Alice Herman

👋 Hi Bluesky! We’re Suncoast Searchlight — a nonprofit newsroom covering Sarasota, Manatee and DeSoto counties in Florida. We’re here to shine a light on the issues that matter most.

ICE Prosecutor in Dallas Runs White Supremacist X Account The Observer has identified the operator of “GlomarResponder,” an overtly racist social media account, as ICE Assistant Chief Counsel James Rodden, based on an overwhelming number of biographical details matched through publicly available documents, other social media activity, and courtroom observation.

REVEALED: we identified the operator of an overtly racist X account, "GlomarResponder," as ICE Assistant Chief Counsel James Rodden, based on an overwhelming number of biographical details matched through publicly available documents, other social media activity, and courtroom observation.

Vermont school superintendent detained after trip to Nicaragua Wilmer Chavarria, the superintendent of the Winooski School District, was held by U.S. Customs and Border Protection while returning to the country after visiting family.

“I was threatened with being referred to the FBI... They also threatened to stain my record so I would never get a job again. They also threatened with an extended detention if I didn’t give them the passwords to the student information or to my district files."

"The farm worker who died from injuries he sustained after falling from a greenhouse roof during an Ice raid of a California cannabis farm was a 'hard-working, innocent farmer' and the sole provider for his wife and daughter, his family says."

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

My university has "executed a Memorandum of Agreement with ICE. Still no clear guidance on how to treat an unidentified man with a gun. "Active Shooter" guidance is in conflict with that given regarding immigration enforcement

‘They’re killing us’: Immigrants complain of inhumane conditions inside NYC holding site Immigrants complain of cramped conditions, inadequate food and bathing facilities and sleeping on concrete floors.

NEW: Immigrants complain of inhumane conditions at ICE holding cells in NYC.

No showers or changing clothes. Sometimes only one meal per day. Over 100 people in small rooms. Sleeping on benches, the floor, or sitting up, due to lack of space.

gothamist.com/news/theyre-...

'She is not doing good': ICE detains Phoenix woman with leukemia at Eloy Detention Center A Phoenix woman with leukemia who is a legal resident is being detained at Eloy Detention Center. Her best friend says she has lost 55 pounds while in custody.

Arbella Rodriguez Marquez has leukemia and has been detained by ICE for five months. A legal U.S. resident, Yari was detained at the border after visiting Mexico. Her friends are calling for her release so she can receive medical treatment.

www.abc15.com/she-is-not-d...

Some children missing from Kerr County summer camp after 'catastrophic' floods An unknown number of girls remain missing after deadly flooding caused “catastrophic level” floods at Camp Mystic, a private camp in Hunt, Texas.

About 23 girls at Camp Mystic remained unaccounted for Friday after deadly flooding from the Guadalupe River caused “destructive” floods at the private Christian summer camp in Hunt, Texas, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said.

Cremieux’s real name is Jordan Lasker. I put his name in the newspaper. He’s a scientific racist www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Back in 2021, as mayor of Maury County Tennessee, Andy Ogles was upset when an annual "Mule Day" event was canceled due to COVID. He organized and marched in his own parade that featured men dressed as Confederate soldiers and a truck waving the rebel flag.

While working on this piece, I learned there are more "private security" guards than regular police. They do quite a lot of "policing," however. It's a shadow economy that is so under-studied, no one could tell me how big it was.

NOAA cuts could harm Southwest Florida fishing economy, threaten red tide research - Suncoast Searchlight Sweeping cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could imperil Florida’s multibillion-dollar fishing industry and coastal economy, industry leaders and scientists warn — a dire pro...

DOGE firings & sweeping proposed cuts to NOAA could imperil FL's fishing industry: suncoastsearchlight.org/noaa-cuts-fl...

The scale of the alleged corruption is staggering - here is the total value of the most serious alleged direct benefit to past presidents or family members as compiled by o3.

