2020 Election Fallout 14: Arrests And The Big Lie

[IrishCarrie]

Can she be breached on her probation bond for this bullshit???

?

[GreyhoundFan]

Good: "A caravan of Trump backers tried to run a Biden bus off a road. Now they’re being sued under an anti-KKK act."

Quote

Timothy Holloway clutched the wheel of a Biden-Harris campaign bus last October, swerving and dodging as one hostile car bearing a Trump flag after another tried to run him off a Texas highway.

“We were terrified,” Holloway said in a news release. “They were clearly trying to scare us and prevent us from arriving at our destination in peace.”

The tactic worked — the Biden campaign canceled the rest of the day’s events, saying it feared for the safety of campaign staffers, supporters and local political candidates. Some prominent Republicans cheered the effort by the self-proclaimed “Trump Train,” while President Donald Trump himself lauded their efforts, calling the drivers “patriots” who “did nothing wrong.”

Now, Holloway — along with a White House staffer, a former Texas lawmaker and a campaign volunteer — are suing several members of the caravan, accusing them of violating the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which bars violent election intimidation, as well as local Texas laws. The group is also suing local law enforcement, claiming they failed to provide protection.

“Those on the bus feared injury or for their lives. All suffered lingering trauma in the days and months thereafter,” says one of a pair of federal lawsuits filed to the Western District of Texas court on Thursday. “The events of October 30 arose from a campaign of politically motivated intimidation.”

The lawsuits come as hundreds of other fervent Trump supporters face criminal charges for storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Some of those who participated in the “Trump Train” were at the Capitol during the insurrection, the lawsuit alleges. The FBI has also announced it is investigating the “Trump Train” incident.

The case isn’t the only recent attempt to invoke the Ku Klux Klan Act against Trump supporters. In February, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, invoked the Klan Act in a lawsuit against Trump, Rudolph W. Giuliani and two extremist groups whose members are accused of participating in the insurrection. Thompson alleged that Trump and Giuliani violated the act by inciting the riots with false claims of a rigged election. The lawsuit is ongoing.

Along with Holloway, the bus heading up Interstate 35 on Oct. 30 also included former Texas state senator Wendy Davis, who made national headlines during a 13-hour filibuster in 2013 to halt the passage of an antiabortion bill. The bus had been driving north from Laredo, Tex., to San Antonio, when those inside noticed dozens of cars sporting Trump campaign gear waiting along the highway and then swarming the campaign bus. Staffers frantically called 911 as the cars boxed them in, driving dangerously close and slowing down the bus.

“I flew down to Texas to help with the Biden/Harris bus tour, intended to drum up enthusiasm at polling locations. Instead, I ended up spending the afternoon calling 911,” tweeted campaign volunteer Eric Cervini — another plaintiff in the new lawsuit, who was driving a separate car during the incident. Cervini also claimed that many of the Trump supporters were armed.

The lawsuit claims that the group started coordinating “to intercept and intimidate the bus as it traveled through Bexar, Comal, Hays, and Travis counties” as soon as the campaign announced events in the state.

As the bus tried to dodge the caravan, police responded to the panicked calls for help. But as the bus made its way to San Marcos, police refused to send patrol cars as escorts, the suit says.

“Certain officers from the San Marcos Police Department said that they would not respond unless the Biden-Harris Campaign was ‘reporting a crime,’ explaining: ‘we can’t help you,’” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that San Marcos Director of Public Safety Chase Stapp and officials from the San Marcos Police Department and San Marcos City Marshal’s Department “failed to take reasonable steps to prevent planned acts of violent political intimidation.”

The San Marcos police and marshal’s departments did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit. It’s not clear who is representing the individual drivers named in the second lawsuit.

Several of the people named in that lawsuit bragged about their escapades online, the lawsuit says, noting that one defendant, Eliazar Cisneros, boasted on social media that he “slammed” into the bus.

The day’s events were traumatic, the lawsuit says. The plaintiffs, who also include White House staffer David Gins, who was on the bus that day, are suffering from “ongoing psychological and emotional injury.”

“Gins was extremely shaken as a result of his ordeal,” the lawsuit says. “During the incident, he felt ‘terrorized.’ … About an hour into the ordeal, he walked to the back of the bus and broke down in tears.”

