Category: News

Bandera Camera War Erupts After ‘Deep State’ Device Gets Taken Out

Posted on by dirtysouth

February 25, 2026

One lone license-plate reader outside the Tractor Supply on State Highway 173 has turned Bandera into a battleground over surveillance. The Flock Safety camera the city installed there was vandalized and removed, and officials have now slammed the brakes on the rest of the rollout while police sort out what happened. That pause has supercharged an already tense debate, with residents packing a town hall last Wednesday to demand answers, push City Council to kill the project, and trade barbs over whether the cameras are a public-safety upgrade or flat-out “the deep state.”

The city has frozen additional camera installations “until after the vandalism investigation,” and officials said the question will go back to City Council once that probe is finished, according to MySA. City leaders told the crowd that only a single camera had been put up before it was damaged and taken down.

The city has frozen additional camera installations “until after the vandalism investigation,” and officials said the question will go back to City Council once that probe is finished, according to MySA. City leaders told the crowd that only a single camera had been put up before it was damaged and taken down.

Town Hall Becomes a Privacy Showdown

At the town hall, Flock Safety representative Kerry McCormack stressed that the cameras are meant to help law enforcement and, according to the company, do not scan faces, track vehicle speed or collect other categories of personal data, as reported by the Bandera Bulletin. Skeptical residents pressed McCormack on how the data is encrypted, where the hardware comes from and who ultimately controls the information.

Speakers compared the system to Big Brother and questioned whether audit logs and written policies would really stop abuse. Several people at the mic urged council members to scrap the Flock contract altogether before more cameras go up around town.

How the System Is Supposed to Work

Under Flock Safety’s own rules, images captured by its license-plate readers are owned by the customer agency, and the default setting automatically deletes that data after 30 days, according to Flock Safety. The company says that retention windows can be lengthened or shortened if local law requires it or if the customer signs off on a different timeframe.

Flock also states that the devices are designed to read rear license plates and that its system does not perform facial-recognition searches or pull in other types of personal information, per the company’s evidence policy.

National Surveillance Fights Spill Into Bandera

The Bandera dust-up is unfolding as Flock and similar tools draw scrutiny across the country. Amazon’s Ring recently scrapped a planned integration with Flock after public backlash to a Super Bowl commercial, according to TechCrunch. Meanwhile, cities around the United States have scaled back or reconsidered automatic license plate reader programs altogether, AP News reports.

That broader backlash has only fueled anxiety in small communities like Bandera, where residents are weighing the promise of crime-fighting technology against the risk of normalizing always-on surveillance.

What Comes Next for Bandera

According to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, Bandera officials say the initial round of cameras was funded through a Motor Vehicle Crime Prevention Authority grant administered by the agency, and that the purchase relied on grant money instead of general tax revenue, per TxDMV and local reporting. City Council members have pledged to revisit the proposal once the vandalism investigation wraps.

Residents, for their part, say they are not letting this drop. Opponents are already pushing for clear, written local rules on who can access camera data and how long it can be kept, insisting those protections be in place before any new Flock hardware is bolted back onto Bandera’s streets.

Via Mainstream News

cop shot and injured columbiana, alabama

Posted on by dirtysouth

February 14, 2026

A man is in custody after an officer-involved shooting in Columbiana Saturday.

According to Columbiana Police, officers responded a welfare check at the Columbiana Villas Saturday afternoon.

Police say during the welfare check, the suspect fired shots and officers returned fire. One officer was struck and was taken to a local hospital but has since been released. The other officer did not suffer any major injuries.

