Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News

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Thursday, October 30, 2025

Stephen Miller, Marco Rubio, Kristi Noem, and others have taken over homes that until recently housed senior officers. read more


Dmitri S. Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told Russian news agencies that recent drone and missile tests were not nuclear weapons tests. read more


Donald Trump has fired all six members of an independent federal agency responsible for reviewing his controversial White House ballroom and planned "Arc de Trump" in Washington DC. A White House official told the Guardian: "We are preparing to appoint a new slate of members to the commission that are more aligned with President Trump's America First Policies. read more


The National Guard is building a "quick reaction force" (QRF) of some 23,500 troops trained in crowd control and civil disturbance that can be ready to deploy to U.S. cities by early next year, according to a leaked memo reported by multiple outlets Wednesday.


By withholding soybean purchases and rare-earth exports, China extracted relief from U.S. tariffs and delayed export controls, without conceding much in return.


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More: The allegations go beyond a single confrontation between a protester and a federal agent. They highlight a growing conflict over how far the federal government can go in enforcing immigration and security operations inside U.S. cities"and how firmly courts can enforce limits on that power.

With a judge's restraining order already in place, claims that agents ignored it touch on core questions of accountability, the rule of law, and the balance between executive authority and civil liberties on American streets.

The document, filed on behalf of journalism organization the Chicago Headline Club and other plaintiffs, claims that agents from DHS violated a temporary restraining order (TRO) limiting their use of force during protests.

The filing identifies the agent as part of a federal team led by Bovino, the head of the U.S. Border Patrol's Chicago operations.

According to the plaintiffs, a federal officer "pointed a pepper ball gun and then a real gun at declarant Chris Gentry, a combat veteran who was lawfully standing on the side of the road voicing his opposition as agents were driving by in their vehicles."

The filing states that the officer "said bang, bang,' and you're dead liberal.'"

The incident reportedly took place on October 23, during demonstrations in Little Village following federal operations earlier in the week.

Gentry was described as unarmed and not engaged in any unlawful activity.

The same filing also alleges multiple uses of tear gas and pepper munitions by federal agents in violation of Judge Sara L. Ellis's TRO, which restricted the use of crowd-control devices unless there was "an immediate and serious threat of physical harm."

The plaintiffs say the conduct documented on video shows "extreme violence against peaceful and innocent American civilians."

More: Backed by funding from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has entered into contracts with companies to provide surveillance capabilities like facial recognition algorithms, an iris-scanning identification app, controversial spyware on smartphones, and a real-time smartphone location and social media tracking system. In September alone, ICE racked up $1.4 billion in new surveillance technology contracts, the highest in at least 18 years, according to The Washington Post.

These contracts are in addition to any privately owned surveillance networks to which ICE has access. Flock Safety, for example, has allowed ICE to access over 80,000 of its AI-powered license plate reader cameras installed nationwide, according to 404 Media. The expansive"and growing"mass surveillance camera network captures the license plate number, make, model, and any distinctive features of all passing vehicles, making it possible to track cars and, by extension, drivers, often without a warrant.

Although ICE has sold its surveillance campaign as necessary to locating and deporting undocumented immigrations, the Trump administration has signaled that the technologies will also be used on American citizens. In September, Trump signed an executive order designating antifa a domestic terrorist organization and signaled that federal agencies, including ICE, should devote resources to investigating the network. Todd M. Lyons, acting director of ICE, told Glenn Beck during an interview shortly after the executive order was signed that the agency would "track the money," "ringleaders," and "professional agitators" who are "being brought in" from outside the Chicago area to protest against immigration enforcement. But whether from Chicago or elsewhere, protester or "domestic terrorist," constitutional rights and limitations still apply, although adherence by federal agencies is being questioned.

Critics of mass surveillance have long warned that intrusive technologies could be used to violate Americans' privacy rights. "We don't know if law enforcement or ICE are getting search warrants to deploy this spyware," Maria Villegas Bravo, counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told the Post. "It's also a First Amendment issue because your phone contains all your communications, all your expressions ... it has your contact lists, it has your social media. Any political organizing people do," she continued, is "typically on social media now, or over the phone."

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