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welcome to amerikkkans
home of the deplorables, despicables, & disgusting americans
a shithole's FINEST trash
oct 17, 2019
It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.
James A. Baldwin
David Cross: “At least 25% of America has always been ignorant, racist, xenophobic and backwards, people prone to demagoguery. That’s not a surprise,” he says. “The surprise is that there’s this loud, brash, arrogant narcissist giving these people a voice and making them feel proud.”
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Mark Twain: “How much longer are we going to think it necessary to be ‘American’ before (or in contradistinction to) being cultivated, being enlightened, being humane, & having the same intellectual discipline as other civilized countries? It is really too easy a disguise for our shortcomings to dress them up as a form of patriotism!”
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Courage is the goal of cowards.
Alan Watts
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President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was a son of the South, said: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”
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white trash's america
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
...white Americans have lived in a country where the celerity with which they mask their racism matters as much as the color of their skin. One might look forward, unhappily, to white conservatives disassociating themselves from this massacre by claiming, in effect, that they're not "white trash"—meaning, in effect, that they've profited enough from their racism that they can afford to dress it up better; or look forward to white liberals disassociating themselves by claiming, in effect, that they're not "white conservative" hypocrites—meaning, in effect, that they've profited enough from their racism that they can afford to dress it up better still; or to white leftists disassociating themselves by claiming, in effect, that they're not "white liberal" hypocrites.
Why Are White Racists Always Called “White Trash"?
By Frank Guan
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Headlines: ignorance, racism, and stupidity america's trinity
of the bottom 70%
the people who make-up the shithole
(sources: raw story, politicus usa, daily kos)
*journalists say Brett Kavanaugh asked them to lie about him in their book
*Neo-Nazi who ran for Senate in California now running for city council seat in Idaho on a ‘blatantly, openly, violently anti-Semitic platform’
*Florida white nationalist preaching race war arrested with hit list that included cops: report
The hit list, referenced on Facebook, reportedly included the names of a Broward County Sheriff’s Office deputy and a Fort Lauderdale Police Department officer.
Real Estate Agent Claims Ignorance After Failed Attempt to Profit Off Possible Racial
Tensions In Response to Election of Montgomery’s First Black Mayor
By Tanasia Kenney - atlanta black star
October 12, 2019
An Alabama real estate agent is sorry but still out of a job after posting an offensive advertisement about the recent mayoral election in Montgomery.
Craig Schaid said he didn’t expect the torrent of backlash that came after he published an ad offering to sell people’s homes if they were angry over the outcome of the Montgomery election — a historic race in which voters chose to elect the city’s first African-American mayor.
Judge Steven Reed came out on top in Tuesday’s runoff and will officially be sworn in as mayor in November.
After Reed’s historic win, Schaid published a Facebook ad that read: “Hey Montgomery, Don’t Like The Election Results?? CALL ME!! Let’s SELL That Home While The Market Is HOT!” alongside an eXP Realty logo, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
eXP told the paper it wasn’t aware of the ad before Schaid posted it, and promptly fired him after learning about it.
“We reviewed the situation and terminated the agent,” said Cynthia Novak, vice president of marketing and communications for eXP. “He’s no longer an agent with eXp. In addition, we’re discussing how we can advocate for diversity and inclusion and will educate all staff and agents on these matters.”
The Montgomery Association of Realtors also caught wind of Schaid’s dog whistle ad and ordered him to resign from his position as treasurer.
“As of today, we asked for his resignation and we received it today,” association CEO Brad Owen confirmed to the outlet Thursday.
Schaid has since apologized for the ad, saying the intent wasn’t racial and that he never meant to offend anyone.
He insisted he “doesn’t see a color.”
“I didn’t write that with race,” he told AL.com. “I didn’t write that with a color. I wrote that thinking it was funny, and somebody pointed out that they were offended. So I removed it. And now it’s gone crazy.”
The managing broker told the outlet he “borrowed the idea” for the ad after seeing people’s reactions to the 2016 presidential election, when some folks threatened to leave the U.S. if Donald Trump won the White House. Schaid said he planned to post the ad whether Reed or his opponent David Woods won the race.
The ousted Realtor said he’s excited about what Reed will bring to Montgomery, but was put off by the focus on his race.
“I don’t see a color,” Schaid added. “When that election happened. That’s the thing that probably frustrated me the most afterwards is people were talking about a black mayor. To me, I didn’t see it as a black mayor, I saw it as a great mayor. We’ve got a great new mayor. To me, he’s more than qualified for that position.”
Craig Schaid said he didn’t expect the torrent of backlash that came after he published an ad offering to sell people’s homes if they were angry over the outcome of the Montgomery election — a historic race in which voters chose to elect the city’s first African-American mayor.
Judge Steven Reed came out on top in Tuesday’s runoff and will officially be sworn in as mayor in November.
After Reed’s historic win, Schaid published a Facebook ad that read: “Hey Montgomery, Don’t Like The Election Results?? CALL ME!! Let’s SELL That Home While The Market Is HOT!” alongside an eXP Realty logo, according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
eXP told the paper it wasn’t aware of the ad before Schaid posted it, and promptly fired him after learning about it.
“We reviewed the situation and terminated the agent,” said Cynthia Novak, vice president of marketing and communications for eXP. “He’s no longer an agent with eXp. In addition, we’re discussing how we can advocate for diversity and inclusion and will educate all staff and agents on these matters.”
The Montgomery Association of Realtors also caught wind of Schaid’s dog whistle ad and ordered him to resign from his position as treasurer.
“As of today, we asked for his resignation and we received it today,” association CEO Brad Owen confirmed to the outlet Thursday.
Schaid has since apologized for the ad, saying the intent wasn’t racial and that he never meant to offend anyone.
He insisted he “doesn’t see a color.”
“I didn’t write that with race,” he told AL.com. “I didn’t write that with a color. I wrote that thinking it was funny, and somebody pointed out that they were offended. So I removed it. And now it’s gone crazy.”
The managing broker told the outlet he “borrowed the idea” for the ad after seeing people’s reactions to the 2016 presidential election, when some folks threatened to leave the U.S. if Donald Trump won the White House. Schaid said he planned to post the ad whether Reed or his opponent David Woods won the race.
The ousted Realtor said he’s excited about what Reed will bring to Montgomery, but was put off by the focus on his race.
“I don’t see a color,” Schaid added. “When that election happened. That’s the thing that probably frustrated me the most afterwards is people were talking about a black mayor. To me, I didn’t see it as a black mayor, I saw it as a great mayor. We’ve got a great new mayor. To me, he’s more than qualified for that position.”
Trump Is Tinder for the White Nationalist Explosion That John Tanton Stoked
BY Steven Gardiner, Truthout
PUBLISHED October 6, 2019
A fter a decade of avoiding addressing the growth of white nationalist violence, the Department of Homeland Security has acknowledged its threat and issued a “Strategic Framework” document that clarifies “the dangers posed by domestic terrorists, including racially- and ethnically-motivated violent extremists, particularly white supremacist violent extremists.” The department will, among other “priority actions,” form partnerships with local stakeholders, seek partnerships with private sector tech companies to combat the spread of violent ideologies online, and increase grants to local law enforcement to combat all kinds of “extremism.”
The move runs contrary to President Trump’s repeated minimizing of white nationalism and seems to be the result of both years of prodding from researchers and the sheer amount of carnage inflicted. The pivot should be welcomed, but we must recognize that it is not just white nationalist violence that is a problem, but also the related politics of racial and ethnic exclusion that have animated the current administration from its inception.
The Trump administration has now reached agreements with three Central American countries — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — that requires would-be asylum seekers passing through those countries apply for asylum there instead of proceeding to the U.S. This comes fast on the heels of a Supreme Court decision that paved the way for the Trump administration to block most asylum seekers at the southern border — one of dozens of policies, from limiting immigrants’ access to services to increased detention, recommended by anti-immigrant groups founded by the late John Tanton.
Since his death in July, Tanton has been eulogized as the architect of the contemporary anti-immigration movement. Tanton was an ophthalmologist based in Petoskey, Michigan, whose dread of so-called cultural contamination, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, led to his founding or funding of 13 organizations, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), dedicated to restricting the flow of immigrants to the U.S. or protecting “American culture” from foreign influences.
Twenty-five years before the El Paso gunman wrote a manifesto opposing a supposed “invasion” of immigrants and killed 22 people and injured two dozen more, Tanton co-authored The Immigration Invasion with Holocaust denier Wayne Lutton. Tanton acted as a bridge between explicit white nationalism obsessed with race as a biological reality and the realm of public policy. The line between policies that seek to restrict immigration flows for environmental, economic or “cultural cohesion” reasons and open racists who see the influx of immigrants of color as the greatest threat to white people both racially and culturally is often anything but clear. Tanton himself circulated a memo intended only for movement insiders in which he wrote, “As whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion?”
Explicitly white nationalist organizations have, in symmetry with the work of the groups Tanton founded, increasingly seen non-white immigration as both the biggest threat to their vision of a “whites only” homeland and their best chance to win allies in the political mainstream. Much of the traction gained by the anti-immigrant policy organizations in the 1990s (and supplemented in the following decade by the Tea Party) led the Tanton-founded and funded groups to disavow explicit white nationalism. This does not mean, of course, that the more mainstream groups never slip into racist rhetoric, such as CIS Executive Director Mark Krikorian’s analysis that, “Haiti’s so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough,” or NumbersUSA President Roy Beck’s assertion that immigrants are “enabling pools” of crime and terrorism. FAIR’s current president, Dan Stein, has said that repealing explicitly racist immigration laws from the 1920s is a “way to retaliate against Anglo-Saxon dominance” that “will continue to create chaos down the line”
What should astonish us is that President Trump and his supporters are now far less discreet in their white nationalist dog-whistles than movement stalwarts like Krikorian and Beck. With Trump’s references to Mexican “criminals, drug dealers, rapists,” condemnation of immigrants from “shithole countries,” justification for excluding refugees from Muslim-majority countries because he claims they are “terrorists,” and most recently, turning away Bahamian refugees after Hurricane Dorian and maligning them as “very bad people,” “gang members” and “drug dealers,” Trump has lowered the bar all the way to ground on fear-mongering and resentment of immigrants. And, just so it is clear whom he means by immigrants, the president — echoing Pat Buchanan, another bridge figure between white nationalism and the more accepted “anti-immigrant” movement — noted that, “We should have more people from places like Norway.”
If Tanton was warning of an explosion resulting from whites believing that their lives are declining (read: losing demographic majority), Trump waging an explicitly anti-immigrant and obviously racist rhetoric campaign is tinder. The manifesto writers and mass murderers who have inflicted so much carnage in places such as Pittsburgh, Poway and El Paso, throw Trump’s words back at him when they assess no one is going far enough to protect the U.S. from what they imagine as “white genocide” being plotted and enabled by Jews, liberals and socialists.
They are communicating that if there is really an “invasion,” then it’s time for violence.
Those of us for whom such delusions trigger dread and revulsion, however, must not rest in outrage. Tanton’s vision of defending an imagined “white culture,” shared with the explicit white nationalists, is now being realized in both U.S. border policies and bigoted violence. Anyone and everyone who believes in inclusive democracy is now under a heavy obligation to work together to stop white nationalism, whether we find it in the form of racist violence, the enabling rhetoric or the policies that treat those seeking a new home as “enemies.”
The move runs contrary to President Trump’s repeated minimizing of white nationalism and seems to be the result of both years of prodding from researchers and the sheer amount of carnage inflicted. The pivot should be welcomed, but we must recognize that it is not just white nationalist violence that is a problem, but also the related politics of racial and ethnic exclusion that have animated the current administration from its inception.
The Trump administration has now reached agreements with three Central American countries — El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras — that requires would-be asylum seekers passing through those countries apply for asylum there instead of proceeding to the U.S. This comes fast on the heels of a Supreme Court decision that paved the way for the Trump administration to block most asylum seekers at the southern border — one of dozens of policies, from limiting immigrants’ access to services to increased detention, recommended by anti-immigrant groups founded by the late John Tanton.
Since his death in July, Tanton has been eulogized as the architect of the contemporary anti-immigration movement. Tanton was an ophthalmologist based in Petoskey, Michigan, whose dread of so-called cultural contamination, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, led to his founding or funding of 13 organizations, including the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), NumbersUSA and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), dedicated to restricting the flow of immigrants to the U.S. or protecting “American culture” from foreign influences.
Twenty-five years before the El Paso gunman wrote a manifesto opposing a supposed “invasion” of immigrants and killed 22 people and injured two dozen more, Tanton co-authored The Immigration Invasion with Holocaust denier Wayne Lutton. Tanton acted as a bridge between explicit white nationalism obsessed with race as a biological reality and the realm of public policy. The line between policies that seek to restrict immigration flows for environmental, economic or “cultural cohesion” reasons and open racists who see the influx of immigrants of color as the greatest threat to white people both racially and culturally is often anything but clear. Tanton himself circulated a memo intended only for movement insiders in which he wrote, “As whites see their power and control over their lives declining, will they simply go quietly into the night? Or will there be an explosion?”
Explicitly white nationalist organizations have, in symmetry with the work of the groups Tanton founded, increasingly seen non-white immigration as both the biggest threat to their vision of a “whites only” homeland and their best chance to win allies in the political mainstream. Much of the traction gained by the anti-immigrant policy organizations in the 1990s (and supplemented in the following decade by the Tea Party) led the Tanton-founded and funded groups to disavow explicit white nationalism. This does not mean, of course, that the more mainstream groups never slip into racist rhetoric, such as CIS Executive Director Mark Krikorian’s analysis that, “Haiti’s so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough,” or NumbersUSA President Roy Beck’s assertion that immigrants are “enabling pools” of crime and terrorism. FAIR’s current president, Dan Stein, has said that repealing explicitly racist immigration laws from the 1920s is a “way to retaliate against Anglo-Saxon dominance” that “will continue to create chaos down the line”
What should astonish us is that President Trump and his supporters are now far less discreet in their white nationalist dog-whistles than movement stalwarts like Krikorian and Beck. With Trump’s references to Mexican “criminals, drug dealers, rapists,” condemnation of immigrants from “shithole countries,” justification for excluding refugees from Muslim-majority countries because he claims they are “terrorists,” and most recently, turning away Bahamian refugees after Hurricane Dorian and maligning them as “very bad people,” “gang members” and “drug dealers,” Trump has lowered the bar all the way to ground on fear-mongering and resentment of immigrants. And, just so it is clear whom he means by immigrants, the president — echoing Pat Buchanan, another bridge figure between white nationalism and the more accepted “anti-immigrant” movement — noted that, “We should have more people from places like Norway.”
If Tanton was warning of an explosion resulting from whites believing that their lives are declining (read: losing demographic majority), Trump waging an explicitly anti-immigrant and obviously racist rhetoric campaign is tinder. The manifesto writers and mass murderers who have inflicted so much carnage in places such as Pittsburgh, Poway and El Paso, throw Trump’s words back at him when they assess no one is going far enough to protect the U.S. from what they imagine as “white genocide” being plotted and enabled by Jews, liberals and socialists.
They are communicating that if there is really an “invasion,” then it’s time for violence.
Those of us for whom such delusions trigger dread and revulsion, however, must not rest in outrage. Tanton’s vision of defending an imagined “white culture,” shared with the explicit white nationalists, is now being realized in both U.S. border policies and bigoted violence. Anyone and everyone who believes in inclusive democracy is now under a heavy obligation to work together to stop white nationalism, whether we find it in the form of racist violence, the enabling rhetoric or the policies that treat those seeking a new home as “enemies.”
New study finds people who have low emotional IQs tend to be racist right-wingers
September 6, 2019
By Sky Palma - raw story
According to a recent study published in the journal Emotion, people who score low on emotional intelligence tests tend to hold right-wing and bigoted views more often than not.
As Big Think points out, the study is the first of its kind when it comes to people with emotional deficits and right-wing views, whereas previous studies focused on people with intelligence deficits and their predisposition to right-wing ideologies.
Researchers took 983 Belgian undergraduates and assessed their political views and gave them three tests: the Situational Test of Emotional Understanding, the Situational Test of Emotion Management, and the Geneva Emotion Recognition Test. Participants who had lower emotional IQ scores scored higher when it came to “right-wing authoritarianism” and “social dominance orientation” — revealing that they’d be more willing to submit themselves to political authority and favor inequality within social groups.
Additionally, low emotional IQ scorers were more likely to agree with statements such as “the white race is superior to all other races.”
“The results of this study were univocal. People who endorse authority and strong leaders and who do not mind inequality — the two basic dimensions underlying right-wing political ideology — show lower levels of emotional abilities,” study author Alain Van Hiel told PsyPost.
Van Hiel warned that the results should be interpreted with caution.
“One cannot discredit any ideology on the basis of such results as those presently obtained,” he said. “Only in a distant future we will be able to look back upon our times, and then we can maybe judge which ideologies were the best. Cognitively and emotionally smart people can make wrong decisions as well.”
As Big Think points out, the study is the first of its kind when it comes to people with emotional deficits and right-wing views, whereas previous studies focused on people with intelligence deficits and their predisposition to right-wing ideologies.
Researchers took 983 Belgian undergraduates and assessed their political views and gave them three tests: the Situational Test of Emotional Understanding, the Situational Test of Emotion Management, and the Geneva Emotion Recognition Test. Participants who had lower emotional IQ scores scored higher when it came to “right-wing authoritarianism” and “social dominance orientation” — revealing that they’d be more willing to submit themselves to political authority and favor inequality within social groups.
Additionally, low emotional IQ scorers were more likely to agree with statements such as “the white race is superior to all other races.”
“The results of this study were univocal. People who endorse authority and strong leaders and who do not mind inequality — the two basic dimensions underlying right-wing political ideology — show lower levels of emotional abilities,” study author Alain Van Hiel told PsyPost.
Van Hiel warned that the results should be interpreted with caution.
“One cannot discredit any ideology on the basis of such results as those presently obtained,” he said. “Only in a distant future we will be able to look back upon our times, and then we can maybe judge which ideologies were the best. Cognitively and emotionally smart people can make wrong decisions as well.”
A racist hate site is posting photos of Jewish students and staffers — and university officials are extremely concerned
September 4, 2019
By Travis Gettys - raw story
Two universities contacted the FBI after hundreds of Jewish students and staffers had their photos dumped online by a notoriously anti-Semitic white nationalist.
Student journalists from Brandeis University and Yeshiva University have reported the photos posted online on the anti-Semitic and racist VNN Forum associated with white nationalist Alex Linder, who has frequently endorsed violence against Jewish people, reported The Daily Beast.
Linder praised the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue last year in Pittsburgh, and one of the site’s senior members killed three people in an attack on a Jewish community center five years ago near Kansas City.
A source familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast that Yeshiva University officials had reported the posting to the FBI field office in New York, which then contacted agents in St. Louis, which has jurisdiction over Linder’s hometown in Missouri.
An FBI spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny whether Linder or the Vanguard News Network were under investigation.
The discussion thread showing the photos has been deleted from the forum.
The photos were posted by a user under the likely pseudonym Stewart Meadows, who has made more than 4,300 posts since joining the site in May 2018.
He has posted photos of various Jewish people, most of whom are women, for more than a year.
The Brandeis student newspaper first reported the photos, which included current and former students and staffers, and campus security issued a statement claiming they found no evidence of a “direct threat.”
Yeshiva’s student newspaper reported the photos the following day, and the university’s campus security urged students to “ignore the site.”
But the targets of the online campaign are concerned about Linder’s history, and his outspoken endorsement of and association with anti-Semitic violence.
Linder’s site has lost much of its traffic since Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., a Ku Klux Klan leader in the 1980s and a VNN regular, killed three outside a Jewish community center in Overland Park, Kansas, and was sentenced to death.
Student journalists from Brandeis University and Yeshiva University have reported the photos posted online on the anti-Semitic and racist VNN Forum associated with white nationalist Alex Linder, who has frequently endorsed violence against Jewish people, reported The Daily Beast.
Linder praised the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue last year in Pittsburgh, and one of the site’s senior members killed three people in an attack on a Jewish community center five years ago near Kansas City.
A source familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast that Yeshiva University officials had reported the posting to the FBI field office in New York, which then contacted agents in St. Louis, which has jurisdiction over Linder’s hometown in Missouri.
An FBI spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny whether Linder or the Vanguard News Network were under investigation.
The discussion thread showing the photos has been deleted from the forum.
The photos were posted by a user under the likely pseudonym Stewart Meadows, who has made more than 4,300 posts since joining the site in May 2018.
He has posted photos of various Jewish people, most of whom are women, for more than a year.
The Brandeis student newspaper first reported the photos, which included current and former students and staffers, and campus security issued a statement claiming they found no evidence of a “direct threat.”
Yeshiva’s student newspaper reported the photos the following day, and the university’s campus security urged students to “ignore the site.”
But the targets of the online campaign are concerned about Linder’s history, and his outspoken endorsement of and association with anti-Semitic violence.
Linder’s site has lost much of its traffic since Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., a Ku Klux Klan leader in the 1980s and a VNN regular, killed three outside a Jewish community center in Overland Park, Kansas, and was sentenced to death.
Armed mob attacks Houston Popeyes — after being told they were out of chicken sandwiches
September 2, 2019
By Bob Brigham - raw story
Police were called to a Popeyes in Houston, Texas after a violent confrontation — over chicken sandwiches.
“An armed group of people rushed the door of a Popeyes Chicken restaurant in southeast Houston Monday night demanding chicken sandwiches,” KTRK-TV reported Monday evening.
Employees told ABC13 a mob of two women, three men and a baby were told at the drive-thru that the chicken sandwiches were sold out, but that apparently triggered the would-be customers. That is when police said they tried to get inside the restaurant,” KTRK reported.
“One man had a gun, but a restaurant worker was able to lock them out,” the station noted.
“An armed group of people rushed the door of a Popeyes Chicken restaurant in southeast Houston Monday night demanding chicken sandwiches,” KTRK-TV reported Monday evening.
Employees told ABC13 a mob of two women, three men and a baby were told at the drive-thru that the chicken sandwiches were sold out, but that apparently triggered the would-be customers. That is when police said they tried to get inside the restaurant,” KTRK reported.
“One man had a gun, but a restaurant worker was able to lock them out,” the station noted.
US Attorney Cuts Neo-Nazis Down To Size With Brutal Press Conference Remarks
"If you want to waste the blessings of liberty by going down a path of hatred and failed ideologies, that is your choice," said a visibly determined Justin Herdman.
By Aliza Worthington - Crooks & Liars
8/30/19 7:19am
Another day, another white guy living with his mom threatening to shoot up a synagogue. This one, James Reardon, a 20-year-old Nazi-wannabe threatened to shoot up a Jewish Community Center in Youngstown, Ohio. He was caught because a someone brought the threat he'd posted on Instagram to the attention of the police, and police took it seriously enough to search his house (his mom answered the door.) When they found all the weapons and ammo, they arrested him, having also seen all the anti-Semitic content he gleefully posted on his social media accounts.
