It&#8217;s not every day that a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Democratic Republic of Congo attracts international media attention. Normally, Congo flies under the radar, even though it&#8217;s actually one of the biggest countries in the world — it&#8217;s bigger than Mexico, believe it or not. But a couple of years ago, this incredible footage from the capital of Congo was picked up by the Western media. It&#8217;s from the grand opening of a footbridge that was apparently a big deal for the locals. Here&#8217;s how it went:
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It&#8217;s a little like the collapse of that bridge in Baltimore, except in this case, a barge didn&#8217;t need to hit anything. All they had to do was cut the ribbon and stand on the bridge, and the whole thing came crashing down on them. Fortunately, no one was hurt in that incident. It got a few laughs on social media and everyone moved on.
In retrospect, however, the collapse of that footbridge in Congo&#8217;s capital was more than just a meme on the internet. It was a practical manifestation of something that Western academics now want to import into this country. There is a concerted effort underway in universities all over the world to &#8220;decolonize&#8221; mathematics, engineering, and science in general. It&#8217;s been generations since Congo was under Belgian rule, so presumably that footbridge is a great example of decolonized engineering. And now the West wants to emulate it.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1349-dumbing-down-education-in-the-name-of-decolonization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
I first noticed this trend when I came across a recent <a href="https://science.anu.edu.au/news-events/news/maths-has-no-borders-professor-rowena-ball-brings-indigenous-mathematics-anu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> from Australian National University, which according to Wikipedia, is supposedly an impressive institution. The gist is that a professor in Australia named Rowena Ball is trying to get the concept of &#8220;Indigenous Mathematics&#8221; off the ground because Aboriginal people struggle with European mathematics, otherwise known as real mathematics. The article includes this remarkable line:
<blockquote>Numbers and arithmetic and accounting often are of secondary importance in Indigenous mathematics.</blockquote>
That seems to make as much sense as saying that words are of secondary importance in linguistics. Or that maps or of secondary importance in the science of cartography. How can you have mathematics without numbers and arithmetic, exactly? Read on, and Professor Ball will tell you: 
<blockquote>Mathematics is primarily the science of patterns &#8230; and recognising and classifying those patterns. &#8230; One interesting example that we are currently investigating is the use of chiral symmetry to engineer a long-distance smoke signalling technology in real time. If you light an incense stick you will see the twin counter-rotating vortices that emanate − these are a chiral pair, meaning they are non-superimposable mirror images of each other.</blockquote>
The article goes on to explain:
<blockquote>A memoir by Alice Duncan Kemp, who grew up on a cattle station … in the early 1900s, vividly describes the signalling procedure, in which husband-and-wife expert team Bogie and Mary-Anne selected and pulsed the smoke waves with a left to right curl, to signal &#8216;white men&#8217;, instead of the more usual right to left spiral. &#8230; To create and understand these signals, you have to be a skilled practical mathematician, Professor Ball says.</blockquote>
It&#8217;s not hard to see what&#8217;s been conflated here. Yes, it&#8217;s possible to argue that the act of lighting the incense stick and producing &#8220;counter-rotating vortices&#8221; does, in a way, implicate mathematics and particularly geometry. As does literally everything that happens in the physical world. It&#8217;s like saying LeBron James is a skilled mathematician because his three-pointers make nice parabolas. He&#8217;s not thinking in his head about the parabolic equation when he&#8217;s playing. He probably doesn&#8217;t even know what a parabolic equation is. 
In the case that Professor Ball is talking about, there&#8217;s nothing really &#8220;mathematical&#8221; in any traditional sense about generating smoke signals, and frankly, depending on the size of the vocabulary of the signaling system, it&#8217;s probably something you could train apes to do — even though they have no understanding of language, much less math. It&#8217;s like saying a child successfully flying a kite is doing math. It&#8217;s nonsense. You might as well say that simply by walking across the room you are engaged in mathematics.
These are very simple phenomena we&#8217;re talking about. Throwing a basketball and lighting an incense stick is not rocket science. Your brain is doing &#8220;complex calculations&#8221; when you shoot a basketball, sure. Or even when you walk across the room. And because our mathematics is so sophisticated and precise, we can describe the physical phenomenon to a great degree of sophistication and precision. But that&#8217;s only because our mathematics can penetrate reality to that degree. 
You don&#8217;t have to wonder how precise African folk math or whatever can get in describing that stuff — to say nothing of the math and mathematical physics required to build stuff like nuclear reactors, rocket engines, computers, et cetera. That stuff absolutely requires not just numbers, but advanced and highly abstract theories.
But highly abstract theories are out of style now — and not just in Australia. Braindead oversimplification is the name of the game. Here for example is a recent TedX talk delivered by a woman who teaches mathematics in Canada. She&#8217;s also a vice principal in the Ottawa school district. Listen to her understanding of what mathematics is all about:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 Math" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qHRiYNSfcCY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Well, I guess there&#8217;s some good news here. I must be a genius mathematician myself because I made coffee and picked out my own clothes this morning. This will come as news to all of my grade school math teachers, who graded my math exams in a manner that conveyed a certain lack of faith in my mathematical prowess. But if only they’d known that I already passed the math test just by getting dressed before I came to school. If only I’d been as brain damaged as academic elites are today. Then maybe I would have thought to make that argument myself.
Anyway, a little over a year ago there was an <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-sinister-attempts-to-decolonise-mathematics/">in-depth column</a> in The Spectator about this movement to discredit and undermine serious academic disciplines, especially math. It was written by John Armstrong, who teaches at King&#8217;s College London and previously taught at Oxford. He&#8217;s an actual mathematician with actual credentials. And he summed up the problem with this whole push to &#8220;decolonize&#8221; math pretty simply.
<blockquote>The fact is that colonialism is irrelevant to the validity of mathematics. The Mayan civilization was doing sophisticated mathematics in the Americas long before Christopher Colombus arrived on the continent. &#8230; The digits 0123456789 we use today were first written in India and inspired by Chinese mathematics. They were popularised by Persian and Arab mathematicians and then made their way to Europe via the Moors’ conquest of Southern Spain. Admittedly the Moors’ conquest of Spain was a form of colonialism, but apparently not the type of colonialism we are meant to be interested in.</blockquote>
