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'DEEPLY EMBARRASSING'

Police Chief Defends Officer Who Said “Kill Them All” on Social Media Posts of Black Protestors

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This week Colorado Springs police chief Vince Niski defended not firing officer Sergeant Keith Wrede (pictured above) after it was revealed that Wrede had regularly commented “KILL THEM ALL!” on social media videos and posts about Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters.

On June 30, Wrede wrote the comment on a livestream video of a BLM demonstrators blocking an interstate for over an hour. Most of the protestors in the video left by the time the police arrived. Wrede made an identical comment on a second post using a sockpuppet account under the alias Steven Eric.

Wrede was suspended for five days, had to forgo over $2,000 in wages and then was reassigned from his specialized unit to a different departmental position.

But while Niski wrote in public letter on Monday that he found Wrede’s comments “unprofessional, distasteful, and not reflective of our department”, he defended his decision not to fire him.

“It was determined that the comments were made off-duty out of frustration and there was no indication of any physical action or intent to cause harm. I am in no way minimizing Sergeant Wrede’s words. His comments were unacceptable, have damaged our relationship with members of our community, and fell short of our standards,” Niski wrote.

“While his statements were harmful and reprehensible,” Niski continued, “I cannot deprive the community of a good police officer and his services because of an isolated incident of an error in judgment. We hope that you can accept our apology and be assured that the CSPD and Sgt. Wrede will continue to faithfully serve the public.”

Considering that Wrede publicly voiced a desire to kill all Black racial justice protesters peacefully demonstration their First Amendment rights to free speech while opposing system racism and police brutality, we’re not sure why the public, Black people and other citizens of Colorado Springs should feel assured that Wrede will treat them fairly.

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'DEEPLY EMBARRASSING'

Arizona GOP Spits on John McCain’s Grave, Says No to Era of “Civility”

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3 years ago

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January 2, 2021

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John McCain at a town hall in Phoenix, Arizona.

In a New Year’s Eve tweet, the Republican party for Arizona’s 28th legislative district encouraged its followers to “respect of all our elected Republicans living & deceased,” adding, “Hostility will not grow the Party or win elections. Home to the most current & former elected officials we honor their service & memory. Civility matters.”

But the state’s main Republican party chapter wasn’t having it.

In response, the Arizona Republican Party Twitter account commented, “As the sun sets on 2020, remember that we’re never going back to the party of Romney, Flake, and McCain. The Republican Party is now, and forever will be, one for the working man and woman! God bless.”

Republican Senators Mitt Romney of Utah, Jeff Flake and John McCain of Arizona were all known for their willingness to work with Democratic colleagues. But the Arizona GOP doesn’t want the likes of those three, including McCain who was a former military prisoner of war who died of brain cancer in 2018.

During the 2008 presidential election, McCain won Arizona by 10 points. In the 2020 presidential election, Trump lost Arizona by 0.3 points. So much for civility!

Keep in mind, the Republican Senate has largely not passed any signature legislation during the Trump Administration, save a tax break for the wealthy and two decreasingly helpful COVID-19 stimulus bills. That is, the inability of Senate Republicans to work with Democratic colleagues has largely made the institution useless, not even advancing an infrastructure bill that most Americans support.

It’s no surprise that the state party is taking this inflexible, hardline approach seeing as its top members had largely signed onto an absolutely bonkers and bogus lawsuit seeking to grant Vice President Mike Pence the ability to singlehandedly declare President Donald Trump as the winner of the 2020 elections even though Trump lost by over 7 million votes.

That case, which even Pence himself wanted thrown out, was duly thrown out by a Trump-appointed federal judge last night.

 

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'DEEPLY EMBARRASSING'

Trump’s $3 Million Wisconsin Vote Recount Actually Increased Biden’s Lead Over Him

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3 years ago

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November 28, 2020

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The re-election campaign of soon-to-be-former President Donald Trump spent $3 million for a recount of votes in Wisconsin in the hopes of throwing out tens of thousands of absentee and early ballots cast in support of President-elect Joe Biden.

But Trump’s $3 million dollar gambit hasn’t paid off. In fact, it actually increased Biden’s lead over him by 132 votes. As Slate explains, Trump was specifically asking for recounts in Dane and Milwaukee Counties, two Democratic strongholds where Biden beat Trump by over 360,000 votes total.

“By the end of the recount in Milwaukee County, Biden’s total had increased by 257 votes, from 317,270 to 317,527. Trump also saw an increase in votes, boosting his total by 125 votes to 134,482,” Slate wrote, showing how Biden ended up even further ahead. The new votes were originally excluded from the county’s total due to “human error.”

“In Dane County, Trump has gained 68 votes over Biden but the recount there isn’t expected to finish until Sunday,” Slate continued. The state is expected to certify its election results on Tuesday, December 1.

On Tuesday, Republicans filed a lawsuit not only asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to stop the certification of the presidential election results, but also aiming to grant the power to name presidential electors to the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature, the Associated Press reported. But if Trump’s over 30 failed lawsuits seeking to overturn the election are any indication, this one won’t be any more successful.

The lawsuit was filed by Erick Kaardal, an attorney and former Minnesota Republican Party official, who filed as a representative of a conservative group called the Wisconsin Voters Alliance. He filed the suit on behalf of the organization and several Republican voters. He also led an unsuccessful lawsuit before the election to get rapper Kanye West on the ballot.

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'DEEPLY EMBARRASSING'

“A March for Fascism”: Social Media Users Disable #MillionMAGAMarch Hashtag with Pancake Pics

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3 years ago

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November 14, 2020

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pancakes

Today is the Million MAGA March, a gathering of neo-Nazis, White Supremacists and other Trump supporters into Washington D.C., apparently unaware that Trump lost the last election by over 5 million votes.

But to make it hard for these unsavory folks to organize via social media, people on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram have been flooding the hashtags #MillionMAGAMarch and #MarchForTrump with images of pancakes. Here’s a tasty selection:

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