Alexa O’Brien

Our director @rshapiro.bsky.social on our latest: Law enforcement spread false rumors about Venezuelan gang threats, bolstering Trump's mass deportation frenzy, as revealed in intel documents we obtained and shared w/ @samtlevin.bsky.social / @us.theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Our executive director @rshapiro.bsky.social on our latest: Law enforcement surveillance technologies used against No Kings protesters, as detailed in intelligence documents we obtained and shared with @raphae.li / @ajvicens.bsky.social / @reuters.com. #FOIA www.reuters.com/world/us/no-...

Good times. #FOIA

Extremists are using Discord to radicalize American youth, officials warned this year Discord has drawn increased attention in recent weeks after reports that the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s killing used the platform.

Fed and state law enforcement were already aware of Discord as a site of youth violent radicalization, well before C. Kirk's alleged killer used it to discuss the shooting, as revealed in intel docs we obtained & shared w/ @kevincollier.bsky.social @nbcnews.com. #FOIA www.nbcnews.com/tech/securit...

Exclusive: FBI looks to add drug cartel suspects to terror watch list, government files show The FBI has asked local police to submit the names of people tied to drug cartels and gangs to the U.S. government's terrorist watch list created after 9/11, which could land more Americans on the list, according to law enforcement documents seen by Reuters.

FBI significantly increasing size of terrorist watch list, including addition of supposed gang members, family members, and associates, as revealed in new intel docs we obtained and shared w/ @reuters.com. #FOIA

Skateboards and Livestreams: DHS Tells Police That Common Protest Activities Are ‘Violent Tactics’ DHS is urging law enforcement to treat even skateboarding and livestreaming as signs of violent intent during a protest, turning everyday behavior into a pretext for police action.

New: DHS tells police to brace for the anti-ICE movement to grow much bigger in threat bulletins last month that lists ordinary behavior, like riding a skateboard or livestreaming, as threatening to law enforcement.

By me w/ records by @propertyofthepeople.org:

Happy 4th!

This story needs to win multiple awards…

'They're Not Breathing': Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls Records of hundreds of emergency calls from ICE detention centers obtained by WIRED—including audio recordings—show a system inundated by life-threatening incidents, delayed treatment, and overcrowdin...

NEW: A WIRED investigation of 911 calls placed from ICE detention sites across the US show a system inundated by life-threatening crises, delayed treatment, and overcrowding.

By me & @dmehro.bsky.social. Free to read:

The ‘Long-Term Danger’ of Trump Sending Troops to the LA Protests President Trump’s deployment of more than 700 Marines to Los Angeles—following ICE raids and mass protests—has ignited a fierce national debate over state sovereignty and civil-military boundaries.

A story I helped @dell.bsky.social with this week.

The ‘Long-Term Danger’ of Trump Sending Troops to the LA Protests | WIRED

www.wired.com/story/trump-...

How the Farm Industry Spied on Animal Rights Activists and Pushed the FBI to Treat Them as Terrorists For years, a powerful ‘Big Ag’ trade group served up information on activists to the FBI. Records reveal a decade-long effort to see the animal rights movement labeled a legitimate terrorism threat.

Confidential records obtained by WIRED & @propertyofthepeople.org show the ag industry deploying moles to infiltrate activist meetings, while functionally serving as FBI informants, in a shadow campaign to brand the animal rights movement America's biggest bioterrorism threat.

My latest @wired.com:

How the Farm Industry Spied on Animal Rights Activists and Pushed the FBI to Treat Them as Bioterrorists For years, a powerful ‘Big Ag’ trade group served up information on activists to the FBI. Records reveal a decade-long effort to see the animal rights movement labeled a “bioterrorism” threat.

How the Farm Industry Spied on Animal Rights Activists and Pushed the FBI to Treat Them as Bioterrorists | WIRED by @dell.bsky.social

www.wired.com/story/fbi-wm...

A docked commercial fishing trawler.