El Faro, the leading investigative journalism site in El Salvador, reports that authorities are preparing to arrest its journalists after they published interviews revealing how Nayib Bukele negotiated with the country's gangs.

A horse named *sovereignty* outran a horse named *journalism*?!!!!

Also who is naming these horses?

She Worked in a Harvard Lab to Reverse Aging, Until ICE Jailed Her President Trump’s immigration crackdown ensnared Kseniia Petrova, a scientist who fled Russia after protesting its invasion of Ukraine. She fears arrest if she is deported there.

“I think in each country, scientists are opposed to autocratic government." - Kseniia Petrova. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/s...

Sotomayor, YESTERDAY: "The implication of the Government’s position is that not only noncitizens but also [US] citizens could be taken off the streets, forced onto planes, and confined to foreign prisons with no opportunity for redress if judicial review is denied unlawfully before removal."

NEWSFLASH: At least 12 members of Congress are flying Appeal to Heaven flags outside their offices.

Great reporting from @marabim.bsky.social tracking Congress & January 6th symbolism.

The ATH flag is a symbol of Christian supremacy & political-spiritual warfare.

baptistnews.com/article/a-vi...

WASHINGTON (AP) — AP wins reinstatement to White House events after judge rules government can’t bar its journalists, citing 1st Amendment.

Academic Target Tracker - Google My Maps A simple tracker for targeted international graduate students and faculty in American universities during the second Trump administration.

In an attempt to preserve what remains of my sanity, I'm continuing to update the Academic Target Tracker map @elotroalex.bsky.social and I threw together last weekend. It includes info about academic workers who have been detained or had their visas revoked in recent weeks. You can find it here:

CNN has a ticker up saying that they're having technical issues, so I wasn't hallucinating. Gannett pages are still unreachable for me

CNN is back up for me but Gannett papers aren't

Yeah, that's the error message I'm getting too. Wtf

Right now, most Gannett pages & cnn.com are down for me. Are other sites down, and are other folks here having this issue?

New College fires Chinese professor under controversial Florida ‘countries of concern’ law - Suncoast Searchlight A New College of Florida professor was abruptly fired this month under a controversial state law that limits public universities from employing people from so-called “countries of concern,” including ...

But this is the first time our outlet -- or any of our legal sources -- has heard of it being used to fire an asylum-seeker: suncoastsearchlight.org/new-college-...

Since it was enacted in July 2023, students and faculty have raised issues with the law, and a lawsuit that is making its way through the courts argues the measure violates the 14th amendment's equal protections clause and contradicts federal immigration & labor law.

Earlier this month, New College of FL fired a Chinese asylum seeker who had been teaching classes there since fall 2024 on grounds his employment violated a state law restricting public colleges & universities from employing people from "countries of concern" -- including China, Iran, & Cuba.

Amended Complaint – #38 in Mahmoud Khalil v. William P. Joyce (S.D.N.Y., 1:25-cv-01935) – CourtListener.com FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT against Pamela Bondi, William P. Joyce, Kristi Noem, Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center, Caleb Vitello, Donald J. Trump, Marco Rubio.Document filed by Mahmoud Khalil..(Belsher, A...

Lots of new details in Mahmoud Khalil's amended complaint against the Trump admin. His lawyers are asking for more than just his release; they want the judge to order the Trump admin to stop its plan to arrest/deport protesters.

Read the whole thing here: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69719...

Mr. Khalil saw an agent approach Agent Hernandez and say, “the White House is requesting an update.”

One very telling detail from Khalil's arrest: www.courtlistener.com/docket/69719...

Milwaukee-area woman deported to Laos though she's never been there, doesn't speak the language As Donald Trump pushes the mass deportation of immigrants, Yang believes she is one of the first Hmong Americans to be deported to Laos recently.

A Hmong American woman who has lived in the Milwaukee area since she was 8 months old was deported last week to Laos, a country she has never visited, and says she is stranded in a rooming house surrounded by military guards.

www.jsonline.com/story/news/l...