CNN allowed itself the opportunity to be called fake news by the guy who demonized it.
Kaitlin Collins may want to rethink her conservative credentials after being called a "nasty woman" by the 45th President of the United States.
Collins was in New Hampshire with the former president and as expected, he is still stuck on stupid. Mind you, we underestimated him in 2016. We cannot allow this man back in the White House.
CNN hosted this town hall with Washed Up 45. Straight out the gate, he claimed the 2020 election was rigged. He kept interrupting Collins. He barely answered questions from those in the audience. He did get a couple of chuckles when it came to horrific things.
Took aim at President Joe Biden, former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, E. Jean Carroll, Hillary Clinton, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Washington, DC mayor Muriel Bowser and CNN.
He made a promise to pardon those involved in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
He called E. Jean Carroll a "wack job." He made a claim that Carroll called her husband (a Black man) an ape and named her cat vagina.
He said that rioter Ashley Babbitt was killed by a thug. He was attacking Lt. Michael Byrd, the police officer who protected the bubble. Babbitt was shot after she tried to squeeze through the bubble.
Washed Up 45 also claimed that he had the right to keep classified documents. He claimed that Mar a Lago was raided. He claimed that Biden did not get his house raided.
He made the claim that Hillary Clinton and Democrats want to kill babies. He praised the Supreme Court decision to repeal Roe v. Wade. He stopped short of supporting a national ban on abortion. He also said he will not impose any regulations on firearms despite gun violence being the biggest issue happening right now.
He also called the border a disgrace. The former president was bitching about the border and claiming that Biden is allowing Title 42 to expire.
He also claimed that he can solve the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 24 hours. He did not say how he would handle Ukraine's request for weapons or call Russian Federation president Vladimir Putin a war criminal.
CNN allowed this horrible human being to be himself. It was a train wreck.
New York's most controversial lawmaker has a federal sandwich handed to him.
Rep. George Santos (R-NY) who faced outrage and mockery over a litany of fabrications about his heritage, education and professional pedigree, has been charged with federal criminal offenses, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The charges against Santos, filed in the Eastern District of New York. He faces 13 count indictment. The suspect is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The people could not publicly discuss specific details of the case until it is unsealed and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity. The unsealing would happen when Santos appears in court, which could come as soon as Wednesday.
Santos officially surrendered and was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
Reached on Tuesday, Santos said, “This is news to me.”
“You’re the first to call me about this,” he said in a brief phone interview.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment. The charges were first reported by CNN.
The New York Republican has admitted to lying about having Jewish ancestry, a Wall Street background, college degrees and a history as a star volleyball player. Serious questions about his finances also surfaced — including the source of what he claimed was a quickly amassed fortune despite recent financial problems, including evictions and owing thousands of dollars in back rent.
Santos has resisted calls to resign and recently announced he was running for reelection. He said his lies about his life story, which included telling people he had jobs at several global financial firms and a lavish real estate portfolio, were harmless embellishments of his resume.
Pressure on him to quit, though, has been intense. Reporters and members of the public hounded him. He was mocked on social media and late-night television. Fellow New York Republicans demanded he resign, saying he had betrayed voters and his own party with his lies.
Nassau County prosecutors and the New York attorney general’s office had previously said they were looking into possible violations of the law.
Besides questions about his life story, Santos’ campaign spending stoked scrutiny because of unusual payments for travel, lodging and other items.
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center lodged a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and urged regulators to investigate Santos. The “mountain of lies” Santos propagated during the campaign about his life story and qualifications, the center said, should prompt the commission to “thoroughly investigate what appear to be equally brazen lies about how his campaign raised and spent money.”
In his filings with the FEC, Santos initially said he loaned his campaign and related political action committees more than $750,000 — money he claimed came from a family company.
Yet, the wealth necessary to make those loans seems to have emerged from nowhere. In a financial disclosure statement filed with the clerk of the U.S. House in 2020, Santos said he had no assets and an annual income of $55,000.
His company, the Devolder Organization, wasn’t incorporated until spring 2021. Yet last September, Santos filed another financial disclosure form reporting that this new company, incorporated in Florida, had paid him a $750,000 salary in each of the last two years, plus another $1 million to $5 million in dividends. In one interview, Santos described the Devolder Organization as a business that helped rich people buy things like yachts and aircraft.
Court records indicate Santos was the subject of three eviction proceedings in Queens between 2014 and 2017 because of unpaid rent.
Some Republicans, including those in his district, have sharply castigated Santos for his dishonesty. The Nassau County Republican Committee, which had supported his candidacy, said it would not support Santos for reelection.
Santos lost his first race for Congress in 2020 but ran again in 2022 and won in a district that is in the suburbs of Long Island and a sliver of Queens.
A local newspaper, the North Shore Leader, had raised issues about Santos’ background before the election but it was not until a few weeks after the election that the depth of his duplicity became public.
The New York Times reported that companies where Santos claimed to have worked, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, had no record of him having been an employee. Baruch College, where Santos claimed to have gotten a degree in finance and economics, said he hadn’t been a student.
Beyond his resume, Santos invented a life story that has also come under question, including claims that his grandparents “fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.”
During his campaign, he referred to himself as “a proud American Jew.”
Confronted with questions about that story, Santos, a Roman Catholic, said he never intended to claim Jewish heritage.
The Times also uncovered records in Brazil that show Santos, when he was 19, was the subject of a criminal investigation there in 2008 over allegations he used stolen checks to buy items at a clothing shop in the city of Niteroi, which is near Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian authorities said they have reopened the case.
Will this judgment change the support of the former president?
