Apr 30, 2007 9:00 AM

THREAT LEVEL Prediction Comes True: Student Arrested for Creative Writing Essay -- Updated

Chicago high school student Allen Lee, 18, was arrested and charged with “disorderly conduct” for writing an essay in creative writing class that his teacher found disturbing. He’s also been barred from classes at Cary-Grove High School, where he’s reportedly been a straight-A student. The Chicago Tribune reports that the teacher had “encouraged students to […]

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TopicsThreat Level

Border Patrol Agents Sold Challenge Coins With Charlotte’s Web Characters in Riot Gear

Nonprofits run out of US Border Patrol stations are also selling other “operation”-themed coins that include a phrase popularized by the Proud Boys, potentially in violation of government rules.

Maddy Varner

The FBI Didn’t Answer Texts From Minnesota Investigators for Days After Renee Good’s Killing

Messages sent to the FBI by an investigator with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension went ignored for at least two days, per records obtained by WIRED.

Caroline Haskins

‘A Rigged and Dangerous Product’: The Wildest Week for Prediction Markets Yet

As the prediction market boom continues, backlash is growing, too, with Arizona filing criminal charges against Kalshi and public outcry after Polymarket traders threatened a journalist.

Kate Knibbs

ICE Is Paying Salaries and More for This Town’s Entire Police Force

Under a Homeland Security program, police departments around the US are signing up to assist in immigration enforcement. The cops of Carroll, New Hampshire, are going all in—and they’re likely not alone.

Sammy Sussman

Opposing ICE Might Save the Country. It Could Also Ruin Your Life

For months, lone vibe coder Rafael Concepcion has obsessively built tools to counter the federal immigration crackdown—pivoting as he’s been outmatched. He’s also lost his job and become a target.

Brendan I. Koerner

With One Million Displaced, Lebanon Turns to Digital Wallets for Aid

Amid mass displacement and collapsing trust in institutions, digital wallets are becoming critical conduits for aid, connecting diaspora donors directly with communities on the ground.

Carla Sertin

This Is How Trump Is Already Threatening the Midterms

WIRED surveyed the ways the Trump administration is working to manipulate this year’s midterm elections.

David Gilbert

CBP Facility Codes Sure Seem to Have Leaked Via Online Flashcards

The Quizlet flashcards, which WIRED found through basic Google searches, seem to include sensitive information about gate security at Customs and Border Protection locations.

Sammy Sussman

A Year After DOGE Cuts, GSA Now Plans to Hire Hundreds of Employees

The General Services Administration is hiring “approximately 400 positions,” according to an internal email viewed by WIRED. Last year the agency lost thousands of workers as part of DOGE’s rampage.

Zoë Schiffer

What Happens When You Can’t Get a Death Certificate in Gaza

For families of the missing, systemic obstacles to identifying remains and locating people in Israeli detention has created a kind of social and legal purgatory.

Mahmoud Mushtaha

The IRS Wants Smarter Audits. Palantir Could Help Decide Who Gets Flagged

Documents show the tax agency is testing a Palantir tool to surface “highest-value” audit and investigation targets from a maze of legacy systems.

Caroline Haskins

Using a VPN May Subject You to NSA Spying

US lawmakers are pressing Tulsi Gabbard to reveal whether using a VPN can strip Americans of their constitutional protections against warrantless surveillance.

Dell Cameron