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09 Jun 21 9:08 am
+ Senate report on Jan. 6 attack finds Capitol Police, intelligence agencies failed to relay threat posed by pro-Trump rioters
Caitlin Dickson
Tue, June 8, 2021, 5:28 PM
Summary
In the weeks leading up to Jan. 6, the day Congress was scheduled to meet to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis struggled to determine whether social media posts calling for supporters of then-President Donald Trump to go to the U.S. Capitol armed and prepared for violence amounted to a legitimate security threat or were simply “online bravado.”
Ultimately, according to a Senate report released Tuesday, both DHS and the FBI concluded that such conversations were not credible, and as a result, neither agency issued an official threat assessment or intelligence bulletin to warn law enforcement about the potential for violence at the Capitol ahead of the riot that unfolded on Jan. 6.
That faulty assessment was among a number of massive intelligence, security and communication failures that contributed to what is described in the report as “a violent and unprecedented attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Vice President, Members of Congress, and the democratic process.”
Pro-Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol following a rally with President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Trump supporters storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The bipartisan report is the result of a joint inquiry launched earlier this year by two Senate committees — Rules and Administration, and Homeland Security and Government Affairs — in an effort to understand how, exactly, a violent pro-Trump mob managed to breach the Capitol complex during a joint session of Congress. Its findings and recommendations are based on more than three months of oversight hearings; interviews with current and former law enforcement, intelligence and military officials; and thousands of documents and written statements provided by 50 Capitol Police officers about their experiences. The report links the violence of Jan. 6 to the deaths of seven people, including three police officers who died in the aftermath of the riot.
“The events of January 6th were horrific, and our bipartisan investigation identified many unacceptable, widespread breakdowns in security preparations and emergency response related to this attack,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, said in a statement Tuesday
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08 Jun 21 8:00 pm
+ Norwegian pushes back against DeSantis with threat to enforce fully vaccinated cruises
Meaghan Ellis
As cruise lines prepare to set sail at the end of the summer, the COVID vaccine passport debate continues to ensue. According to Sun-Sentinel, Norwegian Cruise Lines has made it clear that it will continue its plans to require passengers to be fully vaccinated, at least for now.
According to a new press release posted on the company's site, "All initial voyages will operate with fully vaccinated guests and crew." On Monday, June 7, Norwegian Cruise Lines CEO Frank del Rio also confirmed that his staff and legal team are working to implement ways to ensure cruises are safe when they resume.
"We are currently in communication with his staff and legal counsel to ensure that we can offer the safest cruise experience for our passengers departing from the cruise capital of the world," del Rio said.
The move comes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) continues his push to ban vaccine passports across the state. Last month, the Republican governor signed an executive order banning COVID passports.
At the time, DeSantis also released a statement explaining the reason for his executive order.
"Over the last year, we've avoided protracted lockdowns and school closures in Florida because I have refused to take the same approach as other lockdown Governors. This legislation ensures that legal safeguards are in place so that local governments cannot arbitrarily close our schools or businesses," DeSantis said last month. "In Florida, your personal choice regarding vaccinations will be protected and no business or government entity will be able to deny you services based on your decision. I'd like to thank President Simpson, Speaker Sprowls, and the Florida Legislature for getting this legislation got across the finish line."
The order quickly led to blowback from Democratic lawmakers, cruise line CEOS, and cruise analysts. Now, DeSantis is accusing the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of discrimination and "unlawful overreach" with the requirement for COVID vaccine passports. However, experts argue otherwise.
"It would be very difficult, and very unwise, for Florida to stop a company from doing a vaccine passport," said Lawrence Gostin, director of the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center on National and Global Health. He added, "The message is that you may think you have a very effective vaccine, and you might desperately need this for your own health and safety and for your business to thrive, but you can't do it."
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13 May 21 1:27 pm
+ Who is Representing the Most Proud Boys in Capitol Hill Cases? Meet Pierce Bainbridge Attorney John Pierce.
May 12, 2021
Don Lewis
New York Times columnist Alan Feuer says attorney John Pierce of Pierce Bainbridge is representing “more proud boys than any other single lawyer in the Capitol Hill cases”. In addition to representing the most proud boys, what do we know about John Pierce? The Harvard Law School Class of 2000 graduate has a multitude of issues; the timeline below is illuminating.
