Right-wing Domestic Terrorism

[jackd]

His claim that breaking the filibuster would destroy the government is as pathetically stupid as is his whiny begging Republicans to act in the interest of the country.

[Traveler]

Wonder if he will finally wake up to the gravity of the situation, and not continue to put his efforts with an eye toward reelection. Remember the ACA blue dogs all lost. Who cares, when the nation's future is on the line? Doesn't he realize that?

[jackd]

We'll see. Things are definitely coming to a head.

[LFC]

The Republican Party are now the official protectors of right-wing domestic terrorists.

Senate Republicans have used the filibuster to block a bipartisan bill that would establish a January 6 commission to investigate the Capitol insurrection.

Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Rob Portman (R-OH) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) voted alongside Democrats to break the filibuster and advance the bill to a floor debate. That effort fell short of the 10 Republicans needed.

The final tally was 54 yes votes to 35 no votes — some senators had already left for the holiday weekend.

Now that they've told America that insurrection doesn't matter and Brian Sicnick's mother to stop her bitching ("Treason. Your son's life. Wah, wah, wah.") it's predictably time for them to play the victims. Collins again opens her mouth to belch out something noxious. The fact that she even uses the word "credibility" is offensive.

“The most likely outcome, sadly, is probably the Democratic leaders will appoint a select committee,” Collins told Politico. “We’ll have a partisan investigation. It won’t have credibility with people like me, but the press will cover it because that’s what’s going on.”

The Democrats appear to have two options. I sure hope Biden chooses to pursue the second one. Actually I hope both Pelosi and Biden pursue their options and cooperate with one another. Start investigations in, say, the fall and to make sure you do a thorough job make sure they extend for, oh I don't know, say 15 months.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) could pass the bill to set up such a committee, which would be populated by current members, through the House alone. She’d have some flexibility on the composition and figuring out the parameters of commissioners’ subpoena power.

President Joe Biden could also go it alone, and establish a commission through executive order. Jordan Tama, an associate professor at American University’s School of International Service who has written a book on commissions after crises, told TPM that such a path could be separate from Congress, and funded by discretionary executive branch funds. Based on the behavior of congressional Republicans, he said, it seems to be the best way forward.

“Given the way that Republican congressional leaders have stonewalled the creation of a commission, they would do everything in their power to undermine the legitimacy of a select committee,” he said. “Biden has the power to establish a commission that would have more bipartisan credibility. He could appoint to the commission five Democrats and five Republicans who are nationally respected and would be committed to taking the commission’s work seriously and following facts wherever they lead.”

There is a hitch, though: while the select committee would have subpoena power, a presidential one would not absent a law from Congress, Tama said.

“But a presidential commission can still have quite a lot of authority,” he added. “In particular, the president can order all executive branch agencies to comply with requests from the commission for documents or other information.”

[LFC]

Bundy's Boneheads are at it again. It's incredible how their rights are the only rights that matter. Treaties made to the Native Americans who had much of their land stolen and many of their people slaughtered? F*** them. Environmental issues? F*** that. Only a 100% share of resources they don't actually own is enough for them.

A scorching drought and historic anger over the federal government turning off farmers’ taps has led to a combustible situation in southern Oregon, where members of anti-government activist Ammon Bundy’s network are starting to talk about yet another standoff with the feds.

On the phone with TPM Thursday, Bundy said he was prepared to travel to the area and “bring as many people as I can muster up” with him.

The federal government on May 12 announced that it would be sealing shut a canal that typically delivers irrigation water to well more than 100,000 acres of farmland in the Klamath River Basin, leading to dire predictions not only of crop losses, but also of potential infrastructure damage and mass die-offs of birds and fish down-stream.

The water will stay in Upper Klamath Lake, which is the habitat of two aging populations of sucker fish, the C’waam and Koptu, that are protected by the Endangered Species Act and considered sacred by tribes in the area. Desperate farmers reliant on water from the lake are understandably frantic. The Klamath Tribes said that while they took “zero pleasure” in the news, the federal Bureau of Reclamation “made the only decision reasonably available to it.”

