No free helicopter rides … yet
During the GWOT (Bush II’s global war on terror, for those who’ve forgotten), our leaders scooped up suspected terrorists and innocents in the post-September 11 dragnet and “rendered” them for torture to prisons in Syria, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. The Trump 2.0 dragnet is flying suspected undocumented immigrants (without due process) to exotic locations like Eswatini. (I had to look it up.)
And under cover of transponder darkness to other spots in Africa (Rolling Stone):
Two American military cargo jets deported people to Africa this month on flights that appear to have had their transponders turned off, obscuring their locations from public flight databases and other nearby aircraft.
One of the jets was later identified in a lawsuit in U.S. federal court as carrying 14 Nigerian and Gambian nationals to a prison camp in Ghana. They have since been returned to their countries of origin, Ghana said, despite all having credible fears of persecution or torture. The other jet secretly landed in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Mali, according to communications from the flight deck obtained by Rolling Stone. Representatives for the governments of these countries did not respond to emails about the passengers on this jet.
They are not throwing them out of helicopters yet. Maybe Jan. 6 protesters Trump pardoned have not kissed his ass lately and asked.
ICE agents on the ground are behaving like police-state thugs in places like Georgia:
ICE activities in Chicago over the weekend saw protesters shot with pepper balls and slammed to the ground by masked agents, including Illinois 9th Congressional District Democratic primary candidate Kat Abughazaleh.
ICE detainees at Louisiana’a infamous Angola prison are on a hunger strike:
A statement from both groups says that detainees at the facility the Trump administration has dubbed the Louisiana Lockup are also asking for basic necessities such as toilet paper, hygiene products, and clean drinking water. Further, they seek visitation from Ice officers to raise concerns about conditions inside the facility.
People with chronic health conditions are not receiving prescribed medications, according to SEDND and NIPNLG’s statement, and there is no access to services such as a law library or religious programming, which are required under federal detention standards.
Former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance writes regarding the state targeting political opponents for prosecution:
So let’s be clear about what Trump wants. He wants to turn us into a banana republic where the ability to prosecute people becomes a political tool in the hands of the president. That means he wants to exercise the ultimate power to put down any opposition to his rule.
So, how was your weekend in the land of the free?
* * * * *
Have you fought dicktatorship today?
50501
May Day Strong
No King’s One Million Rising movement – Next national day of protest Oct. 18
The Resistance Lab
Choose Democracy
Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink
You Have Power
Chop Wood, Carry Water
Thirty lonely but beautiful actions
Attending a Protest Surveillance Self-Defense