Winning War on COVID Vaccine Lies | Deported Veterans | Bizarre Election Audit, and more
Friday marks two weeks since Arizona started the recount of 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County, which was ordered by the GOP-controlled state Senate to determine whether widespread fraud took place in the 2020 presidential election and U.S. Senate race.
The ballots are being hand counted, and an audit official earlier this week said at least some of the ballots are being scanned for bamboo fibers, in line with an absurd conspiracy theory that 40,000 forged ballots were shipped into the state from Asia.
On Thursday, the Justice Department sent a letter to local officials warning the audit might be violating federal law since ballots have been handed over to a private company.
That company, Florida-based Cyber Ninjas, has no election experience.
Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan has pushed a conspiracy theory that a company tied to long-dead Venezuelan strongman dictator Hugo Chavez somehow rigged voting machines against former President Donald Trump.
Regulator Shares Discredited Conspiracy Theories about COVID (AP / ABC News)
An elected Arizona utility regulator has shared discredited conspiracy theories while trying to persuade energy and power providers not to require their employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Deported Veterans Ask Biden to Bring Them Home (Carson Frame, Texas Public Radio)
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Deported Veterans Support House in Tijuana, Mx., have launched a campaign urging the Biden administration to bring home deported veterans — those who served in the U.S. military only to be later exiled from the country.
U.S. Joins Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online (Bridget Johnson, HSToday)
The Biden administration joined a 2019 global pledge crafted in the wake of the massacre at two Christchurch mosques in order to rein in extremist content online.
The Christchurch Call to Action to Eliminate Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content Online “outlines collective, voluntary commitments from Governments and online service providers intended to address the issue of terrorist and violent extremist content online and to prevent the abuse of the internet as occurred in and after the Christchurch attacks.” Australian gunman Brenton Tarrant, who pleaded guilty last year to 51 murders and 40 attempted murders at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Center and was sentenced to life in prison, livestreamed on Facebook the first 17 minutes of the attacks, beginning as he drove to Al Noor and ending before he reached Linwood.
Former Neo-Nazi Terror Leader Turns Self in after Bond Revoked (Ben Makuch, Vice)
The former Michigan cell leader of the neo-Nazi terror group the Base, who was out on bond awaiting trial, turned himself in yesterday after violating the terms of his release and being ordered by a judge back to jail. In October 2020, Justen Watkins, 25, who was at one point overall leader of the Base, was arrested for a series of terrorism-related charges, including ones related to a botched death threat against an antifascist podcaster in 2019. But even though authorities knew he had access to firearms and was posting threateningly about mass murder on social media, Watkins posted bail in February and was required to stay away from other members of the Base as a condition. He didn’t, though, and—according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office the man who posted his bail was another member of the Base. A local judge ordered Watkins to surrender and turn himself in. “Given the circumstances, the court’s decision to revoke Mr. Watkins’ bond was the correct course of action,” said Nessel in a statement. “We are pleased with the outcome.” While he was out on bond, Watkins was charged with possessing illegal steroids in February and, in early April, with breaking and entering into a garage on the property where he once held paramilitary training for the Base, alongside an accomplice.
Counter-Terror Expert Urges Media to Stop ‘Celebrisiting’ British ISIS Volunteers (James Bickerton, Express)
The mediaA has been urged to stop “celebritising” British ISIS volunteers and treating them “more like the victims” by a counter-terrorism expert.
France to Expel Refugees If They Commit Crimes or Are Flagged for Extremism (Neil Murphy, The National)
France’s interior minister said refugees and other migrants could be expelled if they commit crimes that go “against the values of the republic”. Gerald Darmanin, known for his tough line on crime and immigration, made the comments in a newspaper interview published on Friday. “For the first time, we’ve asked Ofpra (France’s refugee agency) to withdraw asylum protection for anyone found to be going against the values of the republic,” he told Le Figaro. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, left, and French Prime Minister Jean Castex attend a news conference following discussions over a bill for the prevention of acts of terrorism. The policy is the latest sign of the new focus on immigration, security and Islamism by the government of President Emmanuel Macron one year before presidential and parliamentary elections. Political experts expect those issues to shape a contest in which far-right leader Marine Le Pen is Mr Macron’s closest rival, according to recent polls. Mr Darmanin said that in the past three months, 147 refugees had lost their asylum status. “Our policy is clear: judging foreigners based on what they do, not who they are,” he said. He said that 1,093 foreigners living illegally in France are currently on a watch list maintained by security services, suspected of being a terrorist threat.
