December 18, 2025 • 24 mins
Today's show topics include Trump's Refusal to Rule Out Summary Executions + How The FBI Infiltrated BLM Protests to Undermine the Movement
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Civic Cipher studios. Welcome to the QR Code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes. The
man you are about to hear from is a man
who says the thumbs up the like on a text
is the same as an out right yes in a
group chat.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
He's a Q in the QR code. He goes by
the name q War.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The voice that you just heard posed a yes or
no question. I believe a thumbs up to a yes
or no question is a yes, so he is correct.
He is also the R in the QR code, and
he goes by the name ramses Jah.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And we need you to stick around a little later
on in the show. Oh this sounds so funny. Now
we're gonna ask the question how do you break up
with a friend.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
We're not talking about each other, but stay tuned. We're
gonna share some stories. Isn't that funny.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Before we get there, Qboard is going to clap back
talking about people being less educated and miseducated. So we're
going to have an elementary breakdown of societal frameworks from
Qward himself. We're going to share our opinions about how
the FBI infiltrated BLM protests to undermine that movement. That
(01:18):
is kind of the inception point, the origin story of
this program, which traces its roots back to our more
syndicated show, the QR Code, I'm sorry, Civic Cipher, and
so this whole movement was born out of the BLM movement,
and so it's interesting to see these things come to light.
But yeah, the FBI was infiltrating Mattin up to their
(01:40):
old triggery tricks again, and we're going to talk about that.
We're going to start off by talking about how the
Trump administration is refusing to rule out summary executions and
just how scary that is because you don't think about
it until they say it and then you're like, oh
my god, that's on the menu. So all that and
much more, but as always, we are going to start
(02:02):
off with a feel good feature, some ebony excellence. This
comes from the b I in seven black women have
launched campaigns for US Senate seats in twenty twenty six,
marking a surge that could shatter long standing representation records.
Only five black women have ever served in the Senate
currently over and only Sorry Angela also Brooks of the
(02:26):
Democrat from Maryland, and Lisa Blunt Rochester, the Democrat from Delaware,
hold Senate seats, making this the first time two black
women have served simultaneously. Even one victory in twenty twenty
six would set a new record. Among the candidates who
could make history in the Senate is Representative Jasmine Crockett,
the Democrat from Texas, a second term congresswoman and vocal
critic of the Trunk administration, who was challenging Senator John
(02:48):
corn the Republican from Texas. A victory would make Crocketts
Texas's first ever black US Senator. In Illinois, both Lieutenant
Governor Juliana Stratton, the Democrat, and republic Republican Robin Kelly, Democrat,
are running for the open seat of retiring Senator Dick Durbin.
Either would become the first black woman to represent Illinois
(03:09):
in the Senate since Carol Moseley Sorry Carol Moseley Brown,
who left office in nineteen ninety nine. State Representative Pamela Stevenson,
the Democrat from Kentucky, a retired Air Force colonel, is
seeking to succeed retiring Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican win
would make Stevenson Kentucky's first black member of Congress. In Mississippi,
(03:29):
Priscilla Williams, a social justice advocate and cousin of him
at Till, is challenging Senator Cindy Hyde Smith. The state
hasn't elected a black senator since reconstruction in the eighteen seventies.
Nikayla Jasmine Thomas has launched a bid in Oklahoma against
Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. If elected, she would be Oklahoma's
first black Senator. And Catherine Fleming Bruce is seeking South
(03:53):
Carolina Sea, challenging Senator Lizney Graham. With the victory, Bruce
would make history as the first black woman to represent
the state in the Senate. All seven and it's we'll
have to compete in democratic primaries. With general elections set
for November twenty twenty six, civil rights and women's advocacy
groups are already mobilizing around fundraising and voter registration in
hopes of yielding a historic twenty twenty six elections. So yeah,
(04:14):
really excited about things to come. And around here we
are fans of representation and diversification.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
So godspeed ladies, all.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Right, So Trump refuses to rule out summary execution.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
So Q sent this over to our group chat.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
So I'm going to make sure that you have plenty
of time to share your thoughts and why you wanted
to share this with the people. But we're going to share,
as is often the case, an article that kind of
describes paints the picture a little bit better. We're going
to use an article that we don't normally use, and
(04:54):
you may not have heard of it before, but we're
going to give you the whole because we have to
do additional levels of research in order to bring you
this content. So this comes from the intercept and we
went behind the curtain. We could kind of tell, but
you know, just so we could deliver this too. Went
behind the curtain to determine the intercepts media bias, and
(05:14):
so we'll go ahead. Q.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
I just wanted to because I don't want us to
confuse people. Raman. We're using a source that we don't
typically use, not an article that we don't typically use.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Okay, yeah, okay, thank you. Okay, So the bias rating
is left. They have a score of six point eight.
