Emerging Crises

Trump considering deploying up to 1,000 National Guard to D.C. The number of Guard who would be assigned is still in flux, the officials say, and most of the troops would likely be pulled from the D.C. National Guard.

Trump’s move to mobilize the National Guard against Americans in DC is another telltale sign of his authoritarian ambitions. But at some point signs of authoritarianism stop being signs and become symptoms of an autocratic regime. We’re far past that point now. www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/t...

Hegseth said 800+ troops will be in DC by next week. The deployment will look similar to what happened in LA. DEA Head Terry Cole will be interim leader of the Metropolitan Police, w/ Pam Bondi overseeing. Taking over local police, invokes a section of the Home Rule Act that has NEVER been used.

Trump announced a federal occupation of DC:

- He's declaring a Public Safety Emergency
- Taking command / federalizing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Dept adding police can do "whatever the hell they want"
-Deploying National Guard.

His emergency control expires after a max of 30 days, per statute.

Undocumented Immigrants Fear Seeking Aid After Texas Floods

"They don’t have a lot of places where they feel safe, and just like everybody else here they need help." - Teresa Salas, reflecting on undocumented families avoiding aid after the Texas floods out of fear of immigration crackdowns.

Latest: CDC Shooter Believed COVID Vaccine Made Him Suicidal, His Father Tells Police

At ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ the Biggest Risk Isn’t Alligators (Gift Article) The area around the immigrant detention center, deep in the Everglades, is threatened by hurricanes, extreme heat and even wildfires.

Oh the irony of a state emergency management department backing a makeshift detention camp in a hurricane-prone swamp. Putting aside the already reported human rights abuses, this camp is a disaster waiting to happen.

"A union representing workers at the CDC said the incident was not random and “compounds months of mistreatment, neglect, and vilification that CDC staff have endured.” It demanded federal officials condemn vaccine misinformation, saying it was putting scientists at risk."

This is like hiring an arsonist at the fire dept. Bodycam shows Jared Wise urging rioters to “kill” police. He took part on Jan. 6, was freed after Trump ended prosecutions, and now works as a senior adviser at DOJ while the admin rewrites the violent history of that day when 130+ cops were injured.

Exactly the behavior you’d expect from an HHS Secretary who built his career as a snake oil salesman and anti-vaxxer.

Conspiracy theories and misinformation have fueled domestic extremism targeting public health... from the Whitmer kidnapping plot to the Minnesota political assassination, the CDC shooting, and harassment that’s driven public health workers from their jobs. These are dangerous times.

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The same study found they feared for their families’ safety, faced burnout, and were demoralized. @nacchoalerts.bsky.social: “Local health departments… need a coordinated effort to address the ongoing harassment across their workforce.”

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A 2022 study found workers “had been verbally and physically attacked, mailed packages with harmful contents including feces, and had their health departments threatened with defunding and legal action.”

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The Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot over “lockdowns,” the Minnesota political assassination over abortion rights, the CDC shooting, and public health workers driven from their jobs during the pandemic. These are dangerous times.

In recent years, conspiracy theories and misinformation have converged with domestic extremism and violence targeting public health: 👇

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A deadly shooting at the CDC shook its scientists. Now they want answers from RFK Jr. CDC Director Susan Monarez convened an online all-hands meeting of the agency division that focuses on vaccines, and employees called out Kennedy’s rhetoric specifically.

Exclusive: CDC Director Susan Monarez met with its vaccine-focused center to talk about yesterday’s shooting. I listened to a recording. Scientists and officials are shaken & pointing fingers at RFK Jr. Many said his vilification and misinfo turned them into targets. www.msnbc.com/opinion/anal...

...he thought it was the cause of his own physical ailments. The attack has provoked alarm/outrage from the public health community whose efforts have been maligned + politicized. They argue the shooting was a manifestation of the misinfo that has been spread about the 💉

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Gunman in Deadly C.D.C. Shooting Fixated on Covid Vaccine, Officials Say

An insane timeline we're living through:

The Atlanta shooting, which killed a police officer, followed the spread of false information around COVID vaccines and animosity directed at the CDC. The shooter had become fixated with the COVID vaccine...

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Trump's first term Surgeon General hits the nail on the head. It'd be nice if we actually had an HHS Secretary and not a conspiracy theorist quack @SecKennedy

💯 percent. "The greatest threat to public health in the U.S. now is @SecKennedy. He is an irretrievably damaged and dangerous individual."

Example 9999 👉 www.statnews.com/2025/08/07/k...

Trump increased federal law enforcement in DC and has floated sending in the Guard (easier since no Governor has to agree). He loves using racialized narratives, portraying cities w/ large Black populations as crime-ridden. This is about optics, not public safety. He wants to intimidate residents.

"...That expertise is gone. When the next crisis hits, the United States will be rebuilding from scratch—without the muscle memory, the relationships, or the policy playbooks needed to respond quickly and effectively."

"The Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR), created in 2022 by congressional mandate through the PREVENT Pandemics Act, has been effectively abandoned—operating without a director since Trump's second inauguration..."

I talk a lot about misinformation and its impacts on public health and disasters, and Oregon’s wildfire risk map is a great example. Made after the state’s worst fire season, myths and conspiracies fueled backlash, and lawmakers killed it in a near-unanimous vote, scrapping a key safety tool.

This 💯 percent.

"$22B of US clean energy projects have been canceled since Jan... Trump added new wind/solar permitting reviews; essentially prevented new projects on fed land; rescinded Biden-era decisions earmarking coastal waters for wind turbines; yanked approval for massive Idaho wind farm"

"Halting promising research that is already underway wastes taxpayer dollars and prohibits the scientific progress that Americans depend upon to keep us healthy during routine respiratory virus season and future outbreaks and pandemics."

The federal judiciary's electronic case filing system has been breached in a cyber attack that potentially exposed sensitive court data, comprising the identities of confidential court informants. It is not immediately clear who is behind the hack, but nation-state-affiliated actors are suspected.

"Halting promising research that is already underway wastes taxpayer dollars and prohibits the scientific progress that Americans depend upon to keep us healthy during routine respiratory virus season and future outbreaks and pandemics."

“They want to impose their version of ‘real America’ by openly embracing state authoritarianism and militant extremism” Restoring “normal” politics won’t fix this crisis; pre-Trump normalcy enabled it. The U.S. is in a high-stakes battle over identity, power, & the future of democracy. Worth a read👇

🚨Domestic violent extremism is rising. Attacks on infrastructure are up and threats to public officials are constant. Extremist groups are more active and more organized. Cutting $$$ now is deliberate neglect.

Combating Domestic Violent Extremism Is No Longer a FEMA Priority Documents obtained by WIRED show FEMA plans to direct states and tribes to halt activities intended to combat domestic violent extremism so as to align with "current administration priorities."

FEMA wants states to stop work on domestic violent extremism. Trainings, public awareness, and analyst positions are on the chopping block. Projects must align with new priorities like “verifying that poll workers are US citizens”

“All DVE elements must be fully removed for the project to proceed.”