A reconfigured global elite are shaping up around a new kind of vision for transforming our world. They’ve called their neo-socialist and multilateral vision the Green New Deal.

Joe Biden’s White House team are core players in this vision, as they seek to reinvent Roosevelt’s original 1930s New Deal into a contemporary twenty-first century Democratic Party platform.

But there are also other important players pushing this neo-socialist dream.

One has been the European Union’s large and well-organised green lobby. Another has been Klaus Schwab (economist and founder of the World Economic Forum), who has used Davos to push his vision of a “Great Reset” of the global economy.

Those getting on board with the Green New Deal are the usual advocates of state interventionism, big government, and multilateral globalism. But surprisingly this new elite is a mix of left-liberals, socialists, Greens, bureaucrats, and university researchers/experts. More surprising is that sections of the business elite are also climbing on board what they believe will be a gravy train.

It appears business is motivated by two factors. First, they are afraid of activist pressure. Second, their marketing departments are telling them there are great public relations kudos to be had in signing up to the now fashionable narratives of saving victims, saving the planet, and distancing themselves from left-leaning stereotypes of greedy uncaring capitalists.

So now we have woke businesses greenwashing their brands plus learning to make profits out of the Green New Deal’s neo-socialist strategy to tear up our old infrastructure and replace them with new ones at great expense to the taxpayer. Who knew socialism could be profitable.

But one of the most fascinating features of this trend is how enthralled legacy media journalists are with the green narratives underpinning this emergent global elite.

Journalists who would normally ask questions about self-interest, crooked narratives, and obvious propaganda now meekly buy into the trendy narratives. Indeed journalists are now being told that applying the journalistic principle of balance is a bad thing when reporting on issues like climate change.

Instead, journalists are being taught that it is fine to advocate for green climate change messages. We even have global media like the BBC instructing their journalists not to be balanced on climate change.

In a climate when green activism is now normalised in media newsrooms, it is hardly surprising that we see journalists treating green experts as media darlings, and as a result, those same green experts are no longer challenged by probing journalistic questions.

Instead, what emerges is a de facto partnership between the media, climate change scientists, and activists wherein journalists start to construct pro-green (propaganda-like) stories.

One way of explaining this partnership is to see it as part of the phenomenon of an emergent global elite for whom left-wing “progressivism” has become a kind of secularised religion, built around saving the many kinds of victims we apparently have today.

These victims can be those conventionally beloved by socialists—the poor. They can also be the new victims beloved by identity politics—LGBTQI, Indigenous or ethnic minorities. Or victims beloved by feminists—women persecuted by the patriarchy. Or the victims can now even be non-human—whales, polar bears, coral reefs, nature, or the planet.

What binds all these victims is that they need to be saved by a self-selecting elite of people who have married elements of the narratives of left-liberalism and neo-Marxism.

This elite first emerged in the United States and then spread to the rest of the western world. And now, like a virus, it is also spreading to places like the European Union (EU).

It is an elite who have proven highly susceptible to catching the green virus. Significantly, enormous progress has been made in capturing western universities, the global media, the education system, and the many bureaucracies across the Anglo world and EU.

The result has been the growth of an alliance between left-liberal, progressive politicians; academics; journalists; and bureaucrats.

Once the universities were captured by this progressive-left, universities were used to teach a new “way of seeing” and a “new way of speaking about” the world.

Thus, universities become the source of what is termed ‘woke’ and green narratives; while the media and internet are used to disseminate their tales. In addition, as universities produced more of these progressive and Green “experts,” journalists rely on them to justify their own work—creating an ongoing cycle.

Importantly, since universities teach journalism, public relations and marketing the communication industries are filled with those taught the woke discourses beloved by the globalised elite.

Not surprisingly, the resultant spread of progressivism within the communications industry means progressives are also becoming well placed—and more skilled—at spreading their own ideologies, while shutting down opposing views.

Indeed the Left are so successful that much of the world in the Biden era is starting to feel a bit like a mixture of the hard authoritarianism of George Orwell’s 1984 and the soft authoritarianism of Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.”

The proliferation of both discourse around the Green New Deal, and the expanding power of a medical autocracy calling the shots over COVID-19, are two indicators of the way the global elite are becoming successful at promoting only their views while undercutting all others.

The universities have also given birth to “experts” who believe that secular science can fix everything thereby removing the need for religion or traditional knowledge.

At a deeper level, German existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche saw this rot beginning when Western thinkers “killed God” in the 19th century, and from that wrong turn has evolved the secularist, social engineers of today.

But at a more institutional level, I think American conservative philosopher Paul Gottfried was correct that the problem lies in today’s overly interventionist governments imposing social therapy measures upon their citizens.

His argument was that this began during the post-second World War era in the United States—specifically with Paul Lazarsfeld’s Bureau of Applied Social Research at Columbia University in the 1940s to 1950—and in the growth of the 1960s U.S. government-led social engineering policies (for example, affirmative action new migration laws).

And today, we see the modern manifestation of such a long-running trend in state-run welfare systems, the Green New Deal, and the COVID-19 medical autocracy.

Significantly, Lazarsfeld’s behavioural science was built on the neo-Marxist Frankfurt School’s idea of an “Authoritarian Personality”—a personality type that is submissive and obedient to authority—as well as the notion that experts should learn to manage and control the population better (using psychology, behavioural sciences, public opinion research, public relations, and spin-doctoring). This, in turn, can help stop the re-emergence of “bad ideas” like nationalism or traditionalism.

Lazarsfeld founded an American tradition of academic thinking about how the media could be used to promote “good” (progressive) ideas and shut down “bad” ideas.

Lazarsfeld’s centre employed many Frankfurt School members and so opened the door to the merging of left-liberal and neo-Marxist ideas, which has further contributed to the growth of the progressive elite.

With Biden in office, this elite now has a great base to work from to disseminate their preferred ideological narratives including the virtues of big government, green activism, and multilateral interventionism to save its so-called “victims.”

And because the 2000 anti-Trump crusade helped cement the alliance between left-leaning politicians, activists, mainstream liberal media journalists, U.S.-owned tech giants; and the university sector, we can now expect to see a period of intensified dissemination of “progressive” narratives plus simultaneous attempts at discourse closure aimed at closing-down and disrupting narratives that the Left loves to hate.

Global Elite Latches Onto Neo-Socialist Vision: The Green New Deal (theepochtimes.com)

Democrat Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar has been accused of possibly committing a felony by not properly reporting her income and assets in the financial disclosure reports she sent to the House of Representatives.

The accusations came from the conservative watchdog group National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), which demanded that the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) look into the reason Rep. Omar’s financial disclosures do not refer to the income she may have received from her memoir that she published in May 2020, The Daily Caller reported.

It also wants to know why, it believes, her new husband’s consulting firm was undervalued after it made around $3 million from Rep. Omar’s campaign from 2018 through 2020.

“Representative Omar’s apparent disclosure omissions and misreporting violate House ethics rules, the Ethics in Government act, and possibly 18 U.S.C. 1001, a felony with penalties up to five years in prison for making false statements in a matter before the legislative branch,” it said in its complaint. “There is clearly more than ‘reasonable cause to believe’ that disclosure violations may have occurred.”

In a message to the Daily Caller News Foundation a spokesperson for Rep. Omar accused NPLC of being a “far-right group.”

“The NPLC a [sic] far-right group with ties to the Trump campaign known for filing specious claims, including trying to challenge the constitutionality of the Mueller investigation,” spokesman Jeremy Slevin said. “We see this complaint for what it is: a completely political document, and not one with legal validity.”

The DCNF first reported on Aug. 17 that Omar did not report in her 2020 financial disclosure any income or royalties she may have received from her memoir, “This Is What America Looks Like,” which was first released in May 2020. Forbes reported in January 2019 that the lawmaker signed a deal for the memoir worth between $100,000 and $250,000

Lawmakers are required to report any income sources over $200 in their financial disclosures, the NLPC noted in its complaint.

Omar’s 2019 and 2018 financial disclosures also contained no reference to her book or any advance she may have received from it.

Slevin told the DCNF on Aug. 17 that Omar “has been in full compliance with House Ethics rules. She has reported everything that needed to be reported on the financial disclosure form accurately.”

But this is not the only time Rep. Omar has faced controversy. In June Rep. Omar made comments that many believed to be anti-Semitic.

During an interview on CNN, Omar told host Jake Tapper that she did not regret comparing the U.S. and Israel to terrorist organizations.

Below is a transcript of the exchange:

OMAR: “If you are in someone’s backyard, can you say you are defending yourself?”

TAPPER: “It’s a good question. On the subject of the Middle East, you have said, as you know, many of your fellow House Democrats after comments you made earlier this month about the U.S. and Israel, you were questioning Secretary of State Blinken about where victims of war crimes could get justice. You made comments to him and also you tweeted: ‘We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity. We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.’ Ultimately, Democratic leaders said that equating the U.S. and Israel with Hamas and the Taliban ‘foments prejudice.’ And as you know, a group of Jewish House Democrats wrote a letter to President Biden saying that accusing Israel of acts of terror, as you and other members of the Squad have done, is anti-Semitic. Do you regret these comments?”

OMAR: “I don’t.”

Later in the segment, Tapper asked:

In 2019, you said lawmakers support Israel because it’s ‘all about the Benjamins,’ which implies that politicians only support Israel because of money. There was a tweet from 2012 when you said Israel had hypnotized the world. Do you understand why some of your fellow House Democrats, especially Jews, find that language anti-Semitic?

Omar responded by attacking her own colleagues and didn’t accept any responsibility for her comments.

“I have welcomed anytime my colleagues have asked to have a conversation to learn from them, for them to learn from me,” Omar said.

“I think it’s really important for these members to realize that they haven’t been partners in justice. They haven’t been equally engaging in seeking justice around the world and I think I will continue to do that,” she added.

Omar declared: “It is important for me as someone who knows what it feels like to experience injustice in ways that many of my colleagues don’t, to be a voice in finding accountability, asking for mechanisms for justice for those who are maligned, oppressed and who have had injustice done to them.”

Dem Rep. Omar Accused Of Committing A Felony In Her Financial Disclosure Forms | Conservative Brief

Actress Rose McGowan pulled no punches recently when she discussed Oprah Winfrey’s connection to alleged sexual abuser and record executive, Russell Simmons.

At least 13 women say Simmons harassed, assaulted, or raped them. Several of those women say they were under 18 at the time of the incidents.

At one time, Winfrey was attached to executive produce a film titled “On the Record” about their claims, but she later backed out, reportedly at the behest of Tina Tchen, the former head of the MeToo non-profit Time’s Up. Tchen’s group was ostensibly founded to support victims of sexual abuse in Hollywood, but it became embroiled in scandal when it was revealed that she advised disgraced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on a letter intended to discredit one of his accusers. Tchen, a former Obama White House staffer, and Roberta Kaplan, chairwoman of the Time’s Up board, ultimately resigned.

Winfrey admitted to Fox News that Simmons had pressured her to walk away from the documentary, but she insisted that that had nothing to do with her decision. “I want it to be known that I unequivocally believe and support the women,” she told The Hollywood Reporter at the time, adding, “Their stories deserve to be told and heard.”

After Winfrey announced she was backing away from the film, Apple dropped plans to air it on its streaming platform.

In apparent reference to this, McGowan tweeted Sunday, “I am glad more are seeing the ugly truth of Oprah. I wish she were real, but she isn’t. From being pals with Weinstein to abandoning & destroying Russell Simmon’s victims, she is about supporting a sick power structure for personal gain, she is as fake as they come.”

Alongside her comments, McGowan posted a photo of Winfrey kissing convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein’s cheek at an awards dinner.

That same day, McGowan retweeted a comment from a fan who said that many people already believed that Winfrey was a hypocrite, but because they lacked powerful positions, they were ignored.

“Love lots of people [saw] her for who she was,” said an account by the name of Miss Freethinking Independent. “The problem is those that saw her for who she was just happened to be poor. It wasn’t until you spoke out & never backed down that it became widely known. You gapped the bridges between the poor and the elites by exposing the corrupt.”

McGowan also struck out at A-lister Reese Witherspoon for her vocal support of Time’s Up.

In honor of Women’s Equality Day on August 26, Witherspoon tweeted, “HUGE appreciation for all the women who came before us that made this day possible … Let’s keep pushing for more ways to protect our rights and create equality for women everywhere.”

McGowan replied, “Maybe consider working with real activists instead of sham organizations like Time’s Up.”

Witherspoon has offered no comment about the revelations that Time’s Up assisted Cuomo.

Rose McGowan Hits Oprah As Hypocrite: ‘She Is About Supporting A Sick Power Structure’ | The Daily Wire

In Washington, things have gone off the rails in a hurry. Many blame an invigorated unthinking progressive agenda for broken government. And they are correct. Think about it.

How else would you characterize the utterly failed “Let’s get out of Afghanistan overnight” move by a president who seemingly had little interest in the advice of his generals or diplomats?

Speaking of which, who made the call to shut down the contractors who maintained American-made Afghan air assets?

You do not have to be a West Point graduate to question why we would give away our dominant advantage (air power) and leave the critical airbase at Bagram on a battlefield populated by seventh-century religious warriors. Or why we would leave so many military assets (vehicles, weapons, helicopters, night-vision goggles, etc.) to the Taliban. Or why our soldiers were ordered to abandon the country before every last U.S. citizen was accounted for and safe.

This last question is, of course, the most important and the most baffling.

Today, the president’s press flack won’t even admit Americans are “stranded,” but the anguished calls for help by trapped Americans and our Afghan allies in and around the Kabul airport (and Thursday’s horrific bomb attacks) speak to a terribly broken policy.

How else would one characterize the chaos at our southern border as an estimated two million people will have migrated by the end of the year?

To make matters worse, an understaffed Border Patrol and a declawed ICE are in no position to stop the tons of fentanyl, COVID-positive migrants and sex traffickers that are the tangible results of a broken policy.

Note that the person allegedly in charge of border security has been on her second foreign junket to Southeast Asia.

How else would you characterize the historic level of violence in cities that have indulged the ludicrous crime-producing “defund the police” movement?

A glance at murder and other violent crime statistics from any of these progressive cities reminds us that the suspension of enforcement against so-called minor crimes and the pro-offender mindset of so many big-city (Soros-sponsored) prosecutors has made life significantly worse off for the good and law-abiding people living in deteriorating marginal neighborhoods.

Whatever did happen to that “let’s replace the police with social workers” initiative?

How else would you characterize a president who just last week begged OPEC to increase its (fossil fuel) oil production in the face of rapidly spiking gasoline prices and increasing world demand?

This pitiful picture is juxtaposed against the greatest accomplishment of the Trump administration: an American natural gas revolution. America’s vast supply of natural gas and modern drilling techniques helped achieve independence (production of more domestic energy than we consume) by Trump’s third year in office. And all during a time greenhouse gas emissions continue to decline.Related:Dennis Prager: Who Benefits from Biden Deserting Afghanistan? America’s Enemies, That’s Who

How else would you characterize school systems that no longer care to teach the three “Rs” and no longer engage in objective measures of academic performance?

You can blame social justice warriors (and their compatriots in the teachers unions) who have infiltrated our local public school boards in order to indoctrinate our kids (as young as kindergarten age) with their unique curriculum of sex- and race-based instruction.

That their campaign is playing out against a backdrop of consistently underperforming (what used to be called “failing”) public schools in our most marginal neighborhoods is not lost on the commonsense majority.

Hence, a newly invigorated parent-teacher resistance to the woke mob’s agenda is born, as well as a new front in America’s culture wars.

How else would you characterize voting “reforms” that eliminate photo identification, scrubbing of voter rolls, signature matches on the inside and outside of mail-in ballots, and vote-counting transparency requirements?

Mistrust of our voting processes ran high among Democrats in 2016 and even higher among Republicans in 2020. Why in the world would either the states or the federal government want to further complicate the way we cast and count votes in our country?

How else would you characterize our out-of-control federal spending and the sudden re-emergence of inflation — that terrible debilitating tax on our nation’s poor that so many in Washington are soft-peddling?

There is a method to the madness, however, as today’s spiking inflation numbers bring back memories of the bad ‘ol days of the 1970s.

A bottom line emerges: What had been working during the Trump era had to be broken (such was the principle and all-consuming commitment of Biden 2020) regardless of consequence.

Indeed, from an incremental, secure withdrawal in Afghanistan to “Stay in Mexico” at the border to re-funding the police in our cities to real American energy independence from the gas fields to school choice in our classrooms, America was heading in the right direction. And then there was a worldwide pandemic — and an election. And now there are predictable short and long-term consequences.

Today, the breaking of Trump-era initiatives proceeds apace. This is what happens under single-party government. It is not a pretty sight. Broken never is.

Bob Ehrlich: We’re Suffering Because Biden Had to Reverse Every Trump Decision, Especially the Successful Ones (westernjournal.com)

Jamaal Bowman has formed close ties to controversial Turkish group

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D., N.Y.) attended a fundraiser hosted last month by a Turkish-American advocacy group with close ties to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose members were on hand in 2017 when the Turkish leader’s bodyguards beat peaceful protesters in Washington, D.C.

Two officials with the Turkish American National Steering Committee, a nonprofit cofounded by a relative of Erdogan’s, hosted the “meet and greet” fundraiser for Bowman at a restaurant in New Jersey on Aug. 7. Bowman, an acolyte of the “Squad,” appeared at two of the committee’s events in May, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

The committee has been accused of working as an influence group for the Erdogan regime. Founded in 2016, the Steering Committee has hosted Erdogan at multiple events in the United States and frequently holds protests supporting Erdogan-backed causes. It lobbied aggressively against the U.S. government’s recognition of the Ottoman Empire’s genocide of Armenians. Officials with the Steering Committee, including Erdogan relative Halil Mutlu, accompanied Erdogan’s delegation in May 2017 when his bodyguards attacked peaceful protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington.

“[The Steering Committee] operates as an Erdogan front, one of many astroturf groups advancing this dictator’s anti-American agenda in Washington, D.C.,” Aram Suren Hamparian, the executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, told the Free Beacon in June.

Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who has been targeted by the Erdogan regime, said Bowman was “siding with the most dictatorial elements in Turkey” by appearing at Steering Committee events.

Rubin said Bowman was “symbolically spitting on Turkish journalists and progressives imprisoned by the Erdogan regime, and giving solace to a group on the wrong side of the attack on Americans in the heart of Washington, D.C.”

Bowman’s blind eye to Erdogan’s crackdown in Turkey is a stark contrast to his support for left-wing causes at home. Bowman supports the movement to defund police departments and has said he wants to “disarm the police.”

Bowman posed for photographs with Mutlu at the recent fundraiser and at a previous event held by the committee. Mutlu and other officials with the committee contributed more than $6,750 to Bowman’s congressional campaign last year. The group supported Bowman’s primary challenge against former representative Eliot Engel (D., N.Y.), who was a staunch critic of the Erdogan regime.

Relations between the United States and Turkey have deteriorated in recent years as Erdogan has purged Turkish media companies, schools, and the military of his critics. Turkey has become one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists.

