The Sparrow Project
@thesparrowproject.bsky.social
A grassroots public interest newswire amplifying stories from struggles for social, racial, and environmental justice. Posts by Andy Stepanian.
https://sparrowmedia.net
https://sparrowmedia.net
Pinned
DEVELOPING: There is chatter coming out of the White House that as early as next week Donald Trump may issue as many as 5 Executive Orders targeting US-based nonprofits and civil society organizations.
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
BIG: FBI spied on Signal group chat of immigration activists CourtWatch, classifying them as violent terrorist extremists for quietly sitting in on court cases, as revealed in intel bulletin we obtained & shared w/ @samtlevin.bsky.social @us.theguardian.com. #FOIA www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The FBI spied on a Signal group chat of immigration activists, records reveal
Exclusive: Agency accessed private conversations of New York ‘courtwatch’ group that was observing public hearings
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:13 PM
BIG: FBI spied on Signal group chat of immigration activists CourtWatch, classifying them as violent terrorist extremists for quietly sitting in on court cases, as revealed in intel bulletin we obtained & shared w/ @samtlevin.bsky.social @us.theguardian.com. #FOIA www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
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thank you for all the support; the statement from our union is now live here with some more reporting.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 11:25 PM
thank you for all the support; the statement from our union is now live here with some more reporting.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
now that this is public I can confirm that the majority of today’s layoffs were women of color. there are no longer any Black women working at Teen Vogue.
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
BIG: Federal and local law enforcement agencies spread false rumors about Venezuelan gang threats, bolstering Trump's mass deportation frenzy, as revealed in new intelligence documents we obtained and shared with @samtlevin.bsky.social / @us.theguardian.com. #FOIA www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Revealed: police across US spread false rumors about Venezuelan gang threats
Claim that Tren de Aragua planned to attack officers was widely shared – only for FBI to later acknowledge it was mistaken, internal files show
www.theguardian.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:52 PM
BIG: Federal and local law enforcement agencies spread false rumors about Venezuelan gang threats, bolstering Trump's mass deportation frenzy, as revealed in new intelligence documents we obtained and shared with @samtlevin.bsky.social / @us.theguardian.com. #FOIA www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
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It should. And we have to try. Democracy is always in the effort, in the growth, in becoming better versions of what we imagine. But we need more noise, more outrage, more calls to congress & DHS & Bondi, more signatures for petitions calling for his release. www.commondreams.org/news/mario-g...
Can Public Outrage and Protest Save Journalist Mario Guevara Like It Did Jimmy Kimmel? | Common Dreams
Mario Guevara's legal team wants a federal judge to free the Salvadoran
journalist, who faces "imminent" deportation from the United States
after being arrested while covering a June "No Kings" prot...
www.commondreams.org
September 26, 2025 at 12:16 AM
It should. And we have to try. Democracy is always in the effort, in the growth, in becoming better versions of what we imagine. But we need more noise, more outrage, more calls to congress & DHS & Bondi, more signatures for petitions calling for his release. www.commondreams.org/news/mario-g...
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1/ While everyone is focused on Comey, Trump did this today. How many more of us will be targeted? How many rounded up? How many designated terrorists and prosecuted before those who remain on the sidelines finally open their eyes to what’s happening?
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
In Dangerous Attack on Left-Leaning Nonprofits, Trump Orders Government to Go After ‘Domestic Terrorism Networks’
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
September 26, 2025 at 2:43 AM
1/ While everyone is focused on Comey, Trump did this today. How many more of us will be targeted? How many rounded up? How many designated terrorists and prosecuted before those who remain on the sidelines finally open their eyes to what’s happening?
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
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Late-night comedy is definitely under threat of censorship. Comedians are always a line of attack for authoritarians. But so are other reporters & truth-tellers. Read my latest on the Mario Guevara case & the broader (daily) attacks on free speech by our admin: pressingissues.org/trumps-attac...
Trump’s Attacks on Free Speech Are Way Bigger Than Just Late-Night Comedy
This administration tries to muzzle dissent and the truth every day.
pressingissues.org
September 23, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Late-night comedy is definitely under threat of censorship. Comedians are always a line of attack for authoritarians. But so are other reporters & truth-tellers. Read my latest on the Mario Guevara case & the broader (daily) attacks on free speech by our admin: pressingissues.org/trumps-attac...
