Jen Rice

@jenrice

Reporter @democracydocket.com // from the floodplain // bad at sleeping // Texan in DC // signal: jenrice.77 // rice@democracydocket.com

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Jen Rice@jenrice· 27d

This is a great example of when news outlets help the Trump administration sow doubt in elections by circulating rumored claims without checking them

Tweet from Jennifer Jacobs: BREAKING via @CBSNews: Part of Trump's speech Thursday night will touch on previously unreported Chinese meddling in U.S. elections, sources told me. Some evidence shows Beijing compromised U.S. voter data -- and evidence the CIA knew about the action and didn't share that information with Trump during his first term, per sources.
Cabinet officials are expected to be in the audience during his remarks.
Among those invited are the heads of CIA, FBI, ODNI and DHS, as well as other agencies and staff. Some cabinet members will not be there due to scheduling conflicts, I'm told.

Jen Rice@jenrice· 27d

If "the FBI and DHS have agreed to work with DPS/the Rangers in assisting with the ongoing investigation" then how is that an independent investigation

Letter from DPS to HPD describing how the Texas Rangers will be involved in investigating the fatal ICE shooting

Jen Rice@jenrice· 28d

I can't help but wonder if HPD is somehow refusing to investigate ICE. This is what the president of the Houston Police Officers Union tweeted at me on Saturday

There is nothing he can do. Pay attention, take a civics class, educate yourself. Local politics can’t stop the federal government. Reach out to your congressman and representatives, leave city council to handle our local issues!

Jen Rice@jenrice· 28d

Houstonians are speaking now at City Council about the fatal ICE shooting, demanding that ICE get out of Houston

Jen Rice@jenrice· 28d

Former Councilmember Robert Gallegos blasts GOP members of Houston City Council for not publicly demanding an independent investigation into the fatal ICE shooting. "Shame on y'all."

Jen Rice@jenrice· 29d

And he writes that ICE is operating in violation of its own policies:

I’d never send a deputy out in the field if he or she was not properly trained and equipped to do their jobs safely and correctly, with transparency and pride.

ICE’s own directives state that cameras “increase officer and public safety, accountability, and transparency,” the Department of Justice prohibits federal agents from discharging firearms at moving vehicles merely to stop an escape.

Federal officials claim that Salgado was a threat because he “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer.” But if a vehicle is moving toward the agent in a threatening way, rather than firing, the agent is supposed to move out of the way if at all possible.

And at what point would Salgado even have been sure that the agents in ICE’s unmarked vehicles were, in fact, law officers who he should obey? He lived in a neighborhood that sees its share of crime. How would any of us react if an unmarked SUV, with no sirens or flashing lights, tried to run us off the road?

Jen Rice@jenrice· 29d

Harris County Commissioner @adriangarciahtx.bsky.social writes in the Houston Chronicle that DHS has no excuse for not providing body camera footage of the fatal ICE shooting:

As a former Harris County sheriff and someone who has been a cop for most of my adult life, I know what responsible policing requires and what it takes to protect the public trust. Too much about ICE’s account of Salgado's does not add up, and the lack of detail creates questions and strong frustration. Until we have a full and transparent accounting of what happened, Houston’s sense of safety will be harmed. The federal unwillingness to welcome an independent investigation raises serious doubts and encourages conspiracy theories. That should concern us all, regardless of political party.

But still, politics appears to be playing a role. The Department of Homeland Security issued comments that “back-to-back Democrat shutdowns” are to blame for the lack of bodycams and are the reason the public can’t see what happened.

That is no excuse. In April, Congress gave Homeland Security $20 million for “the procurement, deployment, and operations of body-worn cameras” for immigration officers, but according to Rep. Sylvia Garcia, the acting head of ICE says that fewer than a third of officers currently wear them. Failure to buy this equipment puts agents who want to do their job right in a losing situation.

Jen Rice@jenrice· 29d

They used to be in District 29 (L) and are now in the new District 9 (R)

map of the old district (District 29) and map of the new district (District 9)

Jen Rice@jenrice· 29d

"We have not only the authority, but also the obligation, to investigate. Commissioners Court has taken steps to fund independent investigations in the past. This case deserves nothing less." - @rodneyellis.bsky.social on Harris County investigating the fatal ICE shooting in Houston

Jen Rice@jenrice· 29d

Neighbor recalls seeing victim's family at scene of shooting
Cecelia Humiston, 22, lives on Chapel Street. She was asleep with her two-year-old son when she woke up to the sounds of a commotion on surrounding streets.

When she went to investigate, she saw what appeared to be a person lying on the ground on Pool Street.

She remembers hearing an older woman with a distressed family, yelling, “You took her dad, you took her dad!”

“They were with a little girl, she couldn't have been older than three,” Humiston said. “She was still in her Bluey pajamas.”

