(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Harvard Law conspiracy theorist Laurence Tribe appeared to brush off the brutal rape and torture of women, kidnapping of children for hostages, and murder of entire families by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas over the weekend—in a barbaric spree that left at least 700 Israelis and nine Americans dead—by implying that it may have been crisis actors.
Tribe—the mentor of leftist radicals including former President Barack Obama—was forced to delete a tweet thread suggesting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was using the Hamas attacks to hide the corruption within his own regime, Fox News reported.
“Is Netanyahu wagging the dog of war to take attention away from his own war on the independent judiciary?” Tribe asked. “Can anyone put that past him?”
The term “wagging the dog” can be used to refer to a “superfluous (military) action in order to distract from domestic scandal,” a reference to a 1997 political comedy, which borrowed the phrase from an earlier idiom, according to Merriam–Webster.
He claimed that he had posted his comment before seeing the full scope of what was going on in Israel.
“I sent the tweet in response to Netanyahu’s reported comments [declaring war] before I saw the news of what Hamas had actually done, at which point I immediately deleted the tweet as a clearly premature, ill-informed and inappropriate response to incomplete information.”
He also said that he condemned “Hamas’s terrorist attacks and unthinkable atrocities against the Israeli people, including the murder and abduction of civilians, in the strongest possible terms” and pledged to “support Israel’s right of self-defense.”
While many would assume that a renowned professor at one of the world’s pre-eminent law schools and a top legal scholar with considerable influence over the policy positions a major American political party might be more measured in his public statements, this is not the first time Tribe has had to delete potentially problematic tweets.
In February 2022, he libelously accused then Fox News host Tucker Carlson of committing treason for questioning U.S. support for the war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the country.
“Led by Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson, the GOP’s Trump wing appears to be throwing its weight behind Putin,” Tribe wrote. “If Putin opts to wage war on our ally, Ukraine, such ‘aid and comfort’ to an ‘enemy’ would appear to become ‘treason’ as defined by Article III of the U.S. Constitution.”
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Justice Department did not mention that Ray Epps may have an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Pennsylvania when it filed its plea deal last month with the J6 provocateur, who was charged last month with one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct over his actions at the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest.
The maximum sentence facing Epps is one year imprisonment, but DOJ prosecutors disclosed in their plea deal that they will only seek zero to six months because Epps lacks a criminal history.
“Based upon the information now available to this Office (including representations by the defense), your client has no criminal convictions,” prosecutors said. “Accordingly, your client is estimated to have 0 criminal history.”
While it might be true that Epps had zero criminal convictions, there’s likely an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Pennsylvania.
The warrant for Epps’s arrest was discovered by this reporter last year, and is detailed in a Sept. 1, 2022, article in The Libertarian Institute.
According to police and court records, Epps was arrested in Pennsylvania in 2015 for criminal trespassing.
A Pennsylvania State Police report states that on Nov. 21, 2015, at 9:12 a.m. “[Epps] entered the victim’s private roadway despite seeing signs and knowing he was not privileged to do so. [Pennsylvania trooper Richard Williams Jr.] had to arrive and tell the accused to leave the property.”
Epps apparently didn’t show up to his court date, leading a warrant to be issued for his arrest on Jan. 26, 2016.
At the time, his attorney, ex-FBI agent John Blischak, declined to comment on the matter.
Epps’ alleged victim, whose name is being withheld out of respect for her privacy, also declined to comment. Williams Jr., the trooper who arrested Epps, could not be reached for comment.
Since then, Epps has hired a new attorney, former Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Teter, who hasn’t responded to questions about the Pennsylvania charge.
It’s not clear when Epps is scheduled to be sentenced, as his case wasn’t available on the federal court website—the website said the URL to his docket is incorrect.
Epps is the controversial figure seen on camera on Jan. 5 and 6, 2021, urging protestors to enter the Capitol. He initially appeared on the FBI’s wanted list in relation to the Capitol rioting, only to be removed in the summer of 2021 with no explanation.
Epps has been accused by some of being a government provocateur—a claim he has denied and filed a lawsuit over.
When he sued Fox News over its coverage of him in July, he disclosed that he expected to be charged for J6.
Epps claimed that the impending criminal charge will disprove the theory that he was a federal asset who encouraged Trump supporters to commit violence on Jan. 6.
“In May 2023, the Department of Justice notified Epps that it would seek to charge him criminally for events on January 6, 2021—two-and-a-half years later. The relentless attacks by Fox and [Tucker] Carlson and the resulting political pressure likely resulted in the criminal charges,” Epps said in the lawsuit.
“Although it is difficult to believe that the Department of Justice would have pursued this matter if Fox had not focused its likes on Epps, ultimately the criminal charges conclusively demonstrate the falsehood of the story that Mr. Carlson and Fox told about Epps.”
Epps didn’t specify what aspect of the Fox/Carlson story would be disproven if he’s charged with a misdemeanor for trespassing on Capitol grounds. Other FBI informants, such as Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys, were charged in relation to J6, and it’s a common tactic for law enforcement to criminally charge informants to bolster their cover stories.
According to Shroyer, the identity thief operates under the account name “Owen Shroyer” with the handle @OwenShroyers.
This account was still active as of the publication of this article. The fraudulent account has nearly 5,000 followers, including prominent accounts such as “The Red Headed Libertarian,” FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin and reporter Ford Fischer.
The fraudulent profile has the logo for Shroyer’s talk show, lists the website where the show can be found, the days and times Mr. Shroyer’s show is live and explicitly states that the account is that of the “Host of the Infowars War Room.” It also includes a link to a homosexual, pornographic site in its bio.
“Defendant opened this account knowing that Mr. Shroyer was unable to access his original Twitter account due to the unjust suspension of his account several years prior, and therefore Mr. Shroyer would be unable to defend himself against and expose imposters,” Shroyer said in his lawsuit, filed last Thursday in Texas federal court.
Shroyer further said that the “lewd, crude, and rude material” has hurt his career by driving away potential sources and contacts.
“Several prominent X users who have been misled and insulted by Defendant posing as Mr. Shroyer have contacted Mr. Shroyer and/or the producer of his show to inform them that they were deceived by Defendant and thought negatively of Mr. Shroyer after engaging with Defendant,” he said.
“Furthermore, guests who at first agree to appear on Mr. Shroyer’s show have subsequently canceled their appearance and refused to associate with Mr. Shroyer after viewing Defendant’s account, seeing such crude publications, and being misled to believe that it is a representation of Mr. Shroyer’s beliefs and character,” he added.
Shroyer said he’s unaware of who’s running the fake account under his name.
The account responded to Shroyer’s lawsuit on Friday, calling anyone who was tricked by his spoof “f—— retarded.”
“F—— sue me. Have your God damn way,” the account said, calling Shroyer a convicted criminal who just lost the largest defamation lawsuit in history—referring to the $1 billion judgment against Alex Jones over his Sandy Hook mass shooting claims.
Meanwhile, the embattled Infowars host faces potential jail time for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest.
U.S. District Judge Tim Kelly sentenced him to 60 days imprisonment last month over a misdemeanor trespass charge. Prosecutors asked for jail time because of he allegedly lathered up MAGA voters into a frenzy ahead of the event with his broadcasts—in other words, the DOJ sought a sentencing enhancement over First Amendment-protected speech.
Shroyer has an appeal pending against the jail sentence.
(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Several doctors in the field of neurology have suggested that COVID vaccines may have several devastating mental side-effects, including hallucinations and psychosis, the Epoch Timesreported.
Though their observations may require further clinical research for verification, various doctors have noticed patterns in their own daily practices.
One such researcher, William Slater, a 60-year-old neurologist, said he experienced nightly panics himself after getting the jab.
He said his panic attacks left him in a state of “abject terror,” and he even had suicidal thoughts.
Slater said there was”no question in my mind” that the mRNA COVID boosters may have been behind his new symptoms, which he had never before experienced in his life.
Psychiatrist Amanda McDonald noted similar side-effects in some of the patients she had been treating, including worsening or new symptoms.
“I couldn’t figure out why,” she said.
“My patients typically stay stable,” she added, but the changes appeared to start “without any sort of rhyme or reason.”
After looking into the matter, McDonald noticed a pattern, particularly among those who had received the COVID vaccine.
“I already had an existing patient population when the pandemic hit that I knew very well,” she said. “What I saw was manifestations in that patient population.”
McDonald’s observations were mirrored by an unassociated neurologist and neuroradiologist, Diane Counce.
According to Counce, since the lockdowns and shots, she has noticed a spike in severe anxiety levels.
“People also talk about how their personality has changed,” she said, adding that even family members of her patients have noticed that “they’re just different.”
Though none of the doctors have proven the connection with clinical trials, evidence continues to mount to suggest that links the COVID-19 vaccines with psychiatric symptoms, including depression, anxiety, panic attacks, psychosis and suicidal thoughts.
🚨BREAKING: We’ve just obtained an injunction against CISA, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, that blocks them from violating the First Amendment rights of millions of Americans.
The order also applies to the White House, Surgeon General, CDC, and FBI.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) October 3, 2023
According to Doughty, officials colluded with social media companies to silence Americans who did not adequately affirm the regime’s views of both the 2020 election, and also the COVID vaccine mandates.
The organizations deemed it necessary and proper to combat the threatening “mis-, dis-, and mal-information” with force.
As a result, a district court initially ruled that freedom of speech could not be restricted by the aforementioned entities, issuing a wide-ranging preliminary injunction that prohibited federal authorities from colluding with social-media platforms in the name of censorship.
After the district court’s ruling, the feds appealed to the 5th Circuit, arguing that government itself was being censored by the court’s own ruling.
Fortunately for liberty-loving Americans, the 5th Circuit upheld the lower court’s opinion. And though the opinion initially nixed one essential aspect of the lower court’s opinion–the injunciton against the Department of Homeland Security sub-agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency–after the plaintiff’s petition, the CISA injunction was reinstated.
CISA had proved previously to be the most essential part of the federal censorship regime, particularly in the case of COVID orthodoxy.
Jen Easterly, CISA’s current director, feels responsible for defending not only our physical and digital infrastructure, but also our “our cognitive infrastructure.”
But now, with its censorship power stripped by the courts, the left will have to search for new methods of censoring conservative opinions.
(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Vice President Kamala Harris found herself at the center of controversy once again as her uncontrolled laughter during a speech in St. Louis, Missouri, raised eyebrows, with some questioning whether she had been drinking.
Harris’s bizarre reaction occurred while at a DNC meeting on Oct. 6, when she was questioned about the state of the economy, leaving many social media users and commentators puzzled.
“POPULAR, POPULAR, POPULAR!” a hysterical Harris exclaims. Her subsequent laughter, described by some as hysterical, continued, “We just need to let everybody know who brought it to ‘em.”
Kamala Harris Laughs Hysterically After Claiming Biden-Harris Policies Are ‘Popular, Popular, Popular!’ pic.twitter.com/Ni2vP8MsUx
The video first caught the attention of social media after the RNC Research account posted it on Twitter, and it was subsequently shared by prominent figures like Newsmax host Eric Bolling and Fox News commentator Sean Hannity.
Media outlet RedState publishing an article on Oct. 6 with the headline, “People Wonder If Kamala Harris Was High After Hysterical Laughing Fit.”
One Twitter user quipped, “Did she have lunch with Hunter before this show?” while another asked, “She can’t be serious, can she.”
WATCH: Kamala Harris laughs hysterically after claiming Biden-Harris policies are “POPULAR, POPULAR, POPULAR!”
This would not mark the first time Harris has faced scrutiny for her peculiar laughter. Some critics have linked her to a recent incident in which cocaine was discovered at the White House. Secret Service agents ultimately failed to find the perpetrator, which ignited allegations of a potential cover-up.
“RACISM? The White House is now pointing the finger at Kamala Harris. Is the fact that she’s Black the reason they’re implying it was her cocaine?” asked Amuse on Twitter.
RACISM? The White House is now pointing the finger at Kamala Harris. Is the fact that she’s Black the reason they’re implying it was her cocaine? pic.twitter.com/SqEuDbFvJO
“The White House isn’t saying the cocaine belonged to Kamala Harris, but they are saying it was found near her car,” cracked Kevin Dalton, as reported by Headline USA on July 8. “Are we watching them set up Harris for the take out?” asked another commentator.
(Ken Silva, Headline USA) On June 8, 2022, a Twitter account linked to U.S. counterterrorism operator Jade Parker claimed to have identified the suspect who placed pipe bombs outside the RNC and DNC headquarters ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest-turned-riot.
“I haven’t given the name to anyone. I want Upchurch & her red cell to run it down & get full credit in an official professional capacity if I’m right,” Parker’s account tweeted, presumably referencing her fellow terrorism researcher, H.E. Upchurch, who specializes in investigating neofascist networks.
