A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) counterterrorism squad requested information on the permit of a May 2025 right-wing event in Seattle. The rally, situated in the heart of Seattle's Capitol Hill gayborhood, was organized by Mayday USA, which KUOW described as a "Christian fundamentalist group advocating against

"All we can do is use our free speech to attack those expressing antisemitism," wrote one of the leaders of the Israel Justice Organization, who also threatened to sue after I reached out for comment. My latest report for Prism debuts a new Florida 501(c)(3) entity

New documents obtained by HardPressed provide more details of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s trip to a Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) summit in New Orleans in December 2025. The records include correspondence between CAM’s team and the Mayor’s office, presentation materials, videos, photographs and a conference program. The

Buy a copy of Real Change this week if you're in Seattle. You can also find my latest report online: https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2026/03/04/fbi-self-manufactured-threat-life-during-2020-seattle-protests-justifying-potential-use This reporting takes years to unravel, and there is a lot more to do. If you find value in

According to a Concept of Operations (CONOPS) document, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) is planning to implement a drone as first responder (DFR) surveillance system in Seattle. The CONOPS document was drafted by drone company Skydio and is intended to support a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) waiver request which would

In the spring of 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received a notification from the State Department that a college student’s visa had been revoked based on her criminal record.  But the student, who HardPressed has given the pseudonym Kaitlyn for safety reasons, had no criminal record. She’d

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has quietly taken a major new step to implement drone surveillance in Seattle. In November 2024, HardPressed published details of SPD's expansive plans for drone surveillance across the city. New documents obtained by HardPressed show that SPD signed a $20,000 contract with

For roughly a decade, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) has operated a secret-no-more surveillance camera on Capitol Hill trained to view the intersection of 12th Ave and Pine Street in front of SPD's East Precinct. It is perched atop the 12th Ave Arts building owned by Community Roots

After an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed Renee Good last month, a voice on the agent's own video recording called Good a "fucking bitch." Weeks later, two Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, where video captured a

For years, a 501(c)(6) downtown business improvement area corporation in Seattle has used the Seattle Police Department (SPD) as a contractor to advance their own private economic objectives. Last month, the Washington State Supreme Court said that the public should be able to request records from that 501(

New details concerning the use of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Seattle Police Department (SPD) informants have been revealed as part of an internal accountability investigation at SPD. They show that the FBI was engaged in a “domestic terrorism” investigation within the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), also known

Across the country, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) are the tip of the spear in executing President Donald Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7). JTTFs integrate federal agents from a range of entities including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of

Following President Donald Trump's issuance of National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7), Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to “compile a list of groups or entities engaging in acts that may constitute domestic terrorism.” She ordered the FBI to complete this list within

The Washington State Supreme Court decided last month that DBIA Services, a 501(c)(6) corporation which functions as a financial passthrough, administrative and contractual entity within a network of interlinked 501(c)(3), 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) corporations, all run by Downtown Seattle Association CEO Jon

Seattle police officer Wesley Friesen was 27 years old when he was pulled over by the Washington State Patrol (WSP) in November 2004, along the suburban stripmall-lined Highway 99 in Lynwood, Washington.  According to the Seattle Times, Friesen’s speech was slurred and he had watery eyes. A WSP Trooper

A new archival documentary film, “WTO/99,” places audiences in the line of fire, with stomach-churning images of police brutality as tens of thousands took to the streets of Seattle in 1999 to protest the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference. In my latest for Prism, I connect the SPD&

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has been conspicuously absent from public life since his concession speech in November. This week, Harrell made an unannounced appearance at a Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) conference in New Orleans. In a photograph published by CAM, Harrell is seen participating in a panel discussion with New

Four years after Israel captured the Golan Heights, Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza strip and the West Bank during the war of 1967, ethnically cleansing roughly 300,000 Palestinians from their homes, Seattle Mayor Wes Uhlman traveled to the newly expanded country on an invitation from the Israeli government. Palestinians called

The Federal Bureau of Investigation mass recruited confidential informants from a joint FBI and Seattle police unit to try and buy drugs and infiltrate Seattle’s 2020 Capitol Hill Organized Protest, also called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, according to an email obtained by Real Change. The continued revelations concerning

One day after HardPressed revealed that the Seattle Police Department (SPD) was prioritizing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) requests for records over citizens’ requests, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell issued two new executive orders (EO) concerning actions to “safeguard Seattle communities from federal overreach” and held a press conference touting his

While many journalists and Seattleites wait years for the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to fulfill languishing public records requests, the SPD is fulfilling Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) requests for information in less than four days.  After HardPressed previously received no response from Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have made national news for abducting U.S. citizens off the streets, removing women's organs through forced medical procedures and forcibly disappearing people to third countries, a crime under international law according to the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights.