Trump’s convention gives platform to some with fringe views

trump’s-convention-gives-platform-to-some-with-fringe-views

WASHINGTON (AP) — An advocate of “household voting” in which husbands get the final say. A woman who has argued that school sex-ed programs are “grooming” children to be sexualized by predators like Jeffrey Epstein. A candidate who has peddled in racist tropes and bizarre QAnon conspiracy theories.

President Donald Trump has long surrounded himself with controversial characters who hold out-of-the-mainstream views. But the decision by the party to elevate some of those figures by featuring them in prime-time spots at the Republican National Convention or inviting them to witness this week’s events is drawing new scrutiny.

Trump’s comfort with the far-right fringe got uncomfortable for his party Tuesday. At the last minute, Republicans pulled a prerecorded speech by “Angel Mom” Mary Ann Mendoza from the program, after she fired off a now-deleted tweet directing her followers to a series of anti-Semitic, conspiratorial messages.

Mendoza, whose son was killed in 2014 in a head-on collision with a drunken driver living in the U.S. illegally, had recorded remarks highlighting the president’s fight against illegal immigration. But her spot was pulled after the Daily Beast reported that she had promoted a thread from a QAnon conspiracy theorist that was rife with anti-Semitism and claimed the Titanic was sunk to kill opponents of the Federal Reserve.

Mendoza, who has made frequent appearances at the White House and Trump campaign events along with other “Angel Moms,” apologized for the tweet, writing that she had “retweeted a very long thread” without having read every post and said it didn’t reflect her “feelings or personal thoughts whatsoever.”

But the campaign pulled the plug anyway. “We have removed the scheduled video from the convention lineup and it will no longer run this week,” Trump campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh said in a statement.

Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matt Brooks applauded the decision, saying “her views clearly disqualify her from addressing the convention.”

“We are pleased that convention officials took prompt action to make sure the convention reflects who we are and our values as a party,” he said.

Not pulled from the schedule was anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson, whose past controversial comments have surfaced in recent days, along with questions about her journey from working at Planned Parenthood to her current advocacy.

In May, Johnson advocated for something called “household voting” in which each household is given a single vote, and said that, if differences arise, women should defer to their husbands.

“In a Godly household, the husband would get the final say,” she wrote.

Johnson also posted a video on YouTube in June in which she said she would be fine with police profiling her adopted biracial son when he’s older because “statistically, my brown son is more likely to commit a violent offense over my white sons.”

“One day he’s going to grow up and he’s going to be a tall, probably sort of large, intimidating-looking maybe, brown man,” she said. “So the fact that, in his head he would be more careful around my brown son than my white son, that doesn’t actually make me angry. That makes that police officer smart because of statistics.”

The campaign did not respond to questions about how speakers had been chosen or whether they had undergone any kind of vetting. But Murtaugh said Trump “strongly supports the sacred principle of one person, one vote, and that’s why he is fighting so hard to preserve the integrity of our elections.”

For her part, Johnson fought back, tweeting: “Pro-aborts are SO scared of my speech tonight that will pull back the curtain of the barbaric reality of abortion, they are scrambling to try to find anything to detract people from my message. Well, guess what?? You can dredge up whatever old tweets you want. I’m still speaking.”

Trump has long courted controversy, retweeting videos and commentary that often draw outrage. And he has reveled in the backlash they have generated. Meanwhile, several speakers at the convention cast the Republican Party as welcoming of all viewpoints and condemned so-called cancel culture, which they argue stifles freedom of thought and imposes a liberal, elitist world view.

Republicans have also accused the media of holding the president to a higher standard than Democrats, and some noted the Democratic convention, held last week, included an appearance by Linda Sarsour, an activist who has faced accusations of anti-Semitism.

Trump’s convention lineup has sometimes had the feel of a lower-profile conservative gathering, much like the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, which draws a wide range of ardent conservative activists and does not aim to appeal to a broader, more moderate audience.