Via Mainstream News

New ICE locations in the South

Posted on by dirtysouth

CONFIRMED purchased warehouses:

10900 Hopewell Rd, Hagerstown, MD 21740 (capacity 1,500)

3619 Atlanta Hwy, Flowery Branch, GA 30542 (capacity 1,500)

542 SE Loop 410 Acc Rd, San Antonio, TX 78220 (capacity 1,500)

1365 E Hightower Trail, Social Circle, GA 30025 (capacity 8,500)

UNCONFIRMED proposed warehouses:

2070 Commercial Dr, Port Allen, LA 70767 (capacity 500) – Owned by CAP INDUSTRIAL PARK LLC (https://wbrassessor.azurewebsites.net/Details?parcelNumber=305200012800/0)

8660 Transport Dr, Orlando, FL 32832 (capacity 1,500) – Owned by BEACHLINE LOGISTICS CENTER LLC (https://ocpaweb.ocpafl.org/parcelsearch/Parcel%20ID/312336384900013)

950 I-45, Hutchins, TX 75141 (capacity 9,500)

New and expanded offices (from WIRED):

Washington, DC – Potomac Center North

Jacksonville, FL – One Enterprise Center

Miami, FL – One Riverview Square

Naples, FL – 75 Vineyards Boulevard

Orlando, FL – 12249 Science Drive

Sunrise, FL – 1551 Sawgrass Corporate Parkway

Alexandria, LA – 1201 Third Street

Cockeysville, MD – 201 International Circle

Hyattsville, MD – 6505 Belcrest Road

Cary, NC – 11000 Regency Lakeview

Charlotte, NC – Whitehall Corporate Center

Oklahoma City, OK – Corporate Tower

Columbia, SC – 1441 Main Street

Memphis, TN – 5904 Ridgeway Center Parkway

Nashville, TN – Estes Kefauver Federal Building

Nashville, TN – Nashville House Office Building

Eagle Pass, TX – 3381 US Highway 277

El Paso, TX – Epicenter Office Community

Harlingen, TX – 222 E. Van Buren Avenue

Irving, TX – 125 E. John Carpenter Freeway

San Antonio, TX – 15727 Anthem Parkway

The Woodlands, TX – 1700 Hughes Landing

Annandale, VA – Heritage Center

Richmond, VA – The Moorefield

Sterling, VA – Cabot Park

Submitted Anonymously

data centers incoming

Posted on by dirtysouth

DCFL BHM01, marketed as the Birmingham AI Factory, is a planned 300-megawatt data center to be operated by Nebius Group N.V. of Amsterdam on the site of the former Regions Lakeshore Operations Center at 201 Milan Parkway in the Oxmoor Corporate Park in Birmingham’s Oxmoor neighborhood.

Nebius acquired the former bank operations center and adjoining parcels totaling 75 acres for $90 million in 2025. Hoar Construction was awarded the contract for initial construction, which is expected to be completed in 2028. A demolition permit for the existing building was awarded in January 2026.

The company negotiated with Alabama Power Company for its electrical needs, and is constructing a power substation on site. The facility is designed to operate with a closed-loop cooling system, which would use significantly less water than the former banking center.

Nebius has projected that its operation would employ about 100 people, and would “generate $80 million annually for Birmingham City and Jefferson County Schools.” It also plans to offer its “TripleTen” online career training program to local grade schools. It has applied for sales and use tax abatement incentives from the Birmingham Industrial Development Board.

Source: https://bhamwiki.com/w/DCFL_BHM01

Data center developer snags Bham land for $90M: https://archive.ph/xCzvN

Nebius executive details billion-dollar plans for Birmingham AI factory: https://archive.ph/xCzvN

Submitted anonymously

Miami-Dade Woman Faces 11 Counts of Attempted Murder, Arson in Alleged Attack on Sheriff’s Office

Posted on by dirtysouth

January 25, 2026

A 36-year-old woman has been arrested for an alleged arson attack at a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office station, authorities confirmed. She faces 11 counts of second-degree attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and arson, according to the Miami Herald.

Officials reported that [name] purchased Tampico juice containers at an Exxon gas station on NE 79th Street, emptied and refilled them with gasoline, and pre-paid $5 for fuel. She then entered the MDSO Northside District Office, poured gasoline in the lobby, and ignited it, according to NBC Miami and the arrest affidavit. Deputy A. Young witnessed the incident at 2:12 p.m. and detained [name] after she left the building. Deputy J. Socarras extinguished the fire with a fire extinguisher, and no injuries were reported.

[Name] appeared in court yesterday and expressed a desire to plead guilty, but the judge denied bond. She is currently being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center awaiting further proceedings. Eleven deputies were inside the station at the time of the alleged arson.

