Melissa Gira Grant
@melissagiragrant.com
staff writer, @newrepublic.com
author, A WOMAN IS AGAINST THE LAW (@littlebrown.bsky.social, 2KTK) + PLAYING THE WHORE (Verso)
member, @nyguild.bsky.social
// melissagiragrant.com
» [email protected]
» tips (encrypted): melissagira.01 on Signal
author, A WOMAN IS AGAINST THE LAW (@littlebrown.bsky.social, 2KTK) + PLAYING THE WHORE (Verso)
member, @nyguild.bsky.social
// melissagiragrant.com
» [email protected]
» tips (encrypted): melissagira.01 on Signal
“…you do not need to understand what he believes to grasp how dangerous he is or why. You need only to put some tactical gear and a gaiter on him, dress him up with whatever weaponry looks toughest, and drop him behind the wheel of a rented Jeep Wagoneer.”
Fascists Are Pathetic | Defector
Two days before a shouting cluster of its agents surrounded the car of a Minneapolis mother and shot her to death last week, ICE was demanding answers from the Hilton hotel group on Twitter. “Why did ...
defector.com
January 15, 2026 at 10:18 PM
“…you do not need to understand what he believes to grasp how dangerous he is or why. You need only to put some tactical gear and a gaiter on him, dress him up with whatever weaponry looks toughest, and drop him behind the wheel of a rented Jeep Wagoneer.”
hell yes the followup:
January 15, 2026 at 10:13 PM
hell yes the followup:
not a serious contribution to the midterms discourse, but one thing is trump isn’t on the ballot—will he “fight like hell” for anyone else
January 15, 2026 at 8:58 PM
not a serious contribution to the midterms discourse, but one thing is trump isn’t on the ballot—will he “fight like hell” for anyone else
Reposted by Melissa Gira Grant
I compared the user interface in this photo to the leaked user guide I have for Mobile Fortify, and it's the same. Mobile Fortify is ICE's app for verifying someone's identity, immigration status, whether issued order of deportation. ICE says it overrides a birth certificate bsky.app/profile/donm...
The people wearing masks are scanning your face to capture your identity.
January 15, 2026 at 8:12 PM
I compared the user interface in this photo to the leaked user guide I have for Mobile Fortify, and it's the same. Mobile Fortify is ICE's app for verifying someone's identity, immigration status, whether issued order of deportation. ICE says it overrides a birth certificate bsky.app/profile/donm...
needed this
January 15, 2026 at 8:16 PM
needed this
Reposted by Melissa Gira Grant
"paid protestors" is one of the oldest propaganda tricks in the book (literally -- it was used around Civil War discourse, and to combat labor strikes in the early 1900s too). Journalists and TV anchors should push back on it whenever they hear it. drilled.media/news/ivy-lee
January 15, 2026 at 7:17 PM
"paid protestors" is one of the oldest propaganda tricks in the book (literally -- it was used around Civil War discourse, and to combat labor strikes in the early 1900s too). Journalists and TV anchors should push back on it whenever they hear it. drilled.media/news/ivy-lee
I almost miss when no one knew who the Proud Boys are/were
January 15, 2026 at 7:03 PM
I almost miss when no one knew who the Proud Boys are/were
tuck this one away: instead of telling someone with or recovering from covid "feel better!" (an imperative!) or (worse) "get well soon!"—two things someone with a virus with long-lasting impacts on one's health has no control over—try "hope you're getting the rest you need" which almost no one says
January 15, 2026 at 6:38 PM
tuck this one away: instead of telling someone with or recovering from covid "feel better!" (an imperative!) or (worse) "get well soon!"—two things someone with a virus with long-lasting impacts on one's health has no control over—try "hope you're getting the rest you need" which almost no one says
Ahead of time, you first have to turn on full encryption on your devices, it’s not that cumbersome—a good guide here:
January 15, 2026 at 5:44 PM
Ahead of time, you first have to turn on full encryption on your devices, it’s not that cumbersome—a good guide here:
“Many of ICE’s critics worry that the agency is hoovering up pro-Trump thugs—Jan. 6 insurrections, white nationalists, etc. … The truth, my experience suggests, is perhaps even scarier: ICE’s recruitment push is so sloppy that the admin. effectively has no idea who’s joining the agency’s ranks.”
