Trump promotes violence in support of white supremacist rally in Virginia

President Donald Trump slammed Virginia Democrats over several gun violence prevention measures they’re looking to pass in the state, as a white supremacist group gears up to protest at an annual gun rights rally outside the state capitol. 

“Your 2nd Amendment is under very serious attack in the Great Commonwealth of Virginia,” the president tweeted on Friday evening. “That’s what happens when you vote for Democrats, they will take your guns away. Republicans will win Virginia in 2020. Thank you Dems!” 

Trump’s tweet came shortly after law enforcement arrested three suspected white supremacists in Maryland and Delaware who had allegedly talked about opening fire at Monday’s pro-gun rally.

The suspects belong to a violent white-supremacist group called “the Base,” whose aim is “to accelerate the downfall of the US government, incite a race war and establish a white ethno-state,” according to an affidavit filed in Georgia court, as The Wall Street Journal reported.

Several other members of the Base were arrested throughout the country this week on different charges. 

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, announced Wednesday that the state would temporarily ban firearms in Capitol Square prior to Monday’s rally, citing the arrests and threat of a shooting. 

Gun rights groups appealed Northam’s decision, but a federal appeals court judge upheld the temporary gun ban on Thursday, writing that “the Second Amendment right to bear arms is not unlimited.” 

“This is the right decision,” Northam said in a Thursday statement about the ruling. “These threats are real — as evidenced by reports of neo-Nazis arrested this morning after discussing plans to head to Richmond with firearms.”

Virginia Democrats, who control both the state house and senate, are working on passing several gun regulations, including background checks on gun sales, a law that would allow authorities to confiscate a gun from someone they believe is a danger to themselves, a ban on firearms in government buildings. 

Tens of thousands of pro-gun protesters are expected to gather outside the state capitol building in the annual Lobby Day protest.

[Business Insider]

Donald Trump Tells Security to Rough Up a Protester as He is Being Impeached

President Donald Trump attacked his security people as they dragged protesters out of his Michigan rally on Wednesday. Protesters flashed middle fingers as well as a giant banner reading, “Don the Con — you’re fired.”

“She’ll catch hell when she gets back home with mom,” Trump said. “You know, she screams a little bit and you know what I like to do to avoid them. Because I’ll tell you the big problem, I can hardly hear her. What happens is all of you people go, ‘Look, look, look.’ And the place — so there’s one disgusting person who made — wait, wait — who, I wouldn’t say this, but who made a horrible gesture with the wrong finger, right? Now, they won’t say that, the fake news media. They won’t say it. If one of us did that it would be like the biggest story ever.”

“And I’ll tell you another thing,” Trump continued. “I don’t know who the security company is but the police came up, but they want to be so politically correct. So they don’t grab her wrist lightly. Get her out! They say, ‘Oh, will you please come? Please come with me. Sir. Ma’am. Will you — and then she gives the guy the finger. Oh. Oh. You gotta get a little bit stronger than that folks.”

The finger was not for those dragging the protester out of the area, rather it was for Trump.

Trump has been attacked over the past months for refusing to pay for security bills for his campaign. It’s unknown if this security team that Trump attacked Wednesday will get paid.

[Raw Story]

Media

https://www.c-span.org/video/?467146-1/president-trump-speaks-rally-battle-creek-michigan

Trump suggests Schiff should be punished like ‘in Guatemala’ – laments ‘because of immunity he can’t be prosecuted’

President Donald Trump appeared to suggest House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff should be violently punished, and lamented that because the California Democratic Congressman has “immunity” he won’t be prosecuted.

The irony of the president’s hypocrisy appeared to escape Trump. In the Mueller report alone at least ten possibly criminal acts Trump appears to have committed were outlined, but because of a DOJ policy he cannot be prosecuted.

The president attacked Chairman Schiff for an early impeachment hearing in which the Chairman delivered opening remarks clearly summarizing via parody the effects of Trump’s infamous July 25 call with the president of Ukraine.  Trump and Republicans have latched on to those comments claiming Schiff was lying or somehow falsifying the record, which is untrue.

In his Tuesday remarks to reporters President Trump, meeting with the President of Guatemala, blasted Chairman Schiff.

“When you have a guy like Shifty Schiff go out and make up a statement that I made, he said, this is what he said but I never said it. He totally made it up. In Guatemala they handle things much tougher than that,” he said, referring to Schiff’s remarks.

[The New Civil Rights Movement]

Media

Trump complains security guard wasn’t rougher with female protester

Donald Trump appeared to call for security guards to be rougher in handling a female protester who interrupted him during a rally.

The young woman brandished a sign with a large, pink middle finger on it and wore a T-shirt that read “grabbing power back” – a reference to the president’s infamous “grab them by the pussy” remark.

