Mx. Kit O'Connell
@KitOConnell
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Gone to Mastodon: @oconnell @federate .social Former Digital Editor @texasobserver . I don't tweet much anymore. Email: kitoconnell @pobox .com AVI by @ivanflr
Austin, TX
Joined February 2009
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Pinned Tweet
Hi all.
I doubt very much I will post here again, however I am updating to let everyone know I've been laid off at
@TexasObserver
, effective immediately along with two other members of the team.
Please send tips and leads my way.
#SocialMedia
#journalism
#media
#journojobs
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I've got more this week in the
@AustinChronicle
, but let's be clear that Alex Jones, MTG,
#LibsOfTikTok
and every one else spreading the "groomer" meme is responsible for real harm, for creating a climate of fear, anxiety & violence for
#LGBTQIA
people in Texas & elsewhere.
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I don't know who needs to hear this, but it's 2020 and if your nerdy subculture doesn't actively work to keep fascists out, you might as well be inviting them in.
Study the furries and learn from their example. Yes, I'm 100% serious.
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Myself & 14 other journalists are facing nazi death threats because of Andy's shitrag. He & his Quilette pals laughed it off when people brought this to his attention & raised numerous problems with the story that led to the threats. Fuck Andy Ngo & the nazi horse he rode in on.
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We joke that this is the darkest timeline, but there's worse ones.
A world where Richard Spencer never got punched and now he has his own Fox News talk show after Tucker.
Where nobody protested Charlottesville and now Charlottesville happens every month, every week.
Show up.
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Here is a CONFIRMED GoFundMe for Garrett Foster, the victim of last night's drive-by murder at a
#BlackLivesMatter
march in
#AustinTx
.
His wife is disabled & he was her primary caretaker. They will need a LOT of support. Please give.
#GarrettFoster
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Here are some of the nazi scum PewDiePie was following until recently.
Why was he following them? Because PewDiePie is a fucking nazi.
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Speaking as someone who teaches online security classes to activists...
I don't know who needs to hear this, but please don't plan your underground abortion access network using Facebook, Twitter or any unencrypted chats.
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Here's my article about the how Texas is becoming increasingly hostile to
#trans
people, especially trans kids, including my interview with the family from my tweet. Big thanks to
@AustinChronicle
for supporting my work.
#LGBTQIA
#ProtectTransKids
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Police pepper sprayed and arrested voters, even sprayed the journalists covering the march, and still we have weasel headlines like "March Mired By Pepper Spray And Arrests" as if those are just uncomfortable weather conditions and not the products of human malice.
#ftp
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Hi Jim. Andy helped put me and about a dozen other writers, journalists and artists on a "kill list" issued by the terrorist group Atomwaffen Division. Will you be asking him about that during the hearing?
A few days ago, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee called
#Antifa
“imaginary.”
@MrAndyNgo
is briefing the Oversight Committee on Monday.
Bet he’ll have a different story to share.
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Let's talk about
#BlackBloc
, and why some antifascists wear masks.
"Antifa" are anyone who stand up against fascism, masked or otherwise. Black bloc and antifa are not interchangeable terms. Black bloc is not a group but a tactic some use, sometimes.
#DefendPDX
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Activists in
#AustinTX
are projecting a slideshow about
@Austin_Police
brutality on the side of Austin Police headquarters.
#austinprotests
#BlackLivesMatter
#DefundThePolice
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Some fashy dumbass sharing this like it doesn't make
#antifa
look totally fucking badass.
My love and
#solidarity
to everyone on the front lines today in
#Portland
.
#DefendPDX
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5 dead, over a dozen injured at a mass shooting at a
#ColoradoSprings
drag show. An entirely predictable response to the hate-filled, genocidal rhetoric constantly pushed by the GOP and the fascist right-wing media.
#LGBTQIA
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This is a thing which happens in a country undergoing a fascist takeover. This is your daily reminder that we're barrelling past the first bit of that "First they came for..." poem.
A library in Iowa has closed after nearly all of its employees quit due to anti-LGBTQ harassment against-staff, complaints about LGBTQ titles, and whipped up controversies. The town now has no library.
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This is how you do it.
Tenants and community members have chained doors of eviction courts shut in Kansas City in order to prevent eviction hearings from beginning. The secret is that there is no secret: shut the system down, build to fight, fight to build. Follow
@KCTenants
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Beyond The Concrete Milkshake: Tactics For Defeating Media Trolls & Grifters (Zine)
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This is going to end so badly y'all
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This is deepest cruelty. Destroying people's only home during a pandemic as winter approaches, in New Hampshire. It's murder.
