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Virginia National Guardsman, First Active Military Arrested for Involvement in Capitol Hill Chaos; Claims Escorted into Capitol by Police

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(TJNNEWS.COM) Jacob Fracker, an infantryman with the Virginia National Guard who previously served as a Marine, and Thomas Robertson, an Army veteran, were arrested in Virginia on Wednesday, Military.com reported.

Robertson, who was interviewed by Virginia’s ABC13 claims that him and Fracker were escorted into the capitol by police.

An official confirmed Fracker’s military status on Thursday.  The Virginia National Guard said Fracker is a corporal in the State’s Guard and serves as an infantryman

Military.com reported :

Fracker and Robertson are both members of the Rocky Mount Police Department, about 25 miles outside Roanoke. They’ve been placed on administrative leave, according to their department, after each was charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

The Virginia National Guard will conduct an investigation into the matter, and we will be able to release more information when that is complete,’ it said in a statement.

Fracker was not on duty with other members of the Virginia National Guard helping protect President-elect Joe Biden’s January 20 inauguration, the Guard added.

In a report from ABC13, 

Robertson said he does not support the violence that happened inside the Capitol. ‘Absolutely not,’ he said. ‘For it to go like that is absolutely ridiculous.’

Robertson said he and Fracker went into the building at about 2 p.m. or 3 p.m.

‘We were escorted in by the Capitol Police, shown around and told, “As long as you stay here, you´re fine.”‘ They stayed in cordoned areas, he said.

 

Military.com also reported:

In a screenshot of a now-deleted Facebook post made by Fracker, included in the DOJ’s statement, the corporal wrote that he can protest for what he believes in, adding, “After all, I fought for your right to do it.”

Fracker, according to the DOJ, also wrote, “Lol to anyone who’s possibly concerned about the picture of me going around… Sorry I hate freedom?…Not like I did anything illegal.”

Robertson, the DOJ’s documents show, is quoted as saying, “CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business … The right IN ONE DAY took the f***** U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us.”

Tom Hanks, Justin Timberlake & Jon Bon Jovi to Attend Joe Biden’s Inauguration

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Jon Bon Jovi AP

By: TJVNews.com

 

Within days the United States of America will usher in the 46th president, but this time around the traditional inauguration celebrations will not have the same fanfare of those of yesteryear due to the socially distant world that we now inhabit because of the coronavirus.

 

The virus is also expected to upend the parades and much of the outdoor festivities as the National Mall in Washington will be closed to pedestrians due to tightened security because of potential threats of violence. Crowds are also urged to stay home because of the rapid spread of the deadly Covid virus.

 

According to report in the New York Times, Biden’s inaugural committee announced on Wednesday that “it would hold a prime time television event Jan. 20 featuring celebrities including Tom Hanks, Justin Timberlake and Jon Bon Jovi that aims to “showcase the American people’s resilience, heroism, and unified commitment to coming together as a nation to heal and rebuild.”

Hollywood celebrities, including Eva Longoria, Kerry Washington, John Legend, Kal Penn, and Debra Messing. Lady Gaga will sing the national anthem.

Also announced :

On Saturday, the celebration will officially kick off with “America United: An Inauguration Welcome Event Celebrating America’s Changemakers.” The inauguration committee said the concert will “celebrate America, reflect and honor our history, and highlight the incredible diversity of the nation.” It will feature appearances by anti-Trump celebrities Whoopi Goldberg, Netflix’s Atypical actor Nik Dodani, actress Cristela Alonzo, and actor Darren Criss.

Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) will also participate.

The Resistance Revival Choir is set to perform during the concert. As its name suggests, the ensemble, which consists of female and gender “non-binary” singers, was founded in opposition to President Trump. Also set to perform is the Grammy-nominated band Black Pumas.

Eva Longoria and Kerry Washington will serve as hosts for the Inauguration Day telecast, while Bruce Springsteen, the Foo Fighters, and John Legend are also set to appear.

As Breitbart News reported, Debra Messing will co-host a pre-inauguration fundraising event on Sunday with actor Keegan-Michael Key. It will feature performances by Carole King, Will.I.AM, James Taylor, Fall Out Boy, Michael Bivins, Ben Harper, and AJR.

Messing has promoted physical violence against President Donald Trump, saying in a tweet that she hopes the president gets raped in prison.  The event is filled with a plethora of far-left Hollywood types, and someone like Messing does not exactly promote “unity”.

 

Yet and still, this year’s inauguration will take on a very different look, tone and feel from those of his predecessors, as was reported by the Times.

 

Lina Mann, a historian at the White House Historical Association told the Times that “All inaugural activities follow a pretty standard series of events. You have the parade, you have being at the Capitol, you have the speeches, you have oaths, and then, of course, you have inaugural balls. Those have been standard for over 200 years. This will definitely look a lot different than that.”

 

Inaugurations and the attendant fanfare that is attached to them also represent s cultural touchstone as they project the signs of the times in fashion, entertainment, sports and music.

 

The very first inaugural ball was held by Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison in the year 1809 in the new capital of Washington. This glittering soiree set the stage for future dazzling balls that morphed into the social event for the season,

According to Wikipedia, Mrs. Madison was noted for holding Washington social functions in which she invited members of both political parties, essentially spearheading the concept of bipartisan cooperation, albeit before that term was in use, in the United States.

While, previously, founders such as Thomas Jefferson would only meet with members of one party at a time, and politics could often be a violent affair resulting in physical altercations and even duels, Madison helped to create the idea that members of each party could amicably socialize, network, and negotiate with each other without resulting in violence.

By innovating political institutions as the wife of James Madison, Dolley Madison did much to define the role of the President’s spouse, known only much later by the title First Lady—a function she had sometimes performed earlier for the widowed Thomas Jefferson.

Twenty years after that, President Andrew Jackson hosted a public reception tied to his inauguration that saw 20,000 in attendance, according to the Times report. Because the president underestimated how many guests the White House could accommodate he had no choice but to escape from a window in the executive mansion, as the NYT report indicated.

 

The inaugural ball that President Ulysses S. Grant had in 1869, against his will saw revelers making merry until the wee hours of the morning

 

 

Fast forward to the 1960s. The glamour of the Kennedy era shone forth when President John F. Kennedy managed to get his Rat Pack pal, Frank Sinstra to perform at an inaugural concert and gala. Old Blue Eyes did not disappoint inauguration guests as he belted out some of the tunes that he is famous for,

 

Moreover, other notable entertainers of that era also volunteered their services to welcome the new president and a new and more promising decade. Among them were iconic singer Ella Fitzgerald, composer Leonard Bernstein, actor Sidney Poitier, singers Ethel Merman and Harry Belafonte as well as other A-List stars of the time on the entertainment scene.

 

The Times reported that a blizzard disrupted the festivities, but one report of the time

described the gala as “perhaps one of the most stunning assemblies of theatrical talent ever brought together through a single show.”

 

Two decades later, former Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan had a bevy of friends from the entertainment industry at his inaugural festivities. Stars such as Charlton Heston, Tony Bennett, Lou Rawls and Ray Charles performed, according to a NY Times report.

