Trump's dangerous post about Mitch McConnell & his wife, and what it says about the Republican party by Glenn Kirschner Oct 5, 2022
Donald Trump posted that Mitch McConnell has a "death wish" because of the way he's been legislating. Here is the one question Trump's obscene, vulgar and dangerous post raises about the 263 Republicans serving in Congress.
Transcript
so, did you see Donald Trump's latest post, his obscene post, his vulgar post, his dangerous post, about Mitch McConnell and his wife? you know, that post raises one question, and it's not a question about Donald Trump. let's talk about that. because Justice matters. [Music] hey all, Glenn kirschner here. so you've probably seen, or heard, about Donald Trump's recent post about Mitch McConnell having a quote death wish close quote because of the way he's been legislating. you know, Trump posted it a few days ago. and here's some recent reporting about this from Mother Jones magazine. Trump says McConnell has Death Wish in menacing post. meanwhile, the times reports a surge of threats and in-person confrontations on members of Congress. and that article begins: "this weekend, former president Donald Trump did his best to remind us of why he's banned from major social media Platforms. in a post on Truth social targeting Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Trump declared quote 'he has a Death Wish' close quote. he then pivoted to a racist attack on McConnell's wife, Trump's former Transportation secretary Elaine Chao, who was born in Taiwan. now friends, I wanted to just sort of sit with the language of that post, let it settle in for a few days before saying anything about it. maybe that's unusual in this day and age of instant news. first, let me read the full post by Trump. "is McConnell approving all of these trillions of dollars worth of democrat-sponsored bills without even the slightest bit of negotiation, because he hates Donald J Trump? he has a Death Wish. must immediately seek help ,and advise from his china-loving wife Coco Chao." now, I'm not surprised, or shocked ,at what Donald Trump posted. Trump is an irredeemable, loathsome creature. but I will forever be surprised by what Donald Trump has exposed. so here's the question. how can there only be two -- only two -- two Republicans, of the 263 Republicans in the house and the Senate combined -- only two -- Cheney and Kinzinger -- the only two Republicans who put honor, and dignity, and patriotism, and the rule of law, and the safety of the American people, and the health of our democracy, above their own self-interests? only two. is winning a re-election more important than protecting the American people? is winning a re-election more important than supporting and defending the Constitution? is winning a re-election more important than the health -- indeed than the viability -- of American democracy? only two said, "my re-election is not as important as those other things." and yet 261 Republicans said, "no, it's about me, and only me. those other concerns are not my concerns." and you know, foolishly, or perhaps naively, I always thought that there was this baseline, a baseline of patriotism, below which no elected official would ever sink. how wrong I was. but you know friends, it's no longer even about Donald Trump's bad behavior, hateful behavior, dangerous behavior. you know, now it's more about the cowardice, and self-interest, of the 261 who continue to enable Donald Trump. but as always, friends, let's look for a little bit of good news. there is a little bit of good news, because there remains a remedy, a real remedy. and that remedy is for the rule of law to be prodded into wakefulness, and to hold accountable all of the ruling class criminals, from Donald Trump on down. you know, that is our best shot. it's probably our last shot, our only shot -- the rule of law. holding accountable trump and company. because Justice matters. friends, as always, please stay safe, please stay tuned, please hang in there -- they want us defeated; they want us despondent; they want us hopeless, and helpless, and anxious, and depressed, and anxiety ridden. don't give them the satisfaction. I look forward to talking with you tomorrow friends. [Music]
Pelosi Home Invasion Comes After Years Of Trump Targeting The Speaker by Chris Hayes Oct 28, 2022
Chris Hayes: “Political violence, intimidation, menace has been cultivated and encouraged by the ex-president for years to his followers. And that threat of violence has been specifically directed at Nancy Pelosi for years now.”
Transcript
[APPLAUSE] GOOD EVENING FROM 0:18 NEW YORK, I AM CHRIS HAYES, AND 0:20 I AM HERE IN ROCKEFELLER CENTER 0:22 WITH A LIVE AUDIENCE. 0:23 IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE 0:23 NOT DONE IN NEARLY THREE YEARS. 0:25 LAST TIME I WAS STANDING HERE 0:26 WAS MARCH 6TH, 2020, RIGHT 0:28 BEFORE THE ENTIRE WORLD SHUT 0:30 DOWN. 0:30 OF COURSE, COVID, STILL NOT 0:32 GONE. 0:32 BUT WE ARE BACK, WE ARE TAKING 0:34 PRECAUTIONS SO THAT WE CAN 0:35 GATHER HERE SAFELY. 0:36 EVERYONE HERE IS VACCINATED. 0:37 I AM VAXXED AND BOOSTED, YOU 0:38 WILL SEE PEOPLE WEARING MASKS, 0:40 AND WE ARE HERE ON A NIGHT A 0:41 VERY SERIOUS BREAKING NEWS OUT 0:42 IN SAN FRANCISCO. 0:43 I AM SURE THAT YOU HAVE SEEN 0:44 IT. 0:45 IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE 0:46 MOMENT THERE WAS A VIOLENT 0:47 INVASION THAT THE SPEAKER OF 0:49 THE HOUSE, NANCY PELOSI, ONE OF 0:50 THE MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THE 0:52 UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT SECOND 0:53 IN LINE WITH THE PRESIDENCY. 0:54 HERE'S WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR, THE 0:57 SUSPECT IS A 42 YEAR OLD MAN 0:58 WITH A LONG ONLINE FOOTPRINT. 0:59 HIS SOCIAL MEDIA AND BLOG POSTS 1:01 -- 1:02 CONSPIRACY THEORIES, INCLUDING 1:05 ABOUT THE 2020 ELECTION, COVID 1:07 VACCINES, AND SHORTLY BEFORE 1:09 2:30 AM HE BROKE INTO PELOSI'S 1:11 SAN FRANCISCO HOME THROUGH 1:13 WINDOWS IN THE BACK OF THE 1:14 HOUSE. 1:14 THE SPEAKER WAS NOT THERE, SHE 1:16 WAS IN WASHINGTON D.C. WITH THE 1:17 CAPITOL POLICE SECURITY DETAIL 1:19 THAT ALWAYS TRAVELS WITH HER. 1:20 AND HER HUSBAND WAS ALONE. 1:22 82 YEAR OLD PAUL PELOSI AT 1:25 HOME. 1:25 ACCORDING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT 1:27 SOURCES, THE INTRUDER 1:29 CONFRONTED MR. PELOSI SAYING 1:31 WHERE IS NANCY, WHERE IS NANCY? 1:33 HE ALSO TOLD PAUL PELOSI HE WAS 1:36 GOING TO TIE HIM UP, AND WAIT 1:38 FOR NANCY PELOSI TO GET HOME. 1:39 SOMEHOW, PAUL PELOSI WAS ABLE 1:42 TO SURREPTITIOUSLY DIAL 9-1-1 1:45 WHEN THE ATTACKER WAS NOT 1:47 LOOKING. 1:47 THE CHIEF OF POLICE, BILL SCOTT, 1:50 DESCRIBED WHAT OFF FOSTERS SAW 1:52 WHEN THEY ARRIVED ON THE SCENE. 1:52 >> OUR OFFICERS OBSERVED THE 1:58 SUSPECT HOLDING THE HAMMER. 1:59 THE SUSPECT PULLED THE HAMMER 2:01 AWAY FROM MR. PELOSI AND 2:02 VIOLENTLY ASSAULTED HIM WITH 2:04 IT. 2:04 OUR OFFICERS IMMEDIATELY 2:06 TACKLED THE SUSPECT, DISARMED 2:08 HIM, TOOK HIM INTO CUSTODY, 2:10 REQUESTED EMERGENCY BACKUP, AND 2:12 RENDER MEDICAL AID. 2:13 >> PAUL PELOSI'S 82-YEAR-OLD 2:15 MAN AT HOME WAS HIT IN THE HEAD 2:18 MULTIPLE TIMES WITH A HAMMER. 2:19 HE REMAINS IN THE HOSPITAL AS 2:21 WE SPEAK AFTER UNDERGOING 2:23 SURGERY THIS AFTERNOON TO 2:24 REPAIR A SKULL FRACTURE, 2:27 SERIOUS INJURIES TO HIS RIGHT 2:28 ARM, AND HANDS. 2:29 WE ARE TOLD, THANKFULLY, HE IS 2:31 EXPECTED TO MAKE A FULL 2:32 RECOVERY. 2:32 HIS ATTACKER WAS ALSO 2:34 TRANSPORTED TO HOSPITAL FOR 2:35 TREATMENT, AND HE IS BEING 2:37 CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED HOMICIDE, 2:39 ASSAULT OF A DEADLY WEAPON, AND 2:42 ELDER ABUSE, HE SAID THE MOTIVE 2:44 IS STILL BEING DETERMINED. 2:45 NOW, WE ARE SEEING, THANKFULLY, 2:49 A COMBINATION OF THIS HORRIFIC 2:50 ATTACK ACROSS THE SPECTRUM 2:52 INCLUDING FROM REPUBLICANS, 2:53 LEADER OF THE SENATE, MITCH 2:54 MCCONNELL, LEADER OF THE HOUSE, 2:55 KEVIN MCCARTHY, AND WE DO HAVE 2:57 TO NOTE AS OF THIS HOUR WE HAVE 2:59 NOT HEARD ANYTHING FROM THE 3:01 ACTUAL LEADER OF THE REPUBLICAN 3:03 PARTY, DONALD TRUMP. 3:04 AND OF COURSE, THIS IS THE 3:06 CONTEXT THAT LOOMS OVER ALL OF 3:08 US. 3:08 THE POLITICAL VIOLENCE, AND 3:11 INTIMIDATION HAS BEEN 3:12 ENCOURAGED BY THE EX PRESIDENT 3:13 FOR YEARS TO HIS FOLLOWERS. 3:15 AND THAT THREAT OF VIOLENCE HAS 3:17 BEEN SPECIFICALLY DIRECTED AT 3:20 NANCY PELOSI FOR YEARS NOW. 3:21 SHE HAS BEEN THE TARGET OF THE 3:23 MOST RADICALIZED MEMBERS OF THE 3:24 TRUMP MOVEMENT WHO STALKED THE 3:26 HALLS OF THE CAPITOL LOOKING 3:27 FOR HER ON JANUARY 6TH, BANGING 3:30 ON HER OFFICE DOORS, YELLING 3:32 OUT THE SAME PHRASE THE 3:34 INTRUDER IN PELOSI'S HOME SAID 3:35 THIS MORNING. 3:36 >> WHERE ARE YOU NANCY, WE ARE 3:39 LOOKING FOR YOU! 3:44 NANCY! 3:47 OH, NANCY! 3:49 NANCY! 3:51 WHERE ARE YOU, NANCY? 3:53 >> BRING HER OUT HERE! 3:59 WE ARE COMING IN IF YOU DON'T 4:00 BRING HER OUT! 4:06 >> I'M IN HER OFFICE, I HAVE 4:10 GOT BLOOD IN HER OFFICE, I WILL 4:12 PUT A QUARTER ON HER DESK, EVEN 4:14 THOUGH SHE -- 4:16 AND I LEFT HER A NOTE ON HER 4:17 DESK THAT SAYS NANCY -- 4:18 >> TO BE CLEAR, AND FAIR ABOUT 4:23 ALL OF THIS, WE HAVE SEEN ALL 4:25 SORTS OF EXAMPLES OF POLITICAL 4:27 VIOLENCE AND THREATS IN THIS 4:28 COUNTRY. 4:29 2017, A GUNMAN ATTACKED 4:30 CONGRESSIONAL BASEBALL PRACTICE, 4:32 SHOOTING REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN 4:33 STEVE SCALISE, EARLIER THIS 4:35 YEAR A MAN WITH A GUN WAS 4:36 ARRESTED, YOUR SUPREME COURT 4:37 JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH. 4:39 IN JULY, ARMED MEN SHOWED UP 4:41 OUTSIDE DEMOCRATIC 4:43 CONGRESSWOMAN CAMILLA JAYAPAL'S 4:44 HOUSE. 4:45 THEY WERE ALL TERRIFYING AND 4:47 COMPLETELY OBVIOUSLY 4:48 UNACCEPTABLE INCIDENTS. 4:48 WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A SOMEWHAT 4:51 DIFFERENT CATEGORY BECAUSE 4:52 THERE IS A VERY SPECIFIC FORM 4:55 OF MURDEROUS RAGE COMING FROM 4:57 DONALD TRUMP'S MOST VIOLENT AND 4:59 MILITANT DEVOTEES DIRECTED AT 5:01 NANCY PELOSI. 5:02 AND ON JANUARY 6TH, ON THE DAY 5:05 OF THE LARGEST INSTANCE OF 5:06 POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN THIS 5:08 COUNTRY, IN RECENT MEMORY, A 5:10 MOB OF PEOPLE DIRECTED BY 5:12 DONALD TRUMP RAMPAGED THROUGH 5:13 THE CAPITOL WANTING TO FIND AND 5:15 HURT SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI. 5:19 ONE RIOTER SAID HE WANTED TO 5:20 DRAG THE SPEAKER FROM THE 5:21 BUILDING, AND I AM QUOTING HERE, 5:22 I JUST WANT TO SEE PELOSI'S 5:23 HEAD HIT EVERY STARE. 5:27 ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE MOB SAID 5:28 THAT SHE WAS LOOKING FOR NANCY 5:29 TO SHOOT HER IN THE BRAIN. 5:33 A THIRD SAID TELL PELOSI WE ARE 5:34 COMING FOR HER. 5:36 THESE ARE IF YOU EXAMPLES, AND 5:38 OVER THE COURSE OF HUNDREDS OF 5:39 CASES THERE ARE MANY, MANY 5:41 MORE. 5:42 IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT THE 5:44 VIOLENT THREATS, ON THE SPEAKER 5:47 CONTINUE. 5:48 I MEAN, JUST LISTEN TO WHAT 5:50 DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF IS SAYING 5:51 THE WEEK AFTER HIS FAILED COUP, 5:54 THE HOUSE PREPARED TO IMPEACH 5:55 HIM FOR THE SECOND TIME. 5:58 >> THIS IMPEACHMENT IS CAUSING 6:00 TREMENDOUS ANGER, AND IT IS 6:04 REALLY A TERRIBLE THING THAT 6:05 THEY ARE DOING FOR NANCY PELOSI, 6:10 AND CHUCK SCHUMER TO CONTINUE 6:11 ON THIS PATH. 6:12 I THINK IT IS CAUSING 6:14 TREMENDOUS DANGER TO OUR 6:15 COUNTRY, AND IT IS CAUSING 6:17 TREMENDOUS ANGER. 6:18 I DON'T WANT ANY VIOLENCE. 6:19 >> CAUSING TREMENDOUS ANGER, 6:21 YOU ARE DOING THE SAME, PEOPLE 6:22 GET RILED UP. 6:24 DONALD TRUMP SAYS, THAT HE SAYS 6:25 THINGS LIKE THAT QUITE A BIT. 6:27 HE IS PAINTING A TARGET, RIGHT? 6:30 IT IS CLEAR, AND DIRECT, IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HE IS DOING.
Arizona's Kari Lake Mocks Violent Pelosi Attack On The Campaign Trail Chris Hayes MSNBC Oct 31, 2022
Arizona's Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake joined the list of right-wing figures who are using the violent attack on Paul Pelosi as a punchline—or are spreading conspiracy theories about the assault.
Transcript
[Chris Hayes] JUST HOURS AFTER THE ATTACK ON THE HUSBAND OF THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE BY A SUSPECT WHO, BY HIS OWN ACCOUNT, ACCORDING TO FEDERAL COURT FILINGS, BELIEVED IN A BUNCH OF RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY THEORIES, THE USUAL SUSPECTS ARE ALREADY SPREADING SPIN AND MISINFORMATION, AND COVER FOR THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
>> [FOX NEWS HOST] IF WE HAVE A SITUATION, WHERE THIS IS POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, YOU HAVE TO STEP BACK AND SAY, "WHY IS OUR COUNTRY SO DIVIDED? PRESIDENT BIDEN -- YOU GOT UP TO THE PODIUM, AND SAID YOU WERE GONNA BRING US TOGETHER."
>> [FOX NEWS HOST] PEOPLE MAY BE QUICK TO MAKE LEAPS TO CERTAIN EVENTS IN THE PAST, CERTAIN POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES, WHAT MAY HAVE DRIVEN THIS PERSON. WE CAN'T MAKE THOSE LEAPS. AND WE SHOULDN'T MAKE THOSE LEAPS. BECAUSE WE JUST DON'T KNOW AT THIS POINT. THIS PERSON COULD'VE BEEN MOTIVATED BY JUST ABOUT ANYTHING. WE DON'T KNOW.
>> [FOX NEWS] WE DO NOT KNOW ALL THE INFORMATION. I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY, PAUL PELOSI IS OKAY. BUT THERE'S SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T ADD UP. SOMETHING, SOMETHING --
The Awful Truth: Paul Pelosi Was Drunk Again, And In a Dispute With a Male Prostitute Early Friday Morning. "Paul Pelosi stated that he doesn't know who the male is but he advised that his name is David and that he is a friend." Yeah, right. by Stan Greene Observer Staff Writer October 29, 2022
It Doesn't Add Up: Some People on Social Media Are Questioning Attack on Paul Pelosi. Here, attacker David Depape at a Castro Nudist event in 2013.
Update 10/30: In response to this story, San Francisco Police said today that victim Pelosi and suspect Depape, did not know each other prior to the attack. SFPD reaffirmed that the assault followed a break-in. The SFPD has over time, changed some of the facts initially stated to the public, which isn't uncommon as police further investigate a heinous crime.
Update 11/1/22: The original version of this article, which I presented as opinion and not a statement of proven facts, has been removed from our website at the request of the prosecutor's office.
The Awful Truth: Paul Pelosi Was Drunk Again, And In a Dispute With a Male Prostitute Early Friday Morning. "Paul Pelosi stated that he doesn't know who the male is but he advised that his name is David and that he is a friend." Yeah, right. by Stan Greene Observer Staff Writer October 29, 2022
It Doesn't Add Up: Some People on Social Media Are Questioning Attack on Paul Pelosi
7 of 32 (L-R)Family friend David Depape sits on the floor under blankets with Daniel, 8, Nebospod, 10, Inti, 13, Gypsy Taub and her fiance Jamyz Smith as they all watch the show South Park together at their home in Berkeley, CA, Friday, December 13, 2013. Nudity activists Gypsy Taub and her ...
Michael Short/The Chronicle
As SF's gay bars closed at 2 am, two gay men met in a bar and went home together. Happens every night in the City by the Bay. Except one of these two men, was married to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
I might disappear for telling you the truth. If I do, you'll all know why. But here's what really happened early Friday morning in San Francisco. IMHO
According to SFPD "RP [Reporting Person] stated that there’s a male in the home and that he’s going to wait for his wife. RP stated that he doesn’t know who the male is but he advised that his name is David, and that he is a friend? the dispatch official said. “RP sounded somewhat confused?
Dispatch call reveals how Paul Pelosi secretly alerted authorities to attack Oct 30, 2022 Dispatch audio has revealed how Nancy Pelosi’s husband managed to alert authorities that he was under attack from a hammer-wielding assailant by speaking in code in a secret 911 call.
Paul Pelosi relayed to law enforcement that a man called “David” had broken into his San Francisco home and planned to lie in “wait” for his House Speaker wife, according to a dispatcher.
Mr Pelosi, 82, described the man as “a friend” – in an apparent attempt to keep the 911 call under wraps from the alleged attacker David DePape.
It's been a rumor for years in SF that Paul Pelosi is gay. David Depape is said to be a Castro Nudist. "The lunatic who allegedly assaulted Paul Pelosi is a Berkeley resident and a 'Former Castro Nudist Protester' and hemp 'jewelry maker' ...sounds totally MAGA Republican to me." this from Twitter.
Ok, so here's the theory, as related to me by a source: "Castro Nudists are a group of really radical gay male prostitutes that parade around naked with c--k rings. First of all, the Police did not come in response to an alarm. They come in response to a "wellness check". So someone called them to check on Pelosi."
"When he didn't answer the phone, the cops came inside. When SFPD arrived, Pelosi was with the suspect, both men in their underwear. I have three stories that said it, and then they were forced to do a retraction, but I have the originals. And the British papers still say it."
"Pelosi owned the hammer. Not Depape. Or, the male prostitute was doing something he didn't like."
One of the claims made online is that both Mr DePape and Mr Pelosi were in just their underwear as police arrived at the scene.
But the FBI complaint against Mr DePape quotes a witness as saying he was dressed "in all black" carrying a large black bag on his back.
-- Paul Pelosi: Who is spreading false claims about attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband?, by Shayan Sardarizadeh, BBC Monitoring
"And then there was the press conference when they didn't know the mic was on. During that, a reporter confirmed that the suspect was a gay Castro Nudist, but they told him he couldn't use it."
"Now tell me something. This people are worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Nancy is third in line to the presidency. You don't think they have the most amazing security? And by the way, when Pelosi was in that drunk driving accident, he had a young man with him, and that too was covered up by the police and the press."
It Doesn't Add Up: Some People on Social Media Are Questioning Attack on Paul Pelosi
"There was only one hammer, and it belonged to Pelosi. And only ONE cop said he said "Where's Nancy?" None of the others said that he said that.
And one of them could easily have broken that window. Remember, there was no alarm triggered. How would (suspect Depape) have gotten into that house without doing that?"
Admittedly, David Depape is a known nutcase. He's an election denier, says mainstream media, who has posted conspiracy theories online. That may be true, but he also lives in Berkeley, where he is a 42 year old career student.
"My law firm served a lawsuit against Paul Pelosi one time in SF after attempting to serve at other residences -- Napa, Georgetown. They weren't home, but staff were, and multiple law enforcement officers were on the perimeter. Break-in is odd given this level of security." said Harmeet Dillon, Republican National Committee Chairman
We wish Paul Pelosi a quick and easy recovery from serious injuries that he suffered during this heinous crime. We wish his family the best! If you were offended by our original article, we wish you a speedy recovery as well. There are some opinions that some folks just can't handle, I suppose.
More facts have come to light about this crime as authorities investigate it further. Hopefully yet more details about a horrid attack on an innocent family member of an important US official, will come to light after the election. -- SG
From the New York Post: Megyn Kelly on Paul Pelosi Investigation in Podcast
Megyn Kelly isn’t buying the San Francisco Police Department’s version of events as it investigates the assault on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
“I know enough to smell a rat,” the former Fox News and NBC star said during her podcast on Monday.
During an interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on her SiriusXM podcast on Monday, Kelly blasted any notion that the attack on Paul Pelosi, 82, was politically motivated, pointing out that the suspect, David DePape, 42, is a “lunatic.”
“I feel like at a minimum, the SFPD has egg on its face because even under the most generous story to Paul Pelosi and to the San Francisco police, they were in the house when this guy attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer,” Kelly said.
“I’m not sure how that happened,” the former Fox News primetime star continued. “How do you have police officers on site and an 82-year-old gets attacked with a hammer in front of you when you have a gun as a police officer?”
Kelly added: “It’s one of the many questions here. As you point out, there are security cameras all over that house. You can see them from the outside where they turned on.”
“If not, why not? She’s the speaker of the House.”
Kelly noted that “far less known public figures than Nancy Pelosi have taken extra security measures in and around San Francisco, given how high the crime rate is there, it would be insane for them not to have their cameras on.”
She agreed with Cotton’s call for the police to release bodycam footage of officers’ arrival at the home.
“Let’s see it,” Kelly said. “Let’s see it all. I don’t know what went on. I know enough to smell a rat. There’s something going on here that they’re not telling us. I just don’t know what it is.”
DePape has been charged by federal prosecutors with attempted kidnapping and assault with intent to retaliate against a federal official or injuring a family member.
>> [FOX NEWS HOST] IT'LL TAKE A WHILE TO FIGURE IT OUT.
>> [CHRIS HAYES] OKAY, SO THERE'S A FEW THINGS GOING ON THERE, RIGHT? YOU CAN SAY, "WELL, WE DON'T HAVE THE INFORMATION" WHEN IT'S EARLY ENOUGH. FINE. "IT DOESN'T ADD UP" IS A LITTLE QUESTIONABLE. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? BUT THEN THE "DOESN'T ADD UP" VERY QUICKLY BECOMES, AND BECAME, THESE COMPLETELY DISGUSTING RESPONSES TO THE ATTACK ON PAUL PELOSI. SOME OF WHICH WERE RETWEETED BY SITTING UNITED STATES SENATOR AND PODCASTER TED CRUZ. SOME WERE SAID OUT LOUD BY ARIZONA'S REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE KARI LAKE TO GET A BIG LAUGH ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL.
>> [KARI LAKE] IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO PROTECT OUR KIDS AT SCHOOL. THEY ACT LIKE IT IS. NANCY PELOSI -- WELL, SHE'S GOT PROTECTION WHEN SHE'S IN D.C. APPARENTLY, HER HOUSE DOESN'T HAVE A LOT OF PROTECTION.
