Tag: michigan

Whitmer Concedes Her COVID Rules Didn’t Make Sense

Nowhere did the COVID hysteria blight the land as remorselessly as it did in Gretchen Whitmer’s Michigan, and now that the Left’s lockdown narrative has thoroughly unraveled, the embattled governor will need a new fake FBI kidnapping plot to divert attention from how she drove her once-thriving state into a ditch and revealed a disturbing taste for authoritarianism. Now, Whitmer is backpedaling furiously, even admitting on CNN Sunday night that many of her COVID measures “in retrospect, don’t make a lot of sense.” Uh, yeah. We could have told you that several years ago, Governor, but you would have dismissed us as purveyors of “disinformation.”

Even in the midst of making this concession, however, Whitmer tried to cover her tracks and justify her COVID measures. Michigan Capitol Confidential ( “Michigan’s Watchdog,” a publication of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy) noted Tuesday that during her conversation with Chris Wallace, Whitmer “misrepresented her COVID-19 record and used a false talking point to question Florida’s COVID data.” Wallace asked her what she would do differently if the COVID insanity began today. He pressed the governor — who forced people to remain in their homes, forcibly closed businesses and schools, and even prohibited people from buying seeds for their gardens and toys for their children — for specifics on how she might handle the same situation now.

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Michigan may soon enact red flag laws. Implementation could make all the difference.

After a mass shooting on Michigan State University’s campus that left three students dead and another five wounded, Democratic lawmakers set their sights on altering gun ownership practices in Michigan.

The bills, introduced days after the shooting, fall into three categories: Requiring universal background checks for the sale of all firearms; establishing penalties for failing to safely store a gun when around a minor under the age of 18; and creating a process to implement extreme risk protection orders – otherwise known as red flag laws – in the state of Michigan.

These specific laws are frequently touted from anti-gun violence groups as being the start of true reform in curbing firearm-related deaths. But opponents of the bills say that the better solution comes from focusing on mental health supports instead of penalizing all gun owners for the actions of a specific few.

Legislative Republicans have pointed toward work done by the Bipartisan School Safety Task force as being a better solution to curbing firearm violence, especially in Michigan schools. The package, born in the wake of a 2021 shooting at Oxford High School which left four students dead, deals primarily with K-12 school safety while installing more security and mental health coordinators.

But to researchers like Shannon Frattaroli, a professor and course faculty member with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, it’s not a question of which is better – mental health or gun safety supports – but how best to combine the two with preventing community violence.

“Implementation is really a key component to gun policy and the potential to realize an effect,” she said. “It’s critically important to focus on guns … but there’s also a lot of progress to be made on some sort of community violence prevention interventions, thinking about how it is that we can really start to address the root causes of violence.”

That’s especially true of implementing red flag laws, Frattaroli added. As of 2022, 19 states including Florida, Maryland, Colorado, Illinois and Oregon – as well as Washington D.C. – possess a form of risk-based gun removal laws.

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Michigan Middle School Threatens to Sue After Official Releases Photos of Grade School Children Pole Dancing at Club During School Outing

Michigan grade schoolers enjoy the local adult club’s pole dancing facility in recent class outing.

Michigan School District Superintendent Robert Shaner threatened to sue a local official for releasing a photo of grade schoolers pole dancing at a local night club during a recent school outing.

The school says the kids were having lunch at the club when the dancing took place.

FOX News reported:

A trip from a Michigan school district brought students to a restaurant with an attached lounge that included stripper poles, according to a trustee on the school board, who called the incident an example of “poor judgment.”

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Missing Michigan physician found dead in frozen pond

A Michigan physician who went missing last week was found dead in a frozen pond near his home Tuesday afternoon.

Divers pulled the body of Bolek Payan from the icy pond in Jackson County around 12:30 p.m. after investigators on Monday retrieved security footage from the doctor’s home showing him leave the residence on foot Thursday afternoon, the Blackman-Leoni Township Department of Public Safety said.

Police dogs, drones and officers searched the woods around Payan’s home before authorities cut holes in the ice covering the pond, the public safety department said.

“Detectives believe Dr. Payan would have been deceased, prior to when he was reported missing, due to the weather conditions on the day that he left his residence and the fact that he was in the water,” the department said.

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Michigan Judge In Hot Water After Allegedly Making False Assault Claim

A Michigan judge is in hot water after her alleged misconduct in a bike shop.

The Judicial Tenure Commission filed a public complaint against Wayne County Judge Demetria Brue after an incident that began when she rented bikes at Mackinac Island Bike Shop in August 2019, The Detroit Free Press reported.

When Brue and her colleague returned the bicycles, she told employees there was an issue with the bike and they should not have to pay full price, the complaint states. Brue also spoke to the owner of the shop, but they were unable to come to an agreement. Brue told the owner, Ira Green, multiple times that she was a judge, the complaint states.

Brue did not respond to a request for comment.

At some point during the 20-minute discussion, Brue allegedly reached over the cash register, took the receipt out of Green’s hands, and ripped it.

After ripping the receipt, she then allegedly falsely claimed that the store owner assaulted her and appeared to play every card she had.

“You assaulted me,” she said. “Did you just assault me? You took my receipt and tore it up. I want the police. Now we need the police. I am going to call them. You snatched my receipt and threw it away and grabbed my hand and you hurt me. You touched my hand with force and violence. I am a female. I am a judge. I am here for a conference and you … I am an African American female. That was racist, and it was disrespectful and it was violent.”

When police arrived she claimed to them that she was assaulted until the officers reviewed the security footage.

She admitted that she was not assaulted and the officers assisted in reaching an agreement where the judge did not have to pay for the bike rental.

She has been accused of breaking 10 rules, including making a false statement to a police officer.

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Michigan Department Of Education Provided Educators With Materials On How To Create A ‘Gay Straight Alliance’ Club

The Michigan Department of Education (MDOE) promoted resources for educators on how to start a “Gay Straight Alliance” (GSA) club in their schools, according to training materials.

The MDOE’s LGBTQ Students Project includes trainings and resources for LGBTQ students as well as educators on getting a GSA club “up and running,” according to the materials. For starting a GSA club, the department promoted a GSA resource list and brainstorming activity for educators to teach them how to advertise the club and insure student confidentiality.

An activity titled “what are some best practices to help your GSA be successful?” encourages educators to find a “safe space” for a club by reaching out to a school counselor or band director. To advertise the club, the activity suggests school announcements and putting the information in school newsletters.

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Why Are Media Ignoring This Muslim Mayor’s Racism And Alleged Election Fraud In Michigan?

The mayor of Hamtramck, Michigan, Ameer Haiderah Ghalib, was recently exposed for mocking black political demonstrations and endorsing comments that referred to African Americans as “animal” and “inhuman.” He also accused Arab world leaders of being secret Jews and “liked” a Facebook post calling Jews “monkeys” who tax “the air we breathe.”

Ghalib, the first Muslim mayor in Hamtramck’s 100-year history, even admitted to committing a potential case of voter fraud by filling out absentee ballots for about 20 families during the 2020 presidential primary. Both the FBI and the Michigan secretary of state’s office have looked into the allegation.

Yet, in the era of “cancel culture,” when activist reporters have all but abandoned investigative reporting in favor of opinionated call-outs, not a column inch has been devoted to documenting the misdeeds of an internationally known public official. Black political activists have failed to march a single city block in opposition to Ghalib’s anti-black racism, and Jewish rights organizations are silent in the face of antisemitic dog whistles.

Ghalib’s ability to escape consequences for statements that would ruin another elected official — or for that matter, a private citizen — is indicative of a broader societal trend that privileges Islamists and lets them off the hook for bad behavior.

Recent history presents many examples. Islamists who slander Jews or call for their extermination are offered jobs on government anti-racism commissions. Muslim extremists whose social media accounts are littered with anti-black commentary have been invited to speak at Black Lives Matter rallies or selected to host discussions on Muslim-black solidarity.

Ghalib is no exception. The 42-year-old Caribbean medical school student shared an offensive meme on Facebook that is frequently traded in white supremacist chat rooms and racist message boards. The image portrayed an African American overloaded with liquor bottles after presumably looting stores during the George Floyd protests.

Ghalib captioned the meme to suggest that the black man, whom he calls “Mr. Heineken,” considered looting alcohol a “duty” to acquire “essential nutrition.” He endorsed comments in the same thread describing African Americans as alcoholics who “will never behave unless they are governed by law, force, and the police who know them very well.”

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Michigan Judge Orders GOP Candidate for Governor to Surrender Guns

Michigan Republican candidate for governor Ryan Kelley will have to surrender his guns while he awaits trial on misdemeanor criminal charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach, a judge ruled on June 16.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Meriweather made the ruling even as Kelley’s attorney argued he needs to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense as he makes campaign appearances in Michigan, local media reported. The judge also said Kelley can’t leave the state while awaiting trial and must surrender his passport.

Kelley is “a bit of a high-profile candidate in Michigan” as recent polls showed that he was the front-runner among GOP gubernatorial candidates, his lawyer, Gary Springstead, said. Kelley, who has a license to carry a concealed weapon, “asked that he be permitted to carry his firearm for his own self-defense, during the campaign,” Springstead added.

About a week ago, Kelley was arrested in Michigan and charged with participating in the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol, federal prosecutors said in a court filing in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The complaint noted that Kelley didn’t actually enter the Capitol building on Jan. 6, and instead is being charged with entering and remaining within a “restricted building or grounds without lawful authority,” disorderly conduct in a restricted building or grounds, knowingly engaging in an act of physical violence against a person or property on restricted grounds, and willfully injuring or committing any depredation against any property of the United States government.

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FBI Raids Home Of Michigan GOP Gubernatorial Candidate And Whitmer Challenger, Takes Him Into Custody

The FBI raided the home of Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Ryan Kelley Thursday morning and reportedly took him into custody. 

Video reviewed by news outlet Bridge Michigan showed a man resembling Kelley being taken into a gray SUV, according to a report. 

“Chris Kelley, a relative and campaign treasurer for the Kelley campaign, said he was ‘aware’ of the Thursday morning law enforcement raid but declined further comment,” Bridge News reported. 

Reporter David Eggert of Crain’s Detroit Business also reported that Kelley had been arrested at his home.

Bridge News reporter Jonathan Oosting provided an update to the reported raid and arrest, writing, “Ryan Kelley is facing multiple charges related to January 6, 2021. He has admitted he was at the riots but claims he did not go inside the U.S. Capitol.”

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Michigan election official is charged with voter fraud and misconduct after she ‘purposely broke a seal on a ballot container’ that prevented a recount in her re-election campaign

A former township clerk and current county elections supervisor in Michigan has been charged with ballot tampering in the state’s August 2020 primary.

Kathy Funk is also charged with misconduct in office, the Michigan attorney general’s office announced late Friday. 

State prosecutors say Funk was Flint Township’s clerk when she purposely broke a seal on a ballot container. In doing so, they allege, she prevented votes inside from being counted in an anticipated recount, under Michigan law. 

Funk was seeking re-election as clerk at the time, and won with 2,698 votes compared to 2,619 challenger Manya Triplett, MLive.com-The Flint Journal reported. 

She ran as a Democrat, and held onto her position until November, when she announced she was taking a job as elections supervisor in the Genesee County Clerk-Register John Gleason’s office. 

Funk has kept her job at the county despite a Michigan State Police investigation into her conduct in August 2020.

She is due back in Genesee District Court on Monday, when her attorney Matthew Norwood said she will plead not guilty to the charges against her.

If convicted, she faces up to 10 years in prison. 

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