“It’s information that’s worth $100,000 to the Department of Justice, so you can be sure none of this is about money.”
“Terrorism tweeps, did you also see the part about how I used my research to find the identity of suspect who planted the DNC & RNC bombs on January 6? It’s a super interesting one if I’m right,” her account stated.
Then, Parker seemingly vanished.
Almost all traces of her have disappeared from the publicly available internet, other than some of her deleted tweets, which were archived on the Way Back Machine.
Much of Parker’s Google Drive document centers around her allegations that dishonest academics stole her pioneering research on “accelerationism”—a concept embraced by a variety of ideologies that all seek to collapse Western society.
Parker’s work included a deep analysis of one accelerationist network in particular: the Satanic cult Order of the Nine Angles, or O9A.
O9A is reportedly led by a neo-Nazi militant from Operation Gladio, a Cold War-era CIA program that sponsored neo-Nazi stay-behind militias in Europe—ostensibly to prepare for a possible Soviet Union invasion, though the militias wound up terrorizing local citizens instead.
According to Parker’s research, O9A seeks to tear the fabric of U.S. society through terrorism and psychological warfare.
“The strategic intent of O9A is to symbolically destroy the Holy Roman Empire, represented by the United States, and replace it with an antimodern civilization in the New Middle Ages,” Parker said in her Google Drive document.
The Google Drive document only references Jan. 6 in passing, and doesn’t mention the pipe bombs.
Parker does seem to think that accelerationists exploited the Jan. 6 crowd. She discussed this on her July 2021 appearance on the popular national security podcast, The Team House.
On that show, she said she had been trying to warn the U.S. intelligence community for years about the accelerationist threat, but no one listened to her.
After the events of Jan. 6, some researchers began paying attention to accelerationism, she said. However, they were mistaken to declare Capitol Hill protestors to be an accelerationist threat, she said.
The more likely scenario is that the Jan. 6 crowd was exploited by accelerationists to further divide the country, according to Parker.
“When you have people on January 6 who say, ‘This is an insurrection.’ Well first of all, that’s not really the insurrection. That is a provocation to get people to believe—and the people on the ground, too—to believe they’re part of a revolution. But also, more importantly than that, to get everyone else to believe there’s an impending civil war,” she said.
“And that is the myth they’re trying to perpetuate—going into these communities, trying to stir up people to believe there’s going to be an impending civil war,” she added.
“Because if you get the myth, you can mobilize people.”
Parker could not be reached for comment, her colleagues didn’t respond to emails, and the FBI has refused to answer questions about its investigation.
The counterterrorism analyst’s purported discovery and subsequent disappearance deepen the mystery of a case that remains unsolved nearly three years after the fact.
Pipe Bomb Mystery
Jan. 6 suspected pipe bomber / IMAGE: RevolverNews via Rumble
An issue ignored by mainstream media, conservative outlets such as Revolver Newshave shown the improbability that the explosive devices could have been sitting outside the DNC and RNC headquarters for some 17 hours.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is among those who’ve called it “odd” that the Secret Service agents and their bomb-sniffing dogs didn’t detect the devices when sweeping the DNC area ahead of a visit by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
And according to FBI whistleblower Kyle Seraphin, the bureau might be suppressing information about the pipe bomb suspect’s identity.
Seraphin, who worked on the Jan. 6 investigation before being suspended from the FBI in April 2022, told the Washington Times earlier this year that investigators linked the suspect to a D.C. MetroRail SmarTrip card. The card indicated the individual got off at a Northern Virginia stop after planting both devices on Jan. 5.
“So they tagged the entrance time and the exit time to that card to that guy. And then they found out who bought the card. And the guy who bought the card was not the guy who was using it,” Seraphin told the Washington Times.
“The card had never been used before. It was bought a year prior by a retired chief master sergeant in the Air Force, and he was a security contractor. So, he held a security clearance,” he reportedly said.
Seraphin reportedly added that the FBI used security camera footage from the Northern Virginia Metro stop to identify the license plate of a car that the individual entered.
Still, the FBI has not publicly identified the subject.
Additionally, Seraphin has alleged that the J6 pipe bombs were built with inert material and were incapable of detonating.
On the No Way, Jose podcast in May, Seraphin explained the implications of his disclosures.
“Here’s why that’s interesting: The feds are never going to give you a real bomb. If they’re going to set you up with something, it’s not going to be real. It’s going to be to set you up,” he said.
