Category Archives: Antifa

THE BACKGROUND: On Jan, 6 as Congress was meeting to certify the victory of Joe Biden, hundreds of President Donald Trumps supporters who claimed the election had been stolen violently pushed past police, broke through windows and doors and entered the Capitol, forcing legislators to interrupt their work and flee. Those whose work was upended included Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the Senate and had to hide from rioters who were calling for his hanging.

A Capitol Police officer collapsed and died after engaging with rioters who descended on the building. A medical examiner later determined he died of natural causes. Many other officers were injured. A woman from California was shot to death by Capitol Police and three other people died after medical emergencies during the chaos. In the weeks and months that followed, four of the officers who responded to the riot killed themselves.

Federal prosecutors charged approximately 700 rioters with such crimes as violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, assaulting a federal law enforcement officer and threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. So far, more than 120 defendants have pleaded guilty to charges related to the insurrection, primarily misdemeanors. A House committee is now investigating the origins of the attack and what Trump did or didnt do to stop it.

Here, two Associated Press journalists involved in the coverage once inside the Capitol and one outside reflect on the story and their own experiences.

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JOHN MINCHILLO, photographer, New York, who was beaten by rioters:

I went into it with the understanding that there was going to be potential violence. thats why I was there in the first place. The place that we were assigned to was out by the Washington Monument by the White House. And we understood that this situation was rapidly degenerating even before POTUS came to speak, because the warmup acts were particularly aggressive.

There were television screens up, and it very much had the feeling of a concert. It had a circus-like quality to it. And they have big screens and in the photograph that I made that really sticks with me. They zoomed into a close-up of (Trumps) eyes and the color grading is really aggressive, very high contrast. So the darks are really dark and the lights are really light and the color is really saturated and almost seems like a movie trailer for a Michael Bay movie, like Transformers, you know, something like Rambo. And they had jets flying over and really patriotic music and there was camo and fatigues and people waving flags. It had really intense music and it was very militaristic.

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(AP photographer Julio Cortez and I then ran to the Capitol.) We turn around and we look towards the Washington Monument and theres just a sea of people and theyre starting to trickle in. And we knew in that moment that this was going to go sideways very quickly, because we look behind us and there were 20 police officers and a few metal barricades. They put up more metal barricades for a typical parade in New York City than they had there.

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I knew implicitly, dont hit the ground and dont fight back. You need to de-escalate. And Im thinking to myself, If I do anything to get these guys to start swinging at me, theyre going turn on everybody else. . I knew that if I started swinging . theyre going to kill me, right? Theyll stomp on your neck and youre done. And they were going to grab everybody that had a press credential. After Julio and I calmed down them down, they turned and said Hes Antifa! They go from calling me press, to Antifa, like that. And thats when I was thrown over a wall.

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I was relieved that we got out. And then I was angry that we were pulled from the front. We tried to go back through three different doors. We were on the door opposite the mall and on top of the stairs. It got dicey again and they were attacking me again. So we understood that at that point, were not going to get in. We were very frustrated about that.

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MARY CLARE JALONICK, congressional reporter, Washington, D.C., was in the House chamber

At 1 p.m., the electoral count started. It began normally, with the two sides debating the electoral count from certain states But as they got into it, we started getting security alerts on our phones, and you could see that there were members on the floor looking at their phones. At one point I told my editor, Im going to go outside and try to look out a window and see whats going on. And a gallery staffer and I went and looked out a front window of the Capitol. It was kind of like one of those moments in a movie where its just like, Oh my gosh, because we looked outside and there were just so many people. Usually theres a perimeter at events like this, but there was no perimeter and people were just right up against the building.

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All of a sudden there was a lockdown at the Capitol. The House was gaveling in and out of session and there was a lot of chaos on the floor as members were trying to figure out what was going on. And then at some point they gaveled out for a final time and a Capitol Police officer went up to the rostrum and started talking in the microphone. Thats where you see the president speaking at the State of the Union that is not a normal thing for a Capitol Police officer to be talking to members from the rostrum. And he said, there has been a breach and tear gas was dispersed in the Capitol Rotunda. He said to members, you need to get your gas masks out from underneath your chairs, and I dont think many members even knew there were gas masks under their chairs. So it was total pandemonium on the floor. People are yelling out, Lock the doors! Lock the doors! There were some members who were yelling about Trump, and a Democrat yelled at Republicans, This is your fault! It was just total chaos. One member was up on his desk trying to help people get their gas masks on, and eventually they gave us gas masks in the press gallery and were trying to figure them out, and we have no idea how to open this thing or whether we should put it on. And when you open it, theres this really, really loud buzzing. So all of a sudden theres this loud buzzing just echoing through the whole chamber. And at one point we looked down and the House chaplain, who had just started a couple of days before, was saying a prayer. That was definitely a moment where it was like, OK, this is pretty serious.

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The police evacuated all of the House members who were on the floor, but all of us in the upper gallery, press and House members, were still there because there were rioters in the hallway just outside. They moved everyone to one end of the gallery and police told us to duck down. At one point while everyone was ducking, there was a loud gunshot that rang throughout the chamber. It turned out that that was the gunshot that killed Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was trying to get in through a broken window over a door just immediately adjacent to the House chamber. And when that happened, members really started to panic. Some of them were yelling to take off your pins, and there was obviously a lot of fear.

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For a full overview of the events that shaped 2021, A Year That Changed Us: 12 Months in 150 Photos, a collection of AP photos and journalists recollections, is available now: https://www.ap.org/books/a-year-that-changed-us

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2021 Notebook: On Jan. 6, chaos inside the Capitol and out - WVNS-TV

Plaintiffs in a landmark civil trial that began today in Charlottesville, Va. will try to prove that organizers of the deadly Unite the Right rally four years ago conspired to commit racially motivated violence.

