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Gillian Brockell

@gbrockell

I track ICE flights and third-country deportations. Bylines in Mother Jones, Zeteo, Rolling Stone, American Prospect. Former WaPo (sigh), former flight attendant. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://gillianbrockell.ghost.io/ Signal: gbrockell.44

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Latest posts by Gillian Brockell @gbrockell

Preview
a close up of a man 's face in a car with a woman behind him . Alt: Tom Hardy in Mad Max:Fury Road points up and says “that’s bait”
07.03.2026 03:15 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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CBS obtained video of the DHS killing of an unarmed man in Texas that DHS concealed for nearly a year, which clearly contradicts claims that he violently rammed anyone. He is shot with his brake lights on, car not moving or barely moving. Another DHS crime.

07.03.2026 03:03 👍 3027 🔁 1589 💬 83 📌 99

Neither of my parents finished college and were proud to be able to afford to send me. None of us knew until after I graduated that if I actually wanted a non-service industry job I should have done something called an “internship.” We had no clue.

07.03.2026 01:49 👍 9 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0

DHS nominee Markwayne Mullin is one of the most active stock-traders in the Senate — and violated the STOCK Act against insider trading as recently as last August.

He currently holds stock in L3Harris, which has millions in contracts with ICE and FEMA.

The grift continues.

06.03.2026 19:45 👍 12948 🔁 5913 💬 455 📌 305

In that case, can someone please tell him Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender, whether they know it or not?

06.03.2026 22:00 👍 23 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0
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GREAT WORK GUYS 👍

The brand new DHS fleet only has two planes (737 & G6) in the region, and they STILL can't deconflict callsigns 😬

06.03.2026 16:42 👍 34 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 2
Preview
The truth about ICE and the New England Patriots jets (Go Seahawks) The best reason to hate the New England Patriots is where their team planes have been.

And for the full history of this plane's involvement in ICE flights, read this: gillianbrockell.ghost.io/the-truth-ab...

06.03.2026 18:02 👍 73 🔁 31 💬 0 📌 0
A Twitter post from a State Dept. official Dylan Johnson reading: Americans boarding of the many State Department charter flights leaving the Middle East to the U.S. This plane landed safely this morning in Washington.  
Includes a photo of civilians boarding air stairs to the New England Patriots plane N225NE.

A Twitter post from a State Dept. official Dylan Johnson reading: Americans boarding of the many State Department charter flights leaving the Middle East to the U.S. This plane landed safely this morning in Washington. Includes a photo of civilians boarding air stairs to the New England Patriots plane N225NE.

An ADSBx map showing Patriots plane N225NE leaving Kuwait and passing through the Persian Gulf at UTC0036, which was 3:36am Kuwait time. The attack on Iran began about six hours later.

An ADSBx map showing Patriots plane N225NE leaving Kuwait and passing through the Persian Gulf at UTC0036, which was 3:36am Kuwait time. The attack on Iran began about six hours later.

Let's be clear that this plane wasn't sent to the Middle East to rescue Americans. It was already in the region and had been stuck because of Trump's war.

Not only that, this aircraft was IN the theater of engagement hours before the war started. Trump risked the safety of this and other aircraft.

06.03.2026 17:59 👍 110 🔁 39 💬 2 📌 2
Preview
What is ICE Air? Learn more about ICE’s massive, secretive and cruel air operation, which companies are profiting off of it, and what you can do to stop it.

For more on the cruel and unsafe ICE Air, please read my explainer. gillianbrockell.ghost.io/what-is-ice-...

06.03.2026 18:01 👍 13 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 1
A Twitter post from a State Dept. official Dylan Johnson reading: Americans boarding of the many State Department charter flights leaving the Middle East to the U.S. This plane landed safely this morning in Washington.  
Includes a photo of civilians boarding air stairs to the New England Patriots plane N225NE.

A Twitter post from a State Dept. official Dylan Johnson reading: Americans boarding of the many State Department charter flights leaving the Middle East to the U.S. This plane landed safely this morning in Washington. Includes a photo of civilians boarding air stairs to the New England Patriots plane N225NE.

An ADSBx map showing Patriots plane N225NE leaving Kuwait and passing through the Persian Gulf at UTC0036, which was 3:36am Kuwait time. The attack on Iran began about six hours later.

An ADSBx map showing Patriots plane N225NE leaving Kuwait and passing through the Persian Gulf at UTC0036, which was 3:36am Kuwait time. The attack on Iran began about six hours later.

Let's be clear that this plane wasn't sent to the Middle East to rescue Americans. It was already in the region and had been stuck because of Trump's war.

Not only that, this aircraft was IN the theater of engagement hours before the war started. Trump risked the safety of this and other aircraft.

06.03.2026 17:59 👍 110 🔁 39 💬 2 📌 2

Thank you, @emptywheel.bsky.social for flagging this post to me. I took a close look at another data source, and this plane appears to have made a stop in Dubai. Probably didn't show up on ADSBx bc some of their feeders are down and there is a lot of signal jamming in the region rn.

