u/itsokbirdie

Congressman Tom Kean Jr runs away from questions after a short photo op in Sparta while his Chief of Staff, Dan Scharfenberger, aggressively films the members of the public asking the questions.

This is not appropriate behavior for an elected official and his staff. The funding for Sparta's pump station improvements was announced back in January but he waited until October to make a big show of it? The timing seems extremely convenient for someone running for reelection.

Look who else was there. Sussex County Commissioner Jack DeGroodt & Sparta Councilman Michael Sylvester who are also running for reelection.

If Congressman Tom Kean Jr. actually cared about his constituents, he would have come prepared to be asked the hard questions and defend his actions or lack thereof. But instead, he smiles for a picture, hands the check off, and vanishes once again. We didn’t expect anything different but this seems the only thing he's consistent about.

Congressional District 7 has not had a voice in Congress under Tom Kean Jr. and they certainly haven't had an advocate.

(Credit: Sussex Visibility Brigade)

The latest example of fascism & racism in our government comes in the form of a retro style video game about deporting brown people.

If you're thinking, how can you say this is anything like Nazi Germany?

Well when they're following the exact same playbook, how could you not?

It was 10 years of this propaganda, political manuevering, and racist messaging before the death camps.

We're already deep in the process. Wake up.

Into the Abyss

Seen at a collectible store in Poughkeepsie, NY. I almost collapsed laughing.

At last nights Andover (NJ) Twp Committee Meeting, an Andover resident asked them about the status of the lawsuit about the data center and why it has stalled. With election season coming up, the timing does seem a little shady....

Earlier in the day, there was an exchange with Mayor Tom Walsh on the "Next Door" app which is a neighborhood social media platform. Residents were questioning the inclusion of another PILOT program on the agenda for executive session.

He responded to one constituent "it does help taxpayers! Maybe not people like you who rent."

How did he know this person rented? Trust me, they don't know each other like that.

When confronted at the meeting about how he knew, he said "That’s for me to know, I know."

There you have it folks, Mayor Walsh needs to know your SSN, your birthday, whether you call it taylor ham or pork roll....Apparently, it's ALL for him "to know".

There's no privacy in Andover so long as Mayor Walsh is in charge.

Sussex County has some wildly rascist history...

Cas (@catdadcas) called out the Sussex County Commissioners at the latest meeting.

Dir. Jill Space & her husband, State Senator Parker Space, held onto the bones of 3 black people who had been enslaved in Sussex County for 30 years after they were discovered before the descendant of their "owner" felt guilty and decided to bury them with the headstone saying "A Slave Family". They've also posed for a photo in front of a Confederate flag that reads "if the south would've won, we would have had it made". Parker Space also has a Confederate flag tattoo.

Commissioner Chris Carney back in 2021 sent a text in a group chat "This bitch doesn't know what she's in for" to a Frankford BOE member. His apology was basically "oh it wasn't you, I was talking about someone else". He's running for County Clerk now...(thankfully there's someone running against him)

Commissioner Jack DeGroodt is pro-life...but the blank stare when asked about bombing a school of girls in Iran showed that he really only cares about telling women what they can and can't do with their bodies....

The silence was deafening. These people have been in power for far too long and the county has been far too comfortable with the blatant racism and sexism running rampant in every level of government.

We reaaaallly need to vote them out.

See what I liked about Brian Varela is that he is consistent. He was coming to things like this well before his campaign kicked off and he's coming to them even after losing the primary. A resolution isn't the only thing we asked for but it was a great addition to our "to-do list" for the town council.

For those that don't know, there was an ICE raid in Hackettstown last Thursday. Right on Main St in the middle of their downtown area. They say they snatched 14 people but it could be more. Only 2 of the 14 had criminal convictions. The downtown area has been made a ghost town in the aftermath. Hardly any foot traffic as people are afraid, bracing themselves for another series of abductions.

It's sickening.

So I'm glad to see him and I'm glad he spoke up.

Since I know reddit, before you question the sources...we deemed the source to be credible enough to share the information and this kind of transaction will have receipts. That's why we're trying to get attention so we can have our state and federal reps investigate. And regardless of anything else, they abducted a lot of people in one day, and the community is scared. This needs to end.

Since I know reddit, before you question the sources...we deemed the source to be credible enough to share the information and this kind of transaction will have receipts. That's why we're trying to get attention so we can have our state and federal reps investigate. And regardless of anything else, they abducted a lot of people in one day, and the community is scared. This needs to end.

This was taken at a counter-protest in Sussex County, NJ. Our theme was "Worst In Show" because it was just down the road from the Sussex County Fair. We brought our visibility brigade letters that spelt "WORST IN SHOW" and added an arrow at the end pointing to the MAGA protest next to us.

There was all sorts of dumb banners but this one really got me. There's a Mayor actually getting things done for the people and they want to say he's somehow related to 9/11??? I get that it's because he's Muslim and that's as far their brains go but what???

