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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.

Defector

Capital

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The Machines

Politics

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.

This Is So Stupid

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

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.

Going Off Script

Samer Kalaf

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

Interviews

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

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)

UCLA Chooses Violence Over Divestment

NYPD officers in riot gear enter Columbia University's encampment

The Outside Agitators On Campus Were The Police

The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University.

The Crackdown Explains The Protest

Dave McKenna

An illustration showing a figure run into and out of the frame.

Stories

When The Night You Didn’t Die Never Ends

An image from Jesse Hernandez's body cam footage

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

Lauren Theisen

Passengers wait in the TSA screening line

The TSA Has Thwarted My Anti-Groping Strategy

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


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.

The Stop Cop City Indictment Is An Act Of Desperation


<p>Dan McQuade was a founding member of Defector. He died in January 2026.</p>


Dan McQuade

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

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>


Dan Berger

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

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)

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>


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)

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>


Jonathan Ben-Menachem

Prison Abolition Is Pragmatic

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)

Cop City Is A Step Toward Cop Nation

Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Cop Who Killed Peyton Ham

Meet Richard Fritz, America’s Most Unelectable Elected Official

Georgia Cops Attempt Futile Drug Bust On Delaware State Lax Team, Then Lie About It

This December 13, 2012 photo shows Maryland State Troopers in their vehicle during an event at the US Department of Transportation in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/Karen BLEIER (Photo by KAREN BLEIER / AFP) (Photo by KAREN BLEIER/AFP via Getty Images)