Patrick Matthews
@matthewsp.bsky.social
Delawarean. Workforce management professional, quiz bowl enthusiast, and Microsoft Excel MVP. Philadelphia sports enjoyer. I left The Bad Place.
Pinned
California judge rules that a report on police in Vallejo bending their badges to mark fatal shootings can remain secret. The judge also closed the hearing to public and press and locked the door to the courtroom. openvallejo.org/2024/10/02/f...
From a locked courtroom, judge rules Vallejo badge bending report will remain secret
A Solano County Superior Court judge on Wednesday blocked the full release of an investigative report into Vallejo police badge bending in a hearing closed to the public and press.
openvallejo.org
Alternate headline: “Armed Gang Suppresses Details of Initiation Rituals”
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Is it the unitary executive when POTUS sues the executive branch?
President Trump has filed a lawsuit against the IRS, in which he demands that the IRS, which he as president controls, pay him $10 billion.
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
January 30, 2026 at 1:51 AM
Is it the unitary executive when POTUS sues the executive branch?
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Thousands of people filled the streets of downtown Minneapolis in protest of federal immigration enforcement for the second consecutive Friday.
📷️: Aaron Lavinsky
📷️: Aaron Lavinsky
January 30, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Thousands of people filled the streets of downtown Minneapolis in protest of federal immigration enforcement for the second consecutive Friday.
📷️: Aaron Lavinsky
📷️: Aaron Lavinsky
LOL
LMAO, even
LMAO, even
Melania’s first screening in Times Square draws four people, at least three of them professional critics. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
January 30, 2026 at 9:56 PM
LOL
LMAO, even
LMAO, even
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
They want everyone to know it came from the top, that it's corrupt and anti-1A, and they like that.
Because they don't have anywhere close to the capacity to silence everyone by force. So they use a show of intimidation to try to chill speech, and to try to raise their supporters' flagging spirits.
Because they don't have anywhere close to the capacity to silence everyone by force. So they use a show of intimidation to try to chill speech, and to try to raise their supporters' flagging spirits.
Bondi says she personally directed the arrest, WH smears and cheers.
January 30, 2026 at 3:59 PM
They want everyone to know it came from the top, that it's corrupt and anti-1A, and they like that.
Because they don't have anywhere close to the capacity to silence everyone by force. So they use a show of intimidation to try to chill speech, and to try to raise their supporters' flagging spirits.
Because they don't have anywhere close to the capacity to silence everyone by force. So they use a show of intimidation to try to chill speech, and to try to raise their supporters' flagging spirits.
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
The charges against Don Lemon are ridiculous. He’s a target because he’s black, because he’s media, and because he’s a Trump critic, and because Trump and his minions cannot accept any dissent. It’s deeply pathetic, unamerican, and lawless.
January 30, 2026 at 2:19 PM
The charges against Don Lemon are ridiculous. He’s a target because he’s black, because he’s media, and because he’s a Trump critic, and because Trump and his minions cannot accept any dissent. It’s deeply pathetic, unamerican, and lawless.
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
previously:
-DOJ sought Lemon's arrest along with a group of others
-Magistrate judge rejected the charges against Lemon on the grounds that there was no probable cause
-DOJ tried to appeal the magistrate judge's ruling to the district judge (extremely unusual)
...
-DOJ sought Lemon's arrest along with a group of others
-Magistrate judge rejected the charges against Lemon on the grounds that there was no probable cause
-DOJ tried to appeal the magistrate judge's ruling to the district judge (extremely unusual)
...
here is the abbreviated backstory on lemon www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
January 30, 2026 at 1:53 PM
previously:
-DOJ sought Lemon's arrest along with a group of others
-Magistrate judge rejected the charges against Lemon on the grounds that there was no probable cause
-DOJ tried to appeal the magistrate judge's ruling to the district judge (extremely unusual)
...
-DOJ sought Lemon's arrest along with a group of others
-Magistrate judge rejected the charges against Lemon on the grounds that there was no probable cause
-DOJ tried to appeal the magistrate judge's ruling to the district judge (extremely unusual)
...
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Finally got around to a bit of research I'd been meaning to explore, and: There is no documented instance of an ICE officer being identified and assaulted while off duty because he wasn't masked. www.pbump.net/o/ices-excus...
ICE’s excuse for wearing masks has never actually manifested
There have been incidents of harassment and threats. But there are no apparent incidents in which identified ICE officers have been assaulted off-duty.
www.pbump.net
January 29, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Finally got around to a bit of research I'd been meaning to explore, and: There is no documented instance of an ICE officer being identified and assaulted while off duty because he wasn't masked. www.pbump.net/o/ices-excus...
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
As wild as this sounds, I really do think “president connected to notorious pedophile sex trafficker, corrupting law enforcement to cover it up, now in explicit violation of a specifically tailored law,” while easily impeachable in its own, is at most the fourth worst scandal this week.
4) And they STILL haven’t released the Epstein files.
