Where did Mateo Ventura convert? Who taught him about Islam? Authorities have no interest in these questions. The number of converts to Islam becoming jihadis is high, but officials the world over are completely indifferent to this phenomenon.
WORCESTER, Mass. — A Wakefield teenager was arrested Thursday on charges he allegedly ran a gift-card reselling scheme aimed at raising money for the foreign terrorist organization ISIS, federal prosecutors said.
Mateo Ventura, 18, was ordered held after he was arraigned in federal court in Worcester on a charge of knowingly concealing the source of material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Massachusetts.
Ventura provided multiple gift cards to an individual he believed was an ISIS supporter, with the intention that the gift cards be sold on the dark web for a little less than face value and the resulting profits be used to support ISIS, prosecutors alleged in charging documents.
Ventura allegedly stated that he wanted the proceeds to go to ISIS “for war on kuffar,” (disbelievers).
Between January 2023 and May 2023, Ventura donated $705 in Google Play Store gift cards intended to support ISIS, according to prosecutors.
Ventura implicated himself in the scheme by conversing in lengthy conversations with an undercover FBI agent who was posing as a supporter of the terror group, documents indicate. He also expressed a desire to move abroad to join and fight with ISIS.
On Jan. 26, 2023, when asked about hijrah (traveling to join ISIS), Ventura allegedly stated, “I want to give my life for jihad fisabillah (for the sake of Allah) intention is pure from heart,” and also stated that he would “make good fighter for dawla (ISIS).”…
Ventura’s father, Paul, said his son is a loyal American who may have a fascination with terrorist organizations, but no desire for affiliation.
He partially blames the school system for his son’s predicament. “So he’s in his SPED (special education) class and the kids in the SPED class are looking at school shootings and terrorist attacks in school,” Ventura said. “That’s what he’s learning in his SPED class.”
Paul Ventura told reporters outside of court that his son suffers from learning and neurological deficits that have made his academic career “very difficult.” He also explained that his son was bullied to a point that forced him to leave Wakefield High School in 2022, a year before he was slated to graduate….
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2023-06-12 05:43:402023-06-12 05:52:05Massachusetts: Teen converts to Islam, raises money for the Islamic State for war on non-Muslims
Authorities confiscated an inconspicuous carry-on item known as a “vampire straw” from a security checkpoint at Logan International Airport in Boston, the Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday.
The “vampire straw” was a 10-inch titanium straw with a sloping end. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at the airport found the straw in the backpack of Arman Achuthan Nair as he moved through security, according to AP.
Nair was arrested Sunday evening and now faces a charge of carrying a dangerous weapon, the outlet reported, citing Massachusetts State Police.
The TSA prohibits vampire straws from being brought aboard flights, according to AP. Vampire straws are designed as a tool combining properties of a straw for drinks and a self-defense weapon equivalent to a dagger.
This is a Vampire straw. These items are not allowed in passenger carry-on bags. A passenger found that out yesterday @BostonLogan when @MassStatePolice confiscated the item and eventually arrested the 26-year-old man on a state charge. 🧛🏼♂️🥤🚫 #travelfailpic.twitter.com/8TGQYP93c7
Nair, a 26-year-old from Chicago, was later released on bail. He has an arraignment scheduled at the East Boston Municipal Court on May 30, the outlet reported.
Logan International Airport was evacuated in April 2022 after TSA agents discovered a suspicious item that turned out to be an old PlayStation video game console. The agency seized a record 6,542 guns from American airports in 2022.
The Islamic Society of Boston was founded by al-Qaeda financier Abrurrahman Alamoudi and had the Hitler-admiring Jew-hater Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi on its Board. It has recommended (in accord with Qur’an 4:34) that men beat their wives. Convicted jihadis Tarek Mehanna and Aafia Siddiqui went there. So did Ahmad Abousamra, the Islamic State’s “social media guru.” Oh, and the Boston Marathon jihad bombers, the Tsarnaev brothers.
Ironically, Michelle Wu wouldn’t dream of appointing someone who had spoken critically of jihad violence and Sharia oppression as deputy chief of staff. But this is fine.
“Massachusetts Politicians Enable Boston’s Islamists,” by Sam Westrop, Focus on Western Islamism, June 13, 2022:
In May, Boston’s progressivist Mayor, Michelle Wu, appointed Yusufi Vali as her Deputy Chief of Staff. Vali is the former head of the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB), an institution once considered to be among the most radical mosques on the East Coast. Vali’s appointment appears to be yet another case of a graduate of Boston’s Islamist institutions finding a powerful foothold in Massachusetts politics.
Vali certainly has some explaining to do. He is a former trustee of the Boston branch of the Muslim American Society (MAS), one of America’s most notorious Islamist institutions and a designated terrorist organization in the United Arab Emirates.
In 2008, federal prosecutors wrote that “MAS was founded as the overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America.” Speakers at MAS conference have often openly glorified terrorism. In 2019, the Philadelphia branch of MAS made national headlines after it ran an event in which children sang about torturing and beheading Jews.
MAS’s Boston branch oversaw the management of ISB’s flagship mosque for many years, where Vali became executive director. Before Vali’s time, early trustees of the ISB’s first mosque, over the river in Cambridge, included Yusuf Al Qaradawi, the infamously-extreme spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and admirer of Adolf Hitler; as well as Abdulrahman Alamoudi, an Al Qaeda fundraiser who was jailed in 2004 for conspiring with the Libyan regime to assassinate the Saudi Crown Prince….
