Tag: rape

Screams without proof: questions for NYT about shoddy ‘Hamas mass rape’ report

The Grayzone has identified  serious issues with the credibility of key sources quoted in the New York Times’ December 28 story, “Screams Without Words: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on October 7.” Authored by Jeffrey Gettleman, Anat Schwartz, and Adam Sella, the article purports to prove “a broader pattern of gender-based violence on Oct. 7” than even Israeli authorities have been willing to allege . However, the Times report is marred by sensationalism, wild leaps of logic, and an absence of concrete evidence to support its sweeping conclusion.

The Times has come under fire from family members of Gal Abdush, the so-called “girl in the black dress” who features as Exhibit A in Gettleman and company’s attempt to demonstrate a pattern of rape by Hamas on October 7. Not only have Abdush’s sister and brother-in-law each denied that she was raped, the former has accused the Times of manipulating her family into participating by misleading them about their editorial angle. Though the family’s comments have sparked a major uproar on social media, the Times has yet to address the serious breach of journalistic integrity that its staff is accused of committing.

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Two reports debunk New York Times ‘investigative report’ of mass rape on October 7th

On December 28, the New York Times published an “investigative” report on gender-based violence allegedly committed by Palestinians during the October 7 attack. The newspaper says the story was based on over 150 interviews conducted by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jeffrey Gettleman, along with Anat Schwartz and Adam Sella. The story concludes that Hamas fighters engaged in systematic rape and sexual violence against Israeli women.

The story itself repeats October 7 testimonies that have been previously published and already debunked and discredited, but the Times investigation hinges predominantly on one central story, the story of the rape of “Gal Abdush,” who is described by the Times as “The Woman in the Black Dress.”

Although claiming its story proves that “the attacks against women were not isolated events but part of a broader pattern of gender-based violence on Oct. 7,” the veracity of the New York Times story was undermined almost as soon as it was published, including from the Abdush family itself who says there is no proof Gal Abdush was raped and that the New York Times interviewed them under false pretenses.

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Former TPD officer fails to appear in court on new sexual assault charge after initial rape charge from 2022

Tulsa Police announced Deangelo Reyes, a former Tulsa Police officer, has been charged with forcible sodomy.

This is an additional charge along with the first degree rape charge he goes to court for in March 2024. 

Reyes was first charged with rape in June of 2022 after he was accused of sexually assaulting someone while on duty. 

Police said they found an additional victim in the past few months bringing forth the new charge from an alleged incident back in July 2020.

Court records say the new victim was found by searching through phone records that revealed the alleged victim was disabled.

The victim suffered from major neuro cognitive disorder, secondary to severe traumatic brain injury, from a car accident that left her in a coma for three weeks.

Records indicate she was significantly disabled, functioning at a 5th to 6th grade level.

Court Records saying that she met Reyes while jogging where he asked for her phone number.

All while in police uniform, records allege that she would not want to have sex with Reyes and that the only way to get him to go away would be to give him sexual favors.

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Eric Adams accused of sexually assaulting woman in 1993 in bombshell legal filing; accuser wants $5M

Mayor Adams has been accused of sexually assaulting a former colleague in 1993 in a lawsuit seeking at least $5 million filed just before the deadline for the Adult Survivors Act, The Post learned Thursday.

The accuser, whom The Post is not identifying because of the nature of the allegation, named the former cop as a defendant along with the NYPD’s transit bureau and Guardian Association in a lawsuit filed late Wednesday.

“Plaintiff was sexually assaulted by Defendant Eric Adams in New York, New York in 1993 while they both worked for the City of New York,” claims the 3-page summons, which does not give more detail on the alleged assault.

The filing alleges “sexual assault, battery and employment discrimination on the basis of the Plaintiff’s gender and sex, retaliation, hostile work environment and intentional infliction of emotional distress” — and seeks damages no less than $5 million along with attorneys’ fees.

City Hall was quick to deny the allegations, which were first revealed by The Messenger

“The mayor does not know who this person is,” a spokesperson said. “If they ever met, he doesn’t recall it.

“But he would never do anything to physically harm another person and vigorously denies any such claim.”

Attempts to reach the accuser were not immediately successful Thursday, and her attorney did not respond to messages.

The Adult Survivors Act, signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul in May last year, removed the usual time constraints to sue over alleged sexual assaults for a one-year period, opening the floodgates for a torrent of civil lawsuits against powerful men, including former President Donald Trump and Bill Cosby.

At least 2,600 claims have been filed in state courts under the ASA, including several lawsuits brought this week against such high-profile defendants as Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose, Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and celebrity photographer Terry Richardson.

Adams, 63, has never been married but has a 27-year-old son, rapper Jordan Coleman, with his ex-girlfriend, Chrisena Coleman.

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New York lawmaker accused of forcing himself on woman during Haiti relief meeting

A Democratic state legislator from Brooklyn has been accused in a lawsuit of raping a woman during a meeting at her house about Haiti relief money, reported the Associated Press on Monday.

“The lawsuit, filed Friday, accuses Sen. Kevin Parker of assaulting her in 2004, during his first term. The woman said she had been working with Parker to coordinate the delivery of items and donations to Haiti after a devastating flood that affected the country and other neighboring Caribbean Islands,” reported Bobby Cuza. “The suit was filed under the Adult Survivors Act, a special state law that created a yearlong suspension of the usual time limit for accusers to sue. The law is set to expire after Thanksgiving.”

State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, through a spokesperson, called the allegations “extremely disturbing,” and vowed that “We will take appropriate action as more information is learned.”

The Adult Survivors Act has led to a wave of litigation of older cases that would otherwise have been impossible to bring.

