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 has traveled to Afghanistan, where he was reporting for a book written with Trevor Paglen, then a Ph.D graduate student at UC Berkeley.[3]
Thompson has been a reporter for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, and the Center for Investigative Reporting.[3]
He has also been faculty at New College of California, an instructor in the Media Studies Graduate Program, and taught at the Raising Our Voices program, to train street reporters.[4]
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
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
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