Mainz Cathedral aerial panoramic view, located at the market square of Mainz city in Germany. Credit: saiko3p/Shutterstock
(JNS) – Construction works recently uncovered 18 Jewish gravestones from the Middle Ages that were built into a wall in the old town of Mainz, Germany.
According to Germany’s Ministry of Culture, the gravestones were used in the walls as fillers and may date as far back as the 11th century, Israel Newsstand reported on Thursday.
Ministry spokesman Markus Nöhl said the tombstones “are centuries-old evidence of Jewish roots and tradition in Mainz.”
He explained that after Jews were expelled from Mainz in 1438, ownership of the town’s Old Jewish Cemetery was turned over to the municipal. A section of the cemetery site was leased out as a vineyard, resulting in a large number of headstones being removed and reused as building materials.
“Many medieval headstones that were used as building material were rediscovered in the 19th and early 20th centuries, among other things, during works to regulate the Rhine River, during the construction of the Hessische Ludwigsbahn [railway] in the south of the city, and in connection with the de-fortification of the city,” he said, adding that this also applies to the headstones recently found.
The rediscovered headstones also feature inscriptions, many of which are written in Hebrew, that Nöhl said provide “valuable information about the deceased as well as historic events.” Some have engraved eulogies for community officials, scholars, benefactors, and martyrs, “both men and women, and they offer a uniquely precise insight into the internal structure” of the surrounding communities, he told Israel Newsstand.
The headstones are now at a depot at the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage for further processing and will then be used for scientific research.
White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo has resigned, the day after he was suspended for issuing a sexist and profane threat to a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with another reporter.
Ducklo had been put on a weeklong suspension without pay on Friday after a report surfaced in Vanity Fair outlining his sexist threats against a female Politico journalist to try to suppress a story about his relationship, telling her “I will destroy you.” The journalist had been seeking to report on his relationship with a political reporter at Axios who had previously covered the Biden campaign and transition.
In a statement Saturday, Ducklo said he was “devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my White House colleagues and President Biden.”
“No words can express my regret, my embarrassment and my disgust for my behavior,” he said. I used language that no woman should ever have to hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she was just trying to do her job. It was language that was abhorrent, disrespectful and unacceptable.”
Before Politico broke the story Tuesday, People Magazine published a glowing profile of the relationship. It was the first time either one had publicly acknowledged that they were dating.
It’s the first departure from the new administration, less than a month into President Joe Biden’s tenure, and it comes as the White House was facing criticism for not living up to standards set by Biden himself in their decision to retain Ducklo.
During a virtual swearing-in for staff on Inauguration Day, Biden said that “if you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot.”
“No ifs, ands or buts,” Biden added.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki faced a flurry of questions about the controversy Friday, with reporters highlighting Biden’s comments and questioning the decision to merely suspend Ducklo for a week.
Confronted with those comments from the president, Psaki said Friday that Ducklo’s conduct “doesn’t meet our standards, it doesn’t meet the president’s standard, and it was important that we took a step to make that clear.” She pointed to apologies made by top members of the White House communications team and Ducklo himself to the Politico reporter as ample moves reflecting the seriousness of the situation.
On Saturday, Psaki said in a statement that Ducklo’s decision came with the support of White House chief of staff Ron Klain, and added that “we are committed to striving every day to meet the standard set by the President in treating others with dignity and respect, with civility and with a value for others through our words and our actions.” (AP)
New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang seems to be attracting some controversy of his own. According to a report in the NY Post, Yang’s new mayoral campaign manager Sasha Ahuja is a longtime progressive activist with ties to Israel basher and Jew hater, Linda Sarsour
Sarsour, 41, was a leader of the “Women’s March” on Washington along with Tamika Mallory and other polarizing figures in the post-modern feminist movement. During the 2020 presidential race, she did align herself with the Bernie Sanders campaign, but did not agree with him on his positions pertaining to Israel.
In 2019, Sanders wrote about his support for Israel, calling the nation an “enormous achievement” and “a democratic homeland for the Jewish people.” Soon thereafter, Sarsour said that support for Israel as a state is unacceptable in the progressive movement.
Regarding the Yang-Ahuja connection, Mark Meyer Appel, founder of The Bridge Multicultural Advocacy Project, told the Post that, “I understand why Andrew Yang hired her; trying to project yourself as a progressive. Appel, a supporter of Yang opponent Eric Adams, said Ahuja has been “hanging out with some real trouble makers.”
Currently, the polls indicate that Yang is the frontrunner in the race for City Hall. Ahuja, 33, was recently promoted to the leadership of Yang’s campaign, named a co-campaign manager earlier this month along with Chris Coffey, a bruiser consultant from Tusk Strategies, according to an article on the subject on the ReportDoor.com web site.
