Ben Thomas
@benjaminthomas.bsky.social
Former: US Army Infantry NCO, USSS SA Current: Infosec
I’ve investigated fraud for 15 years. We’ve elected experienced fraud actors to run the country.
I’ve investigated fraud for 15 years. We’ve elected experienced fraud actors to run the country.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Wanna know something? Right before migrants get loaded onto an ICE removal flight, they return their gray jumpsuit and get deported in whatever they were wearing when captured. Have heard from many migrants that the planes are freezing and some shackled people are in summer tank tops and flip flops.
Hmong man detained by ICE today in St. Paul, Minnesota.
(Photo via Reuters)
(Photo via Reuters)
January 19, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Wanna know something? Right before migrants get loaded onto an ICE removal flight, they return their gray jumpsuit and get deported in whatever they were wearing when captured. Have heard from many migrants that the planes are freezing and some shackled people are in summer tank tops and flip flops.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Judge Menendez is able to make remarkably extensive and detailed findings of criminal misconduct by ICE agents based submitted video and audio evidence. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Read the Ruling Restricting Federal Agents’ Actions in Minnesota
A federal judge ruled in favor of protesters in the state.
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:52 AM
Judge Menendez is able to make remarkably extensive and detailed findings of criminal misconduct by ICE agents based submitted video and audio evidence. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Raiding and attacking Catholic parishes across the US is a top priority for Kristi Noem's ICE agents. Here's a study of their attacks on a single Minnesota parish.
In Anti-Catholic Operation, Trump-Vance ICE Targets Minnesota Parish
A Minnesota church is reeling after immigration agents staked out Sunday Mass and deported a beloved staff member.
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:31 AM
Raiding and attacking Catholic parishes across the US is a top priority for Kristi Noem's ICE agents. Here's a study of their attacks on a single Minnesota parish.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Fascism always returns if it's not crushed.
Warsaw Ghetto 1943. Minneapolis 2026.
Warsaw Ghetto 1943. Minneapolis 2026.
January 13, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Fascism always returns if it's not crushed.
Warsaw Ghetto 1943. Minneapolis 2026.
Warsaw Ghetto 1943. Minneapolis 2026.
There is no valid reason for American infantry to deploy to an American city.
January 19, 2026 at 3:08 AM
There is no valid reason for American infantry to deploy to an American city.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Assault, sexual molestation and larceny have now emerged as core elements of the standard operating procedure for ICE and CBP officers in Minneapolis, apparently with Kristi Noem's approval. "A protester detained, her bra removed and wedding ring cut off, and some of her clothes never returned..."
In Minneapolis, a Pattern of Misconduct Toward Protesters
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:36 AM
Assault, sexual molestation and larceny have now emerged as core elements of the standard operating procedure for ICE and CBP officers in Minneapolis, apparently with Kristi Noem's approval. "A protester detained, her bra removed and wedding ring cut off, and some of her clothes never returned..."
Reposted by Ben Thomas
We need to make this more explicit: The violence and civil collapse we're now seeing in Minnesota is by design. It's exactly what Trump and Stephen Miller want. MAGA is *all about* deliberately unleashing ethnic hatreds and violent antagonisms among Americans.
newrepublic.com/article/2052...
newrepublic.com/article/2052...
January 15, 2026 at 3:54 PM
We need to make this more explicit: The violence and civil collapse we're now seeing in Minnesota is by design. It's exactly what Trump and Stephen Miller want. MAGA is *all about* deliberately unleashing ethnic hatreds and violent antagonisms among Americans.
newrepublic.com/article/2052...
newrepublic.com/article/2052...
Reposted by Ben Thomas
I’m probably about to be banned from CNN — but someone has to say this about Scott Jennings. open.substack.com/pub/saltypol...
I’m Probably About to Be Banned From CNN — But Someone Has to Say This About Scott Jennings
There are times when you need to tell your friends that they are committing a grave mistake, even if they resent you for telling the truth.
open.substack.com
January 19, 2026 at 2:10 AM
I’m probably about to be banned from CNN — but someone has to say this about Scott Jennings. open.substack.com/pub/saltypol...