 

NYT: The NY Post Has Shunned CNN, MSNBC, the NYT & the WaPo as Sources for Stories

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Edited by: Fern Sidman

It appears that a division is growing among some media outlets this week, as the New York Times reported that three journalists who work for the New York Post were instructed by senior editors to not use reportage from CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post as the sole criteria for any article that appears in the Post.

As is general practice in the media, publications and electronic media often use repackaged news content from other similar organizations, but it now appears that the Murdoch owned newspaper has deemed material garnered from certain outlets off limits, according to the NY Times report.

It is noteworthy to mention that the outlets in question that have been banned by the top brass at the Post, namely  CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post and The New York Times are among the news organizations that President Trump has labeled as “fake news.”

The three journalists from the Post spoke to the NY Times on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. They revealed that the directive to ban the aforementioned news sources was handed down by Michelle Gotthelf, the editor in chief of the Post along with editors of various sections of the paper. According to the journalists from the Post, if they spot a story that they think would be of interest to their readers that happens to emanate from the outlawed sources, they can only use it if they do their own reporting on it first. They can no longer rely on these sources as their sole basis for the article in which they are writing.

The NY Times posed the question to the journalists as to why the Post singled out CNN, MSNBC, the NY Times and the Washington Post for dismissal but not such sources as CBS News or Variety.

According to the Times report, the New York Post journalists said no specific explanation had been proffered by their editor, but rather made the assumption that politics was a motivating factor in the decision.

The Times reported that “CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post and The Times are seen as liberal within the Murdoch empire, which is home to Fox News and Fox Business, cable networks that were instrumental to the rise of President Trump.” The journalists said that “to publish articles based on the work of those organizations would not fit The Post’s right-leaning identity.”

Throughout the 2020 election season, the Post threw its weight behind Trump and at times published severely critical articles about his perceived adversaries.

The decision to become a megaphone for Trump was made under the guidance of senior adviser Col Allan, a former editor in chief at the Post, according to the Times article.

The Times also noted that when it appeared that things were not looking good for Trump at the polls as election day neared, the Post changed their tune and began to critique the president’s consistent message that the election has been stolen from him.

As election day neared, the Post turned tail and began to chastise the president for his fraudulent election claims.  The paper reported that the  president was making the “unfounded claim that political foes were trying to steal the election.”

As for the Col Allan, who had steered the Post in Trump’s direction, he announced after the president’s defeat in the polls that he had plans to retire. While at the Post, Allan had made it very clear who he was supporting in the hotly contested race by reportedly wearing a Make America Great Again cap in the newsroom, as was reported by the NY Times.

In the aftermath of the election, the president had amplified his message that the election had been rigged against him. As a result, he attracted a following of people who began pronouncing the “Stop the Steal” movement on social media.

In a rebuke to Trump, the Times reported the Post ran an editorial on its cover that was headlined “Stop the Insanity” on December 27th.

The editorial took Trump to task over his adamant refusal to accept the outcome of the election and to publicly concede defeat, as was reported by the Times. They told him to “end this dark charade.”

The Times also made note of the not-so-coincidental timing of the Post decision to outlaw articles based on the work of CNN, MSNBC, The Times and The Washington Post. The decision was made only days after the January 6th riots at the Capitol in Washington when Trump supporters attacked the building, looking for legislators who were voting on the electoral college certification of votes for Joe Biden. The rancorous crowd also chanted, “Hang Mike Pence” after the president told the rally attendees prior to the march to the Capitol that he hoped his vice president would do the right thing and stop the certification.

During the riots that ensued at the Capitol, Trump supporters also attacked journalists as they were consistently told by Trump that the media was the “enemy of the people.”

The Times reported that supporters of Trump also chanted, “CNN sucks,” and MSNBC journalists said they had made sure not to display MSNBC-identifying markers on their gear or clothing.

 

Brussels Police Arrest 116 at Black Lives Matter Protest

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Protestors outside a police office in the Belgium capital, Brussels, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, at the end of a protest asking for authorities to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the death of a 23-year-old Black man who was detained by police last week in Brussels. The demonstration in downtown Brussels was largely peaceful but was marred by incidents sparked by rioters who threw projectiles at police forces and set fires before it was dispersed. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

By: Samuel Petrequin(AP)

Four people, including two minors, remained in custody Thursday after a Brussels demonstration over the weekend death of a young Black man detained by police turned violent, the prosecutor’s office said.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said three of the individuals held were suspected of arson. The fourth has been accused of rebellion following the Wednesday demonstration, when police made 116 arrests.

Police said most of violence took place after the largely peaceful demonstration by about 500 people — some holding Black Lives Matter signs — ended in downtown Brussels.

According to a police statement, 50 to 100 people remained on the spot and threw projectiles, set fires, damaged street furniture and police vehicles. They also smashed a window and a door at a police station. Several officers were injured, the statement said.

In all, 116 people were arrested, including 30 minors, and paramedics treated one civilian, police said.

Belgian prosecutors have requested that an investigative judge be appointed following the death of the 23-year-old Black man identified by authorities only as I.B. The prosecutor’s office said he was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly tried to run away from police who were checking people assembled in the city center despite COVID-19 restrictions on social gatherings.

He was taken to a police station where he fainted, and then transferred to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the office said.

“Justice must bring to court those who have vandalized and have injured five policemen, including a policewoman who is hospitalized,” federal police captain Marc De Mesmaeker told Belgian broadcaster RTBF on Thursday. “This must be done with care, just as the other aspect of the event, the tragic death of Ibrahima, must be treated with care.”

The prosecutor’s office said Belgium’s Comité P, an independent body overseeing police services, is investigating the man’s death and a coroner has been appointed to perform an autopsy as well as toxicology tests. Belgian media reported the man had started to record the police with his phone when officers decided to carry out an ID check on him.

The prosecutor’s office said it has seized video surveillance images, both from the police station and at the scene of the man’s arrest. (AP)

City Comptroller Aims to Get NYC Small Business Owners a Bigger Chunk of the $284B in Covid-19 Funding

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AP

By: Fern Sidman

As small businesses are still reeling from the economic meltdown caused by the coronavirus, some good news is at hand. This week the Small Business Administration in consultation with the Treasury Department, reopened the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for First Draw PPP Loans . The SBA began  accepting applications for Second Draw PPP Loans on January 13th.

To promote access for smaller lenders and their customers, the SBA will initially only accept Second Draw PPP Loan applications from participating community financial institutions (CFIs), which include Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs), Certified Development Companies (CDCs), and Microloan Intermediaries.

Paycheck Protection Program lending will reopen to all participating lenders shortly thereafter. At least $25 billion is being set aside for Second Draw PPP Loans to eligible borrowers with a maximum of 10 employees or for loans of $250,000 or less to eligible borrowers in low or moderate income neighborhoods.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) now allows certain eligible borrowers that previously received a PPP loan to apply for a Second Draw PPP Loan with the same general loan terms as their First Draw PPP Loan.