>> [BIG LAUGHS FROM CROWD]
>> [CHRIS HAYES] UH, THE GUY INTERVIEWING HER, HAD TO COVER HIS FACE WITH HIS NOTES BECAUSE HE THOUGHT IT WAS SO FUNNY. MEANWHILE, IF YOU'RE WORRIED ABOUT THE WORST KIND OF MISINFORMATION ON TWITTER.COM UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT, ELON MUSK IS DOING GREAT SO FAR. BECAUSE THE NEW OWNER IS SPREADING THIS STUFF HIMSELF. ELON MUSK TWEETED TO MORE THAN 100 MILLION PEOPLE, A COMPLETELY FABRICATED, UNHINGED, CONSPRACY LIE ABOUT PAUL PELOSI. THE SOURCE WAS FROM A BOTTOM-OF-THE-BARREL WEBSITE, ALREADY INFAMOUS FOR ITS QANON-LEVEL CONTENT.
Elon Musk, new owner of Twitter, tweets unfounded anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theory about Paul Pelosi atta ck. MSNBC NEWS
NOW HE LATER DELETED THE TWEET, BUT, YOU KNOW, WHEN 100 MILLION PEOPLE MAY HAVE SEEN THAT THING, IT'S A BIT LATE FOR TAKE-BACKS. SO, PEOPLE LIKE DONALD TRUMP JR., FEEL ENABLED TO GET IN ON THE ACTION, MAKING POSTS LIKE THIS, SNORTING WITH DELIGHT THAT A MAN BROKE INTO THE HOME TO VIOLENTLY ASSAULT THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Oct. 30, 2022 Donald Trump Jr. Instagram
"Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready" [Pix of Hammer on top of Hanes underwear on top of pillows]
“If you switch out the hammer for a red feather boa, you can instantly transform yourself into a Hunter Biden.”
donaldjtrumpjr Um, ah, yes officer ... I'm being attacked! [Pix of man w/phone butt-fucking another man]
CLAY HIGGENS, A REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN FROM LOUISIANA, SHARED, THEN DELETED, A SIMILAR MEME.
SF GATE Congressman tweets, deletes baseless conspiracy theory mocking Nancy, Paul Pelosi
AGAIN, THIS KIND OF DELIGHT IN OTHER PEOPLE FALLING PREY TO VIOLENCE, AND THE CONSPIRATORIAL WORLDVIEW THAT TWISTS AND DISTORTS ANY DEVELOPMENT TO ITS OWN ENDS, IT'S VERY MUCH THE MAINSTREAM OF MAGA-WORLD RIGHT NOW. KELLY WEILL, A REPORTER AT THE DAILY BEAST, COVERS THE "FEVER-DREAMS" PODCAST, WHICH COVERS RIGHT-WING GROUPS, MOVEMENTS, AND CONSPIRACY THEORIES. SHE'S ALSO THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK "OFF THE EDGE: FLAT EARTHERS, CONSPIRACY CULTURE, AND WHY PEOPLE WILL BELIEVE ANYTHING." AND TO THAT POINT, I HAVE TO SAY, KELLY, I THINK OF MYSELF AS NOT EASY TO SHOCK. AND YET, ELON MUSK TWEETING A LINK TO, AGAIN, AN ENTIRELY FABRICATED, DESPICABLE LIE ABOUT THE EVENTS -- THAT HE KNEW HIS ASSAILANT; THEY HAD SOME RELATIONSHIP -- I WAS SHOCKED BY THAT, A, AND B, SHOCKED BY HOW QUICKLY THAT JUST BECAME THE KIND OF, LIKE, STANDARD STORY FOR A HUGE WHO'S WHO OF CONSERVATIVES.
>> [KELLY WEILL] YOU KNOW, IT SHOULD BE SHOCKING. BUT WE'VE SEEN THIS BEHAVIOR PLAYED OUT OVER YEARS NOW OF THE RIGHT WING OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. AND CERTAINLY, I THINK WE HAVE TO INCLUDE ELON MUSK THERE. HE'S SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN AN [INAUDIBLE] ON TWITTER FOR YEARS. HE DELIGHTS IN POSTING THINGS THAT STIR THE POT. AND THINGS THAT ARE NOT NECESSARILY GROUNDED IN REALITY. UNFORTUNATELY, WHAT WOULD'VE BEEN, YEARS AGO, A VERY FRINGE WEBSITE, WITH A VERY LIMITED READERSHIP, NOW REACHES HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE. AND ELON TWEETED THAT LINK. IT WAS A FRANKLY HOMOPHOBIC ARTICLE. IT WAS COMPLETELY BASELESS. BUT IT RECEIVED SO MUCH TRAFFIC AFTER THAT TWEET FROM ELON, THAT THE SITE CRASHED. THAT'S THE KIND OF MEDIA ECOSYSTEM WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW, WHERE THESE PEOPLE HAVE MASSIVE MEGAPHONES, AND THEY CAN REALLY USE THEM TO DELETERIOUS EFFECT.
>> [CHRIS HAYES] IT'S ALSO, SORT OF, A PERFECT KIND OF SYNTHESIS HERE, BETWEEN THIS INDIVIDUAL, WHO CLEARLY HAD FALLEN DOWN A RABBIT HOLE OF KIND OF PARANOID CONSPIRACY THEORIES, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, YOU KNOW, AS WE SAID, REFERENCED. AND THEN PRECISELY THE KIND OF THING HE WOULD SUBSCRIBE TO POPPING UP, AND ADVOCATED BY FOLKS IN THE RIGHT IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH OF HIM BEING DRIVEN BY THESE SAME CONSPIRACY THEORIES TO THIS VIOLENT ACTION.
>> [KELLY WEILL] YEAH, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S REALLY STRIKING, CHRIS. THERE IS THIS CYCLE, REALLY, OF REPUBLICANS INSTIGATING THIS KIND OF LANGUAGE, WINKING AND NODDING AT THE FRINGES OF THEIR PARTY, AND THEN NOT TAKING ANY RESPONSIBILITY WHEN PEOPLE, INEVITABLY, ACT ON THOSE CLAIMS. YOU KNOW, IF YOU TRULY BELIEVE THE QANON CLAIMS THAT PEOPLE ARE DRINKING BABIES' BLOOD IN A BASEMENT, I THINK IT'S VERY NATURAL TO WANT TO TAKE ACTION ON THAT. OF COURSE, HOWEVER, THIS IS AN EASILY DEBUNKED CLAIM, AND REPUBLICANS HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO SAY THAT'S NOT TRUE. THEY HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO SAFEGUARD THEIR PEERS AGAINST THESE VIOLENT, AND BLOODTHIRSTY CLAIMS. BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT IS HAPPENING. AND WHEN PEOPLE, AGAIN, DO ACT ON THOSE CLAIMS, REPUBLICANS WILL EITHER SAY, "AH, NOT REALLY ANY OF OUR DOING", OR REALLY LAUGH AT IT, AND ENCOURAGE THE NEXT GUY.
>> [KELLY WEILL] ABSOLUTELY. AND I THINK REPUBLICANS SORT OF JUMPED THE [INAUDIBLE] NEARLY TWO YEARS AGO NOW. THEY FAILED TO HOLD MOST PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE JANUARY 6TH RIOT. YOU KNOW, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF MOMENTS AFTER THE FACT WHERE IT DID SEEM LIKE SOME REPUBLICANS WERE GOING TO GET ON BOARD WITH WIDESPREAD CONDEMNATION OF THIS ATTACK, AND UNFORTUNATELY THAT HASN'T HELD OUT. WE'VE SEEN REPUBLICANS EITHER BRUSH OFF THE EVENT, OR HONESTLY, TREAT THESE DEFENDANTS AS MARTYRS. WE HAVE FOLKS LIKE MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, TALKING ABOUT JANUARY SIX DEFENDANTS AS POLITICAL PRISONERS. AND THESE ARE, AGAIN, PEOPLE WHO BROKE INTO THE CAPITOL, ATTEMPTED TO ATTACK THEIR PEERS, AND THE VALORIZATION OF THIS MOVEMENT IS REALLY, I THINK, QUITE WORRYING. I THINK WE'RE GONNA SEE MORE OF THESE KINDS OF INCIDENTS.
>> [CHRIS HAYES] YEAH. AND ALSO, I THINK, THIS DEFENSE, THIS SORT OF HALF-DEFENSE-HALF TROLLING, "OH WELL, IT'S JUST TROLLING." HERE'S GREGG [INAUDIBLE] ON FOX DOING EXACTLY THAT, IN DEFENDING MUSK'S TWEET. AGAIN, ALONG THE SAME LINES, LIKE, "IT DOESN'T MATTER, BECAUSE IT'S JUST TROLLING." TAKE A LISTEN.
>> [FOX NEWS HOST] ELON MUSK REPLYING TO A HILLARY CLINTON TWEET ABOUT THIS, PROMOTING COMPLETE LIES ABOUT WHAT HAD HAPPENED.
>> [FOX NEWS HOST] SO DID HILLARY. THAT WAS THE JOKE. THAT WAS HIS JOKE. HE WAS TROLLING HER. HE WAS TROLLING HER BECAUSE SHE CAME OUT WITH HER OWN CONSPIRACY, THAT THIS IS OBVIOUSLY RIGHT WING, A RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY.
>> [FOX NEWS HOST] IF ELON MUSK IS THE CEO OF THAT COMPANY, HILLARY CLINTON -- YOU COULD SAY WHATEVER YOU WANT ABOUT HER --
>> [CHRIS HAYES] IF HE WAS TROLLING HER, THEN THIS SORT OF, I THINK, GETS AT THE KIND OF LIKE TRUMP, KANYE, ELON MUSK -- TO NAME THREE PEOPLE -- THAT THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE REPUBLICAN STAFF WERE SORT OF CELEBRATING AS THE KIND OF MOUNT RUSHMORE OF CURRENT CONSERVATIVE POLITICS.
>> [KELLY WEILL] ABSOLUTELY. YOU KNOW, THERE IS THIS WEIRD JUVENILITY ON THE RIGHT WHERE THEY CAN REALLY SAY ANYTHING THEY WANT. IT'S ALL A JOKE. AND IF SOMEBODY TAKES ACTION ON IT, "WELL, WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL? THEY MISREAD THE JOKE." RESPONSIBILITY THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE IN SPREADING THESE CONSPIRACY THEORIES, AND IN DRIVING PEOPLE TO VIOLENCE -- AND THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY'RE DOING, WHEN THEY SAY THAT "ELON IS JUST TROLLING. -- IT'S OBVIOUSLY PLAYING INTO A LARGER ECOSYSTEM OF CONSPIRACY THEORIES. AND HE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE HOLDING THE BAG WHEN, AGAIN, SOMEBODY ACTS ON THAT.
>>[CHRIS HAYES] ALRIGHT, KELLY WEILL. THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME TONIGHT.
**************************
The dubious history of the Santa Monica Observer, the outlet behind that false Paul Pelosi story Elon Musk, in a jacket and tie, squints into the distance. by Samantha Masunaga Staff Writer Los Angeles Times OCT. 31, 2022 1:12 PM PT
When Elon Musk amplified an unfounded Santa Monica Observer story about the Paul Pelosi attack over the weekend, it wasn’t the first time the dubious outlet had been in the spotlight.
Last year, a Times editorial said the Observer was “notorious for publishing false news,” including claims in 2016 that Hillary Clinton was actually dead and that a body double debated Donald Trump. Months after the Clinton claim, the news site also incorrectly reported that Trump had appointed Kanye West to a high-level position in the Interior Department. More recently, the Observer falsely reported that Bill Gates was responsible for a polio epidemic, according to the editorial.
With an official-sounding name and a professional-looking website, the Observer is one of a number of outlets masking themselves as legitimate news sources. The phenomenon has been growing and indicates how bad actors are increasingly trying to fool the public into seeing them as purveyors of accurate information.
“They also tend to be places that predictably amplify and argue for conspiracy theories that people already want to believe,” said Mike Ananny, an associate professor of communication and journalism at USC. “It’s not really about disinformation or fake news. It’s really about appearing to be legitimate, appearing to be trustworthy, appearing to be sources that have done the things that we’ve expected good journalism to do. It’s about the people making it having disingenuous aims or goals.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., and her husband Paul Pelosi arrive before President Joe Biden speaks on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, before a performance by Elton John. John is calling the show "A Night When Hope and History Rhyme," a reference to a poem by Irishman Seamus Heaney that Biden often quotes. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Bolstering legitimate local news coverage, which has been decimated over the years by consolidation of media groups and the difficult economics of publishing in a digital age, would help counter the propaganda, he said.
“The stronger the media system is, the stronger local news is,” Ananny said. “It’s almost an immune system for people to be able to look at something like Musk’s tweet or the Santa Monica Observer and quickly look at that and recognize it as illegitimate.”
The Observer did not respond to a request for comment. Its website says it is a free weekly print newspaper founded in 1998 that looks at “Santa Monica’s neoliberal politics with skepticism,” though the publication says it does not “adhere to any party line.” Its publisher is onetime City Council candidate David Ganezer, according to The Times’ editorial.
David Ganezer Publisher, Santa Monica Observer Metro Los Angeles As seen in: Santa Monica Observer Covers: Local, national and regional politics. And life. BACK TO DAVID GANEZER’S PROFILE DAVID GANEZER’S BIOGRAPHY
I took a circuitous route to journalism through UCLA Law School.
In 1998 I founded The Santa Monica Observer, a free weekly print newspaper of general circulation and interest, in Santa Monica, California.
Print edition circulation is around 10,000. In the last five years, more than 10,000,000 people all over the world have viewed SMObserved.com.
The newspaper and its content website, http://www.smobserved.com, do not shy from controversy. In general, we look at Santa Monica's neoliberal politics with skepticism. Our motto is "Community, Diversity, Sustainability and other Overused Words." But we do not adhere to any party line.
Our previous writers include State Senator Ben Allen; Steven Miller, who now writes speeches for US President Donald J. Trump; Vlasic Hadjric, who writes for Bloomberg News; and numerous other successful journalists.
Our current writers include Samuel Alioto, Sarah Storkin, Stan Greene, and Liz Miller. In the summer of 2016, Liz Miller noticed that a few of her friends from the University of Kansas who lived on North Dakota's Indian Reservations, were posting photos of protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline. She ended up breaking one of the big stories of 2016, after her story received over 2 million hits and was copied by the mainstream media.
In September 2018, the website for Santa Monica Observer (http://www.smobserved.com), broke the story of US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s cancer surgery.
Snopes posted an article labeling the story Fake News. As a result, news.google.com removed the Santa Monica Observer as a news source, and did not reverse the decision after Ginsburg’s staff confirmed that she in fact underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in January 2019.
The Santa Monica Observer has no friends at City Hall either. In 2009, the City of Santa Monica sued Observer Publisher David Ganezer, for violations of California's False Advertising laws (Cal Bus. Prof. Code Section 17500, et seq). The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed and Ganezer prevailed, but the City has never apologized, never paid costs of suit, and never taken the press release down from the City website.
Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17500 Current through the 2022 Legislative Session. Section 17500 - Untrue or misleading advertising
It is unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or association, or any employee thereof with intent directly or indirectly to dispose of real or personal property or to perform services, professional or otherwise, or anything of any nature whatsoever or to induce the public to enter into any obligation relating thereto, to make or disseminate or cause to be made or disseminated before the public in this state, or to make or disseminate or cause to be made or disseminated from this state before the public in any state, in any newspaper or other publication, or any advertising device, or by public outcry or proclamation, or in any other manner or means whatever, including over the Internet, any statement, concerning that real or personal property or those services, professional or otherwise, or concerning any circumstance or matter of fact connected with the proposed performance or disposition thereof, which is untrue or misleading, and which is known, or which by the exercise of reasonable care should be known, to be untrue or misleading, or for any person, firm, or corporation to so make or disseminate or cause to be so made or disseminated any such statement as part of a plan or scheme with the intent not to sell that personal property or those services, professional or otherwise, so advertised at the price stated therein, or as so advertised. Any violation of the provisions of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), or by both that imprisonment and fine.
Ca. Bus. and Prof'l. Code § 17500, Amended by Stats. 1998, Ch. 599, Sec. 2.5. Effective January 1, 1999.
Perhaps more urgently, the amplification of the Observer’s story speaks to the danger of having one powerful and wealthy person control a large platform such as Twitter, Ananny said. He noted that laws currently prevent a single owner from controlling too many media outlets in an area. And Twitter’s role as an influential platform — one that journalists pay attention to — would seem to be butting up against that rule.
“Regulation needs to catch up super fast to the reality of how media power works online, how online media environs work,” Ananny said. “It’s not about whether [Musk] tweets fake news. Fake news is always there. Why is that guy having that power to both own this platform and decide idiosyncratically what he wants to appear?”
Musk hasn’t announced a plan for Twitter’s content moderation but appears to be torn between a looser forum that allows more objectionable material than previous management would tolerate, while not turning off paying advertisers. He eventually deleted the Observer tweet, but not before his followers had spread it far and wide.
***************************
Paul Pelosi: Who is spreading false claims about attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband? San Francisco Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents work outside the home of US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi after her husband Paul Pelosi was attacked by a home invader early in the morning in San Francisco, California, USA by Shayan Sardarizadeh BBC Monitoring 28 October 2022 https://www.bbc.com/news/63477452
Paul Pelosi, the husband of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was attacked by a hammer-wielding intruder at the couple's San Francisco home in the early hours of Friday.
Within hours of the attack, a series of unsubstantiated claims began circulating in fringe far-right circles that contradicted the official police account of how the attack unfolded.
Those misleading claims have since gone viral after being amplified by new Twitter chief Elon Musk and a number of conservative influencers.
BBC News examines some of the claims about the attack.
False same-sex affair claims
One of the most viral false claims about the attack suggests that Mr Pelosi, 82, and his attacker David DePape, 42, were in a same-sex relationship and had a drunken quarrel.
A series of baseless assumptions that do not match official accounts of the incident have been used to support the narrative.
These claims started to trend in the US after Elon Musk tweeted an article from a website featuring similar claims to his 112 million followers on Sunday, before deleting his tweet without any explanation hours later.
"There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye," Mr Musk had said in response to a tweet by former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Elon Musk @elonmusk Replying @HillaryClinton There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye.
The Awful Truth: Paul Pelosi Was Drunk Again, And in a Dispute With smobserver.com
12:15 30 Oct 22
The website Mr Musk linked to has a history of publishing inaccurate stories, including an article from 2016 that claimed Hillary Clinton was dead.
One of the claims made online is that both Mr DePape and Mr Pelosi were in just their underwear as police arrived at the scene.
But the FBI complaint against Mr DePape quotes a witness as saying he was dressed "in all black" carrying a large black bag on his back.
Another claim seized on to support this narrative is that the two men knew each other before the attack and were friends.
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene repeated the claim in a tweet yesterday.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene @RepMTg The same mainstream media democrat activists that sold conspiracy theories for years about President Trump and Russia are now blaming @elonmusk for "internet misinformation" about Paul Pelosi's friend attacking him with a hammer.
The media is source of misinformation.
2:04 PM Oct 31, 2022
According to the FBI complaint, Paul Pelosi did not know Mr DePape. Mr Pelosi used coded language as he made a 911 call from the bathroom, and an experienced operator worked out what was happening in his house.
Another rumour supporting the idea that the two men knew each other claimed that the shattered glass door of the house was broken from the inside, suggesting Mr Pelosi or a third person had let Mr DePape in.
The FBI complaint quotes Mr DePape as saying that he "broke into the house through a glass door, which was a difficult task that required the use of a hammer".
False claims suggested the glass door of the house was broken from the inside
There is no evidence in any of the police accounts that a third person was either in the house or involved in the attack.
Claims DePape's blogs were faked
Two personal blogs and a Facebook account in the suspect's name were found on the internet after police revealed his name following the attack, all of which were subsequently taken down.
His writings, viewed by the BBC, suggest he was a man radicalised by far-right conspiracy theories.
His posts cover a range of subjects, including unsubstantiated theories that the 2020 election was stolen, the 6 January Capitol riot, claims that Covid vaccines were harmful, support for the QAnon conspiracy theory, as well as racist and anti-Semitic posts.
Some online posts suggested the blogs were fake and only created on the day of the attack to support the narrative that he believed in far-right conspiracy theories.
BOMBSHELL REPORT: [Exclusive] Two Far-Right Websites Attributed to Pelosi Attacker David Depape to SMEAR CONSERVATIVES WERE FABRICATED -- They Were Created Friday and Deleted Saturday. -- GWP
1;00 PM Oct 20, 2022
But the BBC has screenshots of the blogs which show he had made posts as early as August, weeks before the attack.
TShayan Sardarizadeh @Shayan86·Oct 28 Paul Pelosi attacker David Wayne Depape's online footprint shows he was into a range of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, Covid, vaccines and "Satanic paedophiles".
Conspiracy theories aren't just words on the internet. They can radicalise some people into violence.
Big brother has deemed any information true or otherwise that exposes the satanic pedophiles ruling over you. Is harmful to Big Brothers control. You are not allowed to know that you are being ruled over by satanic pedophile. You are not allowed to THINK you are being ruled over by satanic pedophile. You are not allowed to share information exposing the satanic pedodphiles that rule over you. Big Brothers right to RULE YOU shall not be challenged or questioned and any information that establishes how truely evil the elites are must be banned and purged from human consciousness.
Shayan Sardarizadeh @Shayan86 Posts on one of David Wayne Depape's blogs show he was into QAnon conspiracy theories like Hilary Clinton eating babies and adrenchrome, as well as many conspiracy theories about Jewish people, black people and the Ukraine war.
Some of them are so extreme I can't really share.
Some have also claimed the attack was not motivated by politics or Mr DePape's beliefs.
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh said it was "absurd" to portray the attacker as "a militant right winger".
However, the police complaint clarifies the attack was not a random act. According to San Francisco's district attorney Brooke Jenkins, the attack was likely "politically motivated".
In his police interview, Mr DePape described Nancy Pelosi as the "leader of the pack of lies told by the Democratic Party", adding that he wanted to "break her kneecaps".
Conservative figures, including Congressman Steve Scalise and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, have also been targets of violent attacks by political opponents in recent years.
Evidence-free accusations against Marjorie Taylor Greene
Baseless theories in the aftermath of the attack weren't confined to the right.
Some liberal influencers seized on a tweet by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, posted a day prior to the attack, which read: "Just wait until tomorrow."
A number of accounts with large liberal followings claimed that Ms Taylor Greene's tweet could be a hint that she was in on the attack on Mr Pelosi. There is no evidence whatsoever to support this theory.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene @RepMTG Just wait until tomorrow. 6:48 PM Oct 27, 2022
On October 28, 2022, an assailant attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, with a hammer during a home invasion at the couple's residence in San Francisco, California. Pelosi was seriously injured and underwent surgery for a fractured skull.
-- Attack on Paul Pelosi, by Wikipedia
**********************
What we know about the nudist activist and conspiracy theorist who attacked Paul Pelosi by Mica Soellner The Washington Times Saturday, October 29, 2022
David DePape, center, records Gypsy Taub being led away by police after her nude wedding outside City Hall on Dec. 19, 2013, in San Francisco. DePape is accused of breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's California home and severely beating her husband with a hammer. DePape was known in Berkeley, Calif., as a pro-nudity activist who had picketed naked at protests against local ordinances requiring people to be clothed in public. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
Nudist protester. Hemp jewelry-maker. Election conspiracy theorist: The man who attacked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s husband had a complicated profile.
David DePape, 42, was charged on Friday with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse and burglary, and other charges after fighting with Paul Pelosi with a hammer and ultimately attacking him with it.
The Canadian native and Berkeley resident moved to California about 20 years ago to pursue a relationship, according to his stepfather Gene DePape.
Others who knew him described him as an odd man who seemed “out of touch with reality.”
Linda Schneider, whom Mr. DePape would house sit for, told CNN she met him eight years ago while he was living in a storage unit in Berkeley and had been struggling with hard drug use.
Ms. Schneider said he was a very shy person who refused to even go to the bank out of fear of interacting with the teller.
She later recalled receiving “really disturbing” emails from Mr. DePape that seemed dangerous. Ms. Schneider said he would use Biblical justification to cause violence, and she ultimately stopped communicating with him out of discomfort.
Mr. DePape was also a well-known nudist activist in the San Francisco area, and was the best man at the naked wedding of Gypsy Taub, a Russian-born nudist who was well-known for her activism, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
A 2008 article by the Oakland Tribune reported that Mr. DePape had three small children at the time with Ms. Taub, who was quoted in the piece about sharing community meals.
Laura Hayes, who made hemp bracelets with Mr. DePape about a decade ago, said he sold the jewelry as his personal business practice.
“He was very odd. He didn’t make eye contact very well,” Ms. Hayes said.
Ms. Hayes added that he would talk to angels and warn of a “hard time coming.” In his recent social media posts, she said his comments were filled with “so much anger” and were “so phobic in so many ways.”
Mr. DePape‘s social media posts indicate a strong penchant for conspiracy theories, including sharing posts that alleged global elites were seeking control of the nation.
Mr. DePape‘s Facebook page linked to several videos that repeated former President Donald Trump’s stolen election claims in 2020 and that COVID-19 vaccines were deadly.
He also shared YouTube videos calling the Jan. 6 committee a “Democrat farce” and warned of the “Great Reset,” which says global elites are using the coronavirus to usher in a new world order to get more power and oppress the masses.
