Planes, guns, night-vision goggles: The Taliban’s new U.S.-made war chest
Planes, guns, night-vision goggles: The Taliban’s new U.S.-made war chest
By Idrees Ali, Patricia Zengerle, and Jonathan Landay
August 19, 2021
WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) – About a month ago, Afghanistan’s ministry of defense posted on social media photographs of seven brand new helicopters arriving in Kabul delivered by the United States.
“They’ll continue to see a steady drumbeat of that kind of support, going forward,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters a few days later at the Pentagon.
In a matter of weeks, however, the Taliban had seized most of the country, as well as any weapons and equipment left behind by fleeing Afghan forces.
Video showed the advancing insurgents inspecting long lines of vehicles and opening crates of new firearms, communications gear and even military drones.
“Everything that hasn’t been destroyed is the Taliban’s now,” one U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
Current and former U.S. officials say there is concern those weapons could be used to kill civilians, be seized by other militant groups such as Islamic State to attack U.S.-interests in the region, or even potentially be handed over to adversaries including China and Russia.
President Joe Biden’s administration is so concerned about the weapons that it is considering a number of options to pursue.
The officials said launching airstrikes against the larger equipment, such as helicopters, has not been ruled out, but there is concern that would antagonize the Taliban at a time the United States’ main goal is evacuating people.
Another official said that while there are no definitive numbers yet, the current intelligence assessment was that the Taliban are believed to control more than 2,000 armored vehicles, including U.S. Humvees, and up to 40 aircraft potentially including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones.
“We have already seen Taliban fighters armed with U.S.-made weapons they seized from the Afghan forces. This poses a significant threat to the United States and our allies,” Representative Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters in an email.
‘MORE LIKE TROPHIES’
The speed with which the Taliban swept across Afghanistan is reminiscent of Islamic State militants taking weapons from U.S.-supplied Iraqi forces who offered little resistance in 2014.
Between 2002 and 2017, the United States gave the Afghan military an estimated $28 billion in weaponry, including guns, rockets, night-vision goggles and even small drones for intelligence gathering.
But aircraft like the Blackhawk helicopters have been the most visible sign of U.S. military assistance, and were supposed to be the Afghan military’ biggest advantage over the Taliban.
Between 2003 and 2016 the United States provided Afghan forces with 208 aircraft, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
In the last week, many of those aircraft were most useful for Afghan pilots to escape the Taliban.
One of the U.S. officials said that between 40 and 50 aircraft had been flown to Uzbekistan by Afghan pilots seeking refuge. Even before taking power in Kabul over the weekend, the Taliban had started a campaign of assassinating pilots.
Some planes were in the United States for maintenance and will stay. Those en route to Afghan forces will instead be used by the U.S. military to help in the evacuation from Kabul.
Current and former officials say that while they are concerned about the Taliban having access to the helicopters, the aircraft require frequent maintenance and many are complicated to fly without extensive training.
“Ironically, the fact that our equipment breaks down so often is a life-saver here,” a third official said.
Retired U.S. Army General Joseph Votel, who oversaw U.S. military operations in Afghanistan as head of U.S. Central Command from 2016 to 2019, said most of the high-end hardware captured by the Taliban, including the aircraft, was not equipped with sensitive U.S. technology.
“In some cases, some of these will be more like trophies,” Votel said.
FIGHTING AT NIGHT
There is a more immediate concern about some of the easier- to-use weapons and equipment, such as night-vision goggles.
Since 2003 the United States has provided Afghan forces with at least 600,000 infantry weapons including M16 assault rifles, 162,000 pieces of communication equipment, and 16,000 night-vision goggle devices.
“The ability to operate at night is a real game-changer,” one congressional aide told Reuters.
Votel and others said smalls arms seized by the insurgents such as machine guns, mortars, as well as artillery pieces including howitzers, could give the Taliban an advantage against any resistance that could surface in historic anti-Taliban strongholds such as the Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul.
U.S. officials said the expectation was that most of the weapons would be used by the Taliban themselves, but it was far too early to tell what they planned to do – including possibly sharing the equipment with rival states such as China.
Andrew Small, a Chinese foreign policy expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said the Taliban was likely to grant Beijing access to any U.S. weapons they may now have control over.
One of the U.S. officials said it was not likely China would gain much, because Beijing likely already has access to the weapons and equipment.
The situation, experts say, shows the United States needs a better way to monitor equipment it gives to allies. It could have done much more to ensure those supplies to Afghan forces were closely monitored and inventoried, said Justine Fleischner of UK-based Conflict Armament Research.
“But the time has passed for these efforts to have any impact in Afghanistan,” Fleischner said.
Taliban in Afghan capital Kabul start collecting weapons from civilians
Taliban in Afghan capital Kabul start collecting weapons from civilians
August 16, 2021
KABUL, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Taliban fighters in the Afghan capital, Kabul, started collecting weapons from civilians on Monday because people no longer need them for personal protection, a Taliban official said.
“We understand people kept weapons for personal safety. They can now feel safe. We are not here to harm innocent civilians,” the official told Reuters.
City resident Saad Mohseni, director of the MOBY group media company, said on Twitter that Taliban soldiers had come to his company compound to enquire about the weapons kept by his security team.
Ashli Babbit’s Killer is a Dangerous Incompetent
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/07/ashli-babbits-killer-dangerous-incompetent/
Ashli Babbit’s Killer is a Dangerous Incompetent
By Larry Johnson
July 1, 2021
A picture is worth a thousand words. So these two pictures tell you two thousand words worth of Ashley Babbit’s. He is demonstrably incompetent.
There are four critical rules for handling any firearm, especially a pistol:
Treat every gun as if it is loaded until you inspect it to ensure there is no ammunition in the chamber.
Always point the gun in a safe direction (in other words, do not point the gun at anything or anyone you are not prepared to kill or destroy).
ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
Know your target and what is beyond. You do not fire at a target if there is a person or persons behind the target that do not pose a threat.
Look at the big picture. This moron has his finger on the trigger and is pointing his gun at other security personnel. He is violating all of the gun rules listed above. Every single one.
Making matters worse is what he is doing with his left hand. He is carrying something. When you have the finger of your right hand on the trigger and you are simultaneously using your left hand to grasp or hold something you are likely to cause a sympathetic movement with your trigger finger. The man in the blue shirt is damn fortunate that he was not shot in the back by this clown.
The lack of training discipline this man exhibits is alarming. And the results of this incompetence was the murder of Ashli Babbit. If a cop on the street in any city in America handled a pistol like this he or she would have their gun taken away and be sent back to training. Making matters worse–he took an innocent life.
Black Oklahoma man faces 1st-degree murder charge after killing white alleged burglar
In my opinion, this black guy doesn’t deserve to have any charges filed against him for killing a burglar. But they are filing charges: first degree murder. What nonsense.
The fact that the burglar had not yet entered the building should not matter. The burglar was trying to break the lock on the door. That’s good enough for me to vote not guilty on the first degree murder charge if I was on the jury. There’s a reason we have jury nullification.
Black Oklahoma man faces 1st-degree murder charge after killing white alleged burglar
By Marquise Francis
June 1, 2021
LaRue Bratcher, a 34-year-old Black Army veteran from Oklahoma, remains behind bars on a charge of first-degree murder more than a year after he shot and killed a white man allegedly trying to break into his marijuana grow business.
With his trial date delayed until later this year, Bratcher’s family and friends and members of the Oklahoma City community are rallying behind him, saying the murder charge is unjust.
“I feel like this was an injustice for the simple fact that if the roles were reversed, if this was a white person inside the facility, he would not be in this situation,” Bratcher’s wife, Vicky Bratcher, told Yahoo News in a video interview.
“Someone broke into his place,” Bratcher’s uncle, Derrick Neighbors, said at a rally last month. “He didn’t go out looking for trouble. He was in his own place of business.”
In 2018 when Oklahoma voters legalized medical marijuana, Bratcher established Premium Smoke LLC, a marijuana grow shop located in Oklahoma City, whose business license expired a year later. Bratcher had planned to renew his license in 2019, his wife said, but learned he would not be allowed to do so until he made nearly $100,000 worth of renovations to the warehouse that housed it, so he held off.
On May 27, 2020, around 1 a.m., Bratcher was at the grow operation warehouse when Daniel Hardwick, a 42-year-old white man, allegedly attempted to break into the business for the second consecutive night. Video from that night reportedly shows Hardwick park his car at the rear of the shop, walk to the business’s door and jostle with the door handle, attempting to gain entry.
“He was trying to break in when the business owner, who was inside the business at the time, apparently opened fire with a handgun, striking and killing the man who was breaking in,” Master Sgt. Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department told KFOR.
Bratcher called the police shortly after the shooting, and once at the scene, officers called the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority to ensure the business was legal. When they found out that the business’s license had expired, Bratcher was arrested for operating a grow shop illegally, a felony, and was held on $5,000 bond. He was not, however, initially arrested in Hardwick’s death. In addition to arresting Bratcher, authorities also seized 480 marijuana plants worth an estimated $1,500,000.
A day after the arrest, Bratcher was released on bond. But just a week later, the city’s district attorney’s office reviewed the case and upgraded Bratcher’s charges to second-degree murder. One week later, police raided Bratcher’s home, escorting him, his children and his wife to the street, and arrested Bratcher again. Then, after he refused to accept a plea deal late last year, Bratcher’s charges were upgraded to first-degree murder. The family told Yahoo News that it does not understand why.
Individuals convicted of second-degree murder in Oklahoma can expect to serve a minimum of 10 years in prison to a life sentence, which is classified as 45 years in the state of Oklahoma, with eligibility for parole after serving 85 percent of the sentence. The penalties for those convicted of first-degree murder vary but include a life sentence without the possibility of parole, or death.
Despite Oklahoma being a state with a “stand your ground” law, or castle doctrine, those rights do not apply to those who are found to have committed a felony. Prosecutors say that because Bratcher operated his grow business without a license, he was felonious and any self-defense clause is thrown out.
Knight also told Yahoo News that because Hardwick was on the other side of the door, Bratcher had no legal standing to shoot him.
“[Bratcher] shot a burglar who had been working on the doorknob,” Knight said. “To use deadly force you have to determine you or the life of an innocent person is in imminent peril. The guy was on the other side of the door. … This is not ‘stand your ground.’”
Knight added that officers did not arrest Bratcher initially in Hardwick’s death because it’s not their job to determine who was right or wrong. Police are responsible only for gathering all of the information at the scene, Knight said, and “it’s up to the DA to decide from there.”
The Oklahoma County district attorney’s office did not return Yahoo News’ request for comment.
Bratcher’s lawyer, Clay Curtis, believes that even without the “stand your ground” defense, Bratcher acted in a “reasonable” manner.
“The evidence shows Mr. Bratcher acted reasonably under the circumstances,” Curtis told Yahoo News. “I think anyone would be in fear for their life in that circumstance. … This case isn’t about us growing weed in terms of the homicide, it’s about whether people think he acted reasonably under the circumstances.”
Bratcher’s wife, who also served in the U.S. military, believes the courts are making Hardwick out to be the victim and using her husband’s Army training against him.
“We’ve been fighting for this country and at the end of the day, it feels like you come home and it doesn’t mean anything to anybody,” Vicky Bratcher said.
Vicky added that at last year’s bond hearing, prosecutors said her husband was a “threat to the community” because of his previous combat training and expertise with a weapon.
“They used our experience of being a veteran [against us],” she said. “That’s literally a slap in the face.”
A petition in support of Bratcher’s release had received more than 5,800 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon. Dozens of demonstrators marched through downtown Oklahoma City last month in support of Bratcher and protested outside the county jail.
“When you’re in trouble, somebody has to fight for you,” Neighbors, Bratcher’s uncle, said. “This is my family and we’re going to fight for him.”
The trial date for Bratcher has been set for Oct. 11 of this year.
Feeling a mix of emotions, Vicky Bratcher is cautiously optimistic that justice will prevail.
“I feel deflated … my heart is broken,” she said. “This whole year has been very hard. I am still managing the warehouse, taking care of the kids and making sure that everything at home is good for his return. But it’s been hard to know that I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority updated its policy this year to allow cardholders to apply for a new license while still using their expired one until the new one comes in the mail.
