Christy Thornton
@llchristyll.bsky.social
Researching development and its discontents. Pell grant prof. Co-director @hpe-project.bsky.social. Naclista pa’ siempre. #NoMoreDrugWar
Reposted by Christy Thornton
“The federal invasions are usurpations—but not necessarily of police authority,” @stschrader1.bsky.social writes. Instead, they have “become opportunities to...further weaken the already fraying democratic constraints on police power.”
Authoritarianism from Below | Stuart Schrader
As National Guard troops and federal officers swarmed Washington, D.C., in August, sent by President Donald Trump to confront what he declared a “crime
www.nybooks.com
February 16, 2026 at 1:58 PM
“The federal invasions are usurpations—but not necessarily of police authority,” @stschrader1.bsky.social writes. Instead, they have “become opportunities to...further weaken the already fraying democratic constraints on police power.”
Reposted by Christy Thornton
This article briefly previews my forthcoming book Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves, out in April from @basicbooksgroup.bsky.social. You can preorder it w/ the discount code BLUE20 here: www.basicbooks.com/titles/stuar...
February 15, 2026 at 3:36 PM
This article briefly previews my forthcoming book Blue Power: How Police Organized to Protect and Serve Themselves, out in April from @basicbooksgroup.bsky.social. You can preorder it w/ the discount code BLUE20 here: www.basicbooks.com/titles/stuar...
Reposted by Christy Thornton
How and why police actually support the federal invasions—I have been working on this article for ~6 months, trying to make sense of Trump’s nationwide surge of DHS officers, how it has evolved, what brought us here, and what will remain after it ends.
Stuart Schrader on what Trump’s urban occupations mean for police and the unions that represent them https://www.nybooks.com/online/2026/02/14/authoritarianism-from-below-trump-city-takeovers-police/?utm_source=Bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=2026-02-14_Schrader-policing-1
Authoritarianism from Below | Stuart Schrader
As National Guard troops and federal officers swarmed Washington, D.C., in August, sent by President Donald Trump to confront what he declared a “crime
www.nybooks.com
February 14, 2026 at 5:19 PM
How and why police actually support the federal invasions—I have been working on this article for ~6 months, trying to make sense of Trump’s nationwide surge of DHS officers, how it has evolved, what brought us here, and what will remain after it ends.
Your weekend long read: Local cops and their union bosses have welcomed - and in some cases invited - Trump’s federal takeovers of US cities. @stschrader1.bsky.social traces this alarming synthesis of local & federal power for The New York Review archive.is/G1Bnh
February 14, 2026 at 4:32 PM
Your weekend long read: Local cops and their union bosses have welcomed - and in some cases invited - Trump’s federal takeovers of US cities. @stschrader1.bsky.social traces this alarming synthesis of local & federal power for The New York Review archive.is/G1Bnh
We have created an impunity machine, and invited and incentivized terrible people to join it. Abolish the whole damn thing.
At least two dozen U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees and contractors have been charged with crimes since 2020 and the wrongdoing includes patterns of violence, sexual abuse and corruption, a review by The Associated Press found.
As ICE expands, an AP review of crimes committed by agents shows how their powers can be abused
Investigators say one immigration official abused his girlfriend for years. Another admitted he sexually abused a woman in his custody.
bit.ly
February 11, 2026 at 6:33 PM
We have created an impunity machine, and invited and incentivized terrible people to join it. Abolish the whole damn thing.
Obviously far from central here, but when Bondi says "don't you ever accuse me of a crime" she sounds exactly like Parker Posey doing the "hotel manager" bit
Lieu plays Bondi the infamous clip of Trump & Epstein partying together & asks her if there were underaged girls at any party the two attended
"This is so ridiculous," Bondi says. "There's no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime"
"I believe you just lied under oath," Lieu replies
"This is so ridiculous," Bondi says. "There's no evidence that Donald Trump has committed a crime"
"I believe you just lied under oath," Lieu replies
February 11, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Obviously far from central here, but when Bondi says "don't you ever accuse me of a crime" she sounds exactly like Parker Posey doing the "hotel manager" bit
I'm just a historian here noting that the US has a long history of playing up supposed incursions to justify the invasion of Mexico...
