Shirley L. Smith
@shirleysmithvi.bsky.social
Independent Investigative Reporter. Published: South Florida PBS, NY Amsterdam News, Mississippi Today, MS Center for Investigative Reporting, The Guardian, Atlanta Journal-Constitution & more. Reposts not endorsements. shirleysmithblog.wordpress.com
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
“Raskin also said that he saw ‘references to 17-year-old girls, 16-year-old girls, 14-year-old girls, 11-year-old girls, 10-year-old girls, and I saw a reference today to a 9-year-old girl. So it is a really gruesome and grim story.’“ www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Trump administration live updates: Lawmakers view unredacted Epstein files at Justice Department
Trump administration live updates: Congress members may begin viewing unredacted Epstein files at DOJ
www.nbcnews.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:39 PM
“Raskin also said that he saw ‘references to 17-year-old girls, 16-year-old girls, 14-year-old girls, 11-year-old girls, 10-year-old girls, and I saw a reference today to a 9-year-old girl. So it is a really gruesome and grim story.’“ www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Profound speech by @donlemonofficial.bsky.social:
"Every right that exists today, it exists because someone refused to be silent. Because someone told the truth when silence would have been safer. Comfort is a poison."
youtu.be/aq3DL0M5b0M?...
"Every right that exists today, it exists because someone refused to be silent. Because someone told the truth when silence would have been safer. Comfort is a poison."
youtu.be/aq3DL0M5b0M?...
Don Lemon Speech at the HRC New York Dinner | 2026
YouTube video by Human Rights Campaign
youtu.be
February 10, 2026 at 3:40 AM
Profound speech by @donlemonofficial.bsky.social:
"Every right that exists today, it exists because someone refused to be silent. Because someone told the truth when silence would have been safer. Comfort is a poison."
youtu.be/aq3DL0M5b0M?...
"Every right that exists today, it exists because someone refused to be silent. Because someone told the truth when silence would have been safer. Comfort is a poison."
youtu.be/aq3DL0M5b0M?...
Profound speech by @donlemonofficial.bsky.social:
"I am here to testify in the way that journalists testify by saying plainly that truth matters, witness matters, and silence has never been neutral." Lemon added, "When reporters are silenced, citizens are blinded."
youtu.be/aq3DL0M5b0M?...
"I am here to testify in the way that journalists testify by saying plainly that truth matters, witness matters, and silence has never been neutral." Lemon added, "When reporters are silenced, citizens are blinded."
youtu.be/aq3DL0M5b0M?...
Don Lemon Speech at the HRC New York Dinner | 2026
YouTube video by Human Rights Campaign
youtu.be
February 10, 2026 at 3:29 AM
Profound speech by @donlemonofficial.bsky.social:
"I am here to testify in the way that journalists testify by saying plainly that truth matters, witness matters, and silence has never been neutral." Lemon added, "When reporters are silenced, citizens are blinded."
youtu.be/aq3DL0M5b0M?...
"I am here to testify in the way that journalists testify by saying plainly that truth matters, witness matters, and silence has never been neutral." Lemon added, "When reporters are silenced, citizens are blinded."
youtu.be/aq3DL0M5b0M?...
@pbsnews.org reports: Hong Kong democracy advocate & former media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is 78, was sentenced to 20 yrs. in prison by a Beijing-backed court. "It is the longest sentence handed down under China’s national security law that has effectively silenced dissent."
youtu.be/QOuGG6fBggM?...
youtu.be/QOuGG6fBggM?...
Jimmy Lai sentenced to 20 years in prison by Beijing-backed court
YouTube video by PBS NewsHour
youtu.be
February 10, 2026 at 2:03 AM
@pbsnews.org reports: Hong Kong democracy advocate & former media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who is 78, was sentenced to 20 yrs. in prison by a Beijing-backed court. "It is the longest sentence handed down under China’s national security law that has effectively silenced dissent."
youtu.be/QOuGG6fBggM?...
youtu.be/QOuGG6fBggM?...
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
Israel has partially reopened the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, but it has allowed only dozens of people to enter Egypt for medical care. Some 20,000 Palestinians require urgent medical evacuation from the destroyed enclave.
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/9/gaza_update
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/9/gaza_update
February 9, 2026 at 9:06 PM
Israel has partially reopened the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, but it has allowed only dozens of people to enter Egypt for medical care. Some 20,000 Palestinians require urgent medical evacuation from the destroyed enclave.
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/9/gaza_update
https://www.democracynow.org/2026/2/9/gaza_update
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
Ossoff: "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? The president posting about the Obamas like a Klansman."
February 7, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Ossoff: "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? The president posting about the Obamas like a Klansman."
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
BREAKING: The Epstein survivors are releasing this ad on this Super Bowl Sunday to send the message that they will not “move on” from the largest sex trafficking scandal in the world. #standwithsurvivors
February 8, 2026 at 5:07 PM
BREAKING: The Epstein survivors are releasing this ad on this Super Bowl Sunday to send the message that they will not “move on” from the largest sex trafficking scandal in the world. #standwithsurvivors
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
It turns out it’s shockingly easy for the FBI or the Department of Homeland Security to get into your phone or your email account, even if you’ve committed no crime and done nothing wrong. I’m sharing two stories that are cautionary tales for all of us. Please share. youtube.com/shorts/hZtNj...
PSA: How FBI and DHS can access your phone or email account
YouTube video by Lawyer Oyer
youtube.com
February 6, 2026 at 1:02 PM
It turns out it’s shockingly easy for the FBI or the Department of Homeland Security to get into your phone or your email account, even if you’ve committed no crime and done nothing wrong. I’m sharing two stories that are cautionary tales for all of us. Please share. youtube.com/shorts/hZtNj...
