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Melissa Bender

@melissabender

Photographer | freelance photojournalist | MD/MPH | NYC

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03.07.2023
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Latest posts by Melissa Bender @melissabender

White House with image of a Black man and an emoji of chains.

And the chosen image is of Don Lemon doing journalism.

30.01.2026 15:29 πŸ‘ 3069 πŸ” 1018 πŸ’¬ 166 πŸ“Œ 48
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Exclusive: Survivors clinging to capsized boat didn’t radio for backup, admiral overseeing double-tap strike tells lawmakers | CNN Politics The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications device...

🚨🚨🚨This collapses the one 'argument' Hegseth had against it being a war crime:

"The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat .. DID NOT APPEAR TO HAVE RADIO OR OTHER COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers."

1/

05.12.2025 00:49 πŸ‘ 1269 πŸ” 424 πŸ’¬ 62 πŸ“Œ 22

I'm grateful to @60minutes.bsky.social featuring our study published @justsecurity.org.

Link to the study (on the 'presumption of regularity'): www.justsecurity.org/120547/presu...

20.10.2025 00:09 πŸ‘ 5964 πŸ” 2238 πŸ’¬ 87 πŸ“Œ 74
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β€œWe found over 35 cases in which the judges have specifically said what the government is providing…false information. It might be intentionally false information, including false sworn declarations time and again," says Ryan Goodman, law professor at New York University.

19.10.2025 23:43 πŸ‘ 13642 πŸ” 5614 πŸ’¬ 312 πŸ“Œ 308
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#NoKings

19.10.2025 01:25 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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🚨BREAKING: IDSA, along with AAP, APHA, ACP and others, has filed a lawsuit against HHS/Secretary Kennedy to stop unlawful changes to vaccine policy and defend public health.

We refuse to stand by while America’s public health safeguards are torn apart. bit.ly/4lm7UkW

07.07.2025 17:19 πŸ‘ 180 πŸ” 100 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 9
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The End Game YouTube video by Ryan Goodman

Come for the conversation.

Starting at 12 noon ET today

Topics:

- What just happened: Supreme Court's Alien Enemies Act due process ruling

- Looking ahead: What exactly is in judges' toolkits to enforce their orders in face of contempt by administration officials

‡️Direct link to YouTube Live‡️

17.05.2025 15:18 πŸ‘ 152 πŸ” 36 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
Court Backs Trump Attack on Global Press Freedoms
Court Backs Trump Attack on Global Press Freedoms YouTube video by Ryan Goodman

Secretary Rubio was silent on this weekend's #WorldPressFreedomDay - breaking from Blinken, Pompeo, others.

But Rubio championed the day as Senator.

An astonishing weekend with DC Circuit backing Trump's dismantling of congressionally-mandated global media outlets

I dissect it all. In The Know. ‡️

04.05.2025 19:17 πŸ‘ 209 πŸ” 59 πŸ’¬ 8 πŸ“Œ 11
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April 17 | Stay in the Know with Ryan Goodman on Just Security’s Trump Administration Litigation Tracker Welcome to the first installment of the Trump Administration Litigation Tracker Newsletter!

I'm thrilled to announce that we are adding Substack to @justsecurity.org's reach and to enhance engagement with our audiences.

πŸ™Please join us there too! And encourage others to join as well.

πŸ₯³Here's my first Newsletter!

❀️We aim to keep all our content free for all subscribers.

17.04.2025 16:03 πŸ‘ 191 πŸ” 54 πŸ’¬ 10 πŸ“Œ 9
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Haunted by hopelessness: 12 Zambians share their stories as HIV drugs run out Mothers and children, husbands and wives, doctors, truck drivers and religious leaders are all grappling with the fallout from the sudden U.S. cuts in aid.

I look at close to 100 stories a week and even more outside of work. I’ve done this ten years.

This is among the most horrific things I’ve ever read β€” testimony from dying children whose access to medicine has been cut off by the Trump administration.

www.npr.org/sections/goa...

17.04.2025 01:58 πŸ‘ 3563 πŸ” 1951 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 225
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Tens of thousands marched from Bryant Park to Madison Square Park in NYC on April 5, 2025 to protest the administration of President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk.

(Photos by Melissa Bender/ NurPhoto)

#HandsOff #HandsOff2025 #trump
#doge #elonmusk #photojournalism

05.04.2025 23:38 πŸ‘ 19 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1
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β€œHands Off! Our Public Postal Service!” National Day of Action in midtown Manhattan and simultaneously in cities across the nation. Protesters denounced the Trump/Musk/DOGE efforts to privatize the U.S. postal service.

Photos by me, 3/20/2025

@apwu.bsky.social @aflcio.org #usps #apwu

21.03.2025 20:20 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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International Women’s Day March in NYC

People gather in Union Square Park, New York City for the International Women’s Day march on March 8, 2025. Demonstrations were held around the world in defense of women’s rights.