Mr. DePape also wrote frequently about religion, starting a blog in 2007 called “God Is Loving” and referred to Jesus as “the antichrist.”
He shared entries about the QAnon conspiracy theory and invoked racial slurs, including the N-word, in his posts.
In a blog post by his daughter, Inti Gonzalez, she claimed her father had a dark side and that he had sexually abused her and her siblings.
“He did genuinely try to be a good person but the monster in him was always too strong for him to be safe around,” wrote Ms. Gonzalez, who said her mother met Mr. DePape when she was pregnant with her in Hawaii.
Ms. Gonzalez said Mr. DePape had an abusive upbringing and did not talk about it. She claims his mother would beat him “almost to death” while he was growing up.
Mr. DePape‘s assault on Mr. Pelosi has already invoked shockwaves toward public officials, who have blamed Republican rhetoric and extremism for the incident.
President Biden said the man echoed Jan. 6 rioters who shouted “Where’s Nancy?” in the same way Mr. DePape had when he broke into her home.
“It’s reported that the same chant used by this guy they have in custody was used on January 6th in the attacks on the U.S. Capitol,” Mr. Biden said. “This is reported. I can’t guarantee it. We can tell you what’s being reported.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, also blamed it on “divisive and hateful rhetoric” that is “putting lives at risk and undermining our very democracy and Democratic institutions.”
Mr. DePape entered the Pelosis’ $6 million home through a sliding glass door at the back of the house, seeking to target Mrs. Pelosi who was in Washington at the time of the attack.
The suspect confronted Paul Pelosi, asking him where his wife was and sought to tie him up “until Nancy got home.”
Mr. DePape told police the two were waiting for Mrs. Pelosi to come home when they arrived.
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said there was a confrontation between the two men involving a hammer, and Mr. DePape began hitting Mr. Pelosi with the weapon once he got it out of his hands.
He was immediately tackled by officers who disarmed him and took him into custody.
Mr. DePape will be booked at the San Francisco County Jail. A motive for the attack is still under investigation.
Mrs. Pelosi‘s office said her husband, who suffered a fractured skull and severe injuries to his right arm and hands, will make a full recovery.
Mr. Pelosi underwent a successful surgery at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.
“The Speaker and her family are thankful for the outpouring of support and prayers from friends, constituents, and people around the country,” said Drew Hammill, spokesman for Mrs. Pelosi. “The Pelosi family is immensely grateful to Mr. Pelosi‘s entire medical team and the law enforcement officers who responded to the assault. The family appreciates respect for their privacy during this time.”
Daughter of Paul Pelosi attacker says her father was ‘consumed by darkness,’ sexually abused her by Mica Soellner The Washington Times Saturday, October 29, 2022
Photo by: Michael Short. David Depape is shown in Berkeley, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 13, 2013. An intruder attacked and severely beat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband with a hammer in the couple's San Francisco home early Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, while searching for the Democratic leader. Police were called to the home to check on Paul Pelosi when they discovered the 82-year-old and the suspect, Depape, both grabbing onto the hammer, said Police Chief William Scott.(Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
The daughter of the man who attacked Paul Pelosi alleged that her father sexually abused her and her siblings and had a dark underside.
Inti Gonzalez, who wrote a public post about 42-year-old David DePape who broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s home on Friday and attacked her husband with a hammer, said she was not stunned by the news, given her father’s toxicity.
The post, which has since been taken down, alleges that Ms. Gonzalez‘s mother met Mr. DePape in Maui while she was pregnant with her. Ms. Gonzalez describes the man as her father, according to excerpts captured by the Daily Mail.
When my mother was pregnant with me she met David Depape in Maui Hawaii, my birth place. Very soon after they moved to the Bay Area of California and had two kids, my brothers, all of us being 2 years apart.
My mother and father’s romantic relationship lasted about 3 years but he stayed and helped take care of us. When I was about 13 my mother kicked David out because of his toxic behavior. 6 months later Nebosvod, the middle brother, started getting memories of David physically and sexually abusing me and my brothers, which started when we were very young and continue until around 2008, when I was 7. All this was a surprise for us considering that he was always a quiet person. He was never violent, yelled, or even swore. My mother made a police report when she found out but the case was not managed properly so nothing was done about it in the end. Soon after Nebosvod got him memories and the unsuccessful case, me and my youngest brother Daniel started getting our memories of his abuse.
This attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband came as a shock to me, though not much considering the kind of extreme abuse he had inflicted on me and my brothers. I didn’t see this coming and there was no sign of the possibility from his end.
I love my father. He did genuinely try to be a good person but the monster in him was always too strong for him to be safe to be around. He grew up in an intensely abusive home. Everytime his mother brought him to his grandparents he would get away by swimming far out into the ocean and staying there for many hours until his visit with his grandparents was over. His single mother was a person who would beat him almost to death. He barely opened up about himself or his past but it was obvious that he grew up in hell and that we didn’t know the worst of it.
He would take us to the parks, arboretum, and beach almost every day while my mom stayed home and worked. He would play with us every time we asked. Once he sat us down in Tilden park. He looked like he was about to cry. He said “I am so sorry for everything I have done to you guys. I am more sorry than you will ever know.” My brother Nebosvod asked “What do you mean? Like being rude to us?” His response was “No That’s not what I’m talking about. One day you will know what I mean and I am so sorry for everything that I have ever done.” He ended this statement with tears in his eyes. This was the saddest we had ever seen him. David later stated to my mother that he was sorry for everything he had done, she did not think this apology was for the abuse that she was unaware of at the time. He was interested in spirituality and meditation and told my mother he wished he could leave and come back a better person for us.
I haven’t seen him since I was 13, back in 2014. I contacted him for the first time since he left about 4 months ago to see how he was doing. We caught up on things but the conversation ended when I refused to agree with him that the abuse didn’t happen.
Now that I am an adult and can relate to him as an adult I was able to learn more about him and his views from his blogs. Though I did not agree with all of his views, it made me happy to see that he had strong opinions about important issues that our world is facing today. He wanted to make a difference. He wanted to make the world a better place and to have his voice be heard. He also created a blog for me that talked about new things he learned and projects he was working on, like the birdhouse he had put up or the Lazaris (http://www.lazaris.com) meditations he was doing. One of his latest blogs that I didn’t know about until this recent incident is called http://www.frenlyfrens.com There is some part of him that is a good person even though he has been very consumed by darkness.
You can see my art and learn more about me at IntiGonzalez.com
Ms. Gonzalez accused Mr. DePape of sexually abusing her and her brothers for years, with her brother also recalling that he had physically abused him.
She writes that Mr. DePape eventually left her mother when she was 13 years old and that while their romantic relationship only lasted three years, he stayed and helped the family.
Ms. Gonzalez also recalled Mr. DePape‘s own abusive upbringing in her post.
“I love my father. He did genuinely try to be a good person but the monster in him was always too strong for him to be safe around. He grew up in an intensely abusive home,” she wrote. “His single mother was a person who would beat him almost to death. He barely opened up about himself or his past but it was obvious that he grew up in hell and that we didn’t know the worst of it.”
Ms. Gonzalez also wrote that Mr. DePape had strong views on issues facing the world today that she didn’t always agree with, but did not specify his opinions.
Mr. DePape broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco home and attacked Mr. Pelosi with a hammer, shouting out for his wife.
He was arrested by police immediately and is expected to be charged with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse and burglary, on top of other offenses.
Mr. Pelosi remains in the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery after suffering from a fractured skull and severe injuries to his right arm and hands.
Eric Swalwell went after Claudia Tenney's 'LOL' tweet mocking the attack on Paul Pelosi. November 1, 2022
Claudia Tenney's caption:
"LOL"
@claudiatenney/Twitter
Rep. Eric Swalwell@RepSwalwell
The husband of one of your colleagues is being treated in an ICU right now and this is your response? To mock his attack? When you were raising your son, did you ever tell him to laugh at the pain of others? Or did you teach him better? This is disgusting. Delete it.
Opinion In Arizona, a MAGA victory party takes a sour turn by Dana Milbank Columnist The Washington Post Updated November 9, 2022 at 12:59 a.m. EST|Published November 9, 2022 at 12:03 a.m. EST
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Has there ever been a more rage-filled celebration?
Arizona Republicans up and down the ballot gathered at a resort here for a unified election night “party.” But things didn’t go as planned.
The Fox News election-night coverage, playing on the jumbo TV screens here, carried unwanted news that the great “red wave” had not materialized across the country, at least not yet. And here in Arizona, where the GOP nominated MAGA-inspired election deniers for governor, senator, secretary of state and other positions, hopes for early victories on election night had vanished.
The organizers took the Fox News coverage off the big screens and played music instead. They played the Village People’s “YMCA” — twice. Shuttle buses full of partygoers began to filter out, and by 10 p.m. the crowd had thinned considerably. The celebration, if it came at all, would be delayed.
Instead, Arizona’s MAGA Republican leaders brought fury and fanaticism on election night.
They eschewed basic decency. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is “losing the gavel but finding the hammer,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) told the crowd, joking about the attack on Pelosi’s husband that left him with a fractured skull — just as GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake did a week earlier. The crowd laughed.
They stoked paranoia. “By attending this event you have increased your chance of an FBI raid by about 50 percent,” the emcee, Benny Johnson, said.
They hurled insults every which way. “Merrick Garland needs some new pantyhose.” “Beto [O’Rourke] is a furry.” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) is a “little man” whose “ears don’t match.” President Biden is a “lost child” with a “very dirty diaper.” Democrats are “lunatics.”
At a time that typically calls for magnanimity and reconciliation, they instead cried out for vengeance. When Anthony Fauci’s name was invoked, they chanted “Lock him up!” They vowed to be a “nightmare to Joe Biden” and to impeach his aides. “Sorry libs,” sneered the emcee. “Sucks to suck.”
They boasted about the radicalism they represented. “We have remade this party in our image,” said state party chair Kelli Ward, “of people who aren’t going to take any crap.”
“Who’s ready to elect a bunch of radical Republican conservatives?” asked another speaker. The crowd roared.
And they repeatedly invoked the latest MAGA conspiracy that Election Day glitches with voting tabulators in Maricopa, the behemoth Phoenix-area county, were a “criminal” attempt to commit “fraud” against Republicans.
Never mind that the glitches didn’t cause a single ballot not to be counted, nor a single voter to be denied the right to vote. And never mind that the county officials overseeing the election (lustily booed by the MAGA crowd) are Republicans.
It was an appropriately ugly end to this grotesque campaign, just one last attempt to generate disgust — not just toward Democrats but toward the democratic process.
Armed men in tactical gear staked out ballot drop boxes in Democratic areas of Maricopa in a blatant attempt to intimidate voters. In Cochise County, GOP leaders attacked a judge for political bias after their scheme to hand-count all ballots was shot down. There was a break-in at Democratic gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs’s office, followed by receipt of white powder by mail at Lake’s. Maricopa’s sheriff, warning political leaders not “to incite violence or riots” with false claims, sent extra police to polling places, and barricades went up around elections offices.
For the Arizona GOP’s “Election Night Watch Party,” Lake, GOP Senate nominee Blake Masters and other Republicans arranged a joint celebration at the Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch in this upscale suburb.
After a campaign against supposed Democratic “elites,” Republican elites celebrated in style. A procession of luxury cars — BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, Tesla, even a Rolls-Royce — dotted the valet line in the conference resort’s manicured driveway, lined with palm trees. VIPs who paid $500 a head were whisked off to a private reception, and higher rollers who shelled out $1,000 for the “private experience package” to another.
Hoi polloi , for $20 a ticket, squeezed into the back of the ballroom near the media or watched on jumbo screens in two courtyards (“Paradise Park Lawn”) strung with bistro lights. They could partake of the included pizza bar and a crudite display worthy of Mehmet Oz, but the 12-year-old Glenlivet at the cash bar was $12 a shot. A man wearing a brick-patterned novelty suit explained his costume to me: “It’s a border wall!”
On the ballroom stage, the speakers seemed impervious to the developing trend of the evening:
“We’re going to see a red tsunami!”
“This is a red tide coming in.”
“We’re riding the red wave here.”
A few minutes after 10 p.m. local time, Kari Lake took the stage with a fresh stream of invective: “Corruption.” “Cheaters and crooks.” “BS and garbage.” “Incompetent people running the show in Arizona.” “Propagandists.” “Fake media.” “Incompetency.”
“We will take the victory when it comes,” she told them. “We will not stop fighting until we have every legal vote counted.”
She departed quickly, and Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” blasted from the loudspeakers.