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2022-06-21 06:01:472022-06-21 06:05:06Boston Mayor Appoints Former Head of Jihad Terror-linked Mosque as Her Deputy Chief of Staff
We know that eleven people were arrested in Massachusetts after an armed standoff with police, but the establishment media has been unsure of exactly who they are. They’re clearly not the media’s preferred bogeymen, “white supremacists,” as they’re black Americans, but they claim to be Moroccans, even unfurling the Moroccan flag on I-95 during their confrontation with the cops. The truth about them is wilder than even the media’s guesses.
Fox News noted Sunday that the group calls itself “Rise of the Moors,” and pointed out that it has a “strong online presence, with a website and social media, including a YouTube channel, an Instagram page and a Facebook page.” It did not, however, take more than a cursory glance at that online presence, instead turning to none other than the notoriously discreditedfar-Lefthate group known as the Southern Poverty Law Center to explain what the group is all about: “The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the Moorish sovereign citizen movement as a ‘collection of independent organizations and lone individuals that emerged in the early 1990s as an offshoot of the antigovernment sovereign citizens movement, which believes that individual citizens hold sovereignty over, and are independent of, federal and state government.’”
That’s false, as you might expect coming from a gang of evil liars with a far-Left, hateful agenda to destroy the defenders of freedom and enable its enemies. Nothing the SPLC says can be trusted. No news organization should ever treat the SPLC as if it were a neutral, reliable source of information. Any news organization that does this has discredited itself by doing so.
The reality is this: the “Moorish sovereign citizen movement” did not arise in the 1990s, but about eighty years before that. Few news outlets have reported on the fact, but the Rise of the Moors group is part of the Moorish Science Temple of America, a group founded in the 1910s by a black American who called himself Noble Drew Ali. Noble Drew Ali, whom the Rise of the Moors call “our great and illustrious Prophet,” put together the group’s scripture, the Holy Koran of the Moorish Holy Temple of Science, out of existing works of esoteric spirituality, combined with his own writings.
That book is not the Qur’an of Islam, although Noble Drew Ali claimed that black Americans were Moors, descendants of Moroccans, and the group identifies itself as Islamic. The Nation of Islam is a breakaway group from the Moorish Science Temple of America, and teaches some of the same race hatred combined with Islam. The Moorish Science Temple asserts that the Dred Scott decision is still in effect: “In March 1857, the Supreme Court issued a 7–2 decision against Dred Scott. In an opinion written by Chief Justice Roger Taney, the Court ruled that black people ‘are not included, and were not intended to be included, under the word “citizens” in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.’ It was stated that the 14th Amendment reversed that. This link from congress proves otherwise – Proceedings and debates of the 90th congress 1st session vol 113 part 12, June 12 1967, page 15641”
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2021-07-08 05:38:032021-10-07 20:23:30Group in Armed Standoff with Police in Massachusetts Claims to Be Moroccan and Muslim — They’re Neither
Violent and anti-Semitic. Wow, I’m totally stumped. Is Khaled Awad a white supremacist? After all, what other ideology inculcates violence and anti-Semitism?
BRIGHTON (CBS) – College roommates of Khaled Awad, the man accused of stabbing Rabbi Shlomo Noginski eight times outside a Jewish school in Brighton Thursday, say he was “violent” and “very much anti-Semitic”….
Prosecutors said Awad has no record in Massachusetts, but has faced charges of battery and theft in Florida and was sent to a mental health facility there….
His former college roommates and friends at the University of Southern Florida, where he studied chemical engineering until very recently, say Awad had showed a propensity for violence.
“He started becoming violent,” said Eric Valiente, a friend of Awad’s.
His roommate Aidan says he and Awad were friends until Awad attacked him in their shared kitchen on day, prompting Aidan to move out and get a restraining order.
“We were friends, to be honest with you. I’m Jewish. And he knew that since I moved in,” said Aidan Anderson, the suspect’s former roommate.
Aidan and Eric say Awad’s beliefs towards certain cultures became evident early on.
“He was very much anti-Semitic. He would say like all types of Jewish jokes. I thought he was joking at first and then I started to see seriousness in his comments,” said Eric.
After the assault in fall of 2020, the friend distanced themselves from Khaled, but still say they’re shocked he would go so far as to assault a stranger with a weapon.
“He disgusted me at that point. I wanted nothing to do with the guy. At this point, I was a little scared of him. I was scared of what he was capable of because I realize he was a very dark person,” said Eric….
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Jihad Watchhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJihad Watch2021-07-04 07:20:392021-10-07 20:23:43College Roommates of Muslim Who Stabbed Rabbi in Boston Say He’s ‘Violent’ and ‘Very Much Anti-Semitic’
Last weekend, we posted on Facebook the background of controversial anti-Semitic vandalism in the Boston suburb of Newton, Massachusetts. The topic at the core of a heated public meeting convened by Mayor Setti Warren. A video produced by the team at Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) provided background on the rancorous public meeting in Newton. The Facebook post of the APT video garnered over 60 shares from FB pages across the U.S., Europe and Israel. It provided documented evidence of the use of Saudi and UAE funded anti-Semitic texts and Arab World Studies notebook laced with pro-Palestinian propaganda materials and maps. We noted that APT had been in the forefront of uncovering the use of these materials by the Newton public schools since discovery in 2011. They contended their removal has yet to be independently confirmed. Watch it here:
Newton, Massachusetts Mayor Setti Warren.