Yang reaffirmed his support for Israel following the earlier report by the NY Post. Yang said in a statement that he disagrees with Linda Sarsour on many things, including BDS and Israel. Yang committed to making Israel his first international trip, if elected, according to a Vois Es Nais news brief.
On March 8, 2017, both Ahuja and Sarsour were arrested together during a protest outside Trump International Hotel & Tower in Manhattan, according to a report on the ReportDoor.com web site.
“We get arrested in civil disobedience (unplanned ) on International Women’s Day during the #DayWithoutWoman noon event organized by the Women’s March,” Sarsour said in a Facebook post documenting the moment, and sharing a photo of her, Ahuja and fellow activist Faiza Ali being arrested, as was reported in the article on ReportDoor.com
Ahuja has gushed about her controversial mentor.“What they don’t realize is that @lsarsour has raised a generation of activists. She paved the way for all of us. When they come for her, they come for all of us. Not on our watch. NOPE. We love you and stand with you always, Linda! #StandWithLinda,” she said in one tweet from Aug. 2020.
“Linda Sarsour is a freedom fighter and she taught us how to fight #istandwithlinda,” she said in another. “Linda Sarsour is my shero. The end. #phenomenalwoman” Ahuja added in yet a third social media homily to the activist
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she’s not interested in censuring former President Donald Trump after the Senate acquitted Trump in his second impeachment trial.
She implied that censuring Trump would be similar to giving “a little slap on the wrist.”
“We censure people for using stationaries for the wrong purpose. You don’t censure people for inciting insurrection that kills people in the Capitol,” she added.
Pelosi made the remarks during a surprise visit to the House impeachment managers during a press conference after the Senate acquitted the former president.
She seemed furious about the result of the impeachment trials. She slapped on the table several times and criticized the senators who voted against the conviction as a “cowardly group of Republicans.”
The Senate voted to acquit Trump in a 57:43 vote. All Democrats and seven Republicans voted to convict him. The Republicans who voted across the party line include Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).
Trump said in a statement after his acquittal that he will uphold the rule of law.
“I always have, and always will, be a champion for the unwavering rule of law, the heroes of law enforcement, and the right of Americans to peacefully and honorably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate,” he said.
Meanwhile, he stated again that the Make America Great Again movement “has only just begun.”
“In the months ahead, I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people,” read the statement.
The Senate was able to move forward in the impeachment trial after an unexpected call for witnesses from the House impeachment managers.
Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) stated earlier in the day that they wanted to call witnesses because of an alleged phone call between House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Trump on Jan. 6.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) alleged in a statement that Trump hesitated to call off the riots at the request of McCarthy during the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.
Trump allegedly believed it was Antifa that had breached the Capitol in the first place.
“Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are,” he reportedly told McCarthy after McCarthy reportedly refuted the Antifa narrative.
The Epoch Times could not independently verify Beutler’s statement.
Trump and McCarthy’s offices didn’t respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times.
The Senate had initially approved the call for witnesses with a 55:45 vote but was able to reach a deal to avoid a potential extended trial.
The Senate, House impeachment managers, and former Trump’s counsels then agreed to enter Beutler’s statement into the record of Trump’s impeachment trial as evidence without subpoenaing witnesses for the trial.
The trial moved to the closing arguments phase after the deal was reached.
I want to first thank my team of dedicated lawyers and others for their tireless work upholding justice and defending truth.
My deepest thanks as well to all of the United States Senators and Members of Congress who stood proudly for the Constitution we all revere and for the sacred legal principles at the heart of our country.
Our cherished Constitutional Republic was founded on the impartial rule of law, the indispensable safeguard for our liberties, our rights and our freedoms.
It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs, excuse rioters, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree. I always have, and always will, be a champion for the unwavering rule of law, the heroes of law enforcement, and the right of Americans to peacefully and honorably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate.
This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country. No president has ever gone through anything like it, and it continues because our opponents cannot forget the almost 75 million people, the highest number ever for a sitting president, who voted for us just a few short months ago.
I also want to convey my gratitude to the millions of decent, hardworking, law-abiding, God-and-Country loving citizens who have bravely supported these important principles in these very difficult and challenging times.
Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun. In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people. There has never been anything like it!
We have so much work ahead of us, and soon we will emerge with a vision for a bright, radiant, and limitless American future.
Together there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
We remain one People, one family, and one glorious nation under God, and it’s our responsibility to preserve this magnificent inheritance for our children and for generations of Americans to come.
May God bless all of you, and may God forever bless the United States of America.
President Joe Biden is the first American leader in 40 years not to contact Israel’s leaders as one of his first actions in the White House, setting up what could be four years of chilly relations between America and its top Middle East ally.
Biden has already phoned multiple world leaders, including Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping, but during his 23 days in office has yet to speak with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu—making Biden the first president in modern history to punt on bolstering U.S.-Israel relations during his initial days in office. Every president going back to at least Ronald Reagan in 1981 made contact with their Israeli counterpart within a week of assuming office, according to a review of news reports.
