McCarthy Caves: Aid for Corruption-Plagued Ukraine Thrown Out of Defense Bill

Luis Cornelio
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McCarthy Caves: Aid for Corruption-Plagued Ukraine Thrown Out of Defense Bill

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., found himself on the defensive as he agreed to remove contentious Ukrainian aid from his Pentagon defense bill. 

This decision came a day after an embarrassing defeat suffered by House leaders on Thursday, who had erroneously believed they had sufficient votes to pass the legislation aimed at countering the White House and Senate Democrats on spending. 

When pressed about the $300 million in military aid for Ukraine, McCarthy said, “It would be out and voted on by itself.” 

This move followed a surprise alliance of six Republicans who joined the Democratic caucus in thwarting the bill’s passage. Among those defying McCarthy’s leadership was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a staunch ally of the House speaker. Greene argued vehemently against using American taxpayer dollars to fund foreign conflicts.

“Instead of voting on money to defend ‘democracy’ in Ukraine, we should be voting on funding for Americans. This is the U.S. Congress, not the Ukrainian parliament,” Greene said on Twitter, successfully influencing McCarthy to reverse course.

McCarthy’s about-face on Ukrainian aid for Ukraine was met with praise within the GOP. “This should have happened weeks ago,” Greene told the Hill in a statement. “I’ve made it loud and clear that I would not vote for a single penny of Ukraine funding. It’s frustrating to me things had to get to this level, that we had to waste an entire week when we could have been passing appropriations.”

A day prior, McCarthy blasted the Republican dissent. “This is a whole new concept of individuals that just want to burn the whole place down,” McCarthy told reporters on Thursday. “That doesn’t work.”

The legislation in question, as outlined in the Hill sought “to provide assistance, including training; equipment; lethal assistance; logistics support, supplies and services; salaries and stipends; sustainment; and intelligence support to the military and national security forces of Ukraine.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a visit to the White House earlier this week in yet another attempt to seek additional assistance for his bid to defend Ukraine from the Russian invasion. 

However, Zelensky’s appeals have been overshadowed by a pervasive wave of corruption, leading to the dismissal of several Ukrainian officials. Notably, one of these officials was originally slated to meet with Biden officials earlier this month.

Man Accused of Raping, Impregnating Teenage Girl, Issued $1 Bond

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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Man Accused of Raping, Impregnating Teenage Girl, Issued $1 Bond

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) A 25-year-old man in Houston who was accused of raping and impregnating a 16-year-old girl was issued a $1 bond by a Harris County judge on Wednesday.

The teenage girl and her siblings went over to Luis Sanchez’s north Houston home to play games in April 2022, the court documents stated, as Fox 26 Houston reported. Sanchez gave the teen a drink of Smirnoff and then told her siblings to go home, adding that the teenage girl could spend the night with him.

After drinking too much vodka, the 16-year-old girl passed out and woke up naked in the bed next to Sanchez, as she later told authorities.

Three months later after Sanchez raped her, the girl found out that she was pregnant with his child, as confirmed by a DNA test.

In May 2023, Sanchez was arrested — more than a year after raping the girl. He is currently been charged with felony sexual assault of a child.

Legal analysts explained that the reason why the bond price is so low is because Sanchez was not indicted within a 90-day window of his arrest, as required by law.

“If the State misses that deadline, then unfortunately for the state at that particular point, the court has to address what is a reasonable bond for this case,” Todd DuPont, a legal analyst, said.

DuPont then clarified that a “reasonable bond” is the most amount of money a defendant swears one can afford.

“If a dollar is all this person has and swears to it, the person has to fill out a financial affidavit, swearing to their financial status,” he said.

The Harris County District’s Attorney Office said in its statement that Sanchez is still charged with felony sexual assault of a child.

“… if he is released on bond, he will remain under house arrest with an ankle monitor and an exclusionary zone regarding the victim and other children.” 

Court records indicated that, as of late Thursday afternoon, Sanchez remains in jail and that his next court date is set for November.

Menendez Indicted on Bribery Charges, Steps Down from Foreign Affairs Comm.

Luis Cornelio
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Menendez Indicted on Bribery Charges, Steps Down from Foreign Affairs Comm.

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was charged on Friday with a three-count federal bribery indictment, following a lengthy and politically damning investigation by federal prosecutors. 

