Tag Archive for: police

Capitol Police Commander: ‘J6 Was Not an Insurrection’

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A former Washington, D.C. Capitol Police official is declaring that the events of January 6, 2021, were not an insurrection, and alleging that government agencies have attempted to silence his firsthand testimony. Former U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Lieutenant Tarik Johnson posted on Twitter on Thursday, “I’ve been saying publicly for a year that J6 was not an insurrection but not many people would listen.” Johnson explained that he was the commander who ordered the House and Senate evacuations that day, noting, “No one would benefit more than I if J6 was an insurrection…”

According to Johnson, he was “begging” Assistant Chief Yogananda Pittman for permission to evacuate the Capitol while “she sat comfortably in the Commander Center watching the events unfold on CCTV while Chief Steven Sund was obtaining National Guard approval and getting assistance from local law enforcement agencies.” The former lieutenant explained that since Pittman ignored his request, he ordered the evacuation without her permission.

Three days afterwards, he called then-Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who was serving at the time as president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, to file a report against Pittman. “[A]pproximately an hour after I got off the phone with the senator I was contacted by the USCP internal affairs section and informed I was suspended,” Johnson continued. “The suspension lasted for 17 months and I was under a USCP gag order not to speak about the events of January 6, 2021 to the media until I separated from the Department.” The former commander also stated that he was required to remain in his home from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday through Friday due to USCP orders and was afraid his job would be terminated if he even set foot off his property.

After the events of January 6, former Montgomery County, Maryland, police chief John Thomas Manger was hired to lead the USCP. Johnson called Manger “arguably the most corrupt politician in the country” and alleged the chief was hired specifically to “cover-up” the true events surrounding January 6.

Johnson’s post was in response to a video clip featuring Republican presidential primary contender Vivek Ramaswamy discussing January 6 during a Wednesday night CNN Townhall event. In the clip, Ramaswamy quipped, “If you had told me [in 2021] that January 6 was in any way an inside job the subject of government entrapment, I would have told you that was crazy talk, fringe conspiracy theory nonsense.” He continued, “I can tell you now having gone somewhat deep in this — it’s not.”

The presidential hopeful noted that the federal government has lied on a number of subjects, including the origins of COVID-19, the Hunter Biden laptop, and the alleged Trump-Russia collusion of 2016, which investigative journalist Lee Smith exposed as a Democratic Party-led hoax in his books “The Plot Against the President” and “The Permanent Coup.”

“Now we come to January 6,” Ramaswamy continued. “The reality is we know that there were federal law enforcement agents in that field, we don’t know how many.” When CNN moderator Abby Phillip interrupted Ramaswamy to say that he had no evidence to support his claims, the businessman-turned-presidential hopeful responded, “So why before Congress, when pressed on what the number was, they [the FBI] didn’t say there were none, they just couldn’t say how many there were? … We’ve seen multiple informants suggesting that there were, we know people were FBI informants.”

He also asked why the Congressional January 6 Committee only released 12 hours of video footage from the day and suppressed the other hundreds of hours of footage, which included video of police firing rubber bullets and tear gas at the crowd outside the Capitol. When Phillip accused Ramaswamy of “cherry-picking” incidents to craft a narrative, he responded, “You know who cherry-picked? The government did. The government cherry-picked 12 hours of footage, when there was 200 hours of footage.”

In a Twitter post accompanying the video clip, Ramaswamy wrote, “There is clear evidence that there was at the very least entrapment of peaceful protestors, similar to the fake Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping plot & countless other cases.” He noted that newly-released video footage from January 6 shows that Capitol Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the crowd and then “willingly later allowed [the crowd] to enter the Capitol.” He concluded, “That doesn’t add up & the actual evidence turns the prior narrative upside down: if the deep state is willing to manufacture an ‘insurrection’ to take down its political opponents, they can do anything.”

Johnson had posted, “If presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy would like more FACTS to disrupt the insurrection narrative, I will inbox his designated representative my personal phone number. God bless our country now and in 2024.” Ramaswamy reposted the former officer’s testimony with the caption “This is wild.”

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

U.S. Police Face Hiring Crisis: ‘I’m Drowning in This Politically-Charged Atmosphere’

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Since the George Floyd riots of 2020, law enforcement in the U.S. has taken a hit, with resignations at an all-time high, and recruitment at a dangerous low.

In New York City, over 2,500 officers have turned in their badge this year. According to NYPD pension data, this year marks the fourth highest number of police officers who have resigned in the last 10 years. “The number of cops quitting before they reach the 20 years required to receive their full pensions also skyrocketed from 509 in 2020 to 1,040 so far this year — an alarming 104% increase,” The New York Post reported.

Additionally, NYPD plans to cancel the next five Police Academy classes. Cuts such as these are projected to bring the NYPD department down to “29,000 cops by the end of fiscal year 2025 — the lowest level since the mid-90s,” the Post added. A glance at the last couple of years, however, could very well explain this crisis.

Not only does law enforcement put their lives on the line in the fight against crime, but many police officers and sheriff deputies sacrifice time with their families and loved ones as well. What most people have heard from law enforcers in the past is that helping the community makes the risks and sacrifices worth it. But the increased resignations and decreased recruitments suggest that thousands of men and women don’t believe it’s worth it anymore. And it’s no wonder, because they are demoralized at every turn.

