FL Fifth Grader Charged With Mass Shooting Threat

FL Fifth Grader Charged With Mass Shooting Threat

I watched this this weekend watching the Sunday morning news shows. I live in North Fort Myers, next to Cape Coral. I had to take three days off from the news. I tried to come back to it yesterday, but it still was too much. Making a fresh stab at it today, word choice deliberate. This is a 10 year old boy. The police / sheriff’s departments in Florida are militarized. They treat the public as if they are all criminals to be ruled over. If you are not white you are screwed. This wouldn’t have happened to a little white boy. But here was a 10 year old that made a text (or maybe a couple) to a friend of a pile of cash with four assault weapons and wrote “Get ready for water day” with a funny emoji”.

Have people lost their minds! Because Republicans refuse to address the real issue of mass shootings such as Canada is doing, we get this from the Sheriff’s office. <blockquote> “Right now is not the time to act like a little delinquent. It’s not funny. This child made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences,” said Sheriff Carmine Marceno. </blockquote>

Seriously a 10 year old makes a stupid statement because he wanted attention and figured it would be cool needs a talking to and some punishment like an essay to understand what he did wrong. Giving him a criminal record when his brain has not yet figured out how to kiss yet is horrific. He did not have the guns and had no ability to get them. Think on that. No ability to get them. He could have said he was going to drive a Ferrari to school also, would they have arrested him for that. I am terrified the US is becoming a police state where kids’ lives don’t matter, adults’ lives don’t matter, the only things that matter to the Republican elected office holders is the money they get from big money donors that allows them to stay in power, and those big money donors only care about more profit. People no longer matter in the US, money does. Profit does. Don’t have money, you don’t matter, go sleep under a bridge and starve to death. Even the for-profit mega churches don’t feed or clothe the poor. The Pastor needs more profit. The state and federal government leave that job to the very poor people that have to band together to help the poorest among them. The public has two roles in our society. Buy things to make profit for businesses and work to make profit for the business. If you cannot do either one you have no worth to the upper class and they want you to go away, get out of the way, but whatever you do don’t you dare cost them profit. So a 10 year old starts in the school to prison pipeline because adults are freaking out and the right refuses to do what makes sense. Give a little kid an arrest record so everyone will think the worst of him for life. Hell let’s put him in prison now, why wait, that will show him not to say anything he had no idea of what would happen. Shit I cannot deal with adults right now. Look at this little kid! Be adults! Address the real issue and not ruin the life of a dumb kid. Hugs

<blockquote> Sheriff Carmine Marceno said, “This student’s behavior is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. Making sure our children are safe is paramount. We will have law and order in our schools! My team didn’t hesitate one second… NOT ONE SECOND, to investigate this threat.” </blockquote>

From the Lee County Sheriff’s Office:

On Saturday, May 28, 2022, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office learned of a threatening text message sent by a fifth grade student at Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral. The School Threat Enforcement Team was immediately notified and began analytical research.

Due to the nature of the incident, the Youth Services Criminal Investigations Division assumed the case. Detectives interviewed the suspect, Daniel Issac Marquez (DOB 10/01/2011), and developed probable cause for his arrest.

Daniel Isaac Marquez was charged with Making a Written Threat to Conduct a Mass Shooting.

The Hill reports:

“This student’s behavior is sickening, especially after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas,” Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno (R) said in a statement. Marceno, who brands himself as Florida’s “law and order” sheriff, said the boy who allegedly sent the threatening text message would face “real consequences.”

Marceno’s office also posted a video of a boy who appears to be the fifth grader walking out of the sheriff’s office in handcuffs. “Right now is not the time to act like a little delinquent,” said Marceno.

“It’s not funny. This child made a fake threat, and now he’s experiencing real consequences. Making sure our children are safe is paramount. We will have law and order in our schools! My team didn’t hesitate one second…NOT ONE SECOND, to investigate this threat.”

In the second video below from earlier this week, Marceno condemns federal aid to Ukraine that could have been spent on “hardening schools.”

Marceno was first elected as sheriff in 2020 after being appointed to then-Gov. Rick Scott in 2018 upon the retirement of his predecessor.

His “we are going to kill you” message below has gone viral on right wing sites. Expect this guy to run for Congress.

Lee County, population 750,000, has a $200 million annual police budget.

Florida’s #lawandorder Sheriff Carmine Marceno responds to #Uvalde, TX school shooting:

You don’t get to shoot our children. You bring deadly force in this county, we are going to kill you. pic.twitter.com/bYVnNT5FSl
— Carmine Marceno – Florida’s Law and Order Sheriff (@SheriffLeeFL) May 27, 2022

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office works 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure the safety of our great residents. #lawandordersheriff pic.twitter.com/VIZWvJhmLb
— Carmine Marceno – Florida’s Law and Order Sheriff (@SheriffLeeFL) May 22, 2022

#Lawandordersheriff Carmine Marceno operating our newest toy, the #Rook ! pic.twitter.com/gaKdBmFRKG
— Carmine Marceno – Florida’s Law and Order Sheriff (@SheriffLeeFL) May 18, 2022

BeccaM • 15 hours ago

That tableau is horrifying. What the everloving fuck is up with the whole Stormtrooper look in law enforcement now?

I take it we civilians are, at best, considered to be a militarily-occupied populace, and at worst, enemy combatants.

Todd20036 BeccaM • 15 hours ago

Basically they’re trying to make up for the cowards the cops revealed themselves to be

John Conley Todd20036 • 14 hours ago

“They could have been shot”. That’s a quote from one of the leaders, explaining why they waited 78 minutes to go in.

RemusL Todd20036 • 14 hours ago

“make up”? No, they just want to change the narrative. I read somewhere that there are more LEOs assigned to Florida schools than anywhere else in the country. And has that increased police presence resulted in ANY school shooting being stopped?

John Conley BeccaM • 15 hours ago

Could not agree more. I looked at that first photo and thought it was a still from Starship Troopers, with the Sheriff just photoshopped in.

And yes, it was the parents in Uvalde who were apparently considered the enemy combatants (at least one woman was handcuffed briefly, before she was able to run into the school and rescue her two children … while the police were busy harassing other parents … while the gunman was killing their children with no police obstruction for more than an hour).

If my local sheriff and his officers presented themselves like that at a press conference, I would seriously consider getting the hell out of Dodge.

Tim 🇺🇦 • 15 hours ago • edited

What this child did was stupid, and possibly he meant it, but he’s a fifth grader and they released his name and pictures?? Would they have released all this if his last name was Harrington, and not Marquez?
WTF?

evanedwards Tim 🇺🇦 • 15 hours ago

Yeah, the kid is 10 years old. What he did was incredibly stupid, but I would argue that most 10 year-olds are incredibly stupid in that they are both emotionally and intellectually immature. I’m not sure ruining his entire life serves any valid purpose.

safari evanedwards • 14 hours ago

It makes the police feel powerful

BobSF_94117 • 15 hours ago • edited

On Saturday, May 28, 2022, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office learned of a threatening text message sent by a fifth grade student at Patriot Elementary School in Cape Coral. The School Threat Enforcement Team was immediately notified and began analytical research.

And the publicity-hog of a sheriff immediately took action to make the story go national, thus inspiring who knows how many more troubled kids to seek attention this very same way.

Jack Frost BobSF_94117 • 8 hours ago

JMG was right, you’ll see and hear a lot more from this sheriff. He’s jockeying for a political office and sooner than later.

Prost- 🇺🇦 • 14 hours ago

Why are they disclosing his full name and DOB?

Todd20036 Prost- 🇺🇦 • 14 hours ago

They wanted to show how “brave” they were when there was no chance of them getting shot

johncAtl Prost- 🇺🇦 • 14 hours ago

I would guess that because of the nature of the threat he was charged as an adult

‘Til Tuesday 🌼 ☔️ 🌷 ☀️ • 15 hours ago

What he did is serious, but he’s 10 years old. Let’s get him some intervention. The sheriff is grandstanding.

Darreth ‘Til Tuesday 🌼 ☔️ 🌷 ☀️ • 14 hours ago

Mental health access in FL? Not a chance.

Franciscan • 15 hours ago • edited

Of course no one could have suspected that having a massacre every other week could led to fifth graders dreaming on the Internet of being powerful and waving guns around in their very own drama.

Harveyrabbit 🐱 • 15 hours ago • edited

Yep. They’re definitely ready for miscreant 10 year olds. I assume all those weapons are loaded. Never know who’s sitting in the front row of one of those press briefings. Maybe even an 11 year old! They’re 10% more dangerous than a 10 year old.

safari Harveyrabbit 🐱 • 15 hours ago

This photo just proves to me America is broken and too many are invested in keeping it that way.