Congressional foreign policy leaders slammed Biden’s Netanyahu snub, prompting a flurry of questions for White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who has declined to disclose when or if Biden will call the Israeli leader. Psaki also said on Friday the White House would not list Israel as a U.S. ally when asked about the relationship during her daily press briefing.
Modern presidents going back to Reagan made calls or overtures to Israel during their first days in office, sending a message the United States would continue to stand for the Jewish state’s security. Biden’s diplomatic slight comes as Israel faces encroaching terrorist threats and the danger of a nuclear-armed Iran. He also has hired several individuals with a background in anti-Israel activism, including Maher Bitar, a top White House National Security Council official who spent his youth organizing boycotts of the Jewish state. The State Department’s Iran envoy, Robert Malley, also has been a vocal critic of Israel.
Upon assuming office in January 1981, Reagan made overtures to Israel, vowing to protect its interests, and sent Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to meet with Israel’s leaders to build “Israeli confidence in the administration of President-elect Ronald Reagan,” according to an Associated Press report from the time.
President George H.W. Bush followed this trend. He called then-Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Shamir on Jan. 25, 1989, five days after he entered the White House.
President Bill Clinton reached out to Israel even sooner. He called then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin on Jan. 23, 1993, three days after being sworn in.
President George W. Bush phoned former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak on Jan. 27, 2001, a week after taking the White House, to express his support for the U.S.-Israel alliance.
President Barack Obama, who faced criticism from Republicans for policies they branded anti-Israel, called the Jewish state’s leaders on his first day in office. Obama also called Palestinian leaders that day, laying the groundwork for that administration’s failed bid to foster peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
President Donald Trump not only called Netanyahu but made the historic decision to invite him to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 22, 2017, two days after he took the oath of office.
GOP leaders on the House Foreign Affairs Committee raised multiple concerns with Biden’s refusal to express support for Israel with a phone call.
“I’m not sure why President Biden has already called world leaders from 10 other nations, including China but hasn’t yet bothered to speak with Israel,” Rep. Mark Green (R., Tenn.) told the Washington Free Beacon on Thursday, adding that “Israel deserves to be treated with respect from every world leader—especially the president of the United States.”
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R., Texas), another HFAC member, asked, “What is President Biden avoiding?”
“The American-Israeli relationship is vital to our national security for a litany of reasons,” Jackson told the Free Beacon. “I urge President Biden to ignore the radical left in his party and make a strong show of support for our partnership with Israel by calling Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
(A-7 INN) A woman on a London bus punched an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor and her son, a rabbi.
The Feb. 9 incident was reported Friday by the Jewish News of London based on accounts by the Shomrim community protection team and the Campaign Against Antisemitism watchdog group.
Witnesses said the woman told the alleged victims, “I hate you Jews. It’s not your place. You took our money” before striking them when the bus was traveling in the early afternoon through a residential area to the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Stamford Hill.
The alleged assailant “threw the rabbi’s hat to the floor during the assault,” according to accounts that have reached the Campaign Against Antisemitism, the group said in a statement. Passengers intervened and asked the driver to take the assailant to a police station but the driver declined, the watchdog also said.
“Transport for London must explain why the bus driver took no action, allowing the abuse to go on despite the violence and the protests of other passengers, and the assailant must quickly be identified and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” the group wrote.
The suspect is not in custody. The Jewish News report did not say when she got off the bus.
On Thursday, the Community Security Trust, British Jewry’s main security group, said in its annual report for 2020 that COVID-19 lockdown resulted in a decrease of merely 8% in the number of anti-Semitic incidents over 2019.
This fascinating Podcast interview from “Right on Point” features Dr. Scott Jensen, State Senator from Minnesota and Dr. Henry Ealy discussing their work on analyzing how the CDC has allegedly manipulated and coerced hospitals on manipulating data on death certificates.
CNN’s Chris Cuomo ignored a report stating his brother, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), hid the number of coronavirus-related nursing home deaths to avoid investigation, receiving backlash as a result.
“Will you be discussing the massive cover up that happened in the state of New York involving the governor?” one Twitter user replied to a Cuomo Prime Time post on Friday regarding the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
“As your brother struggles for air and you care about a former president. Do you care about the dead seniors at all?” another commented.
The governor’s top aide admitted recently her team withheld the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the state’s nursing homes to protect the Cuomo’s government from a federal investigation and political scrutiny, according to Breitbart News:
Left-wing and partisan Democrat news media outlets regularly praised Cuomo’s conduct as governor in the context of the coronavirus outbreak, with many framing Cuomo’s approach towards combating COVID-19 as evidence of presidential capabilities. Despite framing the spread of COVID-19 as a “crisis,” Cuomo wrote a book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic, during his time heading New York’s public health strategy.
