Category: Crime

Anti-LGBTQ+ hate incidents tripled during Pride month this year

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/07/anti-lgbtq-hate-incidents-tripled-during-pride-month-this-year/

The violence underscores a year that included hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ incidents.

By Daniel Villarreal Saturday, July 22, 2023

a colorful group of people march in the Los Angeles Pride Parade holding a sign that says "All are welcome here"

Los Angeles Pride paradePhoto: Shutterstock

At least 145 incidents of anti-LGBTQ+ hate and extremism occurred nationwide during Pride 2023, three times the amount that occurred during Pride 2022, according to a new report. The violence underscores a year that included 356 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents, as well as an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation nationwide.

The report, created by the queer media watchdog organization GLAAD and the hate monitoring group the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), found that between June 2022 and April 2023, 305 incidents of harassment, 40 incidents of vandalism, and 11 incidents of assault occurred nationwide.

The incidents included the deadly Club Q shooting, the murder of a lesbian woman at a gas station, vandalism against Pride flags, bomb threats sent to LGBTQ+-associated venues, public protests against inclusive brands like Target, and death threats against doctors and politicians.

Of the incidents, 138 involved drag events and performers, 33 involved schools and educators, 23 involved healthcare facilities and providers, and 22 involved government buildings and elected officials.

This isn’t surprising considering that right-wingers have increasingly claimed that drag performers, LGBTQ+-inclusive educators, gender-affirming medical professionals, and allied politicians are trying to “groom” and “sexualize” children and want to force them to undergo “genital mutilation.”

Nearly half of the reported incidents were perpetrated by individuals associated with extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Patriot Front. Additionally, 128 of the incidents also involved antisemitic tropes, and 30 involved racist tropes, showing the overlap of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment with hatred of Jews and non-white races.

“Since many anti-LGBTQ+ hate and extremism incidents go unreported, the true numbers are likely far higher,” the report said.

GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said, “This new report makes abundantly clear that extremism is escalating against LGBTQ+ people and endangers every American… Extremists, including elected officials, must be held accountable for inciting violence and using vile rhetoric against marginalized people who just want to live in safety and peace.”

In June, the Western States Center, an anti-bigotry organization, wrote a guide on “Protecting Pride,” explaining how to protect events from extremist hate.

The guide recommends that event organizers create a vocally supportive coalition of partnerships with government, business, faith, and community organizations; coordinate with law enforcement to monitor and document online and local extremist threats; create safety response plans for coordinators and attendees to follow at events; and also teaches how to use media spokespeople to flip “groomer” claims by showing how extremists threaten local kids and families with violence and hate.

DA ‘TOONS … THEY JUST KEEP ON COMING!

Da ‘Toons … They Just Keep On Coming!

Hey everyone.  I know I am late to the party as they say on a lot of posts, but as I work my way through the backlog of fellow posters whose content I love, Jill again made a post I want to share.  Even if everyone already seen it, the cartoons are so spot on, Jill’s post deserves another viewing.   Hugs

Georgia prosecutors have extensive evidence that Trump’s lawyers hacked voting systems

Georgia prosecutors have extensive evidence that Trump’s lawyers hacked voting systems

Thanks to Ten Bears for the link.   Hugs  https://homelessonthehighdesert.com/2023/08/14/oh-that-was-the-hubbub/

BY 
 
ON AUGUST 13, 2023
 
AT 4:59 PM

 
IN GENERAL
1085 VIEWS

My theory remains that refusing to prosecute people for efforts to steal elections is far worse than prosecuting them:

Atlanta-area prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia are in possession of text messages and emails directly connecting members of Donald Trump’s legal team to the early January 2021 voting system breach in Coffee County, sources tell CNN.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to seek charges against more than a dozen individuals when her team presents its case before a grand jury next week. Several individuals involved in the voting systems breach in Coffee County are among those who may face charges in the sprawling criminal probe.

Investigators in the Georgia criminal probe have long suspected the breach was not an organic effort sprung from sympathetic Trump supporters in rural and heavily Republican Coffee County – a county Trump won by nearly 70% of the vote. They have gathered evidence indicating it was a top-down push by Trump’s team to access sensitive voting software, according to people familiar with the situation.

Trump allies attempted to access voting systems after the 2020 election as part of the broader push to produce evidence that could back up the former president’s baseless claims of widespread fraud.

While Trump’s January 2021 call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and effort to put forward fake slates of electors have long been considered key pillars of Willis’ criminal probe, the voting system breach in Coffee County quietly emerged as an area of focus for investigators roughly one year ago. Since then, new evidence has slowly been uncovered about the role of Trump’s attorneys, the operatives they hired and how the breach, as well as others like it in other key states, factored into broader plans for overturning the election.

