Tag: police state

Militarized Police

With Zoran Mamdani poised to win the New York mayor’s race, the red herring of “defunding the police” is rearing its head again. 

I say “red herring” because almost nobody wants to actually defund policy.  That’s silly.  But Republicans love being able to hit Democrats over the head with it. 

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said in a congressional hearing that, once police departments are “defunded,” Democrats can “call a crackhead” when somebody breaks into their houses.  He made sure to repeat the phrase for a political ad.

The issue is that “Defund the Police,” which is probably inappropriately named, actually calls for transferring resources from the tactical focus of most police departments and transferring it to things like de-escalation training, i.e., training how to handle people who haven’t committed any obvious crime, but who are in the midst of a mental health crisis. 

Remember, it was a decision by the Los Angeles Police Department in 1967 to create the country’s first SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics, previously Special Weapons Attack Team) unit and begin dressing like G.I. Joe heading into combat.  Many of us believe that that wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Things only got worse from there.  In 1989, as a provision of the National Defense Authorization Act, Congress allowed the U.S. Department of Defense to begin transferring surplus military hardware to local police departments. 

The Atlantic Monthly put things in perspective just weeks after the start of the so-called Global War on Terror, when it wrote that this transfer from the Defense Department to local police departments included everything from combat-capable body armor to armored personnel vehicles to attack helicopters.

Serious think tanks like the Brookings Institution also have weighed in on the damage that these hyper-militarized police departments have done in local communities. 

The bottom line, really, is, as one example, “Does Ohio State University really need a tank?”  Incidentally, that’s not a question that I came up with.  It’s a question posed by the school’s student newspaper in an article published when the Ohio State Police Department took delivery of a fully armored Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle. 

As the article’s author noted, the vehicle was “an incredibly overpowered and over-armored machine of war.”  The university’s police chief agreed that that’s exactly what it was, and added that the university, “is frequently like a war zone, and it requires an equal, if not escalated, response.” 

We’re talking about Ohio State University here, in the center of Columbus, Ohio.  The university’s police chief is either deluded, lying, or an idiot.

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New Michigan Marijuana Tax Could Shutter Businesses And Actually Reduce The State’s Cannabis Revenue, Industry Says

As state budget negotiations drew to a close last week, members of the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-led House were able to reach a deal to bring in additional funding for road repairs through a plan that drew much debate: levying additional taxes on marijuana.

Hundreds of individuals from the cannabis industry came out in opposition to the proposal last week, gathering on the Capitol lawn and lining the halls of the building as lawmakers worked to finalize the state budget.

While the policy won support from both sides of the aisle, its detractors were similarly bipartisan as some lawmakers warned that an additional 24 percent tax on wholesale marijuana could carry a host of issues, from smothering small businesses to expanding the black market, and even opening the state up to a potential constitutional challenge.

Although Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) put her pen to the new tax law on Tuesday, the future of the law has already been challenged, with the Michigan Cannabis Industry Association filing a complaint the same day, arguing the law improperly alters the law initiated by voters when they agreed to legalize marijuana in 2018.

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Breaking Free From State Rule

Wars are mass-murder, massive theft, and unrelenting propaganda. In this country they’re lucrative overseas entanglements, as government diverts loot from taxpayers to the war industry. They’re also perpetual, as war embellishes the sanctity of the state as well as providing grounds for increased plunder of its population. Wars are government as Houdini—drawing attention to the bloody far-away while relieving attention on the corrupt close-at-hand. For the victor, the propaganda is inked as truth in the history books. War is the health of the state, Randolph Bourne concluded, but not for the people under it:

In the freest of republics as well as in the most tyrannical of empires, all foreign policy, the diplomatic negotiations which produce or forestall war, are equally the private property of the Executive part of the Government, and are equally exposed to no check whatever from popular bodies, or the people voting as a mass themselves.

Government-controlled monetary policy is cover for counterfeiting, an insidious form of taxation that creates gross economic distortions and inequalities. Presidential elections are extravagant contests between straw men owned by those behind the throne. Formal education is indoctrination into dominant narratives. The US Constitution is a feel-good distraction from the larceny and depravity of the political class.

