Two people were shot and killed because New York City arrested and released a serial criminal named Josue Ruben Silva six times this year. What’s the point of arresting a serial criminal again and again and again, if they’re just going to release him again and again and again?
Illegal immigrant wanted on warrant now suspected in fatal shooting outside NYC building
By Joe Marino and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon
May 30, 2024
An illegal immigrant from Venezuela with a lengthy rap sheet is wanted for allegedly gunning down two people during a dispute outside a Bronx apartment building – while already being sought on a felony warrant.
Josue Ruben Silva, 21, who has already been busted half a dozen times this year on robbery, theft and gun charges, is now facing a murder rap following the early Friday morning shooting in Fordham Heights, police and law enforcement sources told The Post.
Silva, who skipped out on a Bronx gun case, is also suspected in a series of migrant moped robberies.
“We have no idea who they are, what they’ve done in their own countries, what the plan is for them now that they’re here,” one frustrated law enforcement source told The Post . “Who says they can’t graduate from stealing sunglasses to a double murder?
“But maybe we’re gonna explain all that away too because somebody’s ‘a migrant,’” the source said. “Empathy can’t excuse away a double murder. We have to get our hands around this problem or it’s going to get its hands around us.”
Friday’s fatal shooting stemmed from a dispute sparked by a nasty comment to one victim’s gal pal, sources said.
Police sources said the victims were outside the Davidson Avenue building shortly after midnight when a passerby made a disrespectful comment to a 44-year-old woman.
The woman’s boyfriend confronted the creep and the two got into a dispute – but the man left and went inside the building, only to return later with a menacing group of friends lugging baseball bats, according to sources.
One of the thugs opened fire with a .40-caliber handgun, striking the woman, her 36-year-old boyfriend and a 21-year-old woman who was struck in the arm, sources said.
The two older victims were struck in the chest and taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where they were both later pronounced dead, according to police.
The third victim suffered a non-life-threatening injury.
The Venezuelan native was in the US illegally and in the Big Apple for about a year, the sources said.
Silva has repeatedly run afoul of the NYPD in the months since his arrival – with six arrests on a variety of charges and a suspected link to the moped heists that have terrorized the city.
His first arrest came on Feb. 6, when he was charged with petty larceny in Brooklyn, according to sources and court records.
On Feb. 25, he was busted on charges of grand larceny and criminal possession of a loaded gun, the sources and court records said.
A spokesman for the Bronx DA’s office said Thursday that prosecutors asked for bail but Silva was put on supervised release – and had a bench warrant issued after skipping out on the case.
His next arrest was on a robbery charge on April 4, followed by a possession of stolen property rap on May 3, according to sources and court records.
It is not clear if Silva is among the tens of thousands of asylum seekers who have been bused to the five boroughs from the US border with Mexico since 2022.
Officials at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post.
Trump found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records, becoming the first U.S. president to be convicted of criminal charges
Trump found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records, becoming the first U.S. president to be convicted of criminal charges
The jury deliberated over two days.
May 30, 2024
Donald Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 presidential campaign Thursday in a historic trial that saw a former U.S. president face criminal charges for the first time.
After deliberating over two days, a New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts related to a $130,000 payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The prosecution had alleged Daniels was paid to keep secret a 2006 tryst she had with Trump in order to influence the results of the 2016 election, which Trump ultimately won.
Trump’s sentencing has been scheduled for July 11.
The trial lasted a month and a half and was plenty eventful. In addition to the fiery testimonies of Daniels and Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, Trump was held in contempt of court 10 times and fined $10,000 for violating a gag order against attacking people involved with the trial. Many Republican leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, traveled to New York to speak out in support of the 2024 Republican presidential candidate.
Trump, who did not testify in his defense, is likely to appeal the verdict. The result may have an impact on Trump’s chances to reclaim the White House, however. Recent Yahoo News/YouGov polling suggested a conviction would hurt Trump in head-to-head polling against President Joe Biden.
I solved the March 28, 2024 Wordle in just two guesses!
I solved the March 28, 2024 Wordle in just two guesses!
My guesses were STRAP and SPEAK.
Here’s a screenshot:
The Libertarian Party has chosen its presidential candidate
The Libertarian Party has chosen its presidential candidate:
Alan Dershowitz: I was inside the court when the judge closed the Trump trial, and what I saw shocked me
I was inside the court when the judge closed the Trump trial, and what I saw shocked me
By Alan Dershowitz
May 21, 2024
I have observed and participated in trials throughout the world. I have seen justice and injustice in China, Russia, Ukraine, England, France, Italy, Israel, as well as in nearly 40 of our 50 states.
