A.C. Thompson

Reporter

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A.C. Thompson is a staff reporter with ProPublica. His stories, which often examine the criminal justice system, have helped lead to the exoneration of two innocent San Francisco men sentenced to life in prison and the prosecution of seven New Orleans police officers. In addition to working as a print and web journalist, Thompson has reported extensively for television, serving as a producer and correspondent for the PBS documentary series Frontline. His life was fictionalized on the HBO show “Treme.”

White Supremacists Share Bomb-Making Materials in Online Chats

Chat logs made available to ProPublica show talk of mass killings and the recipes that could be used to carry them out.

Racist, Violent, Unpunished: A White Hate Group’s Campaign of Menace

They train to fight. They post their beatings online. And so far, they have little reason to fear the authorities.

A New Generation of White Supremacists Emerges in Charlottesville

A group that included many people who were college-educated or ex-military displayed effective planning. “White people are pretty good at getting organized,” said one.

Police Stood By As Mayhem Mounted in Charlottesville

State police and National Guardsmen watched passively for hours as self-proclaimed Nazis engaged in street battles with counter-protesters. ProPublica reporter A.C. Thompson was on the scene and reports that the authorities turned the streets of the city over to groups of militiamen armed with assault rifles.

Sikhs in America: A History of Hate

Demonized as immigrants. Mistaken for Muslims. For more than a century, Sikhs in the U.S. have faced suspicion and violence.

More Than 100 Federal Agencies Fail to Report Hate Crimes to the FBI’s National Database

The gaps in data damage efforts to understand the nature and scope of violence driven by racial and religious hatred.

A Few Things Got Left Out of The Daily Caller’s Report on Confederate Monument Rally

A reporter for the conservative news site neglected to mention he’d given a speech in front of protesters in support of white nationalism.

California Hate Crime Against Sikh Man Yields Prison Terms for Assailants

Prosecutors were pleased that the two white assailants pleaded guilty to hate crime charges.

In an Angry and Fearful Nation, an Outbreak of Anti-Semitism

ProPublica’s Documenting Hate project recorded more than 330 reports of anti-Semitic incidents during a three-month span, from early November to early February.

When the Government Really Did Fear a Bowling Green Massacre — From a White Supremacist

Assault rifles, body armor, a possible kill list, but not much attention when feds arrested a white man they said was bent on “race war.”

Claims of ‘Homosexual Agenda’ Help Kill Hate Crimes Laws in 5 States

Some Christian groups have no problem protecting people from crimes driven by racial or religious hatred. They just draw the line at sexual orientation.

Teens Report Onslaught of Bullying During Divisive Election

In a survey of 50,000 teens, some 70 percent reported abusive behavior across months of a notably angry presidential campaign.

‘What’s Going On, Daddy’: A Reporter on the Hate Beat Finds 2 Very Local Stories

A brutal beating; a terrible murder. Seeking motives in a divided America.

‘As a White Nationalist, What Do You Do?’

A conversation with a scholar of America’s extreme right

In An Ugly Election Result, Hate Surges Online

Has Trump emboldened extremists? Some disquieting early returns.

Hate Crimes Are Up — But the Government Isn’t Keeping Good Track of Them

There is considerable anxiety about the potential for violence after a bitter national election. The data kept on hate crimes won’t reassure anyone.

Latest Attempt at Police Transparency Fails In California

As police scandals swirl in Northern California, a legislative effort to make the disciplinary records of officers available to the public comes up short.

A Call to Reopen Investigation of Terror Campaign Against Journalists

An advocacy group says ProPublica and Frontline’s reporting on the murders of Vietnamese-American reporters requires a renewed probe by the FBI.

Collateral Damage: Decades Later, a Suicide Can Be Added to Domestic Terror Campaign’s Toll

Before killing himself in Houston in 1988, Pham Dang Cuong was targeted by a violent anti-Communist group of former South Vietnamese military officers, according to interviews and records.

Terror in Little Saigon (Vietnamese)

An old war comes to a new country.

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