2016
Pierce reportedly agrees to a $2.5 million a year salary to be a partner at K&L Gates LLP. In around four months, Pierce loses his job after physically assaulting a co-worker at a firm retreat.
Pierce winds up in a UCLA Psychiatric Facility. His ex-wife allegedly receives a warning that Pierce expressed an intense to desire to kill her, the mother of his three children.
Pierce’s former spouse, also a Harvard Law School graduate, obtains the first of two domestic violence restraining orders against him.
Let’s fast forward to 2019, additional interim information is available in this Pierce Bainbridge “Financial Dossier.”
2019
In early November, Rudy Giuliani announces that he hired Pierce Bainbridge. One week later a litigation funder named Virage Capital Management makes a $21 million loan commitment to the law firm. Virage has funded other troubled lawyers, as covered in “The Company You Keep.“
Yet, notwithstanding this massive commitment, over the next several months, Pierce and Pierce Bainbridge take out several cash advances totaling in the millions. The chart below provides an overview of borrowing activity which involves Pierce Bainbridge, John Mark Pierce Enterprises and/or John Pierce, as well as additional related entities.
Pierce Bainbridge borrowing activity.
One day after Giuliani announced hiring Pierce Bainbridge, Pierce signs an income and expense declaration. Another lawyer summarized the filing.
In March, Pierce’s former wife says he breached child support obligations. She threatens to report the matter to child services.
In June, Law360 reports that Pierce’s firm defaulted on its debt to Virage Capital. The amount owed is reported to be approximately $65 million.
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13 May 21 9:16 am
+ Liz Cheney denounces Trump on eve of GOP vote: ‘Ignoring the lie emboldens the liar’
Over 100 anti-Trump republicans threaten to form breakaway party as GOP ousts Cheney
‘Right now, it’s basically the Titanic. We’re in the middle of this slow sink’
Louise Hall
Over 100 prominent Republicans are threatening to split from the GOP amidst its continued support of former president Donald Trump and the ouster of his vocal critic, Wyoming representative Liz Cheney, as divisions in the party hit breaking point.
The anti-Trump members are preparing to release a letter this week, hitting out at the former president’s grip on the GOP and threatening to form a third party unless certain demands are met, The New York Times and Reuters report.
“When in our democratic republic, forces of conspiracy, division, and despotism arise, it is the patriotic duty of citizens to act collectively in defense of liberty and justice,” the statement opens, according to The Times.
A struggle for power in the GOP has ensued since Mr Trump officially left the White House, with the party becoming increasingly divided over the former president’s future standing in the party.
Mr Trump himself has continued to launch personal and political attacks on those who voted to impeach him during his second Senate trial following the Capitol insurrection on 6 January.
"Right now, it’s basically the Titanic. We’re in the middle of this slow sink. We have a band playing on the deck telling everybody it’s fine," Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger who voted to impeach, told Reuters.
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11 May 21 11:35 am
+ Dead Whale Found With 16kg of Plastic Bags, Wrappers Inside Stomach
BY AATIF SULLEYMAN ON 5/11/21 AT 4:38 AM EDT
Environmental conservationists have expressed their "anger" after 16kg of plastic waste was found inside the stomach of a beached whale.
The cetacean, a female Cuvier's beaked whale measuring a little over 5 meters in length, washed up on a beach in Messanges in south-west France, which is on the Atlantic coast.
The whale's partially decomposed corpse was discovered by passers by on Saturday, May 8, and an autopsy carried out by environmental conservation groups Pelagis Observatory and Itsas Arima concluded that its ingestion of an enormous quantity of plastic products led to its death
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09 May 21 9:48 am
+ Proud Boys splintering after Capitol riot, revelations about leader. Will more radical factions emerge?
Will Carless
USA TODAY
The Proud Boys are having a rough time. The self-described "Western chauvinist" drinking club has long been a refuge for white supremacists, anti-Semites and assorted extremists seeking a veneer of legitimacy.
But in the wake of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last month, the group is in some disarray, as state chapters disavow the group's chairman and leaders bicker inpublic and in private about what direction to take the Proud Boys in.