So what do these activists mean when they say they want to &#8220;decolonize&#8221; math, given that the entire idea of de-colonizing math is completely incoherent? The Arabs were colonizers, too. And why are Australians, of all people, so interested in promoting this idea?
One possibility is that by some estimates, as the Twitter account I/o points out, aboriginal Australians happen to have, on average, the second lowest IQ out of any demographic group on the planet. That&#8217;s the sort of thing that&#8217;s supposed to be unsayable, but it&#8217;s impossible to talk about certain groups struggling academically without bringing up the intellectual elephant in the room. There might be a reason why there aren’t many Aboriginals working at NASA. It&#8217;s an important point because it means that decolonization, practically speaking, entails dumbing down these subjects or destroying them altogether.
Mainly we see with the &#8220;decolonization&#8221; agenda the embarrassment that liberal Westerners feel about the fact that their ancestors were far more advanced — in just about every way, and by every available measure — than the native people they conquered. The liberal Westerner is constantly looking for ways to even out the score. And we&#8217;re seeing that more and more in this country as well.
The once-respected Nature magazine, for example, recently <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00240-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> an editorial (with no byline) that reads: &#8220;Why we have nothing to fear from the decolonization of mathematics.&#8221;
What&#8217;s amazing is that, if you read the whole editorial, you won&#8217;t actually find a definition of what &#8220;decolonization&#8221; means in this context. You won&#8217;t find anything close to a definition, actually. The most you&#8217;ll discover is that according to Nature, decolonization:
<blockquote>&#8230;shows that the roots of discovery and invention are shared between many world cultures, which can be particularly empowering for people from historically marginalized groups. Decolonizing science is the antidote to exceptionalism, the idea that any single culture or civilization possessed special abilities in advancing science.</blockquote>
But as we just established, some cultures and civilizations did, indeed, advance science and mathematics more than others. Some of them were colonizers, and some of those colonizers were not white. And regardless, none of this has anything to do with mathematics. Maybe you can argue this belongs in some elective history course somewhere. But it has no place affecting courses on the fundamentals of mathematics, which is exactly what&#8217;s happening in this country.
Pittsburgh Public Schools, for example, recently <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/pittsburgh-public-schools-change-math-instruction-more-equitable/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a plan to make mathematics instruction more &#8220;equitable.&#8221; What does that mean? Watch:
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It&#8217;s not about getting the right answer anymore in Pittsburgh&#8217;s math classes. It&#8217;s about the &#8220;journey.&#8221; The next time your bridge collapses, remember that. Your death isn&#8217;t what&#8217;s important. What matters is that the incompetent engineer who built the bridge had high self esteem. Yes, you might be lying on the ground, mangled and dying, with a giant metal beam spearing you through your stomach, but as you lay there expiring, just think about the “journey” that those bridge engineers were on. That should give you comfort.
It&#8217;s the same thing the Canadian teacher said in her TEDx talk. The goal is for everyone to feel like a mathematician, regardless of ability. None of this has anything to do with actually teaching math, of course, which is the point. Students can fail math courses — and they&#8217;ve been doing a lot of that in Pittsburgh. But it&#8217;s harder to fail a course that begins with the assumption that every student is gifted in mathematics, no matter what their test scores or actual mathematical aptitude might say.
The other underlying factor that drives all of this superficial decolonization rhetoric and activism is a deep insecurity about actual knowledge on the part of those circulating this garbage. And it&#8217;s very well-founded insecurity, especially when it comes to ignorance regarding history.
Everything is a cartoon with these people: cartoon history, cartoon philosophy, etc. It&#8217;s barely high-school debate talking points stuff — it&#8217;s more elementary school level thinking — which does make it easier to incorporate into lower education, incidentally.
But to be clear, this isn&#8217;t just happening in Pittsburgh. It&#8217;s easy to pick on Pittsburgh, for a lot of reasons. As I&#8217;ve said <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxm9BTAJCBU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">before</a>, the city is falling apart. But this effort to &#8220;decolonize&#8221; math has serious financial backers, and schools everywhere are adopting similar approaches.
In 2018, Bill Gates&#8217; foundation <a href="https://lincs.ed.gov/professional-development/resource-collections/profile-8826" target="_blank" rel="noopener">created</a> something called the &#8220;Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction,&#8221; intended for use in grades 6 through 8. The &#8220;pathway&#8221; <a href="https://equitablemath.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/11/1_STRIDE1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trains teachers</a> who:
<blockquote>In order to embody antiracist math education, teachers must engage in critical praxis that interrogates the ways in which they perpetuate white supremacy culture in their own classrooms, and develop a plan toward antiracist math education to address issues of equity for Black, Latinx, and multilingual students.</blockquote>
Why would Bill Gates want to promote nonsense like this? It&#8217;s hard to say. No one appears to have asked him. But we do know that, in the years since 2018, math literacy in this country has <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/us-students-math-scores-decline-pisa-assessment-mental-health-concerns-1849812#:~:text=Despite%20stable%20performances%20in%20reading,that%20participated%20in%20the%20assessment." target="_blank" rel="noopener">plummeted</a>. In 2018, something called the &#8220;Program for International Student Assessment&#8221; measured the average 15-year-olds&#8217; math aptitude in this country at a score of 478. By 2022, that score had dropped to 465. Meanwhile, data from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that U.S. math and reading scores are at their <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/06/21/1183445544/u-s-reading-and-math-scores-drop-to-lowest-level-in-decades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lowest level</a> in decades.
You can blame that on COVID and wonky gain-of-function research if you want (which Bill Gates also <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/rand-paul-bill-gates-ties-gain-function-research-funding-danger-mankind" target="_blank" rel="noopener">funded</a> through the W.H.O., by the way). But there&#8217;s not a serious person alive who thinks that any of this decolonization propaganda is actually helping these scores move in the right direction. It&#8217;s doing the opposite, by design.
This is every bit as serious an attack on this country as the airport and bridge raids that I covered yesterday. This is an attack on our ability to build airports and bridges in the first place. And unless we want our bridges to function like Congo&#8217;s in the near future, it needs to end.