The Steering Committee’s close ties to the Turkish government were on display days before the group hosted the Bowman fundraiser. Mutlu, who is Erdogan’s cousin, met in Ankara on July 26 with Turkish foreign minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and his deputy.

According to a post on the Steering Committee’s Facebook page, Mutlu told the Turkish officials that the group would “reach out to the U.S. political leaders, media, and public” regarding U.S.-Turkey relations. The Steering Committee also boasted that it has representatives throughout the United States “who communicate and educate the local leaders on issues related to Turkey and the Turkish community.”

Bowman’s office and the Turkish American National Steering Committee did not respond to requests for comment.

Squad Member Was Guest of Honor at Fundraiser Hosted By Pro-Erdogan Group (freebeacon.com)

Baitulmaal gives financial support to families of Palestinian terrorists

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) on Wednesday shared a tweet that advertised a fundraiser for an organization with ties to Hamas and the Taliban.

Tlaib, who has a long history of anti-Semitic rhetoric, retweeted a post from critical race theorist Khaled Beydoun that urged donations to Baitulmaal, a Texas-based nonprofit. Experts say Baitulmaal helps fundraise for Hamas and distributes aid to the “families of martyrs of the Palestinian people.” And the group’s leader, Mazen Mokhtar, has been accused of working with the Taliban and other terrorist groups.

The retweet isn’t the first time Tlaib expressed support for terrorists. Days after she became a congresswoman, the controversial Democrat hosted Abbas Hamideh, a pro-Hezbollah activist who has repeatedly compared Israelis to Nazis. She shared a post last year that included an anti-Semitic phrase frequently used by Palestinian terrorist groups that seek to destroy Israel. She subsequently unshared the post.

Baitulmaal works closely with Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, according to a 2020 analysis by the Middle East Forum. The group, which received $10,000 in emergency coronavirus funding last year, frequently partners with Unlimited Friends Association for Social Development, a Palestinian group that describes itself as a “a social, developmental, educational NGO.”

The Unlimited Friends Association works with Baitulmaal to hand out cash to the families of Palestinian terrorists, according to the Middle East Forum. These donations complement the Palestinian Authority’s formal “Pay to Slay” program, which has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Palestinian terrorists. The Palestinian government this year paid $42,000 to the family of a Palestinian terrorist who stabbed two Israelis to death and wounded two more, including a two-year-old child.

The association, which lists Baitulmaal on its website’s partners and donors page, is openly hostile towards Israel. The group’s Facebook page contains references to “the filth of the most dirty Jews” and “Nazi Zionist jails.” The association also partners with Islamic Relief, a group with which the State Department cut ties this year because of “anti-Semitism exhibited repeatedly” by its leaders.

In 2004, federal agents in Connecticut investigated Mokhtar for running a website that “solicited funds for the Taliban and Chechen mujahideen.” Mokhtar was not convicted. Three years later, he was arrested on a multi-count indictment for filing false tax returns. The lead prosecutor was former New Jersey governor Chris Christie (R.).

Baitulmaal also partners with West Bank-based Hamas organizations. The organization hosted a 2008 fundraiser for the Yazour Medical Clinic in Nablus, an offshoot of Hamas. One Palestinian newspaper reports that Baitulmaal and the Hamas offshoot have been working together “for years.”

Anti-Semitic activist Linda Sarsour last year hosted a fundraiser for Baitulmaal that raised tens of thousands of dollars.

Tlaib and Baitulmaal did not respond to requests for comment.

Rashida Tlaib Promoted a Fundraiser for Group Tied to Hamas, Taliban (freebeacon.com)

The radical left is doing everything they can to destroy Black America:

• Scream “Black Lives Matter” while you burn down Black-owned businesses.
• Defund the police and make Black neighborhoods less safe.
• Use Critical Race Theory to convince Black kids that they will never succeed without a government handout.
• Increase the handouts, but nobody asks why?

Liberals want to keep Black America dependent on the government – it is the only way they will keep supporting liberal policies.

Help us fight back and save Black America from another century of lies!

CRT is the lynchpin in their plans to keep Black America down for generations. Their fight for CRT hurts the Black boys, and their push for gender equality hurts Black girls. Our fight against this poisonous doctrine cannot be more critical for the future of Black children in America.

“Woke” liberalism is destroying my community, and I have a plan to turn it around.

You can hear more about it here – when I was on Fox & Friends the other morning.

My name is Marc Little, and I am Executive Director of CURE America Action. I am a pastor, a patriot, an attorney, and a Black man. I am also Executive Director of CURE America Action, and I’m counting on you to help me counter the radical left’s attacks on Black America by making your generous contribution of $25, $50, $100, or even $1,000, right away!

The radical left targets Black people like me who push back on their lies. When proud black conservatives fight back, the radical left tries to put us in our place.

Congressman Byron Donalds, a Black Republican and proud conservative, was blocked from joining the Congressional Black Caucus for his conservative views. Senator Tim Scott was called “Oreo” by a Democrat politician and “Uncle Tim” by legions of liberals on social media just a few weeks ago.

They are terrified that someone might tell Black America that they don’t need anyone’s permission to succeed – they have the same opportunity as anyone else. That the mission statement of CURE America Action, and it is precisely what your donation will be funding. We are the antithesis of critical race theory, and we need your help.

Don’t let the radical left enslave Black Americans on their liberal plantation. Help us take our message of prosperity and opportunity to Americans of every race and creed. Chip in $1,000, $100, $50, or $25 and give us the ammunition to teach America the truth!

Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.
– Proverbs 12:22

If the left succeeds with their push to teach Critical Race Theory to our children, they will be lost to big government liberalism – liberalism that categorizes people by race – forever. The future of our nation depends on our ability to stop this propaganda from demonizing our children with lies and hate.

You and I must work quickly. Please let me hear from you today.

God Bless America,

Marc Little
Executive Director
CURE America Action

When I was young and inexperienced, with no money and no career, I nonetheless made a firm assumption about people who’d made it, who’d risen to the top of their fields. They were daring individuals, I thought, outspoken and candid, willing to go against the crowd. These were people with a skeptical eye on the conventional wisdom, ever ready to challenge and dispute whenever they sensed a stale assertion of it.

When I worked for Dana Gioia at the National Endowment for the Arts, he told me once that when he was in advertising his team would meet at the end of the year to review themselves, and they spent five times as many minutes discussing what they did wrong as they spent on what they did right. That was the kind of toughness I imagined happened in every elite circle.

Look at the leaders of institutions, today, however, and you witness a pageant of conformity and timidity, guardedness ever present, the most powerful people in politics, education, entertainment, media, and business speaking in well-rehearsed terms, mouthing standard pieties with an air of solemnity that is one millimeter thick. Political correctness has turned them into cliche machines.

Did you notice the apology written recently by Mike Richards, the man who was to replace the late Alex Trebek as host of “Jeopardy!”? Richards is a big deal in the game show world, the executive producer of “Jeopardy!” and of “Wheel of Fortune,” winner of three Emmy Awards, too. But after he was selected as “Jeopardy!”‘s new host, some comments that he’d made on his 2013–14 podcast surfaced and set him up for what is now a familiar ritual: the high-profile cancellation. The ritual meant the loss of his post, and also a confession/contrition/plea on the accused’s part that is painful to read—not because of the sentiments themselves, however, but because of their dispiritingly banal expression.

Richards might have said, “Yeah, I made some dumb remarks just trying to get a laugh—I don’t regard them as cause for termination eight years later, though—let’s ease up, okay.”

No, instead we got the nauseatingly customary script:

“It is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness, and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago,” he said.

It sounded like every other public apology we’ve heard in recent years, with studied humility and sober drama of self-confrontation. The words follow with all the formulaic layout of an algebraic equation. We have the expected family invocation as well, and role model talk: “My responsibilities today as a father, husband, and public personality who speaks to many people through my role on television means I have substantial and serious obligations as a role model, and I intend to live up to them.”

I don’t blame Richards for this, though. It’s the environment he’s in, a tiresome and phony place that the rest of America recognizes instantly for its mendacity. These declarations sound so sincere, but we know how calculating they are. To the material loss suffered by the penitent one, we have the pain of self-emasculation added in the most predictable language. Can’t any of these people think for themselves? Richards’ public career is over, at least for the near future and maybe the far. What does he have to lose? Why go official and betray his own heart (which is precisely what a man who adopts the idiom of his executioners is doing), even when you know it won’t save you?

Again, these are not people beaten down by life, their egos crushed by poverty and disappointment.  They have all the trappings of self-determination—money, education, worldliness, competitiveness, achievement—and yet the working-class guy and gal show a heckuva lot more independent spirit than Mr. Success ever does.

I think that this conformist atmosphere among the elite has played a significant role in the rise of populist anger in America. The contempt that the elite feel for the non-elite in our country is on display every day in the opinion pages and the liberal cable news shows. Just the recently, while driving through the South and listening to NPR, I heard the host introduce interviewee Robin D’Angelo with the question, “Why is it so hard for white people to talk about racism?” The willingness to cast an entire racial group as deficient in some way used to be called “stereotyping,” and enlightened folk universally rejected it. Here, however, it was offered as an enlightening observation. The condescension was thick and gleeful. The host wasn’t aware of how smug she sounded, but ordinary Americans have seen and heard such sentiments over and over, and they discern the contempt more acutely than elites realize.

How irritating it is, then, for these judgmental elites to appear so weak and obedient and cookie-cut at times that call for bold presentation. They’re avid about their superiority, but feeble in their individuality. They profess to be the best and the brightest, but they sink into stupid politically correct truisms when the pressure’s on. Liberalism claims to honor the individual voice, the lone dissenter, but never does a prominent 21st-century liberal wish to fall out of step with his fellows. The guns of cancellation are always primed, and he knows it.

A country whose leadership class is fearful and wary is in trouble. Insecurity makes for bad decisions, and for bad symbolism, too. A leader who stands up and apologizes for the “systemic” sins of the institution he leads doesn’t come off as properly sensitive and constructively progressive. He’s just weak. The celebrity who gets down on his knees and apologizes for some “phobic” remark made years earlier on the internet isn’t rightly repentant and newly enlightened. He’s just humiliating himself. Ordinary Americans draw a pat conclusion: These figureheads make a lot of money and they’re awfully full of themselves and down on us, but when you get down to it, they’re not so great, not at all.

This is the end of a great American tradition of rebelliousness. Ben Franklin ran away from Boston and struck out on his own as a mere teenager. Emerson praised self-reliance as the essence of genius. Thoreau headed to the woods because he couldn’t stand the copycat mentality of fellow citizens. Huck at the end aims to light out for the territory, knowing he’ll never fit in with civilized society. Those figures are the opposite of today’s Americans aspiring to the realms of the elite. Ambitious ones sense at an early age that climbing the ladder means fitting in and filtering impulses. The pipeline has sensors attuned to pick up the maverick spirit and mark it as suspect. Our leaders are tame souls whose wills are triggered mainly by the appearance of a rogue in their midst.

Therein lies the aversion to Donald Trump. It wasn’t Trump’s politics or policies that disturbed the elite. It was, instead, his headstrong personality and outspoken words. The content of his thought and speech they might have opposed in the normal political ways, but the character of the man couldn’t be handled that way. His performances could be received by them only as an admonishment. He spoke his mind, they didn’t, and that made them feel bad about themselves—as it should. Let us hope that more untamed figures surface and do the same thing.

Our Tame Leaders (theepochtimes.com)

The Orange County Board of Education (OCBE) called out critical race theory (CRT) during its second ethnic studies forum, debating with differing perspectives on Aug. 24.

Moderated by Harriette Reed, five expert panelists gave opening and closing remarks, and answered questions from the board during the meeting.

“The motivation for ethnic studies is grounded in the idea that historically underserved communities don’t see themselves in the curriculum, which is a really important goal to address,” panelist Elina Kaplan, co-founder and president of the Alliance for Constructive Ethnic Studies (ACES), said during the meeting.

Kaplan’s concern, along with most of the panelists, was the infiltration of CRT in ethnic studies. CRT is an ideology that divides society into oppressors and the oppressed based on racial characteristics. Kaplan said when she first looked at the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC) a couple of years ago, it looked “familiar” and reminded her of the indoctrination she received growing up in the Soviet Union.

“What in the world is neo-Marxist dogma doing in a K-12 ethnic studies curriculum—a curriculum that’s supposed to be focusing on building bridges of understanding between ethnic groups, building mutual respect,” she said.

Kaplan said there are two forms of the ESMC that are being pushed in schools. One is liberation ethnic studies, which critiques “white supremacy, racism, patriarchy,” etc. The other is constructive ethnic studies, which focuses on the roles and experiences of different ethnic groups in American history.

“In one case, the emphasis is more on the oppressed versus oppressor, on the colonialism, and so on. The other one, the emphasis is much more on building bridges and discussing racism, but in a way that addresses all the causes of racism, not just focus on the colonialism aspect,” she said.

While ethnic studies can be valuable, she said, in the wrong hands—and taught through the lens of CRT— it can be “counterproductive.”

“We can agree that we want our kids to get an education that teaches them how to respect each other, how to honor their differences, how to confront racism honestly and with mutual respect,” Kaplan said.

“If the majority of California and America knew what critical race theory-based ethnic studies was, they would not want it and we would not be here having this conversation.”

Author and Mathematician James Lindsay said CRT stretches back to Herbert Marcuse, a critical theorist that was widely popularized in the 1960s.

“The point of [Marcuse’s] liberation critical theory is to induce psycho pathologies in activists so that they find the life that we live in our society intolerable and require liberation in order to survive, to function in day-to-day society,” Lindsay said during the discussion.

Lindsay said a “meaningful” debate about ethnic studies cannot take place since the subject has been “co-opted by critical theorists.”

“[Ethnic studies] has become a Trojan horse for a separate ideology, where the merits of ethnic studies may well be high enough to merit that being a program we want. Whereas the demerits—the horror of critical race theory—now makes it impossible to have that debate,” he said.

Lindsay pointed out that ethnic studies focuses on diversity of race (rather than diversity of perspectives) because it believes in a doctrine called structural determinism, defined as systemically racist systems of power determine the outcomes of different races.

Inclusion, Lindsay said, also has a “double meaning” within ethnic studies.

“Inclusion actually is biased based on these beliefs about power dynamics … Inclusion actually means that only certain people must be given inclusion and belonging. It becomes instead in practice for these people that are implementing it to give justification for purges, justification for censorship.”

Pastor D.A. Horton said ethnic studies allows students to “feel affirmed, noticed, valued, and heard from” regarding their cultural backgrounds.

“If we teach ethnic studies with transferrable skills, it teaches us how to reduce those inter-ethnic and cross-ethnic conflicts through shared experiences, communication, and interpersonal relationship building,” Horton said.

He continued: “If you can define your terms about what the curriculum says, and the parents communicate and not allow somebody to hijack terminology, then you can help set the record straight and keep it straight and then you pass the baton to your children.”

According to the University of California, the phrase “there is only one race, the human race” is considered a microaggression.

Cultural anthropologist Joe Nalven said viewing the idea of “there is only one race, the human race” as a microaggression is a “mistake” if accepted to reframe anthropology and biology, as these fields of study consider the idea to be “fundamentally true.”

“You are taking a psychological issue and you are projecting it onto a sociological, biological science to disrupt the way in which science is taught,” he said.

Psychiatrist Mark McDonald said that racism is no longer an obstacle to success in this country.

However, since the media and government are pushing the idea that American society is suffering from a “crisis” of racism and it necessitates CRT, “then you can justify really any sort of irrational policy,” he said.

“What will happen if you spent 12 years in critical race theory, indoctrination; where’s that going to lead? I don’t know. But it scares me.”

Orange County Board of Education Calls Out Critical Race Theory in Ethnic Studies (theepochtimes.com)

Children hold up signs during a rally against critical race theory being taught in schools at the Loudoun County Government center in Leesburg, Va., on June 12, 2021

Race shaming and allusions to surgical castration in children’s literature—as well as accusations of xenophobia against political figures—are among the themes found in Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s “Indoctrination in North Carolina Public Education” report.

Robinson previously told The Epoch Times that he created the Fairness and Accountability in the Classroom for Teachers and Students task force (F.A.C.T.S.) to gather evidence of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the K-12 North Carolina school system.

CRT is a Marxist philosophy that suggests society is a class struggle between oppressors and the oppressed, labelling white people as the oppressors and all other races as the oppressed.

The task force, according to the report, consists of volunteer education professionals with experience in various roles in education, such as teachers, administrators, university professors, education policy experts, and elected members of the state Senate and House.

Through an online portal, parents, teachers, and students could anonymously submit evidence from curriculums by email.

The report was released on Aug. 24 and was gathered from over 500 submissions.

What has surfaced are themes of CRT, bias, sexualization, and race shaming of children, Robinson said in a press release posted on Facebook (pdf).

In one parent’s submission, a child, in learning the word “xenophobia,” was instructed to use former President Donald Trump as an example.

“The teacher had definitions on one side and sentences on the other and the sentence that described xenophobia was ‘President Trump has xenophobia,’” the parent said. “Another example was a definition of Republican was that Republicans don’t care for people’s issues and Democrats are people who care for people.”

The example provided in the image was a prompt for the student to define “xenophobia.”

The prompt said: “It can be said that Donald Trump has xenophobia, because of his fear of people from other countries than the United States.”

Allusions to Surgical Castration

Another submission involved a book titled “George,” by Alex Gino, which is a children’s novel about a transgendered, fourth-grade girl.

According to the report, the book is used in North Carolina classrooms to illustrate the story of a biological boy in the fourth grade who wants to be a girl.

“The book talks about cutting off male genitalia and hormone therapy,” the report stated. “The submitter who shared this information said the book was included in their child’s elementary school. This book is recommended for third to seventh-grade students.”

An excerpt from the book as follows was provided in the report: “’So, like, do you want to’—he made a gesture with two fingers like a pair of scissors—‘go all the way?’ George squeezed her legs together. ‘Maybe someday,’ she said.’”

Faculty Microaggression

A submission from a teacher alleged “microaggression” training class requirements for faculty and staff.

The teacher, who remained anonymous, said she’s been teaching high school for 14 years.

“Faculty and staff are required to attend professional development related to ‘equity’ and ‘microaggression’ as it relates to race, gender, and other areas,” the teacher said. “They define microaggression as ‘The everyday slights, indignities, put-downs and insults that people of color, women, LGBT populations of those who are marginalized experiences in their day-to-day interactions with people.’”

White staff members are told that they are unaware of their racism, the teacher reported, in these personal development sessions.

“We are given examples of microaggression such as a statement: ‘I believe everyone can succeed in today’s society if they work hard and the most qualified people should get the job,’” the teacher said, adding that this statement, according to the tenet of microaggression, translates as: “White people believe people of color are lazy and don’t work hard.”

‘We Didn’t Hide in the Dark’

 The Senate Education Committee passed House Bill 324 on Tuesday after a heated exchange between state Sen. Jay Chaudhuri and Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson regarding the task force’s mission.

According to the bill, its purpose is to ensure “the equality and rights of all persons” by requiring that “students, teachers, administrators, and other school employees recognize the quality and rights” of people by prohibiting the promotion of “certain concepts that are contrary to that intent.”