Proud Boys chairman Henry Tarrio, who goes by Enrique, was arrested days before the Capitol riot and charged with two federal weapons charges. Three weeks later, Tarrio was outed as a longtime FBI informant, a role he has now admitted to. The news about the Proud Boys leader came as other members of the group were arrested for their involvement in the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Then, on Feb. 3, Canada designated the Proud Boys as a domestic terrorist group.
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29 Apr 21 8:23 pm
+ 'Petulant toddler' Trump brutally mocked for running to Fox to whine that Biden didn't acknowledge his 'accomplishments'
Matthew Chapman
April 29, 2021
'Petulant toddler' Trump brutally mocked for running to Fox to whine that Biden didn't acknowledge his 'accomplishments'
On Thursday morning, following President Joe Biden's address to a joint session of Congress, President Donald Trump took to Fox Business and, in an interview with Maria Bartiromo, whined that Biden is being "ungracious" by not acknowledging the "accomplishments" of the Trump administration in his speech.
"Obviously they're very ungracious people," said Trump. "I did the vaccine. They like to take the vaccine. But even the fake news isn't giving them credit for that. We did the vaccine, saved tens of millions of lives throughout the world by coming up with a vaccine."
Commenters on social media quickly piled on Trump for his tantrum.
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29 Apr 21 8:17 pm
+ In-custody death of Marvin David Scott III ruled a homicide
BY VICTORIA ALBERT
APRIL 29, 2021 / 7:41 AM / CBS NEWS
The in-custody death of Marvin David Scott III, a 26-year-old Black man who was allegedly pepper-sprayed and had a spit mask placed on his face while he was held at a Texas detention facility in March, was ruled a homicide on Wednesday.
Dr. William Rohr, the medical examiner in Collin County, said Scott's death was caused by "fatal acute stress response in an individual with previously diagnosed schizophrenia during restraint struggle with law enforcement." Rohr's office said it's waiting to obtain laboratory results before publishing a final autopsy report.
Scott was taken into custody on March 14 by officers from the Allen Police Department, who said he was "acting in an erratic manner" at an outlet mall. He was transported to a hospital and held in an emergency room for approximately three hours "due to the possible ingestion of drugs," Allen police said.
Scott, who had been arrested for possessing less than 2 ounces of marijuana, was then transferred to a detention facility in Collin County at approximately 6:22 p.m., Collin County Sheriff Jim Skinner said at a March 19 press briefing
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29 Apr 21 9:34 am
+ Officer injured in Capitol riot criticizes politicians who continue to downplay attack
Wilson Wong
Wed, April 28, 2021, 7:48 AM·
A Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police officer who was assaulted during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot criticized elected officials for "downplaying" the mob's violence and said he now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
In an interview with CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday, Michael Fanone said: "I experienced the most brutal, savage, hand-to-hand combat of my entire life, let alone my policing career, which spans almost two decades."
"This was nothing that I had ever thought would be a part of my law enforcement career, nor was I prepared to experience."
Daniel Rodriguez was indicted earlier this month after federal authorities said he attacked Fanone with an "electroshock weapon." Another man, Thomas F. Sibick, was accused of assaulting the officer and "forcibly" taking his badge and radio, prosecutors said.
In the months since the attack, Fanone, who suffered a heart attack and a concussion during the riot, said he started to "experience some of the more psychological injuries — PTSD."
The officer said it was "difficult seeing elected officials and other individuals kind of whitewash the events of that day or downplay what happened."
"Some of the terminology that was used, like 'hugs and kisses,' and 'very fine people,' is like very different from what I experienced and what my co-workers experienced on the 6th," he said. Fanone's comments appeared to reference former President Donald Trump's false claims in a Fox News interview last month where he said some rioters were "hugging and kissing the police," a contrast to videos showing a mob storming the Capitol.
The attack led to the unprecedented second impeachment of Trump, who held a rally before the riot occurred promoting falsely claimed fraud and a stolen election lie. He was acquitted in the Senate.
Hundreds of people across the country have been arrested in connection with the attack.
Both Rodriguez and Sibick were charged with several federal counts, including knowingly entering a restricted building, violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, impeding, obstructing, or interfering with a law enforcement officer during the commission of a civil disorder, and assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon.
