Saturday had two high profile events. In DC, Donald Chump destroyed the city and tried to destroy democracy by holding a parade in his own honor on his birthday while across the country the American people were invited to participate in No Kings protests. Choosing between the two, Americans went with the protests against Chump while only a small gaggle elected to respond yes to Chump's offer to come and adore him.
Chump did get some good press for his tiny event because there are whores in the media. I don't like dirty whores. Never have. Which is why I've never mistaken NPR's Frank Langfitt for a journalist. He proved he wasn't one again today which is how he came to type up a report based on a report he gave on air. The big difference? How he leaves Charlie Kirk out in the type up. The pro-Chumper he spoke to is on air, in his report for NPR, raving over Charlie Kirk but that doesn't fit the view Frank wants to whore so he makes the MAGA trash from Tennessee into just a 'fan' of Chump. And if you can't find out in two minutes just how devoted Frank's source is to MAGA, you shouldn't be allowed computer privileges. No link to trash. Again, Frank is a whore and has always been a whore. In the 21 years of this site, we've linked to NPR repeatedly, cited it constantly but we've never noted Frank because NPR friends long ago told me what a whore he is. Even his peers hate him.
The American Civil Liberties Union, a part of the coalition that put on the demonstrations, said in a late Saturday, June 14 statement that more than five million people participated in over 2,100 rallies and protests.
Political organizing group Move On, who was a partner in the "No Kings" rallies, echoed the 5 million person estimate in a fundraising email.
Will Neal (DAILY BEAST) also notes the four to six million turnout for the No Kings protests across the country. It was hugely successful.
However, AP wants to run down the violence . . . Well, at least some of the violence.
Confrontations were isolated. But police in Los Angeles, where protests over federal immigration enforcement raids erupted a week earlier and sparked demonstrations across the country, used tear gas and crowd-control munitions to clear out protesters after the formal event ended. Officers in Portland also fired tear gas and projectiles to disperse a crowd that protested in front of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building well into the evening.
And in Salt Lake City, Utah, police were investigating a shooting during a march downtown that left one person critically injured. Three people were taken into custody, including a man believed to be the shooter, who also suffered a gunshot wound, according to Police Chief Brian Redd.
Oh, that was the violence, was it?
Gee, I saw something yesterday in a USA TODAY headline about Virginia. In fact, here's a local news video report of it.
THE USA TODAY report I saw Saturday was by Jonathan Limehouse:
Authorities in Virginia arrested a 21-year-old man they said intentionally drove an SUV through the crowd at the town's "No Kings" day event.
Culpeper police officers arrested Joseph R. Checklick Jr., of Culpeper, on June 14, at the conclusion of the demonstration. Participants were leaving the area and crossing through a business's parking lot when an SUV drove "recklessly through the crowd of pedestrians," the department said in a news release.
Culpeper Police charged Checklick with reckless driving, according to the release. He appeared before a magistrate and was ordered to be held without bond at the Culpeper County Jail.
Click here to read FOX NEWS 5 DC's Elissa Salamy's report on Checklick Jr.'s assault on protesters. Today in Los Angeles, a woman has been hospitalized after being run over while she was protesting -- at this point, no one knows if it was intentional or an accident. But we know Checklick Jr. ran his car into people intentionally.
No one wants to point out that Florida's governor was talking on TV about running over protesters mere days ago. Ron DeSantis was saying it was okay. Friday, NBC Miami noted:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on a podcast this week that drivers in Florida who encounter protesters and feel threatened have a right to hit them with their cars.
“If you are driving on one of those streets and a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety, and so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that’s their fault for impinging on you," DeSantis said on an episode of the Rubin Report podcast that aired on Wednesday night.
These statements got a lot of attention Charles Rabin (MIAMI HERALD) wrote Friday:
Gov. Ron DeSantis said that drivers will not be at fault if they hit protesters that block roadways in a clip that took social media by storm. Interviewed on a Reuben Report podcast episode released Wednesday, he said “you have a right to defend yourself in Florida.”
[. . .]