But Bundy and his crew appear to have their eye on elevating the situation to a full-on confrontation over property rights.

“This is the very same thing that happened at the Bundy ranch. It’s the same thing that happened to the Hammonds,” Bundy told TPM over the phone Thursday, referring to two earlier standoffs with federal law enforcement. “It’s the same thing that’s happened to thousands of ranchers, miners, loggers all over the West. It’s the federal government coming in and claiming rights that are not their own and taking them from the rightful people.”

He separately dismissed the multiple competing interests in the region — and factors contributing to the situation— as instruments of government control.

“Those are nice talking points,” Bundy said. “‘Oh, the tribes have rights, too. Oh, the endangered species, what about them? Oh, the drought and climate change.’ Those are liberal talking points that are there, designed to literally strip the people of their rights and to put the power in the government’s hands.”

There are certainly people in the area who want nothing to do with this.

The irrigation district, so far, has not acted. Nor has Peoples Rights or the encampment it’s assisting next to the canal. But the atmosphere in the region is tense.

“People are worried, and these guys march around with guns and play soldier on the weekends, and so there is a real concern for peoples’ safety,” Craig Tucker, a natural resources consultant for the Karuk Tribe, told TPM.

I say if they want to go into armed combat then let them. One Apache (fitting, eh?) attack helicopter is all it should take to put down another right-wing domestic terrorist insurrection. We should have jailed the lot of them when they pointed guns at federal agents years ago. Being soft on crime only encourages more criminal behavior.

[goldenvalley]

May 27, 2021 22:14:38 GMT jackd said:

His claim that breaking the filibuster would destroy the government is as pathetically stupid as is his whiny begging Republicans to act in the interest of the country.

So the filibuster is so important that it justifies not creating a committee to examine the origins of an attempt to subvert Constitutional processes through use of force and intimidation?  Really Senator?

[LFC]

Hypocrisy thy political affiliation is Republican.

In an angry 4-page letter House Republican leadership on Friday issued a demand Speaker Nancy Pelosi begin a congressional investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The demand comes just weeks after GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy blasted efforts to "re-litigate the past" and just days after Senate GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Democrats for wanting to focus on "things that occurred in the past."

Both McCarthy's and McConnell's remarks are tied to their opposition to a January 6 commission to investigate the Trump-incited insurrection. McCarthy's were an attack on Rep. Liz Cheney's fact-based remarks that Trump lost re-election.

McConnell claimed that "at the heart" of a January 6 commission is that Democrats "would like to continue to debate things that occurred in the past."

Earlier this month in a letter to House Republicans urging them to remove Cheney from her leadership role, McCarthy wrote: "Each day spent re-litigating the past is one day less we have to seize the future."

On Friday, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise posted the letter (below) to Speaker Pelosi, blaming the "Chinese Communist Party," which has become the GOP's favorite term when speaking about China, for the deaths of 600,000 Americans.

[LFC]

Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), the man who clearly wishes to challenge Ron Johnson for the title of dumbest U.S. Senator, just said he'd rather be golfing or fishing than debating a bill to investigate America's first insurrection designed to overthrow a fair and legal election.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) said he'd rather be home for Memorial Day weekend than vote on legislation establishing a bipartisan committee to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection, and his explanation sparked a firestorm of criticism.

The Alabama Republican said he wanted to enjoy some rest and relaxation instead of debating the bill, which will get a procedural vote Friday after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) agreed to push another vote into early next month.

"We're in the fourth quarter of life," Tuberville told reporters. "You know who were doing this for? You. I'd rather be fishing right now, or golfing."

Then maybe you should be retired rather than playing at being a lawmaker.

[goldenvalley]

Manchin issued a statement after the Senate rejected a bipartisan investigative commission:   

...“This commission passed the House with a bipartisan vote. The failed vote in the Senate had six brave Republicans, but that was four short of the ten necessary to advance the legislation. Choosing to put politics and political elections above the health of our Democracy is unconscionable. And the betrayal of the oath we each take is something they will have to live with.

