Right-wing Domestic Terrorism

[LFC]

I'd just like to note that I put up a story elsewhere about a judge in Tennessee who has been putting brown children as young as 8-years old in jail (excuse me, juvenile detention) at a near 50% rate for years and years and we barely heard a peep. We've seen case after case after case of blacks being treated like shit once detained including Freddie Gray who was f***ing murdered on the drive to the station.

So excuse me if I have a hard time worrying about some judge who feels that that equal treatment (not as bad treatment, actually) of a few insurrectionists is some national catastrophe. I'm not saying it's right, just that there are vastly worse issues that have been backlogged for many, many years. And yes, of course the judge is Republican. He was named by Reagan.

A federal judge on Wednesday slammed D.C. jail officials over the possible mistreatment of accused Capitol rioters in custody, calling for the Justice Department to open a civil rights investigation and holding two officials in contempt of court for delaying medical treatment.

“It’s more than just inept and bureaucratic shuffling of papers,” U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth fumed during a contentious hearing Wednesday about medical delays for accused rioter Christopher Worrell. “Does no one care? Does no one follow up?”

During the hearing, Lamberth said that jail officials failed to turn over critical information that was needed to approve surgery for the accused rioter’s broken wrist—even though the medical procedure was recommended four months ago. The accused Proud Boys member from Florida, who is receiving chemotherapy for cancer, was arrested in March on several charges after allegedly attacking police with pepper spray during the Jan. 6 riots.

“I find that the civil rights of the defendant have been abused,” Lamberth said, adding that he was made aware of the "inexcusable" delay last week and ordered jail officials to turn over notes to the U.S. Marshals Service since Worrell is a federal inmate.

Lamberth said that when he learned the jail still had not sent over the records on Tuesday morning he ordered them to appear in court for a contempt hearing. Deputy Attorney General Chad Copeland confirmed during the hearing that jail officials eventually produced the records Tuesday afternoon.

“It took a court order from me and a threat of contempt to get it approved. Why did that happen? No one at the jail noticed he’s been sitting there in pain this whole time?” Lamberth said.

[AnBr]

Not to condone any mistreatment of prisoners, there is a huge difference between getting arrested for attacking the police and the police profiling and arresting someone just trying to live his live while black, only to then be mistreated and even killed by those same police that created the scenario to begin with. I might not have to worry about being profiled, but I would still be crazy to walk up to a line of police in a terrorist situation and mace them. I kind of like being able to walk and I don't need to be swallowing any teeth.

[AnBr]

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Attachments:

[AnBr]

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Attachments:

[jackd]

Anyone still wondering why they came out in force to vote against her?

[LFC]

Oct 16, 2021 2:49:52 GMT jackd said:

Anyone still wondering why they came out in force to vote against her?

I didn't think they had. I thought it was a lackluster turnout and Clinton won the popular vote. AFAIC the non-Republicans who stayed home or voted 3rd party are the ones who were key to putting Trump in office.

"That's just my opinion, I could be wrong." --The Formerly Funny Dennis Miller

[jackd]

They turned out in sufficient numbers in the upper midwest to beat her. Bill warned about that shortly before the election. Whatever else one might feel about Bill, he had a good sense of the political winds.

[LFC]

Fool For A Client

At least five people who’ve been charged with storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 have insisted on representing themselves in their court cases, a strategy that doesn’t seem to working out super well for them so far.

• Alan Hostetter, the retired police chief-turned-yoga instructor who has been charged with conspiracy in the attack, told the judge that he wanted to represent himself due to what he called the “corruption of this investigation.”

• Pauline Bauer, a restaurant owner in Pennsylvania, has gotten sassy with the judge, at one point telling him that she doesn’t want “any lawyering from the bench,” according to the Associated Press.

• Brandon Fellows, a Pennsylvania man who happens to have the same judge as Bauer, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, accidentally blabbed about new alleged felonies while he was speaking during his hearing last week.

[LFC]

Another one of Trump's Chumps is realizing he was used and cast aside. Thoughts and prayers, dipshit.