Humiston described law enforcement as “rude,” and said they barricaded family’s car from leaving. Another yelled at the little girl, who was trying to smell flowers.

“This is Biddeford, things like this never happen here,” Humiston said.

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jul 12

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jul 10

Legal experts, former police chiefs and former prosecutors all agree that Houston police and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office unquestionably have the authority to conduct their own investigation into Salgado’s death. In past fatal shootings caused by federal officials, like one involving an FBI agent in 2018, Houston police conducted a parallel investigation and Harris County prosecutors made their own charging decisions.

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jul 10

Houston City Council meeting: Tuesday 7/14, starting at 1:30pm. You will need to be there for a couple hours.

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jul 8

Wtf there's no early voting on Halloween in TX this year. Texans deserve better than this.

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jul 8

A claim in need of a fact check

Houston Mayor John Whitmire declined to seek a city-led investigation into the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, saying there cannot be a city investigation while a federal investigation is ongoing.

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jul 5

I turned on the DC fireworks livestream and the vibe is karaoke on a military base

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jul 2

The announcement:

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jul 2

TX Gov. Greg Abbott just announced that state Rep. Nate Schatzline will serve as his senior advisor for election integrity. It's hard to identify any qualifications he has for the role. He never served on the House Elections committee. As far as I can tell, this is the only law he's gotten passed:

HB 1443 "Relating to creating the criminal offense of promotion or possession of a child-like sex doll"

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jul 2

I doubt many people are going to read the 55-page report "From Vanity to Insanity: How the White House Cheated the American People Out of Their 250th Birthday" put together by Democratic staff of the House Natural Resources Committee so here's how it ends

The deepest harm is not the sum of what has already been taken, but what the
country is being asked to accept. Left unanswered, the methods catalogued in these
pages do not expire with this anniversary; they become a manual, usable against any
institution, any commemoration, any store of public trust a future administration
finds inconvenient or lucrative. So, the question this record calls to answer is larger
than the conduct of any one official. It is whether a self-governing people, shown in
detail how the corruption of its own founding milestone was carried out, will shrug
and conclude that this is simply how things are done now. The semiquincentennial
was meant to remind Americans of what they hold in common. Let the record of
how it was abused remind them of what they must never consent to lose.

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jun 30

Alito

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jun 10

Harris County what is stopping you from sending all registered voters a voter guide in the mail like this

DC voter guide i just got in the mail (table of contents) (also a cat)

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jun 9

A clear explainer on why it takes awhile for California to count ballots, which conspiracy theorists will obviously ignore: www.democracydocket.com/analysis/why...

"That sign can't stop me because I can't read!"

Jen Rice@jenrice· Jun 4

I am obsessed with this finalist in this year's Michigan “I voted” sticker design contest

Jen Rice@jenrice· May 15

This is a huge blow to Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton: The TX Supreme Court — all of them elected Republicans — just ruled against Abbott & Paxton in *unhinged* cases trying to remove Dem lawmakers from office for breaking quorum to stop a vote on a gerrymandered congressional map.

The courts’ institutional “reluctance . . . to
involve themselves in contests of factional political power,” a reluctance
we reiterate and reinforce today, is a check on the judicial power “of
ancient standing,” not an optional preference we are at liberty to
discard

Jen Rice@jenrice· May 11

Supreme Court today: We'll allow Alabama Republicans to change the congressional map in the primary election even though absentee voting has literally already started Supreme Court last December: November's too late to strike down the GOP's map in TX's March primary election!!

Jen Rice@jenrice· May 8

Jen Rice@jenrice· Apr 29

Florida state Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis (D):

“This is about fear,” Davis said. “Not just any fear — panic — the kind of panic that comes from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue when the ground is shifting beneath you and you can’t win in a fair fight. Fear of losing power. Fear of losing control. Fear so deep it changes the rules, bends the Constitution and has the nerve to call it strategy. Because when you can’t persuade the people, when you can’t inspire the voters, when you can’t defend your record, when you can’t ignore the Epstein files, you change the map.”

“So the plan becomes simple: if you can’t win with the people, you cheat the people,” Davis continued. “And the impact of this is not abstract. It is targeted…Black and brown voices that have fought to be heard are now being weakened. That is not coincidence. That is design.”

Jen Rice@jenrice· Apr 29

WATCH: Florida House Republicans refused a motion to take a two hour break to review the Supreme Court ruling that came out WHILE they were preparing to vote on a gerrymandered congressional map that was drawn based on that ruling

Jen Rice@jenrice· Apr 28

Happy 3rd birthday to Casper & Sabrina. Three years of being inseparable & unserious 🩶🧡

Jen Rice@jenrice· Apr 20

Ready for Virginia election day tomorrow 🫡