Peter Sterne
@petersterne.com
17K followers 1.1K following 4.3K posts
State Editor at cityandstateny.bsky.social. Previously @nysfocus.bsky.social, @freedom.press and @politico.com. He/him. Email: [email protected] Signal: petersterne.91 https://petersterne.com
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petersterne.com
SCOOP: DSA-backed City Council Member @cmalexaaviles.bsky.social is exploring a primary challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10.

Avilés is meeting with @socialists.nyc's Electoral Working Group next week to discuss her potential congressional run.

Read more at @cityandstateny.bsky.social:
Alexa Avilés exploring challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10
The DSA-backed City Council member has been talking to allies about potentially challenging the incumbent representative.
www.cityandstateny.com
Reposted by Peter Sterne
dannykpolitics.bsky.social
WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents
Reposted by Peter Sterne
nickpinto.bsky.social
If cops lie to CCRB investigators, they get charged for it. But the board makes many of those allegations disappear—overruling investigators' discipline recommendations at twice the rate they do for other misconduct.

hellgatenyc.com/ccrb-tossing...
The NYPD's Watchdog Is Tossing Out Lying Cop Cases—Then 'Hiding' the Data from the Public
The agency tasked with holding the NYPD accountable is letting cops accused of lying to its own investigators off the hook.
hellgatenyc.com
Reposted by Peter Sterne
southsideweekly.bsky.social
Let us be clear: The President of the United States is levying war against American cities and American citizens—and we cannot rely on the other branches of government to save us.

It’s up to us.
It’s Up to Us to Protect One Another
As Trump sends troops to Chicago, we will continue to investigate and report. Readers have a role to play, too.
southsideweekly.com
Reposted by Peter Sterne
josephcox.bsky.social
New: Apple banned an app that simply archived videos of ICE abuses. Rather than other apps that record ICE official's real-time location, Eyes Up is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." Videos from TikTok etc. Every submission manually reviewed

www.404media.co/apple-banned...
Apple Banned an App That Simply Archived Videos of ICE Abuses
Eyes Up's purpose is to "preserve evidence until it can be used in court." But it has been swept up in Apple's crackdown on ICE-spotting apps.
www.404media.co
petersterne.com
Though Adams dropped out so late that his name is still going to be on the ballot.
petersterne.com
Yes, the current mayoral candidates are:

- Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee

- Andrew Cuomo, who lost the Democratic nomination but is running as an independent

- Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee

Mayor Eric Adams had also been running as an independent but recently dropped out.
petersterne.com
Cuomo lost the Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani but is still running as an independent on the general election.
petersterne.com
Brennan Lee Mulligan, the comedian behind the very popular "Dimension 20" Dungeons & Dragons show, is encouraging his fans to phonebank for Zohran Mamdani tonight. www.instagram.com/p/DPhiFAxjm2...
Instagram post from Brennan Lee Mulligan: "We’ve come this far together, but we can’t stop now. Join me on the phones Wednesday night to get us over the finish line for a New York that’s affordable for all. Sign up here: https://volunteer.zohranfornyc.com/phonebank-for-zohran"
Reposted by Peter Sterne
prisonculture.bsky.social
This very very very bad. I cannot stress this enough. I said that they crossed the Rubicon with arresting Ras Baraka several months ago. This is very bad and portends more bad things for regular people.
royalpratt.bsky.social
The President of the United States is calling for the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois to be jailed.
Reposted by Peter Sterne
petersterne.com
NEW: Brian Romero, a DSA member who worked as chief of staff to Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, is running for González-Rojas' Assembly seat, which she'll be vacating to run for state Senate.

Romero is applying for DSA's endorsement in the race, though he might not get it.
Brian Romero hopes to succeed his former boss in the Assembly
He is running for Jessica González-Rojas’ seat, after serving as her chief of staff for more than four years.
www.cityandstateny.com
Reposted by Peter Sterne
beyerstein.bsky.social
They're speedrunning concept creep. If they think they can declare war on cartels overseas and blow boats out of the water, they'll do it here, too.
brainnotonyet.bsky.social
So the deputy attorney general at doj is now claiming “an act of war” by a specific gang in Chicago. That is very specific language and it is intentionally being used to justify the next actions they will take in the invasion of Chicago and the descent into open police state violence.
Todd Blanche
@DAGToddBlanche
Placing a bounty on a federal officer's head is cowardly and an act of war on the rule of law. This case shows what Take Back America means: reclaiming our neighborhoods from violent thugs and criminal gangs. We will hunt anyone who targets those who protect our borders, streets, and communities. Rest assured - threaten law enforcement and the full weight of the U.S. government will come for you.
U.S. Attorney's Office (..
@NDILn... • 2h
Alleged Member of Chicago Street Gang Charged with Soliciting the Murder of Senior Law Enforcement Official Involved in "Operation Midway Blitz"
@TheJusticeDept @HSIChicago @ICEgov@DHSgov
@СВР...
3:29 PM • Oct 6, 2025 • 188.7K Views
petersterne.com
NEW: Brian Romero, a DSA member who worked as chief of staff to Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, is running for González-Rojas' Assembly seat, which she'll be vacating to run for state Senate.

