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WELCOME TO amerikkkans
home of the deplorables, despicables, & disgusting americans
june 21, 2018
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!”
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)
*Trump-loving boss threatened to throw Hispanic employees 'over the wall': lawsuit
A new lawsuit is alleging that a manager for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) repeatedly boasted that he would get his Hispanic employees kicked out of the country once President Donald Trump built his border wall.
*Nazi-loving Marine to be imprisoned and booted from the Corps
*Alabama musician threatens to shoot immigrant families on Facebook — and now his career is ‘completely screwed’
An Alabama musician lost his band after threatening to shoot immigrant families crossing the border
*‘I run this country. My people are going to bury you’: Seattle racist arrested after screaming in faces of people of color
*sure he does: Illinois GOP candidate caught in blackface – but he insists he has black friends
“I’ve never had a racist bone in my body,” Patton said.
*video: Ohio school keeps racist mascot after mob of angry parents shout down ‘politically correct bullies’
*Accused murderer explains he killed six people because he’s Jesus Christ
James “Dimitrious” Gargasoulas is being accused of murder, however, the defense he’s giving is a new one.
*Anti-Muslim protester gives a 'Heil Hitler' Nazi salute — and then cries about 'abuse' while being detained by police
*Racist woman goes bonkers in Florida nail salon: ‘Sounds like you were born out of a fucking hermit crab’
A Florida woman went on a racist rant at a nail salon after complaining about pricing.
*Trump-loving waitress fired for ‘nigger hunting’ video taken while drinking Michelob Ultra on top of a pickup
Following what is described as “one of the most racist, redneck Missourah scenes imaginable,” a Missouri woman was “immediately terminated” from her job.
neither candidate is worth a shit!!!
GOP Senate Nominee Cramer Compares Cages For Migrant Kids To Playgrounds
By Cameron Joseph | tpm
June 20, 2018 4:05 pm
Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) pushed back hard on the idea that keeping border-crossing children in chain-link cages was inhumane, defending the practice in two local radio shows on Wednesday.
Cramer, who’s running against Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) in a top-tier Senate race, called the facilities “humane” during a Wednesday appearance on KTGO, a local radio station that broadcasts in the Bakken Oil Fields.
“By the way, chain link fences are around playgrounds all over America, all over North Dakota. And chain link fences allow line-of-sight visual connectivity with children and families,” he said as he discussed reversing President Trump’s policy to let families stay together at the border. “You know, there’s nothing inhumane about a chain link fence. If it is, then every ballpark in America is inhumane.”
Cramer then went on to say he supported changing the law to allow families to stay together when they enter the country illegally, and supported House Republicans’ dueling pieces of immigration legislation that are expected to receive a vote this week that would address this issue.
The comments came before Trump announced he’d reverse his recently implemented strategy of separating children and parents at the border with an executive order, reversing his previously held false position that only Congress could act to stop it.
Cramer doubled down on his comments when asked about them later in the day on WDAY, another local radio station, calling the focus on the cages “hoopla.”
“I think [chain] linked fences is irrelevant to the crying of children. My commentary is on the chain-link fence,” he said when asked about the comments and whether he’d heard the audio of children wailing after being separated from their parents. “There’s all this hoopla, because I think there are people on the left that clearly want the country to fail at this. And they would like the chain-link fence, they called it ‘dog cages.’ Well, chain-link fences have been used to protect children from predators on playgrounds, baseball diamonds, all sorts of sports courts and what-not. To me it’s not the chain-link fence, that’s not the issue. That’s a ruse by some on the left to try to create an image that’s far worse in description than it is in reality,” he said.
“The actual value of the chain-link fence is you could see through it, that’s the value of the chain link. If they put up a sheet rock wall between the children and the workers, the people there to protect them, to me that would be far worse,” Cramer continued. “The chain link fence, let’s not use that as some sort of a weapon. There’s a broader conversation about the separation of families in general, but as I’ve said before, that happens throughout the country many times. Kris [his wife] and I have been foster parents. We know all about the separation of children from their parents who do the illegal things, it happens in every city of the country every day.”
Senate Republicans initially had opposed having Cramer, a close ally of Trump’s, as their candidate for Senate precisely because of his penchant for controversial comments. After failing to find a better alternative they circled back to him. Cramer initially said he wouldn’t run, but changed his mind after Trump pushed him to jump into the race.
Cramer has since stirred up some controversies, including comments that Trump wasn’t campaigning as hard against Heitkamp as some other vulnerable Senate Democrats because “she’s a woman,” and sought and received
an endorsementfrom a virulently anti-gay group that compares transgender people to pedophiles.
This is the latest instance of a remark that may generate some backlash.
Cramer, who’s running against Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) in a top-tier Senate race, called the facilities “humane” during a Wednesday appearance on KTGO, a local radio station that broadcasts in the Bakken Oil Fields.
“By the way, chain link fences are around playgrounds all over America, all over North Dakota. And chain link fences allow line-of-sight visual connectivity with children and families,” he said as he discussed reversing President Trump’s policy to let families stay together at the border. “You know, there’s nothing inhumane about a chain link fence. If it is, then every ballpark in America is inhumane.”
Cramer then went on to say he supported changing the law to allow families to stay together when they enter the country illegally, and supported House Republicans’ dueling pieces of immigration legislation that are expected to receive a vote this week that would address this issue.
The comments came before Trump announced he’d reverse his recently implemented strategy of separating children and parents at the border with an executive order, reversing his previously held false position that only Congress could act to stop it.
Cramer doubled down on his comments when asked about them later in the day on WDAY, another local radio station, calling the focus on the cages “hoopla.”
“I think [chain] linked fences is irrelevant to the crying of children. My commentary is on the chain-link fence,” he said when asked about the comments and whether he’d heard the audio of children wailing after being separated from their parents. “There’s all this hoopla, because I think there are people on the left that clearly want the country to fail at this. And they would like the chain-link fence, they called it ‘dog cages.’ Well, chain-link fences have been used to protect children from predators on playgrounds, baseball diamonds, all sorts of sports courts and what-not. To me it’s not the chain-link fence, that’s not the issue. That’s a ruse by some on the left to try to create an image that’s far worse in description than it is in reality,” he said.
“The actual value of the chain-link fence is you could see through it, that’s the value of the chain link. If they put up a sheet rock wall between the children and the workers, the people there to protect them, to me that would be far worse,” Cramer continued. “The chain link fence, let’s not use that as some sort of a weapon. There’s a broader conversation about the separation of families in general, but as I’ve said before, that happens throughout the country many times. Kris [his wife] and I have been foster parents. We know all about the separation of children from their parents who do the illegal things, it happens in every city of the country every day.”
Senate Republicans initially had opposed having Cramer, a close ally of Trump’s, as their candidate for Senate precisely because of his penchant for controversial comments. After failing to find a better alternative they circled back to him. Cramer initially said he wouldn’t run, but changed his mind after Trump pushed him to jump into the race.
Cramer has since stirred up some controversies, including comments that Trump wasn’t campaigning as hard against Heitkamp as some other vulnerable Senate Democrats because “she’s a woman,” and sought and received
an endorsementfrom a virulently anti-gay group that compares transgender people to pedophiles.
This is the latest instance of a remark that may generate some backlash.
white trash speaks!!!
Arizona columnist uses Trump defenders’ own words to expose the racism behind his family separation policy
TOM BOGGIONI - raw story
19 JUN 2018 AT 15:39 ET
An Arizona columnist who wrote sympathetically about immigrant children being snatched away from amnesty-seeking parents snapped back at her own readers for fiercely defending Donald Trump’s right as president to take the kids and place them in detention centers.
Writing for AzCentral, Laurie Roberts admitted she was surprised at the outpouring of child-snatching support — and then used her readers’ own comments to illustrate the underlying racism behind the cold-hearted policy defended by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday.
Under a headline reading, “Readers show zero tolerance for immigrant kids torn from their parents,” Roberts wrote, “I have been stunned by the outpouring of anger from readers over the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy of separating immigrant children from their parents after crossing the border illegally. Anger, at me, that is, for questioning how this administration can use the Bible to justify this immoral act.”
Roberts stated that despite tragic news of children being torn from their parents, one reader expressed his belief that it was a good thing because Hispanic families are incapable of teaching their children proper sanitary habits.
“They’re getting three meals a day, taught how to flush a toilet, how to brush their teeth, being educated, and going on field trips,” wrote John from pricey Scottsdale. “Seems to me they have it much better than they did with their parents, who couldn’t teach them normal sanitation practices.”
Roberts then cited reader Richard, who wrote: “We feed them and put a roof over their head. Exactly what it says in the Bible! And if they (the parents) want to do it the right way, they apply in THEIR country FIRST before coming here and putting their children at risk!”
Another reader, who Roberts identified as “Ron, of Carefree, a supporter of caging kids,” wrote that Trump is following in the footsteps of former President Ronald Reagan by taking the children hostage.
Calling Trump “the most successful president since Ronald Reagan,” Ron added, “Americans, by a wide margin, are sick of illegal immigration. Trump vowed to do something about it, before the United States becomes Los Angeles. Good for him,” before revealing how he feels about immigrants from south of the border.
“Like most tax-payers, I’m weary of paying for the continuing swarm of illiterate, unskilled peasants pouring across our border. I’m equally sick of witnessing the damage done to our culture and our institutions,” Ron wrote to the columnist.
Pointing out that not all the readers made racist rants in the responses to her piece, Roberts concluded, “Sadly, the prevailing sentiment in my inbox over the weekend was cheers for the administration that rips children out of the arms of their parents.”
You can read her column here.
Writing for AzCentral, Laurie Roberts admitted she was surprised at the outpouring of child-snatching support — and then used her readers’ own comments to illustrate the underlying racism behind the cold-hearted policy defended by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen on Monday.
Under a headline reading, “Readers show zero tolerance for immigrant kids torn from their parents,” Roberts wrote, “I have been stunned by the outpouring of anger from readers over the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy of separating immigrant children from their parents after crossing the border illegally. Anger, at me, that is, for questioning how this administration can use the Bible to justify this immoral act.”
Roberts stated that despite tragic news of children being torn from their parents, one reader expressed his belief that it was a good thing because Hispanic families are incapable of teaching their children proper sanitary habits.
“They’re getting three meals a day, taught how to flush a toilet, how to brush their teeth, being educated, and going on field trips,” wrote John from pricey Scottsdale. “Seems to me they have it much better than they did with their parents, who couldn’t teach them normal sanitation practices.”
Roberts then cited reader Richard, who wrote: “We feed them and put a roof over their head. Exactly what it says in the Bible! And if they (the parents) want to do it the right way, they apply in THEIR country FIRST before coming here and putting their children at risk!”
Another reader, who Roberts identified as “Ron, of Carefree, a supporter of caging kids,” wrote that Trump is following in the footsteps of former President Ronald Reagan by taking the children hostage.
Calling Trump “the most successful president since Ronald Reagan,” Ron added, “Americans, by a wide margin, are sick of illegal immigration. Trump vowed to do something about it, before the United States becomes Los Angeles. Good for him,” before revealing how he feels about immigrants from south of the border.
“Like most tax-payers, I’m weary of paying for the continuing swarm of illiterate, unskilled peasants pouring across our border. I’m equally sick of witnessing the damage done to our culture and our institutions,” Ron wrote to the columnist.
Pointing out that not all the readers made racist rants in the responses to her piece, Roberts concluded, “Sadly, the prevailing sentiment in my inbox over the weekend was cheers for the administration that rips children out of the arms of their parents.”
You can read her column here.
Bigoted Parents Support Students Who Cyberbullied Gay Teacher So Badly She Had to Take Mental Health Leave
"It's not hate speech to say what we believe."
By David Badash / The New Civil Rights Movement - alternet
June 13, 2018, 1:53 PM GMT
She never discussed her sexuality with her students – although there is no reason why she should not have. But she did post a photo of her and her partner to Instagram, and after it was discovered, that's when the cyberbullying began.
Amy Estes, a California middle school teacher says she went to the administrators asking for help and support, but got none. She says they ignored the problem, saying it was "drama," and would "blow over."
It didn't.
"Estes, who has taught English at Spring View Middle School in Rocklin for five years, considered herself well-liked before the barrage of online taunts, nasty statements and memes began at the beginning of the school year," The Sacramento Bee reports.
The school not only refused to step in, but told her she should not discuss her sexuality as a means of getting the attacks to stop unless it was absolutely necessary.
"At the recommendation of her bosses, Estes tried to talk to the student she was told was the ringleader. He denied any wrongdoing," the paper says. "She said she asked the school to investigate the social media posts and to talk to the students involved. She was told the school does not monitor what is being said on the internet. Estes says such monitoring has been done when students were bullying one another."
Estes, it turns out, had helped to create the school's anti-bullying curriculum, so she was familiar with ways to handle bullying.
She "said she met with the principal again. 'I think we need to do better,' Estes said she told her. 'I don’t feel supported, and we’ve talked about this since September and still nothing.'"
The principal called it a teachable moment and said she wasn't sure what Estes wanted school officials to do.
"What I wanted from my administration was to utilize the discipline matrix that I worked hard to establish," said Estes, who helped build the anti-bullying curriculum used with students. "If there is hate speech, students are given a consequence – detention or other consequences. Speaking so hatefully deserved more than a teachable moment."
It didn't get better.
"She assigned her students a positive lesson: Write a report about how you would create a utopia and give a class presentation. When it was the girl's turn, she said her utopia would not include gay marriage because it was bad. Her paper used a derogatory word to describe gay people, among other inflammatory things, Estes said.
The students reacted with clapping and cheers, obviously looking to her for reaction, Estes said.
And that was her breaking point.
After that, some parents got involved – to support the students who were bullying Estes.
WFMY reports one of the parents of Estes' students says, "we back the school district 100 percent. She shouldn't have her sexual preferences pushed on you and our religious views shouldn't be pushed on anybody else."
Another told WFMY that, "Because we don't believe in [same-sex marriage] doesn't mean it's hate speech. It's not hate speech to say what we believe."
Amy Estes, a California middle school teacher says she went to the administrators asking for help and support, but got none. She says they ignored the problem, saying it was "drama," and would "blow over."
It didn't.
"Estes, who has taught English at Spring View Middle School in Rocklin for five years, considered herself well-liked before the barrage of online taunts, nasty statements and memes began at the beginning of the school year," The Sacramento Bee reports.
The school not only refused to step in, but told her she should not discuss her sexuality as a means of getting the attacks to stop unless it was absolutely necessary.
"At the recommendation of her bosses, Estes tried to talk to the student she was told was the ringleader. He denied any wrongdoing," the paper says. "She said she asked the school to investigate the social media posts and to talk to the students involved. She was told the school does not monitor what is being said on the internet. Estes says such monitoring has been done when students were bullying one another."
Estes, it turns out, had helped to create the school's anti-bullying curriculum, so she was familiar with ways to handle bullying.
She "said she met with the principal again. 'I think we need to do better,' Estes said she told her. 'I don’t feel supported, and we’ve talked about this since September and still nothing.'"
The principal called it a teachable moment and said she wasn't sure what Estes wanted school officials to do.
"What I wanted from my administration was to utilize the discipline matrix that I worked hard to establish," said Estes, who helped build the anti-bullying curriculum used with students. "If there is hate speech, students are given a consequence – detention or other consequences. Speaking so hatefully deserved more than a teachable moment."
It didn't get better.
"She assigned her students a positive lesson: Write a report about how you would create a utopia and give a class presentation. When it was the girl's turn, she said her utopia would not include gay marriage because it was bad. Her paper used a derogatory word to describe gay people, among other inflammatory things, Estes said.
The students reacted with clapping and cheers, obviously looking to her for reaction, Estes said.
And that was her breaking point.
After that, some parents got involved – to support the students who were bullying Estes.
WFMY reports one of the parents of Estes' students says, "we back the school district 100 percent. She shouldn't have her sexual preferences pushed on you and our religious views shouldn't be pushed on anybody else."
Another told WFMY that, "Because we don't believe in [same-sex marriage] doesn't mean it's hate speech. It's not hate speech to say what we believe."
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x marks the nut
Right-Wing Group Thinks Painted Crosses in the Desert Are Symbols of Clinton-Connected Pedophile Ring
An Arizona veterans group is pushing the next Pizzagate, but experts say their evidence isn’t as sinister as they claim.
WILL SOMMER
06.14.18 5:30 AM ET
A group of conspiracy-minded citizen investigators hunting for proof of child sex trafficking networks in the Tucson desert have hit on a new piece of supposed evidence: white crosses painted on the ground.
The group claims that the crosses are symbols meant to guide human sex traffickers.
“The coordinates in this video show a human trafficking corridor,” Michael Lewis Arthur Myer, the leader of one group promoting the theory, says in one Facebook video. “‘X’ marks the spot.”
But while the theory’s proponents see the crosses as more evidence of an international pedophile conspiracy for the benefit of global elites, experts saythe crosses are just left-over tools from aerial mapping surveys.
