Citizens of Florida who were arrested as part of Ron DeSantis’ “crackdown” on voter fraud thought they were eligible to cast ballots. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur discuss on The Young Turks.
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made a spectacle out of the round of arrests made by his election police force earlier this month, jailing 20 people on charges of voter fraud and promising more prosecutions to come. At least one target was dragged to jail in his underwear by a SWAT team at 6 a.m. But it turns out that the individuals ensnared in DeSantis’ dragnet had no idea that they could not lawfully vote. The governor’s own appointees flubbed their legal duty to stop them from registering. And because of their sloppy errors, all 20 defendants may well be acquitted of crimes they did not intend to commit.
DeSantis’ misadventure traces back to Amendment 4, the ballot initiative that was supposed to restore voting rights to most people who had completed sentences for felony convictions. (Those convicted of murder and sex offenses were excluded.) Floridians overwhelmingly approved the constitutional amendment in 2018. Yet DeSantis and his fellow Republicans promptly sabotaged the amendment by enacting an unnavigable, incomprehensible system for individuals who wished to regain their right to vote. The state refused to establish a coherent process for people convicted of felonies to learn they are eligible to cast a ballot. Many Floridians with disqualifying convictions, including the defendants arrested this month, are therefore unaware that amendment 4 does not apply to them.
Mothers Against Greg Abbott, a political action committee founded by a group of mothers, created a powerful back-to-school television advertisement against Governor Greg Abbott showing a young child wearing body armor on his “first day of school.” Texas Paul reacts.
MAGA Republicans continue to buy into dangerous conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 election. As they sink even deeper into their hopeless black hole of fantasy, one supporter went viral after proclaiming that the Supreme Court has decided to reinstate Donald Trump as president this October. These delusions might be funny if they weren’t so dangerous. Texas Paul reacts.
This is what it is coming to. Where LGBTQ+ groups doing a legal event have to have their own armed people to defend against the violent maga brownshirts who are armed and violent. The LGBTQ+ have faced these bullies before and refuse to give in to them now. It will escalate because the maga gang thugs don’t care about the law and feel most police back them up. There is going to be a fire fight, a gun shooting where many people are hurt. Is that going to be what it takes to wake up the people to the dangers of the maga brownshirt enforcer gang thugs! These vigilantes feel it is their right and entitlement to shut down anything they don’t like. They are egged on and riled up by republican politicians that are openly calling the LGBTQ+ groomers, pedophiles, and claiming we are forcing / talking kids into changing sexual orientation and gender. This is why the rhetoric used by the right is so problematic, it gives their more violent member thugs permission to attack the LGBTQ+. Also notice how fast the two tough alpha Porud Boy thugs run to the police claiming to be spit on thinking the police will move against the LGBTQ+ protectors for them. The police lady was having none of that. She told them they were trying to start trouble and shouldn’t have been there. That causes the big tough Proud Boys to whine. Hugs
The anti-LGBTQ protesters held signs that said, “Drag the queens out of town” and “Stop sexualizing children.”
A counter protestor wears a rainbow while carrying a rifle. Photo: Screenshot
Anti-LGBTQ demonstrators protesting a Sunday drag brunch at Anderson Distillery and Grill in Roanoke, Texas were met by armed counterprotesters carrying rifles. The incident illustrates the growing culture war as rightwingers baselessly accuse drag performers and the queer community of “sexualizing children,” leading to threats of violence and mounting tensions.
The restaurant held a “Barrel Babes Drag Brunch” on August 28. Its advertisement said, “All Ages Welcome!” The brunch was hosted by drag performer Trisha Delish.
News of the event quickly spread on right-wing social media with groups like Texas Family Project and Protect Texas kids both alerting their followers to the event. Both groups regularly post messages against transgender youth and LGBTQ civil rights.
Steven Monacelli, a journalist with Rolling Stone and Texas Observer magazines, posted a tweet with pictures of the protest. Monacelli’s tweet read, “Anti-trans activists are protesting a drag brunch in Roanoke, Texas, but are outnumbered by supporters of the event. I’ve only been here for about five minutes and I’ve already seen quite a few heated exchanges.”
NOW: anti-trans activists are protesting a drag brunch in Roanoke, Texas, but are outnumbered by supporters of the event. I've only been here for about five minutes and I've already seen quite a few heated exchanges. pic.twitter.com/l4RcwWFlSZ
— steven ''italian elon musk'' monacelli (@stevanzetti) August 28, 2022
The images he shared showed anti-LGBTQ protesters holding signs that said, “Christ is KING,” “Drag the queens out of town,” “Children cannot consent,” “Stop sexualizing children,” and “Caution: Monkeypox hotspot approx. 50 ft away. Stay back.”