The indictment alleges that Menendez, a close ally of President Joe Biden, accepted bribes totaling several hundreds of thousands of dollars, along with bars of gold bullion, in exchange for political favors both in the United States and abroad.

The District Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has also implicated Nadine Menendez, the embattled senator’s wife, as the middleman in this alleged criminal scheme. 

The allegations brought forward by federal prosecutors ignited a damning wave of bipartisan criticism, excluding the White House, which refused to issue a statement on the scandal. 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a fellow Democrat, responded to the charges, calling for Menendez’s immediate resignation.

“The allegations in the indictment against Senator Menendez and four other defendants are deeply disturbing,” Murphy said. “These are serious charges that implicate national security and the integrity of our criminal justice system. … Therefore, I am calling for his immediate resignation.” 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced that Menendez would temporarily step down from his chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee, but shied away from criticism the senator. 

“Bob Menendez has been a dedicated public servant and is always fighting hard for the people of New Jersey,” Schumer claimed. “He has a right to due process and a fair trial. Senator Menendez has rightly decided to step down temporarily from his position as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee until the matter has been resolved.”

Biden, who is also facing allegations of bribery himself, refrained from commenting on Menendez’s indictment through White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “This is an active matter, so I’m not gonna comment,” Jean-Pierre remarked. 

The indictment announcement sent shockwaves through social media, with many drawing comparisons between Menendez and Biden. 

“This is the federal equivalent of cops pulling Menendez over for speeding while Hunter Biden blows by them going 95mph in a car full of hookers, cocaine, and diamonds from communist Chinese oligarchs,” said Sean Davis, the founder of the Federalist.

Collin Rugg, co-owner of Trending Politics, circulated a video of Menendez accusing former President Donald Trump of being a Russian agent.  

“While Democrat Senator Bob Menendez was slandering Trump in 2019 for being a ‘Russian agent’, he himself was working on behalf of Egypt’s government,” Rugg stated. 

After Refusing Tax Hike, Dallas Mayor Leaves Democratic Party to Join GOP

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After Refusing Tax Hike, Dallas Mayor Leaves Democratic Party to Join GOP

( Bethan Blankley, The Center Square) Two days after failing to convince the Dallas City Council to cut spending and taxes in its new budget, the Democrat mayor of Dallas switched parties to become a Republican.

On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council approved its FY 2023-24 city budget, and Democrat Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson voted against it.

He sought to ensure the budget kept a no-new-revenue property tax rate of roughly 68.13 cents per $100 valuation. The city council passed a $4.6 billion budget, including a property tax rate of 73.93 cents per $100 valuation.

“In an environment of such economic uncertainty for our residents and businesses, with inflation and interest rates being where they are, I simply could not vote for a budget that is the largest in the history of the city and that is paid for by raising taxes on our residents and businesses,” Johnson said on Wednesday, explaining his decisions to go against fellow Democrats.

“It is simply not the case that we could not have significantly reduced the size of this budget and cut taxes without drastically cutting essential services,” contradicting the claims made by proponents to increase taxes.

He also said, “it is preposterous to suggest that our city government could not, by being more efficient, deliver essential services next year using the same amount of tax revenue collected from Dallas residents and businesses just a year ago.”

Before becoming the 60th mayor of Dallas, Johnson served in the Texas House of Representatives as a Democrat from 2010 to 2019. During his four years as mayor, he’s sought to lower taxes and create a “friendlier business climate.”

One major accomplishment he’s championed is the city has reduced its property tax rate every year since he took office.

On Friday, he announced in a Wall Street Journal column that he had joined the Republican Party.

He said he has “no intention of changing my approach to my job” but is changing his party affiliation.

“Next spring, I will be voting in the Republican primary,” he wrote. “When my career in elected office ends in 2027 on the inauguration of my successor as mayor, I will leave office as a Republican.”

He said of his time in the state legislature that he took pride in “finding common-sense solutions and worked closely with my conservative colleagues to improve policing, public education and water infrastructure.”

Johnson said the party switch did not necessarily mark a change in his views, just a change in his affiliation.

“I was never a favorite of the Democratic caucus, and the feeling was mutual,’ he said.

