Latest news with #Intercept
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Columbia Student Arrested During Citizenship Interview
A Palestinian Columbia student was arrested during a citizenship interview Monday after being targeted for months by several far-right pro-Israel groups. Mohsen K. Mahdawi was taken into custody at a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Colchester, Vermont, as the Intercept reported and independent journalist Christopher Helali caught on video. A federal judge, responding to a request from Mahdawi's lawyers, quickly issued a temporary restraining order that he 'not be removed from the United States or moved out of the territory of the District of Vermont pending further order of this Court.' Soon after Mahdawi's arrest, Vermont's congressional delegation released a statement calling it 'immoral, inhumane, and illegal,' and said he must be afforded due process and 'immediately' released from detention. Mahdawi is a lawful permanent resident of the United States — a green card holder — who has lived in the country for a decade and was seeking citizenship. The Intercept reported that Mahdawi now faces potential deportation to the West Bank, which the Columbia student told the outlet was 'kind of a death sentence ... because my people are being killed unjustly in an indiscriminate way.' He is also a well-known activist presence on Columbia's campus and has been interviewed by 60 Minutes, AJ+ and other outlets. And he had been targeted by far-right pro-Israel groups like Canary Mission and Betar for months. Last month, Mahdawi's was one of three names that 'we have submitted to the Trump administration' for potential targeting, Betar told HuffPost in an email at the time. Another name on the list was Momodou Taal, who soon after filed suit in an attempt to stop his own deportation. Ultimately, Taal left the United States 'free and with my head held high.' 'We confirm having repeatedly provided information on Mohaen Mahdawi,' the group said in an email in response to HuffPost's questions Monday, apparently misspelling Mahdawi's first name. Betar said it expected the other person it named in its March email, as well as 'multiple U mass Amherst staff and students,' would soon be arrested as well, 'we believe.' The group said, 'We have nothing to apologize for,' adding: 'As the forefather of Zionism, Ze'ev Jabotinsky said in 1911, No Apologies.' On Monday morning, Mahdawi filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court of Vermont, the Intercept reported. (Habeas corpus is the legal principle that detention must be legally justified.) The petition states that it 'appears' Mahdawi could potentially be removed from the country pursuant to the same portion of immigration law that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has used to target others for their speech alone, even without any evidence (or allegation) of a crime. The language allows Rubio to pursue the deportation of those 'whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.' 'Public statements up by government officials, including statements by the President and Secretary of State, establish that Respondents have detained Mr. Mahdawi to punish and silence him because of his constitutionally protected speech, beliefs, statements and associations,' Mahdawi's legal team wrote in the petition before arguing that his arrest violated the First and Fifth Amendments, among other alleged violations, and that he should be released. Judge William K. Sessions III, a Clinton nominee, quickly granted a temporary restraining order sought by Mahdawi's lawyers, preventing his transport out of the state without the judge's approval. Neither the State Department, Department of Homeland Security nor the White House immediately responded to a comment request. Mahdawi, who was born in the West Bank, became a lawful permanent U.S. resident in 2015 and enrolled at Columbia in 2021, studying philosophy and completing the program last year. He had an expected May 2025 graduation date and planned to pursue a master's degree in international affairs at the university after that, according to the court filing. 'Mohsen Mahdawi was unlawfully detained today for no reason other than his Palestinian identity,' Mahdawi's attorney Luna Droubi told The Intercept in a statement. 'He came to this country hoping to be free to speak out about the atrocities he has witnessed, only to be punished for such speech.' Though he was targeted by pro-Israel groups for his activism, those groups often misrepresent criticism of Israel as bigotry against Jews, as the Trump administration has also done in seeking the deportation of certain students. And Mahdawi — like plenty of others targeted by those groups and the administration — does not have a record of antisemitism. The Intercept noted that last spring, Mahdawi 'said he took a step back from the movement to focus on building bridges with Jewish and Israeli communities on campus.' In November 2023, after an unidentified person 'began screaming antisemitic and anti-Black statements' at a protest on Columbia's campus, Mahdawi denounced the outburst, telling the crowd through a megaphone, 'Shame on the person who called [for] 'death to Jews,'' the Columbia Spectator reported. Mahdawi appeared to know he was being targeted for potential arrest. According to