Andy Donohue

Bovino hasn’t been telling the truth since his very first operation in Kern County a year ago.

The Border Patrol’s own documents proved it.

calmatters.org/economy/2025...

Good breakdown

I just want to congratulate @ericumansky.bsky.social and his Los Angeles Lakers on a hard-fought and well-earned victory on Saturday night over my Milwaukee Bucks. Luka was fantastic.

Taken: The Agents Raiding Communities and the People Trying to Stop Them - Latino USA A rogue Border Patrol chief sparks violent immigration raids in L.A.—and a powerful community pushback that’s redefining resistance.

We did an episode with Latino USA. It's about the blueprint for the aggressive immigration raids nationwide, the man behind them and the things people are doing to push back. You should listen to it:

www.latinousa.org/2025/10/31/t...

15 DUIs, still driving: California's failure to take repeat drunk drivers off the road As alcohol-related roadway deaths spike across the state, a CalMatters investigation finds California has some of the weakest DUI laws in the country.

As DUI fatalities surge across the state, our investigation finds that California has some of the weakest drunk driving laws in the U.S.

Our enforcement system is broken. The toll can be counted in bodies.

calmatters.org/investigatio...

She kept challenging one of California's biggest health insurers. Then, it tried to cut her off A California addiction center found a way to compel Anthem to cover patients it rejected. Their dispute reflects a broader tug-of-war in mental health treatment.

Anthem kept cutting off addiction treatment. One facility kept appealing on their behalf, and winning.

Then Anthem tried to cut it off.

A vital deep dive into an issue at the heart of how California handles its mental health and addiction crises.

calmatters.org/health/menta...

‘There is no sanctuary anywhere:’ Border Patrol raids come to California’s capital The Border Patrol began conducting operations in Sacramento on Thursday, less than a week after a judge halted its wide-ranging LA raids.

A judge halted the LA immigration raids.

Now, raid’s architect has moved his operations up to California’s capital.

Where a judge had already prohibited his raid blueprint.

calmatters.org/justice/2025...

Judge says immigration agents must stop ‘roving patrols’ that have upended Southern California A court ruling Friday orders a halt to a chaotic and relentless 36-day immigration crackdown that’s upended life across Southern California.

A federal judge says the LA immigration sweeps must stop.

Because agents can’t just approach Latinos without a warrant or reasonable suspicion.

And they can’t deny detainees access to a lawyer.

calmatters.org/justice/2025...

Masked, Armed, Forceful: Finding Patterns in California Immigration Raids YouTube video by Evident Media

We worked with @bellingcat.com and @evidentmedia.org to create this short documentary revealing the legally questionable tactics being used by federal agents in the LA immigration sweeps.

Based on an analysis of more than 100 videos:

youtu.be/6BuxaVdv7po

Update: Civil rights groups have sued the fed gov, saying the way it has taken and detained people from the LA streets is blatantly unconstitutional.

calmatters.org/justice/2025...

They were convicted of killing with their cars. No one told the California DMV. A CalMatters investigation found that courts didn’t report hundreds of vehicular manslaughter convictions to the DMV, prompting officials to belatedly take many drivers’ licenses.

Nearly 200 deadly drivers had their driving privileges suspended as a result of this reporting.

And court executives were refreshingly candid about it.

“They were errors on our part. I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” said one.

calmatters.org/investigatio...

'It's not your country:' Stories from men who were taken in the LA immigration raids CalMatters spoke with a number of migrants about their arrests and detentions after the first weekend of LA raids. Their accounts raise potential legal questions about the government’s operation.

… These are not enemy combatants in a war zone, but people living and working in America’s second largest city.”

@sergioolmos.bsky.social @wendyfry.bsky.social Lauren Hepler and Anat Rubin on the LA immigration raids.

calmatters.org/investigatio...

Their families won’t know what happened to them. They’ll be shackled, whisked away to another state, forced to subsist for days on potato chips, apples, water, and the occasional cold sandwich. They’ll sleep on the floor with mylar blankets, without access to showers or even working bathrooms. …

When someone runs, they’re taken. When they don’t answer a question, they’re taken. When they can’t produce papers, they’re taken. …

“The masked agents pull up quickly. They jump out of unmarked vans or trucks. They wear blue jeans or battle fatigues. They approach Latino men, at times yelling and carrying assault rifles. …

'It's not your country:' Stories from men who were taken in the LA immigration raids CalMatters spoke with a number of migrants about their arrests and detentions after the first weekend of LA raids. Their accounts raise potential legal questions about the government’s operation.

