ICE tells legal observer, 'We have a database, now you're a domestic terrorist'

https://reason.com/2026/01/23/ice-tells-legal-observer-we-have-a-nice-little-database-and-now-youre-considered-a-domestic-terrorist/

Comments

0xbadcafebeeJan 26, 2026, 2:39 AM
We know what's next after this: they start using intel to blackmail activists into silence. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO) Worked for the SS, worked for the KGB, worked for the FBI, it'll work for ICE.
SpicyLemonZestJan 26, 2026, 3:04 AM
Blackmail them with what? It's the ICE agents who are wearing masks, because they know their life will be ruined once people discover who they are and what they've been up to.
macintuxJan 26, 2026, 3:08 AM
Dig into their past, find indiscretions they can lean on. When you can't win the argument, discredit the messenger.
halfcatJan 26, 2026, 3:21 AM
Even if a person has no indiscretions, everyone has a weak point. A significant other, child, friend, job, boss, bank, etc.
bulbarJan 26, 2026, 6:31 AM
It's even easier today, as it doesn't even need to be true. Most people don't care about the aftermath, just about the headline.
dylan604Jan 26, 2026, 3:25 AM
Everyone is guilty, we just haven't proven it yet.
pavel_lishinJan 26, 2026, 3:07 AM
> Blackmail them with what?

With murder or deportation or harassment.

SpicyLemonZestJan 26, 2026, 3:09 AM
Sure, but then why do they have to wait? ICE agents who want to threaten legal observers can just do it to their faces - as we've seen, even if they murder legal observers the Trump regime will have their back. I think most don't want to do that, whether out of cowardice or an understanding of what's coming once their leaders are brought to justice.
bulbarJan 26, 2026, 6:35 AM
They are continuously moving the goalpost. They don't know themselves what they are gonna get away with for the time being. But they will iterate themselves to whatever is the line - or don't stop if there isn't any.
vpribishJan 26, 2026, 3:09 AM
so extortion, not blackmail
tosappleJan 26, 2026, 3:20 AM
Just wait until they switch us to the deutchemark.

Bitcoin doesn't work properly without power or network access extending over days though.

segmondyJan 26, 2026, 3:11 AM
Folks in tech built that for them knowing the purpose.
dylan604Jan 26, 2026, 3:24 AM
And those people have no qualms about doing so. We all know this. It's not like it was built in a skunk works type of back room of some unnamed branch of the gov't agencies. The conversations about the use of these tools have been ongoing for a long time.

Your comment reads as if you're trying to imply some sort of shame on those that built it. I'm guessing that instead of shame, pride is being felt on their part in the play.

afavourJan 26, 2026, 2:37 AM
We’ve seen it documented before that they do indeed have a facial recognition database. Good news is it doesn’t seem all that reliable so who knows who is being labelled.
jerrythegerbilJan 26, 2026, 2:42 AM
https://huggingface.co/papers/2508.18265
crummyJan 26, 2026, 3:07 AM
The right complains that "fascist" gets thrown around on by the left so much the terms loses meaning, but soon you'll be able to say the same about "domestic terrorist".
OutOfHereJan 26, 2026, 3:22 AM
Link saved for posterity:

https://reason.com/2026/01/23/ice-tells-legal-observer-we-ha...

akomtuJan 26, 2026, 3:06 AM
Colonialism is finally coming back home?
tkelJan 26, 2026, 3:04 AM
Who is a "terrorist" in the eyes of the US gov't has always been their political enemies, never themselves or their allies.

At this point, it's simply an empty accusation that has been so ingrained into the American psychy over generations, that it can cheaply be used to justify incredible violence against enemies of the state. Even justify invading entire countries even on faked evidence, remember the "war on terror", "weapons of mass destruction", calling Maduro a "narcoterrorist"? It's a term of propaganda, same as it ever was. Only difference now is it's more obvious as this administration doesn't seem to care if the mask is slipping.

bulbarJan 26, 2026, 6:37 AM
Calling foreign governments or own citizen 'terrorist' has always been two very different stories.