• Flock Safety’s Feature Updates Cannot Make Automated License Plate Readers Safe

    Two recent statements from the surveillance company reveal a troubling pattern: when confronted by evidence of widespread abuse, Flock Safety has blamed users, downplayed harms, and doubled down on the very systems that enabled the violations in the first place.

  • A New Trump Plan Gives DHS and the White House Greater Influence in the Fight Against Organized Crime

    The Trump administration has launched a major reorganization of the U.S. fight against drug traffickers and other transnational criminal groups. The overhaul would give new authority to DHS and deepen the influence of the White House.

  • Quote of the Day

    “The alleged Minnesota assassin was known as a ‘deeply religious’ Christian man. That should be an alarm bell for all of us.”

    — Mona Charen, The Bulwark, 18 June 2025

  • Minnesota Assassination Prompts Many Lawmakers to Wonder: Is Service Worth the Danger?

    More public officials across the country are taking stock of their safety. Nearly 9 in 10 state lawmakers reported facing insults and 4 in 10 facing harassment and threats.

  • Feds Warn Americans at Home and Abroad of Potential Terrorist Attacks

    The U.S. departments of State and Homeland Security issued warnings to Americans on Sunday in all 50 states and living abroad of heightened security concerns and potential terrorist attacks after the U.S. targeted strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.

  • What Warped the Minds of Serial Killers? Lead Pollution, a New Book Argues.

    Ted Bundy, the Green River Killer, and others terrorized the Pacific Northwest. “Murderland” asks what role polluters played.

  • Guns Kill More U.S. Children Than Other Causes, but State Policies Can Help, Study Finds

    More American children and teens die from firearms than any other cause. Black children, especially, suffer when laws allow more guns to circulate, researchers found. There are more deaths — and wider racial disparities — in states with more permissive gun policies, according to a new study.

  • Violent Extremists Like the Minnesota Shooter Are Not Lone Wolves

    The threat of domestic violence and terrorism is high in the United States – especially the danger posed by white power extremists, many of whom believe white people are being “replaced” by people of color. Contrary to popular myth, the vast majority of far-right extremists are not abnormal deviants with anti-social personalities, but are, in fact, otherwise ordinary men and women.

  • Trump’s Military Response to Protests: A Conversation on Law and Precedent

    “The federalized response to riots in Los Angeles will inspire demonstrations in other cities, not just against ICE and its tactics, but against the use of military forces in civilian law enforcement. If those demonstrations turn violent, they could lure the president to use military forces elsewhere within the United States—creating a dangerous feedback loop with a very uncertain ending,” says Peter Mansour.

  • With Troops in Los Angeles, Echoes of the Kent State Massacre

    The 1970 shooting of student demonstrators underscores the risks of President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy the military against protesters, a history professor explains.

  • Trump’s Use of the National Guard Against LA Protesters Defies All Precedents

    Unlike his predecessors, Trump has not mobilized the national guard to protect civil rights against a hostile police force. Instead, he appears to be using this as leverage to undermine a political opponent he views as blocking his agenda. Circumventing gubernatorial powers over the national guard in this way has no precedent and heralds the next stage in an extended conflict between the president and the state of California.

  • Twenty-One Things That Are True in Los Angeles

    To understand the dangers inherent in deploying the California National Guard – over the strenuous objections of the California governor – and active-duty Marines to deal with anti-ICE protesters, we should remind ourselves of a few elementary truths, writes Benjamin Wittes. Among these truths: “Not all lawful exercises of authority are wise, prudent, or smart”; “Not all crimes require a federal response”; “Avoiding tragic and unnecessary confrontations is generally desirable”; and “It is thus unwise, imprudent, and stupid to take actions for performative reasons that one might reasonably anticipate would increase the risks of such confrontations.”

  • From Kent State to Los Angeles, Using Armed Forces to Police Civilians Is a High-Risk Strategy

    I am a historian, and my recent book — Kent State: An American Tragedy —  examines a historic clash on 4 May 1970, between anti-war protesters and National Guard troops at Kent State University in Ohio. Troops opened fire on the demonstrators, killing four students and wounding nine others. Dispatching California National Guard troops against civilian protesters in Los Angeles chillingly echoes decisions and actions that led to the tragic Kent State shooting. Some active-duty units, as well as National Guard troops, are better prepared today than in 1970 to respond to riots and violent protests – but the vast majority of their training and their primary mission remains to fight, to kill, and to win wars.

  • Local Police Join ICE Deportation Force in Record Numbers Despite Warnings Program Lacks Oversight

    ICE officials tout an unprecedented expansion of its 287(g) Program, driven by agreements that allow local officers to function as deportation agents during routine policing. But advocates warn such agreements come at a high cost to communities.

  • Are We Ready for a ‘DeepSeek for Bioweapons’?

    Anthropic’s Claude 4 is a warning sign: AI that can help build bioweapons is coming, and could be widely available soon. Steven Adler writes that we need to be prepared for the consequences: “like a freely downloadable ‘DeepSeek for bioweapons,’ available across the internet, loadable to the computer of any amateur scientist who wishes to cause mass harm. With Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 having finally triggered this level of safety risk, the clock is now ticking.”