A second FB post contained a Wicked Local Newton report noted the acrimony at the Newton public meeting:
Emotions were running high at a community discussion organized by Mayor Setti Warren Thursday night in response to several incidents of anti-Semitism and racism in the schools, with some in the overflowing audience apparently frustrated with the city’s response to the incidents as well as with the event’s tone.
A panel of speakers, including the mayor, a civil rights law expert, a child psychiatrist, teachers and students, spoke of the need for dialogue around discrimination in Newton, addressing issues of racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and discrimination against people with disabilities.
But some Jewish residents, including many with direct familial or personal ties to the Holocaust, wished the forum was more focused on recognizing and denouncing the anti-Semitic graffiti in particular. There was also a group of activists upset about “anti-Israel” teaching materials they feel contributed to the anti-Semitic incidents.
“The idea that we’re supposed to have a dialogue with people who put swastikas up after the Holocaust is absurd,” said resident Steven Katz, a professor of Jewish Holocaust Studies at Boston University. “And this evening is not supposed to be about liberal values. It’s supposed to be about anti-Semitism.”
Tina Glik, a resident and parent, said she was concerned that “as clearly as the message was written, ‘Burn the Jews,’ we came here to listen to: let’s be nice, let’s talk about racism, let’s talk about discrimination against gay people, let’s talk about anything else but anti-Semitism.”
Warren reiterated that he took any instances of anti-Semitism “very seriously,” calling anti-Semitic graffiti found at F. A. Day Middle School “despicable” and “horrible.” He pledged that all potential hate crimes would be investigated, with the perpetrators punished. Anti-Semitic graffiti was also discovered at Newton North High School multiple times during the past several months.
The Boston Globe initial report of the acrimonious meeting alleged that the protesters at the public meeting had ‘disrespected’ an articulate African American woman who drew attention to her son’s isolation at the Newton High school as evidence of racism, “Activists disrupt Newton forum on prejudice:”
The group of activists was led by Newton resident Charles Jacobs, who has had a longtime grievance with the city’s schools about what he says are pro-Palestinian and anti-Semitic text books.
[…]
Newton resident Janet Yassen said it was her first time attending this type of community meeting, and she came because she was interested in hearing what Warren had to say.
But what she saw from some members of the crowd “disgusted” her, she said.
“It was embarrassing, it was awful,” she said.
After hearing the students, who at the end of the evening mingled with some of the most vocal in the crowd, Yassen said she was heartened.
“The young people were phenomenal,” she said. “For them to confront the disrespect shown by some of the adults was really courageous.”
Following the ‘rowdy’ meeting two Boston Jewish community groups, the Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the Boston Jewish Federation’s affiliate, the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and the local chapter of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) seized upon the Globe report that an African American woman had been ‘heckled’ by protesters at the public meeting. The joint AJC/JCRC news release, while noting the persistent problems of anti-Semitic materials in school programs, wrongly criticized the protesters:
To our dismay, a group of activists – who have been identified in the media as members of the Jewish community – disrupted the proceedings. An African-American mother was heckled while discussing her own child’s experience of racism. There were loud contentions that the only concern worthy of discussion was anti-Semitism. The overall affect was to shift the focus of the meeting from concerns about anti-Semitism, as well as racism and homophobia to the conduct of the meeting itself.
The escalation and obfuscation was amped up by The Boston Globe that seized upon the joint JCRC/AJC news release in an article that went viral via the AP and internet outlets like Yahoo news and other social media, “Jewish groups condemn ‘disrespect’ at Newton forum:”
Leaders of two Jewish organizations on Monday condemned the behavior of a group of activists at a community meeting in Newton last week, saying the struggle against anti-Semitism must be part of a larger effort to build “respectful tolerant communities.”
In a joint statement, the American Jewish Committee Boston and the Jewish Community Relations Council said the activities of those who disrupted a meeting at City Hall on Thursday night “do not represent the broader sentiments of the Jewish community.”
This time, Jacobs of APT was able to fire back at both the Globe and AJC/JCRC accusations in the latest Globe article:
Charles Jacobs, the leader of the activists, said in an e-mail to the Globe that he was “quite surprised” by the statement.
Jacobs, founder of Americans for Peace and Tolerance, has had a longtime grievance with the city’s schools about what he says are pro-Palestinian and anti-Semitic textbooks.
“Given that Jews in Europe and in the Middle East are hunted, hounded and murdered because of an anti-Semitism which falsely portrays the world’s only Jewish state as among the cruelest of nations . . . and given that the Saudis and United Arab Emirates have been caught funding ‘lessons’ that taught these things in the Newton schools . . . and given that (Newton) School Superintendent David Fleishman was forced to remove some of this material and yet told the people at the meeting that he knew nothing about it, I think the meeting was, under these circumstance, quite civil,” Jacobs wrote.
However, the AJC/JCRC with the complicity of this second Globe article continued to convey the false information by School Superintendent Fleischman that the woman at the Newton public meeting had been ‘disrespected:’
“Moreover, it is hardly a secret that pernicious elements exist that are seeking to import anti-Israel and anti-Jewish bias into American school curriculums. We share this concern. However, it does not justify conduct that was manifest at this meeting or the disrespect that was shown to neighbors, who also had difficult experiences of their own to discuss.”
Fleischman, who was booed at last Thursday’s meeting and required a police escort to leave, retorted in an email on April 11, 2016 cited by The Globe saying:
In an interview Friday, Fleishman said that Jacobs’s complaints about the Newton curriculum being biased against Israel “are issues from the past,” which were resolved in 2013.