Of the biggest scandals in US history just this week, I think I’d rank them:
1) Federal paramilitaries invade US city based on racist lies, murder US citizens
2) Slush fund for the president from stolen foreign resources held in Qatar
3) Whatever FBI and DNI are doing re: 2020 election in Georgia
1) Federal paramilitaries invade US city based on racist lies, murder US citizens
2) Slush fund for the president from stolen foreign resources held in Qatar
3) Whatever FBI and DNI are doing re: 2020 election in Georgia
January 29, 2026 at 3:23 AM
As wild as this sounds, I really do think “president connected to notorious pedophile sex trafficker, corrupting law enforcement to cover it up, now in explicit violation of a specifically tailored law,” while easily impeachable in its own, is at most the fourth worst scandal this week.
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Of the biggest scandals in US history just this week, I think I’d rank them:
1) Federal paramilitaries invade US city based on racist lies, murder US citizens
2) Slush fund for the president from stolen foreign resources held in Qatar
3) Whatever FBI and DNI are doing re: 2020 election in Georgia
1) Federal paramilitaries invade US city based on racist lies, murder US citizens
2) Slush fund for the president from stolen foreign resources held in Qatar
3) Whatever FBI and DNI are doing re: 2020 election in Georgia
January 29, 2026 at 2:52 AM
Of the biggest scandals in US history just this week, I think I’d rank them:
1) Federal paramilitaries invade US city based on racist lies, murder US citizens
2) Slush fund for the president from stolen foreign resources held in Qatar
3) Whatever FBI and DNI are doing re: 2020 election in Georgia
1) Federal paramilitaries invade US city based on racist lies, murder US citizens
2) Slush fund for the president from stolen foreign resources held in Qatar
3) Whatever FBI and DNI are doing re: 2020 election in Georgia
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Video shows ICE leaving behind an infant and broken glass after arresting a man with no criminal history.
“There was a car seat in the back... There were broken glass shards all over it... There was just this tiny peanut of a baby. He was crying.”
My latest: www.pressherald.com/2026/01/28/i...
“There was a car seat in the back... There were broken glass shards all over it... There was just this tiny peanut of a baby. He was crying.”
My latest: www.pressherald.com/2026/01/28/i...
ICE agents shatter window, leave 1-month-old baby, mother in car after Portland arrest
Video shows federal immigration agents leaving behind an infant and broken glass after detaining a Guinean immigrant with no known criminal history.
www.pressherald.com
January 29, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Video shows ICE leaving behind an infant and broken glass after arresting a man with no criminal history.
“There was a car seat in the back... There were broken glass shards all over it... There was just this tiny peanut of a baby. He was crying.”
My latest: www.pressherald.com/2026/01/28/i...
“There was a car seat in the back... There were broken glass shards all over it... There was just this tiny peanut of a baby. He was crying.”
My latest: www.pressherald.com/2026/01/28/i...
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Trump hasn't just insulted the troops of our allies. He's insulted the Black service members who fought bravely for a country that wasn't even giving them the full measure of equality. Great piece by Pulitzer winner Matt Desmond: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Celebrating Black military service is not “DEI shit.” It’s essential to America’s defense.
The Trump administration has sullied the legacy of soldiers our nation relies on.
www.motherjones.com
January 29, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Trump hasn't just insulted the troops of our allies. He's insulted the Black service members who fought bravely for a country that wasn't even giving them the full measure of equality. Great piece by Pulitzer winner Matt Desmond: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Can Minnesota pay Tom Homan $50,000 to get ICE out?
January 29, 2026 at 3:43 PM
Can Minnesota pay Tom Homan $50,000 to get ICE out?
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Highlights a problem for Mexico & other countries who might be willing (albeit under pressure) to quietly cooperate w/ US military, intelligence, or law enforcement.
This administration won't keep such cooperation quiet because they need to boast about every "win."
newrepublic.com/post/205848/...
This administration won't keep such cooperation quiet because they need to boast about every "win."
newrepublic.com/post/205848/...
Kash Patel Sets Off Diplomatic Incident With FBI Operation in Mexico
The FBI director couldn’t stop himself from posting news that shouldn’t be public.
newrepublic.com
January 29, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Highlights a problem for Mexico & other countries who might be willing (albeit under pressure) to quietly cooperate w/ US military, intelligence, or law enforcement.
This administration won't keep such cooperation quiet because they need to boast about every "win."
newrepublic.com/post/205848/...
This administration won't keep such cooperation quiet because they need to boast about every "win."
newrepublic.com/post/205848/...
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Pretty infuriating to see a guy so crooked he took a paper bag filled with $50k in exchange for doling out government contracts now proclaim he is going after criminals. How is this real life?
January 29, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Pretty infuriating to see a guy so crooked he took a paper bag filled with $50k in exchange for doling out government contracts now proclaim he is going after criminals. How is this real life?