They're reported as being mostly factual at two point four.
If that doesn't mean anything to you, you're welcome to
look this up yourself. They're based in the United States,
whether or not the you know the source, the country
(05:48):
of origin is free or like state controlled or whatever.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
It's listed as mostly free being from the US.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
It's a website, it's not print or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I used to just say instead of mostly free. I'm
sure that's changed under this regime. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I
bet it did. Use to say free, but now it's
mostly free, very good traffic slash popularity. It's high traffic
website and MF sorry, MBFC credibility rating is high credibility.
So you now know what we know about the intercept
(06:19):
as it's been determined to be highly credible and mostly factual.
So I will now share the article with you. President
Donald Trump has shattered the limits of executive authority by
ordering the summary executions of individuals he deems members of
designated terrorist organizations. He has also tested the bounds of
(06:40):
his presidential powers by creating a secret list of domestic
terrorist organizations. Established under National Security Presidential Memorandum seven or
NSPM seven. Are Americans that the federal government deemed to
be members of domestic terrorist organizations subject to extra judicial
killings like those it claims are members of designated terrorist organizations.
(07:02):
The White House, Justice Department and Department of War have
for more than a month failed to answer this question.
Lagmakers and other government officials tell the Intercept that sorry,
the pregnant silence by the Trump administration has become especially
worrisome as the death toll mounts from attacks on alleged
members of designated terrorist organizations in the Caribbean Sea and
(07:24):
Pacific Ocean, and as Trump himself makes ever more unhinged
threats to imprison or execute his political adversaries. Last month,
members of Congress spoke up against Trump's increasingly authoritarian measures
when a group of Democratic lawmakers posted a video on
social media in which they reminded military personnel that they
are required to disobey illegal orders. This led to Trump.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Sorry.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
This led to a Trump tirade that made the White
House's failure to dismiss the possibility of summary executions of
Americans even more worrisome. Mark Kelly is at the center
of this right here, because he was part of that video.
That's another story. We kind of touched on it, but
you know, if you've been following that would make that
live in your mind.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I'll continue.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Quote this is really bad unquote, the President wrote on
true social he goes on to write and dangerous to
our country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. Seditious
behavior from traders. This is all capitalized, by the way,
with three exclamation points. Lock them up, question mark, question mark,
question mark unquote. A follow up post read quote seditious
(08:29):
behavior that is also in caps. Punishable by death. Death
is in all caps with an exclamation point unquote. Trump
also reposted a comment that said quote hang them George
Washington would with two exclamation points. And that's the end
of that quote. That was all capitalized as well.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Here's another quote.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
What's most telling is that the president considers it punishable
by death for us to restate the law unquote. The
six lawmakers Senators Elissa Slotkin, Mark Kelly and Reps Jason Crowe,
Chris de Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Chrissy Pulahan, all of
them former members of the armed forces or the intelligence community,
(09:07):
replied in a joint statement quote, every American must unite
and condemn the President's cause for our murder and political violence.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Trump later claimed he did not call for the lawmaker's executions. Again,
I want to go back up and read his own words.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Where did it go?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Follow up post read quote seditious behavior that's in all caps,
punishable by death with an exclamation point. Death is in
all caps, and that's the end of the quote.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Okay, cut. This obviously.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Stirred up some thoughts, and I know you wanted to
share those thoughts with me and with our listeners.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Let's say ye.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Before I respond at some point before we get off
the air today, I want us to run what people
would consider a credible source or a more popular or
well known source through that same scrutiny, so people can
hear baseline would be.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I'll get started on that right now.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
But I want to pause on something important here because
some people would raise the question why would anyone even
care about these hypothetical concerns? Why is it such a
big deal? And the answer is simple. Hypotheticals become very
dangerous when you attach them to what has become a pattern.
This administration has repeatedly demonstrated willingness to ignore norms. You
(10:27):
and I talked about this recently with regards to what
we do not on air, so they've kind of right
in our faces, stretched authority and tested constitutional boundaries with impunity,
and they like they seem like they will just sort
(10:49):
out the legality of their decisions later. But since no
one's holding them accounted before, they don't even have to
do that. So when they refuse to rule something out,
that refuse isn't happening in a vacuum, right, Like, We're
not talking about something theoretical for a government with a
pristine record that has shown restraint. We're talking about an
(11:11):
administration that has already carried out lethal actions and open
waters without public evidence, without judicial review, and without transparency
about who and why they were targeting people, who those
people were, what they say they did, no evidence at all,
(11:31):
no transparency at all. And yes, those actions were justified
under national Security framework. But here's the problem. Once you
flatly justify lethal force and make it normal without due process,
just because it's happening abroad doesn't mean it could not
(11:54):
reasonably start happening here. So when the White House has
asked a very basic but serious question, hey, can you
categorically rule out summary executions of US citizens? And the
answer is either silence or deflection. That's not reassurance. That
(12:17):
is fuel. Refusing to rule out something is not a
neutral position when power has already shown that it's comfortable
operating in legal let's say gray areas using that context.