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, Justin Herdman, announced charges against Reardon, but what made this presser unusual was his message for the other pathetic Hitler-ites who think that they can not only say whatever they want, but do whatever they want with impunity. Here are some excerpts from Herdman's remarks, which were unusually powerful because of their strength and determination, but also for the way they cut white supremacists down to the size they deserve. Dare I say, the size of insects?
Now, let me speak generally to those who are advocates for white supremacy or white nationalism. I am talking directly to you. The Constitution protects your right to speak, your right to think, and your right to believe. If you want to waste the blessings of liberty by going down a path of hatred and failed ideologies, that is your choice.Democracy allows you to test those ideas in a public forum. If you want to submit your beliefs to the American people and get their reaction, please be our guest. Keep this in mind, though.
Thousands and thousands of young Americans already voted with their lives to make sure that this same message of intolerance, death, and destruction would not prevail. You can count their ballots by visiting any American cemetery in North Africa, Italy, France, or Belgium, and tallying the white headstones. You can also recite the many names of civil rights advocates who bled and died in opposing supporters of that same ideologies of hatred. Their voices may be distant, but they can still be heard.
Go ahead and make your case for Nazism, a white nation, and racial superiority. The Constitution may give you a voice, but it doesn't guarantee you a receptive audience. Your right to free speech does not automatically mean that people will agree with you. In fact, you have a God-given and inalienable right to be on the losing end of this argument.
[...]
Threatening to kill Jewish people, gunning down innocent Latinos on a weekend shopping trip, planning and plotting to perpetrate murders in the name of a nonsense racial theory, sitting to pray with God-fearing people who you execute moments later - those actions don't make you soldiers, they make you cowards. And law enforcement does not go to war with cowards who break the law, we arrest them and send them to prison.
[...]
Together, we are united to ensure that you commit no further acts of violence in the name of your beliefs. When you wake up tomorrow morning, no matter what time that is, I want you to remember something. You can’t set your alarm clock early enough to beat us out of bed. The men and women of law enforcement don’t wake up. We never go to sleep. We are always awake. And arm in arm with the public, when your hatred leads you to break the law, we will do everything we can to be there to stop you.
If only our president, attorney general, and Senate majority leader agreed.
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, Justin Herdman, announced charges against Reardon, but what made this presser unusual was his message for the other pathetic Hitler-ites who think that they can not only say whatever they want, but do whatever they want with impunity. Here are some excerpts from Herdman's remarks, which were unusually powerful because of their strength and determination, but also for the way they cut white supremacists down to the size they deserve. Dare I say, the size of insects?
Now, let me speak generally to those who are advocates for white supremacy or white nationalism. I am talking directly to you. The Constitution protects your right to speak, your right to think, and your right to believe. If you want to waste the blessings of liberty by going down a path of hatred and failed ideologies, that is your choice.Democracy allows you to test those ideas in a public forum. If you want to submit your beliefs to the American people and get their reaction, please be our guest. Keep this in mind, though.
Thousands and thousands of young Americans already voted with their lives to make sure that this same message of intolerance, death, and destruction would not prevail. You can count their ballots by visiting any American cemetery in North Africa, Italy, France, or Belgium, and tallying the white headstones. You can also recite the many names of civil rights advocates who bled and died in opposing supporters of that same ideologies of hatred. Their voices may be distant, but they can still be heard.
Go ahead and make your case for Nazism, a white nation, and racial superiority. The Constitution may give you a voice, but it doesn't guarantee you a receptive audience. Your right to free speech does not automatically mean that people will agree with you. In fact, you have a God-given and inalienable right to be on the losing end of this argument.
[...]
Threatening to kill Jewish people, gunning down innocent Latinos on a weekend shopping trip, planning and plotting to perpetrate murders in the name of a nonsense racial theory, sitting to pray with God-fearing people who you execute moments later - those actions don't make you soldiers, they make you cowards. And law enforcement does not go to war with cowards who break the law, we arrest them and send them to prison.
[...]
Together, we are united to ensure that you commit no further acts of violence in the name of your beliefs. When you wake up tomorrow morning, no matter what time that is, I want you to remember something. You can’t set your alarm clock early enough to beat us out of bed. The men and women of law enforcement don’t wake up. We never go to sleep. We are always awake. And arm in arm with the public, when your hatred leads you to break the law, we will do everything we can to be there to stop you.
If only our president, attorney general, and Senate majority leader agreed.
‘There’s No Logical Answer’: North Carolina Father Charged With Rape, Murder After Admitting to Killing Biracial Daughter
By Tanasia Kenney - Atlanta Black Star
August 28, 2019
Joshua Burgess (left) remains jailed on kidnapping, rape and murder charges in the death of his 15-year-old daughter, Zaria Burgess. (Photos: WSOC-TV / video screenshot)
A North Carolina man who confessed to killing his own daughter is now charged with rape and kidnapping in the teen’s tragic death.
Authorities have charged Joshua Lee Burgess, 32, with with statutory rape of a person 15 years of age or younger, first-degree statutory sex offense, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, the Union County Sheriff’s Office announced this week.
Burgess also faces a charge of first-degree murder after deputies say he walked into the sheriff’s office Sunday and described to dispatchers in detail how he’d killed his 15-year-old daughter Zaria Joshalyn Burgess. Now, authorities and the community are struggling to make sense of the bizarre incident.
“The details of this murder are indescribable,” said Sheriff Eddie Cathey. “Every officer and detective involved in this case is feeling the effects of what happened to this child. There’s no logical answer to explain why this man did what he is accused of doing.
“Our hearts and prayers are with Zaria’s mom and her family,” he added.
Burgess reportedly admitted to strangling his daughter before slitting her throat, according to documents read in court last week. Police would find Zaria’s lifeless body inside her father’s home on Sunday.
According to a medical examiner’s report, the 15-year-old died as a result of a “sharp force injury to the neck.”
Zaria’s relatives are still reeling from her tragic death. Her cousin, Dytaysha Wadsworth, remembered her as a fun-loving girl who enjoyed being around family.
“She was the type of kid to come in a room come or in a house and say, ‘Hey everybody,’ just wanting to make everybody smile,” Wadsworth told local station WSOC-TV.
“She was so young and nobody deserves to leave this world like that, especially by someone they thought was gonna protect them and be there for them,” she added.
Burgess remains jailed without bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for September.
Funeral services for Zaria Burgess are planned for this Sunday.
Authorities have charged Joshua Lee Burgess, 32, with with statutory rape of a person 15 years of age or younger, first-degree statutory sex offense, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, the Union County Sheriff’s Office announced this week.
Burgess also faces a charge of first-degree murder after deputies say he walked into the sheriff’s office Sunday and described to dispatchers in detail how he’d killed his 15-year-old daughter Zaria Joshalyn Burgess. Now, authorities and the community are struggling to make sense of the bizarre incident.
“The details of this murder are indescribable,” said Sheriff Eddie Cathey. “Every officer and detective involved in this case is feeling the effects of what happened to this child. There’s no logical answer to explain why this man did what he is accused of doing.
“Our hearts and prayers are with Zaria’s mom and her family,” he added.
Burgess reportedly admitted to strangling his daughter before slitting her throat, according to documents read in court last week. Police would find Zaria’s lifeless body inside her father’s home on Sunday.
According to a medical examiner’s report, the 15-year-old died as a result of a “sharp force injury to the neck.”
Zaria’s relatives are still reeling from her tragic death. Her cousin, Dytaysha Wadsworth, remembered her as a fun-loving girl who enjoyed being around family.
“She was the type of kid to come in a room come or in a house and say, ‘Hey everybody,’ just wanting to make everybody smile,” Wadsworth told local station WSOC-TV.
“She was so young and nobody deserves to leave this world like that, especially by someone they thought was gonna protect them and be there for them,” she added.
Burgess remains jailed without bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for September.
Funeral services for Zaria Burgess are planned for this Sunday.
Stone 🥶
@stonecold2050
Make this go viral
Mike Jines, the co-owner of #TopGenEnergy
TopGen Energy LLC
P.O. Box 3924
Alpharetta, Georgia USA 30023-3924
Website: http://www.TopGenEnergy.net
Emails: info@topgenenergy.net#MikeJines
mike.jines@topgenenergy.net
---
@MacFinn44
The elephant baby murderer, #MikeJines, is also Exec VP/Secy/General Counsel at Genon Energy Inc
Address:
1000 Main Street
Houston, TX 77002
United States
Phone: 1-888-729-1597
Fax: 1-713-497-0206
What kind of man shoots a mother elephant and her baby because they can!!...
Weapons cache, grenade launcher, Neo-Nazi literature and instructions for owning slaves found in man’s home
August 20, 2019
By David Edwards - Raw Story
A New Jersey man is facing life in prison after he was found to have a cache of illegal firearms and Neo-Nazi literature.
According to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, State Troopers became suspicious after 57-year-old Joseph Rubino wrecked his vehicle on July 24. Officers noticed a number of firearms at the scene of the accident.
Inside the vehicle, officers found “a semi-automatic assault handgun, a 9mm semi-automatic assault pistol with a high-capacity magazine, a loaded 9mm pistol, two barrels sawed off from a double-barrel shotgun, a sight for an assault rifle and a stripped AR-15 bolt carrier,” NJ.com reported.
A subsequent search of Rubino’s home turned up an additional cache of 14 weapons.
From NJ.com:
Police then obtained a search warrant for Rubino’s home, where they found 14 more firearms, including assault rifles, shotguns, and handguns, authorities said. They also found four high-capacity magazines, ammunition, a grenade launcher, silencer tubes and a ballistics vest, authorities said.
Officers also found methamphetamine, more than 6 pounds of marijuana, 200 cannabis vape cartridges and marijuana edibles, authorities said.
Inside both the vehicle and the home, police found clothing and bumper stickers with white supremacist and Neo-Nazi slogans along with a document “containing racist material and purporting to be an instruction manual for owning a slave,” the complaint states.
Rubino was charged with “possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.”
He was previously sentenced to three years probation for writing bad checks.
According to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, State Troopers became suspicious after 57-year-old Joseph Rubino wrecked his vehicle on July 24. Officers noticed a number of firearms at the scene of the accident.
Inside the vehicle, officers found “a semi-automatic assault handgun, a 9mm semi-automatic assault pistol with a high-capacity magazine, a loaded 9mm pistol, two barrels sawed off from a double-barrel shotgun, a sight for an assault rifle and a stripped AR-15 bolt carrier,” NJ.com reported.
A subsequent search of Rubino’s home turned up an additional cache of 14 weapons.
From NJ.com:
Police then obtained a search warrant for Rubino’s home, where they found 14 more firearms, including assault rifles, shotguns, and handguns, authorities said. They also found four high-capacity magazines, ammunition, a grenade launcher, silencer tubes and a ballistics vest, authorities said.
Officers also found methamphetamine, more than 6 pounds of marijuana, 200 cannabis vape cartridges and marijuana edibles, authorities said.
Inside both the vehicle and the home, police found clothing and bumper stickers with white supremacist and Neo-Nazi slogans along with a document “containing racist material and purporting to be an instruction manual for owning a slave,” the complaint states.
Rubino was charged with “possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.”
He was previously sentenced to three years probation for writing bad checks.
Great parents or do we blame video games???
California High-School Students Sang Nazi Song and Gave Hitler Salute
Athletes performed an homage to the Third Reich before an awards ceremony. Their school won’t say how they were disciplined.
Davis Richardson - Daily Beast
Updated 08.19.19 9:46AM ET
A group of high-school students in Southern California gave a Nazi salute and sang a Nazi song during an awards ceremony last year, according to video reivewed by The Daily Beast.
The video shows about 10 members of the boys’ water polo team at Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, California, throwing the salute once used to greet Adolf Hitler while singing a Nazi marching song played for German troops during World War II. It’s the second such incident in the region in the year.
The video was uploaded to Instagram by one of the athletes, who also posted lyrics to the song in his Instagram bio. After the video expired, the athlete removed the reference. He did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for the Garden Grove Unified School district where Pacifica High School resides said the school administrators first became aware of the incident and video four months later in March, but did not say if they disciplined anyone.
“While the district cannot comment on student discipline, the school did address this situation with all involved students and families,” the spokesperson said. “The district adheres to strong policies about harassment and cultural sensitivity, and we condemn all acts of anti-Semitism and hate in all forms. We remain focused on educating students about cultural sensitivity and are committed to holding students accountable, educating them on the consequences of their choices, and the impact these actions have on our schools and community at large.”
However, one parent of a student at Pacifica, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation from school officials, told The Daily Beast they were concerned educators never addressed the wider community about the video, especially since it had circulated among students. A current student likewise said the incident was never spoken about by the administration and was not sure whether the students involved were suspended.
Rabbi Peter Levi, director of the Anti Defamation League’s Orange County chapter, criticized the school for apparently failing to address the incident with the community.
“Generally speaking, especially when something like this involves a group, we would think a more meaningful approach would be to use this as a learning opportunity, as an opportunity community-wide to state what our values are,” continued the rabbi. “This requires investigation and conversation… We’d like to see a more systematic response.”
The song the athletes were singing was written by German composer Herms Niel during the rise of Hitler, and was played to inspire Nazi troops serving in Germany’s armed forces forces from 1935 until 1945, when the Third Reich fell. Niel was a member of the Nazi party and conducted bands at the infamous Nuremberg rallies for Hitler’s disciples.
Peter Simi, a professor on extremism studies at Chapman University who lives nearby in Orange County, told The Daily Beast the song is so obscure it raises questions about how the athletes learned about it.
“It’s not something you’d expect somebody to accidentally know about. There’s some means by which they acquired knowledge about the song and associated Nazi issues,” he said. “Are they on websites or web forums or other social media platforms where they’re engaging with others informed on these issues?”
This is the second recent incident involving Nazi portrayals by students in Southern California. In March, Orange County high-school students were suspended after photos of them playing beer pong with cups set up in a swastika formation went viral. Like Pacifica’s water polo team, the students in the videos were seen extending their arms in Nazi salutes.
In the aftermath of the Orange County scandal, the Los Angeles Holocaust Museum invited students who attended the party to tour its museum and meet with Holocaust survivors. The museum also plans to extend an invitation to the Pacifica students seen in last fall’s video.
“I would definitely love to reach out to the principal of [Pacifica High School] and see if we can do the same thing we did with the Newport Harbor students,” Beth Kean, the museum’s CEO, told The Daily Beast. “Once you see those artifacts, you realize what these symbols like the German nationalist song really represent. That is really the best way to learn and make sure we can move forward and prevent these types of incidents from happening.”
The video shows about 10 members of the boys’ water polo team at Pacifica High School in Garden Grove, California, throwing the salute once used to greet Adolf Hitler while singing a Nazi marching song played for German troops during World War II. It’s the second such incident in the region in the year.
The video was uploaded to Instagram by one of the athletes, who also posted lyrics to the song in his Instagram bio. After the video expired, the athlete removed the reference. He did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for the Garden Grove Unified School district where Pacifica High School resides said the school administrators first became aware of the incident and video four months later in March, but did not say if they disciplined anyone.
“While the district cannot comment on student discipline, the school did address this situation with all involved students and families,” the spokesperson said. “The district adheres to strong policies about harassment and cultural sensitivity, and we condemn all acts of anti-Semitism and hate in all forms. We remain focused on educating students about cultural sensitivity and are committed to holding students accountable, educating them on the consequences of their choices, and the impact these actions have on our schools and community at large.”
However, one parent of a student at Pacifica, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation from school officials, told The Daily Beast they were concerned educators never addressed the wider community about the video, especially since it had circulated among students. A current student likewise said the incident was never spoken about by the administration and was not sure whether the students involved were suspended.
Rabbi Peter Levi, director of the Anti Defamation League’s Orange County chapter, criticized the school for apparently failing to address the incident with the community.
“Generally speaking, especially when something like this involves a group, we would think a more meaningful approach would be to use this as a learning opportunity, as an opportunity community-wide to state what our values are,” continued the rabbi. “This requires investigation and conversation… We’d like to see a more systematic response.”
The song the athletes were singing was written by German composer Herms Niel during the rise of Hitler, and was played to inspire Nazi troops serving in Germany’s armed forces forces from 1935 until 1945, when the Third Reich fell. Niel was a member of the Nazi party and conducted bands at the infamous Nuremberg rallies for Hitler’s disciples.
Peter Simi, a professor on extremism studies at Chapman University who lives nearby in Orange County, told The Daily Beast the song is so obscure it raises questions about how the athletes learned about it.
“It’s not something you’d expect somebody to accidentally know about. There’s some means by which they acquired knowledge about the song and associated Nazi issues,” he said. “Are they on websites or web forums or other social media platforms where they’re engaging with others informed on these issues?”
This is the second recent incident involving Nazi portrayals by students in Southern California. In March, Orange County high-school students were suspended after photos of them playing beer pong with cups set up in a swastika formation went viral. Like Pacifica’s water polo team, the students in the videos were seen extending their arms in Nazi salutes.
In the aftermath of the Orange County scandal, the Los Angeles Holocaust Museum invited students who attended the party to tour its museum and meet with Holocaust survivors. The museum also plans to extend an invitation to the Pacifica students seen in last fall’s video.
“I would definitely love to reach out to the principal of [Pacifica High School] and see if we can do the same thing we did with the Newport Harbor students,” Beth Kean, the museum’s CEO, told The Daily Beast. “Once you see those artifacts, you realize what these symbols like the German nationalist song really represent. That is really the best way to learn and make sure we can move forward and prevent these types of incidents from happening.”
Who raised this fool???
'Shoot every federal agent in sight': Teen behind online threat had 10,000 rounds of ammo in house
IronLionZion - Demo Underground
8/14/19
In an online forum, he went by the name “ArmyOfChrist” and praised the Oklahoma City bombing, mass shootings and attacks on Planned Parenthood, the FBI says. When the deadly siege in Waco, Tex., came up, he allegedly offered one lesson: “Shoot every federal agent on sight.”
“Don’t comply with gun laws, stock up on stuff they could ban,” he allegedly wrote in another post. “In fact, go out of your way to break these laws.”
The comments were all written by an Ohio teenager named Justin Olsen, the FBI says in federal court documents. And when agents raided a home where the 18-year-old lived earlier this month, they found about 10,000 rounds of ammunition and a vault full of assault-type weapons and shotguns.
On Monday, Olsen was charged on one count of threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer. His case comes as federal agencies face mounting pressure to root out homegrown terrorists in the wake of two mass shootings earlier this month and amid a national upswing in violent right-wing extremism.
Police rushed to arrest Olsen just three days after mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, with a local prosecutor citing the attacks as a justification for an urgent arrest, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/08/14/justin-olsen-online-threat-ammo-rifles-fbi/
“Don’t comply with gun laws, stock up on stuff they could ban,” he allegedly wrote in another post. “In fact, go out of your way to break these laws.”
The comments were all written by an Ohio teenager named Justin Olsen, the FBI says in federal court documents. And when agents raided a home where the 18-year-old lived earlier this month, they found about 10,000 rounds of ammunition and a vault full of assault-type weapons and shotguns.
On Monday, Olsen was charged on one count of threatening to assault a federal law enforcement officer. His case comes as federal agencies face mounting pressure to root out homegrown terrorists in the wake of two mass shootings earlier this month and amid a national upswing in violent right-wing extremism.
Police rushed to arrest Olsen just three days after mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, with a local prosecutor citing the attacks as a justification for an urgent arrest, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/08/14/justin-olsen-online-threat-ammo-rifles-fbi/
Conservative evangelicals on Trump: The racism and cruelty is fine, but must there be swearing?
Hunter - Daily Kos Staff
Monday August 12, 2019 · 10:17 AM PDT
This Politico story about conservative evangelicals who have stood by Donald Trump's every scandal, lie, and act of cruelty suddenly now becoming profoundly upset because Trump said goddamn is further indication that the conservative evangelical movement is every bit the cesspool of insincere cultish malevolence its critics claim it to be. We do not have to be polite about this: After decades of the same behavior, no group of malevolent faux-Christians has ever stumbled into decency after a kind-hearted talk from other Americans has convinced them not to be raging, toxic asses working to the detriment of their nation, their communities, and their own families. It does not happen.
Anyone who still supports Trump after his myriad racist comments, after child separation, after his attacks on refugees fleeing violence, after his comments on women, two dozen reported assaults and several alleged rapes, and absolute indifference to any suffering other than his own is a garbage human being and will, barring an epiphany that it is beyond our power to manufacture, remain one, no matter how large a gold-colored cross they tuck themselves behind. To tolerate the steady drumbeat of lies and cruelties but get envapored over the embedded swear words is the perfect encapsulation of religious conservatism, as phenomenon and as movement.
In this version of Jesusness, torture is fine. Swear words are not. Blocking food distribution to the hungry and medical aid to the sick is Christlike; swear words are not. Turning away refugees fleeing violence, calling them diseased, or inherently criminal, or ethnic dangers to our "culture," is what Jesus Himself would do, in the red-letter sections of the New Testament. Swear words, however, are right out. Whether a child should live or die should be determined, as the Lord instructed, by whether the child's friends and relatives can raise sufficient funds in a bake sale to render treating the child at least marginally profitable; for government itself to step in is an abomination unto the private sector. But swear words, we must reiterate, are forbidden.
And any and all sin is forgivable, and is in fact so inconsequential as to not even require forgiving, from sexual assault, adultery, and rape to financial scammery to bearing false witness to a deep-seated personal vindictiveness that elevates do harm to perceived enemies into a foremost daily obsession—so long as you do not say shit or fuck or goddamn, words that poke through the tissue-thin veneer of decency that wraps loosely over all the worst of personal vulgarities and allows even the darkest and most self-absorbed soul to insist that they harbor the voice and will of The Lord Our God and you, Outsider, do not.
---
We've been here, literally, for decades. At this exact point. We have long hosted our own movement of casserole-bearing theocrats, all clamoring to do to America what they imagine the Apocalypse will do to Israel, but sooner—so that they can enjoy it properly and see off each person on their you had it coming list. But you're going to eff it up completely, fellow traveler, if you say swear words in your speech and break the illusion of holy decree. Holier than thou doesn't work if the thou suspects you are not in fact God's literal gift to humanity, Town Gossip Edition, and much in the same way that virulent racists are now using cartoon frogs or the okay gesture as ironic self-identifier, religious conservatives who have long removed themselves from abiding by the most exhausting of New Testament edicts have chosen the but at least we do not say “goddamn” to identify themselves to their peers.
Your neighbor may be a front-lawn racist, may sport a bumper sticker on their car demanding we nuke the Arabs and take their oil, may own three guns, two of which are reserved for pre-emptive murder if somebody needs murdering, may be a domestic abuser, may be a liar and a cheat, may cackle with cruelty in conversations about what to do with certain children or certain immigrants, but you will know they are your specific subsect of something-resembling-Christian if they say gosh darn instead of the other thing. The rest is open to interpretation.
Of course they support Trump—Trump is the very embodiment of what conservative Christianity ought to look like, an endless cycle of nasty score-settling and giving other Americans the what-for interspersed with ritualistic mysticism like the laying-on of hands. Then it's back to the torture-promotion, the barring of refugees, and the insistence that the poor and the sick pay their own way or die trying. Materialistic charlatans have been sitting themselves down on spray-painted golden thrones and claiming to be television messiahs since the invention of the medium; every one of them has claimed that they are closer to God than you are because they have their own private jet.
Anyone who still supports Trump after his myriad racist comments, after child separation, after his attacks on refugees fleeing violence, after his comments on women, two dozen reported assaults and several alleged rapes, and absolute indifference to any suffering other than his own is a garbage human being and will, barring an epiphany that it is beyond our power to manufacture, remain one, no matter how large a gold-colored cross they tuck themselves behind. To tolerate the steady drumbeat of lies and cruelties but get envapored over the embedded swear words is the perfect encapsulation of religious conservatism, as phenomenon and as movement.
In this version of Jesusness, torture is fine. Swear words are not. Blocking food distribution to the hungry and medical aid to the sick is Christlike; swear words are not. Turning away refugees fleeing violence, calling them diseased, or inherently criminal, or ethnic dangers to our "culture," is what Jesus Himself would do, in the red-letter sections of the New Testament. Swear words, however, are right out. Whether a child should live or die should be determined, as the Lord instructed, by whether the child's friends and relatives can raise sufficient funds in a bake sale to render treating the child at least marginally profitable; for government itself to step in is an abomination unto the private sector. But swear words, we must reiterate, are forbidden.
And any and all sin is forgivable, and is in fact so inconsequential as to not even require forgiving, from sexual assault, adultery, and rape to financial scammery to bearing false witness to a deep-seated personal vindictiveness that elevates do harm to perceived enemies into a foremost daily obsession—so long as you do not say shit or fuck or goddamn, words that poke through the tissue-thin veneer of decency that wraps loosely over all the worst of personal vulgarities and allows even the darkest and most self-absorbed soul to insist that they harbor the voice and will of The Lord Our God and you, Outsider, do not.
---
We've been here, literally, for decades. At this exact point. We have long hosted our own movement of casserole-bearing theocrats, all clamoring to do to America what they imagine the Apocalypse will do to Israel, but sooner—so that they can enjoy it properly and see off each person on their you had it coming list. But you're going to eff it up completely, fellow traveler, if you say swear words in your speech and break the illusion of holy decree. Holier than thou doesn't work if the thou suspects you are not in fact God's literal gift to humanity, Town Gossip Edition, and much in the same way that virulent racists are now using cartoon frogs or the okay gesture as ironic self-identifier, religious conservatives who have long removed themselves from abiding by the most exhausting of New Testament edicts have chosen the but at least we do not say “goddamn” to identify themselves to their peers.
Your neighbor may be a front-lawn racist, may sport a bumper sticker on their car demanding we nuke the Arabs and take their oil, may own three guns, two of which are reserved for pre-emptive murder if somebody needs murdering, may be a domestic abuser, may be a liar and a cheat, may cackle with cruelty in conversations about what to do with certain children or certain immigrants, but you will know they are your specific subsect of something-resembling-Christian if they say gosh darn instead of the other thing. The rest is open to interpretation.
Of course they support Trump—Trump is the very embodiment of what conservative Christianity ought to look like, an endless cycle of nasty score-settling and giving other Americans the what-for interspersed with ritualistic mysticism like the laying-on of hands. Then it's back to the torture-promotion, the barring of refugees, and the insistence that the poor and the sick pay their own way or die trying. Materialistic charlatans have been sitting themselves down on spray-painted golden thrones and claiming to be television messiahs since the invention of the medium; every one of them has claimed that they are closer to God than you are because they have their own private jet.
Homegrown traitors!!!
Why is this Texas secession group’s flag hanging in Moscow?
With years of links in Russia, the Texas Nationalist Movement pushes on.
CASEY MICHEL - Thinkprogress
AUG 11, 2019, 10:22 AM
For years, the Texas Nationalist Movement has cultivated ties in Russia, especially among those who’ve received financing directly from the Kremlin.
Now, as ThinkProgress discovered, one of the Texas-based secessionist group’s flags is actually hanging outright in Moscow — highlighting the ongoing questions surrounding their links overseas.
Last week, Alexander Ionov posted a video to his Instagram page, which remains one of his preferred platforms for highlighting his ties to other groups. Ionov runs the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, a group that helps organize secession movements across the West, and which has received financing from the Kremlin in the past.
In the video, the Texas Nationalist Movement’s flag can be seen hanging prominently in the office. The caption of the video read, “If your office doesn’t look like this, don’t even call me.”
Ionov confirmed to ThinkProgress that the Texas Nationalist Movement flag is hanging in his group’s office, saying it had been hanging there a “long time.” When asked why the flag is hanging, Ionov responded, “It’s beautiful.”
The flag joins other items Ionov has previously hung in his office, including a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin personally thanking Ionov for his “work to strengthen friendship between peoples.” (Ionov has also been involved in raising money for Maria Butina, the convicted Russian agent who successfully infiltrated the National Rifle Association.)
The Texas Nationalist Movement did not respond to ThinkProgress’s questions, but Ionov said the flag was a “gift.”
The flag highlights the years of strange ties between the Texas-based group and patrons in Moscow. The Texas Nationalist Movement, the leading pro-secession group in Texas, claims that its “mission is to secure and protect the political, cultural and economic independence of the nation of Texas and to restore and protect a constitutional Republic and the inherent rights of the people of Texas.”
But since at least 2015, representatives from the Texas Nationalist Movement have traveled to Russia to stake their case for those in Russia to back their cause.
The Texas Nationalist Movement’s Nathan Smith has led multiple trips to Russia, building links with Ionov’s group along the way. Smith, for instance, represented the Texas Nationalist Movement at a secessionist conference in Moscow in 2016, just a few months before the U.S. presidential election. The website for the far-right Russian Rodina party — a party co-founded by sanctioned Russian official Dmitry Rogozin — even featured Smith on its website during one of his visits. (Other American representatives, including those supposedly backing California independence, also attended the 2016 conference.)
Texas Nationalist Movement officials later revealed that Ionov’s organization had helped fund the Texas group’s 2016 travels directly. In a December 2016 interview with KQED, Texas Nationalist Movement head Daniel Miller “declined to say how much money the Kremlin gave” to the Texas Nationalist Movement.
While the Texas Nationalist Movement built its links in Moscow, the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA) spent 2015-2017 specifically targeting those backing Texas secession, primarily via Facebook and Twitter. For instance, the IRA’s “Heart of Texas” Facebook page grew wildly popular on the platform: not only was it the largest Facebook page dedicated to Texas secession, but it at one point had more followers in 2016 than the official Texas GOP and Texas Democratic Facebook pages combined.
The “Heart of Texas” page claimed that it was collecting names of supporters to pass along to the Texas Nationalist Movement, although Texas Nationalist Movement members denied they ever collaborated with the “Heart of Texas” page.
Regardless, Ionov and his group aren’t the only Kremlin-funded movement with whom the Texas Nationalist Movement has cultivated links. In late 2014, according to The Telegraph, the Texas Nationalist Movement confirmed it had met with a representative from the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, and announced that they had a “fundamental right” to self-determination. The separatists have received years of funding, arms, and direction from the Kremlin, acting as an effective proxy for Russian designs in breaking up Ukraine. They have also been accused of human rights atrocitiesalong the way, none of which stopped the Texas Nationalist Movement from meeting with one of their representatives.
Looking forward, Ionov told ThinkProgress that he’s planning on trying to host another secession conference in Russia this year. Whether the Texas Nationalist Movement makes another appearance remains to be seen.
Now, as ThinkProgress discovered, one of the Texas-based secessionist group’s flags is actually hanging outright in Moscow — highlighting the ongoing questions surrounding their links overseas.
Last week, Alexander Ionov posted a video to his Instagram page, which remains one of his preferred platforms for highlighting his ties to other groups. Ionov runs the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, a group that helps organize secession movements across the West, and which has received financing from the Kremlin in the past.
In the video, the Texas Nationalist Movement’s flag can be seen hanging prominently in the office. The caption of the video read, “If your office doesn’t look like this, don’t even call me.”
Ionov confirmed to ThinkProgress that the Texas Nationalist Movement flag is hanging in his group’s office, saying it had been hanging there a “long time.” When asked why the flag is hanging, Ionov responded, “It’s beautiful.”
The flag joins other items Ionov has previously hung in his office, including a letter from Russian President Vladimir Putin personally thanking Ionov for his “work to strengthen friendship between peoples.” (Ionov has also been involved in raising money for Maria Butina, the convicted Russian agent who successfully infiltrated the National Rifle Association.)
The Texas Nationalist Movement did not respond to ThinkProgress’s questions, but Ionov said the flag was a “gift.”
The flag highlights the years of strange ties between the Texas-based group and patrons in Moscow. The Texas Nationalist Movement, the leading pro-secession group in Texas, claims that its “mission is to secure and protect the political, cultural and economic independence of the nation of Texas and to restore and protect a constitutional Republic and the inherent rights of the people of Texas.”
But since at least 2015, representatives from the Texas Nationalist Movement have traveled to Russia to stake their case for those in Russia to back their cause.
The Texas Nationalist Movement’s Nathan Smith has led multiple trips to Russia, building links with Ionov’s group along the way. Smith, for instance, represented the Texas Nationalist Movement at a secessionist conference in Moscow in 2016, just a few months before the U.S. presidential election. The website for the far-right Russian Rodina party — a party co-founded by sanctioned Russian official Dmitry Rogozin — even featured Smith on its website during one of his visits. (Other American representatives, including those supposedly backing California independence, also attended the 2016 conference.)
Texas Nationalist Movement officials later revealed that Ionov’s organization had helped fund the Texas group’s 2016 travels directly. In a December 2016 interview with KQED, Texas Nationalist Movement head Daniel Miller “declined to say how much money the Kremlin gave” to the Texas Nationalist Movement.
While the Texas Nationalist Movement built its links in Moscow, the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA) spent 2015-2017 specifically targeting those backing Texas secession, primarily via Facebook and Twitter. For instance, the IRA’s “Heart of Texas” Facebook page grew wildly popular on the platform: not only was it the largest Facebook page dedicated to Texas secession, but it at one point had more followers in 2016 than the official Texas GOP and Texas Democratic Facebook pages combined.
The “Heart of Texas” page claimed that it was collecting names of supporters to pass along to the Texas Nationalist Movement, although Texas Nationalist Movement members denied they ever collaborated with the “Heart of Texas” page.
Regardless, Ionov and his group aren’t the only Kremlin-funded movement with whom the Texas Nationalist Movement has cultivated links. In late 2014, according to The Telegraph, the Texas Nationalist Movement confirmed it had met with a representative from the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, and announced that they had a “fundamental right” to self-determination. The separatists have received years of funding, arms, and direction from the Kremlin, acting as an effective proxy for Russian designs in breaking up Ukraine. They have also been accused of human rights atrocitiesalong the way, none of which stopped the Texas Nationalist Movement from meeting with one of their representatives.
Looking forward, Ionov told ThinkProgress that he’s planning on trying to host another secession conference in Russia this year. Whether the Texas Nationalist Movement makes another appearance remains to be seen.
Black woman confronts ‘white power’-shouting racist who ran into her car
August 8, 2019
By Brad Reed - Raw Story
A black woman this week found herself in a confrontation with a racist man who shouted “white power” at her after he ran into her car.
Ohio resident Jolean Dailey this week posted videos on her Facebook page showing the aftermath of a car accident involving herself and two white people who were driving a gray sedan.
The first video shows the immediate aftermath of the accident, in which the white man in the car drove away while yelling, “Ain’t nothing wrong with your car, nigger!”
Dailey proceeded to follow the car, which eventually pulled over into a parking lot. The white man got out of the car to confront her and yelled, “White fucking power!” at her before returning to the vehicle.
“White power?” an incredulous Dailey replied. “Did you say white power to me?”
According to a report published by the Akron Beacon Journal, police eventually tracked down the man and charged him with “a fifth-degree felony charge of ethnic intimidation and a misdemeanor charge of aggravated menacing.”
Ohio resident Jolean Dailey this week posted videos on her Facebook page showing the aftermath of a car accident involving herself and two white people who were driving a gray sedan.
The first video shows the immediate aftermath of the accident, in which the white man in the car drove away while yelling, “Ain’t nothing wrong with your car, nigger!”
Dailey proceeded to follow the car, which eventually pulled over into a parking lot. The white man got out of the car to confront her and yelled, “White fucking power!” at her before returning to the vehicle.
“White power?” an incredulous Dailey replied. “Did you say white power to me?”
According to a report published by the Akron Beacon Journal, police eventually tracked down the man and charged him with “a fifth-degree felony charge of ethnic intimidation and a misdemeanor charge of aggravated menacing.”
Confederate-lovers attempt to destroy a chocolate business – and it hilariously backfires
August 6, 2019
By Bob Brigham - Raw Story
Defenders of slavery suffered an embarrassing public defeat after their community turned out to not be as racist as they had assumed.
“A handful of people carrying flags have targeted Hillsborough for a few years in large part because of steps taken to limit Confederate flags and symbols in the county and towns, and a ban against divisive symbols like the Confederate battle flag in the Orange County Schools dress code. Some of the flag bearers are affiliated with the pro-Confederate group Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County,” The News & Observer reports.
The Confederacy seceded from America to preserve the institution of slavery. Over 365,000 United States armed forces service members died putting down their insurrection in the American Civil War.
“On July 27, Matthew Shepherd, who owns Matthew’s Chocolates, at 104 N. Churton St., encountered a pro-Confederate demonstration about 100 feet from his shop’s front door,” the newspaper reported. “As he walked past, rolling his eyes, one of them turned to him, saying, “boy in the pink shirt, why don’t you go back to your chocolate shop,” he said in an interview Monday.”
He told the newspaper he had also heard from customers worried about crossing the street while the Confederate protesters were there.
Police said there was nothing they could do.
So Shepherd put up a sign outside his store reading, “Burn a Rebel Flag … Get a Free Chocolate!”
Police told Shepherd he shouldn’t put out the sign, but he did so anyway.
The supporters of the Confederacy posted a picture with the sign, posting it online.
“The sign went viral when three men with the Confederate group posted a photo of themselves behind the sign on social media, evoking angry responses nationwide and overwhelming the shop’s Facebook page and Yelp review site,” The News & Observer.
Shepherd told the paper he received “many, many death threats.”
But the community also rallied around Shephered.
Hillsborough Progressives Taking Action held a rally on Saturday in support of the store.
“The rally was a boon for business at Matthew’s Chocolates, where the line of customers stretched down the sidewalk. Supporters on both sides of Churton Street waved American and rainbow flags, listened to music, and chatted while holding up signs against hate,” the newspaper reported.
The outpouring from the community was so substantial that the store had to close on Sunday.
“We have sold out of everything! There is nothing to sell. No gelato, no chocolates,” the store posted on Facebook. “Thank you ALL for your support, it is overwhelming and I am touched by the love and support pouring in from all over the state.”
“A handful of people carrying flags have targeted Hillsborough for a few years in large part because of steps taken to limit Confederate flags and symbols in the county and towns, and a ban against divisive symbols like the Confederate battle flag in the Orange County Schools dress code. Some of the flag bearers are affiliated with the pro-Confederate group Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County,” The News & Observer reports.
The Confederacy seceded from America to preserve the institution of slavery. Over 365,000 United States armed forces service members died putting down their insurrection in the American Civil War.
“On July 27, Matthew Shepherd, who owns Matthew’s Chocolates, at 104 N. Churton St., encountered a pro-Confederate demonstration about 100 feet from his shop’s front door,” the newspaper reported. “As he walked past, rolling his eyes, one of them turned to him, saying, “boy in the pink shirt, why don’t you go back to your chocolate shop,” he said in an interview Monday.”
He told the newspaper he had also heard from customers worried about crossing the street while the Confederate protesters were there.
Police said there was nothing they could do.
So Shepherd put up a sign outside his store reading, “Burn a Rebel Flag … Get a Free Chocolate!”
Police told Shepherd he shouldn’t put out the sign, but he did so anyway.
The supporters of the Confederacy posted a picture with the sign, posting it online.
“The sign went viral when three men with the Confederate group posted a photo of themselves behind the sign on social media, evoking angry responses nationwide and overwhelming the shop’s Facebook page and Yelp review site,” The News & Observer.
Shepherd told the paper he received “many, many death threats.”
But the community also rallied around Shephered.
Hillsborough Progressives Taking Action held a rally on Saturday in support of the store.
“The rally was a boon for business at Matthew’s Chocolates, where the line of customers stretched down the sidewalk. Supporters on both sides of Churton Street waved American and rainbow flags, listened to music, and chatted while holding up signs against hate,” the newspaper reported.
The outpouring from the community was so substantial that the store had to close on Sunday.
“We have sold out of everything! There is nothing to sell. No gelato, no chocolates,” the store posted on Facebook. “Thank you ALL for your support, it is overwhelming and I am touched by the love and support pouring in from all over the state.”
must have been interesting conversations at the dinner table!!!
White teen from powerful political family gets banned from school over insanely racist gun video
August 6, 2019
By Matthew Chapman - Raw Story
On Monday, WOLO reported that a 16-year-old South Carolina student has been expelled from the Cardinal Newman School, banned from the property, and faces criminal charges following a violent, racial-slur-laden social media post in which he shoots a box of shoes representing black people.
“Howdy. I’m Parker Mustian, and I hate black prople,” he can be heard saying in the video as he loads a rifle. “They’re the worst. They’re stinky and they just suck. They’re just bad people. You’ll notice over there, there’s a box of Jordans — the favorite pair of shoes for a black man. I’m gonna show you what I think of the black man.”
“Fuck all niggers,” he adds after shooting the box several times.
According to Heavy, Mustian comes from a powerful political family. He is the grandson of Richard Quinn, a legendary GOP strategist, and the son of Benjamin Mustian, a prominent Columbia attorney.
The videos went up in May, and he was expelled in mid July. Parents at Cardinal Newman were informed of the incident on Friday.
“This young man is so clearly filled with so much hate that he feels the freedom to share this publicly, in a video,” said local lawyer Annabelle Robertson. “I believe that he poses a clear and present danger, and a true threat to other students and other people.”
This report comes amid harrowing news of the hate-motivated mass shooting in El Paso that killed nearly two dozen people.
“Howdy. I’m Parker Mustian, and I hate black prople,” he can be heard saying in the video as he loads a rifle. “They’re the worst. They’re stinky and they just suck. They’re just bad people. You’ll notice over there, there’s a box of Jordans — the favorite pair of shoes for a black man. I’m gonna show you what I think of the black man.”
“Fuck all niggers,” he adds after shooting the box several times.
According to Heavy, Mustian comes from a powerful political family. He is the grandson of Richard Quinn, a legendary GOP strategist, and the son of Benjamin Mustian, a prominent Columbia attorney.
The videos went up in May, and he was expelled in mid July. Parents at Cardinal Newman were informed of the incident on Friday.
“This young man is so clearly filled with so much hate that he feels the freedom to share this publicly, in a video,” said local lawyer Annabelle Robertson. “I believe that he poses a clear and present danger, and a true threat to other students and other people.”
This report comes amid harrowing news of the hate-motivated mass shooting in El Paso that killed nearly two dozen people.
FBI warns that conspiracy theories like QAnon pose a domestic terror threat
It's first time the Feds have waded into the swamp of the pro-Trump conspiracy theory.
LUKE BARNES - Thinkprogress
AUG 1, 2019, 5:34 PM
For the first time, an FBI intelligence bulletin has assessed that fringe, internet-based conspiracy theories pose a domestic terror threat that “[encourage] the targeting of specific people, places and organizations, thereby increasing the risk of extremist violence against such targets.”
The intelligence bulletin was written by the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office and released in May, but was first reported by Yahoo News on Thursday. It specifically mentions Pizzagate, the conspiracy that the Clintons and other elite Democrats were indulging in child sacrifice at a D.C. pizzeria, as well as a host of other terms common on fringe, far-right internet ecosystems like False Flags, Zionist Occupied Government, and, of course, QAnon.
For those lucky enough to not spend their days following the latest QAnon news, a brief primer: QAnon is the theory that President Donald Trump, along with Attorney General William Barr, the U.S. military, and a shadowy insider known only as “Q,” are all secretly working to take down a Deep State cabal, made up primarily of Democrats, who are controlling the world and also like to traffic and/or eat children.
Supposed promises by “Q,” posted first on fringe sites like 4chan and 8chan, keep failing to come to fruition, but that has done little to dampen the popularity of the conspiracy, both online and off. QAnon supporters make frequent appearances at Trump rallies, and the president keeps adding fuel to the fire by re-tweeting QAnon accounts on Twitter and thereby — at least in the eyes of Q adherents — validating the theory.
While it’s easy to laugh at, QAnon and other fringe conspiracies have motivated some very real-world violence.
As the FBI memo notes, in December 2016, a man entered Comet Ping Pong in Washington, DC — the restaurant supposedly at the center of Pizzagate — with an AR-15 rifle, firing a shot and pointing his rifle at an employee. The man was later arrested and pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges in March 2017.
In June 2018, a QAnon supporter in an armored truck blocked the Hoover Dam Bypass, armed with several firearms and magazines of ammunition. After a 90-minute standoff with police, he fled to Arizona where he was arrested. He has since been charged with terrorism as well as aggravated assault, unlawful flight, and weapons offenses.
As ThinkProgress reported last year, a QAnon-affiliated group also harassed police officers and civic leaders in Arizona over claims that the Deep State was operating a child sex camp in the desert there. A QAnon believer is also believed to have used the conspiracy as inspiration to gun down alleged New York crime boss Francesco Cali in March.
Travis View, a QAnon researcher who also co-hosts the QAnon Anonymous podcast, said he was relieved by the memo, as it showed that the Feds understood the real dangers that QAnon poses.
“It was an unknown beforehand whether the FBI or law enforcement was taking QAnon and other conspiracy-driven extremist movements seriously at all,” View told ThinkProgress. “This is the first confirmation that the feds are very aware of QAnon and the threat they pose.”
View described QAnon as “very much like a decentralized cult.”
“They get separated from their families and get taken down this rabbit hole to super delusional beliefs that cause them to do violence and violent things … most QAnon followers are harmless, they’re just shacked up in their room, but a few of them get so delusional that they act out in the real world.”
The FBI’s memo also specifically mentions how the internet has allowed these theories to thrive.
“The advent of the Internet and social media has enabled promoters of conspiracy theories to produce and share greater volumes of material via online platforms that larger audiences of consumers can quickly and easily access,” the report reads. “Based on the increase volumed and reach … it is logical to assume that more extremist-minded individuals will be exposed to potentially harmful conspiracy theories, accept ones that are favorable to their views, and possibly carry out criminal or violent actions as a result.”
To be clear, QAnon is not a movement that explicitly encourages members to engage in acts of violence; a large percentage of Q-related content simply encourages followers to “enjoy the show” that is always just about to begin.
However, as proven by recent mass attacks in New Zealand, Pittsburgh, and California — to name just a few — it only takes one self-radicalized individual to carry out a major terror attack, especially at a time of heightened political polarization, a point that both View and the FBI made.
“Because some conspiracy theories are highly partisan in nature, political developments, including those surrounding major election cycles such as the 2020 presidential election, likely will impact the direction of these conspiracy theories and the potential activities of extremists who subscribe to them,” the report reads.
“My most important takeaway [from the memo] is that this isn’t a fading threat,” View said. “It is a growing threat. As the political season and rhetoric gets more heated, conspiracy theories get an over-sized importance in people’s lives — it’s certainly something to watch out for.”
The FBI assessment concludes it is “very likely” that, in the future, domestic extremists will be motivated, whether wholly or in part, by “anti-government, identity based and fringe political conspiracy theories.”
And as for QAnon? Despite its continual failure to deliver on its promises, View predicts it won’t be going anywhere any time soon. The FBI assessment, he noted, was already being explained away by QAnon followers as more evidence of the Deep State, or something planted as a way to move the media to ask Trump about Q, a long-held ambition of QAnon followers.
“The ‘Clinton body-count‘ conspiracy theory, [which claims multiple people close to the Clintons have died under ‘mysterious circumstances,’ suggesting the Clintons have something to do with it], was created in early 1990s and it trended last week on Twitter, so these sort of conspiracy theories, when they catch on and resonate with a community, they don’t go away,” View said.
He added, “I have no idea when they might give up the game, but if I were to speculate based on psychological research [into conspiracy theories and followers], this is something with us for at least a generation.”
RELATED: Inventor of anti-Democrat #WalkAway hashtag comes out as a QAnon supporter at Trump rally
On Thursday, during a speech before President Donald Trump’s rally in Cincinnati, pro-Trump activist Brandon Straka proudly proclaimed his allegiance to the QAnon conspiracy theory.
The intelligence bulletin was written by the FBI’s Phoenix Field Office and released in May, but was first reported by Yahoo News on Thursday. It specifically mentions Pizzagate, the conspiracy that the Clintons and other elite Democrats were indulging in child sacrifice at a D.C. pizzeria, as well as a host of other terms common on fringe, far-right internet ecosystems like False Flags, Zionist Occupied Government, and, of course, QAnon.
For those lucky enough to not spend their days following the latest QAnon news, a brief primer: QAnon is the theory that President Donald Trump, along with Attorney General William Barr, the U.S. military, and a shadowy insider known only as “Q,” are all secretly working to take down a Deep State cabal, made up primarily of Democrats, who are controlling the world and also like to traffic and/or eat children.
Supposed promises by “Q,” posted first on fringe sites like 4chan and 8chan, keep failing to come to fruition, but that has done little to dampen the popularity of the conspiracy, both online and off. QAnon supporters make frequent appearances at Trump rallies, and the president keeps adding fuel to the fire by re-tweeting QAnon accounts on Twitter and thereby — at least in the eyes of Q adherents — validating the theory.
While it’s easy to laugh at, QAnon and other fringe conspiracies have motivated some very real-world violence.
As the FBI memo notes, in December 2016, a man entered Comet Ping Pong in Washington, DC — the restaurant supposedly at the center of Pizzagate — with an AR-15 rifle, firing a shot and pointing his rifle at an employee. The man was later arrested and pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges in March 2017.
In June 2018, a QAnon supporter in an armored truck blocked the Hoover Dam Bypass, armed with several firearms and magazines of ammunition. After a 90-minute standoff with police, he fled to Arizona where he was arrested. He has since been charged with terrorism as well as aggravated assault, unlawful flight, and weapons offenses.
As ThinkProgress reported last year, a QAnon-affiliated group also harassed police officers and civic leaders in Arizona over claims that the Deep State was operating a child sex camp in the desert there. A QAnon believer is also believed to have used the conspiracy as inspiration to gun down alleged New York crime boss Francesco Cali in March.
Travis View, a QAnon researcher who also co-hosts the QAnon Anonymous podcast, said he was relieved by the memo, as it showed that the Feds understood the real dangers that QAnon poses.
“It was an unknown beforehand whether the FBI or law enforcement was taking QAnon and other conspiracy-driven extremist movements seriously at all,” View told ThinkProgress. “This is the first confirmation that the feds are very aware of QAnon and the threat they pose.”
View described QAnon as “very much like a decentralized cult.”
“They get separated from their families and get taken down this rabbit hole to super delusional beliefs that cause them to do violence and violent things … most QAnon followers are harmless, they’re just shacked up in their room, but a few of them get so delusional that they act out in the real world.”
The FBI’s memo also specifically mentions how the internet has allowed these theories to thrive.
“The advent of the Internet and social media has enabled promoters of conspiracy theories to produce and share greater volumes of material via online platforms that larger audiences of consumers can quickly and easily access,” the report reads. “Based on the increase volumed and reach … it is logical to assume that more extremist-minded individuals will be exposed to potentially harmful conspiracy theories, accept ones that are favorable to their views, and possibly carry out criminal or violent actions as a result.”
To be clear, QAnon is not a movement that explicitly encourages members to engage in acts of violence; a large percentage of Q-related content simply encourages followers to “enjoy the show” that is always just about to begin.
However, as proven by recent mass attacks in New Zealand, Pittsburgh, and California — to name just a few — it only takes one self-radicalized individual to carry out a major terror attack, especially at a time of heightened political polarization, a point that both View and the FBI made.
“Because some conspiracy theories are highly partisan in nature, political developments, including those surrounding major election cycles such as the 2020 presidential election, likely will impact the direction of these conspiracy theories and the potential activities of extremists who subscribe to them,” the report reads.
“My most important takeaway [from the memo] is that this isn’t a fading threat,” View said. “It is a growing threat. As the political season and rhetoric gets more heated, conspiracy theories get an over-sized importance in people’s lives — it’s certainly something to watch out for.”
The FBI assessment concludes it is “very likely” that, in the future, domestic extremists will be motivated, whether wholly or in part, by “anti-government, identity based and fringe political conspiracy theories.”
And as for QAnon? Despite its continual failure to deliver on its promises, View predicts it won’t be going anywhere any time soon. The FBI assessment, he noted, was already being explained away by QAnon followers as more evidence of the Deep State, or something planted as a way to move the media to ask Trump about Q, a long-held ambition of QAnon followers.
“The ‘Clinton body-count‘ conspiracy theory, [which claims multiple people close to the Clintons have died under ‘mysterious circumstances,’ suggesting the Clintons have something to do with it], was created in early 1990s and it trended last week on Twitter, so these sort of conspiracy theories, when they catch on and resonate with a community, they don’t go away,” View said.
He added, “I have no idea when they might give up the game, but if I were to speculate based on psychological research [into conspiracy theories and followers], this is something with us for at least a generation.”
RELATED: Inventor of anti-Democrat #WalkAway hashtag comes out as a QAnon supporter at Trump rally
On Thursday, during a speech before President Donald Trump’s rally in Cincinnati, pro-Trump activist Brandon Straka proudly proclaimed his allegiance to the QAnon conspiracy theory.
Kris Kobach releases racist video to disprove racism allegations
The Republican Kansas senate hopeful was flagged by Trump transition for white supremacy concerns.
JOSH ISRAEL - Thinkprogress
JUL 31, 2019, 12:11 PM
Kansan Kris Kobach, the Republican former secretary of state who lost the 2018 gubernatorial election by five points to Democratic nominee Laura Kelly in a state that President Donald Trump carried by more than 20 points two years earlier, is back and running for U.S. Senate. In a new kickoff video, he suggests that if Kansas Republicans give him another chance, he will be better prepared for the “propaganda” attacks on him for his racist and white supremacist views.
In the same video, he demonstrates exactly why even Trump’s presidential transition vetting team flagged him for “white supremacy” concerns.
While waving a coffee mug around in front of a black screen, Kobach began his ad quoting the late climate-science denier Michael Crichton about the threat of fantasy propaganda winning out over truth.
“When someone is called a racist, a fascist, even a white nationalist, over and over, on a daily basis, even Kansans will eventually doubt themselves and start to believe what is false,” he argued. “Sorry to say, but by the end of the campaign, Democrats and their media allies had convinced many people — even Republicans — that I was an extremist. If I were one, I would tell you. But I am not.”
Kobach then defends his voter suppression conspiracy theories and harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric as consistent with the views of “over 90% of Republicans,” “the vast majority of Kansans,” and “many Democrats.”
Next, he went through a litany of misleading attacks on the same Democratic congresswomen of color that Trump has attacked. “The Democrats are obsessed with race, sex, and sexual orientation. They use it as a weapon to stifle debate, especially with Republicans.”
But while Kobach attempts to blame his white supremacist image as false propaganda from liberal news outlets, a huge amount of the criticism has actually come from those in his own party.
In last year’s gubernatorial campaign, a shocking array of prominent Kansas Republicans — including two former U.S. senators, a two-term former governor, a former state senate president, and dozens of others — deemed Kobach to be too extreme and crossed party lines to endorse Kelly.
And when Trump’s transition team considered him for possible positions in the administration, they found serious concerns.
“Past political opponents have accused Kobach of allying himself with groups that had connections to white supremacist groups,” Trump’s transition researchers noted in their warning about the then-Kansas secretary of state — likely referencing reports that Kobach had accepted support from white supremacist groups during his unsuccessful 2004 U.S. House of Representatives race.
In the same video, he demonstrates exactly why even Trump’s presidential transition vetting team flagged him for “white supremacy” concerns.
While waving a coffee mug around in front of a black screen, Kobach began his ad quoting the late climate-science denier Michael Crichton about the threat of fantasy propaganda winning out over truth.
“When someone is called a racist, a fascist, even a white nationalist, over and over, on a daily basis, even Kansans will eventually doubt themselves and start to believe what is false,” he argued. “Sorry to say, but by the end of the campaign, Democrats and their media allies had convinced many people — even Republicans — that I was an extremist. If I were one, I would tell you. But I am not.”
Kobach then defends his voter suppression conspiracy theories and harsh anti-immigrant rhetoric as consistent with the views of “over 90% of Republicans,” “the vast majority of Kansans,” and “many Democrats.”
Next, he went through a litany of misleading attacks on the same Democratic congresswomen of color that Trump has attacked. “The Democrats are obsessed with race, sex, and sexual orientation. They use it as a weapon to stifle debate, especially with Republicans.”
But while Kobach attempts to blame his white supremacist image as false propaganda from liberal news outlets, a huge amount of the criticism has actually come from those in his own party.
In last year’s gubernatorial campaign, a shocking array of prominent Kansas Republicans — including two former U.S. senators, a two-term former governor, a former state senate president, and dozens of others — deemed Kobach to be too extreme and crossed party lines to endorse Kelly.
And when Trump’s transition team considered him for possible positions in the administration, they found serious concerns.
“Past political opponents have accused Kobach of allying himself with groups that had connections to white supremacist groups,” Trump’s transition researchers noted in their warning about the then-Kansas secretary of state — likely referencing reports that Kobach had accepted support from white supremacist groups during his unsuccessful 2004 U.S. House of Representatives race.
DOCUMENTING HATE
We Found Photos of Ole Miss Students Posing With Guns in Front of a Shot-Up Emmett Till Memorial. Now They Face a Possible Civil Rights Investigation.
Three students were suspended from their fraternity house, Kappa Alpha, after we shared an Instagram photo one of the men posted that was taken in front of a sign commemorating the murder of the 14-year-old black youth in 1955.
by Jerry Mitchell, Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting - Pro Publica
July 25, 1:35 p.m. EDT
OXFORD, Miss. — Three University of Mississippi students have been suspended from their fraternity house and face possible investigation by the Department of Justice after posing with guns in front of a bullet-riddled sign honoring slain civil rights icon Emmett Till.
One of the students posted a photo to his private Instagram account in March showing the trio in front of a roadside plaque commemorating the site where Till’s body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River. The 14-year-old black youth was tortured and murdered in August 1955. An all-white, all-male jury acquitted two white men accused of the slaying.
The photo, which was obtained by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica, shows an Ole Miss student named Ben LeClere holding a shotgun while standing in front of the bullet-pocked sign. His Kappa Alpha fraternity brother, John Lowe, squats below the sign. A third fraternity member stands on the other side with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. The photo appears to have been taken at night, the scene illuminated by lights from a vehicle.
LeClere posted the picture on Lowe’s birthday on March 1 with the message “one of Memphis’s finest and the worst influence I’ve ever met.”
Neither LeClere nor Lowe responded to repeated attempts to contact them.
It is not clear whether the fraternity students shot the sign or are simply posing before it. The sign is part of a memorial effort by the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, a Mississippi civil rights group, and has been repeatedly vandalized, most recently in August 2018. Till’s death helped propel the modern civil rights movement in America.
Five days after LeClere posted the photo, a person who saw it filed a bias report to the university’s Office of Student Conduct. The complaint pointed out there may have been a fourth person present, who took the picture.
“The photo is on Instagram with hundreds of ‘likes,’ and no one said a thing,” said the complaint, a copy of which was reviewed by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica. “I cannot tell Ole Miss what to do, I just thought it should be brought to your attention.”
The photo was removed from LeClere’s Instagram account after the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica began contacting fraternity members and friends. It had received 274 likes.
Kappa Alpha suspended the trio on Wednesday, after the news organizations provided a copy of the photo to fraternity officials at Ole Miss. The fraternity, which honors Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as its “spiritual founder” on its website, has a history of racial controversy, including an incident in which students wore blackface at a Kappa Alpha sponsored Halloween party at the University of Virginia in 2002.
“The photo is inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable. It does not represent our chapter,” Taylor Anderson, president of Ole Miss’ Kappa Alpha Order, wrote in an email. “We have and will continue to be in communication with our national organization and the University.”
After viewing the photo, U.S. Attorney Chad Lamar of the Northern District of Mississippi in Oxford said the information has been referred to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for further investigation.
“We will be working with them closely,” he said Thursday.
University officials called the photo “offensive and hurtful.”
University spokesman Rod Guajardo acknowledged that an Ole Miss official had received a copy of the Instagram picture in March. The university referred the matter to the university police department, which in turn gave it to the FBI.
Guajardo said the FBI told police it would not further investigate the incident because the photo did not pose a specific threat.
Guajardo said that while the university considered the picture “offensive,” the image did not present a violation of the university’s code of conduct. He noted the incident depicted in the photo occurred off campus and was not part of a university-affiliated event.
“We stand ready to assist the fraternity with educational opportunities for those members and the chapter,” Guajardo said.
---
Since the first sign was erected in 2008, it has been the object of repeated animosity.
Vandals threw the first sign in the river. The second sign was blasted with 317 bullets or shotgun pellets before the Emmett Till Memorial Commission officials removed it. The third sign, featured in the Instagram photo, was damaged by 10 bullet holes before officials took it down last week. A fourth sign, designed to better withstand attacks, is expected to be installed soon.
News of the suspensions and referral to the Justice Department came as Till’s cousin, Deborah Watts, co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, was already planning a moment of silence Thursday to honor her cousin with a gathering of supporters and friends dressed in black and white in “a silent yet powerful protest against racism, hatred and violence.” Thursday is Till’s birthday. Had he lived, he would have been 78 years old.
This is not the first time Ole Miss fraternity students have been caught up in an incident involving an icon from the civil rights movement.
In 2014, three students from the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house placed a noose around the neck of a statue on campus of James Meredith, the first known black student to attend Ole Miss. They also placed a Georgia flag of the past that contains the Confederate battle emblem.
According to federal prosecutors, the freshmen students hatched the plan during a drinking fest at the house, where one student disparaged African Americans, saying this act would create a sensation: “It’s James Meredith. People will go crazy.”
One pleaded guilty and received six months in prison for using a threat of force to intimidate African American students and employees because of their race or color. Another student also pleaded guilty. He received probation and community service after he cooperated with the FBI. A third man wasn’t charged.
All three students withdrew from Ole Miss, and the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity’s national headquarters shuttered its chapter on the Ole Miss campus after its own investigation, blaming the closing on behavior that included “hazing, underage drinking, alcohol abuse and failure to comply with the university and fraternity’s codes of conduct.”
One of the students posted a photo to his private Instagram account in March showing the trio in front of a roadside plaque commemorating the site where Till’s body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River. The 14-year-old black youth was tortured and murdered in August 1955. An all-white, all-male jury acquitted two white men accused of the slaying.
The photo, which was obtained by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica, shows an Ole Miss student named Ben LeClere holding a shotgun while standing in front of the bullet-pocked sign. His Kappa Alpha fraternity brother, John Lowe, squats below the sign. A third fraternity member stands on the other side with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. The photo appears to have been taken at night, the scene illuminated by lights from a vehicle.
LeClere posted the picture on Lowe’s birthday on March 1 with the message “one of Memphis’s finest and the worst influence I’ve ever met.”
Neither LeClere nor Lowe responded to repeated attempts to contact them.
It is not clear whether the fraternity students shot the sign or are simply posing before it. The sign is part of a memorial effort by the Emmett Till Memorial Commission, a Mississippi civil rights group, and has been repeatedly vandalized, most recently in August 2018. Till’s death helped propel the modern civil rights movement in America.
Five days after LeClere posted the photo, a person who saw it filed a bias report to the university’s Office of Student Conduct. The complaint pointed out there may have been a fourth person present, who took the picture.
“The photo is on Instagram with hundreds of ‘likes,’ and no one said a thing,” said the complaint, a copy of which was reviewed by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica. “I cannot tell Ole Miss what to do, I just thought it should be brought to your attention.”
The photo was removed from LeClere’s Instagram account after the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and ProPublica began contacting fraternity members and friends. It had received 274 likes.
Kappa Alpha suspended the trio on Wednesday, after the news organizations provided a copy of the photo to fraternity officials at Ole Miss. The fraternity, which honors Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as its “spiritual founder” on its website, has a history of racial controversy, including an incident in which students wore blackface at a Kappa Alpha sponsored Halloween party at the University of Virginia in 2002.
“The photo is inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable. It does not represent our chapter,” Taylor Anderson, president of Ole Miss’ Kappa Alpha Order, wrote in an email. “We have and will continue to be in communication with our national organization and the University.”
After viewing the photo, U.S. Attorney Chad Lamar of the Northern District of Mississippi in Oxford said the information has been referred to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division for further investigation.
“We will be working with them closely,” he said Thursday.
University officials called the photo “offensive and hurtful.”
University spokesman Rod Guajardo acknowledged that an Ole Miss official had received a copy of the Instagram picture in March. The university referred the matter to the university police department, which in turn gave it to the FBI.
Guajardo said the FBI told police it would not further investigate the incident because the photo did not pose a specific threat.
Guajardo said that while the university considered the picture “offensive,” the image did not present a violation of the university’s code of conduct. He noted the incident depicted in the photo occurred off campus and was not part of a university-affiliated event.
“We stand ready to assist the fraternity with educational opportunities for those members and the chapter,” Guajardo said.
---
Since the first sign was erected in 2008, it has been the object of repeated animosity.
Vandals threw the first sign in the river. The second sign was blasted with 317 bullets or shotgun pellets before the Emmett Till Memorial Commission officials removed it. The third sign, featured in the Instagram photo, was damaged by 10 bullet holes before officials took it down last week. A fourth sign, designed to better withstand attacks, is expected to be installed soon.
News of the suspensions and referral to the Justice Department came as Till’s cousin, Deborah Watts, co-founder of the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation, was already planning a moment of silence Thursday to honor her cousin with a gathering of supporters and friends dressed in black and white in “a silent yet powerful protest against racism, hatred and violence.” Thursday is Till’s birthday. Had he lived, he would have been 78 years old.
This is not the first time Ole Miss fraternity students have been caught up in an incident involving an icon from the civil rights movement.
In 2014, three students from the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house placed a noose around the neck of a statue on campus of James Meredith, the first known black student to attend Ole Miss. They also placed a Georgia flag of the past that contains the Confederate battle emblem.
According to federal prosecutors, the freshmen students hatched the plan during a drinking fest at the house, where one student disparaged African Americans, saying this act would create a sensation: “It’s James Meredith. People will go crazy.”
One pleaded guilty and received six months in prison for using a threat of force to intimidate African American students and employees because of their race or color. Another student also pleaded guilty. He received probation and community service after he cooperated with the FBI. A third man wasn’t charged.
All three students withdrew from Ole Miss, and the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity’s national headquarters shuttered its chapter on the Ole Miss campus after its own investigation, blaming the closing on behavior that included “hazing, underage drinking, alcohol abuse and failure to comply with the university and fraternity’s codes of conduct.”
‘To hell with gay pride’: Trump-loving Florida politician running viciously homophobic campaign
July 24, 2019
By David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement - Raw Story
Says Gay People ‘Choose to Be a Homosexual’ and Claims They “Love” Being in Jail
A Florida man is running for a non-partisan seat on the St. Petersburg city council, and he’s running on an extremely homophobic platform.
Chico Cromartie says being gay is not part of the “American principles.”
He says being gay is a choice.
And he says “to hell with gay pride,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.
“He doesn’t honor the Pride flag, promises he won’t bow to ‘their agenda’ and thinks the LGBTQ community is thriving in St. Petersburg at the expense of the black community,” the Tampa paper adds.
“It makes me more popular as a leader,” Cromartie says about his beliefs. “Because people understand I’m going to lead based on American principles. Not because they choose to be a homosexual.”
Claiming his “policies are all-inclusive” he’s offering this apparently unconstitutional policy:
“The idea that the homosexuals should be considered to receive taxpayer dollars, based on the fact that they choose to be a homosexual, to me is not fair to the other citizens who choose not to be homosexual,” Cromartie says. “And if I’m elected, I’m going to dismantle all those policies.”
Good luck with that, because doing likely would be illegal.
On social media Cromartie attacks the LGBTQ community and speaks in biblical terms on what appears to be his campaign page (he does not seem to have a separate functioning campaign website.)
In this post he refers to gay people as “vicious, hateful and intolerant,” suggests they are harmful to children, and talks about “the true character of the homosexual agenda.”
Here, he suggests LGBTQ people are “anti-American.”
And here, he again speaks in biblical terms, writing, “Jesus was betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver. The residents of South St. Pete have been betrayed by local politicians and advocates alike, for much less!”
On what appears to be his personal Facebook page, which is linked to the campaign Facebook page, Cromartie has many pro-Trump photos and articles. And he suggests prisons have a high rate of LGBTQ incarceration, but says many gay people say they “love” being in jail.
He says, “I will always protect and defend traditional marriage, American families and their values!”
He claims he’s “receiving personal threats from homosexuals,” and “I’m the only candidate who doesn’t give a damn how homosexuals feel and I’m fighting to secure a home and future for your children in South St. Pete!”
He has a photo of a burning gay pride flag on his personal Facebook page.
And then there’s this:
Chico Cromartie
about 2 weeks ago
Homosexuality is a choice no American should make and no nation (in the history of the world) has ever prospered defending or promoting such activity! I will always speak out against homosexuality and my policies will never encourage or promote such activity!
Vote for Chico Cromartie City Council District 7🇺🇸
A Florida man is running for a non-partisan seat on the St. Petersburg city council, and he’s running on an extremely homophobic platform.
Chico Cromartie says being gay is not part of the “American principles.”
He says being gay is a choice.
And he says “to hell with gay pride,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.
“He doesn’t honor the Pride flag, promises he won’t bow to ‘their agenda’ and thinks the LGBTQ community is thriving in St. Petersburg at the expense of the black community,” the Tampa paper adds.
“It makes me more popular as a leader,” Cromartie says about his beliefs. “Because people understand I’m going to lead based on American principles. Not because they choose to be a homosexual.”
