November 15, 2025, 11:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M.
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Church
1924 Cedar Street at Bonita
Berkeley, California
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Dr. Atler Still Needs Our Help!
Please sign the petition today!
https://www.change.org/p/texas-state-university-give-tom-alter-his-job-back
Beloved tenured History professor and Socialist Horizon member Tom Alter was summarily fired on September 10th by Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse for expressing his views in a virtual conference unrelated to the university. This action cannot stand. Socialist Horizon calls on people everywhere to join us and demand that Professor Alter be reinstated to his tenured position.
President Damphousse fired Dr. Tom Alter based solely on a video published online by an extreme rightwing provocateur who infiltrated and secretly video-recorded segments of a virtual socialist conference with the intention of publishing information to slander and attack conference participants. In videos posted on their website, this person declares that they are a proud fascist, who tries to monetize exposure of the left as an “anti-communist cult leader”. This grifter publicly exhorts followers to embrace fascist ideology and take action, is an antisemite that states that Jewish people ‘chose to die in the Holocaust’, is a self-declared racist and xenophobe, a homophobe and a transphobe that spews hate speech throughout their platform that is solely designed to inflame and incite.
After the fascist’s ‘exposure video’ reached President Damphousse, he summarily fired Dr. Alter, a tenured professor, without questioning or investigating the content, without considering its authenticity or validity, without any form of due process, and violating existing state law and campus policy which requires a formal due process procedure.
Alter spoke against this cruel and unjust system and argued in favor of replacing it with socialism, and he advocated organizing politically to achieve this. Alter’s political views reflect those of nearly half of the total US population. Almost half now oppose capitalism and 40% favor socialism over capitalism. Alter’s views are far from subversive, they reflect the mainstream. It is a just cause that more and more people are joining, one people believe to be worth fighting for, and represents a change in thinking that is scaring the bigots, fascists, and capitalists.
It is in fact the fascist infiltrator who incites violence against oppressed people, and in this case, directly against Alter. It is Alter’s employer Texas State University that inflicted violence: stripping Alter of his job, refusing him any due process, casting him and his family into the uncertainty of unemployment and making them a target for the extreme right, while slamming the door shut on his free speech and academic freedom. Alter’s First Amendment right to speak, guaranteed by the Constitution, has been violated, as has his academic freedom– a protected right developed by his national faculty union, the American Association of University Professors.
We call on President Damphousse to stop this flagrant attack on constitutionally-protected free speech, to undo this wrongful termination, and to immediately reinstate Dr. Tom Alter to his teaching position.
The termination of Dr. Alter is a serious attack that upends his livelihood, his professional and academic career, and sets a very dangerous precedent. President Damphousse’s actions appear to be in accordance with the far-right politics of Texas politicians Greg Abbot and Ted Cruz, as well as being in-line with that of Donald Trump who has used the office of the presidency to wage war on his political opponents.
Damphousse’s actions align with Trump and the far right forces trying to impose and enforce an authoritarian regime that wants to silence critics, crush political dissent, and attack anyone they perceive to be oppositional to their project. Even more threatening, Damphousse’s actions strengthen the power and influence of fascists and enable the most violent and reactionary groups to also attack and take action against anyone they deem to be part of the left.
It is Trump who inflicts violence against millions through his authoritarian political attacks that target people of Color, women, transpeople, immigrants and refugees, people with disabilities, impoverished and unhoused people, and the working class as a whole . It is the far right and the fascists who are building movements to harm innocent and vulnerable people. It is this capitalist system that Alter spoke against that inflicts mass violence condemning billions to hunger, poverty and war while a handful accumulates ever growing obscene amounts of wealth that is stolen from the rest of us.
Alter is being attacked because he is telling a truth that many people in the United States believe today: that capitalism is ruining their lives and that socialism is a better system. If Dr. Tom Alter can be fired for expressing his personal beliefs and principles, then people everywhere are in danger. If he can be fired for expressing a point of view at a conference, away from his work and in his daily private life, then none of us are safe.
His case must draw support from people of all sectors of society: workers, teachers, nurses, students—anyone and everyone who upholds the value of free speech. As the great anti-slavery abolitionist Frederick Douglass once said, “The law on the side of freedom is of great advantage only when there is power to make that law respected”.
We call on everyone to join us in building the broadest possible solidarity campaign to win this decisive battle.
The attacks on Dr. Tom Alter and socialist politics will not intimidate Socialist Horizon. We will defend our comrade and we will continue fighting for the very cause he is being attacked for: justice, freedom, and equality. We will also continue building the organization that it will take to win it.
Dr. Tom Alter is not only a beloved faculty member at Texas State but also an advisor to several student organizations. He is the author of a celebrated history of socialism in the American South, Toward a Cooperative Commonwealth: The Transplanted Roots of Farmer-Labor Radicalism in Texas (University of Illinois Press). He is also the father of two children. Socialist Horizon demands that Texas State University immediately restore Tom Alter’s position as Associate Professor of History.
Socialist Horizon also calls on all organizations and individuals that defend the basic democratic right to free speech and reject fascism and authoritarianism, and all socialists in particular, to join this fight. This is an attack on all of us. We need to confront it with the broadest unitary campaign for Alter’s immediate reinstatement, in defense of free speech and against fascism.
This is an attack on all of us. We need to confront it with the broadest unitary campaign for Alter’s immediate reinstatement, in defense of free speech and against fascism.
What you can do to support:
—Donate to help Tom Alter and his family with living and legal expenses: https://gofund.me/27c72f26d
—Sign and share this petition demanding Tom Alter be given his job back: https://www.change.org/p/texas-state-university-give-tom-alter-his-job-back
—Write to and call the President and Provost at Texas State University demanding that Tom Alter be given his job back:
President Kelly Damphousse: president@txstate.edu
President’s Office Phone: 512-245-2121
Provost Pranesh Aswath: xrk25@txstate.edu
Provost Office Phone: 512-245-2205
For more information about the reason for the firing of Dr. Tom Alter, read:
"Fired for Advocating Socialism: Professor Tom Alter Speaks Out"
Ashley Smith Interviews Dr. Tom Alter
—CounterPunch, September 24, 2025
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Stop Cop City Bay Area
Did you know about a proposed $47 million regional police training facility in San Pablo—designed for departments across the Bay Area?
We are Stop Cop City Bay Area (Tours & Teach-Ins), a QT+ Black-led grassroots collective raising awareness about this project. This would be the city’s second police training facility, built without voter approval and financed through a $32 million, 30-year loan.
We’re organizing to repurpose the facility into a community resource hub and youth center. To build people power, we’re taking this conversation on the road—visiting Bay Area campuses, classrooms, cafes, and community spaces via our Fall 2025 Tour.
We’d love to collaborate with you and/or co-create an event. Here’s what we offer:
Guest Speaker Presentations—5-minute visits (team meetings, classrooms, co-ops, etc.), panels, or deep dives into:
· the facility’s origins & regional impacts
· finding your role in activism
· reimagining the floorplan (micro-workshops)
· and more
· Interactive Art & Vendor/Tabling Pop-Ups — free zines, stickers, and live linocut printing with hand-carved stamps + artivism.
· Collaborations with Classrooms — project partnerships, research integration, or creative assignments.
· Film Screenings + Discussion — e.g., Power (Yance Ford, 2024) or Riotsville, U.S.A. (Sierra Pettengill, 2022), or a film of your choice.
👉 If you’re interested in hosting a stop, open to co-creating something else, or curious about the intersections of our work: simply reply to this email or visit: stopcopcitybayarea.com/tour
Thank you for your time and consideration. We look forward to connecting.