“By the time I was elected mayor—a nonpartisan office—in 2019, I was relieved to be free from hyper partisanship and ready to focus on solving problems,” he continued. “But I don’t believe I can stay on the sidelines any longer. The future of America’s great urban centers depends on the willingness of the nation’s mayors to champion law and order and practice fiscal conservatism.”

Other mayors, including New York City’s Eric Adams, seem to have made overtures toward taking a more conservative approach to governing in the wake of the Biden administration’s failed policies, which have harmed lower class urban residents disproportionately. However, none have fully committed to switching parties until now.

“Our cities desperately need the genuine commitment to these principles (as opposed to the inconsistent, poll-driven commitment of many Democrats) that has long been a defining characteristic of the GOP,” Johnson said.

“American cities need Republicans—and Republicans need American cities” because “many of our cities are in disarray,” he added. “Mayors and other local elected officials have failed to make public safety a priority or to exercise fiscal restraint. Most of these local leaders are proud Democrats who view cities as laboratories for liberalism rather than as havens for opportunity and free enterprise.”

Johnson, throughout his tenure, has been a steadfast support of funding law enforcement and opposed movements to defund the police.

He argued that cities led by Democrats prioritize local tax dollars “on policies that exacerbate homelessness, coddle criminals and make it harder for ordinary people to make a living. And too many local Democrats insist on virtue signaling—proposing half-baked government programs that aim to solve every single societal ill—and on finding new ways to thumb their noses at Republicans at the state or federal level. Enough. This makes for good headlines, but not for safer, stronger, more vibrant cities.”

In response, Republican Party of Texas Chairman Matt Rinaldi said, “We are thrilled to have Eric Johnson join the Republican Party. In his tenure as Mayor he has set the example by fighting to lower property taxes, resisted efforts to defund the police and make Dallas safer. We look forward to working with him to make Dallas better.”

At a recent crime-fighting event held with Gov. Greg Abbott, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, echoed similar sentiments, saying, “These are difficult times in this country. You have large cities falling apart because they are not focused on public safety. The only way you have a thriving large city that is focused on quality of life is because of men and women who are willing to wear a uniform and carry a badge.”

Johnson said that despite switching parties, his priorities are the same: to make Dallas the safest major city in America, to have the best park system in Texas, and have the lowest taxes in north Texas.

Of the ten largest US cities all run by Democrats, Johnson is the first to switch parties to become a Republican. Doing so, he said, “is hardly a red wave. But it is clear that the nation and its cities have reached a time for choosing. And the overwhelming majority of Americans who call our cities home deserve to have real choices—not ‘progressive’ echo chambers—at city hall.”

Far-Left Actor John Cusack Admits Dems Full of ‘Staggering Amoral Bulls**t’

Molly Bruns
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Far-Left Actor John Cusack Admits Dems Full of ‘Staggering Amoral Bulls**t’

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Actor John Cusack railed against American elites for selling out and making false promises to the country’s working class.

Cusack, a historically deep-blue fixture in Hollywood, posted the rant in a legthy Twitter screed, according to The Blaze.

“They have played a major part in creating the precise conditions for fascism to flourish—Obama corporatist democrats—are to the right of Richard Nixon on domestic policy,” the post read.

“Don’t believe me? Look it up—and Dems have sold out the working class for decades and this kind of bought and paid-for betrayal of principals (sic), fairness, historical precedent, any sense of moral or intellectual honesty,” he continued. “The kind of brutal selfish horrific actions one only does—because they can get away with it.”

Cusack’s post indicated that he was reacting to the news that former Obama solicitor general Neal Katyal, a far-left idealogue himself, had lobbied the Supreme Court to oppose Moore v. United States, which would authorize Congress to tax the inheritances of millionaires and billionaires.

“The former Obama solicited general trying to make a wealth tax illegal—is a perfect reflection of the slide into fascism,” Cusack said.

“The gop has always been with the billionaires and so have many of the modern dems,” he claimed. “[I]f we have fallen so low that we codify putting the oligarchs in a special category—tax free status we have a new realm of permanent elites—it’s lords and serfs sh*t.”

The Say Anything actor went on to call out big-name politicians and their connections with big-money investors.

“All your Yale and Harvard buddies will tell you how great and smart you all are—and they are all in bed with all the same big, big money power players,” Cusack said.

“And we run the world—right?” he continued. “This kind of staggering amoral bulls*** is one of the main reason (yes there are others) Trump’s demagoguery works on people. The Democratic elite ARE full of s***.”

Cusack also claimed that a wealth tax imposed on billionaires could feed and house all Americans.

Twitter users responded to the rant, pointing out that Cusack is also sitting on millions of dollars that he could use to help people.

Accused Vegas Murdurer Mocks Justice System after Targeting Cyclists: ‘I’ll Be Out in 30 Days’

Jacob Bruns
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Accused Vegas Murdurer Mocks Justice System after Targeting Cyclists: ‘I’ll Be Out in 30 Days’

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) After two teenagers were tried as adults following an alleged hit-and-run homicide of a Las Vegas bicyclist, one of them mocked the United States justice system, suggesting that he’d be out within a month, KLAS reported.

Jesus Ayala, 17 at the time of the homicides, faces 18 counts including murder.

Ayala, who has a history of juvenile crimes, was the suspected driver behind the wheel of a stolen care used to intentionally strike and kill Andreas Probst, a retired police chief who happened to by bicycling on the side of the road.

After being taken into custody, he showed no apparent remorse and told the police that they could do nothing to stop him.

“You think this juvenile [expletive] is gonna do some [expletive]? I’ll be out in 30 days, I’ll bet you,” he said. “It’s just ah, [expletive] ah, hit-and-run — slap on the wrist.”

Ayala was joined in the car by Jzamir Keys, 16, who is facing three charges. In a video of the  hit-and-run, Keys can allegedly be heard egging on Ayala.

According to police, Probst was the third victim of the two teenagers’s crime spree.

They hit a 72-year-old man, who survived the incident, earlier that morning. They also stole four cars.

In the wake of their monstrous crimes, the mothers of both teenagers lamented the ways of their sons, the Daily Mail reported.

Ayala’s mother said she wasn’t sure what her son’s motives were, nor whether he can be forgiven.

“I don’t know why he did this,” she said. “I don’t know if God can forgive this.”

The role of Keys, who was detained by the police later on, is less clear, hiw mother insisted.

“My son’s side of the story will be told—‘the truth’—not the inaccuracies the media will try to portray,” she said.

He is believed to have been behind the wheel in the incident earlier in the day, which was recorded by Ayala.

The pair will appear again in court on Sept. 26.

According to Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson, it is standard procedure for dangerous criminals like Keys and Ayala to be kept in custody.

“The determination of whether somebody should remain in custody is based upon whether they’re a flight risk or a danger to the community,” Wolfson said.

“I believe they’re potentially both,” he added. “They have certainly proved that they are dangerous.”

Citing Work as FBI Informant, Ex-Proud Boys and Patriot Front Member Seeks Light Sentence

Ken Silva
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Citing Work as FBI Informant, Ex-Proud Boys and Patriot Front Member Seeks Light Sentence

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A former member of the Proud Boys, the white nationalist Patriot Front and the neo-Nazi group The Base seeks a light sentence for his possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, citing his infected leg and his past work as an FBI informant as a reason to keep him out of jail.

The defendant, Michael Alan Jones, is set to be sentenced next week for unlawfully possessing a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon, a charge stemming from a March 2022 traffic stop in upstate New York, where police officers allegedly found him in possession of an illegally modified AR-15.

Jones had previously been convicted of two felony sex crimes. His lawyer said Jones’s “then-minor girlfriend twice performed oral sex on him in the boys’ bathroom of their high school.”

Jones’s lawyer admitted in a recent letter that his client was a member of the Proud Boys.

“However, since that time, he has changed his thinking and actually worked as a paid FBI informant who infiltrated the Charlotte chapter of the Proud Boys and gave agents valuable information about the organization,” Jones’s lawyer said.

“Jones has since matured and no longer harbors these views. In fact, renouncing these views was a prerequisite for his parents allowing him to come back to their home after he was released from jail,” he said, omitting Jones’s past affiliations with the Patriot Front or The Base.

Jones is seeking “time served” as his sentence. He’s already served about six months in prison, and has been on home detention since last December, when his leg almost had to be amputated, according to his lawyer.

“Since returning home to North Carolina, the infection has subsided, but he is still going to weekly physical therapy appointments and wears an ankle-foot orthotic when he walks and another when he sleeps to help his healing,” Jones’s lawyer said Monday in a letter.

“Based on his previous history, the Court should consider that there is a real possibility that his leg may become re-infected at the BOP and the infection cycle will start over again.”

The Justice Department, for its part, is seeking 24- to 30-months imprisonment for Jones, arguing that such a punishment is consistent with sentencing guidelines.

Jones’s arrest last year reportedly made waves among the Proud Boys and other right-wing groups. The left-leaning media outlet Raw Story obtained leaked messages that showed them discussing Jones.

“They created a whole new degree of f—ed-upness,” a member identified as “Jimbob Smith” reportedly said on Telegram. “It’s a fed-ophile. It was a fed informant mixed with a pedophile. Only Charlotte can do that!”

Raw Story also reported that Jones “fought with the police alongside the Proud Boys at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.” Jones has not been charged in relation to J6.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Rittenhouse Attacker Injured by Hit and Run, Outs His New Alias in Interview

Jacob Bruns
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Rittenhouse Attacker Injured by Hit and Run, Outs His New Alias in Interview

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) A career criminal and attacker of Kyle Rittenhouse was recently injured in a hit and run in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, appearing on local news stations and outing himself, despite his attempts to change his name, the Kenosha County Eye reported.

Criminal Paul Prediger, formerly known as Gaige Grosskreutz, was struck by a car earlier this week. He had changed his name to Prediger after his true name and extensive criminal history were revealed in the Rittenhouse case.

During the 2020 riot in Kenosha, Grosskreutz, an Antifa “medic” had pulled his gun on the then-17-year-old Rittenhouse and got shot as a result.

“I thought the defendant was an active shooter,” Grosskreutz claimed, adding that he did it because he thought he was “going to die.”

Grosskreutz told the judge soon thereafter that he needed to have his name secretly altered so that he could protect himself from alleged “far right” people who were threatening his life.

But after being hit by a car while crossing the street, Grosskreutz decided to make an appearance on WISN 12 ABC news to talk about being run over.

“I went on top of the hood and then was dragged under and stuck underneath the vehicle for a good 20 feet,” he said, noting that he spent several days afterwards in the hospital with a lacerated liver and numerous broken bones.

Over the next several weeks, police located and confronted the driver of the car, who turned himself over immediately.

The offender in the alleged hit and run, Marvin Thomas, was charged Tuesday with two felonies related to the crash. He is holding on a $1,500 cash bail.

He will face two separate felony charges, one for a hit and run and causing great bodily harm, and another for operating a motor vehicle without license and causing great bodily harm.

Thomas could face up to 15 years in prison for his crimes.

Grosskreutz, under his fake identity, also has made a public appeal for public charity, saying the ordeal “has left me temporarily unable to work, and I am facing a challenging road to recovery.”

Those who contribute a minimum of $5 to his GoFundMe page are given access to a special section where they may offer “Words of Support.”

As of Friday afternoon, he had received $1,070 of his $2,500 goal with 25 people donating.

Leftists Fired Up over Missouri Republican’s Use of Flamethrower on Campaign Trail

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Leftists Fired Up over Missouri Republican’s Use of Flamethrower on Campaign Trail

(Headline USA) A longshot candidate for Missouri governor and his supporters describe his use of a flamethrower at a recent “Freedom Fest” event outside St. Louis as no big deal.

They said it was a fun moment for fellow Republicans who attended, and that no one talked about burning books as he torched a pile of cardboard boxes.

But after the video gained attention on social media, state Sen. Bill Eigel said he would burn books he found objectionable, and that he’d do it on the lawn outside the governor’s mansion.

He later said it was all a metaphor for how he would attack the “woke liberal agenda.”

“From a dramatic sense, if the only thing in between the children in the state of Missouri and vulgar pornographic material like that getting in their hands is me burning, bulldozing or launching [books] into outer space, I’m going to do that,” Eigel said in an interview with the Associated Press. “However, I would I make the point that I don’t believe it’s going to come to that.”

Despite having embraced violent and unhinged rhetoric about burning things down during the 2020 election—and, indeed, having regularly engaged in “mostly peaceful” arson as part of the George Floyd-inspired race riots that year—leftist critics claimed Eigel’s use of the flamethrower was a sign that rhetoric and imagery previously considered extreme were now being treated as normal in American politics.