“To the brave Capitol police officers who risk their lives every single day to keep us safe, the Capitol and Congressional staff that work around the clock to keep Congress running, even the reporters who work hard to deliver Congressional news to the American people and every American who watched in horror as our Capitol was attacked on January 6th – you deserve better and I am sorry that my Republican colleagues and friends let political fear prevent them from doing what they know in their hearts to be right.”

Gee Senator, can you not count heads? Did Sen Schumer's office not tell you this would happen?  Does it change your attitude on the filibuster?  He's the Democrats version of Susan Collins...very concerned, furrowed brow, sure they'll learn their lesson before the next time...

[LFC]

Sounds like he’s offering “thoughts and prayers.”

[jackd]

Not even that.

[LFC]

It doesn't say exactly what brand of "radical ideology paraphernalia" was found but I'll make a pretty fair assumption that this article belongs in this thread.

Authorities arrested a man accused of plotting a mass shooting at a Walmart. A search of the suspect’s home turned up firearms, ammunition and material officials described as “radical ideology paraphernalia.”

Coleman Thomas Blevins, 28, was arrested Friday and charged with making a “terroristic threat to create public fear of serious bodily injury,” the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Sunday.

Investigators said they intercepted a message from Blevins on Thursday indicating he was “preparing to proceed with a mass shooting,” and the threat included Walmart. Blevins was taken into custody the next day.

Authorities searched his home and, according to the release, “firearms, ammunition, electronic evidence, concentrated THC, and radical ideology paraphernalia, including books, flags, and handwritten documents were seized.”

Blevins is on felony probation and was not supposed to have guns, the release said. He was booked into the Kerr County Jail in Kerrville, a city about 70 miles northwest of San Antonio. Jail records didn’t list an attorney who could comment on Blevins’ behalf.

[LFC]

The only thing I'd change is that there are also fascists who aren't necessarily white supremacists.

[LFC]

This PA Republican was all in on tanking the Jan. 6 Commission but he refuses to talk to anybody back at home about his decision. Scott Perry, the cowardly fascist.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) is now going to the extreme to avoid answering questions from his local news.

This week, while home in his district, Perry was approached by local outlet CBS21, but he walked into a local forest instead. According to CBS21, they've done interview requests, called and emailed looking for comments from their congressman, but he's repeatedly ignored them. Now he's taking the dodge to a whole new level.

"If given an opportunity, I wanted to ask Congressman Scott Perry about a bunch of topics including his newest bill to help veterans dealing with PTSD and suicide along with his vote against the Anti-Asian Hate Crimes bill. But unfortunately, after waiting for nearly an hour, Congressman Perry denied our request for an interview," wrote CBS21's Michael Gorsegner.

Perry has been willing to defend his opposition to the Jan. 6 Commission on CSPAN, but he's refused to justify his position to people back home.

[goldenvalley]

Jun 3, 2021 21:20:26 GMT LFC said:

This PA Republican was all in on tanking the Jan. 6 Commission but he refuses to talk to anybody back at home about his decision. Scott Perry, the cowardly fascist.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) is now going to the extreme to avoid answering questions from his local news.

This week, while home in his district, Perry was approached by local outlet CBS21, but he walked into a local forest instead. According to CBS21, they've done interview requests, called and emailed looking for comments from their congressman, but he's repeatedly ignored them. Now he's taking the dodge to a whole new level.

"If given an opportunity, I wanted to ask Congressman Scott Perry about a bunch of topics including his newest bill to help veterans dealing with PTSD and suicide along with his vote against the Anti-Asian Hate Crimes bill. But unfortunately, after waiting for nearly an hour, Congressman Perry denied our request for an interview," wrote CBS21's Michael Gorsegner.

Perry has been willing to defend his opposition to the Jan. 6 Commission on CSPAN, but he's refused to justify his position to people back home.

Why is he dodging?  I assume he was elected because he's in the Kool Kids Trumpist Klub, so why shouldn't he talk to his constituents?

[LFC]

Anybody want to hazard a guess what one insurrectionist screaming about pedophiles was convicted for in 2010?

