sahra sulaiman

It is very hard not to have a safe choice to use the bathroom in public.

It may be impossible to continue living, working, eating, etc without a valid driver's license if your life was built around driving and the assumption that your license wouldn't be invalidated overnight by the legislature.

Shamond "Lil AD" Bennett was hit w/ a felony strike & a felony battery charge for having the audacity to ask LAPD officer Evan Mott (seen shoving him below) to de-escalate after LAPD got aggressive w/ mourners at a peaceful vigil last July. See story or the 🧵 ⤵️ la.streetsblog.org/2025/12/18/t...

They Came to Mourn. LAPD Came in Force. Now Two Men Could Face Serious Consequences Because LAPD Won't Acknowledge They Were Wrong. - Streetsblog Los Angeles The July 7 vigil for Kenny Hall had been peaceful until LAPD arrived and began pushing people around. When peacemaker Shamond "Lil AD" Bennett tried to intervene and de-escalate LAPD, officer Evan Mot...

Last July, LAPD descended on a peaceful vigil, assaulted mourners, and arrested Shamond “Lil AD” Bennett and Dontreal Washington Both men are back in court today fighting bogus charges w/ serious consequences. 🧵 la.streetsblog.org/2025/12/18/t...

But in this case, where police were openly aggressive with people in mourning & assaulted a gang-member-turned-respected-peacemaker trying to keep those people safe, Hochman's office has *piled on* the charges. Yesterday, the DA added a second felony battery charge.
bsky.app/profile/did:...

Recently, @jqwritesstuff.bsky.social reported on how DA Nathan Hochman's office has dismissed or reduced charges against officers (initially brought by predecessor George Gascón), protecting them against prosecution for excessive force ...
bsky.app/profile/jqwr...

stay safe and warm, Kenny!

Update: not only is the DA going forward w/ arraignment of the men LAPD assaulted, they *added* felony battery against emergency personnel to Bennett's charges. This is how the system works against ppl who use their lived experience to better their communities. Just shameful.

indelible breakdown of how LAPD disrupted a peaceful vigil & then lied about it

They Came to Mourn. LAPD Came in Force. Now Two Men Could Face Serious Consequences Because LAPD Won't Acknowledge They Were Wrong. - Streetsblog Los Angeles The July 7 vigil for Kenny Hall had been peaceful until LAPD arrived and began pushing people around. When peacemaker Shamond "Lil AD" Bennett tried to intervene and de-escalate LAPD, officer Evan Mot...

Three days after the assault on mourners, LAPD shot and killed James Tullous at that same location. Then they made an even greater & more aggressive show of force than they had just three days earlier. Read about how their response to the vigil shaped that outcome. la.streetsblog.org/2025/12/18/t...

Karen Bass @mayor.lacity.gov recently celebrated the 27% drop in homicides in GRYD zones by citing the essential work of peacekeepers in preventing violence. But when asked in Oct. about LAPD’s assault, arrest, & scapegoating of Bennett -a well-known peacekeeper- the mayor’s office didn't respond.

If the DA really had a case, they’d have provided the relevant body cam footage in a timely manner. But they didn’t. The preliminary hearing phase has now dragged on for more than 6 months – wasting the men’s time and making it much more difficult for them to take civil action against LAPD.

Bennett, whose experience coming up in the Rollin 60s is precisely what gives him the authority to engage in and actually be successful at peacework, is being punished for that. In addition to the resisting charge, DA Nathan Hochman hit him with a felony strike/gang enhancement.

Now Washington & Bennett are paying the price for LAPD’s unwillingness to acknowledge they were wrong. Washington was charged with resisting & battery on a police officer (he accidentally knocked an officer w/ an elbow as they dragged him away & threw him up against a car). [With his mom Rayshana]

In the aftermath, prominent interventionist Skipp Townsend attempted to engage LAPD on how unnecessary and how harmful their unprovoked aggression was. LAPD agreed things could have been done differently but would not acknowledge that they were wrong.

Then 3 dozen+ LAPD vehicles and officers in riot gear moved in to occupy Crenshaw Blvd, mirroring Border Patrol’s occupation of MacArthur Park earlier that day. The latter sparked a national conversation about fascist overreach. The former was treated as necessary to subdue the Hyde Park community.

Even after being shoved, Bennett’s first instinct was to throw himself in front of other mourners and move them out of reach of LAPD. He was beaten and arrested anyways

Mourners described LAPD literally running up on them, being aggressive, shouting profanities at them, giving conflicting commands, and creating chaos. When Bennett spotted Mott hassling people trying to leave, Bennett approached and tried to get him to back off. Mott apparently took that personally.

But then Officer Mott arrived. Mott was a familiar face – Bennett says he would make a point of circling the Crenshaw & Slauson Metro stop to intimidate the intervention workers stationed there... like he was waiting for an excuse to trip them up.

When LAPD first arrived on scene (bc the vigil had spilled into traffic), Bennett had actually approached officers who knew him and his dedication to peace work. He told them he would move the crowd to another location. They told him to do his thing, he says.

LAPD later told press they'd come under attack while stopping a street takeover. There had been no street takeover and no attack on police. And while tires were slashed, it later emerged that it was done by a young man expressing his deep frustration at LAPD's assault on Bennett and the mourners.

Bennett was forcefully taken to the ground and cuffed as multiple officers put knees in his back. Both men would be taken to the hospital later that night because of their injuries. (Bennett is seen left and center, Washington is at right)

When Dontreal Washington (circled in yellow) protested the treatment of Bennett, officers grabbed him, shoved a baton up against his neck, dragged him backwards, and punched him in the head, knocking him out.

The final shove nearly knocked Bennett off his feet. It acted like a green light for LAPD to get physical with the crowd.

Bennett, who rose to national prominence when he & LaTanya Ward co-organized a peace march after Nipsey Hussle’s death in 2019, was attempting to protect the mourners who had gathered to remember Kenny Hall. Instead of engaging him and de-escalating, LAPD Officer Evan Mott shoved him multiple times.

They Came to Mourn. LAPD Came in Force. Now Two Men Could Face Serious Consequences Because LAPD Won't Acknowledge They Were Wrong. - Streetsblog Los Angeles The July 7 vigil for Kenny Hall had been peaceful until LAPD arrived and began pushing people around. When peacemaker Shamond "Lil AD" Bennett tried to intervene and de-escalate LAPD, officer Evan Mot...

Last July, LAPD descended on a peaceful vigil, assaulted mourners, and arrested Shamond “Lil AD” Bennett and Dontreal Washington Both men are back in court today fighting bogus charges w/ serious consequences. 🧵 la.streetsblog.org/2025/12/18/t...

With New Momentum, Republican States Push Broader Limits for Trans Americans In states that once focused mainly on health care and sports for transgender minors, debates now revolve around the validity of transgender identity.

The subheadline on this NYT piece is going to turn me into the Joker.

Like... this... is exactly what trans people have been saying was going to happen for years.

“We’ve gotta give ‘em the mark of the beast. Team 6.”

Nashville banner with VIDEO of @TNHighwayPatrol & ICE “Hunting” immigrants and writing in MARKER on their skin as they compete for who arrests more. (Few with criminal records)

Full: nashvillebanner.com/2026/02/19/i...

This is a truly horrifying memo. It says that the policy of the US government will now be to proactively seek out and arrest likely tens of thousands of refugees who entered legally under Biden and subject them to detention, where they will be interrogated about their status.

L.A. TACO Investigative Journalism Fund By L.A. TACO

Today @lataco.bsky.social launched a fundraiser to help me start their investigative news desk. We're hoping to raise $25k to help pay for lab tests, analyze ICE data that the Daily Memo's been compiling + work with more freelancers. Been dreaming of this for years!

givebutter.com/la-taco-inve...

Judge Ends Deportation Case for Mexican Father of 3 U.S. Marines

Judge Ends Deportation Case for Narciso Barranco, Father of 3 U.S. Marines

DHS had tried to claim he was dangerous and the weed whacker he fled with made agents fear for their lives.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/u...