A man in FDNY clothes seen taunting pro-abortion rights protesters outside a church, in a video that went viral this weekend on social media, isn’t actually affiliated with the department in any way, officials said Monday.
The man, wearing a jacket with various FDNY logos and an “America First” cap, appears to tell the women they do not have a choice in having children; he appears to tell one woman that her body is his and she will have his baby.
The video was shared by far-right members of Congress like Rep. Paul Gosar and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who both called the man and his fellow counter-protesters “heroes”. The video stirred enough controversy that “FDNY” was a trending topic across the United States on Twitter Monday morning.
Read the full article. Watch Gosar’s creepy video.
A man in FDNY clothes seen taunting pro-abortion rights protesters outside a church, in a video that went viral this weekend on social media, isn’t actually affiliated with the department in any way, officials said Monday. https://t.co/XFLbGV9B68
The men holding rosaries, Bibles, and wearing America First hats bravely defending their churches against the abortionist horde are heroes, every single one of them. Heroes.pic.twitter.com/PnaKkaz3qQ
Christian Republicans support raping and imprisoning women, that’s your daughters, etc, America.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Church still claims to represent morality and wants to raise your kids, when the ones they already raised are clearly boorish rapist thugs.
Typical Republican, the rules don’t apply to her. Far too many in congress feel that the job is a golden ticket to increase their personal wealth. I wish the punishment was to take twice the illegal amount away from her but the people making the rules … are the same people that are breaking them.
Rep. Lauren Boebert continues to have troubles with her campaign finance filings. In a warning letter from the Federal Election Commission made public on Thursday, Boebert’s latest campaign finance filing for the first quarter of 2022 shows her campaign accepted as much as $30,000 in contributions that exceed federal campaign finance limits.
The six-page letter notes 20 separate incidents where the campaign took more than the $2,900 that is allowed for individuals to give in any one election. Her campaign has been cited several times in the past for similar filing problems, including accepting donations in excess of limits, and under-reporting beginning and ending balance totals.
The six-page letter notes 20 separate incidents where the campaign took more than the $2,900 that is allowed for individuals to give in any one election.https://t.co/ANp5VNeZPc
— The Daily Sentinel (@DailySentinelGJ) May 6, 2022
Important, I think, to keep in mind what the ultimate goal of today’s Republican Party is: the establishment of a theocracy in the United States. That’s the “command” coming from the party’s puppet masters, the religious right. Any government department that gets in the way of establishing that theocracy is, for them, the enemy.
Readers here will recall the theofascist monster, Betsy DeVos, that the Mar-a-Lago rapist appointed as his Secretary of Education. Fortunately for America, she failed in her mission – which was to destroy the country’s public school system.
Education of the public is a threat to theofascists.
Show Notes 0:00 Intro 28:09 Susan Collins completely inconsistent 34:01 Trump shoot protestors 43:35 Madison Cawthrust 50:32 Alex Jones still out there 01:02:12 Outro 10 key passages from Alito’s draft opinion, which would overturn Roe v. Wade – POLITICOhttps://www.politico.com/news/2022/05… Mitch McConnell Is Hoping People Just Forget He’s to Blame for Abortion Rights Being Obliterated | Vanity Fair
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/… Susan Collins calls draft Roe opinion ‘completely inconsistent’ with what Gorsuch and Kavanaugh said during hearings and meetings –
Video footage showed people waving Nazi flags at the entrance to Disney World in Orlando, Florida on Saturday. The original video was posted on TikTok and has garnered over 3 million views as of Sunday.
Many social media users have taken to Twitter to express their outrage and criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for not issuing any condemnation of the incident.
In February, DeSantis refused to condemn a Nazi rally in Orlando that took place over the weekend, claiming that those asking him to condemn it are trying to “smear” him.
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) May 8, 2022
Absolutely disgusted to see more Nazis in Orlando and this time they’re targeting Disney; they’re likely motivated by DeSantis trying to cancel Disney for caring about LGBTQ+ kids. https://t.co/5ZNpTgcYPq
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) May 8, 2022
We are dangerous but not the RCC or Duggar or a trump
As Trump judges prepare to decimate women & LGBTQ rights, recall 2016 front page @nytimes articles assuring US Trump super friendly to gays AND "conservative doctrine" is they don't go after women who have abortion (just providers) https://t.co/itLVFfigPkhttps://t.co/IXbdI7db6S
Only the Christian religion should be able to fly flags and push their religion on others. Other religions shouldn’t have any rights in the coming theocracy of the United States of Jesus.
Via press release from the red-caped Catholic loons:
Satanists are trying to fly a Satanic flag over the Boston City Hall to celebrate “Satanic Appreciation Week.” After the Boston City Council refused to allow a Satanic invocation, the Satanic Temple has continued to plague the city to promote Satanic ideology.
Often, the Satanic Temple’s flags contain a goat skull, or other dark symbols of death and decay .
There is no room for Satanism in public. After giving way to a devil group, who is to keep out other hate groups from flying their colors, like Nazis or Anarchists?
Worst of all, flying a Satanic flag would constitute a grave spiritual danger for the city, will break society’s horror for the devil, and will be a serious mockery to God.
Please sign our petition to the City of Boston, urging it to stand strong in its rejection of Satanism.
Satanic Temple requests Boston City Hall fly flag celebrating 'Satanic Appreciation Week' https://t.co/yye4kMqGEK
Today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the city of Boston was wrong to refuse the Christian flag when it allowed other organizations to use the flagpole in front of city hall. I’m thankful the cancel culture lost one! https://t.co/qGAyD4UVJP
There is no room for Satanism in public. After giving way to a devil group, who is to keep out other hate groups from flying their colors, like Nazis or Anarchists?
According to a transcript of the interview provided by CBS, Esper told correspondent Norah O’Donnell, “it’s important to our country, it’s important to the republic, the American people, that they understand what was going on in this very consequential period — the last year of the Trump administration.”
“And to tell the story about things we prevented: really bad things, dangerous things that could have taken the country in a dark direction,” he added.
“At various times during…the last year of the administration, you know, folks in the White House are proposing to take military action against Venezuela, to strike Iran,” Esper replied. “At one point, somebody propose we blockade Cuba.”
Mark Esper Tells 60 Minutes He Would ‘Swat’ Down ‘Dangerous’ Ideas in Trump Admin, Including a Blockade of Cuba, Military Action Against Venezuela and Iran https://t.co/8IHzaBZEb2
In order to deal with what Mark Esper calls “crazy” ideas from the Trump White House, Esper says he came up with the “Four No’s & discussed it with CJCS General Mark Milley…the four things we had to prevent from happening between then and the election.” https://t.co/dJ4SjghCkXpic.twitter.com/Vc4ffzhlbT
Mark Esper says he prevented 'dangerous things' like military action against Venezuela and a blockade of Cuba while serving under Trump https://t.co/qKkq6cLXWd
Rather long read but it is important to understand this is what the right wing Republican party has become, this is their version of democracy. Threaten, do violence, stop voting of those you don’t like or who will not vote as you demand, only the right wing’s ideas count, these are the things they do and feel is OK because they have become a gang of thugs. They have fancy names for themselves, militia this and proud boys that but it is the same thing, gang thugs getting their way by threating to harm others regardless of the laws of civil society.
Those involved in election fraud “deserve to hang,” one accuser said.
When Josh Zygielbaum left the Marine Corps more than ten years ago, he thought he would never have to wear body armor again. But now Zygielbaum is back to wearing a bulletproof vest as a Colorado county clerk — one of the many extreme measures he says he’s been forced to take as the state has emerged as a battleground in the shadowy world of election conspiracies.
Considered by many experts to be a leader in election security due to its up-to-date voting machines, its policy of recording every vote on a paper ballot, and its rigorous post-election audits, Colorado has been described by some election experts as the “gold standard for elections.” Yet despite its strong reputation, the state has recently been targeted by election denial groups as a center for baseless accusations that election workers helped steal the 2020 election from Donald Trump.
