St. John Barned-Smith
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stjbs.bsky.social
St. John Barned-Smith
@stjbs.bsky.social
6.2K followers 1.1K following 640 posts
Reporting for the SF Chronicle. RPCV: Paraguay. Call me ‘Sinjin.'
Signal: stjbs.82
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Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
Good morning. The President of the United States was in the middle of the most serious child sex trafficking ring of the last quarter century.

He is referenced not a dozen times in the case files. Not 100 times. Not 1,000 times. He’s referenced 38,000 times.
February 8, 2026 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
michaelharriot.bsky.social
Is Chris Cillizza a Journalist?
Is Chris Cillizza a Journalist?
If he doesn't think Don Lemon is a journalist, what is he?
dlvr.it
February 8, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
kissphoria.bsky.social
Amber Glenn, a queer Texan who started ice skating at the stonebriar mall in frisco at age 5, who plays magic the gathering, is an olympic gold medalist
February 8, 2026 at 10:45 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
wajali.bsky.social
Y'all need to pay attention to what's happening in Europe. They're not messing around. The Epstein scandal is causing heads to roll.

In America, eh, not so much. I wonder why.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/w...
Starmer’s Chief of Staff Resigns, Citing Role in Hiring Friend of Epstein
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 11:23 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
gregsargent.bsky.social
Trumpworld is attacking Bad Bunny as an "elitist" who disdains "law enforcement." But it turns out that ICE's paramilitary war on Americans has broken all the old culture war signifiers. The old tropes are failing. Trump is losing the culture on this. 6/

newrepublic.com/article/2062...
February 8, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
gregsargent.bsky.social
Trumpworld assumed MAGA-adjacent parts of the culture would thrill to ICE brutality. ICE recruits among fans of UFC, Nascar, military tactical equipment.

But even MAGA-friendly constituencies and parts of the culture are now rejecting ICE and mass deportations. 5/

newrepublic.com/article/2062...
February 8, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
gregsargent.bsky.social
Don't forget: Last fall, Kristi Noem boasted that ICE would be "all over" the Super Bowl, and said only people who "love this country" should attend.

Now ICE enforcement operations there won't happen. It's very plausible ICE would face a hostile reception. 4/

newrepublic.com/article/2062...
February 8, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
gregsargent.bsky.social
Trump/MAGA have long regarded pro football as "their" part of the culture. They used to post video of stadium crowds cheering Trump. He tried to shame black players kneeling for BLM out of the sport.

This is why Bad Bunny doing Super Bowl cuts so deep for Trump. 3/

newrepublic.com/article/2062...
February 8, 2026 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
gregsargent.bsky.social
Striking from Marquette poll:

Majorities of non-college grads and even 50% of rural Americans disapprove of ICE handling of enforcement. Majorities of both oppose deporting longtime residents with jobs/no criminal records.

That's data given to me. 2/

newrepublic.com/article/2062...
February 8, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
gregsargent.bsky.social
Trump is badly losing the war over ICE, not just on the streets, but also in the culture. As Bad Bunny shows, this has become a culture war unto itself. Trump-MAGA's initial hubris has been utterly deflated.

I've got fresh data illustrating the point. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2062...
Trump Rages at Bad Bunny—and Accidentally Exposes a Big MAGA Weakness
MAGA’s hatred of the Super Bowl halftime performer reflects a hubris about what parts of the culture are “theirs.” But those assumptions are proving more wrong every day.
newrepublic.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:00 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
fightthefire.bsky.social
DOJ needs to answer for inexplicable redactions, and Congress needs to question the people named in the Epstein files. Democrat Ro Khanna asks for us all: "Who raped these underage girls from working-class families?"

Free links/subscriptions. Please don't comment before reading the column.
Ro Khanna: 'Who raped these underage girls?'
Republicans will be remembered as the Grand Old Pedophiles unless they act
fightthefire.substack.com
February 6, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
lomikriel.bsky.social
Updated response from the city of El Paso:
February 8, 2026 at 11:15 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
lomikriel.bsky.social
UPDATE: DHS denied TB cases in the troubled El Paso East Montana tent camp Sunday — although a congresswoman said medical staff told her last month in front of ICE & city officials confirmed Saturday. DHS did not respond to questions seeking clarity

www.texastribune.org/2026/02/07/i...
February 8, 2026 at 10:58 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
npr.org
A sweeping boycott has begun — targeting tech giants who participants believe are enabling President Trump and his immigration crackdown.
DVDs and public transit: Boycott drives people to ditch Big Tech to protest ICE
A sweeping boycott has begun — targeting tech giants who participants believe are enabling President Trump and his immigration crackdown.
n.pr
February 8, 2026 at 6:48 AM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
kathleenclark.bsky.social
This is important — and very heartening — news:

While about a dozen of the biggest firms bent the knee to Trump, hundreds of the most experienced DOJ lawyers have quit, refusing to participate in the abuse of government power for Trump’s illegal ends.

gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u...
Demanding Support for Trump, Justice Dept. Struggles to Recruit Prosecutors
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
jonseidel.bsky.social
DEVELOPING: Federal judge will let Marimar Martinez release text messages sent by Border Patrol agent who shot her

