Because he doesn’t like it and wants it to not only stop but to go away forever from his world he thinks it is OK to threaten and intimidate. Doing violence in the name of god and morality. This is the world that trump normalized. We must fight again to make this terrorism unacceptable in a decent society again. Hugs
A Bayport man who had mailed letters threatening mass shootings and bombings to those affiliated with LGBTQ+ organizations and businesses was sentenced in federal court in Central Islip Wednesday, officials said.
Robert Fehring, 74, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for mailing more than 60 letters to LGBTQ-affiliated individuals, organizations and businesses. Many of those letters contained threats to kill, shoot and bomb the recipients.
Fehring had pleaded guilty to the charge in February.
“There is no room for hate in the Eastern District of New York. Today’s sentence makes clear that threats to kill and commit acts of violence against the LGBTQ+ community will be met with significant punishment,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
“We will use the full power of our office to bring to justice those who threaten to kill or hurt people because of who they are, and to ensure everyone in our district is able to live authentically, safely and in peace,” Peace added.
Fehring sent the letters from at least 2013 to 2021, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In the letters, Fehring threatened to use firearms, explosives and more against the recipients. Two of the letters threatened an attack on an LGBTQ+ event in Huntington that would be similar to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, according to officials.
Another letter threatened that radio-controlled explosives would be planted at a beach club in Long Beach that had hosted a LGBTQ+ event, officials said. In another letter sent in June 2018, Fehring threatened the operators of a water ferry service from Sayville to Fire Island, warning that they should “screen everyone coming on board with a metal detector” and that “a thorough search of your boats would be in order.”
A letter to the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan read, “we will blow up/burn your establishments down. We will shoot those who frequent your dens of [expletives].”
And a letter to an African American-owned barbershop affiliated with the LGTBQ+ community in Brooklyn claimed to be from “People Who Hate Gays … and In Particular [n-word] Gays” declared “your shop is the perfect place for a bombing … or beating the scum that frequents your den of [expletive] into a bloody pool of steaming flesh.”
The FBI Civil Rights Squad and New York Joint Terrorism Task Force executed a search warrant in November at Fehring’s home in Bayport. There, they recovered copies of threatening letters, supplies used to mail threatening letters, 20 LGBTQ+ Pride flags that were stolen from flagpoles in Sayville in July 2021, and reconnaissance-style photographs from the Eisenhower Park Pride event, officials said.
During the search, the FBI recovered electronic devices owned by Fehring that contained internet searches for his victims and related LGBTQ+ affiliated events and businesses. Law enforcement officers also recovered two loaded shotguns, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, two stun guns, and a stamped envelope addressed to an LGBTQ+ affiliated attorney containing the remains of a dead bird, officials said.
At the sentencing hearing, six victims addressed the court and described the fear that Fehring’s threats instilled in them.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance in the investigation.