SCOTUS rules unanimously against warrantless seizure of guns from someone’s home
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/17/politics/supreme-court-fourth-amendment-case-firearms/index.html
Supreme Court sides with man who said police illegally seized firearms from his home without a warrant
By Ariane de Vogue and Devan Cole
May 17, 2021
Washington (CNN) The Supreme Court on Monday wiped away a lower court decision that held that law enforcement could enter a Rhode Island man’s home and seize his firearms without a warrant after his wife expressed fear that he might harm himself.
A lower court had allowed the search, holding that the decision to take the firearms without a warrant fell within the Fourth Amendment’s “community caretaking exception.”
But Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for a unanimous Supreme Court, held that the lower court’s broad interpretation of the exception “goes beyond anything this Court has recognized.”
While the court has recognized that police officers can perform “many civic tasks in modern society,” there is “not an open-ended license to perform them anywhere,” Thomas wrote.
“The very core of the Fourth Amendment,” Thomas wrote, is the “right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable search and seizure.”
The case involved Edward Caniglia, who in a dispute with his wife in 2015 brought out his gun and put it on the dining room table, asking his wife to shoot him now “to get it over with.”
She declined, and left to spend the night in a hotel. The next morning she could not reach her husband by phone and called the police to ask them to check in on her husband’s welfare. Upon meeting Caniglia, law enforcement believed he posed a risk to himself, and they called a hospital so he could be admitted for psychiatric evaluation. After the ambulance left, they seized his weapons.
Caniglia later sued and said that when police entered his home to seize his weapon they violated the Fourth Amendment because they had no warrant.
Areas controlled by Democrats have way more racism, violence, hate crimes, gun violence, police brutality, and environmental destruction than areas controlled by Republicans
Rural Trump Voters Already Live in the Safe, Tolerant Utopia Leftists Claim to Want
By John Nolte
April 12, 2021
If I had to boil down the political wisdom I’ve learned over four decades of observing, studying, writing, and debating, it would be this…
Life in Rural America (which is where Republican Trump voters live and govern), is clean, safe and racially tolerant. Most places in America where life is dirty, polluted, dangerous, violent, and plagued with racial hate and race riots, are cities that are almost exclusively populated by and governed by Democrats.
Outside of these Democrat-run cities, America is peaceful, safe, clean, and racially tolerant.
What’s more, if you remove these Democrat-run cities from our national statistics, you will find an America that is overwhelmingly peaceful, safe, clean, and racially tolerant.
Nevertheless, Democrats and their fake-media allies still blame Republicans for all of their problems.
According to them, it is Republicans who are responsible for racism, pollution, and gun violence — even though, out here where we all live, our air, water, and streets are safe and clean… We all own guns, but where we live there is no gun violence crisis… We are all supposed to be racists and responsible for all the hate crimes, but out here where we all live, there is no hate crime crisis.
Now, there will be exceptions, but those exceptions only serve to prove the rule.
Let me lay this out for you…
OPENING
Leftists say they want to live in a Utopia free of gun violence, free of pollution, and free of racism…
Well, that place already exists.
It’s called Rural MAGA Land.
Out here in Rural America the environment is clean, no one worries about getting shot, and there are no racial tensions.
Let me start with a personal example…
For a total of 20 years now, I’ve lived in rural North Carolina. My wife is a Mexican immigrant. Our interracial marriage has never been a problem with anyone. My wife has never had a problem with anyone.
For six years, my next door neighbor was a mixed-race family. Black and white. They never had a problem.
On the other side of me is a couple with mixed-race grandkids. Black, white, and brown. They’ve never had a problem.
Riddle me this fake-media and Democrats: If Rural America is where all the racists are supposed to live, where’s all the racism in Rural America?
Everyone I know out here in Rural MAGA Land owns guns (plural), and yet I can’t remember the last time we had a shooting in my county, a county where shoplifting still makes the front page.
Oh, and get this… We’re all supposed to be anti-environment, and yet out here in Rural MAGA Land, our waterways, streets, parks, forests, and neighborhoods are clean and filled with greenery.
Think about that. I mean really think about it.
You would think that instead of blaming us for all their problems, Democrats who live in these shithole cities would be asking us for advice on how to live, how to fix their neighborhoods, how to ease racial tensions — advice we would be happy to give.
Let me give you some concrete data…
RACISM
According to the Department of Justice, out here where I live in rural North Carolina, throughout all of 2019, there were a total of only 20 hate crime allegations in our 13 rural counties where the population adds up to 668,000. That means that throughout 2019, there were only 2.9 hate crime allegations per 100,000 people.
Guess what the hate crime number is in some of the most progressive, left-wing cities in America? Well, you don’t have to guess, because I have those numbers for you….
Portland, OR = 5.75 reported hate crime incidents per 100,000
Boulder, CO = 7.9 incidents per 100,000
San Francisco, CA = 7.2 incidents per 100,000
Alexandria, VA = 3.1 incidents per 100,000
Arlington, VA = 4.7 incidents per 100,000
Seattle, WA = 40 (not a typo) per 100,000
Washington DC = 29 (not a typo) incidents per 100,000 (this is where the elite media live LOL)
I think you are starting to get the point, but let’s close with my personal favorite…
Berkeley, CA = 6.5 per 100,000
Golly, gee, will you look at that! It is two and three times — and even ten times safer for a minority to live in Rural MAGA Country than it is in a oh-so progressive city populated and governed by Democrats.
How is that possible when we’re told that we are the racists? How is it possible that where all of America’s so-called racists live, where we all congregate, gather, own guns, and govern ourselves, there is less racism — and in most cases — MUCH less racism, than there is in cities filled with Democrats?
Shouldn’t there be more racism where all we “racists” live?
Look at those hate crime numbers again and what you will see is that a racial, sexual, and religious minority is around twice as safe in Rural Trump Land than they are in America’s most left-wing cities, and TEN TIMES safer than they are in Washington, DC, where Joe Biden won 93 percent of the vote!
Now that your left-wing head is spinning, you might begin grasping for straws to explain this away. Allow me to disabuse you of all your bad arguments…
You might want to believe no minorities live in Rural America, which means there are fewer opportunities for we yee-haw racists to commit hate crimes. Wrong, wrong, wrong….
Now while it’s true that there’s a smaller percentage of minorities living in Rural America than your shithole cities, that only proves further that Rural America is much more tolerant than Democrat-run cities. Think about this…
Out here in Rural America, minorities are outnumbered by white people much more than they are in your cities, and yet, out here, even though they’re outnumbered, they’re much safer living among those of us smeared as racists.
Here’s a timely example…
The Asian population in Rural America is less than one percent. That means that out here in Rural MAGA Land, Asians are outnumbered by white Trump voters by, let’s say, 100-to-1… And yet, even though we are being falsely blamed for this recent wave of anti-Asian hate crimes, no one in MAGA Land is committing hate crimes against these vastly outnumbered Asians. There is no anti-Asian hate crime crisis in MAGA Land; the place where Asians are at risk are in cities populated and governed by Democrats.
Bottom line: Where Trump voters live and govern, there are almost zero hate crimes. Ahh, but where Democrats live and govern, look at all those hate crimes.
But somehow, even though we Rural Trump voters don’t live there, we’re still blamed for all the hate crimes that happen in cities mostly populated by and solely governed by Democrats.
Fact: There are no racial tensions in Rural America. People of all races and creeds and backgrounds live here together in relative peace and harmony. And it’s glorious. It’s a wonderful, wonderful way to live.
And to those of you who are stupid enough to believe that the only reason there are no racial tensions in MAGA Land is because “black people are afraid or intimidated,” look at what happened in my little town just last year. And guess how many hate crime allegations there were in my county (Watauga) in 2019…? ONE. Or, as I like to put it, 303 fewer than in left-wing Seattle.
Anyone of any race, religion, color, sexual preference, or creed is welcome in MAGA country. As long as you leave us alone to live our beliefs, we will not only leave you alone to live your beliefs, if you ever need help, we will be there for you.
GUN VIOLENCE
Almost everyone in rural MAGA Land owns guns (plural). I own nine guns. And yet, the gun violence crises happen in cities that have been populated and governed by Democrats for years. In some cases, decades.
If guns cause violence and Trump voters are violent, why are there no gun violence crises in Rural America?
If gun control ends gun violence and Democrats are less violent, why is there so much terrible gun violence where there’s the most gun control and in Democrat-run cities where Democrats live?
If Trump voters were indeed violent, instead of being idyllic and peaceful, Rural America would look like Dodge City circa 1875.
Here’s a list of the top 15 cities in 2020 with the most murders and which party runs those cities…
Chicago – Last Republican mayor was 1931
New York City – It took Democrat Bill de Blasio six years to destroy Republican Giuliani’s miracle.
Philadelphia – Only Democrat mayors since 1952
Baltimore – Only Democrat mayors since 1967
Houston – One GOP mayor since 1974
Los Angeles – One Republican since 1961
St. Louis – Only Democrats mayors since 1949.
Dallas – One Republican mayor since 1995
Kansas City – One Republican mayor since 1930
Indianapolis – Since 2000, eight years of GOP rule, 12 years of Democrat rule
Washington DC – Only Democrat mayors
New Orleans – Democrat mayors since 1872 (not a typo)
Jacksonville – Two Republican mayors and one Democrat since 2003
San Antonio – officially a non-partisan office, but leftists have run that city for two decades
Atlanta – Run by democrats since 1879 (not a typo).
Except for Jacksonville and Indianapolis (which have had both Republican and Democrat rule in recent years), every one of America’s most murderous cities has been run exclusively by Democrats for decades, and not a single one of those cities — not one! — has been run exclusively by Republicans.
Here’s a list of 2020’s top ten most dangerous cities per capita (violent crime incidents per 100,000 residents) and which party runs those cities… Spoiler alert: Democrats.
Detroit – 1,965 per 100,000 – Democrats have run Detroit since 1962
St. Louis – 1,927 per 100,000 – Democrats have run St. Louis since 1949
Memphis – 1,901 per 100,000 – Democrats have run Memphis since 1992
Baltimore – 1,859 per 100,000 – Democrats have run Baltimore since 1967
Springfield (MO) – 1,519 per 100,000 – mayoral office is non-partisan, but the city is left-leaning
Little Rock – 1,517 per 100,000 – ruled by Democrats for decades
Cleveland – 1,517 per 100,000 – Ruled by Democrats since 1990
Stockton – 1,397 per 100,000 – Alternates between GOP and Dem mayors.
Albuquerque – 1,352 per 100,000 – One Republican since 1985
Milwaukee – 1,332 per 100,000 – Only Socialist and Democrat mayors since 1906
Want to know the violent crime rate out here in Rural America where I and a whole lot of other gun-toting Trump voters live? Ready for this… 132 per 100,000. The overall crime rate in my Trump-loving county — even though our poverty rate is higher than Baltimore’s (more on this below) — makes it “one of the safest regions in the United States.”
Here are the violent crime numbers from my neighboring cities and towns: Lenoir (pop. 19,000), 436 per 100,000. Wilkesboro (pop. 3500), 434 per 100,00. Hickory (pop. 41,000) 401 per 100,000.
In the rural and more Republican areas outside of those small towns and cities, it’s even safer.
How is this possible in areas populated by “violent” Trump supporters who almost all own guns?
What’s more, how is it possible that all these oh-so progressive cities filled with oh-so progressive citizens and oh-so progressive political leadership are so full of violence and racism?
Are you still blaming Trump voters? Well, get this….
We North Carolina Trumptards, with all our guns, still have a MUCH LOWER violent crime rate than even the 50th most violent city in America (Rochester, NY – 748 per 100,000). Oh, and Rochester has been run by Democrats since 1974.
You want to blame the crime rate on density? Well, I invite you to take a look at parts of Hickory and Lenoir and even Boone. We don’t have the sprawl of a Chicago or Los Angeles, but we have plenty of densely populated areas, and they are nowhere near as unsafe as your oh-so progressive shitholes.
Besides, if density causes crime and racism, why are Democrats pro-density? If density causes crime and racism, why are crime and racism blamed on guns and Trump voters? How about you idiots make up your sick minds?
SIDE NOTE
I urge you to go through all 50 of the cities on the list linked above and look up who’s in charge. Yes, you will probably find some Republican-run cities, but once again, those are the exceptions that prove the rule. And I would like to add that there are places run by Democrats that are safe and clean and free of racial tensions. In fact, although my rural areas are Republican, Boone has a Democrat mayor.
That’s not my point.
So let me restate my point…
Out here in conservative, rural, Trump-loving America, we have no gun violence, pollution, or racial crises. But…. Nine times out of ten, when there is one of those crises, they are unrolling in places where Democrats live and govern.
DRUG PROBLEMS
Yes, like the rest of the country, Rural America definitely has a serious and troubling drug problem. Nevertheless…
Unlike Democrat-run cities, we have none of the murder, gangs, gun violence, carjacking, or homeless crises that go with it. No riots, no lootings…
POVERTY
The poverty rate in my county is higher than the poverty rate in Baltimore. Nevertheless…
Unlike Democrat-run cities, we have none of the murder, gang, gun violence, carjacking, or homeless crises that go with it. No riots or lootings…
CLEAN ENVIRONMENT
Rural America is populated by Trump voters who are constantly accused of being anti-environment, but… My God, it is beautiful out here where we live. Green and lush, clear streams and rivers, clean streets, blue skies… Unlike the polluted, toxic waste dumps that are so many Democrat-run cities, we take care of our environment.
SUMMATION
Democrats blame Trump voters for violence, racism, and pollution, but the truth is that where we all live and govern ourselves, we have no gun violence crisis, no racial tensions, and our air, water, and streets are safe and clean.
But in these shithole cities where Trump voters and Republicans have NO SAY AT ALL when it comes to governing and policy, where Democrats all live and govern themselves, there’s one gun violence, hate crime, pollution, and homeless crisis after another.
How can Democrats blame us for their own problems, especially when where we live we don’t have any of these problems?
If Democrats were truly interested in solving these problems, instead of blaming us, they would be emulating how we live, not criticizing and ridiculing it.
BOTTOM LINE
Until it interferes with someone else’s right to live their life how they wish, everyone is America has the right to live their life however they wish. So if you moron-Democrats want to live with violence, filth, pollution, racial tensions, hate crimes, feces-covered sidewalks, race riots, gangs, smog, mass-shootings, and homeless encampments, you have every right to. Godspeed. And if you want to live your life blaming the problems you are solely responsible for on us Trump voters, you have every right to do that, as well.
I could not care less how you live your miserable lives, because out here in Rural MAGA Land, life is sweet and the closest we come to your filth and crime and violence and racial tensions is when we watch the news. And when the news blames us for your problems, we just lean back in our Lazy Boys and LMAO.
You get what you vote for, and the idiots who live in Democrat-run shitholes are getting everything they deserve.
Biden Administration Urges Supreme Court To Let Cops Enter Homes And Seize Guns Without A Warrant
Biden Administration Urges Supreme Court To Let Cops Enter Homes And Seize Guns Without A Warrant
By Nick Sibilla
March 23, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear oral argument in Caniglia v. Strom, a case that could have sweeping consequences for policing, due process, and mental health, with the Biden Administration and attorneys general from nine states urging the High Court to uphold warrantless gun confiscation. But what would ultimately become a major Fourth Amendment case began with an elderly couple’s spat over a coffee mug. (more…)
Does Ashli Babbitt’s blood pattern look real or fake? For a fatal neck shot, why is there so little blood, and no spraying or spattering? Skip to 14:19 in this video to see for yourself.
Usually, when a police officer shoots and kills an unarmed person, the name of the police officer is reported by the media, the result of the autopsy is reported by the media, and the date and location of the funeral are reported by the media.
But with Ashli Babbitt, none of those three things have been reported in this case, even though it’s been more than a month since she was killed.
Why is that?
I just watched this entire 21 minute analysis of the shooting. The guy makes a good case that the entire thing was staged.
I’m not saying he’s right. I’m not saying he’s wrong.
If he is right, it would explain why there haven’t been any news reports about the name of the shooter, the autopsy, or the funeral.
Does Ashli Babbitt’s blood pattern look real or fake?
For a fatal neck shot, why is there so little blood, and no spraying or spattering?
Skip to 14:19 in this video to see for yourself.
Everything Wrong With the Capitol Shooting In 21 Minutes Or Less [Banned by YouTube, this video tries to prove that Ashli Babbitt’s shooting was fake]
Usually, when a police officer shoots and kills an unarmed person, the name of the police officer is reported by the media, the result of the autopsy is reported by the media, and the date and location of the funeral are reported by the media.
But with Ashli Babbitt, none of those three things have been reported in this case, even though it’s been more than a month since she was killed.
Why is that?
I just watched this entire 21 minute analysis of the shooting. The guy makes a good case that the entire thing was staged.
I’m not saying he’s right. I’m not saying he’s wrong.
If he is right, it would explain why there haven’t been any news reports about the name of the shooter, the autopsy, or the funeral.
It’s been more than a month since Ashli Babbitt was shot and killed by a police officer, but they still haven’t named the police officer, or said anything about her autopsy, or about her funeral.
Usually, when a police officer shoots and kills an unarmed person, the name of the police officer is reported by the media, the result of the autopsy is reported by the media, and the date and location of the funeral are reported by the media.
But with Ashli Babbitt, none of those three things have been reported in this case, even though it’s been more than a month since she was killed.
Why is that?
A question for liberals: How many times should the police have to say “Drop the gun!” before it’s OK for them to shoot an armed suspect?
This video from Phoenix shows police shooting and killing an armed suspect named Ekom Udofia.
Prior to shooting him, the police repeatedly shout “Drop the gun” over and over and over and over and over.
The suspect refuses to drop the gun.
Then the police shoot and kill him.
So, this is my question for liberals: How many times should the police have to say “Drop the gun!” before it’s OK for them to shoot an armed suspect?
Here’s the video. Skip to 2:28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSO9YAku-SA
Texas state representative Terry Meza introduces bill to make it easier for criminals to commit crimes
Original: https://twitter.com/terryfortexas/status/1329504824879173634
My bill HB 196 and my position on the Texas Castle Doctrine has been misrepresented in the news as of late.
It does not repeal the Castle Doctrine, and it does not restrict homeowners from using firearms in self-defense as applicable to current Texas stand your ground laws. 1/3
Original: https://twitter.com/TerryforTexas/status/1329504826875666441
What my bill would do if passed, would require a homeowner to exhaust the potential of safely retreating into their habitation before using deadly force in defense of themselves or their property.
I filed this bill because the castle doctrine as it currently exists emboldens 2/3
Original: https://twitter.com/TerryforTexas/status/1329504827928358912
people to take justice into their own hands. While theft is obviously wrong, we have laws to address that. I don’t believe that stealing someone’s lawn ornament should be an offense punishable by death. 3/3
Suspended student sees ‘overwhelming’ support from NRA, gun clubs after virtual BB gun violation
https://www.nola.com/news/education/article_77d7c92e-00df-11eb-9b99-93ad4afac42b.html
Suspended student sees ‘overwhelming’ support from NRA, gun clubs after virtual BB gun violation
By Faimon A. Roberts III
September 27, 2020
The father of Ka’Mauri Harrison, the Harvey fourth-grader suspended last week after a teacher saw him move a BB gun out of the way during a virtual lesson, said the national response to the case has been “overwhelming,” with offers of support from regular people and even the National Rifle Association.
In the days since news of Harrison’s six-day suspension broke, the 9-year-old and his family have been swamped with messages via email and social media, some pledging legal or financial help.
“It’s been overwhelming,” Nyron Harrison said. Messages have been flooding in through Facebook and email, he said. “We’ve been getting a lot of invites to gun ranges and different gun clubs.”
Messages have come in from “West Virginia, Colorado, a lot of places,” he said.
The furor surrounding Ka’Mauri and his family began Wednesday night, when word of his suspension got out. Even though a school hearing officer declined to follow the recommendation of school administrators and expel him, interest in the case grew both locally and then nationally. Dillard University President Walter Kimbrough wrote a letter urging Jefferson Parish Schools Superintendent James Gray to rescind the suspension and apologize to the family.
Friday, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry announced he planned to investigate whether Ka’Mauri’s constitutional rights had been violated. Landry’s announcement on Twitter drew an approving nod from the NRA.
“This is hysterical and irrational behavior by the school,” the NRA’s tweet read, adding that the organization supported, “this young student, and his family.”
By Friday, the family’s attorney, Chelsea Cusimano, had fielded requests from most national news networks, including ABC, CBS and CNN, as well as newspapers including the Washington Post and USA Today.
But other messages poured in, including tales of similar incidents in other states. A family in Louisville emailed to say that a gun was seen during their son’s virtual lesson and he was not suspended. A man from New Jersey wanted to speak with the Harrisons because his son had been suspending for holding a Nerf gun while doing online class. Cusimano said one person requested her legal aid in a similar matter.
“It’s something that’s not comprehensible,” she said of the response.
The Harrison family has five children, and their lives have changed “immensely,” she said. The family has started a GoFundme to help raise money to get Ka’Mauri and their other four children out of the Jefferson Parish Public School System which, they allege, has treated them unfairly.
Ka’Mauri understands a little bit of what is going on, his father said.
“I try to keep it on the positive note and give him the feeling that he’s done nothing wrong,” he said. “A lot of people want to help him.”
Ka’Mauri was originally recommended for expulsion after the Sept. 11 incident, in which he moved a BB gun out of the way of his younger brother, who was playing in the brothers’ shared bedroom while Ka’Mauri was taking an online test. To the teacher, it appeared that Ka’Mauri handled a “full size rifle” and she was unable to get his attention, according to school reports on the matter. Moments later, Ka’Mauri was disconnected from the online classroom. His parents were later informed that he had been suspended and could be expelled.
On Sept. 21, a hearing officer declined to expel Ka’Mauri but did give him a six-day suspension. His family and Cusimano have called the punishment a violation of their privacy and due process rights.
A school system spokesperson said Sunday that the system had no comment and there had been no change made to Ka’Mauri’s discipline.
Poll: Do you support or oppose this woman’s use of a gun? (Video: Oregon woman catches arsonist on her property with matches – holds him at gunpoint until police arrive)
Poll by Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
September 15, 2020
Update: In the comment section, multiple people have said that the poll is not working properly. I don’t know what’s causing this. I use the wordpress built-in poll feature. I did not write the code myself. It’s the same wordpress poll feature that I’ve been using for all of my polls for many years. This is the first time that anyone has ever said that there was a technical problem with one of my polls.
Oregon Woman Catches Arsonist on her Property with Matches — Holds Him at Gunpoint Until Police Arrive (VIDEO)
By Jim Hoft
September 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/zerosum24/status/1305214840798171137
An Oregon woman found an arsonist on her property over the weekend. The woman held him by gunpoint on the ground until police arrived.
She told the man if her husband would have caught him he’d be dead.
The mainstream media ignored this citizen’s arrest.
It goes against their global warming and anti-gun narrative.
Photographic proof: AMBUSHED Antifa ‘killer’ Michael Reinoehl seen ‘lying in wait’ before fatally shooting ‘MAGA martyr’ Jay Bishop in Portland
https://www.the-sun.com/news/1425121/antifa-killer-lying-in-wait-aaron-jay-danielson-portland/
AMBUSHED Antifa ‘killer’ Michael Reinoehl seen ‘lying in wait’ before fatally shooting ‘MAGA martyr’ Jay Bishop in Portland
By Erica Davies
September 5, 2020
AUTHORITIES have released new surveillance images from the killing of far-right supporter Aaron “Jay” Danielson after the suspect, an Antifa activist, was shot by US Marshals in Portland.
Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt on Friday released the unsealed warrant for Michael Forest Reinoehl, who was gunned down by a fugitive task force in Washington state following an exchange of gunfire.