Claiming his “policies are all-inclusive” he’s offering this apparently unconstitutional policy:
“The idea that the homosexuals should be considered to receive taxpayer dollars, based on the fact that they choose to be a homosexual, to me is not fair to the other citizens who choose not to be homosexual,” Cromartie says. “And if I’m elected, I’m going to dismantle all those policies.”
Good luck with that, because doing likely would be illegal.
On social media Cromartie attacks the LGBTQ community and speaks in biblical terms on what appears to be his campaign page (he does not seem to have a separate functioning campaign website.)
In this post he refers to gay people as “vicious, hateful and intolerant,” suggests they are harmful to children, and talks about “the true character of the homosexual agenda.”
Here, he suggests LGBTQ people are “anti-American.”
And here, he again speaks in biblical terms, writing, “Jesus was betrayed by Judas for 30 pieces of silver. The residents of South St. Pete have been betrayed by local politicians and advocates alike, for much less!”
On what appears to be his personal Facebook page, which is linked to the campaign Facebook page, Cromartie has many pro-Trump photos and articles. And he suggests prisons have a high rate of LGBTQ incarceration, but says many gay people say they “love” being in jail.
He says, “I will always protect and defend traditional marriage, American families and their values!”
He claims he’s “receiving personal threats from homosexuals,” and “I’m the only candidate who doesn’t give a damn how homosexuals feel and I’m fighting to secure a home and future for your children in South St. Pete!”
He has a photo of a burning gay pride flag on his personal Facebook page.
And then there’s this:
Chico Cromartie
about 2 weeks ago
Homosexuality is a choice no American should make and no nation (in the history of the world) has ever prospered defending or promoting such activity! I will always speak out against homosexuality and my policies will never encourage or promote such activity!
Vote for Chico Cromartie City Council District 7🇺🇸
Black couple’s marriage proposal party interrupted multiple times by white security guards accusing them of theft
July 23, 2019
By Tom Boggioni - Raw Story
According to a report at WHEC, a black couple who drove to a park where the man intended to propose were interrupted and harassed three times by security guards who accused them of stealing a T-shirt at a gift shop.
In a Facebook post, Cathy-Marie Hamlet explained that she and her fiancé, Clyde Jackson, were sitting at a table outside the Angry Orchard gift shop when a female security guard approached them and accused Jackson of stealing the shirt and asked to check his pockets.
As Hamlet wrote, “A group of 8 of us went there to enjoy an afternoon with some hard cider. My boyfriend walked me out to an empty table on the lawn, and before we could sit down, a young lady from security approached us and said to him, ‘I’m sorry sir, but I have to check you back pocket. I was told that you stole a T-shirt from from the gift store.’ My boyfriend then emptied all of his pockets, while still trying to keep the ring box hidden from my sight.”
She added, “She then walked away, and my boyfriend and I sat down at the table and he began his proposal speech. MID PROPOSAL, the same young lady from security walks back towards and says to me, ‘I’m sorry, I need to check your bag. I was told that he gave it to you, and you put it in your bag.’ Mind you, my bag isn’t even large enough to fit a T-shirt. I emptied my entire bag in front of her, and since this was the SECOND time she had walked over, I said, “I know you’re just doing your job, but I can’t help but wonder if this is because we’re Black. We’re the only Black people here at your establishment.’”
Hamlet added that the woman denied she was racially profiling, but that confrontation was not the end of it.
“She departs again, and shortly after my boyfriend pops the question! I say yes, of course. People started cheering. And then the other 6 our friends walked over to us to hug and congratulate us,” she wrote. “Then surprise, surprise…the same young lady from security walks over to the group of us and says, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you all were a part of the same party. I have to check all of your purses and pockets.’ So at this point, the rest of security walks over and there’s 6 of them approaching us.”
“Of course my friends told them none of us stole a T-shirt from their establishment, at which point they started getting aggressive and saying that not only them, but also patrons saw my boyfriend steal the shirt and/or transfer it to me to put in my bag!!” she continued. “Another woman in security yelled to one of the male security, ‘Call the police! I saw you steal it.’ I asked them, “Do you have security cameras here?” And they said yes. So I said, ‘Well then you need to go and roll back your tape and see that nobody here stole anything from you guys.'”
She then explained that the white guards took their pictures, started videotaping them and then took a picture of her license plate when she and her group gave up on trying to have their party there.
“We as a group decided to leave rather than be attacked by the multiple security guards of Angry Orchard,” she recalled, adding, ” I have never been so humiliated in my life, myself and some of my friends left Angry Orchard in tears. On what was supposed to be one of the best days of my life, I was chased out of Angry Orchard by security who followed us all the way to the parking lot. I’m sorry, and not to sound pretentious, but as a doctor, I have no reason to steal a $28 T-shirt when I could afford to buy ALL of the T-shirts in their gift shop.”
In a Facebook post, Cathy-Marie Hamlet explained that she and her fiancé, Clyde Jackson, were sitting at a table outside the Angry Orchard gift shop when a female security guard approached them and accused Jackson of stealing the shirt and asked to check his pockets.
As Hamlet wrote, “A group of 8 of us went there to enjoy an afternoon with some hard cider. My boyfriend walked me out to an empty table on the lawn, and before we could sit down, a young lady from security approached us and said to him, ‘I’m sorry sir, but I have to check you back pocket. I was told that you stole a T-shirt from from the gift store.’ My boyfriend then emptied all of his pockets, while still trying to keep the ring box hidden from my sight.”
She added, “She then walked away, and my boyfriend and I sat down at the table and he began his proposal speech. MID PROPOSAL, the same young lady from security walks back towards and says to me, ‘I’m sorry, I need to check your bag. I was told that he gave it to you, and you put it in your bag.’ Mind you, my bag isn’t even large enough to fit a T-shirt. I emptied my entire bag in front of her, and since this was the SECOND time she had walked over, I said, “I know you’re just doing your job, but I can’t help but wonder if this is because we’re Black. We’re the only Black people here at your establishment.’”
Hamlet added that the woman denied she was racially profiling, but that confrontation was not the end of it.
“She departs again, and shortly after my boyfriend pops the question! I say yes, of course. People started cheering. And then the other 6 our friends walked over to us to hug and congratulate us,” she wrote. “Then surprise, surprise…the same young lady from security walks over to the group of us and says, ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you all were a part of the same party. I have to check all of your purses and pockets.’ So at this point, the rest of security walks over and there’s 6 of them approaching us.”
“Of course my friends told them none of us stole a T-shirt from their establishment, at which point they started getting aggressive and saying that not only them, but also patrons saw my boyfriend steal the shirt and/or transfer it to me to put in my bag!!” she continued. “Another woman in security yelled to one of the male security, ‘Call the police! I saw you steal it.’ I asked them, “Do you have security cameras here?” And they said yes. So I said, ‘Well then you need to go and roll back your tape and see that nobody here stole anything from you guys.'”
She then explained that the white guards took their pictures, started videotaping them and then took a picture of her license plate when she and her group gave up on trying to have their party there.
“We as a group decided to leave rather than be attacked by the multiple security guards of Angry Orchard,” she recalled, adding, ” I have never been so humiliated in my life, myself and some of my friends left Angry Orchard in tears. On what was supposed to be one of the best days of my life, I was chased out of Angry Orchard by security who followed us all the way to the parking lot. I’m sorry, and not to sound pretentious, but as a doctor, I have no reason to steal a $28 T-shirt when I could afford to buy ALL of the T-shirts in their gift shop.”
Black US lawmaker says white man told her to 'go back where you came from’
State representative Erica Thomas says she was verbally attacked in supermarket while shopping with her nine-year-old daughter
Associated Press
The Guardian
Sat 20 Jul 2019 11.47 BST
A pregnant African American lawmaker in Georgia said she was verbally attacked in a supermarket Friday by a middle-aged white man who used profanity, called her vulgar names and told her to “go back where you came from” as her nine-year-old daughter looked on.
Erica Thomas, a Democrat and Georgia state representative from Austell, said the man was irate that she was in an express line with too many items. Thomas said she was in a line for customers with 10 items or less because she cannot stand for long periods of time.
“And this white man comes up to me and says, ‘You lazy son of a bitch,”’ Thomas said, sobbing as she described the confrontation in a Facebook video. “He says, ‘You lazy son of a bitch; you need to go back where you came from.”’
Thomas said she was stunned by his anger. “I said, ‘Sir, you don’t even know me. I’m not lazy. I’m nine months pregnant.”’
Thomas said she never identified herself to the man as a public official. She said she was so taken aback by his actions that she didn’t think to try to record them.
The incident came days after Donald Trump tweeted that four congresswomen of color, including the US congresswoman Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, should go back to the “broken and crime infested” countries they came from.
In Thomas’ video, she alludes to Trump’s attacks on Omar. Thomas never mentions Trump’s name but says, “There’s so much hate in this world and it’s being incited by our president every single day.”
Thomas told the Associated Press that it appeared the man had already paid for his groceries when he approached her.
“He ran up on me and just verbally assaulted me,” she said in the AP interview. At one point, Thomas said, the man told her “You people are ignorant.”
Thomas said a store employee at some point approached the man and told him to leave. She said she believes store employees were slow to respond to the assault.
She said the incident happened at a Publix store in Mableton. A phone and email message requesting comment from Publix in Georgia did not receive an immediate response Friday evening. Thomas told the AP she notified police and that she would seek store video of the incident.
Erica Thomas, a Democrat and Georgia state representative from Austell, said the man was irate that she was in an express line with too many items. Thomas said she was in a line for customers with 10 items or less because she cannot stand for long periods of time.
“And this white man comes up to me and says, ‘You lazy son of a bitch,”’ Thomas said, sobbing as she described the confrontation in a Facebook video. “He says, ‘You lazy son of a bitch; you need to go back where you came from.”’
Thomas said she was stunned by his anger. “I said, ‘Sir, you don’t even know me. I’m not lazy. I’m nine months pregnant.”’
Thomas said she never identified herself to the man as a public official. She said she was so taken aback by his actions that she didn’t think to try to record them.
The incident came days after Donald Trump tweeted that four congresswomen of color, including the US congresswoman Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, should go back to the “broken and crime infested” countries they came from.
In Thomas’ video, she alludes to Trump’s attacks on Omar. Thomas never mentions Trump’s name but says, “There’s so much hate in this world and it’s being incited by our president every single day.”
Thomas told the Associated Press that it appeared the man had already paid for his groceries when he approached her.
“He ran up on me and just verbally assaulted me,” she said in the AP interview. At one point, Thomas said, the man told her “You people are ignorant.”
Thomas said a store employee at some point approached the man and told him to leave. She said she believes store employees were slow to respond to the assault.
She said the incident happened at a Publix store in Mableton. A phone and email message requesting comment from Publix in Georgia did not receive an immediate response Friday evening. Thomas told the AP she notified police and that she would seek store video of the incident.
Franklin Graham warns US may never recover from ‘catastrophic’ Equality Act during insane diatribe
July 17, 2019
By David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement - Raw Story
Franklin Graham is waging war against the Equality Act, legislation that would merely extend the already-existing Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include LGBT people in areas such as housing, credit, education, and public accommodations.
Graham went on an insane diatribe in the July/August edition of his Decision Magazine, calling the fight against equality “A Battle for the Soul of the Nation.”
According to Graham, were the Equality Act, which passed the House in May and is languishing in the Senate, ever to become law, it would be, he warns, “a nightmare from which this nation may never recover.”
Think about that.
He is literally warning his constituency that merely treating LGBTQ people with the same respect that white Christian heterosexual men are granted as a birthright would be a “nightmare,” and have “catastrophic consequences.”
This legislation will have catastrophic consequences for competitive sports, along with churches and faith-based nonprofits who would lose all protections to hire people who adhere to their Biblical statements of faith. Christians will be persecuted for their sincerely held beliefs as never before. The clear teachings of the Bible on the sins of homosexuality and abortion will no doubt be considered “hate speech.” It will be a nightmare from which this nation may never recover.
That is, of course, all false.
Graham, of course, knows that the Equality Act has no chance of even coming to the floor of the U.S. Senate for a vote, as long as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is in charge. And he knows President Donald Trump will never, ever sign it should it by some miracle reach his desk.
So what’s Graham’s real agenda? Why the feverish fear-mongering?
He shows his hand, saying: “If the Senate majority changes or if enough Republican senators change their position, it would be up to the president to veto the bill. And if that office were to change hands in 2020, I have little doubt this would become the law of the land.”
As with many things Graham does, he is using his tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit status to campaign-while-not-campaigning for the President and the Republican Party.
Graham frames his argument by pointing to the very genuine support given to LGBTQ Americans and the very American actions exhibited by the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.
Calling it “immoral behavior clearly condemned by Scripture,” Graham complained that “New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand served drinks at a gay bar; Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke sported a rainbow sweatband; and gay South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg talked openly about his coming out,” during Pride month.
Scandalous!
Imagine, a straight woman serving drinks at (horrors!) a gay bar, a straight man showing support for LGBTQ people, and a gay man talking – “openly” – about his journey of self discovery.
These acts, Graham writes, reveal “the deepening depravity that now vexes our country.”
Graham sees these actions, along with the House passage of the Equality Act and the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell marriage decision, as a sign “that same moral and spiritual framework, which has held our nation together for 243 years, is now unraveling so quickly that I fear for the future of our children and grandchildren.”
How sad that a 67-year old man of faith has so little faith in the American people he claims to serve, and in our Founding Fathers he claims to revere.
Graham went on an insane diatribe in the July/August edition of his Decision Magazine, calling the fight against equality “A Battle for the Soul of the Nation.”
According to Graham, were the Equality Act, which passed the House in May and is languishing in the Senate, ever to become law, it would be, he warns, “a nightmare from which this nation may never recover.”
Think about that.
He is literally warning his constituency that merely treating LGBTQ people with the same respect that white Christian heterosexual men are granted as a birthright would be a “nightmare,” and have “catastrophic consequences.”
This legislation will have catastrophic consequences for competitive sports, along with churches and faith-based nonprofits who would lose all protections to hire people who adhere to their Biblical statements of faith. Christians will be persecuted for their sincerely held beliefs as never before. The clear teachings of the Bible on the sins of homosexuality and abortion will no doubt be considered “hate speech.” It will be a nightmare from which this nation may never recover.
That is, of course, all false.
Graham, of course, knows that the Equality Act has no chance of even coming to the floor of the U.S. Senate for a vote, as long as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is in charge. And he knows President Donald Trump will never, ever sign it should it by some miracle reach his desk.
So what’s Graham’s real agenda? Why the feverish fear-mongering?
He shows his hand, saying: “If the Senate majority changes or if enough Republican senators change their position, it would be up to the president to veto the bill. And if that office were to change hands in 2020, I have little doubt this would become the law of the land.”
As with many things Graham does, he is using his tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit status to campaign-while-not-campaigning for the President and the Republican Party.
Graham frames his argument by pointing to the very genuine support given to LGBTQ Americans and the very American actions exhibited by the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.
Calling it “immoral behavior clearly condemned by Scripture,” Graham complained that “New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand served drinks at a gay bar; Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke sported a rainbow sweatband; and gay South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg talked openly about his coming out,” during Pride month.
Scandalous!
Imagine, a straight woman serving drinks at (horrors!) a gay bar, a straight man showing support for LGBTQ people, and a gay man talking – “openly” – about his journey of self discovery.
These acts, Graham writes, reveal “the deepening depravity that now vexes our country.”
Graham sees these actions, along with the House passage of the Equality Act and the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell marriage decision, as a sign “that same moral and spiritual framework, which has held our nation together for 243 years, is now unraveling so quickly that I fear for the future of our children and grandchildren.”
How sad that a 67-year old man of faith has so little faith in the American people he claims to serve, and in our Founding Fathers he claims to revere.
the enemy within!!!
A major Russian financing scandal connects to America’s Christian fundamentalists
After an explosive revelation in Italy, new questions surface about the World Congress of Families.
CASEY MICHEL - Thinkprogress
JUL 12, 2019, 8:00 AM
A series of reports over the past few months have pulled back the curtain on discussions about secret funding from Russia to far-right forces in Europe.
Now, there are new questions about the connection the funding has with perhaps the most notorious international anti-LGBTQ group in existence — a joint Russian-American brainchild called the World Congress of Families (WCF).
The recent revelations, which burst forth earlier this year, center on backroom discussions between allies of Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Russian associates connected to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak. The discussions, which BuzzFeed News published audio of earlier this week, center on a kickback scheme involving tens of millions of dollars in fuel discounts secretly passed to Salvini’s far-right Lega party.
Salvini denied all knowledge of discussions, but his aide, Gianluca Savoini, was forced to walk back previous denials of his attendance at the meeting, which took place last October. The tape, as BuzzFeed noted, “provides the first hard evidence of Russia’s clandestine attempts to fund Europe’s nationalist movements, and the apparent complicity of some senior figures from the far right in those attempts.”
Still, the revelations aren’t necessarily surprising. After all, Salvini has been outspoken for years about his sympathy for the Kremlin, going so far as to publicly wear shirts calling for “NO sanctions against RUSSIA.” Salvini, as well as Savoini, even mingled with Putin earlier this month.
Beyond the rhetorical support — and the clear efforts at putting together illicit financing to back Salvini’s far-right efforts — there’s another connection between Salvini and his allies and Russian financing that hasn’t seen much coverage in American press: the WCF.
For years, the WCF has acted as the primary bridge between American Christian fundamentalists and Russian partners. Helping export regressive anti-LGBTQ policies to Russia, the WCF has served as a platform since the mid-1990s for bringing together some of the most backward, homophobic voices internationally.
Along the way, it has also picked up financing and support from numerous Russian officials and oligarchs specifically sanctioned by the United States. Former Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin and sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev have both served as patrons of the WCF’s efforts, especially over the past few years, even going so far as to reportedly directly fund and sponsor WCF-related events.
Just last year, Yelena Mizulina, a Russian Duma member, was a featured speaker at the WCF’s annual conference, where she joined speakers railing against progressive policies. At the close of the conference, WCF chief Brian Brown called for those assembled to celebrate the “depths of … friendships” between the American and Russian figures featured at the event, claiming they were “creating friendships of trust.”
But that’s not all. Over the years, the WCF’s Russian representative, Alexey Komov — who works directly for the sanctioned Malofeev — has tried to ingratiate himself with numerous American far-right organizations. As ThinkProgress has detailed, these groups range from the far-right Home School Legal Defense Association, which has grown close to Komov over the past few years, to Movieguide, the leading American Christian film organization. Komov even managed in 2014 to schmooze with Ben Carson, now President Donald Trump’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and tried to connect with other right-wing fundraisers in the United States shortly afterward.
Indeed, Komov is at the heart of the burgeoning relationship between America’s Christian fundamentalist contingent that looks warmly at the Kremlin and the financiers behind Russian designs, and the cultivation of far-right forces abroad.
As such, it’s unsurprising that Komov is also directly implicated in the new revelations out of Italy. The Italian exposé of the attempted financing between Salvini’s party and Russia pinned the idea on Komov directly, who reportedly worked in tandem with Savoini and neo-fascist figure Alexander Dugin to put the plan together.
Komov already has a clear history with Savoini. Savoini oversees the Lombardy-Russia Cultural Association, a group whose honorary chair is Komov. As The New York Times reported this week, the Lombardy-Russia Cultural Association stands at the heart of the swelling links between Italy’s far right and its Russian patrons, as it was “founded in 2014 explicitly to reflect [Vladimir] Putin’s worldview.”
Komov hasn’t been shy about his links with Salvini’s supporters. “We are your brothers in Russia,” Komov said at a 2013 meeting of the Lega party. “We support your values.”
At the close of his speech, Komov yelled, “Putin!”
Thanks to these links between Komov and Salvini’s network, Salvini landed a spot as a featured speaker at this year’s WCF conference, in Italy. The conference — which was attended by Komov — was the brainchild of Salvini associate Lorenzo Fontana, whom Salvini recently tapped as Italy’s new European affairs minister.
The links between Komov, Salvini, and those caught on tape this week plotting secret Russian financing for Italy’s far right are clear. So, too, are the ties both of them — as well as Komov’s sanctioned employer, and the other sanctioned Russian individuals — have with the World Congress of Families, and America’s broad network of far-right fundamentalists. Whether any similar audio comes forward on the American side remains to be seen.
Now, there are new questions about the connection the funding has with perhaps the most notorious international anti-LGBTQ group in existence — a joint Russian-American brainchild called the World Congress of Families (WCF).
The recent revelations, which burst forth earlier this year, center on backroom discussions between allies of Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini and Russian associates connected to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak. The discussions, which BuzzFeed News published audio of earlier this week, center on a kickback scheme involving tens of millions of dollars in fuel discounts secretly passed to Salvini’s far-right Lega party.
Salvini denied all knowledge of discussions, but his aide, Gianluca Savoini, was forced to walk back previous denials of his attendance at the meeting, which took place last October. The tape, as BuzzFeed noted, “provides the first hard evidence of Russia’s clandestine attempts to fund Europe’s nationalist movements, and the apparent complicity of some senior figures from the far right in those attempts.”
Still, the revelations aren’t necessarily surprising. After all, Salvini has been outspoken for years about his sympathy for the Kremlin, going so far as to publicly wear shirts calling for “NO sanctions against RUSSIA.” Salvini, as well as Savoini, even mingled with Putin earlier this month.
Beyond the rhetorical support — and the clear efforts at putting together illicit financing to back Salvini’s far-right efforts — there’s another connection between Salvini and his allies and Russian financing that hasn’t seen much coverage in American press: the WCF.
For years, the WCF has acted as the primary bridge between American Christian fundamentalists and Russian partners. Helping export regressive anti-LGBTQ policies to Russia, the WCF has served as a platform since the mid-1990s for bringing together some of the most backward, homophobic voices internationally.
Along the way, it has also picked up financing and support from numerous Russian officials and oligarchs specifically sanctioned by the United States. Former Russian Railways chief Vladimir Yakunin and sanctioned Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeev have both served as patrons of the WCF’s efforts, especially over the past few years, even going so far as to reportedly directly fund and sponsor WCF-related events.
Just last year, Yelena Mizulina, a Russian Duma member, was a featured speaker at the WCF’s annual conference, where she joined speakers railing against progressive policies. At the close of the conference, WCF chief Brian Brown called for those assembled to celebrate the “depths of … friendships” between the American and Russian figures featured at the event, claiming they were “creating friendships of trust.”
But that’s not all. Over the years, the WCF’s Russian representative, Alexey Komov — who works directly for the sanctioned Malofeev — has tried to ingratiate himself with numerous American far-right organizations. As ThinkProgress has detailed, these groups range from the far-right Home School Legal Defense Association, which has grown close to Komov over the past few years, to Movieguide, the leading American Christian film organization. Komov even managed in 2014 to schmooze with Ben Carson, now President Donald Trump’s secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and tried to connect with other right-wing fundraisers in the United States shortly afterward.
Indeed, Komov is at the heart of the burgeoning relationship between America’s Christian fundamentalist contingent that looks warmly at the Kremlin and the financiers behind Russian designs, and the cultivation of far-right forces abroad.