Couy Griffin, the founder of the “Cowboys for Trump” group who once stated his belief that Donald Trump was divinely chosen to rule, appears to have had a belated change of heart. Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner who was charged for his alleged role in the Capitol riot earlier this year, seemed to turn on Trump during a speech at a QAnon conference in Las Vegas this weekend. According to a video of the speech posted by Raw Story, he told the crowd: “We supported President Trump because of his fight for justice as well, and for four years we cried ‘Lock her up. Lock her up. Lock her up.’ ... What did the president tell us? ‘If I was in charge of the law, you’d be in jail.’ OK, Mr. President, you were in charge of the law for four years. At the end of your four year time, the only ones that were locked up were men like me, and others like me, that have stood by the president the strongest.” Federal prosecutors have offered Griffin a plea deal in the hope of resolving his Jan. 6 misdemeanor charges.

[LFC]

[facepalm]

An attorney representing alleged MAGA rioter Jeff McKellop is arguing that their client did not plan to take part in violence at the United States Capitol building even though he wore tactical fear to the riot that included a gas mask.

As reported by NBC 4 Washington's Scott MacFarlane, McKellop's lawyer is claiming that "there is no evidence of prior planning, and although Mr. McKellop wore tactical gear, which he otherwise used in the performance of his job as a security contractor, he did not bring a firearm, bladed weapons."

McKellop, a former member of the United States Special Forces, was captured on camera assaulting police, first by trying to disarm them of their riot control spray, then by throwing a flag pole at an officer who suffered a facial laceration as a result.

MacFarlane also reports that McKellop's lawyer, in addition to arguing that their client did not come to the riot to commit acts of violence, also detailed how emotionally distressed he has been after being arrested and held in detention for several months.

"This is a person who's never been incarcerated in his life," said the lawyer, who added that McKellop has regularly been "crying" and emphasized that "it's had a significant impact on him."

Thoughts and prayers, traitor.

[goldenvalley]

The delusions these people held are staggering. He didn’t bring a firearm or blade but was dressed in tactical gear? So he was only play acting like a 6 year old who got a little carried away?

[LFC]

These are the kind of people that can so easily be manipulated to treason and violence.

One of the men arrested for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 is proclaiming that the whole event was a fraud and that Ashli Babbitt doesn't even exist, legal expert Marcy Wheeler said, citing the court documents.

Philip James Weisbecker outed himself on Facebook after posting an interview between Glenn Greenwald and Fox News personality Tucker Carlson that showed photos and videos of the attack along the right side of the screen. One of those people appeared to be Weisbecker. He took a screen capture of the photo of himself on screen with the caption, "If you would like to know the truth... just ask."

[LFC]

A right-wing fascist judge is unapologetic in his defense of one of their terrorists. Moscow Mitch and other establishment Republicans understood the value of packing the courts with partisan hacks decades ago.

The men shot by Kyle Rittenhouse in August 2020 can be referred to at his trial as "rioters" or "looters," a Wisconsin judge said Monday while reiterating his long-held view that attorneys should not use the word "victim."

"Let the evidence show what the evidence shows, that any or one of these people were engaged in arson, rioting or looting, then I'm not going to tell the defense they can't call them that," Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder said during the pre-trial hearing.

Rittenhouse is charged with felony homicide related to the shooting and killing of Anthony M. Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and felony attempted homicide for allegedly wounding Gaige Grosskreutz during protests that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake in August 2020.

The conversation turned to whether defense attorneys would be allowed to refer to Huber, Rosenbaum and Grosskreutz as arsonists, rioters or looters due to their alleged behavior during the chaotic and fiery demonstrations.

"I don't think I'm inclined toward prior restraint," Schroeder said.

But Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger argued the judge was setting up a "double standard" due to his longstanding rule of not allowing prosecutors to refer to people as "victims" at trial.

"If I were to count the number of times that you've admonished me not to call someone a victim during a trial, it would be in the thousands," Binger said.

"The word 'victim' is a loaded, loaded word. And I think 'alleged victim' is a cousin to it," Schroeder said.

But Binger disagreed, telling the judge, "I think it's the exact same issue. The terms that I'm identifying here, such as 'rioters,' 'looters,' 'arsonists,' are as loaded, if not more loaded, than the term 'victim.'"