In solidarity,
Stop Cop City Bay Area
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Dear Organization Coordinator
I hope this message finds you well. I’m reaching out to invite your organization to consider co-sponsoring a regional proposal to implement Free Public Transit throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
This initiative directly supports low-income families, working people, seniors, youth, and others who rely on public transportation. It would eliminate fare barriers while helping to address climate justice, congestion, and air pollution—issues that disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities.
We believe your organization’s mission and values align strongly with this proposal. We are seeking endorsements, co-sponsorship, and coalition-building with groups that advocate for economic and racial equity.
I would love the opportunity to share a brief proposal or speak further if you're interested. Please let me know if there’s a staff member or program director I should connect with.
A description of our proposal is below:
sharethemoneyinstitute@gmail.com
Opinion: San Francisco Bay Area Should Provide Free Public Transportation
The San Francisco Bay Area is beautiful, with fantastic weather, food, diversity and culture. We’re also internationally famous for our progressiveness, creativity, and innovation.
I believe the next amazing world-leading feature we can add to our cornucopia of attractions is Free Public Transportation. Imagine how wonderful it would be if Muni, BART, Caltrain, AC Transit, SamTrans, SF Bay Ferries, and all the other transportation services were absolutely free?
Providing this convenience would deliver enormous, varied benefits to the 7.6 million SF Bay Area residents, and would make us a lovable destination for tourists.
This goal - Free Public Transportation - is ambitious, but it isn’t impossible, or even original. Truth is, many people world-wide already enjoy free rides in their smart municipalities.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is promoting free transit, with a plan that’s gained the endorsement of economists from Chile, United Kingdom, Greece, and the USA.
The entire nation of Luxembourg has offered free public transportation to both its citizens and visitors since 2020. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, has given free transit to its residents since 2013. In France, thirty-five cities provide free public transportation. Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, offers free rides to seniors, disabled, and students. In Maricá (Brazil) – the entire municipal bus system is free. Delhi (India) – offers free metro and bus travel for women. Madrid & Barcelona (Spain) offer free (or heavily discounted) passes to youth and seniors.
Even in the USA, free public transit is already here. Kansas City, Missouri, has enjoyed a free bus system free since 2020. Olympia, Washington, has fully fare-free intercity transit. Missoula, Montana, is free for all riders. Columbia, South Carolina, has free buses, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has enjoyed free transit for over a decade. Ithaca, New York, and Madison, Wisconsin, offer free transit to students.
But if the San Francisco Bay Area offered free transit, we’d be the LARGEST municipality in the world to offer universal Free Transit to everyone, resident and visitor alike. (Population of Luxembourg is 666,430. Kansas City 510,704. Population of San Francisco Bay Area is 7.6 million in the nine-county area)
Providing free transit would be tremendously beneficial to millions of people, for three major reasons:
1. Combat Climate Change - increased public ridership would reduce harmful CO2 fossil fuel emissions. Estimates from Kansas City and Tallinn Estonia’s suggest an increase in ridership of 15 percent. Another estimate from a pilot project in New York City suggests a ridership increase of 30 percent. These increases in people taking public transportation instead of driving their own cars indicates a total reduction of 5.4 - 10.8 tons of emissions would be eliminated, leading to better air quality, improved public health, and long-term climate gains.
2. Reduce Traffic Congestion & Parking Difficulty - Estimates suggest public transit would decrease traffic congestion in dense urban areas and choke points like the Bay Bridge by up to 15 percent. Car ownership would also be reduced. Traffic in San Francisco is the second-slowest in the USA (NYC is #1) and getting worse every year. Parking costs in San Francisco are also the second-worst in the USA (NYC #1), and again, it is continually getting worse.
3. Promote Social Equity - Free transit removes a financial cost that hits low-income residents hard. Transportation is the second-biggest expense after housing for many Americans. In the Bay Area, a monthly Clipper pass can cost $86–$98 per system, and much more for multi-agency commuters. For people living paycheck-to-paycheck, this is a significant cost. People of color, immigrants, youth, seniors, and people with disabilities rely more heavily on public transit. 55–70% of frequent transit riders in the Bay Area are from low-to moderate-income households, but these riders usually pay more per mile of transit than wealthy drivers. Free fares equalize access regardless of income or geography.
Free transit would help people 1) take jobs they couldn’t otherwise afford to commute to, thus improving the economy, 2) Stay in school without worrying about bus fare, 3) Get to appointments, child care, or grocery stores without skipping meals to afford transit.
To conclude: Free Public Transit should be seen as a civil rights and economic justice intervention.
The Cost? How can San Francisco Bay Area pay for Free Transit throughout our large region?
ShareTheMoney.Institute estimates the cost as $1.5 billion annually. This sum can acquired via multiple strategies. Corvallis, Oregon, has had free public bus service since 2011, paid for by a $3.63 monthly fee added to each utility bill. Missoula, Montana, funds their fare-free Mountain Line transit system, via a property tax mill levy. Madison, Wisconsin’s transit is supported by general fund revenues, state and federal grants, and partnerships/sponsorships from local businesses and organizations.
Ideally, we’d like the funds to be obtained from the 37 local billionaires who, combined, have an approximate wealth of $885 billion. The $1.5 billion for free transit is only 0.17% of the local billionaire's wealth. Sponsorship from the ultra-wealthy would be ideal. Billionaires can view the “fair transit donation” they are asked to contribute not as punishment or an “envy tax”, but as their investment to create a municipality that is better for everyone, themselves included. They can pride themselves on instigating a world-leading, legacy-defining reform that will etch their names in history as leaders of a bold utopian reform.
Our motto: “we want to move freely around our beautiful bay”
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Hank Pellissier - Share The Money Institute
Reverend Gregory Stevens - Unitarian Universalist EcoSocialist Network
*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........* *..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*  Russia Confirms Jailing of Antiwar Leader Boris Kagarlitsky In a secret trial on June 5, 2024, the Russian Supreme Court’s Military Chamber confirmed a sentence of five years in a penal colony for left-wing sociologist and online journalist Boris Kagarlitsky. His crime? “Justifying terrorism” — a sham charge used to silence opponents of Putin’s war on Ukraine. The court disregarded a plea for freedom sent by thirty-seven international luminaries. Kagarlitsky, a leading Marxist thinker in Russia’s post-Soviet period, recently addressed socialists who won’t criticize Putin: “To my Western colleagues, who…call for an understanding of Putin and his regime, I would like to ask a very simple question. [Would] you want to live in a country where there is no free press or independent courts? In a country where the police have the right to break into your house without a warrant? …In a country which…broadcasts appeals on TV to destroy Paris, London, Warsaw, with a nuclear strike?” Thousands of antiwar critics have been forced to flee Russia or are behind bars, swept up in Putin’s vicious crackdown on dissidents. Opposition to the war is consistently highest among the poorest workers. Recently, RusNews journalists Roman Ivanov and Maria Ponomarenko were sentenced to seven, and six years respectively, for reporting the military’s brutal assault on Ukraine. A massive global solidarity campaign that garnered support from thousands was launched at Kagarlitsky’s arrest. Now, it has been revived. This internationalism will bolster the repressed Russian left and Ukrainian resistance to Putin’s imperialism. To sign the online petition at freeboris.info —Freedom Socialist Party, August 2024 https://socialism.com/fs-article/russia-jails-prominent-antiwar-leader-boris-kagarlitsky/#:~:text=In%20a%20secret%20trial%20on,of%20Putin's%20war%20on%20Ukraine. Petition in Support of Boris KagarlitskyWe, the undersigned, were deeply shocked to learn that on February 13 the leading Russian socialist intellectual and antiwar activist Dr. Boris Kagarlitsky (65) was sentenced to five years in prison. Dr. Kagarlitsky was arrested on the absurd charge of 'justifying terrorism' in July last year. After a global campaign reflecting his worldwide reputation as a writer and critic of capitalism and imperialism, his trial ended on December 12 with a guilty verdict and a fine of 609,000 roubles. The prosecution then appealed against the fine as 'unjust due to its excessive leniency' and claimed falsely that Dr. Kagarlitsky was unable to pay the fine and had failed to cooperate with the court. In fact, he had paid the fine in full and provided the court with everything it requested. On February 13 a military court of appeal sent him to prison for five years and banned him from running a website for two years after his release. The reversal of the original court decision is a deliberate insult to the many thousands of activists, academics, and artists around the world who respect Dr. Kagarlitsky and took part in the global campaign for his release. The section of Russian law used against Dr. Kagarlitsky effectively prohibits free expression. The decision to replace the fine with imprisonment was made under a completely trumped-up pretext. Undoubtedly, the court's action represents an attempt to silence criticism in the Russian Federation of the government's war in Ukraine, which is turning the country into a prison. The sham trial of Dr. Kagarlitsky is the latest in a wave of brutal repression against the left-wing movements in Russia. Organizations that have consistently criticized imperialism, Western and otherwise, are now under direct attack, many of them banned. Dozens of activists are already serving long terms simply because they disagree with the policies of the Russian government and have the courage to speak up. Many of them are tortured and subjected to life-threatening conditions in Russian penal colonies, deprived of basic medical care. Left-wing politicians are forced to flee Russia, facing criminal charges. International trade unions such as IndustriALL and the International Transport Federation are banned and any contact with them will result in long prison sentences. There is a clear reason for this crackdown on the Russian left. The heavy toll of the war gives rise to growing discontent among the mass of working people. The poor pay for this massacre with their lives and wellbeing, and opposition to war is consistently highest among the poorest. The left has the message and resolve to expose the connection between imperialist war and human suffering. Dr. Kagarlitsky has responded to the court's outrageous decision with calm and dignity: “We just need to live a little longer and survive this dark period for our country,” he said. Russia is nearing a period of radical change and upheaval, and freedom for Dr. Kagarlitsky and other activists is a condition for these changes to take a progressive course. We demand that Boris Kagarlitsky and all other antiwar prisoners be released immediately and unconditionally. We also call on the authorities of the Russian Federation to reverse their growing repression of dissent and respect their citizens' freedom of speech and right to protest. Sign to Demand the Release of Boris Kagarlitskyhttps://freeboris.infoThe petition is also available on Change.org *..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........* *..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........*..........* |
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Mumia Abu-Jamal is Innocent!
FREE HIM NOW!
Write to Mumia at:
Smart Communications/PADOC
Mumia Abu-Jamal #AM-8335
SCI Mahanoy
P.O. Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733
Join the Fight for Mumia's Life
Since September, Mumia Abu-Jamal's health has been declining at a concerning rate. He has lost weight, is anemic, has high blood pressure and an extreme flair up of his psoriasis, and his hair has fallen out. In April 2021 Mumia underwent open heart surgery. Since then, he has been denied cardiac rehabilitation care including a healthy diet and exercise.
He still needs more complicated treatment from a retinal specialist for his right eye if his eyesight is to be saved:
Donate to Mumia Abu-Jamal's Emergency Legal and Medical
Defense Fund
Mumia has instructed PrisonRadio to set up this fund. Gifts donated here are designated for the Mumia Abu-Jamal Medical and Legal Defense Fund. If you are writing a check or making a donation in another way, note this in the memo line.
Send to:
Mumia Medical and Legal Fund c/o Prison Radio
P.O. Box 411074, San Francisco, CA 94103
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Updates From Kevin Cooper
A Never-ending Constitutional Violation
A summary of the current status of Kevin Cooper’s case by the Kevin Cooper Defense Committee
On October 26, 2023, the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP wrote a rebuttal in response to the Special Counsel's January 13, 2023 report upholding the conviction of their client Kevin Cooper. A focus of the rebuttal was that all law enforcement files were not turned over to the Special Counsel during their investigation, despite a request for them to the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office.
On October 29, 2023, Law Professors Lara Bazelon and Charlie Nelson Keever, who run the six member panel that reviews wrongful convictions for the San Francisco County District Attorney's office, published an OpEd in the San Francisco Chronicle calling the "Innocence Investigation” done by the Special Counsel in the Cooper case a “Sham Investigation” largely because Cooper has unsuccessfully fought for years to obtain the police and prosecutor files in his case. This is a Brady claim, named for the U.S. Supreme court’s 1963 case establishing the Constitutional rule that defendants are entitled to any information in police and prosecutor's possession that could weaken the state's case or point to innocence. Brady violations are a leading cause of wrongful convictions. The Special Counsel's report faults Cooper for not offering up evidence of his own despite the fact that the best evidence to prove or disprove Brady violations or other misconduct claims are in those files that the San Bernardino County District Attorney's office will not turn over to the Special Counsel or to Cooper's attorneys.
On December 14, 2023, the president of the American Bar Association (ABA), Mary Smith, sent Governor Gavin Newsom a three page letter on behalf of the ABA stating in part that Mr.Cooper's counsel objected to the state's failure to provide Special Counsel all documents in their possession relating to Mr.Cooper's conviction, and that concerns about missing information are not new. For nearly 40 years Mr.Cooper's attorneys have sought this same information from the state.
On December 19, 2023, Bob Egelko, a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle wrote an article about the ABA letter to the Governor that the prosecutors apparently withheld evidence from the Governor's legal team in the Cooper case.
These are just a few recent examples concerning the ongoing failure of the San Bernardino County District Attorney to turn over to Cooper's attorney's the files that have been requested, even though under the law and especially the U.S. Constitution, the District Attorney of San Bernardino county is required to turn over to the defendant any and all material and or exculpatory evidence that they have in their files. Apparently, they must have something in their files because they refuse to turn them over to anyone.
The last time Cooper's attorney's received files from the state, in 2004, it wasn't from the D.A. but a Deputy Attorney General named Holly Wilkens in Judge Huff's courtroom. Cooper's attorneys discovered a never before revealed police report showing that a shirt was discovered that had blood on it and was connected to the murders for which Cooper was convicted, and that the shirt had disappeared. It had never been tested for blood. It was never turned over to Cooper's trial attorney, and no one knows where it is or what happened to it. Cooper's attorneys located the woman who found that shirt on the side of the road and reported it to the Sheriff's Department. She was called to Judge Huff's court to testify about finding and reporting that shirt to law enforcement. That shirt was the second shirt found that had blood on it that was not the victims’ blood. This was in 2004, 19 years after Cooper's conviction.
It appears that this ongoing constitutional violation that everyone—from the Special Counsel to the Governor's legal team to the Governor himself—seems to know about, but won't do anything about, is acceptable in order to uphold Cooper's conviction.
But this type of thing is supposed to be unacceptable in the United States of America where the Constitution is supposed to stand for something other than a piece of paper with writing on it. How can a Governor, his legal team, people who support and believe in him ignore a United States citizen’s Constitutional Rights being violated for 40 years in order to uphold a conviction?
