Mark Obbie
@markobbie.bsky.social
Freelance criminal justice journalist writing for national publications about community gun violence victims and prevention. Based in upstate New York. Mostly retired, but dabbling still.
Pinned
Mark Obbie
@markobbie.bsky.social
· Jan 17
Mark Obbie article archive, 2004-2024
FREELANCE ARTICLE ARCHIVE, 2004-2024 MARK OBBIE markobbie@gmail.com In 2004, I left my position as executive editor of The American Lawyer magazine in Manhattan to work full time as a freelance repor...
docs.google.com
As my valedictory, I made a list of the stories that I devoted the past 20 years of my work life to producing — and explained what I was trying to prove.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
The cuts (and proposed cuts) keep coming. Feels like a throwback to the early '90s. Or maybe, in keeping with Trump's image of crime and cities, the mid-'80s. We (speaking broadly) have learned so much more since then.
crimjj.wordpress.com/2025/06/19/t...
crimjj.wordpress.com/2025/06/19/t...
Trump Budget Would Slash, Close Many Anticrime Projects; Will Congress Agree?
The U.S. Justice Department’s budget for state and local crime fighting is likely to suffer a larger reduction than has been previously reported, concludes a new analysis from the nonpartisan…
crimjj.wordpress.com
June 19, 2025 at 5:32 PM
The cuts (and proposed cuts) keep coming. Feels like a throwback to the early '90s. Or maybe, in keeping with Trump's image of crime and cities, the mid-'80s. We (speaking broadly) have learned so much more since then.
crimjj.wordpress.com/2025/06/19/t...
crimjj.wordpress.com/2025/06/19/t...
I was honored to be a regular contributor of big news features in The Trace's early days, and have admired its growth and powerful contributions to journalism that advances understanding of gun violence.
The Trace launched a decade ago, in the wake of a hate-fueled mass shooting at a historically Black church in Charleston that left nine people dead and roiled the country. A lot has changed on the gun violence beat since then — and a lot hasn’t.
A look back at our work:
A look back at our work:
A Decade of Impact on a Crucial Issue
The Trace launched 10 years ago. We look back at some of the impact generated by our work.
www.thetrace.org
June 18, 2025 at 1:41 PM
I was honored to be a regular contributor of big news features in The Trace's early days, and have admired its growth and powerful contributions to journalism that advances understanding of gun violence.
Reposted by Mark Obbie
Really important that no one read this @orlandosentinel.com reporting when it publishes. I'm setting up alerts just to make sure I don't accidentally read it and share it widely when the time comes
Today's story: apnews.com/article/orla...
Florida agency tells newspaper to halt reporting angle on foundation associated with governor's wife
Florida’s child welfare agency has sent a letter to a newspaper telling it to “cease and desist” its reporting on foster families for a story about a nonprofit associated with Gov.
apnews.com
June 10, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Really important that no one read this @orlandosentinel.com reporting when it publishes. I'm setting up alerts just to make sure I don't accidentally read it and share it widely when the time comes
RIP one of my journalism heroes, whose own backstory I knew little of until I read his obit. When I taught an investigative reporting class at New School, Tom was kind enough to speak to my class, even though I cold-called him as a stranger. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/b...
Tom Robbins, Versatile Muckraker for The Village Voice, Dies at 76
www.nytimes.com
May 29, 2025 at 10:03 AM
RIP one of my journalism heroes, whose own backstory I knew little of until I read his obit. When I taught an investigative reporting class at New School, Tom was kind enough to speak to my class, even though I cold-called him as a stranger. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/28/b...
Reposted by Mark Obbie
Surviving gun violence is traumatic no matter the form. But a new study shows that survivors of everyday gun violence tend to endure longer-lasting mental health effects than survivors of mass shootings.
Mass Shootings Take a Psychological Toll. Other Forms of Gun Violence May Be Even Worse.
A recent study found that survivors of everyday gun violence endure long-lasting effects.
www.thetrace.org
May 28, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Surviving gun violence is traumatic no matter the form. But a new study shows that survivors of everyday gun violence tend to endure longer-lasting mental health effects than survivors of mass shootings.
"Any goon can impose repression. Real cops impose the law. That’s the kind of toughness we need now." Jill Leovy's insights echo my own after decades of reporting on the mutually destructive views on left and right, and why the truth can be found in the middle. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
America Is Having a Showboater Moment
The Trump administration talks tough on crime but shrugs off the work of real law enforcement.
www.theatlantic.com
May 15, 2025 at 1:36 PM
"Any goon can impose repression. Real cops impose the law. That’s the kind of toughness we need now." Jill Leovy's insights echo my own after decades of reporting on the mutually destructive views on left and right, and why the truth can be found in the middle. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Mark Obbie
Trumpers talking abouu suspending habeas corpus. If your fuzzy on what that is, read this. If you know but say, “just talk,” read this. If you’re one who says, “I can’t even with the news,” read so you’ll know how and why this is next level bad. www.stevevladeck.com/p/148-suspen...