Yesterday (8/8) other members of the Sussex Visibility Brigade stood watch with others outside Delaney Hall, ICE camp owned and operated by GEO group, a for-profit prison company pocketing our tax dollars while they neglect and abuse innocent people within its walls.

About 70 people, including the Brass Uprising band, brought music and solidarity to the community that keeps vigil outside.

They bore witness as several busses came into Delaney and one came out, full of people who are either being transferred or deported.

Inside one of the busses, someone could be seen waving. How they must feel being abducted and then moved, possibly very far from home.

Of course, GEO guards have gotten more violent with week after week of having ICE as their personal thugs. Now they pepper spray and slap people when they are on public property and being nonviolent. Before you argue, public property extends up to the gate. Some hero paid for the survey. Employees of a private company are assaulting members of the public.

Ask NJ Governor Mikie Sherrill and Mayor of Newark Ras Baraka, when are GEO group employees going to face consequences?

Yesterday (8/8) other members of the Sussex Visibility Brigade stood watch with others outside Delaney Hall, ICE camp owned and operated by GEO group, a for-profit prison company pocketing our tax dollars while they neglect and abuse innocent people within its walls.

About 70 people, including the Brass Uprising band, brought music and solidarity to the community that keeps vigil outside.

They bore witness as several busses came into Delaney and one came out, full of people who are either being transferred or deported.

Inside one of the busses, someone could be seen waving. How they must feel being abducted and then moved, possibly very far from home.

Of course, GEO guards have gotten more violent with week after week of having ICE as their personal thugs. Now they pepper spray and slap people when they are on public property and being nonviolent. Before you argue, public property extends up to the gate. Some hero paid for the survey. Employees of a private company are assaulting members of the public.

Ask Governor Mikie Sherrill and Mayor of Newark Ras Baraka, when are GEO group employees going to face consequences?

If you've ever seen the crazy MAGA people on 206 by the Wawa in Sussex County, you know they have been doing this for ages (but only when it's warm lol). In honor of the NJ State Fair, we came out to give them a little reminder that we're not all heartless racists in this county. Just them! They even said "empathy is one thing, ignorance is another"??? They don't have any empathy or we wouldn't be here.

Funniest moment is when I posted a video to the Sussex Visibility Brigade socials and they saw the video as they were standing there. They started yelling and then someone tried to come over and film us and he was a Sparta Councilman. Yikes!

All in all, it was a some great visibility and we made it so they don't know who the cars were honking for lol

"Events are moving so quickly that it’s worth stopping to assess where we are. The U.S. government is currently building massive detention facilities, already detaining tens of thousands of people there and elsewhere, with incompetent and deeply racist secret police sweeping undocumented all kinds of people—immigrants, those with their paperwork in order, and US citizens alike—off the street.

We’re hearing grass-roots calls to abolish ICE, while opposition leadership instead speaks mostly about affordability issues. When they do address the current crisis, as House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries did recently on MS NOW, they’re prone to saying things like “we need massive reform to the way in which ICE and DHS are currently conducting themselves.” Note that the “massive reform” mentioned is to the way that the agencies conduct themselves, not to the bad-faith mission of these agencies.

I’ve looked at mass civilian detention around the world. I’ve visited the facilities where people were held. I’ve talked to the people involved—those detained and tortured, those who supported camps, and those who stood idly by. It’s critical to recognize that each of the societies that has had camps underwent a lengthy process. This process is often easier to see happening in your own country if you first look at an example in another one.

My goal today is to warn you that the U.S. has already been seized by the same camp dynamic. It’s not that I’m trying to tell you that bad things are coming, and you have to look out for them. What I’m saying is that the camps have already taken root and are on a fast-track to get exponentially worse. We’re already deep inside the process.

Yet there is power in that knowledge, because in some big ways, we can know what will happen next. We have models for how other societies have moved out of our current perilous state. And we have a ton of tactics we can use to fight back against the expanding harm directed at all of us.

I’ll add right up front that nobody sane now thinks the answer to abuses at Dachau was to give the guards more training.

Today I’ll write about how a society comes to concentration camps, the process we’re already deep into, why the ways we’re talking about events in the U.S. may be unhelpful, and how we can undo this mess."

...

"Because I wrote a history of concentration camps, I tend to use the phrase. I understand that not everyone will want to label our expanding detention network as concentration camps. By adopting that term, I’m not trying to force a moral equivalence that A is the same as B, or that A is better or worse than B, or that, for instance, the United States in 2026 is Nazi Germany in 1942.

And for those not already familiar with my work, I’ll make clear that not all concentration camps are death camps. The Nazi death camps were a handful of facilities and projects established mid-war for the Third Reich’s mass-extermination campaign. Nazi extermination camps focused overwhelmingly on Jewish and Roma and Sinti genocide, though others were also murdered there.

The death camps were launched after almost a decade after the Nazi concentration camp system was first created. Before, during, and after the Nazi era, other concentration camp systems have existed around the world.

Concentration camps involve the mass detention of civilians without due process on the basis of political, racial, ethnic, or religious identity. And that is where we’re at right now."

