File: shooting-87356625-1363588(...).jpg (83 KB, 962x644)

83 KB JPG

Did the shooter pre-position the ladder and if so, how did he get away with it?

https://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-assassination-attempt-trump-motive-investigation-phone-suspect/story?id=112057259
July 18, 2024

Trump rally shooter's duffel bag and range finder first sparked suspicions, sources say
Investigators are trying to determine a motive for Thomas Matthew Crooks.

New details have emerged about the suspected shooter at former President Donald Trump's rally over the weekend, including what first brought Thomas Matthew Crooks under suspicion.

Multiple law enforcement sources confirmed to ABC News that suspicions about the suspect were first aroused at the site by other attendees when they spotted him with a range finder and duffel bag.

Attendees then notified law enforcement, according to sources.

The suspect, who was 20, had two cell phones -- one on him and a second one found at his home, sources said.

Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

File: Screenshot_20240719-122432.png (230 KB, 538x609)

230 KB PNG

https://apnews.com/article/illinois-sheriffs-deputy-charged-cf164189d678f921deff05fa3789d3a2

>Illinois deputy charged with murder shot woman in face after ordering her to move pot of water
A sheriff’s deputy charged with murder in the death of a Black woman shot her in the face during a tense moment over a pot of water in her home.

>SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois sheriff’s deputy charged with murder in the death of a Black woman shot her in the face during a tense moment over a pot of water in her home and then discouraged his partner from trying to save her, authorities said Thursday.

>The details were in a court document filed in support of keeping fired Sangamon County Deputy Sean Grayson in custody without bond. County Circuit Judge Ryan M. Cadagin agreed, denying Grayson pretrial release at a hearing Thursday in Springfield.

>In a courtroom guarded by a dozen sheriff’s deputies with three more patrolling the hall, Cadagin described the actions the former deputy is accused of as “such a departure from the expectations of a civil society.”

>Sonya Massey, 36, was killed at her home in Illinois’ capital city, about 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of Chicago, after deputies responded to her 911 call about a possible prowler early on July 6.

>Prosecutors alleged that after Grayson allowed Massey to move a pot of water heating on the stove and she set it on a counter, Grayson then “aggressively yelled” at Massey over the pot and pulled his 9 mm pistol. Massey then put her hands in the air, declared “I’m sorry” and ducked for cover before being shot in the face. Grayson also discouraged the other deputy from getting his medical kit, prosecutors said.


Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

File: 7037F275-7312-4A29-8923-F(...).png (2.91 MB, 1170x2532)

2.91 MB PNG

On Election Day do a write in for former President Jimmy Carter. He’s what true Americans are about he sever in ww2 gave so much his time after office to building homes and making the world a Better place. Plus he batting cancer. A True American

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna159867

Disney workers in Southern California overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike after the unions representing them accused the company of unfair labor practices during ongoing contract negotiations.

The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 324, one of four unions that together represent 14,000 workers at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney and the Disney hotels, said in a statement late Friday that 99 percent of the coalition’s members who voted backed a strike. It did not reveal how many members took part in the vote.

The decision does not necessarily mean that workers will go on strike but provides the option to do so if further talks fail. UFCW Local 324 said the unions are set to meet with Disney again on Monday and Tuesday, adding that “a strike is always a last resort.”

“We greatly appreciate the important roles our cast members play in creating memorable experiences for our guests,” Disneyland said in a statement, “and we remain committed to reaching an agreement that focuses on what matters most to them while positioning Disneyland Resort for growth and job creation.”

The company added that the strike authorization “is not unusual as part of a negotiations process” and said that Disneyland Resort “continues to welcome guests.”

On Wednesday, more than 1,000 union members held a rally outside the entrance to Disneyland Resort, according to a union statement.

“We’re make the magic for guests,” Dee Dee Miranda, a candymaker at Disneyland and a member of the bargaining committee, said in the statement. “We are the ones to provide them with a once in a lifetime experience. It’s time for Disney to value what we do.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2024/07/20/disneyland-vote-strike-unions-california/

File: Screenshot_20240720-014442~2.png (93 KB, 800x573)

93 KB PNG

Internet Dubs The Republican Convention ‘Grindr Superbowl’ After App Outages
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Chloe Sargeant
JULY 19, 2024

https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/republican-national-convention-grindr-superbowl-outages/232096


The internet has dubbed the Republican National Convention (RNC) the ‘Grindr Superbowl’ after the app has reportedly been heavily crashing since the convention recently began in Milwaukee.

