Dove is facing backlash, including from X owner Elon Musk, after it was revealed that the company was <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12516377/zyahna-bryant-dove-morgan-bettinger-charlottesville.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">partnering</a> in a “fat liberation” campaign with a Black Lives Matter Activist accused of wrecking a white female student’s life with uncorroborated accusations.
Zyahna Bryant, who celebrated on Instagram last week she was a Dove ambassador and spoke of “fat liberation,” accused fellow University of Virginia student Morgan Bettinger — a first-generation college student and the daughter of a police officer who had died six years before — of  saying that George Floyd protesters would make “good speed bumps” at a 2020 Charlottesville rally. Bryant later admitted she might not have heard the remarks at all, according to a report.
Responding to a tweet stating, “Zyahna Bryant ruined a white girl’s life over a non-existent remark. Dove just did a brand partnership with her to support ‘fat liberation,” Musk tweeted bluntly, “Messed up.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Messed up
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1702321986423374323?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Other social media users chimed in, as The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12521083/dove-boycott-zyahna-bryant-BLM-morgan-bettinger.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported.</a> Sample comments included these:
<blockquote>
“After hearing that Dove Beauty chose Zyahna Bryant — who ruined Morgan Bettinger&#8217;s life — for their ‘fat acceptance ambassador,’ THIS lifelong large lady &amp; now former Dove customer tossed out the last three bars of Dove product she will EVER buy. I have written to Unilever too.”
“@Dove. Do you want to get  @budlight bud lighted? Because, this is how you get bud lighted.”
“Shame on Dove, never bought the product anyway. There goes their reputation!”
“Guess I&#8217;ve bought my last bar of Dove soap.” 
“I&#8217;ve stopped buying their products. Never again!”
“I&#8217;ll have to toss my Dove products and never buy them again!”
</blockquote>
Bettinger was accused by Bryant and others of making threatening remarks about George Floyd protesters in Charlottesville in 2020.
“The woman in this truck approached protesters in #Charlottesville, and told us that we would make ‘good speedbumps,’” Bryant, then 19, wrote of Bettinger. “She then called the police and started crying saying we were attacking her.” Bryant followed with a series of videos, but they did not show the alleged remarks, as <a href="https://reason.com/2023/04/24/the-most-hated-person-on-campus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reason</a> noted in a detailed article on the incident.
The group that organized the protest, Charlottesville Beyond Policing, followed by writing on <a href="https://medium.com/@defundcvillepolice/defund-cpds-statement-call-to-action-regarding-threats-made-at-friday-s-black-women-matter-rally-2e642062da4d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Medium</a>:
<blockquote>
… this rally and march was disturbed by a UVA student, Morgan Bettinger. Morgan drove around the public works truck blocking the street that demonstrators were convened on, and felt compelled to say, not just once, but twice, that protesters would “make good speed bumps.” The second time she repeated it loudly to a Black protester and added “good f***ing speed bumps.”
</blockquote>
The story was amplified by local media with Bryant starting a campaign demanding Bettinger’s expulsion.
An inquiry by professional investigators at the university’s Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights (EOCR) found that three of Bryant’s four allegations that she said happened before a large crowd could not be corroborated by other witnesses, Reason reported, and the fourth, that Bettinger yelled protesters would make “good speed bumps,” had one witness claiming it happened, but that witness contradicted Bryant and herself when interviewed. Additionally, Bryant later altered her story on that claim, acknowledging she wasn’t certain she heard Bettinger make that statement at all, according to a report from the EOCR.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk, Others Blast Dove For Hiring BLM Activist Who Wrecked White Student With Uncorroborated Accusations

Black Lives Matter

Charlottesville

Dove

Fat Liberation

University of Virginia

Authorities sentenced a Washington man to 40 months in prison on Wednesday for his role in a plot to burn down the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/seattle" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seattle</a> Police Officers Guild building during the Black Lives Matter riots in September 2020.
Justin Christopher Moore, 35, of Renton, created and carried a box of 12 Molotov cocktails during a protest march of over 1,000 people toward the police building in downtown Seattle on Labor Day 2020, according to court documents.
“Moore’s offense was extremely dangerous and created a substantial risk of injury to numerous bystanders,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg for the Western District of Washington said in a <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/washington-man-sentenced-bringing-box-molotov-cocktails-protest-march-summer-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>.
Police reportedly smelled gasoline and became increasingly concerned about the intentions of the so-called protestors. After reviewing nearby video surveillance footage and recorded video from other protests, police identified Moore as the person seen carrying the box of explosives, according to the Justice Department. Nearly a year later, police executed a search warrant in June 2021 at Moore’s home and confiscated numerous items to produce the explosive devices and the clothing Moore was wearing while carrying the Molotov cocktails.
In the weeks after George Floyd’s death in May 2020, cities nationwide descended into chaos after Black Lives Matter protesters and rioters flooded the streets, looted and vandalized private property and businesses across the city.
The riots sparked months of civil unrest, resulting in 25 additional deaths and billions of dollars of property damage in cities nationwide.
Local media <a href="https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/police-several-protesters-arrested-outside-seattle-police-union-building/OOVQU7UJVNHUDMDSULKBIMOIGI/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that Seattle police arrested 22 individuals on Labor Day for arson, assault, obstruction, and failure to disperse after a large crowd marched from the International District to the Seattle Police Officers Guild building in SODO.
Police reportedly said they arrested a number of rioters outside the police union building after throwing rocks, bottles, and homemade explosive devices at police and refusing to leave.
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The Seattle Times <a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-protest-of-police-budget-and-union-turns-chaotic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> several interactions that day between police and rioters, including one person who deployed a fire extinguisher. Other instances included officers pushing their bikes toward the crowd and using pepper spray and flash-bang grenades.
Last summer, Seattle law enforcement <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/low-morale-from-seattle-police-department-harms-public-safety-mayor-announces-2-million-recruitment-plan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> it lost more than 400 officers while crime surged to its highest level in two decades after city officials voted to defund some police services following the George Floyd riots in 2020.
The department had approximately 1,300 officers patrolling the city right before Black Lives Matter reimagined policing in America. But over the last three years, residents have felt the effects of the BLM narrative, with the number of officers dwindling to just shy of 950.
The staff shortage has limited the number of calls to only life-threatening emergencies, serious crimes in progress, and other circumstances, while limiting their efforts to address “low-priority” calls and conduct follow-up investigations for high-priority calls.