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
This is sort of a throughline in cases of excessive force used by law enforcement. The civilian is supposed to perfectly adhere to some unwritten code of conduct; the armed professional supposedly trained for such situations is only human & must be given lattitude if they succumb to fear and rage.
The administration is insisting that its masked goons are so emotionally stunted that words can launch them into a murderous rage.
"Our professionals are just ordinary people so ordinary people better act professionally around them, or else."
"Our professionals are just ordinary people so ordinary people better act professionally around them, or else."
January 29, 2026 at 2:18 PM
This is sort of a throughline in cases of excessive force used by law enforcement. The civilian is supposed to perfectly adhere to some unwritten code of conduct; the armed professional supposedly trained for such situations is only human & must be given lattitude if they succumb to fear and rage.
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
I cannot tell you how much doubt was consistently directed at the Gaza Health Ministry’s casualty numbers and how much pressure was put on news organizations to couch those numbers as unreliable.
Biden himself said they were fabricated!
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Biden himself said they were fabricated!
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
IDF accepts Gaza Health Ministry death toll of over 71,000 Palestinians killed in the war
Although Many International Experts Have Accepted the Health Ministry's Data as Reliable, and Even Conservative Relative to the True Death Toll, Israel Had Refused to Accept the Health Ministry's Coun...
www.haaretz.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:31 PM
I cannot tell you how much doubt was consistently directed at the Gaza Health Ministry’s casualty numbers and how much pressure was put on news organizations to couch those numbers as unreliable.
Biden himself said they were fabricated!
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Biden himself said they were fabricated!
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
More than a year in this has mostly gone as I feared, and in some ways has been worse. But there have been two contrasting surprises:
-- The speed and breadth of institutional capitulation
-- The courage, ferocity, and resolution of regular people
Our strength isn't our institutions. It's us.
-- The speed and breadth of institutional capitulation
-- The courage, ferocity, and resolution of regular people
Our strength isn't our institutions. It's us.
January 29, 2026 at 3:09 PM
More than a year in this has mostly gone as I feared, and in some ways has been worse. But there have been two contrasting surprises:
-- The speed and breadth of institutional capitulation
-- The courage, ferocity, and resolution of regular people
Our strength isn't our institutions. It's us.
-- The speed and breadth of institutional capitulation
-- The courage, ferocity, and resolution of regular people
Our strength isn't our institutions. It's us.
As long as Homan is going to use the language of war...
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."
“in theater” is a crazy way to describe minneapolis
Q: Can you be specific about how many ICE and CBP agents are currently operating in the state?
HOMAN: 3,000. There's been some rotations. They've been in theater a long time. Day after day, can't eat in restaurants, people spin on you, blowing whistles at you. But my main focus now is draw down
HOMAN: 3,000. There's been some rotations. They've been in theater a long time. Day after day, can't eat in restaurants, people spin on you, blowing whistles at you. But my main focus now is draw down
January 29, 2026 at 3:18 PM
As long as Homan is going to use the language of war...
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."
"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
i honestly do not believe that people hate that guy enough. an evil man.
January 29, 2026 at 2:30 AM
i honestly do not believe that people hate that guy enough. an evil man.
It would be absolutely hilarious if the Trump Administration getting actively involved in an Alberta separatist effort ended up tipping the scales to Remain.
Worth noting that the more the Trump-backed Alberta separatism theme has dominated discussion in Albertan politics the more the Centre-Left NDP has started to catch up in polls with the governing Right wing UCP
1/ Trump Administration officials have reportedly held several secret meetings with Canadian separatists, who are seeking US$500 billion to bankroll their efforts. It suggests that the Administration is interested in breaking up Canada and absorbing the remnants. ⬇️
January 29, 2026 at 11:51 AM
It would be absolutely hilarious if the Trump Administration getting actively involved in an Alberta separatist effort ended up tipping the scales to Remain.
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
beyond disgusting
The U.S. Embassy in Denmark removed 44 Danish flags honoring Danish soldiers killed in Afghanistan outside the building, drawing outrage from the country’s veterans amid heightened tensions between Copenhagen and Washington.
https://wapo.st/4rfbSOz
https://wapo.st/4rfbSOz
Removal of flags for fallen Danish soldiers at U.S. Embassy sparks backlash
There was no malicious intent in removing the flags, said a State Department spokesperson, who added that the flags had been replaced.
wapo.st
January 28, 2026 at 10:41 PM
beyond disgusting
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Whoa. D.Minn's chief judge Patrick Schiltz dockets a list of "96 court orders that ICE has violated in 74 cases."
www.courtlistener.com/docket/72120...
www.courtlistener.com/docket/72120...
January 28, 2026 at 10:58 PM
Whoa. D.Minn's chief judge Patrick Schiltz dockets a list of "96 court orders that ICE has violated in 74 cases."
www.courtlistener.com/docket/72120...
www.courtlistener.com/docket/72120...
Reposted by Patrick Matthews
Important. There has not been a deescalation.
January 28, 2026 at 11:33 PM
Important. There has not been a deescalation.