Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · 8d

NEW: We spent 6 months digging into the cartel networks recruiting Americans as smugglers

Uncovering hundreds of recruitment posts and speaking with cartel recruiters + law enforcement about their tactics

With Norma Galeana, David Culver, and Evelio Contreras:

Inside the cartel networks recruiting young Americans on social media | CNN

A young mother tells CNN how she was lured into recruiting migrant smugglers in the US after seeing a promise of easy money in her feed.

www.cnn.com

3

Reposted by Avery Schmitz

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · Sep 8

NEW: Chihuahua, Mexico's most sprawling state, is building a surveillance system.

Once complete, it'll have almost 10K cameras, including some w/ facial recognition capabilities.

Authorities offered to share access with US police—including Texas DPS. 🧵

www.texasobserver.org/texas-chihua...

Just Beyond the Texas Border, Chihuahua Is Launching a Burgeoning State Surveillance System

The 20-story Torre Centinela looming over Juárez is part of a much larger AI-powered network that won’t stop at the U.S.-Mexico divide.

www.texasobserver.org

3 51 76

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Jul 3

NEW: what’s happening at one Iranian nuclear site following US airstrikes

1 1 4

Reposted by Avery Schmitz

Thomas Bordeaux @thomasbordeaux.bsky.social · Jun 17

235 people were killed in April when the roof of the Jet Set nightclub came crashing down during a packed concert. We found that for years before the collapse, structural issues and warning signs went unaddressed. w/ @stepozzebon.bsky.social and @averyschmitz.bsky.social for CNN youtu.be/H5UpgvxSc1A

CNN analysis explores cause of deadly Dominican nightclub roof collapse

YouTube video by CNN

youtu.be

4 10

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Jun 18

NEW: How structural flaws reduced a Dominican nightclub to rubble

Watch our investigation of the Jet Set club collapse which killed over 230 people in April

From @stepozzebon.bsky.social, @thomasbordeaux.bsky.social, Anyi Lizardo, Maddie Araujo, and me:
youtu.be/H5UpgvxSc1A?...

CNN analysis explores cause of deadly Dominican nightclub roof collapse

YouTube video by CNN

youtu.be

1 6

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Mar 10

Amid violence in northwest Syria, some appear to be seeking protection from Russian forces there

New satellite images from Maxar show throngs of people and cars crowding an entrance Khmeimim Air Base earlier today--less than 20km from central Latakia

📸: Maxar Technologies

2 9

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Mar 10

En Español -- Por qué la Armada Argentina se está desplegando para vigilar cientos de barcos pesqueros chinos frente a su costa

Por qué la Armada Argentina se está desplegando para vigilar cientos de barcos pesqueros chinos frente a su costa | CNN

El avión de hélice P-3 gira bruscamente, silueteado contra docenas de luces brillantes en el mar frente a un atardecer argentino. A medida que la cámara recorre la escena, queda claro: las luces deslu...

cnnespanol.cnn.com

4

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Mar 10

On just one afternoon, >80% of fishing vessels in the fleet were sailing under the Chinese flag

A further 10% were Spanish and 5.5% were registered in either the UK or Malvinas/Falkland Islands

🗺️ by Renée Rigdon

1 7

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Mar 10

Satellite imagery captured Feb. 28 shows Chinese fishing vessel Ning Tai 52 among the fleet

A former crewmember accused the ship’s parent company of employing forced labor practices in a 2021 @greenpeace.org report

🛰️ 📷 shared by @planetlabs.bsky.social

1 1

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Mar 10

Foreign fleets harm Argentine fishermen, according to union leader Dario Socrate--he estimates that local fishermen could catch double what they do now without them

📽️ produced by @mackenziehappe.bsky.social

CNN video analysis finds hundreds of Chinese boats suspected of illegal fishing | CNN

A fleet of more than 550 fishing trawlers could be seen from space in an area of international waters near Argentina that’s notorious for illegal fishing. A CNN video analysis found that more than 80%...

www.cnn.com

1

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Mar 10

NEW: Argentina’s military is deploying to surveil hundreds of Chinese fishing boats off its coast. Here’s why:

From me, @isaacyeephoto.bsky.social, @yong.bsky.social and Betiana Fernández Martino

Why Argentina’s military is deploying to surveil hundreds of Chinese fishing boats off its coast | CNN

The Argentine military is ramping up efforts to combat these fishing operations in a region experts warn is on the brink of environmental collapse.

www.cnn.com

1 14 27

Reposted by Avery Schmitz

Evident Media @evidentmedia.org · Mar 4

We are proud to announce the launch of Evident — a nonprofit news organization producing documentary journalism for the public good — here on Bluesky.

Evident is building a new kind of newsroom powered by a team of journalists that is covering crucial stories for public good.

3 75 170

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Feb 15

New satellite images from Maxar Technologies show the aftermath of large-scale burning in Zamzam's central market

About half of the market was torched, according to @hrl-yalesph.bsky.social analysis

Read our full story here:
cnn.com/2025/02/14/a...

1 4

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Feb 15

NEW: Paramilitary forces raid Sudan’s largest refugee camp

"Several stray bullets flew over our heads, and a victim fell right in front of me," an eyewitness told us.