His die hard supporters are likely not going to stop supporting him. They already assume that this was a George Soros setup and they want President Joe Biden to face his alleged accuser, Russian propagandist Tara Reade.
Well a federal jury has found Washed Up 45 liable for sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll. It was a unanimous decision that could shape the townhall CNN is proposing on Wednesday.
The former president refused to take the stand and left the handling with his lawyer Joe Tacopina. Had he had an opportunity to take the stand he would have faced Carroll and deny the allegations of sexual assault.
This decision will cost the former president a lot of money.
The jury awarded her $5 million in damages for her battery and defamation claims.
Asked on its verdict sheet whether Carroll, 79, had proven “by a preponderance of the evidence” that “Mr. Trump raped Ms. Carroll,” the nine-person jury checked the box that said “no.” Asked whether Carroll had proven “by a preponderance of the evidence” that “Mr. Trump sexually abused Ms. Carroll,” the jury checked the box that said “yes.” Both allegations were elements of Carroll’s battery claim.
The six men and three women also found the former president had defamed Carroll by calling her claims a “hoax” and a “con job.”
The jury deliberated for only about three hours. It awarded Carroll just over $2 million on the battery claim and just under $3 million on the defamation claims.
“I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back. Today, the world finally knows the truth,” Carroll said in a statement Tuesday. She didn’t speak to reporters outside the courthouse.
In a separate statement, her lawyer Roberta Kaplan said: “No one is above the law, not even a former President of the United States. We are so thrilled that the jury agreed."
Washed Up 45, a 2024 presidential candidate, has consistently denied Carroll’s claims. He blasted the verdict on his social media website shortly after the verdict was handed down.
"I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHO THIS WOMAN IS. THIS VERDICT IS A DISGRACE — A CONTINUATION OF THE GREATEST WITCH HUNT OF ALL TIME!" he wrote on Truth Social.
A Washed Up 45 campaign spokesman said in a statement, "Make no mistake, this entire bogus case is a political endeavor targeting President Trump because he is now an overwhelming front-runner to be once again elected President of the United States."
"This case will be appealed, and we will ultimately win," the statement said.
E. Jean Carroll gets her dues.
The verdict marks the first time a former president has been found civilly liable for sexual misconduct.
Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson, a Washed Up 45 critic, said, "The jury verdict should be treated with seriousness and is another example of the indefensible behavior of Donald Trump."
Carroll sued in Manhattan federal court last year, alleging the former president raped her in the dressing room of a Bergdorf Goodman department store near his Fifth Avenue home in 1995 or 1996. She first went public with the claim in 2019 in her book “What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal.”
The verdict carries no criminal implications. The legal standard for liability in the civil case — the preponderance of the evidence — wasn’t as high as in criminal cases. The civil benchmark is that it is more likely than not that something occurred, while the standard for convictions in criminal cases is proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Washed Up 45, first as president and then as a private citizen, called Carroll’s account a fiction that she concocted to boost book sales, and he has said she is “not my type.” He didn’t testify at the trial, but parts of his video deposition from October were played for the jury.
The verdict was required to be unanimous.
Carroll was her own star witness at the trial, which began April 25. “I’m here because Trump raped me,” she told jurors during her three days on the witness stand.
Carroll said she'd met the former president once before, in the late 1980s, before she bumped into him at the entrance of the department store near the former president’s home and office in Trump Tower.
Carroll, who was an advice columnist for Elle magazine at the time, said the former president told her he was shopping for a lady friend and invited her to come along. “He was very personable,” she said.
She said she'd had a fun time chatting with him as the excursion eventually led to the sixth-floor lingerie department. “He was joshing and pleasant and very funny,” she said, and they each joked about trying on lingerie.
Carroll alleged that the former president motioned her toward the dressing room and that when she went in, he “shut the door and shoved me against the wall” and raped her. “I couldn’t see anything was happening, but I could certainly feel that pain,” she said, alleging the attack lasted a “few minutes” before she was able to flee.
Carroll said that she called a friend, writer Lisa Birnbach, afterward to tell her what had happened and that Birnbach told her to call the police. Carroll said she told her “no way,” because she blamed herself for the attack.
Carroll also said that she told another friend, Carol Martin, what happened days later and that Martin urged her not to go to the police for fear Washed Up 45 and his lawyers would “bury her.”
Birnbach and Martin both testified in Carroll’s behalf and supported her account.
In Allen, Texas, the names of the victims were released. The victims names were:
Daniela Mendoza and Sofia Mendoza. Two little girls who were shopping with their parents.
James Cho, and his parents, Cindy and Kyu. The surviving child lost his parents and brother.
John Jun. A local leader for the Korean American Coalition of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Christian LaCour. The security guard on duty who was ambushed.
Aishwarya Thatikonda. A young woman from India who was shopping.
Nine people died, including the shooter, and seven others were injured, with three in critical condition. Of the eight victims, three were Korean Americans from the same family (including a child), and one was an engineer from India. Medical City Healthcare said that it was treating victims ranging from 5 to 61 years old, with most of the victims being transported to Medical City's McKinney facility.
The shooter was a 30 something incel who had idolized Neo Nazis and white supremacy.
The shooter was Hispanic (identified as White). The far right dismissed it as a false flag and throw out the claim that people of color can't be Nazis?
Ask Ye.
Elon Musk, owner of Twitter decided to follow the conspiracy trail by responding to a right wing troll's claim that the terrorist was not actually a Nazi and pictures of his tattoos were photoshopped.
Insufferable lawmaker Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) believes it is the fault of the current president and his love for illegal immigrants.
Anyway, Saturday's mass shooting and Sunday's vehicle incident where a motorist intentionally struck seven migrants waiting at a bus stop in Brownsville.
