Oakland Fires Police Chief for Alleged Misconduct Cover-Up

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Oakland Fires Police Chief for Alleged Misconduct Cover-Up

(Headline USA) The Oakland Police Department lost its seventh head of police in as many years Wednesday over the alleged cover-up of an officer’s misconduct in a scandal that threatens to extend two decades of federal oversight—the longest of any police department in the country.

Democratic Mayor Sheng Thao said at a news conference she was firing Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong after a probe concluded the chief and the department failed to properly investigate and discipline a sergeant who was involved in a hit-and-run with his patrol car and, in a separate incident, fired his service weapon inside an elevator at police headquarters.

Thao, who took office in January, said she wants to be confident the police chief in the city of 400,000 people will be effective “in making improvements that can be recognized by the federal monitor, the federal court and the people of Oakland.”

“I am no longer confident that Chief Armstrong can do the work needed to achieve the vision so, today I have decided to separate Chief LeRonne Armstrong from the city without cause,” she said.

Thao placed Armstrong on paid administrative leave last month to review investigations by the department’s federal monitor that found the police chief responsible for gross dereliction of duty.

The probes by the law firm of Clarence Dyer and Cohen concluded Armstrong failed to investigate and discipline Sgt. Michael Chung after he was involved in a hit-and-run with a parked car in 2021 at his apartment building in San Francisco, according to a report first obtained by KTVU-TV and made public by Oaklandside, a local news site.

The Oakland Police Department made national news in 2000 after a rookie officer came forward to report abuse of power by a group of officers known as the Oakland “Riders.”

The four officers were charged with making false arrests, planting evidence, using excessive force, falsifying police reports and assaulting people in west Oakland, a predominantly black area.

Three of the officers were acquitted after two separate juries deadlocked on most of the charges. The fourth officer is a fugitive and is believed to have fled the country.

The case resulted in the department coming under federal oversight in 2003 and being required to enact 52 reform measures and report its progress to an outside monitor and a federal judge.

Armstrong, a native of Oakland, was appointed in 2021 with promises of enacting all the reforms within a year.

He said he was deeply disappointed in Thao’s decision and that once all the facts are evaluated, it will be clear he committed no misconduct and his terminations was “wrong, unjustified, and unfair.”

“After the relevant facts are fully evaluated by weighing evidence instead of pulling soundbites from strategically leaked, inaccurate reports, it will be clear I was a loyal and effective reformer of the Oakland Police Department,” he said in a statement.

In its report, the law firm said a police captain in the department’s Internal Affairs Division downplayed the hit-and-run incident and coached the investigating officer to draft a report that allowed Chung to escape discipline.

The following year, Chung fired his service weapon inside an elevator at police headquarters, got rid of evidence and did not inform his supervisors until a week later. He has been on paid administrative leave since then.

“Sgt. Chung escaped serious disciple and was left to commit even more egregious conduct—discharging his firearm in an elevator—which he also failed to report and tried to cover up,” the investigators said.

The law firm report concluded Armstrong failed to hold his subordinate officers accountable.

Federal Judge William Orrick last year put the agency on a one-year probationary period that was set to end by June and finally free it from federal oversight, saying the department had achieved “substantial compliance.”

But last month, he made public a portion of the law firm reports, prompting the mayor to place Armstrong on paid leave.

“The report … demonstrates that the significant cultural problems within the department remain unaddressed,” he said during a virtual hearing in January.

Orrick ordered the city to present a plan by April 4 on how it plans to come into compliance.

Armstrong, the 13th person to head the embattled police department in 20 years, received the backing of some of the city’s black leaders, including John Burris, one of two attorneys who in 2000 filed the lawsuit against the police department on behalf of 119 plaintiffs.

Burris said he was disappointed that Thao based her decision on what he considers to be “not very strong evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Armstrong.”

Burris, who has been meeting on a regular basis with the police department and federal monitor for the last 20 years, said the police department has made great strides and positive changes on how it deals with the community, which largely supported Armstrong.

“We don’t have the beating that we used to have. We don’t have people being stopped because of their race at the same level we had before. We don’t have the shooting and the use of deadly force that we had before. We don’t have the mistreatment of the mentally impaired in the same way we did,” Burris said.