A Capitol riot suspect who was captured on camera shouting to police that they were “protecting pedophiles” was himself previously convicted of statutory rape, according to court documents reviewed by CNN. Sean McHugh, who faces eight charges for his role in the Trumpist insurrection, including assaulting police, gave officers an audibly hard time when he brought out a megaphone and yelled “You guys like protecting pedophiles?... You’re protecting communists... There is a Second Amendment behind us, what are you going to do then?” according to footage reviewed by prosecutors. Yet, records show that McHugh was convicted of unlawful sex with a minor in 2010, and that he was sentenced to 240 days in prison and four years of probation. Additionally, when he allegedly took part in the riot at the Capitol, McHugh was already on probation for past misdemeanor convictions, including multiple DUIs. McHugh has not entered a plea, and has been in custody since late May after a judge deemed him too dangerous for the public. However, court filings show that McHugh’s lawyer is pushing for his release again.

[andydp]

Jun 4, 2021 16:17:18 GMT LFC said:

Anybody want to hazard a guess what one insurrectionist screaming about pedophiles was convicted for in 2010?

A Capitol riot suspect who was captured on camera shouting to police that they were “protecting pedophiles” was himself previously convicted of statutory rape, according to court documents reviewed by CNN. Sean McHugh, who faces eight charges for his role in the Trumpist insurrection, including assaulting police, gave officers an audibly hard time when he brought out a megaphone and yelled “You guys like protecting pedophiles?... You’re protecting communists... There is a Second Amendment behind us, what are you going to do then?” according to footage reviewed by prosecutors. Yet, records show that McHugh was convicted of unlawful sex with a minor in 2010, and that he was sentenced to 240 days in prison and four years of probation. Additionally, when he allegedly took part in the riot at the Capitol, McHugh was already on probation for past misdemeanor convictions, including multiple DUIs. McHugh has not entered a plea, and has been in custody since late May after a judge deemed him too dangerous for the public. However, court filings show that McHugh’s lawyer is pushing for his release again.

First hand experience helps.

[LFC]

They just picked up another heavily armed right-wing domestic terrorist. It's just a matter of time before one of them succeeds at committing a truly mass murder.

Yet another far-right extremist has been arrested by a FBI joint terrorism task force.

"When police showed up at Paul William Ryan's property in Arizona, they found 32 pipe bombs. Ryan warned them they'd find some of his writings about antifa, survivalism, and 'corruption.' Court documents obtained by The Daily Beast show that the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Phoenix obtained a search warrant for Ryan's phone numbers and mobile data after local police found dozens of explosive devices on his property in March," The Beast reported Friday.

Antifa, which is short for antifascist, has become a boogeyman for the far-right.

"Under questioning, Ryan didn't cop to making the pipe bombs but he did tell law enforcement that they'd likely find his DNA on the devices. Investigators also noted that the bombs looked like they had been constructed from materials at Ryan's property," The Beast noted. "The investigation also comes amid increasing concern about far-right domestic terrorism and increased scrutiny of it by the Biden administration. In March, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released an assessment which placed far-right extremists as the largest terrorist threat to the U.S. homeland."

[LFC]

Yep, January 6 was pretty much just a regular tour. And Donald Trump didn't incite the riot insurrection.

A Capitol police officer told CNN this week that Trump supporters who rioted on January 6th called him a "traitor" when they realized he wouldn't help them attack Congress.

Capitol Police Officer Aquilino Gonell said that being called a "traitor" by rioting Trump fanatics personally hurt him because he had served his country in the military for years and was deployed to the Middle East during the Iraq War.

"They kept saying, 'Trump sent me, we won't listen to you, we are here to take over the Capitol, we are here to hang Mike Pence,'" he said. "They thought we were there for them and we weren't, so they turned against us. It was very scary because I thought I was going to lose my life right there."

Gonell also said that he believed the riots would have been far deadlier if his fellow officers hadn't moved so quickly to evacuate lawmakers to protect them from rioting Trump fanatics.

