If you appreciate my work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber for less than $5/month! This is a tough undertaking, and I would really like to make it sustainable. blackbanner.ghost.io#/portal/signup
journalist | editor for Der Spekter | DMs open for tips | he/they | oakland | blackbanner.ghost.io
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If you appreciate my work, please consider becoming a paid subscriber for less than $5/month! This is a tough undertaking, and I would really like to make it sustainable. blackbanner.ghost.io#/portal/signup
I also have a spreadsheet that I update monthly for easy perusal: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
You can find all my monthly roundups dating back to June 2023 here: blackbanner.ghost.io/tag/police-p...
The August 2025 edition of Police Predators is live! This was a blessedly short one, with more updates than new stories. Still, content warning for child sexual abuse. blackbanner.ghost.io/august-2025/
I’m outside the MDC here in Los Angeles, where a protest march has just converged outside the gate. Once again a lively atmosphere here
Greetings! A sizable crowd is here outside of Metro Detention Center. They marched from LA City Hall. The gates were closed as they approached. Lots of banging on the fence.
Yeah I think mobility scooters tend to have thicker wheels so it’s probably not nearly as bad for those folks. Would be interested in what you find out!
That’s crazy to me! Im not even remotely sold on YIMBYism but defending an empty lot is pretty wild shit
Still seems to be a little confusion over how to report on nazis, yet it is simpler than almost any other reporting: 1. DON'T publish particular words or images they want you to publish 2. DO publish words or images they don't want you to publish
Get the hell off Substack before you literally can’t anymore without blowing up your business
How is it for disabled folks? The pattern seems like it wouldn’t be super comfortable for wheelchairs
A reminder that @avaenergy.org has a monthly drawing to give out rebates for electric bikes. Enter now for an instant rebate of $400 to $1,500 off a new e-bike. avaenergy.org/go-electric/...
It’s actually a pretty cute building too??
Every loss is felt deeply, and this is no exception. Mariam Dagga was an exceptional visual journalist; her photos were something else. She was my age—I try to imagine what it was like for her to send her son to safety and remain behind…it’s difficult. Unimaginable brutality. Idk what else to say
Out here at the MDC in Los Angeles where a couple dozen protesters are outside the fence. DHS has already maced half a dozen people and just sent pepperballs at those assembled
If you had told me in 2012 that Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign manager would be posting like this 13 years later i would not have believed you
it can also mean baruch hashem or "thank god" basically the jewish versions of inshallah and mashallah haha
lmao it means b'ezrat hashem or "god willing"
You'd think people would've learned from the Niemöller poem, but no. Sad.
B"h
I can't believe we lost you to Gruesome Newsom smh
trumpwatch is the bluesky version of buying a powerball ticket. It's not about the odds, it's about the dream
Hey if you like Gavin Newsom, please let me know so I can block you forever
When it happens, there’s gonna be dancing in the streets and you bet my disabled ass will be joining
Damn that’s crazy anyway how’s your day going?
NEW from DSM: Yesterday, 15 press organizations sent a letter to Eugene's mayor, the chief of police, and the International Association of Police Chiefs regarding the EPD's use of press markers in an incident documented by filmmaker Tim Lewis on Aug. 12. Read the letter and the response so far ⤵️
if we want things to happen, we have to make them happen if you want the powerful to have less power, you have to *take it from them*
Hundreds strike at GE Aerospace, SpaceX wins against the NLRB, major protests planned for Labor Day, and more headlines you missed.
I'm a journalist. If you're struggling to access a COVID vaccine, I'm interested in hearing from you. Particularly if you're chronically ill or disabled, please reach out. Contact info in my bio. RTs appreciated.
You’re literally looking at a paramilitary under a Dem lol
I'm slowly getting it but it's always been difficult for me. I really like playing drums so its worth it but MAN
Give me one example of unbiased journalism.
New from me for @thestranger.com With Feucht coming to Seattle this weekend I took some time to lay out his playbook, in detail. Understanding how the rage machine works will help folks respond while keeping those most vulnerable safe www.thestranger.com/news/2025/08...
Damn that’s crazy can you remind me who was president in 2014 when this picture was taken
Blue MAGA not beating the allegations
This is a clear political maneuver and I don’t even know who it’s meant to appeal to. Republicans will just keep calling CA a crime ridden shithole despite all evidence to the contrary. Why play their game? I hate this greasy haired dickhead.
Libs, this is your champion? The guy trying to outflank our fascist president from the right? Nobody fucking wants this.
Learning drums is hard as hell, limb independence is super tough to get down
Instead of pouring fuel on the grift fire what if we invested in a healthy and independent journalism ecosystem www.wired.com/story/dark-m...
GRAND JURY NULLIFICATION! Prosecutors Fail to Secure Indictment Against Man Who Threw Sandwich at Federal Agent www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/u...
Hey everyone, My old friend Josh from my magic the gathering circles needed lung surgery last month and is currently suffering through a COVID infection. He & his partner are having a rough go and desperately need some help. Please share & donate if you can
In its alleged fight against antisemitism, the Trump administration has relied on two groups with murky funders—one of which is in Israel. Here's my deep dive @thebaffler.com into Canary Mission and Betar, two extreme Zionist groups at the heart of Trump's crackdown. thebaffler.com/latest/for-b...
She fucking sucks, actually, and so do you! Our existence isn’t a compromise
Every single democrat should be saying shit like this.
The antifascists were right about everything
NEW from LCRW: @katerqburns.bsky.social & I went to a New Apostolic Reformation-linked ‘pray the gay away’ group’s event at Huntington Beach Pier. They told children to “squeeze in” and “come with the Holy Ghost.”