“They have our entire curriculum, our faculty at both high schools spent hours putting together all the material, unit by unit, in response to freedom of information requests,” Fleishman said of Jacobs’s group.
Fleishman sent an e-mail to faculty on Monday discussing the events of the forum.
“What was intended to be a community discussion to ensure Newton is a welcoming and inclusive place for all turned into a display of disrespectful and uncivil behavior,” Fleishman wrote. “Some in the audience were particularly insensitive toward a Newton parent who courageously shared a story of racism faced by her son.”
Jacobs and APT responded to Fleischman’s allegation, Tuesday with video documentation suggesting that both Fleishman and The AJC/JCRC were wrong about the alleged “heckling”. The Globe proceeded to soft pedal it:
On Tuesday afternoon, Jacobs’s organization issued a statement denying that the woman had been heckled.
In a video of the community meeting posted on the city’s website, the woman talks about her son’s experiences with racism. Twice she is interrupted, prompting someone in the crowd to call out, “Let her speak.”
The JCRC/AJC and The Globe were upended by the APT cell phone video that captured evidence that the woman had been, if anything, respected by attendees at the public hearing. Watch the You tube video of the woman’s presentation at the Newton public meeting.
Problem is that the JCRC/AJC andThe Globe reports have not been challenged on the lack of credibility, let alone credulity.
Jacobs has been warning for years that establishment Jewish organizations have failed to shift to the new situation Jews face: anti-Israelism, the new anti-Semitism. Now Jews are hated for their “apartheid state,” Israel. The radical left/radical Muslim alliance, the red-green alliance is hunting and killing Jews in Israel and Europe. They intimidate Jews on American college campuses with eviction notices, fake Apartheid walls, simulated border checks and die –ins, especially during Israel Apartheid Weeks. The Jewish establishment Jacobs contends fled from this new anti-Semitic alliance. They still want to fight the old anti-Semitism, neo- Nazis, White Aryan nation and KKK racists. They cower and are confused in the face of a leftist anti-Zionism and patently Islamist anti-Semitism that Jews in Europe fear will cause them to leave, a second time. Jacobs has been hounded by what passes for the Jewish Establishment for years because of his position. This latest episode in Newton he thinks may be their push-back
We asked Jacobs for his views on the dispute. Here is what we wrote us:
Why would the Boston Jewish leadership not insist on seeing the curriculum, after Newton School Superintendent Fleishman was forced to remove a Saudi funded anti-Semitic lesson that taught students that Jews in Israel murder Arab women in jail? After they have all seen the video which shows those libels.
It should not be forgotten that the Jews of Europe are hounded, hunted and murdered because of anti-Israelism. American Jewish students are harassed and intimidated on campuses because of the same ideology that is being taught in the Newton schools. Newton has security at its synagogues for the very same reason: anti-Israelism. Yet some of Newton’s top Jewish leaders prefer to circle the wagons, defend their friends and deny the truth.
EDITORS NOTE: This column originally appeared in the New English Review. The featured image is of Newton, Massachusetts Mayor Setti Warren faces Dr. Charles Jacobs of Americans for Peace and Tolerance, taken on April 7, 2016. Source: Katherine Taylor, Boston Globe
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/Newton-Mayor-Seti-Warren-and-Charles-Jacobs-of-APT-Source-Katherine-Taylor-Boston-Globe-4-8-16.jpg385639Jerry Gordonhttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngJerry Gordon2016-04-14 05:50:032016-04-14 05:50:03VIDEO: Boston Jews divided on Saudi/UAE anti-Israel materials in public schools
But as Sept. 5 primary nears, Tea Party activists are fighting back! How MassResistance made the difference . . .
Most people assume that the major threat to getting conservatives elected to high office is the liberal Democratic machine. In recent years there’s been another major front in that war: The Republican Party establishment –both state and national. This is fueled by millions of dollars from “progressive Republican” businessmen. And, sadly, it includes many sellout pro-family groups and politicians. [All photos by MassResistance except where noted.]
Fisher at the GOP convention:”I am a full-platform no-excuses-necessary loyal and proud conservative Republican … [Around the country] conservative solutions are the cure for liberal failures … The time has come to tear down that big liberal tent.”
This kind of talk drives the GOP establishment crazy!
But we’ve never seen anything like the Massachusetts Republican Party’s outrageous (and we believe, criminal) efforts to subvert pro-family/Tea Party candidate Mark Fisher’s campaign for governor, which we’ve detailed below.
During Fisher’s speech, former Mass. Governor Bill Weld (sitting, at right), a RINO who voted for Barack Obama, looks up at Mark Fisher and you can tell he’s not happy!
A disturbing national trend explodes in Massachusetts
Ever since the days of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, there’s been a tension between the GOP establishment — who felt they could avoid the Left’s hostile attacke by appeasing them on most “hot-button” issues — and the conservative base who vote on principle. In recent years, this has led to many high-profile battles with Tea Party backed candidates in Republican primaries, which has angered the establishment considerably.
So now we’re seeing the next step: The aggressive purging of conservative candidates for high office before they can get a foothold.
Here in Massachusetts this has turned the State Republican Party into an overtly hostile anti-family institution devoid of political principles that long-time activists no longer recognize. This year Party elites were particularly determined to avoid a primary battle for Governor that could endanger their annointed “moderate” candidate, Charlie Baker.
Fisher’s candidacy for Governor attracts a torrent of GOP hostility
The appearance of Mark Fisher in the Massachusetts governor’s race stymied the Republican establishment. He is not only a fairly solid conservative and wealthy enough to get his campaign off the ground, but he is bright and articulate and can hold his own in any debate. For example, in several head-to-head debates with GOP rival, Charlie Baker, does a much better job in our opinion.