Second Draw PPP Loans can be used to help fund payroll costs, including benefits. Funds can also be used to pay for mortgage interest, rent, utilities, worker protection costs related to COVID-19, uninsured property damage costs caused by looting or vandalism during 2020, and certain supplier costs and expenses for operations.

For New York City based business owners, mayoral candidate and City Comptroller Scott Stringer has announced a plan to help small businesses in the Big Apple to receive a hefty chunk of the $284 billion in Covid-19 funding.

According to a Post report, Stringer has called on City Hall to compile “a comprehensive list” of financial institutions with access to the federal Payroll Protection Program funding to share with small businesses. His plan includes employees from the New York City Small Business Service agency to pay personal visits to mom-and-pop shop owners in order to encourage them to apply for the funding. For business owners in immigrant communities in which English may not be their first language, Stringer would like to see efforts made towards bilingual outreach.

At an event in Chinatown on Wednesday, the Post reported that Stringer said, “We cannot lay back and think that people are just going to get this funding. It didn’t happen last time and it won’t happen again unless this city government mobilizes.”

Despite the fact that New York City saw the severe brunt of the coronavirus during the first round of the Paycheck Protection Program, many small business owners saw very little in terms of disbursements in the  government’s stimulus spending.

Stringer has said that  a mere 12 percent of New York City’s 1.1 million eligible businesses received funding last year despite the fed’s having doled out $522 billion to help small businesses survive the pandemic and keep people employed, as as reported by the NY Post.

In other states such as Nebraska ,it was reported that 24 percent of businesses in the Midwest state received funding, even though they did not even come close to the devastation that New York City had endured because of the rampant spread of the virus.

Stringer added that “when you look at who got PPP borough by borough, we saw even more disparity. When I ran the numbers we found that more than 60,000 businesses got loans, versus less than 10,000 in the Bronx. Businesses say the applications were complicated and restricted them, or they simply didn’t know about the program. This is unacceptable.”

For most borrowers, the maximum loan amount of a Second Draw PPP Loan is 2.5x average monthly 2019 or 2020 payroll costs up to $2 million. For borrowers in the Accommodation and Food Services sector, the maximum loan amount for a Second Draw PPP Loan is 3.5x average monthly 2019 or 2020 payroll costs up to $2 million.

A borrower is generally eligible for a Second Draw PPP Loan if the borrower:

o             Previously received a First Draw PPP Loan and will or has used the full amount only for authorized uses

o             Has no more than 300 employees; and

o             Can demonstrate at least a 25% reduction in gross receipts between comparable quarters in 2019 and 2020

 

 

 

 

DeBlasio Axes “Gifted & Talented” Testing for 4-Year Olds in NYC Public Schools

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AP

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Striving for political correctness and bowing to the cancel culture norms that have pervaded our national dialogue, NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio has now made the Gifted and Talented testing of 4-year olds who are entering the New York City public school system null and void, according to a New York Post report.

In his last year in office, DeBlasio has said that this year will be the final one in which the test is administered to children entering kindergarten.  The program was originally initiated under the leadership of former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg in an effort to help with accelerated learning and enrichment for children with a proven aptitude for academic success.

The Post reported that schools Chancellor Richard Carranza has promised to find a solution to this educational conundrum by September but the details on an alternative approach to helping gifted children were scant.  As to Carranza’s personal perspective on the test given to these young children can be best summarized in what he told Chalkbeat two years ago:   “Those tests — and it’s pretty clear — are more a measure of the privilege of a child’s home than true giftedness.”

Parents of kids entering the school system have been pressing the issue with the Department of Education, seeking answers as to whether their children can both take the test that if special curriculum will be available.

Proponents of the continuation of the test for gifted and talented children say that its advantages are that children with a proven aptitude can receive instruction at an appropriate pace and that it will serve as an educational springboard, according to the Post report.

Those who stand in staunch opposition to the administering of these tests claim that the model for admissions to the coveted programs are slanted in favor of families in a high income bracket who can afford to better prepare their kids for the exam. The opponents also say that the test is a poor indicator of academic ability in young children.

The Department of Education waffled on the test for many months until the mayor said on Tuesday that the test will be discontinued next year.

The Post also reported that districts serving predominantly black and Hispanic children stopped administering the gifted and talented tests in recent decades in favor of programs serving underperforming students.

Mayoral candidate, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, the Post reported has a plan for reforming the exams. In June of 2017, he and Ruben Diaz, Jr., the Bronx Borough President “outlined changes that didn’t confuse equal access with equal outcomes.”

Many other observers of the suspension of the tests believe that the furtherance of a cultural agenda is involved in the decision. Some have speculated that doing away with the exam will force middle class families to seek educational alternatives for their children such as private schools or that families will seek to move out of New York City all together.

 

 

NY Attorney General Letitia James Files Lawsuit Against the NYPD for Excessive Use of Force

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thecity

New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and its leadership to end its pattern of using excessive force and making false arrests against New Yorkers during peaceful protests. In the complaint, Attorney General James outlines the NYPD’s illegal and harmful conduct against New Yorkers during recent racial justice protests and for years prior, which has led to significant injuries and violated individuals’ basic right to peacefully protest. The lawsuit specifically charges the NYPD, the City of New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea, and NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan with failing to address this longstanding pattern of abuse by not properly training, supervising, and disciplining officers to prevent misconduct, despite knowledge and public admission that it violated the rights of New Yorkers.

In the complaint, Attorney General James lays out dozens of examples of the NYPD’s blatant use of excessive force and other misconduct, since May 2020, including the indiscriminate, unjustified, and repeated use of batons, pepper spray, bicycles, and a crowd-control tactic known as “kettling” against peaceful protesters — all causing protesters significant physical harm. NYPD officers also unlawfully arrested legal observers, medics, and other workers performing essential services without probable cause and in direct violation of executive orders from Mayor de Blasio. The lawsuit seeks broad injunctive relief, including systemic reforms to the NYPD and the implementation of a monitor to oversee the NYPD’s policing tactics in future protests and to ensure compliance with the law.

“There is no question that the NYPD engaged in a pattern of excessive, brutal, and unlawful force against peaceful protesters,” said Attorney General James. “Over the past few months, the NYPD has repeatedly and blatantly violated the rights of New Yorkers, inflicting significant physical and psychological harm and leading to great distrust in law enforcement. With today’s lawsuit, this longstanding pattern of brutal and illegal force ends. No one is above the law — not even the individuals charged with enforcing it.”

Background

Following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, thousands of protesters took to the streets across New York City to protest Mr. Floyd’s death, the killing of Breonna Taylor, and the larger pattern of unarmed Black people being killed by the police.

After several evenings of violent clashes between the NYPD and protesters, Governor Andrew Cuomo called on the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to conduct a civil investigation into police misconduct during these incidents. Since May 30, 2020, the OAG received more than 1,300 complaints and pieces of evidence through a dedicated online portal and phone and email hotlines. Attorney General James also held a three-day public hearing with testimony from more than 100 protesters, community-based organizations, elected officials, and NYPD Commissioner Shea. In addition to the public testimony, the OAG received more than 300 submissions of written testimony.