As such, it’s unsurprising that Komov is also directly implicated in the new revelations out of Italy. The Italian exposé of the attempted financing between Salvini’s party and Russia pinned the idea on Komov directly, who reportedly worked in tandem with Savoini and neo-fascist figure Alexander Dugin to put the plan together.
Komov already has a clear history with Savoini. Savoini oversees the Lombardy-Russia Cultural Association, a group whose honorary chair is Komov. As The New York Times reported this week, the Lombardy-Russia Cultural Association stands at the heart of the swelling links between Italy’s far right and its Russian patrons, as it was “founded in 2014 explicitly to reflect [Vladimir] Putin’s worldview.”
Komov hasn’t been shy about his links with Salvini’s supporters. “We are your brothers in Russia,” Komov said at a 2013 meeting of the Lega party. “We support your values.”
At the close of his speech, Komov yelled, “Putin!”
Thanks to these links between Komov and Salvini’s network, Salvini landed a spot as a featured speaker at this year’s WCF conference, in Italy. The conference — which was attended by Komov — was the brainchild of Salvini associate Lorenzo Fontana, whom Salvini recently tapped as Italy’s new European affairs minister.
The links between Komov, Salvini, and those caught on tape this week plotting secret Russian financing for Italy’s far right are clear. So, too, are the ties both of them — as well as Komov’s sanctioned employer, and the other sanctioned Russian individuals — have with the World Congress of Families, and America’s broad network of far-right fundamentalists. Whether any similar audio comes forward on the American side remains to be seen.
White man flies into a jealous rage after black man talks to his girlfriend — and then kills him with pickup
July 12, 2019
By Travis Gettys - Raw Story
A Georgia man accused of running down a disabled man during a Fourth of July dispute has been arrested after fleeing the state.
Joshua Anderson was accused of purposefully striking 20-year-old Kevin Marshall with his pickup truck during a party, abandoning the vehicle in a wooded area and then fleeing to upstate New York, where he was taken into custody on Tuesday, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The 27-year-old Anderson started fighting with Marshall, who had autism, after the black man talked to his girlfriend, who was hosting the party at her Covington home but left with her boyfriend after the incident.
“That’s hatred, to beat somebody and then run him over at that impact and keep going,” said the victim’s mother, Robbie Marshall. “He took my son’s life, he deserves not to have his. I want him to have the death penalty.”
Investigators said Kendra Browning, the assailant’s girlfriend, apparently ran off willingly with Anderson, but they aren’t sure if she knew he was wanted on a murder charge.
She could potentially face charges for helping Anderson escape.
Anderson was charged with malice murder, aggravated assault and leaving the scene of a crash.
Joshua Anderson was accused of purposefully striking 20-year-old Kevin Marshall with his pickup truck during a party, abandoning the vehicle in a wooded area and then fleeing to upstate New York, where he was taken into custody on Tuesday, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The 27-year-old Anderson started fighting with Marshall, who had autism, after the black man talked to his girlfriend, who was hosting the party at her Covington home but left with her boyfriend after the incident.
“That’s hatred, to beat somebody and then run him over at that impact and keep going,” said the victim’s mother, Robbie Marshall. “He took my son’s life, he deserves not to have his. I want him to have the death penalty.”
Investigators said Kendra Browning, the assailant’s girlfriend, apparently ran off willingly with Anderson, but they aren’t sure if she knew he was wanted on a murder charge.
She could potentially face charges for helping Anderson escape.
Anderson was charged with malice murder, aggravated assault and leaving the scene of a crash.
Are you a right-wing extremist? This quiz may help — and you've got company
British military has a quiz for identifying dangerous right-wingers. Trump and other world leaders would fail
CHAUNCEY DEVEGA - Salon
JUNE 5, 2019 12:00PM (UTC)
Right-wing extremism threatens the security, safety and prosperity of countries around the world. Democracies — especially those in crisis — are especially vulnerable to right-wing extremism when it hides behind the benign-sounding banner of "populism."
On one extreme of the global right-wing movement are terrorists and other evildoers such as the Nazis or white supremacists who recently attacked mosques and synagogues in New Zealand, Pittsburgh and Southern California. On the other extreme are "respectable" right-wing politicians who use normal politics to take power. In the middle of this continuum are many millions of people who are either active members of the New Right or are sympathetic to its goals and aims.
In total, right-wing extremism is a multi-spectrum threat which extends from the president of the United States all the way down to street hooligans.
In response to several high profile incidents involving Nazis among its ranks, the British Ministry of Defense in conjunction with the British Army developed a chart to help officers identify right-wing extremists.
This chart, "Extreme Right Wing (XRW) Indicators & Warnings," was developed in 2017 and circulated as a leaflet for officers in the British military. Its existence became public last week when a copy appeared on right-wing websites. The British Ministry of Defense has confirmed the authenticity of the chart.
The XRW chart contains 20 examples of behavior which could indicate right-wing extremist values and suggest that a person is being radicalized into joining that dangerous movement.
Some of these warnings are:
Donald Trump, the Republican Party's elected officials and many of the leading voices in the right-wing media, as well as rank-and-file conservatives and other Trump supporters, meet many if not most of those criteria.
In a mix of mockery and concern, the usual right-wing voices are objecting that the XRW) chart is too broad and somehow "unfair," and stands as further proof of a conspiracy against "conservatives."
These objections fail in a number of ways.
The facts: the British Ministry of Defense chart is an accurate description of the individual behavior and collective worldview of today's right-wing extremists.
The New Right and its defenders are operating from a broken logic where everyone's sin is somehow no one's sin. In reality, the increasing prominence of right-wing extremism is simply a symptom of much larger social and political problems in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Ultimately, the apparent popularity of an idea or thing in politics or other areas of life does not indicate its merit.
One must also be cautious in these discussions of "right-wing extremism": This language can disguise how common and increasingly "normal" such toxic values have become in the United States and elsewhere.
This is a function of what historian Nancy MacLean details in her book "Democracy in Chains": The American right has successfully executed a long-term plan to drag the country farther to the right, with the goal of undermining and eventually ending its multiracial democracy. This corruption of democracy is in many ways most effective when it is done gradually. In this way right-wing extremism becomes the norm, a cancer in the body politic that metastasizes to a point where it becomes fatal to democracy.
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." History often does this in an upside-down, cruel fashion. This week Donald Trump is touring Britain and Europe on the 75th anniversary of the American-led Allied landings of D-Day. This is the president who has abdicated American global leadership, harmed longstanding alliances, and given aid and comfort to the descendants of Nazism and other authoritarians around the world.
America, which was once celebrated as the world's greatest democracy, has now slumped toward fascism. During World War II and then the Cold War, the United States helped to save Europe and the world from fascism and authoritarianism. Perhaps it is now time for America's allies to reciprocate by helping to save American democracy from Donald Trump and all that he represents.
On one extreme of the global right-wing movement are terrorists and other evildoers such as the Nazis or white supremacists who recently attacked mosques and synagogues in New Zealand, Pittsburgh and Southern California. On the other extreme are "respectable" right-wing politicians who use normal politics to take power. In the middle of this continuum are many millions of people who are either active members of the New Right or are sympathetic to its goals and aims.
In total, right-wing extremism is a multi-spectrum threat which extends from the president of the United States all the way down to street hooligans.
In response to several high profile incidents involving Nazis among its ranks, the British Ministry of Defense in conjunction with the British Army developed a chart to help officers identify right-wing extremists.
This chart, "Extreme Right Wing (XRW) Indicators & Warnings," was developed in 2017 and circulated as a leaflet for officers in the British military. Its existence became public last week when a copy appeared on right-wing websites. The British Ministry of Defense has confirmed the authenticity of the chart.
The XRW chart contains 20 examples of behavior which could indicate right-wing extremist values and suggest that a person is being radicalized into joining that dangerous movement.
Some of these warnings are:
- Describe themselves as 'Patriots'
- Refers to Political Correctness as some left wing or communist plot
- Describe multicultural towns as 'lost'
- Looks at opponents as 'Traitors'
- Use the term 'Islamofascism'
- Make generalisations about Muslims and Jews
- Have XRW extreme group stickers or badges on clothing and personal items
- Make inaccurate generalisations about 'the Left' or Government
- Talk of an impending racial conflict or 'Race War'
- Threaten violence when losing an argument, although claiming that XRW groups protest peacefully
- Become increasingly angry at perceived injustices or threats to so called 'National Identity'
Donald Trump, the Republican Party's elected officials and many of the leading voices in the right-wing media, as well as rank-and-file conservatives and other Trump supporters, meet many if not most of those criteria.
In a mix of mockery and concern, the usual right-wing voices are objecting that the XRW) chart is too broad and somehow "unfair," and stands as further proof of a conspiracy against "conservatives."
These objections fail in a number of ways.
The facts: the British Ministry of Defense chart is an accurate description of the individual behavior and collective worldview of today's right-wing extremists.
The New Right and its defenders are operating from a broken logic where everyone's sin is somehow no one's sin. In reality, the increasing prominence of right-wing extremism is simply a symptom of much larger social and political problems in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. Ultimately, the apparent popularity of an idea or thing in politics or other areas of life does not indicate its merit.
One must also be cautious in these discussions of "right-wing extremism": This language can disguise how common and increasingly "normal" such toxic values have become in the United States and elsewhere.
This is a function of what historian Nancy MacLean details in her book "Democracy in Chains": The American right has successfully executed a long-term plan to drag the country farther to the right, with the goal of undermining and eventually ending its multiracial democracy. This corruption of democracy is in many ways most effective when it is done gradually. In this way right-wing extremism becomes the norm, a cancer in the body politic that metastasizes to a point where it becomes fatal to democracy.
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." History often does this in an upside-down, cruel fashion. This week Donald Trump is touring Britain and Europe on the 75th anniversary of the American-led Allied landings of D-Day. This is the president who has abdicated American global leadership, harmed longstanding alliances, and given aid and comfort to the descendants of Nazism and other authoritarians around the world.
America, which was once celebrated as the world's greatest democracy, has now slumped toward fascism. During World War II and then the Cold War, the United States helped to save Europe and the world from fascism and authoritarianism. Perhaps it is now time for America's allies to reciprocate by helping to save American democracy from Donald Trump and all that he represents.
Alabama Mayor Calls for Killing LGBTQ People in Facebook Post
Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers tried to deny the post was his but finally admitted it.
BY TRUDY RING - The Advocate
JUNE 04 2019 12:43 PM EDT
An Alabama mayor has posted comments on Facebook about killing LGBTQ people, then tried to deny the post was his, but finally admitted it.
Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers posted a graphic that read, “We live in a society where homosexuals lecture us on morals, transvestites lecture us on human biology, baby killers lecture us on human rights and socialists lecture us on economics.” It has now been removed, but Birmingham TV station WBRC captured a screen shot.
A Facebook friend of his commented, “By giving the minority more rights than the majority. I hate to think of the country my grandkids will live in unless somehow we change and I think that will take a revolution.” Chambers responded to that comment by saying, “The only way to change it would be to kill the problem out. I know it’s bad to say but without killing them out there’s no way to fix it.”
WBRC called Chambers, who first claimed the post was on someone else’s page, then ended the conversation. Then he called back and said the comment was meant to be a private message to his friend. He also said, “I never said anything about killing out gays or anything like that.” Then the reporter read the post back to him, and he said, “That’s in a revolution. That’s right! If it comes to a revolution in this country both sides of these people will be killed out.”
During the conversation, Chambers further called immigrants “ungrateful” and said the U.S. is in a state of civil war. He complained about his Facebook page being public, but Facebook users control what others can see. He later changed the page’s setting to private.
Chambers has been mayor of Carbon Hill, a northern Alabama town of fewer than 2,000 people, since 2014.
Carbon Hill Mayor Mark Chambers posted a graphic that read, “We live in a society where homosexuals lecture us on morals, transvestites lecture us on human biology, baby killers lecture us on human rights and socialists lecture us on economics.” It has now been removed, but Birmingham TV station WBRC captured a screen shot.
A Facebook friend of his commented, “By giving the minority more rights than the majority. I hate to think of the country my grandkids will live in unless somehow we change and I think that will take a revolution.” Chambers responded to that comment by saying, “The only way to change it would be to kill the problem out. I know it’s bad to say but without killing them out there’s no way to fix it.”
WBRC called Chambers, who first claimed the post was on someone else’s page, then ended the conversation. Then he called back and said the comment was meant to be a private message to his friend. He also said, “I never said anything about killing out gays or anything like that.” Then the reporter read the post back to him, and he said, “That’s in a revolution. That’s right! If it comes to a revolution in this country both sides of these people will be killed out.”
During the conversation, Chambers further called immigrants “ungrateful” and said the U.S. is in a state of civil war. He complained about his Facebook page being public, but Facebook users control what others can see. He later changed the page’s setting to private.
Chambers has been mayor of Carbon Hill, a northern Alabama town of fewer than 2,000 people, since 2014.
Trumper Crop
america's white trash is pissed!!
Fox News viewers spew ugly geyser of racist and sexist abuse at Meghan Markle over dispute with Trump
June 1, 2019
By Tom Boggioni - raw story
Reacting to a spat between President Donald Trump and Meghan Markle, an American who married into the Royal British Family, Fox News fans unsurprisingly sided with the President and against the Duchess of Sussex with a torrent of racist and sexist abuse aimed at her.
With Trump recently finding out that Markle once criticized him before she became royalty — to which Trump responded that she was “nasty” — Fox fans quickly rushed to his side in the typical Fox News viewer ways.
To kick it off, one commenter wrote, “Only a matter of time before the first black town jester knocks her up.”
Read the sick tweets here
With Trump recently finding out that Markle once criticized him before she became royalty — to which Trump responded that she was “nasty” — Fox fans quickly rushed to his side in the typical Fox News viewer ways.
To kick it off, one commenter wrote, “Only a matter of time before the first black town jester knocks her up.”
Read the sick tweets here
Black man ‘beat to a pulp’ by racist family after going to a Florida bar with his white wife
on May 31, 2019
By Tana Ganeva - raw story
A Florida man has been charged with a hate crime after sparking a fight with an interracial couple on Mother’s Day, reports News 6 in Orlando.
The couple — the man was black, and the woman was white — were celebrating Mother’s Day with drinks at Tailgatorz Sports Bar & Grill on Mother’s Day with his wife, when Warren Stratton, 66, of Oak Hill, Florida, came up to them and asked the man if he was from Africa.
He then wondered aloud whether it was “Africa Day,” according to the police report.
The victim told Stratton to move along, but instead he shoved him. Other patrons tried to separate them but the fight escalated, with two of Stratton’s family members joining in.
“There’s a terrible fight and there’s one African-American that’s being beat to a pulp — and no one is here to defend him — by a bunch of rednecks,” a witness said in a 911 call.
Stratton’s nephew, Troy Noe, 52, of New Smyrna Beach, is also charged with evidence of prejudice battery. The charges carry a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Noe’s son, John Noe, 22, was initially facing the same charge. It was reduced on May 17 to misdemeanor battery, reports the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The couple — the man was black, and the woman was white — were celebrating Mother’s Day with drinks at Tailgatorz Sports Bar & Grill on Mother’s Day with his wife, when Warren Stratton, 66, of Oak Hill, Florida, came up to them and asked the man if he was from Africa.
He then wondered aloud whether it was “Africa Day,” according to the police report.
The victim told Stratton to move along, but instead he shoved him. Other patrons tried to separate them but the fight escalated, with two of Stratton’s family members joining in.
“There’s a terrible fight and there’s one African-American that’s being beat to a pulp — and no one is here to defend him — by a bunch of rednecks,” a witness said in a 911 call.
Stratton’s nephew, Troy Noe, 52, of New Smyrna Beach, is also charged with evidence of prejudice battery. The charges carry a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Noe’s son, John Noe, 22, was initially facing the same charge. It was reduced on May 17 to misdemeanor battery, reports the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
racism and ignorance run rampant in america!!!
Hank Haney's racist and sexist comments were unsurprising in the world of golf
Women’s golf is full of brilliant athletes from a huge variety of backgrounds. It can be tough to find out more about their stories though
Anya Alvarez - the guardian
Thu 30 May 2019 10.52 EDT
On Wednesday, I sat in a room with media executives working on a pitch for a series about the LPGA. We discussed multiple storylines that ranged across racial and social borders. Stories about South Korean, African American, Latina and white players. Stories about players who grew up in poverty but made it on tour; women who were born into privilege but are using their privilege for good. The LPGA is more diverse than many would have you believe: more than 25 countries are represented on tour this year. Last year, women from 10 different countries won tournaments.
Why does this matter? Because on Wednesday, Hank Haney, a golf instructor best known for coaching Tiger Woods during his prime, proved he knows little about women’s golf, but that he’s capable of spouting racist and sexist nonsense. Haney was asked by co-host Steve Johnson on their radio show about the Women’s US Open, which starts on Thursday.
“I’m gonna predict a Korean [will win],” Haney said.
“That’s a pretty safe bet,” Johnson replied.
“That’s gonna be my prediction. I couldn’t name you, like, six players on the LPGA Tour,” Haney said, before adding: “Well, I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right. I don’t know. ... Lexi Thompson. ... Michelle Wie’s hurt. I don’t know that many.”
Haney, who has since apologized for his comments, probably thought he was being funny. Instead his comments told us much about how little he values women’s golf. Jeehae Lee, a former LPGA player who moved to the US from South Korea in the sixth grade, responded on Twitter. “This is why @HankHaney’s comments hurt,” she wrote, “by publicly admitting that he sees a bunch of the same “Lee’s” on the LPGA, he has normalized the view that these women on the @lpga are nameless, faceless golfing robots who aren’t worthy of individual humanity.”
Wie, one of the few players Haney appears to have heard of, was similarly dismissive. “Too many of these girls, Korean or not, have worked countless hours and sacrificed so much to play in the US Open this week. There are so many amazing players in the field. Let’s celebrate them....Not mock them,” she wrote.
By admitting that he knows next to nothing about one of the biggest tournaments in women’s golf, Haney also proved he has no business hosting a show on a prominent golf channel.
But what Haney said is not surprising – there are countless examples of how bigotry has reared its ugly head in the sport. From African Americans, Jewish people, and female players being barred from joining golf clubs; to women only being allowed to play at certain times at many courses; to black women having police called on them while playing a round; to Asians players being blamed for the LPGA not being more popular (it should be noted the tour has experienced exponential growth in its fanbase). Racism and sexism is embedded in golf, and it has taken decades to repair the image of the game and make it appear welcoming and open to all. And there is clearly still work to be done.
In this context, it is hard to shovel all the blame on Haney. The golf media mostly treats the LPGA like a blip on the radar, rarely telling the stories of the brilliant Asian players Haney was so quick to dismiss. So it was strange to see major golf publications calling out Haney when they are part of the problem – their social media channels and websites make you wonder if a professional women’s golf tour that has been around for 69 years exists at all. And the reality is, the publications that attacked Haney have more of a responsibility than Haney to promote women’s golf. How can we take the media seriously on this when they’ve done little to show that they value the LPGA?
There are steps that can be taken to improve matter. Perhaps SiriusXM could cancel Haney’s show and replace it with one that covers the LPGA exclusively. And maybe golf media as a whole will do better at highlighting the various stories of the diverse group of women who compete on the LPGA.
Until we wait in hope, make sure to tune in to the Women’s US Open where more than 20 countries will be represented in the second major of the year. And if you don’t know more than six players names, learn some more. There are plenty of great stories out there.
Why does this matter? Because on Wednesday, Hank Haney, a golf instructor best known for coaching Tiger Woods during his prime, proved he knows little about women’s golf, but that he’s capable of spouting racist and sexist nonsense. Haney was asked by co-host Steve Johnson on their radio show about the Women’s US Open, which starts on Thursday.
“I’m gonna predict a Korean [will win],” Haney said.
“That’s a pretty safe bet,” Johnson replied.
“That’s gonna be my prediction. I couldn’t name you, like, six players on the LPGA Tour,” Haney said, before adding: “Well, I’d go with Lee. If I didn’t have to name a first name, I’d get a bunch of them right. I don’t know. ... Lexi Thompson. ... Michelle Wie’s hurt. I don’t know that many.”
Haney, who has since apologized for his comments, probably thought he was being funny. Instead his comments told us much about how little he values women’s golf. Jeehae Lee, a former LPGA player who moved to the US from South Korea in the sixth grade, responded on Twitter. “This is why @HankHaney’s comments hurt,” she wrote, “by publicly admitting that he sees a bunch of the same “Lee’s” on the LPGA, he has normalized the view that these women on the @lpga are nameless, faceless golfing robots who aren’t worthy of individual humanity.”
Wie, one of the few players Haney appears to have heard of, was similarly dismissive. “Too many of these girls, Korean or not, have worked countless hours and sacrificed so much to play in the US Open this week. There are so many amazing players in the field. Let’s celebrate them....Not mock them,” she wrote.
By admitting that he knows next to nothing about one of the biggest tournaments in women’s golf, Haney also proved he has no business hosting a show on a prominent golf channel.
But what Haney said is not surprising – there are countless examples of how bigotry has reared its ugly head in the sport. From African Americans, Jewish people, and female players being barred from joining golf clubs; to women only being allowed to play at certain times at many courses; to black women having police called on them while playing a round; to Asians players being blamed for the LPGA not being more popular (it should be noted the tour has experienced exponential growth in its fanbase). Racism and sexism is embedded in golf, and it has taken decades to repair the image of the game and make it appear welcoming and open to all. And there is clearly still work to be done.
In this context, it is hard to shovel all the blame on Haney. The golf media mostly treats the LPGA like a blip on the radar, rarely telling the stories of the brilliant Asian players Haney was so quick to dismiss. So it was strange to see major golf publications calling out Haney when they are part of the problem – their social media channels and websites make you wonder if a professional women’s golf tour that has been around for 69 years exists at all. And the reality is, the publications that attacked Haney have more of a responsibility than Haney to promote women’s golf. How can we take the media seriously on this when they’ve done little to show that they value the LPGA?
There are steps that can be taken to improve matter. Perhaps SiriusXM could cancel Haney’s show and replace it with one that covers the LPGA exclusively. And maybe golf media as a whole will do better at highlighting the various stories of the diverse group of women who compete on the LPGA.
Until we wait in hope, make sure to tune in to the Women’s US Open where more than 20 countries will be represented in the second major of the year. And if you don’t know more than six players names, learn some more. There are plenty of great stories out there.
‘Yes Ma’am, I Used the N-Word’: Mississippi Furniture Store Owner Unapologetic After Hurling Racial Slurs at Black Customers
By Kiersten Willis - atlanta black star
May 24, 2019
A Mississippi furniture store owner has admitted to dropping the n-word at Black customers after being caught on camera. Now he’s defending his actions.
A customer sent a video of an altercation that erupted outside Hometown Furniture in Southaven, Mississippi, on Saturday, May 18, to WREG. Witnesses said it shows Terry Pace, who owns the store, cursing at and using the n-word to Black patrons.
It’s not clear what exactly led to the volatile moment.
“I don’t care what they say. I did what I felt like was right,” Pace told a WREG reporter who arrived at his home after he shuttered his store for the day on Monday, May 20. “You weren’t there. You didn’t hear it. You didn’t hear all the stuff I heard.”
