Olympic security and surveillance are big business and that business is also enabling the genocide in Palestine. But the World Cup, Olympics, and other mega-events are more than just business opportunities. They are advertisements for the Israeli military and government’s public-private consortium of surveillance, spying, and military contractors. Increasingly militarized and securitized mega-events are secured by firms run by former Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers and Mossad agents, expanding the reach of these groups, enabling them to monitor and surveil populations throughout the world. These firms train local police, security, and soldiers on techniques they experimented with and perfected while serving the IOF’s genocidal colonization scheme in Occupied Palestine.

Dodger Stadium (an LA28 Olympic venue) made national headlines last month when autonomous community members and grassroots rapid response networks observed hundreds of federal agents using the surrounding parking lots as a processing and staging area for ICE’s continued raids and kidnappings. Mainstream media parroted the Dodgers’ own claim that ICE was denied entry, and the organization has since pledged a measly $1 million towards financial assistance for families of immigrants impacted by recent events in the region.

The story serves as the latest example in a long legacy of LA stadiums, often built with public funds and dressed in civic pride, instead repeatedly used as instruments of repression against Black, brown, and immigrant communities.

For decades, these venues have been quietly transformed into launchpads for police raids, mass arrests, and immigration operations, as well as forces of displacement.

Source

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/40009551

https://www.404media.co/man-charged-for-wiping-phone-before-cbp-could-search-it/

A man in Atlanta has been arrested and charged for allegedly deleting data from a Google Pixel phone before a member of a secretive Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unit was able to search it, according to court records and social media posts reviewed by 404 Media. The man, Samuel Tunick, is described as a local Atlanta activist in Instagram and other posts discussing the case. The exact circumstances around the search—such as why CBP wanted to search the phone in the first place—are not known. But it is uncommon to see someone charged specifically for wiping a phone, a feature that is easily accessible in some privacy and security-focused devices. 💡 Do you know anything else about this case? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at joseph.404 or send me an email at joseph@404media.co. The indictment says on January 24, Tunick “did knowingly destroy, damage, waste, dispose of, and otherwise take any action to delete the digital contents of a Google Pixel cellular phone, for the purpose of preventing and impairing the Government’s lawful authority to take said property into its custody and control.” The indictment itself was filed in mid-November. Tunick was arrested earlier this month, according to a post on a crowd-funding site and court records. “Samuel Tunick, an Atlanta-based activist, Oberlin graduate, and beloved musician, was arrested by the DHS and FBI yesterday around 6pm EST. Tunick's friends describe him as an approachable, empathetic person who is always finding ways to improve the lives of the people around him,” the site says. Various activists have since shared news of Tunick’s arrest on social media.

The indictment says the phone search was supposed to be performed by a supervisory officer from a CBP Tactical Terrorism Response Team. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote in 2023 these are “highly secretive units deployed at U.S. ports of entry, which target, detain, search, and interrogate innocent travelers.” “These units, which may target travelers on the basis of officer ‘instincts.’ raise the risk that CBP is engaging in unlawful profiling or interfering with the First Amendment-protected activity of travelers,” the ACLU added. The Intercept previously covered the case of a sculptor and installation artist who was detained at San Francisco International Airport and had his phone searched. The report said Gach did not know why, even years later. Court records show authorities have since released Tunick, and that he is restricted from leaving the Northern District of Georgia as the case continues. The prosecutor listed on the docket did not respond to a request for comment. The docket did not list a lawyer representing Tunick.

Source

Source

https://wehaverights.us/

ICE arrests and deportations are on the rise in the U.S., and it is your right to film an interaction as long as you don’t interfere — here are some best practices if you are a witness.

https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/ice-agent-brags-about-shooting-1489685

here’s what OSINT turned up:

Confirmed public info from court records and news:

• Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum
• A 23-year Border Patrol veteran stationed in Maine
• He drove the car over 1,000 miles back to Calais, Maine, and assigned a CBP station
• Firearms instructor
• His supervisor is Kevin Kellenberger (Deputy Patrol Agent)
• Uses Signal for encrypted group chats with other agents

Public records databases show: One “Charles Exum” in Calais, ME at age 59 - which matches the location of his CBP station. Can’t verify it’s the same person without additional confirmation.

