February 24, 2026 ❧ Justice for Keith LaMar, an ICE shooting coverup, pro-Israel politics cost Dems in 2024, armadillos can pause pregnancy!

Plus: Residents block data center construction in New Jersey, FCC wants broadcasters to "Pledge America," striking nurses reach an agreement in NYC, and the Philippines' troll industry.

JUSTICE FOR KEITH LAMAR

Hello News Briefing readers! It’s great to be back and able to breathe through my nose again. Huge thanks to my colleague Alex Skopic for writing this newsletter last week as I convalesced. What an amazing job he did on just a few hours of notice. I hope you’ll forgive me for still using the Mardi Gras news pun I had planned for last week, though. Why can’t every day be Fat Newsday?

Two weekends ago, before I fell ill, I was in Los Angeles to meet my family’s newest baby and give him a pair of very tiny cowboy boots. While there, I decided to tag along with the baby’s aunt and uncle to a reading by the poet Keith LaMar. I hadn’t heard of LaMar, nor did I research him ahead of time, so I was confused when I sat down and saw the event was going to be conducted mostly via Zoom. “We paid $20 for a zoom call?” I asked my cousin. “No,” she said. “Keith LaMar is on death row.”

LaMar has been in solitary confinement for 30 years. He was first incarcerated after being convicted of murder for killing a man who was attempting to rob him. Four years later, prosecutors falsely accused LaMar of masterminding an uprising at the Ohio prison where he was being held. To call this a miscarriage of justice is understatement. According to LaMar, the prosecution withheld contradictory eyewitness statements and confessions made by other inmates, offered early parole or dropped charges to anyone who cooperated with their fabricated narrative, and kept Black jurors from sitting on LaMar’s jury of peers. There was no DNA or forensic evidence linking LaMar to the riot. But of course, there wouldn’t be: LaMar was sequestered to the recreational yard while the violence took place inside. Still, LaMar was sentenced to death. He is scheduled to die on January 13, 2027. 

Previous Current Affairs cover artist Molly Crabapple illustrated LaMar’s story:

LaMar has had a massive creative output while in prison. He’s written books, at least one of which he had to dictate over the phone so it could be published, made spoken word/jazz albums, founded a literacy program for kids outside of prison, and become a painter and a poet. His work has helped make the case for his release, not just because it is political—LaMar has a broader range than that—but because it is exceptional and intuitively true. 

I heard LaMar recite his poetry not over Zoom, but over the phone on a static-filled call that ended every 30 minutes—prison rules. You’ll find one of those poems towards the end of this newsletter. 

LaMar has less than a year to live. If there is a time to tell his story, it is now. You can support him by doing exactly that, using the social media toolkit here. Using the same link, you can also donate to the nonprofit advocating for LaMar’s release, sign a petition, and book him for a speaker event.

❧ In Other News ❧

❧ ICE HID ITS MURDER IN TEXAS LAST YEAR—NOW THE WITNESS IS DEAD. It was just revealed this week that ICE shot and killed 23-year-old American citizen Ruben Ray Martinez in South Padre Island in March 2025. At the time, local media reported that “law enforcement” had killed him; now, nearly a year later, the truth has come out. According to ICE, agents were directing traffic around a car accident when Martinez failed to follow orders and struck an officer with his vehicle, prompting them to shoot him multiple times. But the sole witness—Martinez's friend Joshua Orta, who was in the passenger seat—said this account was false and had been preparing to testify that Martinez was complying with officers’ commands. This week, another tragedy struck: Orta was killed in a separate, unrelated car accident. In addition to compounding both families’ grief, his death makes the path to justice far murkier.

Art from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 5, Issue 1

❧ THE PHILIPPINES HAS A LUCRATIVE TROLL-FOR-HIRE INDUSTRY. We mustn’t forget that trolls are people, too, and a benevolent one has spoken to Al Jazeera about the troll-for-hire industry in the Philippines. Junjun thought he had gotten a job at a public relations agency before discovering he had accidentally signed up to become a professional troll, spreading misinformation on behalf of powerful figures. “We’d get cash bonuses when we were able to attract many followers (on social media), or when our content and comments got a lot of engagement,” he told the outlet. Emails released by the Department of Justice show that Junjun’s company worked for Jeffrey Epstein, making it so “pedophile” and “jail” weren’t his top Google results. The question remains: what other high-powered clientele are using the same service?

Art by Ellen Burch from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 5, Issue 1

❧ NURSES STRIKE ENDS IN NYC. After six weeks of striking, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia has reached an agreement with the New York State Nurses Association. The hospital was the last to reach a deal, with other medical systems finishing negotiations weeks ago. Nurses will receive a 12 percent raise over three years, better layoff protections, and better staffing standards. Go nurses!

CURRENT-EST AFFAIRS

What’s new in the magazine this week?

Leftists Can Stack Up Wins in the 2026 Midterms

The left has a big opportunity right now. Trump has exhausted our country with his corruption (and most things that come out of his mouth), Democrats' feeble resistance of him has left their constituents dispirited, and Big Tech has turned apps of connection and convenience into ones of exploitation and surveillance. Out of establishment options, people are turning to progressive and democratic socialist platforms for solace, sense, and morality. To which we say: good idea! We can’t stand those guys either. There have already been significant victories in the party’s more left leaning flank, but we don’t have to say “how nice it is that Zohran won!” and call it a day. There are so many other races that can be won, and more importantly, so many ways progressive ideas can be used to improve the condition of American lives if they are given a shot. Current Affairs associate editor Alex Skopic has put together a massive round up of leftist candidates across the country. Here is his list of upcoming leaders, and what they stand for.

The people just aren’t buying centrism anymore. (Graphic: New York Times)

❧ Ugh, Trump ❧

What the administration did over the course of the last week.

