Andy Kopsa

Greetings from U.S. District Court Judge April Perry’s courtroom in the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul is present, waiting for the high stakes hearing to begin. @wttw.bsky.social

Wells: "Take the president at his word, when it has been unfiltered by his lawyers."

Trump's orders are unthethered by reality, Wells says, echoing the words of the federal judge presiding over the Oregon case.

fresh @leftanchor.bsky.social episode, we've got @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social on to discuss Ezra Klein, Charlie Kirk, and @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com's essay on war mindset: www.leftanchor.com/e/better-tha...

Board puts DSM superintendent on leave, decries "misinformation" Jackie Norris defended the district's hiring process and criticized "the name-calling and misinformation that is meant to divide us."

New post: Following a special meeting to put Superintendent Ian Roberts on admin leave, Des Moines School Board president Jackie Norris defended the district's hiring process and criticized "the name-calling and misinformation that is meant to divide us."

www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/09/27/s...

I hate to be that guy but Tuesday's scheduled gathering of all the US generals at Quantico feels a whole lot like an invasion doesn't it?

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek in Portland: "I will not be approving utilization of the Oregon national Guard. The President does not have the authority to deploy federal troops on State soil."

I have lived and worked in and around Chicago for 27 years and I have been assaulted less often than Sen Paul has been in his own back yard.

Welcome To the pleasuredome

Welcome - I was feeling salty and Gen-X-y - November 2024

DMPS Gets a New Superintendent From DMPS news release

DMPS Gets a New Superintendent -- I've been writing about and following Des Moines Public School system for some time. This is from my Substack - but the story for @inthesetimes.com is in the links.
open.substack.com/pub/andykops...

Thank you though - I needed to be more clear of my interpretation of his bio from Laura's piece. Deleted to avoid confusion!

I am going to take this down - I clarified in later post - standby!

I clarified - his bio said he was born to immigrants from guyana - so was unclear (I don't care either..!)

4PM Today (Friday, Sept 26): Protest at the Neil Smith Federal Building in downtown Des Moines in support of Dr Ian Roberts.

Dr Roberts was detained by ICE in Des Moines and, apparently, driven to an ICE facility in Council Bluffs.

ICE detains Des Moines Public Schools superintendent in county jail • Iowa Capital Dispatch Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Just called Senators Grassley and Ernst about why the Des Moines Superintendent (Dr. Ian Roberts, Olympic track athlete originally from Guyana) has been detained by ICE in Pottawattamie County jail (Council Bluffs not Des Moines).

iowacapitaldispatch.com/briefs/ice-d...

I reported on the Governor's targeting of DMPS a couple years ago so that is real insider baseball. She's a menace.

This is what is on IPR - and that is a quote from an ICE website - not his own bio. And, I concur re: why held - that and Reynolds has been after DMPS for years now.

I want to clarify Mr Roberts bio reads he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana - I read that from my lived experience perspective (my dad born to immigrant Czech) as born to immigrants to the United States. Either way? Where he was born makes no goddamn difference this is an outrage.

ICE detention database cannot be searched by "United States" as country of birth. This, is bullshit.

Fucking furious

Yesterday it was Jorge Elieser González Ochoa. Today it’s DMPS Superintendent Ian Roberts. This is unacceptable.

Iowans deserve answers and accountability from federal authorities. We cannot stay silent as members of our community are being swept away without cause.

Progress Iowa Executive Director & DMPS parent Mazie Stilwell: “No Iowan is safe. We’re living under a fascist regime because Nunn, Miller-Meeks, Hinson and every single Iowa Member of Congress has been in lockstep with the MAGA administration that is terrorizing our communities"

More from Mazie Stilwell: "President Trump is willing to use political power against anyone who disagrees with him. While the details of Dr. Roberts’ detainment have yet to be released, we cannot let him, or anyone in America, be detained without due process."

From DM Register:

This part

Ambiguous is maybe the better word. People are reading that wording to mean he was born here and that this is merely a case like Brad Lander being detained for interfering with ICE kidnapping. If ICE plan to deport him its a way bigger deal. bsky.app/profile/andy...

Yikes.

I only read it through my lens which is that my dad was born to Bohemian immigrants. They weren't immigrants til they got here. Either way - its a big deal that ICE has detained him.

Not really conflicting--his official bio doesn't say he was born in the U.S.
"Dr. Roberts proudly shares that he was born to immigrant parents from Guyana, and spent most of his formative years in Brooklyn, NY."

Laura literally points it out in her article - it is in his bio

Crowd gathering in downtown Iowa City for press conference about the ICE incident at the Bread Garden yesterday.