After Spokane anti-ICE protest, FBI reportedly extracted data from demonstrators' phones ⁠27%

By Libby Denkmann⁠0% Maleeha Syed⁠0%

7/2/2026, 11:04:09 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 11 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Biased Writer Voice, and Post Hoc (False Cause), with Framing Effect as the most egregious example at 27.5% saturation with 76 hits. Analysis detected 353 faulty-reasoning hits from 276 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 38.1% and a BS Rank of ⁠27% (16,142 of 21,886 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 73.80% of the article peer group.

Last summer, hundreds of people protested outside of an ICE facility in Spokane. 
They were trying to stop agents from taking two asylum seekers to an ICE detention center in Tacoma. 
As the day wore on and the protest grew in size, law enforcement ordered demonstrators to disperse… and then deployed pepper balls and smoke grenades on the crowd. 
The mayor issued a curfew. 
By the end of the evening, around 30 people were arrested. 
But the government’s response didn't end there: A month later, federal prosecutors indicted nine Spokane protesters on felony conspiracy charges. 
In May, three of those protesters were found guilty of charges related to “conspiracy to impede” federal officers. 
They face up to six years in prison. 
It’s an example of the escalating legal strategy the Trump Administration has been using to charge anti-ICE protesters across the country, most recently in Minnesota. 
And, according to new reporting, federal law enforcement turned to an atypical surveillance tactic to fuel the Spokane case. 
An investigation from Mother Jones found that the FBI secretly extracted data from protesters’ cellphones confiscated during last year’s protest. 
Guest: Schuyler Mitchell, an assistant editor at Mother Jones 
Related links: 
Public Records Show FBI Secretly Extracted Data From ICE Protesters’ Phones | Mother Jones 
More than 30 arrested at immigration protest in Spokane sparked by arrest of 2 immigrants | The Spokesman-Review 
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! 
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Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.8%KUOW: 2.6%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.8%KUOW: 1.3%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 5.5%KUOW: 3.4%Availability Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.7%KUOW: 1.2%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.1%KUOW: 0.7%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.3%KUOW: 1.4%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 27.5%Libby Denkmann: 13.1%KUOW: 7.4%Framing Effect27.5%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.1%KUOW: 1.0%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.4%KUOW: 1.0%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 6.4%KUOW: 3.8%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.7%KUOW: 1.8%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 20.3%Libby Denkmann: 8.6%KUOW: 8.0%Negativity Bias20.3%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 3.0%KUOW: 2.0%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.5%KUOW: 0.9%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.1%KUOW: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 6.7%KUOW: 2.0%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.7%KUOW: 0.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 5.4%Libby Denkmann: 9.9%KUOW: 2.7%Halo Effect5.4%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.5%KUOW: 1.1%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 9.1%Libby Denkmann: 0.4%KUOW: 0.4%Primacy Effect9.1%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.1%KUOW: 0.5%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.2%KUOW: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 5.7%KUOW: 4.3%Appeal to Authority0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.6%KUOW: 1.4%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.9%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.2%KUOW: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 5.6%KUOW: 4.1%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.8%KUOW: 0.3%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.2%KUOW: 0.8%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 8.7%KUOW: 6.1%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.3%KUOW: 0.8%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 15.6%Libby Denkmann: 1.4%KUOW: 2.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)15.6%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.1%KUOW: 0.3%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 2.9%KUOW: 3.3%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 6.9%Libby Denkmann: 0.7%KUOW: 1.4%Ambiguity (Equivocation)6.9%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.1%KUOW: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.0%KUOW: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 0.4%KUOW: 0.2%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 5.1%Libby Denkmann: 0.5%KUOW: 1.0%Unattributed Quote5.1%This article: 5.1%Libby Denkmann: 0.3%KUOW: 0.8%Quote-first Misdirection5.1%This article: 15.9%Libby Denkmann: 2.4%KUOW: 3.2%Biased Writer Voice15.9%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.1%KUOW: 1.5%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.6%KUOW: 1.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 9.1%Libby Denkmann: 0.2%KUOW: 0.2%Politically Right Leaning Bias9.1%This article: 8.0%Libby Denkmann: 1.9%KUOW: 1.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…8.0%

276 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers27%attributed speech202writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 13 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 28 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 11 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 18 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 25 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 19 words • 100.0% coverageMother Jones • 20 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 0.0% coverageMother Jones • 14 words • 100.0% coverageThe Spokesman-Review • 18 words • 0.0% coverageKUOW • 13 words • 100.0% coverageKUOW • 9 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

The Spokesman-Review

100%flagged-word coverage
18 attributed words24% of attributed speech57% writer coverage
0%12.5%25.0%Biased Writer Voice-21.8 ptsWriter: 21.8%The Spokesman-Review: 0.0%0.0%Politically Right Leaning -12.4 ptsWriter: 12.4%The Spokesman-Review: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.