Radley Balko
@radleybalko.bsky.social
94K followers 1.7K following 3.9K posts
Journalist. Quattrone Center journalism fellow. Author: Rise of the Warrior Cop. Co-author: The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist. New podcast: Collateral Damage Substack: radleybalko.substack.com Signal: radleybalko.52
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Reposted by Radley Balko
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 Radley Balko
dlknowles.bsky.social
Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...
Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children
Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.
southsideweekly.com
Reposted by Radley Balko
joshchafetz.bsky.social
Very nice piece from my colleague @stevevladeck.bsky.social in today's Times on the illegality of Trump's troop deployments to American cities. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...
Opinion | No, Trump Can’t Deploy Troops to Wherever He Wants
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Radley Balko
brendannyhan.bsky.social
Happening right now. To us. In America.
radleybalko.bsky.social
It isn’t surprising that this would be happening with a 79-year-old man. The crazy and dangerous part is that there’s an entire political movement and media ecosystem that rationalizes, justifies, and tries to retroactively validate every synapse misfire that escapes his mouth.
andycraig.bsky.social
I know invoking Latin terms can be a bit esoteric, and "dementia" is fine and accurate, but I think there's real merit in zeroing in on the relevant legal concept: he is non compos mentis. Not just that he's a batty old man, he is debilitated in a concrete legal sense, fit for conservatorship.
ericmgarcia.bsky.social
Ruben Gallego on whether Trump is talking to Democrats:

“Look, the President clearly has some kind of dementia, so I think there's a he's probably talking to himself, or think he's talking to a Democrat, but I sincerely doubt that that's actually he's actually physically talking to a Democrat.“
Reposted by Radley Balko
whitehouse.senate.gov
AG Bondi, here’s that correction you requested.
Reposted by Radley Balko
robertsilverman.bsky.social
most "undercover operations" don't begin with the person in charge saying "I am sending out spies to do some spying" afaik—unless the goal is actually to freak out lefties and has nothing to do w/any information-gathering.
willoremus.com
Obviously not the main point here, but it's interesting how this is framed as content rather than policy.

"BREAKING" is typically what journalists or influencers say when they have a big story -- not what government officials say when they launch "undercover" operations
Reposted by Radley Balko
joshtpm.bsky.social
Picture here is from 1992. LA riots. Ive seen this called bad news judgment. In any real journalism outfit this is more like a firing offense. I basically say such things. Beyond belief.
cnn.com
CNN @cnn.com · 1d
"President Donald Trump and his top aides are using the word 'insurrection' more frequently to describe anti-ICE protests in places like Portland," writes Zachary B. Wolf. https://cnn.it/4pWYmzr
Reposted by Radley Balko
chrislhayes.bsky.social
Just go ahead and delete article 1 entirely while you’re at it.
peark.es
Well that's not how appropriations work at all

*WHITE HOUSE TO TRANSFER TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND WIC: LEAVITT
Reposted by Radley Balko
yasharali.bsky.social
CNN: “Nashville’s air traffic approach control will go dark for five hours tonight due to short staffing—the second FAA facility in as many days to shut down over shortages.”
Reposted by Radley Balko
muellershewrote.com
Pam Bondi admits she spoke to Apple to "get the ICEBlock app taken down." Sounds an awful lot like coercion to suppress disfavored speech to me. A clear violation of the 1st Amendment.
atrupar.com
Bondi claims that the ICEBlock app was "criminal in that people were posting where ICE officers lived"
Reposted by Radley Balko
joncooper-us.bsky.social
The fucking hypocrisy of the Trump administration.
Reposted by Radley Balko
davidcorn.bsky.social
It was taxpayers’ money. Did Homan give it back? If he kept it, did he declare it on his taxes?
markfollman.bsky.social
Tom Homan, head of ICE, accepted $50k from undercover FBI agents last year, reportedly a bribe in a sting operation. All cash, in a paper bag. Pam Bondi, reading from a script, insists Homan did nothing wrong—yet she refuses to answer any questions about what happened to that cash? Really?
thetnholler.bsky.social
WATCH — @whitehouse.senate.gov : “What became of the $50,000 in cash in that Cava bag? Did the FBI get it back from Homan?”

AG PAM BONDI: *LASHES OUT aggressively, avoids answering entirely* 🤷🏼‍♀️
Reposted by Radley Balko
robertdownen.bsky.social
Citing the “martyrdom” of Charlie Kirk, Texas AG Ken Paxton says his office is pursuing sweeping undercover investigations into “leftist” groups. “To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."
"Leftist political terrorism is a clear and present danger. Corrupted ideologies like transgenderism and Antifa are a cancer on our culture and have unleashed their deranged and drugged-up foot soldiers on the American people," said Attorney General Paxton. "The martyrdom of Charlie Kirk marks a turning point in America.
There can be no compromise with those who want us dead. To that end, I have directed my office to continue its efforts to identify, investigate, and infiltrate these leftist terror cells. To those demented souls who seek to kill, steal, and destroy our country, know this: you cannot hide, you cannot escape, and justice is coming."
The radical Left has incubated an environment where political violence is not only justified but celebrated and praised. In July, nearly two dozen armed leftists connected to various Texas-based Antifa-like groups ambushed an Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") facility in Alvarado, Texas. On September 10, 2025, a leftist assassin connected to the radical transgender movement murdered Charlie Kirk because of Kirk's bold support for truth, love of country, and unshakable faith. Two weeks later, another deranged leftist opened fire at an ICE facility in Dallas.
President Donald Trump has officially designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization and instructed his administration to "utilize all applicable authorities to investigate, disrupt, and dismantle any and all illegal operations — especially those involving terrorist actions — conducted by Antifa." Building on President Trump's bold actions, Attorney General Paxton has instructed his office to initiate sweeping investigations into radical leftist organizations engaged in or providing support to those performing political violence.
Reposted by Radley Balko
axidentaliberal.bsky.social
ICE claimed the victim of this shooting was in a 10 car convoy, rammed them and had a semi-automatic weapon