As a result, election officials and poll workers in several Colorado counties have donned bulletproof vests and undergone active shooter training for their own safety.
Zygielbaum and other officials ABC News spoke with pointed to Tina Peters, an embattled county clerk in Mesa County, accusing her of being one of the leading figures fueling the false and baseless conspiracy theories that have put Colorado in the spotlight.
Peters, who announced in February that she is running for Colorado secretary of state, has been under investigation by the FBI since November for her alleged involvement in a security breach of the Mesa County election system, according to a statement by the Colorado attorney general. In March, she was indicted by a grand jury on 11 counts of election tampering and misconduct, after authorities say the election software she used for her county wound up in the hands of a consultant, and screenshots of the software appeared on right-wing websites.
“Using a grand jury to formalize politically-motivated accusations against candidates is tactic long employed by the Democrat Party,” Peters said in a statement posted on her campaign website. “Using legal muscle to indict political opponents during an election isn’t new strategy, but it’s easier to execute when you have a district attorney who despises President Trump and any constitutional conservative like myself who continues to demand all election evidence be made available to the public.”
For the past several months, Peters has been joined by attorney John Eastman, a key architect of former President Donald Trump’s legal effort to overturn the 2020 election, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, a Trump confidant, at election denial events in the state.
“I came to Colorado today because you have here in Colorado the key to the whole nation,” Lindell said at a rally in April, “because you had a great county clerk, Tina Peters, (who) did her job.”
“For people that say we need to look forward — we’ve got to fix what happened in 2020,” Peters told the crowd.
In a similar event in February hosted by FEC United, a conservative group with a militia wing, attendees including Peters and Eastman cheered as self-described election denier Sean Smith said that he had evidence of criminal election conduct by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
“You may know me as the number-one most dangerous election denier in Colorado,” Smith told the crowd.
The event spurred Griswold to make a report to the Colorado State Patrol after Smith said that “if you’re involved in election fraud, then you deserve to hang.”
“We are still seeing the effects of the 2020 election,” Griswold said in a statement to ABC News. “Extreme elected officials and right-wing political insiders continue to spread the Big Lie and election conspiracies.”
As voting officials gear up for the upcoming midterm elections, “the potential for violence that we face is very real,” Zygielbaum said.
Concerns about their staffers’ safety have spurred county officials to adopt a variety of safety protocols. Zygielbaum told ABC News that employees in his Adams County office have been asked not take the same route home on a daily basis.
He said his county has also partnered with the Department of Homeland Security to review their facilities, and is redesigning their elections office “so that voters and individuals who are not employees” cannot go inside the building. In addition, the county is working closely with law enforcement at the state, local and federal level, and has a direct line to the FBI and Terrorism Task Force.
Secretary Griswold confirmed to ABC News that her office arranged for counties to receive a physical threat assessment from DHS, as well as nearly $130,000 in grant funding to make security upgrades.
In the city of Denver, clerk Paul López says he had to move his office away from a first-floor window because it was a security risk.
“I think that folks who think they can intimidate election workers and try to stop us from being able to do our job are absolutely incorrect,” López told ABC News. “We will defend our democracy, and we will do it in a way that inspires people to come to the polls and not scare them away. “
In Chaffee County, county clerk Lori Mitchell has faced personal threats since 2020, with one incident over the summer traumatizing her to the point where she almost decided against running for reelection.
“I saw somebody lay their right hand over their left arm and pull what looked like a gun to me,” Mitchell told ABC News. “And so I ducked in my car.”
“It ended up being a squirt gun,” Mitchell said. “But it was still one of the most frightening days of my life.”
Now, Mitchell and other officials in her office speak with constituents through bulletproof glass. To prepare for the midterms, the county is working closely with law enforcement to enact additional measures to protect election workers.