Together, the text messages and other court documents show how Trump lawyers and a group of hired operatives sought to access Coffee County’s voting systems in the days before January 6, 2021, as the former president’s allies continued a desperate hunt for any evidence of widespread fraud they could use to delay certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.

 Last year, a former Trump official testified under oath to the House January 6 select committee that plans to access voting systems in Georgia were discussed in meetings at the White House, including during an Oval Office meeting on December 18, 2020,  that included Trump. 

Six days before pro-Trump operatives gained unauthorized access to voting systems, the local elections official who allegedly helped facilitate the breach sent a “written invitation” to attorneys working for Trump, according to text messages obtained by CNN.

But if they can prosecute Donald Trump for taking numerous direct actions to try stay in office after losing an election, they can prosecute anyone for taking numerous direct actions to try stay in office after losing an election. And this would be very dangerous because [picks up phone that is not ringing or vibrating] whoops gotta take this bye!

A few thoughts before I do the weekly Sunday cleanings on the computers. This morning I scrambled to get through two windows of a combined total of 78 tabs, so I wouldn’t lose them due to cleaning. Hugs

TRUMP “ATTACKED!!” | Armageddon Update | Christopher Titus

TN Police Video Released Of DeSantis Motorcade Crash

TN Police Video Released Of DeSantis Motorcade Crash

Could this be called leaving the scene of a crime?  Hit and run?  Remember his campaign is using state employees with no reimbursement, meaning the taxpayer is paying for his travel and costs.  Also the new laws in Florida prevent the news or the public from knowing DeathSantis travel or who is paying for it.   Hugs

Click Orlando reports:

“If this ain’t a full-blown (expletive) disaster,” a Chattanooga police officer can be heard saying as he surveyed the wrecked vehicles in DeSantis’s motorcade. The video, which was provided to News 6 by the Chattanooga Police Department through a public record request, shows three of the four wrecked SUVs.

The vehicle that was carrying DeSantis at the time of the crash, a white GMC Yukon, had been driven away from the crash site before the first Chattanooga police officer with a body-worn video camera arrived at the scene about 24 minutes after the collision, records show.

“(DeSantis) already left the scene. They got him out of here as soon as it happened,” the police officer said to an unidentified person over the phone. “At least we didn’t kill anybody,” a Florida Department of Law Enforcement agent escorting the governor said, according to a conversation captured on police video.

Read the full article.

 

Robert Conner 4 days ago

Meatball left the scene of the accident. But enough about Florida.

JCF  Robert Conner4 days ago

“If this ain’t a full-blown (expletive) disaster,”

…but enough about DeSatan’s Floriduh.

Yves R. Mektin 4 days ago

Hit’n’Ron DeSantis can be his new nickname.

But he’s already got so many.

Hank: NO MORE WoW!!!  Yves R. Mektin4 days ago

I will stick with DeathSentence, because of what he did to the people in the State of Florida with Covid, when he HID the Death Tallies and became an Anti-vaxxer…. including passing LAWS in the State, so people did not have to get vaccinated to keep their jobs!

Ritorna Vincitor 4 days ago edited

“If this ain’t a full-blown (expletive) disaster,” the officer said. It was unclear if she was referring to the wrecked vehicles or to the DeSantis campaign in general.

Yves R. Mektin 4 days ago

Fleeing the scene of an accident he was involved in. I think that might be a crime.

Erp  Yves R. Mektin4 days ago

Two possible exceptions might be if someone was injured and they were taking them to the nearest hospital or the Tennessee highway police who were there authorized them to leave (the THP isn’t saying according to the article).

I will however note that if this was a presidential motorcade or foreign head of state/government or someone under Secret Service protection, they would likely have hightailed it out of there in case this was step one of an ambush. They would contact the local police and make arrangements for necessary interviews.

2guysnamedjoe 4 days ago edited

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – A dog that ran onto a Tennessee interstate is believed to be responsible for triggering a chain-reaction vehicle crash that damaged four SUVs being used to carry Governor Ron DeSantis to a presidential campaign event last week, according to police video obtained by News 6.

I hope the dog’s okay.

 

 

Grand jury investigating bid-rigging involving DeSantis’ education department

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2023/08/04/desantis-florida-education-corcoran-jefferson-investigation/

Federal authorities sent a subpoena to the Jefferson County School District in June.
 
