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Drew Harwell

@drewharwell.com
255K followers 4.1K following 3.9K posts

tech & society @washingtonpost.com stories: drewharwell.com videos: tiktok.com/@drewharwell + instagram.com/drewharwell

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Drew Harwell
Alex DiBranco @alexdibranco.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Why would some women support misogynist movements? I discussed for this article how such women see themselves as different from the women these ideologies demonize. “It gives them status and elevates them over the oppression they would otherwise face.” But this is an imagined distinction.
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.com · 29/09/2026
Trump’s new AI website is kinda fun, it turns out.
Can the president use taxpayer funds to air his old campaign ads on TV?

No. Federal appropriations law has long barred using taxpayer funds for political advertising.
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Donie O’Sullivan @donie.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“It’s crazy,” Fuentes, 28, said during one of his near-nightly shows. “I have done nothing my whole life and career but attack women and have negative attitudes toward women, and it’s women that are really backing me up.” Read this from @drewharwell.com wapo.st/4hhXF1t
wapo.st
She helped lead a far-right internet movement. Then it turned on her.
Amy Dangerfield worked to become one of Nick Fuentes’s model “groypettes,” but a vicious fight left her grappling with the dark side of far-right fame.
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Kylie Cheung @kylietcheung.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I think its important to understand the campus sexual assault crisis is way worse than you think. universities suspend just 1/12,400 students each year for sexual misconduct & expel 1/22,900. once you read title ix administrators in their own words, you get a sense why that is:
jezebel.com
Not Only Do Campus Sexual Assailants Go Unpunished, They Often Get Special Treatment
Since 2007, Jezebel has been the Internet's most treasured source for everything celebrities, sex, and politics...with teeth.
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The idea that people want AI oversight to happen "all of a sudden" ignores years of research, warnings, and policy efforts. The delay hasn’t been a lack of awareness; it’s been because of years of industry lobbying against regulation, political resistance, and inaction.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 27/09/2026
Thank you, Andi!!
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 27/09/2026
My specialty
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 27/09/2026
Thank you!
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 27/09/2026
Damn, thank you so much, Sarah. That means a lot coming from you.
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
“She’d been told grim things about Jews when she was a kid, by her Hungarian grandfather, but never like this, from someone her age.” Family “wisdom” like this is one of the key ways fascistic ideas transfer from generation to generation like a rhizome. Fuentes’s message fell on fertile ground.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 27/09/2026
Genius plan with no risks whatsoever.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 27/09/2026
Thank you!
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 27/09/2026
Amazing book.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 27/09/2026
New: She was a foot soldier for Nick Fuentes. Then his movement turned on her. Inspired by tradwives, Amy Dangerfield worked to become one of his model “groypettes.” A vicious fight left her grappling with the dark side of far-right fame. wapo.st/4da9OTD
wapo.st
She helped lead a far-right internet movement. Then it turned on her.
Amy Dangerfield worked to become one of Nick Fuentes’s model “groypettes,” but a vicious fight left her grappling with the dark side of far-right fame.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 25/09/2026
Horror movie idea: An endless line of Trump sources calling and screaming at you "MARK HALPERIN"
My Trump sources say the president's worst nightmare imaginable has arrived... panicked texts and emails from GOP insiders are blowing up my phone. They're all saying the same thing: MARK HALPERIN
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 24/09/2026
HA HA! BUSINESS
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 24/09/2026
Don Jr.-backed drone-parts manufacturer congratulates Eric Trump-backed drone manufacturer on winning a DoD contract.
Unusual Machines
@UnusualMachines
18h
More momentum for XTEND. 🚀

Congrats to the team on another important U.S. defense milestone. Proud to be an investor and supplier. 🦅

$UMAC $XTND #Drones #DefenseTech
Unusual Machines Inc
UMAC
$23.24
+2.42%
@XTEND_XR
XTEND
@XTEND_XR
Sep 23
XTEND has been awarded Phase III of the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Modular Kinetic Lethal Drone (MKLD) program.

The award follows XTEND’s recent Gauntlet II top-performer selection under the Drone Dominance Program.

