Akela Lacy

A few hours ago, Acting Columbia President Claire Shipman sat for her first interview with Spectator and spoke about Columbia’s deal with the government. The deal “is in line with our values,” Shipman said. Via @ishabanerjee20 and @TsehaiAlfred columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/07/2…

NEW: The federal government wants to make aiding anti-ICE protesters a crime theintercept.com/2025/07/23/fed…

NEW: U.S. nonprofits funnel millions of dollars to Americans who volunteer to join the IDF as “lone soldiers.” with @GeorgiaGee14 theintercept.com/2025/07/19/lon…

NEW details on the fight to try to stop @ZohranKMamdani: Former NYC mayoral candidate Bo Dietl says he’s teaming up w/ former NYC mayor + Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani to raise about $10 million to take on Mamdani Bill Ackman has been in touch w/ new PAC wsj.com/politics/polic…

On The Intercept Briefing, @RepSummerLee spoke with @akela_lacy about how money in politics is fueling America's slide into plutocratic authoritarianism. interc.pt/44WMQLO

“You can’t have a democracy AND have super PACs — you just can’t” @SummerForPA with the fire in today’s Briefing 🔥🔥🔥

NEW 🎧 POD: I speak with @SummerForPA on our crumbling democracy, money in politics, her “trial by fire” with AIPAC, why it’s never been just race vs class, and why Democrats can’t get out of their own way. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the…

NEW: Mahmoud Khalil just filed a $20M damages claim against the Trump admin, alleging it terrorized his family and smeared him as an antisemite for political gain. He spoke with us about the filing, and the moments of bliss and anguish since his release apnews.com/article/mahmou…

The trajectory of Canary: Run by Israeli right-wing activists < funded by mainstream American Jewish foundations < used by Israeli border officials to deny Palestinian Americans entry < Now used by DHS to round up students in the US and detain them and attempt to deport them

MSF survey on Gaza: almost half of those killed were children

this confirms what academics and students told @sophiehurwitz in this piece: it seemed clear, to them, the government was using Canary Mission

“Noem didn’t authorize FEMA’s deployment of Urban Search and Rescue teams until Monday, more than 72 hours after the flooding began, multiple sources told CNN.” cnn.com/2025/07/09/pol…

FBI has also used it, as I first reported for @theintercept. But the DHS use appears FAR more far-reaching. That said, after the initial arrests of students, DHS has slowed down or even stopped. Not sure what's going on there. theintercept.com/2018/06/24/stu… x.com/akela_lacy/sta…

Shai Davidai posted that Columbia closed an investigation into him today & issued no findings of wrongdoing. Per Columbia, the school can close investigations when an individual no longer works there. Davidai decided to leave Columbia, per email today theintercept.com/2025/07/09/pro…

DHS admitting they're using Canary Mission to profile people -- something pro-Palestine advocates have long suspected. There have been numerous reports of customs officers asking people about their CM profiles at airports - both in Israel and the U.S.

This, I believe, is the first time DHS confirmed they used Canary Mission to build out their targets. This testimony was given today in the AAUP v. Rubio trial.

Breaking news via @knightcolumbia: "A senior ICE official testified that the agency assembled a team in to investigate student protestors. The team rapidly compiled over 100 reports based on a list of 5,000 people identified on the Canary Mission website."

NEW: Shai Davidai is leaving Columbia. theintercept.com/2025/07/09/pro…

team gentrification: