Sign in

Jake Withee

@witheelabs.bsky.social
175 followers 241 following 41 posts

Former bee biologist. Former-er plant geneticist. Intermittent videographer. Occasional musician. All-the-time dorky science educator, plus spooky podcaster at superduperstitious.com I also write the YouTube show Bizarre Beasts!

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Jake Withee
Anne Kosseff-Jones @annekosseffjones.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I’m grateful for this research and also it feels profoundly dark to think about how the acute occupation of Metro Surge poisoned the actual earth of this already-occupied Dakota land.
startribune.com
What did a winter of tear gas leave in Minneapolis soil? U of M researchers are trying to find out.
The study aims to determine whether chemical munitions used by federal agents left contaminants in neighborhood gardens and soil.
0144
Reposted by Jake Withee
Darcy Shapiro @darcyshapiro.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Museum folks! What are the most common questions you get asked about exhibits/objects? #museumsky #scicomm
7108
Jake Withee @witheelabs.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Wanna learn about a salamander species that lives its whole life in treetops? Good, because that's what I got. Check out my latest for Bizarre Beasts! I research and write all of these and I'm real proud of how they turn out and of the whole team who makes it happen!!!
youtu.be
The Skydiving Salamander of The Redwood Forest
YouTube video by Bizarre Beasts
084
Reposted by Jake Withee
Stan Oklobdzija @stano.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
California is debating legislation right now that would ban all ICE employees from ever being hired by a public agency for life. This is good and next year's Democratic House needs to provide a full roster of ICE employees to help facilitate state efforts like this one.
343816874
Reposted by Jake Withee
Andrea LaFlamme @andrealaflamme.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
I’m ready to answer the call.
Andrea LaFlamme for US Senate 2026

As a victim of sexual assault, myself, I'm still processing the news that came out yesterday about Graham Platner. I have a lot of feelings about the public reaction to it, but I want to focus my energy on the path forward and the needs of Maine.

Mainers showed up in a huge way in the primary. That's really exciting and it's necessary if we're going to beat Susan Collins. Maine voters made their voices heard. They made it clear that they want a candidate who isn't a part of the political realm--someone who supports Medicare for All, workers' rights, and reproductive rights, a person that fights with our communities against ICE, and, most importantly, someone who isn't afraid to speak truth to power. All of those things bring me so much hope. I'm proud of Maine for stepping up and I'm hopeful that we can use that energy to make some incredible policy changes, bring relief to struggling Mainers and beat Susan Collins in November.

If you've been following along on social media, you've seen that even after the primary, l've continued to show up for Maine in any way I can. As a young voice, a union leader, public health professor, and lifelong feminist, I've championed all of the things that Maine has said that they want in a candidate. I want to thank you all for your incredible messages of support since the primary.

I'm still here and I still believe that I'm the best person to take on Susan Collins.

We're going to see things start to move really quickly over the next week. We don't know what the future of the Senate race looks like, but one thing I can say with certainty is, whether l'm in an elected position or not, I'm always going to be here-standing up for Mainers and leading us forward.