Ambiguity isn't caution. They're not being careful. That's leverage. They're
(12:42):
trying to keep from putting their foot in their mouths.
So let's be clear. A public discomfort isn't you being paranoid.
This isn't hysteria, it's pattern recognition. It's people connecting the
dots between this grossly expanded executive power blurred lines between
(13:02):
war and policing in a constant disregard for transparency.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I e.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Like I said, what's going on in the in and
around Venezuela and right within our borders with Ice. So
it'd be easy if this administration one of these concerns
to stop. The solution is not mocking the people who
are asking the questions, is dismissive hypotheticals. Do the one
thing they keep refusing to do, clearly state where the
(13:31):
line is and then commit to never crossing that line.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Before we move on, I want to make sure that I.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Share what this media bias factor check source that we use.
So Fox News is considered between the right and the
far right or right and extreme.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
They are considered uh low.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
In terms of factual reporting, they're considered low, not very
low because that's the lowest, but they're considered low mostly factuals.
In the center they're considered and then there's mixed, and
then there's low, and then there's very low.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
They're considered low, so it's towards the bottom.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Overall, we rate Fox News right bias based on editorial
positions that aligned with the right and questionable due to
the promotion of state propaganda, conspiracy theory, pseudoscience, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Low credibility.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Country is mostly free again, USA, high traffic, same things
they're They're there for you to see. And then I
also looked at CNN just to make sure that we're
keeping it the same. CNN is rated left, center, mostly factual,
the country, of course USA mostly free. CNN is medium credibility.
So this website that we cited for the previous story
(14:52):
is actually the intercept rather is high credibility versus CNN's
medium credit credibility and Fox News is low credibility.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
All right, let's move on the BLM protest again. That
was kind of where we got our start. This is
kind of an interesting story to share with you. I
want to make sure that I get to as much
as I can, so I'm going to start. This is
from CBS News. The FBI worked to undermine racial justice
(15:27):
protests and other actions in Denver in twenty twenty. A
new podcast alleges this is an older article, so forgive
it how it sounds, but we're going to bring you
up to day, up to date. Quote sorry unquote. Alphabet Boys,
that's the name of the show. Alphabet Boys, a ten
episode documentary podcast from Western Sound and iHeart Podcast, debut
Tuesday and details efforts from the FBI to infiltrate and
(15:49):
undermine the racial justice movement following the police killing of
George Floyd. The podcast is based on hours of secret
FBI undercover recordings regarding a paid informant will allegedly encourage,
encouraged violence and instruction, and attempted to set up unsuspecting
activist in crimes. Quote Federal law enforcement caused violence and
instruction in the summer of twenty twenty unquote.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Said zeb Bodios.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Zeb Hall, a racial justice activist in Denver whose story
is told in the podcast goes on to say the
FBI and the FBI's informant was a criminal who pushed
activist toward violence as part of an attempt by the
federal government to undermine our political movement from within. The
podcast alleges, among other things, the following the FBI recruited
Michael Mickey Windecker, a violent felon with a sexual assault conviction,
(16:35):
and paid him tens of thousands of dollars during the
summer of twenty twenty to pose as a racial justice activist.
The informant became a leader in the Denver racial justice
movement and promoted protests that turned violent and destructive. As
part of this effort, the FBI went on to try
to set up a racial justice activist in Colorado Springs.
A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field office declined to
(16:56):
comment for the story and referred questions to the FBI's
national officer. The FBI's National Press Office did not respond
to a quest per comment. A quote one time non
confidential human source payment receipt unquote shared with CBS News
Colorado appears to show a payment of five hundred dollars
from the FBI to win Decker in twenty twenty. This
(17:17):
is CNN's words. They say that they reviewed the document
but were unable to confirm it. Additional reporting from the
podcast producers, which include leaked documents, undercover recordings, and interviews
with Colorado based protesters who interacted with wind Decker, identified him.
Podcast producers said Colorado court records show felony convictions for
assault and menacing, among other charges, as well as a
(17:40):
protection order against wind Decker granted in a sexual assault case.
One phone number listed for wind Decker was disconnected. A
text message seeking comment to another was met with a
wrong number response. CBS News Colorado did not receive a
response to an email listed as belonging to win Decker.