professor writing on the board while having a chalk and blackboard lecture (shallow DOF; color toned image)

Dumbing Down Education In The Name Of ‘Decolonization’

Dumbing Down Education In The Name Of 'Decolonization'

Anti-Racism

Colonialism

Congo

Education

Mathematics

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Pittsburgh

Readers Pass

Woke Culture

President Joe Biden on Wednesday called on his administration to consider tripling the tariff on Chinese steel, reminiscent of the trade policy of his predecessor and chief rival in 2024, former President Donald Trump.
Biden spoke at United Steelworkers headquarters in Pittsburgh, pitching union members on stricter trade policy on China to protect American jobs. During his address, Biden called on United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai to consider tripling the tariff on Chinese steel, which currently averages 7.5%, according to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/04/17/president-biden-moves-to-triple-tariffs-on-chinese-steel-and-aluminum/73346915007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USA Today</a>.
The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/biden-calls-for-steep-hike-to-tariff-on-chinese-steel-dd131264">reported</a> that the increase &#8220;would be in addition to a separate 25% tariff on steel and a 10% duty on aluminum imposed under the Trump administration.&#8221;
Biden has borrowed Trump’s strategy to confront China after criticizing it during the 2020 campaign. In 2019, Biden <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/07/11/joe-biden-slams-trump-china-trade-war-in-foreign-policy-speech.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asserted</a> that Trump’s trade policy regarding China has delivered negative results for Americans.
“President Trump may think he&#8217;s being tough on China. All that he&#8217;s delivered as a consequence of that is American farmers, manufacturers and consumers losing and paying more,” Biden said during a speech in New York. “His economic decision-making is so shortsighted and as shortsighted as the rest of his foreign policy.”
While Biden said the U.S. needed to “get tough” on China, the then-candidate argued that the best way forward would be to strengthen ties with the Communist-run country.
“China can&#8217;t afford to ignore half the global economy if we&#8217;re united. That gives us substantial leverage to shape the future rules of the road on everything from the environment to labor to trade to technology to transparency,” Biden said.
Biden appeared to walk back that campaign stance on Wednesday, the reversal coming as Trump has sought to make inroads with staunchly pro-Democrat unions.
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The Teamsters union, a reliable source of support for Democrats, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2024/02/21/teamsters-trump-biden-union/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gave</a> $45,000 to the Republican National Committee through the union’s political action committee in February. The donation is the maximum amount the PAC can give.
The donation itself isn’t as significant as what it could represent for the future of the union’s support. Teamsters’ political committee donated the money after Trump <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-teamsters-union-washington-0689d1d586a9b0760610ae619086691f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">met</a> with the union’s executive board in what the former president described as “a very productive meeting.”
Biden’s Wednesday speech also comes as steel industry labor leaders have protested against a potential sale of U.S. Steel to Japanese-based Nippon Steel Corporation. The Biden Department of Justice last week <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/10/doj-opens-formal-investigation-us-steel-takeover-00151615" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> an antitrust investigation into the sale, a move that could have negative impacts on the United States’ relationship with Japan.

Joe Biden

In Reversal, Biden Turns To Trump’s Playbook To Get Tough On China

2024 Election

China

Communist China

Donald Trump

Elections

Executive

Yesterday I went into some detail about the unfolding crisis in Haiti. The prime minister is stranded in Puerto Rico and has now <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-68541349">officially resigned</a>.
The streets are now ruled by a warlord named &#8220;Barbecue.&#8221; Police officers are nowhere to be found, even at the country&#8217;s national prison complex, where the doors are currently wide open.
All of this is relevant mainly because, for years, leftists have pretended Haiti is salvageable. They didn&#8217;t do that simply to contradict Donald Trump, although that&#8217;s a big part of it. Their primary motivation is to transform this country into Haiti. Unchecked, one-way migration is one way to do that. Another way is to adopt Haiti&#8217;s approach to policing — which is to say, to stop policing entirely. Beginning last year, criminals in Haiti understood that they could commit crimes with impunity. No one would even attempt to arrest them.
As Human Rights Watch put it in a recent report, &#8220;There have been no prosecutions or convictions of those responsible for killings, kidnappings, and sexual violence, or their supporters, since the start of 2023.&#8221;
That&#8217;s what a total stand down of law and order looks like. It was telegraphed, and as expected, anarchy followed. So you have to wonder — especially in the aftermath of BLM and &#8220;defunding the police&#8221; — how long until something like that happens here? How long until criminals in America understand that they can commit serious crimes, and no police officers will even bother to show up?
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1325-the-city-of-pittsburgh-takes-the-purge-as-an-instruction-manual" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
If you&#8217;ve followed <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pittsburgh-police-cuts-staff-between-3-7-a-m-no-longer-respond-if-not-in-progress-emergency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the news</a> out of Pittsburgh this week, you know that this moment is already here. The city has announced that police officers will simply stop responding to the vast majority of crimes — including burglary and harassment — as long as there&#8217;s no &#8220;in-progress emergency.&#8221; Additionally, between 3:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m, as few as 20 police officers will be on-duty to cover the entire city of 300,000 people. This is as close to a real-life implementation of the Purge as we’ve seen. Watch:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
BREAKING: Pittsburgh police will no longer respond to certain calls &amp; will instead be redirecting people to a telephone unit.
Those crimes include thefts, harassment, criminal mischief, burglary alarms, etc.
Additionally, there were be only 20 police officers patrolling the… <a href="https://t.co/H5dqLud72W">pic.twitter.com/H5dqLud72W</a>
&mdash; End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) <a href="https://twitter.com/EndWokeness/status/1766896286224003248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
What this means is that, if someone breaks into your house in Pittsburgh, and you call 911, they won&#8217;t come. Even if your alarm is going off, and your alarm company is notifying the authorities, they don&#8217;t care. The police chief in Pittsburgh has clarified that for burglaries, under this new policy, they need some sort of &#8220;second verification&#8221; in order to ensure that the burglar is on the premises at that moment, before police will even consider driving out to your house.
In other words, it&#8217;s like logging into your bank account. They need two-factor authentication so that they can really be sure that there&#8217;s a burglary going on. Your alarm just counts as one factor. Additional factors, according to the police chief, could include video footage of the burglar in your house. Or it could be a photo of broken glass with the burglar standing around next to it. Or perhaps you can get the burglar to pose for a picture holding that day’s newspaper. Maybe you can take a quick selfie video with the burglar where he looks at the camera and says, ‘Hey folks, just here burglarizing this home real quick. Sorry for the inconvenience!’ But outside of situations like that, the Pittsburgh police will just tell you to leave a report with their answering machine.
Of course, if the burglar is smart, and breaks into your home between the hours of 3:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., then it probably doesn&#8217;t matter even if you have the selfie video of the burglars in your home — because there will be only 20 cops in the entire city who can get to you. So the people ransacking your home can take their time. This has all been announced, publicly, by the city of Pittsburgh. You have to wonder why anyone in the city would bother paying taxes at this point — especially since the government in Pittsburgh created this problem in the first place.
After the George Floyd riots of 2020, the mayor implemented a two-year freeze on all police hiring. That&#8217;s not an overstatement. The mayor at the time, Bill Peduto, just shut down the police academies.
As CBS News reported in 2022, &#8220;The sound of bagpipes graduating a new police class hasn&#8217;t been heard in years.&#8221; To justify this decision, Peduto appeared on NBC News, where for some reason he answered questions from a bunch of college students. Watch:
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It&#8217;s an amazing clip to watch in retrospect. The mayor tells this random college student that emotions are very high post-George Floyd. He recognizes that everyone&#8217;s not exactly thinking rationally. But instead of suggesting that maybe it&#8217;s a bad idea to shut down police academies, he basically issues a threat. He says that &#8220;police reforms&#8221; — by which he means gutting the police department — are going to happen one way or the other. The only thing the police union can do is get on board to minimize the damage, on the road to creating this utopia in Pittsburgh. Four years later, we see exactly what that utopia looks like.
If you listen to officials in Pittsburgh, they&#8217;ll offer another excuse for the breakdown of law and order in their city. They&#8217;ll say they simply can&#8217;t afford police officers. They&#8217;ll tell you that tax revenues are down because, post-COVID, a lot of downtown office space is vacant. The value of the buildings has plummeted. That&#8217;s true, to an extent. The city has been taking in less revenue because of lockdown policies, which were implemented by the city of Pittsburgh. But as an explanation for why there are no police in Pittsburgh anymore, it doesn&#8217;t make any sense. You can take one look at Pittsburgh&#8217;s budget and come to the conclusion that there&#8217;s a lot of waste that could be trimmed in order to put more officers on the street.
For example, let&#8217;s take a look at Pittsburgh&#8217;s fiscal year 2022 operating budget. There&#8217;s more than $700,000 budgeted for salaries for something called the &#8220;Office of Equity.&#8221; In all, the office&#8217;s budget exceeds a million dollars. Among other things, that taxpayer money is used to pay an &#8220;executive director&#8221; for the &#8220;gender equity commission,&#8221; who makes $76,000. It includes a &#8220;chief equity officer&#8221; making $120,000. It also includes unspecified money for &#8220;immigration engagement,&#8221; so that when people arrive in Pittsburgh from Haiti, they know where to file for welfare benefits. And by the way, it&#8217;s not just the &#8220;Office of Equity&#8221; at Pittsburgh that employs equity officers. The office of the city clerk also has an &#8220;equity, diversity, and inclusion policy analyst,&#8221; who makes something like $62,000 a year.
There&#8217;s also millions of dollars for the office of city planning, including hundreds of thousands of dollars devoted to saving the climate. That includes tens of thousands of dollars for so-called &#8220;climate resilience analysts,&#8221; like this woman:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Climate Action Plan 3.0" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VcUqkRhYV6E?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
That video is from several years ago. Not to spoil anything, but the city of Pittsburgh&#8217;s &#8220;climate action plan&#8221; has not done anything to address alleged climate change in any way. We know that because, even if you removed the entire city of Pittsburgh from the planet — which, as a Baltimore Ravens fan, I wouldn’t object to nothing about the climate would change. Even using the most unhinged, eco-nutcase model you can find, there is no conceivable way that the city of Pittsburgh can &#8220;address climate change.&#8221; But they hired useless employees like this person anyway, to categorize all of Pittsburgh&#8217;s various &#8220;greenhouse gas emissions.&#8221; Apparently that was more important than hiring police officers, in a city that&#8217;s down to fewer than two dozen cops in the middle of the night.
And this is just scratching the surface. Pittsburgh also has an “LGBTQIA+ Commission,&#8221; which was budgeted tens of thousands of dollars a year. That commission has apparently done nothing in three years. According to the outlet Public Source:
<blockquote>Pittsburgh’s LGBTQIA+ Commission, created in 2020 by former Mayor Bill Peduto, started with the promise of action on behalf of the queer community of Pittsburgh. Three years later, external displays of action have been on the sparse side — even at the admission of some of its members. &#8230; While some fruitful conversations have been held to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community within the city and the commission has made strides on developing its internal structure, the commission’s 20 meetings thus far have lacked public engagement and it hasn’t conducted a single study.</blockquote>
This is a commission that was established around the time that the police academies were closed. And they&#8217;re completely dysfunctional. They&#8217;ve wasted all that time and money. It goes without saying that the city could shut all of these &#8220;equity&#8221; initiatives down without causing any harm to any resident of the city of Pittsburgh. If they had done that, they could&#8217;ve saved millions of dollars over the past three years. And when you&#8217;re down to 20 police officers, millions of dollars is a lot of money. It can double the size of your police force. But instead of cutting all of this garbage, the leaders of Pittsburgh chose to cut policing, and fund &#8220;equity&#8221; instead.
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One of the many ironies here is that &#8220;equity&#8221; entails an obsessive concern with &#8220;safety.&#8221; Leftists are always telling us that certain groups are &#8220;unsafe&#8221; and how we need to make them feel safer at every opportunity. But they always mean &#8220;safety&#8221; in some kind of esoteric, ambiguous sense. Actual practical, physical safety isn&#8217;t valued at all — at least not the safety of the average family affected by this insanity.
This has gone on for years, and major cities have become much more dangerous as a result. It&#8217;s so bad that Taco Bell just had to close all of their indoor dining facilities in Oakland. That&#8217;s a pretty stark level of civilizational decline, when you can&#8217;t even keep Taco Bell open.
But very soon, Pittsburgh will reach an even deeper level of decay. Residents won&#8217;t be worried about climate change, or LGBTQ justice. Instead, they&#8217;ll be worried about their safety, in the literal sense. That&#8217;s because, three years after Pittsburgh&#8217;s mayor promised &#8220;reforms,&#8221; change has finally arrived. And particularly between the hours of 3:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., everyone living in Pittsburgh will know exactly what that change looks like.