Romero is applying for DSA's endorsement in the race, though he might not get it.
Brian Romero hopes to succeed his former boss in the Assembly
He is running for Jessica González-Rojas’ seat, after serving as her chief of staff for more than four years.
www.cityandstateny.com
Reposted by Peter Sterne
darrigomelanie.bsky.social
I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.
petersterne.com
Quite possibly assault with a deadly weapon. (You might say that a pepper ball gun isn’t a deadly weapon, but I bet that if an antifascist activist or a person of color with alleged gang ties used one to shoot someone, the DA would charge it as such)
petersterne.com
I know it's just a pepper ball and not live ammunition, but this feels very, very bad. Look, I went to Jesuit high school, and one of the most formative influences on me was the story of Archbishop Oscar Romero. When the fascists start shooting priests...
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 Peter Sterne
johnpfaff.bsky.social
Um, ICE just coldly shot an unarmed PRIEST in the head w a pepper ball when he (and everyone around him) clearly posed no threat.

For the crime of … complaining about government policy.

Core 1A speech.

With cameras rolling, they’re sniping priests for sport.
flglchicago.bsky.social
Here’s video of the incident
Reposted by Peter Sterne
oliverdarcy.bsky.social
Last week, new WaPo opinion editor Adam O'Neal quietly carried out another purge of staffers, cutting editors and major names like Marc Fisher and David Hoffman, among others.

Meanwhile, he welcomed three conservatives to the section.

Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/washington...
Post Traumatic Disorder
Adam O’Neal says he’s bringing “intellectual diversity” to The Washington Post’s opinion pages—but the moves he’s making behind the scenes tell a different story.
www.status.news
Reposted by Peter Sterne
jesspish.bsky.social
More parallels to the Redemption Eta — arresting politicians and refusing to allow people to take office who wouldn’t support full throated Confederacy.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...
Elected but Not Seated, Grijalva Waits to Sign Epstein Petition
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Peter Sterne
atherton.bsky.social
this is literally stuff King Charles did, like not only did the American colonists have a revolution to not have this happen, but they did so in the wake of the English revolution, which was about not having stuff like this happen
peark.es
Well that's not how appropriations work at all

*WHITE HOUSE TO TRANSFER TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND WIC: LEAVITT
Reposted by Peter Sterne
mehdirhasan.bsky.social
"As one of the few Jews on [the flotilla]...they asked me if I was Jewish...threw me in front of the Israeli flag... we were strip-searched & zip-tied & blindfolded, & sent to this detention camp."

Horrifying testimony to Zeteo from freed activist David Adler:
zeteo.com/p/exclusive-...
petersterne.com
Here's my rough sketch of the spectrum of US political opinion when it comes to Israel/Gaza and where different political groups fall:
Support for Israel ethnically cleansing Palestinians and annexing Palestine 
- some GOP

Support for Israeli war on Gaza/West Bank because Israel has a right to defend itself
- much of GOP, conservative Dems

Ceasefire in Gaza 
- some GOP, many Dems

End offensive weapons shipments to Israel to force a permanent ceasefire in Gaza 
– AOC, many progressive Dems

End all aid to Israel (including Iron Dome) 
- some progressive Dems

Boycott, divest from and sanction Israel 
- Right flank of DSA, Zohran, Rashida (This is the furthest left that elected officials will go)

Refusal to condemn Hamas because resistance to occupation is justified under international law 
- DSA center

Adherence to al-Thawabit and support for armed Palestinian resistance as an anti-colonial movement
- DSA left

Praise for Operation al-Aqsa Flood 
- Within Our Lifetime, furthest left flank of DSA
petersterne.com
Media like WaPo has made a pretty deliberate effort to brand itself as being Trump-friendly, rather than part of the hashtag Resistance, so there's no reason to think that vibe will return.
petersterne.com
At least 15. Eric Adams was endorsed by 13 law enforcement unions (representing cops, prison guards, probation officers, etc.) and that didn't include the Police Benevolent Association (which hasn't endorsed yet) or the Deputy Sheriffs Association (which endorsed Cuomo).
Eric Adams picks up NYC police union endorsements in mayor's race, while the biggest one is still deciding
NYC Mayor Eric Adams was endorsed by 13 police unions in his reelection bid, but the Police Benevolent Association has yet to formally back a candidate in the race.
www.cbsnews.com