Mark Fisher and Charlie Baker debate at Boston Globe office, which is unquestionably hostile to Fisher.See article and VIDEO of debate here.[Boston Globephoto]
From the very beginning of his campaign, Fisher became Public Enemy #1 to the Republican State Committee and their allies. Their goal was to keep him from being able to run in the primary. And they almost succeeded.
Below is a list of the efforts by the GOP and “pro-family” establishment in Massachusetts over the last year to keep conservative Mark Fisher from being able to run for Governor against the RINO Charlie Baker in the Republican primary. Even most Republicans aren’t aware what’s been going on. That’s why we’re publishing this.
Don’t be surprised if you see these things happen in other states:
A. Prior to the State convention . . .
1. Hostility at his candidacy by “pro-family” Republicans. Late last year when Fisher announced his candidacy, and it became known that he was a pro-family conservative with the means to carry on a serious candidacy, the establishment (including so-called “pro-family” people) began hounding him not to run so Baker would not have a “conservative” challenger. According to newspaper reports this included Karyn Polito (currently running for Lt. Governor), State Rep. Ryan Fattman, and GOP National Committeewoman Chanel Prunier, who also leads the Coalition for Marriage and Family. We know of many other prominent GOP politicians and pro-family “leaders” who also approached Fisher.
2. Turned down by GOP sign company. According to reports, in February Fisher was turned down by a company that regularly makes campaign signs for the GOP because the company was warned not to do business with Fisher or risk losing other GOP sign business.
B. At the March 22 GOP State Convention . . .
The Mass. GOP state convention filled Agganis Arena at Boston University.
To get on the state ballot, a candidate needed 15% of the delegates to vote for him at the state GOP convention on March 22, 2014. The Mass. GOP made an enormous effort to keep Fisher from getting that amount.
3. Outrageous fee to speak at GOP convention. In order to speak at the GOP State Convention, the Mass GOP raised the “entry fee” for gubernatorial candidates to $25,000, to deter Fisher. Candidates for other statewide offices were charged a fraction of that to speak. Fisher paid it.
4. State Committee emails telling delegates to vote for Baker. The day before the Convention, delegates received “official” looking emails from their state committee representatives telling them that to vote for Charlie Baker – and thus not have a primary by keeping Fisher off the ballot — would be the best thing for the Party.
This “official” email to delegates from their state committeewoman started off with “official” info, but then told them that voting for Baker would be best for the Party.Read it here.
5. The waiting room from hell. State-wide candidates were given nice rooms to prepare for their convention speeches. Mark and his team were given a smelly locker room with benches surrounded by toilets and shower stalls.
Going into the convention Fisher people expected to get 30%. Given that GOP activists who become delegates and actually go to the convention are generally fairly conservative, and seeing who they were on the day of the convention, it was generally believed that Fisher would get at least 30% of the vote. But no one was prepared for the high-pressure campaign that took place that day.
6. Huge pressure on delegates to vote for Baker. Throughout the day, a small army of State Party officials, State Committeemen, GOP State Reps, Town Party Chairmen, GOP candidates for office, and others put on a coordinated effort to strong-arm and harangue delegates not to vote for Fisher –- to either vote for Baker or vote “blank.” We heard about all kinds of interesting threats, mostly involving loss of GOP financial support and/or access to GOP facilities.
On the giant screen GOP national committeewoman Chanel Prunier exhorts the delegates to vote for Charlie Baker.
This delegate told us that during the convention he was pressured by his state committeeman, state committeewoman, State Rep. and even a state pro-family activist to vote for Baker.But he held out and voted for Fisher!
7. GOP won’t release video of Fisher’s convention speech. When his turn came at the convention, Fisher gave a very good speech. The GOP had set up a sophisticated video recording system in the auditorium. But later when Fisher asked for a copy of his speech, the Mass GOP refused to give it to him. Luckily, MassResistance also made a video of his speech, which we’ve allowed his website to use.
VIDEO: Fisher’s convention speech was one of the best we’ve ever seen. The GOP wouldn’t release their video of it, so we let him have OURS!
8. Delegations’ votes are publicly announced, but result is ignored.The vote tally was very public. A GOP official at the podium called out to each of the 40 delegations for their results. Each delegation, using a portable microphone from their area in the auditorium, announced their totals for Baker, Fisher, and “blanks” from their tally sheets which had the names of the delegates and how they voted. The whole thing took about 20 minutes. But at the end, the grand totals were not announced.
9. Convention halts while “re-counting” takes place. The convention immediately stopped and a group of party officials huddled around some tables in front of the stage. At first was not clear what they were doing. Finally, we were told that a “re-counting” of sorts was taking place. This went on for at least half an hour or more.
Right after the public vote. Party officials gathered around a table at the front of the hall for a “re-count.”
10. Baker is declared winner, but actual vote totals still not announced. A few minutes later, Baker was declared the “winner. ” And with a rain of balloons and confetti, and he came up and gave a speech. But what percentage did Baker get? What percentage did Fisher get? It was not announced – only that Baker won.
Even though no vote totals were announced, Charlie Baker was hailed as the “winner” with a sea of confetti. Here Baker (center) is being congratulated by Bill Weld (right).