Now that's the d the CBS article. I want to
(18:02):
share a social media supplementary social media clip that I
think tells a little bit more about what was going
on here.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
So here we go.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
The FBI hired an informant to infiltrate the twenty twenty
Black Lives Matter protests, instigate violence, and entrap activists and crimes.
According to an investigative journalist, informant Michael Vindecker was reportedly
paid at least twenty thousand dollars to spy on protesters
in Denver and turn peaceful protests into violent ones. He
gained the trust of protesters and eventually became a leader
(18:31):
in the movement and accused the real leaders of working
with the authorities while also setting up others to be arrested.
Trevor Aronson is the host of the podcast Alphabet Boys,
which covers how the FBI infiltrated racial justice protests in
the summer of twenty twenty. Aronson says the FBI used
counter terrorism tactics against protesters.
Speaker 5 (18:48):
The FBI used informants or undercover agents to put together
terrorism plots that then they could attract people to be
a part of, then foil them and announce to the
public and terrorism plot foiled. It had been theory that
I'd had that they were using these types of tactics
that had been perfected during the War on Terror against protesters,
but I couldn't prove it. It was something that I
(19:09):
was searching for evidence of, and then finally a source
was able to provide me with these records and these
recordings that showed how the FBI had taken a violent
fellon and used him as an informant.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
The tactics are similar to another program that the FBI
used from the nineteen fifties to the early seventies, called
the counterintelligence Program or cointel Pro. Under cointel Pro, the
FBI used informists to discredit, spy on and disrupt political
and civil rights organizations in the US. Targets included the
Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and doctor Martin
(19:43):
Luther King Junior. The intelligence was used to break up marriages,
disrupt meetings, cast out people from their professions, and provoked
targeted groups into conflicts that, in some cases even resulted
in death. In nineteen seventy six, the actions taken under
Cointel Pro were found to be illegal and reforms were
passed to regular government surveillance and eternal guidelines. But that
all changed after nine eleven.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
The FBI was granted enormous powers post nine eleven to
pursue and find would be terrorists, and twenty years later,
what we're finding is that many of those powers and
practices are now being applied against political activists and non terrorists.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
With its restored powers, the FBI was able to have
its informant infiltrate the Denver racial justice movement. The Bureau
incentivized Vin Decker to manufacture crimes that Aronson explained likely
would have never happened without his disruption. Whin Decker eventually
went so far as to try and get activists to
assassinate the Attorney General of Colorado, but none of them
will go along with it.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
And so in the case of Denver, what we have
is an informant going in spying on Americans who are
not committing crimes, and then also encouraging Americans to commit
violence that without the government's agent they likely would not
have done at all. Would there have been as much
violence were it not for the government agent pushing for
that violence, coouraging that violence. That's not something we can
(21:02):
fully measure. But I do think it's quite troubling that
we even have to ask the question how much of
the government's behavior in an undercover capacity resulted in some
of the violence that we saw.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
We got a couple of minutes any reflections, Q.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Man, you have to ask yourself why something like quintelpro
was so problematic, And I think what happened post nine
to eleven answers that question for us, right like expanding
the government's powers, resources, reach, accessibility in the name of
(21:45):
public safety, in the name of national security, because they
know that a people will surrender its freedoms to feel safe.
It's the same reason why research shows in neighborhoods eve
the neighborhoods that are black, where black people are violently,
unarmed and killed by police, those same communities still vote
(22:08):
for more police because they think that means more safe. So,
using the guise of national security, governments have been able
to take advantage of its citizens and have its citizens
laid down its rights to privacy and allow more access
in the name of safety. And why they do that
(22:32):
is so straightforward and so unsurprising. Right Like the article
that you read in the audio that we heard, they
both tell the story for us. These are things that
we knew, but they're given more credibility so we're not
treated like paranoid fearmongerers. These things really happened, and the
government funded spying on its own citizens, creating the problem,
(22:58):
solving the problem, and pointing to it as something that
they've done heroic or that we should celebrate or be
proud of.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Sadly, tractics like this work.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yeah, the same thing can be said about you know,
doctor King and the Panthers and Malcolm X and you know,
I know they have files on you know, Angela Davis,
and you know that's a long list of people that
got chased out of this country, or you know, James
Baldwin ended up moving overseas and you know all that
(23:35):
sort of stuff. When we when people say that we
have a victim complex or we're imagining things, it's it's
kind of crazy. And they think that all that happened
was slavery and the war on drugs, and it's like
there's so much in between that they're not considering, and
the fact that it's still happening is wild.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
But we're doing what we can, which is telling people
the truth. Stay tuned. We will be back on more
after this
Broadcasting from the Civic Cipher studios. Welcome to the QR Code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes. The
man you are about to hear from is a man
who says the thumbs up the like on a text
is the same as an out right yes in a
group chat.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
He's a Q in the QR code. He goes by
the name q War.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The voice that you just heard posed a yes or
no question. I believe a thumbs up to a yes
or no question is a yes, so he is correct.