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
BIG: US law enforcement claims certain *emojis* could signal Tren de Aragua gang membership, leading to deportations, as revealed in intelligence documents we obtained & shared with @samtlevin.bsky.social / @maanvisingh.bsky.social / @us.theguardian.com. #FOIA www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Revealed: US law enforcement claimed emojis could signal Tren de Aragua affiliation
Claims are ‘an unsophisticated, uneducated approach that demonstrates a lack of knowledge’, says one professor
www.theguardian.com
September 19, 2025 at 4:05 PM
BIG: US law enforcement claims certain *emojis* could signal Tren de Aragua gang membership, leading to deportations, as revealed in intelligence documents we obtained & shared with @samtlevin.bsky.social / @maanvisingh.bsky.social / @us.theguardian.com. #FOIA www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
A reminder that THIS is what a man who died telling the truth looks like.
Be in peace Anas Al Sharif.
سلام عليك يا أنس الشريف
Be in peace Anas Al Sharif.
سلام عليك يا أنس الشريف
September 11, 2025 at 7:56 PM
A reminder that THIS is what a man who died telling the truth looks like.
Be in peace Anas Al Sharif.
سلام عليك يا أنس الشريف
Be in peace Anas Al Sharif.
سلام عليك يا أنس الشريف
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If I have any credibility with you from 20 years of reporting on rightwing & fascist movements, please listen when I beg you not to celebrate Charlie Kirk getting shot. Leave aside morality: this isn’t a match in dry grass, it’s a torch. We do not want what this could ignite & we would not win.
September 10, 2025 at 7:00 PM
If I have any credibility with you from 20 years of reporting on rightwing & fascist movements, please listen when I beg you not to celebrate Charlie Kirk getting shot. Leave aside morality: this isn’t a match in dry grass, it’s a torch. We do not want what this could ignite & we would not win.
You can be unapologetically antifascist and simultaneously not revel in moments of political violence like this.
Two children are now without a father, a wife is without their partner.
We need to humanize each other, even those we vehemently oppose.
الله يرحَمُه
Two children are now without a father, a wife is without their partner.
We need to humanize each other, even those we vehemently oppose.
الله يرحَمُه
September 10, 2025 at 10:53 PM
You can be unapologetically antifascist and simultaneously not revel in moments of political violence like this.
Two children are now without a father, a wife is without their partner.
We need to humanize each other, even those we vehemently oppose.
الله يرحَمُه
Two children are now without a father, a wife is without their partner.
We need to humanize each other, even those we vehemently oppose.
الله يرحَمُه
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
Our latest: LA anti-ICE protests spurred US military to identify "hotels to avoid" due to "harassment," as revealed in an intelligence document we obtained and shared with @samtlevin.bsky.social / @us.theguardian.com. #FOIA
LA Ice protests spurred US military to identify ‘hotels to avoid’ due to ‘harassment’
Exclusive: Organizers disrupted Trump’s immigration crackdown by targeting hotels where officers were staying, documents show
www.theguardian.com
August 21, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Our latest: LA anti-ICE protests spurred US military to identify "hotels to avoid" due to "harassment," as revealed in an intelligence document we obtained and shared with @samtlevin.bsky.social / @us.theguardian.com. #FOIA
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
Yes to border cops, no to public media? Got it. Congress approved $170 billion for immigration enforcement, incl. $75 billion in extra funding for ICE. But the Senate may approve a budget CUT package to claw back $1.1 billion from public broadcasters PBS & NPR. The Senate has until July 18 to vote.
Benavidez said defunding public media is another part of the authoritarian strategy. “Public media is one of the last free, essential ways ppl can access info. Defunding them is a fundamental attack on the public’s ability to access free & accurate info.” www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/put-...
Put on your body armor - Editor and Publisher
In this month's editorial, Editor-in-Chief Robin Blinder writes that E&P was fortunate to have Diane Sylvester represent the magazine at the Media Impact Funders conference in June. At this conference...
www.editorandpublisher.com
July 10, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Yes to border cops, no to public media? Got it. Congress approved $170 billion for immigration enforcement, incl. $75 billion in extra funding for ICE. But the Senate may approve a budget CUT package to claw back $1.1 billion from public broadcasters PBS & NPR. The Senate has until July 18 to vote.