But as the trial got underway on Monday, controversy surrounding prospective jurors' negative views of "Antifa" sent an ominous signal about the prospect of defendants deflecting blame.

Richard Spencer, the one-time figurehead of the alt-right, and neo-Nazi Christopher Cantwell, who is currently serving an active prison sentence on a separate matter, are representing themselves.

RELATED:White nationalist Richard Spencer's life is in shambles as Charlottesville trial looms: report

Jason Kessler, the local organizer of the Unite the Right rally, and Nathan Damigo, founder of Identity Evropa were represented by two lawyers in court.

Other lawyers are representing James Alex Fields Jr., who is currently serving a life sentence for murder in the car attack that killed Heather Heyer; Matthew Heimbach and Matthew Parrott of Traditionalist Worker Party; Michael Hill and Michael Tubbs of League of the South; and Jeff Schoep, former commander of National Socialist Movement.

Defendants Augustus Sol Invictus, Robert "Azzmador" Ray, Andrew Anglin, Elliott Kline, Vanguard America, Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and East Coast Knights of the Ku Klux Klan did not appear in the courtroom or have lawyers present to defend them.

Two days before the start of the trial, the plaintiffs requested that Cantwell be severed from the other defendants, in consideration of his due-process arguments, suggesting he could be tried at a later date when he is no longer incarcerated. Cantwell said in open court on Monday that he opposed being severed from the case, and Judge Moon denied the motion in accordance with his wishes.

While the plaintiffs' request was turned down, the matter afforded them the opportunity to head off a post-trial appeal by Cantwell. Roberta Kaplan, one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiffs, told Judge Norman K. Moon the request to sever Cantwell from the other defendants was made to balance the need to move forward with the trial after four years against Cantwell's "legitimate right to have documents in real time or as in real time as possible to prepare."

She added, "If he opposes being severed from the case, we believe he has waived any due process argument for appeal."

Going into the trial, the plaintiffs have harbored concern that negative views of "Antifa" could prejudice jurors against holding the white supremacist organizers of Unite the Right responsible for the violence that ensued during the rally. In a motion filed on the eve of the trial, the plaintiffs requested that the court automatically excuse "any prospective jurors who hold extreme views about 'Antifa' and its members."

During voir dire on Monday, Judge Moon asked prospective jurors who had expressed negative views about "Antifa" on their questionnaires if they were able to set aside what other counter-protesters may have done, and "try the case between these plaintiffs and these defendants." Moon reminded some of the prospective jurors that the plaintiffs were not "Antifa."

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Karen Dunn, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs, told Judge Moon she didn't think his questioning on jurors' views of "antifa" was sufficient.

"People with extreme views of antifa may be less inclined to believe that defendants could be responsible and more inclined to believe defendants' claims of self-defense," Dunn said.

Judge Moon dismissed Dunn's concern, suggesting that counsel for plaintiffs and defendants confer to mutually agree upon jurors that should be excused because their responses exhibited bias towards one party or the other.

The court seated a prospective juror who told the court he views "antifa" as "involving themselves in racial riots and stuff and causing a lot of problems." While questioning the juror, Moon clarified: "No one is claiming that any member of antifa is a party in this case."

Cantwell indicated that, in fact, he does plan to claim during trial that at least one plaintiff is involved with "Antifa."

"It's actually my understanding that one plaintiff is an adherent or at least a sympathizer of Antifa," Cantwell interjected, referring to Seth Wispelwey, a United Church of Christ pastor who organized an interfaith clergy group to protest the Unite the Right rally.

(The plaintiffs have stated for the record that they are not members of Antifa.)

In response, Judge Moon admitted his lack of knowledge about the antifascist movement, saying, "I don't know the structure of Antifa. Do they have members sign up?"

Dunn jumped in, continuing to press her case: "Mr. Cantwell's argument underscores why it would be wrong to have people with extreme views about Antifa on the jury."

Later, as Moon questioned another juror who said she believes Antifa is a "terrorist organization," Dunn said she was concerned about the juror's ability to be impartial considering that Cantwell plans to draw connections between the plaintiffs and Antifa.

Moon suggested he wouldn't allow the defendants to pursue that argument without evidence.

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"If you have evidence, bring it," he said.

"I intend to ask, Mr. Wispelwey if he tweeted, 'Jesus was Antifa,'" Cantwell said. "Because, in fact, he did."

Moon declined to excuse the juror for cause, but the plaintiffs later used one of their peremptory strikes to keep her off the jury.

Moon dismissed another juror who said he views Antifa as "terrorists" and that he did not believe he could set aside his opinion.

Judge Moon dismissed a Black woman from the jury for cause. A school bus driver, the woman wrote on her questionnaire that she had "feelings towards hate groups that disrupt the peace." Under questioning by Judge Moon about whether she could set aside her own opinions and follow the evidence to reach a fair decision about the defendants, the woman said, "I would think I could. I don't know. I have so much personal opinion. I know how to be fair and listen. I don't know why that's difficult for me to explain. I would like to think that I could. But a hundred percent? I don't know."

The juror caught Spencer's attention. During the lunch break, a hot mic caught him saying, "The bus driver who couldn't answer the question that strikes me as a cause."

When defense counsel formally objected, Dunn noted to the court that she was the only minority on the first of four panels to seat the jury. Moon responded that he gave the woman an opportunity during questioning to convince him that she could put her personal beliefs aside to render an impartial judgement solely on the evidence.