He is also the R in the QR code, and
he goes by the name ramses Jah.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
And we need you to stick around a little later
on in the show. Oh this sounds so funny. Now
we're gonna ask the question how do you break up
with a friend.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
We're not talking about each other, but stay tuned. We're
gonna share some stories. Isn't that funny.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Before we get there, Qboard is going to clap back
talking about people being less educated and miseducated. So we're
going to have an elementary breakdown of societal frameworks from
Qward himself. We're going to share our opinions about how
the FBI infiltrated BLM protests to undermine that movement. That
(01:18):
is kind of the inception point, the origin story of
this program, which traces its roots back to our more
syndicated show, the QR Code, I'm sorry, Civic Cipher, and
so this whole movement was born out of the BLM movement,
and so it's interesting to see these things come to light.
But yeah, the FBI was infiltrating Mattin up to their
(01:40):
old triggery tricks again, and we're going to talk about that.
We're going to start off by talking about how the
Trump administration is refusing to rule out summary executions and
just how scary that is because you don't think about
it until they say it and then you're like, oh
my god, that's on the menu. So all that and
much more, but as always, we are going to start
(02:02):
off with a feel good feature, some ebony excellence. This
comes from the b I in seven black women have
launched campaigns for US Senate seats in twenty twenty six,
marking a surge that could shatter long standing representation records.
Only five black women have ever served in the Senate
currently over and only Sorry Angela also Brooks of the
(02:26):
Democrat from Maryland, and Lisa Blunt Rochester, the Democrat from Delaware,
hold Senate seats, making this the first time two black
women have served simultaneously. Even one victory in twenty twenty
six would set a new record. Among the candidates who
could make history in the Senate is Representative Jasmine Crockett,
the Democrat from Texas, a second term congresswoman and vocal
critic of the Trunk administration, who was challenging Senator John
(02:48):
corn the Republican from Texas. A victory would make Crocketts
Texas's first ever black US Senator. In Illinois, both Lieutenant
Governor Juliana Stratton, the Democrat, and republic Republican Robin Kelly, Democrat,
are running for the open seat of retiring Senator Dick Durbin.
Either would become the first black woman to represent Illinois
(03:09):
in the Senate since Carol Moseley Sorry Carol Moseley Brown,
who left office in nineteen ninety nine. State Representative Pamela Stevenson,
the Democrat from Kentucky, a retired Air Force colonel, is
seeking to succeed retiring Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican win
would make Stevenson Kentucky's first black member of Congress. In Mississippi,
(03:29):
Priscilla Williams, a social justice advocate and cousin of him
at Till, is challenging Senator Cindy Hyde Smith. The state
hasn't elected a black senator since reconstruction in the eighteen seventies.
Nikayla Jasmine Thomas has launched a bid in Oklahoma against
Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. If elected, she would be Oklahoma's
first black Senator. And Catherine Fleming Bruce is seeking South
(03:53):
Carolina Sea, challenging Senator Lizney Graham. With the victory, Bruce
would make history as the first black woman to represent
the state in the Senate. All seven and it's we'll
have to compete in democratic primaries. With general elections set
for November twenty twenty six, civil rights and women's advocacy
groups are already mobilizing around fundraising and voter registration in
hopes of yielding a historic twenty twenty six elections. So yeah,
(04:14):
really excited about things to come. And around here we
are fans of representation and diversification.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
So godspeed ladies, all.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
Right, So Trump refuses to rule out summary execution.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
So Q sent this over to our group chat.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
So I'm going to make sure that you have plenty
of time to share your thoughts and why you wanted
to share this with the people. But we're going to share,
as is often the case, an article that kind of
describes paints the picture a little bit better. We're going
to use an article that we don't normally use, and
(04:54):
you may not have heard of it before, but we're
going to give you the whole because we have to
do additional levels of research in order to bring you
this content. So this comes from the intercept and we
went behind the curtain. We could kind of tell, but
you know, just so we could deliver this too. Went
behind the curtain to determine the intercepts media bias, and
(05:14):
so we'll go ahead. Q.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
I just wanted to because I don't want us to
confuse people. Raman. We're using a source that we don't
typically use, not an article that we don't typically use.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Okay, yeah, okay, thank you. Okay, So the bias rating
is left. They have a score of six point eight.