Her presence attracted vociferous boos from the crowd in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday. Mr Trump repeatedly urged security staff to “get her out”.

Footage shows a guard attempting to block the woman and usher her away, but she evades him.

After pausing his address, Mr Trump returned to the microphone and said: “That particular guy wanted to be so politically correct – oh-oh, aah. We don’t want to be politically correct.”

The president imitated the guard’s arm movements to suggest he had been insufficiently robust in his response to the protester.

“I don’t know who he was, he didn’t do the greatest job,” Mr Trump added.

Mr Trump has previously said he would like to punch a man who interrupted a 2016 rally in Las Vegas.

And in the same year he instructed supporters to “knock the crap out of” anyone they saw preparing to throw a tomato at him, promising to pay their legal bills if they did so.

With his visit on Tuesday, Mr Trump was seeking to shore up support in a swing state he won by less than 1 percentage point in 2016 ahead of the November 2020 election.

Pennsylvania, one of three “rust belt” states the Republican won with votes from people who had previously supported Democrats, is seen as key to keeping him in the White House, along with Michigan and Wisconsin.

[Independent]

Gruesome Video of Fake Trump Killing Media in Mass Shooting Played at One of His Resorts

At a time when our nation is facing an epidemic of mass shootings, supporters of President Donald Trump showed a violent depiction of a fake Trump massacring members of the news media using a gun and other weapons at a conference held at one of the president’s resorts, the New York Times reported Sunday night.

American Priority, a group that supports the president, hosted the conference at Trump National Doral Miami. Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. and Florida Governor Rick DeSantis were all scheduled to speak at the event. But Huckabee Sanders and a source close to Trump Jr. denied either saw the video.

Bloomberg technology reporter William Turton surfaced a video matching the description from the Times on YouTube. The video appears to have been uploaded by YouTube account TheGeekzTeam in July 2018, and the account has posted other videos doctored to make it look like Trump is violently killing his enemies. Although Turton said he has not yet been able to confirm the YouTube video was the same one played at the conference, the details in the video as described by the Times line up, although portions like the Barack Obama interview at the end of the video were not reported to have been shown.

In the video,a man with Trump’s head superimposed on his body goes into a building labeled the “Church of Fake News” where people inside are labeled with logos of major news outlets including Vox, Politico, the Washington Post, HuffPost, ABC and NBC covering their heads. Trump then opens fire, killing numerous media outlets including Vox, Politico and NPR, in addition to activist group Black Lives Matter. The fake Trump begins his rampage using a gun but later switches to a wooden stake and a knife. Also in the video are Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters, Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama, John McCain and Rosie O’Donnell — all of them are slaughtered by the killer Trump. The mass murder ends with the president driving a wooden stake into the head of a person depicted as the church’s minister with a CNN logo covering their face as DJ Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” plays in the background.

The footage, the Times said, was taken and doctored from a church massacre scene in the dark comedy “Kingsman: The Secret Service.”

Trump’s presidency has been marked by criticism of the news media, and recently he has even been vocally critical of his beloved Fox News. The president himself has shared a video depicting himself as violent toward the media, tweeting out a doctored video of him body slamming a man with a CNN logo over his head in 2017. Trump has also turned his ire toward reporters during his political rallies, spurring his supporters to taunt and threaten members of the media covering him.

When we are barely a year out from the tragic Capital Gazette shooting in Maryland that killed five of the newspaper’s staff not to mention other recent mass shootings in churchessynagogues and mosques, videos like this are particularly dangerous, especially when they are broadcast at events even loosely affiliated with the president and on property he owns.

[Rolling Stone]

Media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZeGUqVZwzg

TRUMP THREATENS “CIVIL WAR” IF HE’S IMPEACHED

Over the past two and a half years, Donald Trump has carved out a niche for himself as a manic, deranged tweeter the likes of which the Oval Office—nay, the world—has never seen. In times of great stress—the Special Counsel’s investigation, the blue-wave midterms, a Fox News host not sufficiently fellating him—the president has amped up his output, tweeting dozens of times a day. But Sunday may have set a new record when the leader of the free world fired off a whopping 46 messages to the universe, including retweets from random supporters and one from an account called “Trump But About Sharks,” which replaces random words from his tweets “to make them about sharks.”

Most notable, though, was the president’s quoting of pastor/Fox News contributor Robert Jeffress, who made a rather bold impeachment prediction on air:

For those of you keeping up at home, threatening a Civil War is an escalation from Trump’s go-to prediction regarding what will happen to the country if he loses power, which is typically a stockmarketcollapse. Democrats, characteristically, condemned the retweet, but it inspired noteworthy pushback from one Republican corner as well: “I have visited nations ravaged by civil war,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a veteran, tweeted back. “I have never imagined such a quote to be repeated by a President. This is beyond repugnant.”