Newly released surveillance footage appears to capture the Antifa activist lying in wait moments before he killed a pro-Trump supporter in Portland last weekend
Michael Forest Reinoehl allegedly hid in the entrance of a parking garage in Oregon before he and another unknown man ambushed Jay Bishop
The warrant charges the 48-year-old far-left activist with murdering Aaron “Jay” Danielson, who was shot in downtown Portland during last Saturday’s clash between pro-Trump and Black Lives Matter groups.
Reinoehl appeared to lie in wait for the 39-year-old, who also went by the alias Jay Bishop, before the shooting and texted his own son an offer to trade marijuana for a handgun weeks before Danielson’s murder, the court documents reveal.
Danielson himself was armed with a handgun, which was found in his waistband after he died and didn’t appear to be used during the attack in Oregon, according to the warrant.
Portland Police Detective Rico Beniga described in the affidavit the events leading up to the shooting based on witness statements, previously released bystander video, and never-before-seen surveillance footage from a nearby parking garage.
Reinoehl was seen walking with a white woman as they stared at Danielson and a friend at a street across the intersection in downtown Portland
In the new CCTV footage, Reinoehl walks with a white woman on SW 3rd Avenue, and both can be seen staring down Adler Street as they cross the intersection.
After the two cross the intersection, the woman pauses and stands against a building as Reinoehl continues walking.
Danielson and his friend Chandler Papas are then seen turning a corner behind them from Adler Street – and Reinoehl is seen glancing behind him.
Reinoehl then ducks into a parking garage entrance and “reaches towards his left front waist area,” the affidavit says.
“Reinoehl conceals himself, waits, and watches as Danielson and Pappas continue walking by. Danielson and Pappas do not appear to interact or communicate with anyone and continue southbound on SW 3rd Avenue,” the documents state.
Beniga notes that Danielson appears to he holding a can of Mace in one hand and a telescoping baton in the other.
After the two men walk past in their Patriot Prayer hats, Reinoehl and another unidentified man follow Danielson and Pappas out of the camera’s view.
Pappas told Fox News that the men ambushed him and Danielson from behind, and said something to the effect of “we got a couple right here” and someone shouting “pull it out,” apparently in reference to a gun.
He said two shots were fired almost immediately when he and Danielson turned around – and that’s when Danielson began to mace the gunman before he was fatally shot.
Danielson had been shot in the chest from the front, and the mace can he was carrying had damage consisted with a bullet impact, Beniga said.
Cops raced to the scene less than a minute after the shooting, bystander video shows.
The affidavit states that police found a 9mm Glock Model 17 holstered in Danielson’s waist area.
The pistol’s 19-round magazine was full, and there was a bullet in the chamber, leading detectives to conclude that it couldn’t have been used during the clash.
Kyle Rittenhouse’s lawyer said that he did not carry the gun across state lines
https://www.independentsentinel.com/famed-attorney-lin-wood-gives-an-update-on-kyle-rittenhouse/
Famed attorney Lin Wood gives an update on Kyle Rittenhouse
August 28, 2020
As we reported, prominent attorney Lin Wood has assembled a legal team that will defend the Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse pro bono.
He believes the videos prove the 17-year-old shooter acted in self-defense. He is not going to speak about the boy’s personal life at this time, but he cautioned people to ignore the rumors going around.
This excellent eight minute video by YouTuber Conservative Hype House proves that every shot fired by Kyle Rittenhouse was done in self defense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft_gj8D8Xfk
Pictures show young Rittenhouse shot at least two BLM rioters in self defense. One rioter was carrying a gun and is a convicted felon.
Pictures Show Young Rittenhouse Shot At Least Two BLM Rioters in Self Defense, One Rioter Was Carrying a Gun and Is a Convicted Felon
By Joe Hoft
August 26, 2020
On Tuesday night two people were killed in the continued violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It appears they were killed by the same shooter, a 17-year-old by the name of Kyle Rittenhouse. Another individual shot by Rittenhouse appears to have been carrying a handgun.
A new video slowed down shows a man hitting the accused Rittenhouse with a skateboard after Rittenhouse fell down running from what perhaps was his first episode with a gun.
It may be the last thing the skateboard carrier ever did. It appears this man was shot right after attacking the young Rittenhouse with a skateboard. After that he fell to the ground and didn’t move.
https://twitter.com/jackmurphylive/status/1298629916041400320
As the skateboard carrier was hitting and moving past Rittenhouse another man runs up with holding a gun. Rittenhouse shoots the skateboard carrier and then he shoots the handgun carrier in the arm. The skateboard carrier doesn’t move but the handgun carrier holds his arm.
The man shot in the arm is reportedly a man by the name of Gaige Grosskreutz. He is connected to the far left group “People’s Revolution Movement.”
MSN reported:
The victim who survived the fatal shooting in Kenosha on Tuesday night has been identified as Gaige Grosskreutz.
Grosskreutz was in Kenosha with the Milwaukee-based social justice reform group the People’s Revolution Movement, a spokeswoman for the group said Wednesday.
Bethany Crevensten said Grosskreutz was recovering in a hospital but declined to provide any other information about him.
Posts by friends on social media said he had undergone surgery.
Crevensten said the group has been protesting for 90 days.
Grosskreutz was carrying a gun when he was shot. He pulled out a gun from his pants and then his arm is nearly blown off by Rittenhouse.
It is being reported that Grosskreutz may be a felon and if so, he was illegally carrying a gun.
Based on the above, young Rittenhouse fired at two or more men in self defense. One of these BLM rioters was carrying a gun. If he was a felon he was illegally carrying a gun.
Every Angle + Timeline of Kyle Rittenhouse Kenosha Riot Shooting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdMTghlrFiw
Patricia McCloskey’s gun didn’t work so a prosecutor ordered it reassembled and then declared it lethal
Patricia McCloskey’s gun didn’t work so a prosecutor ordered it reassembled and then declared it lethal
By John Sexton
July 22, 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8VfLbjkC1k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuhM20-HtSo
As you’ve probably heard by now, Mark and Patricia McCloskey are each being charged with a felony count of unlawful use of a weapon for stepping outside of their home with guns as protesters marched down a private street on their way to the Mayor’s house. Yesterday a new wrinkle was added this story. In order to bring the unlawful use charges against the McCloskeys, police have to verify that the guns actually posed a threat. The McCloskey’s guns were seized but when police tested Patricia McCloskeys silver handgun they found that it would not fire. So an assistant Circuit Attorney ordered the police crime lab to dissemble the gun and then reassembled it so that it could be fired.