In a matter of years, police officers have gone from heroes to the targets of utter hatred in many circles. Especially after Floyd’s death, a movement to “defund the police” went from spark to blaze. According to The New York Times’s Mariame Kaba, police are “set up” or even designed for violence. Her view of law enforcement is that the world is better without it. While I really couldn’t disagree more with Ms. Kaba’s article, she has provided a clear example of the kind of criticism thrown at police quite often these days.

According to a report by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, lack of recruitment can be attributed to a number of influences, but it’s mostly due to the public image of law enforcement. They found, “Scrutiny of the police, cellphone recordings of interactions between the police and public, media coverage, and popular entertainment portrayals of police have led many young people to view police differently than their parents may have. Overall, a majority of police officers feel their jobs have gotten more difficult since high-profile use-of-force incidents have dominated the national conversation.”

In June of 2021, Officer Lindsay Rose faced chastisement as riots broke out in Asheville, North Carolina. She said she was spit on and yelled at. Even after she took several months off to recover, once she came back to the field, she was still met with backlash. After she came back she decided to quit, ending seven years of service. “I’m drowning in this politically-charged atmosphere of hate and destruction,” she said. What Rose shared reflects the experience of many in law enforcement.

In addition to the political backlash, crime is on the rise. Violent crime in Washington, D.C. has skyrocketed, thanks in part to lax local laws. Complicating the issue, the District also has about 400 less officers than three years ago. And of course, even when the city’s police do succeed at catching criminals, little to no prosecutions follow the arrests, which puts dangerous people back on the street to commit even more offenses.

While D.C. becomes a hive of crime, local officials have decided that the priority is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars — not on public safety — but on anti-police messaging. Just this week, the District blew approximately $270,000 worth of tax dollars “touching up its ‘Black Lives Matter’ street painting,” Fox News reported. In response, Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said, “D.C. crime is out of control but local leaders continue to waste … tax money promoting the extremist Black Lives Matter movement in the heart of Washington, D.C. that is racist, anti-police, anti-American, and often violent.” And D.C. is just one example of the rampant crime spreading across the country.

Stores continue to get ransacked, and at least nine Targets throughout four states, four Walmarts in Chicago, five Walgreens in San Francisco, and other retailers have closed or will be closing as a result. Across the board, an MPD report revealed violent crime in total is up 40% from last year.

We are clearly in need of law enforcement, but the lack of support (or rather the abundance of opposition mixed with displaced priorities) has caused the protective ranks to dwindle.

Jacob Kersey, who is currently FRC Action’s operations coordinator, formerly served as a police officer. He shared with The Washington Stand, “Law enforcement officers head to work every day knowing the risks associated with the profession.” For Kersey, there are many reasons why someone may enter law enforcement, but often “one of the most rewarding, although challenging, aspects of the job is the opportunity to give of yourself and protect your community.”

He continued, “Rarely do officers get dispatched to a scene where those present are overflowing with gratitude that the officers are there because they often encounter citizens during the worst day of their lives — which is why support from the people you serve goes a long way in making all the sacrifice feel worth it.” He concluded that with “recent high-profile incidents leading to mass negative public image of police across the nation, veterans and recruits alike struggle with justifying the risks of donning a badge and gun.”

So the question remains: What do we do about it?

Ken Blackwell, former Cincinnati mayor and senior fellow for Human Rights and Constitutional Governance at Family Research Council, told TWS, “There is a real downside to that ‘romantic’ view of defunding the police or repurposing the police. But the pressure is on because … people are not safe in their homes, in their communities. Their kids are not safe in their schools.” For Blackwell, what we are seeing on the streets “underscores this whole embrace of lawlessness.”

It boils down to “if you turn a blind eye to bad behavior, you can’t be surprised that you get more of it,” Blackwell stated.

As for what can be done, Blackwell concluded that it’s going to take time and better leadership. Now that some cities see the consequences of their actions, changes may be in sight.

Considering the country’s police hiring woes and crime crisis authorities must deal with now, “They’ve dug themselves a hole that they’re not going to be able to climb out of quickly,” Blackwell concluded.

AUTHOR

Sarah Holliday

Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Police Departments Lower Standards Due to Shortages while Threatening to Fire Bible-Believing Officer

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Following the tragic death of Tyre Nichols during a January 7 traffic stop by officers of the Memphis Police Department, in which Nichols was beaten so severely by the officers that he died from his injuries three days later, reports have surfaced that two of the officers involved in Nichols’s death were hired after the department lowered its recruiting standards.

As reported by The Daily Wire, Officers Tadarrius Bean and Demetrius Haley, who have since been fired and charged in Nichols’s death, were hired in August 2020 two years after the department dropped its requirement for new recruits to have at least an associate’s degree or 54 college credit hours.

According to law enforcement official Karan Parmar, “[T]he 5 charged officers weren’t hired through the usual structured PD hiring process. City leaders felt the existing process was too strict and kept certain people from getting jobs at the department. City leaders began their own hiring process and then pushed new hires into the agency, bypassing the testing procedures in place at the department. … All 5 of the charged officers were hired by the City, and didn’t go through the rigorous PD testing process.”

The Memphis Police Department’s hiring practices fit a nationwide trend in law enforcement of lowering hiring standards. In March 2022, the Chicago Police department announced it was waiving a college credit requirement for new recruits. Philadelphia also dropped its college requirement for new hires in recent years as has New Orleans. The trend is being linked to a nationwide shortage in officers.

Experts worry that the lowering of police recruiting standards could lead to unqualified individuals being hired, which could consequently lead to more tragedies like the deaths of Tyre Nichols, George Floyd, and others who have died under controversial circumstances while in police custody.

“They’re desperate. They want police officers,” Mike Alcazar, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired NYPD detective, told The New York Post. “They’re going through it, they check off some boxes, saying, ‘Ok, they’re good enough, get them on.’”

“Police departments have to take the screening process of candidates to be police officers seriously and not rush to hire officers that might not be qualified,” Alcazar argued.

Meanwhile, officers like Jacob Kersey of the Port Wentworth Police Department in Georgia who otherwise have spotless work records are being pulled off duty and threatened with termination for expressing a biblical view of marriage on social media.

On January 2, Kersey tweeted from his personal account while off-duty: “God designed marriage. Marriage refers to Christ and the church. That’s why there is no such thing as homosexual marriage.”

“I was led to believe I was being fired originally,” Kersey said on “Washington Watch” last week. “They told me to turn in everything that belonged to the city. So I had a long, restless night trying to figure out if I really wanted to lose my dream job over this. … And then a week later, when they brought me back, they told me that I could come back to work. But they’re creating a new department policy that says that if someone, somewhere is offended by anything else that I say from here on out, then I could be fired for it.”

Kersey ultimately resigned. “I did not believe that my department had my back,” he said. “I didn’t really want to go back and play that game and just wait to be fired because I know it would happen at some point and I just didn’t think it wise as dangerous of a job as law enforcement is.”

Speaking to The New York Post, Kersey explained that his track record as an officer was impeccable. “I joined the police department, and for over eight months, I only heard great things about my work,” he said. “People had nothing but good things to say about my work as a police officer.”

Kersey was inspired to join the force after being witness to the kindness officers showed him during his childhood when they were called to his family’s house on multiple occasions due to domestic problems. The police “made such a massive difference in my life at a very young age,” he said.

Despite being disappointed about losing his “dream job,” Kersey does not hold bitterness toward the Port Wentworth Police Department.

“In America, most of us will not be called to face physical death for our beliefs,” he said. “But we might be called to face the death of our dreams, we might be called to face the death of our reputation, or we might be called to have other people think bad things about us. But what’s important is what God thinks about us.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

RELATED ARTICLE: Pro-Life Activist Mark Houck Found Not Guilty Months After Family Home Raided By Biden’s FBI

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved. The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Did They Murder Him?

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“Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power.” – James Allen

Please watch the below video of Dr. Andreas Noack, a chemist and graphene expert unlike any under in the EU. He got attacked on a livestream months ago by special police for laughable reasons.

Now, just hours after publishing this work, the forces that be decided that he hit the mark so hard with uncovering their plans, that they decided to take him out.

Was this a hit by the elite to silence this good doctor for exposing their ugly truths? You decide.

Forbidden Knowledge in a column titled “German chemist Dr. Andreas Noack was arrested by and armed police unit during YouTube live stream” reported:

On November 18, 2020, well-known German chemist and a top graphene expert in the EU, Dr Andreas Noack was arrested by an armed police unit in the middle of his YouTube livestream.

Now, just hours after publishing his latest video a few days ago, he died suddenly and mysteriously.

Best News Here in an article titled “Murder? Just Hours After Publishing the Secret of the Vax the Doctor Is Dead (Must Video)” reported:

This video is of This is Dr. Noack, a chemist and graphene expert unlike any under in the EU. He got attacked on a livestream months ago by special police for laughable reasons.

Now, just hours after publishing this work, the forces that be decided that he hit the mark so hard with uncovering their plans, that they decided to take him out.

Was this a hit by the elite to silence this good doctor for exposing their ugly truths? You decide!

©Fred Brownbill. All rights reserved.

RELATED TWEET:

FORMER CHIEF OF POLICE MAURICE RICHARDS: In A Time Of Violence, Americans Must Take A Stand Against Lawlessness

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Periods of civil disorder, like elections, are a time for choosing sides. Democrats have chosen their side — against police, against safety and against the rule of law. On November 3, the American people will choose whether to join them.

For more than three months we have witnessed riots, lawlessness and political violence instigated by antifa and Black Lives Matter (BLM) radicals — cities burned, stores looted, police officers and citizens attacked and even killed. Vicious mobs felt emboldened to “occupy” our streets, block traffic and invade our neighborhoods.

While Democrat mayors, governors and prosecutors refused to stop the violence, President Trump refused to surrender to the mob, standing up for our police and for the safety and security of American families.

Their rhetoric now seeks to rewrite history, but when the moment came to pick sides, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and the Democrats cast their lots with the mob, not the law-abiding citizens being terrorized in their homes. Their silence — and in some cases outright support — allowed our cities to descend into chaos. The Democrats denied the violence and tried to convince us that the arson, looting and beatings were actually just “peaceful protests.”

But we all saw the truth with our own eyes.

