Erol Akcay
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akcay.theoretical.bio
Erol Akcay
@akcay.theoretical.bio
3.9K followers 3.7K following 340 posts

Ecology, evolution, and social dynamics at the University of Pennsylvania. He/him
https://akcay.theoretical.bio

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akcay.theoretical.bio
Erol Akcay @akcay.theoretical.bio · Nov 6
I deleted my twitter/X account. I am now only on here and (rarely) on Mastodon.

Reposted by David M. Farrell, Steve Peers, Caroline Krafft , and 14 more

reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 10h
In the last month ICE has bought warehouses in:

- Hagerstown, MD: $102 million
- Surprise, AZ: $70 million
- Hamburg, PA: $87 million
- Tremont, PA: $120 million
- San Antonio, TX: $82 million
- El Paso, TX: $123 million
- Social Circle, GA: price unknown

This is unprecedented.

Reposted by Erol Akçay, Colin Woodard, David Darmofal

charlesornstein.bsky.social
Charles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 14h
Such an important story: ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the U.S. and the fear of what comes next.
@micarosenberg.bsky.social
The Kids Trump Sent to ICE’s Dilley Detention Center
ProPublica went inside the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. Children held there told us about the anguish of being ripped from their lives in the United States and the fear of...
www.propublica.org

Reposted by Will Jennings, Steve Peers, Erol Akçay , and 2 more

sirosenbaum.bsky.social
sirosenbaum.bsky.social @sirosenbaum.bsky.social · 15h
In Boston ICE randomly pulled over this huge white Irish guy with a Mass drivers license, 20 years in the states, legal status, pending green card and have held him for 5 months, his citizen wife paid a $4k bond that was ignored(!) ICE forged his signature on deportation agreement, no appeal
joenoonan.bsky.social Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 21h
Kerryman who is married, living and working legally in the United States for >20 years has been incarcerated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) since September 2025.

Profoundly disturbing report by Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘Absolute hell’: Irish man with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record
www.irishtimes.com

Reposted by Erol Akçay

micarosenberg.bsky.social
Mica Rosenberg @micarosenberg.bsky.social · 16h
9-year-old Maria Antonia Guerra from Colombia was detained on her way to Disney World. She told me when I met her that what was supposed to be a 10-day dream vacation to the park’s Halloween celebration turned into a 100+ day nightmare at Dilley. 6/

Reposted by Erol Akçay, David Darmofal

micarosenberg.bsky.social
Mica Rosenberg @micarosenberg.bsky.social · 16h
This is 18-mo-old Amalia waving to me when she was detained.

She was hospitalized with a respiratory infection while at ICE’s Dilley facility for immigrant families.

She’s one of dozens of detainees who I spoke to via video and phone calls, letters and an in-person visit. 🧵1/

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Ben H. Ansell, David M. Farrell , and 6 more

joenoonan.bsky.social
Joe Noonan @joenoonan.bsky.social · 21h
Kerryman who is married, living and working legally in the United States for >20 years has been incarcerated by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) since September 2025.

Profoundly disturbing report by Karlin Lillington @klillington.bsky.social
www.irishtimes.com/world/us/202...
‘Absolute hell’: Irish man with valid US work permit held by Ice since September
Seamus Culleton has been in a detention facility in Texas for nearly five months despite having no criminal record
www.irishtimes.com

Reposted by Erol Akçay, Anne Norton, Dean Eckles , and 6 more

whstancil.bsky.social
Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d
Here’s the situation in the Twin Cities:

Random Bovino-style tear-gassing: Way down

Relentless persecution of immigrants: Unchanged

Thuggish violence against observers: Way up

Reposted by Erol Akçay, Nancy Langston

juhneenhowe.bsky.social
juhneenhow she/her @juhneenhowe.bsky.social · 1d
We are in a small community outside Minneapolis and a child arrived to an empty house on Friday. No parents, ice kidnapped them and just leave children to wander alone after school