Guess what the Republicans and far right agitators talking about?
The victims were identified.
The border.
Title 42, public health order by Washed Up 45 during the coronavirus virus pandemic is expiring on Thursday. Conservative outrage is present. They are blaming President Joe Biden for the rise in migrants seeking asylum and crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
They are complaining about fentanyl being seized at the border and potentially criminals being detained. It's almost like they don't want anything done at the border. They seem fixated on the possibility that the white population decline is a reality.
Just adding more ingredients to an already toxic environment. Making more extremists a day. With a good economy at best, Republicans have no real solutions. So they will do stunts like pass a debt ceiling increase bill that require spending cuts. It's ridiculous.
The terrorist maintained a profile on the Russian social networking platform OK.ru, including posts referring to extremist online forums, such as 4chan, and content from white nationalists, including Nick Fuentes, an antisemitic white nationalist provocateur.
In the weeks before the attack, the terrorist posted more than two dozen photos of Allen Premium Outlets, where an officer killed him after the shooting Saturday, and surrounding areas, including several screenshots of Google location information, seemingly monitoring the mall at its busiest times.
Many of his posts referred to his mental health. In his final post, he lamented what his family might say and wrote that no psychologist would have been able to fix him.
In another post, he made disturbing comments about what makes a mass shooting "important" and praised a person who opened fire at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, this year, killing six people, including three children.
The shooter also posted a series of links to other sites, including a YouTube account that featured a video published the day of the shooting. In it he removed a "Scream" mask and said, "Not quite what you were expecting, huh?"
He also posted photos of a flak vest emblazoned with patches, one of them with the initialism for "Right Wing Death Squad," a popular meme among far-right extremist groups. Another post included a series of shirtless pictures with visible white power tattoos, including SS lightning bolts and a swastika.
The shooter was armed with multiple weapons, including an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun, authorities said.
Regardless of this, what we know was this gunman managed to wipe out eight people within seconds. Not one second would have saved these lives.
According to the far right: White shooters are mentally ill. Black shooters are unrepentant criminals. Gay shooters are active groomers. Muslim shooters are terrorists. Hispanics and Asians shooters are illegal immigrants. Almost all mass shooters are registered Democrats because they have liked one thing common to the left. Of course, they often share disinformation by using the "Sam Hyde" meme as a way to denounce most mass shooters being white. They say a white person should "protect" from protesters and use of firearms are justified. They say if a shooter is active military or a veteran who supports conservative causes, they are considered a "heroes" and use of firearms are justified.
The Republicans usually amplify white victims. Anytime a person of color kills a white victim, it is often wall-to-wall coverage on Fox and they force it into national news. White shooters are given glowing profiles about their perfect lives and how friends noticed something but refused to do something. When it comes to Black shooters, automatic vilification. They don't see mental illness. They see it as gang violence, allegedly fatherless homes, Democratic policies or the need for more firearms. The far right and Republicans exploit gun violence in the Black community for culture wars and racism.
Elon Musk criticized for allowing the sharing of graphic images of the victims and spreading conspiracy theories.
Republicans solutions are more guns, blame others for America's social ills and defect from accepting reality.
Every community in the United States will eventually have a legacy. A legacy of never ending tragedy. Gun violence, extremism, monkeypox and COVID-19 will affect your town, your family and your life. So I don't want to hear that bullshit about how gun reform is taking away your rights to own firearms.
I don't want to hear that protesting against police killing people of color is hate on cops in general. I don't want to hear talk about the coronavirus being a myth.
When you hear folks say "gun rights," what they really mean is that its white privilege. This good guy with a gun nonsense has to end. The cops didn't do nothing when children were shot inside a school. A security guard was shot dead trying to protect shoppers. A cop accidentally shot his own. The good guy who tried to stop a bad guy is outgunned and a part of the rule #3.
Remember #3 means: The "good guy with a gun" better be prepared to die if they want to stop a shooter.
I don't want to hear folks say masks and vaccine mandates impede their freedoms. It prevents a deadly outbreak from spreading. If you want to die from the coronavirus, that's on you. We lost over 1 million people from the coronavirus.
I don't want to hear the shit about guns saving lives. Cause a bullet does not have eyes and it's always likely gonna hit a target. These folks seem to not get it. These incidents are a tragic part of American history. Thoughts and prayers and your heart going out to the victims is not enough. It quite frankly is an insult. I am also tired of scapegoating Black on Black crime, Chicago, Baltimore and Democratic mayors for the nation's obsession to be numb to gun violence. You pretty much enable this nonsense by deflecting.
President Joe Biden is trying to curb gun violence. However, he has no support from Republicans. Most Democrats and America are for gun control measures. However one Democrat and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate refuse to change the filibuster rules and its holding us back.
The National Rifle Association is always pushing against it. They will not relinquish from the narrative that guns are not saving lives. The Republicans aided by a fickle junk food media are openly encouraging anarchy and disruption in a desperate attempt for the Republicans to win back Congress and the White House. These agitators are calling for Biden to curb crime but will not help him. They want more guns on the street. It makes no sense.
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or 988, or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The deaf and hard of hearing can contact the Lifeline via TTY at 1-800-799-4889. All calls are confidential. Contact social media outlets directly if you are concerned about a friend’s social media updates or dial 911 in an emergency. Learn more on the Lifeline’s website or the Crisis Text Line’s website.
The call number to the U.S. Capitol is now going to be used. This is the official phone number, 202-224-3121. Let them know that "thoughts and prayers," "hearts going to" and "good guys with guns" are no longer acceptable and you want legislation to curb gun violence.
GUN VIOLENCE IS THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES.