The crosses are the latest fixation for believers in what they’ve dubbed “Operation Backyard Brawl,” a storyline started by an anti-homelessnessgroup called “Veterans on Patrol” that’s proliferated on right-wing social media. But even as prominent figures on the conspiracy theory right havedenounced the Arizona theory as just the latest iteration of Pizzagate, videos about the supposed sex camp continue to draw in tens of thousands ofviewers via Facebook and YouTube.
The group in late May discovered of a homeless camp in a wooded areaoutside Tucson that it and their publicity-hungry leader, Michael Lewis Arthur Myer, were convinced it was actually a station on a global trafficking route.
Adding to the camp’s appeal on for conspiracy-minded social media users, the camp was discovered near an abandoned cement plant owned by Cemex, a massive Mexican construction firm that once donated to the Clinton Foundation. That tenuous connection made it easy for conspiracy-minded social media users to see the Arizona camp was an extension of the supposed child-sex slave ring run underneath a D.C. area pizza shop, otherwise known as Pizzagate.
The Tucson Police Department quickly dismissed the idea that the site was anything more than a homeless camp. Straps on trees that Veterans on Patrol cited as proof of “rape trees,” for examples, turned out to just be materials used to create a lean-to.
The Veterans on Patrol responded to the law enforcement skepticism by occupying the cement plant until police investigated further. A cadaver-sniffing dog found nothing on the site.
Undeterred, the Veterans on Patrol and the allies who have joined them after calls on social media have continued to comb the desert areas around Tucson for proof. They’ve been joined by members of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing group of former law enforcement officials and veterans.
On Tuesday, Myer posted a video about the crosses, predicting they would lead to a global pedophile network reaching across the state. On its Facebook page, Veterans on Patrol urged its volunteers to “keep searching” for more crosses.
“Why would a white ‘X’ be painted on Cemex property, and why, 300 yards away, would there be a child sex trafficking camp?” Myer said in one video.
According to one expert, though, the crosses were likely just used as a reference point in aerial photography or aerial surveys of the desert landscape.
“They look pretty much like aerial targets,” said Zachary Radel, a senior project manager and former aerial photographer at Cooper Aerial Surveys Co., a Tucson-based aerial photography and mapping company.
Veterans on Patrol posted a picture of one of the supposedly suspicious crosses on Facebook, with a volunteer standing on it.
“That’s definitely an aerial target,” Radel said.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which handles the desert areas outside of Tucson, said they haven’t found any proof to substantiate Veterans on Patrol’s sex trafficking claims.
“We have not found any evidence of sex trafficking in the area outside of Tucson, or that anything they’ve brought up,” Pima County Deputy James Allerton, a department spokesperson, told The Daily Beast.
Now even the Oath Keepers aren’t so sure about the crosses. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes says he’s not investigating the crosses in Arizona, preferring to stay focused on the original homeless site.
“I think it’s kind of a big ball of mess,” Rhodes told The Daily Beast.
As the sex trafficking claims grow increasingly elaborate, other right-wing figures—including many who are usually eager to seize on anything conspiratorial—are calling it quits.
InfoWars originally syndicated a story about the sex trafficking camp, only to delete it hours later. On Friday, InfoWars chief Alex Jones denounced the Arizona camp story as a “honeypot” meant to distract from the “real” crimes of the global elite.
“No one should go to the homeless camp, and no one should investigate it independently,” Jones said. “At the bare minimum, visiting the site constitutes criminal trespass. The story is a honeypot. All evidence shows it’s a setup.” (VIDEO)
The group claims that the crosses are symbols meant to guide human sex traffickers.
“The coordinates in this video show a human trafficking corridor,” Michael Lewis Arthur Myer, the leader of one group promoting the theory, says in one Facebook video. “‘X’ marks the spot.”
But while the theory’s proponents see the crosses as more evidence of an international pedophile conspiracy for the benefit of global elites, experts saythe crosses are just left-over tools from aerial mapping surveys.
The crosses are the latest fixation for believers in what they’ve dubbed “Operation Backyard Brawl,” a storyline started by an anti-homelessnessgroup called “Veterans on Patrol” that’s proliferated on right-wing social media. But even as prominent figures on the conspiracy theory right havedenounced the Arizona theory as just the latest iteration of Pizzagate, videos about the supposed sex camp continue to draw in tens of thousands ofviewers via Facebook and YouTube.
The group in late May discovered of a homeless camp in a wooded areaoutside Tucson that it and their publicity-hungry leader, Michael Lewis Arthur Myer, were convinced it was actually a station on a global trafficking route.
Adding to the camp’s appeal on for conspiracy-minded social media users, the camp was discovered near an abandoned cement plant owned by Cemex, a massive Mexican construction firm that once donated to the Clinton Foundation. That tenuous connection made it easy for conspiracy-minded social media users to see the Arizona camp was an extension of the supposed child-sex slave ring run underneath a D.C. area pizza shop, otherwise known as Pizzagate.
The Tucson Police Department quickly dismissed the idea that the site was anything more than a homeless camp. Straps on trees that Veterans on Patrol cited as proof of “rape trees,” for examples, turned out to just be materials used to create a lean-to.
The Veterans on Patrol responded to the law enforcement skepticism by occupying the cement plant until police investigated further. A cadaver-sniffing dog found nothing on the site.
Undeterred, the Veterans on Patrol and the allies who have joined them after calls on social media have continued to comb the desert areas around Tucson for proof. They’ve been joined by members of the Oath Keepers, a right-wing group of former law enforcement officials and veterans.
On Tuesday, Myer posted a video about the crosses, predicting they would lead to a global pedophile network reaching across the state. On its Facebook page, Veterans on Patrol urged its volunteers to “keep searching” for more crosses.
“Why would a white ‘X’ be painted on Cemex property, and why, 300 yards away, would there be a child sex trafficking camp?” Myer said in one video.
According to one expert, though, the crosses were likely just used as a reference point in aerial photography or aerial surveys of the desert landscape.
“They look pretty much like aerial targets,” said Zachary Radel, a senior project manager and former aerial photographer at Cooper Aerial Surveys Co., a Tucson-based aerial photography and mapping company.
Veterans on Patrol posted a picture of one of the supposedly suspicious crosses on Facebook, with a volunteer standing on it.
“That’s definitely an aerial target,” Radel said.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which handles the desert areas outside of Tucson, said they haven’t found any proof to substantiate Veterans on Patrol’s sex trafficking claims.
“We have not found any evidence of sex trafficking in the area outside of Tucson, or that anything they’ve brought up,” Pima County Deputy James Allerton, a department spokesperson, told The Daily Beast.
Now even the Oath Keepers aren’t so sure about the crosses. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes says he’s not investigating the crosses in Arizona, preferring to stay focused on the original homeless site.
“I think it’s kind of a big ball of mess,” Rhodes told The Daily Beast.
As the sex trafficking claims grow increasingly elaborate, other right-wing figures—including many who are usually eager to seize on anything conspiratorial—are calling it quits.
InfoWars originally syndicated a story about the sex trafficking camp, only to delete it hours later. On Friday, InfoWars chief Alex Jones denounced the Arizona camp story as a “honeypot” meant to distract from the “real” crimes of the global elite.
“No one should go to the homeless camp, and no one should investigate it independently,” Jones said. “At the bare minimum, visiting the site constitutes criminal trespass. The story is a honeypot. All evidence shows it’s a setup.” (VIDEO)
Exiled From DC, Steve Bannon Is Stoking the Racist Right in Europe
Bill Berkowitz , Truthout
June 9, 2018
Steve Bannon, currently exiled from the White House, may not be a Donald Trump favorite these days, but he is nonetheless doing his best to ingratiate himself with the president. Far from exiled when it comes to the mainstream press, Bannon told the BBC’s “Newsnight” that Martin Luther King Jr. “would be proud of” Trump for creating jobs for Black and Latino people.
“If you look at the policies of Donald Trump, anybody — Martin Luther King — would be proud of him, what he’s done for the Black and Hispanic community for jobs,” he said. Don’t be surprised if, after an extended apology tour, Bannon is welcomed back into the fold.
Further still, if anyone is going to help bring a version of Benito Mussolini’s fascism back to Italy, it may very well be Bannon. The disheveled-looking butt of late-night jokes who was forced out of the White House, unceremoniously dropped by his biggest financial backers and dumped by Breitbart News, has taken on a new role: pied piper for international white nationalism. He’s here, he’s there; on any given day, he might be anywhere.
According to Vanity Fair’s Isobel Thompson, Bannon has recently been hanging around the disaster that is the Italian government, propping up its newfound right-wing nationalism. With its government in disarray and talk about pulling out of the European Union on some political leader’s agendas, “Bannon’s valedictory yawp is reverberating across Europe.”
Further, Bannon told The Daily Beast that if his brand of white nationalism works in Italy, “it is going to work everywhere,” and “is going to break the backs of the globalists.”
Thompson reported that, a few months back, Bannon “met with [far-right] League leader Matteo Salvini, whose rise to power has been motored by racism, and urged him to partner with [Italy’s Five Star Movement far-right populist political party], whose catchphrase ‘vaffanculo’ means ‘fuck off’.” Bannon told Salvini, “You are the first guys who can really break the left and right paradigm. You can show that populism is the new organizing principle.”
Italy’s March election “failed to deliver a governing majority to a single party or a coalition, but voters awarded the largest amount of seats to the Five Star Movement (M5S), rejecting traditional centrist parties,” Newsweek’s Sofia Lotto Persio recently reported. “The M5S was created by the comedian Beppe Grillo in 2009 as an anti-establishment platform promoting direct democracy and transparency, but it eventually encompassed conspiracy theories about vaccines, euroskepticism and anti-immigration sentiments.”
In a March interview with Jason Horowitz of The New York Times, Bannon laid out his humble goals: “All I’m trying to be,” he said, “is the infrastructure, globally, for the global populist movement.”
In March, Bannon also met up with France’s far-right National Front in the northern city of Lille, where its leader Marine Le Pen introduced him at the party’s annual conference. During that visit to Europe, Bannon also met with leaders of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party.
“But it is Italy,” Horowitz reported, that Bannon “has turned into his de facto headquarters” after “populist forces smashed the country’s establishment by combining to win more than half the vote,” earlier this year.
Meanwhile, back in the US, Bannon is once again flacking for President Trump, insisting that “Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should be ordered to turn over all documents associated with a controversial FBI source who [the president] has accused of spying on his campaign,” CNN’s Sophie Tatum recently reported.
Keeping it real, Bannon “acknowledged that his renegade campaign to replace the Republican establishment with fresh faces committed to his brand of outsider populism failed,” according to the National Review’s Jack Crowe. Six months after threatening to destroy Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s grip on the GOP, Bannon told The New York Times that, “People are starting to realize that the anti-establishment thing is kind of a luxury we can’t afford right now.”
But if there is anything that defines Bannon’s homeland failures, it was his backing of the Alabama senatorial campaign of the scandal-plagued Judge Roy Moore. Bannon’s candidates, including Moore and West Virginia’s Don Blankenship, a coal company executive recently released from prison, are notable for the scandals that dogged them, as well as for running feeble and failed campaigns.
Of all the challengers to the GOP establishment backed by Bannon, only two — Chris McDaniel, running for Senate in Mississippi, and Kelli Ward in Arizona, who is competing in a three-way primary — are still in the running, The New York Times’s Jeremy W. Peters reported.
And, lest we forget, Bannon was instrumental in helping suppress the Black vote in certain swing states in 2016. Whistleblower Christopher Wylie — a former employee of Cambridge Analytica, which Bannon cofounded in 2013 in an effort to push the US electorate to the right through data-driven messaging tactics — told a Senate panel that “voter disengagement tactics” targeting Black voters were employed by the firm.
CNN reported that when Wylie was “asked by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, if one of Bannon’s ‘goals was to suppress voting or discourage certain individuals in the US from voting,’ Wylie replied, ‘That was my understanding, yes.'”
Bannon realized that while most Black voters might be unwilling to cast a ballot for Trump, convincing them to stay home could be just as effective. And that’s where using Bruce Carter came into play.
According to Bloomberg, Bannon helped connect Carter (the former Black Men for Bernie founder and activist who launched the Trump for Urban Communities nonprofit in the summer of 2016) with Dallas financier Darren Blanton. Together, Blanton and Carter worked to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Trump nonprofit — money that was funneled to the voter suppression campaign. Among other efforts, Carter launched a “Don’t Vote Early” campaign designed to keep Black voters from taking advantage of early voting, which often piles up votes for Democrats.
Lastly, in response to Bannon’s comments that Martin Luther King Jr. would be proud of Trump, Rev. Bernice King, an activist and the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., claimed on Twitter that Bannon was co-opting her father’s legacy: “#SteveBannon has dangerously and erroneously co-opted my father’s name, work and words,” she tweeted. “Bannon’s assertion that my father, #MLK, would be proud of Donald Trump wholly ignores Daddy’s commitment to people of all races, nationalities, etc. being treated with dignity and respect.”
Late night television hosts and GOP dirty tricksters may continue to make fun of Bannon’s sartorial choices, and while he’s not likely to appear on the cover of GQ anytime soon, his critics shouldn’t underestimate the role that Bannon is playing in drawing connections between racist right-wing movements internationally.
One thing Donald Trump appears to care about more than just about anything else is the obeisance of his staff. With more well-placed compliments about the job Trump is doing, Bannon just might re-emerge as a key Trump adviser in time for the 2020 presidential campaign.
“If you look at the policies of Donald Trump, anybody — Martin Luther King — would be proud of him, what he’s done for the Black and Hispanic community for jobs,” he said. Don’t be surprised if, after an extended apology tour, Bannon is welcomed back into the fold.
Further still, if anyone is going to help bring a version of Benito Mussolini’s fascism back to Italy, it may very well be Bannon. The disheveled-looking butt of late-night jokes who was forced out of the White House, unceremoniously dropped by his biggest financial backers and dumped by Breitbart News, has taken on a new role: pied piper for international white nationalism. He’s here, he’s there; on any given day, he might be anywhere.
According to Vanity Fair’s Isobel Thompson, Bannon has recently been hanging around the disaster that is the Italian government, propping up its newfound right-wing nationalism. With its government in disarray and talk about pulling out of the European Union on some political leader’s agendas, “Bannon’s valedictory yawp is reverberating across Europe.”
Further, Bannon told The Daily Beast that if his brand of white nationalism works in Italy, “it is going to work everywhere,” and “is going to break the backs of the globalists.”
Thompson reported that, a few months back, Bannon “met with [far-right] League leader Matteo Salvini, whose rise to power has been motored by racism, and urged him to partner with [Italy’s Five Star Movement far-right populist political party], whose catchphrase ‘vaffanculo’ means ‘fuck off’.” Bannon told Salvini, “You are the first guys who can really break the left and right paradigm. You can show that populism is the new organizing principle.”
Italy’s March election “failed to deliver a governing majority to a single party or a coalition, but voters awarded the largest amount of seats to the Five Star Movement (M5S), rejecting traditional centrist parties,” Newsweek’s Sofia Lotto Persio recently reported. “The M5S was created by the comedian Beppe Grillo in 2009 as an anti-establishment platform promoting direct democracy and transparency, but it eventually encompassed conspiracy theories about vaccines, euroskepticism and anti-immigration sentiments.”
In a March interview with Jason Horowitz of The New York Times, Bannon laid out his humble goals: “All I’m trying to be,” he said, “is the infrastructure, globally, for the global populist movement.”
In March, Bannon also met up with France’s far-right National Front in the northern city of Lille, where its leader Marine Le Pen introduced him at the party’s annual conference. During that visit to Europe, Bannon also met with leaders of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party.
“But it is Italy,” Horowitz reported, that Bannon “has turned into his de facto headquarters” after “populist forces smashed the country’s establishment by combining to win more than half the vote,” earlier this year.
Meanwhile, back in the US, Bannon is once again flacking for President Trump, insisting that “Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should be ordered to turn over all documents associated with a controversial FBI source who [the president] has accused of spying on his campaign,” CNN’s Sophie Tatum recently reported.
Keeping it real, Bannon “acknowledged that his renegade campaign to replace the Republican establishment with fresh faces committed to his brand of outsider populism failed,” according to the National Review’s Jack Crowe. Six months after threatening to destroy Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s grip on the GOP, Bannon told The New York Times that, “People are starting to realize that the anti-establishment thing is kind of a luxury we can’t afford right now.”
But if there is anything that defines Bannon’s homeland failures, it was his backing of the Alabama senatorial campaign of the scandal-plagued Judge Roy Moore. Bannon’s candidates, including Moore and West Virginia’s Don Blankenship, a coal company executive recently released from prison, are notable for the scandals that dogged them, as well as for running feeble and failed campaigns.
Of all the challengers to the GOP establishment backed by Bannon, only two — Chris McDaniel, running for Senate in Mississippi, and Kelli Ward in Arizona, who is competing in a three-way primary — are still in the running, The New York Times’s Jeremy W. Peters reported.