Shooting At Pittsburgh House Party Leaves 9 Injured And 2 Dead

The City Of Pittsburgh Takes ‘The Purge’ As An Instruction Manual

The City Of Pittsburgh Takes 'The Purge' As An Instruction Manual

Crime

Haiti

Police

Police Reform

Pittsburgh police will no longer personally respond to calls that aren’t considered “in-progress emergencies” after recent department policy changes.
Calls not considered “in-progress emergencies” will be <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/big-changes-pittsburgh-bureau-police-staffing-are-effect/ME4OY4CRSVG4HHDA53GFEYENSU/">assigned</a> by dispatch to a telephone recording unit. The city&#8217;s website states, &#8220;Creation of an enhanced Telephone Reporting Unit (TRU) operating from 7-3 a.m. daily, including weekends. Dispatch will assign reports to the TRU for calls that do not require an in-person response by officers. TRU will NOT be assigned to any &#8220;In Progress&#8221; call where a suspect may be on scene, any crime where a person may need medical aid, any domestic dispute, calls with evidence, or where the Mobile Crime Unit will be requested to process a scene.&#8221;
In addition, between 3 and 7 a.m., when reportedly far fewer 911 calls are made, no desk officers will be present at the six police stations in the city. Instead, call boxes linked to 911 have been installed. During some overnight shifts, there may be only <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/big-changes-pittsburgh-bureau-police-staffing-are-effect/ME4OY4CRSVG4HHDA53GFEYENSU/">22 officers</a> to cover the entire city.
“It’s enough to cover the entire city in those hours when we have 8% of the time people are calling &#8230; I’m confident in the decisions that we make, that it impacts this bureau and this city in much better way than we have in the past,” Pittsburgh Police Chief Larry Scirotto stated.
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Pittsburgh police will no longer respond to certain calls including theft, harassment, criminal mischief, and burglary alarms.
Between 3AM-7AM there will be no officers at any police stations.
Buy guns. Buy ammo. 
The police will not protect you. <a href="https://t.co/ZoQbkREQUs">pic.twitter.com/ZoQbkREQUs</a>
&mdash; Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1766897488202768818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 10, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Scirotto cited staffing shortages after the city plunged to 740 police officers; at the start of 2023, the city had 835; a full staff is considered 900.
Scirotto said that prior to the changes, roughly one-third of officers worked overnight, but about two-thirds of the call volume came between 2 p.m. and 2 a.m. “So we’re running one shift ragged, under-resourcing it, and over-resourcing another,” he said. “That was why I thought this exercise was so important.”
“Average night, we’d have seven officers out on the road in each zone, so [we had] like 42 officers, generally,” Scirotto told the <a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2024/03/03/pittsburgh-police-changes-staffing-safety-shifts-wellness-scirotto/stories/202403010078#:~:text=The%20changes%2C%20launched%20last%20week,better%20focus%20on%20officer%20wellness.">Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</a> last week. “We cut 12. People think I cut 112.”
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Bob Swartzwelder, president of the Fraternal Order of Police #1, criticized the plan, saying, “They’re running out of manpower very, very quickly, and they’re getting very taxed.” He acknowledged there could be 25 to 30 officers working during the 3-7 a.m. shift, but said they are executing specialized work. “I think the strategy at this point is a hope and a prayer that they can base everyone on data,” he said. “It may pan out to be correct. It may be disastrous.”

Police block street for protesters during the If Not Now

Pittsburgh Police Cuts Staff Between 3-7 A.M., No Longer Respond If Not ‘In-Progress Emergency’

Domestic Violence

General

Pennsylvania

U.S.

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police announced Friday that a new police Telephone Reporting Unit will respond to calls that &#8220;do not require an in-person response by officers.&#8221;
Officers will still respond to &#8220;in progress&#8221; emergency calls &#8220;where a suspect may be on scene, any crime where a person may need medical aid, any domestic dispute, calls with evidence, or where the Mobile Crime Unit will be requested to process a scene,&#8221; the police bureau <a href="https://pittsburghpa.gov/press-releases/press-releases/6386" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a press release.
However, this means that calls for things like burglary alarms, theft, criminal mischief, and harassment will be handled by the call center or online reporting methods, <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/pittsburgh-bureau-police-confirms-major-changes-11-investigates-first-told-you-about/JLZ2XPCHOJC5RCAPQUUDLL2QDQ/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to an investigation by WPXI.
The Telephone Reporting Unit will operate from 7 to 3 a.m. seven days a week.
Chief Larry Scirotto said he wants to slash the police bureau&#8217;s calls from about 200,000 calls a year down to about 50,000.
Pittsburgh&#8217;s police bureau also said that officers will stop working eight-hour workdays and instead work four 10-hour shifts each week so that they will have three consecutive days off.
That change is meant to &#8220;enhance officer wellness.&#8221;
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&#8220;An additional day away from work each week to focus on family, friends, or outside pursuits is key to creating a healthy workforce and contributes to the Bureau&#8217;s goal of not only recruiting new officers, but retaining them for the long haul, &#8221; Chief Scirotto said.
Both policies took effect on Monday.
Another potential plan <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/pittsburgh-bureau-police-confirms-major-changes-11-investigates-first-told-you-about/JLZ2XPCHOJC5RCAPQUUDLL2QDQ/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">involves</a> having the Pittsburgh Parking Authority handle all parking complaints, which Scirotto said is the top complaint the police bureau receives.
“That allows our officers to be engaged in community in a way, now they’re at the YMCA instead of sitting on the 10th Street bypass with a bike complaint,” Scirotto said.
The new policies have been met with concern from residents, the police union, and members of the city council.
“When it comes to harassment and things of this nature you better have a police officer there. That’s what the public expects. That’s what I expect out of our city,” <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/pittsburgh-bureau-police-confirms-major-changes-11-investigates-first-told-you-about/JLZ2XPCHOJC5RCAPQUUDLL2QDQ/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Councilman Anthony Coghill.
The police union president blamed an understaffed police bureau.
“The staffing plan designed by police command is a direct response to a seriously understaffed police department,&#8221; Bob Swartzwelder, president of Pittsburgh&#8217;s Fraternal Order of Police union <a href="https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/pittsburgh-bureau-police-confirms-major-changes-11-investigates-first-told-you-about/JLZ2XPCHOJC5RCAPQUUDLL2QDQ/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement.
&#8220;Only time will tell if the plan works or the Chief will need to pivot and modify his plan quickly. The FOP will be watching carefully for any contract violations that develop especially when non-emergency events come up such as St. Patrick’s Day, parades, large concerts, July 4th etc. In short, the FOP believes that the police department is seriously over-committed and under-resourced,” the head of the city&#8217;s police union added.