Found on Mainstream News

Immigrant families detained in San Antonio-area lockup protest ICE detention of 5-year-old boy

Posted on by dirtysouth

January 25, 2026

Immigrant families protested Saturday inside a detention facility near San Antonio where federal authorities sent 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy Liam Conejo Ramos and his father after detaining them in Minneapolis last week.

Aerial photos captured by the Associated Press show parents and children at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley holding signs reading “Libertad para los niños,” or “Liberty for the kids” as they’re surveyed by guards. The lockup is located an hour southwest of the Alamo City.

“The message we want to send is for them to treat us with dignity and according to the law. We’re immigrants with children, not criminals,” Maria Alejandra Montoya Sanchez, 31, told the AP in a phone interview from the Dilley site. She and her 9-year-old daughter have been confined there since October.

Department of Homeland Security officials didn’t respond to the AP’s request for comment.

In videos shared on social media platform X, immigration attorney Eric Lee said detainees were protesting the treatment of Ramos, whose detention triggered a national uproar.

In the video clips, Lee explains he was ejected from the detention center while visiting a client held there. In the footage, inmates can he heard chanting “Let us go!” and “Libertad!” as the attorney films from the parking lot. Eventually, a detention center employee demands that he leave the premises altogether.

In one of the videos, Lee relates that he’d spoken to people inside the facility via phone and learned that around 80% of detainees, or a total of 1,500 people, participated in the demonstration.

“Guards are trying to physically block people from protesting — from joining the protest,” Lee says in the clip. “They’ve closed off a gate between two separate parts of the facility to prevent another section of the detention center from joining the protest. Up along the highway and on the roads, you can still see ICE, [Customs and Border Patrol] and county sheriffs’ vehicles traveling to this.”

As he closes out the video, Lee says he hopes the crackdown on the prisoners won’t turn violent.

ICE agents sent Ramos and his father to Dilley after detaining them outside their Minneapolis home. Family and neighbors maintain agents used the child as “bait” to convince his mother to open the door — an account ICE officials deny.

The South Texas Family Residential Center is the only family detention center currently operating in the U.S. Although the Biden White House shuttered it in 2024, President Donald Trump ordered it reopened when he returned for a second term.

Court testimony filed by immigrant advocacy group RAICES in July reported that Dilley detainees voiced concerns about lack of heath care, clean drinking water and the absence of adequate food. One detainee said her 9-month-old son lost more than 9 pounds during the first month of the family’s detention.

Found on Mainstream News

Response to the pro-war left’s “petition”

Posted on by dirtysouth

de.indymedia.org
December 25th, 2025

/ English / Ελληνικά / Românesc / Magyarul / Česky / Slovensky / yкраїнський / Русский / Español / Português / Français / Italiano / Dutch / Viimeistele / Deutsch /

A statement in support of Solidarity Collectives and ABC-Belarus has been published on the internet, signed by a number of groups and individuals[1]. We are publishing our response, which is not, however, a dialogue with these open and covert supporters of militarism. We simply want to share our analysis publicly and strengthen the connection between people with an anti-militarist and revolutionary defeatist perspective.

The statement to which we are responding was written by supporters of the war, who reproduce a binary narrative for this purpose: empathetic and supportive Eastern European anarchists versus arrogant and unsupportive anarchists from Western Europe. This narrative is false and manipulative. Those who share this narrative refuse to acknowledge that criticism of pro-war projects such as Solidarity Collectives and ABC-Belarus also exists within the anarchist milieu in Eastern Europe. The signatories of the statement ignore this anti-militarist tendency in their narrative or lie when they claim that these are Putinists or pro-Russian propagandists. They repeatedly claim that the “Eastern European voice” is overlooked in Western Europe, while they themselves overlook anti-militarist and anti-war voices from Eastern European regions. It should be added that these overlooked voices also come from a relatively large number of people directly from the war zone. By this we mean not only anarchist collectives, but also other working-class people who refuse to support the war efforts of “their” and neighboring states. Let’s look at how many people have deserted from the Russian and Ukrainian armies and how many people in both countries are avoiding mobilization[2]. Hundreds of thousands of people are ignored by this “radical left” that tells us it represents the voices of Eastern Europe and fights against the arrogance of the West. Their binary narrative is hypocritical. The contradiction is not between anarchists from the West and those from the East. There is only a contradiction between the revolutionary and counterrevolutionary tendencies, which exist in all regions.