Texas Republicans EXPOSED after Failed Uvalde Cover Up Attempt

Dash Reacts to Trump’s Transphobic Remarks at Latest Rally

The disgraced, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump made a nonsensical and hateful remark about the transgender community during his rally to the thunderous applause of this followers. Dash Dobrofsky reacts.

Florida Is Banning “Social Justice” From its K-12 Textbooks

Barring critical race theory wasn’t enough.

Florida Is Banning “Social Justice” From its K-12 Textbooks

Florida textbooks may no longer teach “social justice,” according to new state guidance, part of Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ongoing attack on pluralistic democracy.

The guidance, which was recently updated but is undated, states that “social justice” is now one of the topics that are prohibited in state-approved textbooks for K-12 social studies classes. According to Politico, which reported on the new criteria, textbook publishers have until June 10 to submit social studies proposals. The DeSantis administration recently rejected math textbooks for including “impermissible” topics—a warning shot to publishers that the state will make political hay by rejecting textbooks with even a hint at the fact that America is not a perfectly fair, racism-free country.

Social justice generally refers to the movement for equality in American society and against unfair treatment and unequal opportunities, and is often associated with movements against racism, sexism, and anti-LBGTQ rights. Clearly, Florida Republicans want to keep such movements out of Florida classrooms. The new rules do not actually define social justice but merely include three prohibited ideas:

Potential Social Justice components include:

Seeking to eliminate undeserved disadvantages for selected groups.

Undeserved disadvantages are from mere chance of birth and are factors beyond anyone’s control, thereby landing different groups in different conditions.

Equality of treatment under the law is not a sufficient condition to achieve justice.

Under this definition of social justice, Florida textbooks cannot actually explain or acknowledge that some people in society receive better treatment and advantages than others. Because the guidance leaves the scope of social justice open-ended, publishers will likely go beyond this definition in order to meet the state’s new criteria.

The guidance also bans inclusion of critical race theory, social and emotional learning, and “any other unsolicited theories that may lead to student indoctrination”—using a broad approach to suppress any attempt to acknowledge the ongoing presence of discrimination.

The list of topics included under the CRT prohibition makes clear that Florida classrooms must not acknowledge that there is any lasting effect from slavery, Jim Crow, or other forms of oppression in American life. Complying textbooks would have to convey that any pesky problems like racism and segregation have been solved. In this way, the textbooks will reflect the restrictions placed on teachers by the “Stop WOKE Act,” which DeSantis signed last month. That law restricts how teachers, college professors, and employee trainings discuss race, oppression, and the country’s founding, with language that’s identical to that of the textbook restrictions.

If the “Stop WOKE Act,” which is being challenged in court, stands, alongside the textbook restrictions, then Florida classrooms will present a distorted image of American history and society today, one where everyone has an equal shot at success and the vestiges of oppression have fallen away. When the students step out into the Florida sunshine, however, they will still live in today’s America, one made even more oppressive and authoritarian by their own schools.

Gay music teacher was blackmailed. Instead of helping him, his school forced him to resign.

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/05/gay-music-teacher-blackmailed-instead-helping-school-forced-resign/

This is the world the right wing wants to turn the country back to. A time when LGBTQ+ could not only be blackmailed but lose everything just because they are gay. Yes this was a school connected to a church but they knew he was gay, yet when he was the victim of a crime they turned on him. This is what Alito wants, a world where Christain white cis males are undisputedly in charge, women are subservient to them doing whatever pleases men, blacks know their place and stay there, and the LGBTQ+ are not seen or heard because they are terrified someone will find out who they are. I hate it. Hugs

His school already knew that he was gay. They just didn’t want students to find out.

By Karis RogersonThursday, May 26, 2022

Photo: Shutterstock

A gay music teacher in Iowa was forced to resign from his high school after a blackmailer threatened him.

Matthew Gerhold began working at Valley Lutheran High School in Cedar Valley, Iowa last year. Although he told school officials that he was gay before he was hired, they later compelled him to resign or face termination after he was blackmailed.

Gerhold’s phone was hacked in January 2022 and the hacker blackmailed him by threatening to share private information about his sexuality publicly. Gerhold alerted the school about the hack and the blackmail, then resigned from his position at the high school after being told he would be fired following a school board meeting anyway, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

Just after he reported the attempted blackmail, photos from his phone were posted to the school’s Facebook page. He was called to an administrator’s office and put on leave.

