Category: Police / Law Enforcement / ICE

FBI Joins Probe Into North Carolina Power Outage – JMG

FBI Joins Probe Into North Carolina Power Outage

CNN reports:

With no suspects or motive announced, the FBI is joining the investigation into power outages in a North Carolina county believed to have been caused by “intentional” and “targeted” attacks on substations that left around 40,000 customers in the dark Saturday night, prompting a curfew and emergency declaration.

The mass outage in Moore County turned into a criminal investigation when responding utility crews found signs of potential vandalism of equipment at different sites – including two substations that had been damaged by gunfire, according to the Moore County Sheriff’s Office.

“The person, or persons, who did this knew exactly what they were doing,” Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said during a Sunday news conference. “We don’t have a clue why Moore County.”

Raleigh’s ABC affiliate reports:

All Moore County schools are closed Monday as the American Red Cross offers a 24-hour shelter in the county to help thousands of people lacking heat, medical care and other necessities during a mass power outage.

Sheriff Ronnie Fields said the Moore County Sheriff’s Office is working with state and local law enforcement. When asked if this was an incident of domestic terrorism, Fields replied, “I can’t answer that,” but added, “This was targeted. It wasn’t random.”

Investigators aren’t sure if there is a tie between the substation damage and a drag show at the Sunrise Theater in Southern Pines that sparked a lot of controversy in the area. There was heavy security at the drag show amid concerns about protesters and fears of possible violence.

 

clay • 13 minutes ago

. . . and the drag show went on. The audience lit the stage with their cell phones.

Dave B J.Martindale • 7 minutes ago

It’s called domestic terrorism.

JT J.Martindale • 17 minutes ago

But they’re just what Putin wants. And the cultist goons have been primed to do, by Fux Nazi Noise and the Nazi GQP.

DmR • 19 minutes ago

Kinda fishy that the perps knew exactly which two places to shoot up to kill the redundancy in the area!

KnownDonorDad • 19 minutes ago

The Q-bots are just winning hearts and minds all over the place.

Boreal • 16 minutes ago

Gramma don’t need no heat, as long as the libtards are owned and drag shows stopped.

Let’s talk about the secret in Trump’s statement….

Anti-Drag Activist Questioned Over NC Power Outage

Anti-Drag Activist Questioned Over NC Power Outage

Durham’s ABC affiliate reports:

Acts of intentional vandalism caused ten of thousands of people in Moore County to sleep Saturday night without power. Moore County Sheriff’s Office said the outages began just after 7 p.m. because of damaged caused at multiple substations in the county. Sheriff Ronnie Fields said the mass outage is currently believed to have been caused by a criminal act. Approximately 38,000 people lost power and were forced to deal with the overnight freezing temperatures.

NBC News reports:

Sewer lift stations were also out of order and authorities advised residents to stay off the roads. “There are multiple accidents that have occurred,” Southern Pines administration said in a statement. While typical outages in North Carolina are often resolved within an hour so, the late-night blackout for much of Moore County appeared to new territory for Duke Energy and for law enforcement. “Until we understand the scope of the damage, we can’t yet estimate when power will be restored.”

The Daily Beast reports:

A local conservative activist who organized a protest against a drag show said on Facebook that she was visited by deputies. “I welcomed them to my home. Sorry they wasted their time,” Emily Grace Rainey wrote. Two hours earlier, Rainey had posted the message: “The power is out in Moore County and I know why.” And around the same time, she posted a picture of the Sunrise Theater, which was putting on the sold-out drag show, with the caption “God will not be mocked.”

 

Paula • 5 hours ago

This is domestic terrorism. This bitch is dangerous. She is Military Intelligence. They are dirty players. She might need to disappear into prison.

sherman Paula • 5 hours ago

While this pig high-fived a Proud Boy and said he supported their right to protest, this wasn’t a protest, it was domestic terrorism – using violence or threats of violence to achieve a political goal.

mikeiver  Paula  5 hours ago  edited

Correct. They teach them how to disrupt communications, power, and water infrastructure in the military. A review of her records will likely reveal that she has been thru this schooling. She can’t be to smart having shot off her cock socket like this so they will have a very hard look at her over the next weeks.
Edit: Had a look at some videos and pictures and if they attacked the transformer that is millions of dollars to repair or replace. It appears from the size to be at least a 25 megawatt unit. They don’t keep those laying around in the yard as backup! Allot of these stations also have video cameras stationed facing out and in so they likely have some video.

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Chris Christie’s niece kicked off New Orleans plane, injured 6 deputies, officials say

https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/chris-christies-niece-bites-officers-at-new-orleans-airport/article_592e7ee2-728d-11ed-9b91-9345a9dda9b2.html

Ah the family that is racist together … Christie was a big supporter of the close the southern border policies while trying to get white people to come to the US.   He is an entitled white asshole and sounds like the entire family is.   Hugs

She asked passengers she perceived to be Latino if they were ‘smuggling cocaine’

New Orleans airport

A niece of former New Jersey Gov. was arrested on Thanksgiving Day at Louis Armstrong International Airport.

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER

 

After getting forced off an airplane for asking passengers who appeared to her to be Latino whether they were drug mules, a niece of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie bit, kicked and spit on Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputies trying to detain her on Thanksgiving Day at Louis Armstrong International Airport, authorities said.

Shannon Epstein, 25, boarded the Spirit Airlines flight to New Jersey on Nov. 24 at about 6 a.m., and asked a family who were near her and whom she perceived to be Latino if they were “smuggling cocaine,” said Capt. Jason Rivarde, a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. Airline workers requested Epstein be removed from the plane as she became increasingly irate, and the plane, which had started to taxi to the runway, returned to the gate, Rivarde said Friday.

When deputies arrived, Epstein refused to exit the jet bridge into the terminal, Rivarde said. When they tried to arrest her, she became “extremely combative,” Rivarde said.

 

Six deputies hurt

In the scuffle, she injured six deputies, biting one of the arm and breaking the skin, and kicking another in the groin, Rivarde said. They were treated there by paramedics.

 

All the while, Epstein shouted that the deputies were going to lose their jobs or end up in jail, boasting that she was related to powerful people and that her uncle is a friend of former President Donald Trump, Rivarde said. Chris Christie did not return messages left Friday at two telephone numbers associated with him.

Seven deputies were needed to handcuff Epstein to a wheelchair, so that she could be moved to the airport security office, Rivarde said. She continued to shout vulgarities and try to bite deputies, he added. 

They booked Epstein with six counts of battery on a police officer, three of disturbing the peace, one of resisting arrest by force and one of remaining after forbidden, Rivarde said. She paid $10,750 bail and was released from the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center later on Thanksgiving Day.

Epstein is scheduled to return to Jefferson Parish for court on Jan. 23, although Rivarde said most airline-related cases move to federal court.

Calls Grow For DeSantis To Be Held In Contempt For Defying Court Order

Of course the wannabe king of Florida thinks he doesn’t have to follow the laws or the courts.   Republicans just feel they are above laws or court rulings they don’t like or want to obey.  Most of the time the Republicans get away with it, look at tRump.    Hugs

Dozens Of Proud Boys, Patriot Front, Armed Extremists, And Nazis Gather Outside Canceled Ohio Drag Event – JMG

Dozens Of Proud Boys, Patriot Front, Armed Extremists, And Nazis Gather Outside Canceled Ohio Drag Event

This was at a church for dogs that love gravy.   But no dissent will be tolerated from the maga thug rule.   The Christian Taliban has spoken, and head priest DeathSantis says no men wearing dresses except priests.   Please note that these thugs did manage to get the event canceled as the church and the promoters were scared, worried about violence to the people coming to see it, the performers, and the kids.   The harm was not the show, but what these thugs would do to the people at the show.   Complete lawlessness.    And all these police that can smash down black peoples doors, arrest little old ladies for a $77 dollar trash bill wouldn’t provide safe access and coverage for the event.   So what do these thugs shut down next?  A Muslim event?  A political event from the party they don’t support?  So far they have shut down school board meets and got their way on changing how things are done in schools.   No masks, no LGBTQI+ acceptance programs, so what next limiting girls to only certain grades?   Or shutting down Buddhist temples?  Hey that is the way we do government now, attack anyone who disagrees, lash out and demean others.  The republican party has shown the way with trump, Christ Christy, DeathSantis, and the entire Marge Greene congressional crew.   In one of the clips a Proud Boy protester demands to know what bible are they reading at (from).   Also for people claiming the moral high road they love to shout the word fuck over their bullhorns on public streets.  I don’t get upset over swearing but I bet the parents driving / walking by with their children were not too happy about it.  Think of this Nazi shit marching down your sidewalk in front of your home and going to attack … well you name the establishment that Nazi’s love to attack and destroy  Hugs

The Associated Press reports:

An Ohio school says an internal dispute over security prompted a last-minute cancellation of a weekend children’s storytelling event featuring performers in drag amid a planned protest by a far-right group.

The Red Oak Community School’s “Holi-Drag Storytime” event was to have been held Saturday morning at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Columbus, where the school is based. The Ohio Chapter of the Proud Boys last month announced plans to attend and protest the event.

About 50 to 70 members of the Proud Boys and other groups had gathered on the sidewalk on roads leading to the church, shouting, chanting and holding signs.

Matter News reports:

Previously, the Columbus and Central Ohio LGBTQ+ Leadership Roundtable, a group that consists of Stonewall Columbus, Kaleidoscope Youth Center, HRC Columbus, Equitas Health and LoveBoldly, requested that the community not show up to counterprotest the Proud Boys at the Holi-Drag event.

“This situation is potentially volatile and dangerous, and the safety of the children, families, performers and our community are of paramount importance,” the Leadership Roundtable said in a statement. “Our actions must be in service to their protection.”

See the final video below for today’s message from the event’s organizers. Give the tweets below a minute to fully load.

DeSantis Flacks Forced To Define “Woke” In Court – JMG

DeSantis Flacks Forced To Define “Woke” In Court

If you go to the linked article you will see that the lawyer for DeathSantis told the judge

Asked what “woke” means more generally, Newman said “it would be the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.”

Newman added that DeSantis doesn’t believe there are systemic injustices in the U.S. 

Of course he doesn’t.  He thinks things are great, especially for people like him which is white powerful Christian straight cis male.   No problems right.  The fact that he is making that very injustice for blacks, the LGBTQI+, and other minorities.    This is the man who wants to be president, and yet he claims that the government must ban and attack the idea that there are systemic injustices?   I guess that must be what they mean by American exceptionalism?  The right want to indoctrinate the young people of today with the idea that the US is perfect as it is, has never made mistakes, and must never be changed by what other countries do.   Stop looking at the benefits and better life of the public in other advanced countries, remember the US, where profit is king, is #1 and the best.    Hugs

Florida Politics reports:

What does “woke” mean? During the three-day trial this week challenging Gov. Ron DeSantis’ suspension of Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, attorneys for Warren were able to put that question to aides for DeSantis.

Taryn Fenske, DeSantis’ Communications Director said “woke” was a “slang term for activism, progressive activism” and a general belief in systemic injustices in the country. Ryan Newman, DeSantis’ General Counsel, echoed the part about systemic injustices, specifically regarding the criminal justice system.

Asked what “woke” means more generally, Newman said “it would be the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.”

Read the full article. In speeches, DeSantis often refers to Florida as “the place where woke goes to die.”

Ross • 11 hours ago • edited

To be woke is to:
Be empathetic
Be intelligent
Be open to new ideas
Be able to discern between truth and lies
Be decent
Embrace equality for all

I think these are all good things to aspire to.

And it says everything about Republicans that they scorn these same things.

TrollopeReader Ross • 11 hours ago

basically the basis of a liberal arts education .. liberal in the worldy sense, not the political sense (though that often is synonymous)

Judas Peckerwood • 11 hours ago

In speeches, DeSantis often refers to Florida as “the place where woke goes to die.”

No, it’s where old bigots like my parents and my aunts and uncles and their friends go to die. A “woke” like me will never die there since I have no intention of ever setting foot there again.

Serene Pumpkin Bilderbeck • 11 hours ago • edited

Also, “oddly colored hair.” People who dye their hair green, blue, pink, purple etc. drive them into paroxysms of rage.

jk105 • 11 hours ago

Woke is this decade’s “politically correct”—which means anything conservatives don’t like.

TrollopeReader • 11 hours ago • edited

So, the Northern Abolitionists circa 1830s —-> 1861 were “Woke” !!!

Women’s Suffrage …up to 1920… Woke!

18 year-olds voting .. Woke!!

undoing Prohibtion — Triple Woke!!

Posthumously • 11 hours ago

It’s what Republicans used to call “political correctness”.

ChipSF Posthumously • 11 hours ago

Which used to be called “polite and considerate”

Sam_Handwich Posthumously • 11 hours ago

Yup. Calling out bigotry, privilege and ignorance.

J.Martindale Posthumously • 11 hours ago

Because they feel it necessary to be incorrect: i.e. bigoted, racist, xenophobic.

Texas man charged with making death threats against Boston doctor treating trans youth

Texas man charged with making death threats against Boston doctor treating trans youth

 

Matthew Jordan Lindner faces federal charges after allegedly threatening a doctor affiliated with the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center.

By Morgan Rousseau

A Texas man has been federally charged after allegedly harassing and making death threats against a Boston doctor who treats members of the transgender community, including trans youth.

Matthew Jordan Lindner, 38, of Comfort, Texas, was arrested Friday and charged with one count of transmitting interstate threats, according to the U.S. District Attorney’s Office. Lindner appeared in the Western District of Texas Friday afternoon and will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

Prosecutors say that in August, inaccurate information about procedures at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH) for the transgender community was spreading online. According to the charging documents, on Aug. 31, Lindner called the Boston-based National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center and left a threatening voicemail targeting one of the center’s affiliated doctors. 

According to its website, the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center provides “educational programs, resources and consultation to health care organizations with the goal of optimizing quality, cost-effective health care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, and all sexual and gender minority (LGBTQIA+) people.” The education center is part of Fenway Health and the Fenway Institute, which are among the world’s largest health centers focused on LGBTQIA+ communities.

Investigators say the targeted doctor cares for gender-nonconforming children and transgender patients.

In Linder’s expletive-packed voicemail, officials say he allegedly threatened, “You’re all gonna burn. There’s a group of people on their way to handle [the doctor]. You signed your own warrant, [doctor].”

Prosecutors also say Linder accused the doctor of “castrating our children” and said, “You’ve woken up enough people. And upset enough of us. And you signed your own ticket.”

If convicted, Lindner faces a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. 

“Death threats instill fear and terror in their targeted audiences,” U.S. Attorney Rachael S. Rollins said in a news release. “The conduct alleged here is not protected free speech. The words used here do not amount to someone simply expressing their discontent or engaging in a heated debate. Mr. Lindner’s alleged conduct — a death threat — is based on falsehoods and amounts to an act of workplace violence. The victim, a doctor caring for gender nonconforming and transgendered patients, should be able to engage in this meaningful and necessary work without fear of physical harm or death.”

In August, Rollins announced the creation of the “End Hate Now” hotline (1-83-END-H8-NOW or 1-833-634-8669) for reporting hate-based incidents or potential criminal activity. Callers can report incidents of hate, hate crimes, or individuals believed to be supporting acts of hate-based violent extremism. Callers can remain anonymous. 

Judge blocks Indiana abortion ban on religious freedom grounds

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/judge-blocks-indiana-abortion-ban-on-religious-freedom-grounds/ar-AA14QzO6?ocid=ansmsnnews11&cvid=d874d5bac1ef47e1903cd4581b7c2147

A second Indiana judge on Friday blocked the state from enforcing its law banning most abortions after Jewish, Muslim and other non-Christian women challenged it in a lawsuit.

Special session debating on banning abortion, in Indianapolis
Special session debating on banning abortion, in Indianapolis© Thomson Reuters

Marion County Superior Court Judge Heather Welch issued a preliminary injunction against the Republican-backed law, which prohibits abortions with limited exceptions for rape, incest, lethal fetal abnormalities or a serious health risk to the mother. The plaintiffs have argued that the measure infringes on religious freedom protected by another state law.

The law had already been on hold, as another judge in September blocked Indiana from enforcing it while Planned Parenthood and other healthcare providers challenge it in court.

Indiana became the first state to pass a new law banning abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized the procedure nationwide. Other Republican-led states quickly began enforcing older bans.

 

Welch issued her injunction after a group called Hoosier Jews for Choice and five individual women challenged the abortion law under Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU said the plaintiffs represented religions including Judaism and Islam as well as “independent spiritual belief systems.”

 
FILE PHOTO: Special session to debate banning abortion in Indianapolis
FILE PHOTO: Special session to debate banning abortion in Indianapolis© Thomson Reuters

“The Court finds that S.E.A. 1 substantially burdens the religious exercise of the Plaintiffs,” Welch wrote, using the formal name of the law, in granting the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction while the challenge to its legality proceeds.

“Although some religions believe that human life begins at conception, this is not an opinion shared by all religions or all religious people,” the ACLU said in a statement.

Bullying of LGBTQ students on the rise this year according to high school principals

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/12/bullying-lgbtq-students-rise-year-according-high-school-principals/

Seriously is anyone surprised at this news.   This is what the don’t say gay and the anti-trans rhetoric are all about.   The guy who wrote and pushed the don’t say gay bill said the reason he wrote it was he couldn’t stand that gay kids were coming out in school and accepted by the other students.   He wanted them targeted and bullied to stop other kids from coming out.   He said that!   It is the goal.  Oh and yes he claims he is a deeply religious Christian.    It is the Russia model of removing the LGBTQI+ from society / the public.   These red states have now removed any anti-bullying programs or campaigns based on it would violate parents’ rights according to these laws to teach their children that being gay of trans is an abomination to their god and so they need to be beaten / removed to make god happy.   Think of it, kids who get told that gays are molesting kids they are going to beat up and pick on gay kids and right now teachers cannot stop it in places in Florida.   This is the end result the maga religious right thugs love, the right to force others to live as they demand, do what they demand, they are the US Christian Taliban.   Hugs

There has been a marked increase in parents demanding limits to LGBTQ+ students’ rights that may have spilled over to bullying in schools.
 
By  
A kid being bullied at school
Photo: Shutterstock

Nearly half of the public high school principals who participated in a new nationally representative survey say they faced efforts from parents or the broader community to “challenge or limit LGBTQ+ students’ rights” during the 2021–2022 school year. The new study’s results suggest that adult efforts to limit LGBTQ+ students’ rights has led to increased bullying of LGBTQ+ students in schools.

During the summer of 2022, the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at UCLA and the Civic Engagement Research Group at UC Riverside surveyed 682 public high school principals and found that culture war issues have their jobs increasingly difficult.

As NPR reports, policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ students’ rights were among the topics that 69 percent of those surveyed said led to “substantial political conflict” with parents or members of their communities.

Researchers found that principals in narrowly divided purple districts were almost twice as likely as those in more conservative or liberal areas to say they faced multiple efforts to limit LGBTQ students’ rights.

A similar 2018 survey found that 15 percent of principals indicated multiple attacks on LGBTQ students. That percentage rose to 24 percent across all schools in the 2022 survey, with the number more than tripling in purple districts.

The 2022 survey also indicated that adult efforts to limit LGBTQ students’ rights paralleled an increase in students harassing LGBTQ classmates.

“It’s quite disheartening to work so hard and care for all our students when so many people are being hateful and threatening,” said one California principal, who reported an incident in which a parent screamed an anti-gay slur at a school counselor over the phone.

Other issues that caused significant conflict, according to 69 percent of the principals surveyed, include teaching issues around race and racism, social-emotional learning, and student access to books in school libraries. They also reported that rampant misinformation is making it harder to teach many subjects, particularly current events and media literacy.

Despite their grim findings, John Rogers, a professor of education at UCLA who helped lead the survey, and collaborator Joseph Kahne, a professor of education at UC Riverside, said that many principals believe that a majority of parents do not support the conflicts raging in public schools.

Rogers told NPR that principals believe that most parents stay silent, however, “because they’re too busy or overwhelmed or are afraid that if they become engaged, they’re going to face danger.”

“If the vast majority of folks are quiet, then folks who have very strong opinions or who are willing to engage in very contentious politics will have an outsized influence,” Kahne said. “If all parents and community members speak up, and if they have reasoned and focused conversations, that dialogue will be good for schools.”

The schools use to be the place to combat prejudice, bigotry, and hate.   But now the teachers are told they cannot support the attacked kids, they cannot affirm anything positive about gay or trans kids.   Meanwhile this is what the right wing parents are hearing all day on right wing media and the kids are being told.   Wonder why a right wing kid would think trans kids are trying to attack them in the bathrooms?   Wonder why right wing kids think all gays are child molesters?   

Laura Ingraham: Trans People Are “Deeply Anti-Human”