The Intercept, he 'sheltered in place' for three weeks after the arrest of his friend and fellow Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, with whom Mahdawi cofounded the Columbia Palestinian Student Union in 2023. He also unsuccessfully sought accommodations from Columbia to protect against his arrest by ICE agents and reached out to several elected representatives ahead of his citizenship interview, according to the report. Late last year, an FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force official visited Mahdawi's apartment, The Intercept reported. Defiant Trump Admin Ramps Up Showdown With Courts Over Wrongly Deported Maryland Man Government Cites Power To Deport People For Beliefs In Case Against Mahmoud Khalil White House Confirms Trump Is Exploring Ways To 'Deport' U.S. Citizens
The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Germany is now deporting pro-Palestine EU citizens. This is a chilling new step
A crackdown on political dissent is well under way in Germany. Over the past two years, institutions and authorities have cancelled events, exhibitions and awards over statements about Palestine or Israel. There are many examples: the Frankfurt book fair indefinitely postponing an award ceremony for Adania Shibli; the Heinrich Böll Foundation withdrawing the Hannah Arendt prize from Masha Gessen; the University of Cologne rescinding a professorship for Nancy Fraser; the No Other Land directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham being defamed by German ministers. And, most recently, the philosopher Omri Boehm being disinvited from speaking at this month's anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald. In nearly all of these cases, accusations of antisemitism loom large – even though Jews are often among those being targeted. More often than not, it is liberals driving or tacitly accepting these cancellations, while conservatives and the far right lean back and cheer them on. While vigilance against rising antisemitism is no doubt warranted – especially in Germany – that concern is increasingly weaponised as a political tool to silence the left. Germany has recently taken a chilling new step, signalling its willingness to use political views as grounds to curb migration. Authorities are now moving to deport foreign nationals for participating in pro-Palestine actions. As I reported this week in the Intercept, four people in Berlin – three EU citizens and one US citizen – are set to be deported over their involvement in demonstrations against Israel's war on Gaza. None of the four have been convicted of a crime, and yet the authorities are seeking to simply throw them out of the country. The accusations against them include aggravated breach of the peace and obstruction of a police arrest. Reports from last year suggest that one of the actions they were alleged to have been involved in included breaking into a university building and threatening people with objects that could have been used as potential weapons. But the deportation orders go further. They cite a broader list of alleged behaviours: chanting slogans such as 'Free Gaza' and 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free', joining road blockades (a tactic frequently used by climate activists), and calling a police officer a 'fascist'. Read closely, the real charge appears to be something more basic: protest itself. All four are also accused – without evidence – of supporting Hamas and of chanting antisemitic or anti-Israel slogans. Three of the deportation orders explicitly cite Germany's national commitment to defend Israel, its so-called Staatsräson, or reason of state, as justification. Legal experts told me that invoking Staatsräson in deportation proceedings is legally dubious. A recent parliamentary review reached a similar conclusion, noting that Staatsräson – often cited to justify Germany's foreign policy toward Israel, including the plan of the incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, to invite Benjamin Netanyahu despite an active international criminal court arrest warrant – carries no legally enforceable weight. This kind of repression isn't new in Germany. The lawyer Alexander Gorski told me he has handled similar cases where migration law was used against people of Arab or Palestinian descent – often triggered by a social media post, comment or even just a 'like'. Today, politicians across Germany's political spectrum routinely invoke the country's history to silence criticism of Israeli policy – backing a state accused of enforcing apartheid in the West Bank and, as a growing consensus among human rights experts argues, committing genocide in Gaza. Using immigration law to police political protest sends a clear message to non-citizens in Germany: speak out and you may risk losing your status – or being deported. The extent to which this plays into the hands of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) seems lost on much of Germany's so-called political centre. For the AfD, Staatsräson has become a convenient shield: a way to stoke resentment against migrants allegedly 'importing' antisemitism and push back against a broader, more inclusive culture of remembrance, often reductively dismissed as 'postcolonialism'. All of it is cloaked in the language of unwavering support for Israel. The AfD recently