Sign in

Carl Charles

@carlscharles.bsky.social
112 followers 53 following 7 posts

LGBTQ rights lawyer, dog-dad, pistachio ice cream expert.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Carl Charles
ProPublica @propublica.org · 20/01/2026
Who are the Venezuelan immigrants Trump sent to CECOT? Last July, we published a first-of-its-kind, case-by-case accounting of 238 Venezuelan men who were held in El Salvador. These are their stories.
projects.propublica.org
The Men Trump Deported to a Salvadoran Prison
On March 15, President Donald Trump’s administration sent more than 230 Venezuelan immigrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. Last week, the men were released as suddenly as they’d been t...
6646292
Reposted by Carl Charles
VT Commons @vtcommons.bsky.social · 18/01/2026
There is an area in the ICE detention center in Minneapolis designated specifically for American citizens. Contemplate that for a minute.
27990704170
Reposted by Carl Charles
Ranger Matt @tamranger.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Four attorneys told ABC News they have been denied access to their clients at the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, where they are being held, which they say would violate 5th & 6th Amendment rights to due process & the right to consult with counsel. abcnews.go.com/US/lawyers-a...
abcnews.go.com
Lawyers allege Dept. of Homeland Security is denying legal counsel to Minnesota detainees
Four attorneys told ABC News they have been denied access to their clients at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, where they are being held.
11587584189
Reposted by Carl Charles
ProPublica @propublica.org · 19/01/2026
ProPublica Managing Editor @gingerthompson.bsky.social set out to write a David-vs.-Goliath narrative about Albany, Georgia’s response to COVID-19. But she realized there were more enduring questions and challenges facing Albany. They were about race and power. Read more: propub.li/4pXz6Ig
Article excerpt: Albany is a majority Black city of some 67,000 people. However, while Black residents were dying in disproportionate numbers, the officials leading the response were white: the mayor, the chair of the county government and the senior executives at Phoebe. At every briefing, officials announced the number of people who were sick with COVID-19 and the number of who’d died.

Then, in early April 2020, for the first time, they announced a name, not a number. The one person who merited personal recognition was Judge Nancy Stephenson. She was white.
120940
Reposted by Carl Charles
Daniel Suitor @danielsuitor.com · 15/01/2026
At one point today, there were 283 Minnesota attorneys doing a training on how to file emergency habeas petitions to keep our neighbors from being shipped out of state and held indefinitely. That would be the second largest law firm in the state. And that training was just put together this week.
171158724146
Reposted by Carl Charles
ProPublica @propublica.org · 16/01/2026
Few patients appeal a health insurance denial, but a little-known process that requires insurers and plans to seek an independent opinion can force insurers to pay for what can be lifesaving treatment. Here’s what experts say you need to know.
propublica.org
This Little-Known Appeal Could Force Your Insurer to Pay for Lifesaving Care. Here’s How to File It.
When a health insurer refuses to pay for your treatment, you may have the right to have the denial reviewed — and potentially overturned — by an independent provider. Here are six steps experts sugges...
4817418
Reposted by Carl Charles
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 15/01/2026
In the eyes of Trump’s EPA, human health is now literally worthless [via @vox.com]
motherjones.com
In the eyes of Trump’s EPA, human health is now literally worthless
How the agency’s new math favors polluters over people.
13262122
Reposted by Carl Charles
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14/01/2026
Laura Jedeed on applying for a job with ICE: "I expected them to Google me, and they didn't ... they sent me a final job offer ... what's disturbing is we don't know who is wearing these masks with guns in our city. We don't know if they have domestic violence convictions."
33977943078
Reposted by Carl Charles
ProPublica @propublica.org · 15/01/2026
He had no legal training, no big-name lawyer or civil rights advocate by his side. Yet for 13 years, he refused to accept that the judicial system would hold no one responsible for the killing of his 16-year-old son. By @megomatz.bsky.social
propublica.org
A Father’s Quest for Justice Finds Resolution After 13 Years
Restrained by three white men for attempted shoplifting, a Black teen died from asphyxiation. His father refused to accept that no one would be held responsible. More than a decade later, his idea of ...
8458107
Reposted by Carl Charles
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 15/01/2026
I know this won’t get a lot of attention beyond “well it’s New Hampshire, what did you expect” but I want you all to know there are a lot of kids and families of color here and we all deserve better than this kind of garbage representation
granitepostnews.com
Leaked Signal chat shows NH House education chair advocating whites-only schools
The group chat allegedly shows NH House Education Committee Chair Kristin Noble suggesting test scores would rise if students were split into white and
3734831413
Reposted by Carl Charles
Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 14/01/2026
A big thing that was intensely evident while I was reporting this piece: In parts of Minneapolis, DHS/ICE is everywhere. And so, too, are the volunteers pushing back against them — standing on virtually every street corner.
