We’re going to go out onto a limb here, friends. Another limb, I should say, in this whacky world where major media outlets write huge checks to Donald Trump to keep him off their backs and the unvarnished truth is reported by independent journalists and then reamplified by humble blogs such as this one. Life is strange. The Trump administration is so mucho mad right now, that they claim reporting on this app is a crime. And so is reading about it, we assume? Careful now, you’re taking your liberty into your own hands.
There’s an app out there that Trump administration officials hate so much that, according to them, even reporting on it is a crime.
So I’m reporting on it. And you should download it. And you should tell your friends and neighbors to download it, too.
It’s called ICEBlock. It’s a clever app that lets people report ICE sightings, then warns any people who are nearby. You can download it on your iPhone here or here. It’s available in 14 languages.
“When I saw what was happening in this country, I wanted to do something to fight back,” ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron told CNN. (Here’s the story in Spanish; here’s the video.)
Aaron said he sees parallels between Trump’s deportation efforts and Nazi Germany. “We’re literally watching history repeat itself,” he told CNN, “and so I thought ‘What if there was an early warning system?’”
The app, which is modeled after the popular Waze traffic app, allows users to anonymously add a pin on a map showing where they have spotted immigration enforcement activity and post optional notes. Other users within a five-mile radius then receive a push alert notifying them of the sighting.
“Imagine if you’re walking down the street and a notification comes up on your device and says ‘ICE has been spotted four blocks ahead.’ Instead of continuing down that path, you can turn left, or turn around, and avoid the situation altogether,” Aaron told CNN.
“The app was designed to report, not obstruct,” he added.
But Trump and his aides have responded to news about the app with fury, hyperbole, and threats. They’re so inflamed, in fact, that they’re conflating the app and CNN’s reporting on the app, calling for CNN to be investigated and prosecuted.
“Advertising an app that basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers’ backs is sickening,” ICE acting director Todd Lyons said in a statement Monday. “CNN is willfully endangering the lives of officers who put their lives on the line every day and enabling dangerous criminal aliens to evade U.S. law.”
That’s a bit of a stretch. It’s the same kind of a gyration of the truth that was claiming that AOC should be criminally prosecuted for posting laws on social media, information which could help somebody in a pinch if they were stopped by ICE officials. But this administration wants you to live in the dark. And be afraid, be very very afraid. And if you’re looking for more gyrations of logic, puppy assassin Kristi Noem is there to help you.
On Tuesday morning, during a visit to their new detention camp in the Everglades, Trump and Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem both indicated that CNN should be prosecuted.
“We’re working with the Department of Justice to see if we can prosecute them for that,” Noem said, “because what they’re doing is actively encouraging people to avoid law enforcement activities, operations. We’re going to actually go after them and prosecute them, with the partnership of [Attorney General] Pam [Bondi] if we can because what they’re doing legally is illegal.”
“What they’re doing legally is illegal.” Maybe it’s time to take the law degree out of the glass and set fire to the thing. It all made sense at one point and now nothing makes sense, not in this brave new world. Oh, and while CNN is being prosecuted for giving people information about the laws on the books, Donald Trump wants to prosecute them for their “false reports” about Iran — which are not false at all. Not as much damage was done to the nuclear facilities as Trump wanted to believe, so he’s going to kill the messenger. And then future messengers will say whatever he wants them to say and that’s how it’s going to be, going forward.
At least that’s his plans. But so many of Trump’s plans, like those of mice and men, go oft astray. And Trump isn’t going to be able to sue everybody. Just yesterday he withdrew his ridiculous suit against pollster Ann Seltzer in Iowa. The suit had no merit and so it quietly folded in the night, with little fanfare. That’s what will happen if Trump tries to muscle reporters who are spreading the word on ICEBlock.
Sadly, not available for Android 🙁
The “I am Spartacus moment.” Fight back and burn the Internet with your reporting!