"I felt I went as far as I could to rehabilitate her, and I feel she did not," the judge said. "I'm going to excuse her for cause."

By the end of the day on Monday, which ended with a deluge outside the courthouse in Charlottesville, Judge Moon had seated seven jurors from two panels. He said he plans to call two more panels tomorrow, but said jury selection could run over to Wednesday morning, adding that he would like to have opening statements on Wednesday afternoon.

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Charlottesville "Unite the Right" trial devolves into ...

If youve been following the Antifa action over the past two years in Portland, you know that journalist Andy Ngo has been an indispensable asset for providing accurate news, when the media has sometimes been less than happy to cover the issue or often, less than accurate on what has occurred.

That made him a target of the Antifa crowd. Hes been chased and/or attacked multiple times in the performance of his job. One of the attacks left him with a serious head injury, according to his reports. Another time he was attacked and chased into a hotel.

But now, finally, Ngo appears to have gotten at least a little bit of justice, in another case that happened about a month before the incident where he sustained the head injury. In this earlier incident, he was allegedly attacked at a gym and according to the indictment, had his phone taken from him.

John Colin Hacker has now been charged with third-degree robbery, according to the Multnomah County District Attorneys Office.

From Fox News:

Conservative author Andy Ngo said Friday that a man who allegedly attacked him and took his cellphone at a gym has been charged.

I hope last weeks indictment of Mr Hacker signals a change in the prosecutors office in Portland, Ngo said in a news release distributed Friday by the Center for American Liberty, which is representing him in a lawsuit against an Antifa group. For years, too many violent extremists falsely claiming to be fighting for racial justice have gotten away with campaigns of terror and violence against journalists and citizens.

Footage from the incident shows a man attempting to snatch the cellphone of the person filming him inside the gym, according to a tweet posted by Ngo showing the alleged attack.

I will break your (expletive) phone, someone is heard saying during the encounter.

Ngos lawyer, Harmeet K. Dhillon, the CEO of the Liberty Center, indicated it was about time, telling Fox News, Two years later, this is finally a step in the right direction for the rule of law in Portland, where Antifa has been operating with impunity.

There is still a long road ahead for the justice that Andy Ngo deserves, she added. Andy has endured years of harassment, serious threats on his life and the inability to live in his hometown at the hands of these domestic terrorists. This is a good start, but were hoping to see more of these actions.

Its not clear why its taken so long to get the man charged.

Part of the problem with getting justice not just for Ngo, but for any action involving Antifa has been the far left nature of the government and the Multnomah D.A., Mike Schmidt. Even if Antifa were arrested they would be quickly released, many often not even charged.

Now, more Democrats are moving away from the Defund the Police idea that has hurt their cities. The reason theyre moving away from it is not because of that or any great concern about people being hurt. The reason theyre moving away from it is that its hurting them politically in the eyes of the public.

The Portland Mayor, Ted Wheeler is now even talking about hiring more police. But this is the same guy who undercut the police with various moves last year, as Ngo points out.

Now lets hope thats a sign of some real change for the future. Well believe it when we see it from Ted Wheeler. He talks a lot, and then has precious little positive action.

But with a little justice for Ngo, lets hope there are more steps in the right direction.

Excerpt from:

Andy Ngo Finally Gets Some Justice Against Antifa RedState

Far-left groups such as antifa appear to use skateboards as tools of destruction, videos captured at protests and riots show.

Anthony Huber, one of the men fatally shot by Kyle Rittenhouse during the 2020 riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, had gained attention for the use of his skateboard to attack Rittenhouse. (RELATED: Kyle Rittenhouse Acquitted On All Charges)

Skateboards have also been used to violently smash through windows or to assault police officers.

Skaters appear to have a history of participating in protests a well as utilizing the slogan skate and destroy to summarize their involvement in protest culture, according to a blog post from skater magazine Jenkem.

Things are replaceable; life is not. No building nor brand no matter how luxurious should be valued at anything even approximating a humans life, no matter what human, the article said.

In the post, titled A Skaters Guide To Attending A Protest, the writers break down the approach and necessary supplies needed for attending a protest. One of the tools they specifically mention is a skateboard, explaining how its pretty cool how many uses a skateboard can have in a protest.

Skateboards allow protesters to write protest slogans on the grip, and can be used as a tried and true device for quickly dipping out of tricky situations, the article said. They are also effective in self-defense and can make a shield and even if you get enough skaters on the frontline you can link together to form a phalanx on some gladiator kind of tip.

Tara Szczepanski, a video journalist, is also shown below being allegedly attacked by antifa/BLM members in New York with eggs, umbrellas and a skateboard.

Skateboards have also been used to break into stores and smash cop cars.

The video below shows antifascists using pepper spray and skateboards to attack patriots in Portland.

A skate shop based in California, Whatever Skateboards, advertises on their site that they do custom antifa skateboards.

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Antifa Appears To Have A History Of Using Skateboards As Weapons - The Daily Caller

Around 200 people gathered in downtown Portland following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Wisconsin.

Authorities declared a riot after demonstrators smashed windows and faced off with cops in protest of the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on Friday evening, Nov. 19, in downtown Portland.

A crowd of perhaps 200 gathered near the Multnomah County Justice Center around 7 p.m. Friday their anger spurred by the not guilty verdict issued by a jury in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the fatal shooting of two people by Rittenhouse, 17, during a protest last year. Rittenhouse said the shootings were in self-defense.