Social media: I didn’t find any public LinkedIn, Facebook, X/Twitter, or Instagram accounts directly tied to him. Either he doesn’t have public profiles, uses a different name, or has them locked down tight. The only Instagram hit was a news account posting about the case, not his personal profile.

Given he’s now the subject of a criminal investigation, it wouldn’t be surprising if he’s scrubbed or locked down any public presence. The 200+ text messages the government has suggest he’s chatty on Signal with colleagues though.

A troubling incident unfolded in Redmond, Washington, where Native American actress Elaine Miles was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while she was simply walking to a bus stop to go shopping. According to the Seattle Times, the agents claimed she was carrying false identification — even though the document she presented was her tribal ID.

Miles, an Indigenous performer known for her roles in Northern Exposure, Smoke Signals, Wyvern and The Last of Us, handed over her tribal identification card issued by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon. As the newspaper notes, federal agencies recognize tribal IDs as valid identification, and Miles has long used hers to travel in and out of Canada and Mexico without any difficulty.

The agents — wearing tactical vests and masks and driving two black SUVs with no front plates — refused to accept the ID, insisting it was “fake” and that “anyone can make that.”

A new transparency feature on X has ignited a political firestorm after screenshots circulated online claiming the US Department of Homeland Security's official account was listed as being based in Israel. The tool, which appeared over the weekend, lets users view an account's current or previous location by tapping the join-date field. While designed to expose foreign-run troll farms, many of which masquerade as American political voices, it instead triggered a wave of speculation about high-profile accounts, including a series of MAGA-branded profiles that appeared to originate from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa.

The federal government claims that the day after it was sued for allegedly abusing detainees at an ICE detention center, a “system crash” deleted nearly two weeks of surveillance footage from inside the facility.

People detained at ICE’s Broadview Detention Center in suburban Chicago sued the government on October 30; according to their lawyers and the government, nearly two weeks of footage that could show how they were treated was lost in a “system crash” that happened on October 31.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement worker was among 16 men arrested in a Minnesota trafficking investigation that targeted individuals seemingly attempting to solicit a minor for sex, police said.

Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges said at a news conference on Tuesday that the three-day "Operation Creep" began on November 5 and focused on identifying people seeking to purchase sex from a 17-year-old girl.

"When he was arrested, he said, 'I'm ICE, boys,'" Hodges said. "Well, unfortunately for him, we locked him up." Alexander Back, 41, of Robbinsdale, is a civilian auditor with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and has been charged in the sting, Fox 9 reported. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty.

Source

Source

Source

Victim's GoFundMe

A masked man fires a “less-than-lethal” round into the car through the open window. The pepper ball immediately sends the passenger into a health crisis. “I have the right to record!” she yells.

Source: https://reddit.com/comments/1ozx6zs

As he and a teammate walked back toward the field from inside the tunnel, a Texas state trooper appeared to walk between the pair, bumping shoulders with both, and then turned around and pointed at them — shouting at them in the process.

In a statement to The Athletic, the Texas Department of Public Safety said, “The DPS Trooper involved has been sent home from the game. DPS’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) is also aware of the incident and will be further looking into the matter.”

The scene was caught by college football fans across social media, sparking outrage in even The King himself, as LeBron James posted about the incident on X.

Barco enlisted in the army at 17 and served two tours in Iraq. Barco was injured by an improvised explosive device during one of his deployments, and received a Purple Heart for his service in combat. He was also awarded a Combat Infantry Badge. During his military career, Barco had filled out paperwork for citizenship, but his application was never processed for an unknown reason, despite his submitting it. His legal team says his former commander attests to helping him complete and submit the application.

Barco, 39, served 15 years in prison for a felony conviction of attempted murder. In October 2009, Barco was sentenced to 52 years after being convicted of firing a gun at a house party in Colorado Springs. He was suffering from PTSD. One of the bullets he fired hit a 19-year-old woman in the leg. Barco was released on parole this January after serving 15 years due to good behavior. Upon release, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detained Barco and took him to a detention center in Colorado.

A judge’s order barred them from arresting people on court property.

Source