Amanda Becker
@amandabecker.bsky.social
Reporter @19thnews.org
Author YOU MUST STAND UP https://a.co/d/9HS7ife on abortion rights post Dobbs
Nieman Nation. Ohioan. WV Mtn Mama (to cats). D&E College Instructor. Pro-democracy in life & work.
OH-IN-NY-CA-DC-MA-DC-WV/OH
Signal: AmandaBecker.41
Author YOU MUST STAND UP https://a.co/d/9HS7ife on abortion rights post Dobbs
Nieman Nation. Ohioan. WV Mtn Mama (to cats). D&E College Instructor. Pro-democracy in life & work.
OH-IN-NY-CA-DC-MA-DC-WV/OH
Signal: AmandaBecker.41
Pinned
Fear, faith and preparation as ICE closes in on an Ohio community
In Springfield, faith-based coalitions are creating emergency hubs to care for children — and churches are preparing for their sanctuaries to be breached.
19thnews.org
“The fear is turned up as high as it can go.”
Residents of Springfield, Ohio, are ramping up efforts to try to protect their community from the type of chaotic, violent assault by federal immigration agents that claimed two lives in Minneapolis in recent weeks.
19thnews.org/2026/01/ice-...
Residents of Springfield, Ohio, are ramping up efforts to try to protect their community from the type of chaotic, violent assault by federal immigration agents that claimed two lives in Minneapolis in recent weeks.
19thnews.org/2026/01/ice-...
"They’re causing a lot of hassle, but they’re not really getting under my skin" — a Springfield, OH pastor says he is even more committed to his Haitian congregants after purportedly pro-immigrant TikTokers came to town and spread conspiracy theories about his ministry
19thnews.org/2026/02/tikt...
19thnews.org/2026/02/tikt...
TikTokers came to Springfield looking for ICE. Then the child trafficking rumors began.
The conspiracy theories have triggered chaos in the Ohio city, where Haitian immigrant families and the groups working with them are already on edge.
19thnews.org
February 12, 2026 at 1:36 PM
"They’re causing a lot of hassle, but they’re not really getting under my skin" — a Springfield, OH pastor says he is even more committed to his Haitian congregants after purportedly pro-immigrant TikTokers came to town and spread conspiracy theories about his ministry
19thnews.org/2026/02/tikt...
19thnews.org/2026/02/tikt...
AOC and Warren join forces in high-profile child care push ahead of midterms — @19thnews.org has exclusively learned that the New York rep is now the lead House sponsor of the Massachusetts senator's Child Care for Every Community Act. 19thnews.org/2026/02/aoc-...
AOC and Warren join forces in high-profile child care push ahead of midterms
As Republicans urge Americans to have more children but offer few supportive policies, Democrats believe reducing child care costs could be a winning message.
19thnews.org
February 12, 2026 at 1:16 PM
AOC and Warren join forces in high-profile child care push ahead of midterms — @19thnews.org has exclusively learned that the New York rep is now the lead House sponsor of the Massachusetts senator's Child Care for Every Community Act. 19thnews.org/2026/02/aoc-...
Last week, TikTok creators, finding none of the mayhem they expected to see in Springfield, started suggesting faith-based groups working with Haitian immigrants were misdirecting resources. Within 48 hrs, they concocted a child-trafficking conspiracy. 19thnews.org/2026/02/tikt... via @19thnews.org
TikTokers came to Springfield looking for ICE. Then the child trafficking rumors began.
The conspiracy theories have triggered chaos in the Ohio city, where Haitian immigrant families and the groups working with them are already on edge.
19thnews.org
February 12, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Last week, TikTok creators, finding none of the mayhem they expected to see in Springfield, started suggesting faith-based groups working with Haitian immigrants were misdirecting resources. Within 48 hrs, they concocted a child-trafficking conspiracy. 19thnews.org/2026/02/tikt... via @19thnews.org
Springfield braced for ICE, instead chaos came to town in the form of TikTok influencers 19thnews.org/2026/02/tikt... via @19thnews.org
TikTokers came to Springfield looking for ICE. Then the child trafficking rumors began.
