📌 NOTE FOR NEW READERS: This is an independent Substack covering 50501, No Kings, and the broader pro-democracy and civic-action ecosystem. Subscribe to never miss a post.
A federal court kept immigration enforcement from 8 houses of worship, the first deportees arrived in Liberia under a new third-country deportation agreement and newly released emails show coordination between ICE and Iranian officials.
Disney and ABC sued the FCC, Rhode Island paused the expansion of automated plate readers while communities continue to push back against Flock and heavy surveillance.
Monday
Trump’s approval fell to 33%
A Reuters poll released on Monday found that Trump’s approval rating fell to 33%, the lowest yet of his presidency. And it showed Republicans losing ground on key issues they have traditionally led for years. Their advantage over Democrats on immigration narrowed to just 2 points, compared with 26 percentage points this past January.
The Supreme Court rejected Trump’s E. Jean Carroll appeal
A Wisconsin officer, sentenced for misusing Flock
A Wisconsin officer was sentenced on Monday after investigators said he used Flock to search vehicles connected to a former romantic partner for non-law-enforcement reasons. Cristian Morales received three years of probation as part of a withheld sentence.
The Trump administration paused a controversial Big Bend border project
Crews had begun clearing land for roads and other border infrastructure. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott said construction would remain paused while he visited the area and spoke with stakeholders.
On Monday, we also shared an article on 12 things most people don’t know about Flock. (Click here to read)
We went over vehicle data and how it can be searched across multiple jurisdictions, documented cases of officer misuse, connections to immigration enforcement, and a variety of tools people can use to investigate Flock.
Tuesday
A federal appeals court restricted immigration enforcement at places of worship
The court concluded that the groups were likely to succeed in their argument that the Trump administration’s policy violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Rhode Island paused new license plate readers
The review will examine statewide standards involving privacy, data use, transparency and how information is shared.
Existing cameras are not being removed.
Disney and ABC sued Trump’s FCC
Disney said that the government is trying to punish the network over its programming and editorial decisions.
Tuesday night we also learned that Angie Nixon won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Florida and is headed to the November election. Congrats Angie!
Wednesday
69% of Americans say Trump’s businesses influence his decisions
Even half of the Republicans surveyed said his business interests influence his presidential decision making.
The poll also found that 63% of Americans said it was inappropriate for Trump and his family to profit from cryptocurrency ventures while he is president.
On Wednesday, we also shared an article: five postcard campaigns currently looking for volunteers ahead of the November midterms. (Click here to read)
Thursday
The first deportees arrived in Liberia
The first group included 20 people, many of who are not Liberian citizens.
This is part of the Trump administration’s expanding use of third country deportations, people are being sent to countries other than their own.
Newly released emails revealed ICE’s channel with Iran
The records prove that discussions involving passenger lists and last-minute changes, and the AP reported that someone even appeared to have been deported mistakenly. What became public this week is the record showing how they were arranged.
Flock Backlash Grows
This week is the National Week of Action Against ALPRs, running August 16 - 22. Communities across the country are organizing protests, taking city council actions, hosting teach-ins and other events against automated license plate readers like Flock.
And another example of potential abuse surfaced this week in Massachusetts: The town of Stow removed its Flock cameras after an officer was accused of using Flock and other law-enforcement databases to obtain information about someone he knew without a legitimate law-enforcement reason.
Want to Know More About What Flock Is Doing in Your Community?
Reading about Flock is one thing but finding out what’s happening in your own city is where changes get made and how you give power back to your community.
This week at 50501.co, we published a new step by step guide for investigating your local Flock system. The guide will walk you through how to find local cameras, check retention and sharing rules, look for logs, request public records, track contracts, and turn what you find into something your community can work with. Your community just needs one person to shine a light on what is going on, your community could be waiting on you to do this.
And at the end of the blog post, there’s even a printable Flock Investigation Checklist you can save, print, fill out, and share with organizers, local groups, or anyone else who wants to investigate their Flock systems.
You don’t need to be a researcher, or privacy expert to investigate this, anyone can do it! You just need to know where to look.
Start investigating your local Flock system, click here.
Have more news from this week that you think people should know about? Let us know in the comments!
We read all of the comments. Your tips help find stories, developments, and issues we might miss or haven’t seen yet.
Amazing news. Especially since the Supreme Court is neither Supreme or a Court.
Thank you!