the breakaway Baltic states.

Nicole Parsons 3d ago

@Brentguernsey @heidilifeldman

Putin's pick to take over Prigozhin's mercenary group Wagner was linked to OMON
https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-wants-troshev-admitted-hospital-blind-drunk-wagner-head-prigozhin-2023-7

https://time.com/archive/6718442/soviet-union-agents-of-intimidation/

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-11-mn-7677-story.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10559793/Putins-helmeted-Cosmonaut-Omon-paramilitary-thugs-stamp-dissent-Russia-thousands-detained.html

https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/society/27.01.2026-us-ice-agents-remind-minneapolis-latvians-of-russian-riot-police.a631844/

https://san.com/cc/omon-russia-protests-ukraine-police/

The man Putin wants to take over Wagner was once admitted to the hospital blind drunk with $60,000 cash, military maps of Syria, and receipts for weapons: report

Andrei Troshev was once admitted to a hospital comatose from alcohol, with money, maps of Syria, and receipts for weapons on hand, per The Telegraph.

Business Insider

MissConstrue 1d ago

@Npars01 @Brentguernsey @heidilifeldman

Ok, but…who amongst us has not been blind drunk with national secrets and a briefcase full of cash and receipts for the guns you gave your squad?

Tom von Alten 4d ago

@heidilifeldman The new brownshirts.

John Carlsen 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇪🇺4d ago

@fortboise @heidilifeldman

Hitler had brownshirts.

Trump has brown shorts.

Chuck Darwin 1d ago

@heidilifeldman
Sounds like an entirely illegal deployment right from the start.
Add that there was no unrest in these cities prior to their arrival, and you have straight up deployment against non hostile, unarmed civilians.
@Edelruth
@mastoreaderio unroll please

Masto Reader 1d ago

@cdarwin here's the unrolled thread: https://mastoreader.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fc.im%2F%40cdarwin%2F116354138688782998

Next time, kindly set the visibility to 'Mentioned people only' and mention only me (@mastoreaderio). This ensures we avoid spamming others' timelines and threads unless you intend for others to see the unrolled thread link as well.

Thank you!

Masto Reader

tend2wobble 1d ago

Dan Cross 4d ago

@heidilifeldman much as I appreciate this reporting, I want to point out that these BORTAC and BORSTAR people are _also civilians_. They may be engaging in some kind of quasi-military cosplay, but they're not recognized combatants in an armed conflict, nor members of some military service. They are, therefore, civilians.

This is not your fault, of course, but I really wish that journalists would stop referring to general members of the public as "civilians" when writing about these things.

John Carlsen 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇪🇺4d ago

@heidilifeldman

I'd sure like to know why this doesn't violate the Posse Comitatus Act, and why the Act isn't used to stop this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act

Posse Comitatus Act - Wikipedia

Edelruth, PBS Passport Holder 1d ago

@heidilifeldman

Sounds like an entirely illegal deployment right from the start.
Add that there was no unrest in these cities prior to their arrival, and you have straight up deployment against non hostile, unarmed civilians.
And. There was no process to activate in real time to protect the citizens. The courts are not a first-response unit.

We are all still in grave danger from the person in the Oval Office. I'd name him, but I no longer know who it is.

Great thread, Heidi. Blew my mind

Heidi Li Feldman 1d ago