TIL localized, coordinated FOIA requests from small and medium sized Trump-friendly American communities are effective in weaponizing for FAFOing law enforcement into submission through public shaming
Recently submitted a dozen+ legit FOIA requests to a list of specific small and medium sized Trump-friendly jurisdictions around the USA. Both with governments and law enforcement. Many in places you wouldn't think to look. But I'm a nosy motherfucker.
Most of the submission processes are (essentially) open borders, lol. With few barriers to entry. Which means you should try doing the same thing.
The biggest hurdle is knowing what to say in the original request message. But that is ultimately trivial.
Along these lines, here are three resources I have used to effectively investigate the names and events I submitted FOIA requests for:
- The Stevens Method (This resource is a Substack, which I know isn't a popular platform here. But Chaz Stevens isn't a typical publisher. This is where youll find most of your examples and shortcuts for FOIA requests.)
- u/ChurchOMarsChaz
- Little Sis
I submitted high-leverage FOIA requests (for specific public figures, domestic terrorist attacks, Flock camera query logs, right-wing terrorist organizations and others entities/subjects you would recognize) that I will release everything related to once responses are received.
But beforehand I did my own research into publicly available information so I knew exactly where to strike first. This is a game of cat and mouse unfortunately. Meow.
I learned about where certain people grew-up and live today. I mapped political contributions and connections. I scraped websites, databases and social media profiles. I used automation to help expedite the process.
The goal here is to become as super-hot-precise in records requests as possible.
I want the public to know everything. Get dat milk and honey bro.
Also, if my home is raided during this ramp-up effort, this post can be used as a reference for how unbelievably dangerous the United States has become for average citizens. FAFO.
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So the TIL here seems to be that there are relatively few restrictions on FOIA requests in municipalities across the US, not that it's an effective tool to combat fascism. You are still gathering that information and won't know the efficacy of your tactic until after you've released it.
I already know the baseline of what I'm going to receive in most cases. I already have the evidence I need for a public shaming campaign. But I want more tissue/meat to play with.
As a result of "things", I have insider information into some of these requests. Largely due to the research done ahead of time.
There are also others doing the exact same thing who have reaped true change from. I am a copycat, which is excellent. We need more copycats. We need to inspire each other.
These FOIA requests are ultimately a bureaucratic step towards what local communities have known for decades.
Where should someone start if they want to look into their local politicians? Give us a roadmap of how you'd pull the thread?
As mentioned in the post text, I am a proud copycat. Because if I can do it, you can too.
I was inspired largely by Chaz Stevens' work. There are other resources I have relied on for doing research and filing FOIA requests, examples of which are listed below:
I also used automation to scrape the social media profiles of hundreds of politicians, local governments, individual LEOs, religious nonprofits, religious leaders and so on. Those tools were based on Chaz Stevens' various tool kits. Which are described in articles and posts found at the links above.
Looking forward to reading what you find. Do you plan to send these to news outlets or something? It seems like journalists would be all over this FOIA process already
I am also looking forward to seeing what I can find. I suspect it will be a mixed bag, with some major victories and significant disappointments.
Once the information has been delivered, I plan on building a public facing website with easy means of downloading all of the content.
And to your point about the journalists, my social self agrees with you. These professional investigators/communicators should have been all over this. But then my logical mind enters the chat and I recall how absolutely pathetic modern "journalism" has become. Most journalists are parasites. So we have to do this ourselves.
How would this be different if the other guys were in charge and you wore a MAGA hat? Wouldn't the law work the same?
As a caveat, I understand that the GOP presents a greater threat in being vindictive towards those they perceive as not on their side. I don't mean to diminish that threat. And good luck with the work you are doing. If we take that threat out of the equation, this could just as well be a "TIL FOIA can work" post in general.