The conspiracy theories have triggered chaos in the Ohio city, where Haitian immigrant families and the groups working with them are already on edge.
19thnews.org
February 12, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Springfield braced for ICE, instead chaos came to town in the form of TikTok influencers 19thnews.org/2026/02/tikt... via @19thnews.org
Reposted by Amanda Becker
Bangladesh is heading into national elections today. The country faces many challenges, following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in student-led protests last year. Reforms in the energy sector are also long overdue, as is a look at external debt crisis. ICYMI, a glimpse:
drilled.media/news/japan-b...
drilled.media/news/japan-b...
Debt and import dependency in Japan’s fossil financing for Bangladesh
With promises of Singapore- and Shanghai-style ports and businesses, Japan’s development agencies are pushing fossil fuel projects in Bangladesh
drilled.media
February 12, 2026 at 5:24 AM
Bangladesh is heading into national elections today. The country faces many challenges, following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in student-led protests last year. Reforms in the energy sector are also long overdue, as is a look at external debt crisis. ICYMI, a glimpse:
drilled.media/news/japan-b...
drilled.media/news/japan-b...
Reposted by Amanda Becker
This is the second account - the first being in Chicago - of DHS agents mass detaining people and then *sorting them by race*.
More than 400 people, including hundreds of citizens, were “sorted” at gun point into racial and ethnic groups by 200 ICE agents who fired flash-bang grenades into cars with people inside, pointed guns at children & demanded their zip tied parents not comfort them. apple.news/Ausdx6kWtT0e...
Idaho families sue over immigration raid that swept up hundreds, including U.S. citizens — NBC News
About 400 people, including children and U.S. citizens, were detained for four hours while they were denied food and water in the raid, according to the lawsuit.
apple.news
February 12, 2026 at 2:26 AM
This is the second account - the first being in Chicago - of DHS agents mass detaining people and then *sorting them by race*.
A Signal group chat has become a support system and a strategy hub for these Democratic women veterans running in high-stakes races. 19thnews.org/2026/02/hell... via @19thnews.org
Meet the Hell Cats — a key to Democrats’ hopes of taking the House
A Signal group chat has become a support system and a strategy hub for these Democratic women veterans running in high-stakes races.
19thnews.org
February 11, 2026 at 11:29 PM
A Signal group chat has become a support system and a strategy hub for these Democratic women veterans running in high-stakes races. 19thnews.org/2026/02/hell... via @19thnews.org
Literally the first time I've wanted to use AI as a reporting tool because if it saves me listening to the manosphere in real time...
www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/how-...
www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/how-...
How The New York Times uses a custom AI tool to track the “manosphere”
The daily podcast round-up is just one way the Times is adopting in-house AI transcription and summarization tools.
www.niemanlab.org
February 11, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Literally the first time I've wanted to use AI as a reporting tool because if it saves me listening to the manosphere in real time...
www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/how-...
www.niemanlab.org/2026/02/how-...
Reposted by Amanda Becker
My husband just texted me there's a downhill skier called Breezy Johnson in the same year that the ski jumpers are in trouble for letting out the crotches of their suits and this cannot be true?!
February 11, 2026 at 4:08 AM
My husband just texted me there's a downhill skier called Breezy Johnson in the same year that the ski jumpers are in trouble for letting out the crotches of their suits and this cannot be true?!
Reposted by Amanda Becker
A Norwegian biathlete won an Olympic bronze medal — and then confessed to cheating on his girlfriend
Olympian Makes Jaw-Dropping Confession After Bronze Win — But It's Not What You'd Expect
The Norwegian biathlete made a stunning, personal admission in a post-race interview at the Milan Cortina Games.
www.huffpost.com
February 10, 2026 at 7:35 PM
A Norwegian biathlete won an Olympic bronze medal — and then confessed to cheating on his girlfriend
Now that I'm safely inside and had some time to reset my central nervous system: skunks are adorable.
Y’all. I’m a hostage in my car with a skunk outside. Help! #countryskeets
February 11, 2026 at 2:40 AM
Now that I'm safely inside and had some time to reset my central nervous system: skunks are adorable.
Reposted by Amanda Becker
Hours after Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum shot a Chicago woman 5 times, his boss, Cmdr. Greg Bovino, emailed him about extending his mandatory retirement.
"In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much left to do!!” Bovino wrote
Story:
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/m...
"In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much left to do!!” Bovino wrote
Story:
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/m...
Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino praised agent after shooting Marimar Martinez in Chicago, evidence shows
A trove of evidence was released Tuesday in the controversial shooting of Marimar Martinez by a Border Patrol agent at the height of Operation Midway Blitz last October, including a body-worn camer…
www.chicagotribune.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:41 PM
Hours after Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum shot a Chicago woman 5 times, his boss, Cmdr. Greg Bovino, emailed him about extending his mandatory retirement.
"In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much left to do!!” Bovino wrote
Story:
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/m...
"In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much left to do!!” Bovino wrote
Story:
www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/m...
Reposted by Amanda Becker
NEW via me and @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: Cardinal Blase Cupich, who runs the Archdiocese of Chicago, says that DHS has stopped priests under his purview and demanded proof of citizenship “because of their color.” religionnews.com/2026/02/10/c...
Cardinal Cupich says feds stopped priests, demanded citizenship proof
(RNS) — ‘I’ve had some priests who are of a different color being targeted and arrested — stopped — because of their color and asking them to prove that they’re citizens. That’s not America,’ the Chic...
religionnews.com
February 10, 2026 at 11:53 PM
NEW via me and @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: Cardinal Blase Cupich, who runs the Archdiocese of Chicago, says that DHS has stopped priests under his purview and demanded proof of citizenship “because of their color.” religionnews.com/2026/02/10/c...
Y’all. I’m a hostage in my car with a skunk outside. Help! #countryskeets
February 11, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Y’all. I’m a hostage in my car with a skunk outside. Help! #countryskeets
My sweet no-longer-babies Babies. Simone (rear) was the runt but the always has her paw around Georgie (front) — can't tell if it's to protect him or keep him in line or (most likely) both.
February 10, 2026 at 9:41 PM
My sweet no-longer-babies Babies. Simone (rear) was the runt but the always has her paw around Georgie (front) — can't tell if it's to protect him or keep him in line or (most likely) both.
Reposted by Amanda Becker
With the next No Kings announced, here's a snapshot of organizing in LA. I talked with a Desert Storm vet nurse, a caregiving activist disappeared by the Marcos regime, and a union organizer about the Filipino-American legacy of resistance. 19thnews.org/2026/02/fili...
The Filipino-American legacy of fighting for freedom is taking on Trump
Caregivers are applying lessons from resisting authoritarianism under Philippine dictator Marcos Sr. in the 1980s.
19thnews.org
February 10, 2026 at 7:42 PM
With the next No Kings announced, here's a snapshot of organizing in LA. I talked with a Desert Storm vet nurse, a caregiving activist disappeared by the Marcos regime, and a union organizer about the Filipino-American legacy of resistance. 19thnews.org/2026/02/fili...
The GCs I've spoken to — I'd like to build a house in a rural area — say their workforces, at least those who still show up, are terrified of getting picked up by immigration agents and/or their estimates to build residential have gone up signficantly due to tariffs and related supply chain issues.
Trump: "Construction jobs are way up, right? Well, they're up because they're building all these factories all over the country. You have car plants under construction. I spoke to Mr. Toyota in Japan. I said, 'What's you name?' 'Toy-ota!' I said, 'If your name is Toyota you're a very rich guy.'"
February 10, 2026 at 9:32 PM
The GCs I've spoken to — I'd like to build a house in a rural area — say their workforces, at least those who still show up, are terrified of getting picked up by immigration agents and/or their estimates to build residential have gone up signficantly due to tariffs and related supply chain issues.