Weight loss and health company started by fitness guru is going out of business.
The Jenny Craig Diet.... a popular theme of the weight loss company. Now it will be a part of history as the company is going out of business.
After 40 years in business, weight-loss chain Jenny Craig has announced it is closing down in the U.S., Canada, and possibly several other markets around the world.
Reports of the chain's demise first emerged last week, when the chain was scrambling to come up with cash to cover a looming debt payment, and warning staff of major layoffs to come
The business — which offers pre-made meals and coaching lessons to millions of people trying to lose weight — has roughly 500 franchises across the U.S. and Canada, and more globally.
Jenny with her late husband Sidney Craig.
It was founded by American entrepreneur Jenny Craig in the 1970s but changed hands numerous times over the years.
Its most recent sale was in 2019, when it was purchased by private equity firm HIG Capital for an undisclosed sum.
The chain's efforts to fix its business proved fruitless as the chain filed paperwork with bankruptcy courts in the U.S. and Canada in recent days.
"Thank you to our loyal Jenny family," a notice on the company's website reads. "It's with a heavy heart we're announcing the close of our business."
The move means that effective immediately, all of the chains activities have ceased. Any food scheduled to be delivered has been cancelled, as are all orders for coaching sessions and merchandise sales.
The judge overseeing the former president's hush money cover up trial told him to stop posting about it. He has now a gag order imposed after he constantly derided Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Also he faces a sexual assault trial which now in the hands of jury.
E. Jean Carroll is suing the former president for rape. The former president was given an opportunity to defend himself but missed the deposition on Sunday.
Judge Juan Merchan largely sided with Bragg by limiting what Washed Up 45 can publicly disclose about new evidence from the prosecution before the case goes to trial.
It's almost over.
The order says that "any materials and information provided by the People to the Defense in accordance with their discovery obligations ... shall be used solely for the purposes of preparing a defense in this matter."
Merchan's order said anyone with access to the evidence being turned over to the former president's team by state prosecutors “shall not copy, disseminate or disclose” the material to third parties, including social media platforms, “without prior approval from the court."
It also singles out Washed Up 45, saying he is allowed to review sensitive "Limited Dissemination Materials" from prosecutors only in the presence of his lawyers and "shall not be permitted to copy, photograph, transcribe, or otherwise independently possess the Limited Dissemination Materials."
In addition, the order restricts the former president from reviewing "forensic images of witness cell phones," although his lawyers can show him "approved portions" of the images after they get permission from the judge.
It needed to stop. Bragg requested that all mentions of the trial by Washed Up 45 is off limits.
The former president’s lawyers and the DA’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
The ruling largely tracks with the DA’s office request for a protective order, which Washed Up 45's attorneys had complained was “extremely restrictive.”
Prosecutors had argued they needed “safeguards that will protect the integrity of the materials,” saying the “risk” that the former president would use them “inappropriately is substantial.”
“Donald J. Trump has a longstanding and perhaps singular history of attacking witnesses, investigators, prosecutors, trial jurors, grand jurors, judges, and others involved in legal proceedings against him, putting those individuals and their families at considerable safety risk,” the DA's office argued in a court filing last month.
Prosecutors had stressed they were not seeking a gag order against Washed Up 45, a 2024 presidential candidate — they just wanted to make sure he did not misuse their evidence.
Stormy Daniels had to increase security due to Washed Up 45's threats.
“Defendant has a constitutional right to speak publicly about this case, and the People do not seek to infringe upon that right,” their filing said.
The former president's lawyers argued in a filing last week that the DA's proposed order would do exactly that.
“The People’s Proposed Protective Order infringes upon President Trump’s First Amendment right to freely discuss his own character and qualifications for federal office and the First Amendment rights of the American people to hear President Trump’s side of the story,” it said.
Merchan said in Monday's order that prosecutors had shown "good cause" for their request.
Washed up 45 was charged last month with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and another woman toward the end of his 2016 presidential campaign to prevent them from speaking about their allegations of affairs with him. He has pleaded not guilty and has said he did not have an extramarital affair.
The former president has maintained Bragg and the judge are biased against him, and his lawyers filed paperwork last week seeking to have the case transferred to federal court. The request is pending.
A former boyfriend told the FBI about the viral photo of a woman who participated in the the attack on the U.S. Capitol. This woman wore a pink beret and stood out. Many on the far right assumed that this woman was either a FBI mole or Antifa. Turns out she was a die hard supporter of Washed Up 45 and a collector of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.
NBC News reported that the FBI has confirmation of the suspect and they are going to apprehend her soon.
Last weekend, a clothing designer was standing in the checkout line waiting to purchase a needle for his sewing machine when his buddy saw something funny on his phone.
It was a tweet from the FBI’s Washington Field Office featuring two striking images of the 537th person added to the bureau’s U.S. Capitol Violence webpage, which has functioned as a “most wanted” list of Jan. 6 participants since the investigation began more than two years ago.
No. 537 on the FBI list is a woman wearing a white coat and black gloves, carrying a black Dolce & Gabbana purse, who has been the subject of Jan. 6 conspiracy theories. In one image, with her eyebrow arched, she looks dead at the camera like she’s Jim from “The Office.” In another, she’s standing near the Capitol, appearing to direct rioters with a stick.
Atop her head: a pink beret.
“I stopped dead in my tracks,” the designer, who asked not to be named to avoid harassment and threats, recalled in an interview with NBC News. “I’m like, ‘That’s Jenny.’”
He sent in a tip to the FBI. On Monday, he said he got a call from the bureau, confirming they were investigating Jenny. By Friday, a law enforcement official confirmed to NBC News that the bureau had identified “Pink Beret” as the clothing designer’s ex, Jennifer Inzuza Vargas, of Los Angeles.
