Category Archives: Gun-violence

Bigoted Homophobe Steve Scalise’s Life Was Saved by a Queer Black Woman 

Scalise has also been described as one of the most anti-LGBTQ politicians in Washington. He’s voted against LBGTQ rights over and over again. He also authored Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriage. Like many of his ilk, he said he was only trying to protect “traditional” marriage. So it is a point of especially delicious irony that Scalise, who survived the attack (and is reportedly in critical condition), may owe his life to a queer black woman.Crystal Griner, a Capitol Police officer, was one of two special agents on Scalise’s security detail yesterday who helped take down shooter John Hodgkinson. People at the scene said that the two officers prevented an all-out “massacre” on the field that day, engaging in a firefight with Hodgkinson before killing him.

Source: Bigoted Homophobe Steve Scalise’s Life Was Saved by a Queer Black Woman 

Kansas man indicted on hate crime charges for killing Indian national | US news | The Guardian

A man accused in a bar shooting in suburban Kansas City that left one Indian national dead and another wounded was indicted by a federal grand jury on hate crime charges, the US justice department announced Friday. The indictment against Adam Purinton, 52, comes after a 22 February shooting at Austin’s Bar and Grill in Olathe, Kansas. Witnesses have said Purinton, who is white, yelled “get out of my country” at two 32-year-old Indian nationals, Srinivas Kuchibhotla and Alok Madasani, before he began shooting. Kuchibhotla died and Madasani was injured. A third man, Ian Grillot, was wounded when he tried to intervene.The shooting raised fears of more attacks on immigrants following Donald Trump’s election and his push for a ban on immigrants from some countries. Officials in India also expressed concern about their citizens’ safety in the US, where many work.An affidavit released in March said Madasani told detectives that the gunman asked if their “status was legal” before he opened fire.

Source: Kansas man indicted on hate crime charges for killing Indian national | US news | The Guardian

When Did Running for Office Become So Dangerous? | Dame Magazine

the 12th (death threat), well, that’s the one that changes your life; it’s the picture of your home or your office, it’s the one with white powder in the envelope, it’s the one that mentions the hair color of your teenage daughter, or with screencaps of your teenage son’s Snapchats. It comes from a person who is really committed to fucking with you, the kind of crazy person you imagined was behind the first threat you ever received, it’s the one that makes the jaw of the cop who responds to your freaked-out call tighten as he tried to keep his poker face but you can tell he’s worried. It’s the one that makes you take an unscheduled vacation, or break your lease, or drop out of your political race or stop writing on the internet for a while; it’s the one that makes you question whether you should’ve been so sanguine about numbers one through 11, because maybe they’re more realistic than they sounded at the time.They’re the kind of threats that upend the basis of our democracy and our society, by silencing and scaring away and driving out everyone but  the people who would never be silent or scared, no matter how realistic the risk—and, goodness knows, having rational actors who think through risk and reward is reasonably important in government—and by driving out the people more likely to receive the more serious threats. They’re the kind of threats that true public servants, even those who benefit, ought to condemn and discourage, not dismiss and ignore.Or else, you’re essentially guaranteeing that there will be more. And, with 2018 coming, there probably will be.

Source: When Did Running for Office Become So Dangerous? | Dame Magazine

The Fake News Photos Justifying the Return of Martial Law to the Philippines · Global Voices

Wrong photos. Wrong Countries. Some officials of the Philippines defended the martial law declaration in Mindanao by posting photos of the Vietnam War, Thailand’s 2014 coup, and the Honduran police.

Source: The Fake News Photos Justifying the Return of Martial Law to the Philippines · Global Voices

Texas Republican Called ICE on SB 4 Protesters, Threatened to Shoot Colleague

Rinaldi later said on Facebook that he called immigration agents “on several illegal immigrants who held signs in the gallery which said ‘I am illegal and here to stay.’” Rinaldi accused Nevárez of repeatedly threatening him on the House floor during the scuffle.“I made it clear that if he attempted to, in his words, ‘get me,’ I would shoot him in self defense,” Rinaldi said. “I would shoot him in self defense. I am currently under DPS protection.”Nevárez responded on Twitter: “He’s a liar and hateful man. Got no use for him. God bless him.”

Source: Texas Republican Called ICE on SB 4 Protesters, Threatened to Shoot Colleague

Trump full of praise for Duterte’s brutal drugs crackdown, leaked call reveals | US news | The Guardian

“I just want to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem,” Trump said in the phone call, according to the transcript. “Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing, and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”Duterte responded that drugs were a “scourge” of his nation. Trump then added: “I think we had a previous president who did not understand that.”

Source: Trump full of praise for Duterte’s brutal drugs crackdown, leaked call reveals | US news | The Guardian

With DHS Position, Clarke Would Be the First ‘Patriot’ Leader to Hold a Federal Post | Southern Poverty Law Center

This would be a remarkable position for someone long affiliated with Richard Mack’s extremist Patriot organization, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, to hold. Among the core tenets of CSPOA dogma is the far-right “constitutionalist” belief that sheriffs represent the highest law of the land, and are capable of overturning or ignoring federal laws within their own jurisdictions. Moreover, Clarke’s history of incendiary remarks includes his advocacy of “a second American revolution.”

Source: With DHS Position, Clarke Would Be the First ‘Patriot’ Leader to Hold a Federal Post | Southern Poverty Law Center

No, the Assad regime is not ‘defending his own country’

This post originally appeared on Middle East Eye under the title ‘Dennis Kucinich and the western left’s blind spot over Syria

 

If anti-authoritarian leftists want to take part in the fight against tyranny and extremism, they must be humble enough to accept that context matters, that things do not happen in a vacuum, and that it is not only about the West. Syrians’ right to narrate their own experiences must be given primacy. These are not mere details, and failure to do so inevitably puts us on the de facto side of the oppressors.

Source: Inoreader – No, the Assad regime is not ‘defending his own country’

Sandy Hook father Lenny Pozner on death threats: ‘I never imagined I’d have to fight for my child’s legacy’ | US news | The Guardian

Earlier this year, the Newtown school board sent Trump a letter, asking him to denounce Alex Jones and the other Sandy Hook hoaxers, and to state definitively that Sandy Hook happened: “Jones repeatedly tells his listeners and viewers that he has your ears and your respect. He brags about how you called him after your victory in November. He continues to hurt the memories of those lost, the ability of those left behind to heal,” the school’s board wrote. Two months on, they have yet to receive a response.

Source: Sandy Hook father Lenny Pozner on death threats: ‘I never imagined I’d have to fight for my child’s legacy’ | US news | The Guardian

Texas Police Shoot and Kill Student, 15 – The New York Times – Black Lives Matter – they really do! Are any police listening?

According to a police statement, officers were responding to a 911 call reporting drunken young people when they heard gunfire from an “unknown altercation,” and then a car backed down the street toward them in an “aggressive manner.”

“Translation:” We don’t know what we are doing but we do know if we claim anything or anyone was being “aggressive” toward us, we can shoot to kill and get away with it.