This silence is betrayal of the Constitution. This permission and complicity by the Governor and his team is against everything that he and they claim to stand for as progressive politicians. They have accepted the Special Counsel's report even though the Special Counsel did not receive the files from the district attorney that may not only prove that Cooper is innocent, but that he was indeed framed by the Sheriff’s Department; and that evidence was purposely destroyed and tampered with, that certain witnesses were tampered with, or ignored if they had information that would have helped Cooper at trial, that evidence that the missing shirt was withheld from Cooper's trial attorney, and so much more.
Is the Governor going to get away with turning a blind eye to this injustice under his watch?
Are progressive people going to stay silent and turn their eyes blind in order to hopefully get him to end the death penalty for some while using Cooper as a sacrificial lamb?
An immediate act of solidarity we can all do right now is to write to Kevin and assure him of our continuing support in his fight for justice. Here’s his address:
Kevin Cooper #C65304
Cell 107, Unit E1C
California Health Care Facility, Stockton (CHCF)
P.O. Box 213040
Stockton, CA 95213
www.freekevincooper.org
Call California Governor Newsom:
1-(916) 445-2841
Press 1 for English or 2 for Spanish,
press 6 to speak with a representative and
wait for someone to answer
(Monday-Friday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. PST—12:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. EST)
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Resources for Resisting Federal Repression
https://www.nlg.org/federalrepressionresources/
Since June of 2020, activists have been subjected to an increasingly aggressive crackdown on protests by federal law enforcement. The federal response to the movement for Black Lives has included federal criminal charges for activists, door knocks by federal law enforcement agents, and increased use of federal troops to violently police protests.
The NLG National Office is releasing this resource page for activists who are resisting federal repression. It includes a link to our emergency hotline numbers, as well as our library of Know-Your-Rights materials, our recent federal repression webinar, and a list of some of our recommended resources for activists. We will continue to update this page.
Please visit the NLG Mass Defense Program page for general protest-related legal support hotlines run by NLG chapters.
Emergency Hotlines
If you are contacted by federal law enforcement, you should exercise all of your rights. It is always advisable to speak to an attorney before responding to federal authorities.
State and Local Hotlines
If you have been contacted by the FBI or other federal law enforcement, in one of the following areas, you may be able to get help or information from one of these local NLG hotlines for:
Portland, Oregon: (833) 680-1312
San Francisco, California: (415) 285-1041 or fbi_hotline@nlgsf.org
Seattle, Washington: (206) 658-7963
National Hotline
If you are located in an area with no hotline, you can call the following number:
National NLG Federal Defense Hotline: (212) 679-2811
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1) US Department of Agriculture says no food aid benefits will be issued next month
By Jasper Ward, October 26, 2025
A man loads his cart with groceries and toilet paper at the Community Table food pantry, weeks into the continuing U.S. government shutdown, in Arvada, Colorado, U.S. October 22, 2025. REUTERS/Mark Makela Purchase Licensing Rights
WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Saturday that food benefits under one of the country's biggest social assistance programs will not be issued next month amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.
The shutdown is now in its 25th day, with Republicans and Democrats in Congress remaining at an impasse over how to fund and reopen the federal government.
"Bottom line, the well has run dry," the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a post on its website. "At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 01."
More than 41 million depend on the monthly payments, according to the USDA. In some states, like New Mexico, dependence on the program is as high as 21% of residents, it said.
The agency's announcement came after more than 200 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday called on USDA to draw on its emergency reserves to fund November food benefits.
However, according to a memo seen by Reuters, the department indicated that it would not do so.
Governors in Louisiana and Virginia declared states of emergencies this week to make funds available to help with hunger relief in anticipation of SNAP benefits not being issued next month.
Reporting by Jasper Ward; Editing by Sonali Paul
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2) How Politics Is Changing the Way History Is Taught
History lessons are being wiped from the internet, and California is retreating from ethnic studies, as education swings away from curriculums that are seen as too progressive.
By Dana Goldstein, Oct. 27, 2025
In the Trump era, history and civics education are under a microscope.
Several major curriculum publishers have withdrawn products from the market, while others have found that teachers are shying away from lessons that were once uncontroversial, on topics as basic as constitutional limits on executive power.
California, the nation’s largest Democratic-led state, has passed a law restricting what teachers can say in the classroom, and has walked back an effort to require high school students to take classes in ethnic studies.
To supporters of these changes, they are a necessary corrective to what they see as a leftward tilt in the education establishment. But these developments have also set off alarms among free speech advocates, as the Trump administration pushes to punish speech it dislikes and to impose its patriotic vision of American history on schools.
Adam Laats, a historian of education at Binghamton University, noted that school curriculum had been restricted before, notably during the Red Scares of the last century. But the current political pressure is unique, he said: “Never before has this kind of fervor from the right owned the Oval Office.”
As recently as last year, many social studies teachers reported success in withstanding political pressure. Now, there is growing evidence that the landscape is shifting. In a September poll, more than half of the teachers who responded said that political pressure had caused them to modify their curriculums or classroom discussions, a sharp increase from March.
Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist who has led the push for changes in education, said President Trump’s return to office accelerated a cultural shift that was already underway. Over the last five years, more than 20 states have passed laws restricting classroom discussions on race, gender and American history.
“Even center-left Democrats are starting to pull away from left-wing ideologies they had endorsed a few years before,” he said. “The reason for this is quite simple. America has a center-right culture and the gap between the public and these elite ideologies became a political liability.”
Lesson Plans Are Disappearing
This spring, as Brown University was under intense pressure from the Trump administration, it shuttered Choices, the university’s 30-year-old high school social studies curriculum, overseen by its history department.
Choices reached one million students annually, and was especially popular in advanced courses and at independent private schools. The program was known for bringing college-level concepts into high schools and for lesson plans that were rich in primary sources, on topics from the American Revolution to the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
After the start of the Israel-Hamas War in 2023 and the rise of the pro-Palestinian campus protest movement — which was heavily active at Brown — Choices was scrutinized by advocacy groups supportive of Israel. Critics argued that a unit on the Middle East fed antisemitism by focusing on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and downplaying Palestinian terrorism against Israelis.
Now Choices materials have largely been wiped from the internet.
When Choices units were withdrawn from the market, teachers and students lost access to a broad range of lessons.Choices Program
Brown had been reconsidering Choices since the summer of 2024 for budgetary reasons. The final decision to shutter the program was made this past spring, as Brown faced a potential federal funding freeze. The White House eventually moved to withhold $510 million in grants, accusing Brown of allowing antisemitism to fester during campus protests. (The university has since made a deal with the government to restore its funding.)
Brian Clark, a Brown spokesman, said the closure of Choices was based “exclusively” on the program’s financial outlook, and had nothing to do with debates over its content or pressure from the White House. He acknowledged in an email, however, that the market for Choices materials had weakened, in part because of “recent pressures to eliminate curricula that consider race, gender, colonialism, etc.”
Brown decided not to allow other publishers to acquire Choices lesson plans, according to internal communications reviewed by The New York Times. It also declined to maintain the Choices archives on the university’s website, and refused to allow the program’s staff to distribute over $200,000 worth of lesson plans that had already been printed.
Doing so would have created “legal and financial exposure,” Mr. Clark said.
High school teachers, worried about losing access to materials that they relied on for years, have used social media to circulate some Choices units.
Another group that has withdrawn curriculum is the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit that historically focused on antisemitism and a broad range of other civil rights issues, while also strongly supporting Israel. The A.D.L.’s educational resources reach more than 1.6 million students annually, according to Todd Gutnick, a spokesman for the group.
