Hi All. I’d like to introduce you to a youtuber that I listen to when doing housework and such. I almost feel like there is someone sitting in my dining-room talking to me as I work. Ironic that this posting is talking about a “post-literate United States”. Well, here we go, I hope you will like this poster and subscribe. Thanks.
Ro Khanna details the abuses the Israelis commit against the palestinians and how the authorities do nothing to stop these abuses. Khanna gives numerous details and says that the israeli governments want to make it clear that no one should go to see the attractions and abuse done to the Palestinians but should only visit the Jewish parts of Israel. This is the best reporting of what happened to the congressman and the other US citizens. Hugs
Doctors and human rights experts documented hundreds of incidents from June 2025 through May 2026 and estimate true number is ‘far greater’
Smoke fills the air as protesters face off with California Highway Patrol officers in Los Angeles, California on 8 June 2025. Photograph: Jill Connelly/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
It’s been a brutal tactic deployed by local and federal law enforcement officials time and again over the past year: using teargas, rubber bullets and pepper spray to control protests outside ICE detention centers or during enforcement operations.
Now, a new report lays bare the scale of the use of these crowd control weapons during anti-immigration demonstrations across the US, including hundreds of incidents that resulted in lasting and traumatic injuries.
The report and an interactive map was created by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley (HRC) and released this week. Doctors and human rights experts with PHR and HRC documented 412 verified incidents of the “misuse” of these crowd control weapons, also known as “less-lethal weapons”, from June 2025 through May 2026.
“This is a concerning story,” said Dr Rohini Haar, the lead author of the report and a PHR medical expert, in an interview with the Guardian.
The report documented 203 injuries stemming from the alleged misuse of the crowd control weapons. Some of the injuries included blindings, traumatic brain injuries, lacerations, fractures and contusions.
The researchers struggled to confirm the full scale of the injuries, because “visual investigative techniques cannot adequately assess invisible injuries, such as chemical injury or chronic pain or hearing loss”.
“The true number of injuries is likely far greater,” the report adds.
Such tactics were on display earlier this summer, when dozens of protesters gathered outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, in solidarity with detained immigrants on hunger strike. As protests became more and more heated, a line of masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials stood outside to guard the detention center.
During a scuffle, ICE officials pepper sprayed Andy Kim, a New Jersey senator, making national news and helping set off one of the country’s flashpoints in demonstrations against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations.
State police officers stand behind shields as tear gas fills the area outside the Delaney Hall detention center during a protest in Newark, New Jersey. Photograph: Andrés Kudacki/AP
In the days and weeks that followed, local and state officials also moved in on protesters, using batons and shields, deploying teargas canisters and arresting dozens. Many were injured during the demonstrations outside Delaney Hall by the crowd control weapons that the local, state and federal officials used.
The use of crowd control weapons in New Jersey was not new – local, state and federal law enforcement officials have used them on protesters nationwide opposing the aggressive anti-immigrant arrests, detentions and deportations.
But their use has become widespread as the backlash to Trump’s immigration crackdown has grown – prompting researchers to track down incidents and the types of weapons used nationwide, and to establish a map where readers can see how those weapons have been used in their communities.
Haar began working on the report after she saw news of a pastor being blasted in the face with a chemical weapon by a federal official in Oakland. Haar and PHR have been researching the impacts of crowd control weapons for years.
“Those weapons can cause harm,” Haar added. “It’s just when they’re used, how they’re used and if they’re used.”
DHS did not respond to Guardian inquiries about the report’s findings before publication.
The crowd control weapons include chemical irritants, including teargas, pepper spray and Mace, along with “kinetic impact projectiles”, which include rubber bullets and bean bag rounds. Researchers with PHR and HRC also documented the use of stun grenades, water cannon and other “improvised” weapons, like horses and riot police shields.
Haar explained to the Guardian that they qualified “misuse” by a number of methods. First, they tracked whether people in “protected categories”, including journalists and health workers, were targeted by officials. Next, they documented if vulnerable populations, including elderly people and children, were affected. And lastly, they tracked whether the weapons were used improperly, like using the weapons in close range, targeting people’s heads or going against the weapons’ manufacturing guidelines.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fires tear gas toward demonstrators and members of the press at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility. Photograph: Olga Fedorova/EPA
A report from earlier this year by ProPublica identified 70 children across the US who had been harmed by teargas or pepper spray – not just at protests, but during immigration enforcement operations as well.
On a national level, officials with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), like ICE or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, were responsible for over half of all misuse incidents – 64%. But local law enforcement officers also played a role in many incidents.
“The involvement of state and local [authorities] is also concerning,” Haar added. “Because in many places, they’re coming on top of what is already happening with DHS. But in places like Los Angeles, there is a lot more involvement [of local law enforcement officials].”
The researchers found that there was an increase in the use of these weapons during immigration enforcement surge operations under the command of former Border Patrol commander-at-large Gregory Bovino, who took a hardline approach to his enforcement tactics. After the shooting deaths of two US citizens in Minneapolis by federal immigration officials, Bovino was pulled from his position. He became critical of the Trump administration, accusing them of not taking a tough-enough approach, and retired in March of this year.
“In each city where there were federal directions to escalate enforcement, incident counts rose sharply within days,” PHR said in a statement announcing the report and the map. “Much of this was coincident with the arrival of Greg Bovino.”
“Many of the enforcement operations that coincided with spikes in documented misuse were also promoted through public social media accounts, including Bovino’s,” PHR continued.
For researchers, the scale of the use of the crowd control weapons harkened back to law enforcement’s response to the 2020 racial justice protests. That year, protesters throughout the country took to the streets to protest police killings of people of color throughout the US. And in some cities, the Border Patrol’s elite unit participated in arrests and crowd control operations.
Since June 2025, mass protests have erupted in Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, Newark and Portland. The report documented that over 90% of the documented “misuse” incidents happened in those regions.
DHS and local law enforcement officials have fallen under repeated criticism for their response to their protests and their aggressive use of force. Since January of 2025, federal immigration officials with DHS have been responsible for at least 11 shooting deaths. The two most recent fatal shootings by immigration authorities took place this month, less than one week apart, in Texas and in Maine.
On 7 July, ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old construction worker, during an arrest operation in Houston as he drove his work van. And just this Monday morning, a 26-year-old Colombian man was shot and killed by a federal official in Biddeford, Maine, DHS confirmed.
As Emma says in the intro what reporters including herself decide to include, leave out, or highlight can influence how a story is received and the reaction to it. I know my last post had raised some concern. I will be addressing all of that after I get tomorrow’s cartoon / meme / news post scheduled and the Sunday morning semi news shows watched. If you listen to this please note that neither one of the reporters is excusing what Platner might have done; they are discussing the omitting of details that could color the story in different ways and should reporters be concerned with that shading effect. The fact is in my opinion there are a lot of unknowns and unanswered question. This is not a court of law that a person’s life is being examined under; no one is under oath in any of this. It is being tried in the media of public perception. So in that case I want to be sure of the facts before I condemn a person and ruin their life.
I also believe strongly in redemption. We all have made mistakes and we all were young. I am not perfect. I have always had the idea of being a better Scottie today than I was yesterday. I had a temper in my 20s and have struggled most of my life to not just control it but to remove it and the triggers that ignite it. Should 20 year old me ready to battle and fight at the least provocation be the down fall of 40, 50, 60 year old Scottie now? Is there no redemption, compassion, or empathy for the experiences that lead to mistakes and wrong choices? But that is not what this post is about, it is about what facts should be included or omitted in reporting. Hugs
Again more information is coming out. Details that give credit to Platner’s side of the story. The news doesn’t excuse him, but it sets up why he was at her house and why he was touching her. Again the media has a bias and it is being reported with that bias totally one sided. This report says he was wasted out of his mind black out drunk but again no proof of that. Was the woman here drinking also like the first woman was? I think Saagar is trying too hard to brand Platner, again we need more facts. As he said the woman is accusing Platner of a serious felony and now we need to see if this is going to be a trial in the media which is a slander hit job or a trial in court. The question I have is more going to come out. I like that on morning Joe the host asks for colaberating evedince. She asks what do you have to show him raping the victim? Again if he did it he needs to pay for his crime, I just don’t like how it is coming out, being played up in media, and the timing. Again the reporter admits he can’t produce any evidence. The therapist did not verify that it happened, yet that was reported. The very account I had heard about the exchange between the therapist and the victim has been proven out, it was not about the assault or at the time or the assault. The therapist said she did not recall the victim’s account of the assault but said she vaguely supports women who say they are assaulted. Therrapest keep notes, mine always have so why did she blank on the case details. This is looking a media hit job to drive a progressive candidate out of politics. Hugs
NOTE: Politico’s response to Breaking Points and Drop Site News on the gaps in reporting follows: “This story is based on extensive reporting and interviews and reflects our editorial standards. In interviews with us and in accounts she gave to other outlets, Jenny Racicot said that she told Graham Platner not to come to her home and that he nevertheless showed up there uninvited. POLITICO gave Platner and his campaign ample opportunity to respond to our reporting and to provide any information or documentation they believed contradicted it. If presented with information that materially challenges our reporting, we will report it.” Ryan and Saagar discuss exclusive reporting on key details missing from the Graham Platner story.
I am very concerned about this situation. I have all ways said we need to listen to abuse victims and evaluate their accusations while giving every leaning to understanding the situation they were / are in. But an accusation is just that. It is not proof positive of an actual event happening or a crime occurring. I am concerned with the statements of the accuser since the Times article came out and why she said she came forward in the Politico article. I agree with Joe Scarbourghs thoughts on the timing and the fact that even though he denies it happened he doesn’t have time to clear his name before the election. With all the financial support being withdrawn he has no chance forward even if he is eventually cleared of these charges.
As the other reporter reports, there is a deep sense this is a coordinated attack by the establishment and the AIPAC big money. I do believe in redemption and the ability of people to change. However I don’t have the needed evidence to say for certain that these groups did organize this against him, I just know that in the Times article it was clearly a republican oppertive attacking and that she could only say she was drunk, he pushed her into a room with a bed, locked the door with him on the outside, and told her to calm down. She said he did not touch her sexually and did not hurt her. He did not bother her the rest of the night as she slept off being drunk.
The woman in the Politico report says she decided to come forward not because she had wanted or believed the Times article would showcase other women being sexually abused like she claims. But the times article was clear they did not find any such accusations and she at the time did not come forward with them. I have heard but not seen one of the “proofs” being used is she talked to her therapist about the assault. How ever the ones I have seen accredited to her show she did not talk to her therapist about the sexual assault but only dealt with her possible media exposure. She was asking if she should do it and if the therapist thought it would be good for her. Not questions that really back up the assault. She says it happened only five years ago, she could if she wants share emails with her therapist from earlier where she is concerned about her emotional state from the abuse.
At this time I believe it is a he said / she said situation. I am not willing to damn a person on hearsay. I will wait but if it comes out she was assaulted as she said I will back her completely and hope she holds him accountable. How ever if it does come out in a short while that she only did this for financial advantage or emotional payback to a former boyfriend then I will hold everyone who used this to attack Platner and smear him accountable as well. If it turns out his chance to serve the people who overwhelmingly like his political message was sabotaged by the corporate establishment and well paying lobbies for Israel then I think the man is owed far more than a chance to show his redemption should be accepted but it should also alert everyone to the power of the political establishment to do the bidding of the wealthy elite. Hugs
I find it weird that we learn that tRump had a long phone call with Putin with no aids on the line and then goes to a NATO summit and calls for everything Putin wants. Putin wants his puppet in control of the region where Greenland is so he can have access to the area, and Putin wants US troops pulled from Europe, and Putin wants NATO weakened. Hugs.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday resurrected his push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland.
He suggested the U.S. could pull its troops from Europe in response to the Continent’s continued pushback on the issue.
Trump’s comments came shortly after he arrived in Ankara, Turkey, for a NATO summit.
U.S. President Donald Trump (L) gestures as he speaks during a bilateral meeting at the Bestepe Presidential Compound as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) looks on, following Trump’s arrival to attend the annual NATO Summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Tuesday resurrected his push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, and suggested the U.S. could pull all of its armed services members out of Europe in response to the Continent’s continued pushback on the issue.
The island territory “should be controlled by the United States,” Trump said shortly after he arrived in Ankara, Turkey, for a NATO summit.
The 32-member alliance — which includes Denmark, of which Greenland is a part — fell into a crisis in January, as Trump demanded that the U.S. must take control of the island territory on national security grounds.
In a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday afternoon Ankara time, Trump vented that Europe’s refusal to go along with his expansionist desire is “what hurt my relationship with NATO.”
“Because Greenland doesn’t help Denmark. Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States,” Trump told reporters.
“And it’s surrounded by China ships and Russian ships, and that’s not going to happen, the ships, is, it’s not going to happen,” he said, repeating claims about foreign military threats against the self-governing island that experts on Greenland have denied.
Greenland “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump went on. “And when they wouldn’t go along with it, and with all the money we spend to help them with Russia — we don’t have to spend any money.”
“We could remove all of our soldiers out of Europe,” he said. “Because as you probably noticed, Europe’s a very different place than it was 20 years ago.”
“And they better be careful,” Trump went on, speaking broadly about Europe, “with immigration and energy. If they’re not careful with those two things, you’re not going to have a Europe anymore.”
He then ended the portion of the meeting that was open to the press.
Working group talks
Trump’s comments thrust Greenland, a vast, sparsely populated and largely frozen Arctic island, back into the geopolitical spotlight.
The U.S. president’s pursuit of Greenland had become a major trans-Atlantic issue at the start of the year, sparked by Trump’s repeated claims that the U.S. needed to acquire the island. Greenlandic lawmakers have insisted the island is not for sale.
Trump, who had refused to rule out the use of military force to annex Greenland, abruptly announced in late January, however, that he and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had formed a “framework of a future deal” with respect to the territory.
A working group of representatives from the U.S., Denmark and Greenland have since been meeting to discuss the way forward.
Residential apartment buildings in Nuuk, Greenland, Jan. 25, 2026.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen reportedly said late last month that he expects the working group to find a solution by the end of the year.
Asked Tuesday about Trump’s latest comments on Greenland, Finnish President Alexander Stubb told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick: “Be more Arctic, be more cool. If it is about Arctic security, we have seven countries that are Arctic nations in the alliance.”
He added: “Finland has trained 1 million soldiers in Arctic conditions; we basically live in Arctic conditions. Let’s keep that in mind. Let’s, you know, continue the process that the Danes, the Americans and the Greenlanders have.”
This is a serious report. Grim shows Israeli soldiers blocking a family from taking their ill and dying 2 year old to a waiting ambulance until the kid died. They show a video of IDF Israeli soldiers making Palestinians get into a small car then tossing in a stun grenade and slaming the door shut. Complete and uder disregard for life and they take joy in hurting and degrading the Palestinians because they know they will suffer no consequences for what they are doing. The hosts elaborate on a Palestinian doctor in israeli custody who has been tortured, beaten, and starved for 2 years with no charges. The description of what he looks like now and the abuse he suffered is horrific. If you are a politician who supports Israel doing these acts you have no business representing the US. Hugs
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