Binger, the prosecutor, argued Monday that any behavior Rosenbaum, Huber or Grosskreutz may have participated in that night that could lead the jury to believe they were arsonists, rioters or looters wasn't witnessed by Rittenhouse and shouldn't be part of his defense.

"He can't argue self-defense against things he's not aware of," Binger said. "These other acts are strictly designed to attack the reputation of these individuals, it's designed to paint them in the worst possible light to prejudice them. Two of them can't defend themselves ... because the defendant killed them. And it's unduly prejudicial to the jury to be told about any of those things."

But a defense attorney said the shootings should be weighed against the wider context of what was happening that night.

"All of that lawlessness, all of the facts and circumstances surrounding what is going on, is relevant in terms of Kyle Rittenhouse's conduct. I think it's impossible to say that it's not."

So let me get this straight. You can't call the dead and wounded "victims" but without evidence that they actually committed any crime you can call them "rioters" and "looters." And because of "all of the facts and circumstances surrounding what is going on" it was OK for Rittenhouse to charge into all of this with a firearm and shoot people. Got it.

[goldenvalley]

Speaking of Rittenhouse, the NYT offers an article about the circumstances in Kenosha WI at the time of Rittenhouse's "defense" of the city.   There were lots of folks out there with their weapons and ideas about saving the area. It's quite an interesting look at the impact of right wing media and right wing agitators on people.   Of course, in the comments following someone wants to hear about how Antifa was operating in the city.  

[AnBr]

Judge Mandates Prosecutors Only Refer To Kyle Rittenhouse As ‘Hero’

[LFC]

Oct 28, 2021 13:55:55 GMT AnBr said:

Judge Mandates Prosecutors Only Refer To Kyle Rittenhouse As ‘Hero’

Barely two degrees off of reality.

[AnBr]

Oct 28, 2021 14:56:10 GMT LFC said:

Oct 28, 2021 13:55:55 GMT AnBr said:

Judge Mandates Prosecutors Only Refer To Kyle Rittenhouse As ‘Hero’

Barely two degrees off of reality.

And the Onion wept.

[LFC]

Terrorist snowflakes.

Federal prosecutors are pushing back on claims from U.S. Capitol rioters about conditions in the jail where they're awaiting trial, and a judge signaled that he's getting sick of their complaints.

Judge Emmet Sullivan told attorneys he was aware of problems some defendants had accessing evidence they needed to prepare for trial, but he waved away complaints some of them had made about alleged mistreatment, reported CNN.

"They're running a jail, not a hotel," Sullivan said. "Some people want hotel services."

[goldenvalley]

Oct 29, 2021 14:40:01 GMT LFC said:

Terrorist snowflakes.

Federal prosecutors are pushing back on claims from U.S. Capitol rioters about conditions in the jail where they're awaiting trial, and a judge signaled that he's getting sick of their complaints.

Judge Emmet Sullivan told attorneys he was aware of problems some defendants had accessing evidence they needed to prepare for trial, but he waved away complaints some of them had made about alleged mistreatment, reported CNN.

"They're running a jail, not a hotel," Sullivan said. "Some people want hotel services."

 I wonder if the defendant broke his finger during the insurrection.  

[LFC]

Oct 29, 2021 17:42:40 GMT goldenvalley said:

I wonder if the defendant broke his finger during the insurrection Capitol tour.  

"FIFY." --Faux News

[LFC]

If Merrick Garland is too timid to investigate and prosecute people who planned an insurrection against America then he should resign his position.

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) on Sunday issued an ultimatum to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

While appearing on CNN, Gallego demanded that the attorney general do more to prosecute Trump officials who tried to pressure Vice President Mike Pence and election officials across the country to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

"Look, either Merrick Garland steps it up or needs to step out," he said. "The attorney general of the United States, the most important thing is to protect the Constitution of the United States. He's failing now because he wants to stick to some norms. There is no norms when there's an almost-coup of this country!"

Gallego criticized Garland not just for failing to go after former Trump officials but also going easy on the Capitol rioters who stormed the building on January 6th.

"There are people out there that should be prosecuted and Merrick Garland needs to be leading the team that does it," he said. "Right now the sentences they're trying to hand out to people that were caught on January 6th in the Capitol are slaps on the wrist. I don't know what Merrick Garland is thinking he's able to accomplish this, but he's showing true weakness in a moment when we need actually true strength."

This reminds me of Obama refusing to dig into the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld torture program. There are crimes that are so awful that they must be met with extreme force. 

[goldenvalley]

Nov 1, 2021 21:48:09 GMT LFC said:

If Merrick Garland is too timid to investigate and prosecute people who planned an insurrection against America then he should resign his position.

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) on Sunday issued an ultimatum to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

While appearing on CNN, Gallego demanded that the attorney general do more to prosecute Trump officials who tried to pressure Vice President Mike Pence and election officials across the country to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

"Look, either Merrick Garland steps it up or needs to step out," he said. "The attorney general of the United States, the most important thing is to protect the Constitution of the United States. He's failing now because he wants to stick to some norms. There is no norms when there's an almost-coup of this country!"

Gallego criticized Garland not just for failing to go after former Trump officials but also going easy on the Capitol rioters who stormed the building on January 6th.

"There are people out there that should be prosecuted and Merrick Garland needs to be leading the team that does it," he said. "Right now the sentences they're trying to hand out to people that were caught on January 6th in the Capitol are slaps on the wrist. I don't know what Merrick Garland is thinking he's able to accomplish this, but he's showing true weakness in a moment when we need actually true strength."

This reminds me of Obama refusing to dig into the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld torture program. There are crimes that are so awful that they must be met with extreme force. 

We don't know what the DOJ is working on.  I'm tired of people wanting Garland and the DOJ to be showboating before they have a case locked in. The easy cases and arrests have already been made.  The hard ones involving defendants that didn't record video of themselves plotting and planning take thorough investigation. Do they want a case that will stand up in court or do they want a flashy arrest?

[LFC]

Nov 1, 2021 21:59:38 GMT goldenvalley said:

Do they want a case that will stand up in court or do they want a flashy arrest?

There have already been one or more postings here about the light sentences sought by the DOJ including a questioning by a judge about it.

[jackd]

Yes, but that doesn't go to the complaint of not charging administration people in the coup attempt. That's a much tougher case to make than you're letting on. No AJ would attempt it without direct evidence.

[LFC]

One of the Jan 6 right-wing domestic terrorists is seeking asylum in Belarus. Why Belarus? No extradition treaty and it just had a stolen election much like the terrorists wanted in America.

A California man who allegedly joined the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 over what they falsely believed was a stolen election and is wanted by the FBI has fled the country and is seeking asylum in authoritarian Belarus.

Evan Neumann, 48, was charged in March with six crimes related to the insurrection, including two felonies for assaulting an officer and participating in a civil disorder. He told the state-controlled Belarus 1 news channel on Nov. 7 that his lawyer had advised him to flee to Europe. He called the charges against him “unfounded” and claimed they amount to “political persecution.”

Neumann, a handbag manufacturer from Mill Valley, a small city north of San Francisco, didn’t respond to BuzzFeed News’ requests for comment sent via email and a LinkedIn message.

Neumann said in the news segment titled “Goodbye, America!” that he went to extreme lengths to evade arrest by US law enforcement, sketching out a Catch Me if You Can–style escape.

He said he flew to the EU in March under the guise of a business trip and then traveled to Switzerland by train. From there, he said he drove to Germany and onward to Poland. He then crossed into Ukraine and settled in central Zhytomyr in mid-March. He rented an apartment there for four months, he said, before he decided to flee that country, as well.

Neumann said he left Ukraine after noticing that he was being followed by agents from the Ukrainian security service, the SBU. In August, under the cover of night, he explained, he crossed illegally by foot into Belarus, making his way through swampy forest land and dodging wild boars and snakes.

Belarus does not have an extradition treaty with the United States and tensions between the countries have frayed significantly since Washington and much of the world deemed the presidential elections in August 2020 to be rigged. Alexander Lukashenko, known as Europe’s last dictator, has ruled the country with an iron fist for more than two decades. He claims to have won that election, although evidence shows he likely lost to challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.