Vargas did not respond to requests for comment.
The designer had dated Vargas four years ago and was able to identify her to the FBI thanks to the tweet’s popularity. Recent posts from the FBI Washington Field Office on Twitter have gathered 10,000 to 20,000 views. The tweet about the woman in the pink beret received more than 7.2 million. Among those millions of viewers was his friend in Joann Fabric.
The images did not show what the woman did at the Capitol, so many on Twitter assumed she didn’t do anything serious. Some Donald Trump supporters pounced, calling this another instance of FBI overreach, a reason to defund the bureau.
Feds identifying all the participants in the U.S. Capitol attack.
The jokes flooded in, too. One Twitter user dubbed the woman “Insurrection Eva Braun,” another compared her to Carmen Sandiego. Someone called her “fascist Matilda,” and several users made jokes about her being a character from a Wes Anderson movie. “Emily in-carceration,” read one of the joke tweets referring to the show “Emily in Paris.” There were a couple of comparisons to April Ludgate, the character played by Aubrey Plaza in NBC’s “Parks and Recreation.”
The clothing designer’s friend was among them: “He’s always on Twitter, and he said something like, ‘Yo, check out this chick.’”
That night, after tipping off the FBI, the clothing maker took to his own Twitter account, quote-tweeting the FBI’s post.
“I use to date this girl in 2019 LOL,” he tweeted, attaching an old picture of Vargas, wearing a red ski hat. After his tweet began to pick up steam, he started getting harassment and worried if could escalate to threats. He decided to delete the tweet, saying that things were getting “crazy.”
To the “Sedition Hunters” — the online sleuths who have spent the last 800+ days compiling and organizing open-source materials to help identify Jan. 6 rioters — Vargas was known as #PinkBeret. While the sleuths had aided in the cases against hundreds of Jan. 6 defendants and identified hundreds more Jan. 6 rioters who the FBI had not yet been arrested, Pink Beret remained elusive, despite being captured in a variety of videos and photos that day.
Online sleuths had mapped out Pink Beret’s day, and she seemed to be everywhere. There she was, captured in photos and videos taken at the initial breach of the police line, by the Peace Monument. There she was, on the front lines of the attack, on video cheering on as rioters tore apart a black fence so they could chuck the pieces at the police line. There she is, in photos and video, holding the door open for other rioters at one breach point, entering the building, then entering the building again from a second breach point. There she is inside as men in military gear chase police officers under a roll-down emergency door. There she is, smoking a cigar, on the east side of the Capitol. There she is, moving a large black bag from the pile of media equipment that rioters were hellbent on destroying. “Traitors get the f---ing rope,” someone yells repeatedly as rioters smash equipment and Pink Beret looks on in high heels.
They had attacked it from all angles, but no luck. One sleuth said he had searched for pink berets so much that he began to get targeted ads for the caps, including a pink one adorned with small white puffs.
That all changed last weekend when the sleuths saw the clothing designer’s tweet. They said they ran a facial recognition check, got a match, found more photos and found plenty of material to confirm the ID, including a post in which she appears to have sold a (slightly damaged) Dolce & Gabbana purse that looks like the one Pink Beret wore to the Capitol.
The clothing designer, who’s based in Los Angeles, met Vargas, who’s from Sacramento, online and they hit it off “really well” in late 2018. In early 2019, when they were in their early 20s, Vargas flew down to L.A. “We weren’t, like, trying to get married or anything,” he said. “We were hooking up for a few months.”
Toward the end of those months, the designer said, Vargas posted on his Discord that she was reading Hitler’s 1925 manifesto. They got into a discussion about it that revealed more of Vargas’ far-right politics, he said.
“I was just instantly turned off, like, ‘Yo, I don’t think this is going to work out,’” he said. “You’re, like, reading ‘Mein Kampf,’ you think immigrants don’t deserve X, Y, Z.” (One of the social media accounts linked to Vargas, which was viewed by NBC News, also makes references to Hitler.)
After their relationship fizzled, Vargas stuck around in the Los Angeles area, the designer said; the account that sold the Dolce & Gabbana bag is based in Beverly Hills, and an Instagram account that appears to belong to her has posted from Los Angeles.
They kept in touch, occasionally exchanging messages even though their interests diverged. “She’s super into politics, and I didn’t know anything besides the fact that Trump lost,” the designer said. But he knew she was in Washington on Jan. 6 and did some research. He even asked her if she was on the “no fly” list in a message he wrote to her a few days after the attack, on Jan. 10, 2021, which he shared with NBC News.
“Nope, cause I didn’t go into the [Capitol],” she wrote, despite extensive video evidence later viewed by NBC News that does appear to show her inside the building.
“But you still crossed state lines to riot,” he replied.
“I was there to support the president. Not to partake in that riot. I support the police,” Vargas responded.
In the months that she remained unidentified, some speculated that Pink Beret was an “agent provocateur,” part of a pattern of Jan. 6 defendants and their supporters attempting to deflect responsibility for their actions by suggesting fellow rioters were working on behalf of the government to entrap Trump supporters during the attack.
Kira West, an attorney for Jan. 6 defendant Darrell Neely, has questioned the government about Pink Beret, who is seen on video holding hands with Neely inside the Capitol. West wrote in a memo this year that it was “hard to believe the government doesn’t know who she is and even harder to understand why they haven’t charged her with crimes like everyone else.”
West, in a filing in February, wrote that “Mr. Neely’s entry into the Capitol was directed by Pink Beret. Mr. Neely needs to know who she is and why she was there. He also needs to understand if he was targeted by her that day and for what purpose.”