And, lest we forget, Bannon was instrumental in helping suppress the Black vote in certain swing states in 2016. Whistleblower Christopher Wylie — a former employee of Cambridge Analytica, which Bannon cofounded in 2013 in an effort to push the US electorate to the right through data-driven messaging tactics — told a Senate panel that “voter disengagement tactics” targeting Black voters were employed by the firm.
CNN reported that when Wylie was “asked by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, if one of Bannon’s ‘goals was to suppress voting or discourage certain individuals in the US from voting,’ Wylie replied, ‘That was my understanding, yes.'”
Bannon realized that while most Black voters might be unwilling to cast a ballot for Trump, convincing them to stay home could be just as effective. And that’s where using Bruce Carter came into play.
According to Bloomberg, Bannon helped connect Carter (the former Black Men for Bernie founder and activist who launched the Trump for Urban Communities nonprofit in the summer of 2016) with Dallas financier Darren Blanton. Together, Blanton and Carter worked to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Trump nonprofit — money that was funneled to the voter suppression campaign. Among other efforts, Carter launched a “Don’t Vote Early” campaign designed to keep Black voters from taking advantage of early voting, which often piles up votes for Democrats.
Lastly, in response to Bannon’s comments that Martin Luther King Jr. would be proud of Trump, Rev. Bernice King, an activist and the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., claimed on Twitter that Bannon was co-opting her father’s legacy: “#SteveBannon has dangerously and erroneously co-opted my father’s name, work and words,” she tweeted. “Bannon’s assertion that my father, #MLK, would be proud of Donald Trump wholly ignores Daddy’s commitment to people of all races, nationalities, etc. being treated with dignity and respect.”
Late night television hosts and GOP dirty tricksters may continue to make fun of Bannon’s sartorial choices, and while he’s not likely to appear on the cover of GQ anytime soon, his critics shouldn’t underestimate the role that Bannon is playing in drawing connections between racist right-wing movements internationally.
One thing Donald Trump appears to care about more than just about anything else is the obeisance of his staff. With more well-placed compliments about the job Trump is doing, Bannon just might re-emerge as a key Trump adviser in time for the 2020 presidential campaign.
Alabama GOP nominates Roy Moore’s confederacy-obsessed protege to be chief justice
They never learn.
IAN MILLHISER - thinkprogress
JUN 8, 2018, 8:00 AM
Alabama Supreme Court Justice Tom Parker’s record reads like a bad parody of a white southern Republican from some over-dramatic liberal’s chapbook. And yet, if the Alabama Republican Party gets its way, Parker will be the state’s next chief justice. Earlier this week, Parker defeated incumbent Chief Justice Lyn Stuart for the GOP nomination to take over her job.
Before joining the court himself, Parker was a top aide to then-Chief Justice Roy Moore, the Republican U.S. Senate hopeful whose campaign imploded due to credible allegations that Moore preyed sexually on young teenagers.
Like Moore, Parker holds a deep animus against LGBTQ people, and he believes that his judicial decisions should be driven by his conservative religious beliefs. Parker once compared a federal judge, who ruled against the now-defunct ban on gay members of the military serving openly, to Al-Qaeda. He also wrote a judicial opinion claiming that the Supreme Court’s decision permitting same-sex couples to marry “conclusively demonstrates that the rule of law is dead.”
Oh, and there’s one other thing. Parker appears to be quite enamored of a treasonous war fought to defend the idea that white people can own black people.
A 2004 Associated Press article summarized the unusual tactics Parker deployed during his first state supreme court race like so: “Republican Supreme Court candidate Tom Parker said there was nothing wrong with him distributing rebel flags at the funeral of a Confederate widow or associating with people linked to Old South groups.”
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the picture on the left shows Parker — he’s the man with the obligatory fistful of Confederate Flags — standing between two leaders of these “Old South groups.” One is Leonard Wilson, “a board member of the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens.” The other is Mike Whorton, “a leader with the League of the South, which advocates for the secession of Southern states.”
In a 2015 interview, Parker compared the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision in Obergefell v. Hodges to the Court’s notorious pro-slavery decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford. Claiming that the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to comply with Dred Scott in the lead up to the Civil War, Parker argued that this kind of defiance “was a model of what we need to see” in response to Obergefell.
“It’s time for state supreme courts to rise up and do their responsibility for this entire system we have nationally,” Parker added. “otherwise it’s just going to continue to get worse and worse.”
Parker similarly claimed, in a 2016 judicial opinion, that open defiance of the Court’s marriage equality decision remains on the table. Indeed, he concluded this opinion by suggesting that, if judges do not openly defy Obergefell, they will sentence the nation’s children “to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.”
Justice Parker will face off in November against Democratic Judge Bob Vance, who narrowly lost his first race to be the state’s chief justice to Roy Moore in 2012.
Before joining the court himself, Parker was a top aide to then-Chief Justice Roy Moore, the Republican U.S. Senate hopeful whose campaign imploded due to credible allegations that Moore preyed sexually on young teenagers.
Like Moore, Parker holds a deep animus against LGBTQ people, and he believes that his judicial decisions should be driven by his conservative religious beliefs. Parker once compared a federal judge, who ruled against the now-defunct ban on gay members of the military serving openly, to Al-Qaeda. He also wrote a judicial opinion claiming that the Supreme Court’s decision permitting same-sex couples to marry “conclusively demonstrates that the rule of law is dead.”
Oh, and there’s one other thing. Parker appears to be quite enamored of a treasonous war fought to defend the idea that white people can own black people.
A 2004 Associated Press article summarized the unusual tactics Parker deployed during his first state supreme court race like so: “Republican Supreme Court candidate Tom Parker said there was nothing wrong with him distributing rebel flags at the funeral of a Confederate widow or associating with people linked to Old South groups.”
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the picture on the left shows Parker — he’s the man with the obligatory fistful of Confederate Flags — standing between two leaders of these “Old South groups.” One is Leonard Wilson, “a board member of the white supremacist Council of Conservative Citizens.” The other is Mike Whorton, “a leader with the League of the South, which advocates for the secession of Southern states.”
In a 2015 interview, Parker compared the Supreme Court’s marriage equality decision in Obergefell v. Hodges to the Court’s notorious pro-slavery decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford. Claiming that the Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to comply with Dred Scott in the lead up to the Civil War, Parker argued that this kind of defiance “was a model of what we need to see” in response to Obergefell.
“It’s time for state supreme courts to rise up and do their responsibility for this entire system we have nationally,” Parker added. “otherwise it’s just going to continue to get worse and worse.”
Parker similarly claimed, in a 2016 judicial opinion, that open defiance of the Court’s marriage equality decision remains on the table. Indeed, he concluded this opinion by suggesting that, if judges do not openly defy Obergefell, they will sentence the nation’s children “to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness.”
Justice Parker will face off in November against Democratic Judge Bob Vance, who narrowly lost his first race to be the state’s chief justice to Roy Moore in 2012.
CrossFit gym owners attack Pride month, lose everything
Do you even shrift, bro?
ADAM PECK - thinkprogress
JUN 7, 2018, 9:48 AM
June is Pride month, an annual celebration of the LGBTQ community in hundreds of cities around the country. Thousands of businesses big and small participate in the festivities by sponsoring parades, hosting events specifically catered towards the LGBTQ community, or — at a minimum — displaying a Pride flag in the window to signify they welcome queer clientele.
CrossFit Infiltrate initially opted for the second option. Trainers at the downtown Indianapolis gym scheduled a Thursday evening workout to celebrate this weekend’s Indy Pride parade. But the gym’s owners quickly put the kibosh on the whole thing, citing their religious objections to homosexuality.
“We believe that true health forever can only be found within humility, not pride,” wrote the owners of the gym in an email to members who were upset at the decision. “Humility is seeing oneself as they truly are, and as God truly defines them to be. As a business we will choose to deploy our resources towards those efforts and causes that line up with our own values and beliefs.”
What might have remained a local story of blatant bigotry instead became a national controversy on Wednesday after an employee of CrossFit — the national corporation that licenses its branding, intellectual property, and other resources to hundreds of independent affiliates around the country — expressed his support for the gym’s owners, and used the opportunity to air his own homophobia for good measure.
“Thank you #CrossFitInfiltrate for standing by your convictions and refusing to celebrate sin by hosting an @indypride workout,” said CrossFit’s self-proclaimed Chief Knowledge Officer Russell Berger on Twitter. “The intolerance of the LGBTQ ideology toward any alternative views is mind-blowing.”
Reaction to his comments were swift, but Berger remained steadfast — for a few minutes, anyway. “Allow me to double-down. I believe @indypride is a celebration of sin, as do most Christians,” he said in response to the blowback, before quietly deleting all of his tweets.
Within hours, CrossFit placed Berger on unpaid leave, and denied that Berger ever held the made-up role of “Chief Knowledge Officer.” By Wednesday evening, Berger was out of a job entirely, and CrossFit moved swiftly to patch over the sizable rifts that had emerged between the company and its LGBTQ clientele.
As for CrossFit Infiltrate, the Indianapolis affiliate that started this whole kerfuffle, members and trainers alike quit in protest in response to the owners’ bigotry. By Wednesday evening, the gym had shuttered for good.
CrossFit Infiltrate initially opted for the second option. Trainers at the downtown Indianapolis gym scheduled a Thursday evening workout to celebrate this weekend’s Indy Pride parade. But the gym’s owners quickly put the kibosh on the whole thing, citing their religious objections to homosexuality.
“We believe that true health forever can only be found within humility, not pride,” wrote the owners of the gym in an email to members who were upset at the decision. “Humility is seeing oneself as they truly are, and as God truly defines them to be. As a business we will choose to deploy our resources towards those efforts and causes that line up with our own values and beliefs.”
What might have remained a local story of blatant bigotry instead became a national controversy on Wednesday after an employee of CrossFit — the national corporation that licenses its branding, intellectual property, and other resources to hundreds of independent affiliates around the country — expressed his support for the gym’s owners, and used the opportunity to air his own homophobia for good measure.
“Thank you #CrossFitInfiltrate for standing by your convictions and refusing to celebrate sin by hosting an @indypride workout,” said CrossFit’s self-proclaimed Chief Knowledge Officer Russell Berger on Twitter. “The intolerance of the LGBTQ ideology toward any alternative views is mind-blowing.”
Reaction to his comments were swift, but Berger remained steadfast — for a few minutes, anyway. “Allow me to double-down. I believe @indypride is a celebration of sin, as do most Christians,” he said in response to the blowback, before quietly deleting all of his tweets.
Within hours, CrossFit placed Berger on unpaid leave, and denied that Berger ever held the made-up role of “Chief Knowledge Officer.” By Wednesday evening, Berger was out of a job entirely, and CrossFit moved swiftly to patch over the sizable rifts that had emerged between the company and its LGBTQ clientele.
As for CrossFit Infiltrate, the Indianapolis affiliate that started this whole kerfuffle, members and trainers alike quit in protest in response to the owners’ bigotry. By Wednesday evening, the gym had shuttered for good.
Far-right group brawls with antifascist protesters in Portland streets
‘Patriot Prayer’ group led by Republican Senate candidate Joey Gibson exchanged blows, pepper spray and insults with leftwingers
Jason Wilson in Portland, Oregon
the guardian
Mon 4 Jun 2018 12.55 EDT
A protester is dragged by others in a Portland street. Photograph: Jason Wilson for The Guardian
On Sunday afternoon, members of a far-right group led by a Republican Senate candidate engaged in running brawls with leftist counter-protesters in the streets of downtown Portland.
Joey Gibson, who leads the “Patriot Prayer” movement, is a candidate in the open primary for US Senate in neighbouring Washington state, seeking to challenge the incumbent Democrat, Maria Cantwell, in November’s midterm elections.
From 4pm on Sunday, when the main body of Gibson’s supporters attempted to enter Terry Schrunk Plaza in Portland, 30 or so rightwingers and around 200 leftwingers exchanged blows, streams of pepper spray and insults. One rightwing protester was dragged away by police with a bloodied nose and face. He had exchanged heated words with antifascists before being wrestled to the ground.
Portland police reported four arrests.
Over almost three hours, Patriot Prayer staged a series of marches through surrounding streets. Each time, antifascists pursued them and fights broke out on sidewalks, in a parking garage and in a waterfront park. Participants on both sides were knocked to the ground, hit with missiles and visibly incapacitated by pepper spray.
The rally was ostensibly staged as a farewell for a prominent Patriot Prayer member, Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, who says he is returning to his native Samoa. It did not feature any substantial speeches or political content. Mostly, speakers encouraged Patriot Prayer members to stand up to their antagonists.
Police deployed a range of tactics. After the initial confrontations, they separated the two groups, pushing counter-protesters to another park. When they could, they appeared to focus on shielding the smaller right-wing group with ranks of officers in riot gear.
The event took place a day before the first anniversary of a much larger Patriot Prayer event that featured many celebrities from the “alt-right” movement and drew thousands of counter-protesters.
It was staged just over a week after a double murder on a Portland commuter train police say was carried out by Jeremy Christian, a man who had attended a Patriot Prayer event. Police say Christian stabbed to death two men who attempted to intervene as he racially abused two young women.
Patriot Prayer is based in Vancouver, Washington. Throughout 2017, it staged rallies in the heart of famously liberal Portland. In July and August, police took a hands-off approach as Patriot Prayer and its opponents fought for hours.
Since Gibson’s announcement that he is running as a Republican for the US Senate, he and his group have openly carried firearms at rallies in Washington state.
Gibson’s critics and opponents have argued that his rallies draw an extremist and white supremacist element that makes the community unsafe. Gibson has billed his events as celebrations of free speech.
On Sunday, along with several members of the “Proud Boys” group, the Patriot Prayer event attracted members of the far right “Hell Shaking Street Preachers”, whose banners and T-shirts carry homophobic slogans. The group has protested the Portland LGBT Pride parade.
On Saturday, Patriot Prayer plans to stage a pro-life protest at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Washington.
Joey Gibson, who leads the “Patriot Prayer” movement, is a candidate in the open primary for US Senate in neighbouring Washington state, seeking to challenge the incumbent Democrat, Maria Cantwell, in November’s midterm elections.
From 4pm on Sunday, when the main body of Gibson’s supporters attempted to enter Terry Schrunk Plaza in Portland, 30 or so rightwingers and around 200 leftwingers exchanged blows, streams of pepper spray and insults. One rightwing protester was dragged away by police with a bloodied nose and face. He had exchanged heated words with antifascists before being wrestled to the ground.
Portland police reported four arrests.
Over almost three hours, Patriot Prayer staged a series of marches through surrounding streets. Each time, antifascists pursued them and fights broke out on sidewalks, in a parking garage and in a waterfront park. Participants on both sides were knocked to the ground, hit with missiles and visibly incapacitated by pepper spray.
The rally was ostensibly staged as a farewell for a prominent Patriot Prayer member, Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, who says he is returning to his native Samoa. It did not feature any substantial speeches or political content. Mostly, speakers encouraged Patriot Prayer members to stand up to their antagonists.
Police deployed a range of tactics. After the initial confrontations, they separated the two groups, pushing counter-protesters to another park. When they could, they appeared to focus on shielding the smaller right-wing group with ranks of officers in riot gear.
The event took place a day before the first anniversary of a much larger Patriot Prayer event that featured many celebrities from the “alt-right” movement and drew thousands of counter-protesters.
It was staged just over a week after a double murder on a Portland commuter train police say was carried out by Jeremy Christian, a man who had attended a Patriot Prayer event. Police say Christian stabbed to death two men who attempted to intervene as he racially abused two young women.
Patriot Prayer is based in Vancouver, Washington. Throughout 2017, it staged rallies in the heart of famously liberal Portland. In July and August, police took a hands-off approach as Patriot Prayer and its opponents fought for hours.
Since Gibson’s announcement that he is running as a Republican for the US Senate, he and his group have openly carried firearms at rallies in Washington state.
Gibson’s critics and opponents have argued that his rallies draw an extremist and white supremacist element that makes the community unsafe. Gibson has billed his events as celebrations of free speech.
On Sunday, along with several members of the “Proud Boys” group, the Patriot Prayer event attracted members of the far right “Hell Shaking Street Preachers”, whose banners and T-shirts carry homophobic slogans. The group has protested the Portland LGBT Pride parade.
On Saturday, Patriot Prayer plans to stage a pro-life protest at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Washington.
White man mows down black good-doer with his truck — then brags about killing ‘some nigger’
Noor Al-Sibai - raw story
31 MAY 2018 AT 11:51 ET
An 18-year-old white man bragged on social media about hitting and killing a black man with his car — and according to police, his “morally wrong” comments don’t violate any laws.
Alexandria, Louisiana’s KALB noted that it was 31-year-old Sherell Lewis Jr.’s birthday when Matthew Martin struck him while he was apparently cleaning up trash on the side of the road so motorists wouldn’t hit any of it— an act Leesville Parrish Sgt. James Anderson called a “good deed.” After 18-year-old hit Lewis, known to family and friends as Rell, the man died en route to the hospital.