148. Suspending Habeas Corpus
In response to adverse rulings in numerous immigration cases, Stephen Miller is raising the specter of suspending habeas. His argument is factually and legally nuts, but it's worth explaining *why.*
www.stevevladeck.com
May 9, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Trumpers talking abouu suspending habeas corpus. If your fuzzy on what that is, read this. If you know but say, “just talk,” read this. If you’re one who says, “I can’t even with the news,” read so you’ll know how and why this is next level bad. www.stevevladeck.com/p/148-suspen...
🧵
Violent crime has been falling since 2021. DOJ's programs have had something to do with that. Abruptly cancelling hundreds of grants to cops, courts, corrections, and community groups threatens that progress. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
DOJ cancels grants for gun-violence and addiction prevention, victim advocacy
Attorney General Pam Bondi derided some of the canceled grants on social media, including programs that help LGBTQ communities.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 24, 2025 at 3:15 PM
🧵
Crime and Justice News, the free daily digest of the top criminal justice stories for journalists and CJ professionals, has moved. It's still a free email, and still covering important stories like this one today. crimjj.wordpress.com/2025/04/22/h...
How To Reduce Gun Violence Without New Laws, Court Rulings
Chicago problems like corruption, pension debts and population decline might seem impossible to solve. Perhaps the city’s biggest problem — gun violence — only feels that way, writes…
crimjj.wordpress.com
April 22, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Crime and Justice News, the free daily digest of the top criminal justice stories for journalists and CJ professionals, has moved. It's still a free email, and still covering important stories like this one today. crimjj.wordpress.com/2025/04/22/h...
Reposted by Mark Obbie
There is growing evidence that crime is plunging incredibly fast across a wide swath of the country so far in 2025. There's still time for these trends to change, but the first 3+ months of 2025 have likely brought an enormous decline in crime. New this week: jasher.substack.com/p/crime-is-l...
April 21, 2025 at 12:13 PM
There is growing evidence that crime is plunging incredibly fast across a wide swath of the country so far in 2025. There's still time for these trends to change, but the first 3+ months of 2025 have likely brought an enormous decline in crime. New this week: jasher.substack.com/p/crime-is-l...
Reposted by Mark Obbie
I think this is the best one I’ve seen so far.
March 26, 2025 at 3:12 PM
I think this is the best one I’ve seen so far.
Reposted by Mark Obbie
I'm not saying anything novel here but it really is just truly despicable to watch them use THEIR OWN COLOSSAL SCREW UP to slander the reporter THEY INCLUDED ON THEIR CLASSIFIED GROUP CHAT
March 25, 2025 at 11:12 PM
I'm not saying anything novel here but it really is just truly despicable to watch them use THEIR OWN COLOSSAL SCREW UP to slander the reporter THEY INCLUDED ON THEIR CLASSIFIED GROUP CHAT
Reposted by Mark Obbie
"Suddenly, and not accidentally, people who work for the American federal government are having the same experience as people who find themselves living under foreign occupation"
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
There’s a Term for What Trump and Musk Are Doing
How regime change happens in America
www.theatlantic.com
February 14, 2025 at 8:53 AM
"Suddenly, and not accidentally, people who work for the American federal government are having the same experience as people who find themselves living under foreign occupation"
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
"If a nun and a condemned woman could exchange their past lives, might the nun be on death row and the condemned woman in the convent?" The great Lawrence Wright serves as eyewitness to this profound exercise in empathy. What a masterpiece of reporting and writing. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
The Nuns Trying to Save the Women on Texas’s Death Row
Sisters from a convent outside Waco have repeatedly visited the prisoners—and even made them affiliates of their order. The story of a powerful spiritual alliance.
www.newyorker.com
February 11, 2025 at 2:38 PM
"If a nun and a condemned woman could exchange their past lives, might the nun be on death row and the condemned woman in the convent?" The great Lawrence Wright serves as eyewitness to this profound exercise in empathy. What a masterpiece of reporting and writing. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
So we've already moved to the "thought crime" phase. slate.com/news-and-pol...
Pam Bondi Instructs Trump DOJ to Criminally Investigate Companies That Do DEI
Civil rights advocates may well file suit immediately against the Justice Department to secure an injunction.
slate.com
February 6, 2025 at 11:36 AM
So we've already moved to the "thought crime" phase. slate.com/news-and-pol...
