Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Ella K

Greg Pak

@gregpak.net

BTW when I say abolish ICE, I mean abolish it entirely and replace it with exactly nothing. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. That's it.

January 25, 2026 at 2:32 AM

Reposted by Ella K

Kat Tenbarge

@kattenbarge.bsky.social

All the anti-war and anti-occupation protestors were right. All the far leftists were right. All the “woke scolds” and your friend who’s “too woke” were right. They were somehow even more right than they may have realized at the time. But really, it was always obvious they were right.

January 25, 2026 at 4:59 PM

Reposted by Ella K

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick

@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social

You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.

1. I am a resident of the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am over 18 years of age. I am a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting.
2. On Saturday, January 24, 2026, at about 8:50 am, I was getting ready to go to work when I heard whistles outside. I knew the whistles meant that ICE agents were in the area, so I decided to check it out on my way to work. I've been involved in observing in my community because it is so important to document what ICE is doing to my neighbors. Connecting to your local community and knowing who your neighbors are is something I profoundly value.
3. I drove to Nicollet Ave. and 26th where I could hear the whistles coming from. I turned south onto Nicollet. There were already several ICE agents there and they'd set up a sort of vehicle convoy on Nicollet and 28th. There were also about 15 observers there, recording and observing ICE.
4. I saw ICE agents surrounding cars and punching car windows. I also saw them stopping vehicles further down Nicollet, so I backed up because I didn't feel safe continuing on.
5. I noticed a man sort of acting to help traffic move more smoothly. He helped me find a place to park. I got out with my whistle and my camera. I went over to him and said something like, "I'm going to film and use my whistle."
6. It seemed like most ICE activity was happening a little farther down the street from us, near 27th. Someone was being thrown to the ground.

7. I started recording. There was an agent by a car across the street. Two observers were a few feet away from the agent, blowing their whistles. One was wearing a backpack.
8. I and the man who was observing and helping direct traffic were standing in the street. There was a phone in the man's hand recording a video.
9. An agent approached and asked us to back up, so I moved slowly back onto the sidewalk.
10. The man stayed in the street, filming as the other observers I mentioned earlier were being forced backward by another ICE agent threatening them with pepper spray. The man went closer to support them as they got threatened, just with his camera out. I didn't see him reach for or hold a gun.
11. Then the ICE agent shoved one of the other observers to the ground. Then he started pepper spraying all three of them directly in the face and all over. The man with the phone put his hands above his head and the agent sprayed him again and pushed him.
12. Then the man tried to help up the woman the ICE agent had shoved to the ground. The ICE agents just kept spraying. More agents came over and grabbed the man who was still trying to help the woman get up. All three of the observers looked to have been badly affected by the pepper spray. I could feel the pepper spray in my eyes.

13. The agents pulled the man on the ground. I didn't see him touch any of them-he wasn't even turned toward them. It didn't look like he was trying to resist, just trying to help the woman up. I didn't see him with a gun. They threw him to the ground. Four or five agents had him on the ground and they just started shooting him. They shot him so many times.
14.1 don't know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him.
15. The video I recorded of what happened accurately depicts the events leading up to the agents shooting him and several minutes afterwards. The video is attached as Exhibit 1.
16. I have read the statement from DHS about what happened and it is wrong. The man did not approach the agents with a gun. He approached them with a camera. He was just trying to help a woman get up and they took him to the ground.
17. I feel afraid. Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don't know what the agents will do when they find me. I do know that they're not telling the truth about what happened. I've heard that other witnesses might have been arrested and taken to the Whipple Building.
18. I am disgusted and gutted at how they are treating my neighbors and my state. I keep alternating between crying and feeling determined it is important to remember the value of documenting injustice. We show up for the people who need us to bear

witness, because it can't just be one group of people bearing the brunt of their tyranny. This is a struggle to protect our freedom and democracy, those things are on the line. He lost his life for those values.
I declare under penalty of perjury that everything I have stated in this document is true and correct.

Dated and signed on Jan 24, 2026 in Hennepin County, State of Minnesota.

January 25, 2026 at 1:15 AM

Reposted by Ella K

Prisonculture

@prisonculture.bsky.social

I think a lot of us get hope wrong. Hope, I do not believe, is an emotion. In fact, hope makes space for lots of emotions to exist alongside it. You can DO hope scared, angry, sad etc...

Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.

January 25, 2026 at 2:05 AM

Reposted by Ella K

ashley fairbanks

@ziibiing.com

this photo. minneapolis. 💜

📷️ Alex Kormann/Star Tribune

photo of march, signs for renee good and against ICe, crowded street.

January 23, 2026 at 10:04 PM

Reposted by Ella K

Harsha Walia

@harshawalia.bsky.social

Since so many people are fangirling over Carney's supposed "historic" speech in Davos, I want to offer an alternative reading.

This is not left cynicism, but a sober reading of imperial positioning in this moment.

1) Carney squarely positioned Canada as a middle power.

January 21, 2026 at 10:06 PM

Reposted by Ella K

the Mountain Goats

@themountaingoats.bsky.social

remind ourselves each day / what we crawled up from & who we are

Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 3d

There's an otherwise unreleased Mountain Goats song in a John Hodgman audiobook. An otherwise unreleased Mountain Goats song in one episode of a newsradio show. An otherwise unreleased Mountain Goats song in a Joyful Noise session.