secured about 20% of the vote in Germany's federal elections. Just weeks before the election, Elon Musk expressed his support for the party during a live discussion with its leader, Alice Weidel. At one point, Weidel absurdly called Adolf Hitler 'a communist' and claimed that 'leftish Palestinians' in Germany are antisemitic. As outrageous as these remarks were, they reflect a broader trend that the liberal centre unwillingly helped to normalise – a drift that exploits anti-Palestinian sentiment to fuel far-right revisionism. While Germany's established parties still formally reject cooperation with the AfD, their growing accommodation of AfD-style rhetoric – especially on migration – tells a different story. In the runup to the election, parties across the spectrum, from the Greens to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), spoke about migration as a security threat, and promised deportations and tighter controls. In this climate, Palestine has turned into somewhat of a litmus test for asylum policy. Last year, Merz declared that Germany would not accept refugees from Gaza, stating: 'We already have enough antisemitic young men in the country.' After the newly elected Die Linke MP Cansın Köktürk recently appeared in parliament wearing a scarf resembling a keffiyeh, members of the conservative CDU pushed to ban such symbols in parliament. No such objection was raised when the AfD MP Torben Braga wore a blue cornflower – a symbol used by Austrian Nazis in the 1930s – in the same chamber. Braga said it was not a cornflower and called the accusation 'absurd'. With a new conservative government in power, the crackdown on Palestinians and migrants – already well under way with the so-called traffic-light coalition – is set to escalate even further. Germany is at a crossroads: it can choose to uphold the principles it claims to stand for, or continue down a path of authoritarianism. For now, the direction seems unmistakably clear. Hanno Hauenstein is a Berlin-based journalist and author. He worked as a senior editor in Berliner Zeitung's culture department, specialising in contemporary art and politics
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Yahoo
Thurston County, WA officials investigate 2 fentanyl overdoses in jail
The Brief Officials are investigating two suspected fentanyl overdoses in less than a week in Thurston County Jail. Sheriff Derek Sanders says state laws force them to use body scanning technology on a lower level, allowing drugs to be more easily smuggled in. OLYMPIA, Wash. - In less than a week, Thurston County Sheriff's officials said they dealt with two fentanyl-related overdoses within the jail. On March 17, deputies administered three doses of Narcan and began CPR on an unconscious inmate before racing them to the hospital, according to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office. Investigators said they found what they believed was fentanyl on the inmate. On March 22, sheriff's officials reported a second inmate overdosed on what was believed to be fentanyl. That inmate was also taken to the hospital and is now in stable condition, according to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office. What they're saying "This is a never-ending war. It's a never-ending war to try and keep drugs out of the jail," said Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders. Sanders told FOX 13 Seattle that inmates go to great lengths to bring drugs into jail. He said they have swallowed them, and recently, one inmate hid drugs in between layers of their skin. According to Sanders, a new law went into effect this year that makes it more challenging to prevent drugs from getting into jail. The sheriff's office uses a body scanner called "Intercept" made by Tek 84. Intercept uses x-rays to help determine if inmates are smuggling contraband. However, Sanders tells FOX 13 Seattle the state's new law requires the sheriff's office to use the body scanner on a setting so low, law enforcement cannot get a good reading on what inmates may be hiding. "It's [a] night and day difference, you know? Before, at the level of 2, you know, you're able to pick out things like a plastic baggie because they've got unnatural edges and things like that. Now, everything is just kind of a blown-out circle, and you know, you're kind of like, 'Am I staring at stomach gas or am I staring at a baggie full of dope?'" he said. According to the Tek 84 website, the company that makes the Intercept Body Scanner, the technology is safe and FDA-regulated. The Washington State Department of Health tells FOX 13 Seattle the rules that went into effect this year allow for the safe use of X-ray for the detection of contraband. Officials with DOH say the new regulations also provide jails and prisons the opportunity to request to use a higher-dose machine. The Source Information in this story comes from original reporting by AJ Janavel, with details from the Thurston County Sheriff's Office. Deputies shoot suspect in Spanaway, WA 'Happy Face' serial killer nearly confessed brutal murders to WA teen daughter Police investigate DV shooting at Redmond, WA, apartment complex Two teens arrested after shooting at father, son near Kitsap Mall in WA Bobcat or cougar? Magnolia residents report close call with wild cat To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.