"All I could think was, 'We can't let these people in, there's going to be a slaughter inside.'"

[pnwguy]

From today’s Bulwark. thebulwark.com/what-were-they-thinking-about-insurrection/

General Flynn, here are your Myanmar coup troops

[LFC]

Jun 7, 2021 13:48:14 GMT pnwguy said:

From today’s Bulwark. thebulwark.com/what-were-they-thinking-about-insurrection/

General Flynn, here are your Myanmar coup troops

And the majority of Republicans, including the vast majority of those in Congress, have decided to side with them.

[LFC]

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) was finally served with his warrant. What should have been a basic act of the judicial system has, of course, become a ridiculous farce of stupidity and victimhood. I'd write it off as just silliness if it was over something as serious as sedition.

Alabama GOP Congressman Mo Brooks appeared to accidentally reveal his Gmail password and his pin number while accusing California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell's team of sneaking into his house to serve his wife with a lawsuit.

The staunch ally of former president Donald Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to complain about Swalwell, who has vowed for months to serve Brooks with a lawsuit in connection with his alleged role in the January 6 Capitol riots. However, Brooks, an Alabama GOP Rep. who is running for the Senate to represent the state, has been hard to track down, and Swalwell even hired a private investigator to find him.

On Sunday, Brooks tweeted: "@ericswalwell Well, Swalwell FINALLY did his job, served complaint (on my WIFE). HORRIBLE Swalwell's team committed a CRIME by unlawfully sneaking INTO MY HOUSE & accosting my wife! Alabama Code 13A-7-2: 1st degree criminal trespass. Year in jail. $6000 fine. More to come!"

Criminal trespass is among one of the most common charges brought against the Capitol rioters by the Department of Justice.

Swalwell's attorney has denied that the lawmaker's team trespassed Brooks' property. Philip Adonian told Forbes on Sunday that Brooks' allegations are "utterly false." The individual who served the lawsuit "did not enter the house...and lawfully handed the paper to Mo Brooks' wife at their home", the lawyer said.

However, Brooks spokesperson Clay Milles told the website that the Republican lawmaker filed a police report over the alleged incident and claimed he had "video proof" the server entered his home without consent, and "refused to leave when Mrs. Brooks demanded."

In his Sunday tweet, Brooks included a picture of his desktop with the Alabama legislature website showing a "criminal trespass in the first degree" page with the definitions of the crime.

At the bottom of the picture, underneath the screen of the laptop, what appears to be Brooks' pin number, along with his Gmail account details and password, can be seen.

[LFC]

Remember the Oregon lawmaker caught on video opening a door to let a mob of people into the state Capitol? Turns out he set the whole thing up in advance. It also turns out that he's dumb as a brick. You have to read his "sly" statements that he believes amount to "plausible" deniability.

An Oregon lawmaker facing charges for letting a mob into the state Capitol despite COVID-19 closures discussed “Operation Hall Pass” with a roomful of people just days before the incident.

Video of the discussion, surfaced Friday night by Oregon Public Broadcasting, showed Rep. Mike Nearman (R) giving out his cellphone number multiple times to the group.

“We’re talking about setting up Operation Hall Pass, which I don’t know anything about, and if you accused me of knowing something about, it I’ll deny it,” Nearman said on the video. “But there would be some person’s cell phone, which might be [recites a cell phone number], but that is just random numbers. That’s not anybody’s actual cell phone. And if you say, ‘I’m at the West entrance’ during the session and text to that number there, that somebody might exit that door while you’re standing there.”

“But I don’t know anything about that, I don’t have anything to do with that, and if I did, I wouldn’t say that I did, so,” he added.

Later, the video showed someone in the audience asking, “What was that again?”

“I didn’t really say a number,” Nearman replied. “But if I were to say a number it might have been something like [recites a cellphone number]. You’d have to say what entrance you’re at. But that’s not really going to happen. So don’t worry about that. Nobody said anything.”

Nearman faces two misdemeanor charges, official misconduct in the first degree and criminal trespass in the second degree. He hasn’t yet entered a plea but he has said he will seek a jury trial.