This is good actually and we are going to need veterans to be the first waves of folks making things more uncomfortable for the fascist ground troops invading our cities. Make the dissonance unbearable for the troops working to destroy America
This is politics as community building and social bonding. Participate, and engage with others. Dems should do more of this. The GOP has tapped into a much more destructive version of this via QAnon and the manosphere.
Zohare Jacobi of @jewitches.bsky.social fame has authored a zesty Op-Ed for Der Spekter! www.derspekter.org/why-the-left...
has any Democrat come out and said “when we’re back in power, we’ll rebuild what he’s destroyed, dismantle his terror apparatus and hold the perpetrators accountable?”
Support independent journalists instead of Dem politicians. Independent journalists deliver.
Hello from Huntington Beach- we are down here to cover CAWBS 4 year anniversary concert. Currently about 500 people here ready to be saved from having a good time
Everyone's screaming about how the left doesn't compromise and I keep saying I will vote for this guy. I am a communist who will vote for a billionaire. Centrists, tell me about even one instance when you have compromised like anything close to this. Or at all.
NEW PIECE: I'm back, finally, and its a long one. Superficially this moment is a vindication for Central Bank Independence but at a deeper level, cutting the Fed off from its independent agency brethren is its death warrant. www.crisesnotes.com/trump-vs-pow...
Y'all The ICE building in Portland is painting a line in front of their building But they don't even know how to spell government
It’s the same thing once a month at this point! Write about something important!
I’m really fucking sick of these think pieces. How many different ways can liberals reframe the exact same thing and get paid for it? I hate the state of media today, man.
I can’t believe doing nothing but in the most annoying way possible isn’t working www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Stay tuned for some great stuff about to get sent out in the newsletter. In the meantime check out this @jewishcurrents.bsky.social piece about the further integration of cop-forward antisemitism protection/security with the deportation state.
Mississippi has the highest infant mortality rate in the entire country, is consistently ranked one of the worst states to raise kids, and has one of the highest rates of childhood poverty. But, sure, they care about protecting kids.
Many of you followed me because my post about adopting Zeppole got a lot of traction, and now, he needs your help! Zepp needs dental work, including multiple extractions, in order to live his best life. The vet estimated a max cost of $2,300 for this. Donate/share if you can! gofund.me/1d740f9e
I get the sentiment but the idea behind it is the more important part. Instead of throwing trans folks under the bus, show support for them.
Gavin Newsom are you paying attention you greasy haired bitch
BIG UPDATE! In today's Eugene Weekly (@eugeneweekly.com) Slant, the Eugene Police has said that, since their public information department wearing press markers "prompted questions and some concerns, which was never our intention, we will switch his wording on the back to 'videographer.'"
if somehow a centrist Dem wind the White House in 2028 immediately millions of liberals will get activated like the manchurian candidate to yell at marginalized people that we can’t just rebuild what the fascists destroyed because the arc of history is long but bends towards progress or some shit
I've had to start paying back my student loans and I'm unfortunately unemployed. I applied for deferment, but that's no guarantee. If you have any extra money to spare, please consider helping out a broke journalist.
I want to start up streaming again, follow my Twitch! I'll be doing a mix of gaming and politics stuff. www.twitch.tv/blackbannerl...
Lurie allowing Waymo/Uber onto Market while cutting Muni service for 240,000 daily riders is despicable, and keeps anyone without tons of wealth out of downtown. We will not let the Mayor and his corporate buddies create an SF for the wealthy only. Sign the petition. Direct action coming soon.
Hot take: suburbs are one of the worst things to happen to America and were one of the major contributors on our road to fascism.
UPDATE: The Hampden County District Attorney's Office dropped the murder case against Edward Wright today. The decision ends a decades-long legal battle by Wright to regain his freedom and clear his name. #Massachusetts #mapoli
"Cockroaches" the exact literal term most used in Rwanda by Hutu ultranationalists against Tutsis in the lead up to when they killed hundreds of thousands of them in a matter of weeks. Also used by Begin to describe Palestinians, "drugged cockroaches in a bottle."
I can only imagine the show federal officers are going to put on for Trump tonight. Stay vigilant out there. If you see anything, send to marisakabas.04 on Signal.
Cops Lie!
B”h her hubris will be her downfall
Just like Nazi germany
"Figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare." www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
They should testify at people’s tribunals and punished for crimes against humanity.
She’s tweaking
Is everyone in this admin on amphetamines
Did you like it?
Miller is tweaking, looks like he's hitting the amphetamines
Banger
I think you mean Elissa Slotkin, right?
No, I gotta go find it, sounds amazing!
I know, imagine if journalists actually did journalism
In a 1983 opinion by Ted Olson(!), DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that assigning JAG lawyers to serve as Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys violated a statute that bans military officers from exercising the duties of a civil office. Then, Congress authorized it. This is dumb—but legal.
BREAKING: Eric Adams Advisor Winnie Greco Handed a CITY Reporter Cash Stuffed in a Bag of Potato Chips www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/20/w...
Politicians would be a lot less empowered to lie and cheat in every interview if the interviewers actually pushed back on their false claims. Would also help if they had to face citizens every single day
Greetings all! I absolutely hate doing this, but I’ve been unable to successfully work or process invoices for the majority of the last several weeks due to a fractured rib sustained during a protest on August 8th. I could use some help. www.gofundme.com/f/help-sean-...
Just to be clear because it apparently confused some people, I think what Gavin Newsom is doing on Twitter is great. I just think the conclusion from it should be “all/more Democrats should be doing that,” not “this soulless, transphobic opportunist deserves to be president now.”
$160/300
Feeling much better thanks to everyone who reached out!!
Every day with a chronic illness is like going through a mourning process
Caræsten 🇵🇸 