Monday’s opening night, for instance, featured Rebecca Friedrichs, an elementary school teacher who railed in her remarks against teachers unions. In a July opinion piece in the Washington Times, Friedrichs argued that public schools groom kids for sexual predators like Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his longtime companion, who stands accused of facilitating the abuse of girls by the now-deceased sex offender, by teaching them basic sex education.

And then there are the invited guests. On Tuesday, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican congressional nominee from Georgia who supports the QAnon conspiracy theory, revealed that she had been invited to the White House to attend Trump’s marquee acceptance speech.

Greene has a long history of bolstering the baseless pro-Trump theory, which centers on an alleged anonymous, high-ranking government official known as “Q” who shares information about an anti-Trump “deep state” often tied to satanism and child sex trafficking. She has also made a series of racist, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic comments.

CNN reported Tuesday that, before she ran for office, Greene promoted the debunked “Pizzagate” conspiracy and speculated that the deadly 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was an “inside job.”

Trump has praised her as a “future Republican Star.”

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Source: https://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/state_news/trumps-convention-gives-platform-to-some-with-fringe-views/article_8a68f74a-5a60-51f4-8afe-42ce32a46fbb.html

We found sex offenders on popular dating apps | wcnc.com, Feb 14, 2020 … Sex offenders, convicted rapists on popular dating apps. The sex offender registry is public record, as are arrest records in many counties …

we-found-sex-offenders-on-popular-dating-apps-|-wcnccom,-feb-14,-2020-…-sex-offenders,-convicted-rapists-on-popular-dating-apps.-the-sex-offender-registry-is-public-record,-as-are-arrest-records-in-many-counties …

The sex offender registry is public record, as are arrest records in many counties — including Mecklenburg.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dating apps are extremely popular among people looking for love, but now many of those services – including bumble, tinder, match, and OkCupid — are under national investigation.  

The WCNC Defenders put it to the test and found there are sex offenders and violent offenders using these apps in our area. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department is now issuing its own warning.

We scrolled through several online dating services and plugged in names to a national background check system.

In less than an hour, a dozen already came back as sex offenders or with violent crime convictions – including rape, assault, and domestic violence.

We brought our findings to CMPD’s Jonathan Frisk.

“I don’t know that I would say it’s surprising to me, I would say it’s more disturbing…more scary than anything else”

Also not surprising to matchmaker Laurie Berzack.

Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images

The ‘Tinder’ app logo is seen amongst other dating apps on a mobile phone screen on November 24, 2016 in London, England.

“They cannot really guarantee that any background check that they run is going to be foolproof,” Berzack said. “In which case they really have to sort of get themselves out of the liability.”

That means the burden falls on users.

The sex offender registry is public record, as are arrest records in many counties — including Mecklenburg.

“You need to do your due diligence and do your own research,” Officer Frisk said.

Many paid dating services like Laurie’s do background checks for you.

“Have you ever run into something that came back as concerning?” Levins asked Berzack.

“Absolutely, yes,” Berzack replied.

The US subcommittee now sending probe letters to Bumble, Grindr, Tinder, Match, and OkCupid.

In a statement saying in part…

“Protection from sexual predators should not be a luxury confined to paying customers.”

In wake of all this, Match Group says they believe the sex offender registry should be updated to better track perpetrators’ digital footprints.

The other dating service groups have not yet issued a response or comment.

More from The Defenders:

Source: https://www.13wmaz.com/amp/article/tech/local-sex-offenders-convicted-rapists-on-popular-dating-apps/275-888ef63a-4989-47d6-beca-a6100b02652a

Dougherty Co. D.A. won’t put up with anyone disrupting virtual learning

dougherty-co-da.-won’t-put-up-with-anyone-disrupting-virtual-learning

Dougherty Co. D.A. won’t put up with anyone disrupting virtual learning

By Jim Wallace | August 22, 2020 at 2:24 AM EDT – Updated August 22 at 2:24 AM

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) – Greg Edwards, the district attorney for the Dougherty Judicial Circuit, is sending out a warning to both students and adults.