I want to point out a few things to those who are thinking that women / girls shouldn’t have “people with penises” in their locker room or bathrooms. Let’s take bathrooms first. I bet in the 1960’s there was a lot of talk that white women did not want black women in their bathrooms. All the black women wanted to do was use the facilities not have a social meeting, same as trans people now. They just want to use the facilities. We learned back in this time that separate was not equal. As to locker rooms the same argument applies, but not so much. I don’t know how modern locker rooms are set up, but they can be reasonably private. Showers can be smaller single occupancy showers. But that overlooks the fear and terror installed in people, kids and adults, of the human body. I told how one kid at the SDA church boarding school I went to was so scared of the “private area” that he would only shower when very few people were around and only with his underwear on. That kind of teaching about body parts is harmful and stupid. In European countries there is not a hang up or fear of the human body, kids are taught at an early age what is what, where it is, and how to be respectful of it. The responsibility is not all with the girls either, teen boys are taught how to respectfully hide or manage an embarrassing erection. But to locker rooms, what are you people doing in there, having a measuring contest of sex organs? You seem to forget the gay and lesbian kids in the room, do you think they are getting their thrills by being there. No way. A couple of boys used to clown around to hide their nervousness but really the truth was back in those days most of us hurried to change our clothes and get ourselves covered. I think we were all afraid we did not measure up to what we though men were supposed to be done there. I think that what is bothering the parents is other than the super religious families, the young people / minors are no longer embarrassed and ashamed over the body. They have been taught acceptance and no body shaming. That is why the red states are desperate to change acceptance in schools, to implement the now say gay and anti-trans bills. They want the kids to be ashamed and fearful over the human body. They don’t want sex education because they want the kids clueless and ignorant about body rights of who can touch them and how NOT to get a pregnancy they now cannot abort. Kids can be taught to use the bathrooms / locker rooms without having orgies. Look, in my day teachers had to break up the occasional fight, I am sure teachers can stop any kids from outright display of their genitals. Think of this in the hospital we used curtains on a track in the ceiling for privacy. They can be off the ground so teachers can make sure kids are not in there playing with each other. Easy single person solutions for adults and kids, if privacy means that much to you pull the curtain. This is about making trans people scary and the enemy. They are not. They are not there to attack others. With kids they are either required to have PE class or they simply want to play a sport. This is about saying anyone with a penis cannot control themselves. Hugs
The complaint filed Thursday by the Human Rights Campaign asserts that a state law preventing transgender students from accessing school facilities consistent with their gender identity violates their constitutional rights.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) on Thursday filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging a 2021 Tennessee law that prohibits transgender students from using school restrooms or locker rooms that match their gender identity.
A similar complaint was filed by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the HRC, last year. That lawsuit was dropped in February after the plaintiffs and their families decided to move out of Tennessee.
Thursday’s complaint was filed on behalf of D.H., a transgender 8-year-old girl entering the third grade in Williamson County, Tenn.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ rights groups, is suing the Tennessee Department of Education and its commissioner over the enforcement of a state law barring transgender students from using school facilities like restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court alleges that the law, signed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) last May, singles out transgender students for “disfavored treatment” and violates rights guaranteed to them under the U.S. Constitution and Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs. The U.S. Department of Education last year said the policy protects students from discrimination based on their gender identity.
The law, officially titled the Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act, requires state public schools to provide “reasonable accommodation” for students who “will not or cannot” use a gender-specific facility.
Under the measure, a “reasonable accommodation” does not include access to a restroom or changing room that is “designated for use by members of the opposite sex while persons of the opposite sex are present or could be present.” In this case, “sex” is defined as a student’s sex assigned at birth, which the law argues is immutable.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the HRC, filed a similar lawsuit against the Tennessee law last year, but that case was dismissed in February after both plaintiffs and their families decided to move to another state.
Thursday’s complaint was filed jointly with the law firm Linklaters on behalf of a transgender 8-year-old girl entering the third grade in Williamson County, Tenn. Jason Golden, the director of Williamson County Schools, and the Williamson County Board of Education are also named as defendants in the complaint.
According to the lawsuit, the girl, identified pseudonymously as D.H. to protect her identity, had previously been permitted to use the girls’ restroom at school for in-person events while engaging in distance learning in 2021.
Once D.H. returned to the classroom earlier this year, she was barred under the Accommodations for All Children Act from using facilities aligning with her gender identity and made to use a single-occupancy restroom which reportedly has on more than one occasion been covered in human waste.
“These restroom ‘accommodations’ provided to D.H. by the elementary school are not accommodations at all,” the complaint states. “They reinforce the differential treatment and trauma associated with living under the [Accommodations for All Children Act], violating D.H.’s constitutional and statutory rights.”
In a statement on Thursday, HRC Litigation Director Cynthia Cheng-Wun Weaver called state lawmakers that backed the law “power hungry” and accused them of supporting the legislation to ignite their base.
“It is unfortunate that Tennessee lawmakers are using their authority to attack some of our nation’s most vulnerable – our children,” she said.
