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Spencer Reynolds

@sreynolds.bsky.social

5.3K followers 360 following 230 posts

Senior Counsel, Liberty & National Security at the Brennan Center for Justice. Member, United Auto Workers. Former intelligence & counterterrorism lawyer, US Department of Homeland Security. Views my own, rarely the government's. >> Signal: sreynolds.16

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Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · Aug 8

Amid chaos this summer from the national guard and Marines, Homeland Security used a little-known police agency to lead its protest response in Los Angeles.

TIME has my analysis of images & video—and solutions to prevent future DHS abuse. 🧵

time.com/7307963/trum...

Trump’s Troubling Deployment of DHS Officers

An investigation from the Brennan Center highlights the impact of a little-known federal force which was deployed in LA.

time.com

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Brennan Center @brennancenter.org · 1d

If the government carries out Trump’s orders targeting antifa as a “domestic terrorist organization,” it would violate free speech rights. Here’s why: bit.ly/4330Su2

Trump’s Orders Targeting Antifascism Aim to Criminalize Opposition

Purporting to go after “domestic terrorism,” the president presents an imagined left-wing conspiracy and authorizes punishments for even tenuous connections to speech the administration doesn’t like.

www.brennancenter.org

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Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 2d

Remember that “sanctuary laws” don’t prohibit collaboration with the feds generally, just for some narrow immigration enforcement.

State police run interference for ICE when it comes to counterprotest operations, from LA to Chicago and beyond.

State legislatures must close this massive loophole.

unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 3d

In Broadview, IL this morning outside the Chicago area ICE detention center—

Just rolled up, immediately saw ISP/CCSO arresting a protester w/ a guitar (he appears to be in good spirits over it).

ICE vehicles have been coming and going, including a large bus driven by a masked agent seen earlier.

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Rich Sanfilippo @richsanf.bsky.social · 2d

Why are state police supporting ICE? Are they not under the authority of the governor?

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awkword @awkword.bsky.social · 2d

🪦

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David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells.bsky.social · 3d

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Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 3d

And an in-depth report on the history, inner-workings, and long pattern of abuse at the DHS Federal Protective Service:

www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Inside the Federal Protective Service, Homeland Security’s Domestic Police Force

The agency’s broad mandate and few rules foster abuse and facilitate crackdowns.

www.brennancenter.org

Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 3d

I examined images, video, and media reporting to place FPS at the heart of DHS's counterprotest abuses in Los Angeles, amid the chaos caused by the federal government.

Last summer's analysis in TIME Magazine:

time.com/7307963/trum...

Trump’s Troubling Deployment of DHS Officers

An investigation from the Brennan Center highlights the impact of a little-known federal force which was deployed in LA.

time.com

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Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 3d

DHS Federal Protective Service is meant to secure federal property but is a weapon to deploy thousands of DHS agents to counter protestors. (See my next post for how they did this in LA.)

A new legal memo shows how far off the wheels have come.

Cities like Chicago can, must restrict work with FPS.

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 4d

EXCLUSIVE — DHS Acting General Counsel sent out a memo Wednesday to all Federal Protective Service staff (the sub-agency that guards federal buildings) letting officers know they could take any action necessary "in the vicinity" federal property to protect themselves.

The Handbasket reports:

DHS top lawyer says 'no legal barrier' to actions officers can take to defend federal property

In a memo obtained exclusively by The Handbasket, Federal Protective Service (FPS) officers were given free rein.

www.thehandbasket.co

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Oregon Justice Resource Center @ojrcenter.bsky.social · 6d

🧊Know Your Rights Training!

This year, our attorneys have conducted numerous Know Your Rights trainings to prepare Oregonians for potential encounters with ICE. We want to help as many people as possible prepare so we're offering an online training.

Register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Know your rights online training. What to do in encounters with law-enforcement or ice. Thursday, October 9 at noon. RSVP for a Zoom link.

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The People's Fabric @peoplesfabric.com · 4d

In Broadview this morning, just outside of Chicago, where you can get a police surveillance pod, a drone, and a helicopter in a single shot.

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Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 4d

It is impossible—even for those of us who spend a pathological amount of time every day working on CBP, ICE, and DHS—to fully track these agencies’ misdeeds.

Transparency trails years behind, if we are lucky and persistent. Someday, the accounting from this period will be terrible.

David Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 4d

I keep learning of months old horrors and I follow this stuff very closely. I’m sure the level of brutality and misconduct has not fully reached the public. The population cleansing agents are out of control.

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Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · 4d

🚨 Senator warns that NSPM-7 is fueling a secret watchlisting effort targeting Americans
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/senator-wa...

Senator Warns of Trump's Secret Watchlist for Americans

NSPM-7 finally gets Congressional attention

www.kenklippenstein.com

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Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 4d

Antifa is not a group; the president cannot designate domestic terror groups.

My @brennancenter.org colleague @faizapatel.bsky.social is out today with a deep review of NSPM-7. It is a dangerous directive that will facilitate predatory politics-based targeting: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

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Amos Toh @amostoh.bsky.social · 4d

The military already wastes billions on subpar weapons. What's stopping it from doing the same with AI?