Read more: xtend.me/xtend-secures-…
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 24/09/2026
👑👑Check is in the mail
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 24/09/2026
I understand completely. Another great decision honestly
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 24/09/2026
If you subscribe I get an extra Amazon Basics dog biscuit for dessert
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 24/09/2026
I dare you!!
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 24/09/2026
Our Flock reporting just got five cops arrested. The Indianapolis officers were just criminally charged for spying on women. @aaronschaffer.com, @douglasmac.bsky.social and I found suspicious searches and got their agency to investigate. How many bad cops are still getting away? wapo.st/4xDOH3d
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Jeffrey Vagle @jvagle.me · 23/09/2026
More accurately, OpenAI developers and management built an automated system with unfettered access, unmonitored agents, prompting an LLM with zero safeguards and trained to be persistent until it drops, suggesting an increasing number of crazy activities, and running it for days without monitoring.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 24/09/2026
Five Indianapolis officers were just charged following The Post’s reporting on Flock misuse. Our count of police officers & employees accused of abusing license-plate readers is now at 100 (and counting) Free to read: wapo.st/4xDOH3d
wapo.st
Five Indianapolis officers charged following The Post’s reporting on Flock misuse
The officers are among at least 100 police department employees accused of abusing their access to the camera system, prompting calls for greater oversight.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 23/09/2026
Starting to suspect the White House's ban of media outlets it doesn't like isn't actually about professional standards around anonymous quotes
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 23/09/2026
Yes - 100% the same risk with Axon, Motorola and all others, none of whom publish audit logs at all.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 23/09/2026
One of the cops, an 18-year veteran, ran Flock searches on women he met out in public, then showed up whereever they were to try to do meet-cutes: their gym, a Walmart, a Smoothie King. Said to one woman that "he spilt yogurt on his pants and told her, 'You know what that looks like.'"
As Schultz was leaving, he asked another female employee what her and M.W.’s names were.
M.W. said that after Schultz left, she began receiving text messages from a phone number she
did not recognize. Schultz thanked her for letting him sit in the parking lot. M.W. said he texted
a few more times after that. She did not respond.
After a few months Schultz started going to her gym in Indianapolis, but she did not immediately
recognize him. She said when she was at a school function with her daughter in Greenwood and
Schultz stopped her and re-introduced himself.
She told him it was creepy how he got her number and she said he tried to avoid that
conversation. He said that he had to find her number because he spilt yogurt on his pants and told
her “You know what that looks like”. She said Schultz made her uncomfortable with his actions
and some of the comments that he made.

The next time she was at the gym he came up to her and engaged in conversation. M.W. said
Schultz seemed to be at the gym at same time that she is there. Based on membership scans at the
gym, M.W. and Schultz arrived at the gym within one hour of the other on June 12, 2026; June
15, 2026; June 23, 2026; June 26, 2026; July 9, 2026; July 15, 2026; July 21, 2026; July 25,
2026; and August 1, 2026.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 23/09/2026
Five cops in Indianapolis were just criminally charged with abusing Flock to spy on their ex-wives, their wives' ex-partners and women they met on duty. Audit was triggered by us at the @washingtonpost.com, the prosecutor said. From last month: wapo.st/4yfNHng
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Eileen Guo @eileenguo.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
New investigation from @jamesmodonnell.bsky.social & me into the border #SurveillanceTech by #Anduril, General Dynamics, and Israeli co. Elbit Systems that failed to catch 1 in 4 deaths within range. In other words: 1,050+ people dying on camera. www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/21/1... 1/x
technologyreview.com
The US spent billions on border surveillance. Why can’t it catch people before they die?
Surveillance towers, increasingly powered by AI, promised faster responses to crossings. Our investigation of deaths near the towers found they are failing to deliver.
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Jesse Eisinger @jeisinger.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
NEW: Remember Don Jr’s wedding ceremony? In the Bahamas… Fireworks, dancers… “Just really close friends,” Don Jr. said. Well, guess who paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars of it? A Russian oligarch who is close to Putin. www.propublica.org/article/dona...
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 11/09/2026
"People assume because he’s very rich that he’s not crazy. But the terrifying thing might be that he’s crazy and he’s very rich and powerful." www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
hollywoodreporter.com
Elon Musk Unmasked in Alex Gibney Documentary: “Insane a Person This Chaotic Has So Much Power”
He is the richest man on earth. An explosive new film from the Oscar-winning director suggests he also may be among the most dangerous.
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Chris Ingraham @cingraham.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
After a Flock camera mistook a livestock trailer for a white sedan, cops detained (at gunpoint) an innocent county extension agent picking up piglets for a 4H show www.farmprogress.com/technology/e...
farmprogress.com
Extension agent caught in middle of license plate camera mix-up
Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers in rural areas are meant to keep us safe, but errors can put innocent people at risk.
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Alex Horton @alexhorton.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Pretty much every 4-star who provided forces for the Iran war voiced growing concerns to Hegseth of risk to their missions, including homeland defense, if the U.S. stays the course. Details from a classified assessment www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
washingtonpost.com
Military leaders warn Hegseth against extending Iran war operations
A recent classified assessment advised that prolonged large-scale operations in the Middle East risk weakening U.S. capabilities elsewhere.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 28/08/2026
Like everything Deena writes, this is fascinating!!
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Schuyler Mitchell @schuylermitchell.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
NEW: Police are spending hundreds of thousands of opioid settlement dollars on Flock cameras and other AI-powered license plate readers. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Police are spending opioid settlement funds on Flock cameras
Historic opioid settlements were supposed to be a lifeline for underserved communities. But much of that money is flowing to law enforcement.
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Dave Jorgenson @davejorgenson.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
This is consistent with my neighborhood FB page in KC. HUGE fans of Flock as recently as June.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 28/08/2026
The online talk about Flock has completely exploded from both parties: Rep. Clyde (R-Ga.): “Flock cameras belong in Communist China" @angieforfl.bsky.social: “I don’t want to defund the police, I want to defund Flock cameras so that bad cops don’t have the ability to stalk their ex-girlfriends"
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 28/08/2026
* YouGov survey finds huge bipartisan support for requiring police to get a warrant before searching license-plate data. * More than 40% said they were concerned about government surveillance and police misconduct, ranking them as more serious problems than illegal immigration.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 28/08/2026
New: Americans' feelings toward Flock & license-plate readers have completely flipped since last year. More Americans now oppose police use than support it, saying the cameras don't make them feel safer and that they don't want any near their homes. Gift link: wapo.st/4gwxmTq
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 27/08/2026
Oh hell yeah
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 24/08/2026
"I just can’t imagine having that much wealth and power and using it to kick people when they are down" www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2... @lizzalichka.bsky.social
washingtonpost.com
How one billionaire’s crusade against homelessness became Trump’s playbook
Long before Silicon Valley embraced Trump, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale wanted to remake the government. Through the Cicero Institute, he has shifted the nation's approach to homelessness. Now, hi...
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 23/08/2026
"He followed his sources into this world of conspiracy theories and nihilism" www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... @scottnover.bsky.social
washingtonpost.com
How a dogged D.C. journalist became Trump’s investigative reporter in the White House
Once a reporter for the Associated Press and The Washington Post, Solomon veered rightward in his coverage. His prize: a job in Donald Trump’s White House.
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Reposted by Drew Harwell
Jake Laperruque @jakelaperruque.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
From the Free Press to the Manhattan Institute to Richard Hanania, there is a concerted campaign underway to brand Flock as a public safety savior But the reality is there's no evidence ALPRs actually have a meaningful impact on crime, and a wide range of dangers from this surveillance tech
techpolicy.press
Unless Flock is Reined In, Mass Video Surveillance Will Grow Even More Pervasive
Automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems are facing a moment of public reckoning in the US, writes Jake Laperruque.
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 19/08/2026
A sheriff's office in Louisiana just fired a Flock-misusing deputy known as DJ Bulletproof (the media outlet was us, btw) www.wdsu.com/article/loui...
JEFFERSON PARISH, La. —
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office has terminated an employee accused of improperly using Flock cameras for personal use.