Blogger J.D. Breen has published a brief history of the 21st century in two parts (here and here). “As last century was launched when the Maine sank in Havana harbor, this one turned when the Twin Towers were toppled. . . . The remnants of the U.S. Constitution went in the shredder.” Shocking, but not surprising, he said, given the destruction wrought by US intervention in Muslim countries over the decades.

But government, as we’ve learned, is never accountable for wrong-doing. If it was, it would imply the state is fallible, a blasphemous idea.

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Telegram’s Durov: We’re “Running Out Of Time To Save The Free Internet”

Messaging app Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov warns that a “dark, dystopian world” is approaching, with governments worldwide rolling back privacy protections.

“I’m turning 41, but I don’t feel like celebrating. Our generation is running out of time to save the free internet built for us by our fathers,” said Durov in an X post on Thursday.

“Once-free countries are introducing dystopian measures,” said Durov, referencing the European Union’s Chat Control proposal, digital IDs in the UK and new rules requiring online age checks to access social media in Australia.

“What was once the promise of the free exchange of information is being turned into the ultimate tool of control.”

“Germany is persecuting anyone who dares to criticize officials on the Internet. The UK is imprisoning thousands for their tweets. France is criminally investigating tech leaders who defend freedom and privacy.”  

“A dark, dystopian world is approaching fast — while we’re asleep. Our generation risks going down in history as the last one that had freedoms — and allowed them to be taken away,” Pavel added.

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Free Speech Advocates Warn EU’s Digital Services Act Enables Pan-European Censorship and Threatens Political Dissent

A controversial EU regulation is drawing fierce warnings from a global group of free speech advocates who argue it paves the way for widespread censorship in Europe and beyond.

The Digital Services Act (DSA), which allows European Union authorities to fine tech companies for hosting content deemed illegal or harmful, has caused concern among 113 public figures who say the law could crush political expression and dissent under an opaque system with vague rules.

In a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the group accused the EU of eroding basic democratic freedoms by turning private platforms into enforcers of state-approved narratives.

The message, led by Alliance Defending Freedom International and sent to Reclaim The Net, warns that the DSA’s structure encourages governments and aligned institutions to police opinions in ways that would be unthinkable under traditional free speech protections.

“Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of democratic societies. It is through the exchange of ideas — including controversial ones — that societies evolve, and public officials remain accountable,” the letter states.

The DSA, passed under the pretext of regulating disinformation and online harm, is set to undergo formal review in November.

Its enforcement mechanisms enable both state actors and private organizations to flag material they believe violates EU or national law.

However, the term “illegal content” remains loosely defined, opening the door to subjective enforcement and political targeting.

The signatories highlighted real cases that reflect a growing intolerance for dissenting views in Europe.

One example is Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen, who is being prosecuted for expressing her religious views on marriage and sexuality through social media.

According to the letter, the DSA “introduces sweeping mechanisms” that not only allow but encourage cross-border enforcement of restrictive speech laws.

The group emphasized that one EU member state’s most rigid rules could effectively become binding across the entire Union, imposing a lowest-common-denominator standard for expression.

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UK Digital ID: The BritCard Bait and Switch

In my previous article I suggested that the UK’s proposed “mandatory” digital ID, called the BritCard, was a bait and switch psyop. I posited that the arguments presented by Keir Starmer’s purported Labour government, to supposedly justify the BritCard rollout, coupled with the timing of the announcement, the apparent inability to understand public opinion, and the lack of necessity for the BritCard, indicated that there was something amiss with the so-called government’s BritCard proposition.

It seems to me that the purpose of the BritCard gambit is to frame the Overton Window for the public debate about digital ID in the UK. People can accept or reject it, imagining the BritCard represents the totality of digital ID infrastructure. If the population rejects the BritCard they may well do so under the misapprehension they have defeated digital ID in the UK.

Subsequent developments have strengthened my view.

Digital ID is a global policy initiative that governments around the world, including the British government, are following, not leading. It is the United Nation’s (UN’s) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16.9 which promises to “by 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.”

Even before the ink was officially dry on SDG 16.9, the ID2020 group, tasked with meeting the “identity” sustainability target, outlined what achieving SDG 16.9 would mean in practical terms:

[C]reate technology-driven public-private partnerships to achieve the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goal of providing legal identity for everyone on the planet.

ID2020 further clarified the global policy objective:

By 2030, enabling access to digital identity for every person on the planet.

The objective of SDG 16.9 is to force not just approved “legal identity” but digital ID on every human being on earth. To this end, the UN has already created a nascent global digital ID database called ID4D. The ID4D Global Dataset aim to capture the data of “all people aged 0 and above.”

Run by the World Bank Group—a UN specialised agency—ID4D informs us:

The World Bank Group’s Identification for Development (ID4D) Initiative harnesses global and cross-sectoral knowledge, World Bank financing instruments, and partnerships to help countries realize the transformational potential of identification (ID) systems. [. . .] The aim is to enable all people to exercise their rights and access better services and economic opportunities in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

At first reading this might not seem so bad. Therefore, it is very important to be clear about what it implies.

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Bureau of Prisons currently has 4,497 ‘unresolved’ employee misconduct cases, GAO reveals

Anew Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has failed to fully communicate its “employee misconduct” policies and procedures and about 37% of the 12,153 cases that are open as of February 2025 have been unresolved for 3 years or longer.

In its September 2025 report, GAO notes that while BOP updated its Standards of Employee Conduct in June 2024 and continues to offer training, the agency does not systematically collect or use feedback from staff about that training. The omission limits BOP’s ability to refine the design and effectiveness of its misconduct prevention efforts, according to the report.

Training material sub-par

The audit also points out shortcomings of BOP’s orientation handbooks. “BOP uses orientation handbooks and signs posted in facilities to inform incarcerated individuals how to report certain employee misconduct. However, the handbooks and signs discuss sexual misconduct rather than a broader range of allegations, such as contraband and physical abuse,” read the report. 

“Developing a communication strategy to fully inform incarcerated individuals about employee misconduct offenses that affect their health and safety could increase awareness about the standards BOP is trying to uphold and help ensure facility safety and employee accountability”, GAO added.

The watchdog found that while BOP tracks allegations of employee misconduct, the agency does not sufficiently analyze data trends over extended periods of more than two years. There are currently 4,497 unresolved cases.

“BOP increased staff and took other steps to reduce its employee misconduct caseload, but about 37 percent of the 12,153 cases open as of February 2025 had been unresolved for 3 years or longer. BOP’s approach to investigating and disciplining employee misconduct does not include establishing milestones or designating responsibilities to key officials,” the report read.

“Implementing a comprehensive plan with these elements would help BOP allocate the resources necessary for investigating and disciplining employee misconduct cases, achieve desired results, and enhance safety and efficiency,” the GAO also reported.

The GAO said in the report that the BOP remains on its “High‑Risk List,” given that “staffing gaps and leadership stability continue to be central concerns and affect BOP’s ability to monitor persistent issues such as employee misconduct.”

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Kentucky Man Jailed Over Halloween Decorations That Depicted Local Public Officials Being Hanged

A Kentucky man was arrested over the weekend after placing Halloween decorations in his front yard that depicted fake bodies labeled with titles of local government officials.

According to WKYT-TV, a 58-year-old Powell County man named Stephan Marcum was taken into custody Saturday after being accused of terroristic threatening.

People passing by the man’s home in the community of Stanton saw a Halloween display they found rather haunting.

Commonwealth Attorney Miranda King reported the scene to the Kentucky State Police.

The decorations included body bags marked with the titles of local officials, although no names were on the effigies.

According to an arrest citation, Marcum was taken into custody not long after.

“This is something you just don’t see every day,” Powell County Judge Executive Eddie Barnes, whose title was on one of the bags, told WKYT.

Even though Barnes was not named in the display, he said he was bothered.

“At first I didn’t know what to think about it because I actually drove by and [saw] it in his yard and I’m thinking, you know, ‘Wow, you know, that’s kinda harsh,’” Barnes said.

Barnes said he has known Marcum for decades.

The judge told WKYT he views Marcum as someone who can be “a good person,” and was confused by the Halloween display.

University of Kentucky Political Science Associate Professor Stephen Voss told WKYT that Marcum’s display was not protected by the First Amendment.