Fanone urged the public not to erase the violence that unfolded on Jan. 6, which left five dead, including a Capitol police officer.
"I want people to understand the significance of Jan. 6. I want people to understand that thousands of rioters came to the Capitol hell-bent on violence and destruction and murder," he said.
“I don’t know how you can watch my body-worn camera footage and deny that Jan. 6 was anything other than violent and brutal."
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27 Apr 21 9:42 pm
+ Levar Burton Schools Meghan McCain On 'Cancel Culture'
"I think we have a consequence culture, and that consequences are finally encompassing everybody in this society," the "Reading Rainbow" host explained.
By David Moye
04/26/2021 02:27 PM ET
Meghan McCain attempted to bait Levar Burton into a debate about “cancel culture” during Monday’s episode of “The View,” but the “Reading Rainbow” host turned it into a teachable moment.
It started when McCain asked Burton about the decision Dr. Seuss Enterprises made in March to cease publishing six children’s books because of racist and insensitive imagery.
“What do you think of that decision and about the cancel culture surrounding works of art or artists that are controversial?” McCain asked.
Burton returned the volley by first explaining that he recently did a voiceover for a Seuss Foundation video reminding viewers that “Dr. Seuss is more than simply a company that’s decided to put a couple of books on the shelf, to take them out of rotation.”
Then, using Dr. Seuss’ real name, he added: “That man, Theodore Geisel, is responsible for generations of wholesome, healthy, wonderful, creative content for children of all ages. So, I think we need to put things in perspective.”
Finally, Burton calmly explained that he thinks the term “cancel culture” is wrongly invoked to explain an awakening of accountability.
“I think it’s misnamed,” Burton said of the term, which has become a right wing buzzword. “That’s a misnomer. I think we have a consequence culture, and that consequences are finally encompassing everybody in this society, whereas they haven’t been ever in this country.”
Whatever it’s called, Burton said, “good signs that are happening in the culture right now.”
He added: “And I think it has everything to do with a new awareness by people who were simply unaware of the real nature of life in this country for people who have been othered since this nation began.”
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27 Apr 21 9:25 pm
+ Texas couple who deleted Facebook posts bragging about being at the Capitol riot was arrested for assaulting police officers, FBI says
Kelsey Vlamis
Sun, April 25, 2021, 12:22 AM·
A Texas couple has been charged with assaulting police officers during the Capitol siege.
A criminal complaint says the two were captured on police body cameras striking officers.
In since-deleted posts, the Middletons bragged about their participation on Facebook.
A couple from North Texas was arrested Wednesday on charges related to the siege at the US Capitol on January 6, when a mob of Donald Trump's supporters breached the building to disrupt the certification of the election.
mark and jalise middleton
Facebook records in the criminal complaint show Mark and Jalise Middleton, FBI said. FBI, US Department of Justice
In a criminal complaint, the Federal Bureau of Investigations said Mark and Jalise Middleton of Forestburg were captured on footage from body cameras worn by police that showed them assaulting two Metropolitan Police Department officers who were guarding the Capitol.
Related: Pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol, forced into recess
They are facing charges that include assaulting police officers and remaining on restricted grounds, though they did not appear to have entered the building.
The footage shows the police officers struggling against rioters who are pushing against a barricade and trying to break the police line, ignoring commands from officers to step back, the complaint said.
Read more: Trump and his advisors are shrugging off DOJ's Capitol riot probe. But they see danger in the Georgia and New York investigations.
One man wearing a Trump beanie, later identified as Mark Middleton, 51, pushes against the officers and the barricade with his body. When officers repeatedly instructed Middleton to get back, he yelled "f— you!" and continued to push. At one point, he grabs one of the officers and attempts to pull him forward.
Beside Mark, a woman wearing a Trump 2020 beanie, later identified as Jalise Middleton, 50, also grabbed at the officer with her hands, the complaint said. When another officer stepped in, Jalise Middleton struck him too.
The Middletons continued to strike the officers and jab flagpoles at their faces until one officer deployed a chemical spray, forcing them to retreat.
mark and jalise middleton
The criminal complaint included still images of officers' body camera that purportedly showed the Middletons assaulting officers. FBI, US Department of Justice
After receiving a tip, the FBI examined photos and videos the Middletons had shared on Facebook.
