Of Note 10/17-10/24

I love being a journalist, but it takes work, and right now this reporting project is largely unpaid. Help make it a sustainable endeavor and allow me to keep bringing you independent reporting that matters. Become a paid subscriber today.

Sign up today!

Here's a roundup of stories and news I think you should know about from this week. Plus some commentary to go along with it.

It's a choice for the city to ask a federal judge to lift an injunction that limits how the LAPD can treat journalists at protests. The city asked a federal judge for permission to shoot at and otherwise hassle journalists's doing their jobs. It's also a roundabout way for the department to shoot at whomever they want and not have to worry whether there's a press pass around their neck or not.

Liz Chou caught the drama following the city's legal filing between the city council and the city attorney. City councilmembers were not happy that the mayor and city attorney went over their heads to take a moment to court. The motion read:

“One of Los Angeles’ biggest threats to public safety is the ongoing terror and kidnapping campaign of our neighbors by the Trump Administration, and the City must focus its resources on protecting our communities, not the further degradation of First Amendment rights and the timely need for a free press."

🐦 The LA Reporter, Issue 7: A week of drama-rama between LA city leaders

News from an LA Reporter. This week, that includes the LA City Council waging a public battle with City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto, a councilwoman agitating for charter reform commissioners to reveal their side-convos, and more potential budget cuts on the horizon for LA city.

The LA ReporterElizabeth Chou

A judge rejected the motion, and the injunction stayed in place, but that didn't stop the LAPD from hurting journalists documenting the protest. LA Taco reporter Lexis Oliver-Ray was one of several journalists targeted that night. An officer raised his "less lethal" gun at Lex and fired. He fell to the ground in an attempt to dodge the 40 mm foam round, causing him to injure his hand. Lex has made 11 appearances on the Press Freedom Tracker thanks to the LAPD and LASD. I have been next to him at a few of them.

“Fake press,” shouted an officer to copwatcher William Gude, who documented the entire incident. A cool thing about the First Amendment, state law, and the injunction against the department is that the police don't get to decide who is and isn't a journalist.

I was there early in the evening as the group of protesters grew outside the Metropolitan Detention Center before shit hit the fan. While tense at times, the vibe was generally people speaking their minds to the police who were playing guard duty for DHS and ICE. Multiple people gave officers flowers as a peace offering.

Cops on a skirmish line always have an angry look in their eyes and itchy trigger fingers on their “less lethal” guns. They love the prospect of getting to shoot and baton people with no disregard for who's on the other end or if the use of force is in or out of policy. There won't be any punishment for it; there never is.

I was dehydrated and exhausted from covering the rally earlier in the day. There were enough journalists there to cover the rest of the evening, and I felt OK leaving. There's always a tension of FOMO in my gut when trying to decide whether to stay or not. Often thinking to myself, "Am I chasing a story or am I chasing the adrenaline?”

When I left, food carts had taken the street behind the group, dishing out bacon-wrapped hot dogs and frutas. The group had swelled from 100 people to about 200 or so. Three furies showed up to great fanfare.

There's a Murphy's Law of sorts when covering protests: as soon as you try to leave or you're on your way home, is when things pop off. I was on the train headed back home when I got a notification that the LAPD called an “unlawful assembly” and that people had to disperse from the area. I thought back to a social media post Mayor Karen Bass made before Saturday's protests. She emphasized the need for the protests to be peaceful.

Saturday's protest was peaceful, but the nature of a protest is irrelevant when the cops can call it illegal at any moment. An unlawful assembly gives the police permission to use force to disperse the group. The peaceful ones always turn violent at the hands of police.

Cops yelled “leave the area” at people who were leaving the area. The sounds of horseshoes clomping on the street behind them while mounted police swung their long wooden batons at the people walking away.

My colleague Mel Buer was there the rest of the evening and did a wonderful write-up about it that you can read here:

We gave them flowers; they sent in the horses.

Reflections on No Kings Day 2 in Los Angeles.

Words About WorkMel Buer

Of Note

A law enforcement source, who was not authorized to discuss the case, said that federal agents were so overwhelmed at the chaotic scene that they pointed their firearms at arriving LAPD officers.