In Snapchat messages to friends after the accident, Martin joked that he hit and killed “some n*gger.” His friends asked him later if his car was OK, and the Hineston, Louisiana man went on to make another joke about killing Lewis.
“I feel bad for the family and all,” a Snapchat message purported to be from Martin reads, “but now I gotta buy a new windshield a whole bunch of other stuff.”
---
According to Vernon County Parrish Sheriff Sam Craft, the posts about the incident that occurred in his jurisdiction are “appalling,” but do not violate any known criminal code.
“I am appalled at the content of the social media messages that were posted after the incident,” Craft said. “This post is unacceptable and has no place in our society. The inflammatory words that were used were morally wrong. I have the utmost confidence in the Louisiana State Police and their ability to thoroughly investigate this incident.”
Alexandria, Louisiana’s KALB noted that it was 31-year-old Sherell Lewis Jr.’s birthday when Matthew Martin struck him while he was apparently cleaning up trash on the side of the road so motorists wouldn’t hit any of it— an act Leesville Parrish Sgt. James Anderson called a “good deed.” After 18-year-old hit Lewis, known to family and friends as Rell, the man died en route to the hospital.
In Snapchat messages to friends after the accident, Martin joked that he hit and killed “some n*gger.” His friends asked him later if his car was OK, and the Hineston, Louisiana man went on to make another joke about killing Lewis.
“I feel bad for the family and all,” a Snapchat message purported to be from Martin reads, “but now I gotta buy a new windshield a whole bunch of other stuff.”
---
According to Vernon County Parrish Sheriff Sam Craft, the posts about the incident that occurred in his jurisdiction are “appalling,” but do not violate any known criminal code.
“I am appalled at the content of the social media messages that were posted after the incident,” Craft said. “This post is unacceptable and has no place in our society. The inflammatory words that were used were morally wrong. I have the utmost confidence in the Louisiana State Police and their ability to thoroughly investigate this incident.”
Knife-wielding racist chased Muslim men out of McDonald’s while yelling ‘get out of my country’: police
Brad Reed - raw story
24 MAY 2018 AT 09:40 ET
A man in Florida is being accused by police of pulling a knife on two Muslim men at a local McDonald’s and telling them to “get out of my country.”
Local news station News 4 Jacksonville reports that 60-year-old Florida resident John Jay Smith was arrested this week after police say he approached two Muslim men who were standing outside a McDonald’s in the city of St. Augustine and made a series of racist threats against them.
“Get out of my country,” Smith allegedly told the men while brandishing a switchblade. “You do not deserve to eat here.”
The two men subsequently retreated to their car — and then Smith went to his own car, pulled out a stun gun and aimed it at them through their car window.
The men drove away to escape before Smith could fire his stun gun, and they accidentally ran their car into a pole while trying to get away.
Police arrived on the scene and took Smith into custody. While in custody, Smith was repeatedly heard saying, “They killed my son, my son was a Marine.”
Smith has since been charged with aggravated assault with a weapon, burglary with assault and armed trespassing.
Local news station News 4 Jacksonville reports that 60-year-old Florida resident John Jay Smith was arrested this week after police say he approached two Muslim men who were standing outside a McDonald’s in the city of St. Augustine and made a series of racist threats against them.
“Get out of my country,” Smith allegedly told the men while brandishing a switchblade. “You do not deserve to eat here.”
The two men subsequently retreated to their car — and then Smith went to his own car, pulled out a stun gun and aimed it at them through their car window.
The men drove away to escape before Smith could fire his stun gun, and they accidentally ran their car into a pole while trying to get away.
Police arrived on the scene and took Smith into custody. While in custody, Smith was repeatedly heard saying, “They killed my son, my son was a Marine.”
Smith has since been charged with aggravated assault with a weapon, burglary with assault and armed trespassing.
Flat Earthers Vs Climate Change Skeptics: Why Conspiracy Theorists Keep Contradicting Each Other
Conspiracy theorists have an à la carte attitude to data and trust, so what can scientists do about it?
by Gareth Dorrian
The Conversation May 21, 2018, 1:56 AM GMT - alternet
Flat Earthism and the idea that human activity is not responsible for climate change are two of the most prevalent conspiracy theories today. Both have been increasing in popularity since the late 20th century. Currently, 16% of the US population say they doubt the scientifically established shape of the Earth, while 40% think that human-induced climate change is a hoax. But proponents of one of these theories are not necessarily proponents of the other, even though both are often motivated by a common mistrust of authority. In fact, they regularly contradict one another.
Flat Earthers, for example, tend to disbelieve organisations such as NASA on the shape of Antarctica – or indeed, that there is a southern hemisphere at all. Yet the president of the Flat Earth Society, Daniel Shenton, is quite convinced – presumably at least in part thanks to information from NASA – that climate change is happening and espouses a fairly conventional view on the subject.
Former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci (dismissed by president Trump after ten days in office), meanwhile, believes that the Earth is in fact round, but does not believe in anthropogenic climate change, as he made clear in an interview with CNN.
Such selective reasoning is common among conspiracy theorists who often lack consistency with one other. Despite this, the media, celebrities and even politicians regularly make broad comparisons between climate change scepticism, Flat Earthism and other conspiracy theories.
Fabricated data?
In the field of global climate change, scientific bodies often are accused, even by those in power, of fabricating data. But such criticism is often deeply flawed. Take those sceptics, for example, who believe that climate change is occurring, but because of natural – rather than man-made – causes. If one argues that data has been fabricated to show warming where there is none, one cannot then also imply that warming is occurring after all, but naturally. Either there is warming or there is not. Similarly, Flat Earthers who state that images showing Earth’s curvature are due to the shape of a camera lens, themselves believe in a disc which by definition has a curved edge.
Indeed, one of the few commonalities which exist between all major conspiracy theories is that somehow scientists and governments are involved in a grand conspiracy for reasons unknown.
A major part of the scientific anthropogenic climate change argument is that there is an increase in temperature extremes in both summer and winter. Evidently, a Flat Earth model cannot support this; in fact, the most accepted Flat Earth model, which maintains that the sun rotates in a non-variable circular orbit over the flat disk, implies that there should be no seasons at all, let alone multi-decadal seasonal extremes due to climate change. Nevertheless, to quote Shenton:
Climate change is a process which has been ongoing since (the) beginning of detectable history, but there seems to be a definite correlation between the recent increase in worldwide temperatures and man’s entry into the industrial age.
In this instance, the president of the Flat Earth Society is correct. Anthropogenic climate change sceptics, on the other hand, are often willing to accept the science behind the Earth’s natural cycles, which they blame – instead of human activity – for the world’s weather woes. Clearly, we again find an implicit difference of opinion between a Flat Earth model, and a non-anthropogenic climate change one.
Climate change: a ‘global’ problem. Shutterstock It is also clear that many climate change sceptics believe in the (approximately) spherical Earth, even if only subconsciously, by their use of scientifically accepted global maps when discussing data – not to mention when calling it “global” warming.
And what about aliens?If governments and scientists are so untrustworthy and steeped in corruption, then why would one believe them on any issue? Where does the line of trust actually fall? Why would a person who mistrusts governments and scientists on the shape of the Earth, not hold the same politicians and scientific organisations similarly bogus on the issue of climate change? Or alien abductions, chem trails, or anything else?
But the problem isn’t likely to go away any time soon. The US has the highest number of believers in both flat-Earthism and anthropogenic climate change scepticism, and the UK is not far behind. The US also has a high number (more than 50%) of senior political figures who deny man-made climate change, not to mention a democratically elected leader vocally believing the same. There are also numerous well-known celebrities who question the established shape of our planet.
While of course scientists can play the blame game, it could be that the scientific method itself is a major limiting factor in communicating results with the public. Science is not just a body of knowledge, but a method of critical thinking.
Scientists, by necessity, have to communicate their findings in a certain rigid way focusing on probabilities, certainty values and confidence intervals. These can appear dry or baffling to the public. But by providing more easily understandable narratives we can make scientific discussions with the public more productive.
In today’s complex world of social media narratives, the engagement of scientists with the public is more crucial than ever. Thankfully, current fundingfor public engagement training and activities is accessible to scientists with a passion for communication and conversation, enabling them to communicate facts rather than “fake news”.
Flat Earthers, for example, tend to disbelieve organisations such as NASA on the shape of Antarctica – or indeed, that there is a southern hemisphere at all. Yet the president of the Flat Earth Society, Daniel Shenton, is quite convinced – presumably at least in part thanks to information from NASA – that climate change is happening and espouses a fairly conventional view on the subject.
Former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci (dismissed by president Trump after ten days in office), meanwhile, believes that the Earth is in fact round, but does not believe in anthropogenic climate change, as he made clear in an interview with CNN.
Such selective reasoning is common among conspiracy theorists who often lack consistency with one other. Despite this, the media, celebrities and even politicians regularly make broad comparisons between climate change scepticism, Flat Earthism and other conspiracy theories.
Fabricated data?
In the field of global climate change, scientific bodies often are accused, even by those in power, of fabricating data. But such criticism is often deeply flawed. Take those sceptics, for example, who believe that climate change is occurring, but because of natural – rather than man-made – causes. If one argues that data has been fabricated to show warming where there is none, one cannot then also imply that warming is occurring after all, but naturally. Either there is warming or there is not. Similarly, Flat Earthers who state that images showing Earth’s curvature are due to the shape of a camera lens, themselves believe in a disc which by definition has a curved edge.
Indeed, one of the few commonalities which exist between all major conspiracy theories is that somehow scientists and governments are involved in a grand conspiracy for reasons unknown.
A major part of the scientific anthropogenic climate change argument is that there is an increase in temperature extremes in both summer and winter. Evidently, a Flat Earth model cannot support this; in fact, the most accepted Flat Earth model, which maintains that the sun rotates in a non-variable circular orbit over the flat disk, implies that there should be no seasons at all, let alone multi-decadal seasonal extremes due to climate change. Nevertheless, to quote Shenton:
Climate change is a process which has been ongoing since (the) beginning of detectable history, but there seems to be a definite correlation between the recent increase in worldwide temperatures and man’s entry into the industrial age.
In this instance, the president of the Flat Earth Society is correct. Anthropogenic climate change sceptics, on the other hand, are often willing to accept the science behind the Earth’s natural cycles, which they blame – instead of human activity – for the world’s weather woes. Clearly, we again find an implicit difference of opinion between a Flat Earth model, and a non-anthropogenic climate change one.
Climate change: a ‘global’ problem. Shutterstock It is also clear that many climate change sceptics believe in the (approximately) spherical Earth, even if only subconsciously, by their use of scientifically accepted global maps when discussing data – not to mention when calling it “global” warming.
And what about aliens?If governments and scientists are so untrustworthy and steeped in corruption, then why would one believe them on any issue? Where does the line of trust actually fall? Why would a person who mistrusts governments and scientists on the shape of the Earth, not hold the same politicians and scientific organisations similarly bogus on the issue of climate change? Or alien abductions, chem trails, or anything else?
But the problem isn’t likely to go away any time soon. The US has the highest number of believers in both flat-Earthism and anthropogenic climate change scepticism, and the UK is not far behind. The US also has a high number (more than 50%) of senior political figures who deny man-made climate change, not to mention a democratically elected leader vocally believing the same. There are also numerous well-known celebrities who question the established shape of our planet.
While of course scientists can play the blame game, it could be that the scientific method itself is a major limiting factor in communicating results with the public. Science is not just a body of knowledge, but a method of critical thinking.
Scientists, by necessity, have to communicate their findings in a certain rigid way focusing on probabilities, certainty values and confidence intervals. These can appear dry or baffling to the public. But by providing more easily understandable narratives we can make scientific discussions with the public more productive.
In today’s complex world of social media narratives, the engagement of scientists with the public is more crucial than ever. Thankfully, current fundingfor public engagement training and activities is accessible to scientists with a passion for communication and conversation, enabling them to communicate facts rather than “fake news”.
Kansas teacher threatened a 10-year-old black boy: ‘When you turn 16 the police will shoot you’
Dominique Jackson - raw story
17 MAY 2018 AT 22:32 ET
A Kansas schoolboy went home crying after a teacher allegedly told him he would be shot by police as a teenager, reported Fox 4KC News.
Malachi Pearson, 10, attends Rosehill Elementary School. He was playing with a friend when a teacher mistook the interaction as a fight.
“Me and my friend were playing, and then she likes pushing us away. We weren’t fighting. We were just playing and laughing,” Pearson said.
Pearson, whose father died from gun violence, said the teacher made highly offensive comments about him.
“She told me when you turn 16 and the police shoot you, the only person you can be mad at is yourself,” Pearson said. “I’m crying because it’s sad that my daddy died when I was a baby.”
Mahogany Foster, Malachi’s mom, said she was furious at the situation.
”It’s unbelievable that she would say that to my son,” Foster, said. “I’m so vexed by the whole thing. I never take sides, but I know for a fact that Malachi, he’s a respectful child, so for somebody to say that to a respectful child, I feel that was a low blow and that was something personal. You shouldn’t say that to any child.”
Foster pulled her son out of the school and said the school did not address the issue properly.
“The principal doesn’t offer me any type of comfort. He doesn’t say I’m gonna get someone here to counsel Malachi to let him know that everything she said is a lie. I think they’re trying to sweep this under the rug,” Foster said.
Shawna Samuel, the director of communications for Shawnee Mission Schools said the school could not talk about legal matters.
“Our investigation is complete. It’s a personnel matter, and by federal law we cannot discuss any disciplinary decisions taken against a teacher or employee,” Samuel said.
Foster said she wished the teacher would have apologized, and she is now looking into alternative education.
“That teacher needs to apologize to him,” Foster said. “It’s just made me scared to send him to any school. Now, I’m really focusing on homeschooling.”
Malachi Pearson, 10, attends Rosehill Elementary School. He was playing with a friend when a teacher mistook the interaction as a fight.
“Me and my friend were playing, and then she likes pushing us away. We weren’t fighting. We were just playing and laughing,” Pearson said.
Pearson, whose father died from gun violence, said the teacher made highly offensive comments about him.
“She told me when you turn 16 and the police shoot you, the only person you can be mad at is yourself,” Pearson said. “I’m crying because it’s sad that my daddy died when I was a baby.”
Mahogany Foster, Malachi’s mom, said she was furious at the situation.
”It’s unbelievable that she would say that to my son,” Foster, said. “I’m so vexed by the whole thing. I never take sides, but I know for a fact that Malachi, he’s a respectful child, so for somebody to say that to a respectful child, I feel that was a low blow and that was something personal. You shouldn’t say that to any child.”
Foster pulled her son out of the school and said the school did not address the issue properly.
“The principal doesn’t offer me any type of comfort. He doesn’t say I’m gonna get someone here to counsel Malachi to let him know that everything she said is a lie. I think they’re trying to sweep this under the rug,” Foster said.
Shawna Samuel, the director of communications for Shawnee Mission Schools said the school could not talk about legal matters.
“Our investigation is complete. It’s a personnel matter, and by federal law we cannot discuss any disciplinary decisions taken against a teacher or employee,” Samuel said.
Foster said she wished the teacher would have apologized, and she is now looking into alternative education.
“That teacher needs to apologize to him,” Foster said. “It’s just made me scared to send him to any school. Now, I’m really focusing on homeschooling.”
West Virginia man arrested after launching racist attack on black cop for no apparent reason
Travis Gettys - raw story
17 MAY 2018 AT 10:25 ET
A white West Virginia man was arrested for an apparently unprovoked attack on a black police officer.
Police said Lt. J.W. Ivy Jr. stopped his patrol car Tuesday at the Cedar Grove police station and got out when a passerby stopped his car in the middle of the street and called out a racial slur, reported WVAH-TV.
The officer asked the man, later identified as Michael Jerry Cornwell, not to call him that again — but police said the 57-year-old used the slur three more times.
Ivy attempted to get Cornwell out of his car for threatening him, and police said the white man took a swing at the officer.
The officer and Cornwell wrestled through the car window as the driver continued throwing punches at him, according to police.
Cornwell was arrested and charged with assault during the commission of or attempt to commit a felony, and he remains held on $2,500 bond.
His mugshot does not appear to show any visible injuries from the arrest.
Cornwell in the past has shared a pro-police “Blue Lives Matter” post that originated with the pro-Trump Facebook group “For America,” in addition to pro-gun and conservative patriotic memes.
Police said Lt. J.W. Ivy Jr. stopped his patrol car Tuesday at the Cedar Grove police station and got out when a passerby stopped his car in the middle of the street and called out a racial slur, reported WVAH-TV.
The officer asked the man, later identified as Michael Jerry Cornwell, not to call him that again — but police said the 57-year-old used the slur three more times.
Ivy attempted to get Cornwell out of his car for threatening him, and police said the white man took a swing at the officer.
The officer and Cornwell wrestled through the car window as the driver continued throwing punches at him, according to police.
Cornwell was arrested and charged with assault during the commission of or attempt to commit a felony, and he remains held on $2,500 bond.
His mugshot does not appear to show any visible injuries from the arrest.