Chaudhuri, a Democrat, said that, during the first week of school, students should be honored instead of debating what he called a “Fox News-driven issue that’s more about fearmongering that’s turned into a fishing expedition of our public-school teachers.”

The task force, Chaudhuri added, operated without abiding by open-meeting laws.

“We didn’t hide in the dark,” Robinson, a Republican, said.  “We didn’t ask to do it.”

Parents, teachers, and students within the North Carolina school system demanded it, Robinson said.

“And to sit here and call it a ‘Fox News-driven issue’ when I have stood with teachers who have cried because they feel like their jobs, livelihoods, and professions have been threatened, for you to call it that is an insult—an absolute insult,” Robinson said.  “And you know where my office is, and you know that this task force is going on. When did you contact me? Please don’t turn this into some partisan issue.”

North Carolina Task Force Reports Themes of Critical Race Theory in K-12 Schools (theepochtimes.com)

Agents also raided homes of Democratic city council members

FBI agents on Wednesday raided Detroit’s city hall and the homes of city council members Janeé Ayers (D.) and Scott Benson (D.) as part of a corruption investigation.

The FBI agents executed warrants to search the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, which serves as Detroit’s city hall, and Ayers’s and Benson’s houses. While the investigation’s exact focus has not yet been released to the public, investigators have already brought corruption charges against Councilman André Spivey (D.).

“The citizens of Detroit have a right to a city government that’s free of corruption,” special agent Timothy Waters told reporters on the day of the raids.

Ayers is running for a second term and Benson for a third term in November. Ayers’s name came up in a federal bribery investigation three years ago, though she faced no charges.

While Detroit has a long history of political corruption, the probe is the largest federal investigation into the city’s politicians in eight years, according to the Detroit News. In 2013, then-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D.) was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison on racketeering charges. His sentence was commuted this year by former president Donald Trump.

FBI Raids Detroit City Hall in Corruption Probe (freebeacon.com)

Oregon Governor Kate Brown has participated in events sponsored by Chinese Communist Party propaganda groups flagged by the U.S. State Department for “directly and malignly influenc[ing]” American officials, The National Pulse can reveal.

The unearthed Chinese Communist Party links follow Oregon Democrats calling for the cancellation of an upcoming event featuring The National Pulse’s Raheem Kassam and Natalie Winters due to the site’s promotion of “China-centric conspiracy theories” and “toxic beliefs.”

The Oregon Democratic Party is attempting to ban China-focused news reporters while one of the party’s most high-profile members – Governor Kate Brown – recently established links with one of the regime’s chief influence groups abroad.

Brown, in fact, has a long history of collaboration with groups tied to Beijing’s United Front Work Department.

Propaganda 101.

China’s billion-dollar “United Front” effort aims to “to co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition to the policies and authority of its ruling Chinese Communist Party” and “influence foreign governments to take actions or adopt positions supportive of Beijing’s preferred policies,” according to the federal U.S.-China Security and Economic Review Commission. United Front groups such as the China United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) have used tactics including free trips to China to garner “favorable coverage” from mainstream media outlets according to Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filings.

Scarcely a “China-centric conspiracy theory” as the Oregon Democratic Party insist.

Brown also has deep ties to the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), dubbed the “public face” of the United Front and “avowedly an arm of the party-state.” The U.S. State Department has even described the CPAFFC as seeking to “directly and malignly influence” U.S. state and local leaders.

MUST READ:  Chinese Regime Takes Financial Stake In TikTok, Now Directly Linked to Facebook Fact-Checker ‘Lead Stories’.

Brown attended the group’s 2015 China-U.S.Governors Forum, an event the State Department has singled out for its subversive influence on U.S. politics:

“CPAFFC’s actions have undermined the Governors Forum’s original well-intentioned purpose.”

As the CPAFFC recounts, Brown emphasized that “Oregon hopes to enhance cooperation with China” at the event, which counted Chinese Communist Pary leader Xi Jinping as its top speaker. Following the forum, Brown was one of six governors to ink a deal with Beijing to collaborate on “clean technology and economic development.”

While taking a private meeting with CPAFFC Vice President Lin Yi the month following the forum, Brown reportedly described Xi’s remarks as “encouraging” while pushing to “strengthen pragmatic cooperation with China in education, science and technology, health, tourism and sports”:

Governor Brown said it was her great honor to attend the Governors’ Forum held in Seattle last month. President Xi’s remarks were encouraging and the Forum helped provide great opportunities for U.S.-China cooperation. The State of Oregon regards China as the most important international partner and has  willingness to strengthen pragmatic cooperation with China in education, science and technology, health, tourism and sports, etc. 

REVEALED: Oregon Democrat Governor Kate Brown Has Long-Standing Ties to Chinese Communist Influence Groups. (thenationalpulse.com)

Business headquarters are leaving the state at an accelerating rate. That’s according to a new report (pdf) for the Hoover Institution by Joseph Vranich and Lee E. Ohanian, “Why Company Headquarters Are Leaving California in Unprecedented Numbers.” Ohanian is a Hoover research fellow and professor of economics at UCLA.

Vranich has been one of my sources for 20 years. His Spectrum Location Solutions used to be in Irvine. Now it’s in McKinney, Tex., near Dallas. Just like so many ex-California firms and people.

The new report’s shocking news: For the first six months of 2021, company headquarters exiting California has doubled from the same period in 2018. And in the first half of this year, 74 headquarters skedaddled, more than all last year.

The reasons: “High tax rates, punitive regulations, high labor costs, high utility and energy costs, and declining quality of life for many Californians which reflects the cost of living and housing affordability.”

However, the authors caution the 2020 numbers were affected by COVID-19, which slowed planning and scouting for new locations.

From 2018 to 2021, here are the main destinations for company HQs:

Texas 114;

Tennessee 25;

Arizona 17;

Nevada 15;

Colorado 14;

Florida 13;

North Carolina 8;

Georgia 5;

Idaho 4;

Kentucky 4;

Virginia 4;

Indiana 4;

Alabama 3;

Missouri 3;

Minnesota 3;

Oregon 3.

The study notes of this and other data: “Additional companies have relocated their headquarters to other states, but the only states listed above are those where such events are public knowledge. The states listed have likely experienced more wins.”

Anecdotal evidence also supports the data. I know many people who have left, mainly for Texas and Tennessee. Almost everybody I know talks about getting out, although it’s still difficult to depart the balmy weather, family, friends, and local connections.

No Awareness

I asked Vranich if there’s any awareness of this exodus among Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s other top political leaders. “No,” he replied. He said the state isn’t even thinking about cutting taxes, despite what Newsom claims is a $78 billion budget surplus (but which the Legislative Analyst pegged at a still hefty $38 billion).

And he pointed to this July 2021 statement by Ohio Lt. Gov. John Husted: “Fifteen years ago we began reforming our tax plan—we eliminated the corporate franchise tax … eliminated the death tax—we went from a high-tax state to a lower-tax state. We absolutely do see it as a time to compete. Capital will ultimately go where it can be the most appreciated.”

The Hoover report itself noted: “Ohio is gaining popularity as the place where more companies call home. Five states lowered corporate income tax rates for 2021—Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa and Mississippi.”

And: “Gov. Newsom’s strategy is not to reduce taxes but to increase incentives offered to companies, thus increasing taxpayer burdens…. Since the start of the Newsom Administration in January 2019, GO-Biz awarded 147 businesses a total of $593,844,974 in California Competes Tax Credits.”

I asked Vranich if there were any good signs. He said, “An honest politician would admit that the only bright spots include growing tax revenue from Silicon Valley’s billionaires and also from film-making that is being preserved thanks to the state’s generous economic incentives.”

Dismal Rankings

The study cited Chief Executive magazine’s ranking of state business climates, which pegged California the worst of the 50 states and Texas the best—in each case, for the 17th year in a row.

On the Tax Foundation’s 2021 State Business Tax Climate Index, California did better—49th place, after New Jersey. Their analysis: “California’s poor position is unlikely to improve considering that its businesses routinely face threats of increases in income taxes, property taxes, and sales taxes along with higher county and municipal taxes and fees.”

They key to what’s left of California’s once tolerable tax climate is Proposition 13, the property tax limitation passed by voters in 1978.

Vranich and Ohanian warn: “Pro-tax coalitions launch continual efforts to eliminate or weaken Proposition 13’s protections—coalitions comprised of legislators, deep-pocketed special interests, and interests such as government contractors and state and local government-employee unions. Such entities have spent millions of dollars to overturn Proposition 13. Thus far they have not been successful, but they certainly will try again.”

Losses By County

The largest California counties also suffered the largest losses of business HQs:

Los Angeles 54;

San Francisco 47;

Orange 29;

Santa Clara 28;

Alameda 20;

San Diego 17;

San Mateo 13;

Sacramento 8;

Contra Costa 6;

San Bernardino 6;

Riverside 5.

However, San Francisco’s population is 873,965 (2020 U.S. Census) compared to Los Angeles’s 3.9 million. That’s 4.5 times higher. So the per capita San Francisco HQ loss is about four times that of Los Angeles.

By contrast, Orange County’s population of 3.2 million (2020 U.S. Census) is just behind L.A.’s 3.9 million. But OC suffered only about half L.A.’s headquarters losses.

OC’s business and tax climate is well known as more welcoming than Los Angeles. For example, the City of Los Angeles’ sales tax rate is 9.5 percent. By contrast, most OC cities’ rates are 7.75 percent.

The study especially scorches California’s addiction to litigation. They charge, “Lawmakers in Sacramento continually enact laws designed to expand civil liability on business and property owners … California’s statutes and regulations are so unreasonable that companies have reported in confidence that their legal costs in California are disproportionate to the number of employees they have in the state.”

No wonder the American Tort Reform Foundation brands California a “legal hellhole.”

Workers Compensation Costs

California reformed workers compensation laws in 2003 under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It worked for a while. But a friend of mine in the industry said since then the reforms have been undercut by laws, court rulings and new legal maneuvers devised by plaintiff attorneys.

The Hoover study listed the average workers compensation costs, per $100 in 2020:

Worst:

New Jersey $2.52;

New York $2.23;

Vermont $2.21;

California $2.16;

Hawaii $2.08.

Best:

North Dakota $0.67;

Arkansas $0.72;

West Virginia $0.79;

Utah $0.85;

Texas $0.98.

Shocking Energy Costs

Business energy costs also are excessive. All that “green energy” doesn’t come cheap. Here are the electricity prices paid in March 2021, cents per kilowatt-hour:

Worst:

Hawaii $30.76;

Alaska $18.89;

California $17.20;

Connecticut $16.98;

Massachusetts $16.81.

Best:

Oklahoma $6.36;

Nevada $7.15;

Idaho $7.76;

Virginia $7.77;

Utah $8.01.

It’s going to get worse for California: “Customers in all parts of California are likely to see energy cost increases by virtually every utility. PG&E Corp. submitted a proposal to regulators for a rate increase totaling $3.6 billion starting in 2023 to help make its system more reliable and safer by sparking fewer fires.

“Southern California Edison in April 2020 increased its rates by approximately 7 percent overall. In 2021, SCE requested an additional residential rate increase of 14 percent, while commercial rates are estimated to rise between 9 and 11 percent.”

Major Firms Leaving

The report identified large and medium firms whose relocation can be found in news accounts. But many small firms just up and leave with no notice.

At the end the report lists all the corporate HQs that have left from January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2021. Some of those include:

Charles Schwab, from San Francisco to Westlake, Tex.;

DailyWire (Ben Shapiro’s website), from Los Angeles to Nashville, Tenn.;

Dole Food Co., from Los Angeles to Charlotte, N.C.;

Hewlett Packard Enterprise, from Santa Clara to Houston, Tex.;

Joe Rogan Experience, from Los Angeles to Austin, Tex.;

Kaiser Aluminum, from Lake Forest to Franklin, Tenn.;

Lockheed Martin FBM, from Sunnyvale to Titusville, Fla.;

Musk Foundation (Elon’s nonprofit), from Menlo Park to Austin, Tex.;

Mitsubishi Motors, from Cypress to Franklin, Tenn.;

National Hot Rod Association, from Glendora to Indianapolis, Ind.;

Nestle USA, from Glendale to Arlington, Va.;

Conclusion

In sum, it’s a dismal report. The state budget currently is buoyed by the bounty from Silicon Valley, whose revenues just keep growing and growing.

But for just about any other firm in California, the times are tough and getting tougher. And when the going gets too tough, even the tough get out.

California Businesses Exiting Faster than Ever (theepochtimes.com)

Christina Bohannan condemned voter ID laws, backed taxpayer-funded gender reassignment surgeries

Democratic congressional candidate Christina Bohannan scrubbed her old campaign site—which called voter ID laws “a threat to democratic governance” and endorsed taxpayer-funded sex change surgeries—in an effort to bolster her moderate pitch to Iowa voters.

Bohannan, a state legislator, announced on Tuesday her bid to unseat Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R.), saying she decided to run “because she believes we need less bickering in Washington, and more working together.” Prior to the announcement, she removed all policy positions from her 2020 campaign site—including sections that condemned Iowa’s voter ID law and backed taxpayer funding for “gender confirmation surgery for transgender individuals.”

The revelation threatens to undermine Bohannan’s attempt to position herself as a moderate and to complicate Democrats’ ability to flip a district that former president Donald Trump won in November by 4 points. Nearly 70 percent of Iowa voters, for example, expressed support for voter ID requirements after Republicans introduced their “Election Integrity Act” in 2017. According to Bohannan, however, the law is one of the “numerous threats to democracy in our state” and should be repealed.

In addition to her anti-voter ID stance, Bohannan’s “health care” policy section endorsed the use of “Medicaid funding to pay for gender confirmation surgery” and called the matter “both a medical issue and a human rights issue.”

Bohannan did not return a request for comment on whether she stands by her past positions. While her 2020 campaign site is still live, the Democrat replaced its content with a redirect link that sends visitors to her congressional campaign page, which does not include detailed policy positions.

Bohannan in 2020 ran to the left of fellow Democrat Vicki Lensing, who for eight years represented the deep-blue 85th district in the Iowa House of Representatives. After Bohannan argued for a “more progressive and less defensive attitude in the Iowa House,” she defeated Lensing in the primary by 32 points. She did not face a Republican challenger in the general election.

One veteran Iowa political operative cast doubt on Bohannan’s chances to unseat Miller-Meeks.

“It’s entertaining to watch Iowa Democrats continue to use the same failed playbook, running radical left candidates and desperately trying to rebrand them as folksy moderates,” the operative said. “It didn’t work with [failed Senate candidate] Theresa Greenfield, and it won’t work with Christina Bohannan.”

Iowa Dem Scrubs Left-Wing Views From Website as She Kicks Off Moderate Campaign (freebeacon.com)

VA Dem nixes pledge to ‘eliminate racial disparities’ in education as VA parents blast ‘equity initiatives’

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe quietly removed race-focused language from his campaign website’s education page as voters pushed back on “equity initiatives” in public schools.

McAuliffe has made “equity” a chief theme in his campaign for a second term in the governor’s mansion, tying racism to issues such as education, the economy, and criminal justice. In mid-August, however, McAuliffe removed his pledge to “eliminate racial disparities” from the top of his campaign’s K-12 education page, screenshots reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show. The Democrat also nixed the term “equitable” from the top of four issue pages on his campaign site.

The move came just weeks after a Trafalgar Group poll showed McAuliffe with a narrow lead over Republican Glenn Youngkin. It also came as Democrats in Virginia and across the country expressed concern over “equity initiatives” in public schools. In Loudoun County, for example, parent groups have collected thousands of signatures to recall school board members who have endorsed critical race theory.

The changes to McAuliffe’s campaign site suggest the Democrat is attempting to play both sides of the issue. McAuliffe in June called critical race theory “another right-wing conspiracy” that is “totally made up by Donald Trump and Glenn Youngkin.” At the same time, the Democrat collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from teachers’ unions that have defended teaching critical race theory in public schools.

McAuliffe did not return a request for comment.

The Democrat has not changed his full K-12 education plan, which is aimed at “ensuring that every child has access to an equitable, world-class education.” But removing race-focused language such as “equitable” from prominent positions on his campaign site could reflect an attempt to distance himself from critical race theory while remaining in his union allies’ good graces. 

McAuliffe has received nearly $1 million from the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions. One week before the NEA contributed $400,000 to McAuliffe’s campaign, union president Becky Pringle said her members “are not going to be afraid” to teach critical race theory in schools, because they “know that to not teach it, we are not telling the truth.”

Youngkin, meanwhile, has placed his opposition to critical race theory at the center of his campaign. The Republican in May pledged to “make sure our kids learn real math, not a political ideology.” 

McAuliffe and Youngkin are set to square off in November. McAuliffe leads the Republican by four points, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. President Joe Biden won the state by 10 points in November

As Public Pushback Mounts, McAuliffe Buries ‘Equity’ Agenda (freebeacon.com)

• A supposed DNA match between Rep. Ilhan Omar and her second husband Ahmed Elmi allegedly proves that the two are siblings 
• It has long been rumored that Omar and Elmi are siblings, but because of a lack of paperwork in war-torn Somalia, positive proof has never been uncovered 
• The match says that Omar’s DNA was taken from a cigarette butt, while Elmi’s DNA purportedly came from a drinking straw
• Although Omar is not known to be a smoker, a grainy photo appears to show her smoking outside of her Washington, DC home   
• Republican strategist Anton Lazzaro posted the results hours before he was arrested and charged with trafficking underage girls for sex 
• Omar’s spokesperson is already discrediting the report due to Lazzaro’s involvement 
• A shadowy Republican group is behind the surreptitious sleuthing and claims this finally proves the two are siblings

Persistent claims that leftist congresswoman Ilhan Omar married her own brother to get around US immigration laws may be legitimized by what appears to be a conclusive DNA test.

The results of the test assert that there is a 99.999998% chance that Omar and her second husband Ahmed Elmi are siblings.

The report, drawn up by Endeavor DNA Laboratories does not name either Omar or Elmi, instead referring to them as ‘Sibling 1’ and ‘Sibling 2.’ DailyMail.com understands that Omar is Sibling 1.

It says that Sibling 1’s sample was garnered from a cigarette butt and Sibling 2’s from a drinking straw.

Omar has never before been known publicly to be a smoker, although her third husband Tim Mynett is. However, a grainy picture of her with a cigarette in her mouth, said to have been taken outside her home in Washington, D.C. appears as part of the evidence gathered in an intensive investigation by a shadowy conservative group.

Endeavour Laboratories did not name either Omar or Elmi on the results, identifying them merely as ‘Sibling 1’ and ‘Sibling 2.’ DailyMail.com understands Sibling 1 is Omar

The test was posted online by Anton Lazzaro, a Republican strategist in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Around 12 hours later Lazzaro was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges.

He is now in custody awaiting a hearing on Monday.

Lazarro’s lawyer Zachary Newland could not immediately be reached as he was on a flight. However he confirmed by email that the website was put up by his client.

