Borders, osint, & digital investigations | working @LHreports, sometimes more; past research @ForensicArchi
Joined August 2020
- Tweets 1,014
- Following 1,024
- Followers 3,854
- Likes 2,978
476 Photos and videos
Pinned Tweet
8 Oct 2025
NEW: Since October 2023, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit has released dozens of 3D animations illustrating alleged Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian sites
The style is unmistakable: satellite zoom-ins, black & white wireframes, and red-textured houses - a new visual language of war
210
2,706
7,025
2,258,978
May 23
Laiken's post raises an issue that appears along many fortified borders
On the EU/Belarus border, guards regularly post footage of moose other large animals caught in razor wire along border fences - recent infrastructure that has disrupted historical patterns
May 20
Border walls in Big Bend will cut wildlife off from the Rio Grande—often their only reliable source of water.
Many of Texas' famed game species will pay the price, just like we've seen elsewhere across the border. And for what? Virtually nobody is crossing the border here.
9
172
756
32,050
May 20
From our recent @LHreports / Al Jazeera Fault Lines documentary on the El Fasher siege
The animation here is based on 100s of sat images from Apr - Oct 2025. Via cross-comparison, I mapped the berm’s construction in QGIS, then imported into Blender animated w/ a custom script
May 20
Ruqaya Jaber fled the city of el-Fasher on foot on the day the RSF took over. She fled with a group of men and women. When the RSF stopped them, the men were pulled aside and only the women were allowed to continue
Watch the full investigation on YouTube: aje.news/ElFasher
2
8
792
May 14
Fascinating application of NASA's free night lights data to detect light emissions linked to potential construction along the US/Mexico border.
Nice one @JackSapoch, and glad to see the DarkLight Viewer was helpful 🤓
May 13
Recent border wall construction in southern Arizona is visible not only in daytime satellite imagery, but also at night
I made this timelapse w/ NASA Black Marble nighttime lights data, showing light signatures along the border next to Coronado National Forest b/w Jan Mar 2026
7
25
3,769
May 13
Recent border wall construction in southern Arizona is visible not only in daytime satellite imagery, but also at night
I made this timelapse w/ NASA Black Marble nighttime lights data, showing light signatures along the border next to Coronado National Forest b/w Jan Mar 2026
1
1
13
4,406
May 13
Beyond the physical construction of the wall, artificial lighting is also part of the project’s environmental footprint.
@CenterForBioDiv in particular has published past work on these risks: biologicaldiversity.org/camp…
1
1
171
May 13
Anyways, this observation originally came onto my radar while playing around with @BenDoBrown's great Darklight Viewer tool in GEE, which makes it easy to explore changes nighttime satellite data.
Definitely worth checking out if you're interested in these methods!
1
1
2
1,558
Today, Border Forensics together with @SociodigFutures launched a new investigation on the #UK's "stop the boats" policy and that is has in fact led to an increase in deaths.
Things being are as they are we cannot post here but follow us on bsky.app/profile/borderforen…
13
18
1,455
Mar 16
Private satellite imaging companies are restricting access to imagery over Iran, making it difficult to verify destruction caused by U.S./Israeli strikes. I developed a method to detect building damage in open source radar imagery, now peer reviewed:
sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
17
121
374
30,843
IRE calls for the immediate release of Estefany Rodríguez, a reporter for Nashville Noticias and Univision 42 Nashville, who was taken into custody while in a marked news vehicle, according to reports.
Detaining journalists for doing their jobs is a direct threat to press freedom and the First Amendment. We stand with Rodríguez and all reporters working to hold power accountable.
Read the rest of our statement: bit.ly/4sto4Mh
28
128
208
19,321
Feb 28
Amidst strikes on Iran by the US and Israel today, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit released a pre-made 3D animation of strike targets in Kermanshah, Iran
1
3
367
Feb 28
The animation centers on a few buildings (implied targets) displayed as point geometry evocative of LiDAR data
The extent to which this is a generated effect vs data derived geometry is unclear, but past work on IDF animations suggests the former
x.com/JackSapoch/status/1975…
8 Oct 2025
We traced over 30 unique assets to Washington-based 3D creator Ian Hubert, who makes bespoke models created for his sci-fi project Dynamo Dream, available to his Patreon subscribers.
Models of parking lots, antennas, pipes were repurposed as Hamas and Iranian military sites
1
1
1
193
Feb 28
In an IDF TikTok published following the last round of strikes on Iran, members of the "After Effects" cell within the IDF Spokesperson's Unit Post Production wing soldiers described working weeks prior to strikes under “prime-minister-level secrecy” to prepare visuals
221
Feb 26
Three years ago:
Feb 26
Three years ago, at least 94 people, including 35 children, died near Italy in what is known as the Cutro shipwreck.
Humane and rational migration policies are possible, and there is now a rare chance for accountability.
Learn more: bit.ly/3OwsMud
1
2
332
Feb 25
Last May, Tennessee Highway Patrol joined ICE on the streets of Nashville.
We @LHreports partners mapped the traffic stops and used 1M ICE records, dashcam video, and court files to show how supposed routine encounters became deportations.
1
12
10
857
Feb 25
By linking federal detention data to traffic stops, we followed people from roadside encounters through ICE custody and onto deportation flights.
We found 75% of those detained had no criminal record.
1
1
3
116
Feb 25
This investigation was a collaboration with @MotherJones, @nashvillebanner, @NC5, Nashville Noticias, and @psr_memphis
You can find links to all the publications as well as our methodology write-up here: lighthousereports.com/method…
3
3
363