Neo-Nazi among 2 charged with plot to ‘completely destroy’ Baltimore MSNBC Feb 6, 2023 #msnbc #maryland #baltimore
A Neo-Nazi leader and a Maryland woman have been charged in what officials call a “racially motivated” plot to destroy Baltimore’s energy grid and “completely destroy” the city.
Transcript
0:07 D.C.. 0:08 I AM MEHDI HASAN SITTING IN FOR 0:09 MY GOOD FRIEND CHRIS HAYES. 0:12 FOUR YEAR'S, TERRORISM WAS SEEN 0:14 AS A PROBLEM WITH AN ISLAM, A 0:16 THREAT FROM MUSLIMS, AN ISSUE 0:18 THAT PEOPLE WHO LOOK LIKE ME, 0:20 WITH NAMES LIKE MINE, HAD TO 0:21 EXPLAIN, CONDEMN, AND APOLOGIZE 0:23 FOR. 0:24 WE HAD A WAR ON TERROR, YES, 0:26 MUSLIM TERROR. 0:27 9/11, OBVIOUSLY, AND AL-QAEDA. 0:29 AND THEN, I SAYS. 0:31 AND YET, THE TRUTH IS, THE 0:32 BETWEEN 1994 AND 2020, THERE 0:35 WERE NEARLY 900 TERRORIST 0:37 ATTACKS AND PLOTS HERE IN THE 0:39 U.S., AND THE MAJORITY OF THEM 0:41 WERE PERPETRATED NOT BY MUSLIMS, 0:42 BUT BY RIGHT WING TERRORISTS 0:44 AND WHITE SUPREMACISTS. 0:46 AND THAT BRINGS ME TO TONIGHT'S 0:48 NEWS OF A NEW ALLEGED FAR-RIGHT 0:51 PLOT TO, QUOTE, COMPLETELY 0:53 DESTROY THE CITY OF BALTIMORE. 0:55 IT IS A TERRIFYING STORY THAT 0:57 INVOLVES A NEO-NAZI. 0:59 YES, A NEO-NAZI ACCUSED OF 1:01 PLANNING A TERROR ATTACK IN 1:03 AMERICA IN THE YEAR 2023. 1:06 HIS NAME IS BRANDON RUSSELL. 1:08 HE'S A 27 YEAR OLD FLORIDA 1:10 RESIDENT WHO WAS RELEASED FROM 1:11 FEDERAL PRISON IN AUGUST OF 1:13 2021. 1:14 IN 2017, RUSSELL WAS CHARGED 1:15 WITH AND PLEADED GUILTY TO 1:17 MULTIPLE COUNTS OF BOMB MAKING 1:19 THAT CAME AFTER POLICE 1:21 DISCOVERED NEO-NAZI 1:22 PARAPHERNALIA, THE FAMED PHOTO 1:23 OF TIMOTHY MCVAY, THE OKLAHOMA 1:25 CITY BOMBER, AND EXPLOSIVE 1:27 MATERIAL IN HIS HOME. 1:28 AT THAT TIME, RUSSELL ADMITTED 1:30 TO SUBSCRIBING TO NATIONAL 1:32 SOCIALIST, OR NAZI BELIEFS, AND 1:34 TOLD OFFICIALS HE STARTED HIS 1:36 OWN LOCAL NATIONALISTS 1:37 SOCIALIST GROUP CALLED THE 1:39 ATOMWAFFEN, ACCORDING TO THE 1:41 SOUTHERN POLICY LOW CENTER, IT 1:42 IS A TERRORISTIC NEO-NAZI 1:44 ORGANIZATION WITH THE MAIN AIM 1:46 OF USHERING IN THE COLLAPSE OF 1:48 CIVILIZATION, SO A WHITE 1:49 ETHNOSTATE, OR WHITE ONLY 1:51 UTOPIA CAN BE CONSTRUCTED IN 1:52 ITS WAKE. 1:53 BACK IN 2017, RUSSELL AND THE 1:58 ATOMWAFFEN WERE PLANNING AN 1:59 ATTACK ON FLORIDA 2:00 INFRASTRUCTURE INCLUDING POWER 2:01 LINES, AS WELL AS A NUCLEAR 2:02 POWER PLANT. 2:03 THAT IS ACCORDING TO A FELLOW 2:04 MEMBER OF THE GROUP. 2:05 AND LAST YEAR, LESS THAN A YEAR 2:07 AFTER HIS RELEASE FROM PRISON, 2:08 AND THE FBI SAYS THAT WHISTLE 2:10 STARTED A SIMILAR PLANS AGAIN, 2:12 USING AN ALIAS ON AN ENCRYPTED 2:14 MESSAGING APP, RUSSELL IN 2:16 COLLEGE AND FBI SOURCE TO CARRY 2:17 OUT ATTACKS AGAINST CRITICAL 2:19 INFRASTRUCTURE. 2:20 HE SPECIFICALLY ENCOURAGE THE 2:21 SOURCE TO ATTACK ELECTRICAL 2:23 SUBSTATION AND PROVIDED 2:24 GUIDANCE ON HOW TO CAUSE 2:26 MAXIMUM DAMAGE, AS WELL AS 2:27 TELLING HIM TO READ A WHITE 2:29 SUPREMACIST PUBLICATION THAT 2:30 PROVIDED INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO 2:31 ATTACK CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 2:32 IN JANUARY, RUSSELL ASKED THE 2:35 FBI SOURCE TO COLLABORATE WITH 2:36 A MARYLAND-BASED WOMAN TO CARRY 2:38 OUT THE ATTACKS. 2:38 THAT WOMAN THEN MADE CONTACT 2:40 WITH THE SOURCE, TELLING HIM 2:42 THAT SHE'S A FELON, AND ASKED 2:43 HIM TO PURCHASE A RIFLE FOR HER. 2:45 NEAR THE END OF JANUARY, IN A 2:47 PHONE CALL, SHE LISTED THE FIVE 2:49 SUBSTATIONS SHE PLANNED TO 2:50 TARGET, AND DESCRIBED HOW THERE 2:51 WAS A RING AROUND BALTIMORE, IF 2:53 THEY HAD ANY NUMBER OF THEM ALL 2:54 IN THE SAME DAY, THEY WOULD 2:56 COMPLETELY DESTROY THIS WHOLE 2:58 CITY. 2:59 FBI OFFICIALS IDENTIFIED THIS 3:01 MARYLAND WOMAN AS 34 YEAR OLD 3:03 SARAH CLENDANIEL, AND PROVIDED 3:05 THIS PHOTO OF HER, IN TACTICAL 3:08 GEAR, WITH A SWASTIKA ON HER 3:09 CHEST, ARMED WITH MULTIPLE 3:11 WEAPONS, TOO. 3:12 THEY ALSO OBTAINED A DOCUMENT 3:13 THEY BELIEVED TO BE WRITTEN BY 3:14 HER, REFERENCING THE UNABOMBER 3:16 AND HITLER. 3:17 TODAY, FEDERAL OFFICIALS 3:18 ANNOUNCED THAT THEY HAD 3:19 ARRESTED BOTH CLENDANIEL AND 3:21 RUSSELL, WHO THEY CALLED 3:22 RACIALLY OR ETHNICALLY 3:23 MOTIVATED EXTREMISTS. 3:24 >> AS ALLEGED IN THE COMPLAINT, 3:29 SARAH BETH GLEN DANIEL AND 3:32 BRANDON RUSSELL CONSPIRED TO 3:33 INFLICT MAXIMUM HARM ON THE 3:35 POWER GRID, A KEY COMPONENT OF 3:37 OUR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. 3:39 THE ACCUSED WERE NOT JUST 3:42 TALKING, BUT TAKING STEPS TO 3:44 FULFILL THEIR THREATS AND 3:46 FURTHER EXTREMIST GOALS. 3:47 RUSSELL PROVIDED INSTRUCTIONS 3:49 AND LOCATION INFORMATION. 3:51 HE DESCRIBED ATTACKING THE 3:53 POWER TRANSFORMERS AS THE 3:55 GREATEST THING SOMEBODY CAN DO. 3:57 IN HER OWN WORDS, CLENDANIEL 4:00 SAID SHE WAS DETERMINED TO DO 4:02 THIS. 4:02 SHE ADDED, IT WOULD LAY THIS 4:05 CITY TO WASTE. 4:05 >> SHOCKING STUFF. 4:09 RUSSELL AND CLENDANIEL ARE BOTH 4:11 CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY TO 4:12 DAMAGE AN ENERGY FACILITY, AND 4:14 COULD FACE 20 YEARS IN PRISON 4:16 IF THEY ARE CONVICTED. 4:16 THE FBI SAYS THAT THE PAIR 4:18 ACTED ALONE, BUT THIS IS PART 4:20 OF A WORRYING TREND, THAT IS 4:22 PHYSICAL THREATS TO THE U.S. 4:23 POWER GRID JUMPED 77% LAST YEAR 4:26 TO AN ALL-TIME HIGH. 4:27 NOW, I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO 4:29 NOTE THAT THE RIGHT HAS BEEN 4:31 DEMONIZING THE MAJORITY BLACKS 4:33 IN BALTIMORE FOR A LONG TIME. 4:35 WE'VE HEARD IT FROM THE LEADER 4:36 OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AND 4:37 FROM THE MOST POPULARIZED 4:38 PROPAGANDA TV CHANNEL. 4:39 [PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP] YOU LOOK AT OUR INNER CITIES, 4:43 OUR INNER CITIES ARE HORRIBLE 4:45 MESS. 4:46 I WATCHED BALTIMORE AND I HAVE 4:48 MANY, MANY FRIENDS IN 4:49 BALTIMORE. 4:49 >> WE JUST FORGOT ABOUT 4:51 BALTIMORE. 4:52 LOOK WHAT A DISASTER IT IS. 4:53 >> [TUCKER CARLSON] WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GO TO 4:55 BALTIMORE. 4:55 IT'S ONE OF THE WORST PLACES IN 4:56 THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. 4:57 IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF HAITI IN 4:58 THE MID-ATLANTIC. 4:58 >> AND THAT BRINGS ME TO THE 5:03 MORE IMPORTANT POINT, THE 5:05 MODERN REPUBLICAN PARTY IS IN 5:07 DENIAL ABOUT THE THREAT FROM 5:09 RIGHT-WING AND WHITE 5:10 SUPREMACIST TERRORISM. 5:11 TUCKER CARLSON HAS CALLED WHITE 5:13 SUPREMACY QUOTE A HOAX. 5:14 AFTER A WHITE NATIONALIST 5:16 KILLED 51 PEOPLE AT TWO MOSQUES 5:17 IN NEW ZEALAND IN 2019, DONALD 5:19 TRUMP DOWNPLAYED THE PROBLEM, 5:21 CLAIMING IT WAS JUST A SMALL 5:22 GROUP OF PEOPLE. 5:22 AND, OF COURSE, WE CANNOT 5:24 FORGET CHARLOTTESVILLE IN 2017, 5:26 WHEN NEO-NAZIS CHANTED, WILL 5:29 JEWS NOT REPLACE US, AND OTHER 5:30 NAZI SLOGANS. 5:31 AND THIS WAS THEIR THEN 5:32 PRESIDENT'S REACTION. 5:32 . 5:33 >> YOU HAD A GROUP ON ONE SIDE 5:36 THAT WAS THAT, AND YET A GROUP 5:38 ON THE OTHER SIDE THAT WAS ALSO 5:39 VERY VIOLENT. 5:40 I THINK THERE IS BLAME ON BOTH 5:41 SIDES, AND I HAVE NO DOUBT 5:43 ABOUT IT, AND YOU DON'T HAVE 5:44 ANY DOUBT ABOUT IT EITHER. 5:45 YOU ALSO HAD PEOPLE THAT WERE 5:49 VERY FINE PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES. 5:50 >> IN SOME CASES, REPUBLICANS 5:54 HAVE GONE EVEN FURTHER, PLAYING 5:56 FOOTSIE WITH FAR-RIGHT FIGURES. 5:57 WE SAW THIS ON JANUARY THE 6TH, 5:59 WITH THE PROUD BOYS AND THE 6:01 OATH KEEPERS AND THE PRO TRUMP 6:02 CROWD. 6:02 AND WHEN DONALD TRUMP HOSTED A 6:05 WHOLE COST DENIER FOR DINNER 6:06 LAST FALL, AROUND THE SAME TIME 6:08 THAT NEO-NAZIS WERE ALLEGEDLY 6:10 PLOTTING A TERRORIST ATTACK ON 6:12 BALTIMORE. 6:12 HOW DO WE FIGHT THE THREAT OF 6:14 FAR-RIGHT, OF NEO-NAZI 6:16 EXTREMISM AND TERRORISM IN 6:17 AMERICA, WHEN ONE OF OUR TWO 6:18 MAJOR POLITICAL PARTIES DOESN'T 6:20 SEEM TO CARE? 6:21 YOU MAY HAVE SEEN REPUBLICAN 6:22 POLITICIANS FULLY OVER 6:24 THEMSELVES IN RECENT DAYS, TO 6:26 CONDEMN ONE OF THE FIRST MUSLIM 6:27 WOMAN ELECTED TO CONGRESS, 6:28 ILHAN OMAR AND, TO SCREAM ABOUT 6:30 A CHINESE BALLOON. 6:31 BUT WHAT SAD, I EXPECT VERY, 6:33 VERY FEW OF THEM WILL BE 6:35 TALKING ABOUT THIS ALLEGED
Lindsey Graham Suggests Trump 'Punch A Cop' On The Way To Tuesday's Arraignment: The Republican senator suggested Trump could “smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop” to "avoid prosecution in New York.” By David Moye HuffPost Mar 31, 2023, 03:27 PM EDT
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) had some bizarre advice for how former President Donald Trump should behave on the way to his expected arraignment on Tuesday.