"We are on the front lines. We helped push down the barriers. Jalise and I got pepper sprayed, clubbed, and tear gassed. We had to retreat, but more patriots pushed forward, and they're taking back our house," Mark Middleton said in a video shared to his personal account, the complaint said.
"Do not believe the news media, we're not rioters or mobs," he said in a separate comment. "We've been the ones supporting the police, backing the police, but this is how we're being treated?"
Jalise Middleton made incriminating posts on her Facebook page too.
"We fought the cops to get in the Capital and got pepper sprayed and beat but by gosh the patriots got in!" she said. When someone asked why they fought the cops, she replied: "To get in the Capital to send them bastards a clear message that this won't be tolerated."
The complaint said Jalise Middleton deleted the above post days after making them.
Facebook has said it was preserving data related to the Capitol siege in order to aid law enforcement.
To date, at least 439 people have been arrested in the Capitol insurrection.
Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com.
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26 Apr 21 11:06 am
+ Traitor Trump Demands National Guard During AZ's Third Recount
By John Amato
Traitor Trump Demands National Guard During AZ's Third Recount
In typical lying fashion, TraitorTrump demanded Gov. Ducey (R) of Arizona send in the State police or National Guard to protect against a non-existent threat posed by yet another audit of the 2020 election.
Tilting at windmills, people.
Thankfully, Trump can't tweet any longer, but he sends out statements from his money-grubbing PAC. He sent this one yesterday:
The Republican Party is demanding that Governor Ducey of Arizona immediately provide large-scale security for the brave American Patriots doing the Forensic Audit of the 2020 Presidential Election. Governor Ducey will be held fully responsible for the safety of those involved. State police or National Guard must be immediately sent out for protection. The Democrats do not want to have this information revealed, and they will do anything to stop it. Governor Ducey must finally act!
Who is posing a threat to the audit? BLM? Antifa? Cardi B? Nobody knows, but since the narcissistic imbecile said it, the MAGA cultists will follow his lead.
Arizona already has had two recounts. So, how absurd is this latest audit?
AZCentral writes, "Then there’s the never-ending story of the election audit, led by the Arizona Senate Republicans. It’s a desperate move, and so far it’s been an absurd one."
Arizona has installed a voter fraud nut to oversee the whole project.
The head of Cyber Ninjas, the Florida-based firm that Republican senators hired to oversee the audit, has embraced Mr. Trump’s baseless theories of election theft and has suggested, contrary to available evidence, that Mr. Trump actually won Arizona by 200,000 votes. The pro-Trump cable channel One America News Network has started a fund-raiser to finance the venture and has been named one of the nonpartisan observers that will keep the audit on the straight and narrow.
Keeping his Voter Fraud and Big Steal lies alive is critical to TraitorTrump's fundraising, no matter what the cost is to the American people.
Many prosecutors and judges have weighed in on the danger Trump's election lies pose.
“It’s never too late” for pro-Trump extremist groups like the Proud Boys to mobilize because the right-wing political climate hasn’t shifted much since Trump left office, federal prosecutor Jason McCullough argued at a hearing for one of the accused Proud Boys leaders earlier this week.
The comments from prosecutors and judges demonstrate how Trump’s post-presidency lying about 2020 is complicating matters for some of his most ardent supporters — including people who heeded his call to come to Washington on January 6 and are now in jail cells awaiting trial.
--
“The Court is not convinced that dissatisfaction and concern about the legitimacy of the election results has dissipated for all Americans. Former President Donald J. Trump continues to make forceful public comments about the ‘stolen election,’ chastising individuals who did not reject the supposedly illegitimate results that put the current administration in place,” Sullivan wrote.
The issue came up Thursday at a hearing for another defendant in the same case.
“The unfounded allegations are out there, and they’re being made constantly by the former President,” Sullivan said, prompting a defense attorney to condemn Trump’s comments as “absolutely reprehensible” and express hope that “somebody” will “try to stop” the lying.