From @chicago.suntimes.com: chicago.suntimes.com/2026/02/06/f...
Federal judge will let Marimar Martinez release text messages sent by Border Patrol agent who shot her
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis pointed out that Martinez is "presumed innocent of any offense of which she has not been convicted." Martinez's attorney said the text messages and other evidence ...
chicago.suntimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:18 PM
stjbs.bsky.social
Trump shares racist video depicting Obamas as apes

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Trump shares video depicting Obamas as apes
Tim Scott, the sole Black Republican in the Senate, called it ‘the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.’
www.washingtonpost.com
February 6, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
briankaylor.bsky.social
Dozens of articles yesterday reported on Trump's rambling, profane remarks at National Prayer Breakfast. But I was only 1 to cover the more dangerous #ChristianNationalist remarks by Pete Hegseth: publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/at-nationa...
At National Prayer Breakfast, Hegseth Says US Soldiers Gain Salvation by Dying for ‘Christian Nation’
While Trump's remarks dominate the headlines about the event, more concerning Christian Nationalist comments came a few minutes later.
publicwitness.wordandway.org
February 6, 2026 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
swin24.bsky.social
oh nothing just the president of the United States sharing an AI video of the Obamas as apes in the jungle
February 6, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
🚨HOLY CRAP. The Trump admin just took a SLEDGEHAMMER to due process, largely eliminating the Board of Immigration Appeals process and MANDATING DISMISSAL of ALL appeals (which cost $1,000 thanks to OBBBA) filed after tomorrow unless a majority of the BIA votes to hear the case.
Thus, rather than require such adjudications, the Department is changing its regulations to provide the Board more flexibility in reviewing appeals. Instead, for appeals taken from decisions issued after this IF becomes effective, as explained in Section IV.A of this preamble, the default will be summary dismissal unless a majority of current Board members vote to consider the appeal on the merits. And such dismissals will occur quickly—within 15 days of filing the appeal—allowing aliens to seek Federal court review expeditiously, rather than potentially waiting for years for a Board decision that in the vast majority of cases would affirm the underlying Immigration Judge decision.
February 5, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
sifill.bsky.social
Read it all please.
kathleenclark.bsky.social Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 3d
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
February 5, 2026 at 9:17 PM
stjbs.bsky.social
Just staggering.
kathleenclark.bsky.social Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 3d
‘One officer told me that I "had no chance of returning to Minnesota" and that "the best thing for (me] is self-deportation." …
She offered me $2600 to self-deport.
I refused.
I wanted to talk to my attorney.
They didn't tell me the judge had already ordered my release and return to Minnesota.’
February 5, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Reposted by St. John Barned-Smith
kathleenclark.bsky.social
There's been lots of attention on 1 particular inexperienced & untrained govt lawyer
But I want to give a shout-out to Kira Kelley,
climatedefenseproject.org/profile/kira...,
who focused on ICE's horrific treatment of an immigrant prisoner -- all occurring *after* the court had ordered him released
And I would point Your Honor to two declarations in a recent filing, which if Your Honor would permit, I could file in a supplement in this case. The first is a petitioner -- is a affidavit written by my client Oscar. And that was filed at Docket 67, The Advocates for Human Rights, et al., v. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al., Case Number 26-cv-749. And Oscar's declaration is important for a few reasons. One, it articulates just his horrific experience throughout this proceeding. And it's easy for us to see court orders not being complied with and the e-mails back and forth on the computer, but his affidavit really just shows what it's like to experience that and in ways that were personally for me just sickening to read as his attorney. That he was without food. He was without clean clothes. He was subject to physical danger, both through reckless driving of ICE agents transporting him from one location to another, watching people screaming in pain with medical neglect, being exposed to COVID. Just the conditions of his confinement; eating food that he conflated with dog food. That people are just being treated like less than human. And all of this was happening while he had a court order for his release. And while all of this is happening, ICE agents are telling him to self-deport because he's got no chance to get out of there other than self-deport, so he's being deprived of access, and this is all in his affidavit. Myself and his immigration attorney, who's here in the courtroom today, were not able to talk to him. His immigration attorney in particular made diligent efforts to ensure compliance with the court order, and these are e-mails that are in Oscar's case. I think you've seen these. We're trying to get ahold of him. We're trying to get access to him. We're trying to bring him home. And, meanwhile, he is sleeping on the floor, if he gets to sleep at all, and he's being lied to, denied access to phone calls to call his loved ones or his attorneys. I would encourage Your Honor to read this declaration, and I would defer to the Court if you would like me to submit it formally in Oscar's own case. And the second declaration also in The Advocates
February 5, 2026 at 12:03 AM
stjbs.bsky.social
‘No one warned us’: Toxic mushroom superbloom fuels California’s largest poisoning outbreak

www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
‘No one warned us’: Toxic mushroom superbloom fuels California’s largest poisoning outbreak
Death cap mushroom poisonings in California have reached record levels. Many of those poisoned are immigrants.
www.sfchronicle.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:00 PM
stjbs.bsky.social
SF teachers to strike, starting Monday www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/t...
S.F. teachers to strike starting Monday
Labor leaders for the district’s 6,000 educators, classroom aides, counselors, nurses, and other members scheduled a news conference and were expected to discuss details about the strike.
www.sfchronicle.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:00 PM