Alex Burness

@burness.bsky.social

Reporter for @boltsmag.org covering voting rights, democracy, and criminal justice at the local and state levels. Previously @denverpost.com. Support local journalism. Signal: burness.02

@sanho.bsky.socialReposted by @burness.bsky.social

One of the first things Trump did in Feb. 2017 was set up an office in DHS to *exclusively* publicize crimes committed by immigrants — just as the Nazis used Der Stürmer to publish a special section only highlighting “Jewish crimes.”
See this article from 2017:
www.thewrap.com/der-sturmer-...

& thewrap.com But mass-slander-by-anecdote has a long tradition. As The Atlantic explains: In The Nazi Conscience, Duke historian Claudia Koonz notes that the Nazi newspaper Der Sturmer ran a feature called "Letter Box," which published readers' accounts of Jewish crimes. When the Nazis took power, the German state began doing something similar. Frustrated by the failure of most Germans to participate in a boycott of Jewish businesses in April 1933, Adolf Hitler's government began publicizing Jewish crime statistics as a way of stoking anti-Semitism. Trump introduced a new government entity Tuesday that will similarly flag and highlight crimes by illegal immigrants - without, of course, providing any context about how many crimes they commit compared to U.S. citizens, or how illegal immigrants as a group might contribute positively to American society. "The office is called VOICE - Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement," Trump explained. "We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests."
@chadstanton.blacksky.appReposted by @burness.bsky.social

The US has a long history of suffering and death as public spectacle and the administration has been tapping into that vein of US tradition since their return.

@schwanksta.comReposted by @burness.bsky.social

A year ago, @propublica.org told you immigration agents had detained more than 170 U.S. citizens.

We’ve updated our count, and we’ve got all the receipts.

The tally: At least 506 citizens detained. Sometimes held at gunpoint, handcuffed, or even deported.

projects.propublica.org/american-cit...

projects.propublica.orgMore Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublicaThe government doesn’t track how often immigration officers detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve found more than 500 Americans who were held against their will during this Trump administrati...
@burness.bsky.social

Demonstrably false—they are mostly disenfranchised, but when and where incarcerated people are granted meaningful ballot access, they very often do vote freely.

@lexmcmenamin.comReposted by @burness.bsky.social

just wanna re-up the part where I wrote that many immigrants in Maine have been sheltering in place since January for their own safety, with ICE still operating in the area. it is October.

Lex McMenamin (they/them)@lexmcmenamin.com

whether or not it stayed in the headlines, ICE's on-the-ground presence “shocked the whole system” (in one advocate's words), changing life for Maine communities. many immigrants have been effectively sheltering in place since Jan, relying on grocery drop-offs and volunteers to take kids to school.

theguardian.comICE got ‘quieter’ – then killed a father in Maine. Now watch groups are shifting their tactics tooICE-watchers get creative after the killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, as Trump’s immigration crackdown takes a more secretive approach
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@burness.bsky.social

Over a 20-year period, people were sentenced to prison more often, and for longer terms, in years when prosecutors were up for election, a Northwestern Law study finds. In other words, prosecutors were more eager to rob people’s freedom when they thought it would help them politically.

news.northwestern.eduPrison admissions rose 3% in district attorney election years during 'tough on crime' eraNew research from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law suggests that public sentiment associated with “tough on crime” politics may be tied to increases in the number of people admitted to state prison...
@radleybalko.bsky.socialReposted by @burness.bsky.social

Tennessee plans to execute a woman tomorrow. She was 18 when she committed the crime. She's now 50. Like most on death row, she's also a victim. And like most on death row, she's a far different person now than she was then.

No one humanizes the condemned better than @lilianasegura.bsky.social.

theintercept.comThe “Satanic Panic” Made Her a True-Crime Obsession. The Truth Is More Haunting.After 30 years on death row, Christa Pike faces execution for a grisly murder she committed at 18.
3
@wildoneness.bsky.socialReposted by @burness.bsky.social

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.” Diary of Anne Frank January 13, 1943

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