Proud Boy outside of a Drag Brunch in Roanoke, TX today
A Reddit user named werdmouf posted a nearly two-minute video of the incident which showed the armed counter-protesters standing outside of the venue. One of them carries a queer Pride flag while a bearded man claims that another one of the guards spit on him.
When approached by an interviewer, the man admits that he called the armed guards “F**king pu****s,” and says, “I’m here to support people who don’t indoctrinate and groom little eight-year-old kids.” Republicans have repeatedly claimed that anyone who lets children know that LGBTQ individuals exist is trying to “groom” them for rape.
When a female police officer tries to get the man to stand away from the armed guards, another man wearing an Infowars T-shirt comes over and tells the man that he doesn’t have to listen to the officer. Infowars is a far-right program that peddles conspiracy theories, including Pizzagate, which accused a gay-owned Washington D.C. pizza shop of running a child sex trafficking ring in its non-existent basement.
Another man in the video expresses anger that the armed guards have covered their faces in bandanas and sunglasses. Some Antifa and Proud Boys members hide their faces to avoid having their images taken and identified by police or web users.
Kris Cruz, a producer on the far-right media outlet Blaze TV, wrote via Twitter, “Armed #Antifa showed up in Roanoke, TX to protect the ‘kid friendly’ drag show at this bar. Armed #Antifa escorted attendees to the vehicles. I counted about 9 AR-15s.”
At other drag events, anti-LGBTQ protesters have followed, harassed, and doxed the performers and parents who bring their children to the events.
In response to news of the incident, Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton (R) wrote “A drag show is no place for a child. I’m working to ban these entirely next session. I look forward to working with @FamilyProjectTX to make this happen.”
Slaton has previously said that he would like to sponsor such legislation. He characterizes kids attending drag shows as tantamount to sexual abuse. “The events of this past weekend were horrifying and show a disturbing trend in which perverted adults are obsessed with sexualizing young children,” he said.
However, Slaton hasn’t yet specified exactly what he means by “drag shows,” how they’d be defined in a bill, or how his bill would avoid violating the Constitution’s protections for free speech.
A drag show is no place for a child. I’m working to ban these entirely next session.
I look forward to working with @FamilyProjectTX to make this happen.
Seems Fox is back to pushing that climate change is a hoax even as the signs of it are ever clearer. Now Fox is the media arm for the Republican party and the Republican party is well paid (along with some democrats like Joe Manchin) by the fossil fuel companies to push the hoax line so those companies can make more money by lying to the public. Hugs
“The Europeans have discovered that the real threat to human civilization is not global warming, it never was global warming. The real threat to people is global cooling, otherwise known as winter.
“Far more people freeze to death every year than die of heat. In 2019, for example, four times as many people died of cold as of heat. That’s according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
“So when temperatures in Europe begin to drop a few months from now, this is a huge problem and that will be obvious to everyone. It’s not global warming, it’s global cooling. That’s what’s going to kill your grandmother.” – Tucker Carlson, last night.
The past five winters we’ve had temps last into the 40’s and 50’s well into December and January. Any snowfall we get only lasts a week if that. And when we do get cold, it’s of the extreme variety. Not in the 30’s but in the single digits, which never used to be the norm but now is. Where am I? Syracuse, which used to be known for it’s snowy winters which are now a thing of the past. My nieces and nephews are never going to know the snow piles where you could make snowmen that would last for weeks, sledding, tubing etc. All they will know is temps going up and down with snowfall that will last a couple of days at most. So yea Tucker, winter does prove climate change is real because we don’t have them anymore.
Because we figured out we would be in this home for the long term, about 10 years ago we bought a snow blower and used it several times a year. We would dig ourselves out and our neighbors. Now only once or twice a year.
We used to bemoan the huge “black snow” piles downtown weeks after a snowfall. Now even that is rarity. everything melts in the next day or two.
When looking at plant growth in SE PA over the last 20 years (so it’s really climate, rather than just weather), our winter is measurably shorter, starting later and ending earlier by about a week on each end.
“In 2019, for example, four times as many people died of cold as of heat. That’s according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.”
He’s misinterpreting the article in the Lancet. It was 1) about weather, not climate; 2) about weather related effects on overall cause of death, such as heart disease, not about hypothermia and heat injuries; 3) clearly stating that their model (NOT observed reality) differs by climate region (as well as the health issues otherwise present in the population).