Demonstration in Seattle

Man Sentenced To 40 Months In Plot To Burn Down Seattle Police Union Building During 2020 BLM Riots

2020

Crime

Defund The Police

George Floyd

Riots

Seattle

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/comics">Comic</a> creator Alan Moore pledged to donate future movie royalties he received to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/black-lives-matter">Black Lives Matter</a>.
The 69-year-old author is best known for his work on “Watchmen,” “V for Vendetta,” “The Ballad of Halo Jones,” “Swamp Thing,” “Batman: The Killing Joke,” and “From Hell.” Moore typically avoids public appearances but shared some of his thoughts in an <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/alan-moore-comic-books-black-lives-matter-watchmen/">interview</a> with The Telegraph published on Wednesday.
The comic writer hasn’t wanted his name associated with big-screen adaptations of his work in the past. He previously shared his movie royalties with the film&#8217;s writers and creative types, but no more. 
“I no longer wish it to even be shared with them. I don’t really feel, with the recent films, that they have stood by what I assumed were their original principles,” Moore told the outlet. “So I asked for DC Comics to send all of the money from any future TV series or films to Black Lives Matter.”
The “V for Vendetta” creator said he’s become a recluse partly due to his popularity with the public. 
“I’d talk to people and they were looking at me like they were having some sort of religious experience rather than an ordinary conversation. So I’ve sort of retired into what I probably originally thought a writer’s life was like, where you sit at home and write books,” he explained.
Moore has been openly critical of the modern comic industry, including the concept of comics for adult audiences.
“Now they’re called ‘graphic novels’, which sounds sophisticated and you can charge a lot more for them. What appealed to me most about comics is no more, and these innocent and inventive and imaginative superhero characters from the Forties, Fifties, Sixties are being recycled to a modern audience as if they were adult fare,” he said.
Moore continued, “I didn’t mean my experiments with comics to be immediately taken up as something that the whole industry should do. When I was doing things like Watchmen, I was not saying that dark psychopathic characters are really cool, but that does seem to be the message that the industry took for the next 20 years.”
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He told the interviewer that he wished he had never entered the comic industry in the first place.
Moore is currently working on fantasy books but is also critical of how he perceives those as formulaic, just like comics. 
“Fantasy these days seems to have been boiled down to a kind of J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin world of warriors and dragons and, for some reason, dwarves. The fantasy books that inspire me are things like Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy, which is actually about the real world in some ways, the changing nature of British society,” he said.
“Fantasy has no restrictions whatsoever, so it’s a bit lame to be constantly hitting the same note on the piano,” Moore added. “Let’s have fantastic visions that nobody has ever seen before — and lay off people of restricted height for a change.”

Alan Moore

Comic Writer Alan Moore Said He’s Donating His DC Movie Royalties To Black Lives Matter

Comic Writer Alan Moore Said He's Donating His DC Movie Royalties To Black Lives Matter

Celebrities

Comic Books

Comics

Entertainment

World

Dove is now <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12516377/zyahna-bryant-dove-morgan-bettinger-charlottesville.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">partnering</a> in a “fat liberation” campaign with a Black Lives Matter Activist accused of wrecking a white female student’s life by accusing her of making threatening remarks — later admitting she may not have heard the remarks at all, according to a new report.
Zyahna Bryant, who celebrated on Instagram last week she was a Dove ambassador and spoke of “fat liberation,” accused fellow University of Virginia student Morgan Bettinger — a first-generation college student and the daughter of a police officer who had died six years before — of  saying that George Floyd protesters would make “good speed bumps” at a 2020 Charlottesville rally.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Zyahna Bryant is hired by Dove to promote &#39;FAT liberation&#39; despite ruining white student&#39;s live over &#39;misheard&#39; remark at BLM protest <a href="https://t.co/BvpVLWaiev">https://t.co/BvpVLWaiev</a> <a href="https://t.co/GEb2n9pNbL">pic.twitter.com/GEb2n9pNbL</a>
&mdash; Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyMail/status/1702176066440221110?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“The woman in this truck approached protesters in #Charlottesville, and told us that we would make ‘good speedbumps,’” Bryant, then 19, wrote. “She then called the police and started crying saying we were attacking her.” Bryant followed with a series of videos, but they did not show the alleged remarks, as <a href="https://reason.com/2023/04/24/the-most-hated-person-on-campus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reason</a> noted in a detailed article on the incident.
The group that organized the protest, Charlottesville Beyond Policing, followed by writing on <a href="https://medium.com/@defundcvillepolice/defund-cpds-statement-call-to-action-regarding-threats-made-at-friday-s-black-women-matter-rally-2e642062da4d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Medium</a>:
<blockquote>
&#8230; this rally and march was disturbed by a UVA student, Morgan Bettinger. Morgan drove around the public works truck blocking the street that demonstrators were convened on, and felt compelled to say, not just once, but twice, that protesters would “make good speed bumps.” The second time she repeated it loudly to a Black protester and added “good f***ing speed bumps.”
</blockquote>
The story was amplified by local media; Bryant started a campaign demanding Bettinger&#8217;s expulsion.
Bettinger said she had been driving home from work when she saw a dump truck blocking the road. She added that the truck didn’t appear to be completely blocking the intersection, so she passed it, only later realizing the road was blocked ahead. She added that she exited her car and the truck driver began a conversation with her, during which she stated something like, “It&#8217;s a good thing that you are here, because otherwise these people would have been speed bumps.” She said what she said had intended to thank the truck driver for protecting the protesters, some of whom were sitting in the street.
An inquiry by professional investigators at the university&#8217;s Office for Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights (EOCR) found that three of Bryant&#8217;s four allegations that she said happened before a large crowd could not be corroborated by other witnesses, Reason reported, and the fourth, that Bettinger yelled protesters would make “good speed bumps,” had one witness claiming it happened, but that witness contradicted Bryant and herself when interviewed. Additionally, Bryant later altered her story on that claim, acknowledging she wasn’t certain she heard Bettinger make that statement at all, according to a report from the EOCR.
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“While Bettinger eventually graduated from the university, she did so with a permanent mark on her record and a destroyed reputation,” Reason reported. “But despite two separate investigations, there&#8217;s no evidence beyond Bryant&#8217;s allegations that Bettinger said protestors would make ‘good f***ing speed bumps’ or that she threatened the protesters at all.”
Bryant wrote on Instagram, “#DovePartner Fat liberation is something we should all be talking about! That&#8217;s why I am partnering with Dove, to support the work of @naafaofficial, @flareforjustice in the Campaign for Size Freedom. Tell us what Fat Liberation means to you using the hashtag #sizefreedom and tagging @dove to share your story.”