The gun Patricia McCloskey waved at protesters was inoperable when it arrived at the St. Louis police crime lab, but a member of Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s staff ordered crime lab experts to disassemble and reassemble it and wrote that it was “readily capable of lethal use” in charging documents filed Monday, 5 On Your Side has learned.
In Missouri, police and prosecutors must prove that a weapon is “readily” capable of lethal use when it is used in the type of crime with which the McCloskeys have been charged.
Assistant Circuit Attorney Chris Hinckley ordered crime lab staff members to field strip the handgun and found it had been assembled incorrectly. Specifically, the firing pin spring was put in front of the firing pin, which was backward, and made the gun incapable of firing, according to documents obtained by 5 On Your Side.
According to the McCloskeys, the incorrect assembly of the gun wasn’t an accident. The same gun had been used as a “prop” in a previous lawsuit and the McCloskeys had rendered it inoperable so that it could be brought into a courtroom. In short, the McCloskeys claim they knew the gun was non-functioning when Patricia McCloskey took it outside that day.
Mark McCloskey appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show earlier this week and was asked about his guns being seized. He mentioned the requirement that police show the gun was capable of lethal use and said, “there will be some revelations that come out about that.” He didn’t say at the time what those revelations would be but in retrospect it’s clear he was alluding to the fact that Mrs. McCloskey’s gun was non-functional.
The McCloskeys’ attorney said of prosecutor’s decision to reassemble the gun and then declare it lethal, “It’s disheartening to learn that a law enforcement agency altered evidence in order to prosecute an innocent member of the community.” The charges brought by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner probably won’t matter in the end anyway since Missouri Gov. Mike Parson told a radio station this week that he would likely pardon the McCloskey’s if they were convicted.
Two videos to close with. First, NBC 5’s report on the police lab’s reassembly of the gun. Below that is an earlier clip in which a law professor from St. Louis University explains that because the street on which protesters were marching was private property, the McCloskeys were probably within their rights under the state’s castle doctrine to come outside with their guns and demand protesters leave.
This video proves that Los Angeles police officer Toni McBride was justified in shooting Daniel Hernandez
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
July 19, 2020
In Los Angeles, a police officer named Toni McBride recently shot and killed a guy named Daniel Hernandez.
Hernandez’s family is now suing McBride.
But this video proves that the shooting was justified.
The video shows that Hernandez was holding a boxcutter, he was walking toward McBride, and he repeatedly ignored her order to drop the boxcutter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4SWYSzA1eE
Law abiding black man uses legal gun to defend himself from five white racists who tried to kill him
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
June 19, 2020
I’m 100% in favor of self defense.
I’m 100% against murder.
I’m glad that this law abiding black man used his legal gun to defend himself from five white racists who were trying to murder him:
Black pastor arrested after calling 911 on people who allegedly attacked him; sheriff apologizes
By Associated Press
June 15, 2020
From left: Amanda Salyers, Farrah Salyers, Donny Salyers, Christopher Sharp, Dennis Salyers. They are being held without bond and face hate crime and assault charges after an altercation with a black pastor in Edinburg, Va., this month.
WOODSTOCK, Va. (AP) — A sheriff in Virginia has apologized to a black pastor in Virginia who was arrested after calling 911 on a group of white people who threatened to kill him after trying to dump a refrigerator on his property.
Shenandoah County Sheriff Timothy Carter made the apology to Leon K. McCray Sr. of Woodstock Friday, announcing hate crime and assault charges against the five people involved and saying a weapons charge against the pastor would be dropped.
McCray described the events leading to his arrest in a sermon to parishioners at Lighthouse Church & Marketplace Ministries International.
He said he was visiting an apartment he owns in Edinburg on June 1 when he noticed a man and a woman dragging a refrigerator from another property into his dumpster, and they became irate when he asked them to leave.
McCray said they threatened him and returned with three more people, attacking him physically, saying “they don’t give a darn” about “my black life and the Black Lives Matter stuff,” and telling him they would “kill” him.
McCray said they backed up when he drew his legal concealed weapon to “save” his life, giving him enough time to call 911. Arriving deputies then took his gun while talking with the five, who continued threatening and yelling racist epithets at him.
They wouldn’t let him tell his side, he said; instead, he was “handcuffed in front of the mob,” for brandishing the handgun, and was driven away in handcuffs while the group stood with other deputies, waving at him as he went down the road.
McCray said the deputies rushed to judgment, “disarming a black male brandishing a gun against five white individuals” despite his “second Amendment right to defend myself against five attackers that tried to take my life.” The arrest “would not be tolerated if I was white,” he added.
“This was indeed the most humiliating, dehumanizing, damning and violating event of my life,” McCray said. “I’m a pastor, a decorated 24-year Air Force master sergeant veteran, no criminal record.”
Donny Richard Salyers, Dennis James Salyers, Farrah Lee Salyers, Christopher Kevin Sharp and Amanda Dawn Salyers are now being held without bond.
Sheriff Carter sat down with McCray two days after the incident. He said four of the five were already charged with assault or trespassing, but after hearing from the pastor, he initiated a review that led to additional charges against all five, and urged a prosecutor to drop the weapons charge against McCray.
“As I told Mr. McCray, if I were faced with similar circumstances, I would have probably done the same thing,” Carter said.
Also, two sheriff’s office supervisors have been placed on unpaid administrative leave while the investigation continues, Carter said.
Attorney Bradley G. Pollock, representing Sharp, told The Washington Post that his client and Amanda Salyers assumed they had permission to dump the refrigerator in McCray’s dumpster, and returned it to their own property after McCray confronted them.
The Post didn’t report any response by Pollock to the hate crime allegations, and lawyers for the other Salyers either declined to comment or didn’t respond.
“I want the people of Shenandoah County to know that I and the sheriff’s office staff appreciate and care about the minority communities, and especially our black community,” the sheriff said.
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