The confrontation heated up after the black-clad crowd spied a band of police officers patrolling east on Jefferson Street; the officers disappeared into the secure parking garage on Jefferson and Southwest First Avenue, and protesters began banging on the rolled-down gate, shattering its portholes. Officer deployed a loud and smoky flashbang inside the parking garage, momentarily scattering the crowd.

Members of the protest group subsequently smashed several windows on the parking garage's ground floor, which are used by the city's print shop. A patrol vehicle's rear hatch window was also shattered at some point, according to a news release.

The confrontation then shifted a block over, as protesters began to congregate near the sally port on the side of the Justice Center used as the Portland Police Bureau's Central Precinct on Madison Avenue at Southwest Second Street. Demonstrators attempted to barricade the entrance using a Biketown Bike and several large tree branches. Officers raised and lowered the garage gate repeatedly, locking eyes with the crowd, before suddenly pushing forward, toppling one wheelchair user during the fray.

"Deputies met the trespassers on the ramp to prevent entry and began instructing them to exit," said Chris Liedle, a spokesman for the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, which declared the event a riot using the police bureau's amplified sound truck. "The crowd, which was described as hostile, launched urine, alcoholic beverages, water bottles and batteries at deputies during the event."

The spokesman described the rush in this manner: "Even as deputies instructed people to leave, deputies continued to take projectiles and were subjected to hostile behavior. Demonstrators then stood at the garage exit, repeatedly preventing the gate from closing by pushing on it. Again, deputies asked the crowd to leave. Demonstrators ignored the repeated requests and continued blocking the gate. Deputies swiftly moved toward the demonstrators that were preventing the gate from closing to allow space for the gate to close properly. Deputies retreated inside and were able to re-secure the gate."

Police said one person, who was not immediately identified, was arrested on a warrant, while another unidentified person was criminally cited. Officers say they stopped vehicles associated with the group, leading to five citations and 17 warnings. The crowd eventually dispersed without further incident.

Joe English, a reporter for the KATU television news channel, said his camera crew was attacked by protesters who didn't want to be filmed; one camera was damaged, the station reported.

Zane SparlingReporter971-204-7865email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Follow me on Twitter

You count on us to stay informed and we depend on you to fund our efforts.Quality local journalism takes time and money. Please support us to protect the future of community journalism.

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Riot declared as Portland antifa protest Rittenhouse verdict - Pamplin Media Group

When Charlie Cain, Steve Skarnulis, and several other members of their Austin-based law firm stepped inside Rudy Giulianis Manhattan office on a blazing hot morning in mid-August, they found that the buildings air-conditioning system was shut off. The officepacked with enough American flags and patriotic-themed paraphernalia to fill a Statue of Liberty gift shophad the feel of a steam room. To compensate for the heat, the 77-year-old Giuliani, who sat near a life-size blowup of his Person of the Year cover from the December 2001 issue of Time magazine, passed out chilled Coca-Colas and pressed one of the cans to his forehead. It was a friendly, if slightly awkward, gesture, and the last hint of camaraderie before both sides took their places inside a conference room to begin a three-hour deposition that would pit the Texas attorneys against one of the most pugnacious members of former president Donald Trumps inner circle.

Cain, Skarnulis, and their team were representing Eric Coomer, a former employee of Dominion Voting Systems, a company that manufactures voting machines and tabulators, who had found himself at the center of a conspiracy theory about the election. A few days after the presidential race was called for Joe Biden last November, a right-wing podcaster, Joe Oltmann, alleged that Coomer had tampered with the companys machines to steal the election from Trump. Oltmann claimed to have infiltrated an antifa conference call in which Coomer could be overheard discussing his plans to upend American democracy. Days later, Giuliani began to spread the conspiracy tale. During a televised press conference on November 19, 2020, Giuliani cited the supposed antifa recording with Coomer. The man is a vicious, vicious man, Giuliani said, adding that on the recording Coomer specifically says that they are going to fix the election.

Coomer, who occasionally posted about his disdain for Trump on Facebook, has no association with the antifa (short for anti-fascist) movement and denies participating in the group phone call cited by Oltmann and Giuliani. Neither of those two have produced any evidence of the alleged call. Giuliani didnt respond to multiple requests for an interview. Oltmanns lawyer, Andrea M. Hall, said her client stands by his allegations. He has never lied and he 100 percent believed that it was Eric Coomer on that antifa phone call, she said.

Coomer is suing Giuliani for defamation. His suit also targets conservative publications and other prominent figures who served the Trump campaign, including Sidney Powell, a conspiracy-touting Dallas lawyer who briefly represented Trump in election lawsuits. Last week, Coomer filed a separate suit against a Colorado media figure and a conservative radio broadcasting company who are also accused of promoting the Coomer conspiracy. Coomers team says it hasnt calculated the exact damages its seeking at this stage of the suit, but the number will be in the millions and will include exemplary damages, which are typically awarded to make an example of those who commit reckless and harmful behavior.

Giuliani, like all defendants except for the conservative website and cable channel Newsmax, has not retracted his claims about Coomer. The mid-August meeting was part of the discovery process in the suit. Despite the oppressive heat inside the office, the lawyers from Cain & Skarnulis said Giuliani seemed to be in good spirits as they set up a video camera and began their deposition. I think Giuliani does want to charm at first, Skarnulis told me on a recent afternoon back in his Austin office. I think he was playing to the video and liked having a camera there.