 
Then-Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran, left, motions back to Gov. Ron DeSantis at a news conference at St. Petersburg Collegiate High School on March 15, 2022, in St. Petersburg.
Then-Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran, left, motions back to Gov. Ron DeSantis at a news conference at St. Petersburg Collegiate High School on March 15, 2022, in St. Petersburg. [ DIRK SHADD | Times ]
By
 
Published Aug. 4|Updated Aug. 4

TALLAHASSEE — A federal grand jury is investigating allegations of bid-rigging involving Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Department of Education, charter school operators and the control of a small North Florida school district.

Federal authorities issued a subpoena to the Jefferson County School District in June seeking communications between district officials, charter school lobbyists and former top officials in DeSantis’ education department.

It also seeks records relating to the department’s attempt to steer a multimillion-dollar contract to a politically connected company with ties to DeSantis’ former education commissioner, Richard Corcoran. The contract would have been funded by federal coronavirus relief dollars.

The subpoena, obtained by the Times/Herald in a public records request, was issued by a federal prosecutor in Gainesville. The subpoena requests the records be sent to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General in Pembroke Pines.

A spokesperson for the federal education department’s Office of Inspector General said the office does not confirm or deny investigative activity.

The federal inquiry comes a year and a half after the Times/Herald reported on the bid-rigging allegations involving Jefferson County’s school district, which became the first, and only, district to be privatized by the state.

Control of the small three-school district near Tallahassee was turned over to private charter school operator Somerset Academy Inc. in 2017. The five-year contract was scheduled to end in 2022, when the school board would resume control.

But under Corcoran’s leadership, the Department of Education decided in 2021 it would hire consultants for up to three years to help the district’s transition, and it would use $4 million in federal coronavirus relief dollars assigned to the district to pay for it.

School district officials were against the plan, arguing that its annual budget was only $8.5 million, so it couldn’t afford to spend $4 million on consultants. When the state Department of Education solicited offers to help the district, bidding was open for only a week. Only one qualified company responded: MGT Consulting, led by Trey Traviesa, a former GOP state representative from Tampa with ties to Corcoran.

Procurements are supposed to be free of favoritism. But the Times/Herald found that on Nov. 1, 2021, a week before the procurement was announced, top education officials were already meeting with Traviesa, top charter school lobbyists and Jefferson County officials about the procurement.

MGT was ultimately never hired. The Department of Education restarted the bidding after two senior department officials — former K-12 chancellor Jacob Oliva and former Vice Chancellor for Strategic Development Melissa Ramsey — and a member of the State Board of Education created their own company and filed a competing bid. Ultimately, the plan to spend the money on consultants was dropped.

Oliva is now Arkansas’ Department of Education secretary.

The Florida Department of Education’s inspector general investigated Ramsey and Oliva’s bid for potential conflicts of interest but never addressed any apparent irregularities with MGT’s bid.

The federal subpoena, dated June 12, does not mention Corcoran. But it names Oliva, Ramsey and Suzanne Pridgeon, the state Department of Education’s deputy commissioner for finance and operations.

The subpoena also requests text messages, emails and other communications between Traviesa, MGT Consulting, Jefferson County schools superintendent Eydie Tricquet, representatives of Somerset Academy Inc. and Ralph Arza, a prominent charter school lobbyist and longtime Corcoran ally. At the time that Somerset was operating the district’s schools, Arza had four relatives working for the company in Jefferson County.

The subpoena seeks records relating to the procurement, along with records of the Nov. 1 meeting and other meetings in 2021 between Arza, school district officials and Department of Education officials.

The Florida Department of Education and DeSantis’ office did not immediately respond to emails sent Friday afternoon seeking comment. After the Times/Herald reported the allegations last year, the governor’s office said Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel would review how the Department of Education and its inspector general handled the bid for the multimillion-dollar contract. The state has never produced the results.

Corcoran declined to comment. He is now serving as interim president of New College of Florida, a public liberal arts school in Sarasota County that DeSantis and political appointees are trying to turn into a beacon of conservatism.

Liberal Redneck – Ohio and the Future of Democracy

Well Said, and it explains so very much. Hugs

Ostentatious title aside, I do think it’s wild what’s going on with R’s baldly anti-democratic actions as of late. PIA Link: https://www.piavpn.com/Trae

Here’s Some Stupid To Start Your Day

Here’s Some Stupid To Start Your Day

Another grand post on Mock Paper Scissors by Tengrain.   Plus the commenters are always witty and spot on.  If you don’t follow the site, I recommend you explore it, you will be happily surprised at the diversity of content and tone displayed.   Hugs

Tom Tomorrow, today …

Tom Tomorrow, today …

Again Ten Bears has posted a cartoon that is so accurate and on the nose as to how the republican rubes are talking about mr. trump’s clear attempt to stay in power when he knew he lost the election.   Thanks Ten Bears.  Hugs