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Jason Mittell, Elizabeth Saunders , and 13 more

marisakabas.bsky.social
Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 1d
A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:
Just a quick update from the Twin Cities. (Please forgive the unsolicited message). THINGS ARE NOT BETTER IN MINNEAPOLIS. The media is mostly moving on, Trump is focused on other stuff, BUT NOTHING HAS CHANGED ON THE GROUND. More than 2,000 DHS thugs continue to roam the streets, abducting people 24/7, assaulting legal observers with impunity, and routinely denying 1st, 4th, and 5th amendment rights. Drones and helicopters are overhead every day. Hundreds and hundreds of terrified families have not left their homes since mid-December ... relying on the community to bring them food and help with rent and other necessities. (Those people are NOT violent drug cartel sex offending murderers, as DHS would tell you. Most are legal residents or citizens.) If anything, things have just become more stressful and intractable (think trench warfare as a suitable metaphor): The resistance is better organized and numerous, but DHS has become more clever and better at disguise... and the county sheriff's office is increasingly supporting them . Do not let anyone tell you that Homans (the new person in charge of the occupation) is making anything better. Do not let anyone tell you that 700 ICE agents leaving the city has made much of a difference; the remaining force (again, ~2,000) is still larger than the entire city's police force (which is legally unable to do anything). Please call your congressional reps ... especially if there is any chance the administration might listen to them.

Reposted by Mark D. White, Rosemary A. Joyce, Elizabeth Stokoe , and 8 more

kylegriffin1.bsky.social
Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2d
NYT confirming MS NOW reporting:

Prosecutors began investigating Renee Good's killing, then Washington told them to stop.

Federal prosecutors had a warrant to collect evidence from Good's vehicle, but Trump leaders said to drop it. About a dozen prosecutors have since departed.
Prosecutors Began Investigating Renee Good’s Killing. Washington Told Them to Stop.
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Ben Barr, Philip N. Cohen , and 12 more

acyn.bsky.social
Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 2d
Ossoff: We were told that MAGA was for working-class Americans. But this is a government of, by, and for the ultra-rich. It’s the wealthiest Cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class. They are the elites they pretend to hate.

Reposted by Timnit Gebru, Brendan Nyhan, Steve Peers , and 11 more

nkalamb.bsky.social
Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 2d
ICE told nurses this Minneapolis man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.”

What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Alberto Castañeda Mondragón says his memory was so jumbled after a beating by immigration officers that he initially could not remember he had a daughter and still struggles to recall treasured moments like the night he taught her to dance. But the violence he endured last month in Minnesota while being detained is seared into his battered brain. He remembers Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pulling him from a friend’s car on Jan. 8 outside a St. Paul shopping center and throwing him to the ground, handcuffing him, then punching him and striking his head with a steel baton. He remembers being dragged into an SUV and taken to a detention facility, where he said he was beaten again. He also remembers the emergency room and the intense pain from eight skull fractures and five life-threatening brain hemorrhages.

Reposted by Joshua S. Weitz, Jennifer Pett‐Ridge, Alan Richardson , and 6 more

jamellebouie.net
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 2d
"For years, a cottage industry of political observers has contorted itself to obscure and occlude the obvious. That regardless of what others see in him, Trump’s entire political career...cannot be understood outside the context of his bitter, deep-seated racism." (gift link)
Opinion | This Is Just Who Trump Is
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Erol Akçay

jkbjournalist.bsky.social
Julie K. Brown @jkbjournalist.bsky.social · 2d
Here is the FBI's Epstein List
open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...
Here is the FBI's Epstein List
We still don't know what the FBI did to investigate these allegations
open.substack.com

Reposted by Erol Akçay, Matthew Bodie

nicholasbednar.bsky.social
Nick Bednar @nicholasbednar.bsky.social · 2d
Things have not improved. The government won't comply with court orders. Agents are behaving more aggressively. Schools are offering remote learning into April. The tapering of national media coverage has emboldened DHS.

www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Reposted by Daniel W. Drezner, Trevon D. Logan, Alan Richardson , and 5 more

ronfilipkowski.bsky.social
Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 3d
NEW STORY: Trump admits he was the one who found the video and asked that it be posted from his Truth Social account. Refuses to apologize.

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Joe R. Feagin, Erol Akçay , and 2 more

mikehixenbaugh.com
Mike Hixenbaugh @mikehixenbaugh.com · 3d
This is Maria, a 6-year-old detained by ICE last year.

She began to unravel soon after arriving at a detention center in Texas, wetting the bed after years without accidents, crying through the night and begging to breastfeed again.

