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samanthawrites.net
samantha riedel
@samanthawrites.net
1.4K followers 500 following 900 posts
very tired word girl @them.us | member, @transjournalists.org
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samanthawrites.net
samantha riedel @samanthawrites.net · Apr 10
hi freaks! I'm Samantha Riedel. I write about transgender politics, art, & culture, mostly for @them.us. after a decade I think I almost have the hang of it...!

my website: samanthawrites.net
irregular newsletter: samanthaistyping.beehiiv.com/subscribe
latest Them work: www.them.us/contributor/...
samantha riedel is typing...
The online home of journalist and essayist Samantha Riedel. If you're reading this, it's already too late.
samanthawrites.net
Reposted by samantha riedel
lexmcmenamin.com
important reporting from my colleagues @rachelleingang.bsky.social @maanvisingh.bsky.social

at an ICE raid, observer RM's car was gassed and windows smashed; they were taken to Whipple and forced to the ground by agents:

"Agents yelled at RM, who is trans, saying 'Do you like the dirt, queer?'"
rachelleingang.bsky.social Rachel Leingang @rachelleingang.bsky.social · 18h
Minnesotans following and documenting ICE activity here have been detained, pulled out of their cars, hit with chemicals, had agents route them to their homes and take photos. Even after the killings of two observers, they aren't stopping. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Minneapolis ICE observers keep showing up despite risk of arrest and violence
Bystanders say they are determined to keep recording federal agents’ actions: ‘There will be absolutely no accountability unless people are documenting’
www.theguardian.com
January 29, 2026 at 8:45 PM
samanthawrites.net
gotta say it's pretty rich for these douchebags to make such a big stink about "low quality evidence" for gender-affirming care to then turn around and be like "hey, your kid should try some of these pills we just found out about. our friend says he has a really good feeling about em"
samanthawrites.net samantha riedel @samanthawrites.net · 1d
Quick glance at the first name on the list: Sylvia Fogel is a psychiatrist and member of the "Autism Discovery Coalition," a group which recently convinced Trump to tout leucovorin as an autism "treatment" based on zero evidence www.pbs.org/newshour/hea...
What to know about leucovorin, unproven autism drug touted by Trump
When President Donald Trump’s administration announced it would repurpose an old, generic drug as a new treatment for autism, it came as a surprise to many experts — including the physician who sugges...
www.pbs.org
January 28, 2026 at 10:20 PM
samanthawrites.net
i'm sure you'll all be shocked to learn that RFK Jr. is packing the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee with quack doctors, many of whom are also aggrieved professional "autism parents"

www.hhs.gov/press-room/h...
www.hhs.gov
January 28, 2026 at 10:06 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
chanda.blacksky.app
The fascism is expanding … not new.
January 23, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
catbus.phd
meticulously labelling every bad thing the United States has ever done 'un-American' then bolting the gates of my Mind Palace with a gentle smile, secure in the knowledge that I live in the Good Country
January 22, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
aljazeera.com
The three journalists worked for a committee supervising Egyptian aid in Gaza and were documenting a newly set-up camp.
Three journalists among 11 Palestinians killed in Israel's attacks on Gaza
The three journalists worked for a committee supervising Egyptian aid in Gaza and were documenting a newly set-up camp.
www.aljazeera.com
January 21, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
cartamonir.com
Please donate! This is personally important to me ❤️
morecarta.bsky.social More Carta @morecarta.bsky.social · 8d
Two of my dear friends just lost their car in an accident and urgently need a replacement. Please donate if you're able to, I know money is tight for everyone right now, but this is a very straightforward way to help a Black queer couple in need

