Tag: police state

Tulsi Gabbard Declassifies Biden ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Strategy: What’s Inside

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on April 16 fulfilled her past promise to declassify information related to President Joe Biden’s domestic counterterrorism strategy.

Dubbed the “Strategic Implementation Plan” (SIP), the 15-page-long document details the Biden administration’s findings and action plan to counter an alleged increase in homegrown domestic terrorism.

Gabbard released the documents in response to prompting from conservative groups like America First Legal, which expressed concerns about the Biden administration allegedly “censoring disfavored speech on the Internet by labeling such speech ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ ‘hate speech,’ ‘domestic terrorism.’”

Coming in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, after which the Biden administration claimed that domestic terrorism was the greatest terror threat the United States faced, the SIP represents the government-wide counterterrorism strategy.

Here’s what the declassified documents show.

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Declassified Biden-Era Domestic Terror Strategy Reveals Broad Surveillance, Tech Partnerships, and Global Speech Regulation Agenda

A once-classified federal strategy paper has surfaced, pulling back the curtain on how the Biden administration planned to address domestic terrorism. Released by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard after legal pressure from America First Legal (AFL), the document shows a government effort that stretches far beyond traditional national security work.

We obtained a copy of the documents for you here.

The 15-page plan, dated June 2021, outlines a series of objectives aimed at curbing domestic extremism. What’s caught critics’ attention, however, is how broadly the strategy defines the threat. Violence is only part of the concern. The rest seems focused on speech, ideology, and the online flow of information.

AFL sounded the alarm in an April 2 letter, accusing the administration of turning federal power inward. The group warned that officials were labeling “disfavored views” as “misinformation,” “disinformation,” or “hate speech” and then moving to suppress them under the banner of national security. The letter called it an attempt to “weaponize” the government against its own citizens.

We obtained a copy of the letter for you here.

Tulsi Gabbard responded on April 5, thanking AFL “for your work” and promising action. “We are already on this,” she said, “and look forward to declassifying this and other instances of the government being weaponized against Americans.” She pledged to restore “transparency and accountability” across the intelligence community.

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Arkansas GOP Governor Vetoes Bill To Allow Drive-Thru Medical Marijuana Sales At Dispensaries And Ease Delivery Rules

The Republican governor of Arkansas has vetoed a bill that would have allowed medical cannabis sales at drive-thru windows at dispensaries, while also easing certain rules around marijuana delivery services for patients and caregivers.

After the legislation from Rep. Aaron Pilkington (R) narrowly advanced through the legislature, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) returned the measure with a veto message on Wednesday.

“This legislation would expand access to usable marijuana, therefore I am vetoing this legislation,” Sanders said.

Under the bill, licensed dispensaries would be have been authorized to “deliver usable marijuana to a qualified patient or designated caregiver via a drive-through window located at the dispensary,” the text says.

People would have needed to place an online order and pick up their products on the same day of the transaction.

The measure also would have revised existing statute to allow visitors to tour dispensaries in additional to cultivation facilities. And it would have made it so conventional medical cannabis deliveries could be handled by one employee, instead of the current minimum of two, if additional security measures were taken.

The governor didn’t address any of the specifics of the bill, instead simply voicing opposition to the idea of expanding access to cannabis.

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Florida House Committee Approves Hemp Regulatory Bill That Would Impose 15% Tax On All THC Products

All hemp-derived THC products would be taxed at 15 percent under a proposal passed in a Florida House committee on Wednesday.

The measure is one of two regarding regulation of hemp-derived THC products sponsored by Panhandle Republican Rep. Michelle Salzman that were approved unanimously in the House Budget Committee.

The main bill (HB 7027) is a companion to a Senate bill (SB 438) that has already passed unanimously in that chamber, although they do contain significant differences. Among them is that Salzman’s bill would not ban delta-8, the hemp-derived THC product that has grown in popularity since hemp was legalized in the United States through the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill.

Like its Senate companion, the House bill limits the amount of delta-9 THC in hemp-derived products such as beverages and gummies. It says edibles must contain no more than 2 milligrams, be individually wrapped and be sold in containers with no more than 20 edibles.

That raised objections from Patrick Shatzer of Sunmed/Your CBD Store, who says his company is the largest CBD brick-and-mortar business in the country, with 260 locations nationwide and 42 in Florida.

“The size of the gummies—limited to 2 grams—that’s just a tiny little pinkie size wide,” he said to the committee. “That’s not the industry standard. The industry standard is anywhere from 5 to 8 grams.”

Shatzer also objected to the provision limiting 20 servings per container, saying the average dietary supplements permit 30 gummies in a container. And he raised objections to a prohibition on selling, delivering, bartering, giving or furnishing hemp consumables that total more than 100 milligrams of THC to a person in a 24-hour period, saying it would be unenforceable.

Rep. Salzman replied that, while she is open to changing some of those limits, she is holding firm on limiting personal consumption of such products to 100 milligrams of THC a day.

“If somebody knows that they can’t buy more than 100 milligrams in that day, it’s going to give them a warning subconsciously, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have more than 100 milligrams of this stuff in a day,’” she said. “And if you want more than 100 milligrams of this stuff a day, you probably need to get a medical cannabis card.”

Regarding the proposed 15 percent excise tax on hemp products, Jodi James of the Florida Cannabis Action Network said that not all hemp products are intoxicating, and that those that aren’t should not be taxed at all.

“In the state of Florida, we don’t tax vitamins, we don’t tax supplements,” she said.

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Ready for Your Home to Become a Government School?

One hundred years ago, in the case of Pierce v. Society of Sisters, the Supreme Court struck down an Oregon law that required all children to attend public schools, affirming that parents had the right under the 14th Amendment to direct the upbringing and education of their children.  

The Supreme Court wrote, “The child is not the mere creature of the State; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.”

This court decision launched the parental rights movement that has become controversial since the pandemic school lockdown.

The longstanding trust in public schools was shattered when parents were given an unprecedented window into what was happening in the classrooms.  The most common response from parents was, “I had no idea!”  Parents who had never known much about what students did all day were suddenly alarmed by the prevalence of radical dogmas.

As a result, many turned to homeschooling, which now has become the fastest growing type of education in the nation, across all demographics.  In the black community, there has been a fivefold increase over a few short months of parents homeschooling their offspring.

As expected, the left is fighting back.  Leftists have no intention of allowing “domestic terrorist” parents to leave the public school system because it would mean loss of government control over what students are taught and over shaping their worldview.

Hillary Clinton popularized the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child,” which signals that children are considered wards of the state, to be reared and educated as the state sees fit.

In Illinois, Democrats have filed a bill that, if passed, will expand vastly the control of government over the education of children.  House Bill 2827, dubbed the Homeschool Bill, would bring government control of home schools as well as private and religious schools.  Home schools and private schools would become de facto government schools. 

Homeschool parents would be required to provide local and state education authorities annual reports with their children’s personal information, including gender identity, without any restrictions on what data would be mandated.  If parents fail to file this home school paperwork properly or in a timely fashion, they could be charged with a Class C misdemeanor and spend up to 30 days in jail. 

The question is, why do public school educators and politicians believe they need personal information on students and families not enrolled in public schools?  The Supreme Court has already ruled that parents have the sole right to direct the education and upbringing of their children. 

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Senators Demand Obama-Era Inspector General’s Cooperation In Probe Of J6 Undercover Agents

Two prominent senators sent a letter this week to Inspector General Michael Horowitz, pressing him to fully cooperate with their investigation of undercover “confidential human sources” in the crowd at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.

Horowitz, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2012, has failed to respond to requests for information about confidential human sources on Jan. 6, according to Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

They sent Horowitz a letter on Dec. 16, seeking more information about his Dec. 12 report on how the FBI handled its confidential human sources in advance of J6.