D.H.’s mother, identified in the suit as A.H., said she felt ashamed to live in an area so hostile to transgender young people.
“Years ago, I chose to move to Tennessee because it was known as ‘the volunteer state,’ whose citizens cared for their neighbors without hesitation – not a state that legalizes discrimination against helpless children,” she said Thursday. “Now, I am embarrassed to say that I live in a state that refuses to see anything beyond my child’s gender.”
“By filing this lawsuit, I am showing my volunteer spirit – because I’m fighting to not only affirm my child’s existence, but also the thousands of transgender and nonbinary children who live in Tennessee.”
Neither the Tennessee Department of Education nor Williamson County Schools immediately responded to Changing America’s request for comment.
Just in: @HRC announces a new lawsuit, filed on Monday, challenging Tennessee’s anti-trans student bathroom bill. Here’s the complaint, brought on behalf of a trans student and her parents in Williamson County. https://t.co/BZ291fYhmapic.twitter.com/SJ4isEhfB9
— Chris “Subscribe to Law Dork!” Geidner (@chrisgeidner) August 4, 2022
The Republican Party and its Religious Right puppet master are targeting the trans community because, sadly, to do so is a winner for them. Most Americans know shit about trans people and their lives.
The Republicans and the preachers can rake in millions of dollars — and motivate their voters to go to the polls — by playing on the fear and ignorance out there.
I started my transition shortly after you did, and while overall things have improved, the far-right nutcases and religious zealots have decided we are a convenient scapegoat, as their previous attempt (trying to scapegoat homosexual people) mostly collapsed (but they are trying to resurrect that garbage too). As much as all of us are beyond fucking tired of the bullshit they continue to spew, and tired of being targets, we need to stay strong and show the world that the hate-mongers are nothing more than delusional liars. I’ll keep standing with you April.
Ditto drag queens. All of them are icky perverts that exist only to molest children. No mention ever of the actual child molesters that, more often than not, are youth pastors or otherwise in the employ of christianity Inc.
Good. Transgender people should be able to use the bathroom and locker rooms under their gender identity. This bill, like “Don’t Say Gay” in Florida, is the gay panic repackaged and is disgraceful.
Sorry, but the whose “separate but equal ” bullshit you’re espousing was proven to be garbage over 6 decades ago. Please keep your transphobia to yourself.
This what happens when the governor and a majority of the state legislators are Evangelicals – they always go after minority groups of all types for disfavored treatment.
True. If not transgender people, then they target the homosexual people, then they target people who are not Christian, then they target people who aren’t the “right type” of Christian…. they need someone to hate so that they don’t look at who they really hate: themselves.
In the end, they’re really claiming that men can’t be trusted..
Ever.
That All men are rapists and perverts who will upend their whole life to get close to a possible naked woman. Huckabee said he would dress up just to get into the shower with school aged girls. People who pass these bills shouldn’t be allowed near women at all, without supervision. Not even their wives.
I think the purpose of these stupid laws is a shortsighted attempt to get transfolk to leave the state, but some are kids who don’t have that option until they are emancipated from their families. The vast majority of the others are people who are gainfully employed and not causing trouble, but only need to use the restroom because they are at work or out going about their business and patronizing local stores and contributing to the economy,so they can’t use the washroom at home. Their only alternative will be to use the bushes, which is creating a needless and avoidable sanitation issue.
“It’s just kind of remarkable to see some of the headlines — the headlines that very clearly are trying to make you afraid of monkeypox or fill-in-the-blank.
“You know, because if you’re not afraid of this there will be something else after that and something else after that.
“These people are determined to make you afraid and do whatever it is they want you to do. And I hope that more and more people choose not to do that.
“That being said, you should know that there’s actually very little data on this vaccine.
“Believe it or not, there’s actually less data on this than on COVID vaccines.” – Florida Surgeon General Joseph Lapado, speaking at a press event alongside DeSantis.
Ladapo, who has refused to disclose his own COVID vaccination status, is affiliated with the far-right anti-vax group, America’s Frontline Doctors.