[Vanity Fair]

Trump praises N.H. lawmaker who called for shooting Hillary Clinton

President Donald Trump on Thursday praised a New Hampshire Republican who previously called for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to be shot by firing squad.

Speaking at a rally in Manchester, N.H., Trump gave a shoutout to state Rep. Al Baldasaro, who had previously served as an informal adviser during his 2016 campaign. Baldasaro had been diagnosed with cancer, Trump said during the rally, and he added that his apparent recovery and successful treatment were a testament to the changes to the Veterans Choice Program that Trump signed into law last year.

Trump also praised Baldasaro for making it to “every rally I ever gave in New Hampshire.”

“Right from the beginning. I got so tired of looking at him; he’d always be here,” Trump said.

While advising Trump in the summer of 2016, Baldasaro called Clinton a “disgrace” for her role in responding to the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and said that she “should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.”

CNN later reported the Secret Service was investigating the remarks at the time, and the Trump campaign disavowed what Baldasaro said.

Still, Baldasaro was invited to the White House in June 2017 for a bill-signing ceremony, again prompting Trump’s team to distance itself from his remarks. Baldasaro said on Twitter at the time: “Nobody advocated shooting Hillary, just an opinion in accordance with law & CONSTITUTION on treason.”

[Politico]

Trump Calls Chris Cuomo an ‘Out-of-Control Animal’ Who Uses ‘Horrible’ Language and ‘Spews Lies’

President Donald Trump weighed in on the viral outrage of the day by calling CNN anchor Chris Cuomo an “out-of-control animal” who also “spews lies every night,” while also seeming to criticize Cuomo for not assaulting the man who taunted him.

During an impromptu press gaggle in New Jersey Tuesday afternoon, Trump was asked about his tweets attacking Cuomo over the aborted bar fight that was caught on video.

“I think that what Chris Cuomo did was horrible,” Trump told reporters. “His language was horrible, he looked like a total out-of-control animal. He lost it.”

“And frankly, I don’t think anybody should defend him, because he spews lies every night,” Trump continued. According to The Washington Post, Trump recently made the 12,000th false or misleading statement of his presidency.

The president then paraphrased his earlier assertions, saying “I don’t know why anybody would defend him, but, Chris Cuomo was out of control, I watched it I thought it was terrible. So I don’t know who is defending him, maybe they didn’t see it, maybe they haven’t gotten the whole picture, but I think anybody that would have seen Chris, would have said that was a disgrace. You’ve never seen me do that.”

Trump has, in the past, offered to pay the legal fees of rallygoers if they carried out violence on his behalf.

Trump was then asked if his tweets undermine the validity of so-called “red flag” laws.

“Well I think Chris Cuomo was so out of control that I would not have wanted to see a weapon in his hand,” Trump said, then appeared to criticize Cuomo for not punching the man who accosted him, saying “I guess his fist is not a weapon, or he would have done something, you know he talked about it but he didn’t do anything.”

Seconds after observing that Cuomo did not commit violence during the altercation, Trump again insisted “But I think Chris Cuomo was very much out of control actually.”

[Mediaite]

Montana man believed he was acting on Trump’s orders in attacking boy for wearing hat during national anthem

The attorney for a 39-year-old man charged with assaulting a child who didn’t take his hat off for the national anthem says his client, compromised by a traumatic brain injury, believes he was acting on an order from President Donald Trump. 

Superior resident Curt Brockway was charged Monday with felony assault on a minor. His defense attorney, Lance Jasper, told the Missoulian Wednesday the president’s “rhetoric” contributed to the U.S. Army veteran’s disposition when he choke-slammed a 13-year-old, fracturing his skull, at the Mineral County fairgrounds on Aug. 3.

“His commander in chief is telling people that if they kneel, they should be fired, or if they burn a flag, they should be punished,” Jasper said. “He certainly didn’t understand it was a crime.”

A request to the White House for comment was not returned. Mineral County Attorney Ellen Donohue’s office said she was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon. 

Jasper said he’s gotten a handful of hateful voicemails at his office since taking Brockway’s case, but that Brockway’s family has received “hundreds” of death threats in the days since the 13-year-old boy was flown to Spokane by emergency flight for treatment. KPAX reported the boy is back home after being released from the hospital; no further information has been released on his condition.

Brockway was apprehended at the Superior fairgrounds on Saturday after several people saw the alleged assault. According to charging documents filed in Mineral County District Court on Tuesday, Brockway told Deputy Micah Allard the national anthem was playing before the rodeo got underway, and he noticed a young teenager still wearing his hat. Brockway told the deputy he asked the youth to remove his hat because it was disrespectful, to which the youth responded by saying “(expletive) you.”

Charging documents indicate Brockway told the deputy he grabbed the boy by the throat, lifted him into the air and slammed the boy on the ground. Taylor Hennick, who was at the fair,told the Missoulian earlier this week that Brockway defended his action as people closed in on him by saying the boy had been disrespectful. Deputies later learned the boy had suffered a concussion and a fractured skull.

Jasper said Wednesday that he will seek a mental health evaluation for his client before determining how to proceed further in the defense. 

Brockway sustained a traumatic brain injury in a vehicle crash in the winter of 2000, Jasper said. He was on active military duty at Fort Lewis, Washington, at the time, and was driving home to visit family for the holidays, Jasper said. He was honorably discharged from the military due to disability, according to Jasper.

He said Brockway’s military background has been central to his identity since suffering the injury to his frontal lobe, which controls cognitive functions like judgement and problem solving.

Couple that injury, Jasper argues, with the president’s calls to weed out those who have protested the national anthem or criticized the nation, and Brockway is no longer thinking for himself but responding to a presidential order.

“Obviously he (Brockway) owes a big portion of accountability for what took place, but it’s certain that there was other things at work here that definitely contributed,” he said.

Trump’s rhetoric has varied in degrees of severity. In 2017, he told an Alabama crowd that he would “love” to see NFL owners punish, even fire, players who knelt during the national anthem. Videos of fans who agreed with the president subsequently posted videos burning their jerseys and memorabilia when teams refused to pull players who protested the anthem. 

But Jasper said Wednesday he believes his client’s condition means he can be “exploited” by such “animosity” from the president.

“Trump never necessarily says go hurt somebody, but the message is absolutely clear,” Jasper said. “I am certain of the fact that (Brockway) was doing what he believed he was told to do, essentially, by the president.”

Jasper plans to deploy that argument. “There is the defense that his mental illness or brain injury that will be raised, along with permission given by the president,” Jasper said. “Whether that passes muster with the court as a viable defense is for a different day.” 

Last year, the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals found Trump did not incite violence at a Louisville, Kentucky, rally in 2016 when he said “get ’em out of here,” followed by “don’t hurt ’em,” as supporters began pushing and shoving protesters at the event.

Brockway’s injury played a role in a 2010 incident in which he was charged with a felony after pulling a gun on a family member when he was coming back from cutting firewood. Jasper, who represented Brockway in that case as well, said the court took Brockway’s brain injury into consideration during sentencing.

District Court Judge John Larson, who will preside over Brockway’s arraignment next week, sentenced Brockway to 10 years of probation in that case. In February, Brockway successfully petitioned for early release from probation after seven years of good behavior, Jasper said.

“Obviously it’s a tragedy whenever someone is injured, especially a young kid, but with my client being a veteran with a traumatic brain injury, it is absolutely fair to say he got caught up in a heightened animosity and a heightened rhetoric that too many people are engaged in,” Jasper said.

“Everyone should learn to dial it down a little bit, from the president to Mineral County.”

Superior is a small town by Montana standards, and Jasper said the Brockway family is “devastated” at the incident.

The boy’s mother did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday afternoon. A GoFundMe account “A Victim of Forced Patriotism Needs Our Help” has been set up to assist the boy’s family with medical expenses.

Brockway’s case was transferred Wednesday from justice court to Mineral County District Court. His arraignment is set for Aug. 14.

[The Missoulian]

Reality

Donald Trump supported Greg Gianforte after he choke-slammed a reporter to the ground.

Donald Trump called athletes protesting the national anthem “sons of bitches” and regularly demonized them.

Donald Trump approves of violence against his critics.

Man arrested after punching anti-Trump protester in Cincinnati

A 29-year-old Georgetown man was led away from U.S. Bank Arena during President Donald Trump’s visit to chants of “Lock him up!” Thursday night after punching an anti-Trump protester.

The brief confrontation was recorded and quickly posted to Facebook. It showed a man, identified by police as 29-year-old Dallas Frazier, climb out of a red pickup truck and repeatedly strike 61-year-old protester Mike Alter in the head, our news partner WCPO-TV in Cincinnati reported.

Alter, who spoke to WCPO, said the protest had been peaceful until Frazier arrived.

Frazier, who was in the pickup’s passenger seat, began shouting at protesters standing on one side of Broadway Street as it drove by. Then, Frazier got out, WCPO reported.

According to police documents, “suspect exited the vehicle, stated ‘you want some,’ then struck the victim multiple times in the face.” He is in the Hamilton County Justice Center and faces an assault charge.

Cincinnati police Lt. Steve Saunders told WCPO that Frazier was the only person arrested Thursday night in relation to the Trump rally. Saunders said he was not aware of any other fights or rally-related incidents requiring police intervention.

[WHIO]

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