Tag Archive for: ACLU

Meet The Left-Wing Activist Politician Who Kicked Trump Off The Maine Ballot

Democratic Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, the woman responsible for kicking former President Trump off the state’s 2024 election ballot, is a longtime left-wing activist and Democratic politician.

Bellows unilaterally removed Trump from the ballot Thursday night under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, barring individuals from running for office if they engaged in an insurrection. The former president has not been charged with, or convicted of, engaging in an insurrection.

Bellows became Maine’s Secretary of State in January of 2021 after she was elected by the legislature following two terms in the Maine senate from 2016-20, her official bio states. Her second term began in January of 2023 and goes for two years.

From 2005-13, Bellows was the executive director of Maine’s branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a left-wing legal group, until she ran for senate in 2014 and lost handily to current Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who came out against Bellows’ ruling.

Bellows advocated for ranked-choice voting, same-sex marriage and same-day voter registration during her time leading Maine’s ACLU chapter. She got her start with the ACLU in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks as an organizer in the activist group’s Washington, D.C. office, an archived bulletin shows.

Before the ACLU, Bellows graduated from Middlebury College. She lives with her husband Brandon in Manchester, Maine, in the central part of the state. Middlebury is renowned as one of the most progressive liberal arts colleges in the northeast, and has been the subject of multiple political controversies regarding free speech on campus in recent years.

As a state senator, Bellows represented parts of Kennbec County, Maine, in the southern part of the state and chaired the Labor and Housing Committee. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Bellows expressed support for then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden and said America must restore its civility.

Bellows called the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot an “insurrection” and called for Trump’s impeachment for his conduct leading up to the riot. “The fundamental right of any American citizen to vote freely, fairly and to have their vote counted is the premise of our democracy. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights are not values to be compromised away,” Bellows previously stated in a Jan. 4, 2022 social media post.

She appeared on CNN Thursday to defend her “unprecedented” decision to remove Trump from Maine’s ballot based on the insurrectionist ban.

“So — again, I am so mindful – and I said this in my decision – that it is unprecedented. No secretary of state has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the 14th Amendment. But no presidential candidate has ever engaged in insurrection and been disqualified under Section Three of the 14th Amendment,” Bellows asserted. Her comments echoed an earlier press release her office sent out explaining the decision.

Maine is the second state to remove Trump from its presidential ballot after Colorado’s supreme court ruled on Dec. 19 to disqualify Trump from its GOP primary. The Colorado Republican party is appealing the 4-3 decision to the Supreme Court, allowing Trump to remain on the ballot pending the highest court’s decision.

Trump is the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, according to the RealClearPolitics state and national polling averages.

“The Maine Secretary of State is a former ACLU attorney, a virulent leftist and a hyper-partisan Biden-supporting Democrat who has decided to interfere in the presidential election on behalf of Crooked Joe Biden. We are witnessing, in real-time, the attempted theft of an election and the disenfranchisement of the American voter,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement.

“We will quickly file a legal objection in state court to prevent this atrocious decision in Maine from taking effect, and President Trump will never stop fighting to Make America Great Again.”

AUTHOR

JAMES LYNCH

Investigative reporter. James Lynch can be reached on Twitter @jameslynch32.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Biden Brings in Islamic Activists to Investigate U.S. Military for ‘Extremism’

Muslim Brotherhood supporters to help Biden destroy American soldiers.


A decade ago, Hina Shamsi was fighting on behalf of the Holy Land Foundation whose leaders had been convicted of providing material support to Hamas.

As the head of the ACLU’s National Security Project, Shamsi, a Pakistani citizen, had fought fiercely for the Islamic terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. “We all must pledge — not one person more in Guantanamo, not in our names,” she recently declared.

But now the Pakistani advocate for Islamic terrorists has a new job: going after our soldiers.

Shamsi (pictured above left) is one of the terror lawyers who appears on a list of partners for the Biden administration’s crackdown on “extremism” in the military. The only kind of extremism that Shamsi appears to be an expert on is the Islamic kind and her expertise has been in denying it.

Furthermore, at least as of 2017, Shamsi had described herself as a Pakistan citizen with permanent legal residency in America.

She’s not the only apparent Pakistani citizen tasked by Biden to go after our troops.

Take Faiza Patel, another Pakistani immigrant, who co-wrote an article arguing against designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. The article claimed that “the Muslim Brotherhood is a religious organization, a political party, and a social service provider” and that it had “disavowed violence decades ago.”

That would come as news to Hamas and its other active Jihadist network members.

In another co-written article, Faiza Patel claimed that laws against Sharia were Islamophobic.

Patel has worked for international organizations in Europe, including the International Criminal Tribunal, and was a member of a UN Human Rights Council working group which listed her as a member from Pakistan, not the United States, raising questions about her citizenship.

And yet Shamsi and Patel aren’t the worst of the list of partners for the Biden administration’s Countering Extremism Working Group (CEWG) published by OANN correspondent Jack Posobiec

While Biden’s Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had announced the CEWG group to counter supposed “extremism” in the military, the list of CEWG partners contains a lot of Muslim lawyers and activists. In addition to Shamsi, there’s fellow Pakistani ACLU activist: Manar Waheed.

The list includes Wael Alzayat in his role as the CEO of Emgage. The national co-chair and founding member of the Islamic group is Khurrum Wahid who has been described as one of the country’s most prominent terror lawyers and whose clients include an Al Qaeda operative who plotted to kill President George W. Bush and Sami al-Arian who was linked to Islamic Jihad.

Wahid had been placed on a terrorist watch list and Emgage, as counterterrorism researcher Joe Kaufman noted, “holds events at terror-linked mosques”: including one founded by al-Arian.

Emgage’s board includes Dhabah ‘Debbie’ Almontaser who was forced out of her old job over t-shirts reading “Intifada NYC”. Nada al Hanooti, Emgage’s Executive Director for Michigan, is the daughter of Muthanna al Hanooti, a former CAIR leader who was accused of working for Saddam Hussein and Iraq’s intelligence agency.

Is that the kind of extremism expertise that the Department of Defense really needs?

Also on the list of Biden’s CEWG partners is Iman Boukadou:, the staff attorney for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).

The ADC has a long history of defending and excusing Islamic terrorism. “I know many people in Hamas. They are very respectable,” its former president Hamzi Moghrabi had said. Former ADC president Hussein Ibish called Hezbollah “a disciplined and responsible liberation force” whose members “conducted themselves in an exemplary manner.”

Boukadoum was most recently hard at work fighting for Abdelhaleem Ashqar, who had been convicted of obstruction of justice in a case involving the flow of money to Hamas.

Ashqar ran for president of the Palestinian Authority while awaiting trial in the United States. He had argued that the evidence against him had come from a time when “Hamas was not designated as a terrorist organisation” and boasted that, “they wanted me to testify against my people. I said I’d rather die than betray my commitment to freedom and justice for Palestine.”

American military personnel are being put at the mercy of advocates for their worst enemies.

Biden’s DOD radicals have assembled a list of activists who have absolutely no credibility when it comes to extremism. Multiple “partners” for Biden’s Countering Extremism Working Group have appeared at events for CAIR, ICNA, and other terror-linked organizations. Some have appeared at events featuring advocates for Islamic terrorism, sharia, and violence against non-Muslims. They’re the extremists that Americans should be concerned about.

It was not surprising that Biden’s CEWG partner list would include multiple personnel from the discredited Southern Poverty Law Center including Heidi Beirich, formerly of the SPLC, currently running her own organization, the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, which barely has a website.

Or that the only conservative on the list is the First Liberty Institute. FLI’s Michael Berry also appears to be the only person on Biden’s list who is qualified for this role as a Lt. Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve who works as FLI’s Director of Military Affairs.

But to Biden, defending Al Qaeda and Hamas terrorists, is the only qualification needed for going after American soldiers. That tells us everything we need to know about Biden’s goals.

Biden’s Secretary of Defense Austin falsely claimed that, “this is not about politics or political views.” His list of partners makes it abundantly clear that this is entirely about politics.

The list consists almost entirely of organizations and individuals who supported Biden.

And that makes this look even more like a political purge of the military by a radical administration that began its time in office by abusing the military for political purposes, and has made it clear that it intends to eliminate any opposition within the military to its political views.

But it’s striking that a third of Biden’s CEWG partners are Muslim. Especially since the Biden administration isn’t looking for another Nidal Hasan in the hopes of averting another Fort Hood Massacre, but is instead trying to rewrite history to pretend that the greatest threat to our national security comes from Biden’s political opponents rather than from his Islamist backers.

The Obama administration infamously dismantled our counterterrorism programs and replaced them with Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). Biden is dismantling CVE and siccing Islamist activists and their lawyers on the military to implement a ruthless purge of American soldiers.

Witnessing Gitmo lawyers licking their lips at the prospect of bringing the Jihad into the heart of the military against soldiers who bravely served our country but have no defense against being betrayed by their own government is as disheartening to us as it must be to them.

“Did we lose a war?” the ordinary American confronted with this reversal of terror may wonder.

And the answer is, “Yes, we did.”

COLUMN BY

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

The Obscene Narrative: ACLU Staff Attorney blames ‘Christian right,’ GOP for Orlando massacre

“You know what is gross — your thoughts and prayers and Islamophobia after you created this anti-queer climate,” ACLU staff attorney Chase Strangio tweeted on Sunday morning. Does the illustrious Strangio actually believe that Omar Mateen was incited to commit mass murder in the gay nightclub in Orlando by an “anti-queer climate” created by Christian conservatives? He probably does, since, as a Leftist, he knows that non-Muslims are always and everywhere to blame for atrocities that Muslims commit.

Chase Strangio

Chase Strangio

“ACLU lawyers blame ‘Christian right,’ GOP for Orlando terrorist attack,” by Joel Gehrke, Washington Examiner, June 12, 2016:

Christian conservatives are responsible for the mass shooting at a gay bar in Orlando because they “created this anti-queer climate,” according to American Civil Liberties Union attorneys.

“You know what is gross — your thoughts and prayers and Islamophobia after you created this anti-queer climate,” ACLU staff attorney Chase Strangio tweeted on Sunday morning.

About 50 people were killed last night by Omar Mateen, a U.S. citizen born to Afghan parents suspected to have “leanings toward extreme Islamic ideologies.” The FBI is investigating the attack as a “domestic terror incident.”

But Strangio — who “spend[s his] life fighting Christian homophobia while being loved & supported by [his] Muslim family” — and his colleagues connected the shooting back to Christians and Republican politicians who oppose gay marriage. “The Christian Right has introduced 200 anti-LGBT bills in the last six months and people blaming Islam for this,” Strangio tweeted. “No.”

Another ACLU attorney who specializes in religious liberty issues scolded Republican lawmakers who tweeted out their condolences. “Remember when you co-sponsored extreme, anti-LGBT First Amendment Defense Act?” the ACLU’s Eunice Rho tweetedat Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and other Republicans,

House Speaker Paul Ryan was careful not to jump to conclusions about the attacker on Sunday morning. “We pray for those brutally attacked in Orlando,” Ryan tweeted. “While we must learn more about the attacker, the victims & families will not be forgotten.”…

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ACLU accuses Florida Sheriff of writing too many seat belt tickets against blacks

I recently read an article in the Pensacola News Journal regarding how racist the Escambia County Sheriffs Office (ECSO) acts in regard to black folks getting more seat belt tickets than white folks.

All this according to the American Civil Liberties Union Florida (ACLU-FL) after a massive investigation led by ACLU-FL cheer leader Sara Latshaw the “Director of the Northwest Florida region” as she reported her findings. Latshaw is a Pensacola resident.

Actually Latshaw is more concerned with setting up a lesbian and gay groups in local high schools like Niceville High than allowing kids to pray, a right guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. But that’s another story.

We must remember that it was Roger Nash Baldwin and Crystal Catherine Eastman who founded the ACLU in 1920 along with three other organizations dedicated to Communist causes. Baldwin openly sought the “utter destruction of American society.” His words.

Fifteen years after founding the ACLU, Baldwin wrote:

I am for Socialism, disarmament and ultimately, for the abolishing of the State itself … I seek the social ownership of property, the abolition of the propertied class and sole control of those who produce wealth. Communism is the goal.

Crystal Eastman wrote:

I would not have a woman go to Congress merely because she is a woman.

Back to the seat belt fiasco. So in May of 2009 Charlie Crist the former Republican and former Governor of Florida signed into law a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Nan Rich, D-Weston, and Rep. Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City, Florida statute 316.614: Safety belt usage.

Charlie tells the cops write everyone up not wearing a seat belt. Lets raise some capital for cash strapped Florida. Besides that, Crist also signed into law the largest tax increase in Florida history and doubled the price of car tags and licenses while forcing Floridian’s to get state permission to fish on the beach. But that’s another story.

So now we as Floridians, inside the comfort of our own car, do not have a choice as we are forced by former Governor Charlie Crist, who is now a Democrat, to buckle up. Its the nanny state mentality. Most Americans routinely put on their seat belts and it saves lives, but now we must all abide by the Florida state statutes.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration seat belts save over 12,000 lives every year:

My question was this. If Charlie Crist was so concerned about saving lives why does he support abortion? But that’s yet another story.