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
FAA reopens El Paso airport hours after saying it was grounding flights for 10 days
A White House official told NBC News that Mexican cartel drones had breached American airspace, and the Defense Department had disabled them.
www.nbcnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 5:25 PM
I'm just a historian here noting that the US has a long history of playing up supposed incursions to justify the invasion of Mexico...
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Reposted by Christy Thornton
Instead of train cars, we'll have semi truck trailers of people being loaded into concentration camps where they'll race substantial likelihood of dying from neglect, malnutrition, disease, and murder.
ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps.
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ICE to begin detaining immigrants inside Social Circle warehouse in April
Homeland Security plans to build warehouse detention facilities in other cities being met with opposition.
www.ajc.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Instead of train cars, we'll have semi truck trailers of people being loaded into concentration camps where they'll race substantial likelihood of dying from neglect, malnutrition, disease, and murder.
Reposted by Christy Thornton
One of every thousand American residents has been taken into custody by ICE in the last year.
A stunning detail the ICE chief shared in this hearing that was supposed to be a brag, except it isn't: ICE has arrested 379,000 people between Jan. 2025-Jan. 2026 -- but only 8,700 were suspected gang members or known suspected terrorists.
That's 2%! www.huffpost.com/entry/latest...
That's 2%! www.huffpost.com/entry/latest...
Congresswoman Uses Simple Math To Show How Broken ICE Is
www.huffpost.com
February 10, 2026 at 9:11 PM
One of every thousand American residents has been taken into custody by ICE in the last year.
Reposted by Christy Thornton
Project Salt Box @projectsaltbox.bsky.social is tracking warehouses ICE is considering buying to convert to detention facilities.
Find one in your state & stop the sale.
Find one in your state & stop the sale.
DHS Contracts Visualizer
Looker Studio turns your data into informative dashboards and reports that are easy to read, easy to share, and fully customizable.
lookerstudio.google.com
February 10, 2026 at 8:23 AM
Project Salt Box @projectsaltbox.bsky.social is tracking warehouses ICE is considering buying to convert to detention facilities.
Find one in your state & stop the sale.
Find one in your state & stop the sale.
Reposted by Christy Thornton
Well, let's give it a shot again and see what we get.
Adjunct pay/working conditions AY25-26
This form is part of a project to crowd-source pay and working conditions for people who teach and research in colleges and universities during AY2025-2026. This form is for people paid by the course ...
forms.gle
February 8, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Well, let's give it a shot again and see what we get.
Reposted by Christy Thornton
Reposted by Christy Thornton
Two years ago, a secret meeting by some AfD members with Sellner rocked the party because ”remigration” was discussed.
Today, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, calls for remigration regularly on his social media platform.
That’s how quickly the normalization has happened.
Today, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, calls for remigration regularly on his social media platform.
That’s how quickly the normalization has happened.
Germany's #AfD is now openly courting an international right-wing extremist (with whom they have been playing footsie for years). The whole radical/extreme distinction is moot at this point, and so far, it doesn't make a dent in their support
Germany's AfD bonds with Austrian far-right extremists
Officials from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party have been openly rubbing shoulders with Austrian right-wing extremist Martin Sellner. This, despite reservations over his Identitarian Movement.
www.dw.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:30 PM
Two years ago, a secret meeting by some AfD members with Sellner rocked the party because ”remigration” was discussed.
Today, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, calls for remigration regularly on his social media platform.
That’s how quickly the normalization has happened.
Today, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, calls for remigration regularly on his social media platform.
That’s how quickly the normalization has happened.
Reposted by Christy Thornton
Would be interesting to compare the results on more recent models - but this problem won’t go away. LLMs are always going to be extrapolating from what has already, and often, been thought, which is why they aren’t windows to the future but anchors to the past.
Neat demonstration of how artificial so-called intelligence is taking us backwards.
"ChatGPT produced content most consistent with the 1960s and DALL-E 3 in the late 1980s and early '90s."
#AI - see @shannonvallor.bsky.social's work for important thinking on this
phys.org/news/2026-02...
"ChatGPT produced content most consistent with the 1960s and DALL-E 3 in the late 1980s and early '90s."
#AI - see @shannonvallor.bsky.social's work for important thinking on this
phys.org/news/2026-02...
New study uses Neanderthals to demonstrate gap between generative AI and scholarly knowledge
Technological advances over the past four decades have turned mobile devices and computers into the world's largest library, where information is just a tap away. Phones, laptops, tablets, smartwatche...
phys.org
February 7, 2026 at 11:55 AM
Would be interesting to compare the results on more recent models - but this problem won’t go away. LLMs are always going to be extrapolating from what has already, and often, been thought, which is why they aren’t windows to the future but anchors to the past.
Reposted by Christy Thornton
I know this is kind of spitting into the wind, but I'd like to make an effort:
Just because ICE calls them "administrative warrants" doesn't make that the most accurate term for them.
They are forms. ICE forms. Signed by an ICE employee. Authorizing an arrest, but still, a _form._
Just because ICE calls them "administrative warrants" doesn't make that the most accurate term for them.
They are forms. ICE forms. Signed by an ICE employee. Authorizing an arrest, but still, a _form._
February 6, 2026 at 12:47 AM
I know this is kind of spitting into the wind, but I'd like to make an effort:
Just because ICE calls them "administrative warrants" doesn't make that the most accurate term for them.
They are forms. ICE forms. Signed by an ICE employee. Authorizing an arrest, but still, a _form._
Just because ICE calls them "administrative warrants" doesn't make that the most accurate term for them.
They are forms. ICE forms. Signed by an ICE employee. Authorizing an arrest, but still, a _form._
Reposted by Christy Thornton
Renee's killer: 19-year USBP/ICE veteran
Alex's killer: 8-year USBP veteran
Marimar's shooter: 23-year USBP veteran.
Alex's killer: 8-year USBP veteran
Marimar's shooter: 23-year USBP veteran.
January 30, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Renee's killer: 19-year USBP/ICE veteran
Alex's killer: 8-year USBP veteran
Marimar's shooter: 23-year USBP veteran.
Alex's killer: 8-year USBP veteran
Marimar's shooter: 23-year USBP veteran.
Reposted by Christy Thornton
DHS said that the woman CBP shot in the chest in Portland was “involved” in a gang shooting.
Her ~involvement~ was that suspected gang members sexually assaulted and robbed her.
Her ~involvement~ was that suspected gang members sexually assaulted and robbed her.
After Border Patrol shot two people in Portland, DHS claimed they were "vicious gang members" tied to a past shooting.
But records I obtained reveal a US prosecutor has since directly contradicted DHS, saying, "We're not suggesting he is a gang member." My dive into how DHS' claims have collapsed:
But records I obtained reveal a US prosecutor has since directly contradicted DHS, saying, "We're not suggesting he is a gang member." My dive into how DHS' claims have collapsed:
DHS’s account of two Venezuelans shot by border patrol falls apart in court: ‘A smear campaign’
Immigration officials said agent shot two ‘vicious gang members’ in Portland, but records obtained by the Guardian reveal US prosecutor contradicted claims
www.theguardian.com
February 3, 2026 at 2:02 AM
DHS said that the woman CBP shot in the chest in Portland was “involved” in a gang shooting.
Her ~involvement~ was that suspected gang members sexually assaulted and robbed her.
Her ~involvement~ was that suspected gang members sexually assaulted and robbed her.
This is an insane chart
Wowsers look at what happened to posts on Twitter/X about London crime after monetisation of posts was introduced…
economist.com/britain/2026...
economist.com/britain/2026...