In Portland, the mob dragged a man from his truck, then beat, stomped, savagely kicked him in the head before leaving him for dead in the street. In New York City, violent radicals attacked three NYPD supervisors, opening a huge gash in one officer’s head. One of the attackers was arrested, only to be immediately set free to continue rioting under New York’s radical “bail reform” law — the same policy of eliminating cash bail that Kamala Harris hopes to implement nationwide. In Kenosha, Wisconsin, a 71-year-old man defending his business was viciously beaten by a group of thugs, suffering a broken jaw at the hands of the “peaceful protestors” who then stepped over him to loot and burn his store.

This mob violence spread and intensified because Democrat mayors prevented the police from confronting it, and even gave the rioters moral sanction to run wild.

When a Black Lives Matter mob in Washington, D.C. threatened innocent bystanders who were peacefully dining outdoors, demanding the diners shout their slogan, they went unchallenged by police. Radicals took note that such behavior would be tolerated, and now the same type of intimidation has spread to Rochester and Pittsburgh.

Another mob set upon peaceful citizens departing the Republican National Convention. Among the victims were U.S. Senator Rand Paul and his wife. Surrounded and in fear for their lives, the couple only escaped the possibility of serious injury or death thanks to the extraordinary action of four brave police officers, who kept the antagonists at bay until Sen. Paul and the others made it to safety. Biden and the Democrats refused to denounce the mob — after all, the violent rioters are their base, and they hoped to ride that kind of “enthusiasm” into the White House.

No Democrat official has acted more shamefully than Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler. For 104 days and counting, he has allowed mobs to riot, destroy public and private property, and even attempt to burn police officers alive. Wheeler has openly supported the violence, literally standing with the mob while law enforcement officers were being attacked. Even when rioters threatened a federal courthouse, Wheeler refused President Trump’s offers of assistance while his prosecutors continued to let those responsible out of jail without posting a cent of bail. His tolerance for violence reached its inevitable result on August 29 with the assassination of a Trump supporter.

This dramatic politically-motivated violence grabs headlines, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Toleration of violence and disorder by those tasked with maintaining public safety and order only breeds more violence. Predictably, violent crime is going through the roof in Portland, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Baltimore and other Democrat-run cities.

New York City has seen a 166 percent increase in shootings and a 34 percent rise in murders from August 2020 compared to the same period last year. In Chicago, shootings have increased by 52 percent and murders by 49 percent, with 2,152 people shot and 503 murdered already this year. During July and August alone, 1,087 were shot and 168 killed in the Windy City.

As demonstrated in Chicago and Minneapolis, Democrat mayors have legitimized the activists’ belief that looting is an acceptable response to any perceived injustice involving the police. Inevitably, Black Lives Matter interpreted that as permission to go even further. “No justice, no peace” has now evolved into a belief that looting is justified as a form of reparations for slavery.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the official, acknowledged leaders of their party. They could — and should — have exercised real leadership and condemned these radicals. But at the Democratic National Convention, neither Biden nor Harris, nor any other Democrat uttered a word condemning the riots and mob violence that had already been going on for months by that point. Instead, they used the anti-American lie of “systemic racism” as a central theme of the convention, making common cause with activists who believe America is evil, illegitimate, and inherently racist.

They approved a Democratic Party platform that enshrines the false and dangerous myth that police are “systemically racist,” slandering the brave men and women of American law enforcement and giving their imprimatur to radical rhetoric likening federal agents to the Ku Klux Klan and police officers to Nazi “stormtroopers.”

The violence we are seeing now is a direct result of the false narrative about systemic police racism. Democrats may just be trying to win an election, but in the process they have dealt a significant blow to the legitimacy of the police in the eyes of many citizens, and law-abiding Americans are suffering mightily for it.

American civilization rests upon the will of the people, not the fury of the mob. If we lose the rule of law, we lose our country. Democrats have shown how they run cities — in the process making it clear that our families will not be safe if they are allowed to run our country. They have chosen their side, but it’s not too late for us to choose President Trump’s — and our own.

COLUMN BY

MAURICE RICHARDS

Maurice Richards is the former Chief of the Martinsburg Police Department in West Virginia. He served as Chief from 2015 to 2020 after 24 years as an officer and lieutenant in the Chicago Police Department. Richards holds a doctorate in Adult Education from Northern Illinois University.

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

Former MPD Officer’s Lawyer Says He’ll Argue That George Floyd ‘Killed Himself’

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Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane’s lawyer said he plans to argue that George Floyd “killed himself” and no officer was responsible for his death.

Floyd died during an arrest May 25, 2020 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for over nine minutes. His death sparked protests around the country that are still continuing today, and all four officers at the scene that day have been charged.

Chauvin was charged with murder and Lane, Alexander Keung and Tou Thao have been charged as accomplices. Although two autopsies determined Floyd’s death to be a homicide, Lane’s lawyer Earl Gray said he will argue none of the officers killed him, the LA Times reported.

“None of these guys — even Chauvin — actually killed him,” according to Gray. “He killed himself.”

Gray’s defense argument, he added, will use toxicology and autopsy reports. The lawyer will argue that Floyd actually died from overdosing on fentanyl, an opioid. Gray will also argue that Floyd had an underlying heart condition, the LA Times reported.

“We are going to show that my client and the other cops were doing their jobs,” Gray said.

Lane’s lawyer noted in a motion July 7 that Minneapolis police training included a section detailing how to handle a suspect who is not cooperating. The motion included a photograph that shows a method of arrest similar to what the officers did, according to the LA Times.

“Sudden cardiac arrest typically occurs immediately following a violent struggle,” the instructions warn.

The Minneapolis City Council banned the use of chokeholds and neck restraints by officers in June following Floyd’s death.

COLUMN BY

SHELBY TALCOTT

Media reporter.

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

WOW! Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot defends ban on protesters on her block: ‘I have a right to make sure that my home is secure

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Right but YOU don’t have the same right to a safe and secure home. My God, the hubris!

Hunchback can’t see her own hunch.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot defends ban on protesters on her block: ‘I have a right to make sure that my home is secure

By: MSN, August 20, 2020:

Mayor Lori Lightfoot defended the Chicago Police Department’s ban on protesters being able to demonstrate on the block where she lives, telling reporters Thursday that she and her family at times require heightened security because of threats she receives daily.

A group of people wearing costumes: Some protesters hold umbrellas while facing off with police near Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home in Logan Square on July 23, 2020. © Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune/TNS Some protesters hold umbrellas while facing off with police near Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s home in Logan Square on July 23, 2020.

Lightfoot refused to elaborate on the specific threats, but said she receives them daily against herself, her wife and her home. Comparisons to how the Police Department has protected previous mayors’ homes, such as Rahm Emanuel’s Ravenswood residence, are unfair because “this is a different time like no other,” Lightfoot told reporters.

“I think that residents of this city, understanding the nature of the threats that we are receiving on a daily basis, on a daily basis, understand I have a right to make sure that my home is secure,” Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot and Chicago police Superintendent David Brown were asked at an unrelated news conference about a Tribune report noting police have banned protesters from demonstrating on her block in the Logan Square neighborhood, ordering officers to arrest anyone who refuses to leave.

The directive surfaced in a July email from then-Shakespeare District Cmdr. Melvin Roman to officers under his command. It did not distinguish between the peaceful protesters Lightfoot regularly says she supports and those who might intend to be destructive, but ordered that after a warning is given to demonstrators, “It should be locked down.”

Activists and police sources could not cite instances when the city repeatedly locked down her predecessor Emanuel’s block against protesters. The Kenwood block where former President Barack Obama lived with his family when his primary residence was in Chicago was shut down for access only by residents after his election.

But Lightfoot said such comparisons “don’t make any sense,” after Brown referenced the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as well as civil unrest that have flared since the George Floyd killing at the hands of Minneapolis police.

“I’m not going to make any excuses for the fact that, given the threats I have personally received, given the threats to my home and my family, I’m going to do everything I can to make sure they’re protected,” Lightfoot said. “I make no apologies whatsoever for that.”

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Since the order, and even for a time just prior to its writing, Chicago cops have repeatedly blocked protesters’ access to the block with groups of officers and barricades. Police have often kept protesters contained at the nearby corner of Kimball and Wrightwood avenues, though one standoff between activists and officers last month saw police go as far as bringing in an armored vehicle in case things got out of hand.

Aside from the expanded police presence to block protesters from reaching her home, Lightfoot already receives 24/7 protection from cops including officers stationed at the residence. The aggressive policing has sometimes siphoned away resources from the area’s police district, some sources with knowledge of the situation said, leading to quiet grumbling.

Both Lightfoot and Brown noted there are laws on the books banning residential protests, but Brown acknowledged the Police Department does not always enforce them. Brown said the city tries to give “wiggle room” for protesters.

Brown also cited instances where peaceful protests have been “hijacked” by agitators as reason for keeping demonstrators off Lightfoot’s block.

“We have seen very peaceful First Amendment protests for the most part but embedded in each of those protests have been very violent people. And they’re embedded. They put up umbrellas. And they come for a fight,” Brown said. “So we have to prepare for what we’ve seen.”

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VIDEO: Massive Pro-Police #BacktheBlue Rally at Seattle Hall

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Outside Seattle City Hall, rally to stop the defunding of the Seattle Police Department.

Photos thanks to Orange Martyr.

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For second straight night, shooting reported in cop-free ‘autonomous’ Seattle protest zone

Seattle police union chief calls for ‘leadership’ after fatal shooting in CHOP/CHAZ ‘autonomous’ zone

Antifa White Girl Arrested in Seattle After Lighting 5 Seattle Police Vehicles on Fire During Black Lives Matter Riots

Seattle Police Chief: Cops ‘Not Able to’ Respond to Rapes, Robberies Due to Autonomous Zone

Seattle mayor compares armed occupation of her own city to a ‘block party’

EXCLUSIVE Photos Inside Seattle’s “Autonomous Zone”

WATCH: Democrat Anarchists Set Up ‘Autonomous Zone’ In Seattle After Police Retreat, Take Over 6 Blocks Around Shuttered Precinct

PROTESTERS’ TAKE OVER SEATTLE CITY HALL

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

VIDEO: Media Refuses To Cover George Floyd Body Cam Footage

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The Daily Mail obtained leaked body cam footage from the police officers who arrested George Floyd, and the full video is not good for the Black Lives Matter narrative.