Pink Beret was “central to Mr. Neely’s defense,” and the court should allow a “robust cross examination of government witnesses about Pink Beret girl, her possible connection to law enforcement and her role in the events of January 6, 2021,” West wrote.
The government has sought to have Neely’s defense team banned at trial from raising questions about whether Pink Beret was a member of law enforcement unless they could offer any evidence for that assertion, writing, “the Government is unaware of any evidence to support that contention.”
With hundreds of cases waiting in the pipeline, months and even years have gone by between the time rioters have been identified and when they’ve been arrested. But with Neely’s trial set to begin on May 22, the government may need to produce the new evidence it collected last weekend about Vargas’ identity expeditiously.
Asked this week about Pink Beret being identified by her ex, West said she wanted answers from the FBI months ago. “The FBI is late,” West told NBC News. “I have no idea if she has a connection to [law enforcement]. They won’t tell us.”
Vargas isn’t the first Jan. 6 rioter to be turned in by a former romantic partner. Richard Michetti was turned in by his ex after he called her a “moron” at the Capitol because she didn’t believe Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election. Last year, he was sentenced to nine months in federal prison.
The clothing designer said he thinks it’s important to get to the bottom of things and figure out if Vargas was working with any extremists on Jan. 6. But he said his “heart hurts” for Vargas.
“She’s clearly, like, a lost person,” he said, but added there needs to be accountability for people who stormed the Capitol.
He said he was struck by the sheer randomness of learning that an ex-girlfriend was on the FBI’s wanted list because of viral Twitter jokes.
“It’s just going to be one of those things for me,” the designer joked. “I dated this girl that was on the FBI’s most wanted list.”
If you're getting tired of the politicians reacting to gun violence in the United States using the troupes, "thoughts and prayers," "our hearts goes out to the victims" or "now it's not the time", then you're not alone.
Are you tired of the constant reaction by politicians saying that "quick reaction by law enforcement prevent more deaths?"
Well you're not alone.
I've gotten tired of these mentions of gun violence troupes. The shrugging off of a man-made crisis caused by a person using his/her right to firearms. Most of these mass shooters are legal owners.
And are you getting tired of the politicians (especially Republicans) using Chicago as an excuse to deflect from gun violence in RED STATES?
The Allen, Texas mass shooting is the latest. Lawmakers react with the usual "thoughts and prayers."
Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) has made it clear that Americans who don't believe in "thoughts and prayers" are not in favor of the Almighty God.
Question: Are you concerned about the rise in these incidents across the country? Rep. Self: Of course. Absolutely. Any time there is violence, whether it be in one of the big cities, riots, the trashing of stores in Chicago, or shootings like this.. pic.twitter.com/ld0EcGDmB5
“Congressman, I believe it is possible to both pray for the victims, but also think ahead as a politician, as an elected representative about how you keep your community safe.” pic.twitter.com/2SCcgzwEb1
Self, who represents Texas' 3rd Congressional District which includes Allen, Texas, the site of the latest mass shooting in the U.S. pivoted on CNN about gun violence by using the troupes.
When a CNN reporter asked what his response was to people who feel "prayers aren't cutting it," the congressman said, "Well, those are people that don't believe in an almighty god who is absolutely in control of our lives."
He is one of the 300 members who refuse to acknowledge the 2020 results and is more concerned about Dylan Mulvaney being a spokesperson for Bud Light. On top of that, he like the insufferable Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) and Ronny Jackson (R-TX) all pose with firearms like they're so tough.
Texas, Alabama, Ohio, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Washington, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, Arkansas, Indiana, North Carolina, District of Columbia, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Hawai'i, Virginia, Kansas, Puerto Rico, Kentucky, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Tennessee had mass shootings this year.
The shooting at the Allen Premium Outlets sent hundreds of shoppers and employees fleeing in panic. Authorities said the gunman, who has not yet been named, killed eight and wounded seven others before being killed by a police officer who happened to be nearby.
This keeps on happening and prayers won't stop this man-made crisis.
Allen, Texas. Population 124,000
Mass shooting: 242
Okay, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Gov. Greg Abbott, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the U.S. Representatives from Texas were notified of the latest mass shooting in the United States.
They will do the usual "thoughts and prayers" and "our hearts goes out to" as well as the Republicans saying that "now it's not the time to talk" bullshit.
These murderers don't have mental illness. They are calculated and prepared. It happened to be a moment where they have the opportunity to take out lives. There's no sickness in the head. Most mass shooters legally obtain their assault rifles without little background checks. They have likely no criminal history and they are willing to use the assault weapon in the only thing it's good for: Killing numerous lives.
Again, having more security, teachers being armed and offering safe rooms are not solving the problem.
THE NICE GUY IS THE MOST DANGEROUS PERSON WITH A FIREARM. THOSE WHO ARE SPURN BY RELATIONSHIPS, THE WORKPLACE, SOCIETY IN GENERAL WILL SEEK REVENGE BY TAKING OUT LIVES. THEY WANT TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS OF MASSACRING THEIR FELLOW HUMAN BEING. THE JUNK FOOD MEDIA AND POLITICIANS ADD FUEL TO THE FIRE BY AMPING UP POLARIZING RHETORIC.
Only five days after a gunman murdered five after a noise complaint in Cleveland, Texas and three days after a gunman shot four inside an Atlanta hospital. Not to mention the other mass shootings I didn't cover on this blog.
President Joe Biden keeps telling America that Republican members of Congress are tone deaf when it comes to gun violence.
Mass shootings are the causalities of four or more gunshot victims.
