Jessica Luther
@jessicawluther.com
Investigative journalist, mainly sports. Wrote a couple books. PhD in Sports Studies. Dissertation on the Univ of Texas women's bball team in the 1970s. Tall. Tired. She/Her. Austin, TX https://www.jessicawluther.com/
Pinned
Jessica Luther
@jessicawluther.com
· Nov 22
Ok, there are so many new followers and I appreciate it, but you should know what you're getting into LOL so here are some things I've written or worked on to give you an idea of what I do, what I care about
Reposted by Jessica Luther
Agents arrested Génesis and her mother, Karen, at their Austin home earlier this month. Karen called Austin PD at 4:30 a.m. for help. A man — whom she had an expired restraining order against — had showed up at their house. They’ve since been deported to Honduras.
thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/15/a...
thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/15/a...
A 5-Year-Old Disappeared in Austin. A Mom Shot Dead in Minneapolis. How Much More Violence Will It Take to ‘Abolish ICE’?
50% of American women support the abolish ICE movement.
thebarbedwire.com
January 27, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Agents arrested Génesis and her mother, Karen, at their Austin home earlier this month. Karen called Austin PD at 4:30 a.m. for help. A man — whom she had an expired restraining order against — had showed up at their house. They’ve since been deported to Honduras.
thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/15/a...
thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/15/a...
Reposted by Jessica Luther
OKC City Council Chambers are full for the meeting this morning. Lobby outside is also full- standing room only- as they talk about the new planned ICE detention center in south OKC.
January 27, 2026 at 3:02 PM
OKC City Council Chambers are full for the meeting this morning. Lobby outside is also full- standing room only- as they talk about the new planned ICE detention center in south OKC.
"Sources told CNN that about a week before [Pretti's] death, he suffered a broken rib when a group of federal officers tackled him while he was protesting their attempt to detain other individuals." www.cnn.com/2026/01/27/u...
Alex Pretti was in earlier confrontation with federal agents who tackled him, broke his rib, sources say | CNN
Federal immigration officials have been collecting information on protesters and agitators, sources told CNN.
www.cnn.com
January 27, 2026 at 5:30 PM
"Sources told CNN that about a week before [Pretti's] death, he suffered a broken rib when a group of federal officers tackled him while he was protesting their attempt to detain other individuals." www.cnn.com/2026/01/27/u...
This CBP? www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...
January 27, 2026 at 5:12 PM
This CBP? www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...
Reposted by Jessica Luther
Requisite reading for the moment. It's on back order at bookshop org, but check your local library.
bookshop.org/p/books/nobo...
bookshop.org/p/books/nobo...
January 27, 2026 at 6:11 AM
Requisite reading for the moment. It's on back order at bookshop org, but check your local library.
bookshop.org/p/books/nobo...
bookshop.org/p/books/nobo...
Reposted by Jessica Luther
Did you miss BIAD? Because we definitely missed you 🔥
Want to help us stick around? Our Kickstarter launches Feb. 3.
Pre-launch notification link:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/bur...
Want to help us stick around? Our Kickstarter launches Feb. 3.
Pre-launch notification link:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/bur...
January 27, 2026 at 2:28 PM
Did you miss BIAD? Because we definitely missed you 🔥
Want to help us stick around? Our Kickstarter launches Feb. 3.
Pre-launch notification link:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/bur...
Want to help us stick around? Our Kickstarter launches Feb. 3.
Pre-launch notification link:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/bur...
Right. This is our problem! 🤷🏼♀️
First step: Explicitly explore right-wing politics
January 27, 2026 at 4:16 PM
Right. This is our problem! 🤷🏼♀️
Wait. How do you get your podcast profiled in the NYT???
January 27, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Wait. How do you get your podcast profiled in the NYT???
Reposted by Jessica Luther
“Alleged violations include instances of medical neglect, physical and sexual abuse, denial of adequate food and water, and the mistreatment of children and pregnant women…”
"Those alleged violations amount to ‘an undeniable pattern of human rights abuse in immigration detention,’ the report says.”
"Those alleged violations amount to ‘an undeniable pattern of human rights abuse in immigration detention,’ the report says.”
January 27, 2026 at 3:59 PM
“Alleged violations include instances of medical neglect, physical and sexual abuse, denial of adequate food and water, and the mistreatment of children and pregnant women…”
"Those alleged violations amount to ‘an undeniable pattern of human rights abuse in immigration detention,’ the report says.”
"Those alleged violations amount to ‘an undeniable pattern of human rights abuse in immigration detention,’ the report says.”
Reposted by Jessica Luther
Reposted by Jessica Luther
ICE operations are spinning up in Maine. @themainemonitor.org is looking to help report on ICE activity there and has set up a page to report what you're seeing. Also includes Signal and encrypted Protonmail options for secure communications.
We want to hear from you if you've seen federal agents detain someone in #Maine, if you know someone who is in #ICE custody, or if you have faced repercussions for observing their activities. If you prefer to contact a specific reporter or editor, you can via email or Signal. Click to learn more 👇
Help us report on ICE activity
We want to hear from you if you have witnessed federal agents detain someone in Maine, if you know someone who is in ICE custody, or if you have faced repercussions for observing their activities.
themainemonitor.org
January 26, 2026 at 11:34 PM
ICE operations are spinning up in Maine. @themainemonitor.org is looking to help report on ICE activity there and has set up a page to report what you're seeing. Also includes Signal and encrypted Protonmail options for secure communications.
Reposted by Jessica Luther
The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
January 26, 2026 at 11:35 PM
The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
when we were organizing against anti-abortion laws in the summer of 2013 in Texas, I got roped in bc I was good at Twitter and I cared a lot. I ended up on scary anti-abortion sites bc they were convinced I must be getting paid to do that work and they were trying to figure out who was paying me.