The footage shows that Floyd was resisting arrest, impossible to deal with, and was complaining about not being able to breathe well before he was put on the ground. Yet the media has hardly covered this new footage because of course it hurts the idea that this was an intentional murder of a man because he was black.

LISTEN: 

COLUMN BY

AMBER ATHEY

Podcast columnist.

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

PODCAST: Hit or Myth? Dems Call Riots Fake News

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You have to give the Democrats credit. They’ve found a way to justify their silence on the riots: refusing to admit they exist! Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) tried that when he ran into a citizen who asked him if he disavowed the Antifa violence in Portland. “That’s a myth,” he insisted, “being spread only in Washington, D.C.” Well, if it’s a myth, Oregon residents will tell you, it’s a pretty convincing one.

To the hundreds of police and federal officers taking cover from mortars, fireworks, and hammers, the idea that Portland’s mayhem belongs in a league with Sasquatch is more than a little deranged. Videos of protestors burning streets, hauling down fences, and lobbing Molotov cocktails at buildings are a lot of things, but faked is not one of them. “Sir,” Austen Fletcher pressed, wondering if he’d heard the congressman right, “There’s videos everywhere online,” Mr. Fletcher continued. “There’s fires and riots, they’re throwing fireworks at federal officers. DHS is there. Look online. It gets crazy, Mr. Nadler.”

Nadler, whose staff is desperately nudging him to the car at that point, is nonplussed. And why not? This is a man who stood on the House floor and called Antifa — a group so dangerous that President Trump declared them a terrorist organization — “imaginary.” Good luck persuading the people of Portland, who’ve woken up to the sounds of sirens and destruction every night for 60 days. It’s not only real, reporters say, it’s a war zone. “I interviewed a veteran,” the Daily Caller’s Jorge Ventura explained on “Washington Watch,” “who told me it actually reminds him of his time in Iraq. That’s how bad [it’s gotten] here.” But to hear it’s a myth? “It was shocking,” Jorge said. “I mean, an Antifa member actually stabbed a black Trump supporter on Friday night.”

“Democrats can’t seem to make up their minds,” Kaylee McGhee writes. “First they deny that protests in Portland and Seattle are violent, [then they] claim that President Trump and the GOP are propagating this ‘myth’ to win over voters… Now, after hours of video evidence and multiple insider reports, Democrats are finally admitting that the riots on the West Coast are indeed riots, but with one caveat: Trump is to blame.”

Jorge, like other conservative journalists, have gone to Portland to see for themselves what’s happening. And to a person they’ll tell you: the things they’ve seen are a whole lot worse than the media’s admitting. “I’ve been covering protests all across the country, and I’ve never seen anything like we’re seeing here in downtown Portland. These groups are very well organized. They have medic teams. They actually have their own kitchen called Riot Ribs across the park that feeds these protesters and actually supplies them with shields and eyewear and other things they need to be out here. It’s just, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The cache of weapons alone is astounding. “We’re talking about mortars, fireworks, hammers, all types of things that we’ve actually never seen on the ground.” He talked about federal officers injured and hospitalized in the blasts. Other police officers, he explains, who were possibly blinded for life because of the high-powered lasers thugs are training on their eyes. “We saw some power tools being used on the high fences… guarding the federal courthouse… I’ve just never seen the organization level that we’re seeing here in Portland.”

So who, exactly, is fueling the effort? Antifa, Jorge said. No doubt in his mind. They’re “taking in money and donations online.” And that, to a large extent, is what’s supplying these mobs. “One thing that we’ve been noticing here [is] that numbers of people have been driving up to the parks with all types of things. We’ve been seeing gas masks delivered here, eyewear, bats, shields, you name it… [and] a lot of these folks here are not from Portland.” Some are driving in from Seattle, and others are “bigger members of the Antifa group, bringing in these types of weapons into the riots.”

And to the extent that the media is covering the story, they’re only telling one side of it. “I call it a media war,” Jorge explains. If the local journalists or national press uploads videos or pictures to social media, they edit it so that all people see is the police response — not the violence that led up to it. “The New York Times just put out a piece basically putting the blame on Trump and the federal administration. But what we’ve been seeing here on the ground is that’s just really not the case.”

If it’s a myth Democrats are looking for, start there. Because this president isn’t starting the fires. He’s only trying to contain them.

EDITORS NOTE: This FRC-Action podcast is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS: Hours-Long Battle In Downtown Portland Ensues As Rioters Refuse To Back Down On Day 58

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PORTLAND, Ore. — The 58th day of protests in Portland drew thousands to the federal courthouse, where an unlawful assembly was announced and an hours-long battle between rioters and officers ensued.

Friday’s protests saw an even bigger turnout than Thursday’s protests, and the night began with peaceful speeches and a crowd that spanned multiple blocks. Included in the crowd were Portland’s “Wall of Moms,” a group of mothers who have joined demonstrations in the city. Reporters on the ground for the Daily Caller also noticed a new group dubbed the “Wall of Vets.”

Some members of the crowd quickly focused on the fencing surrounding Portland’s Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse. A number of people pushed the fence in unison around 11 p.m., coming close to breaking it down but ultimately failing.

Federal officers issued warnings against tampering with the fence and emerged from the courthouse after loudspeaker announcements were ignored by many.

Officers consistently deployed tear gas, rubber bullets, flash bangs and more in an attempt to disperse the crowd, according to reporters on the ground.