The onetime Mafia crime fighters apparent affability, however, was short-lived.A few minutes after the meeting began, the lawyers repeatedly asked Giuliani whether hed instructed President Trumps inner circle to prematurely declare victory on election night, as reported in the recently released book, I Alone Can Fix It by Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker. Giuliani grew increasingly combative, denying the allegation under oath before demanding to know whether an audio recording of him advising declaring premature victory existed. Tell me who said I said that! Giuliani can be heard demanding in video footage shown to Texas Monthly. Someone has to have said, Rudy Giuliani saidpffft! I didnt say that so Im trying to figure out whos lying! Cain responded by pointing out that Giuliani hadnt produced an audio recording of Coomer promising to tamper with the 2020 election, despite on multiple occasions having suggested he had one. Cain wanted to know why Giuliani thought his situation demanded a higher threshold of evidence, attempting to box the former prosecutor into a position that would likely strike a jury as hypocritical. A totally different thing! Giuliani shot back.

The intense exchange was one of many that have taken place during recent depositions with some of the most vocal proponents of the big lie, the baseless conspiracy theory that the election was stolen from Donald Trump. For more than a year now, the conspiracy has animated the Republican party, to the point that a majority of Republicans tell pollsters they believe Trump won the election. Proponents of this fabrication have preemptively sowed doubts about next years midterm election and the 2024 presidential contest. But prosecution of those who have spread the lie has been slow. To date, the U.S. Department of Justice has yet to prosecute White House officials who might have known of plans for the January 6 Capitol riot, and a congressional committee investigating the insurrection has, in many critics eyes, been successfully stymied by subpoena-defying witnesses, such as Trump strategist Stephen Bannon, who are using the slow-moving court proceedings to their advantage.

Civil courts have become one the few places where big lie promoters are being held to account. Defamation cases, pursued by Coomer and voting machine companies including Dominion, have become an unlikely weapon in the fight against authoritarianism. Coomers lawyers believe his case could become one of the most important before the 2024 election. It already has resulted in revealing depositions that have begun to shine a light into Trumpworld disinformation, allowing outsiders to begin mapping the big lies origins and revealing how the fabrication was hand-fed to the conservative media ecosystem.

Peter Salib, an assistant law professor at the University of Houston who studies constitutional issues relating to false online speech, said he expects the legal world to closely watch the Coomer case and other similar ones. He said they could be difficult to win: courts have traditionally aimed to preserve as much free speech in the public domain as possible. For Coomers case to succeed in court, his lawyers will have to demonstrate actual malice on the defendants part and will not only have to show that their clients reputation was damaged by false statements, but that those statements were made intentionally, with a reckless disregard for the truth. To meet that standard, it will not be enough to show that Giuliani merely made no effort to verify Oltmanns claim, according to Salib. Rather, lawyers must show he had some reason to doubt it and then performed no follow-up investigation before citing it. If Giuliani did indeed say that Coomer was on some kind of antifa call where he said he was going to change votes, that sounds like the kind of claim that most people would naturally doubt, absent some verification, Salib said. If thats right, then it might well be actual malice to do no further investigation.

Going to battle with some of Trumps closest allies was never the plan, according to Cain and Skarnulis, whose scrappy Austin law firm has, over the past decade, primarily tried cases involving construction and insurance companies, or East Texas oil and gas disputes. But, by chance, Cain met Coomer in 2019, while celebrating the verdict of another defamation case, completely unrelated to the election, at a bar in Salida, Colorado, where the firm has a second office. A little more than a year later, as the big lie began to germinate within the right-wing media ecosystem, first implicating Dominion and then, days later, singling out Coomer specifically, the 51-year-old remembered the chance encounter and decided to give Cain and Skarnulis a call. He had begun receiving death threats, and in fear for his life was hiding at a friends cabin in the Rocky Mountains. When Dr. Coomer called us I remember him saying, Are you sure your firm is able to handle this kind of thing? Skarnulis recounted during an interview inside his office in downtown Austin this month. I said, Well, no, but I dont know that anybody has any experience with this and if we cant do it, Charlie and I will be the first to tell you that we need to bring in other help.

The decision to take the case was a tough one. Before doing so, both lawyers spoke to their families about the potential risk associated with antagonizing the increasingly violent elements of Americas political culture. Their fears have been substantiated. The firms lawyers have been singled out on Parler and Telegram, two alternative social-media platforms with limited moderation that have become breeding grounds for extremist right-wing rhetoric. The firm has removed public signage from its Salida office and hired private security guards who accompany them to court appearances, as well as online security experts. Unlike many plaintiffs lawyers involved in the public spotlight, theyve made a point of declining most interview requests.

Coomers lawsuit is currently pending in a Colorado court, where the defendants, including Giuliani, are attempting to have the case dismissed using Colorados anti-SLAPP law, a rule that is designed to protect journalists from frivolous lawsuits. Should the case proceed, it is likely headed to the Colorado Supreme Court next year.The firm has an arrangement with Coomer, who is not paying out of pocket, to take a set percentage of any damages he is awarded. In the interim, to cover expenses, which are significant according to the lawyers, the firm may introduce a crowdfunding campaign.

Taking on the case has proved to be a heavy lift, one that has required more than one third of the firms seventeen lawyers working full time. Still, their staff has found itself heavily outnumbered.At a recent hearing about whether the case should move forward, Cain & Skarnuliss six-person team faced off against a group of about thirty lawyers, who packed not only the defense table but also the jury box. Cain said the importance of confronting the big lieat a time when its still being nurtured politically and financiallyhas overridden any concerns about the cases difficulty. Having a front-row seat has reinforced for him how dynamic and dangerous the conspiracy theory remains. I liken it to a rising sea: its not going away, and the only way well be able to combat this mass movement is by moving to higher ground and shining a light on whats going on, he said. This case is going to help, but if were not vigilant in this country things are going to rapidly deteriorate.