“But this is a [police] culture question and the disappointing part is it hasn’t changed,” he added.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Fetterman Hospitalized for ‘Clinical Depression’

Mark Pellin
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Fetterman Hospitalized for ‘Clinical Depression’

(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) After deceiving voters and lying to campaign supporters about the state of his health coming off a massive stroke, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., on Wednesday night “checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to receive treatment for clinical depression,” according to a statement from his chief of staff.

The announcement comes after Fetterman was rushed to a hospital last week, when he “began feeling lightheaded” during a Senate Democrat retreat.

Fetterman’s office subsequently went dark on the extent of the episode, which had reportedly ruled out another stroke, but he was kept for observation.

His latest medical emergency comes only weeks from being sworn into office after a contentious campaign that saw his handlers and mainstream media collaborators insist that the stroke victim’s health was not a concern.

They kept up the facade this week, downplaying Fetterman’s admission into the hospital, again, for clinical depression.

“While John has experienced depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” Adam Jentleson, Fetterman’s chief of staff, said. “On Monday, John was evaluated by Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the Attending Physician of the United States Congress. Yesterday, Dr. Monahan recommended inpatient care at Walter Reed. John agreed, and he is receiving treatment on a voluntary basis.”

Top-ranking Democrats continued to run cover for the stroke victim that the party used as a walking muppet during the midterm Senate campaign against Republican candidate Mehmet Oz, when it was apparent Fetterman was still struggling from the impacts of his stroke.

“I stand by John Fetterman and his family. This a challenge, an unimaginable challenge, that he has faced in life,” said Senate Democrat Whip Dick Durbin. “He deserves the very best in professional care and I’m sure he’ll get it at Walter Reed.”

Durbin said he believed Fetterman will be able to serve a full term of office, reported The Hill.

“I believe with the proper care, which he will receive, that he’ll be back in our ranks, joining us soon,” Durban said.

Others were less optimistic.

“This marks the second trip to a hospital this month. For the good of his health and family, he should consider stepping down,” tweeted Hill columnist Joe Concha. 

“Did you see how lost he was at SOTU? He looked bewildered,” wrote Juanita Broaddrick. “The realization of what the position requires has set in. He know he can’t do it.”

Corporate America Dumping Diversity Roles More than Any Other Position

Jacob Bruns
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Corporate America Dumping Diversity Roles More than Any Other Position

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) As corporate America—and Big Tech in particular—lay off thousands of Americans, it turns out that frivolous diversity jobs have been the first to go, Bloomberg reported.

Major woke corporations such as Target, Capital One, Amazon, Wells Fargo, Twitter, Nike and Intel have all cut their DEI departments down substantially in recent months as President Joe Biden’s economy continues to turn south toward a serious recession.

“At Twitter, the diversity, equity and inclusion team is down to just two people from 30,” a former Twitter employee told Bloomberg.

With DEI backlash growing among conservative lawmakers in several states, the former Twitter employee also noted that the woke fad may be coming to an end altogether at some corporations.

“A DEI worker who was let go from a popular ride-share company said their job search has stalled as other technology companies assess their finances,” said the source. “And just before getting the axe at separate tech giants this fall, two DEI specialists said leadership had stopped setting long-term goals for their departments entirely.”

Affirming the collapse of DEI across the country, the Daily Caller reported that “the 12-month rate of attrition for DEI employees was 33% in December 2022, compared to 21% for non-DEI roles.”

Andrew Crapuchettes, CEO of RedBalloon, a networking firm, noted that the cuts are coming because companies both large and small can no longer afford such pricey virtue-signaling.

“When economic conditions become uncertain, companies pare back their spending to the essentials,” he said.

“While well intentioned, most DEI programs are simply virtue signaling, often at the expense of healthy company culture. The c-suites understand this, and in choppy economic waters, DEI is likely slated to be among the first to go.”

Black Students Allegedly Used Violence to Force Whites to Pledge Allegiance to BLM

Molly Bruns
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Black Students Allegedly Used Violence to Force Whites to Pledge Allegiance to BLM

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Police are opening an investigation into what could be a racially motivated assault on the playground of an Ohio elementary school.