Her lawyer said video shows an agent yelling “Do something, b----,” then shot her five times

Trump will surely use this as a reason to deploy the National Guard against protesters in Chicago
Reposted by Radley Balko
disabilitystor1.bsky.social
this is the real legacy of Charlie Kirk
audreytruschke.bsky.social
A Rutgers professor has been forced to flee the country for his safety, after targeting by a far-right student group that was *checks notes* claiming they felt unsafe.

I'm horrified.
I'm angry.

A short 🧵 #AcademicFreedom #Rutgers #violence #antifa

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Rutgers professor moving to Europe after threats over antifa accusations
Mark Bray says threats intensified after a Turning Point USA petition accused him of promoting political violence
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Radley Balko
bcfinucane.bsky.social
Seems like if the administration had a strong legal theory for killing people in the Caribbean, they’d be willing to share it publicly.
bcfinucane.bsky.social
Good question from Senator Coons.

AG Bondi refuses to disclose what legal theory if any from DOJ justifies these premeditated killings in the Caribbean.
atrupar.com
COONS: How did you conclude that these strikes on boats in the open ocean are legal?

BONDI: I'm not going to discuss any legal advice that my department may or may not have issued
Reposted by Radley Balko
elisewang.bsky.social
One of the more incredible stories out of LA this year has been how a taco review blog became the best on-the-ground coverage of ICE raids in the city.

They do a dispatch every day, follow-up on the kidnapped people (which almost no media outlet has done), and fact-check government claims.
motherjones.com
@lataco.bsky.social first began as a blog documenting local Mexican cuisine. Now, it’s an essential reporting powerhouse to the city as Trump’s mass deportation plot unfolds.

Check out the latest from our friends at Reveal: tinyurl.com/4cm2bsdr
Reposted by Radley Balko
justinbaragona.bsky.social
INBOX: The Chicago News Guild joined others in suing ICE for attacking journalists at the Broadview facility.

“Our members have a right, protected by the First Amendment, to do their jobs and report the news. They should not be targeted, injured or arrested for doing their jobs.”
Reposted by Radley Balko
laurarbelin.bsky.social
Yes, he's been complaining the FBI "targeted 92 Republican organizations and individuals as part of its sweeping Arctic Frost investigation against President Donald Trump," including Turning Point USA.

www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-re...

That's because TP USA bused people to Stop the Steal.
ICYMI: Grassley Exposes Biden FBI for Targeting Nearly 100 Republican Groups and Individuals | U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) this week released...
www.grassley.senate.gov
radleybalko.bsky.social
The Democrats could have reformed this law when they had the White House and both houses of Congress.
jennycohn.bsky.social
There it is. “Trump told reporters on Monday that he would consider utilizing the Insurrection Act…to sidestep any court rulings restricting his orders to send Guard troops into cities over the objections of local and state officials.” 10/7/25 … 1/ www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reposted by Radley Balko
jennycohn.bsky.social
There it is. “Trump told reporters on Monday that he would consider utilizing the Insurrection Act…to sidestep any court rulings restricting his orders to send Guard troops into cities over the objections of local and state officials.” 10/7/25 … 1/ www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reposted by Radley Balko
atrupar.com
WHITEHOUSE: What happened to the $50k in cash that the FBI paid to Tom Homan in a paper bag?

BONDI: The investigation of Mr Homan was subjected to a full review by the FBI. They found no credible evidence of any wrongdoing

W: That was not my Q

B: You're welcome to discuss this with Director Patel
radleybalko.bsky.social
Wait, Grassley is saying the *investigation* of January 6th was worse than Watergate?
laurarbelin.bsky.social
"Arctic Frost" is what Grassley now calls the January 6 investigation (apparently the FBI used that name internally).

He doesn't want most people to realize this investigation was related to the January 6 coup attempt and broader conspiracy to overturn the results of a free and fair election.
atrupar.com
Rep. Chuck Grassley tells Bondi "Arctic Frost" (whatever that is) was "worse than Watergate"
Reposted by Radley Balko
dewforpolitics.bsky.social
“Fox News’ Masked Mystery Man: Internet Suspects Frequent Guest Robert J. O’Neill Behind Multiple Disguised Interviews”