He claimed he was provoked and attacked, and left with a black eye. He also admitted to using the n-word, seemingly as a result.
“I called the n-word when it was over with. When it was all over with, and they kept mouthing off to me. Yes, ma’am, I used the n-word,” he adds.
Police were called to the scene but no report was filed.
However, those working in shops in the plaza shared with Hometown Furniture say Pace’s racist remarks are nothing new.
“He was like, ‘No. I don’t finance, because the only people that want to get furniture financed is the colored. And they don’t pay their bills.’ Yes. This is what he told me, and I let that go,” said Marvin Clark, who owns a business in the plaza.
Additionally, the woman who owns the plaza property states they’ve been flooded with complains about Pace, despite him only occupying the space since March.
Property manager Radhya Spencer told the news outlet she hopes the incident does not push away other customers.
“We need to come out here and support the businesses. We need to come out here and support Southaven and uplift it. We don’t plan on having him stay,” Spencer said.
She also noted there are no plans to renew when the lease is up for Pace’s store in June.
A customer sent a video of an altercation that erupted outside Hometown Furniture in Southaven, Mississippi, on Saturday, May 18, to WREG. Witnesses said it shows Terry Pace, who owns the store, cursing at and using the n-word to Black patrons.
It’s not clear what exactly led to the volatile moment.
“I don’t care what they say. I did what I felt like was right,” Pace told a WREG reporter who arrived at his home after he shuttered his store for the day on Monday, May 20. “You weren’t there. You didn’t hear it. You didn’t hear all the stuff I heard.”
He claimed he was provoked and attacked, and left with a black eye. He also admitted to using the n-word, seemingly as a result.
“I called the n-word when it was over with. When it was all over with, and they kept mouthing off to me. Yes, ma’am, I used the n-word,” he adds.
Police were called to the scene but no report was filed.
However, those working in shops in the plaza shared with Hometown Furniture say Pace’s racist remarks are nothing new.
“He was like, ‘No. I don’t finance, because the only people that want to get furniture financed is the colored. And they don’t pay their bills.’ Yes. This is what he told me, and I let that go,” said Marvin Clark, who owns a business in the plaza.
Additionally, the woman who owns the plaza property states they’ve been flooded with complains about Pace, despite him only occupying the space since March.
Property manager Radhya Spencer told the news outlet she hopes the incident does not push away other customers.
“We need to come out here and support the businesses. We need to come out here and support Southaven and uplift it. We don’t plan on having him stay,” Spencer said.
She also noted there are no plans to renew when the lease is up for Pace’s store in June.
Border Vigilante Was Accused of Running Child-Cancer Charity Scam
United Constitutional Patriots livestreams grabbing migrants at the border. Its spokesman has a shady past.
Nick R. Martin - daily beast
05.22.19 5:29 AM ET
For the past few months, Jim Benvie has played the role of a wannabe cop in the New Mexico borderlands.
He wears a badge with the words “Fugitive Recovery Agent.” He refers to Border Patrol agents as his “backup.” He claims to be protecting America from a “criminal invasion” at the nation’s southwestern border.
All the while, he’s been facing a criminal charge of his own in another state.
Benvie is the appointed spokesman for a group of Trump-loving border vigilantes previously known as the United Constitutional Patriots, which recently renamed itself Guardian Patriots. The group earned widespread notoriety last month because of videos Benvie livestreamed to Facebook, showing his armed crew harassing and apprehending migrants.
The vigilante group was kicked off PayPal and GoFundMe as a result, but it is still attempting to raise money for its efforts in other ways. Now, court documents reviewed by The Daily Beast raise serious questions about Benvie’s background in fundraising.
He was arrested in an incident in which police said he was fraudulently claiming to be collecting cash for a child with cancer and was allegedly in possession of a stolen rental truck, according to the court records. Benvie was subsequently charged with stealing the truck, though prosecutors did not charge him regarding the charity work.
The allegations against him are outlined in an affidavit filed in Logan County District Court in Oklahoma as part of an ongoing felony case. The existence of the stolen vehicle charge was reported earlier this month by Texas television station KDBC, but the affidavit paints a detailed picture of Benvie’s arrest, including the cancer scam suspicions, that has not previously been publicized.
Benvie’s organization has received the condemnation of civil rights groups and the attention of law enforcement. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico described the group in a letter to the state’s governor and attorney general as an “armed fascist militia organization” and called for an investigation. Soon after, the FBI arrested the group’s self-appointed “commander,” Larry Hopkins, who goes by the fictitious name Johnny Horton Jr., on a federal weapons charge.
The incident that landed Benvie in trouble with the law began on the afternoon of July 2, 2018, when police in Guthrie, Oklahoma were contacted by the vehicle security company OnStar. The company had located a stolen yellow Penske rental truck in the parking lot of the chain chicken joint Golden Chick.
Inside the restaurant, a lieutenant found Benvie sitting at a table supposedly raising money for a child who had cancer. He had a blue bucket with cash in it, according to the affidavit.
“When Benvie observed me he began to look away and became very nervous,” Lt. Mark Bruning wrote in the affidavit. “I contacted him and asked how long he had been at the store attempting to raise money. He stated a couple hours.”
When the lieutenant asked what vehicle he was driving, Benvie pointed to the yellow truck. He told the lieutenant he had rented the truck from a Penske location in Tennessee on an “open ended ‘cash’ account,” according to the document.
The paperwork in the glovebox, however, showed that Benvie had rented the truck on April 4, 2018 and was supposed to return it the next day. A manager at the Penske location told police there was no such thing as an open-ended cash account.
Bruning questioned Benvie about the cause for which he was supposedly raising money. In the affidavit, the lieutenant wrote that Benvie said he was collecting money for a friend in Tennessee whose son had brain cancer. But when asked who the friend was, according to the lieutenant, “Benvie was unable to produce a name.”
Inside the truck, police found a “Make America Great Again” hat along with some garbage and two duffel bags filled with clothing. They also found pamphlets that read “Help Ryan Beat Cancer,” which depicted a boy with a scar on his head. Some of the pamphlets were old. Others were new.
“I asked Benvie about the pamphlets,” Bruning wrote in the affidavit. “He stated it was real and that he was raising money for the child. But again was unable to give a name.”
After arresting him, the lieutenant found two GoFundMe pages that appeared to have been started by Benvie, each under a different variation of his name. The first was called “Join Ryans Flight Crew” and the other was called “Bella Walk A Thon,” according to the affidavit.
The Daily Beast was able to locate a GoFundMe campaign by a Christopher Benvie, his middle name, titled “Bella’s Walk-A-Thon,” which had raised $343 and was no longer active. The other page could not be found.
The lieutenant was clearly skeptical of Benvie’s charity claims. Bruning went as far in the affidavit as writing that “it’s believed that Benvie was committing fraud by collecting donations for [a] child with cancer that he was unable to provide any information about.”
Benvie was irate after his arrest and blew his top with Bruning, according to the affidavit. While being moved from the Guthrie police station to the county jail, Benvie reportedly told the lieutenant: “I’ll bring that mom and sick kid to court if I have to.”
He was charged on July 6 in Logan County District Court with one count of possessing a stolen vehicle, a felony.
Court records show he was held on a $25,000 bond until Sept. 21, when the judge overseeing his case agreed to release him on his own recognizance. He has pleaded not guilty.
Benvie didn’t answer a phone number listed for him in court records, and he didn’t reply to a message sent to his personal Facebook page. The United Constitutional Patriots’ page on Facebook sent a short reply to The Daily Beast’s request to speak with Benvie: “check out his facebook page.”
Benvie’s lawyer in Oklahoma, David Bedford, declined to speak about his client.
“I represent a lot of people,” Bedford said. “You’re going to have to reach them and they’ll talk for themselves.”
Benvie has spoken in vague terms about the case to other news outlets, which have not reported the details outlined in the affidavit.
He told television station KDBC that he vowed to continue his border activities even if convicted. “You're not gonna get rid of me,” he told the station. “I'm America.” He reportedly told The Intercept that his arrest was due to a clerical error by the truck rental office.
Benvie is something of an unusual figure, even in the unusual world of border militias. Acting as the spokesman for the vigilantes, Benvie has done what no other figure in the movement has by broadcasting his group’s harassment of migrants live on Facebook for the world to see.
He’s done so at times with a certain cruelty.
In a video livestreamed on March 31, Benvie could be heard huffing, out of breath, as he pursued a group of migrants over a hill. A woman carrying a suitcase could be seen falling behind the group. She cried out as Benvie chased her from a few feet back.
“You’re gonna hurt yourself,” Benvie said as the woman tumbled face-first down the hill. “You don’t have to run.”
“See what we’re dealing with here, guys?” he narrated to his Facebook audience. The migrant group was eventually stopped by Border Patrol agents, and Benvie filmed the arrests. The video went on to be viewed more than 43,000 times, with users leaving comments like “Start shooting” and “Shoot-first-ask-questions-later.”
Other videos have received tens of thousands more views, including one in mid-April that set off a firestorm because the United Constitutional Patriots claimed it showed them detaining about 300 migrants.
The ACLU of New Mexico’s letter to the governor and attorney general regarding the video mentioned Benvie by name, accusing his group of making “unlawful arrests,” which the civil liberties group said undermines legitimate law enforcement.
Two days after the letter was sent, the FBI showed up at the United Constitutional Patriots’ camp in Sunland Park, New Mexico, a city in the southeast corner of the state. Agents arrested Larry Hopkins, the leader of the group who claimed to be in touch with President Donald Trump, on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On Saturday, the FBI’s Albuquerque field office spokesman, Frank Fisher, told The Daily Beast that the case “still is under investigation” and declined to answer further questions.
The state Attorney General’s Office declined to say whether it had been in touch with law enforcement in Oklahoma regarding Benvie’s case. David Carl, a spokesman for the office, kept it vague in an email: “We are collaborating with law enforcement agencies to fully investigate this matter.”
Beyond the arrest of its leader, Benvie’s group has run into even more trouble. It was ordered off its original campsite by Sunland Park and railroad police. (A stretch of rail runs through the area where the group has been operating.)
But Benvie and his small band of camo-clad vigilantes found a new site to set up and are still out there, looking for migrants.
And he’s still livestreaming.
He wears a badge with the words “Fugitive Recovery Agent.” He refers to Border Patrol agents as his “backup.” He claims to be protecting America from a “criminal invasion” at the nation’s southwestern border.
All the while, he’s been facing a criminal charge of his own in another state.
Benvie is the appointed spokesman for a group of Trump-loving border vigilantes previously known as the United Constitutional Patriots, which recently renamed itself Guardian Patriots. The group earned widespread notoriety last month because of videos Benvie livestreamed to Facebook, showing his armed crew harassing and apprehending migrants.
The vigilante group was kicked off PayPal and GoFundMe as a result, but it is still attempting to raise money for its efforts in other ways. Now, court documents reviewed by The Daily Beast raise serious questions about Benvie’s background in fundraising.
He was arrested in an incident in which police said he was fraudulently claiming to be collecting cash for a child with cancer and was allegedly in possession of a stolen rental truck, according to the court records. Benvie was subsequently charged with stealing the truck, though prosecutors did not charge him regarding the charity work.
The allegations against him are outlined in an affidavit filed in Logan County District Court in Oklahoma as part of an ongoing felony case. The existence of the stolen vehicle charge was reported earlier this month by Texas television station KDBC, but the affidavit paints a detailed picture of Benvie’s arrest, including the cancer scam suspicions, that has not previously been publicized.
Benvie’s organization has received the condemnation of civil rights groups and the attention of law enforcement. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico described the group in a letter to the state’s governor and attorney general as an “armed fascist militia organization” and called for an investigation. Soon after, the FBI arrested the group’s self-appointed “commander,” Larry Hopkins, who goes by the fictitious name Johnny Horton Jr., on a federal weapons charge.
The incident that landed Benvie in trouble with the law began on the afternoon of July 2, 2018, when police in Guthrie, Oklahoma were contacted by the vehicle security company OnStar. The company had located a stolen yellow Penske rental truck in the parking lot of the chain chicken joint Golden Chick.
Inside the restaurant, a lieutenant found Benvie sitting at a table supposedly raising money for a child who had cancer. He had a blue bucket with cash in it, according to the affidavit.
“When Benvie observed me he began to look away and became very nervous,” Lt. Mark Bruning wrote in the affidavit. “I contacted him and asked how long he had been at the store attempting to raise money. He stated a couple hours.”
When the lieutenant asked what vehicle he was driving, Benvie pointed to the yellow truck. He told the lieutenant he had rented the truck from a Penske location in Tennessee on an “open ended ‘cash’ account,” according to the document.
The paperwork in the glovebox, however, showed that Benvie had rented the truck on April 4, 2018 and was supposed to return it the next day. A manager at the Penske location told police there was no such thing as an open-ended cash account.
Bruning questioned Benvie about the cause for which he was supposedly raising money. In the affidavit, the lieutenant wrote that Benvie said he was collecting money for a friend in Tennessee whose son had brain cancer. But when asked who the friend was, according to the lieutenant, “Benvie was unable to produce a name.”
Inside the truck, police found a “Make America Great Again” hat along with some garbage and two duffel bags filled with clothing. They also found pamphlets that read “Help Ryan Beat Cancer,” which depicted a boy with a scar on his head. Some of the pamphlets were old. Others were new.
“I asked Benvie about the pamphlets,” Bruning wrote in the affidavit. “He stated it was real and that he was raising money for the child. But again was unable to give a name.”
After arresting him, the lieutenant found two GoFundMe pages that appeared to have been started by Benvie, each under a different variation of his name. The first was called “Join Ryans Flight Crew” and the other was called “Bella Walk A Thon,” according to the affidavit.
The Daily Beast was able to locate a GoFundMe campaign by a Christopher Benvie, his middle name, titled “Bella’s Walk-A-Thon,” which had raised $343 and was no longer active. The other page could not be found.
The lieutenant was clearly skeptical of Benvie’s charity claims. Bruning went as far in the affidavit as writing that “it’s believed that Benvie was committing fraud by collecting donations for [a] child with cancer that he was unable to provide any information about.”
Benvie was irate after his arrest and blew his top with Bruning, according to the affidavit. While being moved from the Guthrie police station to the county jail, Benvie reportedly told the lieutenant: “I’ll bring that mom and sick kid to court if I have to.”
He was charged on July 6 in Logan County District Court with one count of possessing a stolen vehicle, a felony.
Court records show he was held on a $25,000 bond until Sept. 21, when the judge overseeing his case agreed to release him on his own recognizance. He has pleaded not guilty.
Benvie didn’t answer a phone number listed for him in court records, and he didn’t reply to a message sent to his personal Facebook page. The United Constitutional Patriots’ page on Facebook sent a short reply to The Daily Beast’s request to speak with Benvie: “check out his facebook page.”
Benvie’s lawyer in Oklahoma, David Bedford, declined to speak about his client.
“I represent a lot of people,” Bedford said. “You’re going to have to reach them and they’ll talk for themselves.”
Benvie has spoken in vague terms about the case to other news outlets, which have not reported the details outlined in the affidavit.
He told television station KDBC that he vowed to continue his border activities even if convicted. “You're not gonna get rid of me,” he told the station. “I'm America.” He reportedly told The Intercept that his arrest was due to a clerical error by the truck rental office.
Benvie is something of an unusual figure, even in the unusual world of border militias. Acting as the spokesman for the vigilantes, Benvie has done what no other figure in the movement has by broadcasting his group’s harassment of migrants live on Facebook for the world to see.
He’s done so at times with a certain cruelty.
In a video livestreamed on March 31, Benvie could be heard huffing, out of breath, as he pursued a group of migrants over a hill. A woman carrying a suitcase could be seen falling behind the group. She cried out as Benvie chased her from a few feet back.
“You’re gonna hurt yourself,” Benvie said as the woman tumbled face-first down the hill. “You don’t have to run.”
“See what we’re dealing with here, guys?” he narrated to his Facebook audience. The migrant group was eventually stopped by Border Patrol agents, and Benvie filmed the arrests. The video went on to be viewed more than 43,000 times, with users leaving comments like “Start shooting” and “Shoot-first-ask-questions-later.”
Other videos have received tens of thousands more views, including one in mid-April that set off a firestorm because the United Constitutional Patriots claimed it showed them detaining about 300 migrants.
The ACLU of New Mexico’s letter to the governor and attorney general regarding the video mentioned Benvie by name, accusing his group of making “unlawful arrests,” which the civil liberties group said undermines legitimate law enforcement.
Two days after the letter was sent, the FBI showed up at the United Constitutional Patriots’ camp in Sunland Park, New Mexico, a city in the southeast corner of the state. Agents arrested Larry Hopkins, the leader of the group who claimed to be in touch with President Donald Trump, on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On Saturday, the FBI’s Albuquerque field office spokesman, Frank Fisher, told The Daily Beast that the case “still is under investigation” and declined to answer further questions.
The state Attorney General’s Office declined to say whether it had been in touch with law enforcement in Oklahoma regarding Benvie’s case. David Carl, a spokesman for the office, kept it vague in an email: “We are collaborating with law enforcement agencies to fully investigate this matter.”
Beyond the arrest of its leader, Benvie’s group has run into even more trouble. It was ordered off its original campsite by Sunland Park and railroad police. (A stretch of rail runs through the area where the group has been operating.)
But Benvie and his small band of camo-clad vigilantes found a new site to set up and are still out there, looking for migrants.
And he’s still livestreaming.
Former Indiana lawmaker: Pete Buttigieg can’t be president because ‘homosexuals’ die young
Tom Boggioni - raw story
18 MAY 2019 AT 15:58 ET
According to reporting from Friendly Atheist founder Hemant Mehta, a former Indiana lawmaker turned Christian evangelist cautioned against electing South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg as the next president because he might not survive his first term.
As Mehta, notes, Dr. Don Boys, when he was in office claimed that “homosexuality is a crime worth a twelve-year jail sentence,” and now has turned his ire on the young mayor who has captured the nation’s attention.
Writing at his blog, Boys explained,”Pete Buttigieg is mayor of South Bend, Indiana and is ‘married’ to Chasten Glezman, a teacher at Montessori Academy near South Bend. Pete calls Chasten his ‘husband’ but since that is asinine, aberrant, and not accurate, I will refer to him as his ‘lover.’ I do that knowing I will be reminded that Time magazine gave him some credibility with a cover photo of Pete and his lover. However, Time’s rush to gush is typical of the leftist media who are willing to promote anything that is anti-biblical, anti-common sense, and anti-decency.”
He then took up the issue of health.
“All homosexuals are aware that their lifespan is about 20 years less than for normal people so voters should know that a homosexual president may not live to finish his term<“he warned. “Moreover, 70% of homosexuals admit to having at least one STD plus they are infected with other contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, etc. About 20% of homosexual men are infected with HIV and about half of them do now know it. Don’t voters have a right, even an obligation, to know a candidate’s health status since the candidate’s health is always an issue? Is a homosexual candidate an exception? If so, why?”
“Will he release his complete medical records?” he added.
You can read more of his reprehensible thoughts on the LGBTQ community here.
As Mehta, notes, Dr. Don Boys, when he was in office claimed that “homosexuality is a crime worth a twelve-year jail sentence,” and now has turned his ire on the young mayor who has captured the nation’s attention.
Writing at his blog, Boys explained,”Pete Buttigieg is mayor of South Bend, Indiana and is ‘married’ to Chasten Glezman, a teacher at Montessori Academy near South Bend. Pete calls Chasten his ‘husband’ but since that is asinine, aberrant, and not accurate, I will refer to him as his ‘lover.’ I do that knowing I will be reminded that Time magazine gave him some credibility with a cover photo of Pete and his lover. However, Time’s rush to gush is typical of the leftist media who are willing to promote anything that is anti-biblical, anti-common sense, and anti-decency.”
He then took up the issue of health.
“All homosexuals are aware that their lifespan is about 20 years less than for normal people so voters should know that a homosexual president may not live to finish his term<“he warned. “Moreover, 70% of homosexuals admit to having at least one STD plus they are infected with other contagious diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, etc. About 20% of homosexual men are infected with HIV and about half of them do now know it. Don’t voters have a right, even an obligation, to know a candidate’s health status since the candidate’s health is always an issue? Is a homosexual candidate an exception? If so, why?”
“Will he release his complete medical records?” he added.
You can read more of his reprehensible thoughts on the LGBTQ community here.
american idiot!!!
Florida man calls cops on Middle Eastern stand-up comedian after joke makes him ‘uncomfortable’
Eric W. Dolan - raw story
15 MAY 2019 AT 10:01 ET
A man in Florida called 911 to report a stand-up comedian who made a joke about terrorism, according to local news outlet NBC 2.
The man, who has not been identified, was at the Off The Hook comedy club in Naples this month when he said Ahmed Ahmed asked how many audience members were from the Middle East.
“As the people raised their hands, they said I’m from Iraq, I’m from Iran,” the caller said to a 911 dispatcher. “He said that’s great we should organize our own terrorist organization. I don’t think that’s right. That really bothered me.”
He later told the dispatcher: “I just thought it was terrible. My wife and I looked at each other and felt very uncomfortable.”
Ahmed posted a video to Facebook showing that two officers were sent to the club.
“You can’t write this shit… This is new material,” the comedian joked to the officers. “I’m not insulted, I’m a little embarrassed – and I’m also, maybe, afraid for my life.”
“Don’t change your set, don’t change your jokes,” an officer assured him.
The comedian is baffled that someone resorted to calling the police.
“He should, you know, maybe get a passport, travel a little bit, maybe not be so subject to what he’s being brainwashed,” Ahmed told Wink News. “I feel bad for him that he’s kind of closed minded.”
The man, who has not been identified, was at the Off The Hook comedy club in Naples this month when he said Ahmed Ahmed asked how many audience members were from the Middle East.
“As the people raised their hands, they said I’m from Iraq, I’m from Iran,” the caller said to a 911 dispatcher. “He said that’s great we should organize our own terrorist organization. I don’t think that’s right. That really bothered me.”
He later told the dispatcher: “I just thought it was terrible. My wife and I looked at each other and felt very uncomfortable.”
Ahmed posted a video to Facebook showing that two officers were sent to the club.
“You can’t write this shit… This is new material,” the comedian joked to the officers. “I’m not insulted, I’m a little embarrassed – and I’m also, maybe, afraid for my life.”
“Don’t change your set, don’t change your jokes,” an officer assured him.
The comedian is baffled that someone resorted to calling the police.
“He should, you know, maybe get a passport, travel a little bit, maybe not be so subject to what he’s being brainwashed,” Ahmed told Wink News. “I feel bad for him that he’s kind of closed minded.”
Florida man assaulted by woman screaming ‘go home Jew — tell your neighbors that Jesus Christ is here’
Sarah K. Burris - raw story
09 MAY 2019 AT 14:05 ET
Kirsten Kelly arrested for assault on Jewish couple (Photo: Orange County jail mugshot)
A Florida woman was arrested after an alleged assault while shouting anti-Semitic comments.
According to Jeff Gelman, he was having breakfast with his wife when he witnessed a woman drive through an unlocked gate to drive through his lawn, ClickOrlando reported.