The Republican National Convention began earlier this week, with high-profile Republican politicians and conservative speakers such as former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Donald Trump’s son Eric, and Fox News host Tucker Carlson.gracing the stage.

Today is the last day of the Convention. Former president Donald Trump appeared on stage today, and is expected to accept the presidential nomination for the Republican party.

The site Downdetector showed that Grindr has had a high level of outage reports in major cities such as New York City, Washing DC, Chicago – and in the last week, Milwaukee.

File: Screenshot_20240720-071902.png (143 KB, 967x979)

143 KB PNG

Hark all ye, olde Lorde Biden of Scranton doeth be murder'd in thy polling. Whilst he knoweth not, the morrow's tidings groweth ever grim, with rewards naught but ice crem'th locateth on thy horizon.

The 1 week polls are in after Crooks failed assassination plot. And it doesn't look too good for Biden.
https://www.newsweek.com/poll-that-could-convince-joe-biden-drop-out-1927850
The Polling That Could Convince Joe Biden to Drop Out of the Race

Joe Biden has said he would withdraw from the presidential race only if polling shows there is "no way" he can beat Donald Trump, but some political experts say recent surveys suggest he could still win.

Biden is facing growing calls from Democrats to step down from the race amid concerns about his ability to win following his debate performance against Trump last month. Sounding hoarse, Biden, 81, stumbled through several answers and appeared to lose his train of thought, doing little to quell concerns about his age and mental acuity. As of Friday, more than 30 Democratic lawmakers have said he should pass the torch to a younger candidate.

However, the president has resisted calls to step aside, arguing that he remains the candidate best suited to beat Trump, despite polls that show him trailing the former president in key battleground states. Biden's team continues to say he is staying in the race

During a press conference earlier in July, Biden was asked if he would step aside if polling showed Vice President Kamala Harris performing better than he would against Trump.

"No, unless they came back and said, 'There's no way you can win,'" he said. "No one's saying that. No poll's saying that."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/20/biden-family-grapples-biden-calls-withdraw/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f006

As remarkable as the past few weeks have been in the wider political universe, they have been equally turbulent inside the tightknit Biden family, unfolding as the latest chapter in the clan’s long story of resolve amid tumult. Family members have flashed through a range of emotions, people close to them say — sadness, anger, determination — and are deeply frustrated by what they see as the betrayal and second-guessing of a man who has spent a half-century as a dedicated leader of the Democratic Party.

This picture of the Biden family in its patriarch’s hour of peril is based on interviews with multiple people with direct knowledge of the family’s thinking and private actions. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters related to the president’s innner

File: ap-politics-election-2024(...).jpg (138 KB, 1536x864)

138 KB JPG

https://www.politifact.com/article/2024/jul/19/trump-fact-check-2024-rnc/

Former President Donald Trump closed the Republican National Convention by accepting the presidential nomination and offering a speech that began somber and turned combative.

First, he recounted surviving an assassination attempt five days earlier in Butler, Pennsylvania.

"You’ll never hear it from me again a second time because it’s too painful to tell," Trump told a hushed audience. "I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of Almighty God."

When Trump said, "I'm not supposed to be here tonight," the audience chanted, "Yes you are. Yes you are." Onstage, Trump kissed the firefighter’s uniform of Corey Comperatore, whom Trump’s would-be assassin killed.

After about 20 minutes, Trump’s speech shifted. He countered Democrats’ claims that he endangers democracy, praised the federal judge who dismissed the classified documents case against him and called the legal charges "partisan witch hunts."

Though he criticized the policies of his opponent, Democratic President Joe Biden, Trump said he’d avoid naming him.

Trump occasionally offered conciliatory notes, but more often repeated questionable assertions we’ve repeatedly fact-checked. Here are some.

Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

File: download (2).png (758 KB, 980x653)

758 KB PNG

A Marine who stormed the U.S. Capitol and apparently flashed a Nazi salute in front of the building was sentenced on Friday to nearly five years in prison.