Gerhold had initially been told he could not disclose his sexuality or even date while employed by the school.

He said that he believes the school and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod view homosexuality as a problem and a choice, not an “involuntary attraction to one sex or another.”

“My sexual identity has absolutely nothing to do with my career in music and my love for music,” he said. “If the church as a whole doesn’t want to use me for whatever they are striving to achieve, then I shall go somewhere else that would love to have me to live out my vocation for others.”

After his resignation, he applied for and was granted unemployment benefits.

The school appealed that decision and a hearing was held on May 2 in front of Administrative Law Judge Blair Bennett, who ruled that Gerhold had a right to unemployment benefits as he had not violated in any way the conditions of his employment, nor had he been accused of workplace misconduct.

The “argument breaks down to [Gerhold] being told he would no longer have a job because of the actions of a third party, not controlled by [Gerhold], completely outside of work,” Bennett ruled.

Trans Woman Falsely Blamed By Right Wing Trolls for Uvalde Shooting Speaks Out

https://www.intomore.com/breaking/trans-woman-falsely-blamed-uvalde-shooting-speaks/

An alt-right conspiracy theory is baselessly positing that the Uvalde Elementary school mass murderer was a trans woman. One of the main targets of the conspiracy has now spoken out about the effect this has had on her life.

The conspiracy seems to have originated on 4Chan, where users shared photos of various trans women, claiming that these were images of the shooter. One screenshot of a 4Chan discord server suggested this was intentional, with some users apparently plotting to “psyop” people into believing the shooter was trans.

The conspiracy gained further traction when it was spread by high-profile right-wing figures. Arizona Representative Paul Gosar claimed the shooter was “a transsexual leftist illegal alien” in a now-deleted tweet, resulting in calls for his resignation. Candace Owens, in a tweet that has not been deleted at the time of this writing, also repeated the claim to her 3.1 million followers.

Alex Jones’s show Infowars also reportedly alleged the shooter was trans. Although they appear to have ceased spreading the claim, they still found a way to blame the shooting on the general dissolution of the traditional family.

In the wake of the conspiracy surrounding the Uvalde shooting, user Apprehensive_Ad_995 took to reddit to combat the misinformation. She shared a current photo of herself (very much alive whereas the real shooter is dead), saying, “It’s not me, I don’t even live in Texas.”

Apprehensive_Ad_995 has since identified herself as Sam, an artist, in a new interview with inews. Speaking on the sudden stress the conspiracy has caused her, Sam said, “I am being harassed and accused of murder with no evidence. And all I’ve done was live my life.”

At the same time, she acknowledged that her struggle pales in comparison to what the victims of the tragedy are going through. “I’m more worried about the victims and hope they get the support they deserve,” she said.

While the conspiracy is currently being downplayed, with some right-wing figures like Andy Ngo denouncing the misinformation, it is a symptom of something that has become all too common in the conservative movement. Sam acknowledged this, saying of figures like Gosar, “I’m ashamed that people like that are voted into office. People so concerned about their personal beliefs that they ignore the truth just to hurt innocent people.”

Man pleads guilty to setting LGBTQ+ bar on fire saying it’s ‘wrong we have queers in our society’

Man pleads guilty to setting LGBTQ+ bar on fire saying it’s ‘wrong we have queers in our society’

An arsonist who said it’s “wrong” that there are “a bunch of queers in our society” has admitted to setting fire to an LGBTQ+ venue in Washington, United States.

Kalvinn Garcia, 25, pleaded guilty on Thursday (26 May) to setting fire to Queer/Bar in Seattle on 24 February 2020, telling police that “I think it’s wrong that we have a bunch of queers in our society”.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) added that Garcia told a stranger he wanted to trap people inside the venue and injure them after he set it alight.

There were around 50 people in the bar at the time of the fire, but they were evacuated safely.

According to the DOJ: “The blaze scorched the brick exterior and forced the cancelation of events planned at the nightclub over subsequent days.

“The nightclub is across the alley from the Seattle Police East Precinct and the fire attracted immediate attention… Garcia tried to run from officers but was apprehended.”

Garcia now faces 10 years in prison and a $250,000 (around £198,000) fine for starting the fire.

“The defendant targeted the patrons inside Queer/Bar, a known safe space for the LGBTQI+ community,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a DOJ press release.

