#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/
Yes, the NYT is shameful for sourcing an anti-Mamdani article from notorious white supremacist Jordan Lasker. But it's worse. Lasker, who they call an "academic", is a student whose only paper of note is INFAMOUS for unethical data use that got his tenured co-author fired. 1/
Who is the NYT's "academic" source? Lasker is or was a PhD student at Texas Tech, but his only paper of note is earlier, from 2019: "Global Ancestry and Cognitive Ability", whose misuse of data triggered a major investigation and got Cleveland State Prof. Bryan Pesta fired. 2/
The Chronicle of Higher Ed wrote about the scandal. It wasn't just that the article was "racist pseudoscience". It was that the authors misused data from the NIH and lied on their data application - filed by Bryan Pesta. A flagrant ethics violation. 3/ archive.is/KwbGy
Reminder: Elon Musk, whose Starship just blew up on the test stand (with its extra fuel tanks nearby), was allowed for THIRTY YEARS to lie about his training in science. He started lying in 1995, kept lying - and suffered no consequences. But physics itself has consequences. 1/
Just listen to the man's nonsense about how he is shaped by physics and consider: the press allowed him to bullshit like this for 30 YEARS. Of course he got convinced he can just make up his own reality. If anyone died in the Starship explosion tonight, blame the press too. 2/
In 2022 I did a 69-Tweet thread on Elon's fake AstroBoy Genius image, hoping to ward off what was coming: Elon helping to overthrow democracy. What you saw on the launchpad tonight, that's what he's doing now to US science, to our country: exploding it. 3/
Sure, it's funny that Fox News is now using "86" in talking about a fired reporter, when less than a month ago they demanded the FBI investigate "86" as a death threat. But the joke is on us. Performative outrage over bullshit is a test of YOU, to see if you'll accept it. 1/
You can't criticize Fox's words as hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when someone committed to the truth is inconsistent. Fox and others are post-truth: they're just making noises to see if they can get you to react. They're gaming you. 2/
All of us have a psychological need for rationality. We need to feel that words have meaning, that people mean what they say. We do understand that people lie: a lie is a meaningful but false statement, to deceive. But what Fox is doing here is worse, and harder to cope with. 3/
ABC's explanation of why they suspended correspondent Terry Moran misuses the word "objective". Moran said Stephen Miller was a "world-class hater" and "his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment". Those are objectively true statements. Miller's hatred is deeply documented. 1/
Moran ascribed to Miller an emotion: "hatred". A decade of reporting has documented, objectively, that Miller hates. In 2018, LA Mag interviewed his high school classmates and reported their stories of how Miller hated minorities. "Hate" is their word. 2/ lamag.com/politics/steph…
Terry Moran also said that for Stephen Miller, "hatred is his spiritual nourishment". That's colorful language, but also documented. Here's a high school classmate of Miller's with a story of Miller saying awful, provocative things to immigrants: "he wanted to be hated". 3/
Reminder: Trump has tried this before. It's part of his dream of control, to send in the National Guard against the will of a state or mayor. On May 29, 2020, he Tweeted the threat: "Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.." 1/
Trump has also overtly sought a Secretary of Defense willing to order the National Guard to shoot at protestors. In 2020 he fired Mark Esper and put in Chris Miller for that reason. Pete Hegseth may face a terrible test now. 2/
On Jan 6, the National Guard arrived late likely because sane heads in the Pentagon delayed them til local police had regained control, out of fear of what Trump might order. There are fewer sane heads now. Hegseth is already failing his test. 3/
Howard Lutnick, our Sec. of Commerce, shows a disconnect from material reality that will make Americans die. A weather forecast cannot be "automated" or MADE AT ALL without data. And Trump is cutting the satellites and weather stations that provide that data. 1/
Lutnick, who is in charge of NOAA and its National Weather Service, seem to think that if you say "web" and "cloud" and "computer" and "AI" then by some magic knowledge appears. But weather forecasts depend on MEASUREMENTS. Which Lutnick is cutting. 2/ kcci.com/article/propos…
The proposed NOAA budget cuts both current satellite operations and planned future satellites meant to make better predictions. Lutnick's testimony suggests: people have forgotten that not everything is a simulation, that reality exists (and bites). 3/ spacenews.com/omb-suggests-n…