Together, we lead.
371762563
Jake Withee @witheelabs.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
I wrote about some cute li'l snakes, and I can assure you that they are both cute and li'l. Oh and they're also exclusively female, clones, and slowly taking over the world!
youtu.be
These Snake Clones Are Everywhere (And It’s Our Fault)
YouTube video by Bizarre Beasts
000
Reposted by Jake Withee
Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 23/03/2026
Having failed to secure the Snickers or M&Ms that were my original objectives, sources tell the Washington Post I will now be refocusing all energy on extracating my hand from where it is stuck inside the vending machine and restoring said machine to the working order it was in prior to my arrival.
16567169
Reposted by Jake Withee
D.A. Bullock @bullycreative.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
The elected officials who rep a majority of the city have to beg Jacob Frey to not veto an extension in eviction notices. @Jacob_Frey who rode the wave of our collective suffering on his national PR tour, the most vulnerable in our city have to beg Jacob Frey to not impede help.
09846
Reposted by Jake Withee
Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 25/02/2026
It’s not just Medicaid funding they’re withholding to MN. It’s food assistance, child care assistance, social services, job training, safety testing, public health, disaster relief. SNAP. Free lunch for kids in school. They hate us for loving our neighbors, and are collectively punishing us for it.
23183554090
Reposted by Jake Withee
ProPublica @propublica.org · 26/02/2026
NEW: Guards have taken away crayons, colored pencils & paper during recent room searches at Dilley, according to detainees and others. After one inspection, the children just “cried and cried and cried,” a mother said. The facility denies the claims. By @mckenziefunk.com @micarosenberg.bsky.social
propublica.org
Seized Art, Eavesdropping Guards: Parents Describe a Clampdown at Dilley Detention Center as Kids Shared Their Stories
Detainees told ProPublica that art supplies have been removed in room searches, immigrants have lost access to Gmail and staff hover within earshot during video calls.
31958013531
Reposted by Jake Withee
Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Pardoning drug lords but deporting sick little kids straight from the hospital really sums the whole thing up doesn’t it
122160714
Reposted by Jake Withee
Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
6474121213896
Reposted by Jake Withee
Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
He literally says in this clip that ICE will keep in Minnesota “quick reaction forces” — a military term — to go after “agitators.” Remember that those on the ground in MPLS have spent more than a week trying to tell everyone that Trump’s prior “deescalation” was a ruse and ICE is still operational
10145021842
Reposted by Jake Withee
Jason Chavez @jchavezmpls.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
They *
0154
Reposted by Jake Withee
Christina Holland @mortalwombat.info · 11/02/2026
It's not only that they're not going after "the worst of the worst" in any way, but their whole approach of going after whoever is easiest, to get their numbers up, means they are punishing the best of the best, the people who are putting in the most effort to follow the rules and do what's right
08920
Reposted by Jake Withee
Matt Privratsky @mattprivratsky.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Anyone in Minnesota will tell you that this matches the eye test. They are simply grabbing anyone who's not white. Full stop. There is no other strategy to this at all. It's a racist, heinous federal occupation. Dismantle the agencies. Prosecute everyone involved. Redistribute all the funding.
3270130
Reposted by Jake Withee
Chad Loder @chadloder.dev · 06/02/2026
Swear to god, ICE could just announce they're leaving a city but not leave and the media will just stop covering that city completely even though ICE never left. It's what ICE and the media did with LA and they're doing it with Minneapolis too
380201795838
Reposted by Jake Withee
Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
I can’t overstate that nearly every good headline coming out of Minnesota has been followed up by retaliation by the Trump administration—which tends to get a lot less attention. This is infuriating and devastating.
11627234
Reposted by Jake Withee
David Brauer @dbrauer.net · 02/02/2026
This is how Tom Homan reacts to losing a court case to free a medically fragile 5-year-old who was used as bait to lure his dad so they could be imprisoned in a measles factory. Fuck any de-escalation stories that come out.
1831321065
Reposted by Jake Withee
Null convention @nullconvention.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
People are getting on board with dissolving ice but we really need to drive home that ice is just a police dept that cares less if you see them be awful. The police do all this and get away with it because they've done it to black people and white america has long held the belief that it's just.
38428
Reposted by Jake Withee
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 30/01/2026
A compromise with fascism is still fascism
519545
Reposted by Jake Withee
Federal Bureau Of Controlling The Run @swolecialism.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Pro tip for any Hill journos, the Speaker can approve 24hr protection for Members who are under heightened threat. Omar used to have this, but Mike Johnson took it away. You should ask him about that
450181407
Reposted by Jake Withee
Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
I continue to believe that the fastest way to get Stephen Miller fired is to convince Trump that Miller's ICE operations are what cost him the Nobel Peace Prize.
403134302499
Reposted by Jake Withee
maureen @maureenf.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
A lot more people should know about the bravery Marimar Martinez displayed in the midst of Chicago’s occupation and the murder of two observers in MSP. They tried to kill her, shooting her 5 times, and it’s a miracle she’s alive to push for transparency like this after being persecuted by the DOJ.
1038811735
Reposted by Jake Withee
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 26/01/2026
The disparities in these numbers are fucking terrible. A quantification of how much more valuable a white and then American life is than an immigrant POC. Links to fundraisers in thread. bsky.app/profile/last...
5521336
Reposted by Jake Withee
mediumvillain @mediumvillain.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
just gonna throw out a quick reminder that in America police kill a yearly average of 3 civilians per day, routinely in situations very similar to these ICE killings, and decades of explicit support for police impunity by US politicians is why ICE feels theyre able to get away with this right now
2336781515
Reposted by Jake Withee
Matthew Guariglia @mguariglia.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
I've been studying the history of US, and indeed, global policing my whole career and I can't make it more clear to law makers that this isn't a bastardization of policing, it is its purest form and logical conclusion. The impunity, militarization, deference, legitimacy, racial targeting, etc.