Overview of Claims

Based on the myriad of complaints received and subsequent investigation, the OAG found that from May 28, 2020 to December 11, 2020, in response to these largely peaceful protests, NYPD officers effectuated mass arrests without probable cause; unjustifiably deployed pepper spray, batons, and other force against protesters; and targeted and retaliated against First Amendment activity so frequently and pervasively as to constitute customs or usages of the NYPD.

Use of Force

NYPD officers unjustifiably deployed pepper spray and used batons, bikes, and other force against protesters, repeatedly violating New Yorkers’ constitutional rights and grossly violating NYPD policies regarding the use of force and the use of pepper spray. As a result of these actions, protesters experienced significant physical harm, including broken bones, gashes requiring stitches and staples, concussions, and other harm, as well as extensive psychological harm. In total, the OAG found that officers:

  • Struck protesters with blunt instruments at least 50 times,
  • Unlawfully deployed pepper spray against protesters in at least 30 incidents, and
  • Used unreasonable force through pushing or striking protesters at least 75 times.

In one instance, Luke Hanna, who was participating in a protest at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn on June 3, was struck in the back of the head with a baton without provocation or justification while complying with a police directive to disperse. The baton strike caused a gash so severe that Hanna required ten staples in his head to close it. Neither the officer who hit Hanna nor any other officer nearby sought or provided medical attention for Hanna’s wound, and Hanna was not arrested or charged with any crime.

In another instance, Andrew Smith, who was participating in a protest in Brooklyn on May 30, had his COVID-19 facemask pulled down without warning or cause by an officer and was pepper sprayed in the face. As a result of being pepper sprayed, Smith suffered a severe burning sensation to his eyes and face, exacerbation to eczema on the back of his neck that lasted for hours, and difficulty removing and wearing contact lenses for at least a week after the incident. Smith also suffered stress and fear that he had been exposed to COVID-19 when the officer removed his facemask. Smith was not arrested or charged with any crime and did not receive medical aid from any of the officers nearby, in violation of NYPD policy. After the incident, body-worn camera footage captured the officer who sprayed Smith asking fellow officers whether they used their pepper spray and bragging, “I took the guy’s goggles, I ripped the s— off and I used it.”

Unlawful Detention

Officers arrested or detained hundreds of protesters, legal observers, medics, and others without legal justification. Officers repeatedly violated New Yorkers’ constitutional rights and applicable NYPD policies regarding crowd control and arrest procedure by arresting curfew-exempt individuals; using kettling tactics, excessive force, and threats of force to detain peaceful protesters; and detaining and arresting individuals without probable cause or suspicion that they were engaged in unlawful conduct.

Beginning on June 1, Mayor de Blasio issued several emergency executive orders that imposed curfews in New York City. These orders explicitly exempted “first responders and emergency medical technicians, individuals travelling to and from essential work and performing essential work.” The de Blasio Administration also acknowledged that the curfew orders exempted legal observers, medics, and jail support providers.

In a June 4 protest in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx, officers detained 12 legal observers for purportedly violating the curfew as soon as it took effect and thereby prevented them from observing the large number of protester arrests occurring at the same time. In news footage, a member of the NYPD’s Legal Bureau can be heard shouting to other officers, “legal observers can be arrested. You’re good to go.” Officers also arrested several medics at that same protest in Mott Haven, who were in attendance solely to provide medical assistance.

Kettling

Throughout the time the curfew orders were in effect and beyond, officers engaged in an unlawful practice of kettling or corralling protesters without providing them an opportunity to disperse, and thereafter making mass arrests of protesters without probable cause.

At the June 4 protest in Mott Haven, officers used kettling to trap and arrest protesters. During this incident, approximately five to 10 minutes before the 8 p.m. curfew, officers halted marchers at an intersection, flanking them on both sides and preventing protesters from moving forward. Officers used their bikes to physically push the protesters, resulting in protesters being crushed together. At this time, multiple people stuck in the kettle begged officers to let them go home or leave the protest zone; however, officers refused to make space for these individuals to leave or for the protest to safely disperse.

In all, at least 249 individuals present at this intersection were arrested for violating curfew, and numerous protesters were shoved or hit with batons. The Bronx District Attorney dismissed all of the summonses issued for disorderly conduct, unlawful assembly, and violating curfew arising out of the Mott Haven protest.

Commissioner Shea later commended police conduct at Mott Haven and indicated that the kettling was part of a pre-planned tactic, stating that their execution was “nearly flawless.” Mayor de Blasio also later defended the use of kettling at the protests.

Extensive Violations of Federal and State Laws

Attorney General James alleges that the City of New York, Mayor de Blasio, NYPD Commissioner Shea, and NYPD Chief of Department Monahan — in their capacities as the chief policy makers for the NYPD — failed to prevent and address the pattern or practice of excessive force and false arrests by officers against peaceful protesters in violation of the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, as well as under the New York state Constitution and New York’s common law.

Relief

Attorney General James is seeking broad injunctive relief to address these longstanding and systemic problems at the NYPD. That relief includes, but is not limited to, installing a monitor to oversee the NYPD’s policing tactics at future protests and to oversee future compliance with the law, as well as a host of other reforms to address the problematic policies and training failures that are outlined in the complaint. Additionally, the lawsuit seeks a court order declaring that the policies and practices that the NYPD used during these protests were unlawful.

Attorney General James would like to thank former United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch; Barry Friedman, the Jacob D. Fuchsberg professor of law and the founder and faculty director of the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law; and Farhang Heydari, the executive director of the Policing Project; for their support and guidance in this ongoing investigation.

This lawsuit is being handled by Bureau Chief Jessica Clarke of the Civil Rights Bureau, Assistant Attorney General Lillian Marquez of the Civil Rights Bureau, Special Counsel Morenike Fajana of the Executive Division, Assistant Attorney General Travis England of the Civil Rights Bureau, Chief Investigator Oliver Pu-Folkes, Assistant Attorney General Greg Morril of the Public Integrity Bureau, Assistant Solicitor General Philip Levitz of the Division for Appeals and Opinions, and Deputy Solicitor General Anisha Dasgupta of the Division for Appeals and Opinions. The Civil Rights Bureau is a part of the Division for Social Justice, which is overseen by Chief Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux. The Public Integrity Bureau is a part of the Division for Criminal Justice, overseen by Chief Deputy Attorney General Jose Maldonado. The Division for Appeals and Opinions is overseen by Solicitor General Barbara Underwood. Both the Division for Social Justice and the Division for Criminal Justice are overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.

The investigation and a preliminary report detailing the NYPD’s response to the protests was also handled by: Stacy Aronowitz, Kristen Bitetto, Steven Broomer, Rachel Castro, Anushua Choudhury, Harry Czosnykowski, William Fitzgerald, Jason Fuhrman, Erica Gilles, Elena Goldstein, Joe Graham, Jaclyn Grodin, Akram Hasanov, Kiran Heer, Ismael Hernandez, Bridget Holohan-Scally, Jarret Hova, Melissa Kaplan, Michael Leahy, Christopher Marshall, Sharon Martin, Jasmine McAllister, John McManus, Brian Metz, Francisca Montana, Brianna Parks, John Petro, Kate Powers, Steve Pratt, Larry Riccio, Karon Richardson, Sylvia Rivera, Barbara Sherman, Chansoo Song, Megan Thorsfeldt, Brooke Tucker, Nick Viorst, Casandra Walker, Peter Washburn, Melanie Weniger, Jonathan Werberg, and John Wood.

 

NYC HEALTH + HOSPITALS FURTHER EXPANDS TELEMEDICINE SERVICES FURTHER EXPANDS TELEMEDICINE SERVICES

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NYC Health + Hospitals today announced that it has further expanded telemedicine services, ensuring patients have access to the care they need through various modalities, such as audio and video calls. Since the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, NYC Health + Hospitals has conducted more than 950,000 telemedicine visits across specialty areas. To support this expansion, NYC Health + Hospitals has added over 900 video-enabled devices in its hospitals and skilled-nursing facilitates to make possible virtual patient appointments while also diversifying options for video-enabled visits for patients and providers. Other telemedicine expansions at NYC Health + Hospitals include broader access to teleretinal screenings, the expansion of eConsult, and an increase in patient portal accounts activated, which further enable patients to seamlessly communicate with their providers on health status, medications, and much more. While all care sites are adhering to enhanced protocols to ensure safe in-person visits, patients now have more options to receive care where they might feel most comfortable – at home. NYC Health + Hospitals urges all New Yorkers to avoid delaying care due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

“As a primary care physician, the COVID-19 pandemic only more clearly emphasized how critical ongoing, preventative health care is to maintain access to for everyone regardless of ability to afford care, race, immigration status, and other qualifiers, including being able to safely reach your provider,” said NYC Health + Hospitals Senior Vice President for Ambulatory Care Dr. Ted Long, MHS. “By leveraging technologies, the City’s public health system has been able to extend its commitment to the health and wellness of all New Yorkers where they feel safest at. We look forward to continue to expand these telemedicine services well beyond this pandemic.”

 

“One of the silver linings to this pandemic has been the growth of telemedicine and improvements to our processes and technology to ensure that our patients receive safe and high-quality care regardless of where they are. We are incredibly proud of what we were able to accomplish in March and April when we had to be creative and flexible in our approach, and are now focused on how we can improve and grow this important health access modality,” said Hannah Jackson, MD, MPH Assistant Vice President in the Office of Ambulatory Care.

 

Below are details and milestones that help capture NYC Health + Hospitals’ expansion of telemedicine services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

  • Electronic Specialty Referrals: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated NYC Health + Hospitals’ plans of expanding eConsult, a referral management system that allows for a timely electronic review of specialty referrals and enables specialists to provide clinical guidance to referring providers, reducing the need for a “face-to-face” visit, when appropriate.  To date, the City’s public health system has expanded e-Consult services to an additional 116 new departments and specialties, including 47 new pediatric departments. Providers can now refer patients and receive a timely response across a total of 281 care areas. Since March 2020, NYC Health + Hospitals providers have done over 170,000 referrals via eConsult, with the average number of days for specialists to review and triage referrals being 3.5 days.

 

  • Teleretinal Screenings: This past year, NYC Health + Hospitals expanded access to teleretinal screenings to a total of 12 sites. Teleretinal screenings help identify diabetic retinopathy, a disease of the eyes, that if left untreated can result in loss of vision. Patients have their eye images taken during a regular primary care appointment and the images are then reviewed by an eye specialist for signs of diabetic retinopathy. This screening eliminates an additional in-person appointment in the eye clinic for patients, while also ensuring faster and more equitable access to necessary eye care. Thirty percent of all patients that have received the teleretinal screening at NYC Health + Hospitals have showed evidence of diabetic retinopathy and were referred into the eye clinic for follow-up and treatment.

 

  • Virtual ExpressCare: NYC Health + Hospitals has completed approximately 4,300 Virtual ExpressCare visits since launching the offering. This total includes over 1,000 saved ambulance trips for low-acuity 911-callers who were safely redirected to home-based virtual care with an emergency medicine physician. New Yorkers in need of urgent care for non-life-threatening health issues can connect to a NYC Health + Hospitals emergency medicine provider for an evaluation within minutes. To access the service, patients can go to expresscare.nyc from any web browser on their computer, phone, or tablet device with a camera.

 

  • Behavioral Health: NYC Health + Hospitals quickly scaled up telemedicine behavioral health services in March and April of 2020 to ensure the system was leaving every door open for New Yorkers to seek critical care. This included getting 22 iPads distributed across facilities to provide in-patient and emergency department behavioral health consults. Since March 2020, NYC Health + Hospitals has completed over 189,000 tele-mental health visits, with nearly 33,000 substance use disorder treatment visits, also over audio or video calls. During the first COVID-19 surge, the odds of completing a telepsychiatry visit at NYC Health + Hospitals was 6.6 times more likely than completing an in-person visit for mental health services.

 

  • Patient Portal: Patients have been encouraged to utilize MyChart, the system’s electronic patient portal. Through MyChart, patients can communicate with their care team, ask questions, view their test results and medical record, as well as attend video visits with their providers. MyChart also allows patients to prepare for their appointments online. A few days before their appointment, patients can update their contact information, insurance, preferred pharmacy, and other clinical information. Currently, approximately 55 percent of existing NYC Health + Hospitals’ patients have activated their MyChart accounts, up from just 14 percent of patients at the end of March 2020.

 

“Patients need prompt care and telemedicine helps to provide that safely during the pandemic,” said Assembly Health Committee Chair Richard Gottfried. “Expanding remote services will connect more patients with the services they need. I commend NYC Health + Hospitals for its wide range of accessible, timely telemedicine services.

 

In November 2020, NYC Health + Hospitals announced strategies the health system had implemented to help patients with chronic diseases better self-manage their conditions, from distributing at-home blood pressure machines, to expanding diabetes peer mentoring, and transitioning group exercise classes online.

 

Of the total 950,000 telemedicine visits conducted since the pandemic’s start, approximately 390,000 (40 percent) of these visits were for primary care services, with the remainder being split between behavioral health and specialty care services. October and November 2020 saw 20 percent and 36 percent growth, respectively, of telemedicine visits system-wide.

About NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the city’s five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health plan—all supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NYCHealthandHospitals or Twitter at @NYCHealthSystem.

Brooklyn COVID Vaccine Hoax Dupes Hundreds of New Yorkers

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By Charlie McCarthy(NEWSMAX)

Hundreds of New Yorkers rushed to a Brooklyn location Thursday night after hearing about COVID-19 vaccines being available to people 18 and older. Unfortunately, those reports were untrue.

The mayor’s office dispatched city workers to the Brooklyn Army Terminal to break up the crowd that had gathered after rumors circulated on social media about soon-to-expire vaccines being available, the New York Post reported.

“There is NOT available vaccine for people without appointments. This was misinformation and the notification did not come from the NYC gov,” tweeted Bill Neidhardt, press secretary for Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“We are sending people to Brooklyn Army Terminal to ask people in line to return home if they don’t have appointments.”