According to JPSO, on Aug. 17, a member of the media contacted JPSO about the allegations of improper use.

Advertisement
Sheriff Joseph P. Lopinto directed an internal investigation and found that the employee used a Flock camera to search a single license plate several thousand times over the course of several years.

Sources confirmed to WDSU that the former employee's name is Nathan Rome, who is also a popular deejay known as "DJ Bulletproof."
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 19/08/2026
We unmasked the cops who misused Flock to spy on their spouses. Their police departments weren't checking their searches, so we did it for them. One just got arrested. Here's how we did it. Gift link: wapo.st/4xSDfS4 witth all stars @douglasmac.bsky.social @aaronschaffer.com
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Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
NEW: Flock has said for years its cameras don’t identify or track people. We obtained the code for its police AI and rebuilt parts of it. The tool can find witnesses, surface associates, search people by race or physical description, and flag vehicles by how they move. W/ @dell.bsky.social
wired.com
Flock Has a Powerful New AI Tool for Police. We Got Its Code
Flock’s surveillance cameras have already sparked outrage. WIRED reconstructed its next-generation AI system, already in use by some police, to confirm it goes much further than tracking license plate...
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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 19/08/2026
New: We found cops who misused Flock to spy on their wives. Their bosses at the police department had no idea. Three are being investigated and one was arrested after we asked about their searches. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2... @douglasmac.bsky.social @aaronschaffer.com
washingtonpost.com
We found cops who misused Flock. Their police departments didn’t know.
Police departments have powerful tools to track how officers use Flock’s license-plate cameras. But across the country, agencies often don’t perform oversight, leaving potential abuse to be uncovered ...
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Alex DeLuca @alexldeluca21.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Someone melted (!) and cut down two Flock cameras in Fort Lauderdale last month, police say. www.miaminewtimes.com/news/melted-...
miaminewtimes.com
'Melted and slashed': Someone took out two Fort Lauderdale Flock cameras
Police say one pole had been cut from the ground, possibly with a knife
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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
This whole thing is really disturbing. I don’t know of any previous case in which the government subpoenaed a reporter for asking a question, let alone a question that not even the government has suggested implicated classified information. 1/
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