January 31, 2026 at 8:06 PM
This is an insane chart
Reposted by Christy Thornton
As someone who has spent over 35 years trying to explain that violence is inherent to policing only to have most people be OK with this, I could be excused if I decided to just give up. But I'm not. I knew we would be where we are today. I still think that we do not have to live like this.
January 24, 2026 at 8:39 PM
As someone who has spent over 35 years trying to explain that violence is inherent to policing only to have most people be OK with this, I could be excused if I decided to just give up. But I'm not. I knew we would be where we are today. I still think that we do not have to live like this.
Spoiler alert: this kind of discretion is the bedrock of *all* policing
This is an airtight permission structure for violence because ‘provocation’ means whatever they say it means.
January 24, 2026 at 8:45 PM
Spoiler alert: this kind of discretion is the bedrock of *all* policing
Abolish Border Patrol, too
The officer who fatally shot a Minneapolis man during a protest is an 8-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials say.
Police chief calls for calm after a man is shot and killed during Minneapolis immigration crackdown
Federal immigration officers have shot and killed a man in Minneapolis, drawing hundreds of protesters in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier.
bit.ly
January 24, 2026 at 8:25 PM
Abolish Border Patrol, too
Reposted by Christy Thornton
An independent autopsy of Renee Good reveals that she had 3 gunshot wounds: to the left arm, right lung, and left temple that exited the right side of her head. That means the third shot, the most unlawful one, from the side, likely killed her. abc7.com/post/minneap...
Independent autopsy in ICE shooting death of Renee Good released by law firm in civil investigation
The results of an independent autopsy for Renee Good have been released as part of a law firm's civil investigation, two weeks after she was shot and killed by a federal agent in Minneapolis.
abc7.com
January 22, 2026 at 4:56 AM
An independent autopsy of Renee Good reveals that she had 3 gunshot wounds: to the left arm, right lung, and left temple that exited the right side of her head. That means the third shot, the most unlawful one, from the side, likely killed her. abc7.com/post/minneap...
Cuba next: "In meetings with Cuban exiles and civic groups in Miami and Washington, they have focused on identifying somebody inside the current government who will see the writing on the wall and want to cut a deal, one U.S. official said."
www.wsj.com/world/americ...
www.wsj.com/world/americ...
Exclusive | The U.S. Is Actively Seeking Regime Change in Cuba by the End of the Year
After ousting Venezuela’s leader, the Trump administration is hunting for Havana insiders who could cut a deal to end Communist rule.
www.wsj.com
January 22, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Cuba next: "In meetings with Cuban exiles and civic groups in Miami and Washington, they have focused on identifying somebody inside the current government who will see the writing on the wall and want to cut a deal, one U.S. official said."
www.wsj.com/world/americ...
www.wsj.com/world/americ...
Reposted by Christy Thornton
Reposted by Christy Thornton
Davos gave us globalism and now offers a front-row seat to its collapse.
With Grace Ballor, we examine both its historical momentum and weaknesses.
academic.oup.com/ser/advance-...
In an issue on the post-neoliberal order by @quinnslobodian.com @llchristyll.bsky.social @akentikelenis.bsky.social
With Grace Ballor, we examine both its historical momentum and weaknesses.
academic.oup.com/ser/advance-...
In an issue on the post-neoliberal order by @quinnslobodian.com @llchristyll.bsky.social @akentikelenis.bsky.social
January 22, 2026 at 8:19 AM
Davos gave us globalism and now offers a front-row seat to its collapse.
With Grace Ballor, we examine both its historical momentum and weaknesses.
academic.oup.com/ser/advance-...
In an issue on the post-neoliberal order by @quinnslobodian.com @llchristyll.bsky.social @akentikelenis.bsky.social
With Grace Ballor, we examine both its historical momentum and weaknesses.
academic.oup.com/ser/advance-...
In an issue on the post-neoliberal order by @quinnslobodian.com @llchristyll.bsky.social @akentikelenis.bsky.social