“Hate crimes have no place in our society today and we stand ready to use our federal civil rights laws to hold perpetrators accountable.

“All people deserve to feel safe and secure living in their communities, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

US attorney for the Western District of Washington, Nick Brown, added: “Garcia endangered countless people who he did not know and who were simply trying to live their lives, solely because of his own hatred.

“We must stand up to this hate at every opportunity, to demonstrate to our community that acting on hate will not be tolerated.”

Just months ago, two people at an LGBTQ+ bar in New York were injured when a suspected arsonist doused the floor in gasoline and set it on fire.

John Lhota, 24, has been arrested and charged with arson after allegedly setting fire to Rash nightclub in Brooklyn on 3 April.

Jake Sillen, who co-owns Rash with Claire Bendiner, told Pink News: “There were a few people inside, but luckily it was early enough in the night that the party hadn’t started and there wasn’t a huge crowd.”

Montana legally erases trans people with sinister birth certificate ban

Montana legally erases trans people with sinister birth certificate ban

Montana has legally erased trans people by banning birth certificate changes in the latest attack against the community.

The western US state ignored a court order that blocked the GOP-controlled legislature from restricting even further the rights of trans people.

The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services said in an emergency order Monday (23 May) that birth certificates will now solely list “sex” and no longer record a person’s “gender”.

Even if a trans Montanan has undergone gender-affirming surgery, they will legally be unable to change the sex marker on their birth certificate. This is, the order says, because sex is “immutable” while gender is a “social concept”.

“Sex is different from gender and is an immutable genetic fact, which is not changeable, even by surgery,” the order by department director Adam Meier says.

“Accordingly, this emergency rule does not authorize the amendment of the sex-identified/cited on a birth certificate based on gender transition, gender identity or change of gender.”

The only instance in which a sex marker can be changed on a birth certificate is if it was incorrectly listed when issued or if a person’s sex was “misidentified” at birth, Meier adds. The order went into effect immediately.

Montana ‘makes it even harder for trans people to live’ with birth certificate ban

The directive means that trans Montanans may struggle to access certain services, such as social security, or apply for other identification documents, such as passports or driver’s licenses, because of their inaccurate birth certificates.

The agency’s move goes in the face of a Billings district court judge who in April blocked Senate Bill 280, a 2021 law requiring a “surgical procedure” and a court order to change the sex listed on a birth certificate.

It was swiftly signed into law by Republican governor Greg Gianforte. He has previously signed laws banning trans athletes and allowing religion to be used to “attack” LGBTQ+ people.

Two trans Montanans sued the state in response last year, arguing the bill violated their state constitutional rights to privacy and equal protection. Not all trans folk undergo surgery either, they added.

Judge Michael Moses ruled that the bill does interfere with a person’s right to privacy by making trans people disclose private details.

Montana Republican governor Greg Gianforte signed the anti-trans bill in 2021. (William Campbell-Corbis via Getty Images)

“Only transgender individuals are subjected to these procedures and burdens in order to have a birth certificate that accurately reflects their gender,” he wrote in his decision.

But Moses’ order left the department without a “regulatory mechanism” to process birth certificate changes, the order claimed. A 2017 policy that allowed trans applicants to update their birth certificates without surgery or through the courts had been binned because of the bill.

Emergency orders can only be issued when a situation poses “an existing imminent peril to the public health, safety, or welfare that cannot be averted or remedied by any other administrative act”, the Montana Administrative Procedure Act says.

Democratic lawmakers, health experts and LGBTQ+ campaigners, unconvinced that the order was at all needed, condemned the department.

“While this rule is intended to make the lives of our transgender neighbors harder, it impacts all of us by eroding the rights that let us live our lives free from government overreach,” House minority leader Kim Abbott and Senate minority leader Jill Cohenour said in a Tuesday statement.

“As someone who cares for transgender patients, I don’t understand why our state government is spending so much time, energy and money trying to prevent them from having accurate documentation,” Lauren Wilson, vice president of the Montana Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the Montana Press.

“This rule is unfairly singling them out and making it even harder for them to live a public life in Montana.”

ACLU of Montana decried the health department for so openly rebelling against the court.

“The State is willfully refusing to comply, and in doing so is showing their true colours – these laws and regulations are about harming transgender Montanans,” a Tuesday statement said.

“We intend to take this up in court.”