11. “Re-counting” continues, and “results” finally announced. After Baker’s speech, party officials moved to tables in a back room area and continued their mysterious “re-counting.” After about another two hours, it was announced that Fisher had only received 14.765% of the votes, just missing the 15% requirement. Fisher’s people were not allowed to examine the tally sheets for themselves, however.
The “re-count” group then convened to a back room out of sight. Long after the convention had been gaveled to a close, people continued waiting for the results of the “re-count.”
C. After the convention . . .
12. Mass GOP announces Fisher will not be the ballot. The day after the convention, the Mass GOP announced to the press that Mark Fisher had not received the 15% requirement, and therefore would not be on the ballot. The GOP stood by its “re-count.”
13. Tally sheets still kept hidden. The Mass GOP continued to refuse to let anyone see the individual delegate vote tally sheets, which apparently added up to the GOP’s new official vote count. Several delegates expressed concern that their votes had been tampered with, miscounted, or that they were “assigned” votes when they hadn’t voted at all.
14. MassResistance video of public vote during convention shows Fisher got his 15%! During the convention, while the delegation votes were being publicly announced, no one had thought to write them down and add them up. But MassResistance videoed the entire process.When we played the video and counted the votes that were announced, we found that Mark Fisher GOT just over 15%, even if you include blank votes. We posted the video and allowed the Fisher campaign to use it, and it was reported in the Boston media. This brought up an additional question: Why were “blank” votes counted in the total, when it was apparently against the rules?
VIDEO: MassResistance video of the roll call vote at the GOP convention revealed that Fisher GOT his 15%! Thus, Fisher’s campaign got new life.
15 Fisher takes the Mass GOP to court. Why did the public vote count show that Fisher got his 15% but the mysterious “recount” by the GOP showed he didn’t? Why the difference? Obviously, an examination of the tally sheets –- which should have had every delegate’s name and how he voted — would reveal that. But the Mass GOP refused to release them, and they would not give a reason. So the Fisher campaign filed a lawsuitagainst theMass GOP in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston to examine the tally sheets and get on the ballot.
17. Court case temporarily crippled Fisher candidacy. Although Fisher won the case, it left his campaign in terrible shape. It cost Fisher’s campaign approximately $100,000 in legal fees. But also, during that 3-month period he was considered “not on the ballot,” so he could not easily raise money, nor could he attract enough volunteers to help get his required 10,000 signatures which were also needed to get on the ballot, so he had to pay professional signature gatherers. And during that time he wasn’t included in candidate forums, etc. so he lost a lot of public visibility. It was a devastating blow that almost sunk him.
18. Fisher campaign not allowed to use Mass GOP campaign resources. The Mass GOP has set up an expensive and elaborate “MassVictory” operation with offices, phone banks, etc. around the state. All GOP candidates are allowed to use those facilities -– except Fisher. They won’t let his campaign use them. It’s outrageous.
19. Fisher not listed on Mass GOP website. The State Party website currently has names and photos of all the statewide candidates on the ballot – except Fisher. The sheer hatred of Fisher by the party establishment takes them to these absurd lengths.
20. Sleazy GOP State Committee votes to keep tally sheets secret.Even after the court case subsided, the Mass GOP executives had even refused to let the 80-member elected State Committee see the tally sheets! So in July, a group of conservative State Committee members petitioned the Chairman to call a meeting so the Committee could vote to release them. The Chairman called the meeting, but it was closed to the public and held in secret. In the closed meeting, the majority of the State Committee voted not to release the tally sheets to anyone, not even to themselves! (What possible reason would there be to keep them secret . . . unless there was some criminal wrongdoing that took place?)
21. Mass GOP lavishly funding Baker, Fisher gets nothing. The Mass GOP is using its resources to raise enormous funds for the Baker campaign, but nothing for the Fisher campaign. This includes, according to the Boston Globe,paying a consulting firm to fundraise for Baker. In fact, we have been told that Republican donors are being told NOT to donate to the Fisher campaign. This has had a disastrous effect on Fisher’s fundraising capabilities.
22. Alleged threats to media by Mass GOP. A radio talk show host told us that members of the media have been threatened by GOP officials if they cover Mark Fisher to any extent, they will be persona non grata by the rest of the GOP during this election cycle.
By far the most troubling aspect of this was how easily virtually every “pro-family” GOP politician sold his soul and fell into line for Baker and against Fisher when pressured by the establishment.
We don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that the Mass GOP has become a dishonest, unprincipled cesspool that good people should stay away from — and only donate money to individual candidates.
And then there’s the Frank Addivinola episode
Mark Fisher wasn’t the only pro-family candidate squashed at the convention. Frank Addivinola, a businessman and college professor, was a U.S. Senate candidate. But like Mark Fisher, he was an unabashed pro-family advocate.
Although his campaign had a booth at the convention, through a still unresolved series of events he was not given a chance to speak.
U.S. Senate Candidate Frank Dddivinola (left) at his table at the Mass. GOP convention.
But Addivinola was VERY popular among conservatives across the state and would have easily gotten his 15%. So the Mass GOP didn’t take any chances. When it came time for the nomination of candidates, the Chairman allowed the establishment candidate, Brian Herr, to be nominated, then immediately closed the nominations! So no one could even nominate Addivinola.
Even though Addivinola’s banner (for which he paid them plenty!) was right next to the podium, they pretended that his candidacy didn’t exist.
It was still possible for Addivinola to get on the ballot via signatures, since he was running for a federal office. But once the Party officially considered him a non-candidate and denied him all support, his campaign never recovered from that. Thus, Herr is now unopposed in the primary.