The Golden Dome is an unworkable boondoggle designed primarily to funnel money to businesses who are bribing the president. He's claiming we need to destroy our relationships with European countries to implement a fraud.
Regardless of your politics, it is a five alarm fire that this senile lunatic is in the WH and has the power of the Pentagon at his disposal.
January 19, 2026 at 2:16 AM
The Golden Dome is an unworkable boondoggle designed primarily to funnel money to businesses who are bribing the president. He's claiming we need to destroy our relationships with European countries to implement a fraud.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
A third immigrant held at Camp East Montana has died, reportedly by suicide. Victor Manuel Díaz was detained in Minnesota. He is the sixth migrant to die since Jan. 1 in ICE detention.
My story:
www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...
My story:
www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...
January 18, 2026 at 5:12 PM
A third immigrant held at Camp East Montana has died, reportedly by suicide. Victor Manuel Díaz was detained in Minnesota. He is the sixth migrant to die since Jan. 1 in ICE detention.
My story:
www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...
My story:
www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...
They've built internment camps in remote locations, out of sight, out of mind. People are dying in them.
Our representatives are doing this.
Our representatives are doing this.
January 19, 2026 at 2:10 AM
They've built internment camps in remote locations, out of sight, out of mind. People are dying in them.
Our representatives are doing this.
Our representatives are doing this.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Iraq’s government said US forces had completed a “full withdrawal” from military facilities within the country’s federal territory, which excludes the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region where US troops remain. https://cnn.it/4pNy3dJ
January 19, 2026 at 1:31 AM
Iraq’s government said US forces had completed a “full withdrawal” from military facilities within the country’s federal territory, which excludes the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region where US troops remain. https://cnn.it/4pNy3dJ
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Chinese Americans are “liable to arrest at any time and place by zealous immigration officials upon the charge of being unlawfully in the country.”
-Chinese American advocacy group in complaint to U.S. Secretary of Labor (1910)
-Chinese American advocacy group in complaint to U.S. Secretary of Labor (1910)
January 18, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Chinese Americans are “liable to arrest at any time and place by zealous immigration officials upon the charge of being unlawfully in the country.”
-Chinese American advocacy group in complaint to U.S. Secretary of Labor (1910)
-Chinese American advocacy group in complaint to U.S. Secretary of Labor (1910)
Reposted by Ben Thomas
“protesters” are not “clashing” with law enforcement. violent federal agents have waged war on minneapolis and regular people are telling them to get the fuck out. and last time i checked being in a group chat doesn’t mean you’re in a professional organization. it means you have friends.
January 18, 2026 at 4:47 PM
“protesters” are not “clashing” with law enforcement. violent federal agents have waged war on minneapolis and regular people are telling them to get the fuck out. and last time i checked being in a group chat doesn’t mean you’re in a professional organization. it means you have friends.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Now more than ever, we're a two timing, back stabbing, and disloyal nation without integrity.
January 18, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Now more than ever, we're a two timing, back stabbing, and disloyal nation without integrity.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
We now have a full-blown European-American crisis, and for no reason that the president is able to articulate
January 18, 2026 at 2:08 PM
We now have a full-blown European-American crisis, and for no reason that the president is able to articulate
Reposted by Ben Thomas
“A mother in Minneapolis rushed to perform CPR on her 6-month-old baby on Wednesday night after federal immigration agents deployed a flash bang and chemical agent near her car, leading all six of her children to be taken to the hospital.”
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
ICE's tear gas sent a 6-month-old to the hospital, the latest in an alarming pattern
Federal agents' use of chemical weapons has hurt children at immigration raids, while walking down their block, and in their schools.
www.motherjones.com
January 18, 2026 at 12:21 PM
“A mother in Minneapolis rushed to perform CPR on her 6-month-old baby on Wednesday night after federal immigration agents deployed a flash bang and chemical agent near her car, leading all six of her children to be taken to the hospital.”
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Loyalty to the in-group is the only form of accountability in communities that succumb to disordered discourse.
Loyalty seems to dominate other values, such as broader compassion, honesty, or obeying laws.
@bellingcat.com CEO @eliothiggins.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMR-...
