Matthew Cunningham-Cook

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Alberto Castañeda Mondragón says his memory was so jumbled after a beating by immigration officers that he initially could not remember he had a daughter and still struggles to recall treasured moments like the night he taught her to dance. But the violence he endured last month in Minnesota while being detained is seared into his battered brain. He remembers Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulling him from a friend’s car on Jan. 8 outside a St. Paul shopping center and throwing him to the ground, handcuffing him, then punching him and striking his head with a steel baton. He remembers being dragged into an SUV and taken to a detention facility, where he said he was beaten again. He also remembers the emergency room and the intense pain from eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages.

ICE told nurses this Minneapolis man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.”

What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.

Ossoff: We were told that MAGA was for working-class Americans. But this is a government of, by, and for the ultra-rich. It’s the wealthiest Cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class. They are the elites they pretend to hate.

This is very good.

Minneapolis now has daily deportation flights. One man has been documenting them A professional airplane enthusiast has been tracking the federally chartered deportation flights out of the Minneapolis airport as DHS sends immigration detainees to other states and, eventually, othe...

One man tracking people being deported & deportation flights at the Minneapolis airport.
One person creating a record for future inquiries & potential prosecutions.

Trevor Paglen's deep surveillance documentation now being done by everyday people.

www.npr.org/2026/02/06/n...

In a Democratic club meeting, LA Mayor Karen Bass pronounced herself "flabbergasted" by Nithya Raman's entry into the mayor's race. "I’ve worked closely with Nithya, helped her gain the Democratic endorsement, helped her clear an encampment in her district," she said. "I am going to fight."

Police and their media allies are using the horrors of Trump’s ICE kidnaps squads to launder police depts’ reputations and promote a baseless narrative of successful post George Floyd “reforms”. I wrote about this is PR blitz and why it’s bullshit.

It Turns Out Waymos Are Being Controlled by Workers in the Philippines During a Congressional hearing, Waymo's chief safety officer, Mauricio Peña, was grilled over the company's reliance on overseas workers.

Once again, it turns out “fully autonomous” means “a guy in the Philippines.”

Here's Epstein emailing to NYT journalist Landon Thomas Jr talking about Murdoch and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. www.justice.gov/epstein/file... #doj #epstein #files #murdoch

A look at Miller, Fine, and Bean’s filings betrays an impressively coordinated operation at work. Sixty-five donors who previously gave to AIPAC or its affiliated super PAC United Democracy Project (UDP) have given to both Miller and Fine. These donors delivered $88,066.66 to the Fine campaign. They also contributed $119,746.33 to Miller. A whopping 237 former AIPAC/UDP donors have given to both Miller and Bean, contributing $396,288.01 to Bean and $429,083.00 to Miller. Forty-four of these donors have given to all three candidates, sending a total of $208,753.33 to them. Several of the donations were given to the candidates on the same day, by the same donors, for the same amounts. “This coordinated effort by Trump and AIPAC donors to buy multiple congressional seats in Illinois should be alarming to anyone who cares about the integrity of our democracy,” said Matthew Fisch, campaign manager for Robert Peters, who is running against Miller in IL-02.

Donna Miller (IL-02) had barely raised any money until a million-dollar 4th quarter; 83% of the funds came from AIPAC donors. 237 donors gave to Miller & Melissa Bean (IL-08) and 47 donors maxed out to both; 65 gave to Miller and Laura Fine (IL-09).
prospect.org/2026/02/06/a...

AIPAC Coordinates Donors in Illinois House Primaries - The American Prospect Three Democratic candidates are benefiting from dark-money super PACs, and they share hundreds of donors who have previously given to AIPAC and its subsidiaries.

NEWS: Three Illinois Democratic congressional candidates being boosted by dark-money Super PAC ads that are shells for AIPAC also share 100s of donors who previously funded AIPAC. Many donations were sent to the same candidates for the same amounts on the same day.
From @ryangrim.bsky.social and me.

if you spend any significant amount of time on X the everything app, your brain is being cooked

Essential reporting. The fascist crackdown on immigrants is a crackdown on the right to organize itself.

A beloved workers' rights organizer in Minnesota, known for *successfully* fighting against wage theft and labor trafficking, has been detained by federal immigration agents and is now locked up in New Mexico. His family is calling for his urgent release. inthesetimes.com/article/work...

Hey I’m a journalist who doesn’t usually cover elections—just trying to get a sense of where the vote is outstanding. Got any suggestions? Thank you!!

Tonight at 8:30 PM our constituent Ricky was pepper sprayed by ICE on 18th & Polk. 2 agents parked their car, got out and approached observers, started pepper spraying Ricky on public property, and then drove away and left.

Nothing is changing on the ground in Minnesota. ICE must be abolished.

YouTube video by Analilia Mejia Abolish ICE | Analilia Mejía for Congress NJ-11

ABOLISH ICE. @analiliafornj.bsky.social wasn't scared to say it. Dems should stop being scared to say it.

Tonight proved it's not a political risk, it's what our communities demand.

today's New Jersey primary is all about the collapse of the Dem party's mighty machine in NJ — their candidate is coming in 4th.

a piece from 2024 in bolts that gives you a window into what's happening right now: boltsmag.org/new-jersey-p...

ANALILIA MEJIA TAKES THE LEAD IN #NJ11

It's easy to criticize the mainstream media generally, & many MSM journalists actually share many of those critiques, but reporters & editors at the Washington Post have put out a steady stream of very impressive work for decades. The fact that a billionaire oligarch is trying to destroy the...

Reporting back from the concert

idea to “professionalize” the African film industry by building a studio in Somaliland, explicitly copying Epstein on the proposal. ➤The email lays out a plan dubbed “Somaliwood Studios” “What if we put together a small group that professionalized the African film industry… But… we could build a small studio in Somaliland and called it SOMALIWOOD STUDIOS.” ➤The writer pitches Somaliland as a filming environment with ideological guardrails, and cites the local technical prowess: “We could invite muslim and all sorts of groups to film there. We would make it a part of the mission to not allow anything immoral to be filmed there.” “THey have serious tech ability there. Could put together a CGI facility that would rival any.” ➤ And closes by flagging Epstein directly: “I’m copying Jeffrey since he might also think this would be FUN FUN FUN.”

Several years later, Epstein appears again in correspondence tied to Somaliland’s political positioning. ➤ On April 2, 2018, Sultan bin Sulayem emails Epstein a document titled: “The recognition of Somaliland – growing international engagement and support.” Sultan bin Sulayem is a powerful Emirati figure and the longtime chairman of DP World, a company deeply involved in ports and logistics across the Horn of Africa, including in Somaliland. The email suggests Epstein was being looped into discussions around Somaliland’s international recognition and geopolitical positioning, at a time when the UAE was expanding its footprint in the region through ports, infrastructure, and political ties. Together, the emails show Epstein circulating among business, cultural, and geopolitical conversations involving Somaliland, despite having no formal public role in diplomacy, development, or media—and despite his status as a convicted sex offender.

🔎 Emails show Jeffrey Epstein exploring ties to Somaliland and discussing a plan to build a film studio there, while separately receiving political briefings from a top Emirati official involved in Somaliland outreach.

In an Aug. 9, 2012 email, a correspondent writes to Epstein about an idea to...

LETS FUCKING GOOOO THIS IS MASSIVE

A Day for Gaza Today, The Nation is turning over its website exclusively to stories from Gaza and its people. This is why.

Media coverage of Gaza has plummeted. So today on @thenation.com, we're doing something pretty special: we're only running pieces by people in and from Gaza.

We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...

Volkswagen Workers in Tennessee Win 20% Pay Hike in Union Deal Volkswagen AG employees in Tennessee have secured a 20% across-the-board wage hike in a landmark deal with the United Auto Workers union.

New: UAW reaches landmark tentative contract deal with Volkswagen in Chattanooga Tennessee, including 20% across-the-board pay hikes www.bloomberg.com/news/article... "This contract is proof that if you stand up and stick together, you can win a better life”

Trump’s Call to ‘Nationalize’ Elections Adds to State Officials’ Alarm

This should worry all of us. Americans want to live in a country where the people pick their elected leaders, and the president does not get to pick who can vote. This is another effort to destroy our system of checks & balances to consolidate power. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/u...

Identified: the El Paso BORTAC crew rampaging through the Midwest One violent duo in particular, U.S. Border Patrol agents Michael Sveum (EZ-2) and Edgar Vazquez (EZ-17), have been frequently seen alongside former commander-at-large Greg Bovino terrorizing crowds wi...

NEW: since last year, a pair of "highly trained" feds have been involved in an array of incidents attacking crowds with chemical weapons.

We used public records and open source analysis to identify Edgar Vazquez and Michael Sveum, alongside some other members of their tactical team.

Read more:

The Education Department's efforts to fire staff cost over $28 million, watchdog says A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office calculates the cost of efforts to fire civil rights staff and questions the department's ability to enforce federal civil rights laws.

While Sec. McMahon claimed that layoffs at the Department of Education were to improve efficiency, the GAO found they are driving higher costs, growing backlogs, and weakening enforcement of civil rights protections for students. www.npr.org/2026/02/02/n...

Target’s new CEO isn’t acknowledging the anti-ICE protests | Fortune Pressure is mounting on the brand-new CEO to speak out against ICE.

I am still calling on Target’s CEO Micheal Fiddelke to say ICE out. Avoiding this issue is not leadership. Our members and shareholders are watching.
fortune.com/2026/02/03/t...

A deadly meningitis outbreak is threatening Gaza’s children Bacterial meningitis is spreading among children in Gaza, including those who are vaccinated. Officials say conditions in Gaza’s displacement camps, widespread malnutrition, and Israeli bans on the...

Bacterial meningitis is spreading among children in Gaza, including those who are vaccinated. Officials say conditions in Gaza's displacement camps, widespread malnutrition, and Israeli bans on the entry of medicines are increasing the deadly risk.

mondoweiss.net/2026/02/a-de...

#Palestine #Israel

Susan Collins Is Getting More Money From AIPAC Than Small Donors As oysterman Graham Platner handily outraises Republican Susan Collins, the pro-Israel lobby collected nearly 20% of her donations for her.

Susan Collins raised more money from AIPAC donors last year than small donors.

When we asked her campaign spokesperson about it, he hung up.

New w/ @minnahfarshad.bsky.social @premthakker.bsky.social @zeteo.com zeteo.com/p/susan-coll...