“The slippery slope is that everything is a joke—everything can be kind of waved away,” said Kurt Braddock, an assistant professor of public communications at American University in Washington. “Everything can be seen as just rhetoric until it can’t anymore and people start using it as an excuse to actually hurt people.”

When it comes to so-called progressive extremism, of course, Braddock himself is quick to dismiss it a s fringe threat and to write off the growing anti-Semitic movement within the leftist ranks, despite evidence showing it has become more normalized with politicians like Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. openly attacking Jews on the floor of the U.S. House.

Meanwhile, it was Eigel, an Air Force veteran, devout Catholic and father of two who Democrats saw as the true terrorist threat, becoming immediately triggered by the viral post after his political affiliation became apparent.

The 30-second video that put Eigel at the center of a social media storm came from a Sept. 15 event for Republicans at a winery near tiny Defiance, Missouri, about 30 miles west of St. Louis. He and another state senator shot long streams of flame onto a pile of cardboard in front of an appreciative crowd.

The video posted on Twitter, caught the attention of Jonathan Riley, a left-wing activist in Durham, North Carolina, who dishonestly posted Sunday that it showed “Missouri Republicans at a literal book burning,” though he’d later walk that statement back to a “metaphorical” book burning.

“It fit a narrative that they wanted to put out there,” Freedom Fest organizer Debbie McFarland said about claims that Eigel burned books. “It just didn’t happen to be the truth.”

Some of Republicans’ skepticism over the online outrage stems from Eigel’s status as a dark horse candidate to replace term-limited GOP Gov. Mike Parson.

The best known candidates for the August 2024 GOP primary are Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe.

The Ashcroft campaign declined to respond to the video, the uproar it caused or Eigel’s follow-up statement.

Kehoe’s campaign had no official comment, but Gregg Keller, a GOP consultant working on Kehoe’s campaign, said Eigel’s promise to burn objectionable books is “typical electioneering hyperbole.”

He added, “I would challenge you to find me any non-psychotic Republican who has actually burned” a book deemed objectionable by conservatives.

Eigel posted on Twitter that his flamethrower stunt was meant to show what he would do to the “swamp” in the state capital of Jefferson City, but “let’s be clear, you bring those woke pornographic books to Missouri schools to try to brainwash our kids, and I’ll burn those too—on the front lawn of the governor’s mansion.”

Republicans across the U.S. are backing conservative efforts to remove sexually explicit and pornographic books from school libraries and the children’s section of public libraries amid a growing anti-groomer movement that has seen strong grassroots political success..

The issue resonates with Republicans in Missouri. An AP VoteCast survey of Missouri voters in the 2022 midterm elections showed that more than 75% of those voting for GOP candidates thought the K-8 schools in their community were teaching too much about gender identity or sexual orientation.

Large guns have been a popular prop for some Republicans. In Missouri in 2016, GOP candidate and ex-Navy Seal Eric Greitens ran an ad featuring him firing 100 rounds from a machine gun on his way to winning the governor’s race.

Flamethowers also have popped up previously. In 2020, a GOP congressional candidate in Alabama showed her support for then-President Donald Trump by torching a mockup of the first articles of impeachment against him. She finished third in the primary. And in South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem’s staff gave her a flamethrower last year as a Christmas gift.

Experts who study political extremism said images involving fire or bonfires have long been associated with extremist groups. Eigel’s critics quickly posted online images involving the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi book burnings before World War II.

Braddock, the American University professor, said that after portraying a flamethrower as a weapon against “the woke agenda,” Eigel’s supporters don’t need “that big a leap of logic” to see it as a tool for settling actual political grievances. Talking about book burning enough can plant the idea in people’s minds so that ”people think it’s actually a righteous thing to do.”

Eigel said he’s not worried the video will inspire violence in “reasonable, everyday Missourians,” which he said is the majority of people. But he said he’s concerned about the number of threats he, his family and his staff have received as a result.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Police Face Backlash for Threatening to Charge 11-Yr-Old w/ Creating Child Porn

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Police Face Backlash for Threatening to Charge 11-Yr-Old w/ Creating Child Porn

(Headline USA) When an Ohio father learned that his 11-year-old daughter had been manipulated into sending explicit photos to an adult, he turned to the police for help.