Chaotic shooting of suspect and deputy U.S. marshal highlights increased aggression in ICE crackdowns

Authorities accused Carlitos Ricardo Parias of ramming his car into agents’ vehicles after they boxed him in. Video shows his car pinned as agents opened fire.

Los Angeles TimesRuben Vives

The FBI is showing up at people's homes and interviewing people who've participated in recent anti-ICE protests. Reporter Ken Klippenstien shared Ring camera footage of FBI agents speaking with Miles Serafini, who attended a protest in Tucson, AZ, on June 11th. The details they had about Serafini should concern anyone attending anti-ICE protests in their communities.

Special-needs teacher Miles Serafini, 26, was watching a movie with his roommate when the FBI knocked on his door in suburban Tucson, Arizona last Friday. Two special agents greeted him, introducing themselves only as “James” and “Keith.” They didn’t offer their own last names, but they knew Miles’ — as well as his home address, his social media handles, what car he owns, and, unbeknownst to him, his political activities.

“We came out here to ask you questions regarding a protest that happened on the the 11th of June,” one of the agents said in an exchange captured on a Ring camera and provided to me by Serafini. “We’ve been just basically going around asking questions for a few people … and your name was brought up.”

A reminder: do not talk to any cops who come knocking at your door.

VIDEO: FBI Agents Visit Anti-ICE Protester

“Your name was brought up.”

Ken KlippensteinKen Klippenstein

The Trump administration is going after “antifa,” whom they've labeled a domestic terrorist group. Antifa is not a terrorist group but rather an ideology, one with a storied history that's included the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and community self-defense efforts during the 2017 Unite the Right Rally. People on the good side of history.

The administration's preoccupation with “antifa" is ”ess about the mythical, non-existent group and more about targeting the left-wing movement in this county. Trump recently signed the National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, which designates “left-wing terrorism” as any ideology with “anti-Christian” and “anti-American” beliefs. Any criticisms of “anti-American values” place organizations and activists under state scrutity, including getting a knock on your door by the feds.

I wrote a little bit about LAPD's interest in and surveillance of groups they've labeled ”antifa" during the inital protests in 2020 that you can read here:

Of Note 9/15-9/21

Things of note in this week’s modern dystopia.

Joey ScottJoey Scott

Who Gets to Decide Who Lives or Dies.

The Supreme Court voted not to intervene, and Anthony Boyd’s execution in Alabama will go forward tonight.

Joey ScottJoey Scott

Alabama executed Anthony Boyd last night. It was the longest nitrogen gas execution in American history. An achievement only our cruel country could achieve. It would take 37 minutes until he died from suffocating on the nitrogen gas. Reporter Lee Hedgepeth was present at the execution and said Boyd gasped for air 225 times. Pure torture.

Boyd's last words were:

"I didn't kill anybody. I didn't participate in killing anybody," he said. "There is no justice in this state. It's all political. It's revenge motivated. It's not about closure, because closure comes from within, not with an execution. There will be no justice in this state until we change this system. I want all my people to keep fighting. Let's get it."

After justices warned of prolonged suffocation, Alabama subjected Anthony Boyd to the longest nitrogen execution in U.S. history.

Boyd was the chairman of Project Hope, a death row-led nonprofit. Its members are left reeling in the wake of their leader’s suffocation execution.

Tread by Lee HedgepethLee Hedgepeth

ICE recruits are failing physical exams and open book texts. It turns out there are standards to becoming a masked state goon with a gun, and even with the low standards, recruits are apparently still failing. The physical test requires an applicant to complete 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles.

Can you run 6 mph? I probably could. I ran an 8-minute mile in high school, and I was chubby and smoked.

ICE’s ‘Athletically Allergic’ Recruits

Push-ups, sit-ups, and a brisk jog pose a threat to Trump’s deportation campaign.

The AtlanticNick Miroff

Here's a piece from The New Yorker that is about an Irish mobster hiding out in Dubai. It has assassins, Hezbollah, massive crime syndicates, and an Irish family at the center of it all. One of the best pieces I've read this year.

The Cocaine Kingpin Living Large in Dubai

Daniel Kinahan, an Irish drug dealer, commands a billion-dollar empire from the U.A.E. Why isn’t he in prison?

The New YorkerEd Caesar

This week's song is a new release from Ekko Astral. I saw them open up for Jeff Rosenstock earlier this month and was totally blown away. Give it a listen.