Cornwell in the past has shared a pro-police “Blue Lives Matter” post that originated with the pro-Trump Facebook group “For America,” in addition to pro-gun and conservative patriotic memes.
St. Louis cop outraged after seeing white men doing manual labor at ‘authentic Mexican restaurant’
Noor Al-Sibai - raw story
16 MAY 2018 AT 08:57 ET
A police lieutenant in St. Louis is under investigation after making a social media post that suggested only Latinos should do construction work at Mexican restaurants.
“I’m not sure what the hell is going on in our country these days,” St. Louis Metropolitan Police Lieutenant Jerry Foster wrote in a screenshotted post. “I just drove by an authentic Mexican restaurant in town; and there were white guys putting on a new roof, cutting the grass and doing landscaping.”
According to St. Louis’ KMOV, Foster did not mention the name of the Mexican restaurant that so offended him, but the tagged location and its proximity to his home suggested he was referring to Casa Romero, an establishment currently under renovation that hired white contractors.
Mike Lasky, one of the workers at Casa Romero, told KMOV he was shocked a police officer would post something so “insensitive.”
“It’s disturbing and I hate to see it,” he told the station, “but it just shows that it does exist and it’s sad.”
The report noted that the Mexican restaurant post was not Foster’s first time making controversial comments on Facebook. In 2016, he reportedly made a post deriding the “Democratic Criminal Party” after Lezley McSpadden, the mother of police-killed Michael Brown from nearby Ferguson, was invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
SLMPD told the news station that Foster’s comment is under investigation.
“I’m not sure what the hell is going on in our country these days,” St. Louis Metropolitan Police Lieutenant Jerry Foster wrote in a screenshotted post. “I just drove by an authentic Mexican restaurant in town; and there were white guys putting on a new roof, cutting the grass and doing landscaping.”
According to St. Louis’ KMOV, Foster did not mention the name of the Mexican restaurant that so offended him, but the tagged location and its proximity to his home suggested he was referring to Casa Romero, an establishment currently under renovation that hired white contractors.
Mike Lasky, one of the workers at Casa Romero, told KMOV he was shocked a police officer would post something so “insensitive.”
“It’s disturbing and I hate to see it,” he told the station, “but it just shows that it does exist and it’s sad.”
The report noted that the Mexican restaurant post was not Foster’s first time making controversial comments on Facebook. In 2016, he reportedly made a post deriding the “Democratic Criminal Party” after Lezley McSpadden, the mother of police-killed Michael Brown from nearby Ferguson, was invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention.
SLMPD told the news station that Foster’s comment is under investigation.
Oklahoma man coerced girls into sex by threatening suicide — and kept creepy mementos through years of abuse
Travis Gettys - raw story
14 MAY 2018 AT 13:33 ET
An Oklahoma man has been charged with sexually abusing two girls for years by threatening to kill himself.
Michael Wayne Sherwood was charged last week with four felony counts of child sexual abuse after a woman told sheriff’s deputies that she and another victim had been raped by him as children, reported the Enid News & Eagle.
The woman said the abuse began when she was 11 and continued until about two years ago, deputies said.
“The suspect would threaten to kill himself if she refused to have sex with him and later threatened to hurt her if she refused his advances,” investigators said in an affidavit.
The other victim told deputies that Sherwood raped her starting when she was 11, and the abuse continued until November 2017.
The 66-year-old Sherwood denied having sex with the victims, but deputies said he laughed after admitting to performing oral sex on one victim.
He laughed again after admitting that he knew his actions were wrong but that he believed he would not be caught, deputies said.
Sherwood eventually admitted that he still had items he used to rape the girls, but said he had deleted photos or videos of the victims having sex.
Deputies said they received permission from Sherwood to search his property, where they found pornography, girls underwear, sex toys and written correspondence with one girl.
They also found a small blue bottle, which Sherwood said contained a girl’s feces.
Michael Wayne Sherwood was charged last week with four felony counts of child sexual abuse after a woman told sheriff’s deputies that she and another victim had been raped by him as children, reported the Enid News & Eagle.
The woman said the abuse began when she was 11 and continued until about two years ago, deputies said.
“The suspect would threaten to kill himself if she refused to have sex with him and later threatened to hurt her if she refused his advances,” investigators said in an affidavit.
The other victim told deputies that Sherwood raped her starting when she was 11, and the abuse continued until November 2017.
The 66-year-old Sherwood denied having sex with the victims, but deputies said he laughed after admitting to performing oral sex on one victim.
He laughed again after admitting that he knew his actions were wrong but that he believed he would not be caught, deputies said.
Sherwood eventually admitted that he still had items he used to rape the girls, but said he had deleted photos or videos of the victims having sex.
Deputies said they received permission from Sherwood to search his property, where they found pornography, girls underwear, sex toys and written correspondence with one girl.
They also found a small blue bottle, which Sherwood said contained a girl’s feces.
white trash exposed!!!
Genealogist digs up Tomi Lahren’s family tree after she attacks immigrants — and the results are hilarious
David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement - raw story
13 MAY 2018 AT 13:21 ET
Fox News pundit Tomi Lahren is getting the John Kelly treatment after defending the White House Chief of Staff’s racist remarks this weekend. And it turns out her family background is much like Kelly’s: immigrants who came to America and refused to “assimilate,” yet produced a family of successful Americans.
On Saturday Lahren took to Fox News and echoed Kelly’s comments.
“You don’t just come into this country with low skills, low education, not understanding the language and come into our country because someone says it makes them feel nice. That’s not what this country is based on,” she insisted.
These people,” Lahren told Fox News host Jesse Watters, “need to understand that it’s a privilege to be an American and it’s a privilege that you work toward – its not a right,” she claimed, despite not having to work toward becoming an American, and apparently neither did her ancestors, according to journalist Jennifer Mendelsohn.
Earlier this week Kelly, a retired USMC general who has served as President Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security before becoming his Chief of Staff, told NPR he believes that undocumented immigrants don’t deserve to be in the U.S. because they are “not people that would easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society.”
“They’re overwhelmingly rural people,” Kelly insisted. “In the countries they come from, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-grade educations are kind of the norm. They don’t speak English; obviously that’s a big thing. … They don’t integrate well; they don’t have skills.”
Mendelsohn took a deep dive into Kelly’s background, finding Kelly’s great grandfather lived in America, undocumented, for 18 years and could not “read, write, or speak English.”
And now she’s doing the same with Lahren’s family tree, and, unsurprisingly, it looks a lot like John Kelly’s.
According to Mendelsohn, “the 1930 census says Tomi’s 3x great-grandmother had been here for 41 years and still spoke German.”
Mendelsohn is the creator of what she calls #resistancegenealogy.
“Her 2nd great-grandmother had been here for 10 yrs. Spoke no English,” she says, tweeting the documentation. “Her great-grandfather’s 1895 baptism from MN? Recorded in Norwegian.”
---
Walter Shaub✔
@waltshaub
I’d trade Xenophobic Rage Barbie for a hard working immigrant any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Contributing less than nothing to this country, she exists only to make lazy white supremacists “with low skills, low education, [barely] understanding the language” feel nice.
6:13 AM - May 13, 2018
Lahren, by the way, is a 25-year old ultra-conservative commentator who managed to make a name for herself quickly by spewing racist rhetoric. She now lives in Los Angeles, has a lucrative Fox News contract, and is worth an estimated $3 million.
On Saturday Lahren took to Fox News and echoed Kelly’s comments.
“You don’t just come into this country with low skills, low education, not understanding the language and come into our country because someone says it makes them feel nice. That’s not what this country is based on,” she insisted.
These people,” Lahren told Fox News host Jesse Watters, “need to understand that it’s a privilege to be an American and it’s a privilege that you work toward – its not a right,” she claimed, despite not having to work toward becoming an American, and apparently neither did her ancestors, according to journalist Jennifer Mendelsohn.
Earlier this week Kelly, a retired USMC general who has served as President Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security before becoming his Chief of Staff, told NPR he believes that undocumented immigrants don’t deserve to be in the U.S. because they are “not people that would easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society.”
“They’re overwhelmingly rural people,” Kelly insisted. “In the countries they come from, fourth-, fifth-, sixth-grade educations are kind of the norm. They don’t speak English; obviously that’s a big thing. … They don’t integrate well; they don’t have skills.”
Mendelsohn took a deep dive into Kelly’s background, finding Kelly’s great grandfather lived in America, undocumented, for 18 years and could not “read, write, or speak English.”
And now she’s doing the same with Lahren’s family tree, and, unsurprisingly, it looks a lot like John Kelly’s.
According to Mendelsohn, “the 1930 census says Tomi’s 3x great-grandmother had been here for 41 years and still spoke German.”
Mendelsohn is the creator of what she calls #resistancegenealogy.
“Her 2nd great-grandmother had been here for 10 yrs. Spoke no English,” she says, tweeting the documentation. “Her great-grandfather’s 1895 baptism from MN? Recorded in Norwegian.”
---
Walter Shaub✔
@waltshaub
I’d trade Xenophobic Rage Barbie for a hard working immigrant any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Contributing less than nothing to this country, she exists only to make lazy white supremacists “with low skills, low education, [barely] understanding the language” feel nice.
6:13 AM - May 13, 2018
Lahren, by the way, is a 25-year old ultra-conservative commentator who managed to make a name for herself quickly by spewing racist rhetoric. She now lives in Los Angeles, has a lucrative Fox News contract, and is worth an estimated $3 million.
Neo-Nazi thugs hold white man down and ‘pound his face in’ for bringing black girlfriend into their bar: report
Brad Reed - raw story
01 MAY 2018 AT 14:10 ET
A group of white supremacists in Niagara Falls, New York earlier this year viciously beat a local college student after he brought his black girlfriend with him into their bar.
The Niagara Gazette reports that police this month arrested Daemon M. Kraft for his role in an attack on a 21-year-old male victim at the Rust Bar in Niagara Falls.
Witnesses who were outside the bar say they saw several men exiting the building while dragging out the victim, whom they proceeded to beat.
“They dragged the (victim) outside of the bar,” one witness told the Niagara Gazette. “They held the kid’s arms back while about three of them basically pounded his face in.”
The witness said that he believes the beating happened primarily because the victim was hanging out at the bar with his black girlfriend.
“That is the reason that we believe (the victim) got assaulted, because he brought his girlfriend, who is African-American, into the bar,” the witness said.
The Gazette notes that the Rust Bar is operated by a woman named Marie T. Basile, whose husband, Todd A. Biro, has longstanding ties to white supremacist organizations.
“Publicly available media suggest Biro’s affiliations with white supremacy ideals, supporters and groups,” the paper writes. “In a YouTube video posted under the username ‘Melissa Lacy’ titled ‘Biro Wedding (1),’ Biro is depicted with a group of other Caucasian men looking directly into the camera as they chant ‘white power’ and give a Nazi salute. Later, the video shows Biro handing Basile a telephone, saying that on the other line was an associate in prison who was going to “get off the phone and kill a (racial epithet for African-Americans).” Read the whole report at this link.
The Niagara Gazette reports that police this month arrested Daemon M. Kraft for his role in an attack on a 21-year-old male victim at the Rust Bar in Niagara Falls.
Witnesses who were outside the bar say they saw several men exiting the building while dragging out the victim, whom they proceeded to beat.
“They dragged the (victim) outside of the bar,” one witness told the Niagara Gazette. “They held the kid’s arms back while about three of them basically pounded his face in.”
The witness said that he believes the beating happened primarily because the victim was hanging out at the bar with his black girlfriend.
“That is the reason that we believe (the victim) got assaulted, because he brought his girlfriend, who is African-American, into the bar,” the witness said.
The Gazette notes that the Rust Bar is operated by a woman named Marie T. Basile, whose husband, Todd A. Biro, has longstanding ties to white supremacist organizations.
“Publicly available media suggest Biro’s affiliations with white supremacy ideals, supporters and groups,” the paper writes. “In a YouTube video posted under the username ‘Melissa Lacy’ titled ‘Biro Wedding (1),’ Biro is depicted with a group of other Caucasian men looking directly into the camera as they chant ‘white power’ and give a Nazi salute. Later, the video shows Biro handing Basile a telephone, saying that on the other line was an associate in prison who was going to “get off the phone and kill a (racial epithet for African-Americans).” Read the whole report at this link.
Southern Baptist leader tells abused women not to leave husbands who beat them --
then doubles down when criticized
SARAH K. BURRIS - raw story
30 APR 2018 AT 11:09 ET
Paige Patterson is president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, one of the self-described “largest seminaries in the world,” and he appears to be standing behind comments about women not leaving abusive husbands.
A tape of an interview surfaced with Patterson claiming women should focus more on their faith and prayer and “be submissive in every way that you can” to their husbands, the Texas Statesman reported. They should not be seeking divorce, even in the case of abuse. When asked about it, Patterson explained that women “who are undergoing genuine physical abuse from their husbands, and the husband says they should submit.”
“It depends on the level of abuse, to some degree,” Patterson conceded. “I have never in my ministry counseled anyone to seek a divorce and that’s always wrong counsel.” Only on extremely rare cases, one or two in his entire career, he said that he has seen a level of abuse “serious enough, dangerous enough, immoral enough,” that “a temporary separation” was warranted.
He went on to talk about one case of a woman coming to him about help for abuse and he told her to pray at her bedside for God to intervene. Later the woman came back with black eyes saying, “I hope you’re happy.”
“And I said ‘Yes . . . I’m very happy,'” he said, because her husband came to church for the first time the following day. Thus, her husband heard her prayers.
The Southern Baptist Convention has grappled with their ineffective preaching that divorce is wrong. Evangelicals in particular, have a higher than average divorce rate, according to Baylor University research.
A tape of an interview surfaced with Patterson claiming women should focus more on their faith and prayer and “be submissive in every way that you can” to their husbands, the Texas Statesman reported. They should not be seeking divorce, even in the case of abuse. When asked about it, Patterson explained that women “who are undergoing genuine physical abuse from their husbands, and the husband says they should submit.”
“It depends on the level of abuse, to some degree,” Patterson conceded. “I have never in my ministry counseled anyone to seek a divorce and that’s always wrong counsel.” Only on extremely rare cases, one or two in his entire career, he said that he has seen a level of abuse “serious enough, dangerous enough, immoral enough,” that “a temporary separation” was warranted.
He went on to talk about one case of a woman coming to him about help for abuse and he told her to pray at her bedside for God to intervene. Later the woman came back with black eyes saying, “I hope you’re happy.”
“And I said ‘Yes . . . I’m very happy,'” he said, because her husband came to church for the first time the following day. Thus, her husband heard her prayers.
The Southern Baptist Convention has grappled with their ineffective preaching that divorce is wrong. Evangelicals in particular, have a higher than average divorce rate, according to Baylor University research.
Over the weekend, many members of the SBC were quick to condemn abuse, including Bruce Ashford, the provost of the seminary where Patterson once served as president.
“Lots of social media convo this afternoon about spousal abuse. As the Provost of a SBC seminary and pastor at a SBC church, let me be clear: a physically abused woman should separate from her husband and have him put in jail,” he tweeted Saturday.
The convention was forced to tweet out a statement Saturday swearing that they condemn abuse.
“We believe that abuse is not only a sin but is also a crime. It is destructive and evil. Abuse is a hallmark of the devil and is in direct opposition to the purposes of God. Abuse must not to be tolerated in the Christian community,” they said with a link to their bylaws passed in March 2018.
“I’m pro marriage. Nearly 40 years of ups and downs to back that up,” tweeted Bible teacher Beth Moore. “But when we as a church culture demonize divorce as the worst possible outcome – the sin of all sins – we truly have no clue on this ever loving earth what some people are enduring. We do not submit to abuse. NO.”
Evangelical writer Katelyn Beaty agreed, noting that saying women should pray or stick by their husband puts all of the accountability on the abused rather than the abuser.
“One of the many things that disturbs me about this is the way Patterson puts ALL the responsibility on the woman to change her husband-while he’s beating her. Even if you hate divorce, this is a gross abdication of pastoral and legal responsibility,” Beaty tweeted Sunday.
Patterson has not denied that the tape is real and that he said it. Instead, he claimed “misrepresentation.”
“To all who love me and have supported me across the years and to those who have been wounded by these accusations, I express my deepest regret,” he said in a statement. “I do not apologize for my stand for the family and for seeking to mend a marriage through forgiveness rather than divorce.”
“Lots of social media convo this afternoon about spousal abuse. As the Provost of a SBC seminary and pastor at a SBC church, let me be clear: a physically abused woman should separate from her husband and have him put in jail,” he tweeted Saturday.
The convention was forced to tweet out a statement Saturday swearing that they condemn abuse.
“We believe that abuse is not only a sin but is also a crime. It is destructive and evil. Abuse is a hallmark of the devil and is in direct opposition to the purposes of God. Abuse must not to be tolerated in the Christian community,” they said with a link to their bylaws passed in March 2018.
