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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

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Defector

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Barry Petchesky

A small group of demonstrators protests outside the entrance of Dodger Stadium on the night of the team's June 19 game.

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Policing

The Dodgers Can’t Sit This Moment Out

Robert Pastore

New York correctional officers and sergeants continue their strike for a second week outside of the Coxsackie Correctional Facility on February 28, 2025 in Coxsackie, Greene, New York.

New York Prison Guards Strike Over Proclaimed Unsafe Working Conditions

What The Corrections Officer Strike Means To Incarcerated People Like Me

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Samer Kalaf

A Miami-Dade police officer grabs Tyreek Hill from behind during his detainment

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Body Cam Footage Shows Miami-Dade Police Unnecessarily Escalating Tyreek Hill’s Traffic Stop

Dave McKenna

Peyton Ham, a 16-year-old from Leonardtown, Md, stands next to his grandfather, Keith Raley, while doing tree clearing work. Two days after this photo was taken Ham was shot and killed by a Maryland State Police trooper.

Peyton Ham and grandfather

U.S. Court Of Appeals Rules Against Cop Who Killed Peyton Ham

Maryland State Police troopers bowing their heads on stage during a graduation ceremony in 2019.

Lt. Governor Boyd K. Rutherford will speak at the graduation ceremony for the Maryland State Police 149th Trooper Candidate Class in Reisterstown, MD.

How Qualified Immunity Protects Cops Who Kill

Federal Appeals Court Questions Handling Of Case Against Cop Who Killed Peyton Ham


<p>Investigations Editor. You can contact her at diana@defector.com or dfmoskovitz@protonmail.com. She&#8217;s also on Signal @dmoskovitz.99</p>


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Diana Moskovitz

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MAY 17: Louisville police badge is seen during the second round of PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on May 17, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky.

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Louisville Police Have Very Little To Say

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Tom Ley

Scottie Scheffler arrives to the course during the second round of PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on May 17, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky.

PGA Championship

This Is So Stupid

Officer’s Pants Tragically Struck Down In Confrontation With Scottie Scheffler

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Golf

Don’t Worry, Scottie Scheffler Will Make His Tee Time. He Just Had To Get Arrested Real Quick

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<div class="p-rich_text_section">Tom Scocca is the editor of <a href="http://indignity.net">Indignity</a>, a subscription-supported newsletter of news, essays, and commentary.</div>
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Tom Scocca

An NYPD officer in riot gear looms over a student protestor on the ground and appears to be gripping her arm.

Columbia encampment

Margin Of Error

Going Off Script

A line of police at City College during pro-Gaza demonstrations

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Interviews

A City College Student Journalist Shares What He Saw During The NYPD Crackdown

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Patrick Redford

Counter protesters attack pro-Palestinian protesters at a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as clashes erupt, in Los Angeles on May 1, 2024. Clashes broke out on May 1, 2024 around pro-Palestinian demonstrations at the University of California, Los Angeles, as universities around the United States struggle to contain similar protests on dozens of campuses. (Photo by ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP)

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Politics

UCLA Chooses Violence Over Divestment

NYPD officers in riot gear enter Columbia University's encampment

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The Outside Agitators On Campus Were The Police

The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University.

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The Crackdown Explains The Protest

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Stories

When The Night You Didn’t Die Never Ends

An image from Jesse Hernandez's body cam footage

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Cop Empties Clip On Suburban Street After Hearing Acorn Strike His Car

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Lauren Theisen

Passengers wait in the TSA screening line

Christmas Holiday Travel 2023 at Orlando International Airport

The Machines

The TSA Has Thwarted My Anti-Groping Strategy

<p>Micah Herskind is an organizer, policy advocate, and writer based in Atlanta, GA.</p>


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Micah Herskind

Environmental activists hold a rally and a march through the Atlanta Forest, a preserved forest Atlanta that is scheduled to be developed as a police training center, March 4, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. Intent upon stopping the building of what they have called cop city, the environmentalists were evicted from the forest in January, resulting in the killing by police of Manuel Teran, a young activist and medic.

Environmental Activists Reoccupy Atlanta Forest

The Stop Cop City Indictment Is An Act Of Desperation


<p>Visual Editor. Runs <a href="http://defectorstore.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">defectorstore.com</a>. Philadelphia-based, if you couldn’t tell.</p>


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Dan McQuade

BOSTON, MA - November 11: City Hall plaza under construction on November 11, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Life's Rich Pageant

The Boston Cop Slide Fail Video Has Been Investigated Thoroughly, But I Have More Questions

<p>Dan Berger teaches at the University of Washington Bothell and writes about activism, Black Power, and the carceral state. His latest book is <em>Stayed on Freedom: The Long History of Black Power Through One Family’s Journey</em>.</p>


IAS Associate Professor Dan Berger

Dan Berger

Chicago School Closings Protest

Capital

In The Fight For Justice, The Police Can Only Be On One Side

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Laura Wagner

Protesters face off with a line of police officers during a rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols outside the LAPD headquarters, in Los Angeles, California, on January 27, 2023. - The US city of Memphis released January 27, 2023 graphic video footage depicting the fatal police assault of a 29-year-old Black man, as cities nationwide braced for a night of protests against police brutality. Five Memphis officers, also all Black, were charged with second-degree murder in the beating of Tyre Nichols, who died in hospital on January 10 three days after being stopped on suspicion of reckless driving. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP)

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Journalist Ben Camacho On Facing Petty LAPD-Driven Lawsuit: “It’s The Biggest Gaslight Of My Life”

<p>Nicholas Russell is a writer from Las Vegas.</p>


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Nicholas Russell

Hundreds of people gather in streets in freezing temperatures Monday evening to protest the killing of Tyre Nichols, in Chicago, United States on January 30, 2023. (Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Tyre Nichols protest in Chicago

The Stories We Tell Ourselves To Live

<p>Jonathan Ben-Menachem is a PhD student in Sociology at Columbia University, where he researches the politics of criminalization. He has written about similar topics for the Washington Post, Slate, The Appeal, and more.</p>


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Jonathan Ben-Menachem

Rally And March To Close Rikers Island

Prison Abolition Is Pragmatic

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Israel Daramola

ATLANTA, USA - JANUARY 21: Firefighters work to extinguish a fire after an Atlanta police vehicle was set on fire during a "Stop cop city" protest in Atlanta, Georgia, United States on January 21, 2023. Multiple buildings were vandalized and an Atlanta police vehicle was set on fire as multiple arrests were made. (Photo by Benjamin Hendren/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Stop cop city protest in Atlanta

Cop City Is A Step Toward Cop Nation

16 Year Old Fatally shot By Maryland State Trooper

Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Cop Who Killed Peyton Ham