Adam Clay "A.C." Thompson (born c.1972 [1]) is an investigative journalist, producer, and staff reporter with ProPublica.[2] His work has appeared on the PBS series Frontline. His stories, many of which 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.[2]
Before going into journalism, Thompson held many jobs, including pharmaceutical study test subject, trash collector, bike messenger, punk band roadie, and a martial arts fighter. He was in Afghanistan, where he was reporting for a book written with Trevor Paglen, a Ph.D researcher at UC Berkeley.[3]
Thompson was a reporter for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, and the Center for Investigative Reporting.[3]
He was faculty at New College of California, an instructor in the Media Studies Graduate Program, and teaches at the Raising Our Voices program, to train street reporters.[4]
| Year | Air Date(s) | Title | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | August 16 and 25 | Law and Disorder | An investigation, in collaboration with The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate, into charges and the cover up of illegal use of force by the New Orleans Police Department against citizens |
| 2012 | February 21, June 28 | The Child Cases | An investigation, in collaboration with NPR, into deaths of children, for which people were wrongly convicted or imprisoned based on unreliable or wrong medical evidence |
| 2013 | July 30, September 24 | Life and Death in Assisted Living | An investigation into Emeritus Senior Living, the largest assisted-living company in the United States |
| 2015 | August 15, November 3 | Terror in Little Saigon | An investigation into unsolved murders of Vietnamese-American journalists |
| 2018 | August 7 | Documenting Hate: Charlottesville | An investigation into the 2017 Unite the Right rally and the under-preparedness of the local law enforcement |
| 2018 | February 4, June 18, November 20 | Documenting Hate: New American Nazis | An investigation following the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, focusing on American white supremacist groups, specifically Atomwaffen Division |
| 2021 | April 13 | American Insurrection (2021) | An investigation, in collaboration with Berkeley Journalism's Investigative Reporting Program, into far-right extremist groups (e.g., the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers) following the 2017 Charlottesville car attack and rally |
| 2022 | January 4 | American Insurrection (2022) | An update of the original, including more recent events |
| 2022 | March 29 | Plot to Overturn the Election | An investigation into the misinformation and causes that led to the January 6 United States Capitol attack |
| 2023 | June 13 | America's Dangerous Trucks | An investigation into deadly accidents between passenger vehicles and large trucks (e.g., Semi-trailer truck) |