“I’m pro marriage. Nearly 40 years of ups and downs to back that up,” tweeted Bible teacher Beth Moore. “But when we as a church culture demonize divorce as the worst possible outcome – the sin of all sins – we truly have no clue on this ever loving earth what some people are enduring. We do not submit to abuse. NO.”
Evangelical writer Katelyn Beaty agreed, noting that saying women should pray or stick by their husband puts all of the accountability on the abused rather than the abuser.
“One of the many things that disturbs me about this is the way Patterson puts ALL the responsibility on the woman to change her husband-while he’s beating her. Even if you hate divorce, this is a gross abdication of pastoral and legal responsibility,” Beaty tweeted Sunday.
Patterson has not denied that the tape is real and that he said it. Instead, he claimed “misrepresentation.”
“To all who love me and have supported me across the years and to those who have been wounded by these accusations, I express my deepest regret,” he said in a statement. “I do not apologize for my stand for the family and for seeking to mend a marriage through forgiveness rather than divorce.”
Robert Mercer and the Tax-Evading Hedge Fund Giving Millions to Republicans and Democrats
Monday, April 30, 2018
By Michael Sainato, Walker Bragman and Geoff Campbell, Truthout | News Analysis
As part of a secretive anti-Muslim ad campaign launched by Secure America Now, a conservative national security digital platform, hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer donated $2 million to the social welfare organization. Leading up to the 2016 election, the organization promoted racist mock travel ads in several swing states. Mercer's donation was revealed by Open Secrets through a 2016 tax return exposing the dark money group's donors.
Mercer has increasingly gained notoriety as a prolific donor who significantly backed Donald Trump's presidential campaign through direct donations, and for investing in the data firm Cambridge Analytica. The attention Mercer has received for his political endeavors incited his colleagues to pressure him to resign as CEO of Renaissance Technologies, a multibillion-dollar hedge fund built and owned by two of the biggest Democratic Party donors in recent years, billionaires James Simons and Henry Laufer.
The New York-based hedge fund Renaissance Technologies itself has quietly emerged as one of the most prolific influencers in politics, as the owners have consistently ranked as the top political donors in the past few election cycles. In doing so, the hedge fund has successfully lobbied to create special tax breaks for the business.
Profiting From Special Tax Breaks
In 2010, after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) banned the use of basket options as a means of disguising higher-taxed, short-term profits as lower-taxed, long-term profits through a "basket" contract between a hedge fund and banks. The decision to close the loophole meant that firms were required to amend past tax returns and compensate the government for evaded taxes. According to a 2014 bipartisan Senate committee report, Renaissance avoided paying an estimated $6.8 billion in taxes through basket options. Renaissance Technologies' legal team continues to fight the IRS's decision in court.
Shortly after the IRS's decision, Renaissance cancelled its 401K plan for employees, and obtained special permission from Department of Labor in 2012 to put pieces of its Medallion Fund -- a hedge fund portfolio available only to Renaissance Technologies' employees -- inside Roth IRAs, making future profits from those pieces tax-free. Instead of holding the hedge fund accountable for evading taxes, the federal government provided it with a new tax break.
Medallion's average annual return is 71.8 percent. In 2015, Steven Rosenthal of the Tax Policy Center noted, "If Medallion averaged 'only' a 50% (not the 71.8%) annual return, a $350,000 Roth IRA would be worth about $20 million in 10 years, free of taxes and, in 20 years, $1.16 billion. By comparison, a $350,000 account that was taxed annually (at a 43.4% tax rate), would be worth about $4 million in 10 years and $51 million in 20 years."
Renaissance Technologies received a second waiver in 2015 from the Department of Labor to roll the fund's 401Ks into Medallion, which permits greater investment amounts. Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez, who served as secretary of Labor under the Obama administration when the waivers were granted, did not respond to Truthout's request for comment.
In November 2017, Mercer announced his resignation as co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies effective in January 2018, and claimed he planned to sell his stake in Breitbart to distance himself from reports that he funded the media outlet and white nationalist Milo Yiannopoulos. Mercer noted he will still remain at the firm as an employee, focusing on technical research.
Other Political Contributions
Simons and Mercer have been prolific political donors since at least 1989, with Laufer's frequent political donations beginning in 1998, giving millions to both Democrats and Republicans. Though officially retired from the firm, Simons and Laufer continue to serve as advisers and non-executive chairs. According to Open Secrets' Federal Election Commission (FEC) data, Simons was the fifth-largest donor in the 2016 election cycle, with Mercer coming in ninth and Laufer, 22nd. Between the four of them, they've given money to the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Clinton campaign, the Trump campaign and the 2012 Obama campaign.
Though Simons has donated exclusively to Democrats in federal campaigns, he's split his campaign donations* in New York among top Republicans and Democrats in the state. Recipients of his largesse include Independent Democratic Conference Chair Jeff Klein, who caucuses with the State Senate Republicans, granting them majority rule over the New York State Senate.
The New York Times reported in 2010 that Simons was a major influencer in pushing for New York Gov. David Paterson's plan to overhaul New York's public universities. "[I]t is a gift he has yet to give that has sparked the most intense discussion in the Capitol: a pledge of as much as $150 million, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions -- but only if some version of Mr. Paterson's plan is approved," the Times reported. Simons told the Times he directly spoke with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Democratic Senate leader John Sampson at the time, urging them to move Governor Paterson's proposal forward.
In New York, where Renaissance Technologies operates, the state government has been kind to hedge funds, as Renaissance Technologies' owners have donated millions of dollars to New York Republicans and Democrats. In 2011, Renaissance Technologies appealed a ruling that ordered the hedge fund to pay up to $100,000 to the State of New York in back taxes for falsely identifying their security workers as independent contractors.
New York legislators have repeatedly introduced legislation, but have failed to close a carried interest tax loophole that is exploited by hedge funds and investment managers to get a lower tax rate meant for investors. Closing this carried interest loophole would provide the state of New York with an estimated $3.5 billion annually. It has not reached the New York State Senate or Assembly floor for a vote in 2017 or 2018.
Simons, Mercer and Laufer have continued pouring money into political campaigns and organizations into 2018. According to FEC filings, Mercer has donated more than $250,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, while Laufer gave $2 million to the Senate Majority PAC, more than $335,000 to the Democratic National Committee, $33,900 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Simons gave $1.5 million to the Senate Majority PAC since January 1, 2018. Mercer has since switched his employment affiliation with his donations from Renaissance Technologies to "retired."
Renaissance Technologies did not respond to Truthout's request for comment.
Mercer has increasingly gained notoriety as a prolific donor who significantly backed Donald Trump's presidential campaign through direct donations, and for investing in the data firm Cambridge Analytica. The attention Mercer has received for his political endeavors incited his colleagues to pressure him to resign as CEO of Renaissance Technologies, a multibillion-dollar hedge fund built and owned by two of the biggest Democratic Party donors in recent years, billionaires James Simons and Henry Laufer.
The New York-based hedge fund Renaissance Technologies itself has quietly emerged as one of the most prolific influencers in politics, as the owners have consistently ranked as the top political donors in the past few election cycles. In doing so, the hedge fund has successfully lobbied to create special tax breaks for the business.
Profiting From Special Tax Breaks
In 2010, after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) banned the use of basket options as a means of disguising higher-taxed, short-term profits as lower-taxed, long-term profits through a "basket" contract between a hedge fund and banks. The decision to close the loophole meant that firms were required to amend past tax returns and compensate the government for evaded taxes. According to a 2014 bipartisan Senate committee report, Renaissance avoided paying an estimated $6.8 billion in taxes through basket options. Renaissance Technologies' legal team continues to fight the IRS's decision in court.
Shortly after the IRS's decision, Renaissance cancelled its 401K plan for employees, and obtained special permission from Department of Labor in 2012 to put pieces of its Medallion Fund -- a hedge fund portfolio available only to Renaissance Technologies' employees -- inside Roth IRAs, making future profits from those pieces tax-free. Instead of holding the hedge fund accountable for evading taxes, the federal government provided it with a new tax break.
Medallion's average annual return is 71.8 percent. In 2015, Steven Rosenthal of the Tax Policy Center noted, "If Medallion averaged 'only' a 50% (not the 71.8%) annual return, a $350,000 Roth IRA would be worth about $20 million in 10 years, free of taxes and, in 20 years, $1.16 billion. By comparison, a $350,000 account that was taxed annually (at a 43.4% tax rate), would be worth about $4 million in 10 years and $51 million in 20 years."
Renaissance Technologies received a second waiver in 2015 from the Department of Labor to roll the fund's 401Ks into Medallion, which permits greater investment amounts. Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez, who served as secretary of Labor under the Obama administration when the waivers were granted, did not respond to Truthout's request for comment.
In November 2017, Mercer announced his resignation as co-CEO of Renaissance Technologies effective in January 2018, and claimed he planned to sell his stake in Breitbart to distance himself from reports that he funded the media outlet and white nationalist Milo Yiannopoulos. Mercer noted he will still remain at the firm as an employee, focusing on technical research.
Other Political Contributions
Simons and Mercer have been prolific political donors since at least 1989, with Laufer's frequent political donations beginning in 1998, giving millions to both Democrats and Republicans. Though officially retired from the firm, Simons and Laufer continue to serve as advisers and non-executive chairs. According to Open Secrets' Federal Election Commission (FEC) data, Simons was the fifth-largest donor in the 2016 election cycle, with Mercer coming in ninth and Laufer, 22nd. Between the four of them, they've given money to the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Clinton campaign, the Trump campaign and the 2012 Obama campaign.
Though Simons has donated exclusively to Democrats in federal campaigns, he's split his campaign donations* in New York among top Republicans and Democrats in the state. Recipients of his largesse include Independent Democratic Conference Chair Jeff Klein, who caucuses with the State Senate Republicans, granting them majority rule over the New York State Senate.
The New York Times reported in 2010 that Simons was a major influencer in pushing for New York Gov. David Paterson's plan to overhaul New York's public universities. "[I]t is a gift he has yet to give that has sparked the most intense discussion in the Capitol: a pledge of as much as $150 million, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions -- but only if some version of Mr. Paterson's plan is approved," the Times reported. Simons told the Times he directly spoke with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Democratic Senate leader John Sampson at the time, urging them to move Governor Paterson's proposal forward.
In New York, where Renaissance Technologies operates, the state government has been kind to hedge funds, as Renaissance Technologies' owners have donated millions of dollars to New York Republicans and Democrats. In 2011, Renaissance Technologies appealed a ruling that ordered the hedge fund to pay up to $100,000 to the State of New York in back taxes for falsely identifying their security workers as independent contractors.
New York legislators have repeatedly introduced legislation, but have failed to close a carried interest tax loophole that is exploited by hedge funds and investment managers to get a lower tax rate meant for investors. Closing this carried interest loophole would provide the state of New York with an estimated $3.5 billion annually. It has not reached the New York State Senate or Assembly floor for a vote in 2017 or 2018.
Simons, Mercer and Laufer have continued pouring money into political campaigns and organizations into 2018. According to FEC filings, Mercer has donated more than $250,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, while Laufer gave $2 million to the Senate Majority PAC, more than $335,000 to the Democratic National Committee, $33,900 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Simons gave $1.5 million to the Senate Majority PAC since January 1, 2018. Mercer has since switched his employment affiliation with his donations from Renaissance Technologies to "retired."
Renaissance Technologies did not respond to Truthout's request for comment.
Store owner chased black customers out of shop while yelling N-word — then tried to blame it on an employee
Brad Reed - raw story
25 APR 2018 AT 09:52 ET
Cornology CEO Mark Stone (Screen cap).
The CEO of an organic popcorn store in Emeryville, California was seen by multiple witnesses chasing black customers out of his store over the weekend while repeatedly calling them “niggers.”
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Mark Stone, the founder and CEO of Cornology, has confirmed that “an employee” of his hurled racial slurs at black customers while demanding they leave the store.
However, a photo taken of the “employee” at the time the incident took place looks exactly like Stone himself — and a city official who is looking into the incident tells the Chronicle that it was, in fact, Stone yelling at the black customers.
The photo of the Cornology employee was taken by Bay Area resident Fay Eastman-Adams, who posted it on her Facebook account along with a description of what she witnessed.
“This business owner just chased a group of young black kids out of Cornology yelling, ‘Don’t come back here n*ggers!'” she wrote. “I asked him why are you yelling at those kids like that?! You can’t go around calling people niggers. Those are kids. This nut says, ‘well what do I call them?’ Then went on to explain why he should be able to call them kids that derogatory racial slur.”
Although Stone initially blamed an unnamed “employee” for hurling racial slurs, he stopped responding to the Chronicle’s questions when confronted with evidence that he was the only employee working at the store that day.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Mark Stone, the founder and CEO of Cornology, has confirmed that “an employee” of his hurled racial slurs at black customers while demanding they leave the store.
However, a photo taken of the “employee” at the time the incident took place looks exactly like Stone himself — and a city official who is looking into the incident tells the Chronicle that it was, in fact, Stone yelling at the black customers.
The photo of the Cornology employee was taken by Bay Area resident Fay Eastman-Adams, who posted it on her Facebook account along with a description of what she witnessed.
“This business owner just chased a group of young black kids out of Cornology yelling, ‘Don’t come back here n*ggers!'” she wrote. “I asked him why are you yelling at those kids like that?! You can’t go around calling people niggers. Those are kids. This nut says, ‘well what do I call them?’ Then went on to explain why he should be able to call them kids that derogatory racial slur.”
Although Stone initially blamed an unnamed “employee” for hurling racial slurs, he stopped responding to the Chronicle’s questions when confronted with evidence that he was the only employee working at the store that day.
Waffle House shooter was part of rightwing extremist movement: report
Martin Cizmar - raw story
22 APR 2018 AT 22:07 ET
Alleged Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking/Screenshot
The alleged Waffle House shooter had declared himself to be part of the rightwing extremist “sovereign citizen” movement, according to USA Today.
Travis Reinking, 29, is believed to have been the shooter who killed four at a 24-hour diner outside Nashville. Reinking had been arrested outside the White House last yearand had his guns taken away because he is mentally ill, according to reports.
At the White House, Reinking had declared himself a “sovereign citizen” who is not required to follow the nation’s laws.
The FBI says that sovereign citizens are “anti-government extremists who claim the federal government is operating outside its jurisdiction and they are therefore not bound by government authority—including the courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, and even law enforcement.”
Reinking’s massacre was stopped when hero James Shaw Jr. took a bullet to get the gun off him and throw it away. Shaw has said he’s not a hero—that he was just trying to save his own life and ended up saving others in the process.
Reinking is still at large in Tennessee after sunset and police believe he may be armed.
RELATED: Waffle House shooter obtained AR-15 despite having guns taken away multiple times
Alleged gunman Travis Reinking has a history of threatening behavior and encounters with law enforcement.
Travis Reinking, 29, is believed to have been the shooter who killed four at a 24-hour diner outside Nashville. Reinking had been arrested outside the White House last yearand had his guns taken away because he is mentally ill, according to reports.
At the White House, Reinking had declared himself a “sovereign citizen” who is not required to follow the nation’s laws.
The FBI says that sovereign citizens are “anti-government extremists who claim the federal government is operating outside its jurisdiction and they are therefore not bound by government authority—including the courts, taxing entities, motor vehicle departments, and even law enforcement.”
Reinking’s massacre was stopped when hero James Shaw Jr. took a bullet to get the gun off him and throw it away. Shaw has said he’s not a hero—that he was just trying to save his own life and ended up saving others in the process.
Reinking is still at large in Tennessee after sunset and police believe he may be armed.
RELATED: Waffle House shooter obtained AR-15 despite having guns taken away multiple times
Alleged gunman Travis Reinking has a history of threatening behavior and encounters with law enforcement.
Watch an Ohio Racist Malfunction When Reporter Asks Which Side Won the Civil War
History is no friend to racists appealing to nationalism.
By Travis Gettys / Raw Story - alternet
April 20, 2018, 2:01 PM GMT
An Ohio man apparently decided his collection of lawn jockey ornaments wasn’t racist enough, so he placed afro wigs on them and set them among his Confederate flag displays.
Louie Jones Jr. lives in the Lindale home with his father, and he said the display has been up for years without complaint, reported WXIX-TV.
The lawn jockeys are joined by a black-faced figurine eating a slice of watermelon and a dark-skinned mannequin with an afro wig and large, garishly painted red lips.
“In no way, shape, or form should anybody think that it’s racist,” Jones insisted.
The homeowner’s friend Tammy helped him explain the demonstration, which she told Fox 19 reporter Maytal Levi had started with the Confederate flags and had grown to include the racist caricatures.
“They went up, a few of them at one time, and then a couple more were added, but the flags have always flown,” Tammy said. “That’s for our country.”
Jones said he was proud to display numerous Confederate flags, which he calls the “rebel flag,” alongside the lawn jockeys and a single U.S. flag.
“It’s not racist, it’s for the war that we won, you know,” Jones said.
Tammy clarified that her friend meant the Civil War, and the TV reporter seemed to genuinely confuse Jones when she asked if he believed the North or South had won the Civil War.
