Tag: washington

Why prosecutors in WA are recharging a man police nearly beat to death

Moses Lake police nearly beat Joseph Zamora to death. Then he was charged with and convicted of assaulting an officer. He served a full prison term. Then Grant County prosecutors asked for the case to be dismissed. Then the state Supreme Court threw out Zamora’s convictions, because the prosecutor used racial bias during the trial.

It’s been more than six years since the beating that left Zamora in a medically induced coma in the ICU for a month, but Grant County prosecutors are reprosecuting him for the same alleged crimes. Even though Zamora already served a full prison sentence. Even though the same prosecutors previously asked to have the case dismissed.

The lingering question: Why? Why recharge a man when even if he is convicted, he wouldn’t serve any more time? Why recharge a man when the prosecutor previously wrote, “it is no longer in the interests of justice for the State to pursue this case?”

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Kenneth Arnold, The Man Who Started the UFO Phenomenon: In Arnold’s Very Own Words

There’s absolutely no doubt that had pilot Kenneth Arnold not encountered a veritable squadron of strange-looking aircraft near Mt. Rainier, Washington State on the afternoon of June 24, 1947, there would never have been an opportunity for the Russians – and for the United States, too, as we’ll soon see – to exploit a very real phenomenon of mystifying origins and nature for psychological and military gain. But, as history has shown, Arnold most assuredly did have that now-legendary encounter. Whether Arnold encountered a number of extraterrestrial craft, advanced creations of the Soviet Union, or the then-latest developments of the U.S. military, remains unknown. The theories are many. The hard answers are scant. Let’s take a look at what happened to Arnold on that particular day which changed the world. Arnold said…

“The following story of what I observed over the Cascade Mountains, as impossible as it may seem, is positively true. I never asked nor wanted any notoriety for just accidentally being in the right spot at the right time to observe what I did. I reported something that I know any pilot would have reported. I don’t think that in any way my observation was due to any sensitivity of eye sight or judgment than what is considered normal for any pilot. On June 24th, Tuesday, 1947, I had finished my work for the Central Air Service at Chehalis, Washington, and at about two o’clock I took off from Chehalis, Washington, airport with the intention of going to Yakima, Wash. My trip was delayed for an hour to search for a large marine transport that supposedly went down near or around the southwest side of Mt. Rainier in the state of Washington and to date has never been found.

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Washington’s Olympia School District to ax music classes for pushing ‘white supremacy’

A Washington school district is planning to cut music classes it believes promote “white supremacy culture” and “significant institutional violence.”

The Olympia School District — which is facing a budget shortfall of $11.5 million — voted last week to eliminate band and strings for fourth-graders in an effort to both save money and fight racism.

School Board Director Scott Clifthorne admitted during the meeting that research proves music classes are “healthy for young minds,” but that they are disproportionately rolled out across the district’s 12 elementary schools.

Students at some campuses are required to miss “core instruction” in order to attend music classes, he said, while some campuses offer longer instrumental class time than others.

“We also know that there are other folks in the community that experience things like a tradition of excellence as exclusionary,” Clifthorne said.

“We’re a school district that lives in and is entrenched in and is surrounded by white supremacy culture. And that’s a real thing.”

The board director told concerned parents that there was nothing “intrinsically white supremacist” about string or instrumental music, but warned that there are ways in which it could contribute to the racist culture.

“The ways in which it is and the ways in which all of our institutions — not just schools, but local government, state government, our churches, our neighborhoods — inculcate and allow white supremacy culture to continue to be propagated and caused significant institutional violence are things that we have to think about carefully as a community,” he said.

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James O’Keefe Releases Video of Female Inmates Speaking Out on What Transgender Inmates Do

James O’Keefe released a video Thursday evening in which two female inmates at the Washington State Correctional Center for Women (WCCW) discuss male inmates allegedly abusing the system by claiming to be transgender.

O’Keefe said that WCCW has been “the tip of the spear with inclusivity in the prison system” as he went on to explain that OMG News went to great lengths to protect the identities of the two women by significantly altering their voices and blurring out their faces.

The video identified the inmates as “Inmate #1” and “Inmate #2,” and it was not clear how or when the interview was conducted.

“So, we have men rapists, men murderers, child rapists, men who have killed women and are in prison for raping and killing women who get put in our rooms,” Inmate #1 claimed.

“Imagine coming into your room one day and you’re in closed custody and you turn around and there is a man standing there peeing in the toilet because you have the bathroom in your room in CCU. There is nothing you can do!”

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AG pushes state level ‘Ministry of Truth’ critics say could jail conservatives who express mainstream views

A state attorney general is advocating for a bill some critics argue could punish outspoken conservatives as domestic extremists, KTTH‘s Jason Rantz reported Wednesday.

“Some conservative views, or anything [Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson] deems as ‘misinformation,’ are examples of ‘domestic extremism,'” Rantz said.

It’s the “most dangerous bill in legislative history,” the Seattle radio host added.

Washington is creating a state version of the ill-fated “Ministry of Truth,” according to Rantz and others who have analyzed the bill.

The controversial bill proposes the establishment of a commission on domestic violence extremism. Rep. Bill Ramos, a Democrat, sponsored the bill which would create the 13-member commission.

HB 1333 describes the duties of the proposed commission as involving efforts to “combat disinformation and misinformation” and collecting data on incidents of “domestic violent extremism,” the Center Square explains.

Though DVE is not explicitly defined in the bill, Ferguson has described the term as including noncriminal activities or speech, the outlet also says.

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Washington teacher says schools must do more to keep students’ info secret from ‘Christo-fascist’ parents

A Washington teacher complained on Friday that many schools’ “guidelines and laws” haven’t helped them keep students’ information secret from “Christo-fascist” parents.