But in my 60 years as a lawyer and law professor, I have never seen a spectacle such as the one I observed sitting in the front row of the courthouse yesterday.
The judge in Donald Trump’s trial was an absolute tyrant, though he appeared to the jury to be a benevolent despot. He seemed automatically to be ruling against the defendant at every turn.
Many experienced lawyers raised their eyebrows when the judge excluded obviously relevant evidence when offered by the defense, while including irrelevant evidence offered by the prosecution.
But when the defense’s only substantive witness, the experienced attorney Robert Costello, raised his eyebrows at one of New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan’s rulings, the court went berserk.
Losing his cool and showing his thin skin, the judge cleared the courtroom of everyone including the media.
For some reason, I was allowed to stay, and I observed one of the most remarkable wrong-headed biases I have ever seen. The judge actually threatened to strike all of Costello’s testimony if he raised his eyebrows again.
That of course would have been unconstitutional because it would have denied the defendant his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses and to raise a defense.
It would have punished the defendant for something a witness was accused of doing.
Even if what Costello did was wrong, and it was not, it would be utterly improper and unlawful to strike his testimony — testimony that undercut and contradicted the government’s star witness.
The judge’s threat was absolutely outrageous, unethical, unlawful and petty.
Moreover, his affect while issuing that unconstitutional threat revealed his utter contempt for the defense and anyone who testified for the defendant.
The public should have been able to see the judge in action, but because the case is not being televised, the public has to rely on the biased reporting of partisan journalists.
But the public was even denied the opportunity to hear from journalists who saw the judge in action because he cleared the courtroom.
I am one of the few witnesses to his improper conduct who remained behind to observe his deep failings.
Even when journalists do report on courtroom proceedings, their accounts must be taken with a grain of salt. When you watch CNN or MSNBC, you generally see an account of a trial that never took place.
They spin the events so much that reality is totally distorted.
I experienced that distortion firsthand yesterday, when I saw one of my former students and research assistants, a CNN legal analyst named Norman Eisen, during a break and went over to him and asked him about his family. We chatted for a few minutes in the most friendly way.
But NBC, the Daily Beast and other media decided to make up a story about the event. They claimed that I had a spat with my nemesis, rather than a friendly conversation with a former student. Their account was made up, yet it was circulated through the media.
To his credit, Eisen wrote to the media to correct the account, saying that the person sitting next to him would confirm the media’s false reporting. I doubt we will see a retraction.
This minor incident is simply the tip of a very large and deep iceberg of false reporting about the trial that can only occur because the proceedings are not being televised.
There are television cameras in the courtroom, and they record and transmit every word, but not to the public; only select reporters in the overflow room see what the cameras transmit.
There is absolutely no good reason why a trial of this importance, or any trial, should not be televised live and in real time. Allowing the public to see their courts in action is the best guarantee of fairness. As Justice Louis Brandeis wisely said a century ago, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”
When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn, we used to listen to the colorful account of Dodger games rendered by Red Barber on the radio.
Occasionally when I went to a game and brought my portable radio, I could hear how the “old redhead,” as we called him, colorfully elaborated and exaggerated what was occurring on the field.
Once television came along and everyone could watch the games live, the accounts became far more accurate, because we could see everything for ourselves.
A similar phenomenon would operate if trials were televised; it would force commentators to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.
Today there is no check on partisan reporting of trials and exaggerations and personal opinions are rampant.
The American public is the loser.
This YouTube Playlist has a whole bunch of episodes of the 80s children’s TV show “You Can’t Do That On Television.” I’d be very curious to see how today’s generation of woke college students would react to this show.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
May 21, 2024
This YouTube Playlist has a whole bunch of episodes of the 80s children’s TV show “You Can’t Do That On Television.”
I’d be very curious to see how today’s generation of woke college students would react to this show.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz5LnpOWjHYQsSMPRGf-pcS2dKDqlMqC_
New York City Criminal Courts Judge Abena Darkeh: “Do not bring the Second Amendment into this courtroom. It doesn’t exist here. So you can’t argue Second Amendment. This is New York.”
Amateur Gunsmith Told by N.Y. Judge the Second Amendment ‘Doesn’t Exist’ in Her Courtroom Gets 10 Years in Prison
Dexter Taylor came face-to-face with a judge who said the Second Amendment ‘doesn’t exist’ in her courtroom.
By Matthew Rice
May 13, 2024
A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to ten years in state prison for legally purchasing gun parts and assembling weapons in his home, his lawyer tells the Sun. Dexter Taylor began assembling firearms as a hobby during the pandemic.
“This defendant allegedly acquired a massive arsenal of homemade ghost guns that are as real and dangerous as traditional firearms,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said when Taylor was arrested in 2022. In total, Taylor had built 13 firearms in his home and had in his possession at the time of his arrest several magazines, as well as casing, bullets, and gunpowder.
“It was excessive,” Taylor’s lawyer, Vinoo Varghese, tells the Sun of his client’s ten year sentence. Taylor was found guilty by a jury on April 22 on multiple charges, including second-degree criminal possession of a loaded weapon, four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, five counts of criminal possession of a firearm, and second-degree criminal possession of five or more firearms, among other things.
“The D.A. asked for ten years,” Mr. Varghese said. Of the judge, he added: “She could have sentenced him to three-and-a-half.”
The jurist in the case, Judge Abena Darkeh, famously said during Taylor’s trial that his lawyers could not make arguments based on his Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Mr. Varghese told RedState that Judge Darkeh said at one point: “Do not bring the Second Amendment into this courtroom. It doesn’t exist here. So you can’t argue Second Amendment. This is New York.”
Taylor began assembling the firearms in his spare time as a hobby. He is professionally a software engineer and previously was a member in good standing at the Westside Rifle and Pistol Range in Manhattan, according to a fundraising page for Taylor’s legal defense fund that has raised nearly $175,000.
In an interview with RedState, Taylor said he was not amassing weapons as the prosecution alleged. Rather, he is a hobbyist who was fascinated by the intricate workings of firearms.
“I found out that you can actually legally buy a receiver and you can machine that receiver to completion, and you buy your parts and you put them together and you’ve got a pistol or a rifle,” he said.
“And once I saw that I was hooked,” he added. “I was like, ‘This is the coolest thing ever. This is the most cool thing you could possibly do in your machine shop.’”
Zero jail time for blocking the Bay Bridge, but four years for blocking the entrance to an abortion clinic.
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
May 14, 2024
I hate this double standard.
They should both get the same punishment.
“Protesters who blocked Bay Bridge announce agreement with court, avoid jail time”
“Anti-abortion activist who led a clinic blockade is sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison”
https://apnews.com/article/lauren-handy-abortion-clinic-blockade-ab461332b6c83d1c4d7f4d6175d04fbc
Google blasted for AI that refuses to say how many Jews were killed by the Nazis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSKOtyFGVaI
https://nypost.com/2024/05/11/tech/googles-ai-refuses-to-say-how-many-jews-were-killed-by-nazis/
Google blasted for AI that refuses to say how many Jews were killed by the Nazis
By Jon Levine
May 11, 2024
Google is coming in for sharp criticism after video went viral of the Google Nest assistant refusing to answer basic questions about the Holocaust — but having no problem answer questions about the Nakba.
“Hey Google, how many Jews were killed by the Nazis?” Instagram user Michael Apfel asks a Google Nest virtual assistant. The video was later posted to X by venture capitalist Josh Wolfe on May 8.
“Sorry, I don’t understand,”
The same token answer was offered to other related questions including “How many Jews were killed during World War II? Who did Adolf Hitler try to kill? How many Jews were killed in the concentration camps? How many Jews were killed in the Holocaust? What was the Holocaust?
The Google device was able to deliver a detailed description of “The Nakba” — an Arabic word meaning “catastrophe” used to describe Palestinians being forced from their homes during the creation of Israel. Google’s AI called it the “ethnic cleaning of Palestinians.”
Tim Urban, a notable author and blogger told The Post he was able to successfully recreate the experiment and that Google Nest had no issue clearly stating how many Germans, Americans and Japanese had died during World War II — or deaths from the Rwandan genocide.
“Google is where we go to answer our questions and you just really want to feel like you can trust those answers and the company behind them. And moments like these break that trust and make you feel like Google’s supposed core value—truth—has been co-opted by politics,” Urban told The Post after posting to X about his dismay over the results.
The video, which has been widely reposted by several prominent X accounts, has racked up millions of views on the platform — where its findings were widely condemned.
“This is deeply concerning. Very soon, there will be no living holocaust survivors. Their stories will be silenced by hard coded filters. History is written by victors (then edited by opinionated machines),” said Tal Morgenstern, a venture capitalist, on X.
Clifford D. May, founder of the Foundation for Defense of Democracy also condemned the results.
“In the past, we’ve had Holocaust denial by ignoramuses and racists. Now, we have Holocaust denial by artificial intelligence,” he said.
A Google spokesperson told The Post that the response was “not intended” and tried to downplay the Holocaust denials as only happening on “in some instances and on certain devices.”
“We’ve taken immediate action to fix this bug,” the spokesperson said.
Google, and its parent company Alphabet, have long come in criticism for developing products pushing social justice absolutism. In February, their AI platform Gemini was mocked for generating comically woke creations including a woman as pope, black Vikings, female NHL players and “diverse” versions of America’s Founding Fathers — not to mention black and Asian Nazi soldiers.
District of Columbia Superior Court Judge Lloyd U. Nolan facing heat for releasing alleged DC teen shooter donated to Soros tied fund, posted about being ‘woke’
https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-facing-heat-releasing-alleged-120007417.html
Judge facing heat for releasing alleged DC teen shooter donated to Soros tied fund, posted about being ‘woke’
By Andrew Miller and Cameron Cawthorne
May 12, 2024
A Washington, D.C., judge who released on bail a teenager accused of firing over two dozen rounds at a car full of people along a busy street has a social media presence filled with progressive activism and a financial link to progressive mega donor George Soros.
Lloyd U. Nolan, Jr., a magistrate judge on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, is in the spotlight this week after he ordered that 18-year-old Amonte Moody be released from custody before his trial despite accusations he sprayed a D.C. neighborhood with shots from an AR-15 while targeting a car carrying four people.
Nolan’s online presence includes examples of progressive activism, including a post boasting about being “woke,” a post promoting Black Lives Matter and a post showing he donated to a fundraiser supporting a professor with ties to George Soros.
A Facebook post shows Nolan donated to Gideon’s Promise, a group founded in 2007 through a fellowship from George Soros’ Open Society Foundation on behalf of a professor named Jonathan Rapping.
Rapping, a professor at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, developed the venture, which is “devoted to training and supporting public defenders across the Southeastern United States.”
“We envision a nation where every person has access to zealous, outstanding legal representation necessary to ensure ‘equal justice for all’ in the criminal justice arena,” the Gideon’s Promise website states.
“Our programs and partnerships are uniquely tailored to support and strengthen the efficacy of public defenders as a critical part of systemic criminal justice reform. Public defenders are frontline advocates for the accused in this country and we are committed to nurturing and developing their skills at every career level to produce fairer outcomes for America’s most vulnerable citizens.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Nolan for comment on the social media posts but did not receive a response. Shortly after the request for comment was sent, Nolan’s Facebook page was set to private.
Nolan concluded that Moody, who was charged with endangerment with a firearm, possession of a weapon and assault, was not a threat to the community and approved a request to release him on house arrest with a GPS monitor on May 3, WJLA-TV reported.
The decision to release Moody on house arrest prompted outrage from many on social media. And prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., requested an emergency hearing scheduled for May 22 to discuss the matter and potentially reverse it.
“The government presented evidence establishing probable cause that the defendant fired an AR-15 weapon approximately 26 times at a car driving away on a public street in the 1700 block of Independence Ave SE then dissembled the firearm and hid it away in a ceiling,” the prosecutors wrote.
“Despite the egregiousness of this conduct, the strength of the case, including video evidence depicting it and two identifications of the defendant as the shooter, and the statutory presumption in favor of detention pending trial, the Magistrate Judge released the defendant.”
A spokesperson for the D.C. court system told Fox News Digital all defendants “have a presumption of innocence.”
“In this matter — after hearing arguments from both sides and the arguments for detention — the judge determined that 24-hour home confinement on electronic monitoring with the education and social services already in place for the defendant that release, on these strict conditions did ‘ensure the safety of the defendant and the public,'” the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson also told Fox News Digital the defense “relied heavily” on the fact that Moody had no prior encounters with law enforcement, and he was provided educational support and family and community resources.
“Judge Nolan conducted a very thorough hearing … and spoke directly with defendant about the consequences of violating any portion of the release conditions,” the spokesperson said.
Columbia University President Minouche Shafik is refusing to release security video that shows “peaceful protesters” engaging in the unlawful imprisonment of janitors inside Hamilton Hall.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/columbia-university-custodians-union-plans-132451358.html
Columbia University custodians’ union plans to sue school over anti-Israel protests, slams ‘bratty’ occupiers
By Greg Norman
May 9, 2024
A union representing custodians at Columbia University says it is gearing up to sue the Ivy League school for its response to the anti-Israel protests, in which its members allegedly were targeted by “spoiled” and “bratty” agitators who temporarily took over a campus building.
TWU International President John Samuelsen told ‘Fox & Friends’ on Thursday that his rank and file is “particularly incensed at Columbia for not protecting the workers and particularly pissed at those particular protesters that tried to hold our workers in the building” during the occupation of Hamilton Hall early last week.