Earlier, images and messages shared on Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp said the Brooklyn location had 410-plus doses available to “anyone in community age 18+.”

Adding confusion to the situation was some people saying the site previously had set up a line for walk-ins.

“Every now and then there are vials with an extra dose or someone doesn’t show up to their appointment so sites are ready to form lines for if that happen,” Neidhardt said.

A long line of people on sidewalks and cars filling the street were seen on a video clip tweeted around 5:30 p.m. ET. Little more than a half hour later, the Post found bumper-to-bumper traffic for eight blocks in either direction of the terminal and hundreds of people lining the street in front of the building.

“Someone having to do with the site, she came and said it was very reasonable that we were going to get our shots,” said Alexandra Frankel, 27, who added she had been waiting “since 4:37 p.m.”

After police showed up and told people they needed to leave, Frankel said a security guard let her and nine other people in through a gate – only to have cops deny them entrance.

“It’s frustrating because I was waiting online for two hours, and I don’t even know now if this is legit,” she said.

Only healthcare workers, teachers, police, other frontline workers and people age 65 and older are eligible to get vaccine shots in New York state.

SoCal Hospitals, Morgues, Funeral Homes Overwhelmed

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By Solange Reyner (NEWSMAX)

Hospitals, morgues, and funeral homes in Southern California are overflowing due to the coronavirus pandemic, with cases likely to rise following Christmas and New Year’s.

“People going into emergency departments without life-threatening problems are waiting often 12-18 hours in the waiting room just to get seen,” Dr. Mark Eckstein, medical director of the Los Angeles Fire Department, told ABC News. “We’re trying to encourage people to not call 911 unless they really need to.”

Nearly 1 million people have been infected with COVID-19 in L.A. County and 12,955 have died. Statewide, 2.8 million people have been infected and 30,000-plus have died.

Hospitalizations have plateaued in the state, but Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday cautioned it is too soon to say whether or not the surge in cases was actually going down.

California has implemented some of the strictest restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus, with three regions in the state still under a stay-at-home order — they can return when the ICU bed availability falls under 15%.

Los Angeles County health director Barbara Ferrer on Tuesday mandated essential workers who leave their house to go to work must mask up at home and when they interact with people, saying it will ”add a layer of protection while we get through this surge and try to get our case numbers and our transmission way down.”

Biden unveils $1.9T plan to stem COVID-19 and steady economy

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AP

(AP) — President-elect Joe Biden unveiled a $1.9 trillion coronavirus plan Thursday to end “a crisis of deep human suffering” by speeding up vaccines and pumping out financial help to those struggling with the pandemic’s prolonged economic fallout.

Called the “American Rescue Plan,” the legislative proposal would meet Biden’s goal of administering 100 million vaccines by the 100th day of his administration and advance his objective of reopening most schools by the spring. On a parallel track, it delivers another round of aid to stabilize the economy while the public health effort seeks the upper hand on the pandemic.

“We not only have an economic imperative to act now — I believe we have a moral obligation,” Biden said in a nationwide address. At the same time, he acknowledged that his plan “does not come cheaply.”

Biden proposed $1,400 checks for most Americans, which on top of $600 provided in the most recent COVID-19 bill would bring the total to the $2,000 that Biden has called for. It would also extend a temporary boost in unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures through September.

And it shoehorns in long-term Democratic policy aims such as increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour, expanding paid leave for workers, and increasing tax credits for families with children. The last item would make it easier for women to go back to work, which in turn would help the economy recover.

The political outlook for the legislation remained unclear. In a joint statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer praised Biden for including liberal priorities, saying they would move quickly to pass it after Biden takes office next Wednesday. But Democrats have narrow margins in both chambers of Congress, and Republicans will push back on issues that range from increasing the minimum wage to providing more money for states, while demanding inclusion of their priorities, such as liability protection for businesses.

“Remember that a bipartisan $900 billion #COVID19 relief bill became law just 18 days ago,” tweeted Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. But Biden says that was only a down payment, and he promised more major legislation next month, focused on rebuilding the economy.

“The crisis of deep human suffering is in plain sight, and there’s not time to waste,” Biden said. “We have to act and we have to act now.”

Still, he sought to manage expectations. “We’re better equipped to do this than any nation in the world,” he said. “But even with all these small steps, it’s going to take time.”

His relief bill would be paid for with borrowed money, adding to trillions in debt the government has already incurred to confront the pandemic. Aides said Biden will make the case that the additional spending and borrowing is necessary to prevent the economy from sliding into an even deeper hole. Interest rates are low, making debt more manageable.

Biden has long held that economic recovery is inextricably linked with controlling the coronavirus.

That squares with the judgment of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the most powerful business lobbying group and traditionally an adversary of Democrats. “We must defeat COVID before we can restore our economy and that requires turbocharging our vaccination efforts,” the Chamber said in a statement Thursday night that welcomed Biden’s plan but stopped short of endorsing it.

The plan comes as a divided nation is in the grip of the pandemic’s most dangerous wave yet. So far, more than 385,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. And government numbers out Thursday reported a jump in weekly unemployment claims, to 965,000, a sign that rising infections are forcing businesses to cut back and lay off workers.

Under Biden’s multipronged strategy, about $400 billion would go directly to combating the pandemic, while the rest is focused on economic relief and aid to states and localities.

About $20 billion would be allocated for a more disciplined focus on vaccination, on top of some $8 billion already approved by Congress. Biden has called for setting up mass vaccination centers and sending mobile units to hard-to-reach areas.

 

With the backing of Congress and the expertise of private and government scientists, the Trump administration delivered two highly effective vaccines and more are on the way. Yet a month after the first shots were given, the nation’s vaccination campaign is off to a slow start with about 11 million people getting the first of two shots, although more than 30 million doses have been delivered.

Biden called the vaccine rollout “a dismal failure so far” and said he would provide more details about his vaccination campaign on Friday.

The plan also provides $50 billion to expand testing, which is seen as key to reopening most schools by the end of the new administration’s first 100 days. About $130 billion would be allocated to help schools reopen without risking further contagion.

The plan would fund the hiring of 100,000 public health workers, to focus on encouraging people to get vaccinated and on tracing the contacts of those infected with the coronavirus.

There’s also a proposal to boost investment in genetic sequencing, to help track new virus strains including the more contagious variants identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

Throughout the plan, there’s a focus on ensuring that minority communities that have borne the brunt of the pandemic are not shortchanged on vaccines and treatments, aides said.

With the new proposals comes a call to redouble efforts on the basics.

Biden is asking Americans to override their sense of pandemic fatigue and recommit to wearing masks, practicing social distancing and avoiding indoor gatherings, particularly larger ones. It’s still the surest way to slow the COVID-19 wave, with more than 4,400 deaths reported just on Tuesday.

Biden’s biggest challenge will be to “win the hearts and minds of the American people to follow his lead,” said Dr. Leana Wen, a public health expert and emergency physician.