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Confirmed: Man Who Raped His 10-Year-Old Daughter Housed With Female Prison Inmates

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections is housing a man who raped his own daughter in a women’s prison because he said he identifies as a woman himself—and the DOC is refusing to offer any kind of insight or explanation on the matter.

Mark Campbell is currently incarcerated in Taycheedah Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, inmate records show. He is a registered sex offender convicted of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

That child was his own 10-year-old daughter, court documents allege.

Born in 1971, Campbell is currently 52 years old, weighs 225 pounds, and stands at 5 feet 9 inches, according to the DOC inmate locator.

Under Campbell’s listed “sex,” the Wisconsin DOC states in bold, “FEMALE.” The department has not responded to many requests for comment from The Daily Signal.

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UK Parliament sends letters to social media platforms demanding demonetization of Russell Brand

The UK Parliament has sent letters to TikTok and Rumble expressing concerns that comedian Russel Brand could be profiting off the platforms.

“I am writing concerning the serious allegations regarding Russell Brand, in the context as a user of TikTok with more than 2.2 million followers on the platform,” the letter to Theo Bertram, TikTok Director of Government Relations, Europe, began.

The following day after TikTok was sent the letter, Rumble received a similar letter from Dinenage, noting Brand’s 1.4 million followers on the platform, and asking whether Rumble “intends to join YouTube in suspending Mr. Brand’s ability to earn money on the platform.”

“The Culture, Media and Sport [Committee] is raising questions with the broadcasters who previously employed Mr. Brand or production companies who employed him, to examine both the culture of the industry in the past and whether that culture still prevails today,” Committee chair Dame Caroline Dinenage MP wrote.

Dinenage noted that while Brand no longer appears on television, he has amassed a following on various social media platforms, “including on TikTok where this weekend he republished his pre-emptive response to the accusations made against him by The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches.”

“While we recognize that TikTok is not the creator of the content published by Mr. Brand, and his content may be within the Community Guidelines set out by the platform, we are concerned that he may be able to profit from his content on the platform.”

Dinenage requested that TikTok confirm whether Brand is able to monetize his content on the platform, and tell “what the platform is doing to ensure that creators are not able to use the platform to undermine the welfare of victims of inappropriate or potentially illegal behavior.”

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YouTube suspends Russell Brand from making money off the streaming site after sex assault claims

YouTube said Tuesday that Russell Brand will no longer make money from the video streaming site after several women made allegations of sexual assault against the comedian-turned-influencer.

YouTube said monetization of Brand’s account, which has 6.6 million subscribers, has been suspended “following serious allegations against the creator.”

“This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand,” the Google-owned video service said.

The suspension means Brand won’t be able to earn money from the ads that run within and alongside YouTube videos, which have titles including “What REALLY Started the Hawaii Fires?” and “Covid Tsar Admits Lockdowns Were NEVER About Science.”

Other channels associated with Brand’s main YouTube page include Awakening With Russell, which has 426,000 subscribers, Football Is Nice, which has some 20,000 subscribers, and Stay Free With Russell Brand, which has 22,200 subscribers.

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Former Yale student cleared to sue accuser over false allegations

A former Yale student who was kicked out of the school in 2019 after being accused and acquitted of rape in 2018 can now sue his accuser for defamation over statements she made during a school hearing on the matter after a Connecticut Supreme Court ruling over the summer.

According to the New York Post, 30-year-old Saifullah Khan has had a $110 million defamation lawsuit pending against the school since 2019, and has been fighting to bring his accuser into the suit.

In June, the state’s supreme court granted Khan’s request, and ruled that the accuser, a fellow student, shouldn’t receive “qualified immunity” from her testimony in a school hearing that Khan raped her after a 2015 Halloween party.

Qualified immunity protects people from being sued over statements they make in judicial cases, but the court ruled that the university hearing wasn’t a stand-in court proceeding, since Khan wasn’t allowed the chance to cross-examine his accuser.

“For absolute immunity to apply under Connecticut law,” the June decision states, “fundamental fairness requires meaningful cross-examination in proceedings like the one at issue.”

Khan’s team listened during the referenced hearing to the woman’s testimony from a separate room, never being able to cross-examine her. The ruling said Khan’s defense attorney was left to act as a “potted plant.”

The court said that Yale’s hearing couldn’t be considered “quasi-judicial” because the woman wasn’t made to testify under oath, and Khan wasn’t provided with a transcript of the testimony.

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What did TV bosses hear about Russell Brand, and when were they told? The repeated warnings over controversial comic whose ‘sinister behaviour’ was an ‘open secret’ among BBC and CH4 senior executives

Repeated warnings over Russell Brand to TV bosses made his ‘sinister behaviour’ an open secret among BBC and Channel 4 executives – it has been claimed as alleged concerns reach back as far as 2004-6.

It comes amid reports that accusations about his ‘sinister’ behaviour towards women were an ‘open secret’ among TV and radio executives following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.

Bosses at the BBC and Channel 4 are accused of turning a blind eye towards the entertainer while he worked for them as a presenter between 2006 and 2013. 

The broadcasters insisted they took all necessary steps to deal with him, but executives could still be called before a Government select committee where MPs will grill them over what they knew.

Channel 4 and the BBC have since launched probes into Russell Brand‘s behaviour in light of allegations of predatory behaviour towards staff and audience members in the wake of separate rape and sexual assault allegations, as friends of the comedian begin to distance themselves from him.

The first time the star’s behaviour was reported is claimed to be while he was working on EFourum and Big Brother’s Big Mouth between 2004 and 2006.

But one researcher alleges they complained about Brand pursuing audience members for sex, but their concerns were dismissed.

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