Holloway, the bus driver, had trouble sleeping for a month after the incident and says he can’t drive a bus anymore. Davis noted that she feared she’d be physically harmed if she spoke out about her experience that day.

“Those who engage in organized threats — whether they’re online death threats or mob violence — are breaking the law and will be called to account for their actions in federal court,” Michael Gottlieb, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said in a news release.

 

[CTRLZero]

The complaint is a terrifying read.  It’s linked in the article, but also here (in case you can’t access it through the article):

Trump Train complaint - Texas civil rights group

[Ozlsn]

11 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Good: "A caravan of Trump backers tried to run a Biden bus off a road. Now they’re being sued under an anti-KKK act."

I sincerely hope that they are held to account. Some of this stuff is flat out intimidation - and frankly I wish more people were suing the idiots who intimidate cyclists and electric car drivers as well, particularly the coal rollers. (Actually I really wish the EPA could get involved on those ones - brag about pollution and intimidation, cop a fine).

[Howl]

19 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Good: "A caravan of Trump backers tried to run a Biden bus off a road. Now they’re being sued under an anti-KKK act."

We have first-hand experience with Trump Caravans.  Coming home from a trip to southern Utah, we decided to go east on Loop 289 (the freeway loop around Lubbock, TX) instead of west (our usual direction).  We passed a small group of people on the access road with Biden signs, so all good so far. Then we merged onto the freeway and realized that, WTAF, we were a Toyota van  in a Trump caravan of literally thousands of mostly trucks and jeeps festooned/bedecked/covered with a bazillion Trump flags -- every single one.  How many trucks and (a few ) cars? The first Trump caravan in Lubbock in Sept 2020 had around 5,000 vehicles. The one we were in was slightly smaller, but not by much.  Lubbock Trump supporters gather before second “Trump train” event

We were literally the only non-Trump car in sight. We exited the freeway only to realized that the access road was lined with more Trump vehicles and people waving Trump flags, so we just got back on until our exit. It was insane. 

[JordynDarby5]

On 6/23/2021 at 12:28 PM, WiseGirl said:

I think so too

 

 

Yes, please! Make it happen!

[WiseGirl]

Yes.

 

[47of74]

She's such a fucking idiot

Quote

Iowa’s 1st District Congresswoman Ashley Hinson says it’s unnecessary for a committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the Capitol

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced earlier this week that the house will create a select committee to investigate the incident.

“Many of these departments began their investigations. More than 400 arrests have already happened, with more in the pipeline. And I think it’s time that we let those agencies do their job, which they are. Members of Congress have already had the opportunity to ask one of these agencies questions,” Hinson said during a recent interview.

If anyone wants to fucking wonder why the fuck I was up in SW Minnesota interviewing for jobs a couple day afters she "won" her IA-1 seat here's the FUCK why. 

[GreyhoundFan]

"‘I did what needed to be done!’: Feds arrest Capitol rioter accused of live-streaming attack on journalist"

Quote

When a group of men who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 pushed a New York Times photographer to the ground and ran away with her camera as she cried for help, Sandy Pomeroy Weyer stood still while she broadcast the assault and theft on Facebook live, prosecutors said.

Moments later, when the photographer, who is not identified in court records, got up and chased after the men to retrieve her equipment, Pomeroy Weyer kept recording with her cellphone, according to surveillance video obtained by prosecutors.

Pomeroy Weyer yelled at the photographer to get out, according to court records, then said, “Get her out, mace her,” as the men pushed the woman back and fled the scene.

Now, Pomeroy Weyer faces multiple charges over her alleged participation in the deadly riot, according to a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington and unsealed Monday.

Pomeroy Weyer did not immediately respond to messages by The Washington Post by early Tuesday. Information about her attorney was not immediately available.

The Mechanicsburg, Pa., woman is among hundreds now charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection. But her criminal complaint is also one of the first to reference the attacks and threats against journalists who were present to cover the events that day, some of whom had equipment stolen or broken. Last week, Shane Jason Woods, 43, of Auburn, Ill., became the first defendant in the Jan. 6 riot to face charges including assaulting a journalist, The Post’s Spencer S. Hsu reported. Woods is accused of entering a media staging area, throwing equipment and tackling a cameraman.