Anyone trying to disrupt Dougherty County Schools’ virtual classes will be prosecuted.

Edwards said that some people think it’s funny to try to interfere with virtual school classes that are now going on.

One student has exposed himself to the virtual class while one student’s parents threatened a teacher during class.

Those are being investigated by Dougherty School police.

The D.A. said that will end now. He said he will prosecute disruptions, even when the classes are being held online.

“Virtual school is just like real school,” said Edwards. “And it is my intention to deal with any issues that arise from this situation, just as if you walked into the live classroom and did these things, you are going to be dealt with the same way.”

Edwards said this is not just a problem in Dougherty County but across the state.

Several students have streamed pornography to their classmates, which can result in some very harsh penalties. Even being charged as a sex offender.

Edwards said parents especially, should treat virtual school just like a regular school class.

Copyright 2020 WALB. All rights reserved.

Source: https://www.walb.com/2020/08/22/dougherty-co-da-wont-put-up-with-anyone-disrupting-virtual-learning/

Monitoring for Georgia’s sex offenders changes | 13wmaz.com, Mar 7, 2019 … The Georgia Supreme Court recently ruled that the lifelong electronic monitoring of “sexually dangerous predators” after their sentence has …

monitoring-for-georgia’s-sex-offenders-changes-|-13wmaz.com,-mar-7,-2019-…-the-georgia-supreme-court-recently-ruled-that-the-lifelong-electronic-monitoring-of-“sexually-dangerous-predators”-after-their-sentence-has …

The Georgia Supreme Court recently ruled that the lifelong electronic monitoring of “sexually dangerous predators” after their sentence has been completed is unconstitutional. Here’s what local law enforcement and defense lawyers had to say about the change.

Source: https://www.13wmaz.com/video/news/state/georgia-news/monitoring-for-georgias-sex-offenders-changes/93-27592102-fbb0-4829-88a9-e177a5d00e76

Law enforcement makes arrests after Sumter Co. sex offender operation

law-enforcement-makes-arrests-after-sumter-co.-sex-offender-operation

By Kim McCullough | August 19, 2020 at 2:43 PM EDT – Updated August 19 at 3:00 PM

AMERICUS, Ga. (WALB) – The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, along with the U.S. Marshall’s Service and the Department of Community Supervision, conducted a joint operation known as S.M.A.R.T. (Search, Monitor, Apprehend, Register, and Tracking) to verify addresses and compliance of registered sex offenders in Sumter County.

The operation took place between July 17-Aug. 11.

The agency said at the beginning of the operation, there were 106 sex offenders. Of those offenders, four were absconders, two were currently in jail and one was removed from the registry per court order.

During the operation, one offender was arrested for probation violation, one arrested on an outstanding warrant for failure to register and one arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and theft by receiving stolen property.

Deputies said the firearm was also stolen from an entering auto case filed with the Americus Police Department.

Two warrants were issued on two offenders for failure to register and they were listed as absconders.

A total of 82 sex offender address verifications were conducted and verified.

Copyright 2020 WALB. All rights reserved.

Source: https://www.walb.com/2020/08/19/law-enforcement-makes-arrests-after-sumter-co-sex-offender-operation/

Sex offender accused of exposing himself in North Spokane parking lot

sex-offender-accused-of-exposing-himself-in-north-spokane-parking-lot

Donald Krueger, 70, was arrested for felony indecent exposure. As of Tuesday afternoon, he was being held in the Spokane County Jail.

Warning: This story content graphic sexual content.

SPOKANE, Wash. — A 70-year-old registered sex offender was arrested Monday afternoon for exposing himself to people in a parking lot in North Spokane.

Donald Krueger, 70, was arrested for felony indecent exposure. As of Tuesday afternoon, he was being held in the Spokane County Jail.

According to a press release from Spokane Police Sergeant Terry Preuninger, officers were called to the area of North Newport Highway near East Greenbluff Road around noon for a possible lewd subject. 