[pnwguy]

Jun 7, 2021 17:36:44 GMT LFC said:

Remember the Oregon lawmaker caught on video opening a door to let a mob of people into the state Capitol? Turns out he set the whole thing up in advance. It also turns out that he's dumb as a brick. You have to read his "sly" statements that he believes amount to "plausible" deniability.

An Oregon lawmaker facing charges for letting a mob into the state Capitol despite COVID-19 closures discussed “Operation Hall Pass” with a roomful of people just days before the incident.

Video of the discussion, surfaced Friday night by Oregon Public Broadcasting, showed Rep. Mike Nearman (R) giving out his cellphone number multiple times to the group.

“We’re talking about setting up Operation Hall Pass, which I don’t know anything about, and if you accused me of knowing something about, it I’ll deny it,” Nearman said on the video. “But there would be some person’s cell phone, which might be [recites a cell phone number], but that is just random numbers. That’s not anybody’s actual cell phone. And if you say, ‘I’m at the West entrance’ during the session and text to that number there, that somebody might exit that door while you’re standing there.”

“But I don’t know anything about that, I don’t have anything to do with that, and if I did, I wouldn’t say that I did, so,” he added.

Later, the video showed someone in the audience asking, “What was that again?”

“I didn’t really say a number,” Nearman replied. “But if I were to say a number it might have been something like [recites a cellphone number]. You’d have to say what entrance you’re at. But that’s not really going to happen. So don’t worry about that. Nobody said anything.”

Nearman faces two misdemeanor charges, official misconduct in the first degree and criminal trespass in the second degree. He hasn’t yet entered a plea but he has said he will seek a jury trial.

Oregon gains a congressional district after the 2020 census, so maybe this yoyo will be just the fellow the Oregon GOP will want to run for the new US House seat.  He's already proven his Trump-i-ness.  If he's in prison by the 2022 race, all the better for the GOP base -- a victim of the Deep State.

[LFC]

Political attacks based on The Big Lie coupled with repeated death threats is now a common part of local Republican politics. Welcome to America's brown plaid shirts. (Paywalled)

In my series of posts about the specter of political violence seeping into conventional politics, one examples was in San Luis Obispo, California. San Luis Obispo isn’t Santa Monica or Marin. But it’s very much not one of the northern or rural counties in the east of the state that are very Republican and might as well be in Idaho or rural Nevada. It’s sort of middle of the spectrum – used to be fairly Republican but in recent decades has been more Democratic in national politics.

As I noted back on May 21st, San Luis Obispo is one of a number of California counties were county registrars and other voting officials were getting harassed or recalled by Trump partisans pushing The Big Lie and claiming local voting officials might be part of it. Sometimes the same groups are pushing both Big Lie activism and also recalls based on COVID policy.

In San Luis Obispo readers I heard from said the climate was particularly intense and some feared it was going to spill over into violence. The local situation had an additional dimension that the County Clerk-Recorder was an Asian-American man named Tommy Gong. So a lot of the Big Lie stuff turned on accusations that Gong was working for the People’s Republic of China or similar racist and nonsensical stuff. (Remember that the Arizona ‘audit’ is analyzing ballots for evidence they contain bamboo which is in their minds a sign of Chinese infiltration.) More ominously Gong received a growing number of death threats.

Now in what the local paper calls a “surprise move” Gong is resigning and leaving the area, about a month after a raucous county Supervisors meeting where a lot of this disinformation and threats and conspiracy theories are aired. Gong told the local paper his decision was mainly about wanting to be closer to his family in the Bay Area. But he considered that the recent climate of threats “probably played a factor” in his decision to leave the area. Here’s an interview with Gong about the climate of hysteria and racist intimidation he’d been at the center of since the 2020 election.

No one got physically injured here. And I assume being closer to family played some role here. But it’s a good example of how Big Lie activism is percolating and growing across the country – not just in new laws in GOP controlled state legislatures but in these sorts of violence or threats of violence tinged efforts even in pretty politically sleepy counties you wouldn’t expect.