MINNEAPOLIS (RNS) — As the Rev. Ashley Horan turned the corner onto a residential street, adjusting the heat in her small sedan to stave off cold air blustering in from the open windows, she pointed to a man strolling along the sidewalk. Dangling around his neck were a whistle and what appeared to be a small camera. He smiled warmly as she waved.

“This is a patroller,” Horan said. “There’s people all over the place.”

By way of example, Horan pointed out another observer on a different block, stopping to loan the person her whistle. Two more, young women, stood huddled together on the next. An older man in a yellow reflective vest stood on yet another corner, pacing back and forth as he took drags from a cigarette.All of them, she said, were keeping an eye out for any of the thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that have flooded into the Twin Cities as part of “Operation Metro Surge,” one of the Trump administration’s targeted immigration enforcement campaigns. As she paused at an intersection, RNS asked how often she encounters federal agents in Minneapolis’ Central neighborhood — the same neighborhood where Renee Good was killed by an ICE agent less than a week before.

Horan started to answer — “They’re here, all the time, everywhere,” she began — but was almost immediately interrupted: A cacophony of honking and whistle bleats erupted from down the street, the telltale sound of volunteers signaling the presence of ICE to the community.

As a column of cars passed directly in front of Horan, she looped around the block to meet the caravan, revving the car’s tiny engine.
10938288
Reposted by Carl Charles
Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
so much to cover right now, but a thread i just want to throw out there from my reporting is that the car rental market in minneapolis is reportedly totally screwed up right now because ICE has cleared the inventory. rental companies should have to answer for supplying vehicles used in terror.
9061721522
Reposted by Carl Charles
Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
theonion.com
Protesters Urged Not To Give Trump Administration Pretext For What It Already Doing
LOS ANGELES—Responding to escalating clashes between civilian activists and militarized immigration authorities, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass publicly urged protesters Monday not to give the Trump adm...
6260341477
Reposted by Carl Charles
Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 15/01/2026
“What’s that? I couldn’t hear you over the quiet of all the whistles.”
15513
Reposted by Carl Charles
floating in lotus position @gallantdimwit.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
800 people at Whittier International Elementary right now to coordinate ICE resistance. EIGHT HUNDRED, at one little school. Recall there are only 2,000 ICE agents in the entire metro. Puny!
364331814
Reposted by Carl Charles
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 15/01/2026
BREAKING: Mother Jones is suing the Bureau of Prisons for Ghislaine Maxwell’s records. Because someone needed to.
motherjones.com
Mother Jones sues the Bureau of Prisons for Ghislaine Maxwell records
Why was Jeffrey Epstein's procurer transferred to a cushy prison?
15599202734
Reposted by Carl Charles
Max Berger @maxberger.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
The DOJ is more than three weeks late in delivering the Epstein Files. In those three weeks: - Trump declared himself acting President of Venezuela - ICE murdered a woman in Minnesota - Trump is preparing an invasion of a NATO ally - Trump initiated a criminal investigation of Fed Chair Powell
24674712764
Reposted by Carl Charles
ProPublica @propublica.org · 12/01/2026
Officers who shatter car windows aren’t being disciplined — they’re being promoted. One officer who smashed a window in front of a local TV reporter got a senior ICE position overseeing operations on the East Coast. (Published July 2025)
projects.propublica.org
“We’ll Smash the Fucking Window Out and Drag Him Out”
We’ve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a “mini...
31926496
Reposted by Carl Charles
ProPublica @propublica.org · 12/01/2026
Russ Vought set out to ensure a second Trump term would not be hampered by checks and balances: “I don’t want President Trump having to lose a moment of time having fights in the Oval Office about whether something is legal or doable or moral.” (Published Oct. 2025 with @newyorker.com)
propublica.org
Russell Vought, Trump’s Shadow President
From the wholesale gutting of federal agencies to the ongoing government shutdown, Russell Vought has drawn the road map for Trump’s second term. Vought has consolidated power to an extent that inside...
66877428
Reposted by Carl Charles
alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 02/01/2026
THREAD. Every year, I tell the story of Ezell Gilbert. It's the story of one of the most remarkable cases in U.S. history, and you’ve probably never heard of it. The story of what the U.S. government did to him is vital for understanding the current moment we are in.