“Everybody in the building, the entire TWU workforce in the building was fearful and rightfully so. They stormed in… but two of the custodians had to fight their way out. They were explicitly told ‘you’re staying here, you’re not going anywhere, this cause is bigger than you,” Samuelsen said. “Imagine that… kind of smarmy, sort of entitled, spoiled, bratty occupiers of the building come in and tell these blue-collar men and women ‘you’re not going anywhere, you’re staying here because this cause is bigger than you’ when they had to get home to their families. It’s outrageous, it’s an affront to workers everywhere.”
“Columbia should have never put the custodians or the security officer in that position and that is at the heart of the matter,” Samuelsen also said. “Columbia showed an epic disregard and epically failed to protect the workforce.
Hamilton Hall eventually was cleared out by the NYPD last Tuesday, but the TWU said this week that it is “exploring legal action against the university and the Hamilton Hall occupiers.”
In a letter Samuelsen addressed to Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, the union is demanding the names of the protesters arrested inside Hamilton Hall, security footage of the hostile takeover and a meeting with Shafik “regarding mitigation steps necessary to avoid future placement of members in harm’s way if the protests resume, and recompense to the TWU members who were subjected to this despicable conduct.”
“The TWU Security Officer, an African-American woman, managed to leave the building before the barricades went up,” he continued. “But she remains shaken by her encounter with the occupying protesters (aka privileged kids) who verbally attacked her in a very aggressive and extremely offensive manner.
“President Shafik, imagine for a moment being in the boots of the blue-collar Custodians and Security Officer. They came to work to earn a day’s pay so they could take care of their families and ended up being held against their will while being subjected to physical and verbal abuse,” Samuelsen also wrote. “Imagine yourself coming to work and being the victim of a serious crime because Columbia University didn’t care enough about you to engage in common sense protective measures.”
Columbia University did not immediately respond Thursday morning when asked by Fox News Digital to comment on the matter.
Los Angeles County Deputy Samuel Aispuro was shot because District Attorney George Gascón refused to lock up a violent serial criminal named Raymundo Duran
https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-police-officer-shot-back-080051990.html
California police officer shot in back by criminal who should have been in jail: progressive DA’s challenger
By Louis Casiano
May 9, 2024
A known gang member with a long violent criminal history accused of shooting a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy could have been kept behind bars if not for soft-on-crime policies by the region’s top prosecutor, his election opponent said.
Raymundo Duran, 47, who allegedly shot Deputy Samuel Aispuro in the back at a stop light while he was sitting on his marked sheriff’s department motorcycle on April 22 in West Covina, California, has been involved in a number of violent crimes, including two felony assaults that he committed while serving an 11-year sentence for manslaughter, according to court records.
Aispuro, a nearly 20-year veteran of the department, was wearing his bulletproof vest and survived the unprovoked attack.
In 2021, Duran was arrested after leading authorities on a car and foot chase in which he was charged with committing a hit-and-run, resisting arrest and fleeing from a police officer. Authorities were forced to collide with Duran’s vehicle to stop him before he briefly ran from the scene, authorities said.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, a Democrat, could have had Duran imprisoned, but he was instead sentenced to probation as part of a plea deal, according to Gascón’s election challenger.
“Raymundo Duran, by all accounts, is a sociopath who has committed violent act after violent act for decades,” Nathan Hochman, a former federal prosecutor running as an independent to unseat Gascón, told Fox News Digital. “Unfortunately, the sentences that he’s received haven’t deterred him from committing additional violent conduct.”
“So, when George Gascón has his chance to deal with Mr. Duran and make it so he won’t be able to victimize others, he decides to go for the lowest sentences,” he added.
Gascón has faced harsh criticism from his own prosecutors as well as law enforcement and elected officials over his progressive criminal justice policies.
Jason Lustig, a deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County, said prosecutors have been demoralized after nearly four years under his boss.
“Everybody has just really been sickened over it,” he told Fox News Digital. “We have a front-row seat to seeing more victims adding up. We see it every day.”
At the time of his 2021 arrest, Duran was a four-time convicted felon wanted for a parole violation. He also has a 1996 conviction for domestic violence. In 2002, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for stabbing his boss at a Jiffy Lube to death as part of a plea deal, Hochman noted.
In 2003, a year into his prison term, Duran assaulted a guard at Salinas Valley State Prison. He pleaded no contest in Monterey County Superior Court, court records state.
On Nov. 9, 2009, Duran stabbed another prisoner with a “shank,” a makeshift knife. He was sentenced to another four years after pleading guilty to assaulting a prisoner in a manner likely to cause great bodily injury.
After his release, he violated his parole, and in February 2022, he was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. The crime was punishable by six years in prison, but prosecutors entered into a plea deal with Duran, who was sentenced to two years, four months.
