#SeditionHunters - the FBI motors forward, mopping up networks: today more of Zach Rehl's Philadelphia Proud Boys. The main 5 who move together are now all arrested. The 3 today all shared a Telegram chat with Rehl, easily picked up via his phone after his March arrest. 1/
All of Rehl's crew helpfully provided names, blood types, and emergency contact info in the group text, along with coordinated travel and discussion of radios. Combined with their group selfies, they practically write their own conspiracy indictments. 2/ storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
Zach Rehl, Philly PB president, was first found inside the Capitol by @DianthaSol after a crowdsourced manhunt. His whole crew gathered in Sen. Merkley's office, familiar enough that they could be spotted even in black-and-white photos from the New Yorker... 3/
Now thanks to their selfies we can see the office scene in full color, complete with white power sign. Hashtags, L-R, are #LanyardPB (Healion), #KamikazePB (Vy, yes it's a terrible tag), #ZachRehlPB, and #NinjaRaphPB (Giddings). Breaking the PA network was a major goal. 4/
For militia groups who worked in coordination on Jan 6, bulk pickups are likely the norm. On the Proud Boys list, 42 of the 232 clear PBs (18%) are now arrested, with most of groups from FL, MO, PA, & PacNW. Would guess there'll be block arrests to come for NY, NJ, NC, & VA. 5/
To remember how long a road it's been and how far we've come, here's the moment when Zach Rehl was first found, on Feb. 25th. Don't be fooled by the slow pace of FBI, though - steamrollers are slow too. 6/
The Philly crew is less tracked than Biggs' Florida PB group. Zach Rehl is at the police line on the Plaza til the fight goes bad ca. 1:15 PM, then is seen just in glimpses - in Merkely's office, outside again masked up at 2:47 PM (h/t @nine_niall). 8/
The timing of that video is suspicious: Rehl's crowd is fully masked up outside and pointing toward the NW Courtyard. Two minutes later, at 2:49 PM, the courtyard door is violently re-breached, pushing police back. That episode could use more eyes on it - is Rehl involved? 9/
A new attack on Harvard, another attempt to impose government control. Trump first tried with $: canceling researchers' grants, threatening taxes. Now an attack via visas: to deport ALL Harvard's international students (38% of PhDs doing lab research). 1/ thecrimson.com/article/2025/4…
Trump's demand, again, is a classic from the fascist playbook: to force Harvard to monitor its students and report to the US government. This visa threat can't be countered with money. But Trump is missing one key issue. Many Harvard international undergrads are global elites. 2/
Harvard educates the children of Saudi sheiks and Russian oligarchs and Greek shipping magnates. Deporting the PhD students would cripple Harvard research. Deporting the UGs would alienate powerful people across the world, people whose respect Trump craves. He may not dare. 3/
Cannot emphasize enough how much of an own-goal it is to tell a university with a $53 billion endowment and a a giant PR team that you want to destroy them. Trump's goons blew it. Today's news is full of sympathetic profiles of crucial Harvard health research. Lawyers next. 1/
Fascist regimes have always managed to co-opt universities, which are timid and self-protective and can be gradually weakened. But Trump's idiots blew it last week with insane demands to set up a police state overnight. They forced Harvard to fight. 2/ static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/d…
The fascist playbook is, slowly turn the screws on universities to make them complicit. But Trump's idiots couldn't wait and now they're in full battle with behemoth Harvard and its crack PR team. The entire attack on higher education has been botched. 3/ bostonglobe.com/2025/04/15/met…
Just going to keep reposting this screenshot from Bukele's inauguration last year every time he lies in reporters' faces about how he can't return an innocent US resident. This is the guy who will be imprisoning US citizens next. 1/
Listen to what Trump says to Bukele, in this video posted by Bukele himself. At 7:29 Trump leans over and whispers: "homegrowns are next" - US citizens. And "you're going to have to build about 5 more prisons". Flagged by the NPR correspondent. 2/
That Tweet seems set for "private" but if anyone can grab the video, please do. The plan is not ambiguous: Trump wants to ship US citizens, his political enemies, to El Salvador, and Bukele is going to let him do it. Read thread below to understand why. 3/
Trump defers to El Salvador's sovereignty but threatens Greenland. Why? It's not strange. Trump is deferring to Silicon Valley neo-fascists. They dream of seizing Greenland, but El Salvador president Bukele is their guy. He's their test case for a crypto-powered autocracy. 1/
Bukele branded himself the tech-friendly modern dictator: yes death squads, but also Bitcoin. Shred your old financial system and pay salaries in Bitcoin? Done in El Salvador. Spend taxpayer money on a national cryptocurrency reserve? Also El Salvador. 2/ time.com/6103299/bitcoi…
Bukele's bitcoin bet isn't going well; he has to beg IMF for a loan. But some US oligarchs see him as a role model. It's no coincidence that Trump picked El Salvador as a partner in autocracy. When Bukele visits Trump on Monday, that must be reported. 3/ bbc.com/news/articles/…
The dreaded "I told you so" moment: for years this account has warned that Trump and his backers want to dictate what schools can teach, from K-12 and university. That they wanted to impose curricula. And now it's here: Trump is trying to seize Columbia, a private university. 1/
n Sep. 2022 I put it in a Twitter thread: that Trump had offered control over education as a quid pro quo for supporting his coup. Trump may not care about schools, but the people behind him do. They want to take away freedom of thought and speech. 2/
Trump and his backers copy Victor Orban, who seized universities in Hungary. Hungarian envoys are now at every major right-wing conference. CPAC went to Hungary. University leaders should have read Orban's blueprint and prepared. This is their plan. 3/ verfassungsblog.de/how-the-destro…
Trump is doing it: using the Justice Department to go after his 'enemies' and support his Big Lie. Pardoning the J6ers was just the first step. He's now using DOJ to attack those who said he lost in 2020, starting with Chris Krebs. It's full dictator mode: no law but power. 1/
Cannot emphasize enough how bad this is. A president using law enforcement to persecute those who won't repeat his lies. A pliant Attorney General who has also said she would send US citizens to foreign torture camps. All Americans must speak out or this is the end. 2/
Going to add some other reactions here - many see how bad this is. Tim Miller calls the move "Stalinesque". He says "Any person who reveres our constitutional republic should speak out against it." 3/