Tag: maine

Dem Running for Senate in Maine as a Humble Veteran Called Himself a ‘Communist’ and Painted Rural Whites as Stupid and Racist Online

A maverick Democrat running for the U.S. Senate insists that what he said online a few years ago is not what he means now.

Graham Platner is an oyster farmer who is challenging Gov. Janet Mills for the Democratic nomination to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the 2026 midterm elections.

As noted by New York magazine, his campaign has been fawned over by progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, which has helped him amass a $4 million war chest 13 months before the election.

Then came a report from CNN that mined the depths of Platner’s Reddit posts from 2020 and 2021, all of which had been deleted before he announced his candidacy.

For example, a 2021 Reddit snippet noted, “I got older and became a communist.”

His antagonism to the police came through when he wrote, “Bastards. Cops are bastards. All of them, in fact.”

He said police misconduct is “a problem that extends deep into the profession as a whole.”

Rural America came in for criticism when he responded to a post saying, “White people aren’t as racist or stupid as Trump thinks” by writing, “Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are.”

The Marine veteran shared his disillusionment with his service.

“My time in America’s imperial wars definitely radicalized me further, and I’m significantly more left today than I was back then. It is difficult to see all that horror, as well as all the grift and corruption, and not find the entire thing utterly bankrupt,” he wrote. “I did used to love America, or at least the idea of it. These days I’m pretty disgusted by it all.”

But now he says all that was just a mixed-up guy venting.

“That was very much me f***ing around the internet,” he said to CNN.  “I don’t want people to see me for who I was in my worst Internet comment — or even frankly who I was in my best Internet comment… I don’t think any of that is indicative of who I am today, really.”

The 41-year-old said he is not what his years-old comments might imply.

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National Guard “Accidentally” Gives Service Members COVID-19 Vaccine Instead of Influenza Shot

This week it was revealed that the US National Guard wrongly administered the Covid vaccine to a group of service members who were expecting to receive an influenza vaccine, according to The Epoch Times. The incident occurred during a mobile vaccination clinic for the Maine National Guard and at least one member who refused the mRNA vaccine on religious grounds received the experimental injection without his knowledge.

That service member, Mathew Bouchard, is no longer a member of the National Guard. After the incident, he felt that the trust was completely broken. He was ordered to take a flu shot and feels like he was duped. Because the incident happened close to the end of his service contract, he chose not to renew.

Bouchard explained his decision to The Epoch Times:

“Bouchard said he was ordered to receive an annual flu vaccine and went to the clinic to get that vaccine. He verified his name, date of birth, and part of his social security number, and told officials at the clinic he was there for the flu vaccine. But he was injected with a dose of a messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine, officials told him.

‘You know how you went in for the flu shot? Well, that wasn’t a flu shot. That was a COVID-19 vaccine,’” Bouchard told The Epoch Times, recounting the meeting with superiors.

“I think, in my mind, at that point, it was like, I completely didn’t know if I trusted any people in the military,” he added.”

In addition to Bouchard, two other service members “were accidentally given a Covid vaccine” instead of a flu injection that day, Maine National Guard spokesperson Maj. Carl Lamb explained in an email to The Epoch Times. The clinic was administering both types of vaccine, which likely led to the egregious error.

“Accident” or not, the incident is inexcusable. Especially considering the recent data that has been revealed about the dangerous and deadly adverse reactions caused by the experimental mRNA vaccines – particularly among otherwise healthy young adults. Just this week, the surgeon general of Florida announced new guidelines about the vaccine that show the jab causes a stunning 84% increase in cardiac-related death among 18-39-year-old men. The state of Florida now officially recommends that young males refrain from receiving the mRNA vaccine completely.

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One American town takes war against homeschooling to enraging extremes

Homeschooling and homeschoolers have been under attack across America in a number of ways over recent years.

Despite those barrages, the industry is growing hugely.

But there have been special exams demanded, invasive interviews, physical exams, odd requirements for homeschool teachers and much more at times. In one case state officials rejected a college diploma submitted by a homeschool teacher because it was written in Latin.

Now one Maine town is going to an extreme – an attempt to bar those connected with homeschooling from serving on a local public board, the school board.

According to the Institute for Justice, “Town officials in Dexter, Maine are considering a proposal that bars homeschool co-op leaders and private-school employees from serving on the local school board.”

While supporters for the barrier claim it would prevent conflicts of interest, the IJ reported it actually is “retaliatory.”

The IJ noted that last summer, Dexter voters recalled school board member Alisha Ames, leader of the town’s only homeschool co-op, Power Source Ministries.

“The recall came after a campaign by the Facebook group ‘Stop the Power Trip,’ which accused her of putting the co-op ahead of public schools,” the IJ noted. “Even if the recall of Ames was warranted, the proposed ordinance goes much further. Instead of addressing one individual, it would bar homeschool co-op leaders and private-school employees from serving on the school board, shutting out many other residents from their right to serve their community.”

The backlash already has begun. State Rep. Heidi Sampson, of the Maine Education Initiative, warned town officials in a letter they are refusing to abide by First Amendment precedents, and that “exposes the town to significant liability.”

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Maine Woman Receives 250 State Election Ballots in Amazon Package Delivery

As voters in Maine prepare to cast their ballots in a state referendum election on November 4th, a Newburgh woman received a surprise delivery.  She was expecting a package with household goods and a toy lightsaber, but instead received bundles of ballots for the November 4th election, totaling over 250 ballots.

According to the Maine Wire:

The discovery raised alarms about election security, leading the Maine Republican Party Chairman to call for a federal criminal investigation as the state is mere weeks from deciding on whether it will join 36 other states in requiring some form of Vote ID.

The package arrived Tuesday looking beat up and re-taped, as if tampered with. Inside, along with household items, were bundles of ballots packaged in tamper-evident packs of 50 — the same format used for official shipments to local clerks. Election officials who reviewed photographs confirmed the documents appear to be authentic 2025 ballots.

The resident, stunned by the find, immediately turned the ballots over to the town office.

“I am greatly concerned for our state and its voting requirements,” she said.

“When I opened it, there were 250 official State of Maine referendum ballots inside my box. Thank goodness I am an honest citizen and immediately reached out to my town clerk and took the ballots to the town for safekeeping.”

Photographs obtained by the Maine Wire show that the ballots were included in the box with the household items the woman had ordered.

Previously Maine Wire posted to X a clip of Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows admitting that non-citizens may be on the voter rolls in Maine, prompting calls for voter identification.

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Maine mass shooting survivors refile lawsuit after Pentagon watchdog report cites Army negligence

The survivors and family members of victims of the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history have refiled their lawsuit against the U.S. government following a new U.S. Department of Defense watchdog report that faults the U.S. Army for a high rate of failure to report violent threats by service members.

Eighteen people were killed in Lewiston in October 2023 when Robert Card opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill. Dozens of survivors and relatives sued the federal government earlier this month on grounds that the U.S. Army could have stopped Card, a reservist, from carrying out the shootings.

Lawyers for the group filed their amended lawsuit on Tuesday. It cites a report issued by the inspector general for the Defense Department this month that concludes the Army failed to make mandatory reports of violent threats almost half the time.

Military law enforcement is required to report violent threats to the service’s military criminal investigative organization. The review found the Army did not consistently follow that policy in 32 of 67 violent threat investigations in 2023.

The report specifically mentions Card, who died by suicide two days after the shootings. It says failure to consistently report violent threats “could increase the risk of additional violent incidents by service members, such as what occurred with SFC (Sgt. 1st Class) Card.”

The longstanding pattern of unaddressed threats gives the Lewiston victims a stronger case, said Travis Brennan, an attorney for the group.

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Convicted Maine Killer Running For Bangor City Council Hopes Voters Will Give Her A Chance

Twenty-three years ago Angela Walker beat a man to death in an Old Orchard Beach confrontation stemming from an insult the victim had hurled at her.

Walker is now looking – and hoping – for forgiveness as she embarks on a municipal political career.

She’s among nine candidates seeking a seat on the Bangor city council.

Walker was convicted and later imprisoned in the brutal killing of Derek Rogers, a Canadian tourist who had allegedly called her a racist name.

Cops found that Rogers had been severely beaten and then suffocated to death with sand forced down his throat.

“That’s my past,” Walker told the Bangor Daily News as she announced her council candidacy. “I don’t live there anymore and I’m a different person.”

She also said she understands and respects people who have hesitations about her criminal history.

Sgt. Rogers, of Russell, Ontario, was 48, a career officer in the Canadian military.

His lifeless body was found on the beach August 1, 2002 in a section of the popular coastal beach town known as Ocean Park.

He had been a musician who played trombone for the Canadian Central Command Band.

Rogers, whose family had vacationed in Old Orchard for generations, had spent several weeks at the beach with his wife of 20 years, Faith, police said at the time.

She had left Old Orchard to return to work, but Rogers was staying longer.

He was found dead by a fisherman shortly after 3 a.m. on the boardwalk along the beach a quarter-mile from the cottage he rented.

Before cops were able to identify Rogers, police had to interview roughly 400 people to try to find out who he was, how he died and who killed him.

Walker, then 29, later admitted to the killing and lying to cops in exchange for a 10-year manslaughter sentence. The admission was in exchange for a reduced murder charge.

An Associated Press account of her courtroom appearance said Walker, “dressed in gray sweat pants and sweat shirt with her black hair neatly pulled back, admitted her guilt to the judge in a clear, emotionless voice.”

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7 Chinese nationals charged in MASSIVE money laundering, human smuggling, drug trafficking operation

Seven Chinese nationals have been charged in connection to a conspiracy to cultivate as well as distribute marijuana in the Northeastern United States. They undertook this operation by using a network of single-family houses in Massachusetts as well as Maine, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).  

A press release from the DOJ on the charges stated that Jianxiong Chen, 39; Yuxiong Wu, 36; Dinghui Li, 38; Dechao Ma, 35; Peng Lian Zhu, 35; Hongbin Wu, 35; and Yanrong Zhu, 47 were all charged in connection to the network distributing the drugs around the Northeast. Six of the defendants were taken into custody earlier this week, with Yanrong Zhu still on the run as a fugitive.  

Most of the Chinese nationals have been charged with money laundering as well as conspiracy, and some were also charged with bringing assisting with bringing foreign nationals to the US illegally.

US Attorney Leah B. Foley said of the charges, “This case pulls back the curtain on a sprawling criminal enterprise that exploited our immigration system and our communities for personal gain. These defendants allegedly turned quiet homes across the Northeast into hubs for a criminal enterprise – building a multi-million-dollar black-market operation off the backs of an illegal workforce and using our neighborhoods as cover. That ends today.” 

The DOJ further stated, “According to the charging documents, from in or about January 2020, the defendants allegedly owned, operated or partnered with a network of interconnected grow houses in Massachusetts and Maine to cultivate and distribute kilogram-sized quantities of marijuana in bulk. Specifically, the enterprise allegedly operated grow houses in Braintree, Mass.; Melrose, Mass.; and Greenfield, Mass., among other locations in Massachusetts, Maine and elsewhere.” 

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Missing Maine Paddleboarder Was Murdered

Police in Union, Maine, have ruled the death of 48-year-old Sunshine Stewart a homicide, days after she was found in Crawford Pond. Stewart disappeared last Wednesday evening after heading out on a paddleboard around 6pm, CBS News reports, and was reported missing six hours later. Her body was discovered last Thursday near 100 Acre Island, which is in the middle of the pond and only accessible by boat, reports WMTW. Authorities have not disclosed the cause of death. Sources close to the investigation tell ABC News that the body was found under “unusual circumstances” that rule out suicide or accidental drowning.

Kathy Lunt, who runs the Mic Mac campground near the pond, said Stewart was a seasonal resident and was last seen by her roommate. When Stewart failed to return, the roommate raised the alarm. Police urged the public to “remain aware of their surroundings and report any suspicious behavior to law enforcement,” the Bangor Daily News reports. Area residents say they are shaken by the killing. Police are asking anyone who may have seen Stewart on her paddleboard between 6pm and 9pm last Wednesday to contact them

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‘What The F…’: Dem Governor Is at Complete Loss for Words After Being Asked About Cocaine Use

Democratic Governor Janet Mills of Maine appeared stunned and angry when she was confronted by a man who asked her about alleged cocaine use in her past during a recent public appearance.

Fox News reported the moment occurred last week during an event at Sunday River Resort in Newry, where Mills was taking photos with attendees.

An unidentified man approached the governor and posed a blunt question, which was caught on camera.

“Is sniffing cocaine at work a human right, Janet?” he asked, clearly referring to Mills’ past controversy.

Mills, who was caught off guard, responded, “What the f***?”

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Feds take down Chinese-operated grow home network in Massachusetts, Maine

An alleged network of interconnected grow houses in Massachusetts and Maine that Chinese nationals operated to cultivate and distribute marijuana is no more after authorities arrested the men behind the “sprawling criminal enterprise.”

Seven Chinese nationals have been indicted in connection with what the feds describe as a “multi-million-dollar conspiracy to cultivate and distribute marijuana across the Northeast.”

The group is accused of smuggling other Chinese nationals into the U.S. to work in the grow homes, found inside single-family properties in Massachusetts and Maine. The workers didn’t have access to their passports until they repaid their smuggling debts, according to a release from the office of Massachusetts US Attorney Leah Foley.

Authorities arrested six of the defendants Tuesday morning, while the seventh, Yanrong Zhu, 47, of Greenfield, Mass. and Brooklyn, N.Y., remains a fugitive.

The group allegedly used a Braintree home as the “base” for the enterprise to cultivate and distribute kilogram-sized quantities of marijuana in bulk. The network of interconnected grow houses also included properties in Melrose and Greenfield, among other locations in the Bay State, Maine and elsewhere, according to authorities.

“This case pulls back the curtain on a sprawling criminal enterprise that exploited our immigration system and our communities for personal gain,” Foley said in a statement. “These defendants allegedly turned quiet homes across the Northeast into hubs for a criminal enterprise – building a multi-million-dollar black-market operation off the backs of an illegal workforce and using our neighborhoods as cover.”

“That ends today,” she added.

Grow house operators allegedly communicated with one another through a list of marijuana cultivators and distributors from or with ties to China in the region, dubbed the “East Coast Contact List.”

Charging documents allege that the network began operating in or around January 2020.

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