“In 2021, had he actually gotten a six-year sentence or longer, he wouldn’t have been in the place to have shot the gun at the deputy in West Covina,” Hochman said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Gascón’s office.
Duran, who was in a 2008 Toyota Camry, was arrested in San Diego County hours after the ambush shooting. He is charged with first-degree attempted murder of a peace officer, assault against a peace officer, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“The senseless and unprovoked shooting of Deputy Samuel Aispuro is a stark reminder of the dangers our law enforcement officers face daily,” Gascón said days after the shooting. “Our office is committed to vigorously prosecuting the offender to the fullest extent of the law. Our thoughts are with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Deputy Aispuro as he recovers from this tragic incident.”
In Manhattan, a guy who stole an Israeli flag right out of the owner’s hands, and set it on fire, was released without bail. That last part is on you, Alvin Bragg. Shame on you.
https://news.yahoo.com/man-busted-columbia-protest-accused-203819015.html
Man busted at Columbia protest accused of burning Israeli flag
By Mira Wassef
May 2, 2024
NEW YORK (PIX11) — A man who was arrested during the Columbia University protests on Tuesday is also accused of stealing and burning an Israeli flag during a Manhattan protest last month, police and sources said Thursday.
James Carlson, 40, of Brooklyn, was arrested Wednesday and charged with criminal mischief, arson, and criminal possession of stolen property in connection to the April 20 incident, according to the NYPD.
Carlson allegedly took the 22-year-old man’s Israeli flag and lit it on fire during a protest near West 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue at around 10 p.m., authorities said.
The victim followed Carlson and two accomplices into the crowd when one of the accomplices threw a rock at the man’s face, police said. The victim suffered minor injuries and refused medical attention at the scene.
The other two suspects have not been arrested, police said.
Sources said Carlson was among the protesters arrested at Columbia University Tuesday night. He was charged with criminal trespassing.
Carlson was arraigned in the flag and protest incidents on Thursday and released without bail, according to court records.
Authorities arrested nearly 300 people at protests at Columbia University or City College on Tuesday, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
More than 40% — roughly 130 — of those detained at the New York City campuses were not tied to the schools, according to a source close to the investigation. But the breakdown is much lower for Columbia, specifically, with just 29% of those arrested being unaffiliated with the school, the source said.
It was unclear if the unaffiliated arrests were considered “outside agitators.”
The criminals who vandalized the Portland State University library wore masks. Fortunately, the police published their names.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33PCbp2Ce-E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN77-8J3kjs
https://kptv.com/2024/05/03/police-release-names-30-people-arrested-during-psu-protest/
Police release names of 30 people arrested during PSU protest
By Adrian Thomas
May 3, 2024
ORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) – The Portland Police Bureau has released the names of 30 people arrested Thursday as officers worked to clear out protesters who were occupying a library on the Portland State University’s campus.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators began occupying the Millar Library on the PSU campus Monday evening. Police moved in Thursday morning in an effort to clear protesters from the library and the park area out front.
By 10:15 a.m. Thursday, police cleared out the library but protesters remained outside throughout much of the day.
FOX 12 witnessed police leave the area outside the PSU library just after 5 p.m. Soon after, protesters who had been gathered outside all day, began ripping down city barricades protecting the building. Seemingly attempting to re-enter the library and recreating their barricade to keep police out.
On Friday, in a letter to students PSU President Ann Cudd said, Millar Library would likely not re-open until the fall semester of 2024.
Cudd called the state of the library “unusable.”
“The library team is working to get remote services up and running and we are also endeavoring to identify and equip alternative study spaces throughout campus. Thank you to everyone on our facilities staff who has worked and will continue to work to bring our library back online. The building is not suitable for occupation, but we hope to reopen it in time for fall term,” wrote Cudd.
Police returned to PSU and arrested eight more people on Thursday night.
In total, officers arrested 30 people, including six PSU students, throughout the day Thursday.
Four of the 30 had their cases dropped. When asked about the reasons, DA Mike Schmidt’s office said two of those arrested were homeless and unaware police were there until their arrest. Additionally, two other people had their cases dropped because they voluntarily left the building after the police made the arrest announcement.