Rioters, however, appeared undeterred and organized. Many had gas masks, helmets and makeshift shields to protect themselves from the officers’ crowd control efforts, leading to an hours-long battle.

Some rioters attempted to use electric saws to break the fence down while others tied ropes and tried to pull it down. As the night wore on, others launched various objects over the fence at officers. Water bottles, glass bottles and fireworks were among the items tossed at federal officers.

Members of the crowd also chased down tear gas canisters thrown by officers, grabbing them and launching them back over the fence. Both federal officers and protesters brought leaf blowers, which have been used often in Portland demonstrations to push tear gas away.

WATCH:

Federal officers declared the scene an unlawful assembly early Saturday morning as the standoff continued and rioters made a large fire in the street. The remaining rioters refused to budge as they battled officers inside the fence. Squads eventually arrived en mass from streets surrounding the courthouse to further disperse the crowd.

Officers successfully dispersed many remaining rioters, marching down numerous blocks and using various crowd control munitions. Portland police officers were also seen in the street early Saturday morning.

The police department issued a statement just before 4 a.m. Saturday noting that they responded to reports of a stabbing in the area, according to Oregon Live.

COLUMN BY

SHELBY TALCOTT

Media reporter. Follow Shelby on Twitter

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

‘They Are Terrorists’: DHS Says Investigations Into ‘Criminal Rioters’ Continue

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A senior official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Thursday that rioters across America are under active observation and that “hundreds” of ongoing federal investigations are focusing on “criminal rioters.”

“So there are hundreds of federal investigations running into these criminal rioters, that’s what they are,” Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli told BlazeTV. “They are terrorists.” He informed the media outlet that most of the investigations are still in progress and that details have not been released to the public.

President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr announced Wednesday that 200 federal agents were heading to Chicago and Kansas City, respectively, to “help save lives,” in Barr’s words.

When asked if federal authorities are attempting to discover whether riots and looting across America are being coordinated by certain groups, Cuccinelli told BlazeTV that “we are looking at anywhere there is organization behind criminal activity.”

“Now, realize, that a group that calls itself Black Lives Matters in Washington may not be connected to a group that calls itself Black Lives Matter in Minneapolis,” the acting deputy secretary observed. “So we have to connect the dots evidentially, not just in terms of them taking similar positions. They have to coordinate action to count as a group.”

He noted that DHS continues to gather and assess that kind of intelligence.

Protests and riots in Portland have resulted in tens of millions of dollars in damages to the community, according to the Portland Tribune.

Despite almost 60 days of nightly rioting in Portland, political leaders there are resisting federal assistance.

Democratic Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer said Monday that “Portland, Oregon is not out of control” during a speech on the House floor. A demonstration began peacefully Thursday night, but soon deteriorated into chaos with crowds shouting, “Pigs go home.”

COLUMN BY

DAVID KRAYDEN

Ottawa bureau chief. Follow David on Twitter. Send tips to Krayden@dailycaller.com.

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

VIDEO: Trump On Black People Killed By Police: ‘So Are White People’

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President Donald Trump dismissed the notion that black Americans are being killed by police in disproportionate numbers Tuesday, telling CBS News’ Catherine Herridge that police kill white Americans too.

“Let’s talk about George Floyd,” Herridge began. “You said George Floyd’s death was a terrible thing. Why are African Americans still dying at the hands of law enforcement in this country?”

“And so are white people,” Trump responded. “So are white people. What a terrible question to ask. So are white people — more white people, by the way, more white people.”

Herridge also asked Trump about his disdain for movements against Confederate monuments and symbols, which he argued are freedom of speech issues.

“All I say is freedom of speech. It’s very simple. My attitude is freedom of speech. Very strong views on the Confederate flag. With me, it’s freedom of speech. Very simple. Like it, don’t like it, it’s freedom of speech.”

Trump’s comments come as the newest example of his harsh stance on anti-monument protesters. He devoted much of his messaging on the 4th of July to condemning protesters across the country who seek to dismantle American history.

“I am here as your president to proclaim before the country and before the world: This monument will never be desecrated; these heroes will never be defaced; their legacy will never ever be destroyed; their achievements will not be forgotten, and Mount Rushmore will stand forever as an eternal tribute to our forefathers and our freedom,” Trump said in front of Mount Rushmore on July 3.

“This movement is openly attacking the legacies of every person on Mount Rushmore,” Trump said of protesters. “Today we will set history and history’s record straight.”

COLUMN BY

ANDERS HAGSTROM

White House correspondent.

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

Illegal Immigrant Child Rapist Released from Jail by Maryland Sanctuary County Remains at Large

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A Maryland county that offers illegal immigrants sanctuary keeps releasing dangerous criminals from jail to shield them from federal authorities, most recently a man from El Salvador who raped a seven-year-old girl multiple times. Rather than honor a detainer issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), officials in Montgomery County freed the child rapist on bond recently and he remains at large. Court documents obtained by a local media outlet say the 56-year-old, Rene Ramos-Hernandez, who reportedly lives illegally in Brentwood “forced unwanted sexual intercourse” with the girl “at least ten times.”