www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-hel...
Donate to Urgent: Help Kira and Ki Replace Their Car, organized by Takira Romero
Hi, we're Kira and Ki. We're engaged to be married and just lost our car in a… Takira Romero needs your support for Urgent: Help Kira and Ki Replace Their Car
www.gofundme.com
January 21, 2026 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
pseudonymjones.bsky.social
a quick comic about jesus
a comic titled “what would it be like if Jesus came back today?” The first panel shows Jesus standing on a bombed-out street. Several drones are flying into the distance. Jesu says, “do unto others as you would have them d” the text is partially obscured by an american bomb. the remaining panels are blank. a comic titled “what would it be like if Jesus came back today?” The text “— and he was born American” is added in red. In the first panel, Jesus with a hamburger is standing on a city street. He says, “do unto others as you would have them do unt-“ he is cut off as four operatives with guns and mismatched tactical gear tackle him. One tells, “DOWN ON THe GROUND ASSHOLE!!!” A drone circled overhead and an unmarked van pulls up. “STOP RESISTING” one of the masked men yells at Jesu who is already on the ground with his hands behind his back. More men, drones, and vans arrive. Finally, the scene is mostly obscured by vans and masked men jumping out of them. From back where Jesu was being held, multiple gunshots ring out. a comic titled “what would it be like if Jesus came back today?” The text “— and he was born AS A WHITE American” is added in red. Jesu stands on the city street with a burger. “Do unto— uh—“ he says. He sits on the burb and eats th burger hurriedly. “Shit, need to finish this before my next shift.” he also has a cigarette and is distracted looking at an assortment of things on his phone. He gets up and heads inside the building. “I shouldn’t have bought that burger now how am I going to pay rent” a comic titled “what would it be like if Jesus came back today?” The text “— and he was born as a RICH white American” has been added in red. Jesus, shaved and in a suit but still with a burger, stands by the window inside of a skyscraper. “do…” he says, “…you ever feel like you’ve changed so much about yourself in pursuit of wealth that you’ve lost what makes ‘you’ you?” He sighs and looks out the window while eating the burger. From behind him, someone says, “Mr. Christ your private helicopter to rich pedophile island has arrived.” “Ok,” says Jesus. He is gone in the final panel and a helicopter is flying away in the background. He appears to have smeared the remains of his burger on the window before leaving.
January 21, 2026 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
unraveledpress.com
Three years today. The cops are already killing protesters—it's not a line we haven't crossed, it's a thing already happening—but lots of people never heard about or paid attention to this one. So it goes
January 18, 2026 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
marisakabas.bsky.social
NEW — ICE violence has spread well beyond Minneapolis, with agents landing in small cities like St. Cloud. I spoke with Alice Valentine, a local queer trans woman, who protested ICE on Monday and was pepper sprayed, beaten and jailed as a result, along with her girlfriend.

This is Alice's story:
Queer trans ICE protester in small Minn. city recounts agents' violence and humiliation
Alice Valentine of St. Cloud was pepper sprayed and jailed by ICE for trying to protect immigrant neighbors.
www.thehandbasket.co
January 16, 2026 at 6:58 PM
samanthawrites.net
babe wake up, one of the "tradcath egirl summit" chicks is transvestigating sydney sweeney's neck
them.us Them @them.us · 15d
The Far Right Is Now Transvestigating Sydney Sweeney Because Face-Eating Leopards Eat Faces
The Far Right Is Now Transvestigating Sydney Sweeney
The conspiracy theory has been around since 2017.
www.them.us
January 14, 2026 at 9:46 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
juliaserano.bsky.social
since it's behind a paywall now, I wanted to share this graph from "How Trump 2.0 is slashing NIH-backed research — in charts" (Nature, April 2025). Say it with me: the anti-trans/LGBTQ+ movement is an anti-science movement:
[article sans figs can be read here: web.archive.org/web/20250501... ]
chart header reads: Fields Under Fire. Some research fields have been heavily affected by grant terminations implemented by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) under President Donald Trump. More than half of the active, NIH-funded projects about gender and sexual minorities (LGBT+) have been cancelled. chart #1 shows that 50.6% of grants containing the terms "LGBT/LGBTQ/LGBTQ+" in the title or abstract were terminated. chart #2 shows that 45.8% of grants containing the term "transgender" in the title or abstract were terminated. chart #3 shows that 45.5% of grants containing the term "vaccine hesitancy" in the title or abstract were terminated. chart #4 shows that 3.4% of grants containing the terms "HIV" or "AIDS" in the title or abstract were terminated.
January 12, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
rebellecunt.bsky.social
One of the first neighborhoods and groups I saw targeted by agents during raids in Chicago were vice districts and sex workers on the blade and in massage parlors.

The overwhelming response to that was laughter, indifference, or relief
January 13, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
sifill.bsky.social
U.S. citizen detained by ICE:

“…they finally told me that they could offer undocumented family members of mine legal protection if I have any…or money, in exchange for giving them the names of protest organizers, or undocumented persons. I was shocked, and told them no.”
ziibiing.com ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 17d
just a reminder that we aren’t even seeing the worst of what is happening in Minneapolis from someone detailed at the Whipple Federal Building yesterday
Eyewitness account: Good morning, My name is Brandon Siguenza, and l am a US citizen from Minneapolis. Yesterday, while doing legal observation, ICE stopped their cars to harass my friend and me. They sprayed pepper spray into the vent of our vehicle. We held our hands in the air and told them we were not obstructing, that the car was in park and they were free to drive forward and away. There was no active immigration raid. They returned to their cars, and drove forward a bit, then decided to stop again. They surrounded us, smashed the windows of our car, opened the doors (they were unlocked), ripped my friend and I out of the car and arrested us on charges of obstruction. I was put in an unmarked SUV, separated from my friend. As I was put in the back seat an ICE agent tore the whistle off my neck and said "I'll be taking this, I might need it later." My phone was knocked out of my hand while being arrested. As we drove away I asked the driver and the passenger if they wouldn't mind buckling my seatbelt, as they were driving erratically. I was ignored. I asked them if I could have the handcuffs loosened, as I was losing circulation, and was told no. At one point the passenger realized his own driver's license was in the backseat next to mine, and tried to surreptitiously grab it without me seeing it. We were taken to the Whipple federal building, where I saw dozens of brown people being processed in an unheated garage. I was frisked, told of my charges, and saw buses and vans being prepped. I later learned that these were being filled with detainees and driven to the airport for deportation. As we were led in, I noticed that the building was very busy. I got the impression that one of the 2 agents bringing me around was being trained. At multiple points throughout my stay, government agents were unable to open doors, not sure where they were meant to be going, and overall confused and overwhelmed. They couldn't figure out how to use the building phones, or complai…
January 13, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
edidin.bsky.social
I encourage you to think of abolishing ICE not as an end in itself, but as a good start.
January 12, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
audrelawdamercy.bsky.social
y'all may remember that Justice Amy Coney Barrett claimed to have no knowledge about how the government treats trans people, & said trans people had been subject to "relatively little" discrimination

y'all may not know that her skepticism had legal significance..
ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/trans...
This Is the History of Anti-Trans Bigotry Amy Coney Barrett Doesn’t Want to Talk About
Barrett thinks transgender people have been subjected to “relatively little” discrimination. This amicus brief aims to set the record straight.
ballsandstrikes.org
January 12, 2026 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
leftistlawyer.com
Bringing back this thread for everyone differentiating between ICE and the cops.
leftistlawyer.com Sheryl Weikal, still saying Free Palestine @leftistlawyer.com · Nov 12
In 1999, a woman named Jessica Gonzales sought and obtained an order of protection against her physically abusive husband ("AH"), who had repeatedly threatened to kill her and their three children. The order included language specifically limiting when and where AH was allowed to see the children.
January 12, 2026 at 4:43 PM
samanthawrites.net
hey if you're a writer trying to unfuck your creative situation this year, getting coaching from Jay helped me with that a lot and you should consider hiring him to help you too
edidin.bsky.social Jay Edidin @edidin.bsky.social · Dec 22
HEY, WRITERS! If you're looking at the new year as a time to revisit or revitalizes your practice, finish that lingering WIP, or learn a new skill, consider tackling those goals with the support of a coach. edidin.wordpress.com/coaching-for...
January 9, 2026 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
socialistdogmom.bsky.social
portland city council confirms that two portland residents have been shot by federal agents. at this time, the city council has been told that both victims are alive.
January 8, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
jtischauser.bsky.social
I-94 and Wilson, Chicago, IL
Someone spray painted Renee Good and abolish ICE on a wall by the highway. I-94 and Wilson.
January 8, 2026 at 10:51 PM
samanthawrites.net
did my best to break down what we know, and how Trump officials have lied so far, about Renee Good and her murder today:
January 8, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
them.us
Everything We Know About the ICE Killing of Renée Nicole Good
Everything We Know About the ICE Killing of Renée Nicole Good
Good was survived by her wife and children.
www.them.us
January 8, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Reposted by samantha riedel
alexshephard.bsky.social
"Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” her mother said. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.” www.startribune.com/she-was-an-a...
‘She was an amazing human being:’ Mother identifies woman shot, killed by ICE agent
Renee Nicole Good, 37, lived in the Twin Cities with her partner.
www.startribune.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:57 PM
samanthawrites.net
thinking about how Obama said the Patriot Act violated civil rights as a senator, then renewed it as president bc actually nvm it *was* necessary for national security. Funny how that works out
zhugeex.com Daniel Ahmad @zhugeex.com · 22d
The common belief is that when Trump is voted out in 2028 the democrats will obviously dismantle the state that Trump created, and I think a lot of people aren’t preparing enough for a future where that doesn’t happen.

The pressure needs to be on everyone that backs Trump, not just the figurehead.
jonathancohn.bsky.social Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · Jun 10
These 75 Democrats joined Republicans to "express gratitude" to ICE agents and call for greater local and state collaboration with ICE.

jonathancohn.medium.com/a-tale-of-tw...
January 7, 2026 at 9:37 PM