A Deeply Fractured US

[Halifax Tar]

I feel like there are some lessons here

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[HavokFour]

Luckily the recipient of the text messages sounded the alarm before anything could be acted upon.

Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter accused of threatening US Democratic leader Jeffries

A Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump has been charged with threatening to kill House of Representatives Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to a court document.

www.reuters.com

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[Remius]

Luckily the recipient of the text messages sounded the alarm before anything could be acted upon.

Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter accused of threatening US Democratic leader Jeffries

A Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump has been charged with threatening to kill House of Representatives Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to a court document.

www.reuters.com

He probably thinks he’ll just get pardoned again. Why wouldn’t he?

 

[HavokFour]

Remember that big ICE raid on that one apartment building Chicago? Looking (so far) like the whole thing was really just to film a commercial.

“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime

Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arrested in a Chicago raid are telling their stories.

www.propublica.org

https://twitter.com/x/status/1973796727615598738

 

[brihard]

Remember that big ICE raid on that one apartment building Chicago? Looking (so far) like the whole thing was really just to film a commercial.

“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime

Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arrested in a Chicago raid are telling their stories.

www.propublica.org

https://twitter.com/x/status/1973796727615598738

Like the high production value video they made of the SWAT raid on the apartment of the guy who ultimately got acquitted for throwing a sandwich?

 

[RangerRay]

More news from the not-shocked news files…

MSN

The latest update to Elon Musk's social media platform has sparked confusion and chaos across the world, as trusted sources of political information have had their motivations called into question.

Under the change, an account’s country of origin can clearly be seen in the user’s profile page.


The information has unearthed a dark underbelly of the MAGA movement, as high-profile social media accounts promoting Trump have been exposed as foreign actors.

Also,

Meanwhile, accounts posing as sources of firsthand information out of Gaza have also been exposed, and Scottish Nationalist accounts agitating for the break-up of the United Kingdom have been traced back to Iran.


Motasm A Dalloul, who describes himself as a 'Gaza-based journalist' and has a link to his PayPal account to support his work, made his account in 2011 and is based in Poland, according to the X update.

He railed against the information in his profile's metadata, sharing a video which he claims is from the ground in Gaza, though some critics questioned whether it had been digitally altered.


And the Times of Gaza account, which boasts almost one million followers, has been traced back to 'East Asia and the Pacific', X states.

Users posing as Scottish independence advocates, including 'biomedical engineering student' Jessica and an account going by 'Ewan_Mcgregor0' have actually been traced back to Iran.


While the metadata states both accounts are based in the Netherlands, they have been accessed via an Iran-based Android app, which indicates an Iranian VPN is rerouting the account.

MP Graeme Downie told the UK Defence Journal the new data 'confirms what we already knew that Iran, as well as countries such as Russia and our other enemies, are actively seeking to subvert our democracy and discourse in Scotland and the UK.


'We are already in a grey war with our enemies and this is further proof of that.

'While pursuit of Scottish independence is a valid political objective, this report shows the extent to which the debate is being influenced by unfriendly countries.'

 

[brihard]

More news from the not-shocked news files…

MSN

Also,

Wait, you mean a bunch of the inflammatory divisiveness and culture war bullshit isn't authentic!? I'm shocked! Shocked I tell you!

 

[Brad Sallows]

More news from the not-shocked news files…

That MSN take is laugh-inducing.

"MAGA" world is mostly delighted that so many accounts giving them a bad rep and creating the impression of a "MAGA civil war" have been revealed to be false flag foreign shit-disturbers.

 

[RangerRay]

That MSN take is laugh-inducing.

"MAGA" world is mostly delighted that so many accounts giving them a bad rep and creating the impression of a "MAGA civil war" have been revealed to be false flag foreign shit-disturbers.

It’s actually a Daily Mail story posted on MSN not MSNBC. Not sure if that’s better or worse, but it is being reported elsewhere as well. This just didn’t have a paywall.

 

[Halifax Tar]

More news from the not-shocked news files…

MSN

Also,

This was a big topic on the Todd Veinotte show yesterday. Any why the LPC's twitter account is from the USA.

 

[Brad Sallows]

It’s actually a Daily Mail story posted on MSN not MSNBC. Not sure if that’s better or worse, but it is being reported elsewhere as well. This just didn’t have a paywall.

Whatever is being reported elsewhere, this is more representative of how conservatives are writing and talking about it:

"They openly avow racist ideas, but because they have American flags in their bios, the mainstream media mistakes them for MAGA. Liberals point to these accounts and say, “See, here’s the evidence that Trump’s base, the MAGA movement, is racist and anti-Semitic to its core. Just look at these accounts.”

Well, guess what? A substantial number of them are based in the Middle East — Pakistan in particular. They’re not MAGA or America First. They’re cosplaying as America First in order to discredit MAGA."

(Robby Soave, writing for The Hill)

This is the second ground-moving anti-mis/disinformation feature change at X. (The first was Community Notes.)