Taken: LA immigration raids

Masked men pull up quickly and approach Latino men.

When someone runs, they’re taken. When they don’t answer a question, they’re taken. When they can’t produce papers, they’re taken. 

calmatters.org/investigatio...

@wendyfry.bsky.social @addonohue.bsky.social

He misled the public about his last big immigration sweep. Now he’s leading the Border Patrol in LA The immigration raids across Los Angeles have all the hallmarks of Gregory Bovino's Kern County sweep, which a federal judge says likely violated the Constitution.

Gregory Bovino is running Border Patrol’s LA operation right now.

His last raid was a total mess. And he sees no difference between a farm worker and a fentanyl dealer.

w/
@sergioolmos.bsky.social
@wendyfry.bsky.social

calmatters.org/investigatio...

‘This was all sitting there’: How California fails to prevent wrongful convictions The lack of investigators affects counties throughout the state, from poor, rural areas to the state’s largest and most well-funded public defense offices.

The Man Who Unsolved a Murder:

For 32 years, the kidnapping and murder of a 6 year old boy had remained a mystery.

Then a man came forward with a story.

What happened next illustrates one of the biggest — and most hidden — problems in the justice system.

calmatters.org/investigatio...

The excellent reporting from @wendyfry.bsky.social and @sergioolmos.bsky.social has been front and center in this case.

Judge restricts Border Patrol in California: ‘You just can’t walk up to people with brown skin and say give me your papers”

W/ @wendyfry.bsky.social
calmatters.org/justice/2025...

License to Kill The California DMV routinely allows deadly drivers to operate on our roadways, a CalMatters investigation has found.

You need to read this story by the @calmatters.org investigative team calmatters.org/investigatio...

Joshua Dougherty has been convicted of vehicular manslaughter twice, for eerily similar crashes.

In 2009, he killed a 16 yo girl. In 2020, he killed his 25 yo girlfriend.

In July of last year, the DMV issued him a driver’s license.

Ervin Wyatt’s history: Fleeing police. Fleeing police again. Running a red light. Causing a traffic collision. Driving without a license, four times. A dozen speeding tickets.

Yet the DMV gave him a license in 2019.

In 2023 he crashed into oncoming traffic, killing three women.

Ivan Dimov was convicted of reckless driving after fleeing police while his passenger allegedly dumped heroin out the window.

Before that, he got six DUIs in California over a six-year period.

The DMV gave him his license back in 2017. The next year, he drove drunk + killed a man on Xmas Eve.

License to Kill The California DMV routinely allows deadly drivers to operate on our roadways, a CalMatters investigation has found.

Kostas Linardos had 17 tickets — including for speeding, reckless driving and street racing — and 4 collisions.

Then, in November 2022, he gunned his truck into the back of a sedan, killing a toddler.

In December of last year, the DMV renewed his driver’s license.

calmatters.org/investigatio...

@evidentmedia.org is a new nonprofit news org doing reporter-driven documentaries. Check them out. They do great stuff and are lovely to work with.

evidentmedia.org

Border Patrol said it targeted known criminals in Kern County. But it had no record on 77 of 78 arrestees Border Patrol said it had a list of targets for its high-profile January raid, but it had a record for just one of the 78 people it arrested.

Border Patrol’s official narrative on its January sweep in Kern County is not true.

Great reporting and storytelling in this new 15-minute documentary from @sergioolmos.bsky.social, @wendyfry.bsky.social and @evidentmedia.org

calmatters.org/economy/2025...

Hello Bluesky! @evidentmedia.org is a nonprofit news org for documentary journalism, powered by the public. We're thrilled to partner with @bellingcat.com @calmatters.org and others on early projects. And excited to build a community for docu journalism here on Bluesky!

Towing companies can sell your car — and the DMV gets to keep the profit without telling you The California Department of Motor Vehicles has collected more than $8 million from about 5,000 car sales since 2016.

The Lamborghini Mercy sat at a tow yard for so long the towing company sold it to recover its costs.

The extra $100k in profits? The DMV can keep it, without telling the owner.

calmatters.org/california-d...

‘A volunteer jail': Inside the scandals and abuse pushing California’s homeless out of shelters A hidden epidemic of death lurks in California's homeless shelters, where violence and unhealthy conditions drive people back on the streets.

Temporary homeless shelters are the backbone of California’s homelessness response.

Our new investigation shows why they’re failing — and what leaders could be doing instead.

calmatters.org/housing/2025...