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
Our director @rshapiro.bsky.social discussing our latest: US Army and state intelligence centers are targeting civilian-made online ICE raid maps as security threats, as revealed in new intel docs we obtained & shared w/ @dell.bsky.social @dmehro.bsky.social @wired.com. www.wired.com/story/no-kin...
June 16, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Our director @rshapiro.bsky.social discussing our latest: US Army and state intelligence centers are targeting civilian-made online ICE raid maps as security threats, as revealed in new intel docs we obtained & shared w/ @dell.bsky.social @dmehro.bsky.social @wired.com. www.wired.com/story/no-kin...
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
The reckoning for freedom is here & we’ve got to fight for a collective freedom if we have any hope of upending Trump’s retaliation campaign. Read @brianstelter.bsky.social @cnn.com piece outlining what’s at stake: www.cnn.com/2025/06/14/m...
Anti-Trump protests cap a week of free speech stress tests across America | CNN Business
Virtually every flashpoint in American politics right now involves the First Amendment right to free speech and free expression.
www.cnn.com
June 14, 2025 at 3:29 PM
The reckoning for freedom is here & we’ve got to fight for a collective freedom if we have any hope of upending Trump’s retaliation campaign. Read @brianstelter.bsky.social @cnn.com piece outlining what’s at stake: www.cnn.com/2025/06/14/m...
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
Scoop: US Army and state intelligence centers are targeting civilian-made online ICE raid maps as security threats, as revealed in new intel docs we obtained and shared w/ @dell.bsky.social / @wired.com. #FOIA www.wired.com/story/no-kin...
'No Kings’ Protests, Citizen-Run ICE Trackers Trigger Intelligence Warnings
Army intelligence analysts are monitoring civilian-made ICE tracking tools, treating them as potential threats, as immigration protests spread nationwide.
www.wired.com
June 13, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Scoop: US Army and state intelligence centers are targeting civilian-made online ICE raid maps as security threats, as revealed in new intel docs we obtained and shared w/ @dell.bsky.social / @wired.com. #FOIA www.wired.com/story/no-kin...
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
BIG STORY: FBI's WMD Office colluding with Big Ag lobby group to target animal rights activists as "bioterrorists" for conducting undercover investigations on factory farms, as revealed in intel documents we obtained & shared w/ @dell.bsky.social @wired.com. #FOIA www.wired.com/story/fbi-wm...
How the Farm Industry Spied on Animal Rights Activists and Pushed the FBI to Treat Them as Bioterrorists
For years, a powerful ‘Big Ag’ trade group served up information on activists to the FBI. Records reveal a decade-long effort to see the animal rights movement labeled a “bioterrorism” threat.
www.wired.com
June 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
BIG STORY: FBI's WMD Office colluding with Big Ag lobby group to target animal rights activists as "bioterrorists" for conducting undercover investigations on factory farms, as revealed in intel documents we obtained & shared w/ @dell.bsky.social @wired.com. #FOIA www.wired.com/story/fbi-wm...
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
This Thursday we're hosting a virtual conversation on free speech in the age of retaliation. @attorneynora.bsky.social will moderate this discussion with experts from @lawyerscomm.bsky.social and @ccrjustice.org. RSVP here! bit.ly/fpaorsoc
June 2, 2025 at 9:31 PM
This Thursday we're hosting a virtual conversation on free speech in the age of retaliation. @attorneynora.bsky.social will moderate this discussion with experts from @lawyerscomm.bsky.social and @ccrjustice.org. RSVP here! bit.ly/fpaorsoc
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
NEW: See the dramatic moment when Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, was arrested Friday at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility on trespassing charges.
May 9, 2025 at 11:34 PM
NEW: See the dramatic moment when Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, was arrested Friday at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility on trespassing charges.
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
Today, our client Rümeysa Öztürk was released on bail from ICE detention in Louisiana, and she will return to New England to continue her studies.
📸 Giancarlo D’Agostaro
📸 Giancarlo D’Agostaro
May 9, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Today, our client Rümeysa Öztürk was released on bail from ICE detention in Louisiana, and she will return to New England to continue her studies.
📸 Giancarlo D’Agostaro
📸 Giancarlo D’Agostaro
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
And now the administration has ended public support for PBS and NPR. A blow for press freedom, independent media, and the Fourth Estate. A further blow to democracy any time government seeks to weaken independent news. Reminds me of Hungary and Russia.
"Trump's lack of commitment to facts and disenfranchisement of media outlets creates confusion and mis- and disinformation, which threatens overall democratic stability." - @attorneynora.bsky.social
https://www.dw.com/en/trumps-attacks-on-media-tests-us-first-amendment-press-freedom/a-72359073
https://www.dw.com/en/trumps-attacks-on-media-tests-us-first-amendment-press-freedom/a-72359073
Trump's attacks on media test US press freedom rules – DW – 04/26/2025
From banning reporters from the Oval Office to trying to dismantle VOA, Trump’s moves against the press have sparked legal battles, with experts warning that press freedom — and US democracy itself — is threatened.
www.dw.com
May 2, 2025 at 12:06 PM
And now the administration has ended public support for PBS and NPR. A blow for press freedom, independent media, and the Fourth Estate. A further blow to democracy any time government seeks to weaken independent news. Reminds me of Hungary and Russia.
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
NEW: Federal judge appointed by Trump rules that Trump's AEA proclamation is "unlawful."
The final judgment blocks Trump's March 14 Alien Enemies Act proclamation from being used to deport anyone from southern Texas.
The final judgment blocks Trump's March 14 Alien Enemies Act proclamation from being used to deport anyone from southern Texas.
Federal judge appointed by Trump rules that Trump's AEA proclamation is "unlawful"
The final judgment blocks Trump's March 14 Alien Enemies Act proclamation from being used to deport anyone from southern Texas.
www.lawdork.com
May 1, 2025 at 9:03 PM
NEW: Federal judge appointed by Trump rules that Trump's AEA proclamation is "unlawful."
The final judgment blocks Trump's March 14 Alien Enemies Act proclamation from being used to deport anyone from southern Texas.
The final judgment blocks Trump's March 14 Alien Enemies Act proclamation from being used to deport anyone from southern Texas.
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
📣 100 Days of the Broligarchy - on ZOOM
In this emergency session of the Big Tech Oversight Board, we look at Trump’s first 100 days through the lens of Big Tech - the good, the bad and the Broligarchy.
Wed 30th April, 9AM PST / 12pm EST / 5PM BST
citizensreunited.substack.com/p/live-emerg...
In this emergency session of the Big Tech Oversight Board, we look at Trump’s first 100 days through the lens of Big Tech - the good, the bad and the Broligarchy.
Wed 30th April, 9AM PST / 12pm EST / 5PM BST
citizensreunited.substack.com/p/live-emerg...
Live Emergency Session: 100 Days of the Broligarchy - April 30th
100 days into Trump 2.0 and Tech Bro takeover of the US government, where are we?
citizensreunited.substack.com
April 26, 2025 at 1:42 PM
📣 100 Days of the Broligarchy - on ZOOM
In this emergency session of the Big Tech Oversight Board, we look at Trump’s first 100 days through the lens of Big Tech - the good, the bad and the Broligarchy.
Wed 30th April, 9AM PST / 12pm EST / 5PM BST
citizensreunited.substack.com/p/live-emerg...
In this emergency session of the Big Tech Oversight Board, we look at Trump’s first 100 days through the lens of Big Tech - the good, the bad and the Broligarchy.
Wed 30th April, 9AM PST / 12pm EST / 5PM BST
citizensreunited.substack.com/p/live-emerg...
Reposted by The Sparrow Project
BIG: We obtained the AG's memo serving as the blueprint for law enforcement nationwide to roundup immigrants as suspected Tren de Aragua members explicitly outside due process. We shared with Nick Penzenstadler / @willcarless.bsky.social / @usatoday.com. #FOIA www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
Exclusive: DOJ memo offers blueprint to Tren de Aragua deportation plan
Trump administration officials directed police to circumvent courts and pursue gang members into their homes without a warrant, a new document shows.
www.usatoday.com
April 25, 2025 at 3:58 PM
BIG: We obtained the AG's memo serving as the blueprint for law enforcement nationwide to roundup immigrants as suspected Tren de Aragua members explicitly outside due process. We shared with Nick Penzenstadler / @willcarless.bsky.social / @usatoday.com. #FOIA www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
DEVELOPING: There is chatter coming out of the White House that as early as next week Donald Trump may issue as many as 5 Executive Orders targeting US-based nonprofits and civil society organizations.
April 19, 2025 at 5:50 AM
DEVELOPING: There is chatter coming out of the White House that as early as next week Donald Trump may issue as many as 5 Executive Orders targeting US-based nonprofits and civil society organizations.