5467305
Reposted by Carl Charles
ProPublica @propublica.org · 03/01/2026
When today’s far-right pundits use concerns about natural resource scarcity to push the anti-immigrant “great replacement theory,” they’re using a playbook created decades earlier by environmentalist and white nationalist John Tanton. (Published Oct. 2024)
propublica.org
Far-Right Extremists Embrace Environmentalism to Justify Violent Anti-Immigrant Beliefs
Climate change and anti-immigrant hate are colliding, foretelling a volatile future.
12363131
Reposted by Carl Charles
James Ball @jamesrball.com · 03/01/2026
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts. Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
15375928520093
Reposted by Carl Charles
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 20/12/2025
They have a long history of falling for narcissists posing as Saviors.
motherjones.com
Why evangelicals couldn't care less about Trump's Epstein scandal
They have a long history of falling for narcissists posing as Saviors.
54498168
Reposted by Carl Charles
Kai Cheng Thom @razorfemme.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
I wrote about the exhaustion and dissonance of writing about TDOR for the past 15 years
xtramagazine.com
I’m sick of writing about dead trans people | Xtra Magazine
For 15 years, I hoped my words would change something. Now I’m grieving the world that could’ve been
6763254
Reposted by Carl Charles
Lambda Legal @lambdalegal.org · 17/10/2025
“As an LGBTQ+ person, watching, playing, and coaching sports has never been a one-dimensional endeavor for me...[it] was a means to survive until I could live freely & authentically as myself.” – @carlscharles.bsky.social, Lambda Legal Counsel
tinyurl.com
Trans People Need Sports and Sports Need Them
By Carl Charles, Lambda Legal Counsel As the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard, I felt the adrenaline and emotion overwhelm me as I looked over to the stands packed full of my classmates, friends, and family.  In 2002, I was the starting point guard for the 26-0 undefeated Colorado Springs Christian High School Girls...
1164
Reposted by Carl Charles
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 14/10/2025
we’ll see how his mayoral tenure shakes out but i am convinced that Mamdani has the juice. not just the charisma to win an election but the temperament to govern and the measured pragmatism of someone who genuinely believes what they’re saying and wants to accomplish real things.
nytimes.com
Inside the Improbable, Audacious and (So Far) Unstoppable Rise of Zohran Mamdani
327167332388
Reposted by Carl Charles
Max Colbert @mc00.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Really important NYT investigation finds that the ADF has been working with Reform, 'courting the party since at least 2024' and that the British arm 'orchestrated Mr Farage’s appearance in Congress, reaching out to ask if he would like to give evidence on censorship' www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...
nytimes.com
They Helped Topple Roe v. Wade. Now Their Sights Are Set on Britain.
10229127
Reposted by Carl Charles
ProPublica @propublica.org · 14/10/2025
Along with fast-tracking FEMA funds for the Naples pier, Noem flew to the Florida city on a government plane to tour the site, then stayed for the weekend and had dinner with the donor, according to emails and an interview with the Naples mayor. (Published September)
propublica.org
Kristi Noem Fast-Tracked Millions in Disaster Aid to Florida Tourist Attraction After Campaign Donor Intervened
The DHS chief has been widely criticized for slowing down FEMA’s response after natural disasters. Texts and emails obtained by ProPublica point to an effective way to get help faster: have one of Noe...
43644288
Reposted by Carl Charles
Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
For those who don’t intimately understand how news works and why Bari Weiss’s unearned elevation to head of CBS News matters, I’d recommend watching this in entirety. Also, will forever point out irony of how an admitted DEI hire thinks her hire was meritorious while Black people’s aren’t.
141590439
Reposted by Carl Charles
Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Border Patrol “attempted to arrest a plumber working inside a Logan Heights home but left empty-handed after the homeowner refused them entry. The homeowner told agents she would not allow them inside because the warrant they presented did not include her address and lacked a judge's signature.”
10news.com
Federal immigration operations target San Diego neighborhoods, sparking community resistance
Federal immigration agents conducted operations in Logan Heights and Southeast San Diego on Friday, with community members capturing footage of the enforcement actions.
244125353889
Reposted by Carl Charles
Jesspooka Kant 🎃 @jessdkant.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Please share this as widely as possible. ICE kidnapped a 7th grader in Everett, Massachusetts and sent him to Virginia. Help bring him home now!