A search through transcripts revealed the words “nursing homes” and “Andrew Cuomo” were not spoken once Thursday evening during the hours of 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on CNN or MSNBC, Fox News reported.
However, New York Democrats are demanding Gov. Cuomo be stripped of his emergency coronavirus powers in response to the administration’s cover-up.
Fourteen lawmakers asserted in a prepared statement that it is clear “the expanded emergency powers granted to the Governor are no longer appropriate.”
“While the executive’s authority to issue directives is due to expire on April 30, we urge the Senate to advance and adopt a repeal as expeditiously as possible,” they concluded.
In reply to Cuomo’s Prime Time tweet Friday, another user said, “It’s sad that a [sic] your brother the governor of New York can recklessly cause the deaths of 15k seniors yet you talk about Trump.”
Former President Donald Trump was acquitted in his second impeachment trial Saturday.
The Senate voted to acquit former President Donald Trump Saturday of charges that he incited an insurrection on January 6.
The Senate voted 57-43, meaning that the chamber failed to clear the 67-vote threshold necessary to convict Trump of the charge that he incited an insurrection on January 6, when Congress was certifying the 2020 presidential election.
UPDATE: President Trump released a statement after his acquittal, full coverage begins below former President Trump’s statement:
I want to first thank my team of dedicated lawyers and others for their tireless work upholding justice and defending truth.
My deepest thanks as well to all of the United States Senators and Members of Congress who stood proudly for the Constitution we all revere and for the sacred legal principles at the heart of our country.
Our cherished Constitutional Republic was founded on the impartial rule of law, the indispensable safeguard for our liberties, our rights and our freedoms.
It is a sad commentary on our times that one political party in America is given a free pass to denigrate the rule of law, defame law enforcement, cheer mobs, excuse rioters, and transform justice into a tool of political vengeance, and persecute, blacklist, cancel and suppress all people and viewpoints with whom or which they disagree. I always have, and always will, be a champion for the unwavering rule of law, the heroes of law enforcement, and the right of Americans to peacefully and honorably debate the issues of the day without malice and without hate.
This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country. No president has ever gone through anything like it, and it continues because our opponents cannot forget the almost 75 million people, the highest number ever for a sitting president, who voted for us just a few short months ago.
I also want to convey my gratitude to the millions of decent, hardworking, law-abiding, God-and-Country loving citizens who have bravely supported these important principles in these very difficult and challenging times.
Our historic, patriotic and beautiful movement to Make America Great Again has only just begun. In the months ahead I have much to share with you, and I look forward to continuing our incredible journey together to achieve American greatness for all of our people. There has never been anything like it!
We have so much work ahead of us, and soon we will emerge with a vision for a bright, radiant, and limitless American future. Together there is nothing we cannot accomplish.
We remain one People, one family, and one glorious nation under God, and it’s our responsibility to preserve this magnificent inheritance for our children and for generations of Americans to come. May God bless all of you, and may God forever bless the United States of America.
Former President Donald Trump was acquitted in his second impeachment trial Saturday.
The Senate voted to acquit former President Donald Trump Saturday of charges that he incited an insurrection on January 6.
The Senate voted 57-43, meaning that the chamber failed to clear the 67-vote threshold necessary to convict Trump of the charge that he incited an insurrection on January 6, when Congress was certifying the 2020 presidential election.
Seven Senate Republicans voted to convict Trump of inciting an insurrection, including Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Ben Sasse (R-NE).
Today’s vote marks the second time that Trump has escaped conviction from the Senate after a House Democrat majority voted to impeach Trump. House Democrats voted to impeach Trump the first time, accusing him of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The Senate impeachment trial took a dramatic turn Saturday morning as the Senate voted to have additional witnesses testify. Five Senate Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ben Sasse (R-NE), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) voted yes.
Senators wanted more information about a reported call between Trump and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). During the alleged call, which was first mentioned by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA), Trump said that the rioters cared more about election fraud than McCarthy did.
Trump defense attorney Michael van der Veen said that if Democrats want more witnesses, he needs to depose House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) – not by Zoom but in Philadelphia – and Vice President Kamala Harris. Van der Veen said he would need up to 100 depositions.
The Senate vote enraged many Republicans, such as Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Ernst, the Senate GOP vice chair, called the vote a “total, total shit show.”
She called the approval of additional witnesses a “tool of revenge” against the 45th president.
The Iowa conservative then promised that if Democrats wished to extend the impeachment trial against Trump, they will also drag out the trial. She also promised to block the consideration of potential nominees.
“If they want to drag this out, we’ll drag it out. They won’t get their noms, they won’t get anything,” Ernst said.
“Dems had agreed to know [sic] witnesses, then-House Managers changed their mind this morning. Schumer blindsided. Pandemonium. They’re negotiating now to figure out next steps,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said in a statement on Saturday.
However, the impeachment trial took an even more dramatic turn when the House Democrat impeachment managers and the Trump legal team struck a deal Saturday afternoon that would bypass additional witness testimony.
