Theme: state violence
Governmental coercion exercised against persons, lawfully or not.
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Survivors of the Don Maca
Ecuadorian fishers aboard the Don Maca survived a US drone strike on their vessel during routine fishing operations; no evidence has been produced linking them or their boat to drug trafficking.
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First Day of the Iran War: An Untested Missile Hit a School
On the war's first day, the United States deployed a ballistic missile that had never been used in combat; analysis of the strike sites shows it hit a sports hall, an elementary school, and residential buildings, killing at least twenty-one including children.
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When the Body Cameras Caught the Chase
Body camera footage from an October 2025 Chicago incident contradicts the Department of Homeland Security's account: Border Patrol agents continued a high-speed pursuit against direct supervisor orders to end it, blew a tire, crashed, and then deployed tear gas in the surrounding neighborhood.
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Arrested for Silent Challenge
Aliya Rahman, who was violently dragged from her car by federal agents in January, was arrested again at the State of the Union — the cited reason being that she had silently challenged the president during the speech.
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The Only Other Witness
The only passenger in the car when an ICE officer shot and killed a US citizen in Texas had planned to publicly contradict the government's official account of the shooting; before he could testify, he died in an unrelated car crash.
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Gassed in His Own Home
Federal agents deployed tear gas on a Minneapolis crowd that included children; the canisters shattered the window of a low-income apartment occupied by a disabled veteran, who was tear-gassed inside his own home.
2026
2025
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Hours on a Roof, in Subzero
Masked federal agents wearing ICE vests, refusing to identify themselves or present warrants, cordoned off a Minneapolis construction site and trapped two men on the roof for hours in subzero temperatures; one was eventually taken away by ambulance.
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Held for the Likes
Yaa'kub Ira Vijandre, a Texas photojournalist and DACA recipient, has been held in ICE custody for his Instagram posts and likes expressing support for Palestine; new court filings frame him as a political prisoner.
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The Toddler in the Backseat
Federal immigration agents in California arrested a U.S. citizen and drove away with the man's car — with his toddler still in the backseat — over the protests of a crowd that had gathered, and only after the crowd's intervention did agents permit the family to take the child.
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Less Than a Minute
A New York Times reconstruction of the September 12 Chicago-area shooting of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez — drawing on surveillance footage, body-camera video, and bystander recordings — contradicts the DHS account: the videos do not show Villegas-Gonzalez striking either officer with his car, and one of the officers describes his own injuries on camera as 'nothing major.'
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Tear Gas Almost Every Day
After U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a temporary restraining order on October 9 limiting federal agents' use of crowd-control weapons against Illinois protesters, court filings allege that federal agents violated the order 'almost every day,' including a Halloween-eve incident in which children on their way to a school parade were tear-gassed.
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What the Body Cam Said
Federal agents shot Marimar Martinez, a US citizen in Chicago, multiple times; the Department of Homeland Security's account claimed she menaced agents with a gun and her car, but charging documents and body camera footage have since contradicted nearly every element.