(Photo by Melissa Bender/ NurPhoto)

#IWD2025 #InternationalWomensDay #IWD

10.03.2025 15:00 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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More images from the #TeslaTakedown protest outside the Manhattan Tesla showroom on 3/8/2025. A few hundred people denounced billionaire Elon Musk’s DOGE cuts and layoffs, with six arrests.

#doge #trump #tesla #musk

09.03.2025 20:34 πŸ‘ 82 πŸ” 18 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2
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Several hundred demonstrated outside a Manhattan Tesla showroom on 3/8/2025. Some entered the dealership; six were arrested. Fierce opposition is growing toward to the Trump Administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed by Musk.

#teslatakedown #doge #trump #tesla #elonmusk

09.03.2025 17:05 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Columbia University professor and Nobel laureate Martin Chalfie: β€œI strongly believe in DEI!”

Demonstrators gather in NYC and across the nation in the name of science.

March 7, 2025

#standupforscience2025 @standupforscience.bsky.social

08.03.2025 14:19 πŸ‘ 361 πŸ” 81 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 2
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More images from today in NYC.

#standupforscience2025 @standupforscience.bsky.social

08.03.2025 00:39 πŸ‘ 34 πŸ” 9 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Hundreds of scientists and supporters gather in Washington Square Park, NYC β€” and in over 30 cities nationwide β€” on March 7, 2025 to protest the Trump/Musk attack on science.

#standupforscience2025 @standupforscience.bsky.social

08.03.2025 00:15 πŸ‘ 35 πŸ” 15 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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Scenes from the President’s day anti-Trump-agenda protest on 17, 2025 in NYC. ThousandS marched from Union Sq to Washington Sq Park β€” and similar protests took place across the U.S. β€” as part of the β€œ50501 movement,” an organized response to actions by the Trump administration.

19.02.2025 18:45 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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On Friday night, HHS ordered CDC to take down all flu vaccine campaign materials from its website. Materials are starting to come down.
For example, a campaign explaining that flu shot can reduce flu severity from "wild to mild" is now offline. Left image is from Friday, right is now

Meanwhile...

16.02.2025 17:30 πŸ‘ 7817 πŸ” 4034 πŸ’¬ 442 πŸ“Œ 806

CDC source:

β€œWe just had word that all our fellows and post doc staff are laid off effective immediately. The famous Epidemic Intelligence Service, aka the Disease Detectives, is no more. That’s 1260 staff.

They are calling this β€˜Phase 1’.”

14.02.2025 19:58 πŸ‘ 10839 πŸ” 5599 πŸ’¬ 559 πŸ“Œ 1301
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1/This may truly blowup #KashPatel nomination

On left:

Patel Testimony: "I'm not aware" of purge inside DOJ/FBI and "don't know what's going on."

On right:

Whistleblowers tell Senate that Patel was directing the purge!

Contemporaneous note: β€œKP wants movement at FBI, reciprocal actions for DOJ”

11.02.2025 17:47 πŸ‘ 12070 πŸ” 4479 πŸ’¬ 605 πŸ“Œ 266

Federal judge blocks Trump’s attempt to slash NIH funding; imposes biweekly judicial overview to monitor for compliance.

10.02.2025 22:47 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

A federal judge in Massachusetts has just blocked Trump administration's move to cut NIH's funding of indirect costs

A hearing is now scheduled for Feb. 21 in case, which was brought by 22 states earlier today

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

10.02.2025 22:34 πŸ‘ 75 πŸ” 30 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 2

A good tool.

(Related question: does this benefit Big Pharma and corporations, if the federal government is increasingly investing less in research? Gives them more control/power?)

09.02.2025 20:02 πŸ‘ 55 πŸ” 19 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
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Trump officials exerting unprecedented control over CDC scientific journal "The MMWR has lost its autonomy," one health official told CBS News.

What happened to CDC's bird flu studies and why did they publish about wildfires instead?

Sources tell us Trump officials are now wielding unprecedented control over agency's flagship scientific journal

"The MMWR has lost its autonomy"

www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-o...

07.02.2025 23:22 πŸ‘ 261 πŸ” 144 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 21

For the Texans who wanted to touch the stove

08.02.2025 20:44 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This. Share this.

08.02.2025 20:25 πŸ‘ 887 πŸ” 503 πŸ’¬ 34 πŸ“Œ 14
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NIH In Your State - United For Medical Research Select a state on the map to see the impact of NIH funding across America.

NIH IN YOUR STATE

β€œSelect a state on the map to see the impact of NIH funding across America”

www.unitedformedicalresearch.org/nih-in-your-...

08.02.2025 20:33 πŸ‘ 254 πŸ” 209 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 20
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This framing is their framing, and NYT took the bait. The correct and accurate framing is: β€œDeep cuts to medical research threatens progress on cancer and heart disease research, costs the economy $80B, and threatens 300,000 jobs across red and blue states”

08.02.2025 19:17 πŸ‘ 1395 πŸ” 460 πŸ’¬ 21 πŸ“Œ 16