Tea Party groups & others rallying statewide for Fisher as Sept. 9 primary nears
Fisher’s campaign is making a surge!
None of the above adversities have stopped the Fisher campaign or its supporters statewide. Fisher continues to appear everywhere, every day, and has impressed people wherever he goes. This has only ignited Fisher’s people even more.
In mid-August a group of Tea Parties, conservative leaders, and non-establishment pro-family groups, began a furious grassroots push to energize the GOP conservative base of voters to go to the polls on Sept. 5 and vote for Fisher. Will this become another David Brat over Eric Cantor? No one knows. But the energy is there!
This is the flyer that Tea Parties across the state are handing out. You can download a copy here.
This is a favorable primary race because Democrats and independents will be drawn to the highly contested Democratic primary, and many mainstream Republican voters will likely think Baker is a shoo-in and not bother to go to the polls. Even Jeff Jacoby, the Boston Globe’s (relatively) conservative columnist, who’s a registered Independent, said he’s voting in the Democratic primary — because that’s “where the action is.”
This is a great opportunity for a possble pro-family upset – in a RINO state!If you are a registered voter in Massachusetts, you know what to do on Sept. 9.We’ll see if Massachusetts can do it!
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/mark-fisher-mass-governor-candidate-e1409656354357.jpg360640MassResistancehttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngMassResistance2014-09-02 07:12:442014-09-03 21:07:00Massachusetts: How the GOP tried to destroy Mark Fisher, conservative candidate for Governor
We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. – George Orwell
Candidate Scott Lively shocked the politicians and audience at the Massachusetts LGBT gubernatorial debate. Doesn’t flinch from the truth! A lesson for the pro-family movement.
Pastor Scott Lively, an independent candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, shocked the other politicians and audience members at a televised candidate forum on “LGBTQ issues” at the Boston Public Library on March 25. Rather than join in the pro-“gay” chorus, Lively described the truths about those behaviors from a medical, sociological, and biblical standpoint. It was a cold dose of common sense that few there had likely heard before.
The forum was held in the Boston Public Library on March 25. It was jointly sponsored by the homosexual lobby group MassEquality and the left-wing public television station WGBH. All of the declared candidates for Governor participated except the two Republicans, Charlie Baker and Mark Fisher.
Candidates for Governor (left to right): biotech executive Joe Avellone (D), former Medicare and Medicaid administrator Don Berwick (D), Attorney General Martha Coakley (D), health care executive Evan Falchuk (I), State Treasurer Steve Grossman (D), former Homeland Security official Juliette Kayyem (D),Scott Lively (I), venture capitalist Jeff McCormick (I).
Pandering vs straight talk
All seven of the other candidates for Governor — both Democrats and Independents, including the current state Attorney General and Treasurer — enthusiastically voiced their support for the homosexual and transgender agendas and their willingness to advance them in the state if elected.
For most people it’s particularly frightening to see the extent that many politicians are willing to bow to the radical homosexual and transgender movement without seemingly any second thoughts. Few pro-family people realize that.
But Lively told the group that as governor he “would ban LGBT propaganda to children.” Regarding laws supporting transgenderism he said, “It’s perfectly rational and reasonable to exercise discrimination on those grounds . . . We should be helping people to overcome this and not encourage those who persist in the delusion.”
Attorney General Martha Coakley (left) and Scott Lively.
Very hostile environment
The hostility during the event against Lively was fairly dramatic. The crowd of about 150 appeared to consist overwhelmingly of pro-homosexual supporters. There were also about 6-12 Lively supporters there. But just about every time he spoke he was interrupted by loud, rude noises from the audience, which the moderator made little effort to stop. It’s been observed that homosexual activists are emotionally much like 10-year-olds, and that was certainly evident there. (Even then, this was actually more orderly than other venues. At least the activists stayed in their seats this time!)
The audience entering the auditorium just before the forum begins.
In addition, the other candidates were visibly annoyed with Lively’s straight talk. At one point during the debate, Independent candidate Jeff McCormick, who spoke right after Lively, sneered at him and said, “I should win an award after this. Someone owes me a martini.”
But watching this was a clinic on how to fight back in a seemingly overwhelming situation. It wasn’t an easy venue for any pro-family politician. But Lively took it in stride. He did not take any of the hostile bait thrown at him, nor did he veer from his calm but forceful demeanor. This seemed to make his message all the more powerful.
Watch the video of the forum. (1 hr 25 min.)Just watching the first several minutes shows you all you need to see!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/K547pmAoz1I[/youtube]
A few of the questions and answers from the forum
Here is a sample of three of the questions, and how various candidates (and Lively) answered them.
Q. How do you plan to use your role as governor to make Massachusetts the best place for LGBTQ people to live? And how would you tout these initiatives across the country? And how would you use the governor’s office as the bully pulpit?
Joe Avellone. I’m going to have an LGBT Summit yearly to understand the evolving positions and create an LGBT agenda from the governor’s office that we will use in the Legislature to make sure that we keep advancing the agenda.
Attorney General Martha Coakley. We just passed the amendment to the bullying bill and we’ll make sure it’s implemented in the corner office to make sure that LGBTQ children get all the help they need to be good students and have a good future.
Evan Falachuk. The Mass LGBTQ Commission for Youth laid a pretty thorough agenda of items that need to be taken care of. As governor I’ll appoint an assistant secretary and someone who’s a program manager. You need someone in charge of quarterbacking to make that happen, and that will be a big part of my agenda.
