April 27 : Judge Arrested, Musk Out, + What Else Really Happened Last Week

This administration leaves skid marks when they U-turn on their bad ideas

Hello friends!

A picture I took at Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei

Thanks to all those of you who read and lifted up my post on Friday, especially after I expressed anxiety about how it was landing. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to be in community with you. It’s an experience unlike any other in my writing life.

I’m a journalist with two decades of experience. Welcome to my weekly, highly curated list of top stories, bright spots, and action steps, helping you navigate the mayhem, focusing on the topics of this newsletter: caregiving, youth, climate change, human rights, mental health. I do NOT cover pseudo-events or speculation, only real events with real impact on real people.

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In This Issue:

1. Judge arrested

2. Musk out at DOGE?

3.Gazans are starving

4. Ukraine threatened at gunpoint

5. Good news/wild card~

1. Judge arrested

Last Friday, April 18, Judge Hannah Dugan was presiding over a Milwaukee County Circuit Court case involving Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, a Mexican citizen charged with domestic violence.

A group of immigration, D.E.A. and F.B.I. agents came to the courthouse to grab Flores-Ruiz. They had an “ICE administrative warrant,” aka an “immigration warrant,” which doesn’t have the same powers as a judicial warrant.

Notably, you don’t have to open the door to your home or car or anywhere else with privacy expectations to a guy with an ICE warrant.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

Judge Dugan, allegedly, escorted Flores-Ruiz and his lawyer out of the courtroom through the ‘jury door,’ which led to a private area of the courthouse. He ran. They caught him.

The FBI then arrested Dugan for “obstructing” and “impeding” and “concealing” Flores-Ruiz to prevent his arrest. She’s been released without bail.

The arrest of a sitting judge was widely hailed as another scary step towards authoritarianism. Similarly, a judge on New Mexico’s Supreme Court has been driven out of office, and now arrested, over ties to a Venezuelan migrant who is an alleged Tren de Aragua gang member. (What’s the evidence? Oh, tattoos. Social media posts. You know, air-tight stuff like that.)