Loyalty seems to dominate other values, such as broader compassion, honesty, or obeying laws.
@bellingcat.com CEO @eliothiggins.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMR-...
Bellingcat CEO Eliot Higgins on how loyalty equals accountability in disordered discourse networks
YouTube video by Cambridge Disinformation Summit
www.youtube.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:06 AM
Loyalty to the in-group is the only form of accountability in communities that succumb to disordered discourse.
Loyalty seems to dominate other values, such as broader compassion, honesty, or obeying laws.
@bellingcat.com CEO @eliothiggins.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMR-...
Loyalty seems to dominate other values, such as broader compassion, honesty, or obeying laws.
@bellingcat.com CEO @eliothiggins.bsky.social.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMR-...
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Congress can stop ICE. Congress can block the use of force in Greenland. In other words, in this crisis, Congress can act to support civil liberties at home and free nations abroad. To fail to act would be to be complicit in a dreadful outcome.
January 18, 2026 at 2:13 AM
Congress can stop ICE. Congress can block the use of force in Greenland. In other words, in this crisis, Congress can act to support civil liberties at home and free nations abroad. To fail to act would be to be complicit in a dreadful outcome.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
A Jordanian man has pleaded guilty in the US to selling access to more than 50 hacked networks.
Feras Khalil Ahmad Albashiti worked as an initial access broker under the name of "r1z."
www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/j...
Feras Khalil Ahmad Albashiti worked as an initial access broker under the name of "r1z."
www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/j...
January 18, 2026 at 10:14 AM
A Jordanian man has pleaded guilty in the US to selling access to more than 50 hacked networks.
Feras Khalil Ahmad Albashiti worked as an initial access broker under the name of "r1z."
www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/j...
Feras Khalil Ahmad Albashiti worked as an initial access broker under the name of "r1z."
www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/j...
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Four GOP Senators.
At most four Repubs in the House.
Together they could stop nearly all the mad-king's rampages. They would be known to history as Profiles in Courage. They might/would lose the next election. But people have sacrificed a lot more, for a lot less.
At most four Repubs in the House.
Together they could stop nearly all the mad-king's rampages. They would be known to history as Profiles in Courage. They might/would lose the next election. But people have sacrificed a lot more, for a lot less.
I can't repeat this enough.
I've said this before and I'll say it again.
It would only take a tiny handful of Republican Congress members or senators to stop the slide of America toward authoritarian fascism, but nope. They're all in.
It would only take a tiny handful of Republican Congress members or senators to stop the slide of America toward authoritarian fascism, but nope. They're all in.
January 17, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Four GOP Senators.
At most four Repubs in the House.
Together they could stop nearly all the mad-king's rampages. They would be known to history as Profiles in Courage. They might/would lose the next election. But people have sacrificed a lot more, for a lot less.
At most four Repubs in the House.
Together they could stop nearly all the mad-king's rampages. They would be known to history as Profiles in Courage. They might/would lose the next election. But people have sacrificed a lot more, for a lot less.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Australians are deciding USA is not a place to visit… oddly they still are going to Canada. Almost like there is something specific about the US..
#ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...
#ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...
January 18, 2026 at 12:35 AM
Australians are deciding USA is not a place to visit… oddly they still are going to Canada. Almost like there is something specific about the US..
#ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...
#ThePoint
thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Nothing threatens authoritarian regimes more than act of nonviolent protest — people standing together, choosing empathy and courage, and refusing to be afraid.
January 17, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Nothing threatens authoritarian regimes more than act of nonviolent protest — people standing together, choosing empathy and courage, and refusing to be afraid.
Reposted by Ben Thomas
Just a regular reminder that the ENTIRE premise behind the draconian and militaristic immigration enforcement we have been witnessing the past year is based on an empirically disproven lie.
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
Debunking the Myth of the ‘Migrant Crime Wave’
Data does not support claims that the United States is experiencing a surge in crime caused by immigrants.
www.brennancenter.org
January 17, 2026 at 2:47 PM
Just a regular reminder that the ENTIRE premise behind the draconian and militaristic immigration enforcement we have been witnessing the past year is based on an empirically disproven lie.
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...