Global warming can and does, among other things, cause more severe winters, especially in specific areas. Didn’t you notice the frozen tundra of Texas the last couple years?
It’s about throwing the whole system out of whack, nimrod, not about it being warm outside.
small message from europe to the moron tucker – our winters have become much milder over the last decade – I live where we once had good measurable snow and temps @ -10C. Now, no snow and low temps of -5C. why do you people give ant recognition to this con?
Do any of his viewers know that ‘global’ means.. the globe.. and that winter in the north means summer in the south? So literally exactly not global cooling during winter in the US and Europe?
Yesterday I was not functioning well and couldn’t think clear enough to post. I think everyone knows why. I am doing better today and hope to get stronger in the next few days. Here are the blurbs from Joe My God that had some very interesting stories. I was barely able to process them, much less post them, but they are important information to know. Hugs
He commits a crime. Even his people admit he had the documents, that he was asked for over a year to return them, that he refused claiming they were his, but they clearly are not by law. So now if he is held to the same laws everyone else are held to his supporters will riot? What happened to the party of law and order? What happened to the right saying “just comply with the police … Hugs
Masters has scrubbed his web sites of the 2020 election stolen from trump, his undying support for anti-abortion, and anything else that might look like the hard right rabid republican that he is. They cannot win the primary without trump and cannot win the general with him. Hugs
This is scary. Hope the viewers in Oregon are safe. I did post this one yesterday as I was concerned. But it is getting to the point that the that people hate to go out in public. One woman in the story said that, she asks why it is OK that she has to worry about being shot going to get her groceries. All because some people are so insecure that they need to have multiple guns for everything they do every day. Hugs
As some of the police are white supremacist thugs belong to or agreeing with the groups like the Proud Boys it is not surprising the police joined with the haters and attacked the LGBTQ+ group. The reason for pride is the discrimination and hate the LGBTQ+ are subjected to. When white people face that same level of discrimination, abuse, attacks , and have states pass don’t say white bills against mentioning white people exist in schools then I will support white pride. Note that the Proud Boys, the favorite of tRump, has become the brownshirts of the maga crowd. The enforcers tasked with assaulting people at LGBTQ+ events and and making people too scared to attend them. Hugs
Police officers nationwide have been linked to the far-right violent militia group.
Officers move in on LGBTQ protesters in Modesto, CaliforniaPhoto: Screenshot
The annual “straight pride” gathering in Modesto, California turned violent for the second year in a row, and instead of arresting the Proud Boys who started the fray, police shot into the crowd of protestors with pepper balls and beanbags.
The event was held outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic and the group of far-right militia members and hate preachers was vastly outnumbered by counter protestors. This is the fourth time the group has held the event; the group uses the opportunity to hurl racist and anti-LGBTQ slurs at passersby and protestors while soaking up the local media and police attention.
Two counter protestors were arrested by the end of the scuffle. One Proud Boy was arrested. All three were charged with “failure to disperse.”
After one of the militia members tried to push through the police line, a tussle ensued and LGBTQ defenders started throwing water bottles. Someone tossed a firework into the fray; it was unclear what group the culprit was associated with.
Two LGBTQ protesters were injured in the assault. As the police moved on the crowd with support from SWAT tactical units, the straight pride supporters hid behind the police line.
“They came at us with batons, they jabbed us, they hit the crap out of out us,” one of the injured told a reporter. He was hit with a pepper spray bullet.
“We have two armies to go up against when we stand for our rights,” Odette Zapata, who wore a bulletproof vest to the protest, told the Modesto Bee. “We have to deal with the cops attacking us and we’re about to get a second wave of right-wing extremists. We’re fearful of them attacking us as well.”
Last year’s “straight pride” provocation ended in fistfights and bear spray. Reports say the militia group provoked the protestors, kicking off the brawl that closed down the street and ended in two arrests.
The group has become the far-right’s “enforcers,” starting fights and attacking progressive activists across the nation. They stage fake Pride events across the country.
Boston organizers Mark Sahady and Suzanne Ianni were arrested by the FBI earlier this year in connection to the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol after they were outed by the group behind Straight Pride.
The FBI found out about the pair through social media posts from the organization “Super Happy Fun America,” which organized Straight Pride in Boston in 2019 and whose motto is “It’s Great to be Straight.” Sahady is the group’s vice president.
Today we’re looking into a story from Irish news on a drag story telling event that took place during Belfast Pride. Armed with holy water, “Parents Against Grooming” showed up to protest. Like and subscribe if you enjoyed!
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