That report showed the FBI sent 26 confidential human sources to Washington, D.C. that day, and of those, four entered the Capitol and 13 went into a restricted area. Three sources were “tasked by their respective FBI handlers to report on individuals traveling to Washington, D.C. for the J6 event,” the senators wrote in their most recent letter. “While the report stated that ‘[n]one of these three [confidential human sources] were authorized by the FBI to engage in illegal activity, including to enter the Capitol or a restricted area, or to otherwise break the law on January 6’ two of the FBI sources entered the restricted area around the Capitol and one entered the Capitol.”

None of the FBI sources were prosecuted for their activities on J6.

It is worth noting that the Office of Inspector General and the FBI are part of the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The senators have had questions about what other DOJ arms were involved in J6.

In his April 7 letter, Horowitz said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS); and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP); did not have any “undercover employees” in connection with the J6.

The senators bristled at the new language.

“Although this part of your response seems conclusive, it does not completely satisfy our inquiry. On February 28, 2025, our staff noted in an email to your Counselor that because the term ‘undercover agent’ can mean many things, our offices requested that the DOJ OIG address whether any federal law enforcement components, including FBI, ATF, DEA, USMS, or BOP, had employees or contractors wearing civilian clothing in the Washington D.C. area; at the Capitol Building; and in restricted areas on J6 in an official or unofficial capacity. We reiterate this specific request.”

The senators also want more detail on confidential human sources who were “tasked” (had an assignment)  and “untasked” (traveled to Capitol on their own initiative).

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UK Police Being Forced To Undergo Training To Accept Their ‘White Privilege’

One of Britain’s largest police forces is mandating “equity training” for officers, focusing on “white privilege”, “micro-aggressions” and the distinction between “non-racist versus anti-racist.”

The Telegraph reports that Thames Valley Police is putting officers through the training despite a tribunal last year finding that the force positively discriminated against white officers.

As we highlighted, the force appointed an Asian detective inspector without considering white officers for promotions.

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Florida Senate Passes Bill To Ban Psychedelic Mushroom Spores, As Companion Measure Also Advances In House

Florida’s Senate on Wednesday passed a wide-ranging agricultural bill that contains provisions to outlaw fungal spores that produce mushrooms containing psilocybin or psilocin. The vote came a day after a House committee advanced a companion bill in that chamber.

Senators voted 27–9 to approve SB 700, from Sen. Keith Truenow (R). HB 651 is moving through the House, meanwhile, having advanced out of the Commerce Committee on Tuesday.

The proposed ban on spores of mushrooms that create psilocybin or psilocin is a small part of the roughly 150-page legislation, which would make a variety of adjustments to Florida’s agricultural laws, including around agricultural lands, utilities and wildlife management.

With respect to psychedelic mushrooms, both measures would outlaw transporting, importing, selling or giving away “spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which will contain a controlled substance, including psilocybin or psilocyn, during its lifecycle.”

Violating the proposed law would be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum one year in jail and $1,000 fine.

While lawmakers on the Senate floor and House committee spent considerable time debating various other portions of the bills—especially a proposed ban on fluoride in local water supplies—there was no mention of the provision concerning psychedelic mushroom spores.

“This bill at its core is meant to help farmers and consumers and students who want to become farmers one day,” Truenow said ahead of the floor vote.

Psilocybin and psilocin are the two main psychoactive compounds in psychedelic mushrooms. Although spores themselves typically do not contain psilocybin or psilocin, they eventually produce fruiting bodies—mushrooms—that do contain the psychedelic compounds.

Because the spores don’t contain any controlled substances, the federal government deems them legal.

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Indiana Lawmakers Approve Bill To Regulate Hemp Products

Contentious regulations for marijuana-like products advanced through the Indiana House of Representatives on Tuesday, but will have to survive closed-door negotiations before crossing Gov. Mike Braun’s (R) desk.

“I filed a dissent,” Sen. Travis Holdman, the measure’s author, told the Capital Chronicle.

“We’ve got some clean-up to do,” the Markle Republican said. “We’ll be working on it.”

Products with legally low concentrations of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol have proliferated in Indiana, alongside those containing delta-8 THC and other isomers. Attempts to regulate the nascent industry, which is booming on shaky legal footing, have failed repeatedly—but are nearing law, in the form of Senate Bill 478.