Omar’s spokesman Jeremy Slevin threw shade on the report. ‘This is a fraudulent website created by a man charged this week with child sex trafficking and lying to federal investigators to cover it up,’ he said in a statement.

The supposed DNA match between the two was posted on Republican strategist Anton Lazzaro’s (pictured) Facebook page and Twitter feed just before he was arrested and charged with trafficking underage girls for sex

Endeavor, which is based in El Paso, Texas did not return a call for comment. The company charges $189 for a siblingship test.  

DailyMail.com understands that a shadowy Republican group was planning to release details of a DNA report in the next day or two. It is not known what relationship Lazarro, 30, has to that group.

Its work could have been undermined by Lazarro as it gives Minnesota congresswoman Omar, 38, an opportunity to try to discredit the information as coming from a tainted source.

Lazzaro’s website says that the group garnered a DNA sample from Elmi’s straw in Leicester, England as part of a two-year investigation. He has recently been living in both Kenya and on the east African island of Zanzibar.

The test result appears to show that some of the DNA matches are exact while others are close. The group behind the surreptitious sleuthing claims this proves the two are siblings.

Claims that Omar and Elmi, 36, are siblings have been rampant for years. The allegation is that they married so Elmi, a British citizen could go to school in the United States. He followed Omar to North Dakota State University.

Lazzaros’ website says: ‘Rep. Omar was a U.S. Citizen for a decade and her brother/ex-husband Mr. Elmi was a UK Citizen.

‘This is purely a crime of convenience, by an individual with extremely poor ethics now representing hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans in Congress. There was absolutely no threat to these individuals causing them to commit multiple felonies while living in the two wealthiest countries in the world seeking reduced tuition at a public University.

Omar, who was first elected to Congress in 2018, has never fully addressed the question of whether she is related to Elmi. While serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives she did issue a press release in which she called the allegations ‘absurd and offensive.’

In her memoir, This Is What America Looks Like, published last year, she claims she hardly knew him when they married, saying: ‘I had a Britney Spears-style meltdown, I not only eloped with a man — whom I spent so little time with that I wouldn’t even make him a footnote in my story if it weren’t for the fact that this event turned into the main headline later on — but I shaved my head.

‘Yes, like the beleaguered pop star, who shaved her head in 2007, I took clippers to my own head. Too many headaches, too little sleep — I had to flee myself, my relationships, my hair.

‘The difference between Britney and me is that I wore a hijab, so nobody knew what I had done — except my children who were very surprised. ”Mommy looks like me,” Adnan (her young son) declared. And he was right, I did look like a little boy.’

She didn’t even name Elmi in her memoirs.

Although Ilhan Omar is not known to be a smoker publicly, Elmi has been seen smoking along with her current husband Tim Mynett.

Omar was married to Ahmed Hirsi — who she later remarried. They have since divorced and in March 2020 she married Mynett, her chief fundraiser

But others have long claimed that she married him so he could go to school in the United States. She had come to America as a refugee fleeing war in her native Somalia, but he had taken up British nationality.

He followed her to North Dakota State University, after their marriage in 2009. A Christian minister performed the ceremony despite the fact that both are Muslim.

Somali blogger Abdihakim Osman Nur told DailyMail.com in February last year that he had known Omar growing up and suddenly her brother arrived in Minneapolis.

At the time Omar was married to Ahmed Hirsi — who she later remarried. They have since divorced and in March 2020 she married Mynett, her chief fundraiser.

‘No one knew there had been a wedding until the media turned up the marriage certificate years later,’ Nur said, about the Elmi-Omar marriage.

‘People began noticing that Ilhan and Southside were often with a very effeminate young guy,’ Osman said, referring to Hirsi by his nickname.

‘He was very feminine in the way he dressed — he would wear light lipstick and pink clothes and very, very, short shorts in the summer. People started whispering about him, added Nur, who spoke in Somali through an interpreter.

‘Southside and Ilhan both told me it was Ilhan’s brother and he had been living in London but he was mixing with what were seen as bad influences that the family did not like,’ added Nur.

‘So they sent him to Minneapolis as ”rehab”.’

Nur said that Omar kept her marriage to Elmi quiet, with no one from the Somali community invited to the wedding that was held at a county office in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

He explained: ‘When Southside and Ilhan got married, a lot of people were invited. It was a big Islamic wedding uniting two large clans in the Minneapolis community.

‘I would say there were 100-150 people there.’

But he said: ‘When she married Elmi, no one even knew about it.’

Nur said he believed Elmi and Omar sought out someone outside the Somali community to conduct the ceremony because an imam would have known they were related and would have refused to marry them.+10

Elmi and Omar married on February 12, 2009 at a Hennepin County office in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, southwest of Minneapolis, their license shows. The marriage was conducted by a Christian minister+10

In the late 2000s Elmi (pictured) appeared in Minneapolis, said Somali blogger Abdihakim Osman. ‘People began noticing that Ilhan and [Hirsi] were often with a very effeminate young guy. He was very feminine in the way he dressed — he would wear light lipstick and pink clothes and very short shorts in the summer. People started whispering about him. [Hirsi] and Ilhan told me it was Ilhan’s brother’

The marriage was conducted by Christian minister Wilecia Harris. When DailyMail.com approached her in 2019 she would not discuss the ceremony or why a Muslim couple would have asked her to marry them.

In a Facebook message, Harris’s husband Marcus told DailyMail.com: ‘My wife doesn’t want to be involved or interviewed about Congresswoman Omar.’

‘It’s not going to happen, not now and not never.’

Lazzaro’s arrest could complicate the latest attempts to prove the congresswoman may have broken federal immigration laws.

According to a press release from the Department of Justice in Minnesota, Lazzaro ‘conspired with others to recruit and solicit six minor victims to engage in commercial sex acts.’

‘The indictment charges Lazzaro with one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors, five counts of sex trafficking of minors, one count of attempted sex trafficking of a minor, and three counts of obstruction.’

He is being held in federal custody until a hearing on Monday.

Lazzaro, who has appeared on Fox News and other conservative media outlets has posted pictures of himself posing with former president Donald Trump, former vice-president Mike Pence and other leading Republicans.

According to the Daily Beast, which broke the story of his arrest, the FBI had raided Lazzaro’s luxury apartment in the Hotel Ivy Residences in downtown Minneapolis in December last year.

‘The indictment accuses Lazzaro of having ‘recruited’ at least five underage victims for paid sex between May and December last year, and trying to entice a sixth. It also says he ‘knowingly and intentionally interfered’ with the investigation as it closed in on him,’ the Daily Beast reported.

The outlet said law enforcement served the condo building’s management company with a search warrant seeking Lazzaro’s bank records and video surveillance footage a week before the raid.

At the time, Lazzaro told the Daily Beast: someone had ‘made a false allegation against me,’ and he said the matter was ‘almost resolved.’

Claims DNA match proves Ilhan Omar married her brother | Daily Mail Online

On Saturday 18 RINOs joined Democrats to pass the Democrat Party’s infrastructure bill. Democrats never allowed a similar bill to reach President Trump’s desk last year.

The RINOs gave Joe Biden a rare win at a time when the illegitimate president is sinking in the polls and continues to struggle with his diminishing faculties.

Mitch McConnell led the charge of the RINOs.
Here are the 18 GOP members who voted for this monstrosity on Saturday:

** Mitch McConnell
** Roy Blunt of Missouri,
**Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia,
**Bill Cassidy of Louisiana,
**Susan Collins of Maine,
**John Cornyn of Texas,
**Kevin Cramer of North Dakota,
**Mike Crapo of Idaho,
**Chuck Grassley of Iowa,
**John Hoeven of North Dakota,
**Deb Fischer of Nebraska,
**Lisa Murkowski of Alaska,
**Rob Portman of Ohio,
**Jim Risch of Idaho,
**Mitt Romney of Utah,
**Thom Tillis of North Carolina,
**Todd Young of Indiana
**Mike Rounds of South Dakota.

On Sunday morning Senator Kevin Cramer joined Maria Bartiromo on Sunday Morning Futures to discuss his vote for the Socialist infrastructure plan. Big mistake. Maria Bartiromo chewed him up and spit him out — as he deserved.

TRENDING: MUST SEE: Mike Lindell on War Room Lays Out Day-by-Day Schedule on What to Expect at Much Anticipated Cyber Symposium This Week (VIDEO)

Bartiromo pointed out in the $1.2 trillion “infrastructure” monstrosity there is not a single dime for a border wall during the worst border crisis in US history. Cramer had no response. Instead he started spouting off about the globalists at the Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable who support the Uniparty spending plan.

Cramer was outmatched and looked ridiculous.
Maria destroyed him.

On Monday the War Room panel pointed out that there is not a dime in the trillion dollar plan supported by RINOs for border security.
And yet 18 Republicans voted for it.
It is clear these dirty RINOs DO NOT support their constituents.

Below are the 17 REPUBLICAN Senators and links to EMAIL THEM, keep your messages short, but let’s flood their email boxes with messages like “VOTE NO on Trillion Dollar Infrastructure bill”, “NO to Socialism”, “NO to GREEN NEW DEAL”.

Via Midnight Rider:

Contact Sen Blunt
https://www.blunt.senate.gov/contact/contact-roy
Senator Burr
https://www.burr.senate.gov/contact/email
Senator Cassidy
https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/contact
Sen Capito
https://www.capito.senate.gov/contact/share-your-opinion
Senator Collins
https://www.collins.senate.gov/CONTACT
Senator Cramer
https://www.cramer.senate.gov/contact/contact-kevin
Senator Crapo
https://www.crapo.senate.gov/contact/email-me
Senator Graham
https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-senator-graham
Senator Grassley
https://www.grassley.senate.gov/contact
Senator Hoeven
https://www.hoeven.senate.gov/contact/email-the-senator
Senator McConnell
https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=contact
Senator Murkowski
https://www.murkowski.senate.gov/contact/email
Senator Portman
https://www.portman.senate.gov/meet/contact
Senator Risch
https://www.risch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/email
Senator Romney
https://www.romney.senate.gov/contact
Senator Tillis
https://www.tillis.senate.gov/email-me
Senator Young
https://www.young.senate.gov/contact

Read More

THEY HATE YOU: Mitch McConnell and 17 RINO Senators Vote for Infrastructure Bill that Included ZERO DOLLARS for Border Security During Greatest Border Crisis in History – Orwellian Post

The city’s enforcement against shoplifters has dwindled, and these are the results.

San Francisco ranks as the fifth-worst city in the US when it comes to retail theft. Now, the problem is getting so bad that businesses like Target and Walgreens are being forced to make drastic changes in response.

“For more than a month, we’ve been experiencing a significant and alarming rise in theft and security incidents at our San Francisco stores,” a Target spokesperson said. “With the safety of our guests, team members and communities as our top priority, we’ve temporarily reduced our operating hours in six San Francisco stores.” 

Target stores normally stay open to 10:00 pm, but many in the San Francisco area will now close their doors at 5:00 pm or 6:00 pm. Meanwhile, Walgreens stores are faring even worse, with some shutting their doors altogether.  

“Representatives from Walgreens said that thefts at its stores in San Francisco were four times the chain’s national average, and that it had closed 17 stores, largely because the scale of thefts had made business untenable,” the New York Times reported. 

This isn’t just a problem at big-box retailers, either. The California Retailers Association has decried the rampant theft, which is hurting Golden State businesses small and large. Theft has gotten so bad in some parts of San Francisco that it is beyond belief. 

“I’m new to San Francisco,” Times journalist Thomas Fuller told a grocery store clerk shortly after moving to the city. “Is it optional to pay for things here?” It sounds like an absurd thing to ask, but Fuller explains that he was genuinely forced to wonder what was going on after he witnessed people walk into Walgreens and Safeway, grab stuff, and walk out.

The dysfunction-driven closures and scale-backs at major retailers will hurt everyday Californians. From the workers whose hours are cut to the customers who can’t get the products they need, this undermining of the market will have many victims beyond just those who are directly robbed. 

The sad affair is another reminder of the timeless truth described by economist Thomas Sowell, who said that property rights “belong legally to individuals, but their real function is social, to benefit vast numbers of people who do not themselves exercise these rights.”

Protecting property rights is a necessary precursor for basic economic activity to function. As I previously explained on FEE.org:

“When property rights are insecure or routinely violated—widespread looting and arson are prime examples—the very foundation of a community’s economy is undermined. Investors understandably balk at the uncertainty and forgo investing there, while entrepreneurs cannot launch new enterprises or even continue current ones without the knowledge that they will be secure in their property. As a result, job opportunities and income streams dry up.” 

This is why millions of our taxpayer dollars are given to police departments and other government agencies tasked with enforcing property and protecting our rights. But in San Francisco, they’ve woefully failed this most basic responsibility. 

A 2014 ballot referendum downgraded theft of goods less than $950 in value to just a misdemeanor, a slap on the wrist, and the city’s enforcement against shoplifters has dwindled in the years since.

That’s why Target and Walgreens are being forced to take drastic actions to protect their stores. But if widespread violation of property rights continues unpunished, they won’t be the last businesses in San Francisco to close their doors in response.

Target and Walgreens Are Making Drastic Changes Amid Skyrocketing Shoplifting in San Francisco – Foundation for Economic Education (fee.org)

• The number of homicides in six major cities across the country has increased compared to last year, disproportionately affecting black people, according to crime data.
• “We are seeing an uptick in violent crime across the country, specifically gun violence,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told The New York Times.
• In Chicago, black people have been the victims of roughly 81 percent of the 317 murders in the first six months of 2021, data shows. They were the victims of about 70 percent of the 295 murders committed in the first six months of 2020.
• “I am proud to lead a City Council that took the first step to responsibly reduce Baltimore’s budget dependence on policing,” former Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott, who is now the city’s mayor, said after the council voted to strip funding from the city’s police last year, the Baltimore Sun reported.

The number of homicides in six major cities across the country has increased compared to last year, disproportionately affecting black people, according to crime data.

Black people have represented a massive share of murder victims in six major cities through the first six months of 2021 compared to last year, which itself saw a large crime surge, according to data analyzed by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The DCNF analyzed both police department data and homicide reports compiled by local news outlets to determine how black people have been victimized in the wake of the 2020 crime spike.

“We are seeing an uptick in violent crime across the country, specifically gun violence,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told The New York Times earlier this month.

The DCNF collected homicide data from Chicago, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, and Indianapolis, some of the only cities in which such data is readily available. Most major cities have limited statistics tracking 2021 murders and homicide victims.

The percentage of murder victims in Chicago that were black increased from 70 percent in 2020 to 81 percent in 2021 while that figure increased from 60 percent to 90 percent year-over-year in Milwaukee, the data showed. In one of the cities analyzed, the percentage of black victims decreased, but the raw number of black victims still increased.

Democratic leaders of most of the cities examined voted to greatly reduce police funding amid widespread Black Lives Matter protests last year. In the wake of the death of George Floyd, who died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck in May 2020, thousands of protests and riots took place across the country.

University of Missouri criminologist Richard Rosenfeld blamed the uptick in violence seen nationwide on the lack of trust between police and citizens, according to the NYT.

“When police legitimacy is greatly reduced, you get more crime because people are no longer relying on the criminal justice system for assistance,” Rosenfeld told the NYT. “People are less willing to cooperate with police in investigations, less willing to report crimes or other problems to the police, and more willing to take matters into their own hands.”

While murder statistics in just six cities were analyzed, the number of homicides has spiked roughly 18 percent across the country compared to 2020, according to a random sample of 37 cities, the NYT reported. In 2020, the number of murders increased by 36.7 percent compared to 2019, according to data analytics reporter Jeff Asher.

As Violent Crime SURGES across America, some politicians and some in the media are gaslighting the public into thinking the Police are the Problem…

Homicides:
Atlanta ⬆️ 58%
Portland ⬆️ 533%
Philadelphia ⬆️ 37%

Shootings:
New York City ⬆️ 64%
Los Angeles ⬆️ 51%
Chicago ⬆️ 18% pic.twitter.com/5RbhbKY312

— National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (@GLFOP) June 22, 2021

Chicago, Illinois

At least 317 total homicides were committed in Chicago between Jan. 1, 2021 and June 22, 2021, according to a Chicago Sun-Times database. In that same period last year, 295 murders were committed.

While black people represented 207 of the murder victims in Chicago through the period last year ending on June 22, 2020, they represented a whopping 257 of the victims this year, according to the Sun-Times database. That means black people have been the victims of roughly 81 percent of murders this year while they were the victims in about 70 percent of 2020 murders.

Meanwhile, Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed an $80 million cut to Chicago Police Department funding in October, according to Injustice Watch.

“While we will slow the rate of growth, with a resulting $80 million in corporate fund savings, on my watch we will never make cuts or policy changes that inhibit the core mission of the police department, which is to serve and protect,” Lightfoot said, according to the Sun-Times.

Illinois became the first state to completely abolish its cash bail system earlier this year, NBC News reported. The legislation laid out a new, stricter decision-making process for judges to determine if a person charged with a crime presents a threat.

“This legislation marks a substantial step toward dismantling the systemic racism that plagues our communities, our state, and our nation and brings us closer to true safety, true fairness, and true justice,” Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker said after signing the bill in February, according to NBC News.

Baltimore, Maryland

In Baltimore, black people represented 69 of the 152, or 45 percent, of total murder victims between Jan. 1, 2021, and June 17, 2021, according to a Baltimore Sun database.

While murder statistics between that same period in 2020 were unavailable, black people were the victims of 130, or 39 percent, of the 335 total homicides committed in Baltimore for all of last year, the database showed.

The majority of murder victims in 2020 and 2021 were listed without racial information in the Baltimore Sun database. Black people represented the vast majority of victims with their race listed.

But the Baltimore City Council agreed to cut $22 million from the city’s police budget in June 2020, according to the Baltimore Sun.

“I am proud to lead a City Council that took the first step to responsibly reduce Baltimore’s budget dependence on policing,” former City Council President Brandon Scott, who is now the city’s mayor, said after the vote, the Baltimore Sun reported. “This is just the beginning, and I intend to continue leading this process to redirect our public dollars and reimagine public safety in Baltimore.”

In March, Baltimore City State Attorney Marilyn Mosby, the city’s top prosecutor, announced she would no longer prosecute prostitution, drug possession, or other minor offenses, NBC affiliate WBAL-TV reported.

After multiple shootings in a popular area of Baltimore earlier this month, 37 businesses threatened to stop paying taxes unless Scott addressed surging crime, according to Fox affiliate WBFF-TV. The business owners argued that allowing minor crime to continue leads to major violent crimes.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The number of total murders increased in Milwaukee from 75 in the period between Jan. 1, 2020, and June 17, 2020, to 87 committed over that same period this year, according to murder reports compiled by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Black people were the victims of 79, or 90 percent, of the total murders this year, the database showed. While isolated victim data wasn’t available for the first six months of 2020, black people represented 74 percent of all murder victims in Milwaukee last year.

The Milwaukee Common Council approved a police budget cut in November that reduced the department by 120 officers, the Journal Sentinel reported.

