from the overseen-by-dangerous-idiots dept
Petty thugs. That’s all ICE is. Masked officers too cowardly to show their faces and too aware they’re in the wrong to dare approach judges with warrant requests. Even ICE’s lawyers are doing what they can to keep themselves from being added to the permanent record.
Idiots are running the agencies and assholes are staffing the administration’s official social media accounts. These days ICE and the DHS are spending most of their time online calling factual reports “fake news,” blowing as many racist dog whistles as they can find, and otherwise deliberately misunderstanding the Constitutional rights they swore to protect and uphold.
Back in the old days (as recently as last year!), an official government social media account wouldn’t be caught dead reposting stuff dumped onto the web by bigoted trolls and novelty accounts. Now, it’s just everyday business at the Government, where insanely biased accounts like “Libs of TikTok” are being given a larger bullhorn by government agency reposts. That’s not a smart move. It suggests the government endorses the sentiments it’s rebroadcasting.
But more than that, it suggests the people running government social media accounts are no more judicious or capable of sound judgment than the absolute dreck they choose to amplify. In this case, highlighted by Sarah McLaughlin on Bluesky, it’s more than just stupid. It’s ICE tagging another federal agency presumably in hopes of instigating legal action against someone engaging in protected speech.
Here’s the post by McLaughlin:
In case you can’t see/read the embed, McLaughlin has posted a screenshot of an X post by ICE’s official account, which retweets a Libs of TikTok post calling for the “charging” of Connecticut state representative Corey Paris for “doxxing ICE’s live location and warning illegals to stay ‘vigilant.’”
To which McLaughlin has added:
A CT state rep posted a story about reports of ICE activity in his district and asked neighbors to “look out for another” and contact advocacy groups.
Libs of TikTok posted it, calling for him to be charged and tagging ICE & DHS.
ICE shared it, tagging the Justice Dept.
This is protected speech.
McLaughlin is right. Libs of TikTok, as it almost always is, is wrong.
First off, you cannot “dox” the live location of public officials carrying out their duties in public. It’s impossible. While it may be inconvenient to be live-streamed or snitched out to social media, every part of what’s being reported is the very definition of “public” and is definitely of public interest. A location cannot be doxed. If it can be seen by anyone on the street, it’s in public view. Just ask any cop who’s ever taken advantage of an automatic license plate reader or utility pole-mounted surveillance camera.
Second, Libs of TikTok deliberately misrepresents what was said by Rep. Corey Paris. Here’s what he actually said, according to the screenshot of his Instagram account that Libs of TikTok posted itself.
I’ll go ahead and transcribe it, since it’s all a bit much to be expected to read in the format it’s been presented in.
This morning, I was made aware of multiple reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity within our district. While we are working to verify the full scope of these reports, I urge all residents to remain vigilant, stay aware of your surroundings, and, above all, prioritize your safety.
Please look out for one another, check in with neighbors who may be concerned, and seek out trusted legal and community resources if needed. If you have information about ICE activity, share it with local advocacy organizations who can respond quickly and appropriately.
Our community is strongest when we remain informed, united, and committed to protecting the dignity and safety of all who call it home.
You can read this statement through as many times as you want and you won’t find anything that even remotely resembles “doxxing ICE locations” or otherwise strays anywhere near the outer boundaries of the First Amendment. Nothing unlawful is suggested or encouraged. All the state rep does is tell people ICE may be operating in the area and urges people to contact legal aid and advocacy groups if they need assistance. Otherwise, it just tells people to look out for themselves and their neighbors and, above all, prioritize their safety.
I assume the person running ICE’s official X account didn’t bother to read anything but the Libs of TikTok misrepresentation of what was said by Rep. Paris. I guess I would hope that was the case, because if the staffer did read this and still decided to tag in the DOJ’s official X account, that would be even more disturbing than simply playing to bigots by pretending the assertions made by Libs of TikTok had merit and that Paris should be investigated, if not actually arrested, for alleged “doxxing” that’s impossible to accomplish and isn’t actually happening in the first place.
Our nation is in the hands of the dumbest of dumb fucks. With any luck (and plenty of useful nudges) they’ll wear themselves out before they destroy this nation completely. And while I’d like to believe there will still be a nation worth saving once this regime is ousted, it’s gonna be hell patching up all the holes these dipshits have punched into the drywall of the Republic.
Filed Under: 1st amendment, censorship, corey paris, doj, free speech, ice
Companies: tik tok, x