Anti-Racism Rally Held Charlottesville, Virginia

Dove Partners With BLM Activist In ‘Fat Liberation’ Campaign. Activist Wrecked White Student With Uncorroborated Accusations.

New York City police officers must stop kettling protestors and other &#8220;excessive use of force&#8221; practices after reaching a <a href="https://www.nyclu.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/1099-2_settlement_agreement.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">settlement</a> with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who sued authorities for their response to the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020.
The ACLU&#8217;s New York chapter, the Legal Aid Society, and the state Attorney General Letitia James announced the &#8220;landmark agreement&#8221; with the New York City Police Department after they <a href="https://www.nyclu.org/en/cases/payne-et-al-v-de-blasio-et-al" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> Mayor Bill de Blasio, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, Chief of Department Terence Monahan, the City of New York, and several individual police officers for their roles in the protests over three years ago.
&#8220;This landmark settlement holds the NYPD, the nation&#8217;s largest and most influential police force, to its oath to protect New Yorkers&#8217; right to protest,&#8221; Molly Biklen, Deputy Legal Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a <a href="https://www.nyclu.org/en/press-releases/nyclu-legal-aid-society-and-attorney-general-james-announce-agreement-nypd-reform" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>. &#8220;The NYPD&#8217;s violent response to protestors during the 2020 demonstrations for Black lives made clear to the world what too many New Yorkers already knew, that the NYPD is unable or unwilling to police itself. Today&#8217;s settlement ensures the NYPD can no longer indiscriminately deploy the notorious Strategic Response Group to protest and no longer escalate force on a whim.&#8221;
In the weeks after George Floyd&#8217;s death in May 2020, New York City descended into complete chaos after Black Lives Matter protesters and rioters flooded the streets, looted and vandalized private property and businesses across the city. In response, NYPD officers allegedly pepper sprayed and struck demonstrators with batons while others ran into pedestrians with bicycles and trapped protestors in closed spaces.
According to the Attorney General&#8217;s office, authorities <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2020/attorney-general-james-releases-preliminary-report-investigation-nypd" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> 2,087 demonstrators between May 28 and June 7, 2020, of which the vast majority were charged with felonies on May 31, when there was widespread plundering of businesses.
But now the city&#8217;s police force must abide by a new four-tiered system to determine how authorities can respond to protests.
“During the summer of 2020, the frustrations of a global pandemic, a tragic killing, and the use of spontaneous demonstrations throughout the city drew people from all over the country — some with good intentions and some with bad,” NYPD Commissioner Caban said in a <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/637-23/mayor-adams-nypd-new-approach-handling-protests-resolve-litigation-stemming-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>. “This presented many unique challenges for officers, who did their best to protect people’s rights to peaceful expression while addressing acts of lawlessness. Now, the NYPD has re-envisioned its policies for policing protests to deal with these unique scenarios. This agreement represents the department’s commitment to continually improving to ensure the public remains safe and individual rights are protected.”
According to ACLU officials, officers must amend their internal discipline matrix, improve the treatment of members of the press, and cannot deploy the department&#8217;s aviation unit with &#8220;intent of intimidation&#8221; or &#8220;disrupting, interfering with, or dispersing a lawful protest.&#8221; Authorities are also prohibited from using a crowd-control tactic known as &#8220;kettling&#8221; — unless authorities are encircling an individual or individuals within a crowd who are the target of a particular arrest.
NYPD authorities must create a new oversight review committee estimated to cost city taxpayers upward of $1.45 million.
Police Benevolent Association President Patrick Hendry noted “serious concerns about its impact on the safety of police officers and all New Yorkers in future situations involving coordinated violent actions,” according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/05/us/nypd-lawsuit-2020-protests/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNN</a>.
“Nearly 400 NYPD members were injured during the summer 2020 protests, but there has been zero accountability for the agitators who used the protests as cover to assault police officers,” Hendry said in his statement. “This settlement does not change that. If anything, it may serve to encourage future violence.”
In July, New York City <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-york-city-to-pay-13-7-million-to-george-floyd-rioters-for-mass-arrests" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreed</a> to pay $13.7 million to more than 1,000 protesters who took to the streets during the George Floyd protests in 2020. The city&#8217;s huge payout settles a major class-action lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court that claimed police violated protesters&#8217; civil rights.
According to attorneys for the plaintiffs, protesters who are eligible for a payout can receive $9,950 in compensation. Some of the protesters eligible for payouts were arrested, while others were not arrested but had their First Amendment rights infringed by police, their lawsuit claimed.
Protesters who were arrested on charges of violence, including trespassing, property destruction, assaulting an officer, or arson or weapons possession, will not be eligible for a payout, and those who blocked police from arresting other people may also not be eligible.
A judge must still approve the settlement. It would reportedly be one of the most expensive payouts ever over mass arrests if approved.
The lawsuit dealt with clashes between protesters and police at 18 protests that happened the week after George Floyd died in Minneapolis police custody at the end of May, which sparked months of civil unrest and resulted in 25 additional deaths and billions of dollars of property damage in cities nationwide.
 Mairead Elordi contributed to this report.

US-NEWS-NYPD-ADAMS-RIOTUNIT-NY

NYPD Reaches ‘Landmark Agreement’ Over Responses To Black Lives Matter Riots During Summer 2020

NYPD Reaches 'Landmark Agreement' With New York Attorney General, ACLU Over Responses To Black Lives Matter Riots During Summer 2020

New York City

New York Police Department (NYPD)

There are some movies that just really pull on your heartstrings. “Remember the Titans,” for example, is one of those movies. It accurately portrays how far America has come in terms of race — without saying things are perfect. “The Blind Side” is another feel-good movie, not because it was about racial struggle, but because it was about racial harmony. The Tuohys were in a circumstance to help people, and they made a huge impact on Michael Oher’s life simply because they took time to care about him. 
Michael Oher came from a troubled home; his mother was an addict and when his father died, Oher was left penniless. He would stay with classmates’ families — until he met Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy. Oher said in past interviews that they made him feel like he was a part of their family. Eventually, they decided to make him a part of their family, so they put him in a conservatorship because he had aged out of adoption. The movie was not only a success because of Sandra Bullock’s portrayal of Leigh Ann Tuohy was so powerful that it earned her an Oscar. But the movie was a success — earning over $300 million at the box office — because of its emotional storytelling; it made people want to aspire to do more with their lives. 
I remember when I watched this movie, I thought about my childhood because throughout my entire life, there have always been people who have helped me. We always had food on the table in my family and our needs were always met, but the reality was that I had two busy working parents. There was a young, Irish, middle-class family who lived down the street and did so much for me. I would go there every morning to have breakfast, and the mom would take me to school, pick me up, and take me home. Experiencing that kindness might have been part of the reason why I became so attached to the story in “The Blind Side.” It is a movie that shows you never know who is going to help you. There is no light cast on racial issues and tensions; it’s just a feel-good American story. 
As we know, we cannot have nice things in America anymore. We were all blindsided to learn that Michael Oher is taking the Tuohys to court. To court. He has filed a lawsuit claiming that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy tricked him into making them his conservators rather than his adoptive parents nearly two decades ago. The Tuohys have denied they kept the conservatorship a secret, and they say they are devastated by the allegations, part of which includes that they profited handsomely from his story. <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2023/08/15/tuohy-family-claims-michael-oher-attempted-15-mil-shakedown-before-court-filing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to TMZ</a>, they are claiming that Oher demanded a $15 million payment from them and threatened to go public. They didn’t give him the $15 million, so Oher has filed a lawsuit because he says he was taken advantage of and didn’t make any money from the film, despite its success.
Oher’s conservatorship is not like the Britney Spears-type conservatorship by any means. Since he was already 18, it was necessary only because adoption was not an option. The Tuohys needed to enter a conservatorship with Oher in order to make him a part of their family. It allowed them to make legal decisions for him, like sign contracts or school forms. But Oher is now claiming this was wrong, even though he acknowledges in his own book that they sat him down and explained why they were entering into this conservatorship. He’s somehow wrenched that entirely from his memory and all of a sudden feels duped.
Now there seems to be a financial dispute, because Oher is claiming he never saw one red cent from the movie. According to legal filings, the Tuohys and their two birth children each earned $225,000 from “The Blind Side,” plus 2.5% of the net proceeds. Sean Tuohy himself says he’s only received $60,000 to $70,000 in royalties over the years — not a lot of money. The Tuohys’ family wealth comes from a conglomerate of fast food franchises they sold for more than $200 million. Interestingly, the Tuohys have said they put money in Oher’s conservatorship, but he just hasn’t touched it. Likely, he hasn’t used it because he’s earned over <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/carolina-panthers/michael-oher-5484/cash-earnings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$34 million as a pro NFL football player</a>. This means, Oher is concerned about $225,000, at most.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/candace" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: Candace Owens</a></h4>
To believe Oher’s version of events means believing that despite the Tuohys’ abundance of wealth, they conspired to meet this athlete who they had no idea would make it to the NFL and had no idea he would write a book that would be turned into a movie, all so they could steal a couple extra $100,000 from him, which are conveniently sitting in his conservatorship. That is foolish. It’s sad, but it’s incredibly foolish. Placing him in a conservatorship, picking him up from his mother’s house (just like the movie showed), allowing him to live in their home, taking him to practice, making sure he got into a good school — everything the Tuohys did, they did out of their hearts. There is no question about that. They were just good people who cared about him and loved him as though he was their own son. 20 years down the line, he has turned his back on the Tuohys.
Unfortunately, what is happening with Oher is the same thing that happens all the time: Black Lives Matter has rotted people’s brains. Oher made it to the NFL, and he’s seen the media and their black versus white messages. Now, people can’t even see their friends the same way. We now see these stories about people who have been friends for decades but they no longer so much as talk because the black friend woke up one day and realized their white friend was actually racist the entire time because the media told them so. It’s media brainwashing that America is existing under, and it’s causing us to go backward as a society. Michael Oher’s lawsuit is a perfect example of just that. He has quite literally gone backwards, turning beautiful things in life into villainous events. He’s taken a family who acted out of the goodness of their hearts and turned them into villains.
I guarantee Oher likely had an entire cast of characters around him that supported this. He got married last year, and he probably had his wife’s full support — as one does when married. When you’re married, these decisions aren’t made by just one person. He probably has friends who told him the Tuohys did him wrong, treated him like Britney Spears, withheld movie money from him, used him. Eventually, this all just probably started to make sense to him.
Instead of examining his life and the beautiful blessings he has received, Oher is destroying one of the most crucial relationships he’s ever built in his life. He’s destroying a relationship that brought him the life he has today, aside from his talent — but talent will only get you so far. You still have to apply to school, for example, which he probably never would have done without the Tuohys. But he is not looking at any of those blessings because Black Lives Matter has rotted his brain. Now, this feel good American story that brought us all closer is being tainted by a lawsuit that he is not going to win. He will win in the form of the Tuohys saying they will acquiesce to Oher leaving the conservatorship because they are not attempting to control him or his decisions. They have already filed that they want the conservatorship gone. I’m sure they do after he’s done such a horrible thing to them, to the people who cared about him.
What a horrible thing to do to a couple who loved you for no reason other than the fact they felt a connection to you — and wanted to love and care for you. Shame on him. He should drop this legal filing immediately and adamantly apologize to the family for everything he’s done, including the $15 million payment he wanted before going public.
Shame on you, Michael Oher.
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Candace_3b16x9 copy 12 (1)

Blindsided By ‘The Blind Side’: Here’s What Actually Happened With Michael Oher

Blindsided By 'The Blind Side': Here’s What Actually Happened With Michael Oher

Blacks

Candace Owens

Movies

Readers Pass

A federal appeals court issued a major free speech ruling on Tuesday stating Washington, D.C., &#8220;selectively enforced&#8221; defacement ordinances against pro-life advocates while allowing far-Left protestors to graffiti &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/black-lives-matter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Black Lives Matter</a>&#8221; messaging on city streets during the Summer of 2020.
&#8220;The government may not enforce the laws in a manner that picks winners and losers in public debates,&#8221; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in its <a href="https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/19D8F951CCCB10F685258A0C0052C071/$file/21-7108-2012552.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">42-page opinion</a>. &#8220;It would undermine the First Amendment&#8217;s protections for free speech if the government could enact a content-neutral law and then discriminate against disfavored viewpoints under the cover of prosecutorial discretion.&#8221;
The appeals court reversed a lower district court&#8217;s decision, which dismissed a First and Fifth Amendments lawsuit filed against the nation&#8217;s Capital by the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America.
The complaint alleged that D.C. authorities violated the constitutional rights of two pro-life activists by arresting them on August 1, 2020, for chalking &#8220;Black Pre-Born Lives Matter&#8221; on a public sidewalk outside of a local Planned Parenthood facility. Although the groups acknowledged the graffiti violated the ordinance, they alleged that authorities mistreated the two activists in comparison to thousands of protestors who were free to deface streets, sidewalks, and storefronts with paint and chalk with anti-police messages and other BLM-related content during the same summer.
&#8220;The markings were ubiquitous and in open violation of the District&#8217;s defacement ordinance, yet none of the protesters were arrested,&#8221; Judge Neomi Rao wrote in the 42-page opinion for the court.
Rao&#8217;s opinion for the court in Frederick Douglass Foundation v. District of Columbia was joined by Judges J. Michelle Childs and Robert L. Wilkins, who concurred in reversing the district court&#8217;s dismissal of the Foundation&#8217;s First Amendment claim, but affirmed the dismissal of an equal protection claim and remanded the case for further proceedings.
&#8220;We affirm the district court&#8217;s dismissal of the Foundation&#8217;s equal protection claim because the Foundation has not plausibly alleged invidious discrimination by District officials,&#8221; the court wrote. &#8220;Discriminatory motive, however, is not an element of a First Amendment free speech selective enforcement claim.&#8221;
&#8220;The First Amendment prohibits discrimination on the basis of viewpoint irrespective of the government&#8217;s motive,&#8221; the opinion continued. &#8220;We hold the Foundation has plausibly alleged the District discriminated on the basis of viewpoint in the selective enforcement of its defacement ordinance.&#8221;
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Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys representing members of the Frederick Douglass Foundation and Students for Life of America chalked up the free speech victory at the D.C. Circuit, affirming the group&#8217;s rights to &#8220;exercise their constitutionally protected freedom to peacefully share their views the same as anyone else.&#8221;
&#8220;Washington officials can&#8217;t censor messages they disagree with,&#8221; ADF Senior Counsel Erin Hawley, vice president of the ADF Center for Life and Regulatory Practice, said in a <a href="https://adfmedia.org/press-release/pro-life-groups-chalk-free-speech-victory-dc-circuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">news release</a>. &#8220;Every American deserves for their voice to be heard as they engage in important cultural and political issues of the day.&#8221;
Frederick Douglass Foundation Virginia Chapter President J.R. Gurley said in a news release that D.C. officials &#8220;shouldn&#8217;t allow some groups to participate in the public forum and shun others from doing so just because city officials disagree with their viewpoint.&#8221;
&#8220;The First Amendment protects our right to peacefully share our pro-life message in Washington, D.C. without fear of unjust government punishment and thankfully, the D.C. Circuit agreed,&#8221; Gurley said.
President of Students for Life of America, Kristan Hawkins, called the court&#8217;s unanimous decision favoring free-speech rights for pro-life students &#8220;very encouraging.&#8221;
&#8220;Viewpoint discrimination is un-American, and as the case proceeds, we look forward to learning more about how D.C. officials picked winners and losers in their enforcement,&#8221; Hawkins said. &#8220;Free speech rights you&#8217;re afraid to use don&#8217;t really exist, and we will keep fighting for the rights of our students to stand up for the preborn and their mothers.&#8221;

Anti-Abortion Group Protests at the Planned Parenthood Offices

D.C. Authorities ‘Selectively Enforced’ Defacement Rules Against Pro-Life Groups Over BLM Protestors, Court Rules

D.C. Authorities 'Selectively Enforced' Defacement Rules Against Pro-Life Groups Over BLM Protestors, Court Rules

Courts

Pro-Life Movement

Washington D.C.