Early this year the Florida Senate approved him as state surgeon general despite reports that he lied about having treated COVID patients while working at UCLA’s hospital.
During his confirmation hearing, he repeatedly refused to say if he believes that COVID vaccines are effective.
.@GovRonDeSantis reboots Anthony Fauci feud in monkeypox comments, blasting Fauci for 1980s approach to AIDS
Once again this motherfucker is playing Russian roulette with the lives of Floridians. He downplayed covid now he’s downplaying monkeypox. Hey Ron at least act like you give a fuck dude.https://t.co/XXo8iRESG7
“You know, because if you’re not afraid of this there will be something else after that and something else after that. “These people are determined to make you afraid and do whatever it is they want you to do
Once again: CRT, Mr. Potato Head, vaccines, trans girls in sports, BLM, immigrants, teachers, masks, Big Bird, saying ‘gay’, mail in voting, women controlling their own reproduction, etc. etc. etc.
Regressives: “These people are determined to make you afraid and do whatever it is they want you to do”
Also Regressives: “DISNEY GAYS ARE GOING TO CRT TRANS YOUR KIDS, GIVE US YOUR MONEY AND UNLIMITED POLITICAL POWER”
#BREAKING: Gov. Ron DeSantis is suspending State Attorney Andrew Warren, a Democrat, for vowing to not enforce prohibitions on sex changes for minors or restrictions on abortion
Current and former sheriffs around the country are joining forces and conducting independent investigations, despite all evidence, into the 2020 vote. CNN’s Sara Sidner reports.
This is another attempt to ruin public education and to instead indoctrinate kids / students with “American Exceptionalism” and conservative right wing views. There is a reason teaching is a profession, it has professional ethics and standards. This is why parents should not be setting curriculums and alternate history. This is why a lot of religious schools are unaccredited, they do not teach legitimate subject material that is required for a child to move to higher education, and to pass basic education tests. This is part of DeathSantis attack on schools and education, this is part of the don’t say gay and no CRT/ teaching accurate history including no sexual education while insisting teachers teach that the US was founded to be a Christian nation. If you think this is just a Florida problem remember DeathSantis is the front runner now for the republican nomination for president in 2024, and has raised hundreds of millions of dollars far out fund raising any other republican candidate. He is what the right wing wants for their king. Hugs
Gov. Ron DeSantis is vowing to “keep plowing forward” with plans to allow military veterans to teach in Florida classrooms, suggesting Wednesday that vets may be better suited to teaching than an education major.
“You give me somebody who has four years of experience as a Devil Dog over somebody who has four years of experience at Shoehorn U and I will take the Marine every day of the week and twice on Sunday,” DeSantis said during a press conference in Brevard County.
DeSantis made the comments defending a Senate bill last year that allowed for an alternative pathway to teaching certification for military veterans.
Just another huge block of voters, teachers, he is turning further against himself. They say if gays are five per cent of the population in Florida and they turn out , they can decide the election against Ron. Let’s all take him down
Keep in mind that Ron Desantis graduated from both Harvard Law and Yale. His children certainly won’t be taught by ill-equipped veterans rather than qualified school teachers.
This asshole went to Harvard. He knows active duty military can’t and shouldn’t teach Algebra or “Where The Red Fern Grows.” The point is to break public teachers unions and bleed public school money into the private sector. His “golly-shucks” populism is as cynical as the greed behind it is evil. He must really think his supporters are idiots. Or, at least, he’s counting on it.
…and Yale undergrad. He’s not stupid, notice how of all the red meat GQP issues, the one he won’t go near is abortion restrictions,? Last night in KS showed why. I hope he challenges the the biggest loser in the primaries. In the worst case scenario I suppose he’d be better than the orange malignancy, he does not inspire the cult the way Jim Jones Trump does.
Correct, he’s playing the same game all the Republicans do and just like them, not a single person calls him out on this shit.