They're reported as being mostly factual at two point four.
If that doesn't mean anything to you, you're welcome to
look this up yourself. They're based in the United States,
whether or not the you know the source, the country
(05:48):
of origin is free or like state controlled or whatever.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
It's listed as mostly free being from the US.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
It's a website, it's not print or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
I used to just say instead of mostly free. I'm
sure that's changed under this regime. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I
bet it did. Use to say free, but now it's
mostly free, very good traffic slash popularity. It's high traffic
website and MF sorry, MBFC credibility rating is high credibility.
So you now know what we know about the intercept
(06:19):
as it's been determined to be highly credible and mostly factual.
So I will now share the article with you. President
Donald Trump has shattered the limits of executive authority by
ordering the summary executions of individuals he deems members of
designated terrorist organizations. He has also tested the bounds of
(06:40):
his presidential powers by creating a secret list of domestic
terrorist organizations. Established under National Security Presidential Memorandum seven or
NSPM seven. Are Americans that the federal government deemed to
be members of domestic terrorist organizations subject to extra judicial
killings like those it claims are members of designated terrorist organizations.
(07:02):
The White House, Justice Department and Department of War have
for more than a month failed to answer this question.
Lagmakers and other government officials tell the Intercept that sorry,
the pregnant silence by the Trump administration has become especially
worrisome as the death toll mounts from attacks on alleged
members of designated terrorist organizations in the Caribbean Sea and
(07:24):
Pacific Ocean, and as Trump himself makes ever more unhinged
threats to imprison or execute his political adversaries. Last month,
members of Congress spoke up against Trump's increasingly authoritarian measures
when a group of Democratic lawmakers posted a video on
social media in which they reminded military personnel that they
are required to disobey illegal orders. This led to Trump.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Sorry.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
This led to a Trump tirade that made the White
House's failure to dismiss the possibility of summary executions of
Americans even more worrisome. Mark Kelly is at the center
of this right here, because he was part of that video.
That's another story. We kind of touched on it, but
you know, if you've been following that would make that
live in your mind.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
I'll continue.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Quote this is really bad unquote, the President wrote on
true social he goes on to write and dangerous to
our country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. Seditious
behavior from traders. This is all capitalized, by the way,
with three exclamation points. Lock them up, question mark, question mark,
question mark unquote. A follow up post read quote seditious
(08:29):
behavior that is also in caps. Punishable by death. Death
is in all caps with an exclamation point unquote. Trump
also reposted a comment that said quote hang them George
Washington would with two exclamation points. And that's the end
of that quote. That was all capitalized as well.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Here's another quote.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
What's most telling is that the president considers it punishable
by death for us to restate the law unquote. The
six lawmakers Senators Elissa Slotkin, Mark Kelly and Reps Jason Crowe,
Chris de Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Chrissy Pulahan, all of
them former members of the armed forces or the intelligence community,
(09:07):
replied in a joint statement quote, every American must unite
and condemn the President's cause for our murder and political violence.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Trump later claimed he did not call for the lawmaker's executions. Again,
I want to go back up and read his own words.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Where did it go?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Follow up post read quote seditious behavior that's in all caps,
punishable by death with an exclamation point. Death is in
all caps, and that's the end of the quote.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Okay, cut. This obviously.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Stirred up some thoughts, and I know you wanted to
share those thoughts with me and with our listeners.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Let's say ye.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Before I respond at some point before we get off
the air today, I want us to run what people
would consider a credible source or a more popular or
well known source through that same scrutiny, so people can
hear baseline would be.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
I'll get started on that right now.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
But I want to pause on something important here because
some people would raise the question why would anyone even
care about these hypothetical concerns? Why is it such a
big deal? And the answer is simple. Hypotheticals become very
dangerous when you attach them to what has become a pattern.
This administration has repeatedly demonstrated willingness to ignore norms. You
(10:27):
and I talked about this recently with regards to what
we do not on air, so they've kind of right
in our faces, stretched authority and tested constitutional boundaries with impunity,
and they like they seem like they will just sort
(10:49):
out the legality of their decisions later. But since no
one's holding them accounted before, they don't even have to
do that. So when they refuse to rule something out,
that refuse isn't happening in a vacuum, right, Like, We're
not talking about something theoretical for a government with a
pristine record that has shown restraint. We're talking about an
(11:11):
administration that has already carried out lethal actions and open
waters without public evidence, without judicial review, and without transparency
about who and why they were targeting people, who those
people were, what they say they did, no evidence at all,
(11:31):
no transparency at all. And yes, those actions were justified
under national Security framework. But here's the problem. Once you
flatly justify lethal force and make it normal without due process,
just because it's happening abroad doesn't mean it could not
(11:54):
reasonably start happening here. So when the White House has
asked a very basic but serious question, hey, can you
categorically rule out summary executions of US citizens? And the
answer is either silence or deflection. That's not reassurance. That
(12:17):
is fuel. Refusing to rule out something is not a
neutral position when power has already shown that it's comfortable
operating in legal let's say gray areas using that context.
