Tag: crime

Race to the Bottom: The State Competing with California to be the ‘Left’s Progressive Utopia’

When hearing about the woes of blue states, names like California and New York immediately come to mind, but we may need to add a new name to the list of places Democratic officials are ruining: Illinois.

The Daily Caller reported on Thursday that new data indicates the state our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, once called home is in a downward spiral.

While California is still leading the nation with the worst unemployment rate in the country at 5.3 percent, Illionois is not far behind in fifth with 4.8 percent.

The comparisons don’t stop there. With the 8th highest tax burden and high crime rates, many Illinoisans are opting to simply leave the state for greener pastures — as Californians have been doing.

Bryce Hill, director of fiscal and economic research at the Illinois Policy Institute, told the Daily Caller News Foundation, “The Census Bureau has reported that residents are leaving the state en masse to the tune of hundreds of thousands every single year, so much so that the state’s population has actually been declining for the past 10 years.”

As of July 2023, Illinois population was 12,549,689. That number was down 32,826 from 2022. Census data showed this fall has been steady, as the population as of April 1, 2020, was 12,813,469.

Heartland Institute Senior Fellow S.T. Karnick cited a few reasons for this decline. “Opinion polls cite high taxes as the top reason people want to leave Illinois, with crime and safety second. Illinois has the fourth-most regulations among the 50 states, which raises prices and kills jobs.”

Violent crime in Chicago went up 18 percent in 2023 compared to ten years prior, with arrests dropping 33 percent over the same time.

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Appeals Court Hammers Prosecution About FBI Conduct In Whitmer Kidnap Plot

The much-anticipated appeal hearing was held Thursday for Barry Croft and Adam Fox, the alleged “ringleaders” of the 2020 militia conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Croft and Fox were convicted of plotting to kidnap Whitmer after their second trial in late 2022. At their first trial earlier that year, a jury acquitted two other men while failing to reach a verdict for Croft and Fox.

The two men appealed their convictions on multiple grounds. Thursday’s hearing focused largely on the conduct of FBI informants and their handling agents.

Croft’s attorney, Timothy Sweeney, argued that his client should get a retrial because he wasn’t allowed to introduce numerous text messages that showed improper conduct by the FBI.

Those text messages showed how FBI informants were pressuring Fox and Croft to formulate a plan against Whitmer. A list of the texts can be found in this document.

Representing the government, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler argued that the FBI text messages were irrelevant because Fox and Croft were already predisposed to committing an act of terrorism.

“All the [FBI] statements identified by defense go to inducement. If jury found they were predisposed [to kidnapping Whitmer], none of that matters,” Kessler said. “This court has held that entrapment can only happen if the government plants an idea in an innocent persons’ head.”

The appeals justices expressed skepticism about Kessler’s argument. One justice disagreed with the prosecutor’s reading of the law.

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Former NSA worker gets nearly 22 years in prison for selling secrets to undercover FBI agent

A former National Security Agency employee who sold classified information to an undercover FBI agent he believed to be a Russian official was sentenced Monday to nearly 22 years in prison, the penalty requested by government prosecutors.

U.S. District Judge Raymond Moore said he could have put Jareh Sebastian Dalke, 32, behind bars for even longer, calling the 262-month sentence “mercy” for what he saw as a calculated action to take the job at the NSA in order to be able to sell national security secrets.

“This was blatant. It was brazen and, in my mind, it was deliberate. It was a betrayal, and it was as close to treasonous as you can get,” Moore said.

Dalke‘s attorneys had asked for the Army veteran, who pleaded guilty to espionage charges last fall in a deal with prosecutors, to be sentenced to 14 years in prison, in part because the information did not end up in enemy hands and cause damage. Assistant federal public defender David Kraut also argued for a lighter sentence because he said Dalke had suffered a traumatic brain injury, had attempted suicide four times, and had experienced trauma as a child, including witnessing domestic violence and substance abuse. Research has shown that kind of childhood trauma increases the risk of people later engaging in dangerous behavior, he said.

Later, Dalke, who said he was “remorseful and ashamed”, told Moore he had also suffered PTSD, bipolar disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.

He denied being motivated by ideology or earning money by agreeing to sell the secrets. Dalke also suggested he had an idea that he was actually communicating with law enforcement but was attracted to the thrill of what he was doing.

But Moore said he was skeptical of Dalke’s claims about his conditions since the defense did not provide any expert opinions or hospital records.

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Evidence Shows Adam Schiff Falsely Registered, Ineligibly Voted, and/or Committed Mortgage Fraud

Evidence Shows that Rep. Adam Schiff, who is running for US Senate in California, has committed election fraud, has ineligibly voted, and/or committed mortgage fraud. 

One year ago, in April 2023, we reported that an ethics complaint was filed against corrupt US Rep. Adam Schiff. Today, we can report that Schiff’s corrupt and even criminal acts involve much more.

In April 2023 we reported at The Gateway Pundit that an ethics complaint had been filed against US Rep. Adam Schiff.

TGP reported:

US Congressman Adam Schiff from California is in deep trouble. An ethics complaint has been filed against Schiff by a concerned citizen alleging that Schiff has committed election and voter fraud claiming he was both a citizen of California and Maryland.

A concerned citizen from the state of California uncovered what is believed to be crimes committed by Adam Schiff.

In 2000 Schiff was elected to Congress and has served as a US House member from the state of California ever since. Schiff reportedly purchased a home in Maryland with his wife in 2003 stating they would occupy this home for 12 consecutive months as their “primary residence”. Despite this claim, Schiff continued to vote in California.

Schiff refinanced his home in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 claiming the Maryland home was his primary residence. In 2009, a House Ethics investigation claimed that Schiff did this and Schiff claimed it was an error and he repaid the exempt taxes to the state of Maryland.

A fellow member of Congress was charged with criminal counts for doing the same thing, Steven Watkins, of Oklahoma.

In addition, the amount of the home mortgage has remained basically the same this entire time. Congress should look into this as well.

When asked about his residence in Maryland a couple of months ago while on the campaign trail running for US Senate in California, Schiff called it a “non-issue.”  He added that his primary residence was in California and neglected to mention that he had repeatedly claimed his Maryland home was his primary residence.

It turns out that there is much, much more to this story.

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NY District Attorney Sandra Doorley Flees Police During Traffic Stop — Asserts She is Exempt from the Law Due to Her Position as DA

District Attorney Sandra Doorley is at the center of controversy following a traffic stop where she appeared to leverage her status as Monroe County’s DA to evade law enforcement procedures.

The incident, captured on an officer’s body-worn camera, shows Doorley dismissing the reason for the stop and insinuating her legal authority would nullify the traffic violation.

Doorley was recorded going 55 mph in a 35 mph zone on Monday evening on Phillips Road. Instead of pulling over, Doorley continued driving to her residence on Fallen Leaf Terrace, about a mile away, while an officer followed with active lights and siren.

The video, released by the Town of Webster, depicts a defiant Doorley who, at several points during the encounter, reminded the officers of her position.

Doorley argued she had been on a call with Webster Police Chief Dennis Kohlmeier to assure the police officer she was not a threat. However, the video shows her using her phone to demand Kohlmeier convince the officer to leave her be.

The encounter escalated when Doorley refused to provide her ID, instead handing the officer her phone with Kohlmeier on the line.

“Listen, I know the law better than you. Would you just leave? Would you just leave me alone?”

“I don’t really care. I don’t really care. You know what? If you give me a traffic ticket, that’s fine. I’m the one who prosecutes it.”

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New Jersey Lawmakers And Marijuana Activists Push To Legalize Home Cultivation, Which Is Still A Felony

For the last two years, people have been able to stroll into New Jersey dispensaries to buy weed. But growing your own cannabis plant remains a third-degree felony.

Despite a growing number of nearby states legalizing the growing of marijuana plants at home, bills to do the same in New Jersey have languished every session since cannabis was legalized.

A state senator and chief sponsor of a bill to allow medical marijuana patients to grow cannabis, plus another bill that would expand that to 10 plants for medical patients and six plants for recreational users, said the fight for home grow is “at a standstill.”

“We said we were doing this bill for criminal justice purposes, and to partially correct the very failed multi-billion war on drugs campaign that happened for decades in New Jersey, so this is frustrating. I feel like we’re not headed in the right direction,” said Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth).

Under the state’s cannabis laws, the only people allowed to grow marijuana are those with cultivator licenses. Lawmakers, particularly Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union), have previously voiced hesitancy over a home grow program, saying it would stunt the growth of the legal industry and allow the underground market to flourish without regulations. Scutari long pushed to make marijuana legal and sponsored the recreational legalization law.

In an interview last April, he said discussions had started about “perhaps allowing for a very, very slim amount of home grow applicants, some of the more significant or medical patients.”

Scutari did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

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Minnesota Democratic state senator jailed after being accused of breaking into home

That’s not constituent service.

A Minnesota state senator was arrested early Monday on suspicion of first-degree burglary — hundreds of miles from her home turf.

Nicole Mitchell, a 49-year-old first-term Democrat who reps the Twin Cities suburbs of Woodbury and Maplewood, was taken into custody after a homeowner called police in Detroit Lakes — 220 miles to the northwest — to report an intruder, according to local reports.

Mitchell, a former TV and radio meteorologist and a commander in the Air National Guard, was booked into the Becker County Jail, where she remained as of Monday afternoon, according to online records.

Becker County Sheriff Todd Glander told The Post that he expected a criminal complaint against the lawmaker to be filed Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Minnesota Senate Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party said in a statement the party was “aware of the situation and has no comment pending further information.”

Currently, Democrats hold a 34-33 majority in the 67-member Minnesota Senate.

The chamber’s Republican leader, Mark Johnson, said in a separate statement: “The public expects Legislators to meet a high standard of conduct. As information comes out, we expect the consequences to meet the actions, both in the court of law, and in her role at the legislature.”

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Geopolitics of human trafficking: How Western regime-change operations enable criminal activities

The slave trade in Ukraine has become one of the most serious problems of our time. Since the 2014 coup d’état, Kiev has been a key player in modern slavery, particularly for human trafficking and sexual exploitation networks. The political and social instability that has affected the country since the Western-led regime change operation is one of the main factors for the growth of such human rights violations.

A recent investigative report published by the Foundation to Battle Injustice showed in details the seriousness of the slave trade in Ukraine. According to the organization, Kiev has become one of the main global hubs in the human trafficking market, with free exploitation and circulation of irregular workers – in addition to the well-known trafficking of women and children in the predatory sex market.

The study points out that more than 300,000 Ukrainians were victims of the slave market between 1991 and 2021. This situation, however, has deteriorated even further since Vladimir Zelensky came to power. It is estimated that since the beginning of Zelensky’s government, more than 550,000 Ukrainians have been enslaved. These numbers are alarming and place Ukraine as one of the main agents of human trafficking in the entire world.

In its report, citing sources familiar with the topic and several insiders, the Foundation exposed how the slave trade in Ukraine is not limited to the exploitation of Ukrainian citizens. Since 2021, two reception centers for refugees from Africa have been operating in Ternopil. These facilities were used not only for receiving migrants but also for selling them on the European black market. An alleged member of the Ukrainian Presidential Cabinet, on condition of anonymity, reported to investigators that the organizer of the Ukrainian human trafficking network is Ruslan Stefanchuk, current chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.

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Wisconsin Sex Offender Who Identifies as a Transgender Vampire Convicted of Sexually Assaulting Disabled Minor, Now Charged With Homicide

A Wisconsin registered sex offender who identifies as a “transgender vampire” has been convicted of sexually assaulting a mentally disabled girl — and charged with homicide for allegedly strangling a similarly disabled man.

Adam “Sabrina” Hetke, 35, was convicted last week of first-degree sexual assault by threatening the use of a dangerous weapon and second-degree assault of a mentally ill victim for an attack on a 16-year-old developmentally disabled girl.

Hetke was already a registered sex offender and was released from prison in November 2020

The Waukesha County Freeman reports, “According to the complaint in the case, Hetke met a 16-year-old girl with cognitive disabilities at a Waukesha gas station on July 6, 2021, went to her nearby home, and allegedly sexually assaulted her while keeping a knife nearby and threatening to use it before she jumped out of a bedroom window.”

“Victim A said that the Defendant ‘told her that he was a vampire and that he would bite her if she didn’t do what he wanted,” the complaint said. 

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SHOCK: Yet Another BLM Activist Found Guilty of Fraud, Stole $450,000 From Hapless Donors

Yet another Black Lives Matter activist has been convicted of defrauding donors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In a press release on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio confirmed that Sir Maejor Page, 35, of Toledo, was convicted wire fraud and three counts of money laundering following a six-day trial.

The release stated:

According to court documents and testimony, in 2016, Page created a Facebook page for “Black Lives Matter of Greater Atlanta” (“BLMGA”) and registered this organization as a domestic non-profit with the Georgia Secretary of State Corporation’s Division. In 2017, the IRS approved Page’s request granting BLMGA tax-exempt status under Section 503(c)(3) of the tax code, but dissolved this status in 2019.

Page nonetheless accepted donations after falsely portraying BLMGA to the public as a legitimate charity engaged in social justice work, when in fact, it was not. Instead, Page used the money that individual donors gave to BLMGA not for social justice causes, but rather to buy items for his own personal use, such as a house and furniture. Page also committed money-laundering crimes when he bought these items with the donations that he fraudulently obtained.

United States Attorney Rebecca C. Lutzko, for the Northern District of Ohio also weighed in on the verdict: 

The United States Attorney’s Office prioritizes the prosecution of white-collar criminal conduct, particularly conduct involving deceptive schemes that selfishly exploit a charitable donor’s goodwill for personal gain.

The donors to BLMGA thought they were giving their hard-earned money to a cause they believed in. But instead of using it to support that cause, Page used it for himself. The jury’s verdict is a warning to every fraudster that when you misrepresent how donations or other money given to you in trust will be used, you will be prosecuted and punished.

According to The New York Times, Page stole around $450,000.

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