Tristan Lee

Tristan Lee

@tristanl.ee

Journalist @decoherence.media using open sources to expose far-right networks Other bylines @bellingcat.com @texasobserver.org

31.5K followers1.1K following1.1K posts

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I'm excited but a bit sad to announce that I've left Bellingcat to start a nonprofit investigative outlet focused on the far-right. We're called Decoherence Media, and we're launching today.

Decoherence Media@decoherence.media

Welcome to Decoherence Media, an independent nonprofit founded by @jennefer.bsky.social and @tristanl.ee that investigates authoritarian and anti-democratic movements using open-source and data-driven methods.

I sometimes tell people that Austin isn't the techbro hellscape they think it is, then I see stuff like this and need to keep my mouth shut

This is ridiculous because Abbott literally pardoned convicted murderer Daniel Perry (who was also trying to meet 16 year old girls on Kik)

Grits for Breakfast@gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social

Abbott attacks Travis County DA José Garza for agreeing to an innocence claim that was also convincing to ... checks notes ... *every Republican judge on the Court of Criminal Appeals.* smdh The 2026 cycle is when the GOP decided, "Outright lying is the only chance we have."

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Everytime

Tristan Lee@tristanl.ee

My contribution to Cheesecake Factory discourse: Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang members assaulted a mixed-race family. I identified one of them because he worked at a Cheesecake Factory and their Instagram page posted pictures of him. He has a back tattoo with SS bolts and phrase "Aryan Soldier"

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NEW: Transgender Texas Student Union has retained counsel in response to the Travis County filing related to the fake transgender mailers. It's Chris Hilton, who previously worked for Ken Paxton at the Texas Attorney General's office and left temporarily to defend Paxton in his impeachment trial.

My contribution to Cheesecake Factory discourse: Aryan Brotherhood of Texas gang members assaulted a mixed-race family. I identified one of them because he worked at a Cheesecake Factory and their Instagram page posted pictures of him. He has a back tattoo with SS bolts and phrase "Aryan Soldier"

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Replying to @rafiews.com

There have now been major voter suppression occurrences registered in 12 out of 27 states in Brazil. Major liberal Brazilian news channel ICL reports São Paulo mayor Ricardo Nunes, who supports Flávio Bolsonaro, said earlier he couldn’t “justify the costs” of running a full fleet in the city today.

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Early this year, I visited Ingram, a TX town of ~1,900, to check out a tip. The area was starting to recover from its worst flood in a century. But as Latino workers drove to jobsites to help rebuild, the tipster said, a cop in a black Dodge Charger kept stopping them ... 🧵

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NEW: Ingram, Texas, was just rebuilding from a devastating flood when its tiny police department enrolled in ICE’s 287(g) deportation program. Within a year, cops would hand over the equivalent of 10% of the town. with @nytimes.com

propublica.orgThe Small-Town Cop Who Helped ICE Deport His NeighborsIngram, Texas, was just rebuilding from a devastating flood when its tiny police department enrolled in ICE’s 287(g) deportation program. Within a year, cops would hand over the equivalent of 10% of t...

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A fascist opened fire on people of colour in Trappes and Verriere near Paris, killing one person and injuring 5 more incl a 12 yo girl who was shot 8 times. He opened fire at a children's playground and a hijabi woman. He also shot dead a young black man. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/o...

theguardian.comMacron condemns racism after one killed in ‘terrorist’ shooting near ParisGunman opens fire from car in Trappes and Verrière, killing one and injuring five others, including a 12-year-old girl

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Back in June, Cook County Sheriff deputy Gigliotti dapped up an ICE agent after an arrest in a suburban courthouse, prompting an investigation by the sheriff's professional review office. Sheriff spox says the ICE agent is an ex-CCSO employee and Gigliotti was "simply greeting a former colleague."

unraveled@unraveledpress.com

Video shared to social media by rapid response shows ICE agents abducting a man this A.M. from inside the Bridgeview Courthouse. Outside, Cook County Sheriff’s deputy Gigliotti #19013 daps it up with one of the agents. Asked about IL law preventing arrests at courthouses, deputy Glover shrugs.

It's notable that these Groypers hate Indians more than they like rapists

ESG Hound@esghound.com

X the Everything App, Blaze Your Glory™ Banking app coming soon!