I’m watching Page One with my journalism class this week and damn do I love journalism to a tragic, self-sabotaging degree.
February 10, 2026 at 3:30 PM
I’m watching Page One with my journalism class this week and damn do I love journalism to a tragic, self-sabotaging degree.
My mid 70s Ohio dad (who doesn't speak Spanish) told me last night he hadn't watched a Super Bowl halftime show in many years, maybe since the 90s/early 2000s — but made a point to put Bad Bunny on. Thought he was catchy. Appreciated Ricky Martin. Wondered why Lady Gaga didn't sing in Spanish.
February 10, 2026 at 2:06 PM
My mid 70s Ohio dad (who doesn't speak Spanish) told me last night he hadn't watched a Super Bowl halftime show in many years, maybe since the 90s/early 2000s — but made a point to put Bad Bunny on. Thought he was catchy. Appreciated Ricky Martin. Wondered why Lady Gaga didn't sing in Spanish.
Tonite I learned that the absolute latest one can procure Emergency Ice Cream in my Small Town, WV, is 10:59:00 b/c even tho we are the region's Big City w/ a 24-hr McD's the ice cream machine shuts off automatically at 11 to clean itself and doesn't reboot until 6 am (Allowing full min to dispense)
February 10, 2026 at 4:00 AM
Tonite I learned that the absolute latest one can procure Emergency Ice Cream in my Small Town, WV, is 10:59:00 b/c even tho we are the region's Big City w/ a 24-hr McD's the ice cream machine shuts off automatically at 11 to clean itself and doesn't reboot until 6 am (Allowing full min to dispense)
The sides of my houseplants in window sills facing out have shriveled up and died. Guess that's a pretty good indicator of my windows' energy efficiency.
February 10, 2026 at 1:00 AM
The sides of my houseplants in window sills facing out have shriveled up and died. Guess that's a pretty good indicator of my windows' energy efficiency.
José hasn’t left his house for 29 days – not to shovel the snow at his driveway, not to fix up the car.
When the car needed an oil change, he video-called his wife, Sara, from inside so he could walk her through it. He’s afraid to even get near the front door.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
When the car needed an oil change, he video-called his wife, Sara, from inside so he could walk her through it. He’s afraid to even get near the front door.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
The Minnesotans trapped at home, too terrified of ICE to go outside: ‘Our house is like a jail’
The surge of federal immigration agents has forced many families to remain inside for weeks, living in fear of roving ICE patrols snatching people off the street
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:55 PM
José hasn’t left his house for 29 days – not to shovel the snow at his driveway, not to fix up the car.
When the car needed an oil change, he video-called his wife, Sara, from inside so he could walk her through it. He’s afraid to even get near the front door.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
When the car needed an oil change, he video-called his wife, Sara, from inside so he could walk her through it. He’s afraid to even get near the front door.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Reposted by Amanda Becker
Literally under siege www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
The Minnesotans trapped at home, too terrified of ICE to go outside: ‘Our house is like a jail’
The surge of federal immigration agents has forced many families to remain inside for weeks, living in fear of roving ICE patrols snatching people off the street
www.theguardian.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Literally under siege www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
Reposted by Amanda Becker
February 9, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Kevin Moncla has tried repeatedly to prove that the 2020 vote in Fulton County, Georgia, was tainted by fraud. While state election overseers have rejected his claims, his work may be fueling the federal government’s ongoing investigations. www.propublica.org/article/kevi...
The Conservative Researcher Being Linked to the FBI’s Seizure of Election Records in Georgia
Kevin Moncla has tried repeatedly to prove that the 2020 vote in Fulton County, Georgia, was tainted by fraud. While state election overseers have rejected his claims, his work may be fueling the fede...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 11:30 PM
Kevin Moncla has tried repeatedly to prove that the 2020 vote in Fulton County, Georgia, was tainted by fraud. While state election overseers have rejected his claims, his work may be fueling the federal government’s ongoing investigations. www.propublica.org/article/kevi...