News Max reported on the drama that unfolded leading to closing arguments :
The U.S. Senate agreed on Saturday to admitting a statement by Republican lawmaker Jaime Herrera Beutler into evidence in former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
In the statement, the lawmaker said the top House Republican, Kevin McCarthy, had told her about a call he had with Trump on Jan. 6, during a riot when hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, in which Trump said, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.”
Under the agreement, the information that a Republican congresswoman has made public about Trump’s actions on the day of the riot will be entered into the record of the trial in exchange for Democrats dropping plans to deposition testimony from the congresswoman, Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington no witnesses would be called to testify.
That allowed the trial to resume Saturday with closing arguments and a vote on the verdict.
Some of the closing argument highlights:
Raskin begins his closing argument and says any reasonable person would conclude that Trump proverbially let the first start and wanted to keep it going.
Raskin says the House Managers have presented irrefutable evidence. Raskin praises Liz Cheney and reads her statement. He says she survived the attempts by Trump supporters to “cancel” her. Raskin accuses of Trump of summoning the mob, but says he did not want to be near the action as he scurried back to the White House. He says the mob “unleashed unparalleled” violence against police officers.
Rep. Jamie Raskin on Trump: “And he said he was going to march with them to the Capitol, even though the permit for the rally specifically forbade a march. But he said he would march with them, giving them more comfort that what they were doing was legitimate, it was okay.” pic.twitter.com/FIXRHt7KOL
Next, Cicilline said Trump incited violence and many people were ready for violence as the House Managers largely repeat arguments they made this week. Cicilline said an innocent person would jump at the chance to testify, but former President Trump declined. He says that the beginning of Trump’s speech “incited an initial wave” of rioters going to the Capitol. He says a much larger wave came after Trump finished his speech. He says it is just not possible that Trump did not know Pence was in danger and was being evacuated from the Senate floor. He says Trump betrayed everyone, including Officer Eugene Goodman, after inciting a riot only he could stop. He says Trump’s further incitement was a “dereliction of duty.”
Rep. David Cicilline: “Former President Trump has remained silent about what he was doing during one of the bloodiest attacks on our Capitol since 1812.” pic.twitter.com/sHQZi3UHg9
Summary of Trump lawyer Michael Van der Veen closing argument from Breitbart News:
Van der Veen says the rioting had been “pre-planned” and had been “premeditated.” He says Democrats demanded National Guard forces be withdrawn after left-wing rioting last summer. He says political leaders could have downplayed the need for security because they played into the “false narrative” of what happened last summer. He says Pelosi never called it an insurrection when left-wing activists took over federal courthouses and vandalized the Treasury building. Van der Veen now talking about how Harris encouraged supporters to donate to a bail fund for rioters so they can do it over and over again. He says Democrats incited rioters more than Trump incited the insurrectionists. He says “it’s a hypocrisy that the House Managers have laid at the feed of this chamber.” Van der Veen blames a “bloodthirsty” media that “glorified civil unrest” for ratings for contributing to the Jan. 6 riots. He says House Democrats have created a new legal theory to protect speech based on the party label next to someone’s name. He says House Democrats have trampled every “tradition and norm of due process.” He says Trump was given opportunity to question the propriety of various pieces of evidence or engage in fact-finding because much of what the House Managers introduced were based on anonymous sources. He accuses the House Managers of taking a “kitchen sink approach” because their case is so weak. He says the impeachment trial has been a “charade” and nothing more than a pursuit of a “political vendetta” against Trump. Van der Veen says there is no jurisdiction, each allegation had to be divisible, and there was a lack of due process that was “shocking” and “way over the top.” He also says there were no “words of incitement” after mumbling about the First Amendment. He says Senators do not have to indulge the “impeachment lust” of Democrats.
Van der Veen began by saying, what took place on January 6 was a “grave tragedy” and the “infiltration of the Capitol” was a “heinous act.” He claims the former president is also “deeply disturbed” by the video. He says the question before the Senators is not whether there was a violent insurrection (He says, on this point, everyone agrees.), but whether Trump willfully incited an insurrection against the United States. He says the act of incitement never happened and Trump did not incite violence with his January 6 speech
(TJVNEWS.COM) Two people were found stabbed to death on separate A trains overnight and two more were later discovered injured from vicious stab wounds, also along the A train line police said Saturday morning.
Police found a 44-year-old woman with stab wounds on a train at the West 207th Street and Broadway station in Washington Heights around 1:30 a.m. She was pronounced dead at the scene CBS reported. NY Times reported the gruesome murder in more detail, in a scene out of a 1980’s slasher movie, the 44-year-old woman, apparently homeless was found, stabbed throughout her body underneath a seat on a train at a station in Upper Manhattan
About two hours earlier, officers found a man with stab wounds who was sitting on a train stopped at the Mott Avenue and Beach 22nd Street station in Far Rockaway. He was also pronounced dead at the scene. The NY Times expanded on the horrifying slashing reporting: the man, apparently homeless, was found dead from stab wounds to the neck and torso, slumped on a seat.