Over the past two years, the A.D.L. has removed dozens of lesson plans from its website, according to a review of archived web content. Some were about transgender identity, sexism against women who have run for president and sexist tropes in video games.
The deleted lessons also included several that dealt with police violence against Black men, one on microaggressions, and a lesson on Frederick Douglass and voting rights.
In a written statement, Mr. Gutnick said that some of the lessons had been retired and others were “temporarily removed” for revisions.
A statement on the A.D.L.’s website says the group is choosing to focus its educational resources on antisemitism, the Holocaust and Jewish identity. “While we are no longer hosting many of our broader anti-bias resources, we remain deeply committed to fostering inclusive school communities,” it states.
Last year, the group phased out a 40-year-old program for schools called A World of Difference Institute, which sought to “actively challenge prejudice, stereotyping and all forms of discrimination.”
The A.D.L. continues to offer No Place for Hate, an anti-bullying curriculum that includes material on identity-based bias.
Teachers Are Avoiding Basic Civics
The organization iCivics was founded by Sandra Day O’Connor, the former Supreme Court justice, to provide free, nonpartisan curriculum materials. The group estimates that its lessons reach about nine million students annually.
This fall, though, staff members noted a significant decline — up to 28 percent — in the number of page views recorded for some popular lessons, including those dealing with separation of powers, consent of the governed and other constitutional principles.
iCivics does not yet have a full picture of why this is happening.
But Emma Humphries, the group’s chief education officer, said that in her travels across the country to train teachers, many have said they were fearful of having classroom discussions veer into politically fraught territory — like questions from students about why Mr. Trump appeared to be violating constitutional norms.
Social studies teachers typically receive much less training from their school districts than teachers of English and math, the subjects covered by state tests. As a result, some teachers may have had little guidance on how to tackle controversial topics.
Further complicating matters, many teachers work in states that have adopted broadly written laws that limit what can be said in the classroom.
iCivics offers training in how to teach students about American government without walking into political minefields, including by using primary sources like the Constitution and Supreme Court rulings. Dr. Humphries said teachers should explain to students that questions like the limits of presidential power have been debated for centuries, and that presidents from all parties have tried to stretch the limits to increase their authority.
“The concern is that teachers will avoid certain topics altogether, or just revert to boring pedagogy, like reading the textbook the district approved,” she said. “That is not a good way to teach. The kids deserve better than that, and our democracy deserves better.”
A Democratic-Led State Shifts Right
California was once a leader in adopting a left-leaning approach to social studies. In 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring all high school students to take a course in ethnic studies, an activist discipline that focuses on the histories and cultures of Latinos, Black Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans. Ethnic studies lessons often criticize settler colonialism, naming Israel as the prime contemporary example.
Research has shown that ethnic studies classes can raise attendance and grades for students who are at risk of dropping out.
But after some Jewish groups mounted a legal and political fight against ethnic studies — saying its critiques of Israel were fostering antisemitism — the consensus around the state’s mandate unraveled. This spring, Mr. Newsom presented and signed a budget that did not include funding for the classes. Districts are not currently required to offer the course, according to the state board of education.
In some school systems that are continuing to offer ethnic studies, there are new restrictions. San Francisco teachers must use a single textbook that does not discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Supplemental materials must be approved by administrators.
Mr. Newsom signed two bills this month that were intended to prevent antisemitism and other forms of discrimination in schools. The laws establish a state office to handle complaints, and require teachers to abstain from “advocacy, opinion, bias or partisanship” in the classroom.
Teachers’ unions, the American Civil Liberties Union and Muslim groups raised concerns about the potential for chilled speech and increased litigation. But the bills passed unanimously in the heavily Democratic legislature.
Mr. Rufo, the conservative activist, argued that the new laws do not threaten free speech, noting that public-school teachers do not have a legal right to academic freedom in their classrooms.
Kairi Hand, a 15-year-old sophomore at Burton Academic High School in San Francisco, said ethnic studies had been a favorite course. Israel was not a focus in her class, she recalled. What stayed with her, she said, were lessons on the Chinese Exclusion Act and the way in which the Disney movie “Pocahontas” differed from the true history of English encounters with Indigenous Americans.
She also understood why the class was controversial. “There is a lot of controversy going on in the whole world. Especially,” she said, “things taught in schools.”
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3) Diphtheria, a Once Vanquished Killer of Children, Is Resurgent
A Somali hospital ward packed with gasping children shows how war, climate and mistrust of vaccines is fueling the disease’s return.
By Stephanie Nolen, Reporting from Mogadishu, Somalia, Oct. 27, 2025
Dr. Mohamud Omar, a pediatrician examining a child’s tonsils in the diphtheria ward of Demartino Public Hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, last month. Brian Otieno for The New York Times
Qurraisha Mukhtar’s two youngest children fell sick in early September, with a fever, cough and short gasping breaths. Their throats turned white, their necks swelled. She asked a healer in the neighborhood for a remedy, but 1-year-old Salman’s struggle for air grew much worse one night and he died. The next day, Hassan, 2, began to choke, and he died, too.
Ms. Mukhtar, who lives with her family in a stick-and-tin shack on the edge of Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, could not sit and grieve, because two more of her children began to show signs of the same illness. She and her husband appealed to friends and relatives and scraped together the money to take them to a hospital in a three-wheeled taxi.
At Demartino Hospital in the center of the city, she was directed to a new building erected during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic. These days, it has been repurposed to respond to an old foe: diphtheria, a horrific and vaccine-preventable disease, which is infecting thousands of children and some adults too.
Diphtheria is caused by a bacteria that produces a powerful toxin that kills cells, usually in the throat and tonsils, creating a thick, gray membrane of dead tissue that can grow large enough to block the airway and cause suffocation. It is particularly dangerous in young children with small airways. If caught early, it can be treated effectively with antibiotics, but if not, cases can swiftly turn fatal.
It is among the diseases that were relics of prevaccine days but have resurged in recent years, with mass displacement driven by climate change and war. The disruptions in routine immunization that came with Covid and its stress on global health systems, and the rise in vaccine hesitancy, have fueled their spread.
There are large diphtheria outbreaks now in Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and Chad — countries with civil wars or large populations of refugees where vaccination coverage is low, surveillance is weak and frail health systems leave children undiagnosed or treated too late.
Diphtheria was once a major killer of children in the United States and other industrialized countries, but cases began to drop with the introduction of a diphtheria vaccine in the 1940s, and by the 1970s, the disease had become rare. There was just one case a year reported in the United States in the two decades after 1996, and only a handful since.
The disease was vanishing from developing countries, too, at the beginning of the 21st century. But cases began to resurge about 15 years ago. Venezuela had a major outbreak, when its once-strong public health system fell apart during years of political instability. Bangladesh had one, beginning in 2017, mostly among Rohingya refugees packed into crowded camps. There have been nearly 30,000 reported cases in Nigeria in the last two years, mostly in the country’s north, where vaccination coverage is lower.
There have also been cases in Europe in recent years, usually among young people who emigrated from Syria or Afghanistan and were not immunized.
In the United States, the few cases have been associated with travelers. However American vaccination rates have declined slowly but steadily for the last five years; 92 percent of kindergarten students nationally had full coverage with diphtheria vaccination in the 2024-25 school year, down from 95 percent in 2020. Achieving broad immunity requires at least 85 percent coverage.
A child is typically vaccinated against diphtheria with a five-in-one combination vaccine given at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age. If a child doesn’t get all three shots, protection is limited — and that’s often the problem for displaced and struggling families such as Ms. Mukhtar’s.