The Times photojournalist Pomeroy Weyer allegedly recorded being attacked was Erin Schaff, Danielle Rhoades Ha, vice president of communications for the paper, confirmed Tuesday morning. Schaff did not immediately respond to a message from The Post.

Less than a week after Schaff was assaulted, court records state, the journalist recounted what happened in an interview with FBI agents.

Around 2:40 p.m. on Jan. 6, as she walked near the entrance of the Capitol rotunda documenting the events, a group of four or five men approached her, she told law enforcement. Then, one of the men asked her, “Who do you shoot for?”

When the woman did not answer, one of the men reached into her vest and took her press credentials identifying her as a Times staffer. That’s when the men became angry and pushed her to the ground, court documents state.

According to the complaint, Pomeroy Weyer, who was standing on a set of stairs observing the incident, walked up to the men attacking Schaff to record them on her phone before the men fled with the photographer’s camera.

“We are pleased that the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office continue to pursue the people who committed this crime,” Rhoades Ha told The Post in an email. “We hope there will be an arrest soon.”

Pomeroy Weyer, who sported a red sweatshirt reading “Trump 2020” and a loose ponytail, recorded Schaff being knocked to the ground, prosecutors said, and also allegedly continued filming as the photographer chased the men down the stairs yelling, “Give me back my camera, that’s my livelihood,” before she was pushed to the ground a second time.

Pomeroy Weyer allegedly yelled at the photographer to leave as she recorded, calling her a “traitor.”

Once outside the Capitol following the photojournalist’s assault, Pomeroy Weyer continued her live-stream and appeared to respond to the comments on the feed, prosecutors said.

“The woman who was screaming in the Capitol was, um, anti-Trump, let’s put it that way, that’s why they removed her,” she said.

A person who is not named in the complaint later provided a tip to the FBI by sharing a picture of Pomeroy Weyer outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, court documents show. Pomeroy Weyer allegedly asked her social media followers whether “anyone [knows] how to recover live video feed that Facebook removed?” (The agency said they later confirmed the account belonged to Pomeroy Weyer. Phone data corroborated Pomeroy Weyer was inside the Capitol at the time of the incident, prosecutors also said.)

A Facebook search warrant authorized by a magistrate D.C. judge found several posts in which Pomeroy Weyer expressed that she was present at the Capitol on Jan. 6, along with lengthy live-streamed videos she took that day, court records state.

In one post, Pomeroy Weyer responded to another user’s comment saying: “I seen no riots. I saw Patriots sick of being lied to and the election being stolen from us! I saw no violence from the Patriots!”

“I did what needed to be done!” Pomeroy Weyer replied to another commenter. “I am happy.”

On Monday, authorities arrested Pomeroy Weyer, who is charged with “knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority to do so, with intent to engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct.” She also faces charges tied to exhibiting disorderly behavior and attempting to impede official government proceedings.

It is unclear whether Pomeroy Weyer remained in custody as of early Tuesday. She is due in court on Thursday for her first appearance in front of a judge, court records state.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I was glad to read this: "Arizona’s Maricopa County will replace voting equipment, fearful that GOP-backed election review has compromised security"

Quote

Arizona’s Maricopa County announced Monday that it will replace voting equipment that was turned over to a private contractor for a Republican-commissioned review of the 2020 presidential election, concerned that the process compromised the security of the machines.

Officials from Maricopa, the state’s largest county and home to Phoenix, provided no estimates of the costs involved but have previously said that the machines cost millions to acquire.

“The voters of Maricopa County can rest assured, the County will never use equipment that could pose a risk to free and fair elections,” the county said in a statement. “As a result, the County will not use the subpoenaed equipment in any future elections.”

The announcement probably reflects an added cost to taxpayers for a controversial review that has been embraced by supporters of former president Donald Trump, who has falsely claimed that the 2020 election was rigged in Arizona and other battlegrounds that he lost.