HOWEVER, 1/

06.03.2026 17:59 👍 105 🔁 45 💬 2 📌 4

The first instance of this threat I'm aware of dates back to an Omni ICE flight in December 2017, but migrants have reported this threat way more since Trump 2.0. The only instances of the WRAP actually being used during ICE flights I am aware of are on removals to Africa. Yes, because of racism.

06.03.2026 17:31 👍 41 🔁 11 💬 1 📌 1

Fascinating! The plane left Kuwait a hours before hostilities began on Feb. 28 and went to Djibouti (a scheduled stop). Flight data for its return last night suggests it didn't land over the Arabian peninsula, but there is a lot of signal jamming over UAE rn. (cont'd)

06.03.2026 17:21 👍 15 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0

We have heard from migrants subjected to ICE flights that guards/federal agents lay out the WRAP on the tarmac as a threat: Do what we say on the flight or you're gonna get put in a straitjacket.

06.03.2026 17:24 👍 211 🔁 143 💬 4 📌 7

Possibilites:
-They were evac'd before hostilities + stranded in Djibouti for five days
-They were evac'd some other way and boarded this jet in Bulgaria
-It landed in a signal jammed area.
-Dylan is lying.

I'm gonna look more closely at another data source and will get back to you momentarily!

06.03.2026 17:21 👍 18 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Fascinating! The plane left Kuwait a hours before hostilities began on Feb. 28 and went to Djibouti (a scheduled stop). Flight data for its return last night suggests it didn't land over the Arabian peninsula, but there is a lot of signal jamming over UAE rn. (cont'd)

06.03.2026 17:21 👍 15 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
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Top DOD Official in Charge of the ‘Golden Dome for America’ Project Has Financial Ties to Contractors This article first appeared at ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of...

The DoD is spending billions to build a shield to destroy missiles launched against the U.S. At least four of the companies awarded contracts so far are owned by a private equity firm founded by billionaire turned Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg.

06.03.2026 16:35 👍 105 🔁 74 💬 11 📌 14
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The Most Chilling Detail in the U.S. Attack on an Iranian Naval Ship The Iranian warship was taking part in an international exercise with many other countries—including the United States.

This is a chilling crime. A shame on our country. The Iranian ship was unarmed. The US knew this. The sailors were murdered by our navy, and the survivors were left to die at sea.
newrepublic.com/post/207429/...

06.03.2026 12:29 👍 9196 🔁 4424 💬 529 📌 612

The NE Patriots plane made it back to the US last night after getting stuck in Djibouti for nearly a week. It did not make the usual military rotator stops in Qatar or Kuwait but still opted for the longer Arabian route over the shorter Red Sea route (between the Yemeni and Sudanese conflicts).

06.03.2026 14:40 👍 33 🔁 10 💬 1 📌 4

An administration of groomed hyper femininity (Noem, Bondi) and masculinity (Hegseth). Gender studies helps students analyze the power of the images and sound bites that also waste millions of tax dollars.
Laughable if they were not so potent.
#womenshistory

06.03.2026 13:43 👍 34 🔁 9 💬 0 📌 0

Yup Noem also recently bought DHS planes with the registration numbers N471US, 472 and 473, and 475-479 have been reserved.

06.03.2026 14:25 👍 3 🔁 2 💬 1 📌 0

Government agencies still use it quite a bit

06.03.2026 13:23 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
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Attempted suicides, fights, pain: 911 calls reveal misery at ICE’s largest detention facility The calls to 911 poured in from staff at Camp East Montana, the nation's largest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility, in its first months of operation in El Paso, Texas.

“At one point he said he overheard a security guard talking about bets made among the staff over which detainee would be next to die by suicide. The guard said he had paid $500 into a pool, with the total pot riding on the outcome.” apnews.com/article/suic...

06.03.2026 12:18 👍 39 🔁 24 💬 1 📌 0

I really encourage everyone to spend some time with the DHS Flickr page, which in one year posted thousands and thousands of glamour shot propaganda photos of Kristi Noem and little else. Our tax dollars! www.flickr.com/photos/dhsgov/

06.03.2026 12:15 👍 663 🔁 190 💬 12 📌 20
A photo by Alan Jackson of a 737 with a white red and blue paint job that looks a lot like the Buffalo Bills logo.

A photo by Alan Jackson of a 737 with a white red and blue paint job that looks a lot like the Buffalo Bills logo.

Here’s the formerly Avelo now DHS plane, the first of five acquired for deportations, with its new livery.

Can the Bills sue for logo infringement?

06.03.2026 01:53 👍 51 🔁 18 💬 1 📌 0

Cricketed omg

06.03.2026 04:05 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Lmao

06.03.2026 04:04 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Reposting this thread so that I'll never lose it. This is great.

06.03.2026 00:59 👍 23 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 0

Omg this thread I’m 💀

05.03.2026 21:47 👍 21 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 0

One of the best, most schadenfreudelicious threads evah!

05.03.2026 23:12 👍 23 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 1