Scott Hechinger

Civil rights attorney. Longtime public defender. Dad. Executive Director, Zealous. Fighting everyday to share the truth about public health & safety.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

A man was choked on the floor of a Charlotte restaurant by Border Patrol agents — and thousands of Americans invented a knife to justify it.

My newest oped on on the lies Americans tell themselves to excuse state violence. https://t.co/aYFW8pgtme

[Alec Karakatsanis @equalityAlec]

It's great to see this important local news reporting in Detroit debunking the absurd reporting on youth crime around the U.S. Helping people understand that world is what journalism is about: https://t.co/FWDqSBeTc3

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Filming and documenting ICE activities and arrests is the most American thing you could do. The pinnacle of First Amendment protected action.

[Irlandarra @martinez_j7902]

ICE grabbed a 17yo Target worker at his job, despite him saying he’s a US citizen. After confirming he was, they dumped him in a Walmart lot 8 min away.

Bystanders found him sobbing, bleeding: “They slammed me on the ground.”

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Filming and documenting ICE activities and arrests is the most American thing you could do. The pinnacle of First Amendment protected action.

[LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @LongTimeHistory]

ICE aggressively detain woman at gas station—physically assaults U.S. citizen for filming.

"Why did you hit me?" cries woman.
"I didn’t do anything!"

Agent then charges toward man filming—twice.

Both times shoving man backwards hard—while trying to hit phone out of his hand.

Incident occurred at a Sam’s Club Fuel Center located in Texas.

Account posting did not get woman's name so if you recognize her—please pass this along to her family so they know why she disappeared.

They don't have an account on this platform—so posting first full length and credited video here to help raise awareness.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Filming and documenting ICE activities and arrests is the most American thing you could do. The pinnacle of First Amendment protected action.

[LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @LongTimeHistory]

Police arrest woman protesting ICE—for holding sign on public sidewalk.

Video clearly shows woman just peacefully standing quietly.

"I do not consent to be searched!" she yells as male officers take everything off her.

Her sign reads: "Nobody is free until we are all free."

Incident occurred outside the ICE processing facility in Broadview, Illinois.

TuCo Fuentes doesn't have an account on this platform—so posting first full length and credited video here to help raise awareness.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Filming and documenting ICE activities and arrests is the most American thing you could do. The pinnacle of First Amendment protected action.

[Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom]

Creepy ICE agent lies to a victim with a valid work permit and pending asylum case, telling her that an attorney is on the other side of a door and luring her through under false pretenses.

He then threatens a bystander with 18 U.S.C. § 111, a federal law requiring forcible conduct. Merely observing, recording, criticizing or calling ICE agents “fucking evil” is not enough.

https://t.co/du9bv2U4pY confirms: 46% of resolved immigration-related § 111 cases reviewed by The New York Times ended in dismissal or acquittal.

ICE agents are invoking this law against constitutionally protected conduct as an intimidation tactic. Victims may pursue civil claims. Agents who knowingly falsify reports or lie under oath could face criminal exposure.

PAXIS helps immigrants and allies prepare for ICE encounters lawfully and constitutionally, and deal with the aftermath. Help keep it free: https://t.co/Hi5Yo2N2N2

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Filming and documenting ICE activities and arrests is the most American thing you could do. The pinnacle of First Amendment protected action.

[Jesus Freakin Congress @TheJFreakinC]

🚨BREAKING: ICE agents showed up at a work site in Brownsville, Texas, claiming to be looking for two people… and ended up illegally handcuffing TWO U.S. CITIZENS, throwing one of them against a truck, threatening to arrest him again, and scanning everyone’s faces to determine their “status.”

In the video, ICE showed up looking for two people. They asked the foreman if he knew them. He said no.

Then, they asked if they could talk to the other workers about the people they were looking for.

The foreman said, “If they want to talk to you, they can.”

And then an ICE agent tried to scan the foreman’s face to run him through their system.

The foreman told him he was not allowed to just scan his face.

The foreman then walked over to one of his workers’ trucks, where ICE agents were surrounding the work vehicles at their work site.

He asked what was going on.

He repeatedly asked who they were looking for, and told them the people they claimed to be looking for were not there.

The agent responded, “Well, we want to make sure.”

The foreman told them, “Well, we aren’t them. You all need to leave.”

And then an ICE agent threatened to arrest him.

“You need to settle down or I have to put you in cuffs.”

Except this man was not threatening them. He was not attacking them. He was not even raising his voice.

He was standing there, asking questions and telling government agents to leave his workplace, after they had already expanded their investigation beyond the two people they claimed to be looking for.

So, the ICE agent threw him against a truck and handcuffed him.

A U.S. citizen.

And after they released him, he asked for the agents’ badge numbers.

And the agent responded by threatening to handcuff him AGAIN.

The government cannot simply show up, invade your workplace, surround your vehicles, demand access to people who are not the subjects of their investigation, scan your face, and then arrest you because you object to what they are doing.

The First Amendment protects your right to question government agents and verbally protest their actions.

The Fourth Amendment protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures.

