BIG: The case for Tren de Aragua being invading narco-terrorists, key to Trump's attacks on Venezuela and immigrant communities at home, is just another manufactured threat, as revealed in a trove of intel documents we provided to
@dell.bsky.social / @wired.com. #FOIA www.wired.com/story/trump-...
This article is free to read and was coauthored by me and @rshapiro.bsky.social.
Elsewhere, the CBP report undercuts assertions that the government had a clear picture of TdA’s footprint in the US. It notes that it was “difficult for US law enforcement and the intelligence community to ascertain the exact number” of TdA members due to a “lack of determinate indicators” and the “adoption of the TdA name by unaffiliated groups and persons.” Ultimately, those limitations became justification for bending statistics to support the administration’s framing of a US-based terrorist threat numbering in the “thousands.” Over a 22-month period, CBP’s own detection methods identified no more than 83 known TdA members at the border. To reach a much larger figure, the record shows analysts relied on a “sample set of interviews,” extrapolating that “upwards of 3,000” TdA members must have crossed the border during that same period—an estimate based on the assumption that roughly “one-half of one percent” of all Venezuelan migrants who entered the US through the southwest border had ties to TdA. The same assumption underlies the report’s treatment of Venezuelan asylum communities, which it frames as potential risk environments shaped by “sanctuary city” policies and jurisdictions the agency views as “weak” on enforcement.
Trump claimed TdA had “thousands” of members in the US. But internal CBP records show when officials couldn’t support that figure with evidence, they resorted to statistical sleight of hand to reach a number more in line with the president's claim, which was 30x higher than what CBP could prove.
BREAKING: Hundreds of sensitive U.S. records obtained by WIRED undercut the Trump administration’s claims portraying Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua as a unified terrorist force invading the country. Intelligence agencies spent much of 2025 unsure TdA even functioned as an organization on U.S. soil.
BIG: The case for Tren de Aragua being invading narco-terrorists, key to Trump's attacks on Venezuela and immigrant communities at home, is just another manufactured threat, as revealed in a trove of intel documents we provided to @dell.bsky.social / @wired.com. #FOIA www.wired.com/story/trump-...
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Our work contributed to this @time.com piece on the movement against ICE. #FOIA time.com/7341833/no-s...
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Our director @rshapiro.bsky.social on our latest: FBI using Trump's broad "anti-antifa" order to target anti-ICE organizing as anarchist extremist terrorism, as revealed in intelligence documents we obtained and shared w/ @samtlevin.bsky.social / @theguardian.com. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The new FBI report is coming to light after we revealed last month that the FBI and NYPD have spied on a Signal group of NYC court watch activists who monitor public proceedings, labeling the volunteers “anarchist violent extremists."
From earlier records unearthed by @propertyofthepeople.org:
“At its core, the war on antifa is a war on dissent, a war on free speech” -@rshapiro.bsky.social @propertyofthepeople.org. The docs “strongly suggest one of the primary functions of NSPM-7 is to serve as a vehicle for targeting anti-ICE organizing broadly as an anarchist violent extremist threat"
An internal FBI report in Nov, distributed to other law enforcement agencies, said “indicators” an individual may be planning to attack ICE facilities or staff include “conducting online research” about agents’ movements + using encrypted messaging apps. @us.theguardian.com @propertyofthepeople.org
NEW: The FBI has launched "domestic terrorism" investigations into anti-ICE activity across the US. Some cases are under Trump's NSPM-7 order to crackdown on "anti-fascism" and "anti-Americanism."
Docs obtained by @propertyofthepeople.org + shared w/ Guardian include FBI map of cases in 30+ states:
The FBI has launched “criminal and domestic terrorism investigations” into “threats" against ICE in at least 23 regions across the US, according to a file obtained by @propertyofthepeople.org and shared with the Guardian.
Some cases are linked to Trump's memo on thwarting "terroristic activities".
