Josh Kovensky
@joshkovensky.bsky.social
43K followers 560 following 630 posts
Investigative reporter @TPM.bsky.social Get in touch at [email protected] or via Signal JoshKovensky.04
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Reposted by Josh Kovensky
thetnholler.bsky.social
WATCH: Trump’s lawless Ice goons shoot an unarmed priest in the head with a pepper ball. Completely out of control.
Reposted by Josh Kovensky
jackjenkins.me
Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.
(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.
Reposted by Josh Kovensky
sarahposner.bsky.social
"The memos classify huge swaths of progressive political advocacy and belief as potentially contributing to political violence and domestic terrorism, directing law enforcement...to investigate and possibly charge left-leaning advocacy groups and their funders"

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/the-tru...
The Trump Admin’s Mostly Unnoticed Move to Crack Down on the Opposition
Last month, the White House issued two executive orders that direct federal...
talkingpointsmemo.com
joshkovensky.bsky.social
The orders direct Joint Terrorism Task Forces, combined groups of FBI and local law enforcement formed after 9/11, to “investigate, prosecute, and disrupt” groups that advocate for views the WH disfavors. It’s gonna get weird at the local level: local JTTFs will have to interpret and act on this
joshkovensky.bsky.social
The two orders from late last month haven’t received broad coverage in the mainstream press, but even for this admin they mark an escalation in its fight to curtail First Amendment protections for the opposition.

One attorney called it a “clear blueprint for going after political enemies”
joshkovensky.bsky.social
The White House told law enforcement across the country to investigate or charge groups advocating views that it disagrees with, like “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity.”

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/the-tru...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Reposted by Josh Kovensky
kateriga.bsky.social
-“Some events? And that’s enough to call up the National Guard?”
-“Really? A social media post is going to count as a presidential determination that you can send the National Guard into cities?"

More: talkingpointsmemo.com/news/thats-e...
‘That’s Enough To Call Up The National Guard?’ Trump-Appointed Judge Skeptical Of Portland Occupation
U.S District Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, was brimming with skepticism...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Reposted by Josh Kovensky
joshkovensky.bsky.social
Department of Labor employees were asked today to blame the shutdown on "Democrat Senators" in template language for an out of office email
talkingpointsmemo.com/live-blog/sh...
Government Shutdown, Day One
Follow along with our coverage here:
talkingpointsmemo.com
Reposted by Josh Kovensky
allegrak.bsky.social
The Trump admin has cut more than $15 million in targeted violence prevention grants nationally since taking office, per @joshkovensky.bsky.social. Some addressed domestic terrorism & targeted political violence that the US has seen multiple times this year.

talkingpointsmemo.com/news/dhs-had...
DHS Had a Program to Stop Political Violence. Trump Largely Abandoned It.
In July, Franklin School District Superintendent Dan LeGallo got a surprise letter...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Reposted by Josh Kovensky
atrupar.com
Trump: "The ones that are run by radical left Democrats -- what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles. They're very unsafe places & we're gonna straighten them out one by one. This is gonna be a major part for some people in this room. That's a war too. It's war from within"
Reposted by Josh Kovensky
leahlitman.bsky.social
My SCOTUS term preview for the Guardian - it focuses on the case challenging what remains of the Voting Rights Act (Callais), how that's part of a centuries-old campaign against Reconstruction, & how that's representative of several issues on the Court's docket.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
A 160-year-old campaign against civil rights heads to the supreme court
Louisiana v Callais could roll back what remains of the Voting Rights Act, putting the future of America’s multiracial democracy at stake
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Josh Kovensky
davidakaye.bsky.social
bit by bit, the administration is laying the groundwork and actually carrying out a system of repressing democratic life in america. redefining opposition as terrorism, targeting critics, investigating civic funders.

we're so far beyond normal and, again, only eight months in.
Reposted by Josh Kovensky
hunterw.bsky.social
This will be my second time meeting a member of the Sky Fam in person. It will be a momentous occasion. @joshtpm.bsky.social will be there. @joshkovensky.bsky.social will be there. Others will also be there. You could be with us if you were a TPM member. See you soon Kate Sometimes!
bestsloth.bsky.social
Can’t wait to meet you! See you soon!
joshkovensky.bsky.social
Please enjoy this video of NYC Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa saying that the government should imprison Wall Street bankers in Guantanamo

youtu.be/0YaZuJqPURs?...
Curtis Sliwa: Police Should Be Police—Not Social Workers
YouTube video by Big Think
youtu.be
Reposted by Josh Kovensky
kyledcheney.bsky.social
Ken CHESEBRO, an architect of Trump's bid to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election, has been suspended from practicing law in D.C. (he'd already been disbarred/suspended in several states) storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...