"all God's creatures freeze up / when you flip the high beams on"

the Mountain Goats - Almost Live from Joyful Noise

YouTube video by Joyful Noise Recordings

www.youtube.com

January 22, 2026 at 3:30 AM

Reposted by Ella K

Kat Tenbarge

@kattenbarge.bsky.social

It’s infuriating how many people claim to care about fictitious “child trafficking” conspiracies about trans people and Wayfair and Democrats but will miss, ignore, and distract from actual government agents kidnapping children in front of their very eyes

January 22, 2026 at 2:14 AM

Reposted by Ella K

Dan Sheehan

@dansheehan.bsky.social

It's particularly galling to call for ICE to wear body cams when Renee Good's murder literally recorded the whole thing on his phone. He was so confident in his impunity as part of that organization that he recorded and allowed for the release of footage of him shooting a woman at point blank.

January 16, 2026 at 7:54 PM

Reposted by Ella K

"yes, not actually a reindeer" 🏳️‍⚧️

@pavlovforgoths.com

the discourse on what jobs are acceptable to replace with generative AI reveals a lot about what we think of other people's jobs

recently my friend's comics professor told her that it's acceptable to use gen AI for script-writing but not for art, since a machine can't generate meaningful artistic work. meanwhile, my sister's screenwriting professor said that they can use gen AI for concept art and visualization, but that it won't be able to generate a script that's any good. and at my job, it seems like each department says that AI can be useful in every field except the one that they know best.

It's only ever the jobs we're unfamiliar with that we assume can be replaced with automation. The more attuned we are with certain processes, crafts, and occupations, the more we realize that gen AI will never be able to provide a suitable replacement. The case for its existence lies on our ignorance of the work and skill required to do everything we don't.

By magicmosshka, yesterday's

January 9, 2026 at 6:48 AM

Reposted by Ella K

Claire Willett

@clairewillett.bsky.social

thank you to Jennifer for this thread. in sum: seems increasingly problematic to use the word "widow"

Jennifer K. @pdxjenni.bsky.social · 16d

Inspired by a recent post from @clairewillett.bsky.social, allow me to share some facts about Renee Nicole Good that I found last night in public records that are appearing in few, if any, articles about her. Keep in mind this took me HALF AN HOUR to find & is 100% public records.

January 9, 2026 at 1:16 AM

Reposted by Ella K

William C.

@williamcson.bsky.social

Once you understand that you're dealing with murderous liars, you stop entertaining what they say as possibly credible and legitimate. The fight against them is about stopping them from terrorizing and killing by any means, not winning debates about your reality versus theirs.

January 8, 2026 at 4:04 PM

Reposted by Ella K

Jack Mirkinson

@jackmirkinson.bsky.social

tapping the sign www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Politics / June 18, 2025
Abolishing ICE Is the Bare Minimum
ICE agents aren’t out of control. They are performing their designed role as fascism’s storm troopers.

January 7, 2026 at 6:26 PM

Reposted by Ella K

the Mountain Goats

@themountaingoats.bsky.social

losing my mind at the "she should have followed directions" people

really? really? you're cool with "if you don't follow directions, they get to kill you"? that seems like a good state of affairs to you? that seems like how law enforcement ought to work: instant obeisance or death?

January 7, 2026 at 6:25 PM

Reposted by Ella K

Tyler Shipley

@shipster.bsky.social

empire wants a war,
drop those elbows to the floor

January 3, 2026 at 10:19 PM

Reposted by Ella K

Tom Cox

@dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social

THREAD. In her exclusive interview in today's Daily Telegraph Magazine, the actor, influencer and designer Philippa Islington-Smythe (pictured) discusses the price of fame, her controversial new perfume, working with Margot Robbie and how becoming a parent changed her perspective on the world...

Philippa Islington-Smythe - aka my cat Roscoe - hanging out at home

November 14, 2025 at 12:51 PM

Reposted by Ella K

Gillian Branstetter

@gbbranstetter.bsky.social

Love this from Guillermo del Toro

“Be kind, be involved, believe in your art,” he said. “At a time when people tell you art is not important, that is always the prelude to fascism. When they tell you it doesn’t matter, when they tell you a fucking app can do art you say, if it’s that important, why the fuck do they want it so bad? The answer is because they think they can debase everything that makes us a little better, a little more human. And that, in my book, and in my life, includes monsters.”

January 5, 2026 at 2:16 AM

Reposted by Ella K

maura quint

@mauraquint.bsky.social

My whole life, advocating war has been fed to me as “the adult position,” akin to drinking your coffee black or reading the business section of the newspaper. Let’s be very clear — war is the childish nonsense of impulsive destructive idiots playing baby-brained video games with real human lives.

January 4, 2026 at 2:02 AM

Reposted by Ella K

Peter

@notalawyer.bsky.social

first as tragedy then as farce. then as farce again. then farce one more time. a little more farce after that. then some farce. and then another farce and more farce after

July 11, 2024 at 6:10 PM