The NY Times also reported a third victim and fourth victim of the slasher
The Times reported:
There was nearly a third killing at a third subway station when a homeless man sleeping on an exit stairwell was awakened by a sharp pain in his back. He, too, had been stabbed. He ran to a bank, collapsed, and was in “very serious condition” at a hospital, the police said.
All three attacks, the police say, were likely committed by the same person. And they may be linked to an earlier nonfatal attack on Friday morning, in which an assailant yelled “I’m going to kill you,” then stabbed a 67-year-old homeless man in the knee and buttocks as he pushed his walker on a train platform.
(TVJNEWS) New York City police officers arrested 11 people during a violent Black Lives Matter march Friday night. The melee left two NYPD officers injured, according to NY Post and Breitbart.
Approximately 100 BLM marchers took to the streets of midtown Manhattan Friday night, the New York Postreported. At least two NYPD officers sustained minor injuries during the incident.
Daily News photographer Sam Costanza came under attack from the protesters when they mistakenly identified him as a police officer. Costanza said ten to 15 protesters surrounded him and began fighting him, according to Newsday
One of the protesters reportedly recognized him from a protest at the NYPD 6th Precinct headquarters in Greenwich Village last year, the Post stated. One of the protesters began yelling, “He’s a cop,” leading others to swarm the man and beating him with their fists and other objects, Breitbart summarized.
In other words, the BLM insurrectionists were looking to attack a police officer.
The latest rendition of the communist-tinged movement seems to be focused on transgendered black lives, as the major rallying point in NYC protests.
WABC reported the incident turned violent as protesters clashed with officers near 6th Avenue and West 54th Street around 9 p.m.
Police officials did not disclose how the officers were injured, the Post continued. Officers responded by arresting at least 11 of the anti-police protesters.
The confrontation on Sixth Avenue began when police placed one of the protesters in custody, the New York Daily Newsrevealed. Police officials told the local news outlet a melee ensued leading to the arrest of multiple protesters.
NYC -A BLM march through Midtown Manhattan turned violent Friday night, with 11 protesters arrested. At least some of those arrested were accused of attacking Daily News photographer Sam Costanza at the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 54th Street pic.twitter.com/ueSzXEhPus
New York Democrats, in a rare reprimand of Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), are demanding that the Democrat leader be stripped of his emergency coronavirus powers in response to his administration’s coverup of coronavirus nursing home death data.
Cuomo, who has generally enjoyed unmitigated praise from the establishment media and fellow Democrats throughout the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, is facing backlash from Democrat state senators following an admission from Melissa DeRosa, New York’s secretary to the governor, who privately admitted that the administration covered up nursing home death data over fears of a federal probe under the Trump administration.
Fourteen lawmakers prepared a statement, asserting that it is now clear that “the expanded emergency powers granted to the Governor are no longer appropriate.”
“Without exception, the New York State Constitution calls for the Legislature to govern as a co-equal branch of government,” the lawmakers wrote”:
While COVID-19 has tested the limits of our people and state –– and, early during the pandemic, required the government to restructure decision making to render rapid, necessary public health judgments –– it is clear that the expanded emergency powers granted to the Governor are no longer appropriate.
“While the executive’s authority to issue directives is due to expire on April 30, we urge the Senate to advance and adopt a repeal as expeditiously as possible,” they said.
The state senators include Sens. Alessandra Biaggi, Jabari Brisport, Samra Brouk, Jeremy Cooney, Andrew Gounardes, Robert Jackson, John C. Liu, John Mannion, Rachel May, Elijah Reichlin-Melnick, Gustavo Rivera, Julia Salazar, James Sanders, and James Skoufis,” per PIX11.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) also issued a warning to the governor, cautioning that lawmakers will be “discussing next steps as a conference.”
“Crucial information should never be withheld from entities that are empowered to pursue oversight,” Stewart-Cousins said.
The statement follows the New York Post’s Thursday report revealing the private call between DeRosa and state lawmakers, wherein she admitted that the administration withheld nursing home data over concerns of a federal investigation.
“Because then we were in a position where we weren’t sure if what we were going to give to the Department of Justice, or what we give to you guys, what we start saying, was going to be used against us while we weren’t sure if there was going to be an investigation,” she told lawmakers, apologizing for the awkward position the administration’s actions put the lawmakers in.
“So we do apologize. I do understand the position that you were put in. I know that it is not fair,” she acknowledged. “It was not our intention to put you in that political position with the Republicans.”
The revelation prompted backlash from prominent New York lawmakers as well, including Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Lee Zeldin (R-NY), both of whom called for a Department of Justice investigation.
