The Preamble

The Preamble

A New Weapon of Resistance

Cell phones are changing what accountability looks like around the world

Elise Labott's avatar
Elise Labott
Feb 05, 2026
∙ Paid

Children’s entertainer Stella Carlson never set out to be an eyewitness to a federal killing. But when Border Patrol agents shot Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis last month, Carlson did what a growing number of ordinary Americans now do when confronted with state violence: she pulled out her phone and pressed “record.”

“I am not one to run when …

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Elise Labott's avatar
A guest post by
Elise Labott
Global affairs journalist. I write Cosmopolitics on Substack.
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