The review was ordered by the Republican-led state Senate, which seized voting equipment, including nine tabulating machines used at a central counting facility and 385 precinct-based tabulators, as well as nearly 2.1 million ballots from Maricopa County, with a legislative subpoena in late April. The review is being led by a Florida company called Cyber Ninjas, whose chief executive has echoed Trump’s false claims. Audit organizers have said that they have completed a hand recount but that they will not release results from their review until August.

Spokesmen for the audit and for Senate President Karen Fann (R), who ordered the review, did not immediately respond to requests for comment about Maricopa’s announcement.

The process being used to recount ballots and examine voting machines — conducted on the floor of a former basketball arena in Phoenix and live-streamed exclusively using cameras operated by the pro-Trump One America News — has been widely panned by election experts as sloppy, insecure and opaque.

Among the most vocal critics has been the Republican-led leadership of Maricopa County. In May, all seven of the county’s elected officials — including five Republicans — joined in a scathing letter to the state Senate denouncing the audit as a sham.

“Our state has become a laughingstock,” they wrote. “Worse, this ‘audit’ is encouraging our citizens to distrust elections, which weakens our democratic republic.”

Noting the tactics used by organizers of the review, such as hunting for bamboo in ballot paper, they added, “Your ‘audit,’ which you once said was intended to increase voters’ confidence in our electoral process, has devolved into a circus.”

The move to ditch all of the county’s voting machines came in response to a letter from the state’s chief elections officer, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), who last month said she might decertify the machines if they were not decommissioned because of fears that their security had been compromised as they were handled by private actors.

“The lack of physical security and transparency means we cannot be certain who accessed the voting equipment and what might have been done to them,” wrote Hobbs, who is running for governor.

In a letter to Hobbs sent Monday, a county attorney wrote that the county board “shares your concerns” and had agreed to no longer use its voting equipment.

The county did not indicate whether it will ask the Senate to pay to replace the machines. When the state Senate took possession of the county’s voting equipment, Fann signed an agreement to pay any costs the county incurred “as a result of damage and/or alternation of the Subpoenaed Materials by the Senate or its agents.”

Biden was the first Democrat to win Arizona in nearly 25 years, snagging the state’s 11 electoral college votes largely on the strength of his victory in growing and diversifying Maricopa County.

Allegations of fraud or irregularities in Arizona’s vote were rejected last year by state and federal judges. Maricopa’s results were confirmed through a number of reviews, including a hand recount of a sample of ballots conducted jointly by both political parties, as well as a forensic audit conducted by federally accredited labs that was ordered by the county and concluded in February.

 

[47of74]

A BT terrorist had to end his lawsuit due to a lack of evidence and cash.

Quote

Remember Paul Davis? Sure you do, he’s the Hobbit-loving, Capitol-insurrectionist attorney who lost his in-house job when he posted to social media about his participation in January 6th and filed election lawsuits (not that he calls them that) against … pretty much every politician and also Mark Zuckerberg, because, reasons, that were full of batshit legal theories and he does NOT like it when people make fun of him.

Anyway, after the now-former general counsel got fired from that job, you’ll recall he filed a lawsuit seeking to undo the entirety of the 2020 election because of violations of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) which, in turn, he says begat civil rights violations. Yes, in follow-on filings he cited every nerd’s first love J.R.R. Tolkien for the notion that the United States could be ruled by a steward and we all laughed (with good reason) at that. But eventually he was fired by some of those plaintiffs over a disagreement over legal strategy, and he filed a second lawsuit, that on the internet is called In Re Gondor II but is really Bravo v. Pelosi, reiterating the causes of action from his first lawsuit.

In a recently filed notice of dismissal, Davis says the lawsuit can’t go on, since well, he doesn’t have the resources to pursue the case. Oh, and the “evidence” he was going to use has mysteriously been destroyed.

 

[Cartmann99]

Spoiler

 

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[fraurosena]

5 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

She still calls it 'my party' though...

[Ozlsn]

4 hours ago, fraurosena said:

She still calls it 'my party' though...

Small steps. It has been part of her identity for a very long time, and leaving will take a lot of rethinking of that identity. I suspect she will be forced out unless the pro-fascist faction start losing significant ground. At the moment she seems to be fighting to drag the party more to the centre from within, and she and the tiny minority with her do not look to be winning.