Tyler Bradley Dykes, of South Carolina, was an active-duty Marine when he grabbed a police riot shield from the hands of two police officers and used it to push his way through police lines during the attack by the mob of then-President Donald Trump’s supporters on Jan. 6, 2021.

Dykes, who pleaded guilty in April to assault charges, previously was convicted of a crime stemming from the 2017 white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Dykes was transferred to federal custody in 2023 after he served a six-month sentence in a state prison.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced Dykes, who’s 26, to four years and nine months of imprisonment, the Justice Department said.

Federal prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of five years and three months for Dykes.

“He directly contributed to some of the most extreme violence on the Capitol’s east front,” prosecutors wrote.

Dykes’ attorneys requested a two-year prison sentence. They said Dykes knows his actions on Jan. 6 were “illegal, indefensible and intolerable.”

“Tyler hates his involvement in the Capitol riot,” his lawyers wrote. “He takes complete responsibility for his actions. Tyler apologizes for those actions.”

Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

File: FtiGiN9aUAAIxa0.jpg (94 KB, 720x857)

94 KB JPG

https://www.axios.com/2024/07/19/trump-republican-national-convention-live-updates

Former President Trump took the stage with a bandaged ear only days after surviving an attempted assassination in Pennsylvania to accept the GOP presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention Thursday night. He left it after roughly 90 minutes of a mostly familiar stump speech.

Why it matters: While his speech — widely viewed as a test of his plea for unity — began on a personal tone, it soon returned to Trumpian talking points, misleading statements and lies.

Trump has received a week of relatively positive press while his Democratic opponent President Biden faces mounting calls from his party to exit the race.
The former president described the assassination attempt at the top of his speech, saying that it's the only time he'll talk about it, "because it's too painful to tell."

State of play: He focused primarily on foreign policy, the economy and immigration.

At on point, he described a "massive invasion at our southern border" and a planet "teetering on edge of World War III," a likely reference to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza that have begun since his successor took office.

The big picture: The GOP tried to appear as a unified front this week, with many of Trump's onetime presidential rivals appearing as campaign surrogates. Democrats have been in disarray over the top of their ticket.


Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

File: 1721238162205087.jpg (135 KB, 900x1200)

135 KB JPG

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/cldy39vpv4qo

Several supporters of former President Donald Trump wore bandages on their ears to the third night of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Members of the RNC's Arizona delegation said they were wearing the bandages as a sign of solidarity with the former president after he survived an assassination attempt.

One supporter said she had bandaged her own ear to help Mr Trump "set a new fashion statement" and to let him know "how much we love him".

Mr Trump has appeared at the convention wearing a bandage after he was shot in the ear while he was speaking at a Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

The former president is due to deliver a speech at the convention on Thursday, when he is expected to be confirmed as the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nominee.

File: 1.jpg (284 KB, 1440x960)

284 KB JPG

https://apnews.com/article/sheila-jackson-lee-died-b2de57de41d39053a7648b16438eb009

Longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who helped lead federal efforts to protect women from domestic violence and recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday, has died. She was 74.

Lillie Conley, her chief of staff, confirmed that Jackson Lee, who had pancreatic cancer, died in Houston Friday night with her family around her.

The Democrat had represented her Houston-based district and the nation’s fourth-largest city since 1995. She had previously had breast cancer and announced the pancreatic cancer diagnosis on June 2.

“The road ahead will not be easy, but I stand in faith that God will strengthen me,” Jackson Lee said in a statement then.

Bishop James Dixon, a longtime friend in Houston who visited Jackson Lee earlier this week, said he will remember her as a fighter.

“She was just a rare, rare jewel of a person who relentlessly gave everything she had to make sure others had what they needed. That was Sheila,” he said.

Jackson Lee had just been elected to the Houston district once represented by Barbara Jordan, the first Black woman elected to Congress from a Southern state since Reconstruction, when she was immediately placed on the high-profile House Judiciary Committee in 1995.

Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

File: FtiH5GSaEAAoKpu.jpg (56 KB, 645x720)

56 KB JPG

https://apnews.com/article/political-violence-trump-biden-pelosi-assassination-c4423ed88df6f4b3557aa11e798f855d
WASHINGTON (AP) — The leader of a conservative think tank on Thursday misrepresented partisan differences in political violence in the United States, wrongly suggesting that people associated with left-wing causes commit more violence than those on the right.
___

HERITAGE FOUNDATION PRESIDENT KEVIN ROBERTS: “Most political violence in the last 25 years has been initiated by the left.”

THE FACTS: Roberts’ remarks came in response to questions about comments earlier this month in which he said the country was in the midst of “the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

He told reporters Thursday that he considers himself a historian of the American Revolution and that his comments about a second revolution were a reference to “ambitious policy plans” that Republicans have should former President Donald Trump win the 2024 election. Roberts’ organization has proposed a sweeping overhaul of the federal government known as Project 2025.

Roberts said his comments about political violence were meant to be seen in the historical context.

A deeper look at the available evidence, however, shows that right-wing groups have committed more acts of political violence in recent U.S. history.

Two years ago a team of researchers from four universities examined court records and other data relating to 3,500 extremists active in the U.S. between 1948 and 2022. The individuals were split into three groups — left wing, right wing and relating to Islamic extremism. While some in the database had committed violent acts, others had raised money for extremist groups, volunteered or spoken out in favor of them.

Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

File: dxin24.png (400 KB, 1170x1049)

400 KB PNG

Thomas's classmate is interviewed.
Thomas regularly mocked his classmates for supporting trump
https://nypost.com/2024/07/17/us-news/thomas-matthew-crooks-mocked-classmate-for-supporting-trump-in-2016-he-did-not-like-our-politicians/
Would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks mocked classmate for supporting Trump in 2016: ‘He did not like our politicians’

Would-be Donald Trump assassin Thomas Crooks became “smug and arrogant” in class whenever students talked politics — and questioned why a classmate would support Trump, according to a former classmate.

“He just did not like politicians, especially with the choices that we had,” said Vincent Taormina, who went to high school with Crooks in 2016 when Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were all in the presidential race.

“He did not like our politicians,” Taormina told Fox News Digital, recalling how Crooks once mocked him and insinuated he was “stupid” for supporting Trump

“I brought up the fact that I’m Hispanic and, you know, I’m for Trump. And he said, ‘Well, you’re Hispanic, so shouldn’t you hate Trump?'” Taormina said, recounting an English class discussion where Crooks came after him.

“No. He’s great. He was a great president. He [Crooks] called me stupid — or insinuated that I was stupid,” Taormina said.


Comment too long. Click here to view the full text.

File: _130355216_df570a96-1350-(...).jpg (81 KB, 976x549)

81 KB JPG

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c84985w0w8vo
A teenage boy followed a 15-year-old girl for 45 minutes around a town centre before he stabbed her to death.
The boy has admitted killing Holly Newton (in Hexham, Northumberland), but denies he intended to harm her.
Jurors were told Holly was stabbed "many, many times" in an alleyway next to a pizza shop in January 2023.
The 17-year-old defendant, who was 16 at the time and cannot be identified, admitted manslaughter but denies murder.
Opening the trial, prosecutor David Brooke KC said the boy did "not dispute being responsible for stabbing Holly to death", but claimed his "mind went blank" during the attack.
Holly was stabbed in an alley at 5pm on 27 January 2023.
Her alleged murderer, who was known to her, had been "careful not to be seen" as he followed her for 45 minutes before the attack.
Passers-by and staff from the pizza shop heard Holly's screams and pulled the youth "forcibly" off her as he was "still stabbing her" with a kitchen knife he had brought from home.
Holly was taken to [hospital] but declared dead soon after, while the defendant was arrested at the scene.
She had 36 injuries, including 12 stab wounds and 19 caused by the slashing of a knife which broke during the attack.
The prosecutor said the assault lasted for at least a minute during which the "angry" boy stabbed Holly "many, many times".
His "intention was obvious", jurors were told.
The youth also denies wounding another teenage boy who was injured while trying to rescue Holly, the court heard, but has admitted illegal possession of a knife.
Mr Brooke told jurors the "violent death of a child" was "obviously shocking" and would "naturally arouse strong emotion".