Aaron Mendelson
@amendelson.bsky.social
journalist @thetrace.org. data + investigations. based in los angeles. priors: the center for public integrity, kpcc/laist, ucbsoj email: aaron AT aaronmendelson dot com
On August 10, a masked ICE agent pointed his gun at Carolina Molina, a 36-year-old U.S. citizen, in Falls Church, Virginia. The encounter is one of at least 47 incidents in which immigration agents held bystanders, protesters, or other people at gunpoint under questionable circumstances.
The fact the LA River bike path isn't *already* fully built out in 2026 is such a failure on the part of local government www.latimes.com/environment/...
The eight-mile gap in the L.A. River bike path downtown has a billion-dollar problem
Someday, you might be able to ride a bike from the western San Fernando Valley to Long Beach along the Los Angeles River. But an eight-mile gap downtown with a ballooning price tag remains.
latimes.com
New provisional CDC numbers are out: There were 42,348 gun deaths in 2025, a 5% drop from the year before and the lowest number in 6 years. It was driven almost entirely by a drop in gun homicides — while gun suicides rose to their highest level on record. My latest:
CDC Data Shows Shooting Deaths Dropped, but Gun Suicides Hit a Record High
A Trace analysis of new federal data sheds light on gun violence in 2025.
thetrace.org
My new story, about profiting from gun suicide: www.thetrace.org/2026/07/gun-... Published in partnership with @thetrace.org and @newyorker.com
Parting Shot
Stormy Kay was born in 1961, when her parents were young newlyweds, unprepared and thrust into adulthood. Stormy’s mother cut meat at a grocery store and taught classes at a beauty school, and her fat...
thetrace.org
"Hours before President Trump is scheduled to headline a Tuesday evening fundraiser at his Rancho Palos Verdes golf course, authorities announced that they had arrested a heavily armed individual seen wandering the grounds" www.latimes.com/california/s...
Armed suspect arrested at Trump's Rancho Palos Verdes golf course in advance of president's visit
Hours before President Trump is scheduled to headline a Tuesday evening fundraiser at his Palos Verdes golf course, authorities announced that they had arrested a heavily armed individual seen wanderi...
latimes.com
Thankful for the collective journalism people like @amendelson.bsky.social are doing sharing data like this set on immigration shootings Sharing is caring 😊
Aaron Mendelson@amendelson.bsky.social · last wk.I don't post every time we update the Gun Violence Data Hub — but we've added some significant data recently. Check it out, find your next story: datahub.thetrace.org/data-library...
I don't post every time we update the Gun Violence Data Hub — but we've added some significant data recently. Check it out, find your next story: datahub.thetrace.org/data-library...
Feels great when a gov't agency has to admit they were wrong, and they *do* have the public records you asked for
The latest 92 Days In Gun Violence — @thetrace.org's quarterly data update — is live. In this edition: Shootings down, gun sales increasing for first time in years www.thetrace.org/2026/07/shoo...
Since when do the parking lots at Burbank fill up? Don't recall seeing this before
The LAPD regularly pulls over innocent people because its license plate readers incorrectly flags their cars as stolen. Info comes as the LAPD has decided to not renew its Flock contract www.404media.co/lapd-regular...
LAPD Regularly Pulled Over Innocent People Because License Plate Readers Flagged Their Cars As Stolen
The Los Angeles Police Department let its Flock contract expire over the weekend in part because it was regularly "investigating" and surveilling innocent people.
404media.co
Alex Padilla and Katie Porter said WHAT??? Great reporting project here from @lamaterial.com lamaterial.com/p/la-politic...
We Found L.A. Politicians’ Yelp Reviews
Then built an interactive map of the 100+ ratings.
lamaterial.com
Colombia has the third-most Spanish speakers of any country, with 50.1 million. The number two nation is the United States, with 62.4 million Spanish speakers. simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
List of countries by Spanish-speaking population - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
simple.wikipedia.org
Here at the biggest sporting event of the night: Sparks-Storm
"Come on, America. We’re about to turn 250. We may not have a great history of cranking out international soccer players, but lawyers? Lawyers are what we do." www.wsj.com/sports/socce...
Let Folarin Balogun Play! Calling America’s Other National Team: Lawyers
There’s no chance of appeal to get the USMNT’s suspended star back on the pitch versus Belgium. Or is there?
wsj.com
"When uninsured patients arrive at hospitals in Florida with gunshot wounds, on average they spend significantly fewer days in the hospital — in some cases half the time — than those with health insurance" www.thetrace.org/2026/06/gun-...
Florida Hospitals Act Fast To Discharge Gun Victims — Especially If They’re Not Insured
A new investigation by The Trace and KFF Health News examines what happens to the insured and the uninsured who are shot and admitted to a hospital for treatment in Florida.
thetrace.org
The federal judiciary just announced that its raising PACER fees to pay to modernize the system. They are estimating about $125,000,000 per year to do the work. That number is simply unmoored from reality. It's enough money to pay over 600 people $200k salaries! 1/3 www.uscourts.gov/data-news/ju...
Judiciary Approves Funding for Case Management and Public Access Modernization
To fund the accelerated initiative to modernize and strengthen the security of its case management and public access system, the Judiciary is implementing a modest temporary increase in fees for elect...
uscourts.gov
"Federal courts have now ruled on more than 3,000 challenges to gun laws since the Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 Bruen decision expanded the right to bear arms, according to a database maintained by The Trace." www.thetrace.org/2026/06/brue...
3,300 Challenges to Gun Laws Have Flooded the Courts Since SCOTUS Expanded the Right to Bear Arms
The number of cases disputing the Second Amendment since SCOTUS expanded gun rights has reached a new milestone, according to The Trace's database.
thetrace.org
This bill would be a disaster for transparency in California. Difficult to overstate how bad it would be for journalism, and for the public's ability to understand the work of government calmatters.org/politics/202...
California could become the ‘most secretive’ state under new public records bill
Want government records? You might have to pay more, wait longer or even fight the court to obtain them under a proposed new measure.
calmatters.org
The Supreme Court struck down Hawaii’s ban on carrying guns at businesses and other publicly accessible private property without the owner’s express permission. @bychipbrownlee.com breaks down the decision:
Supreme Court Says States Can’t Ban Guns at Public-Facing Businesses
Restaurants, gyms, and other public-facing businesses will now be required to tell customers if guns aren’t allowed.
thetrace.org
smh at the local gov't of > 1 million residents that does not have a shapefile of its city council boundaries online
"The shift toward vehicles with higher hoods caused about 3,000 deaths from 2016 to 2024" www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The Deadly Rise of Giant Trucks and S.U.V.s
The vehicles on American roads have grown larger — and they are killing thousands more pedestrians, a Times investigation found.
nytimes.com
I wrote about how, and why, we reported on crime guns in California @thetrace.org datahub.thetrace.org/2026/06/behi...
If we know one thing about DOJ, it’s their zeal for quickly processing FOIAs. Expect this to surface sometime this century
Governor Gavin Newsom@governor.ca.gov · 2mo agoMy office is demanding the Trump Administration release any and all records on the Trump DOJ’s politically motivated, baseless fishing expedition. The American people deserve to know who ordered this abuse of power and how far it goes.
Atlanta Hawks only team to win two against the Knicks
LBJ was pronounced dead in San Antonio in January 1973, just months before the first-ever San Antonio Spurs game. Did not live to see George Gervin's rookie season. cc @lyndonbajohnson.bsky.social
LBJ was pronounced dead in San Antonio in January 1973, just months before the first-ever San Antonio Spurs game. Did not live to see George Gervin's rookie season. cc @lyndonbajohnson.bsky.social