Young girl stands up against Hazmat workers tearing apart homeless camp in Manchester NH.
#housingishumanright
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@ElijahSchaffer
Look like fucking heroes to me, Elroy. What the fuck have you done lately to stop fascism and white nationalism?
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Under the current situation in Texas, we know that at least some of the "child abuse" investigations seem retaliatory. For example,
@mrsbriggle
testified against previous anti-trans legislation, now her family is under CPS abuse investigation. ...
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NEW: There is No Legitimate 'Debate' Around Gender-Affirming Healthcare
My latest
@TexasObserver
looks at how Texas used
@nytimes
staff writer
@emilybazelon
's unethical reporting as evidence in its case against
#trans
kids
#ProtectTransKids
#LGBTQIA
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So many of you have replied to the first tweet, mostly in support of this family and I can't respond to everyone. I will try to address one topic especially: why we did not name the school and teacher. In short: fear of retaliation. (🧵thread continues)
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The Abbott / Paxton admin is not letting this agency function as intended. Instead CPS is being turned into a personal police force to enact a puritanical agenda on Texas families. This should scare you even if you don't have a trans kid.
#ProtectTransKids
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While CPS investigations of families with trans kids are currently suspended, they could resume and we know that the Texas govt under Abbott will likely spend months or even years trying find other ways to target these families. The cruelty seems endless. ...
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Take a moment to contemplate that there is an ENTIRE island full of caged humans who haven't even been convicted of a crime. It is truly one of the most hellish places I can imagine and it's right here in the US.
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Why the fuck is Chelsea still in prison?
celebrating yet another birthday in jail 🎂 thanks to all of you for your wonderful letters (and dank memes) ✉️ always thinking of y’all 🌈💕
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I looked into this a bit, and found out that it is because Andy Ngo is a threat to our community and provides kill lists to Atomwaffen.
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We also know that the right-wing would love to dox and harass a family like this if they do try to take action against the teacher. It's a terrible situation and the mom is doing her best to protect her kid's mental health and physical safety while still speaking out. ...
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The reason TERFs/FARTs keep teaming up with fascists is because they are fascists.
They even use a lot of the same gaslighting techniques of redefining words. I.e., violently policing gender norms becomes "gender critical" just like advocating genocide becomes "free speech."
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Combined with Florida seeking to ban even social transition (kids changing their names & pronouns to fit their gender identity)... And the bans on abortion... it paints a truly chilling picture of the level of control the GOP wants to exert over our lives.
Read this carefully. Florida isn't just going after blockers or CSH, they're going after social transition.
"Social transition" means acknowledging that someone is trans at all. Using their name, pronouns. That's it. These are the politics of eradicationism.
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The cops Democrats hire today will be arresting people for abortions and tearing apart families with trans kids tomorrow.
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Where was ACLU when Twitter and Facebook were shutting down antifascists, feminists, outspoken queer people and on and on?
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And yes, Jack is following a lot of the same accounts, because Twitter's founder is a fucking nazi too. It's not complicated.
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@bhamcivilrights
She's one of the greatest activists of our time. How many levels of bullshit are you on?
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If you are enraged about this, good. But rather than retaliation against one teacher, I need you to fight back by opposing fascists like Abbott and Paxton and the systems that enable them, and protecting vulnerable people near you.
#ProtectTransKids
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What you need to know about
#antifa
in 1 tweet: It just means antifascist. It's not a gang, an organization, or an organized group.
Antifa is diverse. Antifa use many tactics. Oppose fascism, white supremacy &
#ConcentrationCamps
? Then you're antifascist. Let's work together.
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Reminder that the fascist who assaulted me at March 4 Trump 2017 has an elaborate Steven Universe tattoo and that's a cartoon about queer aliens fighting space fascists.
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Anyway the Chronicle is a print magazine and space is limited. I will try to find time in the next few days to publish additional materials that didn't make it into the article. Thanks again for reading and supporting
#LGBTQIA
Texans.
#ProtectTransKids
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According to Tracy Harting, the lawyer I've interviewed twice now, CPS is finding healthy families that happen to have trans kids but cases are being held open, and elevated through 3, 4, 5 levels of agency bureaucracy without resolution.
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If someone deprives you of bodily autonomy, protesting outside their house seems like a relatively mild response.
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So
@IwriteOK
shared some scary "gun safety" pics from
#Richmond2ARally
and so I thought I'd share this winner from
#AustinTX
yesterday, spotted by
@BatCity_Antifa
.