Skittles is facing backlash after images of its “Pride” packaging, featuring pro-trans statements, went viral on social media Friday. 
The candy packaging that Skittles <a href="https://www.skittles.com/pride" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advertises</a> on its website features slogans such as “Joy Is Resistance” and “Black Trans Lives Matter.” Skittles, which is owned by Mars, partnered with GLAAD, a media monitoring organization that espouses radical gender theory, to reveal the packaging for Pride Month earlier this year.
This past June was the fourth year Skittles partnered with GLAAD “to support the LGBTQ+ community by amplifying and celebrating their stories,” according to its website. Skittles said it will “donate $1 for every Skittles Pride pack sold to GLAAD in support of their ongoing efforts to work through media to combat anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination.” 
On its website, Skittles also promoted a podcast called “Queery” hosted by Cameron Esposito, who focuses on LGBTQ topics and activism. 
“Stay tuned for a special Pride-themed miniseries of Queery where we dive deeper into queer storytelling and the artists that designed this year’s SKITTLES Pride Packs,” the candy brand says. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Skittles now running &quot;Black Trans Lives Matters&quot; on its packaging. <a href="https://t.co/W5wnt5fShC">pic.twitter.com/W5wnt5fShC</a>
&mdash; Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) <a href="https://twitter.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1690186615585652736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 12, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
For a short time in 2020, Skittles “<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/us/colorless-skittles-pride-trnd/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gave up</a>” the rainbow that famously dons its colorful packaging for a black and white package to “give the rainbow back” to the LGBTQ community for Pride Month. 
Conservatives ripped Skittles after images of packaging went viral on social media, saying the candy brand is targeting children with a pro-trans agenda. Skittles is a favorite brand among children and young adults, with over 75% of Gen Z adults holding a favorable impression of the brand, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/survey-gen-z-adults-top-20-brands-amazon-netflix-youtube-2022-10#20-apple-7592-of-gen-z-adults-have-a-favorable-impression-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a Morning Consult survey released last year. 
“[Skittles] is trying to turn your kids into BLM &amp; LGBTQ+ activists,” popular account Libs of TikTok wrote on X. “Their packaging also features a drag queen. Skittles have gone completely woke.”
“WTH? Skittles is Now Marketing Woke Idiocy To Children On Their Candy Wrappers!” another person said. “This isn’t an Adult Beverage, Like Bud Light They Warned us They Were Coming After Our Kids- Let’s Make Sure They Hear Our Response Loud and Clear On This One Skittles- And Share.” 
Others <a href="https://twitter.com/Bubblebathgirl/status/1690064671833837568">said</a> Mars, Skittles&#8217; parent company, will get “the Bud Light treatment” after pushing radical gender theory on its customers. Bud Light’s maker Anheuser-Busch lost billions in market value after partnering with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney, who showcased a can with his face on it in a viral video. 
Mars isn&#8217;t the first candy company to face backlash this year for pushing radical gender theory. In March, Hershey&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boycott-hersheys-trends-on-twitter-as-brand-features-man-who-identifies-as-trans-in-international-womens-day-campaign" target="_blank" rel="noopener">faced</a> a boycott after featuring Fae Johnstone, a man who identifies as transgender, as part of its International Women’s Day promotion. In response, Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing launched <a href="https://www.jeremysrazors.com/collections/jeremys-chocolate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeremy&#8217;s Chocolate</a>, featuring He/Him and She/Her chocolate bars.

Skittles

Social Media Erupts After Skittles’ ‘Black Trans Lives Matter’ Packaging Goes Viral

Social Media Erupts After Skittles' 'Black Trans Lives Matter' Packaging Goes Viral

Social Issues

Transgender

Believe it or not, it would appear that corporate America is wising up to the fact that rushing out and hiring a bunch of &#8220;Chief Diversity Officers&#8221; (CDO) in the wake of George Floyd&#8217;s death wasn&#8217;t the smartest business move. Either that or corporate liberals feel that they don&#8217;t have to virtue signal their support for the &#8220;Black Lives Matter&#8221; mob anymore.
A new report from <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/chief-diversity-officer-cdo-business-corporations-e110a82f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal</a> reveals that in 2018, &#8220;less than half the companies in the S&amp;P 500 employed someone&#8221; in the CDO role, but by 2022 — in the wake of the BLM movement — nearly 75% of S&amp;P 500 companies had that role. Since then, companies have experienced a 40% turnover, and job seekers are reportedly &#8220;skittish&#8221; about taking on a role that focuses squarely on diversity. Jason Hanold, chief executive of Hanold Associates Executive Search, told The Journal that job searches for the CDO role have plummeted.
&#8220;They’re telling us, the only way I want to go into another role with DEI is if it includes something else,&#8221; Hanold said of job seekers.
One former executive at one of Boston&#8217;s largest employers admitted to The Journal that those who were hired as a CDO or a similar position were sometimes under-qualified candidates. They were put in the slot due to their ethnicity.
“These were knee-jerk reactions,&#8221; said Dani Monroe, the former CDO of Mass General Brigham, a Boston-based hospital system.
In other words, corporate America knelt to the mob in 2020 that was burning down cities, demanding reparations, and chanting &#8220;Silence is compliance!&#8221; and rushed to placate them. We know they did because data shows that billions were given to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-analysis-corporate-america-has-donated-82-billion-to-blm-related-causes-so-far" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BLM and related cause</a>s in recent years.
The CDO positions that were created, it stands to reason, were simply corporate window dressing in order to appease woke employees and future job seekers — not to mention protect ESG rankings. CDO jobs acted as a corporate sign of solidarity and nothing more.
Funnily enough, The Journal observed, &#8220;People are more resistant to company-backed efforts to advance diversity when they are worried about their own jobs, whether because of impending layoffs or disruptions from AI, says David Kenny, chief executive of Nielsen, the media-ratings company.&#8221;
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The Journal also noted that &#8220;[e]fforts to restructure compensation to make it more equitable created a backlash,&#8221; amongst companies that claim to want to increase diversity.
And that right there is a tale as old as time. Liberals claim they want one thing — such as reducing poverty, particularly amongst minorities — yet don&#8217;t actually want to personally sacrifice to make that happen. They want illegal aliens, but not in their towns. They oppose school choice, yet send their kids to private schools. They want to ban guns, yet have private security.
In this case, it is far easier to slap BLM in their Twitter bio, create a CDO position that has no real authority, malign opponents as racist, and then quietly move on to the next social issue du jour. None of that requires any real self-denial or effort, but it sure makes them feel good.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Corporate Head Smack “Duh!”