“Governor Cuomo, the Secretary to the Governor, and his senior team must be prosecuted immediately – both by the Attorney General of New York State and the U.S. Department of Justice,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said in a statement.
“DOJ needs to immediately open an Obstruction of Justice investigation into Gov Cuomo & his admin,” Zeldin said Thursday evening.
Over 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients were sent to New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities following the Cuomo administration’s controversial March 25 directive requiring the facilities to accept such patients, according to the AP. Coronavirus-related deaths in New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities is nearing 15,000, “up from the 8,500 previously disclosed,” the outlet added.
Last month, New York Attorney General Letitia James released a damning report revealing that “a larger number of nursing home residents died from COVID-19 than the New York State Department of Health’s (DOH) published nursing home data reflected and may have been undercounted by as much as 50 percent.” Cuomo initially dismissed the reports. The bottom line, he said, is that “people died.”
“But we’re below the national average in the number of deaths in nursing homes. But who cares? Thirty-three [percent], 28 [percent], died in a hospital, died in a nursing home,” he said in response. “They died.”
Oakland Police say they are increasing patrols in Chinatown after over 20 robberies and assaults in the neighborhood in recent days. Almost all of the attacks seem to be targeting Asian Americans, especially elderly victims.
The Cut reported As the Queens Chronicle noted back in September, NYPD data showed that there has been a 1,900 percent increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in New York City in the past year. U.N. report also found that there were more than 1,800 racist incidents against Asian Americans in the United States over an eight-week period from March to May 2020.
Some reporters indicate Asians are being targeted because of COVID’s Chinese origins, however as writer Colin Flaherty has documented, violence against Asians is common in inner cities, most frequently the assailants are African American and the motive is usually a stereotype of Asians being perceived as “weak” or easy targets for violent robberies. This is an underbelly of racism, rarely discussed in an environment where racism and social justice have become a focal rallying point across America.
Vice President Harris briefly addressed this grave issue of racism against Asians in America. She Tweeted:
“Hate crimes and violence against Asian Americans and Asian immigrants have skyrocketed during the pandemic,” Harris tweeted. “That’s why our Administration has taken actions to address these xenophobic attacks. We must continue to commit ourselves to combating racism and discrimination.”
Newsmax reported:
Videos of recent attacks on older Asian Americans in California’s Bay Area spread across social media. They included one of a 91-year-old man being pushed from behind and landing facedown on a street in the Chinatown neighborhood of Oakland, and another showing 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee violently shoved to the ground in San Francisco.
Ratanapakdee later died, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Below are several disturbing videos
⚠️ WARNING: this video is hard to watch. Another shocking attack in Oakland’s Chinatown. 8th and Harrison Streets. Outside the Asian Resource Center.
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A young woman told me her grandma was robbed while coming home from the bank February 3rd around 11am. 6th Avenue and International Boulevard in Oakland. pic.twitter.com/eqbDPL3jbx
It seems like the “woke” crowd has once again pervaded the internal structure of the New York Times. Maintaining a “politically correct” posture has always been the mantra at the alleged “paper of record” but now things are heating up due to the termination of veteran reporter Donald McNeil.
According to a report in the NY Post, McNeil tendered his resignation after a 45-year career with the Times over remarks he made to a group of teenage students during a Times-sponsored education trip to Peru in 2019 in which the N word was used.
Jumping to McNeil’s defense was Times opinion columnist Bret Stephens. The former Wall Street Journal columnist penned a column with a tentative title “Regardless of Intent” but according to Stephens the column was spiked by Times publisher AG Sulzberger.
Meanwhile, a battle royal of sorts is brewing inside the Times. According to the Post, staffers who demanded McNeil’s ouster for alleged racism are locking horns with those at the Times who have accused the paper of acquiescing to a cancel culture mob mentality.
In an internal email obtained by The Daily Beast on Thursday, Stephens said, “If you’re wondering why it wasn’t in the paper, it’s because AG Sulzberger spiked it,” he wrote atop the email. His claim was first reported by NBC’s Dylan Byers.
A copy of the column obtained and published by the New York Post late Thursday showed Stephens singling out New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet and accusing The Times’ of hypocrisy, writing that “The Times has never previously been shy about citing racial slurs in order to explain a point,” according to the Daily Beast report.
According to the Daily Beast report, “more than 150 staffers sent an “outraged” email to the paper’s bosses, at one point telling Baquet that intent is “irrelevant” in this case. And so, upon the reporter’s exit last Friday, the Baquet wrote: “We do not tolerate racist language regardless of intent.” On Thursday, Baquet walked back the comment slightly saying, “Of course intent matters when we’re talking about language in journalism. Intent matters,” as was reported by the Daily Beast.