Yes, she's open carrying with her dog's leash tied off to her rifle. Any gun safety experts have an opinion?
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Ok, one other point to emphasize is that CPS investigations of trans kids are literally endless right now. Normally, investigators check out a situation and if it's safe they go to their manager and get approval to close the case.
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@Sarcastodonical
Apologies for any confusion, thanks for asking. A trans (nonbinary) kid with openly queer parents, and the teacher claimed that grooming by queer parents led to the kid becoming transgender. AFAIK the teacher is cisgender.
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I don't know about you but I just logged into Austin Energy and changed my autopay settings. With the huge spike in power bills predicted, you may want to turn off or put a limit on your autopay, if you have it enabled currently.
#TexasBlackout
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It fucking blows my mind that we went through a pandemic and mass unemployment and our society came out the other end LESS compassionate towards poor and out-of-work people than ever. Capitalism is a hell of a trip.
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Andy Ngo is a threat to our community and provides kill lists to Atomwaffen.
Claire Lehmann is a threat to our community and provides kill lists to Atomwaffen.
Tim Pool is a threat to our community and provides kill lists to Atomwaffen.
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About 30 nazis outside the Houston Anarchist Bookfair chanting "Blood and Soil" outside the Houston Anarchist Bookfair.
#antifa
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If your favorite "leftist" is platforming Boogaloo Boys and fascists, or proposing alliances with the far-right against shadowy "elites," get a new fucking fav.
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Black bloc traditionally acts as the first line of defense against violent fascists and out of control cops. They're people who train and prepare to take the brunt of the violence so other people who can't can still feel safe coming to a protest.
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This is an employee of
@FiveGuys
in
#Austin
, Christopher Ritchie. Why haven't they responded to complaints about their nazi employee?
CC
@ShaunKing
Right-winger chucks a garbage can lid at this person. On target. Wow. It’s intense down here, corner of SW Morrison and 2nd.
#DefendPDX
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@bhamcivilrights
People should watch this incredible three part interview between Angela Davis and
@democracynow
to fully understand who this "civil rights" group is turning its back on. We should all follow Davis examples.
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Whether or not the
#ElPaso
shooters' 8chan manifesto turns out to be real, it's wild to watch the Twitter fascists go into damage control instantly. Just saw someone suggest that 8chan is actually where antifa hang out. 🙄
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There are too many replies so I can't reply to everyone personally. I hope all this support for this family here on Twitter translates to direct action when
#LGBTQIA
folks near you come under attack (or already are). This is a national problem and we need to protect each other.
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Nazis right now are enjoying the comforting lie that antifascists only exist in Portland or other supposedly liberal cities.
Actually, we're all around you. In every state. We're your neighbors and coworkers. Taking notes. Infiltrating your chats.
Making milkshakes.
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Actually I don't care if your subculture is particularly nerdy. The local Burning Man community is grappling with this right now.
Or maybe all subcultures are a bit nerdy in their way. Either way, take entryism and radicalization seriously please.
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#BlackLivesMatter
banner drop overhead the
#PoliceLivesMatter
march in
#Austin
.
#ftp
#Racism
#PoliceBrutality
http://t.co/XZxhEEBd7q
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@CallMeFrankM
An Austin area school. Because this young person is extra vulnerable we are keeping it a bit vague. I believe the new issue will be up tomorrow.
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@fakedansavage
Dan, I got nazi death threats because of this website. What, and let me pause to stress this strongly, the fuck man?
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I'm really stunned by how many people on here are gleefully excited to lecture Texans about voting while they are dying in the cold or struggling to find water to drink. A lot of y'all have stuff like "progressive," "BLM" or your pronouns in your bios too.
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A group of nazis are down on 6th street and have declared it "Hug a nazi day" in case you are wondering how things are going in America.
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@Marina_Sirtis
I live in Texas and i really admired you as Counselor Troi. She taught empathy and caring for humanity. I don't know how to reconcile this ghoulish tweet. Do you know people are freezing to death? Should I start sending you their names?
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This is part of an increasing trend where police are targeting street medics. Activists will die or face lifelong consequences from preventable situations if this continues.
Police knocked this backpack off a counterproster as they arrested them. Other police found it and are treating it as a bomb threat. Seriously.
@UpriseRI
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When you find nazis on Tinder OkCupid, Fetlife, Farmers Only or wherever they try to get laid.... Tip off your local antifascists.
Also leading us to Edwards identity was a tip we received of Edward's neo-Nazi tinder profile, in which he uses the same picture that Chris Pohlhaus shared. This gave us an early hint of Edward's age, first name, and area of residence.