“How can President Trump avoid prosecution in New York?” Graham tweeted Friday, with a “thinky face” emoji.
He then answered his own question: “On the way to the DA’s office on Tuesday, Trump should smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop. He would be released IMMEDIATELY!”
Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC How can President Trump avoid prosecution in New York? 10:04 AM Mar 31, 2023
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Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC On the way to the DA's office on Tuesday, Trump should smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop. He would be released IMMEDIATELY! 10:04 AM Mar 31, 2023
This was presumably meant to be some kind of joke implying that criminals can get away with anything in liberal, soft-on-crime New York. Or maybe Graham really is recommending that the former president physically attack a police officer ― you know, like some of his supporters have done.
Graham posted his tweet only hours after an emotional appearance with Sean Hannity, where he’d urged viewers to send Trump their cash so he can fight the Stormy Daniels hush money case, or else risk the very destruction of the United States.
The senator’s tweet left many Twitter users shocked, but not surprised.
Max Burns @themaxburns Nothing to see here, just 'law and order' Republicans telling Trump to assault law enforcement.
Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC Replying to @LindseyGrahamSC On the way to the DA’s office on Tuesday, Trump should smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop. He would be released IMMEDIATELY! 10:20 AM · Mar 31, 2023
Kaili Joy Gray @KailiJoy Totally normal for a senator and former prosecutor to call on a former president to do more crimes—including assaulting a cop because blue lives matter but not when you're talking about Trump. Lindsey Graham
@LindseyGrahamSC Replying to @LindseyGrahamSC On the way to the DA’s office on Tuesday, Trump should smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop. He would be released IMMEDIATELY! 10:14 AM · Mar 31, 2023
Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom Too many other Republicans were disgracing themselves too fast and effectively, so Graham had to reclaim the top spot
Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC Replying to @LindseyGrahamSC On the way to the DA’s office on Tuesday, Trump should smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop. He would be released IMMEDIATELY! 10:47 AM · Mar 31, 2023
Nathan Quarry @NateRockQuarry Replying to @LindseyGrahamSC Didn't work for the Jan 6th traitors. Probably won't work for their ringleader either. I'm really curious what Trump and Russia has over you. I think I know but I'd love to see it all come to light. 10:22 AM · Mar 31, 2023
Daniel Summers, MD @WFKARS Replying to @LindseyGrahamSC It’s a little early in the day to be hitting the rye, Senator. 10:22 AM · Mar 31, 2023
The Lincoln Project @ProjectLincoln Replying to @LindseyGrahamSC Dude, he's never going to pick you... 10:54 AM · Mar 31, 2023
(((DeanObeidallah))) @DeanObeidallah Lindsey Graham calls for Trump to punch an NYPD officer. I dare Lindsey to come to NYC and say that to one of NY's finest!!!
Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC Replying to @LindseyGrahamSC On the way to the DA’s office on Tuesday, Trump should smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop. He would be released IMMEDIATELY! 11:00 AM · Mar 31, 2023
Jay Jaffe @jay_jaffe ...because the NYPD is full of Trump-humpers? True, but Trump gets winded picking his nose and couldn't throw a punch that would bruise a baby. Yet Republicans still fantasize he's some kind of he-man daddy who can kick everybody's ass. Pathetic as hell all the way around
Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC Replying to @LindseyGrahamSC On the way to the DA’s office on Tuesday, Trump should smash some windows, rob a few shops and punch a cop. He would be released IMMEDIATELY! 10:27 AM · Mar 31, 2023
Donald Trump's family raged over New York judge Juan Merchan's daughter's work history ahead of his arraignment on Tuesday.
The former president surrendered to authorities in New York, where he pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to two women before the 2016 presidential election. Trump made history as the first former U.S. president to be charged in a criminal investigation.
The arraignment follows Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation into payments allegedly made to adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal in connection with alleged affairs they had with Trump. He has maintained his innocence in the case and denied having the affairs.
Trump and his allies have attacked last week's grand injury indictment, accusing prosecutors of engaging in a politically motivated "witch hunt" aimed at weakening his standing as he seeks the GOP presidential nomination. Trump's conservative allies also sought to portray Merchan as politically biased even before the arraignment.
Donald Trump's sons Donald Jr., left, and Eric attend a French-U.S. ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France on June 6, 2019. On Tuesday, both went on Twitter to attack the New York state court system as biased on the day of their father's arraignment on criminal charges. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY
Meanwhile, the Trump family expressed anger over reports that Merchan's daughter Loren worked on Vice President Kamala Harris' 2020 presidential campaign. Conservative media outlet The Gateway Pundit reported that his daughter worked for Harris' campaign during the Democratic primaries in 2019 as well as at Authentic Campaigns, an agency that works on progressive campaigns.
In a post on his Truth Social platform just hours before his arraignment, Trump mentioned Loren Merchan's political connections and called for the trial to be moved out of Manhattan—a deeply Democratic-leaning jurisdiction—to the more conservative Staten Island.
"ADDITIONALLY, THE HIGHLY PARTISAN JUDGE & HIS FAMILY ARE WELL KNOWN TRUMP HATERS. HE WAS AN UNFAIR DISASTER ON A PREVIOUS TRUMP RELATED CASE, WOULDN'T RECUSE, GAVE HORRIBLE JURY INSTRUCTIONS, & IMPOSSIBLE TO DEAL WITH DURING THE WITCH HUNT TRIAL. HIS DAUGHTER WORKED FOR "KAMALA" & NOW THE BIDEN-HARRIS CAMPAIGN. KANGAROO COURT!!!" Trump wrote.
Trump's family members and allies argued that Loren's connections to Democratic politics indicated that the court system is biased against the ex-president. Donald Trump Jr. tweeted: "Seems relevant... yet another connection in this hand picked democrat show trial. The BS never ends folks."
Donald Trump Jr. @DonaldJTrumpJr Seems relevant… yet another connection in this hand picked democrat show trial. The BS never ends folks.
Daughter of Judge on Trump Case Worked on Biden-Harris Campaign
breitbart.com Daughter of Judge on Trump Case Worked on Biden-Harris Campaign The daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Trump's case, worked on the Biden-Harris campaign, according to a report.
10:27 AM · Apr 4, 2023
His brother, Eric, tweeted: "They are all hand picked. It is all pre-arranged. This corruption is on a different level."
Newsweek reached out by email to the New York state court system's press office for comment.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump's top allies in Congress, showed up in Manhattan Tuesday morning to protest the arraignment. The Georgia Republican tweeted: "You can't even make up how corrupt this WITCH HUNT is!"
Despite the Trump family's concerns, others have praised Merchan, an acting New York state Supreme Court justice. José Fanjul, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney, told The New York Times that Merchan is "someone who reads every word on every page of every filing and every footnote, and then the cases that you cite to him."
Merchan handed Trump's legal team one victory before the arraignment, agreeing that videos should not be present in the courtroom. His attorneys had argued that broadcasting the arraignment would create security concerns and a "circus-like atmosphere."
Merchan was assigned the case because of a rotation in which judges are assigned to oversee grand juries and the cases that arise from them, according to the Associated Press.
Merchan also presided over the Bragg's case against the Trump Organization that ended with the company being found guilty of tax fraud this past December. The former president was not charged personally. During the trial, the judge said he wanted to keep politics out of the courtroom, the AP reported.
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Donald Trump Jr posts photo of hush money judge’s daughter as his father was warned to stop threats: Former president also attacked Judge Juan Merchan and his family during Mar-a-Lago speech by Graeme Massie independent.co.uk https://www.independent.co.uk/news/worl ... 14205.html
Donald Trump Jr shared on social media a picture of the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan as he claimed that his father was being subjected to a “hand-picked Democrat show trial.”
The former president’s eldest child posted the picture, which was attached to a Breitbart story that claims that the daughter of Judge Merchan worked on the Biden-Harris presidential campaign, on Twitter and Truth Social on Tuesday.
“Seems relevant… yet another connection in this hand picked democrat show trial. The BS never ends folks,” Don Jr posted.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate Tuesday, 4 April 2023, in Palm Beach, Fla., after being arraigned earlier in the day in New York City. (AP)
The former president himself then attacked the judge and his family during his Tuesday night speech to supporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate, also pointing out how his daughter worked for Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I have a Trump hating-judge with a Trump-hating wife and family whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris and now receives money from the Biden-Harris campaign,” he said.
Mr Trump said that he “would never forget” what the judge and prosecutors “had done” to his company’s imprisoned former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.
“It’s right out of the old Soviet Union. That’s where we are,” he said.
Breaking911 @Breaking911 TRUMP: "I have a Trump hating judge with a Trump hating wife & family, whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris — and now receives money from the Biden-Harris campaign. [...] It's right out of the old Soviet Union. That's where we are." 6:57 PM · Apr 4, 2023
Mr Trump’ made the inflammatory comments despite the judge earlier warning him to stop making remarks on social media that could lead to trouble or violence.
His words came despite the fact that Judge Merchan warned him to stop making threatening posts on social media that could inflame tensions or incite violence.
But the judge refused to slap a gag order on the case that would prevent Mr Trump from making public comments about it.
Don Jr’s posts came as prosecutors raised concerns during his 45-minute arraignment hearing that Mr Trump’s “threatening” social media posts could have an impact on jurors or witnesses.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office accused Mr Trump’s social media posts of “threatening our city, our justice system, our courts and our office.”
Before the hearing, Mr Trump posted a fake image of him swinging a baseball bat at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s head. He has also previously called Mr Bragg an “animal” on his Truth Social platform.
But Judge Merchan said he would not issue a gag order that would prevent Mr Trump or his lawyers from speaking publicly about the case.
The former president has officially been arraigned on 34 counts of falsifying business records and conspiracy, making him the first former US president to be a defendant in a criminal case.
MAGA Governor reaches NEW LOW with VILE public statements by Troy MeidasTouch May 28, 2023
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These joking little exchanges are all part of the “we were only kidding” defense, already deeply entrenched in the alt-right, as is the “we were just trying to trigger the liberal snowflakes” defense. Spencer has already testified that the use of torchlight, the Nazi chants and Hitler symbology, and the comments about gassing people and “portable ovens” are all simply a “subcultural thing of being outlandish and stupid.” The point here, testified Heimbach, is to tweet and say “the most outrageous things we could do to troll and create outrage in the media and get reaction.” The more the rest of us react, goes their calculus, the bigger their win. “They absolutely fell for it,” Heimbach said of the media, in his testimony.
The last expert witness called by the plaintiffs on Thursday, Day 14 of the trial, was Peter Simi, an associate professor of sociology at Chapman University. The defendants had sought to exclude him from the trial, but they failed. Simi and fellow sociologist Kathleen Blee have produced a 63-page report showing the defendants in this trial had engaged in coordinated efforts to obscure their real intentions by hiding behind these claims of humor, coded speech, and other rhetorical tricks. The researchers pored over thousands of Discord messages and defendants’ emails to conclude that, yes, white supremacism is a violent racist ideology rooted in antisemitism, hostility toward immigrants, minorities, and feminism; that yes, white supremacism also uses new technologies and coded double-speak, and that white supremacists engage in what they characterize as “front-stage” and “back-stage” behavior. What that means, Simi testified, is that “people present themselves differently when they are seeking to make an impression on others than they do in private.” Perhaps most importantly Simi reported and testified that white supremacy encourages and celebrates violence. Simi testified that white supremacists cultivate plausible deniability by deploying a variety of linguistic winks and tricks. So for instance, the white supremacist publication the Daily Stormer’s “Style Guide” has cautioned:
Most people are not comfortable with material that comes across as vitriolic, raging, nonironic hatred. The unindoctrinated should not be able to tell if we are joking or not. There should also be a conscious awareness of mocking stereotypes of hateful racists. I usually think of this as self-deprecating humor - I am a racist making fun of stereotype of racists, because I don’t take myself super-seriously. This is obviously a ploy and I actually do want to gas kikes. But that’s neither here nor there.
