Jake Godin
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godin.bsky.social
Jake Godin
@godin.bsky.social
Senior Researcher, Bellingcat. Previously at Scripps News.
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New SkySat imagery from Planet Labs over northern Gaza from Dec 5 shows extensive damage to the Beit Lahia Cemetery after the IDF cleared two paths through the middle of it.

🧵 I have a cemetery destruction thread on Twitter that I'll re-post to Bluesky for tracking purposes.

CC: @geoconfirmed.org
Reposted by Jake Godin
3 Salvadoran men sent to CECOT by the Trump administration are still being held incommunicado there

They haven't been able to talk to their families or attorneys since arriving in March

apnews.com/article/el-s...
Human rights commission calls on El Salvador to protect 3 deported men it imprisoned
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is calling on El Salvador to protect the rights of three Salvadoran men deported by the United States.
apnews.com
November 19, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
wrote about the president’s flagrant and destructive corruption in a column that references street fighter, the simpsons, machiavelli, and a host of revolutionary-era americans (gift link)
Opinion | The White House Gold Rush Is On
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by Jake Godin
The @wsj.com drops results of a major investigation into Syria's mass graves. The numbers are staggering.

www.wsj.com/world/middle...
Bodies Keep Turning Up in Syria, Haunting New Leaders
In the months after the fall of the Assad regime, Syrians have continued to discover large-scale burial sites, sometimes by chance. “Everyone who’s missing now…they’re buried in the ground somewhere.”
www.wsj.com
November 19, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Reposted by Jake Godin
The National Press Club (of which I'm a board member) "is deeply troubled by President Trump's comments today regarding the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi." www.press.org/newsroom/nation...
National Press Club Statement on President Trump’s Remarks on the Murder of Jamal Khashoggi
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 – The National Press Club is deeply troubled by President Trump’s comments today regarding the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Khashoggi’s murder inside a diplomatic facility was a grave violation of human rights and a direct attack on press freedom. That fact is not in dispute. For reporters around the world — and for those who risk their lives to report on powerful figures, governments, and global events — statements that appear to minimize or excuse the killing of a journalist have real-world consequences. They can embolden those who wish to silence reporters, and they can undermine the essential principle that journalists must be able to work without fear of violence or retribution. The National Press Club stands with Jamal Khashoggi’s family, with our colleagues at The Washington Post, and with journalists everywhere who continue to do their jobs under threat. Mr. Khashoggi’s death was a tragedy and a crime. His life and work deserve truth, transparency, and unwavering recognition of the principles he upheld. We urge all world leaders — including our own — to speak with moral clarity about the protection of journalists and to reinforce the universal commitment that a free press is indispensable to a free society. About the National Press Club Founded in 1908, the National Press Club is the world’s leading professional organization for journalists. With 2,500 members, the Club, through its Press Freedom Center, is a leading voice for press freedom in the U.S. and worldwide. Contact: Bill McCarren, 202-662-7534, media@press.org for the National Press Club Center for Press Freedom
www.press.org
November 19, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Reposted by Jake Godin
The Post is keeping an updating map and list of the Trump administration’s extrajudicial killings in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific (Gift link)

wapo.st/4oNn8RJ
Mapping U.S. strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific
An ongoing record of U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since Sept. 2.
wapo.st
November 18, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
Pleased to speak with Patty Nieberg about the Trump administration's practice of designating criminal entities as "foreign terrorist organizations."

"[P]olitically, this administration has used these designations to pave the way for military action."
November 18, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
Occasional reminder that not only is the use of force illegal in this situation, so is the *threat* of the use of force.
November 15, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
NEW: DHS launched a $200mln+ ad campaign, featuring, Kristi Noem, aimed at stemming illegal immigration.

We found the firm secretly hired for the work has ties to Noem.

@justinelliott.bsky.social, @josh-kaplan.bsky.social & @amierjeski.bsky.social:

www.propublica.org/article/kris...
November 14, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Reposted by Jake Godin
Streets have been renamed, Ukrainian monuments removed, and murals painted over. Bellingcat investigates how apartment blocks in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol have been demolished to make way for a new Russian suburban utopia… www.bellingcat.com/uncategorize...
Building on Ruins: The Russification of Mariupol, One Apartment Block at a Time - bellingcat
Bellingcat has identified 23 multi-storey housing complexes being built in occupied Mariupol and advertised for sale to Russian citizens.
www.bellingcat.com
November 14, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Reposted by Jake Godin
brian is doing the lord's work going to every media outlet and just saying "it's usually illegal to kill people"
Please to speak with @the-independent.com about the boat strikes and the law.