A loss prevention officer at the retail location told officers that for the past hour there had been a man sitting in a white Ford F150, backed into a parking spot. Multiple female customers complained about the driver and believed he was “checking them out” and “masturbating,” according to the press release. Officers were also informed that the same truck was there the day before.

Officers arrived and located the driver, later identified as Krueger. Preuninger said Krueger is a registered sex offender, convicted felon and armed career criminal.

According to the press release, officers believed, based on his movements, that Krueger was masturbating in his truck while he watched a woman come out to her minivan, load her child and drive away. An officer approached and stopped in the area where the woman was previously loading the child into the van. The officer looked into the cab of the truck and saw Krueger with his genitalia exposed, according to the press release.

The officer made himself known and startled Krueger, the release says. When asked what was going on Krueger said he had his genitalia out because he “needed to go to the bathroom,” according to the release. He said he was in the parking lot because he was there to go shopping but was waiting to urinate before going into the store, according to the press release. When asked why he wasn’t in the bathroom, Krueger said it was too far to go with his walker.    

According to the press release, surveillance video from the store from Aug. 16 showed the suspect vehicle arrive and park in the same general area for more than an hour. Video from Monday showed a similar series of events, police said.

Source: https://www.13wmaz.com/article/news/crime/sex-offender-accused-of-exposing-himself-in-north-spokane-parking-lot/293-337f4a88-ac90-4ee6-bb3a-dcfb7423d612

Georgia Sheriff’s Association Elects New Officers at Annual Training Conference

georgia-sheriff’s-association-elects-new-officers-at-annual-training-conference



Seventy Sheriffs from around the state recently participated in the three-day annual Summer Training Conference held at Lake Lanier Islands. The Sheriffs attended multiple training sessions, received timely information from subject matter experts, and conducted Association business, including electing new officers.

The newly elected officers for the 2020-2021 term were voted in as follows: 

  • President, Banks County Sheriff Carlton Speed; 
  • 1st Vice President, Turner County Sheriff Andy Hester;
  • 2nd Vice President, Glynn County Sheriff Neal Jump, and
  • Secretary-Treasurer, Effingham County Sheriff Jimmy McDuffie. 

New Officers installed for the Georgia Sheriffs’ Youth Homes, Inc.  included: 

  • President, Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley; 
  • 1st Vice President, McIntosh County Sheriff Steve Jessup;
  • 2nd Vice President, Troup County Sheriff James Woodruff, and
  • Secretary-Treasurer, Glascock County Sheriff Jeremy Kelly. 

The conference was otherwise devoted to training sessions to update the Sheriffs on topics relevant to public safety and the Office of Sheriff. Expert speakers  provided training to the Sheriffs on legislative and legal issues, biological weapons and preparedness, COVID 19, and the courts, state law enforcement and community relations, among other things.

Sheriff’s Offices in Georgia have many responsibilities such as providing courthouse security, operating jails, transporting inmates and mental health patients, performing traffic and law enforcement functions, registering sex offenders and many more law enforcement actions. Sheriffs are the chief law enforcement officer of each county and have many mandated responsibilities by state law. As a result of these diverse responsibilities, Sheriffs must be knowledgeable of best practices and procedures in many areas. Current concerns of law enforcement, as they relate to the Office of Sheriff, are addressed during training conferences sponsored by the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association.

“Their participation is vital if we are to seek out the best practices in fulfilling these important responsibilities,” stated Terry Norris, Executive Director, Georgia Sheriffs’


Association.

The Sheriffs heard from Georgia Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, Executive Director Pete Skandalakis of the Prosecuting Attorney’s Council, Director Homer Bryson of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, and other state agency heads.

The Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, Inc. is comprised of 159 elected Sheriffs with over 70,000 honorary members throughout the state.