As for Jones’ concern about drivers being able to legally mow down protesters, that’s not the case, said Alana Greer, director of the Community Justice Project. What the Legislature did was enable a driver who hits someone during a riot to basically claim Stand Your Ground in a civil lawsuit only.
People need to start being held accountable when they promote violence. That would include Chump and MAGA's inflammatory rhetoric that led a Chump supporter in Minnesota to go on a shooting spree.
Chump's violent rhetoric against Democrats and trans people? It's influencing MAGA. Which is probably why Chump supporter Vance Boelter shot dead Democratic politician Melissa Hortman and Mark Hortman her husband and why Vance Boelter shot Democratic state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette on Saturday. Mike Wendling (BBC NEWS) notes:
A survivor of Saturday's deadly attacks on two Minnesota lawmakers says she and her husband are both "incredibly lucky to be alive" after they were hit by 17 bullets.
State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were gunned down at their home early on Saturday morning, but lived. Melissa Hortman - the top Democratic legislator in the state House - and her husband, Mark, were shot and killed.
Yvette Hoffman said in a statement that she and her husband John were "devastated" by the Hortmans' deaths.
Police are hunting for the suspect, Vance Luther Boelter, who wore a latex mask and posed as an officer to shoot the victims at their homes in suburban Minneapolis, before escaping on foot.
AP notes, "The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another crawled to officers in surrender Sunday after they located him in the woods near his home, bringing an end to a massive, nearly two-day search that put the entire state on edge." Many reports are noting that Boelter is anti-abortion, few are noting, as Trina pointed out yesterday, that the freak is also anti-trans.
In Chump Land, it's one crisis after another. It was only Thursday when the Chump administration attacked and assaulted US Senator Alex Padilla. Rebecca Beitsch (THE HILL) notes:
The handcuffing of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) raises the stakes for future clashes between Democrats and the administration as acts of protest have been met with swift law enforcement action.
Democrats have vowed to continue their pressure campaign on the administration over its immigration policies, but the incident involving Padilla and President Trump’s forceful response to Democratic protesters raise questions over how such confrontations will intensify.
The remarkable video shows Padilla being forced to the ground and then handcuffed after interrupting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference, with the lawmaker identifying himself by name and title and saying he wished to ask a question.
The lying fornicator and dog killer Kristi Noem and others have told is that no one knew who Alex was. Lie. Avery Lotz (AXIOS) explains:
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said Sunday that a member of the National Guard and an FBI agent escorted him into Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference last week before he was forcibly removed.
The big picture: Administration officials and allies claim Padilla interrupted the briefing to manufacture a scene. Democrats, whose fears of arrest at the hands of the administration have soared, say the senior senator from California was doing his job by questioning the secretary.
- Tensions were already high, as protests in Los Angeles over the administration's aggressive immigration crackdown set the stage for a showdown between President Trump and state Democratic officials.
- When Padilla interrupted Noem to try to ask a question, Axios' Noah Bressner reported, she had just said her agents were staying in LA to "liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country."
Driving the news: Padilla said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that he arrived at a federal building for a scheduled briefing with representatives from U.S. Northern Command when he learned Noem was having a press conference "a couple doors down."
- He said he requested to listen in and was escorted into the room by a member of the National Guard and an FBI agent.
- "They opened the door for me, and they stood next to me while I was listening for the entire time," he told CNN's Dana Bash. "And then, of course, once I was forcibly removed and handcuffed."
Friction point: DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Thursday that Padilla "interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself" and that Secret Service believed he was "an attacker."
- In footage of the incident shared by McLaughlin on social media, Padilla can be heard saying, "I am Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary" as he is pushed away.
- "What does it say about the secretary to not know who the senator from California is, the ranking member of the judiciary subcommittee on immigration?" Padilla questioned Sunday.
There was never an excuse for the behavior and the lies of the administration only get exposed more.
Kat's "Kat's Korner: Garbage shines, Joe Jonas deepens" went up earlier today. The following sites updated:
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Understanding Inequality, Part III: Tariffs19 hours ago
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The Network: Breaking Bread20 hours ago
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Chump was premature yet again22 hours ago
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Fridge Pickles in the Kitchen1 day ago
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