But instead of treating the girl as a crime victim, an officer seemingly threatened to charge her under a law most people view as designed to protect child victims.

The shocking interaction was recorded last week on body camera audio and by the father’s doorbell camera in Columbus, Ohio.

The footage drew criticism from the public and from experts who said law enforcement officials have long misused laws meant to protect children by threatening to charge them with being part of the same crime.

Experts said the incident also showed that training for officers on how to respond to child exploitation cases is spotty and not standardized between police departments.

“It was a complete fail on a legal level and on a human level,” said Scott Berkowitz, founder and president of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network—the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. “I don’t know who immediately goes to blaming a child in a situation like that. It’s inconceivable.”

In the redacted body camera recording obtained by The Associated Press, the father asks if there’s anything the police can do. A female officer is heard replying that his 11-year-old could be charged with creating “child porn.”

The parent protests that she is a child, a victim who was manipulated by an adult.

“It doesn’t matter,” the officer said. “She’s still creating it.”

The angry father ends the conversation and slams the door behind him. The video he posted to TikTok had been watched more than 750,000 times as of Thursday.

Police have not released the father’s name. The AP, which does not identify victims of alleged sexual abuse, reached out to him on social media and by phone this week but did not receive a response.

Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant responded quickly in a statement that the officers’ conduct was being investigated and that it did not meet the division’s standards for how victims should be treated.

Columbus police spokesperson Andrés Antequera said the agency has a nuanced policy that considers each case individually, but that “the focus is to protect the minor through education, counseling and social services, not criminal charges.”

He said the department sometimes provides information on those resources to parents, as well as referrals for services.

But Antequera said Ohio statutes are clear that minors who create, possess or distribute images of child sexual abuse, even of themselves, are violating the law. He said prosecutors ultimately decide when to file charges, but he did not answer when asked whether Columbus police had arrested minors under similar circumstances in the past.

The AP filed a written request with the Franklin County prosecuting attorney’s office seeking information on whether minors have been charged under the statute, but had not received a response as of Thursday afternoon.

Rebecca Epstein, the executive director of the Center on Gender Justice and Opportunity at Georgetown Law, said charges against victims are common. Epstein co-authored a report in April looking at how survivors of sexual assault and abuse are often criminalized.

“Girls who experience sexual abuse are often the ones who are punished for the sexual abuse that they experience. Rather than being treated as survivors who need support, they are funneled into the criminal justice system,” she said. “Our culture assigns complicity to girls who are too young to legally even consent to sex.”

Epstein said minors who are trafficked or coerced into sexual acts or into creating or soliciting sexual materials can often be charged with crimes.

In the early 2000s, as cellphone cameras became common and “sexting” entered the national vernacular, juvenile justice advocates began fighting against prosecutors who wanted to charge minors for consensually sharing explicit images with other minors.

Riya Saha Shah, the senior managing director of the Juvenile Law Center, said the center was part of that advocacy and has continued to raise concerns about sexual exploitation laws being used against child victims.

“These laws were really intended to prevent sexual abuse of children, to protect against the exploitation of children,” Shah said. “So weaponizing these laws against children to bring charges against them really misunderstands the law, and even worse, is flouting the law’s purpose.”

It’s hard to know how many children are charged, partly because prosecutors can use the charges to elicit guilty pleas to lesser offenses, she said.

Shah, who said she also has an 11-year-old daughter, called the police response to a parent seeking help disappointing but not surprising.

“There was no investigation into who the individual was who has these images in their possession,” Shah said. “It went right to punishing her, which unfortunately is all too common in a system that really isn’t designed to help first, but rather to punish first.”

Berkowitz said the interaction reflected the importance of training and the scarcity of standardized training for interviewing and interacting with child victims of sexual crimes.

The AP requested information on any training the responding officers had received, and asked why the father’s call was not directed to specialized departments within the Columbus Division of Police, but police had not responded as of Thursday afternoon.

Berkowitz said a possible lack of training resources doesn’t excuse the officers’ behavior.

“This should be pretty basic stuff that when an adult abuses a child, you do everything you can to stop it, not to blame the child,” he said.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

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