No FL Dems goes online to point this fact out, hell not even a Biden admin Dept of Ed mentions it, he’s just spewing the same GOP talking points, uncorrected.
A good campaign policy, a horrible policy to implement. Of all the movies I’ve watched over the decades that have attempted to predict the future, I believe Idiocracy is the most likely to have nailed it.
This is a big reason why DeathSantis is becoming more popular than Trump in certain demographics.
Lazy anti-intellectualism along with religious bigotry, casuistry and sophistry are replacing logic, skepticism and relevance as critical thinking skills. If you own a cell phone then you are smarter than Einstein and the hatedlibs, so why bother reading shit?
I know there are some military vets teaching in schools, so I’m sure he’ll have his schools’ military vets screened for mental health issues, right? Regardless, what happens if one or more of those military vets who have mild to severe PTSD due to being in combat situs suddenly freaks out because of some loud noise, or children screaming/crying, or the classroom bell going off? What happens if said vet gets triggered and suddenly starts reenacting a traumatizing event? What happens if the vet starts treating the children like POWs?
Will these veterans know how to teach different kinds of learners? Would you have veterans do brain surgery? Teachers are professionals. Republicans are determined to dumb down the population and devalue education, and actual qualifications.
These Rethugs are deliberately trying to destroy public education.
Imagine some enlisted dink, absent any education training, qualifications, experience or certification whatsoever, trying to teach little kids how to read phonetically, or more advanced students history or civics or algebra, or high schoolers literature, chemistry, or physics.
Of course the point isn’t that they’ll be taught. They won’t be. They’ll “graduate” not knowing much of anything and thus be ineligible to seek college education.
A bunch of ignorant proles is all they’ll be. By design.
I wonder how the parents are going to like it. And this also answers George W Bush’s infamous question, “Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?”
I’m a veteran, this is a really stupid idea. Children aren’t soldiers, and shouldn’t be taught by those whose only qualification is that they were soldiers.
“4. Supremacy of the Military – Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.”
Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism By Dr. Lawrence Britt
“We have a real treat for you today kids. We’re going to watch a movie called full Metal Jacket and shows you how to manage the nerds and misfits trying to infiltrate your classroom”
The GOP gonna eat that shit up come 2024 and if we aint careful so will a lot of so called “independents” who are just fucking GOP and ashamed to say it out loud. Lets see if the teachers will be able to push back at all on this. He is basically telling them they are useless so they either agree with him that they are ill suited to teach or they dont. Will be telling to see how many stick with desantis after this
Dave Wasserman: “I’ve seen enough: in a huge victory for the pro-choice side, the Kansas constitutional amendment to remove protections of abortion rights fails.”
Time and time, over and over, Republicans will believe less and less in reality in order to protect the egos of their grossly corrupt strong men.
Pro Lifer: Well the mother should just give the baby up for adoption if she doesn’t want the baby
Me: So who will adopt the baby?
PL: I don’t know there’s lots of couples who want to adopt
Me: Do you know any couple who is waiting to adopt?
PL: Um well not personally but like I know there’s lots of people waiting to adopt.
Me: Do you know what a domestic adoption costs?
PL: I don’t know. $15,000 maybe?
Me: The average cost of domestic adoption in the United States is $70,000 if you go through a private agency.
PL: Oh I didn’t realize it was that much
Me: Yep it’s really expensive. It can be more if you want a newborn straight from the hospital. Up to $120,000.
PL: Well all life is precious.
Me: it really is. I’ve adopted through foster care and am currently a licensed foster parent. Would you be interested in becoming a foster parent yourself?
PL: Oh no I couldn’t do it.
Me: Why not?
PL: It would just be too much for me right now.
Me: Why is that?
PL: It would be too hard to handle all the issues that came with it. I’ve heard horror stories.
Me: Yep it can be extremely difficult. But what if I told you that you were required by law to become a foster parent?
PL: what?
Me: what if you had to become a foster parent by law?
PL: they would never do that. That would never happen.