BIG: FBI using Trump's broad "anti-antifa" order to target anti-ICE organizing as anarchist extremist terrorism, as revealed in intelligence documents we obtained and shared w/ @samtlevin.bsky.social / @us.theguardian.com. #FOIA
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Our director @rshapiro.bsky.social on our latest: FBI spied on Signal group chat of immigration activists CourtWatch, classifying them as violent terrorist extremists, as revealed in intel bulletin we obtained & shared w/ @samtlevin.bsky.social @us.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
“Basic civic participation is not a terrorist threat” - @rshapiro.bsky.social of @propertyofthepeople.org. “The FBI treating it like one is yet another example of the Trump regime’s profound contempt for even the most rudimentary of democratic freedoms.”
Full @us.theguardian.com story here:
NEW: The FBI spied on a Signal group chat of NY immigrants' rights volunteers organizing court watch+ labeled activists “anarchist violent extremist actors.”
Joint FBI/NYPD report shows law enforcement accessed private planning convo of ppl monitoring ICE
Docs obtained by @propertyofthepeople.org
🙏
The FBI's report from August, prepared by its New York division, does not make clear how the bureau accessed the Signal group. The Signal platform, widely used by activists, is known for its end-to-end encryption; typically, the only way law enforcement can access messages is if they are directly included in the chat, are sent copies from a participant or have access to a member's unlocked phone. The FBI said the information came from a "sensitive source with excellent access" and introduced the report as a warning about "extremist actors targeting law enforcement officers and federal facilities". In "late May", an individual "participated in a debrief session held via a Signal call within the 'courtwatch' Signal groupchat", the FBI wrote, without identifying the individual or the specific group or organizations involved. That person "discussed how to improve future activities near federal facilities in New York City, including 26 Federal Plaza, 201 Varick Street and 290 Broadway", the report continued, listing the addresses of three immigration courts in Manhattan.
Public records requests by @propertyofthepeople.org reveal FBI had access to at least one immigration court watch Signal group—it’s not clear how. But from what we know about how Signal works, it could be the FBI obtained access to a group member’s phone.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Another important FOIA release made possible by @propertyofthepeople.org @rshapiro.bsky.social
And @sreynolds.bsky.social is spot on: COINTELPRO redux
🙏
Huge shout out to @propertyofthepeople.org for obtaining the records that revealed this.
BIG: FBI spied on Signal group chat of immigration activists CourtWatch, classifying them as violent terrorist extremists for quietly sitting in on court cases, as revealed in intel bulletin we obtained & shared w/ @samtlevin.bsky.social @us.theguardian.com. #FOIA www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Our executive director @rshapiro.bsky.social discussing Democratic-led states inadvertently sharing drivers' license data with ICE. @raphae.li / @reuters.com www.reuters.com/world/democr...
Our director @rshapiro.bsky.social on our latest: FBI warns that ICE impersonators are harming ICE's image in immigrant communities, quietly urges ICE agents to identify themselves, as revealed in an intel doc we obtained & shared w/ @newsweek.com. #FOIA www.newsweek.com/fbi-warns-cr...
Our Dir. @rshapiro.bsky.social on our latest: FBI warns that ICE impersonators are harming ICE's image in immigrant communities, quietly urges ICE agents to identify themselves, as revealed in intel doc we obtained & shared w/ @tarantulaarms.bsky.social @latimes.com. www.latimes.com/california/s...
ICE's sociopathic tactics makes it easier for criminals to pose as ICE agents - obviously.
Great article that's not paywalled because of @wired.com's commitment to making FOIA-based reporting free (and great work by @propertyofthepeople.org).
Our director @rshapiro.bsky.social on our latest: FBI warns that ICE impersonators are harming ICE's image in immigrant communities, quietly urges ICE agents to identify themselves, as revealed in an intel doc we obtained and shared w/ @dell.bsky.social / @wired.com www.wired.com/story/fbi-wa...