“And there’s no reason why we should not have run this person into the ground and found out who it was. And that person should have been charged. The only reasonable thing I can think of is: Somebody doesn’t want that person to be found, and the most likely reason is that person is or was a federal source for some agency at some point,” he said.
Steven D’Antuono, the former assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office during Jan. 6, has pushed back against Seraphin’s allegations.
“I’m not going to discount Kyle’s view. That’s his view from wherever he sits and the people he talked to. I don’t know who he talked to,” D’Antuono said in a June interview with the House Judiciary Committee.
“All I know is that we, at the Washington field office, received a report from the lab division, which are the bomb experts—I don’t know what Kyle’s expertise in bomb making is—that they were viable devices.”
But D’Antuono also disclosed that some of the cell phone evidence from the FBI’s pipe bomb investigation was “corrupted.”
The retired agent said the FBI conducted geofencing—when investigators track all the cell phones that were in a given area—but received “corrupted data” from one of the cell phone providers.
“We have complete data. Not complete, because there’s some data that was corrupted by one of the providers—not purposely by them, right,” D’Antuono said, stammering through the interview.
“It’s just unusual circumstances that we have corrupt data from one of the providers. I can’t remember right now which one. But for that day, which is awful because we don’t have that information to search.”
The former FBI official, who headed the dubious 2020 Whitmer kidnap investigation in Michigan before being transferred to DC weeks ahead of Jan. 6, added: “I don’t want any conspiracy theories.”
Despite the numerous apparent anomalies of the FBI’s pipe bomb investigation, officials have refused to respond to congressional inquiries over the matter.
FBI Director Chris Wray refused to answer pipe bomb questions posed by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., during a July Judiciary Committee hearing. Massie accused Wray of stonewalling the public.
“It was 900 days ago when this happened, and you said you had total confidence that you’d apprehend the subject,” Massie said in July. “It’s 900 days. You need to tell us what you found.”
(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., has come out strongly against an upcoming pro-Hamas rally scheduled for Sunday in the heart of Times Square, condemning it as “abhorrent and morally repugnant.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters cheer after speaker says “the media will tell you that yesterday ‘terrorists’ invaded Israel but we know that actually what happened is that the oppressed people of Palestine broke out of the open-air prison…we know the real terrorists is the Israeli… pic.twitter.com/usHecvOkzr
In a statement posted on her Twitter account on Saturday, Hochul did not hold back her criticism of the event hosted by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.,’s socialist group in support of Hamas’s violent onslaught against Israel.
“The people of Israel are facing violent terrorist attacks and civilian kidnappings, she said. “I condemn plans to rally in Times Square tomorrow in support of the perpetrators of these horrific actions. The planned rally is abhorrent and morally repugnant.”
The people of Israel are facing violent terrorist attacks and civilian kidnappings. I condemn plans to rally in Times Square tomorrow in support of the perpetrators of these horrific actions. The planned rally is abhorrent and morally repugnant.
The rally, organized by the Democratic Socialists of America, is set to take place on Sunday. The group announced the disturbing rally on Twitter.
“In solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to resist 75 years of occupation and apartheid,” the group said in support of Hamas’s violent assault on Israeli women and children.
In a separate post, the socialist group called on the attendees to cover their faces. “Mask up, and don’t post pics of yourself or others during a protest,” they claimed.
The Democratic Socialists is a group closely tied to AOC, who despite her past efforts to block U.S. funding for Israel’s defense against Hamas, condemned the recent terrorist attack.
“I condemn Hamas’ attack in the strongest possible terms,” AOC stated. “No child and family should ever endure this kind of violence and fear, and this violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region.”
Hochul’s stance against the pro-Hamas rally comes amid recent instances of her breaking ranks with her political party, particularly on what Republicans described as an invasion of illegal aliens.
On Oct. 1, Hochul publicly criticized President Joe Biden, urging him to take action to close the southern border.
“We want them to have a limit on who can come across the border. It is too open right now,” Hochul said during an interview with CBS News.
“People coming from all over the world are finding that way through simply saying they need asylum and the majority of them seem to be ending up in the streets of New York and that is a problem for New York City. 125,000 newly arrived individuals,” she said.