If defense contractors have their way, almost nothing.

My deep dive into the wild and wacky world of "acquisition reform" with @juliagledhill.bsky.social:

www.lawfaremedia.org/article/how-...

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Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 5d

🚨 We wrote about Flock rolling out "distress detection" that monitored human voices on their gunshot detection devices & asked how it was lawful under eavesdropping laws.

Now, they've changed the ad to replace a "SCREAMING" alert with a "DISTRESS" alert. See below:

www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

An add for flock raven with the title "safety you can see and now hear" with an alert for someone "screaming"

An add for flock raven with the title "safety you can see and now hear" with an alert that says "distress"

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Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 6d

Ah, how we wish for the halcyon days of 2016…

2016: Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach exposes to press photographers his proposed plans for the Department of Homeland Security under the incoming Trump Administration.

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RootsAction @rootsaction.org · 6d

For years, local governments & police departments have cooperated with federal agencies through the Joint Terrorism Task Forces. Now, through Trump's new NPSM-7 directive, these task forces will focus on “leftist” groups.

History shows us what happens when our movements are targeted by the feds.

In NSPM-7, “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,” President Trump directs the Justice Department, the FBI, and other national security agencies and departments to fight his version of political violence in America, retooling a network of Joint Terrorism Task Forces to focus on “leftist” political violence in America. This vast counterterrorism army, made up of federal, state, and local agents would, as Trump aide Stephen Miller said, form “the central hub of that effort.”

NSPM-7 directs a new national strategy to “disrupt” any individual or groups “that foment political violence,” including “before they result in violent political acts.”

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Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · 10d

No.

David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 10d

Oh he can just unilaterally pass unconstitutional laws now huh ok

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Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 11d

Google has determined that ICE agents are a vulnerable group and has used this designation as pretext to delete an app that helped communities determine where ICE raids were happening

www.404media.co/google-calls...

Google Calls ICE Agents a Vulnerable Group, Removes ICE-Spotting App ‘Red Dot’

The move comes as Apple removed ICEBlock after direct pressure from U.S. Department of Justice officials and signals a broader crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.

www.404media.co

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Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 12d

unicornriot.ninja/2024/cobwebs...

Cobwebs Spy Software Locks Onto Protesters: Israeli Social Media Mining Contract with Homeland Security Revealed - UNICORN RIOT

An Israeli spy software tech firm licenses web surveillance tools to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The software contract shows new details about this sensitive technology DHS has used to ...

unicornriot.ninja

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Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 12d

In 2020, to build dossiers on racial justice demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, DHS's intelligence office also used Penlink (then called Cobwebs) to identify connections between people and build out surveillance. Article in the next post.

It's a powerful tool often used for illicit purposes.

404 Media @404media.co · 13d

BREAKING: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has bought access to a surveillance tool that is updated every day with billions of pieces of location data from hundreds of millions of mobile phones, according to ICE documents reviewed by 404 Media.

🔗 www.404media.co/ice-to-buy-t...

ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day

Documents show that ICE has gone back on its decision to not use location data remotely harvested from peoples' phones. The database is updated every day with billions of pieces of location data.

www.404media.co

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UAW Archivist @uawarchivist.bsky.social · 13d

🏈"Quit trying to carry the ball alone."🏈
As we enter the heart of football season, a call to unionize from the newspaper of the @uaw.org, 1937. From the archives at the @reutherlibrary.bsky.social.

Art from UAW newspaper that says, "Quit trying to carry the ball alone. Join The International Union, United Automobile Workers of America." Shows drawing of footballs players carrying the ball or tackling.

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AILA @aila.org · 14d

“The incidents on Thursday and Friday highlight the growing tensions in major U.S. cities over President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown.”

ICE tactics inflame tensions in New York, Chicago and other cities

Some Hispanic residents said they were stopped solely because of their appearance.

reut.rs

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Spencer Reynolds @sreynolds.bsky.social · 16d

Trump's guidance taps into common beliefs as signs of terrorism.

This isn't new. FBI, DHS, & intel agencies have long used bogus methods reliant on common things like isolation, having debt, paying off debt (!), religion, etc. to identify impending violence.

Unproven yet often harmful to rights.

Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · 16d

🚨 New directive NSPM-7 targets "anti-capitalism," “anti-Christian,” and “anti-American" opinions as indicators of extremist violence, authorizing an army of 4,000 counter-terrorism officers to prevent crimes that haven't happened:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trumps-nsp...

Trump’s NSPM-7 Labels Common Beliefs As Terrorism “Indicators”

New order targets “anti-Christian,” “anti-American,” and “anti-capitalism” opinions

www.kenklippenstein.com

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Andrew Couts @couts.bsky.social · 21d

NEW: Newly released data shows CBP has funneled the DNA data of some 2,000 US citizens, including that of children, into the FBI's CODIS database, which is intended for criminal investigations. @dell.bsky.social reports: www.wired.com/story/dhs-ha...

DHS Has Been Collecting US Citizens’ DNA for Years

Newly released data shows Customs and Border Protection funneled the DNA of nearly 2,000 US citizens—some as young as 14—into an FBI crime database, raising alarms about oversight and legality.

www.wired.com

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