Corporate America Shows Signs Of Buyer’s Remorse After Blowing Millions On ‘Diversity Officers’

Corporate America Shows Signs Of Buyer's Remorse After Blowing Millions On 'Diversity Officers'

Business

Diversity

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Attorneys representing former Minneapolis police officer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/derek-chauvin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Derek Chauvin</a> plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review his second-degree murder charge in the death of George Floyd in 2020.
Chauvin is currently serving a 22.5-year prison sentence he received in June 2021 after a jury found him guilty on charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Floyd that sparked months of civil unrest resulting in 25 additional deaths and billions of dollars of property damage in cities nationwide.
The Minnesota Supreme Court declined to hear the case on Tuesday that lawyers argued deprived their client of the right to a fair trial by holding the proceedings in Minneapolis, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/george-floyd-derek-chauvin-minneapolis-minnesota-3fc979708c2db136df8c3054d754c359" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a>, leaving Chauvin&#8217;s legal team &#8220;obviously disappointed.&#8221;
Attorney William Morhman argued that Chauvin&#8217;s criminal trial generated the most pretrial publicity in history.
&#8220;More concerning are the riots which occurred after George Floyd&#8217;s death (and) led the jurors to all express concerns for their safety in the event they acquitted Mr. Chauvin — safety concerns which were fully evidenced by surrounding the courthouse in barbed wire and National Guard troops during the trial and deploying the National Guard throughout Minneapolis prior to jury deliberations,&#8221; he said, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4107930-chauvin-to-ask-supreme-court-to-review-conviction-in-george-floyd-murder/#:~:text=Judge%20Peter%20Cahill%20wrote%20in,owed%20to%20all%20human%20beings.%E2%80%9D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hill</a>.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said that denial from the state&#8217;s highest court &#8220;means that the Court of Appeals was correct in finding that his trial was properly conducted and he was properly convicted under the law.&#8221;
&#8220;This development definitively holds Chauvin accountable and closes this chapter of the murder of George Floyd,&#8221; he added.
In the time since his conviction, Chauvin&#8217;s legal team has now been denied by the state&#8217;s top court and the Minnesota Court of Appeals to hear the appeal. Mohrman called Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill&#8217;s decision to hold the trial in Minneapolis &#8220;pervasive&#8221; because of the pretrial publicity, which put courthouse security at risk of pretrial effects.
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Cahill criticized Chauvin in his ruling, writing in a memorandum the former police officer &#8220;abused his position of trust and authority&#8221; and treated Floyd &#8220;without respect and denied him the dignity owed to all human beings.&#8221;
Video of the arrest showed Floyd resisting officers&#8217; commands until they subdued him on the ground moments before he died after Chauvin kneeled on Floyd&#8217;s shoulders and neck for roughly nine minutes.
The Hennepin Medical County Examiner ruled Floyd&#8217;s death a homicide caused by &#8220;cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression,&#8221; according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-minneapolis-police-autopsy-idUKKBN2383JU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>. The report also noted methamphetamine and fentanyl in his system at the time of his death, along with hypertension and coronary artery disease.
Floyd&#8217;s family commissioned a separate autopsy report that ruled his death as a homicide by asphyxia due to neck and back compression, ruling out any other medical issues noted by the county coroner.
The U.S. Supreme Court only hears approximately 150 of the 7,000 requested appeals annually.
Chauvin, who is currently serving his two-decade sentence in Arizona, is one of four other officers involved in the case.
Former Minneapolis Police Officer Thomas Lane was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-minneapolis-police-officer-sentenced-to-2-and-a-half-years-in-prison-for-violating-george-floyds-civil-rights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> and sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a federal jury last year for depriving Floyd of his constitutional right by his &#8220;deliberate indifference to serious medical needs&#8221; when he saw Chauvin kneeling on Floyd&#8217;s back. Lane later pleaded guilty to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to three years in prison, according to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/09/21/1124247012/george-floyd-thomas-lane-sentenced-three-years-minneapolis-police" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NPR</a>.
Former officers J. Alexander Kueng, who knelt on Floyd&#8217;s back, and Tou Thao, who kept bystanders from intervening during the restraint, were also convicted on federal civil rights charges, including depriving Floyd of his right to medical care and failing to intervene, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/george-floyd-minneapolis-officer-tou-thao-841814b3f2d4258b79f3ae408ba11fac" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a>. Kueng was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, while Thao awaits sentencing in a state court.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin Arrested For George Floyd Death

Chauvin Takes George Floyd Murder Conviction Appeal To U.S. Supreme Court: Report