Shooter Opens Fire At Pittsburgh Synagogue

Pittsburgh Police Won’t Send Officers For Some 911 Calls

Pittsburgh Police Won't Send Officers For Some 911 Calls

Law Enforcement

Police said Monday that they are investigating the death of former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Adam Johnson, 29, who died during an Elite Ice Hockey League game on Saturday.
Reports and graphic video indicate Johnson collided with another player during a game in England and suffered a cut to the neck from a skate, NHL.com <a href="https://www.nhl.com/news/former-pittsburgh-penguins-player-adam-johnson-dies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
The South Yorkshire Police, who were called to the scene on Saturday, are investigating the incident.
&#8220;Our officers remain at the scene carrying out inquiries and our investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident remain ongoing,&#8221; a statement said, according to Fox News. &#8220;We would encourage the public to avoid speculation regarding the incident while we continue our inquiries.&#8221;
Johnson&#8217;s team, the Nottingham Panthers, have called the fatal collision a &#8220;freak accident.&#8221;
&#8220;The Nottingham Panthers are truly devastated to announce that Adam Johnson has tragically passed away following a freak accident at the game in Sheffield last night,&#8221; the team said in a statement posted Sunday. &#8220;The Panthers would like to send our thoughts and condolences to Adam&#8217;s family, his partner, and all his friends at this extremely difficult time.
&#8220;Everyone at the club including players, management and ownership are heartbroken at the news of Adam&#8217;s passing,&#8221; the Panthers added. &#8220;Our thoughts are also with the fans and staff of both clubs, especially those who attended or were following the game, who will be devastated following today&#8217;s news.&#8221;
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The Nottingham Panthers are truly devastated to announce that Adam Johnson has tragically passed away following a freak accident at the game in Sheffield last night. <a href="https://t.co/lhSOkDu03Q">pic.twitter.com/lhSOkDu03Q</a>
&mdash; The Nottingham Panthers (@PanthersIHC) <a href="https://twitter.com/PanthersIHC/status/1718550740028039300?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The Elite Ice Hockey League, likewise, called the incident a &#8220;freak accident.&#8221;
&#8220;The Elite Ice Hockey League is heartbroken to confirm that Nottingham Panthers forward Adam Johnson sadly passed away following a freak accident in Saturday’s game between Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers,&#8221; the league said, adding that further games over the weekend would be postponed.
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The Elite Ice Hockey League is heartbroken to confirm that Nottingham Panthers forward Adam Johnson sadly passed away following a freak accident in Saturday’s game between Sheffield Steelers and Nottingham Panthers. <a href="https://t.co/9MtTzvmojM">pic.twitter.com/9MtTzvmojM</a>
&mdash; Elite Ice Hockey League | #EIHL (@officialEIHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/officialEIHL/status/1718553486143476031?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Johnson&#8217;s girlfriend, Ryan Wolf, was <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/girlfriend-dead-ex-nhl-player-shares-heartbreaking-message-police-investigate-freak-accident" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> at the game and witnessed the injury. She ran onto the ice after the collision.
&#8220;My sweet angel,&#8221; Wolf wrote in the post honoring Johnson via Instagram. &#8220;I’ll miss you forever and love you always.&#8221;
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The Pittsburgh Penguins also issued a post about Johnson&#8217;s passing.
&#8220;The Pittsburgh Penguins join the entire hockey world in mourning Adam Johnson, whose life tragically ended far too soon,&#8221; the team said Sunday. &#8220;We offer our deepest condolences to Adam&#8217;s family and friends, as well as all of Adam&#8217;s past and present teammates and coaches. Adam will always be part of the Penguins family.&#8221;
&#8220;It was our honor to watch him fulfill his dream of playing in the National Hockey League,&#8221; the Penguins added.
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Pittsburgh Penguins Left Wing Adam Johnson

Police Investigating Death Of Former Pittsburgh Penguin Forward After Fatal Collision During Game

Police Investigating Death Of Former Pittsburgh Penguin Forward Adam Johnson After Fatal Collision During Game 

Death

England

Hockey

Sports

World

Parents and students crowded into a heated school board meeting in the Pittsburgh area earlier this month to sound off about bathroom use and gender identity.
Controversy <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/hopewell-area-school-district-meeting-bathroom-use-trans-students/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">erupted</a> in the Hopewell Area School District just west of Pittsburgh this month when a junior high school girl told her parents she thought she saw a boy come into the girls bathroom, the superintendent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV-SjctS8BM" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> at the October 10 board meeting.
Superintendent Jeff Beltz said the girl&#8217;s parents called the principal, who verified through video of the incident that the student who had entered the bathroom was a girl, not a boy.
However, angry parents demanded more details.
One mom who showed up demanded answers on whether trans-identifying students are allowed to use the bathroom of the opposite gender.
&#8220;I&#8217;m asking the board members to confirm for me — do you allow transgenders to share the bathrooms with the other kids, like boys in the girls bathroom, girls in the boys bathroom?&#8221; the mom asked.
Beltz responded that &#8220;no one&#8217;s not using their gender&#8217;s bathroom or locker room&#8221; to the district&#8217;s knowledge, at least in the junior high school.
The district does not currently have its own policy on bathroom use for trans-identifying students.
&#8220;Hopewell&#8217;s policy is not a policy,&#8221; the superintendent said at the board meeting. &#8220;The policy is the law. The law is very clear that allows genders to choose the restroom.&#8221;
&#8220;We are not going to avoid the topic,&#8221; Beltz said. &#8220;The topic is rooted in law and legal ruling, whether it&#8217;s case finding, and we are going to abide by those regardless.&#8221;
The superintendent said the district follows Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination by schools.
However, the district is considering adding more alternate bathrooms, Beltz said. The alternate bathrooms currently available are the office bathroom or the nurse&#8217;s bathroom.
One father <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/hopewell-area-school-district-meeting-bathroom-use-trans-students/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">challenged</a> the board members, &#8220;Are you not invading my daughter&#8217;s privacy when a man walks into her bathroom?&#8221;
Another mother raised her concerns about potential bathroom assaults occurring or boys trying to record videos of girls in the restroom.
&#8220;The administrators know their students, know if somebody&#8217;s being a wise guy &#8230; this just doesn&#8217;t all of a sudden popped up,&#8221; one board member responded.
Gender identity, bathroom use, and parental notification in school policies have become hot-button issues in recent years. Parents across the country have expressed concerns about children being allowed to use the bathrooms of the opposite gender or adopt a new gender identity behind their parents’ backs.