Coomers case might provide a model for understanding how lies about the election were legitimized by Republicans in office and by conservative media outlets. Not long after Oltmann made his claim on YouTube about Coomer, without calling him to verify it, according to the lawsuit, other conservative media outlets began to use Oltmann as a primary source. Gateway Pundit, a conservative news outlet, appears to have published the first article about Coomer. Accusations then rippled across the conservative media landscape, the lawsuit maintains, and eventually were cited in a tweet by Donald Trumps son Eric that reached some 4.5 million social media users. At no point, the suit says, did any media outlet publishing stories about Coomer seek a comment from him.

The lawyers, who have assigned a full-time staffer to monitor and track newly arrived conspiracies involving their client, say theyve been shocked by the number of potential defendantsa list that continues to growas well as by the speed with which misinformation spreads. Just when you think its been completely disproven, somebody else pops up with an interview on a podcast or cyber symposium where they end up talking about Dr. Coomer and making the same allegations despite an absolute lack of proof, Skarnulis said. Many appear to be pushing the conspiracy to attempt to overturn the election results, others to attract an audience.

Until consequences manifest, both lawyers said, the proponents of the big lie are likely to view their effortsno matter how reckless and ill-conceivedas risks worth taking. Giulianis law license was suspended in New York after a court ruled he made demonstrably false and misleading statements as he led Trumps challenges of the election results. But the potential consequences of promoting unverified conspiracy theories at Coomers expense still appear to have been of little concern. Its not my job, in a fast-moving case, to go out and investigate every piece of evidence that was given to me, Giuliani said, more than an hour into the August deposition, when Cain asked him to explain why he considered Oltmann credible. Otherwise, youre never going to write a story. Youll never come to a conclusion.

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The Austin Law Firm Battling Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell Over the Big Lie - Texas Monthly

Biden grants Thanksgiving pardons to two turkeys

President Joe Biden pardoned two turkeys, Peanut Butter and Jelly, at the White House Friday in an annual Thanksgiving holiday tradition (Nov. 19)

AP

This Thursday…

I want to welcome everyone back to Thanksgiving. Its great to see you all

Wait. Grandpa?

Yes?

Can you pull up your mask?

Uh … all right, its just a little hard to breathe …

Leave him be, Allison.

Germs are germs. And with the baby-

Hes 7, Allison.

Shut up, Ricky.

Its all right, kids. Ill pull the mask up. Now …mxphhtg grfft akkt yrttll.

CANT UNDERSTAND YOU!

Whfft?

He cant talk with that thing."

He looks like a bank robber.

Robby, why dont you start? Youre the oldest son.

All right. Lets begin with a prayer.

Wait. Who are we praying to?

Who do you think, Alexis?

Well, I dont believe in God.

Since when?

Since theres no justice in the world. Havent you been paying attention? George Floyd? Jacob Blake? Our carbon footprint?

Who left a footprint? I told you all shoes off when you come in.

Its OK, Grandma.

Mftyll gfrftil wrzzzp!

What did Grandpa say?

Look, Im just saying that theres not a lot to be thankful for this year. We live in a racist society thats unfair to immigrants and unsafe to sexual identities.

Great. MSNBC is here.

Shut up, Fox News!

Kyle Rittenhouse!

CRT!

White supremacy!

Antifa!

Kids, didnt we say no politics at the table?

We said no Trump at the table.

I thought that was last year.

We didnt have Thanksgiving last year.

Because of COVID.

We shouldnt be having it this year. Not with the babies.

Your kids are teenagers, Vicki. And theyre vaccinated.

Speaking of that, is everyone here boostered?

Sure…yes…of course…No… Yes…Naturally…

Wait. Who said no?

I did.

Cousin George?

Sorry. The CVS was closed.

You need to sit over there.

Here?

Keep going.

Here?

Keep going.

I cant see him anymore.

YOU CAN STOP NOW, GEORGE!

Look, lets just eat, OK?

Food looks great.

Is anything here vegan?

Since when are you vegan, Shania?

Since animals shouldnt die for us, thats when.

Why dont you just move into the chicken coop?

Shut up, Ricky.

I dont think we should indulge in all this food. Not when people in the world are starving.

You want us to mail it to them?

Guys! Guys! Can we stop fighting?

Who you calling guy?

Ok, girls and guys!

I prefer another pronoun.

Can someone switch the subject?

How about those Lions?

Great. Now Im really depressed.

FMTY!

Whatd he say?

FMTY!

Just take off the mask, Grandpa.

FAMILY!

What?...Yeah, what?...Say it again?…

Family! Youre all family! Listen to yourselves! You havent once asked how the other is doing! You havent once asked if you can help one another. You havent even asked if youre all healthy.

Oh…

Yeah...

Um…

You all OK?

Im all right … Im OK … I had a root canal …

Good. Were talking normal. Now. Can we cut the turkey?

Go ahead, Grandpa.

First, a prayer.

Not again

Dear Lord. Please let us get through this meal without attacking each other, demeaning each other, insulting each other, asking about politics, race, sexuality, immigration, money, taxes, celebrities or Facebook sites. Can I get an amen?

Amen…amen…amen…yeah, amen…

…..

So.

So….

How about those Lions?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE. REMEMBER THE THANKS PART.

Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates with his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Download The Sports Reporters podcast each Monday and Thursday on-demand through Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify and more. Follow him on Twitter @mitchalbom.

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Mitch Albom: Back around the turkey table, and the talk turns to ... - Detroit Free Press

Fox News edited an article Sunday to downplay the presence of white nationalists at an anti-vaccine protest over the weekend, removing references to the racist activists after an initial article describing their role organizing the event prompted pushback from far-right critics.

On Saturday afternoon, followers of white-nationalist leader Nick Fuentes rallied near New York Citys Gracie Mansion to protest the citys vaccine mandate. That night, Fox News writer Adam Sabes wrote an article about Fuentes group facing off with left-wing, anti-fascist activists.

The articles original headline read Antifa members clash with White nationalists over COVID vaccine mandate outside NYCs Gracie Mansion. The first version of the article described how Fuentes fans call themselves groypers, and included an Anti-Defamation League description of them as a white supremacist group.

The story soon prompted online criticism from Fuentes and other far-right activists, including columnist Michelle Malkin. On social media app Telegram, Fuentes declared that Fox was scum for quoting the ADL.

Fox News using ADL talking points about me and AF, Fuentes wrote. Scum.

Within a few hours of its initial publication, Fox had edited the article and its headline to remove every mention of Fuentes name. The headlines reference to White nationalists was removed, and changed to describe Fuentes followers instead as anti-vaccine protesters.

Fox also deleted references to the Anti-Defamation Leagues criticism of Fuentes. The initial article included a quote from the ADL and the sentence, The Anti-Defamation League considers the Groyper Army as a white supremacist group. Both lines were absent in the articles new version.

Fox and Sabes did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fuentes has a history of making antisemitic comments, and marched in the 2017 white supremacist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. While the original Fox article mentioned Fuentes twice and described him as the rallys organizer, the story was missing any reference to Fuentes and the groypers by Sunday afternoon.

The article was also edited to add more critical references to anti-fascist counterprotesters. In the articles initial version, they were described as antifa protesters. But in the updated version, the language was made more drastic, describing them as antifa radicals.

Fuentes was joined at the rally by other white nationalists, including Anthime Gionet, a Jan. 6 riot defendant known as Baked Alaska. Like Fuentes, Gionet marched in the Charlottesville white-supremacist rally.

Earlier Saturday, Fuentes group crashed another anti-mandate rally outside Pfizers headquarters, prompting pushback from that events organizers, who said they didnt want their event tied to extremist ideologies.

Read more from the original source:

Fox News Story Disappears Own Critique of White Nationalists - The Daily Beast

WASHINGTON (WISH) A Shelbyville, Indiana, man is facing charges for entering the U.S. Capitol with a firearm during the Jan. 6 insurrection and assaulting a police officer, say court documents released Friday.

Mark A. Mazza, who is believed to be 56 years old, was charged Nov. 12 in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia.

Mazza broke through a police line near the Capitol steps as Congress worked to confirm the election of President Joe Biden, according to the court documents. Investigators reviews video footage where Mazza, carrying a baton in his hand, and other protestors pushed through a police security line.

Court documents say video shows Mazza holding a U.S. Capitol door open for other protestors and swinging the baton at officers. In that video, investigators say, Mazza yells, This is our fucking house! We own this house! We want our house!

During the interaction with protestors, Mazza assaulted a U.S. Capitol Police sergeant, the court documents say. The sergeant told investigators Mazza had picked up a revolver that fell to the ground during their encounter. Investigators later learned that the revolver had five live rounds, including two hollow-point rounds and three shotgun shells, both which can be fired from the firearm.

On Jan. 8, Mazza called the Shelbyville Police Department to report his revolver had been stolen. He claimed he lost the firearm on a Jan. 5 trip to the Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati.

Mazza later told investigators that Antifa was behind the riot, and he reported the gun as stolen because Antifa might get it and kill people. Antifa has been described as a decentralized, leaderless movement of people who vigorously oppose fascism.

In the court documents, investigators shared photos from Mazzas Twitter account showing him Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol. Mazza told investigators in March that I was there (at the Capitol) so were a million other people.

These are the charges filed against Mazza:

Read this article:

Shelbyville man charged with attacking officer, carrying revolver in US Capitol insurrection - WISHTV.com

It's that time of year again when we carve up New Jersey's political turkeys of the past year.

Each Thanksgiving week, we offer a sample of turkeys the bone-headed remarks, statements and gaffes that have emerged over the busy months of 2021, which featured the governor's race and contests in all 120 seats of the Legislature.

Of course, there is another month or so left in the year when more eye-rolling moments could emerge during the final homestretch of the legislative session, designated by another famous fowl the lame duck. But that may be the topic for another roundup.

But fornow, enjoy the feast.

King Penna, the campaign manager for Hirsh Singh, a Donald Trump diehard who sought the Republican nomination for governor last spring, brought along a videographer backstage at the 101.5 FM debate last spring in an apparent attempt to provoke the wife of rival Jack Ciattarelli into a viral confrontation. Penna succeeded, but perhaps not the way the Singh campaign had intended.Melinda Ciattarelli responded with a profanity-laced retort that grew in vehemence as Penna clownishly dragged the couple's three adult-age children into the discussion. Penna's ploy flopped, and he found himself on the defensive on the Republican-leaning 101.5 FM and condemned by Republicans around the state.

Project Veritas, headed by conservative activist James O'Keefe, released videos purporting to exposesecret plans by Gov. Phil Murphy to impose a statewide vaccine mandateandboost pandemic aid to undocumented immigrants after winning reelection. The first video raised more questions about Veritas' tactics and reporting than about Murphy's intentions, and the hit piece on immigrants revealed Veritas' shoddy homework. Murphy was already on recordsupporting more aid for immigrants before the video's release.