Police were called to Kenwood Elementary School in Springfield, Ohio regarding the incident, which took place during recess, as reported by the Post Millennial.

“A group of black students gathered several white students on a specific spot of the playground and forced them to state “Black Lives Matter” against their will,” the principal said in his statement to the police.

He stated that the attackers herded the victims to a particular spot on the playground, and chased down students who attempted to flee.

The group of students corralling their peers allegedly took videos of the incident and physically assaulted the victims when they did not comply.

Reports from the police and victims indicate that one attacker punched a victim in the head for refusing to cooperate.

Springfield Police questioned many of the victims and their classmates in an attempt to get a proper interpretation of the incident.

The Springfield City School District made a statement on WHIO News Center 7 regarding the event, assuring parents that they worked hard to keep students safe and were working closely with the police to ensure that an event like this will not take place again.

The statement did not provide any additional information as to the motivation of the attackers and did not report whether the police believe it to be a hate crime.

Ryan Springer, who has a 12 year old son at the school, said the incident took him by surprise. He stated his concern over the possible racism involved, saying that the kids “should just be worried about being children.”

Springer also voiced his dismay with the lack of action on part of the staff.

“Where was the school staff when all of this was taking place?” he asked. “And why? Why did it get so far?”

Several Twitter users reacting to the incident took this as an opportunity to encourage parents to consider homeschooling their children if possible.

REPORT: Feinstein Unaware of Her Own Retirement Announcement

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REPORT: Feinstein Unaware of Her Own Retirement Announcement

(Headline USA) Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., appeared unaware that she had announced her retirement this week, telling reporters on Thursday that she hadn’t yet made a decision about whether to seek reelection just hours after her office announced she would not run again in 2024.

Asked by reporters about her announcement to retire, Feinstein reportedly said, “I haven’t made that decision, I haven’t released anything.”

A staffer then told Feinstein that her office had already released her statement announcing her retirement.

Feinstein responded, “You put out the statement? I didn’t know they put it out.”

She then told reporters, “It is what it is. I think the time has come.”

Another report, which included an audio clip of Feinstein speaking, suggests Feinstein wasn’t aware that she was retiring at all.

“Oh, no, I’m not announcing anything. I will one day,” Feinstein said only an hour after her retirement was announced.

Feinstein’s office tried to downplay the senator’s confusion in a statement.

“The senator approved it going out today, just confusion on timing. The senator was out of the office for votes, a meeting, lunch and more votes when the announcement was sent,” a spokesperson said.

Democrats have been trying to pressure Feinstein into retiring for the past several months. Two Democrats have already announced their campaigns for her Senate seat, even though she had not confirmed whether she plans to step down until just this week.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., announced his campaign on Jan. 26, just a few weeks after Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., announced hers.

“I’ve always believed that what’s right matters, that the truth matters, and that decency matters. And when a dangerous demagogue tried to undermine our democracy, I wasn’t about to let him,” Schiff said in a statement, referring to Democrats’ first impeachment effort against former President Donald Trump, over which Schiff presided.

U.S. Diplomat Proposes ‘Black Girl Magic’ to Fix Taliban’s Oppression of Women

Jacob Bruns
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U.S. Diplomat Proposes ‘Black Girl Magic’ to Fix Taliban’s Oppression of Women

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Karen Decker, chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Mission to Afghanistan, tweeted that #blackgirlmagic activism could help Afghanis become better feminists, the Post Millennial reported.

According to Decker, who presents as Caucasian, if the Taliban only had access to western political activism, they would be happier.

“Are Afghans familiar with #BlackGirlMagic and the movement it inspired?” Decker asked. “Do Afghan girls need a similar movement? What about Afghan women?”

“Black girl magic,” according to the Huffpost, is an activist movement created to “celebrate the beauty, power and resilience of black women.”

Specifically, it is “a term used to illustrate the universal awesomeness of black women. It’s about celebrating anything we deem particularly dope, inspiring, or mind-blowing…”

The message was one in a series of virtue-signaling tweets Decker has posted in honor of Black History Month, with many of them having little or no bearing on U.S.–Afghani relations.