January 26, 2026 at 8:43 PM
when we were organizing against anti-abortion laws in the summer of 2013 in Texas, I got roped in bc I was good at Twitter and I cared a lot. I ended up on scary anti-abortion sites bc they were convinced I must be getting paid to do that work and they were trying to figure out who was paying me.
Reposted by Jessica Luther
you should not share a post that's a screenshot without a link to a news item. you should not share a post that's a video or picture without some kind of sourcing. we're in a new bad era and these are now basic practices.
... also photogs and journos gotta eat so share their work.
... also photogs and journos gotta eat so share their work.
January 26, 2026 at 3:04 PM
you should not share a post that's a screenshot without a link to a news item. you should not share a post that's a video or picture without some kind of sourcing. we're in a new bad era and these are now basic practices.
... also photogs and journos gotta eat so share their work.
... also photogs and journos gotta eat so share their work.
Reposted by Jessica Luther
The majority of organizing happening in Minnesota isn’t just peaceful, it’s INVISIBLE. Moms showing up who won’t be interviewed on TV, people whose ICE patrols don’t turn into viral video. The grocery runs, the donations, the people filming bc they happen to be there. Please remember this.
January 25, 2026 at 5:00 PM
The majority of organizing happening in Minnesota isn’t just peaceful, it’s INVISIBLE. Moms showing up who won’t be interviewed on TV, people whose ICE patrols don’t turn into viral video. The grocery runs, the donations, the people filming bc they happen to be there. Please remember this.
Reposted by Jessica Luther
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdami advises New Yorkers to stay home and read ‘Heated Rivalry’ during the winter storm
via hearts530
via hearts530
January 25, 2026 at 6:38 PM
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdami advises New Yorkers to stay home and read ‘Heated Rivalry’ during the winter storm
via hearts530
via hearts530
Reposted by Jessica Luther
DHS has shot 12 people during immigration enforcement operations since September:
January 25, 2026 at 4:27 PM
DHS has shot 12 people during immigration enforcement operations since September:
Reposted by Jessica Luther
I'm honestly getting annoyed with some people (even here) acting like, within recent memory things popped off in the Twin Cities with George Floyd. 2015 was Jamar Clark, 2016 was Philando Castile and then after Floyd, in 2021 Daunte Wright was killed
January 25, 2026 at 2:32 PM
I'm honestly getting annoyed with some people (even here) acting like, within recent memory things popped off in the Twin Cities with George Floyd. 2015 was Jamar Clark, 2016 was Philando Castile and then after Floyd, in 2021 Daunte Wright was killed
Reposted by Jessica Luther
Wake up. Make breakfast. Do email. Watch a murder. Go to a party for a 5 year old. Laugh with my daughter. See a different angle of that murder. Hear govt officials slander the victim. Play Barbies with my kid. Feed her dinner. Tear up at that victim reading last honors to a vet. Put kid to bed. USA
January 25, 2026 at 4:43 AM
Wake up. Make breakfast. Do email. Watch a murder. Go to a party for a 5 year old. Laugh with my daughter. See a different angle of that murder. Hear govt officials slander the victim. Play Barbies with my kid. Feed her dinner. Tear up at that victim reading last honors to a vet. Put kid to bed. USA
Reposted by Jessica Luther
ICE killing #AlexPretti should remind you of police killing #PhilandoCastille. Both men had concealed weapon permits, did not draw their guns, & were killed in Minn. These homicides are the price of unaccountable policing. These deaths are variations on the same fatal theme.
January 25, 2026 at 4:36 AM
ICE killing #AlexPretti should remind you of police killing #PhilandoCastille. Both men had concealed weapon permits, did not draw their guns, & were killed in Minn. These homicides are the price of unaccountable policing. These deaths are variations on the same fatal theme.
Reposted by Jessica Luther
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.
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
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.
Hope doesn't find us. We make hope through action and struggle. It's a practice of living and is re-made daily.
Reposted by Jessica Luther
I keep thinking “my god the people they’ve killed seem like exceptionally good folks” and I think the lesson there is that they’re not exceptional, but that wonderful people abound and that a baseline distrust in humanity is a shitty conservative trope that privileges power over collective strength
you don't become a martyr because you were a saint, you become a saint because you were martyred
I agree that we can’t make Alex Pretti a Benedictine monk because that’s a trap, but we can talk about the good things we did because people will see and hear them and think “I do those things too”
January 25, 2026 at 12:27 AM
I keep thinking “my god the people they’ve killed seem like exceptionally good folks” and I think the lesson there is that they’re not exceptional, but that wonderful people abound and that a baseline distrust in humanity is a shitty conservative trope that privileges power over collective strength
Reposted by Jessica Luther
I have been thinking all day about the number of times unarmed Black people were killed by police on the pretext that their cell phone looked like a gun. And people would say “oh but you just don‘t know what the truth is.” Well here it is.
OMG. "DHS said the episode began after a man approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and they tried to disarm him. But footage from the scene shows the man was holding a phone in his hand, not a gun, when federal agents took him to the ground and shot him." www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Update from Devon Lum
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 9:30 PM
I have been thinking all day about the number of times unarmed Black people were killed by police on the pretext that their cell phone looked like a gun. And people would say “oh but you just don‘t know what the truth is.” Well here it is.
Reposted by Jessica Luther
I was one of Alex's nursing faculty at MCTC. This is simply devastating. He was a good student and I knew he'd be a good nurse. Im so sorry for you and his VA family. May his memory be a blessing and an example of what a nurse is.
January 24, 2026 at 7:51 PM
I was one of Alex's nursing faculty at MCTC. This is simply devastating. He was a good student and I knew he'd be a good nurse. Im so sorry for you and his VA family. May his memory be a blessing and an example of what a nurse is.