Bigtime Fake News


Congratulations to our own Shiv, whose reporting on the J20 case is in VICE. [vice]

Writing something that is timely and fact-filled, in this day of “fake news” is a huge amount of work and takes tremendous dedication. Usually I don’t have much to say about her pieces, because I’m reading them to educate myself about the oppression transpeople experience, and I’m just in absorb mode. For someone like me, who’s coming at that world from “cishet, ignorant” perspective, she’s an invaluable read.

The actions of the police state are a concern Shiv and I share, for different reasons. The stuff she’s writing about is what’s happening on the cutting end of the retro-scope and the intelligence state. All the stuff I post about surveillance is theoretical(-ish) and she’s talking about the fear that real people have to deal with, confronting the abuse of power by the state. It’s only going to get worse.

Comments

  1. Siobhan says

    Literally! The judge argued I’m fake news because I would react emotionally to scenes of police brutality.

  2. Siobhan says

    @3 jrkrideau

    Bloody hell. This sounds worse than the kettling at the G20 in Toronto.

    They’re hard to compare. The detention was far worse with Toronto–dog kennels, open port-a-potty with no door to be shared among 30 people, no water for almost a day; but the arrest was much more vicious in D.C. Not easily quantifiable.

    What is interesting, however, was that prosecutors for both situations have made very similar arguments in the subsequent persecutions, despite the differing precedent/case law and constitutional principles. I’m also seeing an almost verbatim to J20 argument for the more recent G20 event in Germany–a young lad named Fabio was held in pre-trial detention for 4 months, and when they finally tried him, all the government could prove was his presence.