New OEIS sequence just dropped

Jake Williams@malwarejake.bsky.social

I had to read the sentence "Astonishingly, the private keys were 4, 56, 66, 115, 155, 156, 230, 237" several times, because despite knowing @dangoodin.bsky.social superior attention to detail, my brain was *certain* that could not be correct.

We don't talk enough about how crazy it is that there were 2 different right-wing vigilante murderers named Daniel Perry and Daniel Penny. I'm just saying that someone should probably look into white military veterans named "Daniel Pe**y".

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Some this AfD email stuff is juicy, scary and oh so familiar A 2023 letter to the AfD's NRW office proposed armed soldiers and police occupy the Reichstag and take power temporarily. "Politicians who exercise state authority in violation of the Basic Law can only be opposed by force," it says.

Sven-Erik Volberg@volberg.bsky.social

Fresh AfD data leak needs more time to get fully analyzed but first glimpse shows all the classics. Party supporters use racist slurs and share antisemitic theories of Jewish world domination; there are jokes about turning refugees into handbags and boots... www.heistberlin.com/news/afd-lea...

I got to know Garrett and Whitney a bit in the first months of the 2020 BLM protests in Austin, before I became a journalist. Garrett's murder was devastating, and Abbott's pardon was almost worse.

Radley Balko@radleybalko.bsky.social

Today we launch the first episode of my podcast. I interviewed Whitney Mitchell, whose fiancé and caretaker Garrett Foster was murdered at a BLM protest in 2020. Foster's killer was convicted by a jury and given a 25-year sentence. Then Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned him.

Tristan Lee reposted

Today we launch the first episode of my podcast. I interviewed Whitney Mitchell, whose fiancé and caretaker Garrett Foster was murdered at a BLM protest in 2020. Foster's killer was convicted by a jury and given a 25-year sentence. Then Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned him.

radleybalko.substack.comHer fiancé and caretaker was murdered by a far-right extremist. Then Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned the killer. My interview with Whitney Mitchell.For my new podcast, The Watch With Radley Balko, Mitchell and I discuss Abbott, the coming election, and the legacy of Garrett Foster, her late fiancé

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Asking for some help: i'm working on a project documenting ICE raids on music, arts, and other cultural venues in 2026. I know about the big Memphis raid, but please comment or DM if you know of others.

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SCOOP: 'Tommy' from the now-viral exchange with Abdul El-Sayed is Thomas Teepell, a former staffer for Republican Senator Josh Hawley with close ties to Christian Nationalist Sean Feucht. He's the son of a former Bobby Jindal staffer whose consultant work was instrumental in getting Hawley elected.

thehandbasket.co'Tommy' from viral El-Sayed video is former Sen. Hawley staffer with Christian nationalist tiesThomas Teepell is the son of a former long-time Bobby Jindal staffer who's close to Sean Feucht.

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Bovino got fired in March, attended a neo-Nazi rally in May, appeared on a white nat podcast in June and a podcast hosted by J6er and Proud Boys this week. Bovino is now working with another J6er who hosted a rally in Minneapolis named after a racial slur.

1312 Antifascists (Chicago)@1312antifascists.bsky.social

🚨ALERTA - DETROIT MICHIGAN! Saturday! Disgraced Bovino has organized a hate rally against Abdul El-Sayed, and is welcoming neonazi Jake Lang and his motley crew of racist crusaders. Lang Gang has been on a 2 week hate-tour across the country, w/ disruptive acts in MI, IL, NJ, FL, NY. #CrusaderWatch

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Replying to @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social

Young people now who want to pursue a low-revenue career path with a possible-but-uncertain future payoff pretty much have to leave town. I got to do it living 1.25 miles from the Texas capitol.

austincurrent.orgAustin musicians priced out of the city amid housing crisisAustin musicians are leaving the "Live Music Capital of the World" and moving to the suburbs like Lockhart and Manor as housing costs rise.

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NEW from LCRW: The SoapGirls saga gets weirder. From possible fake fans juicing their online following to real fans threatening to bury our reporter @wileycope.bsky.social alive to more cancelled shows & visa issues, the South African band that did blackface in a music video is having a bad time

leftcoastrightwatch.org“YOU WILL BE BURIED ALIVE”: SOAPGIRLS SUPERFANS THREATEN CRITICS AND JOURNALISTS... | Left Coast Right WatchSince LCRW’s September investigation, the band’s tweets have vanished from the Wayback Machine, its Instagram account shed thousands of followers, and a superfan threatened to bury our reporter alive.