Inclusive Restroom

Parents, Students Show Up In Force At Heated Pittsburgh Area School Board Meeting On Bathroom Gender Policy

Gender

Public Schools

Transgender

A jury on Wednesday sentenced the man who gunned down 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pittsburgh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pittsburgh</a> to death, nearly five years after the attack. 
The shooter, whom The Daily Wire will not name in accordance with company policy, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tree-of-life-synagogue-shooter-convicted-on-all-charges-could-face-death-penalty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> in June of all 63 counts he was facing, including 11 counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. 
The jury’s unanimous decision was announced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Colville, who presided over the trial, which took place in downtown Pittsburgh. The judge will <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/08/02/us/pittsburgh-synagogue-trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officially</a> sentence the shooter to death later this week. 
The victims were from three Jewish congregations who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooter-eligible-for-death-penalty-jury-decides" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gathered</a> at the Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018. Two other worshipers and five police officers were also wounded by the gunman, who unloaded a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and three Glock .357 handguns during his attack. 
Victims of the shooting <a href="https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2023/08/02/pittsburgh-synagogue-tree-of-life-trial-updates-robert-bowers-verdict/stories/202308020089" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were</a>: Joyce Fienberg, Richard Gottfried, Rose Mallinger, Jerry Rabinowitz, Cecil and David Rosenthal, Bernice and Sylvan Simon, Daniel Stein, Melvin Wax, and Irving Younger.
The shooting is considered by authorities to be the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.
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“I hope that today’s sentencing decision in the synagogue shooting case marks a step forward toward healing for our community,” Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said after the verdict was announced. “I hope that we can use this decision to start a new chapter that uplifts and protects our city’s Jewish community.”
Attorneys representing the shooter asked for a life sentence if he pleaded guilty, but prosecutors, with the support of most of the victims’ families, refused and took the case to trial to pursue the death penalty. The shooter’s lawyers also argued that he was impaired by mental illness and a delusional belief system took over his thinking, dictating that he had to kill Jews to stop a genocide of white people, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-death-penalty-27e3b1a505cacdd674ee9b8a179aa1a8">reported</a>. 
“He turned this place of worship into an exhibit in his criminal trial,” U.S. Attorney Eric Olshan said while arguing for jurors to recommend the death penalty, according to the Pittsburgh Gazette.
A criminal complaint <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-mass-shooting-verdict-reached-federal-death/story?id=100104078">showed</a> that the man told authorities he intentionally targeted the synagogue because he hoped to kill Jewish people. The shooter’s defense attorneys acknowledged that he had done the shooting but asked jurors to “scrutinize his intent.” 
Zach Jewell contributed to this report.

Pittsburgh Commemorates One-Year Anniversary Of Synagogue Shootings

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Sentenced To Death By Jury

Courts

Death Penalty

Mass Shooting

Shooting

Synagogue

The man who gunned down 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, nearly five years ago is eligible for the death penalty, a federal jury announced Thursday. 
The jury agreed with prosecutors who are seeking capital punishment for the shooter who targeted Jews after six months of planning and said he regretted not killing more people, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/robert-bowers-synagogue-trial-death-penalty-74bcc4f2b79a91a5bf7c6718c9016e84" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The shooting is considered by authorities to be the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. 
The shooter, whom The Daily Wire will not name in accordance with company policy, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tree-of-life-synagogue-shooter-convicted-on-all-charges-could-face-death-penalty" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found guilty</a> last month of all 63 counts he was facing, including 11 counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. 
After two hours of deliberations, the jurors’ verdict was read in front of survivors and the victims&#8217; family members.
“It has been nearly five years since 11 people were taken from us. They were beloved and valued family members, friends and neighbors. They cannot speak for themselves, and so their family members will speak for them,” said Maggie Feinstein, the director of 10.27 Healing Partnership, a program dedicated to helping survivors of the shooting and those affected by the tragedy. 
Attorneys representing the shooter asked for a life sentence if he pleaded guilty, but prosecutors, with the support of most of the victims’ families, refused and took the case to trial to pursue the death penalty. The shooter’s lawyers also argued that he was impaired by mental illness and a “delusional belief system took over his thinking,” dictating that he had to kill Jews to stop a genocide of white people, the AP reported. 
The mass murderer killed 11 people from three Jewish congregations who gathered at the Tree of Life synagogue on October 27, 2018. Two other worshipers and five police officers were also wounded by the gunman who unloaded a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and three Glock .357 handguns during his attack. 
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Jurors are now expected to hear the gruesome details of how the shooter inflicted pain and trauma on his Jewish victims before they decide if his crime will ultimately result in capital punishment. After hearing arguments from the prosecution and the defense, including possible pleas from the shooter’s family members, the jury must be in unanimous agreement for the death penalty to be carried out.
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

Tree of Life Synagogue

Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Eligible For Death Penalty, Jury Decides