The following people were booked into the Multnomah County Jail:
Ari Albertson, of Portland, 23, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree, Resisting Arrest, Interfering with a Peace Officer
James C. Bailey IV, 22, unknown city of residence, Attempted Assault on a Public Safety Officer, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Vincent Benedetti, 21, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
James G. Coats, 32, of Portland, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree
Michael E. Dusek, 47, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Claire E. Granger, 22, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Ann Harrell, AKA: Jackson White, 18, of Beaverton, Oregon, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Frank O. Krehky, 40, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree, PV Warrant
Luca Lajeuness, 23 of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Elijah M. Lane, 29, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Assault on a Public Safety Officer, Burglary in the Second Degree, Resisting Arrest
Jack Manchester, 19, Portland, Resisting Arrest, Escape in the Third Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer
Isabelle I. Martinez, 21, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Lorri J. McMahon, 60, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Will S. Parzybok, 23, of Tigard, Oregon, Assault on a Public Safety Officer, Interfering with a Peace Officer
Quinton P. Paul, 26, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Thomas Pulliam, 22, of Council, ID, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree, Resisting Arrest, Interfering with a Peace Officer
Wren J. Raggio, 21 of Portland. Resisting Arrest, Attempt Assault on a Public Safety Officer in the Second Degree, Interfering with a Peace Officer, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Michael Reams, 19, of Milwaukie, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Sharlea Ruter-Brewer, AKA Ray Brewer, 18, of Portland, Interfering with a Peace Officer,, Harassment, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Emma Wallace, 35, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Taylor Wallau, 31, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Juliet Ashley, 26, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Alissa Azar, 33 of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Jordan Cooper, 31, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Joshua Day, 25, of Albany, Oregon, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Morgan Grover, 33, of Portland, Burglary in the Second Degree
Anthony Martino, 33, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree, Resist Arrest
Lauren Simmons, 34, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Lev D Turner, 24, of Portland, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree, Resisting Arrest, Assault on a Public Safety Officer
Jonathan Yeager, 23, address unknown, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Jared Essig, 45, address unknown, Criminal Trespass in the Second Degree
Unidentified man, placed on police mental health hold
On Thursday in a news conference, DA Mike Schmidt said, “I want to again be very clear. We will prosecute these cases. We will use every tool at our disposal to make sure they are held accountable.”
I agree with Joe Scarborough about the college protests.
Starts at 0:38
Columbia University protester Rudy Ralph Martinez said that the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel was “one of the greatest days of my life.”
Anti-Israel protester arrested at Columbia, CUNY raids declared Oct. 7 Hamas attack one of the ‘greatest days of my life’
By Joe Marino and Emily Crane
May 2, 2024
An anti-Israel protestor busted during the Columbia University and City College campus unrest once declared that the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack was one of the “greatest days of my life,” police sources told The Post — as details on other arrestees’ violent pasts continued to emerge Thursday.
Rudy Ralph Martinez, 32, was among the 282 protesters and agitators who were cuffed and hauled away when the NYPD encountered unruly mobs during a crackdown on tent encampments at both schools late Tuesday.
Martinez, who was nabbed at CUNY’s Harlem campus on a burglary charge, is a serial protester on the anti-Israel front, according to law enforcement sources.
He was captured on camera praising Hamas during a New York City protest in December, video circulating on social media shows.
“One of the greatest days of my life,” a smirking Martinez said as he described the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
“Long live the resistance,” he added, according to the clip.
Martinez, who cops believe may be currently employed at CUNY after recently graduating from there, has an “extensive history” of protest-related arrests to his name that date back to California in 2012, sources said.
In the Big Apple alone, Martinez’s rap sheet includes a slew of arrests for disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction and refusal to disperse, according to the sources.
Stanford Jewish students on taking photo of man with Hamas headband on campus: ‘We were just in shock’
https://www.yahoo.com/news/stanford-jewish-students-taking-photo-090057498.html
Stanford Jewish students on taking photo of man with Hamas headband on campus: ‘We were just in shock’
By Louis Casiano and Julia Bonavita
May 3, 2024
A viral image of a man on the Stanford University campus wearing a headband that looks similar to the one worn by Hamas terrorist fighters was taken by two Jewish students concerned the school has not cracked down enough on antisemitic behavior.
The two friends, who wished to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said they were walking near White Plaza, the center of the northern California campus where anti-Israel protesters have set up an encampment, on Friday when they spotted someone sitting down at a picnic table.
After moving closer to the unidentified person, they realized the headband he was wearing was the same type worn by members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
We were just in shock that somebody could be like that in the middle of our campus,” one of the students told Fox News Digital. “I only went up to take the photo because I was there with my friend.
“We thought about going up to him and saying something, but then we figured it wasn’t worth it and, if anything, it might just be dangerous.”
The image of the man sitting at the table wearing the green headband with Arabic writing and a face covering quickly made the rounds on social media, catching the attention of university administrators.
“We have received many expressions of concern about a photo circulating on social media of an individual on White Plaza who appeared to be wearing a green headband similar to those worn by members of Hamas,” the school said in a statement Wednesday. ”
We find this deeply disturbing, as Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the United States government. We have not been able to identify the individual but have forwarded the photo to the FBI.”
