Akela Lacy (@akelalacy) — Bluesky Profile

6 days ago

ICE confirms a measles outbreak in the nation's largest detention facility in Texas The agency said it's closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with public health authorities while the facility has been closed to visitors and attorneys.

In addition to the 14 people who got sick, 112 other individuals have been isolated in connection to the outbreak, according to Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas.

“There has been nothing but crisis after crisis inside the walls of this tent city," Escobar said in a statement, NBC News reported.

#ICE

92 52 6 8

1 week ago

The Massachusetts Department of Correction has been fighting me for months, trying to withhold data about its collaboration with ICE.

Yesterday, I won that fight, and obtained records showing that the state has transferred more than 2,000 people into ICE custody since 2009.

A quick thread:

1,972 790 19 39

1 week ago

While Talarico calls for partially defunding ICE (not abolition) in favor of services (like healthcare) he also supports boosts to border funds, such as The Dignity Act, which increases militarization and surveillance at ports of entry. w/ @akelalacy.bsky.social
theintercept.com/2026/03/04/jam…

26 12 5 0

1 week ago

Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, IMEU relayed concerns to Harris’s campaign that Gaza would cost her votes. After the election, IMEU was one of several groups that met with the Democratic National Committee over concerns about Israel policy. IMEU had concluded the issue was a liability in its own polling — and in the meeting, the DNC acknowledged it had found the same.

In January, IMEU sent a letter to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, obtained by The Intercept, warning the congressional Democrats’ campaign arm about the DNC’s findings and its own, and advising DCCC about the group’s plans to run ads against vulnerable Republicans. IMEU sent the letter to DCCC prior to reporting from Axios that verified the DNC’s Gaza autopsy findings.

“We are confident in saying that internal DNC data corroborated our conclusion that Biden’s support for Israel cost Democrats votes in 2024, and have concerns that the DNC’s suppression of this report is motivated, at least in part, by their finding that support for Israel is an electoral liability for the party,” reads IMEU’s letter. “We look forward to engaging with you to ensure that the pivotal lessons from the 2024 election are not repeated, and instead incorporated into the Democratic Party’s strategy in the months ahead and before the pivotal midterm general elections.” DCCC did not respond to the letter and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

IMEU was one of the groups that confirmed that a DNC autopsy of 2024 found Harris lost voters over Gaza. Prior to Axios's reporting on the autopsy, IMEU also sent a letter to DCCC in January warning them about the DNC's findings & advising them about plans to run these Israel ads

0 0 0 0

1 week ago

The war has aggravated long-standing Republican fault lines on foreign policy and resurfaced questions about where the party that calls itself “America First” actually stands on embroiling the U.S. in fighting overseas. Those rifts were on full display this week, when Trump appeared to walk back comments from Secretary of State Marco Rubio blaming Israel for dragging the U.S. into the war.

“The perception that President Trump launched this war against Iran for Israel’s benefit is dividing his base and will benefit Democrats in 2026,” said IMEU spokesperson Hamid Bendaas, “if Democrats choose to take advantage.”

With Republicans sparring over whether or not Israel dragged the U.S. into war with Iran, progressives see an opening:

2 0 1 0

1 week ago

Trump’s Iran War Is Dividing Republicans. Pro-Palestine Groups Want Democrats to Exploit the Rifts. A pro-Palestine group launched a $2 million ad buy aiming to exploit Republican divides over Israel. They hope Democrats will take note.

EXCLUSIVE: The pro-Palestine group @imeupolicy.bsky.social is spending $2 million on ads against Republicans in toss-up districts over ties to Israel & for Dems who support blocking weapons to Israel, taking advantage of GOP vulnerability amid Trump's war on Iran theintercept.com/2026/03/04/i...

74 16 1 1

1 week ago

“Their policies on Gaza are pretty much the same,” said Azra Siddiqi, a community activist who met with both campaigns as part of a coalition of over a dozen Muslim organizing groups. Before the primary, she said her group couldn’t “really recommend one over the other.”

19 4 0 0

1 week ago

In a mid-February email shared with The Intercept, organizers told Talarico they could not formally endorse him because he had not addressed their concerns on Israel and Gaza. They described being brushed off by the campaign and “feeling disregarded in this process.”

“I want to be candid,” wrote organizer Hatem Natsheh, “if Talarico wins the primary, success in the general election will require broad coalition support, including ours. We sincerely hope it will not be too late to rebuild communication and trust should the campaign wish to re-engage in a meaningful way.”

Several days later, Talarico’s campaign sent Natsheh a backgrounder saying he would support legislation to end offensive weapons to Israel, would push to make sure defensive weapons weren’t used to harm civilians, and would “not take campaign contributions from any PACs on any side of this conflict — because I want people to know that my position is driven by my values, not any outside influence.”

Organizers also requested a similar statement from Crockett’s campaign, Siddiqi said, but they did not hear back.

A group of Muslim organizers told Talarico they couldn’t support him less than a month before the election because they weren’t convinced by his positions on Israel and Gaza. His campaign later sent them a position paper outlining his pledges

34 10 2 0

1 week ago

Will James Talarico Really Fight for Justice in Texas? The race between Talarico and Rep. Jasmine Crockett emphasized style over substance. Now local organizers want concrete promises.

NEW: Progressives are already pushing Talarico on Israel & Gaza, ICE. Organizers saw little daylight between he & Crockett on those policies but saw more room to move him than they did her. Also heard he’s being advised on improving on Gaza. W/ @jonahmv.bsky.social theintercept.com/2026/03/04/j...

61 9 1 2

1 week ago

Crockett's pastor, Freddy Haynes III, has officially won her seat in TX-30. Haynes ran to Crockett's left on issues from Israel & Gaza to ICE and crypto. In response to q’s I sent him in February, he minced no words about where Dems are failing voters theintercept.com/2026/02/04/tex…

86 21 1 0

2 weeks ago

Rambling Man: Trump’s State of the Union Akela Lacy, Jessica Washington, and Jordan Uhl on Trump’s speech and the Democratic Party’s response.

Most of Trump's SOTU was carbon copy talking points from other speeches, but @jesswash.bsky.social, @akelalacy.bsky.social and I sought out some of the more unexpected moments to drill down on:

theintercept.com/2026/02/25/p...

37 9 1 0

2 weeks ago

Rambling Man: Trump’s State of the Union Akela Lacy, Jessica Washington, and Jordan Uhl on Trump’s speech and the Democratic Party’s response.

@akelalacy.bsky.social, @jesswash.bsky.social, and @jordanuhl.com stayed up late to talk Trump’s speech and the Democratic Party’s response.

29 8 1 1

2 weeks ago

Rambling Man: Trump’s State of the Union Podcast Episode · The Intercept Briefing · February 25 · 38m

NEW POD 🎧: we listened to the State of the Union so you don’t have to. W/ @jesswash.bsky.social & @jordanuhl.com podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

17 9 1 0

2 weeks ago

Rambling Man: Trump’s State of the Union Podcast Episode · The Intercept Briefing · February 25 · 38m

We listened to Trump's State of the Union so you don't have to podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

@akelalacy.bsky.social @jordanuhl.com @theintercept.com

16 9 1 0

2 weeks ago

operation midnight hammer

3 0 0 0

2 weeks ago

I don't see Republicans acting like this crosses a line at any point in the near future. even though he was attacking the entire caucus, Trump says far worse about progressive women (Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, etc) on the regular. this is the baseline

8 1 0 0

2 weeks ago

The murder he's referring to was a horrific crime...one of hundreds of tragic murders that have happened this year. There have been dozens of killings that have gone unmentioned in this speech of course, that are the result of Trump's immigration policies--Alex Pretti and Nicole Good being just two.

181 18 2 1

2 weeks ago

this went from "america is hot" to dateline

7 0 0 0

2 weeks ago

really remarkable how trump seems to relish sharing this lurid stories about the terrible pain people have experienced, and he does it exclusively to score some partisan points

3,913 482 126 1

2 weeks ago

he's really mad they're not standing which is kinda wild to watch in real time like he keeps remembering it every few minutes and mumbling under his breath except it's into the mic

8 1 0 0

2 weeks ago

The first half of the speech was designed to get pundits to grade Trump on a curve (wow, he's talking about the economy! he's pivoting!), but the second half is where the real action is, shoring up the collapsing base

902 137 20 5

2 weeks ago

When people die in WA prisons, many don’t get an autopsy Autopsies offer the best chance at flagging whether mistreatment contributed to an incarcerated person’s death. But state officials often skip them.

Last year a state Corrections employee told me she was troubled by prison officials’ failure to request autopsies after people died in custody. I looked into it for @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

6 5 0 0

2 weeks ago

The U.S killed three more people in a boat strike in the Caribbean yesterday. The toll of these these extrajudicial killings
now exceeds 150 people.

All known attacks are chronicled in our tracker, @theintercept.com

theintercept.com/2025/11/17/t...

288 169 12 12

2 weeks ago

We're doing a #SOTU pod tomorrow night for The Intercept Briefing. What are the topics you care most about ahead of the State of the Union?
@theintercept.com

10 4 1 1

2 weeks ago

Jasmine Crockett Swears Off Corporate Cash — But Transferred Thousands From Her House Campaign A Democrat running for Senate in Texas has a complicated history with corporate America and the crypto industry.

What’s in a pledge to reject corporate PAC money? @akelalacy.bsky.social @theintercept.com reveals that @crockett.house.gov transferred funds from corporate PACs given to her House campaign to help fund her Senate bid theintercept.com/2026/02/13/j...

34 14 5 1

2 weeks ago

There is definitely a thread of racism & misogynoir in many of the attacks against Jasmine Crockett. You can’t chalk up every criticism to that though because a lot of it is just like, what’s with the crypto $

13 2 2 6

2 weeks ago

What Does the Trump Administration Want With Cuba? Podcast Episode · The Intercept Briefing · February 20 · 59m

NEW POD 🎧: Cuba is spiraling into a humanitarian crisis. Trump has kept the Caribbean in his crosshairs, kidnapped the Venezuelan president & executed >140 people in boat strikes — what does he want with Cuba? W/ @mjbusta.bsky.social & @andrespertierra.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

24 19 2 0

3 weeks ago

Philadelphia Could Elect Its First Muslim Congressman. He’s Not Sure Where He Stands on Israel. With no stated policy on Israel and Palestine, Sharif Street is trying to walk a fine line in a crowded Pennsylvania primary.

NEW: former PA Dem Party Chair Sharif Street could be Pennsylvania's first Muslim member of Congress. He’s not sure where he stands on Israel. But the pro-Israel lobby thinks it knows -- it put up a secret fundraising page for him that mysteriously vanished last year theintercept.com/2026/02/18/s...

21 6 3 1

3 weeks ago

Short🧵of @theintercept.com's coverage of NSPM-7 and Trump's secret domestic terrorist list.

NSPM-7 conflates constitutionally protected speech with “domestic terrorism” & specifically targets those that espouse anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-Christianity, and antifascism.

77 57 6 2

3 weeks ago

Come for me and @jesswash.bsky.social bantering about our week and stay for her incredible interview with the attorney representing 9 of Epstein’s survivors

23 8 0 0