Reposted by Mark Obbie
I actually wish the media would stop using "DEI" and "diversity hiring" and just get to the essence of the thing and ask:
"Are you saying that this crash was caused by desegregating the races?"
And see what happens.
"Are you saying that this crash was caused by desegregating the races?"
And see what happens.
REPORTER: Are you saying this crash was somehow was the result of diversity hiring?
TRUMP: It just could have been
TRUMP: It just could have been
January 30, 2025 at 5:25 PM
I actually wish the media would stop using "DEI" and "diversity hiring" and just get to the essence of the thing and ask:
"Are you saying that this crash was caused by desegregating the races?"
And see what happens.
"Are you saying that this crash was caused by desegregating the races?"
And see what happens.
Reposted by Mark Obbie
The most incompetent white people on earth blaming black and brown people for a plane crash is peak weak whiteness.
January 30, 2025 at 6:34 PM
The most incompetent white people on earth blaming black and brown people for a plane crash is peak weak whiteness.
When James Forman writes about the life and work of David Muhammad to humanize a critical data point — how juvenile crime dropped in sync with juvenile imprisonment — you know it's going to be a smart and compelling read.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/m...
What Happened When America Emptied Its Youth Prisons
Lessons from a radical 20-year experiment and a quiet triumph of public policy.
www.nytimes.com
January 29, 2025 at 6:16 PM
When James Forman writes about the life and work of David Muhammad to humanize a critical data point — how juvenile crime dropped in sync with juvenile imprisonment — you know it's going to be a smart and compelling read.
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/m...
"Why is it so far-fetched to have a permanent office that thinks about this issue across government and agencies, in both the short and long term?" www.thetrace.org/2025/01/whit...
Biden’s Gun Violence Prevention Office Is Empty. Here’s How Its Work Can Continue Under Trump.
Greg Jackson says there's still momentum for countering the crisis — it just might come from outside the White House.
www.thetrace.org
January 22, 2025 at 11:46 AM
"Why is it so far-fetched to have a permanent office that thinks about this issue across government and agencies, in both the short and long term?" www.thetrace.org/2025/01/whit...
Reposted by Mark Obbie
The new administration took down the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention website: www.whitehouse.gov/ogvp/
January 21, 2025 at 11:55 AM
The new administration took down the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention website: www.whitehouse.gov/ogvp/
Reposted by Mark Obbie
Feeling safer already 😔
January 21, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Feeling safer already 😔
Reposted by Mark Obbie
Sergeant Gonell @sergeantaqgo.bsky.social sent me this picture. This is his call log. Each call is an automated Dept of "Justice" notification saying "The defendant you testified against is being released from the dept of corrections."
Each defendant assaulted him.
Each defendant assaulted him.
January 21, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Sergeant Gonell @sergeantaqgo.bsky.social sent me this picture. This is his call log. Each call is an automated Dept of "Justice" notification saying "The defendant you testified against is being released from the dept of corrections."
Each defendant assaulted him.
Each defendant assaulted him.
As my valedictory, I made a list of the stories that I devoted the past 20 years of my work life to producing — and explained what I was trying to prove.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Mark Obbie article archive, 2004-2024
FREELANCE ARTICLE ARCHIVE, 2004-2024 MARK OBBIE markobbie@gmail.com In 2004, I left my position as executive editor of The American Lawyer magazine in Manhattan to work full time as a freelance repor...
docs.google.com
January 17, 2025 at 8:50 PM
As my valedictory, I made a list of the stories that I devoted the past 20 years of my work life to producing — and explained what I was trying to prove.
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Whenever I begin to lose hope that Americans have lost all media literacy skills, the work by @newsguard.bsky.social gives me hope that the disinformation peddlers will be called to account. www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/la-wildfir...
LA Wildfires Spawn Bizarre Claims
Plus: Doctored MSNBC Video Shows Anchors Joyful Over Ukrainian Deaths; ‘Fogvid-24’: A New Foggy Health Conspiracy
www.newsguardrealitycheck.com
January 13, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Whenever I begin to lose hope that Americans have lost all media literacy skills, the work by @newsguard.bsky.social gives me hope that the disinformation peddlers will be called to account. www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/la-wildfir...
Great thread. Too bad the dipshits who celebrate with their finger on a trigger won't see it or care.
Several people around the country were hit by celebratory gunfire on New Year’s Eve.
In a country with 400 million guns, this happens every New Year’s and 4th of July.
Lives were lost: 🧵
In a country with 400 million guns, this happens every New Year’s and 4th of July.
Lives were lost: 🧵
January 3, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Great thread. Too bad the dipshits who celebrate with their finger on a trigger won't see it or care.