So now we have the ACLU telling the Pensacola News Journal blacks are being unfairly ticketed for not wearing seat belts.

Hmmm. Perhaps blacks are getting pulled over BECAUSE in accordance to Florida Statute 316.614 they are not wearing their seat belts. Can you imagine that? No way!

Maybe white folks who are getting tickets for not wearing seat belts are faking it. When white Floridians or tourists get pulled over they deliberately unbuckle themselves just to get the seat belt ticket to be fair to black folks.

Now the ACLU wants the Florida Attorney General’s Office to investigate, as a civil rights violation, why black folks are getting more tickets for not wearing seat belts than whites.

What if white and black folks both buckled up!  This would solve the issue. Or even better abolish the law and let people make up their own mind about buckling up?

The Communists in the ACLU use every avenue to bait the police and play the race card to divide this nation and to drive home their Communist agenda. Why the ACLU even brought in outside social scientists to make sure they were not missing anything in this seat belt investigation. I wonder what it looks like to see a social scientist sitting in a cubicle studying a seat belt infraction?

What a joke. Perhaps all the black police officer friends of mine (great and brave Americans) who write the seat belt tickets in the Escambia County sheriffs Office are feeling mighty insulted by the efforts of Sara Latshaw to call them racists.

Buckle up! It’s the law.

NOTE:

Copy to my friends at the Escambia County Sheriffs Office
Copy to Governor Scott.
Copy to the ACLU Communists in Florida

Panhandling is the new normal in the City of Sarasota, Florida

Christian Ziegler wrote in an email, “It’s a true shame to see the City of Sarasota, at the expense of our tourism, local economy & city’s image, bow down to the ACLU in order to avoid a possible lawsuit.”

“As a person who works in and frequents downtown Sarasota on a daily basis, I have personally witnessed the spike in vagrant activity since the City Commission began taking away the tools that the local police use to fight the issue. I believe this is an issue the City Commission and local police should stand tough & work together to fight, not give-in, even if the city is being threatened by a lawsuit from the ACLU!” states Ziegler.

Ziegler has received hundreds of responses to his email, most supportive. The following are from City of Sarasota residents:

Mr. Ziegler,

I have more than just a single reason to move away from our beautiful Sarasota, and if I were younger I would stay and fight the ACLU, and get the bums out of our library. I was so turned off by the street people being allowed to wander around inside the library last summer that I began plans to move that same day. Sarasota is a beautiful city, but it needs some tough new leadership, and right now the wishy washy look the other way is not helping anybody. A shame for such an otherwise beautiful city to be headed to hell in a hand basket. I had planned to be here until I die, but now will die in Colorado instead. I am moving there into a home I just bought. 

Respectfully,

Dear Christian,

I own a small business and work downtown too. I avoid certain streets because I know they are hangout spots for vagrants. I used to walk to the post office to drop off any mailings, I don’t anymore.

I am very disappointed in our city’s commission poor decision, inability to stand up for our citizens over a counter culture that brings our city down, and they have made a mockery of our police department. I’ve watched these vagrants approach diners and ask for food or money at Cie La Vie. Okay so they have rights and freedom of speech. What about OUR rights as business owners, citizens and visitors?

There are numerous programs already in place in Sarasota where they can get assistance. These people that hangout in the parks all day do not want help. They are fine with the station they have assumed and this is their lifestyle. They know that they can now keep doing what they are doing and not get hassled. And now more will come.

I know where my vote is going March 12th and it will not be a liberal.

Thank you,

Lee Williams from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports, “The City of Sarasota and the American Civil Liberties Union have signed a consent decree that stops police from “interfering with the exercise of First Amendment rights” when dealing with the homeless. The decree, a 60-day injunction, prohibits police from interfering with panhandlers — someone standing on a sidewalk soliciting assistance — unless they impede traffic, pedestrians or create an unsafe situation.”

Panhandlers are becoming more viable and aggressive within the City of Sarasota. Citizens have complained and yet the current City Commissioners have decided that panhandling is a free speech right.

Williams reports, “The consent decree follows the arrest of Jon Hill, a homeless man who was arrested of panhandling on U.S. 301. Hill was injured during his arrest, which he and his attorneys claim was the result of officers slamming his face into a squad car. The arresting officers say he intentionally threw himself forward during a struggle, striking his head on their squad car window.”

Hill spent five days in jail, until the ACLU got him released by filing an emergency petition — a writ of habeas corpus.

This may become a wedge issue in the March 12,  2013 Sarasota City Commission election.

Watch this “Voting for Dummies” video done by Politically Personal: