Tag: wyoming

Wyoming Governor Signs Law Prohibiting State Enforcement of Federal Red Flag Laws

On Friday, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed a bill into law that bars state and local officials from enforcing federal “extreme risk” protective orders – sometimes referred to as red flag laws. The bill will not only protect liberty in Wyoming; it will also hinder federal efforts to restrict the right to keep and bear arms.

Rep. Bill Allemand and 12 other cosponsors filed Senate Bill 109 (SF109) on Feb. 13. Titled “Prohibit Red Flag Gun Seizure Act,” the new law prohibits any state or local agency “from implementing or enforcing any federal statute, rule, executive order, judicial order or judicial findings or any state statute, rule, executive order, judicial order or judicial findings that would enforce a red flag gun seizure order against or upon a resident of Wyoming” who is legally allowed to possess a firearm under state law. It also prohibits the state and its political subdivisions from using personnel or funds for enforcement of the same.

No governmental entities in the state are allowed to accept federal grant funding to implement any federal red flag law. Anyone found in violation of the law by a court will now be subject to a civil penalty of up to $50,000 fifty per violation, and the court “may order any injunctive or other equitable relief as permitted by law.”

On March 6, the House passed SF109 by a 54-8 vote with some technical amendments. The following day, the Senate concurred with the House amendments by a 30-0 vote. With Gov. Gordon’s signature, the law went into immediate effect.

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Bill Gates-founded energy company set to construct $3 billion nuclear power plant in Wyoming that could be operational by 2030

A power company co-founded by Microsoft‘s Bill Gates has announced plans to begin building a new type of nuclear power plant in the US this summer.

TerraPower revealed it plans to apply for the necessary permits this month to start construction on a next-generation nuclear reactor at the start of June in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

The Washington-based firm has received an estimated $1 billion in funding from private investors, which will be combined with a promised $2 billion from the US government.  

The reactor is unique in the world of nuclear power, as it is cooled with liquid sodium rather than water – an efficient strategy, but one that has proven dangerous in some cases because of sodium’s explosive reaction if it touches water.

TerraPower’s announcement puts it in a nuclear energy race against Russia and China. 

The two superpowers are working to develop and export cheaper reactors, and the Natrium one represents TerraPower’s attempt to enter that market, the Financial Times reported.

In December, the company inked an agreement with Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation.

That deal will see TerraPower exploring the use of its Natrium reactors to not only generate electricity in the United Arab Emirates, but also produce hydrogen – a notoriously energy-hungry process.

TerraPower CEO Chris Levesque told FT that they plan to apply this month for the necessary permits to begin construction in June, but whether or not the company has received approval yet, they will begin building then.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in charge of approving construction of new nuclear powerplants. 

The next-generation reactor, called ‘Natrium,’ can be built for half the cost of water-cooled ones, the standard nuclear power technology for decades, Levesque said. 

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Wyoming Cop Assaulted a Disabled 8-Year-Old, Then Deleted the Body Camera Footage, Lawsuit Claims

Last spring, a disabled Wyoming 8-year-old was assaulted by a school resource officer, who pinned the boy facedown on the floor of a school conference room seemingly unprovoked. According to a lawsuit filed by the boy’s family last week, after the incident, the resource officer deleted body camera footage showing the most egregious parts of the attack and even accessed the child’s private school records without his parents’ or school administrators’ knowledge.

Last February, an 8-year-old with a “diagnosed neurodivergent disability” was sitting in the principal’s office of Freedom Elementary School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, during the school’s lunch period. The boy, named in the suit as “J.D.,” had been doing this for days, in accordance with his Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The complaint states that Principal Chad Delbridge and another faculty member began to quietly speak to J.D. about comments he made to a school cafeteria cashier and whether he should apologize to the cashier. Deputy Benjamin Jacquot, the school resource officer, was standing nearby during the discussion. J.D. was calm during this period.

According to a report later filed by Delbridge, when J.D. stood up to return to class moments later, Jacquot grabbed J.D.’s arm. Delbridge had not asked for Jacquot’s assistance in any way. 

“J.D. was not a threat to himself or to anyone else. There was no reason at all for Deputy Jacquot to become involved with J.D. during this interaction with Principal Delbridge,” the lawsuit notes. “Deputy Jacquot, nevertheless, forcibly wrestled J.D. into a nearby conference room using an armlock where the assault grew violent.”

The suit claims that Jacquot repeatedly “slammed” J.D.’s face into the conference room floor, causing numerous lacerations and bruises. The undeleted portion of Jacquot’s body camera footage shows the 250-pound Jacquot pinned on top of 68-pound J.D.

“At this point, J.D. is bleeding from wounds on his face, and his smeared blood is visible on the video,” the complaint reads. “As shown on the video, Deputy Jacquot is out of control, pinning J.D. by his arms face down to the ground in a prone restraint position and yelling threats at J.D. J.D., meanwhile, is struggling to breathe, and is coughing.”

According to the suit, Jacquot screamed at J.D.: “Do you understand me! I should be taking you to jail!”

Eventually, Delbridge called J.D.’s father, Ishmael DeJesus, to pick him up. When he arrived, DeJesus asked Jacquot why he grabbed J.D. even though the boy wasn’t causing a disruption. 

“Because, as a law enforcement officer, that’s my primary function,” Jacquot replied.

The complaint further alleges that “immediately after his assault on J.D., Deputy Jacquot went to his vehicle, and, upon information and belief, destroyed evidence by deleting his body cam video which showed the most violent portion of the assault, as well as the footage of his improper intervention into and escalation of this situation.”

Later, Jacquot obtained J.D.’s “private and protected” school records and included excerpts of those records in the police report of the incident. An investigation from the school later concluded that Jacquot had “no need to access these records in his work with this situation.”

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Wyoming Democrat lawmaker shares Antifa posts suggesting murder against ‘transphobic’ targets after Nashville massacre

Wyoming Democratic House representative Karlee Provenza has been vocal on social media about her far-left beliefs, however, Provenza’s TikTok and Instagram accounts shared videos and memes that appear to call for violence against political opponents, namely those who oppose the left’s radical gender ideology.

Provenza shared a meme to her Instagram story in the wake of the Nashville shooting last week from an account called @offcolordecals.

In the meme, a person wearing a jacket colored like the transgender flag is holding a semiautomatic gun with a finger on the trigger. “Auntie Fa says protect trans folks against fascists & bigots,” the text reads.

The account, which refers to itself as a defender of equality and “purveyor of fine leftist merch” has over a hundred posts, each depicting a particular product or slogan, most of which include firearms. 

On TikTok, while her official account is rather tame, Provenza has a second on which she posts more of her day-to-day life and hot takes.

In one post from June 2022, a sea creature can be seen sitting innocuously in an aquarium. Listening to the voiceover, however, one quickly learns that the little guy is, as the caption suggests, an “extremist eel.”

“Could you give us some of your political beliefs?” the voiceover asks, to which another responds, “Kill everyone now, condone first-degree murder…”

The audio is from a 1972 cult-classic film called “Pink Flamingos,” which centers around the life of a drag queen as they try to be crowned “The Filthiest Person Alive.”

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Wyoming Passes Bill Banning Sale of Abortion Pill

On March 17, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) signed a bill into law that will make it illegal to prescribe, sell or use “any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion.” The abortion pills, misoprostol and mifepristone, have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

While more than a dozen states have effectively banned abortion pills with their prohibitions on all forms of abortion and 15 states currently restrict access to abortion pills, Wyoming is now the first in the country to specifically ban abortion pills. People who violate the law, which goes into effect on July 1, will be charged with a misdemeanor and punished with up to six months of incarceration and a fine of $9,000.

“These abortion bans should alarm everybody in every corner of our country,” NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju said in a statement in response to the abortion pill ban. “There’s no stone that anti-choice extremists will leave unturned as they seek to do everything they can to ensure that abortion is banned across the nation. This first-of-its-kind ban on medication abortion, as well as the total ban, are just the latest proof.”

Gov. Mark Gordon also allowed HB0152, dubbed the “Life is a Human Right Act,” to go into effect without his signature, immediately banning all abortions in the state with exceptions for rape, incest or dire risks to the pregnant patient’s life. People who violate this law will be charged with a felony, fined up to $20,000 dollars, and face a prison sentence of five years.

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