Scott Lively. As governor I would ban LGBT propaganda to children. This is a law that I advocated for in Russia. They have found it to be successful for their society. There remains no objective proof that homosexuality is innate and unchangeable despite decades of effort which means that it is an acquired condition. We must assume that that’s true and if that assumption is true, then it is extraordinarily irresponsible to be treating our children as guinea pigs in a massive social experiment. They should be protected from the promotion of homosexuality as good, normal alternative choice for themselves.
Q. Do you support non-discrimination protection for transgender people in public places or accommodations? If so, how do you respond to arguments opposing these protections that provoke controversy and allege public safety issues?
Jeff McCormick. Absolutely I support that. It actually makes my skin crawl to understand how some people can take a segment of our population [and discriminate against it] . . . If I’m having a Catholic wedding or if I’m having a bar mitzvah, it doesn’t make sense to me how someone can selectively discriminate in our society at all. To me this is an absolute no-brainer.
Scott Lively. Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, or nationality is completely irrational because those things are morally neutral. But sexual conduct is not morally neutral. And has serious public health, sociological, moral implications. Its perfectly rational and reasonable to exercise discrimination on those grounds. So all the arguments attempting to compare race with homosexuality and transgenderism are simply comparing apples and oranges. I think transgenderism is clearly self-evidently dysfunctional and this it is simply insanity for our society to be embracing it as a normal variant of human sexuality. We should be helping people to overcome this and not encourage those who persist in the delusion.
Juliette Kayyem. Absolutely I would support an inclusion of transgender. Let me be clear on the transgender issue. We can respect other view points, but we’re on the right side of history here. Anyone who has lived the last 20, 30, 40 years know that we are on the right side of history. There is only one way forward in Massachusetts, let alone the United States, and its going to be to include transgender, non-conforming gender, however you want to describe the anti-discrimination statute. We should be ahead of this and we are not.
Q. May 2014 is the ten year anniversary of marriage equality. Yet state data shows persistent disparities for LGBTQ youth, especially for LGBTQ youth of color and transgender youth. What do you see as the most urgent needs of this most vulnerable population and how will you measure your success as governor in addressing these disparities?
State Treasurer Steve Grossman. I’m very proud of the Governor who has $38 million in the budget for a variety of mental health services, many of which directly affect LGBT youth and homeless youth and I think that’s a budget that we can build on. Even during tough economic times we have to recognize that our most vulnerable populations need to be served on mental health and behavioral health need to be funded adequately.
Juliette Kayyem. I believe a lot of this can be addressed through focusing on kindness. The bullying that occurs against many students that are LGBTQ is unacceptable. It’s unacceptable as a legal matter. And as I told you earlier I brought the federal government’s first anti-bullying complaint against a school district. It was the football players against the cheerleaders — but it had a similar focus which was the schools, and the governments that give them money, have the responsibility to make sure its kids are kind to each other . . . I also think straight children of gay parents are also facing discrimination that we can address as well. It begins with focusing on kindness.
Scott Lively. Frankly I agree, that kindness is what the kids need most. I don’t think its kind to affirm a dysfunctional sexual identity, that our lives are fluid. If an adult decides they want to identify as a homosexual, bi-sexual, or transgender, that’s their choice. But we shouldn’t push that on the kids. We should assume that they have the ability to overcome that problem. I was a street kid myself and I knew a lot of people who were struggling with this. Most of them did not want to have a homosexual orientation and if they had had a chance to have counseling for that, they would have taken it. Regarding bullying, I don’t think that we should be having bullying policies that force all the kids to be pro-gay when we can solve the problem by teaching them to respect each other despite their differences.
Reaction from the liberal press
After the forum finished, most of the press in attendance — predictably biased against the pro-family viewpoint — nevertheless seemed to gather around Lively. If nothing else, he stood out as an independent thinker. The other candidates had generally repeated the same rather mindless pro-“gay” political pandering. As one newspaper reported, “Other than Lively, the candidates agreed on most issues.”
Lively being interviewed by reporter for Boston homosexual newspaper Rainbow Times.
Of all the media coverage, probably the fairest came from the Boston University newspaper, the Daily Free Press. It covered the event without noticeable bias.
On the other hand, the left-leaning Springfield Republican newspaper in Western Massachusetts was over-the-top in its bias and near-hysteria in its coverage.
The Springfield Republican newspaper’s flaming headline.
An important lesson for the pro-family movement
Many conservatives, including us, have stated repeatedly that the major factor for pro-family losses on these issues has been the almost universal reluctance of politicians and pro-family leaders to tell the truth. Instead, under pressure they usually sink into a mushy morass of political correctness and moral compromise (e.g., civil unions, “gay” adoptions). In our opinion, that’s how we lost the major gay-marriage court cases last year and it’s how we continue to lose in legislatures, in courtrooms, and in the public square.
Our people, and particularly our politicians, are deathly afraid of being called names or demeaned by the liberal establishment. It’s the road to hell.
Without the truth there are no weapons for a fight, only gradual capitulation. But telling the truth forcefully and fearlessly over and over again is the basis of victory over a movement that depends on lies and disinformation for its success.
It’s going to be an interesting political summer in Massachusetts.
In a video taken right after the forum ended, Scott Lively gives his reaction. (32 sec.)
[youtube]http://youtu.be/PyXEu6Oaaso[/youtube]
https://drrichswier.com/wp-content/uploads/Scott-Lively.jpg360640MassResistancehttp://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngMassResistance2014-03-31 15:55:532014-04-02 06:50:56Massachusetts: Scott Lively upends LGBT gubernatorial candidate forum!