2020 Turkeys: NJ's 2020 top political turkeys: Racist Trump tweets and yes, we know who Judy Persichilli is

Lisa McCormick, a perennial gadfly and mostly cyberspace candidate,tried to bluff her way onto the Democratic Party ballotfor governor in Juneby filing a petition that apparently merged a database of names with a petition sheet. An administrative law judge found that none of the 2,000 signatures on the ballot were valid.Five people testified that their names were on the petition despite not authorizing them to appear, and at least two signers were found to have died before they were said to have signed the petition. Some of the purported petitioners including family acquaintances of this columnist moved out of state years earlier and had no idea how their names landed on the petition.

Phil Murphy reelected victory speech Asbury Park

Phil Murphy speaks to supporters at his victory rally in Asbury Park on Nov. 3, 2021. He was reelected to a second term as governor of New Jersey.

Thomas P. Costello, NorthJersey.com

Murphy twisted himself into pretzel contortions after Ciattarelli refused to concedethe governor's race until all the votes were counted. Murphy called Ciattarelli's foot dragging "dangerous" forfurther sowing doubts in the election process.Yet, when Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a fellow Democrat, delayed conceding in the aftermath of his stunning loss toEd Durr, atruck driver without political experience or money, Murphy said Sweeney"deserves the space he needs to count every voter." Hypocrisy 101.

Durr, who has bashed Muslims in tweets, quickly became a hero of the right wing media after toppling Sweeney. But when aFox News host tossed him a softball question "What's the first thing you are going to do when you get to the capital in Trenton?" Durr whiffed. "Uh, I really don't know. That's the key factor. I don't know what I don't know so I will learn what I need to know."

It's also quite clear that the voters in the 3rd Legislative District and the political establishment didn't know that much about Durr until he won the race.

Bergen County state Sen. Paul Sarlobrushed away reporters' pointed questions about the fast-tracked approval of the state budget in June with scant public oversight. And in the process, he offered up this cynical tidbit of candor:

"Every year, you guys say it wasn't transparent enough,'' said the Wood-Ridge Democrat who chairs the state senate budget committee. "I believe it is no different than any other year."

Darkness prevails over Trenton. Darkness under the dome.

Where do we go from here?: After election shocker, NJ Democrats seek safe harbor in political center

Ciattarelli may very well have convinced himself that he was speaking last November at a rally aimed to promote Republican legislative and gubernatorial races for 2021, but for many of the Trump devoteesin the crowd including a man donning the Confederate flag, or the person with the "Stop the Steal" sign flopping behind Ciattarelli on the podium the Statehouse was the furthest thing from their mind. President Joe Biden's "stolen" election was their main source of interest. Ciattarelli's see-no-extremist excuse never washed. Sadly, Ciattarelli's appearance may have helped boost turnout in the GOP base.

Carmelo G. Garcia, a former Newark official and economic development officer, was indicted by a federal grand jury in October for allegedly taking bribes fromco-owners of a pawnbroker and jewelry business to advance their Newark-basedredevelopment properties. Authorities said Garcia received lavish time-pieces for his help a Rolex watch with a Selling Price of $8,900, a Cartier watch with a Selling Price of $3,295, an Omega watch with a Selling Price of $7,295, and a chain with a Selling Price of $9,345. They may come in handy.Garcia is looking at the potential of some hard time a maximum of 20 years if convicted just on the conspiracy and fraud-related charges.

Robert Kugler, the Republican nominee for Bergen County sheriff, spent much of the past year in hot water. The state Attorney General accused Kugler, the Saddle Brook police chief, of havingofficersprovide police escorts for funerals to a funeral home he owns. But during his sheriff campaign, a 2013 audiotape of Kugleremerged, with him explaining to Saddle Brook council members the challenges of hiring officers from nearby municipalities. "You can take them from the jungles of Paterson or Trenton [or] Newark, and they come to lily-white Saddle Brook and its probably a little easier, Kugler told the council. But at the same time we need to tame them down a little bit.

Kugler lost to Democratic incumbent Anthony Cureton, who is Black.

A Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group was fired up after discovering that the presidential seal was embossed on the golf tees at Trump's golf club in Bedminster. "Unlawful use of the presidential seal for commercial purposes is no trivial matter, especially when it involves a former president who is actively challenging the legitimacy of the current president, said Noah Bookbinder, president of theCitizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. It's safe to say that among the depredations and crimes of the Trump years, golf tee abuse does not rank high on the list.

Rep. Andy Kim, who represents New Jersey's 3rdCongressional District in Burlington and Ocean counties, has endured coded attacks on his Korean heritage. The latest came this summer from MAGA Republican Tricia Flanagan, who is eyeing a run against Kim in next year's midterms. "He doesn't represent the interests of his district. He's not one of us,'' she says in a video. Flanagan's video failed to mention that she lived in Lawrenceville, which is in the 12th Congressional District.

Rep. Chris Smith, the longtime Republican congressman from the 4thCongressional District, broke ranks from many in his party and voted to certify Biden's victory shortly after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Still, Smith also gave credence to the myth promoted by riot defenders and deniers thatleftist "antifa" activists were responsible for the violence."I don't know that yet," Smith told The Middletown Patch.com."And I'll leave that to law enforcement to decipher their identities. I saw very strange things, some strange designs on tattoos, for example a hammer and sickle. Some very strange things. It may have been antifa." Smith failed to acknowledge the obvious cause of the riot that day: Trump, who carried Smith's district by 11 points in 2020.

Charlie Stile is a veteran political columnist. For unlimited access to his unique insights into New Jerseys political power structure and his powerful watchdog work,please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email:stile@northjersey.com

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NJ Political Turkeys of 2021: Dead voters, the truck driver, racism and worse | Stile - NorthJersey.com