“Colorado is one of the current epicenters of the Stop the Steal movement,” said Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association. “And so we are concerned and very worried about the influence and pressure being put on election officials. They are incredibly understaffed and overworked, and now they have to deal with the emotional toll that comes from knowing that you have to do things to protect yourself.”
According to Crane, the state has seen people “putting in open-records requests to get personal information of poll workers and election judges.”
Crane said that as the state prepares for the upcoming midterms, the attorney general and district attorneys have been working with law enforcement organizations to prepare for possible hostile situations against election officials.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers have passed a bill that would ban the open carry of guns at polling places and create new criminal penalties for people who threaten election workers.
A similar bill that is part of a legislative package to increase security for state and local officials was also advanced by a state legislative panel last month. That legislation also includes a bill aimed at cracking down on the attempted sabotage of voting equipment — described by officials as a direct response to allegations against Peters, the Mesa County clerk.
“No one should have to worry about the safety of themselves or their families when serving as an election administrator,” said Griswold.
“By protecting our election workers and officials, we safeguard our democracy,” she said. “We must do what we can to protect and retain our top-quality election administrators at the state, county and local level.”
UPDATE: Republican Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters appeared to attempt to kick a law enforcement officer while struggling with police during her arrest. This is video from a witness. pic.twitter.com/TILJ1198BV
Fresh out of jail after obstructing a search warrant for her iPad, Mesa (CO) Clerk and election fraud conspiracy theorist Tina Peters goes on Bannon’s show today to announce she is running for Secretary of State. Another perfect MAGA candidate to add to their 2022 slate! pic.twitter.com/WqIWVStzdA
A viral video showing a man telling abortion rights protesters that “your body is mine” and “you’re having my baby” has sparked outrage on social media.
Protesters rallied in cities across the country at the weekend, days after a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court suggested it was poised to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion nationwide.
“Not the church, not the state, the people must decide their fate,” they chanted, according to the video.
Their chants drew a response from a man among a group of anti-abortion protesters on the steps of the church, who regularly go from the church to protest at a nearby Planned Parenthood.
“I am the people, I am the people, I am the people, the people have decided, the court has decided, you lose,” he responded to the crowd.
In response to another chant, the man—who was wearing an “America First” hat—said: “You have no choice. Not your body, not your choice, your body is mine and you’re having my baby.”
Anti-abortion activists and church members gather outside of the Basilica of St. Patricks Old Cathedral in downtown Manhattan on May 07, 2022 in New York City.STEPHANIE KEITH/GETTY IMAGES
Closed captions on the clip described the man as “FDNY” (New York Fire Department), but it is not clear if the man is actually affiliated with the city’s fire department.
He appeared to be wearing a fleece bearing FDNY insignia in the clip. The FDNY has been contacted for comment.
“Important: despite the CC, we still don’t know if this fascist is actually from FDNY. What we do know is that the Archdiocese of NY @NY_Arch are hosting fascists + giving them a platform,” NYC for Abortion Rights wrote on Twitter. The group and the Archdiocese of New York have also been contacted for comment.
The clip, which was initially posted on Instagram by an organizer, amassed more than a million views after it was shared widely on Twitter and prompted “FDNY” to trend on the platform.
“Today in NYC hundreds of pro-abortion folks showed up to counter clinic harassers,” Joshua Potash wrote in a tweet. “You can see the horrifying truth of what anti-abortion extremists really think when one says ‘your body is mine.'”
“If this guy really is @FDNY, he’s gotta go,” Jeff Sharlet tweeted. “Imagine the terror a rape survivor might feel if this guy, who says he owns women’s bodies and forces them bear his children, comes into her home. He made his choice. He chose threats over his job. He’s literally unsafe.”