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26 Apr 21 5:31 am
+ Pence’s mid-pandemic holiday ski trip cost taxpayers more than $750,000
Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel
April 22, 2021
While coronavirus cases surged to record levels late last December, Vice President Mike Pence went on a ski vacation in Vail, Colorado. The trip came with a massive bill to taxpayers, with Secret Service protection alone costing $757,527.85, according to documents obtained by CREW.
At the time of his holiday travel, Pence was the head of the White House coronavirus task force, which put out dire warnings after Thanksgiving as the CDC recommended that Americans stay home over the holidays in order to limit the spread of the virus. Clearly, Pence did not follow the government’s advice, and in the process put dozens of Secret Service agents at heightened risk of infection.
Pence’s trip extended from December 23rd to January 1st, and reportedly included a Secret Service entourage of at least 48 agents, contributing to both the high cost and the risk of infection. The agents stayed at several different hotels in the Vail area and rented 77 cars for the trip. The charges included more than $270,000 at the Marriott Vail Mountain and more than $80,000 at the Ritz Carlton.
Unfortunately, Pence’s unnecessary pandemic travel wasn’t a first for the Trump administration. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump did something similar, and traveled to Trump’s Bedminster club during the April 2020 stay at home orders. The Washington Post recently reported that career Secret Service staff suggested an inspector general investigation into the spread of coronavirus within the agency. The idea was rejected by the Trump-appointed IG, who also blocked other investigations that could have reflected badly on the Trump administration.
This also is not the first time Mike Pence stuck taxpayers with huge bills for his travel. Back in 2019, he traveled to Ireland for government business in Dublin, but stayed overnight at Donald Trump’s resort on the other side of the country in Doonbeg. Travel costs for that were more than half a million dollars, and also resulted in the Secret Service spending more than $15,000 at Trump’s resort.
While Pence’s December trip to Vail was less nakedly corrupt than his trip to Doonbeg, it showed another kind of bad judgment, by putting many government workers tasked with keeping him safe at risk in the midst of a raging pandemic. We would hope that the head of the coronavirus task force would know better
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20 Apr 21 8:34 am
+ Oath Keepers’ blithe interview demonstrates how little we have learned since Oklahoma City
Apr 19, 2021 4:35pm Central Daylight Time by David Neiwert, Daily Kos Staff
Today marks the 26th anniversary of the day—April 19, 1995—that a far-right “Patriot” extremist with military experience named Timothy McVeigh blew up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and maiming hundreds more. It should have been a moment that permanently discredited his belief system as well as confirmed it as a major source of domestic terrorism and a top concern for law enforcement.
Yet on Sunday, CBS’ 60 Minutes showed us how the twisted beliefs of the “Patriots” who form the Oath Keepers—an organization devoted explicitly to recruiting military and law enforcement veterans, all potential McVeighs in the making—continue to assert their presence in the American political landscape by portraying their seditionist “constitutional” worldview as normal, and describing how actively serving law enforcement officers help train them in weapons and tactics. That despite their leadership having played leading roles in the attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power by armed insurrection on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.
Jim Arroyo, an Oath Keepers leader from Arizona, boasted to the CBS reporters that they receive top-flight paramilitary training because of their affiliations.
“Our guys are very experienced,” he said. “We have active-duty law enforcement in our organization that are helping to train us. We can blend in with our law enforcement and in fact, in a lot of cases, our training is much more advanced because of our military backgrounds.”
While Arroyo seems to think that this will help make the public feel more comfortable with giving a law enforcement role to unaccountable vigilantes like his group, what it actually does is raise yet more bright red flags about the extent to which our law enforcement organizations have been infiltrated by and blithely staffed with right-wing extremists.
That problem became self-evident when it emerged that some 31 law-enforcement officers in 12 states have been linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. It’s become a paramount issue as the connections between law enforcement and the far-right Proud Boys street brawlers—with whom the Oath Keepers at various times have linked arms—became better known after the insurrection as well. These issues are why the FBI sent out a bulletin to law enforcement advising them to be on the lookout for infiltration by such far-right groups.
This, as I explained well over a decade ago, is exactly what makes organizations like the Oath Keepers so potentially dangerous to our democracy:
Inevitably, there are going to be competent killers either joining the far right from our military ranks—especially if they've been recruited into those beliefs either before or during their service—or enacting far-right "lone wolf scenarios," and they are going to have the ability to wreak a great deal of havoc.