BE WARNED THERE IS GRAPHIC VIDEO AND IMAGES. TAKE EXTREME DISCRETION WITH THIS. WE DO NOT HAVE CONFIRMATION OF THE VICTIMS OR THE TERRORIST.
I SHOW THESE IMAGES ONLY FOR THE PURPOSE OF AWARENESS. NOT FOR CLICK BAIT OR ENDORSEMENTS OF VIOLENCE.
The insufferable Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who offered her phony "sympathies" in the Atlanta massacre decided to troll Americans with this "good guy with a gun" bullshit. She retweets her boyfriend Brian Glenn's graphic video footage. See below.
Friends be very careful when watching videos about the Allen Outlets shooting.
The video that begins with this screenshot has extremely graphic images of the dead victims including at least one child.
The mass shooting in Allen, Texas the Premium Outlet Mall.
Five deaths and dozens of injuries. The terrorist is killed.
So far, there's 365 days in the year and so far in the United States, there over 200 mass shootings.
The city is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
An active shooter doesn't care about the politics, race, gender, sexuality, nationality, religion, your finances, your family, your plans that day, your successes, your failures, and most importantly, your life.
You're not safe in the school, the concert, the hospital, the church, the casino, the bus station, the subway, the light rail train, the buses, the malls, the local big box store, the political rally, the protest rally, the women's center for reproductive surgeries, the mosque, the synagogue, the state buildings, the workplace, the gas station, the family picnic, the food truck rally, the funerals, the birthday parties, the graduations, the wedding, the televised events, the sporting events and many more events that have some terrorist with a firearm. Domestic violence, suicide, racism, culture war inspired, politically motivated and international operative inspired are types of gun violence.
The shooter is motivated within seconds to take out as many people as he/she can.
Unconfirmed image of multiple victims.
What to do to protect your life.
1. Run - If you hear sounds like firecrackers, popping sounds or suspicious activities around a large gathering (i.e. malls, stores, clubs, public gatherings), if you can flee, run away from the shooter. Do not run in a straight path of the sight. Move around and zig-zag if possible to keep yourself out the line of fire. It's best to not film a shooter commiting the act. If you are willing to risk your life for a viral video, more power to you but its best to stay out of the line of fire by running away.
2. Hide - If you are involved in an active shooting, you must barricade yourself in a room and keep doors locked, lights off, phones on silent. Do not go into restrooms, lockers and kitchens. Those are most likely places where shooters often go. If you can barricade a room to prevent a shooter from getting in, it eliminate the opportunity for the shooter to get through. Make sure you keep your voice low when you're involved in mass shooting. Call 9-1-1 if you can.
3. Fight - If you are willing to risk your life or willing to film the incident, you have no choice but to fight. Make sure you grab something that is powerful enough to disarm a shooter. Do not confront a shooter in the midst of sight. Make yourself not visible if you're trying to fight. Do not think being a "good guy with a gun" is going to stop a bad guy. The cops don't see good guys trying to stop bad guys. They see active shooters and they will shoot anyone who is armed regardless of the matter. If you're ready to fight, be prepared to die. It's best to not be easily seen if you're trying to stop a shooter. If you're a conceal carry and attempt to disarm an active shooter, you are willing to sacrifice your life to save lives. You are willing to go hero, you could die a hero or an idiot.
4. Realize - Mind you, that the types of firearms used by shooter are based on capacity. As with rule 3, you have only less than a second to make a reaction when the shooter is set on sights. So there's no real solution to save your life in the event of an active shooter. The best thing to do is understand, that anywhere in the United States could be a target of a mass shooting. Congress isn't doing a damn thing about it.
According to the far right: White shooters are mentally ill. Black shooters are unrepentant criminals. Gay shooters are active groomers. Muslim shooters are terrorists. Hispanics and Asians shooters are illegal immigrants. Almost all mass shooters are registered Democrats because they have liked one thing common to the left. Of course, they often share disinformation by using the "Sam Hyde" meme as a way to denounce most mass shooters being white. They say a white person should "protect" from protesters and use of firearms are justified. They say if a shooter is active military or a veteran who supports conservative causes, they are considered a "heroes" and use of firearms are justified.
The Republicans usually amplify white victims. Anytime a person of color kills a white victim, it is often wall-to-wall coverage on Fox and they force it into national news. White shooters are given glowing profiles about their perfect lives and how friends noticed something but refused to do something. When it comes to Black shooters, automatic vilification. They don't see mental illness. They see it as gang violence, allegedly fatherless homes, Democratic policies or the need for more firearms. The far right and Republicans exploit gun violence in the Black community for culture wars and racism.
Republicans solutions are more guns, blame others for America's social ills and defect from accepting reality.
Allen Police confirmed there were fatalities in the shooting but were not yet ready to release the number of people who had been killed. Allen Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd said at least nine shooting victims were taken by city ambulances to area hospitals but cautioned that there could be others who were injured who were taken to hospitals other ways.
Rep. Keith Self (R-TX) said on Twitter at about 6:15 p.m. that the gunman was no longer a threat and that there were a number of casualties, which Allen Chief of Police Brian Harvey later confirmed at a news conference at about 6:30 p.m.
Gov. Greg Abbott declared Texas a Second Amendment Sanctuary.
Harvey said an officer was at the outlet mall responding to an unrelated call when he heard gunfire. Harvey said the officer ran toward the gunfire, found the gunman and "neutralized" him. The officer then made the call for ambulances.
Harvey said they believe the gunman acted alone and that there is no ongoing threat to the community.
"Our deepest sympathies are with the families of the victims," said Harvey. "This is a tragedy, people will be looking for answers, we're sorry that those families are experiencing that loss."