Columbia Journalism School reminds "journalists and the public of their rights to record public events, to be free from government retaliation and to assert journalist privilege–even when government authorities attempt to intimidate or silence reporting."
journalism.columbia.edu/news/cjs-res...
journalism.columbia.edu/news/cjs-res...
Columbia Journalism School’s Response to the Arrests of Don Lemon and Georgia Fort | Columbia Journalism School
journalism.columbia.edu
February 7, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Columbia Journalism School reminds "journalists and the public of their rights to record public events, to be free from government retaliation and to assert journalist privilege–even when government authorities attempt to intimidate or silence reporting."
journalism.columbia.edu/news/cjs-res...
journalism.columbia.edu/news/cjs-res...
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
"Elections are supposed to be sacred in any functioning democracy, and that the president of the United States is the one making the call to disparage them and try to rig the system is really alarming," says Kimberly Atkins Stohr. https://to.pbs.org/4raMw56
Atkins Stohr and Parker on political fallout from Trump’s call to ‘nationalize’ elections
Kimberly Atkins Stohr of The Boston Globe and Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post join Geoff Bennett to discuss the week in politics, including the fallout from President Trump’s call to “nationali...
to.pbs.org
February 7, 2026 at 4:02 AM
"Elections are supposed to be sacred in any functioning democracy, and that the president of the United States is the one making the call to disparage them and try to rig the system is really alarming," says Kimberly Atkins Stohr. https://to.pbs.org/4raMw56
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
"The Washington Post deserves a better owner than this."
Former global opinion editor @karenattiah.bsky.social slams billionaire Jeff Bezos for gutting the storied newspaper.
Former global opinion editor @karenattiah.bsky.social slams billionaire Jeff Bezos for gutting the storied newspaper.
February 6, 2026 at 1:52 PM
"The Washington Post deserves a better owner than this."
Former global opinion editor @karenattiah.bsky.social slams billionaire Jeff Bezos for gutting the storied newspaper.
Former global opinion editor @karenattiah.bsky.social slams billionaire Jeff Bezos for gutting the storied newspaper.
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
Here is the video of Hakeem Jeffries saying "fuck Donald Trump" for posting that racist video of the Obamas. (originally from his official Instagram account) www.instagram.com/reel/DUbeoy5...
February 6, 2026 at 10:05 PM
Here is the video of Hakeem Jeffries saying "fuck Donald Trump" for posting that racist video of the Obamas. (originally from his official Instagram account) www.instagram.com/reel/DUbeoy5...
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
WTF!! America…where the president gets away with racism! Trump just posted a video of President Obama and Michelle Obama portraying Black people as monkeys! Racism in its ugliest form!
Trump didn't make America racist... He made racists feel comfortable enough to show their racism in public!
Trump didn't make America racist... He made racists feel comfortable enough to show their racism in public!
February 6, 2026 at 10:42 AM
WTF!! America…where the president gets away with racism! Trump just posted a video of President Obama and Michelle Obama portraying Black people as monkeys! Racism in its ugliest form!
Trump didn't make America racist... He made racists feel comfortable enough to show their racism in public!
Trump didn't make America racist... He made racists feel comfortable enough to show their racism in public!
Thanks for your support @freedom.press. Journalists must pushback against any attempts by those in power - locally & nationally - to stifle the media because every time they succeed, it emboldens others to follow suit, which can lead to the dismantling of democracy & a government-controlled media.
The U.S. Virgin Islands always deserve transparency but especially when they're at the center of national news like the Epstein case.
We spoke to journalist @shirleysmithvi.bsky.social about her efforts to fix the territory's archaic public records laws.
We spoke to journalist @shirleysmithvi.bsky.social about her efforts to fix the territory's archaic public records laws.
A journalist’s campaign to fix public records law in the U.S. Virgin Islands
If journalists don’t advocate for their own rights, who will?
freedom.press
February 6, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Thanks for your support @freedom.press. Journalists must pushback against any attempts by those in power - locally & nationally - to stifle the media because every time they succeed, it emboldens others to follow suit, which can lead to the dismantling of democracy & a government-controlled media.
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
wow -- with Trump standing behind him, a man (not sure who he is) offers this prayer: "We pray that he would be mindful of the poor and that he would be invested in the alleviation of suffering happening in the families preparing to bury their loved ones in Minneapolis."
February 5, 2026 at 3:24 PM
wow -- with Trump standing behind him, a man (not sure who he is) offers this prayer: "We pray that he would be mindful of the poor and that he would be invested in the alleviation of suffering happening in the families preparing to bury their loved ones in Minneapolis."
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
Reposted by Shirley L. Smith
DHS Secretary says filming ICE is illegal and amounts to doxxing.
They’re absolutely wrong.
Recording law enforcement in public spaces is protected by the First Amendment — and courts have affirmed that right time and again.
Watch @freedom.press’s @trevortimm.bsky.social explain.
They’re absolutely wrong.
Recording law enforcement in public spaces is protected by the First Amendment — and courts have affirmed that right time and again.
Watch @freedom.press’s @trevortimm.bsky.social explain.
February 4, 2026 at 8:17 PM
DHS Secretary says filming ICE is illegal and amounts to doxxing.
They’re absolutely wrong.
Recording law enforcement in public spaces is protected by the First Amendment — and courts have affirmed that right time and again.
Watch @freedom.press’s @trevortimm.bsky.social explain.
They’re absolutely wrong.
Recording law enforcement in public spaces is protected by the First Amendment — and courts have affirmed that right time and again.
Watch @freedom.press’s @trevortimm.bsky.social explain.