Sam Russek

reporter-researcher @newrepublic | associate editor @orbooks | also samrussek(.)bsky(.)social | “some skeptics,” per the NYT

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

Colin Allred ran a cowardly campaign. For @newrepublic I wrote about the southern social media strategy, Olivia Julianna, Isaiah Martin, and the rot at the core of modern campaigning

https://t.co/KyM4Okroia

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

@Notaterf6969 @fenrisL18823 Read the story bb

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

Update: 8 Texas protesters were sentenced today, following a July 4 noise demo outside an ICE detention center.

The maj. were sentenced to 50 years in prison

2 were sentenced to 70 & 100 years, respectively

The last, who wasn't even at the protest, was sentenced to 30 years.

[The New Republic @newrepublic]

The federal government rounded up 18 activists tied to an anti-ICE protest in Texas, claiming they were part of an antifa cell. And it's the first big test of Trump’s crackdown on free speech. https://t.co/tdiFjbwzef

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

@fenrisL18823 Read the story cutie

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

@robertmclaws Which jury? The first that the judge threw out after they responded positively to the defense during voire dire? Or the second that the judge handpicked himself?

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

Pile-ons like these are so wild. 100s of right-wingers hurling racial slurs, wishing violence upon me & others, brushing against people who get basic facts about the case wrong. Yes, an officer was shot, but was there a "conspiracy" to do so, or was that a convenient contrivance?

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

Update: 8 Texas protesters were sentenced today, following a July 4 noise demo outside an ICE detention center.

The maj. were sentenced to 50 years in prison

2 were sentenced to 70 & 100 years, respectively

The last, who wasn't even at the protest, was sentenced to 30 years.

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

@LoneRangerReid Read the story bb

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

@Amuk31 “Thought criminal”

[Piper French @PiperSFrench]

horrifying weaponization of the criminal legal system – nobody died, all guns owned legally & only 1 of the 9 defendants fired a weapon, 3 weren't involved in planning & left when guards told them to. One didn't even attend, got 30 years for moving zines.
https://t.co/SFV3Hfip3m

[Alec Karakatsanis @equalityAlec]

The sentences handed down today are a huge threat to the possibility of a democratic society. The prosecution is rife with constitutional violations, but 30 years in prison (more than anyone for January 6) for moving some magazines? 50 years in prison even for those not involved in planning the protest? The evidence of an illegal conspiracy is non-existent, but this is how the authoritarian dragnet targets those fighting against repression. Everyone should be learning about this case. https://t.co/XLki7OBuID

[neil turkewitz @neilturkewitz]

With algae dominating the news these days, this story is unlikely to get the attention it deserves. The Trump Administration is effectively criminalizing freedom of speech—& gun ownership by folks with whom it disagrees. This is the weaponization of DOJ & an assault on freedom.

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

@newrepublic Fore more on the sentencing, @srl recapped for The Guardian: https://t.co/hK5HtWw31O

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

I wrote about this case, which is far muddier than the DOJ has claimed, for @newrepublic in January: https://t.co/IpJdzaEbGp

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

Why don’t they call this one a “takeover” 🤔

[FOX26Houston @FOX26Houston]

A massive crowd of orange-clad Netherlands fans are marching from Rice Stadium to Houston Stadium ahead of the Netherlands vs Sweden FIFA World Cup match.

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

@petersterne @TheDuhalde The Houston chapter of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee, which would eventually merge with the New America Movement to become DSA, was founded in 1975: https://t.co/oK6y9sIwej

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

Doing some archival work, and I honestly had no idea Houston’s DSA chapter went back this far. Reading now that it dates back to at least 1975. Does anyone know if it was always active from then to now?

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

Ok thx

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

@BobChoate54 Imagine: people can have jobs /and/ spend the evening with their friends. I shudder at the thought!

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

Nothing says “park space” like shutting out the public after a group of teens dare to hang out there

[FOX26Houston @FOX26Houston]

Houston's Discovery Green will be closed to the public from Saturday night to early Sunday, according to a representative. This comes one week after a “teen takeover” that brought 500–600 minors to the park. https://t.co/nJjA4yZybF

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

I won’t deny this kind of guy exists, but also the purest form of fandom I know is to absolutely loathe every single player on the pitch. If someone so much as passes to the wrong foot I seethe w rage. Does this count as rooting against the US? Idc idc idc

[Joe Bernstein @Bernstein]

I'm just going to say it—

There is a kind of coastal American soccer fan who believes his fandom makes him a cosmopolitan global citizen, who cannot bring himself to root for the USMNT because it represents the parochialism his soccer fandom is meant to transcend.

I hate him.

[Sam Russek @samrussek]

@BobChoate54 Teens are either (A) “on their damn phones too much!” or (B) “taking over” public spaces. Idk about you but I know which I prefer!