“The term for premeditated killing outside of armed conflict is murder. And the Trump administration has not established that these strikes are taking place in an armed conflict.”

DOJ: US forces following orders.
Experts doubt legal memo shields troops from prosecution over Trump’s boat strikes
November 14, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Reposted by Jake Godin
SecState has views on international law and the boat strikes it seems.

It is not just the Europeans, but a range of former USG national security lawyers—including former State Department attorneys—who have criticized these maritime strikes as unlawful.
US Secretary of State yesterday:

“I don’t think the European Union gets to determine what international law is. What they certainly don’t get to determine is how the United States defends its national security."

Source: x.com/StateDept/st...

@bcfinucane.bsky.social
November 13, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
Fancy a challenge? Check out our latest puzzles on our Bellingcat Open Source Challenge website. This month's challenges are all about geolocating using 3D models.
Managed to solve them? Share your working out with us below- but try to avoid spoiling the answers for others! challenge.bellingcat.com
Bellingcat Open Source Challenge
Test your open source research skills.
challenge.bellingcat.com
November 13, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
Even with ceasefire in Gaza the IDF continues its urbicide.

Israel argues it is all terror infrastructure.

Some analysts say 'Israel could be violating the laws of war, which prohibit the destruction of civilian property by an occupying power.'

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

@godin.bsky.social
November 12, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Reposted by Jake Godin
For folks (and journalists) who want to search the Oversight Committee email texts, I made a database for searching the 20k text files:

splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
Epstein Document Search
splendorous-chaja-f79791.netlify.app
November 13, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Reposted by Jake Godin
In the UK this week? Join Bellingcat contributor Dr. Ollie Ballinger at the @britishlibrary.bsky.social for a talk this Friday as he unpacks our investigations into, and the open source tools we built to track suspicious ships operating in international waters. events.bl.uk/events/onlin...
The Lie of the Land: Who Controls the Map? | British Library
Technologist Ed Parsons, Dr Ollie Ballinger and Dr Pragya Agarwal join cultural geographer Mike Duggan in this panel conversation to explore how maps and c
events.bl.uk
November 11, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Reposted by Jake Godin
NEW: Former federal employees released another Shadow Report—this time on the State Dept's Women, Peace, and Security program—after the US gov failed to deliver its report to Congress, which it was legally obligated to do by 10/31 per the 2017 WPS Act (co-sponsored by Rubio and signed by Trump).
November 7, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
Further shocking but completely unsurprising revelations of how the Biden administration disregarded US law to continue virtually unconditional arms transfers to Israel for the slaughter in Gaza.

www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...
November 7, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
AP reporter Regina Garcia Cano looked into a few of the men killed in Trump's extrajudicial strikes on Caribbean boats.

"They were laborers, a fisherman, a taxi driver. Two were low-level career criminals. One was a local crime boss who contracted out smuggling services"

apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump has accused boat crews of being narco-terrorists. The truth, AP found, is more nuanced
One was a fisherman struggling to eke out a living on $100 a month. Another was a career criminal. A third was a former military cadet.
apnews.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
A viral online video, which claims to show "Ukrainian soldiers" threaten to kill Charlie Kirk's wife Erika Kirk, is fake.

Not only do the "soldiers" in the clip speak Ukrainian with a notably strong Russian accent, but it has hallmarks of a Russian disinformation campaign known as Storm-1516.
November 7, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
Do I have anybody following me who has knowledge about airsoft guns? I'm looking at something in relation to an analysis and would like a second opinion.
November 7, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
This story is infinitely more important than GTA getting delayed. Don't let me catch you moaning about waiting longer for a video game if you're not mad about why it happened.
November 7, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Reposted by Jake Godin
And here's a YouTube link. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oj0P...
"Rovina's Choice" Shows How The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
YouTube video by The New Yorker
www.youtube.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
Today @TheNewYorker released our short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” online.

It traces the ongoing effects of the sudden shutdown of US foreign aid through the story of one mother in Kenya as she seeks to save her daughter from sickness and starvation. 🎥 1/ www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
www.newyorker.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
"Israel attacked first."

This admission undercuts the Trump administration's collective self-defense justification for joining Israel's military campaign against Iran over the summer.
Trump: "Israel attacked first. That attack was very very powerful. I was very much in charge of that. When Israel attacked Iran first, that was a great day for Israel."
November 6, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by Jake Godin
🚨🚨🚨 The jury has reached a verdict. Sean Dunn, aka the DC Sandwich Guy, has been found NOT GUILTY of assault.
November 6, 2025 at 7:25 PM