If this guy really is @FDNY, he’s gotta go. Imagine the terror a rape survivor might feel if this guy, who says he owns women’s bodies and forces them bear his children, comes into her home. He made his choice. He chose threats over his job. He’s literally unsafe. https://t.co/Ubj7MGLkDg
If there was any doubt about the ideology driving anti-abortion perspectives, this @FDNY firefighter just put it right out there. "Not your choice, not your body, your body is mine". The absolute glee he takes in saying it should disturb literally every woman everywhere. https://t.co/kzVO39om2J
— 👑 Alyssa Miller 🦄🛩️ (@AlyssaM_InfoSec) May 8, 2022
Alyssa Miller wrote: “If there was any doubt about the ideology driving anti-abortion perspectives, this @FDNY firefighter just put it right out there. ‘Not your choice, not your body, your body is mine.’ The absolute glee he takes in saying it should disturb literally every woman everywhere.”
Amy Siskind wrote: “As horrible as his public statements are, as is @FDNY silence, let’s acknowledge that this scumbag is saying out loud what so many Republicans white men are already thinking and saying in private. This is their plan.”
Who the hell is AMY SISKIND? A “self-hating” White Person? In AMERICA, a guy is allowed to Stand on a STOOP and say whatever he wants. He’s a FIREMAN. He’s not setting the law. If he’s getting some of it wrong, that’s ok. HE’S VOLUNTEERING TO KEEP YOU NUTS FROM RUINING CHURCH! https://t.co/cz0Pge9zek
Silly "Allison" trying to get an off-duty FIREFIGHTER in trouble for exercising his Right of Free Speech. THIS IS STILL AMERICA. The dude can say whatever he wants. AND STAY THE HELL OUT OF THE CHURCHES WITH YOUR STUPID OUTFIT FROM HANDMAID'S TALE. HULU SUX! (Pain to sign up for) https://t.co/4gagMIj8Mr
Anti abortion extremists met with pro choice clinic defenders. This guy is an America First Groyper and member of FDNY! “the court decided you lose. You have no choice. Not your body not your choice. Your body is mine and you’re having my baby!” #RoeVWadeprotest HIT THE STREETS pic.twitter.com/jH8wkJiwMz
He has the right to shout rape-y stuff in the public square, but FDNY having rape enthusiasts on their team (assuming he’s actually a fireman) may not be great PR for them.
And, since he thinks he can do whatever he wants to a woman’s body, the reverse should be true. How about forced castration?
“Silly “Allison” trying to get an off-duty FIREFIGHTER in trouble for exercising his Right of Free Speech. THIS IS STILL AMERICA. The dude can say whatever he wants.”
More willful misuse of 1A. If the firefighter gets to say the quiet part out loud (and what a plain indictment of Alito’s stupid idea about law), so does everyone else get to tell the firefighter how off putting he is.
Yeah, threats have never been covered by the First Amendment. But this threat is slightly veiled, so I guess it must be okay after all. I’m sure he’s confident this SCOTUS has his back on that.
IOW: Douchebag shouts a little too overtly about raping women while still delirious with glee from the prospect of forcing victims to give birth to his offspring.
He’s young. He is visibly immature in his leering behavior. He is declaring that he has no intention of growing out of his testosterone-fueled high school years. I fully expect his mind to stay in that stunted state while the rest of him sags and wrinkles. These perennial man-children are the real threat to American society.
The righties, Alito included, are afraid that black and brown people will “out breed the whites” and “replace us”. It’s called ‘replacement theory.’ It’s about as racist an idea as there can be.
Replacement theory then wraps back into their anti-abortion agenda. They seem to think that they can increase the total amount of “white” by forcing more births. Even worse, of of the right wing briefs suggested there is a shortage of white babies for adoption (xtian indoctrination) and they want to make more available.
This firefighter is hitting all the points they want.
The CC on this is so shitty it was just a long string of random letters when I tried. I tried to adjust it in the settings and lost it entirely and couldn’t get the CC back even when I returned to the original settings. I have no clue as to CNN CC is such a disaster. However Fareed has such an informative take on the polarization of the US, how religion is declining and the religious are fight back tooth and nail to keep the US a highly religious country. He breaks the country in two halves and shows how those halves fit in with the rest of the world. The blue areas to the country fit with the European non-religious countries, the read areas fit with the African / Arab highly religious dominated countries.
Scottie's Playtime 