152617809
Reposted by Jake Withee
mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
If this is what they do when they're out on the street with people pointing cameras at them, what do you think is happening inside the ICE prison camps that they keep denying Members of Congress access to?
5039091031
Reposted by Jake Withee
🌈miski🌦️ @miski.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
if youre somehow still following this account please stop
151150527
Reposted by Jake Withee
stacyseven.bsky.social @stacyseven.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Nekima Armstrong's gofundme for her legal defense only got $2646 so far, so please spread the word: www.gofundme.com/f/support-ne...
gofundme.com
Donate to Support Nekima Levy Armstrong’s Legal Defense, organized by Daja Williams
For years, Nekima has been at the forefront of the movement for racial jus… Daja Williams needs your support for Support Nekima Levy Armstrong’s Legal Defense
4374485
Reposted by Jake Withee
Lydia Polgreen @polgreen.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
One thing that irks me: people keep calling the folks on the streets in Minneapolis protestors. They are not generally there to protest, they are there to observe and document. This is the product of organizing and mutual aid. It is telling that these acts of citizenship are seen as protest!
103104262825
Reposted by Jake Withee
Roxane Gay @roxanegay.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
I don’t want to hear anything from an elected official unless it’s a plan to defund the DHS and impeach Noem, Bovino, etc. No texts. No emails. No talk about the economy. Step up or step off.
287238906169
Reposted by Jake Withee
molly conger @socialistdogmom.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
they're executing moms and nurses in the street. they're using preschoolers as bait. they're stealing people's dads and grandmas and children. they're tear gassing babies. they're staking out schools. there is no remedy but abolition. any proposal that doesn't start there is an act of violence.
241274029835
Reposted by Jake Withee
Stella Sacco @antlervel.vet · 24/01/2026
People are being executed in the street over a problem that straight up does not exist and both parties are complicit in the lie
5298262532
Reposted by Jake Withee
Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Why are they sending witnesses to Whipple? WHY ARE THEY SENDING WITNESSES TO WHIPPLE?
8144671429
Reposted by Jake Withee
Jason Chavez @jchavezmpls.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Help bring 2-Year-Old Chloe & Her Father Home. They were kidnapped today in South Minneapolis. With the permission of the mother, we are reaching out to raise funds for lawyer fee’s, food, bond requests, rent, livability, & resources to keep this family together. gofund.me/6295b51b3
gofund.me
Donate to Help bring 2-Year-Old Chloe and Her Father Home, organized by Jason Chavez-Cruz
On January 22, 2026, Chloe Renata Tipan Villacis who is 2 years of a… Jason Chavez-Cruz needs your support for Help bring 2-Year-Old Chloe and Her Father Home
9516444
Reposted by Jake Withee
Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Nekima Levy Armstrong is a hero—not a goddamn criminal.
551940435
Reposted by Jake Withee
Jason Chavez @jchavezmpls.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Please help us bring Liam Adrian Cornejo Ramos (he’s only 5 years of age and is currently in pre-K. Yesterday, he and his father were kidnapped by ICE. This will help the family with legal services to help reunite Liam and his dad with their family. gofund.me/be8a1b2ab
gofund.me
Donate to Help Bring 5-Year-Old Liam Home, organized by sarai Orquiz
Liam Adrian Cornejo Ramos is just 5 years old and currently in pre-K. Yesterday, he and h… sarai Orquiz needs your support for Help Bring 5-Year-Old Liam Home
7444193100
Reposted by Jake Withee
Mezentine @mezentine.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
I’m going to keep hammering this point: the excesses of ICE we see now are entirely contiguous with our system of policing more broadly, and the reason that almost no politician wants to threaten real consequences for ICE agents is because it opens the door to making the same demands of the cops
141567555
Reposted by Jake Withee
j garcia @jasoncomix.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
As a Minneapolis local I am begging you NOT to donate to the Star Tribune. They are a mouthpiece for police, corporations, and conservatives who repeat those voices unquestioningly.
9592219
Reposted by Jake Withee
Keith Harris @usefulnoise.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Another thing you should know about the Twin Cities, if you're not here, is that while the mayor and governor tell us to stay calm on TV, our council members and other local electeds are on the street patrolling and protecting neighbors, doing mutual aid, and otherwise serving the community.
213358749
Reposted by Jake Withee
David Burbach 🇺🇸 @dburbach.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Non-protesting dad just trying to hustle his kids, as young as 6mo, out of the neighborhood. ICE threw a flash-bang INTO HIS car, all 6 kids in the hospital now. If anyone wondered how things turn against occupying armies there's a case study playing out in front of you.
297176878281
Reposted by Jake Withee
Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
ive seen more articles this week about how the phrase “abolish ice” could hurt dems in the midterms than ive seen articles about how paramilitary death squads terrorizing cities will hurt republicans in the midterms
11893702617
Reposted by Jake Withee
Paul "Princejvstin" Weimer @princejvstin.com · 14/01/2026
Oglala Sioux Tribe demands the release of Lakota men detained by ICE www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
mprnews.org
Oglala Sioux Tribe demands the release of Lakota men detained by ICE
The Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota has demanded the Department of Homeland Security release tribally enrolled citizens held by ICE, according to a statement released by the tribe.
7756285
Reposted by Jake Withee
Robin Pens Nonsense #UseAltText 🇨🇦🏳️‍🌈🇬🇱🇵🇸🇺🇦 @robinpensnonsense.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
“The Oglala Sioux Tribe's memorandum makes clear that ‘tribal citizens are not aliens’ and are ‘categorically outside immigration jurisdiction,’” Star Comes Out said. “Enrolled tribal members are citizens of the United States by statute and citizens of the Oglala Sioux Nation by treaty” #AbolishICE
02214
Reposted by Jake Withee
Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
I’m seeing lots of people on here misunderstand the purpose of ICE watch. It’s de-escalation. And it’s grounded in the social science of violence. 🧵
3336651424
Reposted by Jake Withee
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 13/01/2026
There are lots of reasons to compare what is happening now to Nazi Germany and there are also lots of reasons to compare what is happening now to the post-1850 Fugitive Slave Act U.S. and it's *weird* how people respond with interest to the former but total confusion to the latter
252327732