A tweet shows Auburn School District 408 teacher Karen Love responding to another that urged parents to check their school district’s policy regarding keeping info about their child’s secret from them. 

“Parents-check your school districts’ policy regarding keeping info about YOUR child secret from you. There are some scary policies out there. Schools should not have a right to keep info about your child from you unless abuse by you is suspected. There I said it and mean it,” a tweet written by “The Principle’s Office” reads.

Love responded, “I cannot disagree with this more. So many students are not safe in this nation from their Christo-fascist parents. And our guidelines and laws haven’t caught up with this.”

The Twitter thread of Love and the other users was reposted as a screenshot by Ian Prior, a senior advisor at American First Legal. 

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‘Worst of the Worst’ Sex Predators Are Being Released From Washington State’s Pedophile Island

They promised that the worst of the worst sexual predators would be committed forever on an island all alone in Washington State’s Puget Sound. These predators were never to walk again among the innocent children and vulnerable women of Washington State. These sick men who acknowledged there was nothing prison or medicine could do to help them heal agreed to be banished to a secure facility on Washington State’s version of pedophile island. And now they’re being let out.

The promisers lied. The woke politicians, such as Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and his so-called “progressive” allies, changed the rules about keeping the offenders in the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island in South Puget Sound. Their idea of restorative justice means that pedophiles should be released into communities where children play. If you object, Mr. Dad and Mrs. Mom, you’re horrible people.

What to do with Washington’s unreformed, irredeemable sexual predators was answered in 1990 when Gov. Booth Gardner signed the Community Protection Act, designating the first-of-its-kind civil commitment center on McNeil Island. The 200 “residents” have “been convicted of at least one sex crime – including sexual assault, rape, and child molestation. A court has then found them to meet the legal definition of a ‘sexually violent predator’, meaning they have a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes them likely to engage in repeat sexual violence,” reported the UK Guardian in a story in 2018. After they’re done serving their prison sentences and being deemed a continuing threat to the community, the unfixables are civilly committed to McNeil Island.

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Washington Bill Would Legalize Psilocybin Despite Federal Prohibition

A bill filed in the Washington State Senate would legalize the use of psilocybin, setting the stage to nullify federal prohibition of the same in practice and effect.

A coalition of senators led by Sen. Jesse Salomon (D) filed Senate Bill 5263 (SB5263) on Jan. 11. The legislation would amend existing state law by allowing the use of psilocybin for adults over the age of 21. The bill would establish an advisory board for the purposes of a 2-year program development period, ultimately leading to the licensing and regulation of psilocybin manufacturing and sales.

Psilocybin, often referred to as “magic mushrooms,” is a hallucinogenic compound found in certain mushrooms. A number of studies have shown psilocybin to be effective in the treatment of depression, PTSD, chronic pain and addiction. For instance, a Johns Hopkins study found that “psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer.”

Efforts to legalize psilocybin in Washington State follow a successful ballot measure that decriminalized a number of drugs, including heroin and cocaine in Oregon. In 2022, Colorado voters passed a ballot measure decriminalizing several naturally occurring psychedelic substances. At least 14 cities including Detroit, Michigan have decriminalized “magic mushrooms.”

Psychedelic decriminalization and legalization efforts at the state and local levels are moving forward despite the federal government’s prohibition of psilocybin and other psychedelic substances.

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Tacoma bible college linked to alleged ‘cult’ loses GI Bill approval after FBI raid

A Tacoma seminary program associated with a chain of churches raided by the FBI earlier this year has lost approval to receive federal Veterans Affairs education funds. Former members have described the chain as a cult that defrauds soldiers.

In late June, the FBI served search warrants at several House of Prayer Christian Church locations near military bases, mostly in the Southeast. A former church minister told The News Tribune the Tacoma location on South 54th Street was constructed in 2004 and targeted soldiers at nearby Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

A JBLM spokesperson told The News Tribune this summer the base was aware of the House of Prayer and referred questions to federal law enforcement. The FBI’s Seattle field office confirmed “court-authorized law enforcement activity” at the church but declined to provide additional details.

A spokesperson for the House of Prayer declined to comment on the investigation.

Current and former members have accused the House of Prayer of draining veterans’ GI Bill funds by perpetually enrolling them in bogus seminary classes and pressuring them to gain 100% VA disability then donate their benefits, according to an August 2020 report sent to the VA by the legal assistance nonprofit Veterans Education Success. In the report, members also accused the church of using their personal information and forging signatures to apply for VA home loans without their knowledge.

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3 Power Substations Vandalized in Washington State as Thousands Lose Power

At least three power substations were vandalized on Christmas Day in Pierce County, Washington state, according to officials in an update that comes just weeks after another substation was vandalized in North Carolina.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that one Tacoma Public Utilities substation was vandalized in Spanaway, located between Olympia and Tacoma, at around 5:30 a.m. local time on Dec. 25. Police said the incident led to power outages in the area.

A second Tacoma Public Utilities substation was vandalized a short time later, officials said. “Deputies arrived on scene and saw there was forced entry into the fenced area. Nothing had been taken from the substation, but the suspect vandalized the equipment causing a power outage in the area,” deputies wrote on Facebook.

Later on Dec. 25, at around 7 p.m., a Puget Sound Energy substation was vandalized after a fire was reported on-site, according to the sheriff’s office.

“The fire was extinguished and the substation secured. Power was knocked out for homes in Kapowsin and Graham. The suspect(s) gained access to the fenced area and vandalized the equipment which caused the fire,” Pierce County sheriff’s officials said. “There are no suspects in custody at this time.”

It added that “all law enforcement agencies in the county have been notified of the incidents and will be monitoring power substations in their area,” noting that “power has been restored to most of the affected homes.”

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