WE ARE NOT BEING DRAMATIC.

Here are some quick stats for you:

- Immigration and Customs Enforcement held 65,765 in ICE detention according to data current as of July 11, 2026.

- 46,436 out of 65,765—or 70.6% held in ICE detention have no criminal conviction according to data current as of July 11, 2026. Many of those convicted committed only minor offenses, including traffic violations.

- ICE arrested 39,563 and CBP arrested 3,575 of the 43,138 people booked into detention by ICE during June 2026.

- According to court records, only 1.76% of FY 2026 new cases sought deportation orders based on any alleged criminal activity of the immigrant, apart from possible illegal entry.

- Only 21.5% of immigrants, including unaccompanied children, had an attorney to assist them in Immigration Court cases when a removal order was issued in June 2026.

SOURCE 1

SOURCE 2

WITHOUT DUE PROCESS.

"But they're not citizens, they have no rights here!"

YES THEY DO.

The 14th Amendment of the United States says:

"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

NOR DENY TO ANY PERSON WITHIN ITS JURISDICTION THE EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAWS.

If that's not enough for you, look here:

"ACLU files ICE claims in NY, NJ and 15 other states alleging misconduct

The ACLU has filed 54 legal claims against ICE across 17 states, alleging federal agents engaged in wrongful conduct ranging from unlawful arrests and racial profiling to the use of excessive force.

The claims, filed on behalf of dozens of individuals, accuse Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of negligence and civil rights violations during immigration enforcement actions. The allegations include complaints of racial profiling, unlawful detentions and injuries suffered by protesters during encounters with federal agents."

ARTICLE

And here:

"Surge in Immigration Lawsuits Hits Record High in 2026

Overall, the data represented by the moving average shows that civil immigration filings are up 1,278 percent from levels reported in March 2021. (Look at the chart, it spikes astronomically in Sept 2025)

Habeas lawsuits increased by over 85 times during the past year, while naturalization suits were 1.8 times higher than in March 2025.

A habeas corpus lawsuit requests that a judge order a detainee brought before the court and government officials explain why they have the authority to detain that person." SOURCE

Or how about this recent report out of Califonia City Detention Center operated by CoreCivic?

"This marks the first time a court-appointed neutral party has investigated the full scope of the delivery of medical care at an ICE detention center.

The report’s findings include:

- Missing or incomplete medical intake screenings for existing conditions, communicable diseases, and chronic illnesses that require immediate or constant treatment

- Delayed and denied clinical care, including gaps in emergency care, mental health care, and specialty referrals

- Failure to provide timely access to prescribed medications and to identify and support patients with disabilities

- Inadequate staffing, incomplete training, a lack of on-site management, and insufficient clinical oversight."

LINK

Now WHEN are we going to DO SOMETHING about it??? Someone DIED at Delaney Hall AGAIN. At the very least, show up to the vigil at 7:30PM tonight outside. TALK TO PEOPLE. Get connected. Help your neighbors. Free these people from the concentration camp before they're all dead.

This is a toolkit you can print your own KYR cards and hand them out. The Rapid Reponse hotline for NJ ICE Sightings is this: 1(888)347-3767

Come one, come all! The NJ State Fair has come to the Sussex County Fairgrounds! You know what is also coming to the fair? A whole lot of traffic!

All those poor people trapped in their cars on 206 with nothing to look at! Well we've decided to entertain them!

On Saturday, Aug 8th, we'll be bringing the "Worst In Show" to this captive roadside audience. With caricatures of all our "favorite" cabinet members as the farmyard animals they resemble, we'll bestow their blue ribbons to signify that they are, in fact, the worst at their jobs.

We are the Sussex County chapter of over 400 Visibility Brigades around the country. As a group of volunteers, we display large messages on overpasses on a regular basis. Our mission is to bring visibility to specific issues we're facing under the Trump regime, encourage action, and foster a sense of community for those that feel disheartened by the state of our nation. Join us and help us fight fascism!

Register here: https://www.mobilize.us/visibilitybrigade/event/1000208/

Sussex County Commissioners voted to pass their performative resolutions at this "emergency" meeting despite several hours of public comments opposing them.

We were not surprised that they are calling for an independent investigation that’s already being done regarding a registration error.

We were not surprised that they are saying ICE should be allowed (masked and dangerous, of course) in schools, churches, hospitals, and funeral homes.

We were not surprised that they think any constituent who isn't part of their "MAGA" cult isn't worth listening to.

We were surprised by the number of people that not only came out to oppose the resolutions (standing room only) but also that they would speak out against them so vehemently. Thank you to everyone who stood up to these bullies!

The Sussex County Commissioners should be ashamed of themselves. You've wasted our time and taxpayer money for cheap political points while demonstrating to the rest of our state that while they take steps toward human rights, Sussex County would rather go backwards.

For context about the comment regarding AI data centers, we recently fought with Andover Twp over one and the county commissioners were silent and useless. This speaker was throwing at them all the things they don't care about it because they sold out for money.