Katy Clark, an expert in diphtheria with Gavi, the international organization that helps low-income countries procure vaccines, said that as many as one in four children with diphtheria might die of the infection in countries where diagnostic and treatment options were limited. The fatality rate is closer to one in 20 in health systems with more resources, she said.
Somalia is the first country to apply to Gavi for new funding to give children diphtheria boosters — shots delivered to children in their second year of life, then between 4 and 7 years old and 9 to 15 years old — in areas where the outbreak has seemed most severe.
“We didn’t even have a diphtheria support modality, because we didn’t need one,” Ms. Clark said. “And now we have to build out a whole new process to help countries respond.”
Somalia’s current diphtheria outbreak has grown steadily since it began in 2023, with more than 2,000 cases reported across the country so far this year (although surveillance and reporting are both very weak, and Ms. Clark said this was most likely a significant undercount).
“The guiding principle of my work is ‘go there.’ I want to hear directly from the people who are affected by disease, or lack of access to a new drug. I’ve been writing about global health for 30 years and have reported from more than 80 countries.”
At Demartino Hospital in Mogadishu, nearly 1,000 patients have been admitted to the diphtheria ward this year, compared with 49 in 2024. Eighty percent of them are children.
A health system already undermined by decades of civil war has been further hampered by the loss of much of the assistance that came from the U.S. government, cut by the Trump administration. Diphtheria and other infectious diseases are surging as more children become critically malnourished amid a sharp drop in food aid.
Ms. Mukhtar and her family were displaced from Baidoa, in southern Somalia, by years of brutal drought. A family member in the city let them build their shack on his land.
She said that her 12 children had been vaccinated with at least some of their shots; she took them to health centers when they were small. But she had a lot of children to keep track of, and she cannot read, so she was not able to track their immunizations too closely.
The two children she brought to the hospital, a 3-year-old daughter and a severely malnourished 10-year-old son, recovered from their diphtheria infections. But Ms. Mukhtar incurred about $200 in costs for their tests and medications (the hospital operates on a “cost-recovery” basis; Somalia’s health ministry provides just a fraction of the funds it needs to operate).
In the large ward at Demartino, every one of the 34 beds was full, and some held a couple of children. Dr. Mohamud Omar, a pediatrician, made rounds monitoring their airways, making sure that the lumpy obstructions in their throats did not threaten their ability to breathe. He ordered supplemental oxygen for a few of them. Exhausted parents slumped at the end of the beds; many had four or five infected children to shuttle between.
Three of Amina Hassan’s children were admitted to the diphtheria ward in mid-September. The oldest and youngest of them improved after a few days, but her 4-year-old daughter still needed oxygen, and had proved to be allergic to the antibiotics that usually treat diphtheria. The hospital sometimes has access to the antitoxin that can neutralize the infection and is used in emergency treatment in high-income countries — but it often runs short, said Dr. Abdirahim Omar Amin, the hospital’s director.
Ms. Hassan said the children were not vaccinated: she wanted to have them immunized, she said, but when the oldest of her six children received the tuberculosis vaccine at birth, the injection site became infected, and after that her husband refused to allow the children to receive any shots.
She sat in a hospital bed with her 4-year-old in her lap and her 1-year-old, whose neck was still badly swollen, slumped against her back. “After this I am going to try to convince him to get them vaccinations, and I think he will agree,” she said of her husband.
Across the aisle from Ms. Hassan, Hawa Mahmoud was sitting between two beds that held three of her children. She was waiting for their father to arrive with three more, who had developed symptoms at home. The sickness has afflicted many students in her older children’s school in recent weeks, Ms. Mahmoud said. Now six of her seven children were infected; so far, the oldest had no signs, but she wasn’t optimistic. “They’re coming, one after the other,” she said.
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4) U.S. Assessment of Israeli Shooting of Journalist Divided American Officials
A U.S. colonel has gone public with his concern that official findings about the 2022 killing of a Palestinian American reporter were soft-pedaled to appease Israel.
By Vivian Yee, Reporting from Cairo, Oct. 27, 2025
After Shireen Abu Akleh, a celebrated Palestinian American journalist, was fatally shot in the West Bank in 2022, the State Department delivered an equivocal assessment.
While shots fired from Israeli military positions were “likely responsible,” it said, American officials “found no reason to believe that this was intentional.” The shooting, it said, was “the result of tragic circumstances.”
That statement outraged Palestinians and many others, who saw it as the latest instance of the Israeli military dodging accountability for Palestinian deaths. The United States never again publicly weighed in on Ms. Abu Akleh’s killing.
But the U.S. officials who closely examined the shooting were deeply divided over the Biden administration’s public conclusions, with some officials convinced that the shooting was intentional, according to five current and former U.S. officials who worked on the case.
There has been no conclusive evidence that the shooter knew he was targeting a journalist. Still, based on the circumstances of the shooting and the available evidence, these officials believed that the Israeli soldier must have been aware he was doing so. Other officials assigned to review the case, however, supported the U.S. government’s far more cautious assessment, the officials said.
One of those who opposed the Biden administration’s conclusion was Col. Steve Gabavics, a career military policeman with 30 years’ experience, including as the commandant of the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay. At the time of the shooting, he was an official at the Office of the United States Security Coordinator. That office, which facilitates cooperation between the Israeli and Palestinian security services, conducted the U.S. review of the shooting.
After Colonel Gabavics retired from the military in January, he went public — first in a documentary, and now in an interview with The New York Times — with his concerns that the U.S. government had soft-pedaled the office’s findings to appease the Israeli government.
He aired his views in a documentary released in May by Zeteo News, a left-leaning online news outlet, that publicly identified for the first time the Israeli soldier who shot Ms. Abu Akleh. But Colonel Gabavics was not named in the documentary; he is now speaking out openly for the first time.
Though the question of whether the shooting was intentional ignited disagreement within the office as a whole, the two officials who clashed most sharply over the shooting were Colonel Gabavics and his then-boss, Lt. Gen. Michael R. Fenzel, according to Colonel Gabavics and several other former officials involved in the examination.
That conflict culminated in Colonel Gabavics being sidelined from the U.S. review, the officials said. Colonel Gabavics said General Fenzel also threatened to dismiss him.
The four officials who spoke to The New York Times about the case — besides Colonel Gabavics — did so on the condition of anonymity because they remain employed by the government or military and are not permitted to speak publicly.
Colonel Gabavics was chief of staff to General Fenzel, who led the U.S. Security Coordinator liaison office at the time and helped draft the July 4, 2022, State Department statement attributing the shooting to “tragic circumstances.”
Colonel Gabavics said in an interview that he and his colleagues “were just flabbergasted that this is what they put out.”
That the U.S. government avoided calling it intentional, he said, “continued to be on my conscience nonstop.”
“The favoritism is always toward the Israelis. Very little of that goes to the Palestinians,” he said of his experience working in the office.
But General Fenzel was adamant that there was not enough evidence to rule out the possibility that the fog of war had led to an accidental killing, according to two of the officials.
“Ultimately, I had to make judgments based on the full set of facts and information available to me,” General Fenzel said in a statement to The New York Times. “I stand by the integrity of our work and remain confident that we reached the right conclusions.”
The four officials said they believed Colonel Gabavics was acting out of concern for what he saw as the truth.
For General Fenzel’s part, some officials said one factor that may have played into his thinking was a desire to preserve his office’s working relationship with the Israeli military, which had previously stopped cooperating when displeased.