“Although the proposed budget cut would undoubtedly impact the operations of the Milwaukee Police Department, we remain committed to working and engaging with our community, elected officials, and public safety partners to ensure that all of our neighborhoods are safe, vibrant and livable,” the department said in a statement after Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett proposed the budget, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

In Pittsburgh, black people made up 90 percent of murder victims between January and April, according to county data. In comparison, 60 percent of murder victims during the same time period last year were black.

There were 20 murders between January and April this year and 10 in that same period in 2020, according to Allegheny County. Data beyond April 31, 2021, hasn’t been made available.

The Pittsburgh City Council approved a police department hiring freeze in July 2020, according to WPXI-TV. The council also ordered the department to redirect 10 percent of the budget to social service programs every year.

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police said the actions would “greatly impact” its ability to increase diversity within its ranks, WPXI reported.

Los Angeles, California

Between Jan. 1, 2020 and June 21, 2020, black people were the victims of 92 of the 272 homicides committed in Los Angeles County, which includes the city and surrounding communities, according to a Los Angeles Times database. In the same period this year, they represented 103 of the 315 total homicides.

The data showed that the share of black murder victims in the county has stayed level at around 33 percent year-over-year. However, the uptick in violence this year has caused at least 11 additional deaths in Los Angeles County’s black community compared to last year.

Hispanic people, who are the largest demographic group in the county, accounted for the majority of murder victims in Los Angeles County in both 2020 and 2021 while black people accounted for the second-highest number of murder victims, according to the database. Hispanic people were the victims of 50 percent of the murder victims between Jan. 1, 2020 and June 21, 2020 and 57 percent of the victims in that same period this year.

The Los Angeles City Council approved a $150 million cut to the city’s police department in July 2020, ABC affiliate KABC-TV reported. Democratic Mayor Eric Garcetti supported the massive budget cuts.

“It will take years to recover from that,” Los Angeles Police union spokesman Dustin DeRollo told the DCNF last summer. “And it will result immediately with less officers patrolling the streets.”

“What that means simply is longer response times to emergency calls,” he continued. “It means less time to do community-based policing like building relationships in neighborhoods. And it also will mean less ability to implement the training that everybody wants our officers to have.”

But, amid the increased violent crime, the Los Angeles County Metro unanimously approved a $36 million budget boost for transit police in March. Garcetti, who serves on the Metro’s board, voted in favor of the budget increase.

Indianapolis, Indiana

Black people represented 58 of the 98 murder victims in Indianapolis between Jan. 1, 2021 and June 1, 2021, according to a homicide database created by the Indianapolis Star. Last year, black people were the victims in 53 of the city’s 70 total murders.

While the percentage of homicide victims who were black decreased from 75 percent to 59 percent in that period, the number of total black homicide victims still increased, the data showed.

Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett resisted calls for defunding the city’s police department budget last year, the Indianapolis Recorder reported. Instead, he proposed a $7 million police budget increase.

Homicides Have Skyrocketed in These Six Democratic Cities; Black People Are Disproportionately the Victims, Data Shows (theepochtimes.com)

‘Crime Is Skyrocketing In Many Big Cities,’ But Some Jurisdictions Have Cut Police Budgets In Response To ‘Defund The Police’ Demands And Many Others Are Rapidly Losing Police Officers

SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “From coast to coast, American families are facing an explosion of violent crime on their streets and in their neighborhoods. 2020 saw homicides skyrocket nationwide. The sharpest one-year increase in decades. And 2021 is already shaping up to be even worse…. Crime and delinquency have many causes. In some ways, the pandemic likely contributed. But it is impossible to ignore that these terrible trends are coming precisely as so-called ‘progressives’ have decided it’s time to denounce and defund local law enforcement. Seattle cut police funding by 20%. Minneapolis defunded cops by millions of dollars. The District of Columbia’s city council approved $15 million in cuts. These bone-headed decisions are the direct result of an anti-law-enforcement fad that has swept through the political left like a wildfire…. So, look, I’m not sure exactly how the rantings of far-left Twitter about crime and policing became official Democratic Party dogma in so many places across America. What I do know is that ordinary Americans cannot bear much more of this. And that goes double for the most vulnerable neighborhoods.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 5/27/2021)

FLASHBACK: Far-Left Democrats: ‘No More Policing,’ ‘We Need To Disinvest From Police,’ ‘Defunding Police Means Defunding Police’

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): “Defunding police means defunding police.” (“Ocasio-Cortez Dismisses Proposed $1B Cut: ‘Defunding Police Means Defunding Police’,” The Hill, 6/30/2020)

REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): “I will never stop saying, ‘Not only do we need to disinvest from police but we need to completely dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.’” (“‘Defund The Police’ Movement Hits Semantics Roadblock,” The Hill, 6/14/2020)

REP. CORI BUSH (D-MO): “Defunding the police isn’t radical, it’s real.” (Rep. Bush, @CoriBush, Twitter, 1/27/2021)

REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): “… Policing in our country is inherently & intentionally racist. … I am done with those who condone government funded murder. No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.” (Rep. Tlaib, @RashidaTlaib, Twitter, 4/12/2021)

REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA): “From slave patrols to traffic stops. We can’t reform this.” (Rep. Pressley, @AyannaPressley, Twitter, 4/12/2021)

And Sure Enough, Left-Wing Activists ‘Successfully Pushed For $840 Million In Police Spending Cuts Across The U.S.’

“According to Interrupting Criminalization, an initiative at the Barnard Center for Research on Women that supports defunding the police, organizers successfully pushed for $840 million in police spending cuts across the U.S., and $160 million in shifts to other social programs. Cities cut another $35 million by canceling contracts with police departments to patrol schools, the center said.” (“Cities Reverse Defunding the Police Amid Rising Crime,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/26/2021)

• “Last summer, nearly half of 258 police agencies surveyed by the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C., think tank, said their budgets had been cut or were likely to be cut. The cuts hit purchases of new police equipment hardest, followed by training, hiring new officers and overtime spending, the survey found.” (“Cities Reverse Defunding the Police Amid Rising Crime,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/26/2021)

In 2020, The United States Had ‘The Largest Single One-Year Increase In Homicides Since The Country Started Keeping Such Records’

“2020 has been a killer year in every way, including murder. The United States has experienced the largest single one-year increase in homicides since the country started keeping such records in the 20th century, according to crime data and criminologists.” (“2020 Saw An Unprecedented Spike In Homicides From Big Cities To Small Towns,” The Washington Post, 12/30/2020)

• “It is a trend mirrored across the country, where crime is skyrocketing in many big cities, putting liberal leaders under pressure to balance the demands of activists against the concerns of some residents about rising violence. In New York, where homicides grew by nearly 45 percent last year, crime is dominating the discussion in the race for mayor…. Even smaller cities haven’t been spared the rise in violence: Louisville last year set a record for homicides, with 173, and this year is on pace to surpass that.” (“A Year After George Floyd: Pressure to Add Police Amid Rising Crime,” The New York Times, 5/23/2021)

“A group of 34 of America’s biggest cities suffered a 30 percent total increase in homicides in 2020, according to a new survey published Monday, with police in four Midwestern cities reporting increases of more than 60 percent over 2019. In Milwaukee, homicides rose from 97 to 189, a 95 percent increase. In Louisville, homicides increased from 90 to 173, a 92 percent increase. Of the 34 cities surveyed by the National Commission on Covid-19 and Criminal Justice, a project of the D.C.-based Council on Criminal Justice, only four — Raleigh, N.C.; Baltimore; St. Petersburg, Fla.; and Virginia Beach — saw declines in 2020.” (“Homicides Rose 30 Percent In 2020, Survey Of 34 U.S. Cities Finds,” The Washington Post, 2/03/2021)

“[In March], the F.B.I. released preliminary statistics showing a major increase in murder last year, with a 25 percent rise in agencies that reported quarterly data. The F.B.I. did not receive data from several cities with known big increases in murder like New York, Chicago and New Orleans, but cities of all sizes reported increases of greater than 20 percent. A 25 percent increase in murder in 2020 would mean the United States surpassed 20,000 murders in a year for the first time since 1995. (The final official numbers for 2020 will not be released until late September.)” (“Murder Rate Remains Elevated as New Crime Reporting System Begins,” The New York Times, 3/16/2021)

Over The First Three Months Of 2021, The Murder Rate In 37 Cities Is Up 18 Percent Compared To The Same Period In 2020

“The big increase in the murder rate in the United States in 2020 has carried over to 2021. A sample of 37 cities with data available for the first three months of this year shows murder up 18 percent relative to the same period last year.” (“Murder Rate Remains Elevated as New Crime Reporting System Begins,” The New York Times, 3/16/2021)

As Murders Surged In 2020, Seattle Cut Its Police Department’s Budget ‘By Nearly 20%’

“Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan signed off on the 2021 budget, after months of debate and public outcry.  It includes a significant cut to the Seattle Police Department (SPD), and puts new money in new hands. … The 2021 budget sliced SPD’s budget by nearly 20% …” (“Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan Signs City’s 2021 Budget With 20% Cut To Police,” King5, 12/01/2020)

“Calling 2020 a year like no other, interim Seattle police Chief Adrian Diaz said Monday his department’s homicide detectives investigated 50 homicides last year, representing a 61% increase over the 31 people killed as a result of homicidal violence in the city in 2019. Citing data that shows homicides across the country were up 36% in 2020 compared to the previous year, Diaz said Seattle’s 50 homicides were the most investigated in the city in 26 years.” (“50 People Died From Homicidal Violence In Seattle In 2020, The Largest Number In A Quarter Century, Police Chief Says,” The Seattle Times, 1/11/2021)

The LAPD Had Its Budget Slashed By $150 Million In 2020 As Murders In Los Angeles Reached The Highest Number ‘In More Than A Decade’

“Now, a year after Mr. Floyd’s death, Los Angeles and other American cities face a surge in violent crime amid pandemic despair and a flood of new guns onto the streets. The surge is prompting cities whose leaders embraced the values of the movement last year to reassess how far they are willing to go to reimagine public safety and divert money away from the police and toward social services…. A year after streets echoed with calls to ‘defund’ law enforcement and city leaders embraced the message by agreeing to take $150 million away from the Los Angeles Police Department, or about 8 percent of the department’s budget, the city last week agreed to increase the police budget to allow the department to hire about 250 officers. The increase essentially restores the cuts that followed the protests. On the streets of South Los Angeles, where residents have historically suffered the most from aggressive policing and gang violence and where much of the current surge in shootings is happening, officers are ramping up patrols and stopping more cars to look for guns. ‘We’ve lost more than a decade of progress,’ Chief Michel Moore of the Los Angeles Police Department said in an interview, referring to the significant drops in crime in the years before the pandemic…. [T]he number of murders in Los Angeles last year — 350 — was the highest in more than a decade …” (“A Year After George Floyd: Pressure to Add Police Amid Rising Crime,” The New York Times, 5/23/2021)

• “If the old crop of activists sought changes by partnering with the police, the defining view of the new movement is a focus on money, and trying to pull as many dollars as possible away from police budgets and toward other programs that address systemic racism.” (“A Year After George Floyd: Pressure to Add Police Amid Rising Crime,” The New York Times, 5/23/2021)

Following A $15 Million Cut To Washington, D.C.’s Police Department Budget, 2020 Ended With The District’s Highest Number Of Homicides In 16 Years

“Homicides in the District rose for the third consecutive year in 2020, reaching nearly 200 for the first time since the previous decade and further stressing a city rattled by the pandemic and social and political unrest. The number of killings stood at 198 Thursday evening, making the past year the deadliest in the city since 2004. More than 920 people were shot in D.C. in 2020, a 64 percent increase from three years ago.” (“Homicides In D.C. Hit 16-Year High; Shootings Also Have Spiked,” The Washington Post, 12/31/2020)

• “In 2020, homicides in D.C. hit a 16-year high. If current trends continue, 2021 could be even deadlier. D.C. Police data reports a 43% increase in homicides from the same time last year, with 2021 totaling 63 as of April 28, compared to 44 on this date in 2020.” (“DC’s Homicide Rate Already Is Outpacing 2020, Which Saw A 16-Year-High,” WUSA, 4/28/2021)

“D.C. lawmakers [in June] advanced measures to cut $15 million from the police department budget, a change that defund-the-police activists dismissed as insufficient and the police chief warned could result in the loss of hundreds of officers. The D.C. Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety unanimously approved a plan to reduce the $533 million police budget proposed by Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) by cutting vacant positions and rejecting an expansion of the police cadet program. The committee also voted to cut the department’s capital budget and reallocate funds to alternative violence-reduction programs.” (“D.C. Activists And Lawmakers Confront Challenges Of ‘Defund Police’ Movement,” The Washington Post, 6/25/2020)

‘Last Year, The Homicide Rate In Minneapolis Hit Highs Not Seen Since The Mid-1990s’ And Still The City Council Voted To Cut $8 Million From The City’s Police Department

“Last year, the homicide rate in Minneapolis hit highs not seen since the mid-1990s, when killings led the city to be derisively called ‘Murderapolis.’ The bleak trend has continued into this year. According to police data, nearly 200 people have been shot this year — more than double the number in the same period last year and the most recorded in more than a decade. There have been 31 homicides, compared with 15 at this point in 2020.” (“A Year After George Floyd’s Death, Minneapolis Remains Scarred, Divided,” The Washington Post, 5/23/2021)

“Months after their pledge to dismantle the Police Department fell apart, members of the Minneapolis City Council voted [December 10^th] to divert nearly $8 million from the proposed policing budget to other city services … Trimming of those items raised alarm bells among the police chief and some lawmakers, as the department has lost 166 officers this year — some permanently, others because they are on disability, and still others saying they have post-traumatic stress from the massive protests that swept the city over the summer.” (“Minneapolis City Council Votes to Remove $8 Million From Police Budget,” The New York Times, 12/10/2020)

• “Steven Belton, the president of the Twin Cities chapter of the Urban League, called the cuts to the police budget misguided and misinformed. He said council members made it an either-or proposition between funding the police and other services when he believed everything was needed…. [In 2020], the city has logged 5,164 violent crimes, up 25.7 percent from last year, according to data from the Minneapolis Police Department. The cuts to the police budget could embolden criminals to think that policing was going away, Mr. Belton said. ‘It’s the wrong optics to the communities that are most impacted detrimentally by violence and the absence of policing and poor policing,’ he said.” (“Minneapolis City Council Votes to Remove $8 Million From Police Budget,” The New York Times, 12/10/2020)

‘The Number Of Slayings In 2020 Dwarfs Anything Louisville Has Seen’

“In 2020, 173 people in Louisville were victims of criminal homicides, according to metro police — shot, bludgeoned, strangled or stabbed to death. Another 20 people were slain in homicides investigated by other Jefferson County police agencies or in cases that didn’t result in criminal charges. The number of slayings in 2020 dwarfs anything Louisville has seen — obliterating the previous record of 117 criminal homicides in 2016…. Of last year’s homicides, 160 were shootings. Another 585 people were shot and survived — another grim milestone.” (“170-Plus Killings And Few Answers: Louisville Besieged By Record Homicides And Gun Violence,” Louisville Courier Journal, 1/01/2021)

• “Louisville is on pace to have another record year for homicides in the city [in 2021]. Community activist Christopher 2X said — as of the end of April — Louisville has now seen the deadliest four-month stretch of gun violence in the city’s history. ‘In four months and three days, we’re at 59 fatals, 218 nonfatals, and we’ve never been in this space before,’ 2X told WDRB News on Monday. ‘We’ve never reached almost 60 homicides this fast.’ 2X said April was the 15th consecutive month with double-digit homicides…. In the first weekend in May, LMPD responded to at least six separate shootings, two of them ending with fatalities.” (“Several Weekend Shootings Put Louisville On Pace For Another Record Year For Homicides,” WDRB, 5/03/2021)
• “As of [April 25], there had been 84% more non-fatal shootings so far this year, with 201, compared to the 109 instances reported during the same time in 2020, LMPD statistics show. There were 56 murders reported as of Sunday — a 75% increase from the 32 reported by April 25, 2020.” (“Louisville Police Department Staffing ‘In Dire Straits’ Amid High Crime Rates, Recruitment Woes: Union,” Fox News, 4/27/2021)

“In November, Louisville social justice organizer Travis Nagdy met with another local leader, Kenneth Forbes, to discuss turning attention to the city’s seemingly intractable violence. ‘The people dying look just like you,’ Forbes, founder of the group Mothers of Murdered Sons and Daughters United, told the 21-year-old Nagdy. ‘We are just asking for help, for compassion, for people to open up their ears and listen. For people to talk about it.’ Days after their meeting, Nagdy was dead, fatally shot in an apparent carjacking.” (“170-Plus Killings And Few Answers: Louisville Besieged By Record Homicides And Gun Violence,” Louisville Courier Journal, 1/01/2021)

“It’s a complicated problem, said Christopher 2X, founder of the Louisville nonprofit Game Changers, which tracks gun violence and supports victims…. 2X noted, Black men haven’t been the only victims. The majority of homicides each year, he said, take place in areas covered by LMPD’s First, Second and Fourth divisions, downtown and in Louisville’s West End. In 2020, though, 51 homicides were reported in areas patrolled by LMPD’s Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth divisions — on the outskirts of the city and in some of Louisville’s more upscale neighborhoods. In 2019, just 22 homicides were reported in areas covered by those five divisions. Just as striking, 2X said, is 34 female homicide victims in 2020, a higher number than in previous years. ‘That’s a number that we’ve got to be concerned about,’ he said.” (“170-Plus Killings And Few Answers: Louisville Besieged By Record Homicides And Gun Violence,” Louisville Courier Journal, 1/01/2021)

In New York City, Shootings Nearly Doubled In 2020 While Murders Rose Around 45%

“Homicides and shootings in New York City rose sharply in 2020, New York Police Department officials said Thursday, as police resources were stretched thin by the Covid-19 pandemic and responses to large-scale protests over the killing of George Floyd. The number of murders in the city rose to 462 last year, up nearly 45% from 319 in 2019, according to the NYPD. The increase accompanied a steep rise in gun violence more intense than any seen in the previous 20 years, according to police statistics. The city recorded 1,531 shootings in 2020, 97% more than the 777 in 2019. Data showed the number of shooting victims in the city more than doubled to 1,868 in 2020 from 923 in 2019. The number of shooting victims exceeds the number of shootings because multiple people may be shot in a single incident.” (“New York City Homicides And Shootings Rose Dramatically In 2020,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/07/2021)

• “The major rise in gun violence in the city began in 2020, after a period in which violent crime dropped to its lowest levels in more than six decades. Now, even as New York City emerges from the pandemic, the spike that began as the virus spread last spring has shown no sign of receding: As of the second weekend in May, the city had recorded 505 shooting victims, the most through that point of any year in the last decade. … Murders in New York are at 146 this year, up from 104 over the same period in 2019 and 115 in 2020. … This year, about 96 percent of shooting victims have been Black or Latino, police data shows, similar to previous years. One percent, or seven victims, have been white.” (“The Spike in Shootings During the Pandemic May Outlast the Virus,” The New York Times, 5/14/2021)