AllOnGeorgia

Source: https://allongeorgia.com/georgia-state-news/georgia-sheriffs-association-elects-new-officers-at-annual-training-conference/

Man arrested in Coffee Co. public indecency, sexual exploitation incidents

man-arrested-in-coffee-co.-public-indecency,-sexual-exploitation-incidents

Man arrested in Coffee Co. public indecency, sexual exploitation incidents

Ryan Sidney Huff (Source: Coffee County Sheriff’s Office)

By WALB News Team | August 14, 2020 at 5:09 PM EDT – Updated August 14 at 5:09 PM

DOUGLAS, Ga. (WALB) – An Enigma man was arrested Thursday on numerous sexual offenses after an investigation into numerous incidents in Ambrose and Broxton, according to the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office.

Ryan Sidney Huff, 29, was charged with four counts of sexual exploitation of children and five counts of public indecency. The sheriff’s office said the charges stem from an investigation into “multiple allegations of indecent exposure in both the Ambrose and Broxton communities.”

“Victims reported that a male subject was involved in a lewd act with himself in public and exposed himself to both children and adults,” the sheriff’s office said. “A preliminary investigation conducted by the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office revealed Huff knowingly exposed himself in a lewd manner to children and adults on multiple occasions.”

Huff was arrested for similar acts in other counties prior to these, according to law enforcement.

The sheriff’s office said Huff is on felony probation for statutory rape, which was violated in November 2014 for failing to attend sex offender treatment.

Copyright 2020 WALB. All rights reserved.

Source: https://www.walb.com/2020/08/14/man-arrested-coffee-co-public-indecency-sexual-exploitation-incidents/

Registered Sex Offender Arrested for the Sexual Exploitation of Children in Montgomery County

registered-sex-offender-arrested-for-the-sexual-exploitation-of-children-in-montgomery-county

 

On Friday, August 7, 2020, Montgomery County resident Leonard Thad Powell, 44, was charged with one count of Sexual Exploitation of Children (Possession of Child Pornography) and one count of Sexual Exploitation of Children (Distribution of Child Pornography) by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes (CEACC) Unit. This arrest was related to an investigation that began because of several tips pertaining to child sexual abuse material being shared online by Powell. These tips were forwarded to the GBI by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

Powell is a registered sex offender in Montgomery County. Powell was previously convicted in 2007 for Child Molestation and in 2016 for the Sexual Exploitation of Children. Powell is currently on probation related to the Child Molestation conviction and on parole for the previous conviction for the Sexual Exploitation of Children. Powell is currently in custody of the Montgomery County Jail.

This investigation is part of the ongoing effort by the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, housed within the GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit, to identify those involved in the child pornography trade. The ICAC Program, created by the U. S. Department of Justice, was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the Internet, the proliferation of child pornography, and the heightened online activity by predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.

Anyone with information about other cases of child exploitation is asked to contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit at 404-270-8870.

AllOnGeorgia

 

 

Source: https://allongeorgia.com/toombs-public-safety/registered-sex-offender-arrested-for-the-sexual-exploitation-of-children-in-montgomery-county/

Non-compliant sex offender arrested in NH

non-compliant-sex-offender-arrested-in-nh

David Rosario, 37, was arrested Monday in Dover and was charged with failing to comply with sex offender registration laws, police say.

DOVER, N.H. — A Tier III sex offender has been arrested in Dover, N.H. on a charge of failing to comply with sex offender registration laws.

The Dover Police Department says David Rosario, 37, was under investigation after police learned he was living at a Locust Street residence. His sex offender status stems from multiple convictions in New York in 2006 for sexual assault. According to federal classification, a Tier III sex offender is the most serious classification and these offenders must register for life.

Rosario had last registered as being a Portsmouth resident, police say, but the investigation reveals he had been living in Dover for several weeks without updating his registration.

Dover police obtained an arrest warrant for Rosario, charging him with a Class B felony for failing to comply with sex offender registration laws. Under the NH law, offenders must give notice of updated information within five days of the change.

Police say Rosario turned himself in to police on Monday and was released on personal recognizance bail pending arraignment in Strafford County Superior Court.

Source: https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/crime/non-compliant-sex-offender-arrested-in-nh/97-edb869d0-cb20-4a16-912f-450aae642bde