Ken Ledbetter
LightNews LightNews
banner
kenledbetter.com
Ken Ledbetter
@kenledbetter.com
240 followers 610 following 83 posts
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
maryltrump.bsky.social
Imagine what a tiny little man you would have to be to feel threatened by a dancing fox.
January 20, 2026 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
pbsnews.org
Even though PBS and NPR are still in existence, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he “heard they’re closed up.”

🧵
January 20, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
joelhs.bsky.social
“ICE isn’t the Gestapo. The Gestapo was…” (proceeds to describe qualities that apply to what ICE is currently doing)
From Senator Chris McDaniel: “Lately, some folks have taken to calling ICE “the Gestapo.” It sounds fierce. It feels righteous. But it isn’t true, and it isn’t harmless. The Gestapo was a secret police force. No warrants. No courts. No lawyers. And no appeals. People vanished in the night, not because they broke the law, but because the law no longer meant anything. The knock on the door was the sentence. ICE isn’t that. Not even close. ICE is a public agency enforcing laws passed by elected officials. Its agents file reports. They seek warrants. They lose cases. Judges stop them. Lawyers challenge them. Some detainees go home. That’s not tyranny. That’s bureaucracy, for better and worse. You can hate immigration policy. You can argue enforcement is too harsh, too sloppy, or too broad. You can work to have the law changed if you wish. That’s a republic doing what it’s supposed to do. But when you call ordinary law enforcement “the Gestapo,” you cheapen real evil. You turn history into a slogan and suffering into a metaphor. And once every badge is tyranny, no tyranny is left to recognize. In Mississippi, I was raised to believe words should earn their weight. This one hasn't yet. It throws around the language of dictatorship while living under a system where courts still rule, lawyers still argue, and the government still loses. That difference matters. Because the day enforcement becomes secret, unchecked, and answerable to no one, we won’t need to borrow names from history. We’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with. And we’ll wish we’d kept our words honest.”
January 20, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
marisakabas.bsky.social
ICE ended up returning the man, Saly, after realizing he’s a fucking US citizen with no criminal record, per his sister-in-law. These fucking animals.
January 19, 2026 at 5:41 AM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
kyledcheney.bsky.social
JUST IN: New ACLU class action lawsuit in Minnesota seeks to bar ICE from stopping Latino and Somali residents without probable cause. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
January 15, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
BREAKING: Three-judge panel, on a 2-1 vote, refuses to block California from using its mid-decade redistricting map. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Proposition 50 was the single issue on the ballot for the November 4 special election: the Official Voter Information Guide provided maps to the voters showing both the existing district lines and the proposed new district lines. And the pros and cons of Proposition 50 were outlined in purely political, partisan terms, with each side claiming the other was engaging in a "power grab." No one told the voters that the Proposition 50 Map involved racial gerrymandering. Over 7 million Californians voted "yes" on Proposition 50, it passed by nearly a 2 to 1 margin, and the next day Plaintiffs filed their complaint in this Court. But the Supreme Court ruled in Rucho v. Common Cause that "partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts." So, Challengers have abandoned the argument they made to the voters. Proposition 50, apparently, is no longer a partisan power grab. Now, it is a "racial gerrymander." And Challengers also tell us that, even if the voters intended to adopt the Proposition 50 Map as a partisan counterweight to Texas's redistricting, their intent does not matter, as they were simply dupes of a racially-motivated legislature. However, we reject the notion that voters' intent does not matter. Instead, we employ well-understood tools to determine the voters' intent in adopting the Proposition 50 Map, and after reviewing the evidence, we conclude that it was exactly as one would think: it was partisan. Indeed, the record contains a mountain of statements reflecting the partisan goals of Proposition 50, from which Challengers have culled a molehill of statements showing race consciousness on the part of the mapmaker and certain legislators. But that is not enough to make the necessary showing that the relevant decisionmakers-here, the electorate enacted the new map for racial reasons. Nor have Challengers offered alternative maps that would prove otherwise. Significantly, they provide no alternative map for any congressional district except one: District 13.3 And as to that district, the alternative maps they do offer are either materially indistinguishable from the Proposition 50 Map or do not meet other redistricting goals.
January 14, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
forbes.com
The Democratic Senator told the New York Times that the U.S. attorney for D.C., Jeanine Pirro, had written to the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms seeking an interview with her.
Elissa Slotkin Says She’s Under DOJ Investigation Over Video Urging Troops To Refuse Illegal Orders
The Democratic Senator told the New York Times that the U.S. attorney for D.C., Jeanine Pirro, had written to the Senate’s sergeant-at-arms seeking an interview with her.
www.forbes.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
mahtowin1.bsky.social
The four Oglala Lakota men kidnapped by ICE in Minneapolis have finally been located. One of them was released but the other three are being held at Fort Snelling, a former concentration camp used to imprison Native people including the Dakota 38 during the Dakota Wars. ictnews.org/news/north-c...
Four Oglala detainees located, three still in ICE custody - ICT
The four Lakota detainees were reportedly sent to a former concentration camp used during the Dakota Wars
ictnews.org
January 14, 2026 at 6:43 AM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
sifill.bsky.social
Sound strategic thinking here from Jason Johnson.
www.ms.now/opinion/abol...
Opinion | Abolishing ICE is a popular idea Democrats should embrace
Jason Johnson: If Democrats don’t seize this moment, then they shouldn’t call themselves an opposition party.
www.ms.now
January 14, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
propublica.org
Yes, immigration agents not only took Arnoldo's phone, the 10th grader had to use Find My Phone to locate it — in a vending machine for used electronics, close to an ICE detention center.

Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
"Arnoldo had filmed much of the incident, but agents had taken his phone. He used Find My to locate the phone — at a vending machine for used electronics miles away, close to an ICE detention center. The footage, which ProPublica has reviewed, backed the family’s account of the chase."
January 14, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
adamserwer.bsky.social
Congratulations to Brett Kavanaugh bsky.app/profile/ajco...
ajcousins.bsky.social Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 8d
"“They specifically asked me if I knew where the Hmong families lived on my street & in the neighborhood.” Lugert-Thom responded, “I don’t know anything about that” & she said they then asked, “Well, what about the Asian families?”"

"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
chicagotribune.com Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune.com · 8d
A St. Paul resident says federal officers knocked on her door and asked her to identify Hmong and Asian households in her North End neighborhood last week.
January 14, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
ericumansky.bsky.social
The story www.propublica.org/article/vide...
We Found More Than 40 Cases of Immigration Agents Using Banned Chokeholds and Other Moves That Can Cut Off Breathing
Civilians have had apparent seizures. One had his eyes roll back. Another had ribs broken. “I felt like I was going to pass out and die,” said a 16-year-old citizen put in a chokehold. The government ...
www.propublica.org
January 13, 2026 at 10:21 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
billcorbett.bsky.social
People not in Minnesota: please read this excellent summary of what life is like in Minneapolis since the murderous scum ICE swarmed here. And more are on their way. By local reporter / writer / bike dude / legend @dbrauer.net .
Text: “A friend said those of us who live in Minneapolis should write about what's going on here for folks who live elsewhere. You need to know that whether you're a Republican, Independent or Democrat, the Constitution is being violated by our federal government. This is not about catching criminals, or even deporting people. It is about punishing an entire state, including citizens, for not supporting the president. Everyone in my part of Minneapolis is affected. On our streets, ICE is stopping people of color and demanding their papers. In America. US citizens do not have to prove citizenship to ICE. Yet people are being intimidated, some cases beaten up and detained, for requiring ICE to follow the law. ICE needs a judicial warrant to enter homes. Yet there are documented cases of them ignoring the law - violating a bedrock constitutional principle. Americans of color are staying home, afraid to go to work, school, to grocery shop, or fill their cars with gas. This isn't just "illegals" or immigrants with valid work permits, it is citizens who have had their cars rammed by ICE for merely looking Hispanic. Businesses are closing. Schools are 50 percent full. When they are open, fascists are calling in bomb threats because the president decided to make us a meme. After a daycare teacher with a valid work permit (through 2030) was snatched from her workplace, parents (and grandparents) have had to organize to watch their SCHOOLS, to make sure conditional rights are observed. This is being repeated throughout Minnesota. Imagine trying to do your job or live you life while also taking volunteer shifts to make sure the federal government doesn't act extrajudicially. Because of ICE's documented abuses, neighbors have organized to monitor federal actions. This observation is legal, as long as it doesn't interfere with a valid action. Yet since ICE killed Renee Good, they are increasingly stopping this observation, breaking car windows and …”
January 13, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
david-mack.bsky.social
Believe it or not!
I created the cover to the new comic based on my favorite TV show when I was 8 yrs old!
Original Art available!
kirbyscomicartshop.com/collections/... My original art at Kirby's Comic Art - can msg Annabel Jane Kirby to get this one.
January 13, 2026 at 1:22 AM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
ziibiing.com
just a reminder that we aren’t even seeing the worst of what is happening in Minneapolis from someone detailed at the Whipple Federal Building yesterday
Eyewitness account: Good morning, My name is Brandon Siguenza, and l am a US citizen from Minneapolis. Yesterday, while doing legal observation, ICE stopped their cars to harass my friend and me. They sprayed pepper spray into the vent of our vehicle. We held our hands in the air and told them we were not obstructing, that the car was in park and they were free to drive forward and away. There was no active immigration raid. They returned to their cars, and drove forward a bit, then decided to stop again. They surrounded us, smashed the windows of our car, opened the doors (they were unlocked), ripped my friend and I out of the car and arrested us on charges of obstruction. I was put in an unmarked SUV, separated from my friend. As I was put in the back seat an ICE agent tore the whistle off my neck and said "I'll be taking this, I might need it later." My phone was knocked out of my hand while being arrested. As we drove away I asked the driver and the passenger if they wouldn't mind buckling my seatbelt, as they were driving erratically. I was ignored. I asked them if I could have the handcuffs loosened, as I was losing circulation, and was told no. At one point the passenger realized his own driver's license was in the backseat next to mine, and tried to surreptitiously grab it without me seeing it. We were taken to the Whipple federal building, where I saw dozens of brown people being processed in an unheated garage. I was frisked, told of my charges, and saw buses and vans being prepped. I later learned that these were being filled with detainees and driven to the airport for deportation. As we were led in, I noticed that the building was very busy. I got the impression that one of the 2 agents bringing me around was being trained. At multiple points throughout my stay, government agents were unable to open doors, not sure where they were meant to be going, and overall confused and overwhelmed. They couldn't figure out how to use the building phones, or complai…
January 13, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
audrelawdamercy.bsky.social
semi-regular reminder that ICE was only created in 2003

