Crime Karoline Leavitt accuses CNN of 'encouraging violence' against agents for reports on new ICE tracking app - ICEBlock is an app that alerts users to sightings of immigration officers within a five-mile radius

https://www.foxnews.com/media/karol...e-against-agents-reports-new-ice-tracking-app
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday accused CNN of "encouraging violence" for their reporting on a new app informing people of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents' locations.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested on Monday that CNN was guilty of inciting and "encouraging violence" for its reporting on ICEBlock, a new app that tracks and alerts users to the whereabouts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers.

Daily Wire reporter Mary Margaret Olohan asked Leavitt to respond to the CNN report, considering there has been a 500% increase in assaults against ICE agents, according to recent DHS reports. Leavitt said she would need to see the segment herself but condemned CNN for airing it nevertheless.

"Surely, it sounds like this would be an incitement of further violence against our ICE officers," Leavitt said. "As you know, as you stated, there's been a 500% increase in violence against ICE agents, law enforcement officers across the country who are just simply trying to do their jobs and remove public safety threats from our communities."

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She continued, "And that's something we as Americans, including journalists at CNN, who live in many of these cities where illegal aliens are hiding and were let in from the previous administration, should be very grateful for. So we haven't seen the clip. We'll take a look at it, but certainly it's unacceptable that a major network would promote such an app that is encouraging violence against law enforcement officers who are trying to keep our country safe."

A CNN spokesperson defended the network's reporting.

"CNN reported on a publicly available app, which is generating attention across the United States, and reached out to ICE for comment prior to publication. After CNN published its reporting, ICE posted a response, which is now included in the story," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The response reported by CNN came from ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons, who said ICEBlock "basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers’ backs" and that "officers and agents are already facing a 500% increase in assaults."

The CNN reported on and aired segments on their channel featuring an interview with the app’s creator, Joshua Aaron, who said he was inspired to create ICEBlock as a way to fight back against deportation efforts which he claimed were reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported a 500% increase in assaults against ICE officers.(Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"We’re literally watching history repeat itself," Aaron said.

He admitted that there is no way to verify every report but promoted "safeguards" to prevent users from "spamming" the app, such as deleting sightings every four hours, limiting reports to a five-mile radius and restricting report sightings to one every five minutes. Users on the app are anonymous.

Aaron added that the app contains a warning to not interact with law enforcement since his goal is not to incite violence.

"Please note that the use of this app is for information and notification purposes only. It is not to be used for the purposes of inciting violence or interfering with law enforcement," the warning read.
 
No they won't. They explicitly won't. They absolutely cannot be held liable for the actions of someone else or for what a third party does with their app. So long as the developers aren't outright telling them to go out and do illegal shit the feds can't do shit to them as far as the law is concerned. Tracking federal agents isn't a crime in itself, same as developing apps to track flights. These sorts of apps aren't new, they've been around for years. As long as the developers keep their mouths shut and don't tell people to do illegal shit using their app the feds can't do anything. Its very much a its not what you know its what you can prove situation

The worst the feds can do is warn them not to do anything stupid and get the app pulled from the store if third parties are using it for illegal shit. Legal prosecution isn't even a remote possibility for the devs at this point
You can win a case and still lose your house and your life savings. Or you can lose a case and spend months or years in prison before a higher court dismisses the case -- and even more time if the higher court denies the appeal. Sure, an arrest might spur lots of angry talk on social media. But nobody in a position of power really gives a shit about what some troons on Bluesky have to say about them or how many people post #istandwithICEBlock hashtags on TikTok and X.

I don't disagree with your reasoning, but "what you can prove" means "what you can prove to a judge and a jury." And if that judge and jury happen to be in a conservative immigrant-hating region, those developers could find themselves in a world of shit. Lawfare has been normalized for a while now, and there's no reason to suppose it's going away any time soon.
 
Talking about an app isn't supporting it or encouraging your audience to download it unless you specifically specify, "hey all you Mexicans download this app." Even interviewing the Creator isn't an explicit support of the app.

Weren't Republicans a few months ago complaining about the left, "deplatforming" people with different views.
 
Weren't Republicans a few months ago complaining about the left, "deplatforming" people with different views.
Republicans and others on the right also told the left that they wouldn't like it if their tactics were used against them.

Something something sowing and reaping, yada yada yada.
 
These have been around since the invention of smartphone for speed trap cameras and traffic cops.

Don't be niggers, just
The best way to deal with this app is to flood it with alerts at random intervals. 4:30pm on Friday? 8am Sunday? 3pm Tuesday? ICE everywhere! Run for your little brown lives!
Also, there's a dire need for an app identifying businesses who hire illegals (or jeets).
 
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