4352405
Reposted by Carl Charles
Jake Wittich @jakewittich.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
The same ICE agent who handcuffed Ald. Jessie Fuentes has been filmed in at least 3 other violent encounters, including the viral arrest of a woman in Waukegan in front of the mayor. “He’s obviously a danger to individuals and particularly women," Fuentes said. Read more at @windycitytimes.com
windycitytimes.com
Ald. Jessie Fuentes to file lawsuit against ICE agent who handcuffed her in Humboldt Park incident - Windy City Times
Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th Ward) is preparing to file a lawsuit against the ICE agent who handcuffed and threatened to arrest her at Humboldt Park Health earlier this month. In an interview with Windy ...
7243601570
Reposted by Carl Charles
TransLash Media @translash.org · 14/10/2025
We honor the legacy of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a fierce protector of our collective freedom. Our hearts are with her loved ones and all who carry her vision forward. "We will honor Miss Major forever." - @imarajones.bsky.social
An illustration of Miss Major surrounded by candles with blue background and a famous quote of hers written in gold. The quote reads“I don’t need their permission to exist; I exist in spite of them. I want you to train and teach and love on and create families within my community and gender non-conforming people, so that we can understand that we have a culture, we have a history, we have a reason to be here. We have a purpose. We’re entitled to be loved, and seek happiness, and share that with the people that we care about.” -Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
31414637
Reposted by Carl Charles
George Pearkes @peark.es · 11/10/2025
They like what Trump is doing, this really isn't hard. It's not both-sideism, it's running cover for the regime by choice in order to reach a desired outcome. Can we please stop cutting this institution slack it does not deserve?
141163261
Reposted by Carl Charles
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 12/10/2025
Joseph Ladapo was a normie—until he met his wife and a guru into levitating and communicating with spirits. Our latest feature on Florida's surgeon general:
motherjones.com
From medicine to mysticism: the radicalization of Florida's top doc
Joseph Ladapo was a normie—until he met his wife and a guru into levitating and communicating with spirits.
811944
Reposted by Carl Charles
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 12/10/2025
really striking the degree to which not a single person working in the trump administration appears to be interested in serving the american people
227102201824
Reposted by Carl Charles
Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion. As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
391215036119
Reposted by Carl Charles
ProPublica @propublica.org · 11/10/2025
We’ve reported extensively on how the FDA allowed foreign drugmakers to send generic medications to the U.S. from factories with filthy labs and contaminated equipment. This month, we’re digging deeper and could use your help. THREAD/
362171869
Reposted by Carl Charles
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 12/10/2025
Despite Alligator Alcatraz’s shocking conditions and rampant “psychological warfare,” copycats are popping up around the country—everything from the “Cornhusker Clink” to the “Speedway Slammer”
bit.ly
Inside the hell of Alligator Alcatraz
Despite shocking conditions and rampant “psychological warfare,” copycats are popping up around the country.
16179104
Reposted by Carl Charles
Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
Sunday reading: I wrote about the aggrieved extremist who is currently firing thousands of federal workers and ravaging state capacity based on conspiratorial nonsense - and about mainstream media’s infuriating tendency to sanitize Russell Vought and the regime he serves. This week’s piece:
steady.page
We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly
Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy
8037151544
Reposted by Carl Charles
Jesspooka Kant 🎃 @jessdkant.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
Reading the circuit court opinion in Chiles v Salazar and just couldn’t get past this statement where she asserts that the skill required to facilitate her sessions is roughly on par with that of an undergrad who has taken an intro to psychology course.
word games, attempting to regulate speech by
speech by
improperly relabeling it as conduct" (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). She likewise
"contests the conflation of her speech with 'medical treatment." Opening Br. at 23 n.4. In her view, "[t]he conversations she has with clients are 'not medical at all' but are 'a client-directed conversation consisting entirely of speech." Opening Br. at 23 n.4 (quoting Otto v. City of Boca Raton, Fla., 981 F.3d 854, 866 n.3 (11th Cir. 2020)). Ms. Chiles compares the professional counseling services she provides to conversations a "sophomore psychology major" could have with a fellow student, which "[njo one" would44a
label as medical treatment or professional conduct." Opening Br. at 23 n.4. These arguments are wholly unpersuasive.
7565
Reposted by Carl Charles
ProPublica @propublica.org · 04/10/2025
In July, we documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a “minimum amount of force.” You can judge for yourself.
projects.propublica.org
“We’ll Smash the Fucking Window Out and Drag Him Out”
We’ve documented nearly 50 incidents of immigration officers shattering car windows to make arrests — a tactic experts say was rarely used before Trump took office. ICE claims its officers use a “mini...
