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Trevor Aaronson

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Trevor Aaronson
OccupationJournalist
WebsiteTrevorAaronson.com

Trevor Aaronson is an American journalist. He is a contributing writer at The Intercept[1] and author of The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism, a book that drew national attention for its critical examination of the FBI's use of informants in domestic counterterrorism operations and was widely cited in discussions of post-9/11 law enforcement practices.[2] He was a 2020 ASU Future Security Fellow at New America[3] and a 2015 TED Fellow.[4]

Aaronson received a 2024 Peabody Award for Pulse: The Untold Story, an Audible audio documentary that examined how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) disseminated inaccurate information about the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting to obscure its failure to prevent the attack.[5] He has also produced several other Audible Original series, including American ISIS, which chronicles the life of Russell Dennison, an American who joined the Islamic State as a fighter in Syria;[6] Into the Madness, which investigates the connection between conspiracy theories and mass violence, focusing on a shooting during a Fourth of July parade near Chicago;[7] and Hold Fast, co-produced with Sam Eifling and Michael Mooney, which explores the development of adult advertising in alternative weekly newspapers and its transition to the website Backpage.com.[8]

In January 2023, Aaronson launched the podcast series Alphabet Boys. The first season, titled "Trojan Hearse,"[9] detailed an FBI operation that infiltrated the Black Lives Matter movement in Denver, Colorado, following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, using tactics reminiscent of the COINTELPRO era.[10][11] The second season, "Up in Arms," focused on a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration narcoterrorism sting that targeted a former FBI informant who claimed to be affiliated with the Central Intelligence Agency.[12][13]

In addition to the Peabody Award, Aaronson has received the Molly National Journalism Prize,[14] the Data Journalism Award,[15] the John Jay College/Harry Frank Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Award,[16] as well as honors from the Online Journalism Awards[17] and the National Headliner Awards.[18]

Works

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  • The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism, Ig Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-1935439615

References

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  1. ^ "Trevor Aaronson". The Intercept. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  2. ^ CBS News (January 11, 2013). FBI sting operations: Fair or entrapment?. Retrieved June 4, 2025 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ "Trevor Aaronson". New America. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  4. ^ "Meet the 2015 class of TED Fellows and Senior Fellows". TED.com. December 17, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2023.
  5. ^ "Pulse: The Untold Story". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
  6. ^ Aaronson, Trevor (July 15, 2021). "An American ISIS Fighter Describes the Caliphate's Final Days — and His Own". The Intercept. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  7. ^ "Amazon.com: Into the Madness: A Killer's Game, a Woman's Obsession, a Dark Conspiracy (Audible Audio Edition): Trevor Aaronson, Trevor Aaronson, Audible Originals: Audible Books & Originals". www.amazon.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
  8. ^ Korten, Tristram. "A new podcast chronicles the rise and fall of the alt-weekly". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
  9. ^ "Alphabet Boys: Introducing: Alphabet Boys: Season One, Trojan Hearse on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved February 7, 2023. felt like history in the making... then the protests just stopped
  10. ^ Aaronson, Trevor; Hall, Zebbodios; German, Mike (February 7, 2023). "COINTELPRO 2.0: How the FBI Infiltrated BLM Protests After Police Murder of George Floyd". Democracy Now! (Interview). Interviewed by Amy Goodman. Retrieved February 7, 2023. 'Alphabet Boys' documents how the FBI disrupted racial justice organizing after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, including paying an informant at least $20,000 to infiltrate and spy on activist groups in Denver, Colorado. The informant also encouraged activists to purchase guns and commit violence, echoing the FBI's use of the COINTELPRO program to sabotage left-wing activist groups in the 1960s
  11. ^ Weill, Kelly (February 7, 2023). "How an FBI Informant Derailed Denver's BLM Movement". The Daily Beast. Retrieved February 7, 2023. Windecker made more than $20,000 working for the FBI during the summer of 2020... appeared on the Denver protest scene in the summer of 2020, when the nation was reeling from the on-camera murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. In Denver, Floyd's killing also ignited a simmering anger over the death of Elijah McClain, a young Black man from nearby Aurora. McClain died in 2019 after police violently subdued him...
  12. ^ Intercepted (June 28, 2023). "CIA Arms Dealer Was Actually DEA Target". The Intercept. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  13. ^ "New Season of the Hit iHeartPodcast 'Alphabet Boys' Goes Inside an International Arms-Trafficking Case". www.iheartmedia.com. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  14. ^ Nelson, Piper (June 8, 2012). "Paul Krugman Keynotes and Trevor Aaronson Wins Top Award at The 2012 MOLLY National Journalism Prize Dinner". Texas Observer.
  15. ^ "Mother Jones Wins International Data Journalism Award for FBI Terrorism Informant Database". Mother Jones. May 31, 2012. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012.
  16. ^ "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Mother Jones Magazine Win 2012 John Jay College/H.F. Guggenheim Excellence in Criminal Justice Reporting Awards" (Press release). John Jay College. January 17, 2012. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012.
  17. ^ "America Reloaded". Online Journalism Awards. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
  18. ^ "2016 – Online | National Headliner Awards". www.headlinerawards.org. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
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