When asked how Congress should address the migrant crisis, New York @GovKathyHochul calls for “a limit on who can come across the border.” Hochul tells @margbrennan many are “simply saying they need asylum and the majority of them seem to be ending up in the streets of New York.” pic.twitter.com/uXAmGXmOQ7
(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) In a shocking revelation, a report by the Wall Street Journal has exposed Iran’s deep involvement in the planning of the recent Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, contradicting earlier statements made by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The report alleges that officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps collaborated with Hamas terrorists in secret since August, weeks before President Joe Biden released $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
The damning report reveals that Iranian officials even approved the onslaught before it was officially launched.
“Details of the operation were refined during several meetings in Beirut attended by IRGC officers and representatives of four Iran-backed militant groups, including Hamas, which holds power in Gaza, and Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group and political faction in Lebanon,” individuals tied to the operation told the Journal.
This revelation comes on the same day when Blinken appeared on CNN, stating, “We have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack, but there is certainly a long relationship.”
Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismisses concerns over the Biden administration unlocking $6 billion for Iran — just weeks before Iran-backed Hamas terrorists attacked Israel — as “playing politics” pic.twitter.com/KibnPRYT4G
Another official echoed his remarks, dubiously emphasizing, “We don’t have any information at this time to corroborate this account.”
Blinken’s dismissive stance appears to be influenced by the intense scrutiny directed at the Biden administration’s controversial trade-off between Iran and the United States. In exchange for the release of three detained Americans, Biden authorized the release of $6 billion in Iranian assets.
Despite their claims, an adviser to the Syrian regime has admitted that the attack was approved by Iran, the reported.
On the other hand, Mahmoud Mirdawi, a Hamas operative, insisted, “This is a Palestinian and Hamas decision.”
When approached for comments, the Iranian delegation in New York remained silent, but Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the attack in a tweet.
“God willing, the cancer of the usurper Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and the Resistance forces throughout the region,” he said on Twitter.
God willing, the cancer of the usurper Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and the Resistance forces throughout the region. #AlAqsaStormpic.twitter.com/XDyxoTT4gw
(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The self-proclaimed democratic socialists who form the core of the “Squad” have united to condemn Hamas’s Saturday terrorist attacks against Israel.
The horrifying footage of gruesome killings and kidnappings perpetrated by Hamas on Saturday morning prompted Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., to denounce these actions as acts of terror. However, their condemnations come amid a backdrop of disturbing statements about Israel in the past and vocal opposition to critical funding for Israel’s defense against Hamas.
Rep. AOC was first to express her condemnation. “I condemn Hamas’ attack in the strongest possible terms,” she claimed in a press statement on Sunday. “No child and family should ever endure this kind of violence and fear, and this violence will not solve the ongoing oppression and occupation in the region.”
This statement stands in stark contrast to AOC’s actions in 2021 when she was one of only two lawmakers to vote “present” on a bill funding Israel’s Iron Dome Aerial Defense System, a crucial defense mechanism against Hamas’s offensive missiles.
Her emotional response at the time, which brought her to tears, was followed by an apology to her constituents, citing “persistent human rights abuses against the Palestinian people.”
Two years later, Hamas launched a brutal onslaught against Israeli women, with some victims subjected to horrifying acts and killings.
Rep. Omar took to Twitter to condemn the attack as well. “I condemn the horrific acts we are seeing unfold today in Israel against children, women, the elderly, and the unarmed people who are being slaughtered and taken hostage by Hamas,” Omar stated.
Omar’s current condemnation contrasts with her 2021 comparison of Israel to the tactics employed by Hamas. She had claimed, “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban,” effectively equating Israel with the Taliban and Hamas.
We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.
We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.
Her radical remark faced backlash from members of her own party, but Omar doubled down instead. “We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity,” she wrote in response.
Rep. Tlaib issued a statement expressing her grief over the lives lost on both sides. “I grieve the Palestinian and Israeli lives lost yesterday, today, and every day,” she asserted. “The failure to recognize the violent reality of living under siege, occupation, and apartheid makes no one safer. No person, no child anywhere should have to suffer or live in fear of violence,” she added without specifying the group responsible for the violence.
Tlaib’s statement comes in contrast to her emotional press conference in May 2021, where she criticized the U.S. for its support of Israel, claiming a lack of empathy for Palestinians. “There has been no recognition of the attack on Palestinian families being ripped from their homes right now. No mention of children being detained or murdered,” she asserted.
The current conflict has already claimed the lives of more than 600 Israelis and at least 370 Palestinians as Hamas continues its assaults on Israel.
