The Hound | July 22

Hi there,

It’s Wednesday. The family of David Brouillette — the ICE officer who shot and killed a Colombian man in Maine — told the Associated Press that he struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and a gun. His precise hiring circumstances remain unclear, but the revelation fits a pattern: an AP investigation earlier this year found that applicants with questionable histories were either not fully vetted or were hired despite their past.

🖊️ Sign the petition to call on the media to cover ICE's hiring surge not as a staffing story, but as a accountability crisis — one that asks how officers with violent histories are clearing background checks, who is responsible for vetting them, and what the consequences are when that process fails.

This is not a human interest story. It is a public safety and accountability story. An agency that has now killed more than a dozen people since Trump returned to office is simultaneously rushing to hire thousands of new agents, cutting training requirements, and stonewalling questions about who it is putting on the street with a badge and a weapon. When a family says their loved one never should have been armed by the federal government — and the government refuses to explain how he was — journalists should be demanding answers.

In addition, Republicans are panicking over Trump’s lack of plan in his endless war on Iran. And, after an attempted cover-up by the Pentagon, officials belatedly admitted nearly 100 US personnel have been injured in recent Iranian strikes over the last two weeks.

Read about these, and more, with today’s stories:

Maine shooting and officer’s background raise new questions about ICE’s rapid hiring (AP News)

“Don’t Have a Plan”: Republicans Panic as Trump Ramps Up in Iran (The New Republic)

“Cover-Up” Unravels as Pentagon Admits Nearly 100 Injured in Iran Strikes (The Intercept)

Independent autopsy "inconclusive" on cause of death for 18-year-old Nolan Wells in Mississippi (NPR)

Andy Biggs wins Republican nomination to challenge Democrat Katie Hobbs for Arizona governor (PBS)

Why Paramount Should Be Worried (The American Prospect)

Mamdani taps Lina Khan and Tony Shorris for key New York economic posts (The Guardian)

Until next time,

Harry from The Hound

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