“We, as in the North,” Jones said, after a pause, and then turned to stare at passing traffic.
Then it was the TV reporter’s turn to be confused.
“That flag would be the wrong flag to fly,” the reporter said.
Tammy quickly interjected.
“Um, in some people’s eyes,” Tammy said.
Ohio remained with the Union during the Civil War, and Clermont County, where Jones lives, contains 33 historical sites on a self-guided Freedom Trail that includes 19 approved to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
The village of Lindale is about a five-minute drive from the birthplace of Ulysses Grant, the Union general who negotiated the Confederate surrender and was later elected 18th president.
Tammy explained that the lawn jockey ornaments were intended to honor “the first blacks that played the baseball game,” and then she tried to explain the mannequin.
“Like, the mother of the baseball players, basically,” Tammy said.
Jones said his family has been threatened over the display, but he had little explanation to anyone who believes he hates black people.
“Everybody hates everybody, you know?” Jones said. “It just depends on what you hate and what you like. It ain’t got nothing to do with race, we ain’t racial.” (video)
Louie Jones Jr. lives in the Lindale home with his father, and he said the display has been up for years without complaint, reported WXIX-TV.
The lawn jockeys are joined by a black-faced figurine eating a slice of watermelon and a dark-skinned mannequin with an afro wig and large, garishly painted red lips.
“In no way, shape, or form should anybody think that it’s racist,” Jones insisted.
The homeowner’s friend Tammy helped him explain the demonstration, which she told Fox 19 reporter Maytal Levi had started with the Confederate flags and had grown to include the racist caricatures.
“They went up, a few of them at one time, and then a couple more were added, but the flags have always flown,” Tammy said. “That’s for our country.”
Jones said he was proud to display numerous Confederate flags, which he calls the “rebel flag,” alongside the lawn jockeys and a single U.S. flag.
“It’s not racist, it’s for the war that we won, you know,” Jones said.
Tammy clarified that her friend meant the Civil War, and the TV reporter seemed to genuinely confuse Jones when she asked if he believed the North or South had won the Civil War.
“We, as in the North,” Jones said, after a pause, and then turned to stare at passing traffic.
Then it was the TV reporter’s turn to be confused.
“That flag would be the wrong flag to fly,” the reporter said.
Tammy quickly interjected.
“Um, in some people’s eyes,” Tammy said.
Ohio remained with the Union during the Civil War, and Clermont County, where Jones lives, contains 33 historical sites on a self-guided Freedom Trail that includes 19 approved to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.
The village of Lindale is about a five-minute drive from the birthplace of Ulysses Grant, the Union general who negotiated the Confederate surrender and was later elected 18th president.
Tammy explained that the lawn jockey ornaments were intended to honor “the first blacks that played the baseball game,” and then she tried to explain the mannequin.
“Like, the mother of the baseball players, basically,” Tammy said.
Jones said his family has been threatened over the display, but he had little explanation to anyone who believes he hates black people.
“Everybody hates everybody, you know?” Jones said. “It just depends on what you hate and what you like. It ain’t got nothing to do with race, we ain’t racial.” (video)
Confederate revolt at Michigan ‘slave’ school was sparked after black girl snatched white boy’s flag
TRAVIS GETTYS - raw story
20 APR 2018 AT 08:47 ET
An ongoing demonstration of Confederate symbols outside a Michigan high school was apparently set off when a black girl snatched a flag from a white classmate’s pickup truck.
Classes were canceled Thursday at Bay City Western High School over a threat, although school officials later said no credible evidence was turned up about the rumors, reported WNEM-TV.
The demonstration started Tuesday, when six pickups waved Confederate flags outside the school, and swelled Wednesday to dozens of trucks bearing Confederate flags, Trump campaign flags, Punisher skull flags and Gadsden flags associated with the tea party movement.
After school was called off, some Western students and adults gathered at Auburn City Park to wave Confederate flags and hold a cookout.
The protesters expressed hostility to reporters at the park, complaining that they had been portrayed as racist in media accounts of the protest and conditions at the school, where the handful of black students who go there say they’ve been called “slave” and other racial slurs.
Student Cameron Myers said he organized the protest earlier this week after a black classmate removed the Confederate flag on his truck, which he said was vandalized with a racial slur.
“They wrote the ‘N’ word on the back of my truck,” Myers told WJRT-TV. “I have the video of her doing it, and they ripped down my flag.”
Myers said school administrators failed to act, although he said his truck was parked on school property at the time, and he complained he was the victim of a double standard.
“I want to do what’s right,” he said. “If I would have went to and touched her car, I would have been suspended. If I would have done anything to her car, I would have been suspended. So I want repercussions for what was done to my property.”
Myers said the flag represented “a country boy thing” to him and his friends, and he told a reporter the symbol has been “part of American history” since the founding of the U.S.
“We’re flying the flag because of injustice,” Myers said. “It looks cool in the mirror,” he said.
The Confederate demonstration has been met by counter-protesters waving rainbow flags to support LGBT rights and carrying Black Lives Matter banners, and they said the school’s tiny minority population had been singled out for abuse.
“I honestly don’t care if they fly the flag on their way home, but we have such a small minority population,” said student Kendrix Szilagyi. “We do not have a diverse school at all, it is a white majority for sure, so the fact that we have to come in every day with kids who already feel out of place, every single day they have to come and see these flags that represent far more all of the white students here could ever imagine.”
Superintendent Stephen Bigelow said he hopes outside organizations can help students discuss the controversy, and said his responsibility was to ensure a safe learning environment for all students.
“My concern is what (the Confederate flag) represents to some students in the building,” Bigelow said. “There’s certainly some racial undertones that could be taken with it.”
Classes were canceled Thursday at Bay City Western High School over a threat, although school officials later said no credible evidence was turned up about the rumors, reported WNEM-TV.
The demonstration started Tuesday, when six pickups waved Confederate flags outside the school, and swelled Wednesday to dozens of trucks bearing Confederate flags, Trump campaign flags, Punisher skull flags and Gadsden flags associated with the tea party movement.
After school was called off, some Western students and adults gathered at Auburn City Park to wave Confederate flags and hold a cookout.
The protesters expressed hostility to reporters at the park, complaining that they had been portrayed as racist in media accounts of the protest and conditions at the school, where the handful of black students who go there say they’ve been called “slave” and other racial slurs.
Student Cameron Myers said he organized the protest earlier this week after a black classmate removed the Confederate flag on his truck, which he said was vandalized with a racial slur.
“They wrote the ‘N’ word on the back of my truck,” Myers told WJRT-TV. “I have the video of her doing it, and they ripped down my flag.”
Myers said school administrators failed to act, although he said his truck was parked on school property at the time, and he complained he was the victim of a double standard.
“I want to do what’s right,” he said. “If I would have went to and touched her car, I would have been suspended. If I would have done anything to her car, I would have been suspended. So I want repercussions for what was done to my property.”
Myers said the flag represented “a country boy thing” to him and his friends, and he told a reporter the symbol has been “part of American history” since the founding of the U.S.
“We’re flying the flag because of injustice,” Myers said. “It looks cool in the mirror,” he said.
The Confederate demonstration has been met by counter-protesters waving rainbow flags to support LGBT rights and carrying Black Lives Matter banners, and they said the school’s tiny minority population had been singled out for abuse.
“I honestly don’t care if they fly the flag on their way home, but we have such a small minority population,” said student Kendrix Szilagyi. “We do not have a diverse school at all, it is a white majority for sure, so the fact that we have to come in every day with kids who already feel out of place, every single day they have to come and see these flags that represent far more all of the white students here could ever imagine.”
Superintendent Stephen Bigelow said he hopes outside organizations can help students discuss the controversy, and said his responsibility was to ensure a safe learning environment for all students.
“My concern is what (the Confederate flag) represents to some students in the building,” Bigelow said. “There’s certainly some racial undertones that could be taken with it.”
Muslim woman new in town got a flat tire – and a note, ‘Go home terrorist’
NJ.com - raw story
19 APR 2018 AT 09:54 ET
A photo of the note left on Kenya Robinson's tire April 11, redacted to remove profanities.
Kenya Robinson said she already felt like an outsider when she moved to Mount Holly recently, from Penns Grove in Salem County where she knew everyone.
But the 24-year-old was shocked when just two weeks after moving to the apartment in Burlington County with her two young sons, she found her car's tire flattened.
Next to the wheel was a note that called her a terrorist, used a racial slur and said she should "go home" because she was "not wanted here."
"I thought it was just trash and then I saw that my tire was flat," she said of the note she found April 11. "It was a 'go home' letter -- I'm from New Jersey."
Robinson said that although the note included the n-word, she believes she was targeted mostly because she wears a hijab and other clothing that makes it obvious that she is Muslim.
She said she never had anything like this happen before, and now she feels that people in the area are looking at her differently because of her attire.
"In Salem County everyone knows me, but here I feel uncomfortable. I feel like they don't know me because I'm an an outsider, plus the way I dress," she said.
Still, she said she can't believe that in 2018, some people still call any Muslim person a terrorist.
"I tell people all the time: Just talk to me, I'll tell you about my religion," she said.
Mount Holly Police Capt. Rich Spitler said officers determined that someone had let the air out of the tire, and they refilled it for Robinson. He said the department is taking the bias incident very seriously but he could not say much more without compromising the investigation.
"It's ongoing. We're not anywhere near done with it," he said.
Robinson said she moved to the second-floor apartment on Cherry Street March 28. While she didn't know anyone and felt kind of isolated, she had heard the public schools in Mount Holly were good. She has a daughter, Suhaylah, 4, and a son, Ibn'Anthony, 5.
She was heading to the grocery store on the afternoon of April 11 when she noticed her car's front driver's side tire was flat and saw the note. She called police, who asked her who she thought could have done it.
In a Facebook Live video she posted of her talking with police, she told them that she kept to herself and doesn't know anyone.
Police took the note, she said, and assured her they'd do extra patrols in the area.
But later that night, around midnight, someone started banging on a door at the apartment complex. Robinson said she believed it was her door, but Spitler said it was a communal, external door to the apartment building.
Robinson said the banging had her children "screaming and hollering" in fear. It stopped after about 10 minutes, when she yelled that she had called the cops.
Robinson said she hasn't had any trouble since then, but she's still shaken by everything.
"Every night I'm pacing. I feel paranoid," she said, suspicious that anyone who looks at her could be the one who left the note. "I put a chair under my doorknob so nobody can open my door."
She said she doesn't want to "let anyone run me from my home," but the experience does make her want to leave Mount Holly, especially if she continues to worry about her kids' safety.
In the Facebook Live video, her son Ibn'Anthony is seen scooting around the driveway on a plastic car and Suhaylah on a Thomas the Tank Engine. Now, Robinson said, she doesn't feel comfortable going outside.
"I don't walk outside, I don't do anything," she said.
But the 24-year-old was shocked when just two weeks after moving to the apartment in Burlington County with her two young sons, she found her car's tire flattened.
Next to the wheel was a note that called her a terrorist, used a racial slur and said she should "go home" because she was "not wanted here."
"I thought it was just trash and then I saw that my tire was flat," she said of the note she found April 11. "It was a 'go home' letter -- I'm from New Jersey."
Robinson said that although the note included the n-word, she believes she was targeted mostly because she wears a hijab and other clothing that makes it obvious that she is Muslim.
She said she never had anything like this happen before, and now she feels that people in the area are looking at her differently because of her attire.
"In Salem County everyone knows me, but here I feel uncomfortable. I feel like they don't know me because I'm an an outsider, plus the way I dress," she said.
Still, she said she can't believe that in 2018, some people still call any Muslim person a terrorist.
"I tell people all the time: Just talk to me, I'll tell you about my religion," she said.
Mount Holly Police Capt. Rich Spitler said officers determined that someone had let the air out of the tire, and they refilled it for Robinson. He said the department is taking the bias incident very seriously but he could not say much more without compromising the investigation.
"It's ongoing. We're not anywhere near done with it," he said.
Robinson said she moved to the second-floor apartment on Cherry Street March 28. While she didn't know anyone and felt kind of isolated, she had heard the public schools in Mount Holly were good. She has a daughter, Suhaylah, 4, and a son, Ibn'Anthony, 5.
She was heading to the grocery store on the afternoon of April 11 when she noticed her car's front driver's side tire was flat and saw the note. She called police, who asked her who she thought could have done it.
In a Facebook Live video she posted of her talking with police, she told them that she kept to herself and doesn't know anyone.
Police took the note, she said, and assured her they'd do extra patrols in the area.
But later that night, around midnight, someone started banging on a door at the apartment complex. Robinson said she believed it was her door, but Spitler said it was a communal, external door to the apartment building.
Robinson said the banging had her children "screaming and hollering" in fear. It stopped after about 10 minutes, when she yelled that she had called the cops.
Robinson said she hasn't had any trouble since then, but she's still shaken by everything.
"Every night I'm pacing. I feel paranoid," she said, suspicious that anyone who looks at her could be the one who left the note. "I put a chair under my doorknob so nobody can open my door."
She said she doesn't want to "let anyone run me from my home," but the experience does make her want to leave Mount Holly, especially if she continues to worry about her kids' safety.
In the Facebook Live video, her son Ibn'Anthony is seen scooting around the driveway on a plastic car and Suhaylah on a Thomas the Tank Engine. Now, Robinson said, she doesn't feel comfortable going outside.
"I don't walk outside, I don't do anything," she said.
lying or just stupid????
NRA flak complains about public Planned Parenthood funding, forgets NRA conventions are subsidized
Dana Loesch does not understand how non-profits work.
JOSH ISRAEL - think progress
APR 19, 2018, 10:09 AM
Dana Loesch, the National Rifle Association national spokesperson, is appalled and infuriated that Planned Parenthood’s political arm is part of a coalition planning to spend $30 million to help elect candidates who support abortion rights in the 2018 midterm elections, while its non-profit affiliate the Planned Parenthood Federation of America receives taxpayer reimbursements for providing medical care.
But while she falsely claimed that this unconnected funding amounts to “innocent American taxpayers who are being robbed,” she conveniently omitted the fact that her organization also has benefited from public subsidies as its own political arm has spent hundreds of millions on political advocacy.
“[Planned Parenthood] is a for-profit business,” Loesch incorrectly told Fox & Friends on Thursday, “and if they can afford to spent millions and millions of dollars on all of these Democrat [sic] politicians and buy influence in Washington, D.C., well then they can very much afford to operate without the indulgence of society’s forced tax funding.”
Planned Parenthood’s non-profit arm (a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization) receives reimbursement for providing medical care to patients under Medicaid and Title X. By law, almost none of this money is used to fund abortions and none of it is used for political advocacy. The separate, segregated 501(c)(4) Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the Planned Parenthood Votes political action committee are using money raised from donations — not taxpayer dollars — as part of a coalition working to mobilize “infrequent voters.”
Similarly, the NRA operates political arms including its Institute for Legislative Action and its Political Victory Fund. Through these, it spend at least $55 million on the 2016 election in support of Donald Trump and other pro-gun candidates.
Yet the NRA accepts huge subsidies from local governments for its annual conferences. In February, Dallas residents launched a petition to urge the NRA to move its May 2018 conference after learning the city had given more than $400,000 worth of free rent to the group for its gathering. A 2016 Charlotte Observer report, “Cities beset by gun violence use subsidies to woo NRA,” noted that this was not unusual: “In cities such as Charlotte, Louisville and Houston, taxpayers have supported the NRA with subsidies, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
But while she falsely claimed that this unconnected funding amounts to “innocent American taxpayers who are being robbed,” she conveniently omitted the fact that her organization also has benefited from public subsidies as its own political arm has spent hundreds of millions on political advocacy.
“[Planned Parenthood] is a for-profit business,” Loesch incorrectly told Fox & Friends on Thursday, “and if they can afford to spent millions and millions of dollars on all of these Democrat [sic] politicians and buy influence in Washington, D.C., well then they can very much afford to operate without the indulgence of society’s forced tax funding.”
Planned Parenthood’s non-profit arm (a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization) receives reimbursement for providing medical care to patients under Medicaid and Title X. By law, almost none of this money is used to fund abortions and none of it is used for political advocacy. The separate, segregated 501(c)(4) Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the Planned Parenthood Votes political action committee are using money raised from donations — not taxpayer dollars — as part of a coalition working to mobilize “infrequent voters.”
Similarly, the NRA operates political arms including its Institute for Legislative Action and its Political Victory Fund. Through these, it spend at least $55 million on the 2016 election in support of Donald Trump and other pro-gun candidates.
Yet the NRA accepts huge subsidies from local governments for its annual conferences. In February, Dallas residents launched a petition to urge the NRA to move its May 2018 conference after learning the city had given more than $400,000 worth of free rent to the group for its gathering. A 2016 Charlotte Observer report, “Cities beset by gun violence use subsidies to woo NRA,” noted that this was not unusual: “In cities such as Charlotte, Louisville and Houston, taxpayers have supported the NRA with subsidies, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Indiana city councilman resigns after whitesplaining the history of slavery to black people
Brad Reed - raw story
18 APR 2018 AT 14:20 ET
A white city councilman in Goshen, Indiana has resigned after he read an offensive essay that blamed black people for their lack of advancement in American society while also portraying them as criminals.