Trump is spinning out after the Supreme Court declared that the legal backing for his bully tariffs is no good. Don’t worry, he’s enacting another 10 percent global tariff (not 15 percent, as Trump previously stated, though he’s working on increasing it!) that is also guaranteed to be challenged in court. The U.S. has sent a massive military presence to the Middle East in preparation to attack Iran. Trump wants a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear development, which the United States used to have before Trump withdrew from it in 2018. And to Greenland, Trump has said he is sending a hospital boat, though the Pentagon has not received official orders to do so. The Department of Homeland Security is still shut down as Congress debates ICE reforms (why reform ICE when you can abolish it?). DHS walked back its decision to suspend TSA pre-check during the shutdown. Global entry, however, is on ice (pun intended). Trump is pushing Republicans to pass the SAVE Act, a new, restrictive voter ID law that could block millions of Americans from the polls. He says the bill is about voter fraud, but that claim looks all the more suspicious after the president hung a banner of his own face on the Department of Justice building, an allegedly nonpartisan agency. Tonight Trump will deliver his State of Union. It’s going to be long, Trump said, and he’ll have to spend every minute trying not to look at the Epstein victims that Democrats, from Rep. Ro Khanna to Sen. Chuck Schumer, are bringing with them to the speech. 

In what may be a preview of tonight’s speech, I subscribed to the White House’s mailing list (for reporting purposes) and received this sweet piece of reality distortion in my subscription confirmation:

In Trump’s defense, maybe he’s not talking about his tanking approval rating, inflation, or the civil unrest in the streets, but his distinctly urine-colored choice of decor for the White House.

❧ In More News ❧

❧ KAMALA HARRIS’S SUPPORT OF ISRAEL WAS A FACTOR IN HER 2024 LOSS. And the sky is blue. Many on the left already recognized how Harris’s support of Israel depressed progressive support for her candidacy. But the Democratic establishment has been reluctant to admit this obvious fact, pointing their fingers everywhere but Israel. It turns out, despite their playing dumb, they know just how much this position cost them. A Democratic official anonymously told Axios that the party’s autopsy of the 2024 election, which they refuse to release, confirms that Harris's pro-Israel position was a “net negative.”

Art from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 5, Issue 1

❧ THE FCC WANTS BROADCASTERS TO “PLEDGE AMERICA.” Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is encouraging broadcasters to air “patriotic, pro-America” content. The ask is being framed as part of a White House push to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary, but if there is anything we know about the current administration, it's that “patriotic” is often a euphemism for censorship, and pro-American means flattering to Trump and the anti-DEI sensibilities of his voters. Plus, this encouragement is coming from an FCC that has not been shy about clipping free speech. Most recently, CBS forced Stephen Colbert to pull an interview with Texas congressional candidate James Talarico because of a new, broader interpretation of FCC regulations.

Art from Current Affairs Magazine Vol. 5, Issue 1

❧ NEW JERSEY RESIDENTS BLOCK DATA CENTER IN NEW JERSEY. Data centers are terrible neighbors. They drive up electricity prices for locals, produce terrible noise, and slop up the water supply like a dog in a desert. When residents of New Brunswick, N.J. caught wind that one of these digital resource drains was coming their way, hundreds flooded a city hall meeting in protest. The city listened. The plan was killed, and now the plot of land that would have housed another nodule of artificial intelligence will instead have 600 units of affordable housing and park.

AN EXCERPT FROM “TELL ‘EM THE TRUTH” BY KEITH LAMAR

You see I grew up in a neighborhood called The Village, 

a small enclave on the East side of Cleveland, 

a beautiful place, yo, 

with fruit trees and sweet things on every corner. No lie. 

I was surrounded by my family and friends then, 

and I’m telling you, there was no end to the love we shared, 

a real community planned by people whose only plan was to live and give everything they had. 

And they gave it all. 

Children of slaves who braved the worst of it, 

so we, their children and grandchildren, could make the most of it. Yeah. 

But to shield us from the pain of knowing the truth, 

they never explained what kind of society we were born into. 

They didn’t tell us about all the tricks and traps that were designed to re-enslave, 

or about the hate that could deliver us to an early grave. 

They wanted us to be free. 

They wanted us not to see all the ugliness around us. 

So a lot of us got caught up in the darkness, 

and lost the light that was meant to guide us through. 

You gotta tell the children the truth.

Tell them it’s not what they say, but what they do. 

Tell them the real about reality, 

that life isn’t meant to be fair, that it’s meant to be lived. 

Tell the children the truth. Yeah.

Tell them the truth.

More of LaMar’s poetry can be read here. You can see a video of LaMar reciting this poem here.

ANIMAL FACT OF THE WEEK

Armadillos can pause pregnancy!

Have you ever wanted to make sure your child had a certain birthday, or maybe a certain astrology sign? Your friends may call you neurotic, but armadillos get you. They like to have their babies in the early spring when food is more plentiful. If a female armadillo gets pregnant at the wrong time of year, risking a dreaded off-season litter, they will put gestation on hold and delay the implantation of a fertilized egg for up to four months. So I guess every armadillo is an Aries??

Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Writing and research by Emily Carmichael. Editing and additional material by Alex Skopic, Emily Topping and Nathan J. Robinson. Header graphic by Cali Traina Blume. This news briefing is a product of Current Affairs Magazine. Subscribe to our gorgeous and informative print edition here, and our delightful podcast here.

Current Affairs is an independent leftist media organization supported entirely by its readers and listeners. We offer a beautiful bimonthly print and digital magazine, a weekly podcast, and a regular news briefing service. We are registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with EIN 83-1675720. Your gift is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Donations may be made through our website, via wire transfer, or by sending us a check. Email help@currentaffairs.org with any questions.