Police in Newnan, Georgia had received close to a million dollars in military equipment from the Pentagon
This weekend, images of a heavily-armed law enforcement presence at a white supremacist rally and counter-protest in Newnan, Georgia again brought the issue of growing police militarization to the forefront. A review of records originally released as part of Shawn Musgrave’s project to track the Pentagon’s transfers of military equipment to local police departments through the infamous 1033 program show that not only did the NPD receive close to a million dollars in gear from the program but also non-lethal ordinance specifically intended for use as crowd control.
The Air Force is “as serious as a heart attack” about opposing the Space Corps
While President Donald Trump’s announcement earlier this year regarding the possible establishment of a “Space Force,” FOIA shows that not everyone in his own administration is so keen on the idea. In a series of recently released emails from last year, Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson made clear her opposition to the establishment of a semi-autonomous “Space Corps,” insisting that it be the USAF in charge of militarizing the cosmos.
Breaking the law with snail mail, large fees for student newspapers, and whether tweets are public record
What’s considered public record or not is not a new debate. But the increasing prevalence of social media use amongst government agencies and officials, such as Twitter, brings up a new debate: If you delete social media posts on an official account, is it a violation of public records laws?
Visualizing transparency: A look through MuckRock’s request data
MuckRock’s Eesha Pendharkar sifted through the last four years of our request data to create a series of visualizations of of what transparency looks like across the country.
Washington State Fusion Center accidentally releases records on remote mind control
When you send thousands of FOIA requests, you are bound to get some very weird responses from time to time. Recently, we here at MuckRock had one of our most bizarre gets yet - Washington State Fusion Center’s accidental release of records on the effects of remote mind control.
Projects See all
-
Subjects Matter: FBI Files
★ Featured- Contribute
- 43% funded
- $2150.00 raised
- 19 backers
This project aims to sift through the hundreds of thousands of pages of FBI archival material we've released, so we can better understand why the Bureau had an eye on these people - and through that, better understand who they're keeping tabs on today. -
Counting the Uncounted: The Sexual Assault Evidence Collection Kit Project
★ Featured- Contribute
- 126% funded
- $1455.00 raised
- 21 backers
Despite an estimated 175,000 sexual assault evidence collection kits that sit untested in evidence rooms and crime labs across the country, there is no federal law in place mandating policies or testing of kits, and we don't know how many more go uncounted. This project aims to end that, one city and one kit at a time. -
FOIA March Madness 2018
★ FeaturedNow entering its third year, FOIA March Madness pits 64 federal government agencies against each other to process an identical request for standard materials, a battle for the title of Most Responsive Agency. -
FOIA 101: Tips and Tricks to Make You a Transparency Master
★ FeaturedWhether it's your first request or your first request *today,* it never hurts to go over the basics. MuckRock's compiled a lot of FOIA advice over the years, and with this project, it's all in one place.