when you are asked to imagine a world without ICE, you're basically being asked to remember where you were when Lilo & Stitch came out
January 12, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
woodydevs.bsky.social
If you see me at MAGFest today, let’s play Wii sports.
January 10, 2026 at 9:27 PM
kenledbetter.com
The invisible orange hand of the market
ronfilipkowski.bsky.social Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 12d
He’s “calling for” it.
January 10, 2026 at 3:08 AM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
acyn.bsky.social
AOC: That is a fundamental difference between VP Vance and I. I do not believe that the American people should be assassinated in the street.
January 10, 2026 at 2:31 AM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
wajali.bsky.social
January 10, 2026 at 1:26 AM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
noturtlesoup17.bsky.social
This morning in Minneapolis, an ICE vehicle got stuck on an icy hill in a residential neighborhood. Agents had to push the vehicles out, some almost slipping in the ice themselves.
January 9, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
yveilleuxlepage.bsky.social
🧵In my expert opinion as a researcher of vehicle ramming attacks, what has been publicly described in the video evidence does not support the claim that Renee Nicole Good was attempting a deliberate ramming attack when she was shot in Minneapolis on January 7, 2026. 1/7
January 8, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
sahilkapur.bsky.social
NEWS: Senate votes 52-47 to advance a measure restricting Trump's power to use military force in Venezuela.

A rare warning shot from Congress to Trump as he dials up foreign rhetoric.

Voting YES: Democrats + Rand Paul, Collins, Murkowski, Young, Hawley.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
Senate advances measure to restrict Trump's power to use military force in Venezuela
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine, who led the bipartisan resolution, said that Trump's actions in Venezuela are "clearly illegal" because he did not seek congressional approval.
www.nbcnews.com
January 8, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Reposted by Ken Ledbetter
taniel.bsky.social
The Trace has been tracking shootings connected to Trump's immigration crackdowns — an important project that I had somehow missed but shines today: www.thetrace.org/2025/12/immi...
How Many People Have Been Shot in ICE Raids?
The Trace is tracking gun incidents connected to Trump’s immigration crackdown. Know of one? Please be in touch.
www.thetrace.org
January 7, 2026 at 8:10 PM