Me: Well, if a woman is forced to bear a child she doesn’t want, and she goes ahead and has that child, someone has to care for the child either through adoption or foster care. You have to do one of those two things.
PL: But I don’t want any more kids.
Me: So you don’t want someone forcing you to have a child in your home that you don’t want or aren’t able to care for?
PL: no, that’s not my job to raise someone else’s child.
There it is, folks. Have the baby, but we don’t want anything to do with it afterwards.
My dog that loves gravy these conspiracy people are going to destroy democracy. Amazingly they are winning their races for elected office. What the hell people? How does a majority of the public fall for this crap. Hugs
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell has sent a letter asking a county supervisor candidate to stop telling voters to steal pens being provided at polling sites as in-person voting gets underway statewide. Mitchell issued a cease-and-desist to GOP candidate Gail Golec Tuesday morning.
Election Day in AZ! Do not drop off your ballot. It will not be counted today b4 they call the races. Exchange your ballot after voiding it and get an Election Day ballot. Vote in Blue Ink! #StopTheSteal#LeaveNoPentelBehind
— Gail Golec American Patriot (@GailGolec) August 2, 2022
Golec, who is running for a seat on District 2 of the county’s Board of Supervisors, is spreading an unfounded conspiracy claim that the use of Pentel felt-tip pens bleeds through and provides “ghosts votes,” thereby changing the outcome of the election. In response to Mitchell’s letter, she said that her “Intention is to Protect Our Vote, not encourage you to steal pens.”
Arizona’s Family and numerous media outlets, including the Associated Press, previously reported on “#SharpieGate,” where social media posts suggested that election officials in Maricopa County provided voters with Sharpie pens, which interfered with ballots being recorded, specifically those for President Donald Trump. This latest misinformation attempt came in response to an announcement by election officials that they were switching to Pentel brand felt-tip pens on Election Day. It should be noted that Golec has been endorsed by both former President Donald Trump and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell.
More than 18K voters have successfully cast a ballot in person so far today! Minor tech issues have been resolved as well as reports of stolen pens. Please do not remove any voting materials from the polling place, including pens.https://t.co/WXsuEj0sDe
— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) August 2, 2022
Pentel pens were selected for use because they have fast-drying ink when compared to ballpoint pens. Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer on Twitter urged those voting in Tuesday’s primary to “PLEASE PLEASE” use the provided pens to prevent machine problems and keep voting running smoothly. Still, some social media users and prominent Republicans in the state this week encouraged voters to defy that guidance. Republican State Rep. Shawnna Bolick, who is running for secretary of state in Tuesday’s election, tweeted that she planned to bring her own ballpoint pen for in-person voting, while Kelli Ward, chair of the state’s Republican Party, encouraged her Twitter followers to “use whatever pen you want” but ensure their ballot is dry.
Richer said voters who bring their own blue or black pen for Tuesday’s election will not be turned away, but encouraged voters to use those provided.
“Just as we tell voters they shouldn’t use red pens, shouldn’t use pencil, shouldn’t use crayon, we are telling voters that – to help us ensure an accurate and smooth election – you should use the Pentel pen if you are voting in-person on election day,” Richer told The Associated Press in an email.
Richer said the county switched from Sharpies to Pentel pens “after many tests” because while both have quick-drying ink, the Pentel pens cause less bleed-through on the ballot paper. Even though offset columns on the county’s ballots prevent bleeding ink from affecting the vote counting process, even for two-sided ballots, the bleed-through from Sharpies caused many poll observers and online critics to raise alarm in 2020.
Some social media users this week expressed confusion at why early voters in Maricopa County are permitted to use any blue or black pen, while Election Day voters are instructed to use the felt-tip pens only. The answer: All early ballots, whether submitted in-person, by mail, or by drop box, are enclosed in envelopes and sent to central tabulation after processing, so they have sufficient time to dry before being counted, Richer said.
After blocking the bill that would aid burn pit victims, is there anyone left these people won’t screw over? Other than rich people anyway. Let’s rant about it.