[fraurosena]

4 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Small steps. It has been part of her identity for a very long time, and leaving will take a lot of rethinking of that identity. I suspect she will be forced out unless the pro-fascist faction start losing significant ground. At the moment she seems to be fighting to drag the party more to the centre from within, and she and the tiny minority with her do not look to be winning.

True. She's fighting an uphill battle though, and one that's doomed to fail. What used to be the Republican party is dead and irretrievably gone. 

I wonder when that will finally sink in with true conservatives, and when they'll decide to form a new political party. 

[Ozlsn]

7 hours ago, fraurosena said:

I wonder when that will finally sink in with true conservatives, and when they'll decide to form a new political party. 

There are some agitating for that already, but they do need Cheney or similar high profile former Republicans to break and either join with them or run as Independents they can support.

Even then they need to be able to convince people that it's not betraying the party they've voted/identified with their entire adult lives to vote for someone outside that party. 

[WiseGirl]

Meanwhile (unsure where to put this but it needs to be repeated over and over)...

 

[Sarcastically spinster]

17 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

Even then they need to be able to convince people that it's not betraying the party they've voted/identified with their entire adult lives to vote for someone outside that party. 

Not forgetting that there are many older Christians who still believe that the Republican party represents biblical values, and so for some, voting outside those party lines may seem like a betrayal of their religion too.  

They've done an impressive job turning so many people into single issue voters on abortion to where many voters believe they'll be personally guilty of enabling murder if they don't vote for politicians who at least pay lip service to outlawing abortion.  Prior to the 2016 election, when I (even as a generally conservative voter) had a conversation with an older Republican where I said I couldn't vote for Trump, I was told that essentially I would have the blood of unborn children on my hands.  

It's one of the most powerful tools used to get so many of these folks to completely overlook any and all character flaws or failures on other issues.  At least they don't support killing babies.  

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, Sarcastically spinster said:

Not forgetting that there are many older Christians who still believe that the Republican party represents biblical values, and so for some, voting outside those party lines may seem like a betrayal of their religion too.  

There are Christians in my area who have been taught that voting for Democrats will put their eternal salvation at risk.

[Cartmann99]

I posted about this NYT video on Wednesday, but wanted to let everyone know that it's up on YouTube now.  Please heed the warning about language and graphic violence.

Spoiler

 

Here's a link if you prefer to bookmark and watch later.

[Xan]

38 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

I posted about this NYT video on Wednesday, but wanted to let everyone know that it's up on YouTube now.  Please heed the warning about language and graphic violence.

  Hide contents

 

Here's a link if you prefer to bookmark and watch later.

Thank you for posting that.  It was just as horrifying as the day I watched it happen.  It's a pity that we can't make every channel run this daily for the benefit of the Trump contingent who are continuing to say it was a peaceful protest.

[Ozlsn]

11 hours ago, Sarcastically spinster said:

Not forgetting that there are many older Christians who still believe that the Republican party represents biblical values, and so for some, voting outside those party lines may seem like a betrayal of their religion too.  

 

10 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

There are Christians in my area who have been taught that voting for Democrats will put their eternal salvation at risk.

Would they feel comfortable voting for a traditional conservative Independent candidate though? I always forget the link between religion and voting is much stronger in the US.

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, Ozlsn said:

Would they feel comfortable voting for a traditional conservative Independent candidate though? I always forget the link between religion and voting is much stronger in the US.

It would difficult to overcome the peer pressure and the religious teachings, but I think some could eventually be persuaded to vote for an Independent candidate.

[formergothardite]

7 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

 

Would they feel comfortable voting for a traditional conservative Independent candidate though? I always forget the link between religion and voting is much stronger in the US.

I think it would take a lot of time and be an uphill battle. There are a lot of Christians I know who know nothing of politics except that they are supposed to vote for someone if they have an R beside their name. That was how I was raised to vote. For years that is how I did vote. Republicans were the good guys and I didn’t need to think more than that about the candidates.  To get people to change, we have to get them to take the harder path where they look at each candidate individually and vote based on what that person believes. It is so much easier to just mindlessly vote for whoever has an R. People like easy, they like simple and they don’t like to question what they’ve been told their entire lives. Especially since voting R is often wrapped up in their sense of salvation. 

Edited July 3, 2021 by formergothardite