441089518
Reposted by Carl Charles
Dara Lind @daralind.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
I’m so grateful to Priscilla Alvarez for running down what is actually going on here. www.cnn.com/2025/10/03/p...
cnn.com
Trump administration prepares to offer money to unaccompanied migrant teenagers to voluntarily leave US | CNN Politics
The Department of Homeland Security is preparing to offer unaccompanied migrant teenagers in the United States the option to voluntarily leave the country and receive a payment, according to three sou...
10399165
Reposted by Carl Charles
Monica Maalouf, MD @maaloufmd.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
My husband was detained by ICE today Juan Muñoz, an American citizen, father of 2, and local government official, was peacefully protesting w. other elected officials. He was assaulted and taken away I have had zero contact or updates since #SOS @duckworth.senate.gov @durbin.senate.gov
7602619913457
Reposted by Carl Charles
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 27/09/2025
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division sued six states—California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania—for failing to hand over their full, unredacted voter registration lists. The new legal actions signify a ramping up of the Trump administration’s voter-suppression agenda.
motherjones.com
The Justice Department is ramping up Trump’s election-rigging efforts
DOJ officials have sued six more states to demand sensitive voter data.
19267131
Reposted by Carl Charles
Jesspooka Kant 🎃 @jessdkant.bsky.social · 27/09/2025
A new complaint from ACLU and other human rights groups details how the warden at a Lousiana ICE facility created an unofficial “work program” of manual labor and sexual humiliation for trans men at the facility. This is very hard to read. rfkhumanrights.org/wp-content/u...
I. Factual Background
The facts presented below are drawn from the testimonies of four survivors: Mario, Monica, Kenia, and Jane Doe. These facts demonstrate systemic abuse at SLIPC.
Forced Labor Targeting Transgender and LGBTQ+ People
Assistant Warden Mr. Manuel Reyes ("AW Reyes") ran an unsanctioned 'night shift cleaning crew' between 8:00 pm and 6:00 am. This program was not reported in official records and targeted transgender and LGBTQ+ detained people. Mario, Monica, and Kenia were forced into hard manual labor without protective equipment. Tasks included stripping floors, painting, and exposure to industrial-strength chemicals, causing burns, respiratory distress, and lasting injuries.
Sexual Assault, Harassment and Exploitation
AW Reyes stalked, harassed, and assaulted detained people in camera 'blind spots.' Mario and Monica witnessed AW Reyes coercing sexual acts from others. Monica was groped and assaulted multiple times. AW Reyes also told him that he watched him shower on cameras. Kenia was harassed and threatened with retaliation when refusing to cooperate. Jane Doe was repeatedly stalked, groped, and coerced into performing oral sex under threat to her and her family.The survivors' individual stories are detailed below:
Monica (he/him); Transgender Man; Detained Since May 9, 2023
Monica has been detained by ICE continuously since on or about May 9, 2023. In late September 2023, AW Reyes approached Monica about joining a "cleaning crew" to work an "off the books night shift program," alongside another transgender man detained at SLIPC. That month, Monica began to perform hard manual labor at the instruction of AW Reyes. The "shifts" occurred late at night, between the hours of 8:00 pm and 6:00 am. Unlike the other work programs at SLIPC, these work shifts were not recorded in a formal log book or shift schedule. AW Reyes approached transgender people and masculine-presenting LGBTQ+ people to participate in this "program." Each person targeted by AW Reyes identified as transgender or LGBTQ+.
AW Reyes would enter the housing units and wake up Monica and the others and bring them to do hard manual labor in various locations inside SLIPC. The "shifts" were randomized and Monica and the others did not have a designated schedule. AW Reyes would compensate them for their labor at times by adding $1/day into their commissary accounts. Other times, he would bring a trash bag full of commissary items and give them to Monica and the others.
AW Reyes routinely entered the housing unit late at night, between two and three o'clock in the morning, while detained people were sleeping. He would walk around the unit while people were sleeping and take people's used underwear and sanitary pads from the housing unit. Monica witnessed him say to a detained woman walking to her bunk in her nightshirt, "Is that how your breasts bounce when you are fucking?"
AW Reyes required Monica and others to perform hard manual labor without any personal protective equipment, resulting in significant health risks and physical injuries. Despite repeated requests, Monica and others were denied access to gloves, face shields, and steel-toed boots. In response to these…
10366191
Reposted by Carl Charles
Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
BREAKING: Oklahoma Education Superintendent Ryan Walters says he is resigning. (Of course, he announced this on Fox News.) www.koco.com/article/ryan...
Ryan Walters to resign as
Oklahoma state superintendent for private sector job
State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Wednesday that he will resign from office and take a job in the private sector.
VEWS
Updated: 10:46 PM CDT Sep 24, 2025
1722829567