From me, Aleena Fayaz, and Kaila Nichols:

Paramilitary forces raid Sudan’s largest refugee camp | CNN

Fighters from Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have torched parts of Sudan’s largest refugee camp, firing indiscriminately at people, including women and children, according to open-sou...

www.cnn.com

1 8 12

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Feb 10

The Defense Department has "historically flown only about one surveillance mission a month... typically, officials instead focus these planes on collecting intelligence on other priorities, such as Russian activity in Ukraine or hunting Russian or Chinese submarines."

US spy planes hunt for intel on Mexican drug cartels as surveillance flights surge near border | CNN Politics

The US military has significantly increased its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels over the past two weeks, with sophisticated spy planes flying at least 18 missions over the southwestern US and in ...

www.cnn.com

1 5

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Feb 10

These flights have spanned the U.S.-Mexico border with missions in California, Arizona, and Texas, open-source data shows

Map by Renée Rigdon

1 5 14

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Feb 10

NEW: We identified 18 US military flights gathering intelligence on cartels in Mexico since Jan. 28

These missions show how the Trump admin is quickly shifting national security resources to the border

From Katie Bo Lillis, Priscilla Alvarez, @natashabertrand.bsky.social and me

US spy planes hunt for intel on Mexican drug cartels as surveillance flights surge near border | CNN Politics

The US military has significantly increased its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels over the past two weeks, with sophisticated spy planes flying at least 18 missions over the southwestern US and in ...

cnn.com

1 12 18

Reposted by Avery Schmitz

Natasha Bertrand @natashabertrand.bsky.social · Feb 10

The US military has significantly increased its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels over the past two weeks, with sophisticated spy planes flying at least 18 missions over the southwestern US and in international airspace around the Baja peninsula.
www.cnn.com/2025/02/10/p...

US spy planes hunt for intel on Mexican drug cartels as surveillance flights surge near border | CNN Politics

The US military has significantly increased its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels over the past two weeks, with sophisticated spy planes flying at least 18 missions over the southwestern US and in ...

www.cnn.com

21 20 37

Reposted by Avery Schmitz

Francesca D'Annunzio @francescadnunz.bsky.social · Feb 6

NEW: Derek Maltz, Trump's pick to lead the DEA, formerly worked at PenLink, a Nebraska-based tech firm that has sold software that can track phone locations without a warrant to agencies like ICE and Texas DPS.

www.texasobserver.org/dea-derek-ma...

New DEA Chief’s Background Includes Surveillance Tech and Border Misinformation

Derek Maltz formerly worked at PenLink, a Nebraska-based tech firm that has sold software that can track phone locations without a warrant to agencies like ICE and Texas DPS.

www.texasobserver.org

3 62 75

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Feb 6

Hey @lemonodor.bsky.social! Can you shoot me a DM?

Reposted by Avery Schmitz

Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · Jan 30

“If the facts as you just stated are true, then apparently some people are above the law.”

From @francescadnunz.bsky.social and @averyschmitz.bsky.social in 2024: Citizen militias are illegal in both Arizona and Texas, but in some cases police appear to be tacitly approving border vigilantism.

Border Vigilantes Are Blurring the Lines of Law Enforcement

Armed groups in Arizona and Texas are collaborating with and courting police and immigration agents—with alarming results.

www.texasobserver.org

9 64 170

Reposted by Avery Schmitz

Jacob Ware @jacobware.bsky.social · Jan 16

"LAFD Capt. Erik Scott has one of the most intense jobs in the nation right now: trying to distribute accurate public information during a historically destructive urban fire in America."

Misinformation is a growing problem for frontline workers... www.wsj.com/us-news/los-...

Fighting Fires—and the Rumor Mill—as L.A. Burns

‘The worst I’ve ever seen.’ Skyrocketing misinformation is forcing public officials to adopt a new playbook when tragedies hit their communities

www.wsj.com

5 22 97

Avery Schmitz @averyschmitz.bsky.social · Jan 2

NEW: Using visual evidence, we pieced together how the Bourbon Street attack unfolded on New Year’s Eve, killing at least 15 people

From Caroll Alvarado, Elizabeth Wolfe, and me

A visual timeline of the New Year’s attack that left at least 14 dead in New Orleans | CNN

New Orleans’ famed Bourbon Street devolved into a grisly crime scene just hours into the new year as a driver plowed a pickup truck through crowds of holiday revelers, killing at least 14 people and i...

www.cnn.com

1 3

Reposted by Avery Schmitz

Texas Observer @texasobserver.org · Dec 27

Best of 2024: Citizen militias are illegal in both Arizona and Texas, but in some cases police appear to be tacitly approving border vigilantism. @francescadnunz.bsky.social @azcir.bsky.social & @averyschmitz.bsky.social uncover the alarming collaboration between law enforcement and militias.

Border Vigilantes Are Blurring the Lines of Law Enforcement

Armed groups in Arizona and Texas are collaborating with and courting police and immigration agents—with alarming results.

www.texasobserver.org

10 53 95

Reposted by Avery Schmitz

Eman El-Sherbiny @emansh.bsky.social · Dec 11

A lot has been happening in Sudan but very little is talked about, which is a grave mistake given the SAF & RSF often intensify their attacks around December of every year, using the lack of media attention getting closer to the holidays. But one of the dealiest took place just 2 days ago 1/

2 40 110