A few months ago, ICE hired me
I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable
And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!"
My latest for Slate
I didn't sign and submit any paperwork. I almost certainly failed the drug test. I'm real outspoken about my opposition to the Trump administration, and I am extremely googlable
And yet, there it was, in plain English. "Welcome to ICE!"
My latest for Slate
You’ve Heard About Who ICE Is Recruiting. The Truth Is Far Worse. I’m the Proof.
What happens when you do minimal screening before hiring agents, arming them, and sending them into the streets? We're all finding out.
slate.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:30 PM
“Many of ICE’s critics worry that the agency is hoovering up pro-Trump thugs—Jan. 6 insurrections, white nationalists, etc. … The truth, my experience suggests, is perhaps even scarier: ICE’s recruitment push is so sloppy that the admin. effectively has no idea who’s joining the agency’s ranks.”
Reposted by Melissa Gira Grant
The Times went to non urban Minnesota to ask people why they dislike urban Minneapolis. If someone were to ask me to teach a journalism school course on helicopter reporting, this story - so cliche it’s almost hard to believe they really did this - would immediately go on the syllabus.
NYTimes has truly outdone itself with this latest in its "ask white guys in diner" genre. Thank goodness we get a perspective on what's happening in Minneapolis from people in **Nisswa** who probably mean Brainerd when they say they "prefer not to go the city anymore" www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/u...
One State, Two Very Different Views of Minneapolis
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:55 PM
The Times went to non urban Minnesota to ask people why they dislike urban Minneapolis. If someone were to ask me to teach a journalism school course on helicopter reporting, this story - so cliche it’s almost hard to believe they really did this - would immediately go on the syllabus.
I would read this guide—something like “welcoming people into safer communications, while also not demobilizing them when they inevitably make a mistake.” I can’t think of another time when people were urgently needing these tools and skills at this scale.
I need people who don’t live in the Twin Cities to stop telling people not to join massive Signal groups right now. People are doing it. They’re going to keep doing it. Give them good advice about it.
The actually practical advice is don’t say anything to 1000 strangers you wouldn’t say in public
The actually practical advice is don’t say anything to 1000 strangers you wouldn’t say in public
January 15, 2026 at 3:33 PM
I would read this guide—something like “welcoming people into safer communications, while also not demobilizing them when they inevitably make a mistake.” I can’t think of another time when people were urgently needing these tools and skills at this scale.
Reposted by Melissa Gira Grant
Another common thread between Chicago and Minneapolis enduring these occupations:
Another thing you should know about the Twin Cities, if you're not here, is that while the mayor and governor tell us to stay calm on TV, our council members and other local electeds are on the street patrolling and protecting neighbors, doing mutual aid, and otherwise serving the community.
January 15, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Another common thread between Chicago and Minneapolis enduring these occupations:
not a big family genealogy person but in the course of book research dipped in and anyway today I’m thinking about the guy on my grandmother’s side who was a sheriff of some kind in Barnstable in the early 1700s and my grandfather’s dad arriving in New York from Italy in 1904 to live in Brighton
January 15, 2026 at 3:16 PM
not a big family genealogy person but in the course of book research dipped in and anyway today I’m thinking about the guy on my grandmother’s side who was a sheriff of some kind in Barnstable in the early 1700s and my grandfather’s dad arriving in New York from Italy in 1904 to live in Brighton
I’m glad too much has happened since summer and fall 2024 to remember who said they didn’t really mean it re: “mass deportations”
January 15, 2026 at 2:59 PM
I’m glad too much has happened since summer and fall 2024 to remember who said they didn’t really mean it re: “mass deportations”
Reposted by Melissa Gira Grant
New: meet ELITE, the Palantir app ICE is using to find neighborhoods to raid. Map interface; officers search for immigrants; click person to bring up individual dossier. This is clearest link between what Palantir is building and ICE's activities on the ground yet www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
‘ELITE’: The Palantir App ICE Uses to Find Neighborhoods to Raid
Internal ICE material and testimony from an official obtained by 404 Media provides the clearest link yet between the technological infrastructure Palantir is building for ICE and the agency’s activit...
www.404media.co
January 15, 2026 at 2:06 PM
New: meet ELITE, the Palantir app ICE is using to find neighborhoods to raid. Map interface; officers search for immigrants; click person to bring up individual dossier. This is clearest link between what Palantir is building and ICE's activities on the ground yet www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
good morning, unless it’s the band or about 80s mall looks, I never want to see the word “clash” again
January 15, 2026 at 2:27 PM
good morning, unless it’s the band or about 80s mall looks, I never want to see the word “clash” again
Reposted by Melissa Gira Grant
"The Department of Homeland Security appears to be moving ahead with a new immigrant detention facility to hold as many as 1,500 detainees in Chester, New York — just over an hour from New York City." — @gwynnefitz.bsky.social reports
www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/14/c...
www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/14/c...
ICE Opening Huge Lockup 50 Miles North of New York City
The coming “processing facility” is already triggering protests upstate.
www.thecity.nyc
January 14, 2026 at 11:10 PM
"The Department of Homeland Security appears to be moving ahead with a new immigrant detention facility to hold as many as 1,500 detainees in Chester, New York — just over an hour from New York City." — @gwynnefitz.bsky.social reports
www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/14/c...
www.thecity.nyc/2026/01/14/c...
Reposted by Melissa Gira Grant
The press practice of relying on the govt to set the narrative is routine enough in the US to normally escape notice, but in an insurrection it looks unmistakably absurd alongside citizen reporting. Running in clown shoes to the cops & the White House to uncritically report back whatever they say.
January 15, 2026 at 6:24 AM
The press practice of relying on the govt to set the narrative is routine enough in the US to normally escape notice, but in an insurrection it looks unmistakably absurd alongside citizen reporting. Running in clown shoes to the cops & the White House to uncritically report back whatever they say.
Reposted by Melissa Gira Grant
“Presented with the evidence assembled for this story, four extremism experts said that the businesses could serve to economically insulate North Texas Patriot Front members and allies, and that their behavior resembles that of mutual support networks long deployed by white supremacists.”
New from me and @tristanl.ee with a bit of help from @wileydcope.bsky.social: We identified companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that are operated either by members of Patriot Front or individuals with multiple connections to Patriot Front
www.texasobserver.org/revealed-fou...
www.texasobserver.org/revealed-fou...
Revealed: Four Businesses with Ties to Patriot Front Operating in North Texas
The neo-Nazi group is engaged in a strategy to establish an independent economic ecosystem. Through publicly available information, interviews, and in-person observation, the Observer has identified c...
www.texasobserver.org
January 15, 2026 at 1:47 PM
“Presented with the evidence assembled for this story, four extremism experts said that the businesses could serve to economically insulate North Texas Patriot Front members and allies, and that their behavior resembles that of mutual support networks long deployed by white supremacists.”
Reposted by Melissa Gira Grant
I did a project on tv/film copaganda a while ago, and one of the most telling things I found was from the 1917 Charlie Chaplin film Easy Street, in which a woman chides Chaplin's police officer character and says "but you promised to reform!" It just goes round and round, decade after decade.
January 15, 2026 at 2:58 AM
I did a project on tv/film copaganda a while ago, and one of the most telling things I found was from the 1917 Charlie Chaplin film Easy Street, in which a woman chides Chaplin's police officer character and says "but you promised to reform!" It just goes round and round, decade after decade.
the truth of this
This was like listening to the radio to see if we had a snow day in 1994 💀
Fallon is...but this silly segment made me guffaw. youtu.be/FhC76xAq7oE?...
January 15, 2026 at 2:29 AM
the truth of this
“What’s that? I couldn’t hear you over the quiet of all the whistles.”
January 15, 2026 at 12:59 AM
“What’s that? I couldn’t hear you over the quiet of all the whistles.”
have never hit the #bloomscrolling as hard as I have as today winds down
Exhale ✨
Canon EOS 1N RS
Tamron Sp Di
Fuji 400 35mm
#art #macrophotography #filmphotography #artyear #Fujifilm #Canon #Tamron #onlybeautifulthings #flowersky #bloomscrolling 🎞️
Canon EOS 1N RS
Tamron Sp Di
Fuji 400 35mm
#art #macrophotography #filmphotography #artyear #Fujifilm #Canon #Tamron #onlybeautifulthings #flowersky #bloomscrolling 🎞️
January 15, 2026 at 12:21 AM
have never hit the #bloomscrolling as hard as I have as today winds down