Ambiguity isn't caution. They're not being careful. That's leverage. They're
(12:42):
trying to keep from putting their foot in their mouths.
So let's be clear. A public discomfort isn't you being paranoid.
This isn't hysteria, it's pattern recognition. It's people connecting the
dots between this grossly expanded executive power blurred lines between
(13:02):
war and policing in a constant disregard for transparency.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
I e.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Like I said, what's going on in the in and
around Venezuela and right within our borders with Ice. So
it'd be easy if this administration one of these concerns
to stop. The solution is not mocking the people who
are asking the questions, is dismissive hypotheticals. Do the one
thing they keep refusing to do, clearly state where the
(13:31):
line is and then commit to never crossing that line.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
Before we move on, I want to make sure that I.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Share what this media bias factor check source that we use.
So Fox News is considered between the right and the
far right or right and extreme.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
They are considered uh low.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
In terms of factual reporting, they're considered low, not very
low because that's the lowest, but they're considered low mostly factuals.
In the center they're considered and then there's mixed, and
then there's low, and then there's very low.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
They're considered low, so it's towards the bottom.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Overall, we rate Fox News right bias based on editorial
positions that aligned with the right and questionable due to
the promotion of state propaganda, conspiracy theory, pseudoscience, et cetera.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
Low credibility.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
Country is mostly free again, USA, high traffic, same things
they're They're there for you to see. And then I
also looked at CNN just to make sure that we're
keeping it the same. CNN is rated left, center, mostly factual,
the country, of course USA mostly free. CNN is medium credibility.
So this website that we cited for the previous story
(14:52):
is actually the intercept rather is high credibility versus CNN's
medium credit credibility and Fox News is low credibility.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
All right, let's move on the BLM protest again. That
was kind of where we got our start. This is
kind of an interesting story to share with you. I
want to make sure that I get to as much
as I can, so I'm going to start. This is
from CBS News. The FBI worked to undermine racial justice
(15:27):
protests and other actions in Denver in twenty twenty. A
new podcast alleges this is an older article, so forgive
it how it sounds, but we're going to bring you
up to day, up to date. Quote sorry unquote. Alphabet Boys,
that's the name of the show. Alphabet Boys, a ten
episode documentary podcast from Western Sound and iHeart Podcast, debut
Tuesday and details efforts from the FBI to infiltrate and
(15:49):
undermine the racial justice movement following the police killing of
George Floyd. The podcast is based on hours of secret
FBI undercover recordings regarding a paid informant will allegedly encourage,
encouraged violence and instruction, and attempted to set up unsuspecting
activist in crimes. Quote Federal law enforcement caused violence and
instruction in the summer of twenty twenty unquote.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Said zeb Bodios.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Zeb Hall, a racial justice activist in Denver whose story
is told in the podcast goes on to say the
FBI and the FBI's informant was a criminal who pushed
activist toward violence as part of an attempt by the
federal government to undermine our political movement from within. The
podcast alleges, among other things, the following the FBI recruited
Michael Mickey Windecker, a violent felon with a sexual assault conviction,
(16:35):
and paid him tens of thousands of dollars during the
summer of twenty twenty to pose as a racial justice activist.
The informant became a leader in the Denver racial justice
movement and promoted protests that turned violent and destructive. As
part of this effort, the FBI went on to try
to set up a racial justice activist in Colorado Springs.
A spokesperson for the FBI's Denver Field office declined to
(16:56):
comment for the story and referred questions to the FBI's
national officer. The FBI's National Press Office did not respond
to a quest per comment. A quote one time non
confidential human source payment receipt unquote shared with CBS News
Colorado appears to show a payment of five hundred dollars
from the FBI to win Decker in twenty twenty. This
(17:17):
is CNN's words. They say that they reviewed the document
but were unable to confirm it. Additional reporting from the
podcast producers, which include leaked documents, undercover recordings, and interviews
with Colorado based protesters who interacted with wind Decker, identified him.
Podcast producers said Colorado court records show felony convictions for
assault and menacing, among other charges, as well as a
(17:40):
protection order against wind Decker granted in a sexual assault case.
One phone number listed for wind Decker was disconnected. A
text message seeking comment to another was met with a
wrong number response. CBS News Colorado did not receive a
response to an email listed as belonging to win Decker.