We quote from their statement: “They are writing various kinds of “statements” condemning work in support of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion.”

We respond: We do not condemn resistance to the Russian invasion. We are not even opposed to armed struggle, as long as it does not replicate militaristic logic and is directed against states and their armies. However, we reject the strategy of conventional warfare and militaristic forms of struggle. From an anarchist perspective, resistance to the aggressive policies of one state (e.g., Russia) should not be a practical service in the defense of another state (e.g., Ukraine). We support autonomous resistance against Putinism and Russian imperialism, but also against the Zelensky regime and EU/NATO imperialism. This is anarchist resistance against war.

We quote from their statement: “We believe in the need for dialogue on controversial issues.”

We respond: They have long presented themselves as “experts in monologue”, but suddenly they pretend to be interested in dialogue. This is not at all convincing. People who deliberately avoid face-to-face dialogue, slander anarchists[3], engage in dangerous doxxing[4], and are verbally and physically aggressive[5] are collaborating on these projects. Some signatories also pressure other groups to prevent anti-militarists from attending anarchist events[6] or directly participate in sabotaging anti-militarist activities[7]. We believe that the call for dialogue is a manipulative political calculation in this context. They want to gain spaces in which they will receive money and resources for soldiers. We believe that they do not want to listen to criticism from their opponents and discuss controversial issues. Anarchists have repeatedly expressed critical analysis of their militaristic and pro-war tendencies in the past. There has been no self-reflection or acknowledgment of mistakes. So why insist on dialogue with them? It cannot be a constructive process.

We quote from their statement: “We do not consider the work of the “Solidarity Collectives” and “ABC-Belarus” to be in any way pro-war or supportive of state militarism.”

We respond: Both of these groups provide propaganda, financial, and material support to the soldiers of the Ukrainian army, which is at war with Russia. Why do the signatories of this statement refuse to acknowledge that the Ukrainian army and its soldiers are the embodiment of state militarism? There is no structure more militaristic than a state army. Why do these people refuse to acknowledge that they are defending a pro-war position when they support soldiers of the state army involved in the war? Is it insincerity, political manipulation, or do they fail to understand the basic context? They claim to be against militarism, but when soldiers desert the Ukrainian army or men in Ukraine are forcibly mobilized, they do not show practical solidarity with these people. They object to Russia’s militarism, but the militarism of Ukraine/NATO/EU is their main ally. We refuse to cooperate with them because they advocate cooperation with Western imperialism in its war against Russian imperialism. However, we also do not cooperate with those who cooperate with Russian imperialism, because this is not a constructive strategy that the working class could effectively use against American and European imperialism. We reject all one-sided anti-imperialism. We fight against all imperialist states and blocs.

The list of names and titles under the declaration is very long, but that does not mean it is significant. Socially revolutionary groups do not evaluate the quality of practice by quantitative measures. The number of signatures under a manipulative and deceitful statement does not make it a valuable document. Not even the biggest sum of socially reactionary and pro-war groups can never give rise to revolutionary anarchist practice.

The list of signatories to the aforementioned statement includes quite a few liars, manipulators, aggressors, collaborators with the far right[8], as well as dangerous doxxers and nationalists[9]. Groups such as Solidarity Collectives and ABC – Belarus discredit themselves by publicly declaring that they maintain contact with these controversial individuals. If they express concern that anarchists do not want to cooperate with them, this is actually a positive sign. While left-wing supporters of militarism are losing support, the revolutionary anarchist tendency is gaining the necessary energy.