“These products, being legal under federal law, but having no regulatory structure here in the state, means that technically, it’s not illegal to sell these products to minors [or] to target youth with advertising or packaging, and that there’s no testing requirements to protect consumers from potentially dangerous adulterants,” said Rep. Jake Teshka, the House sponsor, on the chamber’s floor Tuesday.

The measure sets out advertising, age-limit, licensing, packaging, testing and other requirements over the currently unregulated substances. It authorizes the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission to oversee the industry, including approving up to 20,000 retail permits.

Lawmakers have put it through a whopping seven rounds of edits. But critics—including Indiana’s attorney general and anti-marijuana groups—still have objected, arguing the language would expand existing loopholes.

“With Senate Bill 478, I think we finally have an opportunity to rein in this market,” Teshka, R-North Liberty, said. “We have the opportunity to provide real clarity to law enforcement, to protect Hoosier youth, to empower our farmers and to protect our consumers.”

Members of Teshka’s own caucus remained skeptical.

“I recognize that…the General Assembly should take action on the current state of this product,” said Rep. Tim Wesco, R-Osceola. “[But] I don’t feel like this is the appropriate action.”

Instead, it’s “moving us further down a path of increasing—dramatically increasing—access to these products that are known to have adverse and negative effects,” Wesco continued. “We’re setting up a framework that we’re likely not going to go back on, that is just going to expand from here.”

Lawmakers from both parties crossed sides in the 60-37 vote.

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After Self-Immolations at Red Onion Prison, Virginia Prisoners Allege Crackdown

Besides an overhead light, Sidney Bowman says he hasn’t had electricity in his cell at Virginia’s Red Onion State Prison for roughly three months. 

Last month, Bowman told a federal court that prison employees cut the electricity to his cell after he refused to sign what staff call a “Safety Agreement for Inmates.” The document offers incentives to prisoners—such as movies, group recreation, free commissary bags, and a fish fry—provided they don’t harm themselves. However, if they repeatedly hurt themselves, they may lose “access to television, recreation time, or other amenities.” The Appeal obtained a copy of the agreement through a public records request. 

Bowman’s statement is part of an ongoing class action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia that alleges that the state’s Step-Down program—which purports to help prisoners earn their way to a general population assignment—traps people in solitary confinement for months or years on end.

The legal team has asked the federal court to restore plaintiffs’ electricity and to prohibit staff from retaliating against people who refuse to sign the agreement or participate in the lawsuit. The Virginia Department of Corrections declined to answer The Appeal’s questions.

Last year, at least six people at Red Onion self-immolated in what incarcerated journalist Kevin ‘Rashid’ Johnson called “desperate attempts” to escape the prison’s inhumane conditions. But rather than offer them help, emails obtained by The Appeal show prison officials discussed how best to punish them. Then, in January, prison staff began distributing the Safety Agreement to people in Red Onion’s Step-Down program.

If someone refused to sign, staff cut the electricity to their cell’s outlet. The ACLU says this prevented prisoners from charging their tablets, watching television, or listening to the radio. Bowman told the court that he accesses religious programming through his television and tablet because he cannot leave his cell for services. He says his tablet is his primary tool to communicate with his family. 

Red Onion’s assistant warden confirmed in a court statement that there have been nine self-burnings—eight last year and one in January. The assistant warden said no one had burned themselves with a power outlet since the prison distributed the agreement on Jan. 20. 

“Security leadership and mental health leadership collaborated on potential solutions, and we ultimately decided that if an inmate agreed not to use the cell’s power outlet to bum himself, the power outlet in that inmate’s cell could remain active,” he said in his statement. “Inmates who refused to agree not to bum themselves would be placed in a cell where the power outlet had been deactivated.”

The warden said prisoners can use kiosks during recreation to charge their tablets and message family members. He said the prison has also set up TVs outside the cells to view religious services. 

In addition to threatening to punish people for acts of self-harm, the agreement also requires signers to affirm that they have “access to mental health and other local resources.” The plaintiffs say compelling them to agree with or espouse statements they believe are untrue or objectionable violates their First Amendment rights. 

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