In the now-deleted tweet from Wednesday, Decker also tagged three black, female celebrities: Beyoncé Knowles–Carter, Melissa “Lizzo” Jefferson and Regina King.

“Teach me, ready to learn,” Decker begged the celebrities, despite the abundance of articles noting that whites expecting blacks to teach them about racism is, itself, a form of “white privilege.”

Decker was grilled by several congressional Republicans for the tone-deaf post.

Among them were Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., both of whom called to task the Biden aministration for its lack of seriousness.

“What an embarrassment, Cotton piled on. “And a perfect example of the Biden Administration prioritizing wokeness over competence.”

The communications director for Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., said, “This is so cringe we’re going to have to apologize to the Taliban.”

And a tweet from the account of Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., lamented that it was not a joke.

Decker’s comments look especially bad in the wake of President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, which resulted in a Taliban-ruled state far more cruel than Afghanistan under prior leadership.

That withdrawal, the subject of much controversy, left 13 U.S. service members dead, billions of dollars of military equipment behind, and plunged Afghanistan into chaos as the Taliban quickly took power. Nevertheless, the Biden administration framed it as a smashing success.

Chunky Bobcat Struts Its Stuff as California Embraces ‘Body Positivity’

Joshua Paladino
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Chunky Bobcat Struts Its Stuff as California Embraces ‘Body Positivity’

(Joshua Paladino, Headline USA) Photographer Randy Robbins set up a trail camera in Northern California that took a daytime photograph of a “chunky” bobcat, and Facebook users praised the obese animal for looking “beautiful” and “very healthy.”

Robbins missed seeing the hefty bobcat in person, but he was happy to catch the “fairly rare daytime shot,” the News Tribune reported.

“My assumption is that it was watching me pull up in my Jeep, and made a quick exit when it saw me coming,” Robbins said after looking at the picture’s timestamp. “Mountain lion kill according to nearby trail camera…no lion last night, it must have moved on, but this guy is cleaning up.”

The public’s response to the chunky bobcat helps demonstrate the dangers of the body-positivity trend, which treats obesity as normal and healthy despite its clear association with disease and lower life expectancy.

Robbins estimated that the bobcat weighs between 30 and 35 pounds, while the average bobcat weighs about 21 pounds, though large bobcats have reached up to 49 pounds.

Facebook users wanted to know if the bobcat was a pregnant female or a “chunky fellow.”

“That’s a very healthy cat, possibly pregnant momma?” a user asked.

Wildlife groups looked at an image of the bobcat from behind and concluded that it is “not a pregnant female but a hefty male.”

The body positivity movement has grown and transformed in recent years as it has allied with woke ideology.

The Left has framed fatness as being somehow connected to transgenderism and anti-racism, encouraging more overweight people to become complacent in their obesity as a way to fight against white supremacy.

Body positivity has become more popular because America has become fatter.

In 2020, about 42% of Americans were obese. Half of black Americans were obese.

As the overall obesity rate barrels toward 50%, the body positivity movement will prevent a critical analysis of the root causes of obesity–industrial monocropping, seed oils, toxic food additives, high fructose corn syrup and other added sugars, and a sedentary lifestyle–and instead celebrate obesity because it somehow opposes the white patriarchy.

Fmr. Obama Doctor Predicts White House Will ‘Sugarcoat’ Biden’s Physical Evaluation

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Fmr. Obama Doctor Predicts White House Will ‘Sugarcoat’ Biden’s Physical Evaluation

(Headline USA) Dr. David Scheiner, the longtime doctor for former President Barack Obama, said this week that President Joe Biden’s new physical evaluation will likely downplay concerns about the president’s age and health as he gears up for his 2024 reelection campaign announcement.

Scheiner was Obama’s personal physician for more than two decades before the Obamas took the White House. He said Biden’s age is a legitimate problem, and that although he physically has performed above expectations, it’s unlikely his stamina can carry him through another six years.

“By the time he completes [a second term], he’ll be 86 years old,” said Scheiner. “I don’t care if he’s in perfect health now — which, I can’t believe he’s in perfect health. He’s had too many things in his past history. It worries me that he is aging. If I look at him, he’s not a young 80.”

But the White House will never admit as much, Scheiner said.