In a tweet Saturday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed the active shooter situation at the mall at about 4:30 p.m., about 30 minutes after the incident took place. The bureau sent agents to the mall and helped local police in the initial response of clearing stores in the sprawling outdoor mall.
An ATF spokesperson told that agents and K-9 officers are now working to locate shell casings and begin the process of tracing the firearm or firearms involved in the attack.
City officials said they expect to provide another briefing sometime Saturday evening.
Of course, here comes the "thoughts and prayers" from Texas' most dumbest leaders.
Families like mine out shopping on a Saturday will forever be changed by this awful tragedy. Some will not make it home. Aly and I are praying for all impacted by this. https://t.co/U5Zl9To7TH
We are devestated by the tragic news of the shootings that took place at the Allen Premium Outlets today. Our prayers are with the victims and their families and all law enforcement on the scene.
This is an ongoing situation, but Allen PD has full control of the scene. A…
In a written statement, Abbott said he was aware of the shooting and offered the state's assistance in investigating the shooting.
“Our hearts are with the people of Allen, Texas tonight during this unspeakable tragedy,” Abbott said. “I have been in contact with Mayor Fulk and DPS Director McCraw as well as other state and local leaders and offered the full support of the State of Texas to local officials to ensure all needed assistance and resources are swiftly deployed, including DPS officers, Texas Rangers, and investigative resources.”
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick issued this statement today following news of the shooting in Allen:
“Please join Jan and me in mourning the victims of the unspeakable tragedy in Allen. Please also join us in prayer for the victims’ families and friends along with the residents of Allen. We are grateful for our brave first responders who were deployed to stop the shooter and investigate this hideous crime. We are thankful for their bravery and courage.”
Graphic image of the alleged terrorist.
Every community in the United States will eventually have a legacy. A legacy of never ending tragedy. Gun violence, extremism, monkeypox and COVID-19 will affect your town, your family and your life. So I don't want to hear that bullshit about how gun reform is taking away your rights to own firearms.
I don't want to hear that protesting against police killing people of color is hate on cops in general. I don't want to hear talk about the coronavirus being a myth.
When you hear folks say "gun rights," what they really mean is that its white privilege. This good guy with a gun nonsense has to end. The cops didn't do nothing when children were shot inside a school. A security guard was shot dead trying to protect shoppers. A cop accidentally shot his own. The good guy who tried to stop a bad guy is outgunned and a part of the rule #3.
Remember #3 means: The "good guy with a gun" better be prepared to die if they want to stop a shooter.
I don't want to hear folks say masks and vaccine mandates impede their freedoms. It prevents a deadly outbreak from spreading. If you want to die from the coronavirus, that's on you. We lost over 1 million people from the coronavirus.
I don't want to hear the shit about guns saving lives. Cause a bullet does not have eyes and it's always likely gonna hit a target. These folks seem to not get it. These incidents are a tragic part of American history. Thoughts and prayers and your heart going out to the victims is not enough. It quite frankly is an insult. I am also tired of scapegoating Black on Black crime, Chicago, Baltimore and Democratic mayors for the nation's obsession to be numb to gun violence. You pretty much enable this nonsense by deflecting.
President Joe Biden is trying to curb gun violence. However, he has no support from Republicans. Most Democrats and America are for gun control measures. However one Democrat and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate refuse to change the filibuster rules and its holding us back.
Never stops.
The National Rifle Association is always pushing against it. They will not relinquish from the narrative that guns are not saving lives. The Republicans aided by a fickle junk food media are openly encouraging anarchy and disruption in a desperate attempt for the Republicans to win back Congress and the White House. These agitators are calling for Biden to curb crime but will not help him. They want more guns on the street. It makes no sense.
Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or 988, or text the Crisis Text Line (text HELLO to 741741). Both services are free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The deaf and hard of hearing can contact the Lifeline via TTY at 1-800-799-4889. All calls are confidential. Contact social media outlets directly if you are concerned about a friend’s social media updates or dial 911 in an emergency. Learn more on the Lifeline’s website or the Crisis Text Line’s website.
The call number to the U.S. Capitol is now going to be used. This is the official phone number, 202-224-3121. Let them know that "thoughts and prayers," "hearts going to" and "good guys with guns" are no longer acceptable and you want legislation to curb gun violence.
GUN VIOLENCE IS THE NUMBER ONE PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES.
It was a lapse in judgment and now two Detroit Metro Police officers are facing felony burglary and home invasion charges. They are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The two police officers and a woman broke into a fellow Detroit police officer's home in McComb County. The Michigan State Police and McComb County Prosecutor are considering charging the two with felonies that could put them in the iron college for 15 years.
Officer Brianna Cabano, 29, of Auburn Hills, is charged with second-degree home invasion, conspiracy to commit second-degree home invasion, malicious destruction of property between $1,000-$20,000, and larceny in a building.
Officer Dayna Sears, 21, of Southfield, is charged with second-degree home invasion, malicious destruction of property between $1,000-$20,000, larceny in a building, and accessory after the fact.
Colleen Compton, 29, of Warren, was charged with second-degree home invasion, conspiracy to commit second-degree home invasion, malicious destruction of property between $1,000-$20,000, and larceny in a building.
All three women received $5,000 personal bonds.
"As prosecutors, it is our duty to hold all individuals accountable for their actions, regardless of their profession or position of authority. The crime of home invasion is a serious offense and the fact that the defendants in this case are police officers only amplifies the severity of their actions. We will pursue justice with the utmost integrity and impartiality, ensuring that the law is upheld and justice is served for the victims of this crime," said Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido.
No one is above the law.
Whether he was a boyfriend, husband, supervisor, bully or a random stranger, these women had no right to break into the home.