“Do any of us want to live in a world, or work in a field, where intent is categorically ruled out as a mitigating factor?” Stephens asked in his column. “Every serious moral philosophy, every decent legal system, and every ethical organization cares deeply about intention,” Stephens wrote. “It is the difference between murder and manslaughter. It is an aggravating or extenuating factor in judicial settings. It is a cardinal consideration in pardons (or at least it was until Donald Trump got in on the act). It’s an elementary aspect of parenting, friendship, courtship and marriage.”
“A hallmark of injustice,” Stephens added, “is indifference to intention.”
When the Daily Beast reached out to Stephens for a comment on the story he refused to speak with them and hung up abruptly.
Speaking to the Daily Beast in an interview, Times opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury
In an interview with the Daily Beast, Times opinion editor Kathleen Kingsbury disputed Stephens’ account, telling them that while she consulted with Sulzberger about the column, it was her decision not to run the column.
“I have an especially high bar of running any column that could reflect badly on a colleague and I didn’t feel that this piece rose to that level,” she said, noting that she believed Baquet was planning on correcting the record about the paper’s view on “intent.”
“Bret and I had a professional conversation to kill the column on Monday night and he expressed his disappointment and we moved on,” she told the Daily Beast.
On Thursday, Baquet said his comments about “intent” were made “ham-handedly” and were an “oversimplification” that he chalked up to a “deadline mistake,” according to the Post report.
He added that” “Of course intent matters when we are talking about language in journalism. The author and his purpose also matter, the moment matters. The slur we’ve been discussing is a vile one. I’ve been called it. But it appears in our pages and it will no doubt appear in our pages again.
“It should not be used for effect. It comes with a grim history and it’s a blow to the gut … each use should be put to the test. That’s why we have a style book. But the main thing is of course intent matters.”
The Daily Beast reported that initially McNeil was reprimanded for his comments during the trip to Peru, however both parents and teachers were upset by use of this racial slur and for sexist remarks that he made. They registered their complaints to the top brass at the paper.
A statement was released from McNeil that said he initially did not understand how hurtful his use of the N-word had been and he was sorry to have uttered it, according to the Post report.
Rather than addressing how the racist comment affected students on the Peru trip, Stephens side stepped it and launched a rigorous defense of his colleague, according to his detractors.
While Stephens is the only columnist at the Times who extols politically conservative views on issues, he was not a Trump supporter and initially expressed revulsion over Trump’s candidacy in 2016.
According to a source who spoke to the Jewish Voice on the condition of anonymity, Stephens was questioned several years ago by a publisher of a local Jewish newspaper about his decision to move from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times. The source said that Stephens verbally lambasted the publisher; using harsh language and raising his voice.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) submitted a question during the fourth day of the Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump asking if language Vice President Kamala Harris used in 2020 regarding Black Lives Matter protests is considered incitement given the impeachment managers’ “proposed standard” for incitement.
Cruz’s question began, “While violent riots were raging, Kamala Harris said on national TV, ‘They’re not gonna let up, and they should not,’” quoting viral comments then-Sen. Harris (D-CA) made on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert last June in reference to nationwide Black Lives Matter protests.
The protests, which were sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in May, were largely peaceful but, in many instances, ended up devolving into destructive riots throughout the country that included vandalism, looting, fires, violence, injury, and in some cases even death over the course of several months in 2020.
“And she also raised money to bail out violent rioters,” Cruz’s question continued in reference to the Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF) Harris urged her Facebook and Twitter followers to support in June 2020.
The MFF is an organization that seeks to combat cash bail by posting bail for detained individuals. The fund received a massive influx of donations amid last year’s protests and promoted its mission as many arrests were being made of those who went beyond protesting to allegedly violate the law.
Although Harris asked her followers to “help post bail for those protesting,” the fund’s website states that it does “not make determinations of bail support based on the crimes that individuals are alleged to have committed,” and furthermore, the fund has set free from jail individuals accused of egregious crimes. Last year, the MFF posted bail for a father accused of molesting his teenage daughter, a man accused of sexually assaulting his teenage niece, a man accused of sexually assaulting an eight-year-old, and a woman accused of stabbing her aunt, as the Daily Caller reported in November.
Cruz’s question continued, “Using the manager’s proposed standard, is there any coherent way for Donald Trump’s words to be incitement and Kamala Harris’s words not to be incitement?”
Lead House impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) responded to the question by saying on the chamber floor that he was “not familiar” with the quote from Harris that Cruz had referenced; however, Trump attorney Michael T. van der Veek rejected that notion during his own response to Cruz, saying his team had given video to the House’s team of Harris’s quote and that they had played the video three times that day.
Raskin also said that despite not recognizing the quote, he finds it “absolutely unimaginable that Vice President Harris would ever incite violence or encourage or promote violence. Obviously, it’s completely irrelevant to the proceeding at hand, and I will allow her to defend herself.”
In a related question during the trial, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) asked on behalf of himself, Cruz, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), “Does a politician raising bail for rioters encourage more rioting?” A representative from Trump’s legal team replied, “Yes.”