One of the experts CBS consulted for the piece, ex-NSC Senior Cirector Javed Ali, noted: “I think what makes the Oath Keepers unique and challenging, beyond the fact that they are a formal group with chapters all over the country, is that a large percentage have tactical training and operational experience in either the military or law enforcement. That at least gives them a capability that a lot of other people in this far right space don't have.”
One of the ways the Oath Keepers, like all would-be vigilantes, have always avoided accountability—as they have from their origins, when a prominent Oath Keeper speaker was arrested for sexually abusing his young daughter—is to claim that anyone causing trouble or breaking the law wasn’t really a member of the organization. This lets them fob off the violent, black helicopter paranoia and outright incompetence that swirls around their activities (including the moment, at the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff, that Oath Keepers and militiamen were drawing down on each other) as the mere side effect of the occasional irresponsible nonmember using their name
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18 Apr 21 8:33 am
+ WATCH: Bill Maher Once Said N-Word 11 Times and Told a Black Woman He Couldn’t Tell She Was Black — And Didn’t Get Canceled
TOMMY CHRISTOPHER APR 17, 2021 11:46 AM
Comic and political pundit Bill Maher hosted Sharon Osbourne for an extended complaint session about “cancel culture” on Friday night, partially because Maher was able to survive cultural cancellation himself after he said the n-word 11 times on the air in a segment of his old Politically Incorrect show.
On the latest episode of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher commiserated with Osbourne over her exit from CBS’ The Talk following an on-air meltdown during which she berated a co-host and demanded she not cry.
But for all of his complaining about “cancel culture,” Maher has managed to cultivate an immunity to the alleged phenomenon that would make Pfizer and Moderna jealous.
Lots of people probable remember the flap surrounding his invocation of the term “house nigga” during an interview with Ben Sasse. Maher was moved to release a brief statement of apology that time, which was followed by a lengthy schooling from Professor Michael Eric Dyson and some professional counseling from Ice Cube and Symone Sanders.
But long before that, during the run of his ABC show Politically Incorrect, Maher took some truly atrocious liberties during a discussion of racial slurs with Black actor and activist Anne-Marie Johnson.
During that segment, while advancing the even-in-2001-tired-as-hell argument that white people can say the n-word because Black people say it, he blurted out “nigga” 11 times — including the claim that people regularly walk up to him and say “Bill, you a nigga!” — and told Johnson he’d never know she was Black if she hadn’t alerted him to that fact.
The segment included some other pretty sickening moments, such as David Spade explaining how much the mockery of white people by Black comics hurts him and Sarah Silverman defending her assertion that activist Guy Aoki wasn’t really offended by her use of the word “chink” in a joke, and was just trying to get attention for himself.
She concluded the segment by telling Aoki, to his face, “You know what? There are only two Asian people I know that I don’t like. One is you, and the other is my friend Steve, who actually went pee pee in my Coke.”
That episode aired on August 22, 2001, and it was not followed by any outcry, and Maher’s show stayed on the air for nearly a year after that, even after he said something that actually did eventually get him canceled — at least from ABC.
But Maher landed on his feet quickly, and has since thrived on HBO, where he consistently rails against the “cancel culture” that he mysteriously seems to escape time after tine. How about that?
Watch the full segment above.
Tags: Anne-Marie Johnson, Bill Maher, David Spade, Guy Aoki, Ice Cube, Michael Eric Dyson, Politically Incorrect, Real Time with Bill Maher, Sarah Silverman, Sharon Osbourne, Symone Sanders, The Talk
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17 Apr 21 10:01 am
+ They're the military's most elite. In secret online groups, some spew racism, conspiracies.
Carol E. Lee and Anna Schecter
Fri, April 16, 2021, 3:30 AM
WASHINGTON — They're the most elite, lethally trained members of the U.S. military, widely considered the best of the best. And yet in secret Facebook groups exclusively for special operations forces that were accessed by NBC News, they share misinformation about a "stolen" 2020 election, disparaging and racist comments about America's political leadership and even QAnon conspiracy theories.
