Cody Bloomfield, Author at Defending Rights & Dissent

September 28, 2023

Example of social media surveillance of Stop Cop City events, obtained via FOIA

Published by Cody Bloomfield at September 28, 2023

The Cop City Shuffle: FOIA and Protester Surveillance

The Stop Cop City movement is a lightning rod for political surveillance. Judging from police presence at protests and internal documents showing an extensive social media monitoring apparatus, agencies across Georgia are spying on Stop Cop City. But understanding the

July 20, 2023

Posters advertising the Stop Cop City referendum

Published by Cody Bloomfield at July 20, 2023

Activists Are Working to Give the People of Atlanta a Chance to Vote on Cop City

Update: A judge has struck residency requirements for petition gathers and reset the clock for signature collection. Copyright, Truthout. Reprinted with permission; original link here. When it comes to Atlanta’s planned $90 million police training center, widely dubbed “Cop City,”

July 5, 2023

Police car in front of the Defend the Atlanta Forest food distribution.

Published by Cody Bloomfield at July 5, 2023

Organizing in the shadow of the surveillance state

There are few activities more legally risky than deciding to protest Cop City. I’d recommend becoming an opposition journalist in an authoritarian regime, perhaps, or maybe ding dong ditching the White House. Cops have shown no hesitation in assassinating an

June 28, 2023

Published by Cody Bloomfield at June 28, 2023

Stop Cop City is everywhere

Despite the arrests of protesters and their support network, or perhaps because of it, the Stop Cop City movement is everywhere. Driving through Atlanta, I see Stop Cop City wheatpaste posters pasted on abandoned buildings and at highway intersections. “Defend

June 26, 2023

Published by Cody Bloomfield at June 26, 2023

Dozens of Cops Descend on a Peaceful Vigil as the Stop Cop City Week of Action Begins

Twenty to thirty police officers descended on a peaceful vigil to Tortuguita, where protesters lawfully occupied a public park. The first day of the sixth week of action to Defend the Atlanta Forest opened with a lowkey park party. Trying

June 1, 2023

Published by Cody Bloomfield at June 1, 2023

First Georgia came for the activists. Then for the solidarity movement.

On the morning of May 31, 2023, the Atlanta Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation carried out a S.W.A.T raid to arrest three organizers with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund on charges of money laundering and charity fraud. These

May 16, 2023

DHS building. CP3 and TVTP are DHS programs.

Published by Cody Bloomfield at May 16, 2023

It’s time to defund CP3 and TVTP

There’s not enough terrorism for…DHS? DHS has branched out beyond its statutory mandate of addressing emergencies and preventing terrorism into addressing the hodgepodge category of “targeted violence,” which, oddly, includes both school shootings and sabotaging oil pipelines among other crimes.

April 25, 2023

Published by Cody Bloomfield at April 25, 2023

TikTok bans neglect the global landscape of surveillance

Aside from being Chinese in origin, Congress can’t quite make up its mind about what, precisely, the problem is with TikTok. Is it a deficit of censorship, or an overabundance of it? Is the problem actually with TikTok, or is

April 12, 2023

Published by Cody Bloomfield at April 12, 2023

BREAKING: Seven members of Congress take a stand for Assange

Four years ago today, six men dragged Julian Assange out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London into a van, where he was carted off to Belmarsh Prison, where he remains, fighting extradition to the U.S. On April 11, 2019, after

April 5, 2023

Cover of Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs by Kerry Howley

Published by Cody Bloomfield at April 5, 2023

Surveillance and the narrative gravity of the national security state

Surveillance is made of dogs. It’s also made of us. In Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State, Kerry Howley dives into what surveillance is, what stories are told with intelligence data, and, ultimately, how

February 24, 2023

Exterior of the Supreme Court, which denied writ of certiorari in the BDS case Arkansas Times LP v. Waldrip this week.

Published by Cody Bloomfield at February 24, 2023

The Supreme Court sleeps on defending boycotts and the right to political expression

In an absurd ruling, the Eighth Circuit denied that boycotts are political expression. Now, the Supreme Court has denied writ of certiorari, letting the Eighth Circuit’s ruling in Arkansas Times LP v. Waldrip stand. This is a missed opportunity for

February 15, 2023

Published by Cody Bloomfield at February 15, 2023

The Cop City Domestic Terrorism Charges are an Intimidation Tactic

The past several months have seen a showdown between forest defenders and police in DeKalb County, Georgia. A contingent of climate activists calling themselves Defend the Atlanta Forest occupied forest land to block construction of what they have termed “Cop

November 2, 2022

Senator Durbin Tweeted misinformation about the First Amendment

Published by Cody Bloomfield at November 2, 2022

Senator Durbin needs Con Law 101

For someone heading up the Judiciary Committee, it appears Senator Dick Durbin missed out on a few key days of Constitutional Law. In his tweet, “Free speech does not include spreading misinformation to downplay political violence,” Senator Durbin strays far

October 31, 2022

Box around Portland protester linking to DHS dossier

Published by Cody Bloomfield at October 31, 2022

DHS’ Secret Dossiers on Portland Protesters

Yet again, intelligence agencies have stepped outside of the law to conduct politically-motivated surveillance of protesters. This time, DHS was the culprit. According to an internal DHS report, agents assigned to Portland during 2020 Black Lives Matter protests drew up

October 14, 2022

Published by Cody Bloomfield at October 14, 2022

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, and the value of truth in the shadow of empire

If extradited, Julian Assange faces up to 175 years in prison under the Espionage Act – a draconian sentence intended to deter other journalists and truthtellers from revealing the long shadow of the American empire. On Saturday, October 8, DRAD