RE-SEND: THE SHADOW LIST (The first one had comments turned off for some reason)
How TSA, DHS, and a University Research Lab Quietly Built a Watchlist for American Citizens...And Why It’s the Most Dangerous Story Almost No One Is Talking About
Author’s Note
Why do I share a combination of articles on staying calm and controlled in a crisis… and….articles like the one last night…and this one? Because the height of emotional control isn’t sticking your head in the sand and then proclaiming, “Look at me, I’m so calm!”
Real calm doesn’t come from avoidance.
Real calm comes from awareness.
From seeing the danger clearly…naming it honestly…and refusing to let it hijack your mind.
Anyone can stay “calm” when they’re ignoring reality.
The real skill…the one I teach here…is staying calm while staring reality dead in the face.
That’s why you get both from me:
the truth about what’s happening,
and the tools to stay unwavering as it unfolds.
Stay calm.
Stay focused.
Stay unkillable.
THE SHADOW LIST
How TSA, DHS, and a University Research Lab Quietly Built a Watchlist for American Citizens...And Why It’s the Most Dangerous Story Almost No One Is Talking About
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #622: Tuesday, October 28th, 2025.
THE MOVE THEY HOPED YOU WOULDN’T NOTICE
While America fought over headlines…another story broke in the shadows…the kind of story that doesn’t trend…but changes history.
Reports now reveal that TSA and DHS used a taxpayer-funded research program at George Washington University (GWU) as a quiet backdoor to gather intelligence…on Americans and allegedly place citizens on secret watchlists.
People with no criminal record.
People who attended a rally.
People who posted something the government didn’t like.
People who asked the wrong questions or refused the wrong mandates.
And they didn’t do it through Congress.
Not the courts.
Not official channels.
They did it through an academic partnership.
A constitutional loophole big enough to fly a surveillance state through.
In some cases, (Rand) Paul alleged, people were trailed simply because they traveled to Washington to attend the “Stop the Steal” rally preceding the riot. One woman added to a TSA watchlist, the wife of a federal air marshal, testified at the hearing that she never approached the Capitol grounds.
YOU ALREADY KNOW SOMETHING IS WRONG
You’re not imagining it.
You’ve watched the creep.
The slow normalizing of “security.”
The TSA screenings that go too far.
The government pretending every citizen is a suspect who just hasn’t confessed yet.
The expansion of “extremism” definitions until anyone who thinks for themselves becomes a threat.
This new revelation just confirms what many of us have felt in our bones:
The real surveillance state doesn’t announce itself.
It contracts out.
WHAT THEY REALLY BUILT
Let’s break the story down:
Simple. Direct. Undeniable.
TSA allegedly used GWU’s Program on Extremism to tag Americans
Not criminals.
Not terrorists.
Regular citizens.
A federally funded academic program became the government’s “acceptable” workaround to avoid constitutional limits.
Non-criminal behavior was enough to flag you
Reports suggest triggers included:
Attending a political rally
Posting “anti-government” or dissenting content
Pandemic-era resistance
Completely legal activism
Following certain accounts
Being in the “wrong” online circles
Legal behavior treated as suspicious behavior.
The process is invisible and unchallengeable
You don’t get notified.
You can’t appeal.
You don’t get due process.
You don’t even know you’re on a list.
You just suddenly get “randomly” screened every flight.
Or pulled aside.
Or delayed.
Or interrogated.
Outsourcing allows DHS to bypass constitutional protections
Government agencies must follow the Constitution.
Academic programs do not.
So TSA gets the data...without touching the Bill of Rights.
This is outsourced authoritarianism.
THIS IS WORSE THAN THE PATRIOT ACT
At least the Patriot Act had:
✅ a debate
✅ a vote
✅ a public name
✅ congressional fingerprints
This?
This happened quietly in research labs and inboxes.
A secret partnership between a federal agency…and a university shaping who gets watched, flagged, or restricted.
No oversight.
No regulation.
No transparency.
A shadow list for a shadow era.
THE REAL DANGER
This isn’t about TSA.
This is about a blueprint.
If DHS can outsource surveillance…
they can outsource censorship.
If they can outsource watchlists…
they can outsource protest monitoring.
If they can outsource political profiling…
they can outsource anything.
Academic institutions…nonprofits…NGOs, “risk assessment centers,” “digital safety labs” …all of it becomes fair game.
This is a government learning how to monitor citizens…while keeping its hands “clean.”
WHAT YOU SHOULD FEEL: OUTRAGE, NOT FEAR
Fear freezes.
Outrage sharpens.
This is the moment when free nations either wake up or lose the thread.
You should be angry.
Not paranoid…angry.
Because this was avoidable.
Preventable.
And absolutely intentional.
And the only thing powerful enough to stop a shadow surveillance machine…
is an awakened public.
Below is the paid-subscriber section (below the Key Sources)…the part supported by the people who make this mission possible every single day. Without them…this newsletter stops growing. It loses its reach. And neither they nor I have any intention of letting that happen.
Believe me…I think you’ll find that this paid section…alone…is worth the entire annual paid subscription.
Back soon,
-Jack
Key Sources
Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee — “Chairman Paul Brings to Light ‘Quiet Skies’…” (Sep 30 2025). This internal memo alleges TSA relied on Program on Extremism at George Washington University data to place Americans on watchlists. Homeland Security Committee+1
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) & American‑Arab Anti‑Discrimination Committee (ADC) “Call for Investigation of Watchlist Abuse…” (Oct 3 2025) — alleges taxpayer-funded GWU program being used to justify secret watchlists. ADC - Truly Arab, Fully American.
Department of Homeland Security — “Strategic Intelligence Assessment and Data on Domestic Terrorism” (published Jul 2023) — provides context on terminology, data use, and domestic terrorism classification. Department of Homeland Security
Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report: “Countering Violent Extremism: FBI & DHS Need Strategies…” (Feb 28 2024) — addresses how DHS/FBI share threat data, including with outside entities. U.S. Government Accountability Office
The National Desk article: “Biden’s TSA accused of abusing power … watchlists targeting political dissenters” (Sep 30 2025) — claims TSA “relied on the GWU Program of Extremism academic database and social media” when placing watch-list individuals. The National Desk
Program on Extremism at George Washington University website — “Trackers” page, showing how the program compiles publicly available data on extremism, indicating scope and capability of the research center. Program on Extremism
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