My name is Sam McNeil, and I am a multimedia journalist deeply concerned with justice. I have written articles from the southern and eastern Mediterranean, filmed and photographed the Levant, wrote a travelogue called Wazungu through the Bundu, and covered the Sonoran desert. A Tejano by birth, I’ve roosted in Washington, D.C., Seattle, Bellingham, Tunis, Knysna, Dar es Salam, Johannesburg, Ramallah, and Tucson. Currently a dual Masters candidate at the University of Arizona, I am also a research assistant with the Institute of the Environment’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development grant, contributor and web editor of SISMEC, founder of Los Deportados multimedia hub, and musician.
ST McNeil
Media created

Five thousand marched for burial of nationalist Mohammed Brahmi on Jul. 27, 2013 at the Al-Gazala cemetery next to similarly assassinated leftist Chorki Belaid in Tunis, Tunisia.

Five thousand marched for burial of nationalist Mohammed Brahmi on Jul. 27, 2013 at the Al-Gazala cemetery next to similarly assassinated leftist Chorki Belaid in Tunis, Tunisia.

Five thousand marched for burial of nationalist Mohammed Brahmi on Jul. 27, 2013 at the Al-Gazala cemetery next to similarly assassinated leftist Chorki Belaid in Tunis, Tunisia.

Five thousand marched for burial of nationalist Mohammed Brahmi on Jul. 27, 2013 at the Al-Gazala cemetery next to similarly assassinated leftist Chorki Belaid in Tunis, Tunisia.

Five thousand marched for burial of nationalist Mohammed Brahmi on Jul. 27, 2013 at the Al-Gazala cemetery next to similarly assassinated leftist Chorki Belaid in Tunis, Tunisia. View the full collection here: http://transterramedia.com/collections/1305

Five thousand gather for burial of nationalist Mohammed Brahmi on Jul. 27, 2013 at the Al-Gazala cemetery next to similarly assassinated leftist Chorki Belaid in Tunis, Tunisia.

Burial of nationalist Mohammed Brahmi on Jul. 27, 2013 at the Al-Gazala cemetery next to similarly assassinated leftist Chorki Belaid in Tunis, Tunisia.

Protest outside of National Constituent Assembly in Tunis, Tunisia following burial of Mohammed Brahmi on Jul. 27, 2013

After the brutal killing of Popular Current Party leader Mohamed Al-Brahimi, who was shot eleven times in the head in front of his family, angry protesters marched along the Habib Bourguiba Ave. in Tunis, on July 25, this is the second political assassination in six months. (photo by ST McNeil 2013)

After the brutal killing of Popular Current Party leader Mohamed Al-Brahimi, who was shot eleven times in the head in front of his family, angry protesters marched along the Habib Bourguiba Ave. in Tunis, on July 25, this is the second political assassination in six months. (photo by ST McNeil 2013)

After the brutal killing of Popular Current Party leader Mohamed Al-Brahimi, who was shot eleven times in the head in front of his family, angry protesters marched along the Habib Bourguiba Ave. in Tunis, on July 25, this is the second political assassination in six months. (photo by ST McNeil 2013)

After the brutal killing of Popular Current Party leader Mohamed Al-Brahimi, who was shot eleven times in the head in front of his family, angry protesters marched along the Habib Bourguiba Ave. in Tunis, on July 25, this is the second political assassination in six months. (photo by ST McNeil 2013)

After the brutal killing of Current Popular Party leader Mohamed Al-Brahimi, who was shot eleven times in the head in front of his family, angry protesters marched along the Habib Bourguiba Ave. in Tunis, on July 25, this is the second political assassination in six months. (photo by ST McNeil 2013)

After the brutal killing of Popular Current Party leader Mohamed Al-Brahimi, who was shot eleven times in the head in front of his family, angry protesters marched along the Habib Bourguiba Ave. in Tunis, on July 25, this is the second political assassination in six months. (photo by ST McNeil 2013)

After the brutal killing of Popular Current Party leader Mohamed Al-Brahimi, who was shot eleven times in the head in front of his family, angry protesters marched along the Habib Bourguiba Ave. in Tunis, on July 25, this is the second political assassination in six months. (photo by ST McNeil 2013)

Operation Streamline is the U.S. Federal court system response to mass increases in immigration enforcement. Everyday in border cities like Tucson, Ariz., hundreds of migrants apprehended throughout the U.S. are sentenced en masse with scant legal procedures. Criticized as unconstitutional, Streamline sends people to jail or deportation daily.
Off-limits to cameras, journalists ST McNeil and Josh Morgan brought graphic artist Lawrence Gipe to the courtroom to witness and record the "assembly-line." His sketches are the first images ever detailing an opaque border enforcement system.