Two of the officials, including one who served at the liaison office at the time of the shooting and a second who was working on Palestinian issues, said General Fenzel had sought to maintain the relationship while also pushing the Israeli military for reforms.
Examining the Shooting
The office where both General Fenzel and Colonel Gabavics worked, now known as the Office of the Security Coordinator, found itself examining the shooting after Israeli and Palestinian officials, who carried out their own independent investigations, refused to cooperate on a joint inquiry.
The F.B.I. initially declined to investigate because, according to Colonel Gabavics, it said it had not been requested to do so by Israel. With the Biden administration under pressure from lawmakers, the F.B.I. eventually opened its own investigation in November 2022. Nearly three years later, however, it has not released any findings, nor said when it might do so.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the Biden administration assigned General Fenzel’s team — which is not an investigative agency — to assess the case and write a report on the evidence.
To analyze the trajectory of the bullets, Colonel Gabavics and other colleagues were sent to examine the scene on the day Ms. Abu Akleh was killed, the colonel and other officials who worked on the review said.
A key part that the U.S. office played in the investigations was to take custody of the bullet that killed Ms. Abu Akleh and hand it to Israeli government ballistics experts for testing in the presence of the American officials, including General Fenzel. The Israeli experts also examined an Israeli Army rifle that the Israelis said a soldier had used to fire in Ms. Abu Akleh’s direction.
The 2022 State Department statement said that extensive damage to the bullet made it hard to draw a definitive conclusion about which gun it was fired from.
The U.S. team also reviewed the separate Israeli and Palestinian investigations into the killing, but it did not conduct interviews with witnesses or perform its own tests.
Colonel Gabavics described himself as the lead U.S. investigator on the case. Three others who worked on it, however, said that while he played a key role, he was not assigned to come up with a final judgment. That responsibility fell to General Fenzel.
Colonel Gabavics said he and others on the team agreed that the Israeli soldier who shot Ms. Abu Akleh must have known that he was shooting at a journalist, though they did not believe that the shooter was targeting Ms. Abu Akleh specifically.
Colonel Gabavics said he concluded the shooting was deliberate based on several factors:
Records of Israeli military radio traffic on the morning before the shooting showed that soldiers were aware of journalists in the area, he said. And there had been no gunfire coming from the journalists’ direction that might make the Israeli soldiers likely to shoot toward them in self-defense, he said.
There was an Israeli military vehicle down the road from Ms. Abu Akleh that morning. A sniper watching the road from inside the vehicle would have been able to see the journalists clearly, Colonel Gabavics said.
When he visited the scene of the shooting hours after it occurred, he said, his colleagues, wearing blue vests similar to Ms. Abu Akleh’s navy-blue protective vest marked “Press,” positioned themselves where she had fallen. They were visible to him from where the shooter’s vehicle had been, he said.
Colonel Gabavics said that the precision of the shots, hitting Ms. Abu Akleh’s head and a carob tree near her, did not suggest an uncontrolled spray of gunfire. That, together with the fact that the shooter fired first at Ms. Abu Akleh’s producer, then at her, then at a passerby who tried to help, indicated to him the shooting was deliberate, he said.
An investigation into the shooting by The New York Times in 2022 found that 16 shots were fired from the approximate location of the Israeli military convoy, most likely by a soldier from an elite unit.
For the shooting to be accidental, “the most absurd thing in the world” would have had to happen, he said. “The individual popped out of the truck, just was randomly shooting, and happened to have really well-aimed shots and never looked down the scope. Which wouldn’t have happened,” he said.
His assessment matched that of Palestinian officials. Israel, for its part, said that Ms. Abu Akleh was hit by either an Israeli soldier or a Palestinian gunman firing indiscriminately during clashes with Israeli soldiers, and insisted its soldiers would not intentionally hurt a journalist. Evidence reviewed by The Times for its investigation, however, showed that there were no armed Palestinians near Ms. Abu Akleh when she and her colleagues came under fire.
Colonel Gabavics said he shared his findings orally with General Fenzel and also wrote them into a draft of the office’s report on the shooting.
But General Fenzel disagreed, and shared his assessment with the State Department, which publicly deemed the shooting unintentional.
The office still had to finish its report on the shooting, however, and that became the focus of the internal tug of war.
Colonel Gabavics and three of the former officials at the office said he repeatedly inserted stronger language into the draft, which General Fenzel repeatedly deleted. Eventually, the general ordered his chief of staff off the case, the colonel said.
General Fenzel declined to comment on Colonel Gabavics’s assertions.
Colonel Gabavics continues to believe there had been a miscarriage of justice.
“This was the one that probably bothered me the most” of any case in his career, he said. “Because we had everything there.”
Susan C. Beachy contributed research.
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5) ICE Detains British Media Commentator
Sami Hamdi, who often speaks against Israel, was in the United States on a speaking tour. The Department of Homeland Security said his visa had been revoked.
By Claire Moses, Oct. 27, 2025
Sami Hamdi, a British commentator, at the Convention for Palestine in Illinois last November. The U.S. government has said he will be deported. Credit...Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu, via Getty Images
Sami Hamdi, a British political commentator and critic of Israel, was detained by immigration enforcement officers in the United States and will be removed, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, announced on Sunday.
“This individual’s visa was revoked and he is in ICE custody pending removal,” Ms. McLaughlin wrote, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Mr. Hamdi appeared to be the latest person to have an American visa revoked over political speech. Other cases have raised questions about First Amendment protections.
Mr. Hamdi is the managing director of the International Interest, an organization that “advises on geopolitical environments and risks across the globe,” according to its website. He has appeared as a commentator on the British television news channel Sky News and other outlets.
He had been on a speaking tour in the United States, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. He attended the organization’s annual gala on Friday night in Sacramento and was scheduled to speak at a gala in Florida on Sunday night.
Mr. Hamdi was detained at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday morning, according to CAIR, which called for his release. Mr. Hamdi is based in London, according to his LinkedIn account.
CAIR said in a statement that Mr. Hamdi had been detained “because he dared to criticize the Israeli government’s genocide” while on his speaking tour. It called the action “a blatant affront to free speech.”
CAIR has long been controversial in Washington, presenting itself as a champion of civil rights for Muslims in an era of Islamophobia yet regularly pilloried by many, especially on the political right, as an apologist for extremism.
“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” Ms. McLaughlin said in the social media post on Sunday.
Earlier this fall, judges rebuked Secretary of State Marco Rubio for taking similar actions against other pro-Palestinian activists. A judge in Massachusetts last month ruled that the Trump administration had used the threat of deportation to systematically silence noncitizens in academia who protested in support of Palestinians. He said the government had violated the First Amendment as part of a broader strategy to stamp out campus activism.
On its X account, the State Department reposted Ms. McLaughlin’s announcement about Mr. Hamdi and added: “We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who support terrorism and actively undermine the safety of Americans. We continue to revoke the visas of persons engaged in such activity.”
In August, the Trump administration said it had paused approvals of visitor visas for people from Gaza, including young children who arrived with serious medical conditions. That move came after an intense lobbying campaign by the right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who called the incoming flights a “national security threat.”
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6) Vaccine Skepticism Comes for Pet Owners, Too
Anti-vaccine sentiment is spilling over into veterinary medicine, making some owners hesitant to vaccinate their pets, even for fatal diseases like rabies.