Chauvin To Take George Floyd Murder Conviction Appeal To U.S. Supreme Court

Derek Chauvin

Supreme Court

The board of education in one Maryland county narrowly rejected a proposal that would ban all non-governmental flags, which would include Pride and Black Lives Matter (BLM) flags.
During a contentious meeting on Wednesday, the Anne Arundel County Board of Education voted 4-3 to reject a policy banning the display of all non-governmental flags on school property. 
If the <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/mabe/aacps/Board.nsf/files/CTGHBQ47B7F0/$file/DRAFT%20IS%20-%20Display%20of%20Flags%202023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposed policy</a> had passed, Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) would’ve only been able to fly the American, Maryland, Anne Arundel County, and city of Annapolis flags. The policy clarified that AACPS employees, students, volunteers, and visitors could still adorn their clothing or personal belongings with any non-governmental flags.
“Except for flags that promote national, state, and local government pride, the display of flags on Board property and in AACPS shall be limited to those with a bona fide educational purpose,” read the proposed policy. “Nothing in this policy is intended nor may be construed to limit the right of any individual AACPS employee, student, volunteer, or visitor to adorn their person or personal belongings with such items as buttons, pins, clothing designs, or jewelry that may incorporate a flag or flag-like design[.]”
Board members Joanna Bache Tobin, Robert Silkworth, Dana Schallheim, and Eric Lin voted against the policy. Members Michelle Corkadel, Melissa Ellis, and Corine Frank voted for it. Board member Gloria Dent abstained from voting.
Although this policy would have effectively restricted other flags in addition to the Pride and BLM flags, opponents of the policy mainly focused on the fact that the Pride and BLM flags would be prohibited.
About 2,000 public comments were submitted on the proposed policy; over 80 were presented on the agenda or in person during Wednesday’s meeting.
According to proponents of the policy, the ban would neutralize classrooms of contentious ideologies, honor the beliefs of religious families, and prevent grooming or undesired ideological indoctrination. Multiple proponents insisted further that the American flag was the only unifying flag, while others were divisive. 
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Opponents of the policy claimed that the display of the Pride flag would prevent suicides in students. They also claimed that the flags and the ideologies behind them weren’t correlated in any way with declining student performance. Opponents further denied that LGBT ideologies are ideologies.
Public comments from the meeting is available to watch here:
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Board member Corkadel said that while she didn’t believe educators intended to force students to choose between their faith and education by displaying Pride or BLM flags, that was what was occurring. Corkadel said that students assigned to a class in which a teacher displayed an ideologically-charged flag, such as the Pride or BLM flags, were forced to exist in an environment that contradicted their beliefs.
“At the end of the day, what we are currently facing are students who feel they have to choose between their religious belief and their public education,” said Corkadel. “I have to take the people of faith — who are a protected class under our Constitution — that when they say they are not being valued as a result of trying to value another, I think we need to find a better way.”
Superintendent Mark Bedell said that he objected to the policy because classrooms were places to cultivate relationships of belonging between teachers and students. 
“I believe there is a huge difference to flags that fly on a flagpole outside a school building, and those on display inside,” said Bedell. “No one wins when we enact one inequity to solve another perceived inequity.” 
Board member Schallheim claimed that the policy was designed to target black, brown, and LGBT-identifying individuals. She said that while she recognized the religious groups’ desire to honor their beliefs, she didn’t believe in policies enabling their beliefs at the expense of others.
“The utterance of the phrase ‘diversity of thought’ makes the horrendous assumption that these groups are a monolith,” said Schallheim. 
Dent, a veteran, said that if the presence of ideological flags like the Pride and BLM flags caused students to feel welcomed, and even reconsider suicide, then they should be allowed to be displayed. However, Dent expressed dismay with the arguments of the opposition: that the presence of flags other than the American flag were their symbol of hope. This conflict prompted Dent to abstain her vote.
“The American flag should not be on display to where it has to be the product that says that if you have the American flag you somehow can’t have or represent the other cultures that are being represented,” said Dent. “These flags are symbols of hope for everyone.”
Lin, the high school student member on the board, said that Pride and BLM flags weren’t in many classrooms. He expressed opposition to the fact that the policy would likely restrict college and military pennants. Lin then argued that the Pride flag didn’t represent a political or social issue, and that flags wouldn’t impart ideologies onto students. 
“Schools are not teaching kids an ideology, but rather that people of all natures exist and it is important to respect all,” said Lin. 
Silkworth said that while he respected the American flag, he couldn’t support the policy because it went against his understanding of the nation’s founding values of unity, tolerance, acceptance, and mutual respect. 
“The American flag will continue and will always fly high outside of our schools,” said Silkworth. “But what matters is not what flag flies on the wall of an American class. What matters is what flies in our hearts.”
Frank countered the idea that the Pride and BLM flags weren’t steeped in political foundations, briefly citing their origins with influential political figures and movements. She also took issue with Schallheim’s promise that no book bans would occur on her “watch,” saying that Schallheim was laying unauthorized claim to full authority of the board. 
Similarly, Ellis disputed the claims from opposition that the policy was a solution in search of a problem. She said that many parents have come to her expressing fear of speaking out against LGBT and BLM ideologies. Ellis acknowledged the existence of a culture war, one she said could be allayed in their community by neutralizing classroom flags. 
“Bullying in the name of kindness is still bullying,” said Ellis. 
In her concluding remarks before the vote, Tobin, in her capacity as board president, apologized for the policy supporters who said that LGBT and BLM were ideologies. She argued that the policy would prevent students from fulfilling what Founding Father Benjamin Franklin said was necessary to keep a republic: debating differences. Tobin claimed that Pride and BLM flags were among the necessary tools for students to develop into citizens.
Some members of the public in attendance erupted into cheers when the policy failed.

Pride flag

Maryland County Narrowly Rejects Proposal That Would Ban Pride, BLM Flags

Maryland County Board Of Education Narrowly Rejects Proposal That Would Ban Pride, BLM Flags

Education

Maryland

Pride

Pride Flag

The gunman charged with killing five men and injuring two children in Philadelphia Monday night has reportedly been identified as a cross-dressing Black Lives Matter supporter.
The suspect, 40, issued social media posts supporting Black Lives Matter and also posted photos on Facebook of himself wearing “a bra, a women’s top and earrings with his hair braided long,” the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/07/04/kimbrady-carriker-ided-as-philadelphia-gunman-accused-of-killing-5/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost_sitebuttons" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. He also posted messages such as, “How do you know if an evil spirit is following you,” and a photo of a map listing “black massacres” across the United States captioned, “We kept the receipts,” The Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12264195/PICTURED-Cross-dressing-gunman-July-4-Philly-bloodbath-left-five-dead-BLM-supporter.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
One post showed a person holding a pistol accompanied by the statement, “Wherefore art thou opposition so I may slide upon thine block and runneth down on thee.” Another post showed video of children firing a rifle.
The suspect had “an aggressive approach to some things in life,” Tina Rosette, 49, who lived with him in 2021, told the <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/crime/live/kingsessing-philadelphia-mass-shooting-updates-suspect-victims-20230704.html#card-1463152953" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Philadelphia Inquirer</a>. Rosette’s daughter Cianni, 24, added that the suspect often showed her a handgun and “was trying to get me comfortable around guns and stuff like that.”
The Rosettes moved out in 2022; Tina Rossette said she thought the suspect had been in “a dark place” lately.
Responding to gunfire at around 8:30 Monday night, police chased the suspect, who continued to fire his gun before he was caught, according to Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw. He was reportedly using a police scanner to monitor police. The suspect was reportedly armed with a rifle, pistol, extra magazines, a police scanner, and a bullet-proof vest; police found dozens of shell casings in an eight-block area.
“You can see there are several scenes out here,” Outlaw said. “We’re canvassing the area to get as much as we can, to identify witnesses, to identify where cameras are located, and to do everything to figure out the why.”
“Thank God our officers responded as quickly as they did. I can&#8217;t even describe the level of bravery and courage that was shown,” Outlaw concluded.
The victims of Monday’s shooting have been identified as Lashyd Merritt, 20; Dymir Stanton, 29; Ralph Moralis, 59; Daujan Brown, 15; and Joseph Wamah, Jr., 31. The Daily Wire is not naming the suspect in keeping with a policy that seeks to deprive mass shooters of the notoriety they often crave.

Mass shooting in Philadelphia

Philly Alleged Mass Shooter Identified As Cross-Dressing BLM Supporter: Report

Mass Shooting

Philadelphia

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