❤️

Hilarious

Just remembered I'm one of the examples @merriam-webster.com uses to describe how to use "86" 😂

Really enjoying this book about how one person can make a huge impact #booktok #bookclub good reminder for these times too

Behind Trump’s Deal to Deport Venezuelans to El Salvador’s Most Feared Prison New details deepen questions about the deportations, showing that El Salvador’s president pressed for assurances that the migrants were really members of the Tren de Aragua gang.

The New York Times pieced together the most complete account yet of the U.S. arrangement with El Salvador and the March 15 deportations from internal government documents, court filings and interviews with 22 people familiar with the operation or legal challenges.

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/u...

POTP's work obtaining police and intelligence records has been vital to a ton of reporting I've done over the years. You might've seen they uncovered the Alien Enemies Act plan blueprint last week: www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

Consider supporting if you can: propertyofthepeople.org/donate/

Car Subscription Features Raise Your Risk of Government Surveillance, Police Records Show Records reviewed by WIRED show law enforcement agencies are eager to take advantage of the data trails generated by a flood of new internet-connected vehicle features.

Records reviewed by WIRED show law enforcement agencies are eager to take advantage of the data trails generated by a flood of new internet-connected vehicle features. www.wired.com/story/police...

Abducted, detained and deported all for standing up for human rights of Palestinians. If you’re looking for the line the admin is going to cross, it’s behind us.

Russian spy ring plans to kill journalist were 'beyond imagination' Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev told the BBC one method was to use a sledgehammer, and another involved using a "suicide bomber".

Russian spy ring's plans to kill journalist 'beyond imagination' www.bbc.com/news/article...

«Nous sommes les idiots utiles de Vladimir Poutine» : Nate, cousin germain de JD Vance et combattant volontaire en Ukraine EXCLUSIF - Le Texan a passé trois ans en Ukraine, dont deux et demi à se battre sur les fronts les plus sanglants. Il désespère de la position de son cousin et de Donald Trump.

Le Figaro - à lire : «Nous sommes les idiots utiles de Vladimir Poutine» : Nate, cousin germain de JD Vance et combattant volontaire en Ukraine
www.lefigaro.fr/internationa...

‘A disruptive effect’: How slashing staff at the Social Security Administration is sparking fears the system could collapse | CNN Politics Millions of Americans could soon feel the impact of the deep staffing cuts being planned at the Social Security Administration, which is undergoing a massive reorganization that the acting commissione...

'Loss of experienced employees who manage Social Security’s fragile interdependent comp systems likely to leave the agency vulnerable to technical outages and, potentially, interrupt the benefit payments' www.cnn.com/2025/03/08/p...

US warned of Caribbean becoming "Chinese lake" Experts told Newsweek that Beijing could use the Trump administration's withdrawal of USAID to boost influence in the Caribbean.

US Warned of Caribbean Becoming 'Chinese Lake'
www.newsweek.com/us-warned-ca...

Chinese investors privately take stakes in Elon Musk’s companies Asset managers have been promoting tech mogul’s ties to Donald Trump to lure capital to xAI, Neuralink and SpaceX

FT: "Wealthy Chinese investors are quietly funnelling tens of millions of dollars into private companies controlled by Elon Musk...that shields their identities from public view..."
www.ft.com/content/6685...

A Sensitive Complex Housing a CIA Facility Was on GSA's List of US Properties for Sale Plans to redevelop a Northern Virginia warehouse site have long been complicated by the area’s worst-kept secret—the presence of a CIA facility. The GSA put the site up for sale anyway.

NEW: A now-deleted list containing hundreds of US government properties that the General Services Administration (GSA) plans to sell includes most of a sprawling, highly sensitive federal complex in Springfield, Virginia that also houses a secretive CIA facility, WIRED has learned.

DOGE Is the Deep State A shadowy group of unelected figures reshaping the federal government to their own benefit from the inside? Sounds familiar!

Wired: DOGE Is the Deep State
www.wired.com/story/doge-i...

Pentagon Cuts Threaten Programs That Secure Loose Nukes and Weapons of Mass Destruction Documents obtained by WIRED show the US Department of Defense is considering cutting up to 75 percent of workers who stop the spread of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.

Wired: Pentagon Cuts Threaten Programs That Secure Loose Nukes and Weapons of Mass Destruction
www.wired.com/story/pentag...