In a statement issued this week, ICE blasts Montgomery County officials for protecting illegal aliens who commit state crimes. “Montgomery County continues the practice of not honoring lawful ICE detainers and release potential public safety threats back into the community,” said acting Baltimore Field Office Director Francisco Madrigal. “When they refuse to give adequate notification of an impending release to allow a safe transfer of custody, it shows their actions are insincere. ICE believes the best way to protect public safety is for law enforcement to work together.” The agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) lodged a detainer with the Montgomery County Detention Center on June 19 and authorities blew it off, instead discharging Ramos-Hernandez on June 23. ICE was notified that the illegal immigrant rapist was let go, but officers at the Montgomery County jail refused to hold Ramos-Hernandez until ERO officers arrived at the facility, according to the agency.

Ramos-Hernandez has lived in the U.S. illegally for years. In fact, the rapes occurred from 2002 to 2003, when he was in his late 30s and the girl was just seven. The victim reported the crimes to Montgomery County Police in 2017 and it took almost two years for local authorities to track down the illegal alien. On June 18 he was booked at the Montgomery County Detention Center (MCDC) in Rockville on two counts of second-degree rape and one count of sexual abuse of a minor. The next day ICE lodged the detainer.  A Montgomery County judge granted Ramos-Hernandez a $30,000 bond and now the feds cannot find him even though bail conditions include electronic monitoring and curfew. Ramos-Hernandez was also ordered to have no contact with minors, which is a joke considering authorities do not even know where he is. He provided the court with a Brentwood address and claims to work as a “remodeler,” according to court records cited in the news story. He faces up to 70 years in prison if authorities ever find him.

This case is part of a national crisis generated by local governments around the country that offer violent illegal immigrants sanctuary. Under a local-federal partnership known as 287(g), ICE is notified of jail inmates in the country illegally so that they can be deported after serving time for state crimes or making bail like Ramos-Hernandez. Unfortunately, a growing number of city and county law enforcement agencies are instead releasing the illegal aliens—many with serious convictions such as child sex offenses, rape and murder—rather than turn them over to federal authorities for removal. The lack of cooperation has led ICE to resort to desperate measures, like striking preemptively by publicly disclosing convicts, complete with mug shots, scheduled to be released before they are actually let go by police in municipalities that offer illegal aliens sanctuary. A few months ago, ICE targeted six offenders incarcerated in two Maryland counties—Montgomery and Prince George’s—notorious for shielding illegal immigrants from the feds. Most were incarcerated for sexual crimes involving children, including rape and serious physical abuse that resulted in death. A couple of the offenders were jailed for murder and assault.

Besides Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, two other large Maryland jurisdictions—Baltimore County and the city of Baltimore—shield illegal immigrants from the feds and deportation. Maryland’s Attorney General, the state’s chief law enforcement official, issued a legal memo in late 2018 defending the practice. Complying with ICE detainers for criminal illegal aliens is voluntary, the Attorney General writes in the document, and state and local law enforcement officials are potentially exposed to liability if they hold someone beyond the release date determined by state law. In 2017, Baltimore’s Chief Deputy State’s Attorney instructed prosecutors to think twice before charging illegal immigrants with minor, non-violent crimes to shield them from Trump administration deportation efforts. This summer Montgomery County took an extra step to help illegal immigrants by launching a $10 million COVID-19 relief fund. Judicial Watch sued on behalf of two county residents and a federal court ruled that the payments likely violate federal law and irreparably harm county taxpayers.

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

Challenge to Hillary Clinton: ‘Walk in the shoes of a police officer!’

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TULSA, Okla. /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Fit First Responders Foundation Founder, Coach Jonathan “JC” Conneely, is inviting Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton to come to Tulsa, Oklahoma and “walk in the shoes of a police officer.”

Hillary Clinton recently made this statement,

“White Americans need to do a better job listening when African Americans talk … about the seen and unseen barriers you face every day,” she said. “We need to try as best we can to walk in one another’s shoes, to imagine what it would feel like if people followed us around stores or locked their car doors when we walked past.”

Coach JC challenges Clinton to do just that – come experience one on one force training and then visit the Fit First Responders training facility so she may experience first hand what police officers across the country experience every day. Coach JC invites Clinton to experience what Reverend Moffett experienced in Phoenix.

“I want to personally invite you, Hillary Clinton, to come walk in the shoes of our police officers to experience what they endure mentally and physically to be prepared on the job. If you are not willing to practice what you are preaching, I am respectfully asking you to not use our police officers for your political gain without actually walking in their shoes, as you have suggested in previous speeches,” says Fit First Responders Founder Coach JC.

Fit First Responders Founder, Jonathan Conneely (PRNewsFoto/Fit First Responders)

Fit First Responders Founder, Jonathan Conneely (PRNewsFoto/Fit First Responders)

ABOUT FIT FIRST RESPONDERS

Fit First Responders, a nonprofit foundation that empowers police officers, firefighters, EMSA medics, and National Guard to win in their fitness, nutrition, and in life by offering physical and mental conditioning, nutrition workshops, and life coaching. The foundation currently serves over 500 first responders in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area and will be in cities across America in late 2016.

Fit First Responders Foundation was created to improve the mental and physical health of Tulsa police officers helping them be their best. As a result, officers lost weight, got off medications, restored their marriages, prevented suicides, lowered workers comp and insurance costs for the city. Learn more here.