The pace of vaccination in the U.S. is approaching 1 million shots a day, but 1.8 million a day would be needed to reach widespread or “herd” immunity by the summer, according to a recent estimate by the American Hospital Association. Wen says the pace should be even higher — closer to 3 million a day.

Biden believes the key to speeding that up lies not only in delivering more vaccine but also in working closely with states and local communities to get shots into the arms of more people. The Trump administration provided the vaccine to states and set guidelines for who should get priority for shots, but largely left it up to state and local officials to organize their vaccination campaigns.

It’s still unclear how the new administration will address the issue of vaccine hesitancy, the doubts and suspicions that keep many people from getting a shot. Polls show it’s particularly a problem among Black Americans.

“We will have to move heaven and earth to get more people vaccinated,” Biden said.

Next Wednesday, when Biden is sworn in as president, marks the anniversary of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States.

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Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Alan Fram contributed to this report.

Andrew Yang Announces Candidacy For New York City Mayor

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AP
Brianna Lyman(DCNF)

Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang announced his candidacy for the mayor of New York City Wednesday.

“I moved to New York City 25 years ago,” Yang tweeted. “I came of age, fell in love, and became a father here. Seeing our City in so much pain breaks my heart.”

Let’s fight for a future New York City that we can be proud of – together.”

“I ran for president because I saw the economy was not working for everyday Americans. Seeing my city the way it is now breaks my heart,” Yang said in a promotional video.

Yang is running on policies similar to those he ran on during his presidential bid.

“We need to realize Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of a Guaranteed Minimum Income and get cash into the hands of people who need it most.”

Yang’s plan includes increasing internet access, creating a “people’s bank” which will allow public funds to be directly reinvested into people and communities, and ensuring that 15,000 small businesses can open in 2022. Yang is also calling for a vacancy tax, which would charge landlords who leave a storefront vacant for longer than a specified period of time.

Yang will have to convince New Yorkers he’s one of them after he recently said he left the city during the pandemic because his living space was too small, according to The New York Times.

Parler CEO: Social Media Platform May Not Return

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(screenshot/FNC)
ALANA MASTRANGELO
The CEO of Parler says that his social media platform may never get back online after major service providers accused it of failing to crack down on free speech in order to police content that may “incite violence.”
“It could be never. We don’t know yet,” said Parler CEO John Matze of whether the social media platform will return, in an interview with Reuters. After the Reuters story was published, Matze expanded on his position, saying: “I am an optimist. It may take days, it may take weeks but Parler will return and when we do we will be stronger.”
Following Twitter banning President Donald Trump from its platform, many conservatives began to flock to Parler, at which point Google and Apple banned Parler from its app stores, effectively excluding the Parler app from all Android and Apple smartphones. After that, Amazon booted Parler from its web hosting service, knocking the site offline entirely.
The tech giants all justify their decision to ban Parler by claiming that words will “incite violence,” a narrative that big tech companies are now using to take action against the president, political dissenters, and their competition — while seemingly paying no attention to Twitter, where “Hang Mike Pence” was trending just last week.
Matze says that Parler has been talking to more than one cloud computing service, but did not share which companies they were, citing the potential for harassment of those companies.
Parler filed a lawsuit against Amazon on Monday, alleging that the company’s decision to drop Parler was “motivated by political animus.”
Matze told Reuters that Parler’s relationship with Amazon seemed to deteriorate overnight, and without much warning. The CEO added that this past summer, Amazon had invited Parler to join an initiative to connect it with potential investors.
Parler has also been booted from online payments service Stripe, and lost its Scylla Enterprise database, as well as access to Twilio Inc and Slack Technologies Inc, a popular workplace messaging app.
“It’s hard to keep track of how many people are telling us that we can no longer do business with them,” said Matze.
Both ScyllaDB and Twilio have used the same excuse as Google, Apple, and Amazon in justifying their reasoning for banning Parler.

Feds Charge Left-Wing Activist Who Filmed Shooting Of Trump Supporter At Capitol

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DCNF- Federal prosecutors on Thursday announced charges against John Sullivan, a self-described left-wing activist who recorded the fatal police shooting of a Trump supporter inside the U.S. Capitol last week.

Sullivan, the founder of a group called Insurgence USA, which formed in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, is charged with illegally entering the Capitol, civil disorder, and violent or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Sullivan, 26, faces separate charges of rioting and criminal mischief in connection with an incident in Provo, Utah on June 30, 2020, where a person was shot and injured during a protest against police brutality.

An FBI affidavit issued against Sullivan on Thursday cites comments he made on video he recorded during the Capitol breach.

Sullivan told FBI agents as well as members of the media that he showed up at the Capitol to document the activities of Trump supporters who were protesting the results of the presidential election. But the FBI affidavit indicates Sullivan was acting more an active participant in the riots than as a journalist.

“There are so many people. Let’s go. This shit is ours! Fuck yeah,” he is heard saying in the video, according to an FBI affidavit from FBI Special Agent Matthew Foulger.

“We accomplished this shit. We did this together. Fuck yeah! We are all a part of this history,” he also said, adding: “Let’s burn this shit down.”

Sullivan was filming as a Capitol police officer shot Trump supporter Ashli Babbit as she attempted to enter a barricaded section of the Capitol. Babbit, a 14-year Air Force veteran later died.

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper hours after the fatal shooting, Sullivan acknowledged he was not a Trump supporter, but denied instigating the rioters who stormed the Capitol.

“I don’t want to see people get hurt unnecessarily,” he told Cooper.

Some Trump supporters have pointed to Sullivan’s presence in the Capitol to claim that left-wing activists may have served as agent provocateurs, egging on Trump supporters to break into the Capitol and commit violence.

Sullivan, who uses the online name JaydenX, addressed those allegations in a tweet on Jan. 10.

Of the people charged so far in connection with the riots, Sullivan appears to be the first with overt left-wing leanings.

Prosecutors have charged dozens of people so far in connection with the riots, many of whom were outspoken Trump supporters. Derrick Evans, a former Republican delegate from West Virginia, was charged with illegally entering the Capitol. Bradley Rusktales, a former CEO of a marketing company who also faces charges, donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Trump campaign and other Republicans

Project Veritas Video Shows Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Saying Censorship Is Not ‘Going Away Anytime Soon

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Project Veritas has released a video featuring Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey talking about how social media censorship “is not going away any time soon.” Dorsey says in the video that the company should be considering a “Much broader approach” to how it manages conversations on its platform.

“We are focused on one account [President Trump] right now, but this is going to be much bigger than just one account, and it’s going to go on for much longer than just this day, this week, and the next few weeks, and go on beyond the inauguration,” said Dorsey in the video.

“We have to expect that we have to be ready for that,” continued the Twitter CEO. “So, the focus is certainly on this account, and how it ties to real-world violence.”

“But also, we need to think much longer-term around how these dynamics play out over time,” added Dorsey. “I don’t believe this is going away any time soon. And the moves that we’re making today around QAnon for instance, is one such example of a much broader approach that we should be looking at, and going deeper on.”