– Some anarchists from Central Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans
anarchist_voices [a] riseup.net

NOTES:

[1]
https://www.solidaritycollectives.org/en/on-silencing-voices-from-eastern-europe-at-anarchist-events-in-eu/

[2]
Around 250,000 conscripts left Russia to avoid being forced to fight in the war, and more than 300,000 fled Ukraine.Moreover, in 2024 alone, the Russian war Ministry recorded 50,500 cases of desertion and unauthorized abandonment of a unit in a warring army. https://antimilitarismus.noblogs.org/post/2025/11/22/interview-with-anarcho-syndicalists-from-russia-on-mobilization-and-repression/

Pro-presidential MP Mariana Bezuhla stated on October 11 that the number of personnel who fled the Ukrainian army equaled the total number of personnel that there was before the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. A few days later, crime statistics emerged, showing that twice as many military servicemen had escaped this year than in the first two and a half years of the war. In total, nearly 290,000 criminal cases for SZCh and desertion were opened during the war. From January 2022 to September 2024, there were nearly 90,000 cases. This means that over the past year alone, an additional 200,000 were opened. It is important to underscore that we are not talking about the number of fugitive persons, but only about the number of registered criminal cases. https://libcom.org/article/ukraine-sporadic-resistance-war-first-hotbeds-collective-struggle

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]
Here is some footage from the head of a demonstration in Brussels which was co-organized by one of the official signatories of this appeal, Anarchist Collective Antwerp (Belgium)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeYzkjv1CFY

In English the slogans which were marched behind are “Glory to the Nation! Death to its enemies!” and “Ukraine above all!” (adopted from ‘Deutschland uber alles!”). So yeah, it must be a complete mystery as to why these groups are having so much trouble spreading their ideas at anarchist events…

Via Anonymous Submission

Ex-Marine arrested in connection to Turtle Island Liberation Front – New Iberia, Louisiana

Posted on by dirtysouth

December 16, 2025

The FBI arrested another suspected member of the Turtle Island Liberation Front over allegations that [she] was plotting a terrorist attack in Louisiana. 

[Name], 29, “intended to travel to New Orleans to carry out an attack by means of weapons,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit. [She] is being charged with one count of making threats in interstate commerce. 

Earlier this month, [name] was under surveillance by the FBI due to accusations that [she] was affiliated with four individuals recently charged in court with plotting multiple New Year’s Eve terrorist attacks across Los Angeles for TILF.

When [name] was stopped by law enforcement on a Louisiana highway on Friday, the former Marine had an assault-style rifle, pistol, gas canister, and body armor in [her] car, according to court papers.

[Name] served as a New Iberia police officer before being placed on administrative leave in May 2022 and resigning that fall. 

[She] now stands accused of being connected to TILF, an extremist group that perpetuates Marxist ideology advocating “liberation through decolonization and tribal sovereignty” and argues that “freeing the world from American imperialism is the only way to a safe and peaceful future.” The Trump administration has described TILF as a “far-left, pro-Palestine, anti-government, and anti-capitalist group.”

The Justice Department also charged four alleged TILF members on Monday with planning to launch terrorist attacks in Los Angeles later this month.

The plan called for backpacks with bombs to be simultaneously detonated in at least five locations targeting two unnamed U.S. companies, described as “logistic centers,” at midnight on New Year’s Eve, according to the agency. The group also allegedly discussed attacking Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles with pipe bombs in January or February “to take some of them out and scare the rest of them.”

The four suspects were testing bomb-making components in the Mohave Desert when the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested them, according to officials.

Found on Mainstream News

River North “Correctional” Center: Rest in Piss, Jeremy Lewis Hall!

Posted on by dirtysouth

December 5, 2025

At a prison facility not far from the (supposedly) New River, a tributary of the Kanawha River: in September, incarcerated people set fires, including to their own bodies, in response to their conditions of captivity. The prison managers respond by locking down the unit where the fires took place, for 2 months. The 2 months pass: one of the jailers, Jeremy Hall, is killed. Repression breeds resistance. (Warden Kevin McCoy is in charge of the prison; Chadwick Dotson is the overseer of all prisons in the “Virginia” colony.)

Some sources: This reformist report; this campaign update on medical oppression in the prison; this repulsive LinkedIn post; maps of Appalachia; this profile of Chad.

•••••

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