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17 Apr 21 5:00 am
+ CAPITOL RIOTS:
Oath Keeper Becomes First Capitol Insurrectionist to Rat Out Fellow Rioters
ONE DOWN
Pilar Melendez
National Reporter
Updated Apr. 16, 2021 4:40PM ET Published Apr. 16, 2021 12:09PM ET
DOJ/Criminal Complaint
A heavy metal guitarist and self-described “founding” member of the Oath Keepers who stormed the U.S. Capitol armed with bear spray has become the first Jan. 6 insurrectionist to plead guilty and cooperate with the feds, prosecutors said Friday.
Jon Ryan Schaffer, a 53-year-old from Indiana, pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding and entering a restricted building with a deadly or dangerous weapon during a Friday hearing. During the hearing, Judge Amit Mehta also revealed that Schaffer will be sponsored for witness protection.
“The defendant in this case admits forcing his way into the U.S. Capitol on January 6 for the express purpose of stopping or delaying congressional proceedings essential to our democratic process. These actions are disgraceful and unacceptable,” FBI Deputy Director Paul M. Abbate said in a statement.
The plea, which requires his full cooperation with federal prosecutors in their ongoing investigation, marks the first time a rioter has copped to his crimes on Jan. 6. It’s been exactly 100 days since thousands of MAGA rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent Joe Biden's electoral certification. So far, 400 individuals have been charged in connection to the riots.
Schaffer was released after the Friday hearing until his sentencing, though he must now submit to court supervision in the Northern District of Indiana, surrender his passport, and stay away from Washington, D.C. His release came after his attorney argued for no travel restrictions, claiming Schaffer is an “internationally known musician and recording artist.”
Plea negotiations between Schaffer’s lawyers and federal prosecutors were unintentionally disclosed earlier this month after sealed Department of Justice documents were accidentally filed on the public docket.
“The government’s ongoing plea negotiations with this defendant are the first and most advanced plea negotiations involving any of the over 300 Capitol Riot defendants,” federal prosecutors wrote in the April 5 filing. By pleading guilty on Friday, Schaffer will likely face a four-year prison sentence.
The guitarist and founding member of the heavy metal band Iced Earth was initially charged in January with six crimes for participating in the Jan. 6 siege while wearing a hat that proclaimed him to be an “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member.”
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In his plea agreement, Schaffer “acknowledged he is a founding lifetime member of the Oath Keepers,” and admitted to traveling to D.C. to protest the results of the presidential election, which he believed was rigged, prosecutors stated.
“Schaffer admitted to being among the first individuals to push past the damaged doors and into the Capitol building, forcing officers to retreat. Schaffer and others advanced toward five or six backpedaling USCP officers while members of the mob swelled inside of the Capitol and overwhelmed the officers,” prosecutors said in a press release announcing his plea agreement. “The officers ultimately deployed a chemical irritant to disperse the mob. Schaffer was among the people who were sprayed in the face, after which exited while holding his own bear spray in his hands.”
During the siege, Schaffer allegedly sprayed multiple U.S. Capitol police officers with bear spray as they breached the government building. A criminal complaint also states Schaffer verbally assaulted officers inside the building.
Long before his decision to storm the Capitol alongside his paramilitary members, prosecutors state Schaffer held far-right extremist views.
“During an interview in 2017, Schaffer identified himself as an ‘anarchist’ and referred to the federal government as a ‘criminal enterprise.’ During that same interview, Schaffer stated that the 2016 Presidential election was ‘rigged,’” the complaint states.
After the election, Schaffer attended several Trump rallies protesting the election results, including one March event where he told reports, “If somebody wants to bring violence, I think there’s a lot of us here that are ready for it. We don’t want that, but if they bring it we’re going to respond to that, trust me.”
So far, prosecutors have charged over a dozen Oath Keepers with conspiracy, including Jessica Watkins, a 38-year-old former Army vet accused of recruiting members to “fight hand to hand” to take over the Capitol. Prosecutors describe the Oath Keepers as “an organization that characterizes itself as a militia of former law enforcement and military personnel and has often, as a group, urged President Trump to declare Martial Law in order to prevent Congress from certifying the Electoral College Results.”