By Emily Anthes and Teddy Rosenbluth, Oct. 27, 2025
A 2-year-old miniature dachshund named Dallas receiving leptospirosis and bordetella vaccines at the Wildflower Veterinary Hospital in Brighton, Colo. Jimena Peck for The New York Times
In the four years since she opened her own veterinary practice, Dr. Kelly McGuire has seen her fair share of heartbreaking cases.
There was the dog whose kidneys shut down after it contracted leptospirosis, a bacterial disease often carried by rodents. Several of her canine patients had come down with such severe cases of parvovirus that they died after “sloughing their guts to the point of dehydration and malnutrition,” said Dr. McGuire, who owns Wildflower Veterinary Hospital in Brighton, Colo. And, after she was unable to rule out rabies, she had been forced to euthanize a 20-week-old puppy that was having seizures.
The deaths were wrenching, especially because they were preventable: Those pets would likely have survived had they received all their recommended vaccines.
For most of her career, vaccination was a routine, unremarkable part of Dr. McGuire’s work as a small animal veterinarian. But after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, she found herself having long, sometimes adversarial discussions with pet owners about the safety and necessity of vaccines. Clients accused her of pushing the vaccines to line her own pockets. And, increasingly, pet owners insisted on spacing out shots or refused vaccines altogether, including for deadly and incurable viruses like rabies.
“I actually had someone scream and yell at us and storm out because we required rabies vaccines for her cats,” Dr. McGuire said, adding that the owner had accused her of trying to “kill her cats with vaccines.”
Over the last several years, the anti-vaccine movement has gained ground in the United States, fueled, in part, by the politicization of the Covid-19 vaccines and the increasing power of vaccine critics like Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Childhood vaccination rates have fallen. Once vanquished diseases, like measles, have come storming back. And vaccine mandates are under fire: Last month, Florida announced plans to end all vaccine mandates, including for schoolchildren.
But antipathy toward vaccines is also spilling over into veterinary medicine, making some people hesitant to vaccinate their pets.
“I talk to thousands of veterinarians every year across the country, and the majority are seeing this kind of issue,” said Dr. Richard Ford, an emeritus professor at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine who helped write the national vaccine guidelines for cats and dogs.
The phenomenon has clear parallels to the anti-vaccine movement in human medicine and could, experts fear, lead the nation down a familiar path, resulting in a loosening of animal vaccination laws, a decline in pet vaccination rates and a resurgence of infectious diseases that pose a risk to both pets and people.
“Are we going to start undoing mandates for rabies vaccinations?” said Simon Haeder, a health services and policy researcher at the Ohio State University who has studied veterinary vaccine hesitancy. “We’re kind of at a pivotal time here.”
Rising reluctance
There is little solid data on vaccination rates in American pets, but several recent studies suggest that a significant share of owners have concerns about vaccination.
In a 2023 survey, 52 percent of pet owners expressed some uncertainty about the safety, efficacy or importance of pet vaccination. Another survey, published the following year, estimated that 22 percent of dog owners and 26 percent of cat owners could be classified as vaccine hesitant.
Veterinary vaccine hesitancy, like its human counterpart, existed before the Covid-19 pandemic and has been driven by a variety of factors, including an increasing distrust of institutions and authority and the rise of social media.
But the pandemic supercharged anti-vaccine sentiment, experts agreed, further eroding trust in science and making vaccination a more political and salient issue.
“The way that people feel about the Covid-19 vaccine has changed the way they feel about all vaccines, including vaccines for their pets,” said Matt Motta, a health policy expert at Boston University who has studied public attitudes toward both human and animal vaccines.
Researchers have documented clear associations between the two; one study, in Brazil, reported that pet owners who had not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 themselves were more likely to have unvaccinated pets.
This spillover is not entirely surprising in a society where many people view their pets as full-fledged family members. “It makes perfect sense to me that they generalize from human vaccines to pet vaccines and come up with the same conclusions,” said Lori Kogan, a professor who studies human-animal interactions at Colorado State University.
Pet parallels
Veterinary medicine has also attracted its own crop of anti-vaccine influencers, who sow doubt about vaccines. In some cases, the fears are being fueled by the same organizations at the forefront of the human movement, including Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group founded by Mr. Kennedy. It recently published a book about what it called the “tremendous harm” caused by annual vaccines in pets.
Indeed, vaccine-hesitant pet owners express some of the same concerns that have become hallmarks of the human anti-vax movement. Some worry that pets receive too many vaccinations, believe that it’s better for pets to get immunity from the disease itself than from a vaccine, and express concern that vaccines could lead to cognitive and behavioral changes in their pets, including conditions like autism.
“It is out there — the concept of ‘pawtism,’” said Dr. Brennen McKenzie, a California-based veterinarian who runs SkeptVet, a blog about evidence-based veterinary medicine.
The concept has no scientific basis: The idea that vaccines cause autism in people has been repeatedly debunked, and autism is a diagnosis that does not exist in other species.
Still, concerns about vaccine safety and frequency are not entirely unfounded. Early formulations of the leptospirosis vaccine were associated with a higher risk of serious allergic reactions than other vaccines were, especially in small dogs. And in cats, shots can lead to injection-site sarcomas, a rare form of cancer.
But such serious side effects were never common, and the risks have fallen further in recent years, as vaccines were reformulated and vaccination protocols refined, experts said.
Vaccination guidelines, which once called for annual boosters of many vaccines, have also evolved as it became clear that some shots provided longer-lasting immunity. Today, many boosters are given every three years.
“There’s been a lot of change in vaccine practices in the last 20 years, which I think demonstrates that we’re always trying to come up with better, safer, more effective practices,” Dr. McKenzie said.
Overall, experts said, vaccine-hesitant owners tend to overestimate the risks of the vaccines and underestimate the risks of infectious disease. Part of the challenge for veterinarians mirrors a problem faced by pediatricians: Vaccination has been so effective that many pet owners don’t think of diseases like rabies and parvovirus as serious threats.
In fact, there are so many similarities between the pet and human anti-vaccine movements that Dr. McGuire belongs to a group of veterinarians and pediatricians who share stories and advice for handling the growing hesitancy.
“We do talk about how tired we get of having the same conversation over and over and over,” she said. “We’re just trying to save people’s dogs and cats.”
Disease risks
There is no centralized database of pet vaccination rates in the United States, and it remains unclear whether they have fallen in recent years. “We have a real data issue,” said Dr. Audrey Ruple, a veterinary epidemiologist at Virginia Tech. But, she said, “we will definitely know when disease starts to break through.”
Declining pet vaccination rates would not be a threat to animal health alone; several vaccine-preventable illnesses, including leptospirosis and rabies, can spread from pets to people. “Dogs are sharing our beds with us now,” said Dr. Steve Weinrauch, chief veterinary officer at Trupanion, a pet insurance company. “They’re kissing our children’s faces.”
Indeed, before health agencies launched mass-vaccination campaigns for pets in the mid-20th century, bites from rabid dogs caused most human rabies cases in the United States.
Most states require dogs to get rabies vaccines, but not all states do, and some mandates are stricter than others. With vaccine antipathy on the rise, Dr. Motta worries that officials may see a political advantage in rolling back these requirements.
“As we’ve seen very much over the past couple of months, health policy is dynamic,” Dr. Motta said. “It is subject to political motivations and orientations. It is a reflection of public opinion.”
Dr. Ford said he was encouraging vets to to get ahead of the problem: If they have learned anything from what has unfolded in human public health, it’s that dismissing concerns about vaccines does not make those concerns go away.
“There’s this mentality among some physicians and veterinarians to say, Get over it, just get the vaccine,” he said. “We’re trying to convince veterinarians to take these concerns seriously.”
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