Protesters marched to the port of entry to demand justice for the slaying of a 16-year-old by US Border Patrol (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Protesters marched to the port of entry to demand justice for the slaying of a 16-year-old by US Border Patrol (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Protesters marched to the port of entry to demand justice for the US Border Patrol slaying of 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Protesters marched to the port of entry to demand justice for the slaying of a 16-year-old by US Border Patrol (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Protesters marched to the port of entry to demand justice for the slaying of a 16-year-old by US Border Patrol (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Protesters marched to the port of entry to demand justice for the slaying of a 16-year-old by US Border Patrol (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Protesters marched to the port of entry to demand justice for the slaying of a 16-year-old by US Border Patrol (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Protesters marched to the port of entry to demand justice for the slaying of a 16-year-old by US Border Patrol (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Protesters marched to the port of entry to demand justice for the slaying of a 16-year-old by US Border Patrol (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Protesters marched to the port of entry to the US from Mexico to demand justice for the slaying of a teenager, the 17th such killing since 2007 (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Protesters marched to "La Garita" or port of entry at the US/Mexico border to demand answers to the slaying of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Araceli Rodriguez leads a protest march on Day of the Dead along the US/Mexico border demanding justice for the brutal murder of her son by American security personnel (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Sand art commemorating the slain 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez along the US/Mexico border (Nov. 2, 2012, Nogales, Sonora).

Arabic language interview with 76 year resident of East Jerusalem. Interview was recorded on Yom Yerushalaim - Jerusalem day - when nationalistic settlers from all over the West Bank and Israel descend on the Old City in the thousands to claim the "liberation and unification" of the Israel's "eternal capitol". The annual march goes through East Jerusalem and stopped this year in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Iconic to the struggle within Jerusalem, the neighborhood is embedded with Israeli settlers who took over a large Palestinian home four and a half years ago. The interview is filmed while Rifka's front courtyard and guesthouse is occupied by Israeli settlers - as is the house across the street: an iconic occupied home in the focal point of the Sheikh Jarrah troubles.

Today is Yom Yerushalaim - Jerusalem day - when nationalistic settlers from all over the West Bank and Israel descend on the Old City in the thousands to claim the "liberation and unification" of the Israel's "eternal capitol". Called "Al Shabab" (Arabic for "youth") by their yeshiva elders, these troublesome youth are often excused for Torah studies in lieu of direct action against the Arab "occupation" of Jerusalem. In this clip the Israeli Shabab try to drown out the protests of Palestinian and Israeli activists.

May 27, 2011: At dusk, the police targeted individual activists from within the protest, singling out leaders or ones who were louder or more forceful in their attempts to block settlers' entering and leaving their compound. According to activists, settlers and police work together to build profiles on anti-settlement activists.

May 27, 2011: Outside the largest settlement in East Jerusalem on 27 May 2011, nearly a hundred activists protested the enclave's inauguration. Police, soldiers and border police broke up the crowd and arrested six Israeli activists, for the first time using a new pistol-gripped electrocution device. While a few Palestinian protesters were present, most abstained from front-line protesting for fear of arrest - one fled police capture after he approached the crowd.

May 15, 2011: Stones vs tear gas at the Jerusalem - Ramallah border crossing.

May 27, 2011: Jewish demonstrators call for an end to Apartheid.

Friday, May 27: Israelis demonstrate against Apartheid and for Solidarity with Arabs.

Tear gas vs stones at the Ramallah - Jerusalem border crossing

Demonstrators, burning tires and tear gas.

Demonstrations and tear gas from within a Palestinian ambulance and a brief interview with EMS technician.

00:02:16 - 00:02:38 Transcript: "The world cannot speak about democracy in Libya and Syria and Egypt and criticize the violence used against peaceful demonstrators there and still not speak about the violations of Israel and the use of fierce lethal weapons against peaceful, non-violent demonstrators in Palestine."