The South End Tribune reports that Republican city councilman Ed Ahlersmeyer came under fire from Goshen residents after he read aloud an essay titled “Blacks, Crime, and Bended Knee” that was posted on the right-wing American Thinker website that said, among other things, that black people today live on an “imaginary plantation” that’s been brought about by an “through the indoctrination of victimhood.”
The essay also lectured black people that “it is not ‘whitey’ who is committing 62 percent of robberies, 57 percent of murders, 45 percent of assaults in the 75 biggest counties throughout the United States.”
The essay also drew scorn from community members for arguing that no one should complain about the legacy of slavery, segregation and racism in the United States because “America fought a civil war to end slavery” in the 19th century.
Ahlersmeyer defended himself by saying he didn’t agree with everything in the essay, although he did agree with its notion that people should stop believing slavery is still relevant. He also liked its message to black people that “education, self-reliance and delayed gratification and responsibility, hard work and ambition and an intact family are values that are ingrained within those who lead productive lives.”
In addition to taking heat for reading the essay, Ahlersmeyer also drew criticism after he followed a progressive activist across two different towns so he could confront her over criticism she leveled against him at a meeting the week before.
“There is no situation where an elected official should make that choice,” Goshen Mayor Jeremy Stutsman said. “Talking with somebody on the sidewalk is one thing. Following them is another. After discussing it with him, I do believe he had no ill intent in that. It was just a poor decision.”
RELATED: Texas bar owner reluctantly takes down ‘shut up nigger’ sign — but insists he didn’t know slur was racist
A Texas bar owner agreed to take down a sign that reads “shut up nigger” after two customers circulated photos of the slur on social media.
The South End Tribune reports that Republican city councilman Ed Ahlersmeyer came under fire from Goshen residents after he read aloud an essay titled “Blacks, Crime, and Bended Knee” that was posted on the right-wing American Thinker website that said, among other things, that black people today live on an “imaginary plantation” that’s been brought about by an “through the indoctrination of victimhood.”
The essay also lectured black people that “it is not ‘whitey’ who is committing 62 percent of robberies, 57 percent of murders, 45 percent of assaults in the 75 biggest counties throughout the United States.”
The essay also drew scorn from community members for arguing that no one should complain about the legacy of slavery, segregation and racism in the United States because “America fought a civil war to end slavery” in the 19th century.
Ahlersmeyer defended himself by saying he didn’t agree with everything in the essay, although he did agree with its notion that people should stop believing slavery is still relevant. He also liked its message to black people that “education, self-reliance and delayed gratification and responsibility, hard work and ambition and an intact family are values that are ingrained within those who lead productive lives.”
In addition to taking heat for reading the essay, Ahlersmeyer also drew criticism after he followed a progressive activist across two different towns so he could confront her over criticism she leveled against him at a meeting the week before.
“There is no situation where an elected official should make that choice,” Goshen Mayor Jeremy Stutsman said. “Talking with somebody on the sidewalk is one thing. Following them is another. After discussing it with him, I do believe he had no ill intent in that. It was just a poor decision.”
RELATED: Texas bar owner reluctantly takes down ‘shut up nigger’ sign — but insists he didn’t know slur was racist
A Texas bar owner agreed to take down a sign that reads “shut up nigger” after two customers circulated photos of the slur on social media.
a confused racist????
Indiana Republican defends Trump-loving staffer with white nationalist past
Travis Gettys - raw story
12 APR 2018 AT 14:06 ET
A conservative activist with white nationalist ties has turned up again working for a Republican campaign after his past got him dismissed by another Indiana candidate.
Plastic surgeon Richard Moss, a congressional candidate in southwestern Indiana, defended staffer Caleb Shumaker after a local TV news report revealed his racist associations, reported WEHT-TV.
Campaign finance documents show the Moss campaign paid $201.25 to Shumaker for “campaign supplies,” but a source told the station that he was the physician’s campaign director.
“I’m not going to give you my official title,” Shumaker told the TV reporter when asked for comment.
Shumaker said he was a volunteer, which is also how the Moss campaign described the 25-year-old activist.
“Caleb Shumaker has been a volunteer for my campaign for several months and I have appreciated his help along the way,” Moss said in a statement. “I can say from our interactions these salacious allegations are false. Caleb is a strong young conservative and devout in his faith.”
Moss, who is Jewish, said Shumaker is a father in a multi-ethnic family and strong supporter of Israel, and he dismissed the allegations against his staffer as “racial politics” by incumbent GOP Rep. Larry Buchson.
“This is fake news and a planted story by Congressman Bucshon’s desperate re-election campaign,” Moss said. “Let me be clear, there is no place for racism and White Nationalism in the Republican party.”
Shumaker’s background was exposed in November after Roy Moore touted the endorsement of the Indiana First PAC the young activist chairs.
Moore, who ultimately lost his Senate race, used the endorsement as a show of national support after multiple women accused him of molesting them or pursuing them for sex decades ago, when they were teenagers and he was an assistant prosecutor in his 30s.
Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, terminated Shumaker from his own Senate campaign after reporters discovered the conservative activist had previously been part of the white supremacist National Youth Front — although he denies the firing.
“I resigned from that campaign to start a PAC,” Shumaker said, whose organization is intended to “grow the Trump coalition.” “This whole idea of he fired me is completely false.”
Shumaker, who served two years ago as the Indiana state director of Millennials for Ted Cruz, insists didn’t initially realize the group was a white supremacist organization and claims he ended his involvement after less than a month.
“It wasn’t anything when I joined it,” Shumaker told WEHT. “It was a couple individuals I didn’t know, who knew me, said, ‘Hey, we should get millennials together.’”
In fact, Shumaker served as first chairman of the group, which was aimed at college students and is tied to three white supremacists who turned up as Trump supporters during the campaign — California lawyer William Johnson, anti-Semitic ex-professor Kevin MacDonald and James Edwards, host of the Political Cesspool radio program.
Shumaker stepped down as the group’s chairman in January 2015, after other National Youth Front members forced him out over his interracial marriage — and both he and Moss insist he’s not racist.
“Everybody here knows the truth,” Shumaker said. “I was part of something, when I found out what it was, I left … because of their ethnic racial views I didn’t agree with.”
Plastic surgeon Richard Moss, a congressional candidate in southwestern Indiana, defended staffer Caleb Shumaker after a local TV news report revealed his racist associations, reported WEHT-TV.
Campaign finance documents show the Moss campaign paid $201.25 to Shumaker for “campaign supplies,” but a source told the station that he was the physician’s campaign director.
“I’m not going to give you my official title,” Shumaker told the TV reporter when asked for comment.
Shumaker said he was a volunteer, which is also how the Moss campaign described the 25-year-old activist.
“Caleb Shumaker has been a volunteer for my campaign for several months and I have appreciated his help along the way,” Moss said in a statement. “I can say from our interactions these salacious allegations are false. Caleb is a strong young conservative and devout in his faith.”
Moss, who is Jewish, said Shumaker is a father in a multi-ethnic family and strong supporter of Israel, and he dismissed the allegations against his staffer as “racial politics” by incumbent GOP Rep. Larry Buchson.
“This is fake news and a planted story by Congressman Bucshon’s desperate re-election campaign,” Moss said. “Let me be clear, there is no place for racism and White Nationalism in the Republican party.”
Shumaker’s background was exposed in November after Roy Moore touted the endorsement of the Indiana First PAC the young activist chairs.
Moore, who ultimately lost his Senate race, used the endorsement as a show of national support after multiple women accused him of molesting them or pursuing them for sex decades ago, when they were teenagers and he was an assistant prosecutor in his 30s.
Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, terminated Shumaker from his own Senate campaign after reporters discovered the conservative activist had previously been part of the white supremacist National Youth Front — although he denies the firing.
“I resigned from that campaign to start a PAC,” Shumaker said, whose organization is intended to “grow the Trump coalition.” “This whole idea of he fired me is completely false.”
Shumaker, who served two years ago as the Indiana state director of Millennials for Ted Cruz, insists didn’t initially realize the group was a white supremacist organization and claims he ended his involvement after less than a month.
“It wasn’t anything when I joined it,” Shumaker told WEHT. “It was a couple individuals I didn’t know, who knew me, said, ‘Hey, we should get millennials together.’”
In fact, Shumaker served as first chairman of the group, which was aimed at college students and is tied to three white supremacists who turned up as Trump supporters during the campaign — California lawyer William Johnson, anti-Semitic ex-professor Kevin MacDonald and James Edwards, host of the Political Cesspool radio program.
Shumaker stepped down as the group’s chairman in January 2015, after other National Youth Front members forced him out over his interracial marriage — and both he and Moss insist he’s not racist.
“Everybody here knows the truth,” Shumaker said. “I was part of something, when I found out what it was, I left … because of their ethnic racial views I didn’t agree with.”
‘Don’t care if I lose my life — I want out’: Ex-Aryan Brotherhood member shot in the face for leaving gang
Sarah K. Burris - raw story
09 APR 2018 AT 13:07 ET
Thomas Engelmann is a former member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Mississippi and when he decided he wanted out, he knew his life would be in jeopardy.
In an interview with The Clarion Ledger, Engelmann detailed his life as a high-ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood and his struggle to get out.
“It takes a willingness to say, ‘OK, I’m ready to die,'” said Engelmann. “It takes that person saying, ‘OK, I don’t care if I lose my life tomorrow, I want out.’
He noted that if a member of the AB wants out, “they might as well just go hang themselves.” He was trying to figure out a way out when prospective members Brett Davis and Andrew Walters began following him. In June 2016, they pulled up next to him on I-20 and shot him in the face. He’d noticed the two men circling his neighborhood, got behind their truck and took photos of them and the tag.
He knew he’d been shot, though he didn’t know who did it.
“I knew I was blind, but I didn’t know why. My brain wouldn’t let me put it together,” he described. “I was like, ‘Why can’t I see?’ And I’m trying to wipe whatever’s in my eyes out, and I didn’t realize my face is blown up.”
He drove off the road and into overgrown grass where he slammed on the breaks. Engelmann heard a man’s voice telling him to turn off the car. He wasn’t sure if it was the shooter or someone else but trusted the voice. He gave the man the unlock code to his phone that gave the man access to the photos of the shooters.
The man asked if he was praying and Engelmann said he was.
“He told me, ‘Good, you need to. It’s bad,'” he recalled. But he wasn’t praying to live, he was praying for forgiveness “for not making it out of the criminal lifestyle that had shaped so much of my life.”
“I don’t know who that person was, even to this day,” he continued. “That person, no matter what, is an angel in my book.”
It all began when Engelmann was taken into custody in the Mississippi Department of Corrections for armed robbery. He said he joined because most of his family was dead, he came from a broken home and he wanted a family.
“Everyone in prison is already attacking everyone,” he explained. “So, it’s good to have someone who has your back, who can say, ‘I know what you’re going through, bro.'”
To be considered for the ABM, an applicant needs a sponsor and is on probation for at least six months. They sign a “prospect compact” where an oath of secrecy and declare a lifetime allegiance. Engelmann expected to only join the gang for 15 years thinking he could simply leave after. It wasn’t the case.
“I did my 15 years, and they did not let me out,” he said. “I knew too much, and I was a source of income. Remember the Brotherhood is organized crime. Why wouldn’t they keep me? That’s what that boils down to. It’s all about power, drugs and, of course, murder is in there. It’s just like racism is on the butt end of it.”
Once he was out of prison he learned the authorities were watching ABM members, so he “went underground” for four years.
“You realize it’s a bunch of power plays between power-hungry people inside [prison], and it’s an internal struggle, so you hope you don’t get caught up in their things that get everyone RICO charges and state charges and stuff,” he said. “The ones that can’t get out are trying to lay low and hope nobody notices them until they can move on, and that’s the only way to do that safely.”
As a former addict, the ABM saw Engelmann as a possible source for selling drugs, but he told them he’s trying to get away from it and avoid relapsing.
One week he was forced to miss an ABM meeting after his aunt died. He didn’t attend the meeting that followed, either and neither did many other members, following his lead. They removed his leadership position and not long after the ABM was raided. They blamed Engelmann. He explained to those that confronted him that given what he knew the police would have raided much more than simply a meeting.
One of the three main members then passed an SOS or “smash on sight” for Engelmann, though it wasn’t a kill order. Still Walters and Davis decided to shoot instead.
All involved were arrested and plead guilty. Walters and Davis are currently serving 30 and 25 years. Engelmann was blinded by the shot. He has since left Mississippi, leaving everything he owned behind, trying to start over.
“I want people to understand that to dehumanize the people that are in the gangs, it’s no better than the white supremacists dehumanizing other races, or the Nazis dehumanizing Jews. We don’t need to exclude the gang members or the ex-cons coming out,” he closed. “We are all human beings in this together and we need to remember that. These are people. These are human beings. I’m a human being, I’m not just the guy that was shot in the face.”
In an interview with The Clarion Ledger, Engelmann detailed his life as a high-ranking member of the Aryan Brotherhood and his struggle to get out.
“It takes a willingness to say, ‘OK, I’m ready to die,'” said Engelmann. “It takes that person saying, ‘OK, I don’t care if I lose my life tomorrow, I want out.’
He noted that if a member of the AB wants out, “they might as well just go hang themselves.” He was trying to figure out a way out when prospective members Brett Davis and Andrew Walters began following him. In June 2016, they pulled up next to him on I-20 and shot him in the face. He’d noticed the two men circling his neighborhood, got behind their truck and took photos of them and the tag.
He knew he’d been shot, though he didn’t know who did it.
“I knew I was blind, but I didn’t know why. My brain wouldn’t let me put it together,” he described. “I was like, ‘Why can’t I see?’ And I’m trying to wipe whatever’s in my eyes out, and I didn’t realize my face is blown up.”
He drove off the road and into overgrown grass where he slammed on the breaks. Engelmann heard a man’s voice telling him to turn off the car. He wasn’t sure if it was the shooter or someone else but trusted the voice. He gave the man the unlock code to his phone that gave the man access to the photos of the shooters.
The man asked if he was praying and Engelmann said he was.
“He told me, ‘Good, you need to. It’s bad,'” he recalled. But he wasn’t praying to live, he was praying for forgiveness “for not making it out of the criminal lifestyle that had shaped so much of my life.”
“I don’t know who that person was, even to this day,” he continued. “That person, no matter what, is an angel in my book.”
It all began when Engelmann was taken into custody in the Mississippi Department of Corrections for armed robbery. He said he joined because most of his family was dead, he came from a broken home and he wanted a family.
“Everyone in prison is already attacking everyone,” he explained. “So, it’s good to have someone who has your back, who can say, ‘I know what you’re going through, bro.'”
To be considered for the ABM, an applicant needs a sponsor and is on probation for at least six months. They sign a “prospect compact” where an oath of secrecy and declare a lifetime allegiance. Engelmann expected to only join the gang for 15 years thinking he could simply leave after. It wasn’t the case.
“I did my 15 years, and they did not let me out,” he said. “I knew too much, and I was a source of income. Remember the Brotherhood is organized crime. Why wouldn’t they keep me? That’s what that boils down to. It’s all about power, drugs and, of course, murder is in there. It’s just like racism is on the butt end of it.”
Once he was out of prison he learned the authorities were watching ABM members, so he “went underground” for four years.
“You realize it’s a bunch of power plays between power-hungry people inside [prison], and it’s an internal struggle, so you hope you don’t get caught up in their things that get everyone RICO charges and state charges and stuff,” he said. “The ones that can’t get out are trying to lay low and hope nobody notices them until they can move on, and that’s the only way to do that safely.”
As a former addict, the ABM saw Engelmann as a possible source for selling drugs, but he told them he’s trying to get away from it and avoid relapsing.
One week he was forced to miss an ABM meeting after his aunt died. He didn’t attend the meeting that followed, either and neither did many other members, following his lead. They removed his leadership position and not long after the ABM was raided. They blamed Engelmann. He explained to those that confronted him that given what he knew the police would have raided much more than simply a meeting.
One of the three main members then passed an SOS or “smash on sight” for Engelmann, though it wasn’t a kill order. Still Walters and Davis decided to shoot instead.
All involved were arrested and plead guilty. Walters and Davis are currently serving 30 and 25 years. Engelmann was blinded by the shot. He has since left Mississippi, leaving everything he owned behind, trying to start over.
“I want people to understand that to dehumanize the people that are in the gangs, it’s no better than the white supremacists dehumanizing other races, or the Nazis dehumanizing Jews. We don’t need to exclude the gang members or the ex-cons coming out,” he closed. “We are all human beings in this together and we need to remember that. These are people. These are human beings. I’m a human being, I’m not just the guy that was shot in the face.”
amerikkkans funnies
White Supremacists show their stupidity once again.....
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DJT - lie-brary
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