“If you’re actively threatening someone in a terrorizing way, that may not be covered by the general right to free expression,” Voss said.

“I think we’re seeing a little bit less tolerance for violent communication or violent imagery because there seems to be a greater risk people will enact it or carry it out,” he added.

WKYT reported that Marcum was held at the Powell County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.

Police said the Halloween decorations were collected and taken to a nearby Kentucky State Police station.

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Massie Introduces Bill to Stop the Government From Propagandizing Americans

Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) wants to make it illegal for the federal government to target Americans with propaganda. Republican leadership has already blocked recent attempts to do this.

Massie introduced on Wednesday a bill to repeal the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2013. Representative Scott Perry (R-Pa.) co-sponsored the proposal. Massie explained in a press release:

The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) included the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act, legislation that ended a prohibition on the federal government exposing American audiences to its propaganda. I voted against that NDAA, and I offered an amendment to the 2026 NDAA to reinstate the original prohibition, but Speaker Johnson blocked a vote. The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act needs to be repealed. Taxpayer-funded fake news should not be used by the federal government to wage influence campaigns against the American people.

The Congressman brought up Johnson’s block from mid-September on his X account when it happened.

It just so happens this issue was one of the first votes Massie cast after entering Congress in 2012. He pointed this out during a phone call with The New American on Friday. Massie opposed the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012, and many years later he hasn’t changed his views. He said his time serving on a select subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government and the way the federal government behaved during Covid mania have emboldened him to sponsor this kind of legislation.

Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced a companion Senate bill last month dubbed the Charlie Kirk Act. He said in a statement about the bill:

From the end of World War II until the Obama administration, it was illegal for the US government to use the State Department’s foreign broadcasting apparatus to target American citizens with propaganda. In 2013, these protections were taken away. My legislation restores this safeguard under the name of an American martyr for freedom of speech and freedom of thought: Charlie Kirk. As Charlie’s vital work so ably demonstrated, Americans can figure out the truth for themselves without government telling them what to believe.

When asked what propaganda campaigns the State Department or the USAGM are broadcasting, Massie said, “We can’t know,” adding that they wouldn’t have lifted the restriction if they weren’t broadcasting, or at least planning to broadcast, such propaganda. “I think it was a CYA by the government,” he told us.

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Postal worker died after police mistook stroke for drug impairment

Anewly filed federal lawsuit alleges that a Minnesota postal worker died after police officers and jail staff ignored clear signs he was suffering from a massive stroke – mistaking his medical emergency for drug impairment. 

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court, accuses the City of Eagan and Dakota County of deliberate indifference in the death of 50-year-old Kingsley Fifi Bimpong, a U.S. Postal Service employee and lawful permanent U.S. resident originally from Ghana. 

The lawsuit claims arresting officers failed to do a proper screening to determine whether Bimpong was having a stroke or experiencing a drug overdose – and it says jail guards allowed Bimpong to remain helpless on a jail cell floor in his own urine for hours without medical attention.    

The Night of the Arrest

On the night of November 16, 2024, Bimpong vanished from his shift at the Eagan Postal Distribution Center after complaining of a headache. 

At 10:44 PM, an Eagan police sergeant saw his car driving the wrong way on Pilot Knob Road – into oncoming traffic and striking a median curb. 

According to police reports, after being pulled over, Bimpong appeared extremely confused. He couldn’t say where he lived or worked, even though he was wearing a USPS vest, and repeatedly said, “I don’t know.” Officers noted there was no smell of alcohol. 

Eagan Officer Martin Jensen, a specially trained Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE), was called to assess whether Bimpong was under the influence of drugs. DRE training, provided by the Minnesota State Patrol to officers, emphasizes distinguishing drug impairment from medical emergencies such as strokes. 

But the lawsuit alleges Jensen disregarded his training.  

According to the lawsuit, body camera audio captured him saying a full DRE evaluation, which typically takes between 30-to-45-minutes, would be “a whole bunch of time wasted.” When another officer questioned whether Bimpong should be taken to the hospital, Jensen replied: “For what?” 

Instead, Bimpong was arrested for suspected DWI. He had his blood drawn at Eagan police headquarters and was then transported to the Dakota County Jail. 

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