And an arrest cannot simply be used as punishment because an officer does not like the fact that you are standing there, asking questions, or asserting your rights.

Then the foreman saw another person ICE had in handcuffs…

He told them they needed to let him go because he was not the person they were looking for.

The agents eventually released the person they had in handcuffs… after scanning his face and discovering that he was also a U.S. citizen.

The government is creating situations where people are expected to silently obey armed agents, who refuse to explain what they are doing… while they violate your constitutional rights… and then punishing anyone who dares to ask questions.

When the government tells you that your only options are blind obedience or punishment… you are not living in a free country.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

This headline says it all: "A nonprofit keeps 95% of clients out of jail and in court. San Francisco Courts want to kill it."

And not just kill it. Steal its entire budget (and then some) & hand it over to armed probation officers instead. Outrageous.
https://t.co/eaWVtdFAOq

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Filming and documenting ICE activities and arrests is the most American thing you could do. The pinnacle of First Amendment protected action.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Happy July 4th.

Out of the all the teams in the World Cup, the United States is the only country:

Without universal healthcare.
Without paid maternity leave
Without paid sick leave.
Without subsidized child care.

Let’s honor American independence by demanding better.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Filming and documenting ICE activities and arrests is the most American thing you could do. The pinnacle of First Amendment protected action.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Filming and documenting ICE activities and arrests is the most American thing you could do. The pinnacle of First Amendment protected action.

[LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @LongTimeHistory]

ICE shoots protester in stomach with "less than lethal" bullets—had to be rushed to hospital.

Agent leans out of moving car to shoot with one hand—while driving with other.

Injures protester in abdomen at point blank range.

Car was not blocked—attack was completely unprovoked.

Video clearly shows every other ICE vehicle exiting the driveway unobstructed.

Protesters were just holding signs on the public sidewalk.

Incident occurred outside the Broadview ICE Processing Center in Illinois.

Person filming doesn't have an account on this platform—so posting first full length and credited video here to help raise awareness.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Happy July 4th.

Out of the all the teams in the World Cup, the United States is the only country:

Without universal healthcare.
Without paid maternity leave
Without paid sick leave.
Without subsidized child care.

Let’s honor American independence by demanding better.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Public officials should be punished for lying to the public.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin claims Chinese women are traveling to the United States with "one week" left in their pregnancy to give birth

[Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @ReichlinMelnick]

We know this is not happening, because no airline in the world would permit it. And even if someone managed to hide a pregnancy that far along, CBP officials at airports already have the discretion to turn away a tourist in that situation; no new laws or policies needed.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Filming and documenting ICE activities and arrests is the most American thing you could do. The pinnacle of First Amendment protected action.

[Jesus Freakin Congress @TheJFreakinC]

🚨BREAKING: In Everett, MA, an ICE agent appears to drop their firearm, while multiple agents are on top of a man…then another agent falsely claims the man was grabbing the gun.

In the video, as the gun falls to the ground, and is tossed away from the pile of agents, another agent can be heard yelling, “He grabbed your gun. He grabbed your gun.”

Except… the video appears to show the exact opposite.

The firearm wasn’t in the man’s hands. It had already been thrown away from the struggle.

This is exactly why poorly trained agents are so dangerous.

The second someone yells, “He’s got the gun,” every officer on the scene has to make a split-second decision, based on that information.

If that information is wrong, you’ve just created a situation where someone could be shot because another agent panicked, or falsely identified what happened.

We’ve seen this before with Alex Pretti.

Federal agents carrying firearms should be trained well enough not to lose control of their weapon… and certainly not to falsely claim the person they’re arresting has it.

We’ve now seen multiple videos of agents dropping magazines, firearms, and handling their weapons in ways that raise serious safety concerns.

Every time DHS puts poorly trained agents on the street, with the unlimited power to detain people and carry loaded firearms, they are putting the public, bystanders, and even their own agents at risk.

And until there is real accountability for reckless conduct, and inadequate training, these dangerous incidents will keep happening.

The public shouldn’t have to wonder whether the biggest threat during an arrest is the person being detained… or the agent carrying the gun.

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

Reality check: it's still an uphill fight. The Mayor has been responsive only to *certain* San Franciscans.

June 12 budget hearing. Decision before July 1. Weeks. Not months. The ask: Please send a letter demanding San Francisco follow facts not fear. https://t.co/dySw7Isxkr

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

This headline says it all: "A nonprofit keeps 95% of clients out of jail and in court. San Francisco Courts want to kill it."

And not just kill it. Steal its entire budget (and then some) & hand it over to armed probation officers instead. Outrageous.
https://t.co/eaWVtdFAOq

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

San Francisco courts —backed by the Mayor— would rather armed probation officers supervise people who are presumed innocent than a 50-year community organization rooted in care, not cages.

More expensive. Worse outcomes. But easier for the system. Compare to current success:

[Scott Hechinger @ScottHech]

NEWS: This is how 'justice' works in the US: Expediency trumps fairness & freedom.

Right now San Francisco courts—backed by the Mayor—would rather armed probation officers supervise people presumed innocent, than a proven 50-year community org rooted in care, not cages.