6/
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We just lost water in the Capitol of Texas and still can't get power to everyone, and it's 28 degrees Fahrenheit. This is an absolute humanitarian disaster.
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Black bloc as a tactic was developed by autonomists in Europe, then came to the US during protests like the "Battle in Seattle" against the World Trade Organization in 1999.
(This is long before groups of Americans were using the term "antifa" to describe themselves.)
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I'll second the recommendation for checking out the 2 part series on
@WorstYearPod
.
The furry scene got toxic enough that fascists staged a literal chemical weapons attack on one of their conferences and this was a major wake up call to their community.
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@BadLegalTakes
This is basically what every cop drama on TV teaches. The "innocent" people always give up their rights and only "criminals" assert them. It's not surprising people believe this.
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Another video angle seems to further confirm that murderer drove aggressively at
#BlackLivesMatter
protest tonight before shooting and killing a marcher.
#garrettfoster
#austinprotests
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In case you missed it, armed CHUDs attacked the Biden bus in Texas today.
This is a disquieting escalation even if you aren't the world's biggest Biden fan.
Armed Trump trolls harassing Biden Bus on I-35, ramming volunteer vehicles & blocking traffic for 40 mins. Eric Trump took to FB to incite this violence.
At least the Trump hearse is appropriate given the 200K+ Americans who have died due to his incompetence.
#VoteHimOut
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Mainstream media sources "just asking questions" about our lives, our rights and our autonomy have blood on their hands too.
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At least 6 dead in 133-car pileup in Fort Worth after freezing rain coats roads ...
"Lawmakers said they were troubled by reports that the interstate hadn’t been treated before the crash, which led to at least 65 people being treated at area hospitals."
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I'm disabled and I'd be totally OK with a president that drinks a glass of water with two hands and sometimes needs trouble walking down a ramp. My issue is that our president is a nazi.
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Wearing masks and similar clothing helps create a sense of shared identity and purpose. It helps protect against doxing by fascists and facial recognition, though it's far from foolproof against modern techniques.
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The brother of the young man shot in the head by an
@Austin_Police
rubber bullet has come forward.
The victim's name is Justin Howell and he has permanent brain damage due to their senseless brutality.
#BlackLivesMatter
#JustinHowel
#SayHisName
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I still haven't seen any politician other than Andrew Yang suggest that more local journalism should be publicly funded (it was one of his presidential planks actually)... Maybe we should start demanding this more?
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The CPS supervisor is now revealing that she resigned, because she no longer believes the department has children's best interest at heart and can no longer do her job in good conscience. Her voice is cracking with emotion.
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Shout out whoever removed the anti-homeless railings from this Austin bus stop bench.
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I'm scared we won't do enough to stop what's coming next.
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Everyone
Should
Be
Antifascist
The alternative is genocide.
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After The Coup Attempt, We’re All ANTIFA Now
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But it's important to note, within the black bloc, you'll find smaller groups working together and keeping each other accountable to their shared goals, purpose and ethics. This helps minimize the damage caused by infiltrators.
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@priscillvtorres
@Brittany_IRL
I hope he is hugged constantly for approximately the next 15 years 😍
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I've heard from other folks saying similar & think it's important to note.
Communities don't get to do this work once and consider it done. Its an ongoing process, especially as fascism keeps creeping into mainstream culture too.
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Finally, this report from the 2017
#G20
protests in Hamburg, Germany, in which black bloc probably saved lives during a wave of savage police violence against protesters, is an extraordinary account of the power of the tactic when used properly:
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THEY LET THE KILLER GO! FUCK THE POLICE AND JUSTICE FOR
#GarrettFoster
!
Austin Police Release Two People Who Fired Handguns In Deadly Incident During Protest
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Thanks to
@IGD_News
for inviting me onto their podcast today to discuss
#trans
rights and
#abortion
access in
#Texas
... I'll share the episode as soon as it's available.
#ProtectTransKids
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Jack asks for solidarity. They told me, "The simple act of being there for a queer family member or friend means so much more than cisgender people realize."
#ProtectTransKids
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@mollyfprince
@CyCl4ne
The idea that radicalized white men are the biggest threat to safety in America is well documented and should not be treated as shocking by the Media in 2019.
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A major new anti-trans book blames the Jews for transgender people existing at the same time as Q-Anon and the "Gendercritical" bigotry movement are converging on the streets of the U.S. We're really in some deep 💩, y'all. When do we start fighting back at the same scale?
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