“We looked out to window and we saw someone doing donuts in our backyard, right there,” Gelman said.
He said that he’s never seen the woman, who has been identified as Kristen Kelly, but she was screaming anti-Semitic attacks as if she knew their faith.
“She was yelling, go home Jew tell your neighbors that Jesus Christ is here and that I’m going to clean some dirty Jews,” Gelman said.
Things got worse when the couple tried to approach Kelly and demand she get off their property.
“When she got out of the car she sprayed us with detergent and said ‘cleaning the dirty Jews,’” Gelman said.
He took photos of the woman and her car so that it would help police in identifying who was behind the wheel.
“We didn’t recognize her at all; never saw her in our lives,” Gelman told the media.
Kelly has been charged with aggravated assault and is still being held in an Orange County jail.
A Christian man in a San Diego suburb opened fire on a synagogue in April, killing one woman.
According to Jeff Gelman, he was having breakfast with his wife when he witnessed a woman drive through an unlocked gate to drive through his lawn, ClickOrlando reported.
“We looked out to window and we saw someone doing donuts in our backyard, right there,” Gelman said.
He said that he’s never seen the woman, who has been identified as Kristen Kelly, but she was screaming anti-Semitic attacks as if she knew their faith.
“She was yelling, go home Jew tell your neighbors that Jesus Christ is here and that I’m going to clean some dirty Jews,” Gelman said.
Things got worse when the couple tried to approach Kelly and demand she get off their property.
“When she got out of the car she sprayed us with detergent and said ‘cleaning the dirty Jews,’” Gelman said.
He took photos of the woman and her car so that it would help police in identifying who was behind the wheel.
“We didn’t recognize her at all; never saw her in our lives,” Gelman told the media.
Kelly has been charged with aggravated assault and is still being held in an Orange County jail.
A Christian man in a San Diego suburb opened fire on a synagogue in April, killing one woman.
EXTREMISTS
CousinIT - demo underground
they are just racists!!!
White Republicans are bothered by hearing foreign languages — but most Americans aren’t
Tana Ganeva - raw story
08 MAY 2019 AT 14:14 ET
Despite being buffeted by an endless stream of scandals — including reports of tax evasion — President Donald Trump maintains a high approval rating among Republican voters.
A new Pew Research poll might help explain why.
As the Washington Post observed, 47 percent of white Republicans polled told Pew it would bother them “some” or “a lot” to “hear people speak a language other than English in a public place.” Only eighteen percent of white Democrats concurred.
Plus, among white Republicans in the least diverse neighborhoods, 80% are satisfied with the amount of racial diversity they experience in their community.
The antipathy towards immigrants specifically and diversity more generally are reflected in many of President Donald Trump’s statements and policy positions. Despite being married to an immigrant with a heavy accent, the President continues to broadcast anti-immigration sentiment.
Even the President’s slogan, Make America Great Again, has been criticized for harkening back to a mythical past when America was ruled entirely by white men while women and minorities lacked many basic rights.
As the Washington Post observed, a shockingly high number of white Republicans oppose interracial marriage, close to half a century after it was legalized with the Loving v. Virginia case.
“Republicans also stood out in that survey for their skepticism of interracial marriage: One-third said “the fact that more people of difference races are marrying each other” was good for the country, while 16 percent said it was bad,” the Post notes.
A new Pew Research poll might help explain why.
As the Washington Post observed, 47 percent of white Republicans polled told Pew it would bother them “some” or “a lot” to “hear people speak a language other than English in a public place.” Only eighteen percent of white Democrats concurred.
Plus, among white Republicans in the least diverse neighborhoods, 80% are satisfied with the amount of racial diversity they experience in their community.
The antipathy towards immigrants specifically and diversity more generally are reflected in many of President Donald Trump’s statements and policy positions. Despite being married to an immigrant with a heavy accent, the President continues to broadcast anti-immigration sentiment.
Even the President’s slogan, Make America Great Again, has been criticized for harkening back to a mythical past when America was ruled entirely by white men while women and minorities lacked many basic rights.
As the Washington Post observed, a shockingly high number of white Republicans oppose interracial marriage, close to half a century after it was legalized with the Loving v. Virginia case.
“Republicans also stood out in that survey for their skepticism of interracial marriage: One-third said “the fact that more people of difference races are marrying each other” was good for the country, while 16 percent said it was bad,” the Post notes.
Utah bus driver traps boy in bus doors and drives off: lawsuit
Dominique Jackson - raw story
07 MAY 2019 AT 16:56 ET
Utah bus driver John Naisbitt “quietly” resigned after facing multiple accusations after he discriminated against minority students.
A 14-year-old student got caught in the doors while exiting the school bus, and Naisbitt continued to drive for another 150 feet before stopping.
“While students yelled at the driver to stop — the man pulled over again in front of West Point Junior High in northern Utah and opened the doors, dropping the boy on the sidewalk and allowing the rest of the kids in line to shuffle out,” a report from Salt Lake Tribune explained. “The boy, a seventh grader, was the only student of color on the bus.”
The boy’s mom, Brenda Mayes, is suing Naisbitt for racial discrimination. The mom has video evidence of the situation.
“It appears that the driver intentionally shuts the doors as he goes through, snapping the boy’s backpack between them, and moving forward as he hangs outside,” the report said.
“I think that race likely played a part in the incident,” Mayes told the school district.
“We deeply regret the actions of our employee and will be addressing this issue with urgency,” Superintendent Reid Newey responded.
A 14-year-old student got caught in the doors while exiting the school bus, and Naisbitt continued to drive for another 150 feet before stopping.
“While students yelled at the driver to stop — the man pulled over again in front of West Point Junior High in northern Utah and opened the doors, dropping the boy on the sidewalk and allowing the rest of the kids in line to shuffle out,” a report from Salt Lake Tribune explained. “The boy, a seventh grader, was the only student of color on the bus.”
The boy’s mom, Brenda Mayes, is suing Naisbitt for racial discrimination. The mom has video evidence of the situation.
“It appears that the driver intentionally shuts the doors as he goes through, snapping the boy’s backpack between them, and moving forward as he hangs outside,” the report said.
“I think that race likely played a part in the incident,” Mayes told the school district.
“We deeply regret the actions of our employee and will be addressing this issue with urgency,” Superintendent Reid Newey responded.
‘Get out while you can’: Former white nationalist exposes movement’s dark secrets
Brad Reed - raw story
02 MAY 2019 AT 09:36 ET
Katie McHugh, an admitted former white nationalist and writer at the Daily Caller and Breitbart News, is the subject of an extraordinary profile by BuzzFeed Newsreporter Rosie Gray in which she talks about the alt-right’s dark secrets.
McHugh tells Gray that she started out her career as a libertarian who was led down a dark path toward outright racism. She says that while she harbored racist views before working at Breitbart, she thinks that working at that right-wing publication encouraged her to be even more extreme.
“The thing is, I think Breitbart — and let me preface this by saying I take responsibility for all my actions. Everything I said that was terrible was my fault. However, I think that people’s flaws were encouraged,” she said. “I think Milo’s fame should not have been encouraged — it was very bad for him. And my vindictiveness and my capacity for cruelty were encouraged.”
But McHugh’s racism got so bad at one point that even Breitbart Texas editor Brandon Darby became concerned that she was openly supporting the writings of neo-Nazis.
However, former Breitbart boss Steve Bannon told Darby to back off of his criticism and he never disciplined McHugh for promoting neo-Nazi Twitter accounts.
“Steve said ‘stop it’ just out of irritation,” she said. “But it never, never affected my rise in the company.”
In fact, Bannon eventually promoted her to be his producer on his Sirius XM radio show.
Much of the profile documents how the white nationalist movement has worked to insert itself into supposedly “mainstream” conservative institutions — including former Trump Department of Homeland Security official Ian Smith, who was fired after his ties to white nationalism were exposed.
In the end, McHugh hopes that her story inspires more people who have been taken in by the movement to flee.
“There is forgiveness, there is redemption,” she tells Gray. “You have to own up to what you did and then forcefully reject this and explain to people, and tell your story, and say, ‘Get out while you can.’”
Read the whole profile here.
McHugh tells Gray that she started out her career as a libertarian who was led down a dark path toward outright racism. She says that while she harbored racist views before working at Breitbart, she thinks that working at that right-wing publication encouraged her to be even more extreme.
“The thing is, I think Breitbart — and let me preface this by saying I take responsibility for all my actions. Everything I said that was terrible was my fault. However, I think that people’s flaws were encouraged,” she said. “I think Milo’s fame should not have been encouraged — it was very bad for him. And my vindictiveness and my capacity for cruelty were encouraged.”
But McHugh’s racism got so bad at one point that even Breitbart Texas editor Brandon Darby became concerned that she was openly supporting the writings of neo-Nazis.
However, former Breitbart boss Steve Bannon told Darby to back off of his criticism and he never disciplined McHugh for promoting neo-Nazi Twitter accounts.
“Steve said ‘stop it’ just out of irritation,” she said. “But it never, never affected my rise in the company.”
In fact, Bannon eventually promoted her to be his producer on his Sirius XM radio show.
Much of the profile documents how the white nationalist movement has worked to insert itself into supposedly “mainstream” conservative institutions — including former Trump Department of Homeland Security official Ian Smith, who was fired after his ties to white nationalism were exposed.
In the end, McHugh hopes that her story inspires more people who have been taken in by the movement to flee.
“There is forgiveness, there is redemption,” she tells Gray. “You have to own up to what you did and then forcefully reject this and explain to people, and tell your story, and say, ‘Get out while you can.’”
Read the whole profile here.
I know it is a small sample - but good grief....
Islamophobia is about politics, not faith: New study explores impact on 2020 elections
Islamophobia is on the rise, with 44 percent of white evangelicals holding negative views of Muslims
SOPHIA A. MCCLENNEN - salon
MAY 1, 2019 1:00PM (UTC)
Since the administration of George W. Bush and the attacks on 9/11/2001 there has been a marked demonization of Islam in U.S. public discourse. Over and over again an entire religion has been conflated with the acts of extremists. But Bush-era Islamophobia pales in comparison with its rise since the 2016 election, when Donald Trump decided to openly use the demonization of Muslims as a campaign tactic. Since then, there has been a measurable increase in anti-Islamic attitudes and violence in the United States. A new study released by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) offers data on predicting and preventing Islamophobia as well as valuable insight into how Islamophobia will shape the 2020 election.
The first key takeaway from the ISPU study is that Islamophobia is on the rise, especially in specific groups. Charting five negative stereotypes about Muslims, ISPU analysts documented an increase in the Islamophobia index from 24 in 2018 to 28 in 2019. But these numbers skew radically by faith group. Jews score the lowest in Islamophobic attitudes while white evangelicals score the highest. Fifty-three percent of Jews report having positive views of Muslims with only 13 percent reporting negative views. As many as 44 percent of white evangelicals hold unfavorable opinions about Muslims, which is twice as many as those who hold favorable opinions (20 percent).
These findings are especially noteworthy given Trump’s efforts to incite conflict between the Muslim and Jewish communities. Recall his recent speech stoking aggression towards Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). "Oh, I forgot. She doesn't like Israel” he stated sarcastically in a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition as the crowd booed. "I forgot. I'm so sorry."
As USA Today reports, these efforts are a not-so-subtle effort by the Trump team to capture more of the Jewish vote by suggesting that Democrats have become “anti-Israel” and “anti-Jewish.” They quote a recent Gallup report, based on tracking poll data from 2018, that found that only "one in six U.S. Jews identify as Republican." And about half described themselves as Democrats.
Even more interesting were the ISPU’s findings regarding the Muslim Ban. They found that for most voters a candidate’s approval of the ban is a negative. Sixty-one percent of Muslims, 53 percent of Jews, and 56 percent of non-affiliated Americans report that a candidate’s endorsement of the Muslim Ban would actually decrease their support for that individual. And yet, with white evangelicals it is a different story. In fact, 44 percent say a candidate’s endorsement of the ban would increase their approval. But here is the real surprise: even though white evangelicals are the one group most likely to support this policy, the overall majority either indicated that support for the ban either decreased their interest (19 percent) or made no difference to them (37 percent). These findings indicate that the Muslim Ban plays only to a vocal minority, even among White Evangelical voters.
Perhaps more importantly, the ISPU study shows that those who hold negative views of Muslims are the ones least likely to actually know one. Given that about only one in three white evangelicals reported knowing an American who is Muslim, this finding reinforces the idea that Islamophobia is based almost entirely on the proliferation of negative stereotypes absent any real-world knowledge. The analysts further found that knowledge of the religion of Islam often had an even greater impact in reducing Islamophobia than personal relationships with Muslims. This means that it is not necessary to have a Muslim friend to combat Islamophobia. It also suggests that when the religion is negatively portrayed for political ends to voters with no knowledge of the religion, voters may be more easily swayed to hold negative views.
Heading into the 2020 election it is unsurprising, but still noteworthy, that only 16 percent of American Muslims support President Trump but 73 percent of white evangelicals do. Broken down by faith, U.S. Muslims are the least likely to support Trump of any other group. Yet they are also more likely than the general public to express optimism about the direction of the country: Thirty-three percent of Muslims report being satisfied as compared to only 19 percent of the general public.
Party affiliation among American Muslims is also unsurprising with 76 percent having voted for Democrats in the 2018 election. The study documents a growing trend of registration for eligible Muslim voters. In 2016 only 60 percent were registered in comparison with 73 percent registered in 2019. Yet, they also note that Muslims who indicate a desire to vote, may not actually do it. In 2018, 83 percent of registered voters stated they planned to vote, but only 59 percent did.
In a phone interview with Salon, ISPU researcher Dalia Mogahed explained that another key takeaway for the 2020 election is the fact that intolerance towards one group correlates positively with intolerance towards other groups. That means that those who are Islamophobic are far more likely to also be anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT, for example. She suggests that the crisis of Islamophobia affects not only Muslims, and even more importantly it indicates increased risk of not just intolerance towards vulnerable populations, but violence as well. Certainly, the San Diego synagogue attack offers a recent example of the connections between anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Mogahed explains that “empirical research shows that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are inextricably linked.”
She further added that the ISPU study confirmed that Islamophobia is generated by politics rather than faith. She cautioned that it would be wise to take into account efforts, whether Russian propaganda or not, to use Islamophobia to sow division and political conflict. This is perhaps the most important takeaway from the study.
Across the globe we have seen anti-Muslim extremism rise as a tactic to mobilize fear and incite aggressive attitudes for political gain. And within the United States, as Jonathan Chait points out, we can note that Republicans have resisted acknowledging Donald Trump’s open bigotry towards Muslims. There seems little doubt that the Trump team will continue to use Islamophobia as a political tactic and there is proof that those tactics have escalated negative attitudes and violence towards Muslims. The only question is whether the 2020 elections will be shaped by the moderate majority or the extremist fringe.
The first key takeaway from the ISPU study is that Islamophobia is on the rise, especially in specific groups. Charting five negative stereotypes about Muslims, ISPU analysts documented an increase in the Islamophobia index from 24 in 2018 to 28 in 2019. But these numbers skew radically by faith group. Jews score the lowest in Islamophobic attitudes while white evangelicals score the highest. Fifty-three percent of Jews report having positive views of Muslims with only 13 percent reporting negative views. As many as 44 percent of white evangelicals hold unfavorable opinions about Muslims, which is twice as many as those who hold favorable opinions (20 percent).
These findings are especially noteworthy given Trump’s efforts to incite conflict between the Muslim and Jewish communities. Recall his recent speech stoking aggression towards Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). "Oh, I forgot. She doesn't like Israel” he stated sarcastically in a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition as the crowd booed. "I forgot. I'm so sorry."
As USA Today reports, these efforts are a not-so-subtle effort by the Trump team to capture more of the Jewish vote by suggesting that Democrats have become “anti-Israel” and “anti-Jewish.” They quote a recent Gallup report, based on tracking poll data from 2018, that found that only "one in six U.S. Jews identify as Republican." And about half described themselves as Democrats.
Even more interesting were the ISPU’s findings regarding the Muslim Ban. They found that for most voters a candidate’s approval of the ban is a negative. Sixty-one percent of Muslims, 53 percent of Jews, and 56 percent of non-affiliated Americans report that a candidate’s endorsement of the Muslim Ban would actually decrease their support for that individual. And yet, with white evangelicals it is a different story. In fact, 44 percent say a candidate’s endorsement of the ban would increase their approval. But here is the real surprise: even though white evangelicals are the one group most likely to support this policy, the overall majority either indicated that support for the ban either decreased their interest (19 percent) or made no difference to them (37 percent). These findings indicate that the Muslim Ban plays only to a vocal minority, even among White Evangelical voters.
Perhaps more importantly, the ISPU study shows that those who hold negative views of Muslims are the ones least likely to actually know one. Given that about only one in three white evangelicals reported knowing an American who is Muslim, this finding reinforces the idea that Islamophobia is based almost entirely on the proliferation of negative stereotypes absent any real-world knowledge. The analysts further found that knowledge of the religion of Islam often had an even greater impact in reducing Islamophobia than personal relationships with Muslims. This means that it is not necessary to have a Muslim friend to combat Islamophobia. It also suggests that when the religion is negatively portrayed for political ends to voters with no knowledge of the religion, voters may be more easily swayed to hold negative views.
Heading into the 2020 election it is unsurprising, but still noteworthy, that only 16 percent of American Muslims support President Trump but 73 percent of white evangelicals do. Broken down by faith, U.S. Muslims are the least likely to support Trump of any other group. Yet they are also more likely than the general public to express optimism about the direction of the country: Thirty-three percent of Muslims report being satisfied as compared to only 19 percent of the general public.
Party affiliation among American Muslims is also unsurprising with 76 percent having voted for Democrats in the 2018 election. The study documents a growing trend of registration for eligible Muslim voters. In 2016 only 60 percent were registered in comparison with 73 percent registered in 2019. Yet, they also note that Muslims who indicate a desire to vote, may not actually do it. In 2018, 83 percent of registered voters stated they planned to vote, but only 59 percent did.
In a phone interview with Salon, ISPU researcher Dalia Mogahed explained that another key takeaway for the 2020 election is the fact that intolerance towards one group correlates positively with intolerance towards other groups. That means that those who are Islamophobic are far more likely to also be anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT, for example. She suggests that the crisis of Islamophobia affects not only Muslims, and even more importantly it indicates increased risk of not just intolerance towards vulnerable populations, but violence as well. Certainly, the San Diego synagogue attack offers a recent example of the connections between anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Mogahed explains that “empirical research shows that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are inextricably linked.”
She further added that the ISPU study confirmed that Islamophobia is generated by politics rather than faith. She cautioned that it would be wise to take into account efforts, whether Russian propaganda or not, to use Islamophobia to sow division and political conflict. This is perhaps the most important takeaway from the study.
Across the globe we have seen anti-Muslim extremism rise as a tactic to mobilize fear and incite aggressive attitudes for political gain. And within the United States, as Jonathan Chait points out, we can note that Republicans have resisted acknowledging Donald Trump’s open bigotry towards Muslims. There seems little doubt that the Trump team will continue to use Islamophobia as a political tactic and there is proof that those tactics have escalated negative attitudes and violence towards Muslims. The only question is whether the 2020 elections will be shaped by the moderate majority or the extremist fringe.
Dear Terrified White Dudes: Your Strategy Needs an Update
TygrBright - demo underground
Dear Terrified White Dudes: Your Strategy Needs an Update
I know it's hard to climb out of that barge on the ol' Egyptian river, but seriously, denial ain't gonna help. Start with this: The demographic Point of No Return was passed many, many years ago.
No matter how hard you try to keep any NEW brown people from entering the country, at some point within the next couple of generations, there will be more brown people than white people here.
One more important thing to note: Trying to hang onto all the power, all the wealth, and all the control when you're a diminishing minority in the greater population hasn't worked out awfully well over the last few centuries. Starting with France in the 18th Century, and most recently in South Africa, one way or another the majority will tip the balance back, and you'll have to cope.
If you're lucky, the model will be much more like South Africa and much less like 18th-Century France.
So here's a suggestion for a new strategy:
When you're about to become a minority, maybe... just maybe... ensuring that the rights of minorities are vigorously protected in law and economic practice would be a hella smart strategy!
Think about it, white dudes.
Instead of trying to deny minorities the right to vote, you might want to ensure strong protections for everyone's access to the ballot, because one day, it might be YOUR neighborhoods that get left off the "where we put polling places" map.
Instead of trying to restrict access to the best educational opportunities, you might want to guarantee that the admissions process can't be gamed by privilege.
Instead of making it easy for economic predators to practice usury, extortion, and confiscation in minority communities, you might want to codify economic justice for all, now while you still can.
Instead of allowing industrial polluters a free pass to make places where minorities live as toxic and unlivable as possible, you might want to give the notion of environmental justice a little support.
You want to ensure a better future for your children and grandchildren when they are a minority in America? Then make America a place where minorities have the fullest possible equity.
I can think of no better, more effective, more powerful strategy to secure the existence of white people and a future for white children, than by securing the existence of ALL minorities and the future of ALL children.
Just sayin'...
futilely,
Bright
Dear Terrified White Dudes: Your Strategy Needs an Update
I know it's hard to climb out of that barge on the ol' Egyptian river, but seriously, denial ain't gonna help. Start with this: The demographic Point of No Return was passed many, many years ago.
No matter how hard you try to keep any NEW brown people from entering the country, at some point within the next couple of generations, there will be more brown people than white people here.
One more important thing to note: Trying to hang onto all the power, all the wealth, and all the control when you're a diminishing minority in the greater population hasn't worked out awfully well over the last few centuries. Starting with France in the 18th Century, and most recently in South Africa, one way or another the majority will tip the balance back, and you'll have to cope.
If you're lucky, the model will be much more like South Africa and much less like 18th-Century France.
So here's a suggestion for a new strategy:
When you're about to become a minority, maybe... just maybe... ensuring that the rights of minorities are vigorously protected in law and economic practice would be a hella smart strategy!
Think about it, white dudes.
Instead of trying to deny minorities the right to vote, you might want to ensure strong protections for everyone's access to the ballot, because one day, it might be YOUR neighborhoods that get left off the "where we put polling places" map.
Instead of trying to restrict access to the best educational opportunities, you might want to guarantee that the admissions process can't be gamed by privilege.
Instead of making it easy for economic predators to practice usury, extortion, and confiscation in minority communities, you might want to codify economic justice for all, now while you still can.
Instead of allowing industrial polluters a free pass to make places where minorities live as toxic and unlivable as possible, you might want to give the notion of environmental justice a little support.
You want to ensure a better future for your children and grandchildren when they are a minority in America? Then make America a place where minorities have the fullest possible equity.
I can think of no better, more effective, more powerful strategy to secure the existence of white people and a future for white children, than by securing the existence of ALL minorities and the future of ALL children.
Just sayin'...
futilely,
Bright
amerikkkans funnies
THOMAS JEFFERSON CALLED THEM "RUBBISH" PEOPLE
BEN FRANKLIN CALLED THEM "WASTE" PEOPLE
TRUMP CALLS THEM his "base"
These idiots are the people who lack the intelligence and morality to understand they are just FOOLS.
White Supremacists show their stupidity once again.....
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DJT - lie-brary
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