The Intercept
07-03-2025
- Politics
- The Intercept
Trump's Vision for America: I Am God
In an address to Congress on Tuesday, President Donald Trump once again cast himself as a divine savior of the American people.'I was saved by God to make America great again,' he claimed as he recounted the failed assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. During his 100-minute speech, Trump made direct appeals to the Christian right, a major segment of his base: 'This will be our greatest era. With God's help over the next four years, we are going to lead this nation even higher.' He framed a series of policy proposals — many attacking civil rights for minorities and trans people — as part of God's plan for the nation. He called on Congress 'to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children,' proclaiming 'our message to every child in America is that you are perfect, exactly the way God made you.' In some ways, Trump is the kind of political leader the Christian right has been seeking for decades. He has fully championed the movement's long-held policy priorities: overturning Roe v. Wade, pushing prayer in schools, and curbing LGBTQ+ rights. Now he is taking their movement even further, embedding right-wing Christian ideology into every facet of federal policy. It's a 'broad coalition across Christian denominations,' says journalist Talia Lavin, 'whose goal is an extremely socially restrictive agenda.' Lavin, author of 'Wild Faith: How the Christian Right Is Taking Over America,' argues that today's Christian right is more receptive to authoritarianism than previous generations. 'They've reached a kind of acme or apotheosis of their power and influence, where that sort of attitude towards democracy has attained real relevance in the way we're governed.' On this week's episode of The Intercept Briefing, Lavin and Intercept reporter Jessica Washington examine the Christian right's growing influence, its long-term strategy, and what, if anything, can be done to curb their vision for the country. Washington warns that many liberals dismiss Trump's alliance to the Christian right as fringe, missing its deep political impact. 'While it's this convenient political organizing tool, it is also a deeply held belief,' she says — one that rejects the idea that Black people and queer people have a rightful place in American leadership. Trump, she adds, validates the belief that only white Christian males are the true inheritors of the nation's legacy. 'Trump is both a product of and an accelerant of this movement.' Countering the rapid lurch toward Christian nationalism, Washington argues, requires solidarity. 'We all have to band together and fight this together. And not allowing ourselves to be siloed into different issues. And recognizing that this is an attack on everyone who doesn't fit this very specific mold.' Lavin calls for active resistance — a 'joyous cacophony' — to the Christian right's war on diversity, on the poor, and democracy: 'We're gonna be gender rebels. We're not going to accept the gutting of social services. We're not going to accept a king.' Rather than doomscrolling, she encourages people to do 'something, anything — feeding someone, attending a protest — whatever it is. All of that is how we win.' Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Here's Elon Musk's Government Email (Do With This What You Will)
The government email address of powerful unelected bureaucrat Elon Musk is now publicly available. The Intercept reports that Musk has been assigned the email address erm71@ due to his status with the White House Office and the Executive Office of the President. Erm71 refers to Musk's full initials and his 1971 birth year and is different from other email addresses in the EOP, which usually include the employee's full first and last name. The publication has already filed multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for Musk's emails to his pet project, the Department of Government Efficiency, as well other agencies that have worked closely with DOGE, such as the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management. In addition, the Intercept filed FOIA requests with several agencies in DOGE's crosshairs. The Trump administration has tried to classify DOGE, and by extension, Musk, under the EOP to claim that its administrator reports to the White House chief of staff, and therefore, White House lawyers argue, isn't subject to FOIA. The administration has also argued in court that Musk is not in charge of DOGE, but merely is a senior adviser to the president, which President Trump has repeatedly contradicted publicly. Given DOGE's massive reach within the federal government and its efforts to decimate federal agencies through mass purges of employees, its attempts at subterfuge are facing numerous legal challenges. Now that Musk's apparent government email address is public, the lawsuits from government employees and watchdog organizations trying to exact some transparency and accountability over DOGE just got some new ammunition.
