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Austin L. Mullins, 22, admitted fatally shooting Jacob Wall, 23, of Wood River, at a party in Wood River in 2023, authorities said.

The murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota once again show the power of cellphone footage in combating official lies. Solely because footage was so clear that even the Trump administration knew its story wasn’t credible, the party line shifted within hours of Pretti’s shooting from comments about a “terrorist” planning a “massacre” to something akin to “jaywalking is now a capital offense.”

These days, cellphone videographers are also a vital part of the news ecosystem, serving as crucial source material for reporters who can’t be everywhere at once. That means shooting, killing, censoring, and other targeting of individuals documenting news as it unfolds is an attack on press freedom (and an offense against all else that’s good in the world).

It doesn’t matter if they’re journalists. Recording police or Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents is an act of journalism, no matter who does it. If those recording are not journalists themselves, their relationship with the press is symbiotic. They’re journalists’ sources — even whistleblowers.

Decades ago, the way to blow the whistle on government misconduct was to leak documents like the Pentagon Papers. Those methods are still vital, of course. That’s why the administration is trying so hard to stop them. But footage is just as powerful, maybe more so.

And the courage of those recording in the street rivals that of people like Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and National Security Agency surveillance whistleblower Ed Snowden, both longtime board members of Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF). The latter group risked life behind bars, but the former risk being assaulted or shot dead by federal agents.

Cellphone footage also poses a more ubiquitous threat to the powerful than leaked documents. Only government contractors and employees have the ability to leak documents — virtually everyone has a cellphone. And that’s exactly why the government is cracking down on cellphone videographers with the same tactics it has long used against old-school whistleblowers.

The government is cracking down on cellphone videographers with the same tactics it has long used against old-school whistleblowers.

Whenever someone leaks government secrets to the press, no matter who is in the White House, the same pattern almost invariably plays out. Important-sounding people in suits and military uniforms pop up on the Sunday shows and op-ed pages warning about the dire threat to national security posed by the disclosures, which never materializes. Government spokespeople and their stenographers in the media nitpick at the leakers’ personal lives, question their motives, and call them traitors. What they actually revealed about government corruption and incompetence gets buried beneath the fearmongering and name-calling.

Similarly, the government now characterizes cellphone recording as obstructive or even violent. Officials claim agents are being “doxxed” when someone records their face or reveals their name, and complain about wildly exaggerated or entirely fabricated dangers they’re facing. ICE-watchers are accused of being part of some amorphous domestic terror conspiracy — their names might even be populating a government domestic terror watch list, according to some agents.

Their phones are often unlawfully seized or damaged before they can post their footage on social media, where journalists might find and report on it. A lawsuit seeking to force the federal government to preserve evidence from Pretti’s killing claims that federal agents “apparently seized cell phones and detained witnesses,” tactics that can both intimidate those who film and prevent their footage from seeing the light of day, just like newsroom raids intimidate and censor journalists and sources.

This didn’t start with Trump 2.0, of course, and, for whatever reason, the Twin Cities have been at the center of the story for years. Darnella Frazier didn’t have a press credential around her neck when she recorded Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck. When Philando Castile was shot during a traffic stop in 2016, Diamond Reynolds’ livestreamed footage captured a killing that would otherwise have been framed as justified.

Thousands of miles away, cellphone footage was crucial in exposing Israel’s crimes in Gaza. Palestinians, many with no prior journalistic training, took unfathomable risks to ensure that Israeli officials could not get away with the same kinds of lies and pretexts that U.S. officials now spew after killings of civilians (just replace “Hamas” with “the worst of the worst”).

One of this year’s Oscar nominees for best documentary is “The Alabama Solution,” which highlights reforms prompted by incarcerated people — including Robert Earl Council, Melvin Ray, and Raoul Poole — using contraband cellphones to document abuses. They risked and endured severe retaliation (they heard about the Oscar nomination from solitary confinement) to expose the truth because the press doesn’t cover prisons like it should. That’s both due to news companies not seeing any money in it and the government drastically restricting access.

As corporate and government pressures against accountability journalism continue to mount, the outside world might be similarly dependent on its Councils, Rays, and Pooles to expose the truth. Horrors like Pretti’s murder are tragic losses not only to the victims’ families and communities but to what’s left of the free press in the United States.

Correction: This post has been revised to reflect that Edward Snowden was not a founding board member of FPF.

Every year, it’s always fun to see the connection that players in the Super Bowl have to the area. This year, there will be three former Mizzou players in the big game. 

A new cover of Van Halen’s classic track “Jump” is featured in Coca-Cola's ad campaign leading up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.The new take on the song features blink-182…

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A Warrenton man was arrested last week for crashing a stolen van into a business and attempting to steal beer.

by Dr. John Gaal As we near the end of the first month of 2026, this week’s edition of our Worker Wellness blog looks at how Philly is shifting strategies in their response to the everchanging opioids crisis; to how an explosion of sports betting venues and formats are negatively impacting people, families, workplaces, and […]

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The legal action follows a similar lawsuit filed in Jackson County last year, and failed state attempts to crack down on unregulated cannabis sales.

Unexpected, but in the most delightful sense of the word — the sort of thing we’ve rarely seen since January 2025. Gregory Bovino has been removed from his role as Border Patrol “commander at large” and will return to his former job in El Centro, California, where he is expected to retire soon, according to […]

HIGHLAND - Noemi Abbati, an exchange student from Italy currently attending Highland High School, is making a notable impact on the student body this semester. According to Todd Strong, a social studies teacher at the school, Abbati’s openness in sharing her culture and perspectives is helping to break down stereotypes and labels among students. Strong nominated Abbati for a Rising Star honor. Abbati, who excels academically despite facing the challenges of studying unfamiliar subjects,

ALTON - Senior Services Plus, Inc. (SSP), located at 2603 N. Rodgers Avenue in Alton, will host a "Meet the Legislators" panel discussion on Friday, February 13, 2026, from 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM. Proudly sponsored by AARP Illinois, the event will feature District Director Brian Zilm from U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski's office, State Senator Erica Harriss, and State Representative Amy Elik. These legislators will discuss key topics and issues impacting the older adult community, followed b

The average price of gas in Illinois has risen 7.5 cents a gallon in the last week, according to GasBuddy, to $2.94 as of Monday, January 27.

GameStop has recently closed dozens of stores across Missouri and Illinois, including at least five in the St. Louis region, as the video game chain faces a wave of closures nationwide.

EDWARDSVILLE — Austin L. Mullins, 22, of Alton pleaded guilty Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, to first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Jacob “Jake” Wall, 23, of Wood River, Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine announced. The shooting occurred on July 24, 2023, during a party in Wood River. The State's Attorney's Office said Mullins admitted to fatally shooting Wall in connection with the incident. Mullins entered the plea in Madison County Circuit Court before Judge

S. M. Wilson & Co. has promoted Jake Fenster from Senior Estimator to Pre-Construction Manager. In this role, he oversees project planning, including budgeting, scheduling, risk management, subcontractor selection and acting as a liaison between clients, architects and engineers to control costs and define scope. Key duties include cost estimation, creating timelines, bid solicitation, risk […]

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Homicide detectives with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department are investing a fatal shooting that happened inside a Soulard restaurant Monday afternoon.

Provides administrative support functions to include file in-take, routine correspondence, and performing special projects and research as assigned.

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Bonnie Raitt has added some more tour dates to her 2026 schedule.The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer has added a leg of summer shows in Canada and the U.S., kicking…

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