Richard Ashby Wilson
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richardawilson.bsky.social
Richard Ashby Wilson
@richardawilson.bsky.social

Princeton University Professor of #Anthropology. Co-Director of the Human Rights Initiative. I write about #HumanRights & #CivilRights
Views are personal.

Richard Ashby Wilson is an American–British social anthropologist of law and human rights. He is the Gladstein Distinguished professor of Human Rights and Professor of Anthropology and Law at the University of Connecticut. In 2021, Wilson became the Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Intellectual Life at the University of Connecticut School of Law. Wilson established the interdisciplinary Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut and was the Director of the Human Rights Institute from 2003 to 2013. Wilson is one of the founders of the anthropology of human rights and was editor and an author of Human Rights, Culture and Context (1997), the first edited volume in the field of the anthropology of human rights. .. more

Political science 48%
History 17%

Excellent article on how to regulate AI so it doesn't eat society.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/o...
Opinion | The Democrats Again Risk Losing Voters They Take for Granted
www.nytimes.com
A federal judge in Oregon issued a sweeping rebuke of the Justice Department’s nationwide push to seize state voter rolls, ruling that the department can no longer be presumed to be acting in good faith and warning that its conduct threatens voters and states’ rights.
Federal judge rules DOJ can ‘no longer’ be trusted in voter roll crusade
The judge pointed to a letter from Bondi to Minnesota that tied federal immigration enforcement to demands for voter data as the smoking gun.
www.democracydocket.com

"Trump’s entire political career — from his embrace of birtherism to his hatred of birthright citizenship — cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/o...
Opinion | This Is Just Who Trump Is
www.nytimes.com

Wow wow wow. U.S. District Judge Biery writes a fabulous and piercing decision. Maximum respect…
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Annotating the Judge’s Decision in the Case of Liam Conejo Ramos, a 5-Year-Old Detained by ICE
Our critic annotates the barbed wordplay of a decision challenging the Trump administration’s theory of executive power.
www.nytimes.com

My conversation about the current moment and state terror with Amelia Frank-Vitale and Jennifer Burrell in #Anthropology News.
www.anthropology-news.org/articles/res...
Responding to State Terror in the US - Anthropology News
This year opened with what writer M. Gessen described as the “state terror” phase of Trump’s presidency. Witnessing this acceleration in the federal
www.anthropology-news.org

$68 million is a drop in the bucket for Google/Alphabet which had profits of $124 BILLION in 2025.
ICE is now claiming it can arrest people without a warrant.

This comes after another internal memo asserting ICE agents can forcibly enter homes without a judicial warrant.

Hello? Democrats cannot let these blatantly unconstitutional actions continue. Not another penny for ICE.

Trump’s illegal deportation campaign challenged by #HabeasCorpus, a legal protection that goes back (at least) to the #MagnaCarta and 1215

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/u...
Federal Courts Undercut Trump’s Mass Deportation Campaign
www.nytimes.com
ICE Expands Power of Agents to Arrest People Without Warrants www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...
ICE Expands Power of Agents to Arrest People Without Warrants
www.nytimes.com
Amazon has cut a combined 28,000 jobs since October. Its CEO made $40M+ in 2024

UPS has announced 78,000 job cuts since last year. Its CEO made $24M.

HP announced up to 6,000 layoffs in November. Its CEO made $21M.

This is what I mean when I say the system is rigged.
America does not want us to fund a lawless out of control ICE.

- No more roving patrols or profiling. ICE/CBP are not trained to do this. And it's wrong. Require warrants.
- No more secret police. Take off the masks. Show ID.
- And real accountability for murder and assault.
The City of Philadelphia has introduced legislation to limited ICE in the city. The Federal Agents can not be masked, must have ID visible, must have arrested warrants signed by federal judges. They can't attack people. If they can't do this, they will be arrested.
youtu.be/i5Yvg_HHfbE?...
WATCH: Philadelphia lawmakers introduce 'ICE Out' legislation to restrict federal operations in city
YouTube video by PBS NewsHour
youtu.be
I joined forces with @tomjoscelyn.bsky.social.

We explain deep connections between senior administration officials' smearing Alex Pretti, Renee Good, and ICE protestors as "domestic terrorists" and how this fits into the draconian NSPM-7.

Important for more people to wake up to this.
The Smearing of Alex Pretti and NSPM-7
How administration officials' labelling Alex Pretti and Renee Good as "domestic terrorists" fits in with NSPM-7.
www.justsecurity.org

Police chiefs speak out against ICE.
There are only 20,000 ICE agents and nearly 1 million state and local police.
Just sayin...
www.instagram.com/reel/DTxpKrm...
Instagram
Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.
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Will the courts protect us from ICE murders? This is a test of the relevance of law in authoritarian times.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Minneapolis Live Updates: Trump Backs Off Criticism of Governor and Sends Border Czar to Lead ICE Operations
www.nytimes.com
Wolves have a moment of silence for Alex Pretti, after seven seconds of silence several fans yell "FUCK ICE"

Can ICE agents be prosecuted for Minneapolis shootings? Yes, if Minnesota prosecutors can show that their actions were objectively unreasonable or clearly unlawful.

Looking forward to the mass 2A and NRA demonstrations against this violation of the constitutionally protected right of Americans to bear arms.
The people who spent years defending and even lionizing Kyle Rittenhouse and Ashli Babbitt now want us to believe that an unarmed mother in her car and a disarmed nurse were domestic terrorists who deserved to be murdered by law enforcement.
If you want proof that Trump is going to try to rig the elections, here it is:

In a letter to Gov. Tim Walz Saturday, Bondi claimed that Walz could “restore the rule of law” by complying with a list of demands, including giving the Department of Justice (DOJ) the state’s voter registration records.
AG Bondi demands access to Minnesota voter rolls after fatal Border Patrol shooting
Her demand came as Minneapolis was reeling from a second fatal shooting by a federal agent this month.
www.democracydocket.com

Minneapolis has had three homicides this year and two of them have been committed by ICE agents.

State execution of a protestor. Are we in Iran now?
NEW VIDEO: this appears to be the footage from the woman in the pink coat.

#Murder on the streets of #Minnesota. Words fail me.
CW: Shooting, murder.

This is an execution in the street by ICE.
NEW VIDEO: this appears to be the footage from the woman in the pink coat.
CW: Shooting, murder.

This is an execution in the street by ICE.
Even in sub-zero temperatures, working people brought the heat today in Minnesota!

Tens of thousands of people peacefully protested and made their voices heard to stand up for our immigrant siblings.

This is what solidarity looks like!
Thousands march in Minnesota and hundreds of businesses close to protest ICE
Some Minnesotans boycotted work, school and shopping Friday to signal their opposition to the Trump administration’s deployment of ICE agents.
www.washingtonpost.com
FBI leadership coverup of Renee Good killing.

A supervisor in FBI’s Minneapolis field office resigned "after bureau leadership in Washington pressured her to discontinue a civil rights inquiry into" ICE agent Jonathan Ross. "Such inquiries are a common investigative step in similar shootings."
F.B.I. Agent Who Tried to Investigate ICE Officer in Shooting Resigns
www.nytimes.com

#Minnesota shows the country how to deal with #authoritarianism and the #goonsquad on our streets.
#Respect
👏👏👏

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/u...
Demonstrators Flood Minneapolis Streets as Hundreds of Businesses Close to Protest ICE
www.nytimes.com