I applaud and admire Al Sharpton for being willing to so harshly criticize his own side of the political spectrum. “How do the Democrats, how do all of us on that side say January 6 was wrong if you can have the same pictures going on on college campuses.”
Al Sharpton just said:
“How do the Democrats, how do all of us on that side say January 6 was wrong if you can have the same pictures going on on college campuses.”
I applaud and admire Al Sharpton for being willing to so harshly criticize his own side of the political spectrum.
The Great Replacement is not just a conspiracy theory. It’s really happening. They took down the U.S. flag and replaced it with a Palestinian flag.
GoFundMe raises $400,000+ for UNC students who protected American flag during protests
By Harrison Grubb and Ashley Anderson
May 1, 2024
A GoFundMe established in recognition of UNC students who protected the campus’ American flag during Tuesday’s protest raised close to $300,000 in the first 12 hours.
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the total has climbed to more than $427,000.
“When we went in, we said, we will not let the headline of this day be ‘An American flag falls at UNC,’” said freshman Jason Calderon, who was one of several students who held up the flag Tuesday.
Ongoing protests against the war in Gaza intensified on campus Tuesday. At one point, pro-Palestinian protesters replaced the American flag at the center of the quad with a Palestinian one.
After university administrators brought a new flag, protesters tried bringing that one down as well.
“My friends and I looked at each other and then said, ‘we should go over there,’” Calderon explained.
Calderon and several of his fellow students worked to prevent the flag from touching the ground, all the while he says he and others were pelted with objects by protesters.
“So many Americans in history have fought for the ideals of justice and freedom that that flag represents, and who are we if we don’t take some water balloons and take some yelling and chaos to reap the benefits of what they’ve sown for American society,” he said.
The GoFundMe was established Wednesday, hoping to benefit fraternities whose members protected the flag. Around 9,000 people donated in the first 12 hours, raising well over a quarter of a million dollars.
“So many people are seeing that UNC is a beacon of light,” said Calderon.
As the American flag was once again raised on the flag pole, the fraternities chanted “USA, USA, USA!” and sang the Star Spangled Banner as protesters chanted “down with fascists” and other chants which included expletives directed at UNC’s interim chancellor, Lee Roberts.
On campus, work is being done to make sure it won’t happen again. While the flagpole was surrounded by two layers of fencing after the protests Tuesday, the university has now put in a higher and more fortified boundary around the flag.
“It was really just inspirational for us to see everybody coming together and the chancellor coming in and saying, ‘as long as I’m chancellor that flag will stay up,’” Calderon said.
CBS 17 reached out to the fraternities named in the fundraiser but has not received a response yet.
This is from 2011, but it’s relevant to the current situation on U.S. college campuses. Which one of these stages is Columbia University currently at?
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2011/05/the_five_stages_of_islam.html
The Five Stages of Islam
By Richard Butrick
May 29, 2011
Stage 1. Establish a Beachhead
Population density à 2% (US, Australia, Canada).
Muslims are conciliatory, deferential but request harmless special treatment (foot bath facilities, removal/elimination of that which is offensive to delicate Muslim sensibilities – like walking dogs near Mosques).
Stage 2. Establish Outposts
Population density 2% – 5% (UK, Germany, Denmark).
At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytize other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. A recent example is that of Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal who is back in Jamaica after being kicked out of the UK.
Stage 3. Establish Sectional Control of Major Cities.
Population density 5% – 10% (France, Sweden, Netherlands).
First comes the demand for halal food in supermarkets, and the blocking of streets for prayers; then comes the demand for self rule (within their ghettos) under Sharia. When Muslims approach 10% of the population the demands turn to lawlessness. In Paris, we are already seeing car-burnings. Any criticism of Islam results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam. In France which may be over the 10% range, the minority Muslim populations live in ghettos, within which they are 100% Muslim, and within which they live by Sharia Law. The national police do not even enter these ghettos. There are no national courts, nor schools, nor non-Muslim religious facilities. In such situations, Muslims do not integrate into the community at large. The children attend madrassas. They learn only the Koran. To even associate with an infidel is a crime punishable with death.
Stage 4. Establish Regional Control.
Population density 20% – 50% (Europe 2020?).
After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues.
Stage 5. Total Control, Brutal Suppression, and Dhimmitude.
Population density > 50%.
Unfettered persecution of non-believers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon, and jizya, the tax placed on infidels. As Muslim population levels increase and all infidels cower in submission there will peace at last. Dar al-Islam is achieved and everyone lives under Sharia and the Koran is the only word.
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 