Most of all, she wanted to be reunited with her cat, Milo. 1/
Photo shows a young girl with her cat

Reposted by Laia Balcells, David R. Miller, Erol Akçay

mcopelov.bsky.social
Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 3d
In a functioning democracy, he would not be president by this evening
Trump Posts Video Portraying Obamas as Apes
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Christopher Wright, Robert C. Richards, Aaron Sojourner , and 4 more

lopatto.bsky.social
Elizabeth Lopatto @lopatto.bsky.social · 3d
I wrote about the Epstein files (gift link) www.theverge.com/tech/874721/...
How the men in the Epstein files defeated #MeToo
The emails show the “anti-woke” crusaders are afraid of accountability.
www.theverge.com

Reposted by Erol Akçay

donmoyn.bsky.social
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 4d
My suggestion is that the NY Times profile politicians who are not just thinking about kids detained by ICE, but actually doing something about it, rather than enabling it.
GOP Senator who can't stop thinking about the boy ICE detained and cannot stop voting for Trump policies

Reposted by Erol Akçay, Stella M. Rouse

carlquintanilla.bsky.social
Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 4d
You want your Gateway project funding? Here’s the price. 🤡

@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
punchbowl.news/article/whit...

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Ben H. Ansell, Dorothy Bishop , and 18 more

kjhealy.co
Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 4d
Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.

akcay.theoretical.bio
Erol Akcay @akcay.theoretical.bio · 5d
Listen to this.
azrww.bsky.social Arizona Right Watch @azrww.bsky.social · 5d
Highlighting the speaker who stood in front of the Surprise mayor and told him to consider what the Mayor of Ohrdruf must’ve thought before he died by suicide: “He might have thought ‘how is this my fault I had no jurisdiction over this’ maybe he said ‘this site was not subject to local zoning.’”

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Dorothy Bishop, Scott L. Greer , and 14 more

azrww.bsky.social
Arizona Right Watch @azrww.bsky.social · 5d
Highlighting the speaker who stood in front of the Surprise mayor and told him to consider what the Mayor of Ohrdruf must’ve thought before he died by suicide: “He might have thought ‘how is this my fault I had no jurisdiction over this’ maybe he said ‘this site was not subject to local zoning.’”

Reposted by Rebecca Solnit, Brendan Nyhan, Caroline Krafft , and 8 more

bzosiad.bsky.social
Becky Zosia Dernbach @bzosiad.bsky.social · 6d
Elizabeth is a Columbia Heights fourth-grader who loves volleyball, learning English and giggling in the halls with her friends. She's been held in the Dilley Immigration Processing Center for nearly a month, and she and her mom have both fallen ill. sahanjournal.com/education/co...
Sick fourth-grader among 4 Columbia Heights students held by ICE
Columbia Heights Public Schools says four students remain detained by ICE after Liam’s return, including 10-year-old Elizabeth, who has fallen ill.
sahanjournal.com

Reposted by Erol Akçay, Nelson Flores

gerikatz.bsky.social
geri katz @gerikatz.bsky.social · 6d
Another reminder that ICE has not eased up on Minnesota. They're abducting kids as young as 2 and disappearing them.
governorwalz.mn.gov Governor Tim Walz @governorwalz.mn.gov · 6d
Minnesota needs to know the number of children in federal detention, who they are, and where they’re being held.

Reposted by Joe R. Feagin, Steve Peers, Gerald Friedman , and 1 more

governorwalz.mn.gov
Governor Tim Walz @governorwalz.mn.gov · 6d
Minnesota needs to know the number of children in federal detention, who they are, and where they’re being held.

Reposted by Stephan Lewandowsky, Joe R. Feagin, Brendan Nyhan , and 27 more

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6d
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.

Reposted by Nicholas A. Christakis, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan , and 9 more

donmoyn.bsky.social
Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 6d
This is absolutely insane: DHS claims the right to subpoena your emails and to send investigators to your house. In this case, because a retiree sent the mildest possible criticism to a prosecutor. No judges involved.
www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon
Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Erol Akçay, David Darmofal

oriion.bsky.social
Orion Rummler @oriion.bsky.social · 7d
A newborn in Minneapolis hadn’t eaten for a day and a half.

ICE agents took her mother when she went to work, trying to make money for diapers.

Her 16-year-old and Bri, a local mother of two, saved that baby's life. @chabeli.bsky.social tells their story
When one mother was taken by ICE, another stepped in to donate breastmilk
Moms in Minneapolis are donating diapers, food and time to help families who have been ripped apart by ICE.
19thnews.org