Watch Below:


“So, the team has a lot, and a lot of focus on this particular issue, but we also need to give them the space and the support to focus on the much bigger picture, because it is not going away,” said Dorsey.

“The U.S. is extremely divided,” he added. “Our platform is showing that every single day, and our role is to protect the integrity of that conversation, and do what we can to make sure that no one is being harmed based off that.”

Last week, Twitter permanently banned President Donald Trump from its platform, claiming that his account may incite violence.

Huxley’s Warning: Totalitarianism in the 21st Century

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T.R. Clancy(American Thinker)

In the foreword to the 1946 edition of his novel, Brave New WorldAldous Huxley anticipated the continued emergence, perhaps in novel forms, of statist totalitarianism:

There is, of course, no reason why the new totalitarianisms should resemble the old. Government by clubs and firing squads, by artificial famine, mass imprisonment and mass deportation, is not merely inhumane (nobody cares much about that nowadays), it is demonstrably inefficient and in an age of advanced technology, inefficiency is the sin against the Holy Ghost. A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced, because they love their servitude. To make them love it is the task assigned, in present-day totalitarian states, to ministries of propaganda, news-paper editors and schoolteachers. But their methods are still crude and unscientific.

Because, in 1946, the world had yet to witness the horrors of Red China, North Korea, Cuba, and Cambodia, Huxley guessed wrong that artificial famines, mass imprisonment, and political executions would go out of fashion.  Totalitarianism is impossible without brute violence.  And, from our brave new world of 2021, where Big Tech’s promiscuous deployment of tools like Machine Learning Fairness and shadow banning prevent users’ exposure to wrongthink, his estimation of propaganda methods as “crude and unscientific” is badly out of date.

But how chilling is Huxley’s prescience about propaganda ministers, news editors, and schoolteachers training generations of serfs to willingly obey “political bosses and their army of managers”?

Just like the truism that “generals always fight the last war,” Huxley’s point that there’s “no reason why the new totalitarianisms should resemble the old” calls for both vigilance and imagination on our part; our next totalitarian enemy isn’t limited to patterns of twentieth-century Nazism or Soviet-style Communism.

For instance, the suffocating blanket of censorship and suppression of free speech, which seems to defy any constitutional remedy because it’s not directly traceable to government action, remains a problem without an obvious solution.  Regardless, it’s an open secret that the corporate executives in media, Big Tech, and Hollywood managing this suppression are acting on behalf of a single political party — a party that, due in large part to that interference and suppression now have near total control of the federal government.  Townhall’s Matt Vespa quotes even a liberal reporter, Michael Tracey, warning that the “absolute authoritarian lunacy” of   Twitter’s decision to ban President Trump isn’t about “‘safety,’ it’s about purposely inflating a threat in order to assert political and cultural dominance.”  Warns Tracey, “The new corporate authoritarian liberal-left monoculture is going to be absolutely ruthless — and in 12 days it is merging with the state.”  [My italics].

Glenn Greenwald, another committed progressive, also complains “that political censorship has ‘contaminated virtually every mainstream centre-left political organization, academic institution and newsroom.’”  In October, Greenwald, co-founder of The Intercept news site, resigned after they refused to publish his article about Joe Biden and Hunter’s shocking influence-peddling, unless Greenwald first removed “critical points against the Democratic candidate.”

In reality, standing alone with election fraud notwithstanding, last October’s lockstep decision by an entire news industry to suppress the starkly headline-worthy scandals around Hunter Biden’s laptop, along with all other negative stories about Joe Biden, accounts directly for 17% of Biden voters who would have abandoned him “had they known the facts about one or more of these news stories.”  Because those lost votes “would have changed the outcome in all six of the swing states won by Joe Biden,” re-electing Trump, burying those stories was first-degree election interference.

Huxley foresaw this, too:

The greatest triumphs of propaganda have been accomplished, not by doing something, but by refraining from doing. Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth. By simply not mentioning certain subjects, by lowering what Mr. Churchill calls an “iron curtain” between the masses and such facts or arguments as the local political bosses regard as undesirable, totalitarian propagandists have influenced opinion much more effectively than they could have done by the most eloquent denunciations, the most compelling of logical rebuttals.

In 2020 alone, news outlets systematically misinformed, or kept uninformed, scores of millions of voters whose only news sources are either mainstream media or the occasional de-contextualized sound bite.  Corporate news, in addition to disappearing the Hunter Biden story:

  • Misreported that opportunistic politicians imposing destructive, arbitrary lockdowns to stop the spread of the Wuhan virus were only “following the science,” while disregarding all scientific studies showing how lockdowns were ineffective, detrimental, and even deadly;
  • Misreported for months that Black Lives Matter/Antifa’s nightly demonstrations were “mostly peaceful,” while refusing to report on hundreds of BLM and Antifa-organized protests involving widespread arson, looting, and violence against police and innocent civilians;
  • Perpetuated the dangerous myth that black men are casually shot down by white police every day, while ignoring that “statistics “flatly debunk the false narratives about ‘racist white cops’ and the ‘hunt for unarmed black men’”;
  • Parroted the Democrat talking point that Trump’s allegations of election fraud were made “without any evidence,” while obstinately refusing to investigate well-documented evidence of pervasive election irregularities in battleground states.

But Fake News is only as powerful as its consumers are gullible.  Knowing that, PJMedia’s Stephen Kruiser was able to predict in advance that a Biden win would be “the complete triumph of decades of public education indoctrination,” which is no longer education, anyway, but “more of a leftist catechism class.”   Journalist William Haupt III reports that 12 years of Common Core “has resulted in 51 percent of our youth preferring socialism to democracy.”  It’s also why “[t]wo thirds of the millennials believe America is a racist and sexist country and 40 percent agree America is ‘the most unequal society in the world.’”  In fact, in 2011 Chuck Rogér traced this decline to the sixties, when teachers’ colleges began churning out “[s]ocial justice-indoctrinated teachers [who] instill resentment in ‘non-dominant’ (minority) children and guilt in ‘dominant’ (white) children.  Judging by the abundance of guilt-ridden white Americans, the tactic is working its magic well.”  At present a reported 3,500 classrooms across fifty states are incorporating the New York Times’ specious 1619 Project, which teaches that every accomplishment in America’s history came out of slavery.  The purpose of this all this falsified history?  Not education, but more generations of Americans “unable to discern fact from fiction.”

Now that progressives have complete control of Washington, they’ll escalate their lies — of commission, and especially of omission — to gain a tighter and more permanent grip.  Still, Truth remains their real enemy.  It explains social media’s current blitz of de-platforming conservatives, trying to drop an “iron curtain,” just as Huxley predicted, to separate the people from undesirable facts.

Likewise, fidelity to truth is our best defense; that, and continuing to refuse their lies.  That’s one positive action Solzhenitsyn was able to offer his comrades who felt powerless against the repressive Soviet system, “the most perceptible of its aspects” being lies: “Personal non-participation in lies. Though lies conceal everything, though lies embrace everything, but not with any help from me.”

T.R. Clancy looks at the world from Dearborn, Michigan.  You can email him at [email protected].