“A shooting in Times Square, a spike in gun violence and a spate of high-profile attacks on subway riders have pushed concerns over crime and public safety to the forefront of the New York City mayor’s race, altering the trajectory of the contest as the June 22 primary approaches. A year after the rise of the ‘defund the police’ movement amid an outcry over racial injustice, the primary will offer one of the first tests of where Democratic voters stand as the country emerges from the pandemic but confronts a rise in gun violence in major cities like New York…. As of May 2, 132 people have been killed compared with 113 this same time last year, a 17 percent increase, according to Police Department statistics. There have been 416 shooting incidents compared with 227 this time last year, an 83 percent increase…. Even before the Times Square shooting, there were mounting signs that public safety was intensifying as a concern in New York: a Spectrum News NY1/Ipsos poll released late last month found that ‘crime or violence’ was a major concern for New York Democrats, second only to the coronavirus.” (“Shootings and Subway Attacks Put Crime at Center of N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race,” The New York Times, 5/11/2021)

New Yorkers: ‘Are We Back In The ‘70s And ‘80s?,’ ‘I Want Someone [For Mayor] Who Can Make Us Feel Safer’

“Jade Lundy, a child-care worker who lives in the Bronx, said she has begun taking more precautions because there seems to be an uptick in crime, which she blamed on economic hardship caused by the pandemic. ‘I don’t take out my phone anymore,’ she said Monday afternoon as she headed for the subway to the Bronx, from Times Square. Ms. Lundy, who recently turned 18, said she plans to vote in the mayoral election and has just begun learning about the candidates. ‘I want someone who can make us feel safer,’ Ms. Lundy said. ‘Especially for the women. We have it harder out here.’” (“Shootings and Subway Attacks Put Crime at Center of N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race,” The New York Times, 5/11/2021)

“A spate of crimes targeting Asian-Americans have also alarmed New Yorkers across the city, some candidates say. ‘That makes them very worried about the city, and particularly for people who have lived here a long time,’ said [Kathryn] Garcia, the former sanitation commissioner. For those New Yorkers, she said, some wonder, ‘Are we back in the ‘70s and ‘80s?’” (“Shootings and Subway Attacks Put Crime at Center of N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race,” The New York Times, 5/11/2021)

“‘Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, people that lived here, including myself, you know, we witnessed some pretty nasty stuff,’ said Representative Adriano Espaillat, a New York Democrat. ‘We don’t want to slip back to that. So I think that that’s going to be a major issue with this year’s mayoral race.’ … Diana Ayala, a councilwoman representing East Harlem and the Bronx … said the response from the mayoral candidates to addressing crime will determine if she endorses anyone else for mayor. ‘Citywide, people are alarmed at the numbers of shootings but quite frankly, those numbers have been pretty consistent in my district for the last three and a half years,’ Ms. Ayala said. ‘Every summer, even as we speak, we are planning for what’s to come.’” (“Shootings and Subway Attacks Put Crime at Center of N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race,” The New York Times, 5/11/2021)

San Francisco Is Suffering From A ‘Shoplifting Epidemic’ That Has Forced Stores To Shutter And Even City Officials Now Admit Is ‘Out Of Control’

“[T]he shoplifting epidemic in San Francisco has only worsened. At a board of supervisors hearing [in early May], representatives from Walgreens said that thefts at its stores in San Francisco were four times the chain’s national average, and that it had closed 17 stores, largely because the scale of thefts had made business untenable. Brendan Dugan, the director of the retail crime division at CVS Health, called San Francisco ‘one of the epicenters of organized retail crime’ and said employees were instructed not to pursue suspected thieves because encounters had become too dangerous. ‘We’ve had incidents where our security officers are assaulted on a pretty regular basis in San Francisco,’ Dugan said. The retail executives and police officers emphasized the role of organized crime in the thefts. And they told the supervisors that Proposition 47, the 2014 ballot measure that reclassified nonviolent thefts as misdemeanors if the stolen goods are worth less than $950, had emboldened thieves. ‘The one trend we are seeing is more violence and escalating — and much more bold,’ said Commander Raj Vaswani, the head of the investigations bureau at the San Francisco Police Department. ‘We see a lot of repeat offenders.’” (“San Francisco’s Shoplifting Surge,” The New York Times, 5/21/2021)

• “The cost of business and shoplifting led Walgreens to shut 17 locations in San Francisco in the past five years — an ‘unpopular and difficult decision,’ Jason Cunningham, regional vice president for pharmacy and retail operations in California and Hawaii, said at the hearing…. Theft in Walgreens’ San Francisco stores is four times the average for stores elsewhere in the country, and the chain spends 35 times more on security guards in the city than elsewhere, Cunningham said. At CVS, 42% of losses in the Bay Area came from 12 stores in San Francisco, which are only 8% of the market share, Brendan Dugan, director of organized retail crime and corporate investigations, said at the hearing…. CVS security guards in San Francisco have been assaulted, especially at the now-closed Seventh and Market streets location, Dugan said. Some businesses instead hire costly off-duty police officers.” (“‘Out Of Control’: Organized Crime Drives S.F. Shoplifting, Closing 17 Walgreens In Five Years,” San Francisco Chronicle, 5/25/2021)
• “A statement from Safeway read at Thursday’s hearing blamed Proposition 47, which lowered penalties for thefts under $950, for ‘dramatic increases’ in shoplifting losses…. Professional shoplifters can work the system by stealing items under the threshold from one store and hitting several retailers in the same day.” (“‘Out Of Control’: Organized Crime Drives S.F. Shoplifting, Closing 17 Walgreens In Five Years,” San Francisco Chronicle, 5/25/2021)

“Retailers attributed a majority of losses to professional thieves instead of opportunistic shoplifters who may be driven by poverty, with one CVS leader calling San Francisco a hub of organized retail crime. Losses have shuttered drugstores providing vital services, even more critical during the pandemic as some stores give out vaccines.” (“‘Out Of Control’: Organized Crime Drives S.F. Shoplifting, Closing 17 Walgreens In Five Years,” San Francisco Chronicle, 5/25/2021)

• “For years, John Susoeff walked from his home two blocks to the Walgreens at Bush and Larkin streets — to pick up prescriptions for himself and for less mobile neighbors, to get a new phone card, and to snag senior discounts the first Tuesday of the month. That changed in March when the Walgreens, ravaged by shoplifting, closed. Susoeff, 77, who sometimes uses a cane, now goes six blocks for medication and other necessities. ‘It’s terrible,’ he said. On his last visit before the store closed, even beef jerky was behind lock and key. A CVS nearby shuttered in 2019, with similar reports of rampant shoplifting. ‘I don’t blame them for closing,’ Susoeff said.” (“‘Out Of Control’: Organized Crime Drives S.F. Shoplifting, Closing 17 Walgreens In Five Years,” San Francisco Chronicle, 5/25/2021)

“‘This has been out of control,’ said Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, who held a hearing [May 13^th] with retailers, police, the district attorney and probation departments. ‘People are scared to go into these stores — seniors, people with disabilities, children. It’s just happening brazenly. We can’t just as a city throw up our hands and say this is OK. We have to come up with solutions.’” (“‘Out Of Control’: Organized Crime Drives S.F. Shoplifting, Closing 17 Walgreens In Five Years,” San Francisco Chronicle, 5/25/2021)

• “On Thursday I called Ahsha Safaí, the member of the board of supervisors who organized the hearing. We talked about the thefts we had witnessed in the city and the sidewalk thieves’ markets where steaks, bicycles and other stolen goods are fenced. Safaí said he had recently stopped to inspect one of these markets at 24th and Mission. ‘Half of Walgreens was on the sidewalk. I’m not kidding,’ Safaí said. ‘I was blown away. I’ve never seen anything like it in this city.’ He talked about what he called a laissez-faire attitude in San Francisco. ‘It has become part of the landscape,’ he said of thefts. ‘People say, “Oh, well, that just happens.”‘ Thieves ‘are obviously choosing locales based on what the consequences are,’ Safaí said. ‘If there are no consequences for their actions, then you invite the behavior. Over and over.’” (“San Francisco’s Shoplifting Surge,” The New York Times, 5/21/2021)

As Violent Crime Surges In Cities, Metro Police Departments Are Hemorrhaging Officers While The Remaining Cops ‘Are Demoralized And Pulling Back On Patrolling High-Crime Areas’

“In some liberal cities like Minneapolis, where gun violence is surging and where the Police Department is depleted after so many officers quit or retired, some elected leaders and older clergy members and civil rights leaders are echoing the sentiments of conservative commentators who claim a link between the violence and the movement to defund police departments, saying officers are demoralized and pulling back on patrolling high-crime areas.” (“A Year After George Floyd: Pressure to Add Police Amid Rising Crime,” The New York Times, 5/23/2021)

• “From the crucible of 1992, former gang members in South Los Angeles worked to make peace, often working alongside a new force of police officers dedicated to ‘community policing,’ in which officers worked in specific neighborhoods to establish close relationships with residents. Leon Gullette, who was drawn to activism after 1992, now works for Community Build, which was co-founded by Maxine Waters, a local congresswoman. Mr. Gullette’s specialty is working to achieve truces between rival gangs. Unlike the younger activists with Black Lives Matter, he says working with the police is essential. ‘We can’t operate without the police, so I wouldn’t say defund the police,’ Mr. Gullette said.” (“A Year After George Floyd: Pressure to Add Police Amid Rising Crime,” The New York Times, 5/23/2021)

SEATTLE: “Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers are leaving the job at a ‘record pace’ — with at least 249 people leaving over the past year alone — as statistics show manpower has been declining in recent years, according to union and city officials. SPD boasted a police force of 1,276 uniformed members at the end of February 2020, but staffing levels dropped by 249 people to 1,027 by the end of February 2021, according to the most recent department statistics available to Fox News. … As of last week, 66 officers had left SPD so far this year, Solan said, confirming previous reports from local news. ” (“Seattle Police Department Losing Officers At ‘Record Pace’ Amid Budget Uncertainty, Lack Of Support: Officials,” Fox News, 5/01/2021)

• “Last June, three months into the pandemic and as the protests exploded in Seattle and around the country, officer-initiated calls plunged to a 10-year low. Mostly for that reason, the department’s overall call load dropped by almost half, to about 16,000, by June, according to a Seattle Times analysis. At the same time, the department’s monthly average response time for all remaining calls more than doubled, climbing from about 20 minutes in May to 41 minutes in June. Response times for the most serious 911 calls — known as Priority 1 and Priority 2 calls — increased 48% and 84% respectively, even though commanders repeatedly ordered the department to operate on ‘priority call status.’ That means dispatchers send officers only to Priority 1 and Priority 2 calls such as homicides, robberies and assaults, skipping other calls, such as break-ins.” (“Seattle 911 Response Times Climbed In Summer 2020. Now, Police And Activists Debate What Comes Next,” The Seattle Times, 5/11/2021)

LOS ANGELES: “Like in many major cities, homicides and other forms of violent crime in Los Angeles have risen sharply in the past year, and the LAPD is facing an unexpected staffing shortage. The LAPD was expected to have roughly 9,750 officers at the end of June 2021 — but an increase in retirements and resignations have left the department with about 9,450 officers, which [Mayor Eric] Garcetti is hoping to expand with this year’s budget.” (“Defund The Police Encounters Resistance As Violent Crime Spikes,” CNN, 5/25/2021)

WASHINGTON, D.C.: “The D.C. police force has already grown smaller, from about 3,850 officers in 2019 to around 3,650 today, because of budget cuts lawmakers imposed last year and an increasing number of resignations and retirements. About 90 percent of the department’s budget is spent on personnel.” (“Commission To Reimagine Police In District Grapples With Effort To Defund,” The Washington Post, 3/21/2021)

MINNEAPOLIS: “Nearly 200 Minneapolis police officers have left the department since Floyd’s death, including dozens who filed PTSD claims after the unrest.” (“Minneapolis To Bring In Outside Help To Deal With Surge In Violence,” Star Tribune, 5/24/2021)

• “Minneapolis police are bringing in outside help as they try to temper violence that killed four people this weekend alone, including a college senior who was out celebrating graduation. Mayor Jacob Frey said the city has asked state and federal agencies for assistance, citing the city’s shortage of officers. ‘Safety in our city has to be a priority,’ Frey said at a news conference Sunday, calling the reinforcements ‘really, really critical.’” (“Minneapolis To Bring In Outside Help To Deal With Surge In Violence,” Star Tribune, 5/24/2021)

LOUISVILLE: “Nearly 190 cops left the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) in 2020 and 43 have stepped away from the Kentucky city’s agency so far in 2021, either choosing to retire or resign altogether, as law enforcement officials struggle to recruit new members to make up for a deficit in manpower, authorities and a union spokesperson told Fox News on Tuesday.” (“Louisville Police Department Staffing ‘In Dire Straits’ Amid High Crime Rates, Recruitment Woes: Union,” Fox News, 4/27/2021)

• “Statistics provided by LMPD on Tuesday show the department has hired 26 new members so far this year, while 43 have left. The 1,069-person department falls 255 people short of its ‘authorized strength’ of 1,324 — the number of personnel it is authorized to employ, statistics show.” (“Louisville Police Department Staffing ‘In Dire Straits’ Amid High Crime Rates, Recruitment Woes: Union,” Fox News, 4/27/2021)

NEW YORK: “More than 5,300 NYPD uniformed officers retired or put in their papers to leave in 2020 — a 75 percent spike from the year before, department data show. The exodus — amid the pandemic, anti-cop hostility, riots and a skyrocketing number of NYC shootings — saw 2,600 officers say goodbye to the job and another 2,746 file for retirement, a combined 5,346. … Through April 21 of this year, 831 cops have retired or filed to leave…” (“Are NYPD Officers Rushing To Retire Amid City’s Anti-Cop Climate?,” New York Post, 4/24/2021)

Research | The Leader Board | THE NEWSROOM | Republican Leader (senate.gov)

Democratic mayors in 20 of the nation’s 25 biggest cities slashed police department budgets and positions even as they spent millions of tax dollars on their own security details, according to data obtained by a government watchdog.

“In 25 major U.S. cities, officials have proposed cutting—or in 20 cases already cut—police budgets. However, what OpenTheBooks.com auditors found was that mayors and city officials still enjoy personal protection of a dedicated police detail costing taxpayers millions of dollars,” Adam Andrzejewski, CEO and founder of Open The Books (OTB), said in a statement announcing the new data.

“This is ‘police protection for me (the political elites), but not for thee (the citizens),’” Andrzejewski said.

The Chicago-based group is a nonprofit that uses public-right-to-know and freedom of information laws to maintains hundreds of publicly available databases of federal, state, and local spending with the goal of providing “every dime online in real time.”

In San Francisco, for example, the costs of the security detail protecting Mayor London Breed and other city officials spiraled up from $1.7 million in 2015 to $2.6 million in 2020.

Breed has proposed shifting $120 million from the city’s police department to mental health and workforce training programs. City officials declined to say how many officers are assigned to the security details, according to OTB.

In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot claimed to be opposed to defunding the police, but OTB found that officials quietly abolished 400 police department positions last year.

Those positions were eliminated even as the city’s “security detail costs peaked in 2020—up $700,000 over five years: $2.7 million spent on 16 officers (2015); $2.9 million for 16 officers (2016); $2.7 million for 20 officers (2017); $2.8 million for 16 officers (2018); $2.8 million for 17 officers (2019); and $3.4 million for 22 officers (2020)—an all-time high,” OTB stated.

In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio slashed $1 billion from the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) $6 billion annual budget, including $354 million transferred to mental health, homelessness, and education services.

But the mayor, who briefly sought the Democratic presidential nomination last year, continues to enjoy tax-paid police protection for himself, his wife, and his son.

City officials haven’t yet agreed to disclose the costs or number of officers assigned to the multiple de Blasio security details, according to OTB.

In Baltimore, Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration spent $3.6 million on a security detail that included 14 officers to protect the chief executive as well as State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby and Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, according to data compiled by OTB. The Baltimore Police Department budget has been reduced by $22 million.

“Protection for the mayor included six officers and one sergeant, costing almost $2 million,” OTB said in the statement. “The state’s attorney has three officers and one sergeant, costing $1.3 million. The police commissioner’s security detail included two officers and one sergeant, costing $464,948.”

Baltimore has been plagued for a decade with steadily rising rates of serious crime, including murder, robbery, and assault. The city has also seen two of the present mayor’s immediate predecessors, Catherine Pugh and Sheila Dixon, resign and be convicted on various corruption charges.

In San Diego, Mayor Todd Gloria’s administration budgeted $2.6 million for 12 full-time officers to protect him and members of the city council during meetings and city hall.

“However, the mayor’s budget calls for cutting $4.3 million from the police overtime budget and spending more than $1 million to set up the new police oversight body, the Commission on Police Practices,” OTB said.

Notable among the other cities examined by OTB were these:

Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed, cut $8 million from the police budget to launch a mental health team to respond to certain 911 calls.

Oakland officials cut the police budget by $14.6 million. Even bigger cuts are expected in the near future.

Despite two years of near-continuous rioting led by Antifa and Black Lives Matter activists, Portland officials slashed $15 million from the police budget and disbanded a gun violence reduction unit and transit team that had been accused of over-policing black communities, among other cuts.

Milwaukee officials are cutting 120 police officer positions, beginning with the current year’s budget. The reductions are to come mainly by not replacing retiring officers. Sixty positions were eliminated last year.

In Seattle, city council members at one point last year declared their intent to slash the police budget by half, but ultimately settled on a 20 percent reduction.

Los Angeles officials have approved a $150 million budget cut from its $1.86 billion proposed budget.

In the nation’s capital, officials reduced the Metropolitan Police Department’s budget by $15 million.

Philadelphia residents have seen local officials transfer $33 million from the police to other programs.

Austin officials cut about $20 million from the police department and shifted $80 million in services previously provided by law enforcement to other departments.

Many Big-City Democrat Mayors Defunded Police While Spending Heavily on Their Security Details, Watchdog Finds (theepochtimes.com)

The National Police Association lobbying group has said that the House hearing into the Jan. 6 Capitol incident is politically motivated, urging Congress to instead investigate left-wing riots that left numerous officers injured last year.

Association spokeswoman Betsy Brantner Smith said in an interview that Congress should hear testimonials from thousands of officers who were injured during demonstrations, riots, arson, and other violence last year following the death of George Floyd.

During the first hearing for the House select committee on the Jan. 6 breach, four police officers offered testimony saying that individuals who entered the Capitol made specific threats against them.

“People need to see that police officers go through horrible things, and Jan. 6 was a horrible thing for some of those officers,” Smith told Fox News. “But, quite frankly, I find this whole Jan. 6 Commission, frankly, a dog and pony show. It doesn’t tell the whole story.”

Later, Smith questioned why the federal government hasn’t provided more information about the shooting death of Ashli Babbitt, one of several Trump supporters who died during the incident, or raised questions about video footage of Capitol Police officers’ interactions with demonstrators on Jan. 6.

“Myself, like millions of Americans, sat there watching the testimony thinking, ‘Wait, where are the police officers who appeared—appeared—to let some of the protesters in?” she asked. “Where is the police officer who shot Ashli Babbitt? In fact, why aren’t we talking about Ashli Babbitt? I mean there’s so much more here.”

On July 27, one of the testifying officers, Daniel Hodges, who works for the Metropolitan Police Department, recounted being allegedly told, “You will die on your knees.”

Hodges said he was kicked in the chest and struck with something heavy in the head as other officers and he clashed with a crowd near the Capitol.

But Smith suggested that the injuries those officers suffered likely paled in comparison to the numerous officers who were injured during riots last year.

“We have a Las Vegas police officer who is still paralyzed from the Black Lives Matter riots,” she told Fox. “We have thousands of police officers around the country who are retiring because of post-traumatic stress because of the riots.

“The 2020 riots, we can’t just say the whole George Floyd thing was bad and that’s what cops have to deal with, and then watch these four weeping men talk about their experiences, ignoring thousands and thousands of police officers, ignoring their feelings and their experiences and their injuries.”

A recent analysis from The Epoch Times in late June showed that major metropolitan police departments are struggling with hiring new recruits and dealing with an increase in retirements or officers quitting amid anti-police rhetoric and activism. Violent crime such as murders, rapes, and robberies has also spiked in most major cities.

Last month, the Portland Police Bureau’s riot squad quit en masse after one of its officers was indicted on an assault charge. The arrest stemmed from violent demonstrations that roiled the Oregon city last year.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Smith said. “I have some cops who would rather go back to Iraq than continue to work on the street, just because of the massive amounts of blood and bodies and everything they deal with that people don’t see.”

The office of Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), head of the select committee, didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.

National Police Association: Congress Should Investigate 2020 Riots, Not Jan. 6 Capitol Breach (theepochtimes.com)

A Sartell-St. Stephen School District student is speaking out after the school required grade-school children to take an equity survey.

Some students didn’t understand some of the surveys questions, but were told by a teacher they couldn’t repeat the survey questions to their parents, according to a video uploaded by Alphanews.

The survey asked questions that some students didn’t understand. Even after hearing an explanation from their teacher, some still couldn’t comprehend the survey questions.

But a teacher told the students they couldn’t ask their parents for help, according to student Haylee Yasgar.

“My teacher said that I could not skip any questions even when I didn’t understand them. One question asked us what gender we identify with. I was very confused along with a lot of other classmates,” Yasgar said during Monday night’s meeting.

She said students were told they could not “repeat any of the questions to our parents.”

The school district hasn’t yet responded to a request for comment. It’s unclear what value a survey holds if respondents don’t understand the questions.

“Being asked to hide this from my mom made me very uncomfortable, like I was doing something wrong,” she told the school board.

The equity survey is part of a reckoning of how school systems nationwide should teach issues related not only to sexuality but as well as race in a state where George Floyd died in police custody last year.

Now that the city settled a lawsuit for $27 million and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for third-degree murder and manslaughter, the question now remains how school systems should explain similar events to children.

Some parents call the curriculum divisive while supporters say it’s teaching history and showing how racist attitudes and activities such as redlining are embedded into daily life.

Despite being more than 40 years old, Critical Race Theory (CRT) has evolved to a flashpoint between political parties over the past year.

CRT holds that “the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently racist insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans,” according to Britannica.

CRT scholars allege many societal problems are rooted in the country’s white majority using laws and other power to suppress the non-white population, whether consciously or subconsciously.

CRT opponents claim its conclusions rely on anecdotes and storytelling, rather than a comprehensive examination of evidence. They say its supporters focus on disproportionate outcomes from those individual stories, incorrectly drawing conclusions about institutional racism and white privilege and failing to take into account strides that the nation has made toward racial equality.

Critics say CRT employs heavy use of the Marxist “struggle” ideology and tactic that advocates for the destruction of history, traditions, and culture of a society.

Around the United States, there has been a growing movement of parents who have become increasingly dissatisfied with the CRT-derived curriculum being taught in their children’s classrooms.

Minnesota Student Says Teacher Told Her to Hide ‘Equity Survey’ Questions From Parents (theepochtimes.com)

Minneapolis party chairman says ‘decorum’ is ‘hallmark of white supremacy’

The head of the Minneapolis Democratic Party defended his claim that the burning of a police building during the George Floyd riots last summer was an “act of pure righteousness.”

Devin Hogan, chair of the Minneapolis Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, argued in an August column for Southside Pride that the burning of the Third Precinct in Minneapolis during the riots last year was justified as a “genuine revolutionary moment.” Police fled the building in May 2020 as rioters broke in and set the building on fire.

In a statement issued on Monday, Hogan defended his comments as accurate and truthful.

“Fetishizing decorum over substance is a hallmark of white supremacy,” Hogan said. “If antiracism offends your sensibilities then please use this moment to examine the role you play in maintaining and upholding these systems. Which side are you on?”

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, the state affiliate of the national Democratic Party, did not respond to a request for comment.

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey (D.) ordered police to flee the Third Precinct as an estimated 2,000 protesters gathered outside, some of whom turned violent and looted nearby buildings.

“Death to one of our officers or the general public, that was not a consequence I could have on my watch,” Frey told FOX 9.

Hogan, in his column, insisted that the riots were justified because the “cops started it.”

“They killed George Floyd and took every opportunity to escalate, agitate, and make things worse. The cops are rioting and the people are responding,” he wrote. “The people declared themselves ungovernable and unilaterally took their power back.”

Dem Official Says Burning Police Station Was ‘Act of Pure Righteousness’ (freebeacon.com)

• Ella French, 29, was fatally shot during a traffic stop Saturday 
• Her male colleague is ‘fighting for his very life,’ a police spokesman said
• The pair were fired upon after a vehicle carrying two men and a woman had been pulled over in the South Side of Chicago
• Two suspects have been arrested and a weapon seized; a third is on the run 
• The officer is the first to be shot and killed in the city since December 2018 
• All three suspects in the shooting have been taken into custody by CPD
• Ten people killed and 64 were wounded in Chicago gun violence this weekend
• Incidents included two mass shootings at two separate nightclubs 

Chicago police have arrested all three suspects in the fatal shooting of a female police officer during a traffic stop on the South Side as the nation’s third largest city grapples with yet another weekend of deadly gun violence.

Ella French, 29, was killed and her partner – who welcomed a daughter two months ago – was seriously wounded during the armed confrontation with three suspects.

French was one of 10 people killed and 64 wounded by gun violence throughout Chicagoland over the weekend. 

French’s death was the first fatal shooting of a Chicago officer in the line of duty since 2018 and the first female officer fatally shot on the job in 33 years. 

The two officers were fired upon after a vehicle carrying two men and a woman had been pulled over at 9pm, said Eric Carter, Chicago police first deputy superintendent, at a news conference early Sunday.

The officers returned fire, and one of the people in the vehicle was also wounded.

The wounded suspect was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, and their condition was unknown. 

All three suspects have been taken into custody, according to police.  Their names have not been released as of late Sunday.

Andrew French, Ella’s older brother, told the Chicago Tribune: ‘My sister’s always been a person of integrity. She’s always done the right thing even when nobody’s looking. 

‘She’s always believed in people and believed in doing the right thing. … She’s always believed in taking care of people that can’t take care of themselves.’ he said. 

‘We will never forget the true bravery she exemplified as she laid her life down to protect others,’ the department said of French on Facebook, adding that fellow officers will ‘grieve the loss of this hero.’

The department also requested support for French’s ‘wounded partner, who is in the hospital fighting for his life.’

At a Sunday news conference, Mayor Lori Lightfoot urged Chicagoans to end the acrimony between ardent police proponents who say officers are hampered by overly burdensome rules and staunch critics who say officers act with impunity.

‘Stop. Just stop,’ she said. ‘This constant strife is not what we need in this moment.’ 

‘The police are not our enemies,’ Lightfoot added at the news conference. 

‘We must come together… We have a common enemy: It’s the guns and the gangs.’ 

The shooting of the officers occurred on another violent summer weekend in the nation’s third largest city, with at least 64 people shot, 10 fatally, by afternoon Sunday, ABC7 in Chicago reported. According to the Chicago Tribune, 47 of those shootings took place in the 24 hours between Saturday night.

The bloody incidents included two mass shootings at two separate nightclubs, as well as a murder-suicide.  

One of the nightclub shootings saw seven struck by bullets – one man fatally – after an argument at a lounge in the city’s Gresham neighborhood.

That saw the 24 year-old gunman allegedly shoot a 37 year-old he’d been arguing with twice in the neck and three times in the back.

The 37 year-old was rushed to hospital and later pronounced dead. Meanwhile, the gunman was himself shot eight times, and remains critically-ill in hospital. 

Five others injured in that shooting, aged between 23 and 56, were taken to hospital and are expected to survive their wounds. 

The other nightclub shooting saw two bouncers aged 42 and 40 shot multiple times after denying someone entry to another Gresham nightclub. Three other men standing near the club door were also shot.  

Dozens of officers arrived outside the University of Chicago Medical Center to pay their respects to French and her injured colleague amid the ongoing explosion of gun violence in the city.

She had joined the force in 2018 and was a member of the community safety team, a citywide unit formed last summer under police Superintendent David Brown to respond to crime hotspots. 

The other officer was ‘fighting for his very life,’ Carter said.

He asked Chicagoans to pray for officers as they risk their lives daily.

‘They go out here and do their jobs thanklessly,’ he said. 

‘They do it without asking for anything. They do it because it’s something that’s a higher calling for them. And they do it because it’s the right thing to do.’  

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, speaking outside the hospital, said: ‘The officer who succumbed to her injuries was very young on the job, but incredibly enthusiastic to do the work.’  

Lightfoot encouraged people to never forget the sacrifices officers make.

‘This is a very tragic and sad day for our city, and pray for officers the men and women of this department,’ the mayor said. 

‘They deserve our prayers every single day that they can return home safely to their families, unfortunately that didn’t happen tonight.’ 

French was the first member of Chicago police department to be shot and killed in the line of duty since Lightfoot became mayor in 2019. 

Last year, the deaths of four other Chicago officers who succumbed to COVID-19 were also considered by the police department to be in the line of duty. 

The last line-of-duty deaths of Chicago officers who were killed while pursuing a suspect were in December 2018, when Officers Eduardo Marmolejo and Conrad Gary were fatally struck by a train as they looked for a suspect wanted for illegally possessing a gun. 

That suspect, Edward Brown, was sentenced this past April to a year in prison for a felony weapon violation in the case. 

November 2018 saw the last fatal shooting of a Chicago officer, Samuel Jimenez, 28.

In February 2018 Commander Paul Bauer, 53, was shot and killed, while arresting a suspect.

He had served with the Chicago Police Department for 32 years and served as commander of the 018th District. 

The last female officer shot to death in the line of duty was Irma Ruiz, who was shot inside an elementary school in 1988. 

Data from July showed murders in the city were nearly the same as the number reported last year, but shootings increased by 15 per cent and the number of people shot in the city rose by nearly 10 per cent year-over-year.

Those statistics, released by the Chicago Police Department, show that there were 105 homicides recorded in the month of July. 

That is down slightly from last summer, when 107 people were killed in July, but up significantly over 2019, when 44 murders were recorded – representing a 139 per cent increase in monthly homicides within the last two years.

Police say that 445 homicides have been recorded so far in 2021, compared to 446 during the first seven months of 2020. 

Once again, both numbers are significantly higher than those recorded in 2019, when 290 people were killed in the first seven months of the year, representing a 53.4 per cent increase. 

Nationwide, between January and July 24 2021, there has been 25,216 gun-related deaths including homicides, murders, suicides, unintentional shootings, and defensive gun use incidents. 

On average, this means 123 people have died across the country every single day in 2021. 

If the trend continues, almost 45,000 people will lose their lives to gun violence by the end of the year.

This figure dwarfs the 43,563 shooting deaths recorded in 2020 – which had been the deadliest year for shooting incidents in at least two decades.

Female Chicago police officer, 29, becomes the first cop shot and killed in the city since 2018 | Daily Mail Online

A fourth police officer who was present at the grounds of the Capitol building when it was breached on Jan. 6 has died by suicide, according to the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPD).

Metropolitan Police Officer Kyle DeFreytag, 26, was found dead on July 10 from suicide, an MPD spokeswoman told The Epoch Times via email.

DeFreytag was assigned to the Fifth District and had been with the police department since November 2016.

MPD Chief Robert J. Contee III had sent a message to the police force last month to notify them of DeFreytag’s death.

“I am writing to share tragic news that Officer Kyle DeFreytag of the 5th District was found deceased last evening,” Contee told the department in July, according to WUSA. “This is incredibly hard news for us all, and for those that knew him best.”

DeFreytag lived in Alexandria, Virginia, and was originally from Pennsylvania, according to an obituary posted by the Bensing-Thomas Funeral Home. A memorial service was held in his memory on July 31.

“He liked hiking, camping, riding his motorcycle, he liked traveling and playing the drums, he enjoyed trying different ethnic foods and always knew the best places to eat. Kyle was kind, he had a quick wit and a great sense of humor and kept us laughing for 26 years,” according to the obituary.

DeFreytag is survived by his parents, his brother, and his sister.

The confirmation from the MPD of DeFreytag’s suicide came just hours after 43-year-old Gunther Hashida was confirmed to have died by suicide.

According to a GoFundMe fundraising page, Hashida is survived by his wife and three children. The page didn’t specify the cause of his death or what may have driven him to end his life.

DeFreytag’s death brings the number of police officers who were present at the Capitol on Jan. 6 who reportedly died by suicide to four.

The other two cases said to be due to suicide are that of MPD Officer Jeffrey Smith and Capitol Police Officer Howard Liebengood.

Read MoreTimeline of Events in DC on Jan. 6

Lawmakers gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 for a joint session of Congress to count and certify electoral votes for the 2020 presidential election. Proceedings in the chambers were temporarily interrupted when a sizable group of protesters entered the Capitol building. Thousands of protesters, mostly peaceful, remained outside.

It remains unclear who or what groups may have instigated the breach of the Capitol building.

A total of five deaths were recorded in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 incident.

Of the deaths, Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt was determined to have died from homicide on Jan. 6, having been shot and killed by an unnamed officer.

Another three people died on Jan. 6 outside the Capitol building but on Capitol grounds. Two of the deaths were found to be from natural causes—both were men in their 50s who died of hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The remaining death, involving a woman in her 30s, was ruled as an accident from a drug overdose.

Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was determined to have died of natural causes on Jan. 7.

More than 100 police officers were reportedly injured in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 incident.

The events of the day culminated in a second impeachment trial for then-President Donald Trump, who was ultimately acquitted of an insurrection incitement charge in February.

More than 500 people have been arrested and charged in cases related to the events on Jan. 6 at the Capitol. Among them, more than 50 are being held pretrial in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, in conditions that are “unconstitutional” and violate “every single basic human right,” lawyers representing several of the defendants told EpochTV last month.

Four police officers on July 27 recounted to a House of Representatives special committee that they were beaten and threatened amid clashes with the protesters on Jan. 6.

4th Police Officer Who Was at Jan. 6 Capitol Breach Dies by Suicide (theepochtimes.com)

She unveiled the black ops military force on the Capitol steps today as she gave an impassioned speech about defunding the police.

“If you don’t want to defund the police, my private army has been ordered to take care of you,” she said, standing in front of dozens of hardened, trained private special forces. “Butch, Spike, Zero, Aces, Skull—go get ’em!” 

The private military she’d hired with her healthy congressional salary then went out to find anyone who didn’t like Bush’s idea of defunding the police to apprehend them. Many tried to call the police to protect themselves, but their cities had already defunded the police, and nobody responded, or else a social worker showed up to ask about their feelings.

Bush has arrested thousands of Americans so far. Prisons are filling up quickly, but no worries: Bush says she is holding a protest to make sure violent criminals are released as soon as possible to make room for pro-police Americans.

Cori Bush Hires Mercenary Army To Arrest Anyone Who Doesn’t Want To Defund The Police | The Babylon Bee

As the storming of the Capitol building on January 6th was still unfolding a despicable gremlin of a woman at The New York Times, Sheera Frenkel, was already crafting a totally baseless lie along with her demonic friends at the ADL and Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg about the event being “planned” on both Gab and Parler.

“We need to ascertain right here, right now, whether this specific platform was knowingly facilitating an attack on our nation’s capital, literally a terror act against the seat of our government,” said the ADL’s Greenblatt, who noted that other platforms should also be investigated over the insurrection attempt but he says special attention needs to be trained on Gab.

Source

The ADL also went as far as demanding the DOJ investigate both myself individually and Gab as a whole for “intentionally aided or abetted individuals who carried out the January 6 attack on the nation’s Capitol.”

Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of the largest social network on the internet that happens to have a specific feature for organizing and planning events, also deflected the blame on Gab and Parler. “Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg has sought to deflect blame, noting the role of smaller, right-leaning services such as Parler and Gab.”

It has been widely reported, even by mainstream media outlets, that if the event was planned and organized anywhere it was most certainly done on her platform, Facebook.

Today the FBI is exposing the mountain of lies built up by Frenkel, Greenblatt, and Sandberg (I can’t help noticing a trend here!)

The FBI has found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was the result of an organized plot to overturn the presidential election result, according to four current and former law enforcement officials.

“Ninety to ninety-five percent of these are one-off cases,” said a former senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation. “Then you have five percent, maybe, of these militia groups that were more closely organized. But there was no grand scheme with Roger Stone and Alex Jones and all of these people to storm the Capitol and take hostages.”

Source

The defamatory lies of the New York Times, the ADL, and Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg had dire consequences for Parler, which was immediately removed from App Stores and hosting providers and has never fully recovered despite caving to Apple’s demands for censorship.

These defamatory lies also impacted Gab’s public image. The lie is still featured prominently on Gab’s Wikipedia page and is falsely cited by other reporters in stories about Gab to this day.

We demand a full and immediate retraction of this story by the New York Times and thank God for shining the light of truth on this fake news story.

Andrew Torba
CEO, Gab.com
Jesus is King

NYT Editorial Team,

Gab AI Inc. hereby demands retraction of the false and defamatory reporting published by the New York Times’ Sheera Frenkel on January 6th, 2021 claiming without providing any evidence whatsoever that the storming of the Capitol was organized on our platform.

Today it has been reported that the FBI found scant evidence that the event was organized at all, let alone on Gab.

Gab is not a lawless platform and proactively cultivates good working relationships with U.S. and international law enforcement. If we were made aware of an illegal plot taking place on our hardware, we would have removed it. This stands in sharp contrast to platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which for years have harbored international terrorist organizations like the Taliban – something your paper has never reported on or taken to task to the extent you took us to task for content which appeared on our platform in the aftermath of Jan. 6th and other offensive but legal content that has appeared on our platform from time to time.

We quote from Reuters: “The FBI has found scant evidence that the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was the result of an organized plot to overturn the presidential election result, according to four current and former law enforcement officials.”

In light of this reporting vindicating Gab’s innocence in this matter, we are demanding a full retraction of the defamatory reporting published by The New York Times. Ms. Frenkel’s piece, which alleged that “[t]he storming of Capitol Hill was organized on social media” and made extensive reference to posts on Gab that discussed the event (as indeed most of the Internet did on that day) without providing any evidence that the event was in fact organized by those same commenters, was presented as fact, not opinion.