Elsewhere, defendant Andrew Anglin has written that “It’s illegal to promote violence on the Internet. At the same time, it’s totally important to normalize the acceptance of violence as an eventuality/inevitability.” Thus, Anglin advised that “whenever someone does something violent, it should be made light of, laughed at.” According to Simi and Blee, “In our opinion, readers would have understood that such use of humor was intended to ‘normalize,’ approve of, and encourage violence without explicitly promoting it.”
Simi’s testimony was devastating. No part of it was hilarious. He explained, in the most academic terms possible, the degree to which the performance artistry of the white supremacists is not accidental. It’s deliberate stagecraft, constructed to promote both violent spectacle and plausible deniability.
MAGA Republican Governor of South Carolina Henry McMaster jokes about hunting down Democrats with dogs, an obvious racist dog whistle. Meidas contributor Troy reports.
Transcript
hey what's up everybody it's Troy so on the day where we're learning that a white supremacist with a Nazi flag tried to drive through a checkpoint at the white house uh and just a week after staffers from representative Jerry Conley's district office a democrat in Virginia were attacked and beaten by men with baseball bats uh we are learning that this weekend South Carolina governor Maga Republican Governor Henry McMaster made a really sick comment at the South Carolina Republican convention saying and I quote I look forward to the day that Democrats are so rare we have to hunt them with dogs an obvious incitement to violence not only on its on its face but also a race a racial dog whistle calling back to the days uh when whites in the South would hunt uh black uh black people with dogs so just an obvious disgusting racially tinged statement he thought would only go as far as the other Maga Republicans in the South Carolina Republican convention but it was reported on Twitter that he made these comments at this convention Democratic party leadership in Anderson and Charleston counties put out a statement condemning the remarks by Governor McMaster and saying that if he doesn't apologize and retract this racially tinged dog whistle then they are going to ask the state law enforcement division to open an investigation into the threat and incitement of political violence all new for you this hour a joke that the governor's office says he's been making for years is blowing up this morning yeah it comes after the South Carolina Republican convention was held this weekend and the governor reportedly said he looks forward to the day that Democrats are so aware we have to hunt them like dogs the Anderson County Democratic party is responding to those remarks the party's chair Chris Sally released this statement saying part quote Governor Henry McMaster threatened me my family and thousands of other Anderson County residents who are Democrats when he said he looks forward to the day he can hunt us with dogs the statement goes on to say that if the governor doesn't apologize they won't ask the South Carolina law enforcement division to open an investigation into the governor's statements in response mcmaster's office claimed that this was a joke a joke that he's been making for years by the way uh as if that makes it better but claiming that this is a standard joke that he makes at these Republican at these Mega Republican events threatening the lives of Democrats in his State as Governor but that it was a joke and that so-called everyday South Carolinians would take it as a joke but rather than apologize his office used that opportunity to again attack Democrats a spokesperson for the governor released a statement saying quote Governor McMaster has been making this joke at GOP conventions for years and every everyday South Carolinians understand that it's a joke if South Carolina Democrat partisans can no longer bear lighthearted jokes made at their expense then maybe they should focus their energy on winning and not whining end quote just vile discussing comments coming from Mega Republican Governor Henry McMaster in South Carolina and then just completely unrepentant no apologies using the opportunity to cast further division further hate against his own constituents Democrats in his State uh with this disgusting genocidal language about eliminating all Democrats and hunting them down like dogs again coming just a week after violence against staffers of a democratic Congressman coming as we have reports of a violent white supremacist attempting to drive a U-Haul onto the White House grounds coming after Paul Pelosi's attack speaker Pelosi's husband was attacked ongoing political violence ramping up in this country primarily on the Republican side white supremacist white nationalism is according to the FBI and the Department of Justice the biggest domestic terrorist threat the biggest national security threat on the domestic side is Mega Republican violence and Maga Governors like McMaster are only egging that violence on among their unhinged supporters with disgusting comments like this but this appears to be the type of joke uh that Republicans tell themselves when they think no one is listening and it's so successful that apparently he's been telling this this joke for years they just have a good laugh about the racist history of hunting down people with dogs in the South absolutely disgusting for Midas Touch This is Troy remember smash that subscribe button to keep supporting Independent Media
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South Carolina governor faces backlash for remark about hunting Democrats with dogs: Democrats demanded Gov. Henry McMaster apologize for the statement, which he made at a state GOP convention last weekend. by Summer Concepcion NBC News May 23, 2023, 7:37 AM MDT / Updated May 23, 2023, 7:56 AM MDT
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, faces demands from state Democrats to apologize for a remark he used to refer to them during a Republican Party event over the weekend.
“I look forward to the day that Democrats are so rare, we have to hunt them with dogs,” McMaster said at a state GOP convention, a reporter for The State newspaper, Joseph Bustos, tweeted during the event.
McMaster’s comment swiftly drew condemnation from South Carolina Democrats, who called for the Republican governor to apologize.
The Anderson County Democratic Party shared a petition online with a statement from its chairman, Chris Salley, asking McMaster to apologize and “retract this racially-tinged dog whistle” and for the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division to open an investigation “into this threat and incitement of political violence” if the governor refuses to do so.
“As a Black, gay man in America, I’ve had to be on guard for people trying to ‘hunt me down’ most of my life and I know thousands of people across South Carolina are forced to feel the same,” Salley said. “This rhetoric emboldens violent extremists, chills political discourse, and needs to end.”
Christale Spain, chairwoman of the South Carolina Democratic Party, decried McMaster’s comments as “absolutely chilling” to hear.
“The majority of the Dem electorate in SC is Black and our governor is saying out loud he can’t wait to hunt us down with dogs,” Spain, who is also Black, tweeted. “This is absolutely chilling to hear from. Southern Gov who knows our history.”
In response to the outcry from Democrats, a spokesperson for McMaster, Brandon Charochak, said the governor had issued the same comment at previous GOP conventions, and that “everyday South Carolinians understand that it’s a joke.”
“If South Carolina Democrat partisans can no longer bear light-hearted jokes made at their expense, then maybe they should focus their energy on winning and not whining,” Charochak said in a statement.
McMaster previously referred to Democrats as “dogs” in remarks at a barbecue event in 2018, The State reported.
“Our Democratic friends are a lot like dogs. One on one, they’re really nice, but in a pack they’re dangerous,” McMaster said at the 2018 event, the State reported. “So I tell you, we can’t let up. We got to go hard. And in South Carolina we are making progress, and it’s because we have a president ... Donald Trump, who is one of the greatest we have ever had or ever will have.”
Trump's danger continues: he posts Obama's home address; armed Trump supporter heads to the address by Glenn Kirschner Jul 4, 2023 #TeamJustice
Trump's ongoing danger to others continues unabated by federal law enforcement agencies. In a staggering show of disregard for the safety of ANOTHER former president, Trump posted on social media Barrack Obama's home address. A Trump supporter named Taylor Taranto, who was also wanter for participating in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, reposted Trump's post, armed himself with two guns, 400 rounds of ammunition and a machete, and headed to President's Obama's home. Fortunately, he was arrested as he approached the house.
Transcript
so friends Donald Trump continues to endanger us all up to and including another former president of the United States let's talk about that because Justice matters [Music] hey all Glenn kirschner here so friends I don't know if you saw the recent reporting about a particular Trump supporter who is also an insurrectionist who headed to President Obama's home his home address in Washington D.C after Donald Trump posted President Obama's home address online and this particular Trump supporter this insurrectionist headed to President Obama's home with two guns 400 rounds of ammunition and the machete here is the recent reporting from NBC News headline January 6 defendant arrested near Obama's home had guns and 400 rounds of ammunition in his van and that article begins a trump supporter who stormed the capital wearing a makespace great again hat had two guns and 400 rounds of ammunition in his van when he was arrested Thursday near former president Barack Obama's Home Federal authorities said Friday a federal prosecutor said in court Friday that Taylor taranto a 37 year old man first identified by online sleuths in August 2021 also had a machete in the van he appeared to be living in taranto's van has been parked near the D.C jail in recent weeks and he has appeared at protests in support of other January 6 defendants videos on social media show the prosecutor said that torranto has been in Washington to take house Speaker Kevin McCarthy up on his offer of letting January 6 defendants review security footage of the capital Riot relevant to their cases taranto had posted recordings of phone calls he made trying to get access to the footage to his social media taranto has acknowledged entering the capital on January 6th in social media posts and questioned why authorities had not arrested him his lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for common torranto showed up at Obama's residence on Thursday after former president Donald Trump posted screenshots on his truth social platform that featured a purported address for Obama's home in Washington torranto's account reposted Trump's post with President Obama's home address so friends let's recap this guy is a trump supporter he's an insurrectionist who participated in the capital attack on January 6th he came to D.C in response to Kevin McCarthy's call his invitation come to D.C review the security footage of January 6th maybe it will assist you Mr insurrectionist in your defense then Donald Trump posts President Barack Obama's home address here in Washington D.C this particular insurrectionist Taylor taranto reposts it on his social media and then he heads to President Obama's house and as he is headed to President Obama's home he is arrested with what two guns 400 rounds of ammunition and a machete you know friends I am sick and tired of Donald Trump endangering our communities endangering our society endangering American democracy with nothing being done to address the danger and of course in a related story as we discussed yesterday leaders from around the world you know the heads of democracies around the globe are asking President Biden why why hasn't Donald Trump been held accountable for the insurrection we don't know what President Biden tells them in reply Donald Trump's continued supremely dangerous conduct going unaddressed by our law enforcement authorities is so infuriating you know it's so disheartening it's so corrosive to the rule of law it's the antithesis of Justice and Justice matters friends happy Independence Day we fight on as always please stay safe please stay tuned and I look forward to talking with you all again tomorrow [Music] thank you [Music]
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Obama's home had guns and 400 rounds of ammunition in his van: Taylor Taranto has been publicly identified as a participant in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol since August 2021. He was arrested Thursday. by Ryan J. Reilly and Fiona Glisson NBC News June 30, 2023, 1:49 PM MDT / Updated June 30, 2023, 1:59 PM MDT https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justic ... -rcna92094
[x] Taylor Taranto, center, at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Metropolitan Police Department
WASHINGTON — A Trump supporter who stormed the Capitol wearing a “Make Space Great Again” hat had two guns and 400 rounds of ammunition in his van when he was arrested Thursday near former President Barack Obama’s home, federal authorities said Friday.
A federal prosecutor said in court Friday that Taylor Taranto, a 37-year-old man first identified by online sleuths in August 2021, also had a machete in the van he appeared to be living in. Taranto's van has been parked near the D.C. jail in recent weeks and he has appeared at protests in support of other Jan. 6 defendants, videos on social media show. Noting that he lived in the van, a federal prosecutor said Taranto had “nowhere to go.”
Taranto currently faces four misdemeanor counts in connection with Jan. 6, the federal prosecutor said.
The prosecutor said that Taranto has been in Washington to take House Speaker Kevin McCarthy up on his offer of letting Jan. 6 defendants review security footage of the Capitol riot relevant to their cases. Taranto had posted recordings of phone calls he made trying to get access to the footage to his social media.
Taranto has acknowledged entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 in social media posts and questioned why authorities had not arrested him. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Taranto showed up at Obama's residence on Thursday after former President Donald Trump posted screenshots on his Truth Social platform that featured a purported address for Obama's home in Washington. Taranto's account reposted Trump's post.
"We got these losers surrounded!" Taranto wrote on Telegram yesterday. "See you in hell, Podesta's and Obama's!"
Taranto will be held in custody at least until a detention hearing on Wednesday. Federal Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey said Friday he had "some concern" about Taranto's mental stability.
Taranto was identified by members of the Sedition Hunters community after a facial recognition search turned up photos of him posing with a cardboard cutout of Trump at county GOP events in his home state of Washington.
The widow of a Metropolitan Police officer who died by suicide after defending the Capitol on Jan. 6 has filed a lawsuit against Taranto and another man, David Walls-Kaufman, alleging they played a role in his death. Both men have denied involvement in Officer Jeffrey Smith's death. Smith's body cam footage appears to show that he was also struck with a flying metal object later in the evening, hours after he was part of a scuffle involving Walls-Kaufman and Taranto.
NBC News spotted Taranto at Walls-Kaufman’s sentencing earlier this month, where he confirmed his full name to court security officials who spoke to him after he used his cell phone in the courtroom in violation of court rules.
More than 1,000 people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, which involved more than 3,000 people. Taranto was one of hundreds of Jan. 6 participants who have been identified by online sleuths but had not been charged.
Ryan J. Reilly is a justice reporter for NBC News.