Now that's the d the CBS article. I want to
(18:02):
share a social media supplementary social media clip that I
think tells a little bit more about what was going
on here.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
So here we go.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
The FBI hired an informant to infiltrate the twenty twenty
Black Lives Matter protests, instigate violence, and entrap activists and crimes.
According to an investigative journalist, informant Michael Vindecker was reportedly
paid at least twenty thousand dollars to spy on protesters
in Denver and turn peaceful protests into violent ones. He
gained the trust of protesters and eventually became a leader
(18:31):
in the movement and accused the real leaders of working
with the authorities while also setting up others to be arrested.
Trevor Aronson is the host of the podcast Alphabet Boys,
which covers how the FBI infiltrated racial justice protests in
the summer of twenty twenty. Aronson says the FBI used
counter terrorism tactics against protesters.
Speaker 5 (18:48):
The FBI used informants or undercover agents to put together
terrorism plots that then they could attract people to be
a part of, then foil them and announce to the
public and terrorism plot foiled. It had been theory that
I'd had that they were using these types of tactics
that had been perfected during the War on Terror against protesters,
but I couldn't prove it. It was something that I
(19:09):
was searching for evidence of, and then finally a source
was able to provide me with these records and these
recordings that showed how the FBI had taken a violent
fellon and used him as an informant.
Speaker 4 (19:23):
The tactics are similar to another program that the FBI
used from the nineteen fifties to the early seventies, called
the counterintelligence Program or cointel Pro. Under cointel Pro, the
FBI used informists to discredit, spy on and disrupt political
and civil rights organizations in the US. Targets included the
Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and doctor Martin
(19:43):
Luther King Junior. The intelligence was used to break up marriages,
disrupt meetings, cast out people from their professions, and provoked
targeted groups into conflicts that, in some cases even resulted
in death. In nineteen seventy six, the actions taken under
Cointel Pro were found to be illegal and reforms were
passed to regular government surveillance and eternal guidelines. But that
all changed after nine eleven.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
The FBI was granted enormous powers post nine eleven to
pursue and find would be terrorists, and twenty years later,
what we're finding is that many of those powers and
practices are now being applied against political activists and non terrorists.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
With its restored powers, the FBI was able to have
its informant infiltrate the Denver racial justice movement. The Bureau
incentivized Vin Decker to manufacture crimes that Aronson explained likely
would have never happened without his disruption. Whin Decker eventually
went so far as to try and get activists to
assassinate the Attorney General of Colorado, but none of them
will go along with it.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
And so in the case of Denver, what we have
is an informant going in spying on Americans who are
not committing crimes, and then also encouraging Americans to commit
violence that without the government's agent they likely would not
have done at all. Would there have been as much
violence were it not for the government agent pushing for
that violence, coouraging that violence. That's not something we can
(21:02):
fully measure. But I do think it's quite troubling that
we even have to ask the question how much of
the government's behavior in an undercover capacity resulted in some
of the violence that we saw.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
We got a couple of minutes any reflections, Q.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
Man, you have to ask yourself why something like quintelpro
was so problematic, And I think what happened post nine
to eleven answers that question for us, right like expanding
the government's powers, resources, reach, accessibility in the name of
(21:45):
public safety, in the name of national security, because they
know that a people will surrender its freedoms to feel safe.
It's the same reason why research shows in neighborhoods eve
the neighborhoods that are black, where black people are violently,
unarmed and killed by police, those same communities still vote
(22:08):
for more police because they think that means more safe. So,
using the guise of national security, governments have been able
to take advantage of its citizens and have its citizens
laid down its rights to privacy and allow more access
in the name of safety. And why they do that
(22:32):
is so straightforward and so unsurprising. Right Like the article
that you read in the audio that we heard, they
both tell the story for us. These are things that
we knew, but they're given more credibility so we're not
treated like paranoid fearmongerers. These things really happened, and the
government funded spying on its own citizens, creating the problem,
(22:58):
solving the problem, and pointing to it as something that
they've done heroic or that we should celebrate or be
proud of.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Sadly, tractics like this work.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yeah, the same thing can be said about you know,
doctor King and the Panthers and Malcolm X and you know,
I know they have files on you know, Angela Davis,
and you know that's a long list of people that
got chased out of this country, or you know, James
Baldwin ended up moving overseas and you know all that
(23:35):
sort of stuff. When we when people say that we
have a victim complex or we're imagining things, it's it's
kind of crazy. And they think that all that happened
was slavery and the war on drugs, and it's like
there's so much in between that they're not considering, and
the fact that it's still happening is wild.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
But we're doing what we can, which is telling people
the truth. Stay tuned. We will be back on more
after this
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