This statement of fact was not only false, it was recklessly and maliciously false. FBI officials’ own statements on the matter, reported today, prove it was false.

Our rights in this matter are fully and expressly reserved. Please be guided accordingly.

Gab Legal

The New York Times and ADL Lies Exposed By The FBI – Gab News

In February, California resident Sherry Zhang received a call from her parents back in China, who told her a group of officers from the Ministry of State Security, the regime’s top intelligence agency, had shown up at their workplace.

The couple, in their late 70s, runs a factory in southern China’s Guangdong province.

“Are you the principal of this school?” Zhang’s parents asked her on the phone. “Is this true?”

They messaged Zhang a copy of a webpage, which included her photo and a short bio, Zhang told The Epoch Times in a phone interview. She immediately recognized the page—it’s from the official site of the San Francisco High School of the Arts, where she has been principal since 2015.

“I know my parents never go online; they’re old-fashioned,” Zhang said. She believes the officers gave her parents the copy.

According to Zhang, the officers told the elderly couple that Zhang is the head of a school that is “against China.” They then accused the parents of funneling money from their factory to the school, she said.

The officers then issued a veiled threat: if they uncover any proof of this, the factory would be shut down and Zhang’s parents would be jailed, Zhang said.

For the elderly couple, all of this came as a rude shock because Zhang had never told them anything about her profession or where she worked.

This is because Zhang is a practitioner of Falun Gong, a spiritual meditative practice persecuted by the Chinese regime since 1999. Millions of practitioners who refuse to give up their faith have been arrested, detained, or tortured in China. For practitioners based overseas but who have family inside China, the regime has threatened their relatives in a bid to pressure the relatives living outside of China into staying silent about Beijing’s human rights abuses.

Since the start of the persecution, Zhang, a U.S. citizen who has lived in the country for almost two decades, has joined protests in the United States calling for an end to the atrocities in China. She has friends whose relatives from her hometown in China were persecuted to death. “I know it’s real,” she said. “I think we should speak out.”

“Falun Gong is my personal belief,” Zhang said, adding that San Francisco High School of the Arts is a non-religious private school with faculty staff from diverse religious backgrounds.

The school focuses on teaching tradition, universal values, and a sense of civic duty, according to its website. Its arts curriculum includes ballet, Chinese dance, classical instruments and vocal music, visual arts, and musical theatre.

Zhang had not revealed details of her activities to her parents these past years. “I never wanted them to worry,” she said.

The Epoch Times is withholding details relating to Zhang’s parents and their business for safety reasons.

‘They Target Almost Anyone’

For the months following the call in February, officials would show up to “inspect” her parents’ factory every other day, according to Zhang.

“It’s never been seen that so many departments all come at once, and every time they come they have like 7 or 8 people,” Zhang said, adding that officials from tax, labor, customs, and health agencies were all involved. “The employees feel pressured. They cannot operate normally.”

One employee got ahold of Zhang’s number and called her several times. They asked her to back out from her position at the school so the factory can be “free of trouble.”

“I think [the Ministry of State Security] was trying to get their words to me,” Zhang said. “They just want to make things happen, so that I could do things according to their wish.”

Experiencing regular harassment from officials, Zhang’s parents now believe they have only two options left: get Zhang to resign from the school, or cut off all ties with their own daughter, the principal said.

“If you guys feel too much pressure, you can say we are not connected anymore,” Zhang told her parents in a phone conversation. “I don’t want to be your burden.”

This is not the first time Zhang’s parents have been pressured by local authorities.

Chinese police have harassed her parents since as early as 2001, according to Zhang. In one case, the police called her mother to meet at a restaurant. When she got there, the police told her to get Zhang to stop practicing Falun Gong. “My mom felt very disturbed,” she said.

Zhang’s parents were never against her practicing Falun Gong, but they were afraid of the officials, she said. “They don’t feel like they can do a whole lot.”

Recently, communications from Zhang’s parents have dried up. The last time they called was more than two weeks ago. They mentioned the police “keep saying they found more evidence.”

Zhang is unsure what is actually going on back home right now. “My parents try to not tell me much anymore,” she said.

Having not heard from her parents, Zhang doesn’t know what will happen next.

“[The Chinese regime] don’t just target Falun Gong practitioners. I think they’re trying to control overseas Chinese because they have their roots in China: their parents, relatives, friends,” Zhang said. “They target almost anyone they view as not in line with their [communist] doctrine.”

Speaking Out

Zhang has lived in the United States since 1992. She completed a doctorate in chemistry before doing post-doctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley researching lithium-ion batteries. After a few years of industry work, she got together with a group of like-minded parents who were dissatisfied with the U.S. public school system, and in 2010 co-founded San Francisco High School of the Arts.

“We think that a school teaching traditional arts and universal values is very important,” Zhang said. “Respect, empathy, honesty, kindness, tolerance, and responsibility.”

“When you go into a lot of schools, especially high schools, you can see the children are not necessarily motivated,” Zhang said. “I was told by many parents there’s not a single high school in San Francisco that doesn’t have drug issues.”

Many parents who come to her are concerned their children lack traditional values and work ethics, she said. “They want their children to be positive contributing members of society.”

Zhang described a typical day of work as “busy but enjoyable.” She holds weekly assemblies with students on topics like the dangers of drug addiction. Zhang’s students are like her own children, she said.

Students would tell Zhang stories of their previous schools. “They [felt] like they cannot speak what’s on their mind, otherwise they cannot fit in,” she said. “Only the loud people got their voices heard.”

Exposing the Chinese regime’s egregious abuses of power is her way of practicing what she teaches to her students, Zhang said.

“Every note [the students] play, every dance movement they make; we keep on encouraging them to work hard, and they will persevere; we teach them that goodness will prevail,” she said. “I would have to stick to the same thing.”

Zhang cautioned that the Chinese regime is infiltrating every corner of the international community. “They try to control everything, control a lot of media, a lot of schools,” she said.

“We’re teaching the traditional values here … that’s not what they [the Chinese regime] want to see.”

Zhang said that the Chinese regime tries to influence Americans through the Confucius Institutes and Classrooms, Beijing-funded language centers found in colleges and K-12 institutions that have been criticized for promoting Chinese Communist Party propaganda and suppressing academic discussion and freedom on topics the regime doesn’t want to be discussed.

“They want the next generation to be an easier target and to really infiltrate what’s easy to infiltrate—the children.”

Chinese Authorities Harass Parents of California School Principal in Intimidation Attempt (theepochtimes.com)

Gov exploits loophole to raise millions from outside Michigan for non-existent recall election

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer (D.) condemned “out-of-state interests” for “pouring millions of dollars” into her state. That apparently doesn’t apply to her own campaign coffers, which prominent national Democrats have flooded with cash thanks to a campaign finance loophole.

Whitmer raised a staggering $8.6 million from Jan. 1 to July 20, a state record for a candidate in a non-election year. Nearly 44 percent of the money came from donors who gave more than Michigan’s $7,150 contribution limit, which Whitmer’s campaign says is allowed due to the multitude of recall petitions filed against the Democrat. Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker (D.), oil executive Stacy Schusterman, and heiress and Colorado Democracy Alliance Cofounder Patricia Stryker, for example, combined to give Whitmer $750,000. None of the three billionaires live in Michigan.

Whitmer’s fundraising strategy did not stop the governor from railing against “out-of-state interests” for “pouring millions of dollars into Michigan to try and flip the governorship” in a Sunday campaign email. Whitmer—who has attacked Republicans for increasing campaign contribution limits and “infusing even more money into state politics”—also touted her campaign’s “grassroots” status. Michigan Freedom Fund executive director Tori Sachs said Whitmer “lied to the working class” through the fundraising plea.

“Whitmer’s ‘rules for thee, not for me’ playbook is so well known that Michiganders won’t be surprised by the governor’s dishonesty and hypocrisy,” Sachs said.

Whitmer did not return a request for comment.

Whitmer’s campaign has defended its decision to solicit unlimited contributions, pointing to a 1983 ruling from former Michigan secretary of state Richard Austin (D.), which established that a Michigan official can accept donations beyond the legal limit if a recall against the official is “actively being sought.” But the scheme has still attracted pushback from conservative groups. 

A July complaint from the Michigan Freedom Fund argues Whitmer is not facing an “active” recall, as the most recent petition drive to oust the Democrat approved by the Board of State Canvassers expired in late April. Whitmer received three contributions of $250,000 or more in the ensuing weeks. In addition, three former Michigan governors who faced recall efforts—Republicans Rick Snyder and John Engler and Democrat Jennifer Granholm—did not exploit the situation to accept excess campaign cash.

In addition to Pritzker, Schusterman, and Stryker, Whitmer received a combined $260,000 from Wrigley chewing gum heir Jim Offield, Democratic megadonor Karla Jurvetson, and the governor’s father, Richard Whitmer. Had Whitmer refused to accept contributions over $7,150, she would have raised just $5.9 million instead of $8.6 million, according to Michigan Campaign Finance Network executive director Simon Schuster. 

Whitmer has faced dozens of recall campaigns, most of which came in response to the Democrat’s far-reaching coronavirus restrictions. None of the efforts, however, have advanced past the petition signature collection phase. Whitmer may need to return the excess contributions “if there’s ultimately no recall election,” former Michigan Democratic Party chair Mark Brewer told Bridge Michigan. 

“This is not money that she’s going to be able to use next year in the general election,” Brewer added.

Whitmer took office in January 2019 after she defeated her GOP opponent, former state attorney general Bill Schuette, by 10 points. She is set to run for reelection in 2022.

Gretchen Whitmer Hates ‘Out-of-State Interest’ Money, Unless It’s Spent To Help Her (freebeacon.com)

“But in Islamic law, even if you have a good purpose or goal, you have to follow the rules.”

As refugees from Afghanistan pour into the Fort Lee U.S. military base in Virginia, an imam named Ammar Amonette is leading the fundraising drive for the Afghan refugees. Ammar Amonette, Imam of the Islamic Center of Virginia, is a left-wing activist who has spoken alongside Democrat then-Governor Terry McAuliffe, worked with the state’s Democrat attorney general to push hate crime legislation, held a press conference with Democrat Senator Mark Warner, and protested President Donald Trump’s travel ban on terrorism-rich countries.

In a 2004 interview unearthed by NATIONAL FILE, Amonette discussed the 9/11 attackers, saying, “Terrorism is about symbolic targets. It’s sending a political message. The World Trade Center sounds in Arabic like ‘center for globalization.’ I think they took it literally, and globalism may be a threat. But in Islamic law, even if you have a good purpose or goal, you have to follow the rules.” Amonette previously served as imam of the Colorado Muslim Society which, during his tenure, hosted an event with then-Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine Ekrima Sabry, who has said that it is a “fairytale” that six million Jews died in the Holocaust.

Ammar Amonette’s Islamic Center of Virginia is raising money and supplies for the Afghan refugees at Fort Lee. DiscoveringIslam.org describes Michigan-born Amonette as “an American Islamic scholar who is a convert to Islam. He spent 12 years studying in Saudi Arabia. He initially studied at Umm Al-Qura University in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He later earned a Masters at the Graduate Institute for Preparation of Imams in Mecca.” Amonette’s efforts to help the migrants was profiled this week by CBS 6 Richmond in which he stated that “It’s going to be a long process and it’s only beginning” and said “a new plane is arriving every day” to take refugees to Fort Lee.

In June 2020, Ammar Amonette was the first speaker at a Clergy Action RVA press conference to protest the police beside the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond, Virginia. On its Facebook page, Clergy Action RVA posts support for Black Lives Matter and George Floyd, supported giving felons the right to vote in Virginia, stated that “As last week’s insurrection at the Capitol demonstrated, the voices of white supremacy are violent and loud,” and held “Election Organizing” and “Election Brainstorming & Organizing” Zoom meetings prior to the 2020 election.

In January 2021, Amonette was quoted as saying that Muslims are not allowed to be vaccine refusers, regardless of whether or not a vaccine contains pork ingredients. He stated: “In case of an epidemic, you’re not allowed to refuse vaccination even if there’s a slight danger to you of a reaction. Although you may be able to refuse treatment when you’re ill, you can’t endanger others in the community. We have a religious duty and obligation to be vaccinated as long as competent science and medical authorities approve the vaccine…Anything that saves lives takes precedence over food prohibitions. Protecting the health of the community takes precedence over some other details of the law.”

Amonette cited the rules of Muslim law when discussing the 9/11 terrorist attacks in an October 17, 2004 interview with Denver Post reporter Eric Gorski headlined “U.S.-born imam turns heads, minds, hearts.” At the time, Amonette worked as an imam for the Colorado Muslim Society. Text of that article is preserved at the World-Wide Religious News website.

Here is a passage from the article (emphasis added): “Given his background, Amonette is in demand as a spokesman for his faith on terrorism. His answer usually goes something like this: The Islamic concept of jihad is similar to Christianity’s just- war theory, which allows war if conditions are met. In Islam it is allowable to defend yourself against armed aggressors. But Islamic law strictly forbids killing innocent civilians.

“Terrorism is about symbolic targets,” he said. “It’s sending a political message. The World Trade Center sounds in Arabic like ‘center for globalization.’ I think they took it literally, and globalism may be a threat. But in Islamic law, even if you have a good purpose or goal, you have to follow the rules.’”

In 2017, Ammar Amonette spoke at an interfaith Ramadan potluck at Bon Air United Methodist Church with then-Virginia governor and current gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe and then-lieutenant governor Ralph Northam. Amonette said at the event: “This is the real America, there’s nothing more American than an interfaith breaking of the fast where we’re not threatened by each other.”

Governor McAuliffe said at the event: “We want to be part of this very special occasion, and when you think about the holy month of Ramadan and how important that is, and the message it conveys, I want everybody to understand that from day one, our administration has fought to make sure Virginia is open and welcome to everyone. And to every member of the Muslim faith, let me be very clear on behalf of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia, we love you, we respect you and we thank you for your contribution to the Commonwealth of Virginia and the United States of America.”

In 2004, while working as an imam of the Colorado Muslim Society, Amonette reportedly discussed how Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin’s assassination affected the Muslim community in Colorado. In March 2006, the Colorado Muslim Society (where Amonette served as imam) hosted “An Afternoon With Shaikh Ekrima Sabry,” who was then the Yasser Arafat-appointed Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine. Years earlier in 2000, Sabry said, with regard to the Holocaust: “Six million Jews dead? No way, they were much fewer. Let’s stop with this fairytale exploited by Israel to capture international solidarity. It is not my fault if Hitler hated Jews, indeed they were hated a little everywhere.” Records confirm Amonette working as an imam for the Colorado Muslim Society both before and after the event.

Amonette expounded on his views in a lecture called “The Need To Rule By ALLAH’s Law.” In his political activism from recent years, Amonette has opposed President Donald Trump. “At US Court of Appeals today protesting Trump’s Muslim Ban,” he wrote on Facebook on May 8, 2017.

In 2015, Amonette joined Democrat Senator Mark Warner for a press conference about alleged anti-Muslim hatred. In July 2018, the Islamic Center of Virginia teamed up with the ACLU of Virginia for the event #NoMuslimBanEver to fight President Donald Trump’s homeland security policy. Amonette spoke at the event. In October 2018, Amonette spoke at a vigil at the Weinstein JCC that attorney general Mark Herring and governor Ralph Northam’s wife Pamela attended. In April 2021, Amonette spoke at a Sikh event that was attended by Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger and governor Ralph Northam’s deputy chief diversity officer and senior policy adviser for immigrant and refugee affairs.

Amonette has appeared at events for the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, which advocates for progressive policies and which gave the Islamic Center of Virginia a “Beacon of Light” award. In one entry on its website, the Virginia Interfaith Center announced that “Representatives from the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy lent support today during Attorney General Mark Herring’s announcement of a new legislative push to protect racial, ethnic and religious minorities in Virginia from hate crimes, and to establish a more inclusive definition of “hate crime.”

Several faith leaders joined Herring for his announcement and added their words of support to a new effort to help protect citizens of the Commonwealth from acts of violence, harassment, discrimination or intimidation…Iman Ammar Amonette of the Islamic Center of Virginia in Bon Air, said that “we support everyone’s First Amendment rights, but hate speech emboldens some people to take matters into their own hands and to attack and assault and harass people. Most Muslims have probably been targeted by hateful speech and these incidents are underreported. We appreciate the Attorney General’s strong words and actions to protect us here in Virginia to make people feel safe and welcome and equal citizens under the law.’” (Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy passage ends)

The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy’s “Foundational Partners” include the Center for American Progress, a George Soros-funded leftist group.

Activist Imam Fundraising For Afghan Refugees Discussed ‘Good Purpose’ Of 9/11 Spoke With McAuliffe, Hosted Holocaust Denier – National File

The Space Force officer who was removed from his command post for condemning Marxism and critical race theory is leaving the military.

Lt. Col. Matthew Lohmeier told The Epoch Times’ “American Thought Leaders” that his last day in the service will be Sept. 1.

“I wrote a letter to then-Acting Secretary of the Air Force explaining certain circumstances, which I don’t plan to make public, but also requesting an early retirement, and a separation honorably from the service,” he said. “And they’ve denied me an early retirement, but agreed that they would separate me. And so my family and I have decided that that’s the best course of action for us right now, given the circumstances.”

“I believe I’m able to continue serving my country outside of the service and out of uniform, perhaps in a better way than I was able to, given the circumstances, in uniform at the moment.”

Lohmeier plans to accept public speaking engagements and offer consulting services.

He’s received a slew of invitations to various events and conferences in recent months.

Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, Space Operations Command commander, relieved Lohmeier of his command of a squadron in May “due to loss of trust and confidence in his ability to lead,” the Space Force said at the time.

Whiting made the move because of remarks Lohmeier made on a podcast. He also ordered an investigation into whether the comments constituted prohibited partisan political activity.

Lohmeier published a book warning about the spread of Marxism and critical race theory in the military and was on the podcast promoting the book.

During the appearance, Lohmeier claimed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was promoting “diversity, inclusion, and equity,” which he and others have said are “rooted in critical race theory, which is rooted in Marxism.”

The Air Force Inspector General’s Office later took over the investigation.

Multiple members of Congress spoke out against what happened, including Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“Based on the information the committee has received so far and what’s been reported in the press, I am concerned,” Inhofe said at the time. “Members of our military should not only be able to speak out against Marxism, but they should be encouraged to do so—as long as they follow the rules and laws already in place. Marxism is an ideology that goes against everything this country stands for, and it belongs, as Ronald Reagan said famously, ‘on the ash-heap of history.’”

Lohmeier told The Epoch Times that neither his book nor the remarks were politically partisan.

“It’s not politically partisan to expose Marxist ideology where it exists and to talk about critical race theory; that should be something we’re unitedly standing against,” he said.

He also said he attempted before writing the book to utilize internal mechanisms that let service members lodge complaints, but to no avail.

The Space Force and the Air Force didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Exclusive: Space Force Officer, Punished After Denouncing Marxism, to Leave Military (theepochtimes.com)