“You’re not going to learn anything. They sugarcoat these things,” he told the Washington Examiner when asked about Biden’s upcoming physical evaluation.

One of the particular concerns about Biden’s health is his gait, which is “perceptibly stiffer and less fluid” than it was one year ago, Scheiner explained.

“The gait is not an insignificant factor,” he said, adding that it provides a “peek into the whole physical, mental capability of a person.”

Another concern is Biden’s past medical history, he said.

“Biden had an aneurysm repaired. When you do work on the brain, there’s always a little damage done. He’s had that atrial fibrillation — that can sometimes throw off small strokes. They’re leaving a whole area of concern in my mind,” he said.

The White House is set to release Biden’s annual physical examination results on Feb. 16 — two weeks later than was originally promised. 

Nikki Haley Headlined Event that Required Proof of COVID Vaccination

Contributing Author
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Nikki Haley Headlined Event that Required Proof of COVID Vaccination

(Headline USA) Former South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, who announced her 2024 presidential bid this week, reportedly required proof of vaccination at an event last year.

An event featuring Haley titled, “Ask a Woman: Leadership Lessons from Ambassador Nikki Haley,” required attendees to show “proof of COVID-19 vaccination along with valid photo identification.”

“Masks are no longer required but are available to those who request,” the event flier added.

The event took place late last year and was held in New York City.

As several conservatives have pointed out, Haley’s record on COVID-19 could become a liability for her campaign.

“Nikki Haley was not only nowhere to be found on the most impactful human rights issue of her time, but it’s worse than that,” wrote Jordan Schachtel. “She quickly became part of the problem. Nowhere during a social media search could I find even a light critique of Covid tyranny or the mRNA Big Pharma mafia,”

Former President Donald Trump was also quick to slam Haley, calling her a wannabe Hillary Clinton who is “weak on immigration”

“Nikki Haley is just another career politician,” MAGA Inc. executive Taylor Budowich said in a statement. “She started out as a Never Trumper before resigning to serve in the Trump admin. She then resigned early to go rake in money on corporate boards. Now, she’s telling us she represents a ‘new generation.’ Sure just looks like more of the same, a career politician whose only fulfilled commitment is to herself.”

Trump also blasted Haley for throwing her hat in the ring despite previously pledging not to run for president against him.

“I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it,” Haley said at the time. “That’s something that we’ll have a conversation about at some point, if that decision is something that has to be made.”

As Re-Election Race Nears, Lori Lightfoot Gets Tough on Teachers Unions

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As Re-Election Race Nears, Lori Lightfoot Gets Tough on Teachers Unions

(Headline USA) Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot took aim at the Chicago Teachers Union this week, blaming the organization for the “chaos” in the city’s public education system.

During a debate against two of her opponents in the Chicago mayoral race, Lightfoot claimed the CTU is responsible for the city’s enrollment decline and said teachers’ frequent walk-outs have harmed students.

This is not the first time Lightfoot has turned on the CTU, which normally aligns itself with Democrats. Last year, for example, Lightfoot blasted the teachers’ union for encouraging its members to go on strike after the city announced it would return to in-person learning.

“To be clear, what the Chicago Teacher’s Union did was an illegal walk-out. They abandoned their posts and they abandoned kids and their families,” the mayor said at the time. “My team has been working every single day. They’re back at it again here Sunday.” 

However, Lightfoot normally has a close relationship with the CTU. She even used her connections to the union to ask teachers to volunteer for her campaign — a request she later claimed was a “mistake.”

“There was absolutely no nefarious intent on the part of the staff person and there simply was no coercion, I’ve seen that question bubble up. There was no coercion, no intent to do that by any means by this young woman and no city resources were used,” Lightfoot said last month.

One possible explanation for Lightfoot’s pivot against the CTU is that one of the union’s organizers, Brandon Johnson, is running against her.

Johnson has bragged about using the CTU to infuse leftist ideology in the public classroom.

“Convincing our members to wear a red T-shirt on Friday was a task,” Johnson said back in 2013. “The baby Socialists would just wear the buttons. We gotta start them off gently. Eventually they started putting on red T-shirts … building that sense of consciousness.”

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