Jews

Photos have emerged on social media allegedly showing the married <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-protesters-from-michael-knowles-pitt-debate-on-transgenderism-indicted">couple indicted</a> in connection to an April protest at the University of Pittsburgh during a debate on transgenderism with Daily Wire host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michael-knowles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Knowles</a>.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/andy-ngo">Andy Ngo</a>, a journalist known for his reporting on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/andy-ngo-known-for-reporting-on-antifa-permanently-banned-from-soundcloud-report">Antifa&#8217;s activism and violence</a>, shared to Twitter on Saturday evening photos that he said were of Brian and Krystal DiPippa, Pittsburgh residents who now face charges over a violent clash with law enforcement at the event.
&#8220;Update: Photos of Brian &amp; Krystal DiPippa have been found. These two have a long history of far-left extremism &amp; were federally indicted last week over #Antifa explosive attacks on a [Knowles] event in Pittsburgh,&#8221; Ngo said.
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Update: Photos of Brian &amp; Krystal DiPippa have been found. These two have a long history of far-left extremism &amp; were federally indicted last week over <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Antifa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Antifa</a> explosive attacks on a <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@michaeljknowles</a> event in Pittsburgh. 
The criminal complaint says the suspects are part of an… <a href="https://t.co/tMY1sN5rei">https://t.co/tMY1sN5rei</a> <a href="https://t.co/PCogfODNnZ">pic.twitter.com/PCogfODNnZ</a>
&mdash; Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1677864873420627970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The criminal complaint says the suspects are part of an extremist cell that meets at the Big Idea Bookstore in Pittsburgh,&#8221; Ngo added. The journalist further explained that &#8220;anarchist bookstores&#8221; operate as meeting and training spaces for Antifa.
Ngo also encouraged followers to visit <a href="https://ngo.locals.com/post/4262513/criminal-complaint-for-antifa-couple-accused-of-explosive-attack-on-michael-knowles-event">his Locals page</a>, where he posted a related <a href="https://media2.locals.com/content/documents/2023-07-08/39629/39629_168886891864aa1836ca36d.pdf?ttl=1689046272&amp;signToken=9f887e16af48f7cae6cee9d66230bd65">FBI agent&#8217;s affidavit</a> in support of a search warrant, which included a timeline and insight into how investigators later identified the DiPippas, who were described as wearing masks during the protest. The 34-page affidavit also noted how investigators were informed that Brian DiPippa repeatedly triggered airport security alarms sometime around early to mid May with belongings that tested positive for explosive compound RDX, but security &#8220;cleared&#8221; the alarms and he was allowed to travel.
&#8220;Wow. First I’m seeing the criminal complaint and timeline,&#8221; Knowles <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1677870824869572608">said</a> in a tweet responding to Ngo. &#8220;I haven’t spoken much of this because threats and even physical attacks unfortunately come with the territory for conservatives in public life. But this was far more dangerous and coordinated than I previously knew.&#8221;
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Wow. First I’m seeing the criminal complaint and timeline. I haven’t spoken much of this because threats and even physical attacks unfortunately come with the territory for conservatives in public life. But this was far more dangerous and coordinated than I previously knew. <a href="https://t.co/gi9Ypm2WJw">https://t.co/gi9Ypm2WJw</a>
&mdash; Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1677870824869572608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last week that Brian DiPippa, 36, and Krystal DiPippa, 40, had been indicted by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh on charges of conspiracy and obstruction of law enforcement. Brian DiPippa was additionally charged with using an explosive to commit a federal felony, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/two-pittsburgh-residents-indicted-charges-conspiracy-and-obstruction-law-enforcement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release.
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&#8220;According to the Indictment, on April 18, 2023, the DiPippas participated in a protest at the O&#8217;Hara Student Center on the University of Pittsburgh campus, at which time Brian DiPippa ignited and dropped two homemade smoke bomb containers in and around a line of persons waiting to enter the O’Hara Student Center to attend a scheduled event featuring guest speakers,&#8221; the DOJ release said.
&#8220;The Indictment further alleges that, when Pitt Police officers gathered and formed a barrier to prevent the protesters from entering the rear of the building, Brian DiPippa, concealed by his wife, Krystal DiPippa, ignited and threw a large explosive firework into the group of Pitt officers, causing a loud explosion and injuries to several officers,&#8221; the release added.
The charges of conspiracy and obstruction of law enforcement could warrant a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $500,000 fine, or both if the defendants are found guilty. Using an explosive to commit a federal felony carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
Knowles, who participated in the debate titled “Should transgenderism be regulated by law?&#8221;  with libertarian journalist Brad Polumbo, reacted to the charges with a <a href="https://twitter.com/michaeljknowles/status/1675237303734747138?s=46&amp;t=y4YkrOT86oHdXG1HCmsfMQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweet</a> that said, “Very pleased to see the FBI arrest a couple of the anarchists who set off an explosive at one of my campus events this semester!”

Michael Knowles event protest

Photos Show Indicted Couple From ‘Antifa Explosive Attacks’ At Michael Knowles Event

Photos Show Indicted Couple From 'Antifa Explosive Attacks' At Michael Knowles Event

Michael Knowles

Protests

Legendary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/west-virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">West Virginia</a> college basketball coach Bob Huggins was arrested Friday night after being charged with driving under the influence.
Huggins, 69, was <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/bob-huggins-arrested-on-dui-charge-hall-of-fame-west-virginia-coach-was-stopped-friday-in-pittsburgh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pulled over</a> after police tried to help him get off the road in Pittsburgh because his vehicle had a flat tire, according to police.
“The driver&#8217;s side door was open and the vehicle had a flat and shredded tire. Officers directed the male driver on how best to move off the road so they could help with the flat tire. When they observed him having difficulty maneuvering the SUV to allow vehicles to pass, they activated their lights to pull him over,” the police report said.
The report added that officers at the scene had a “strong suspicion” that Huggins was intoxicated. The criminal complaint against Huggins says he had a blood alcohol content of .210. Empty beer cans in trash bags were also found in the car, according to CBS Sports.
“They asked him to exit the vehicle to perform standard field sobriety tests, which he failed. The male was placed in custody without incident and transported for further testing,” the police report added.
The University of West Virginia, where Huggins leads the men’s basketball team, said that it was reviewing the incident.
&#8220;West Virginia University is aware of an incident last night involving Head Men&#8217;s Basketball Coach Bob Huggins, for which he was charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in the City of Pittsburgh. We are gathering more information and will take appropriate action once the review is complete,” the school said.
Huggins <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gay-slur-has-legendary-basketball-coach-bob-huggins-fighting-for-his-job" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previously found himself in hot water</a> this year after he referred to an opposing team&#8217;s fans as “Catholic f**s.” As <a href="https://www.si.com/college/2023/05/10/details-west-virginia-punishment-bob-huggins-anti-lgbtq-slur-radio-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">punishment</a>, his salary was knocked down by $1 million, he was required to attend sensitivity training, and he was suspended three games for the next season.
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Huggins, an Ohio native who graduated from West Virginia, has been a college basketball coach for 38 years. His career includes stints at the University of Akron, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and his current job at West Virginia. He has compiled an 863-389 record.
Huggins was fired from the Cincinnati job in 2005 despite leading the team to 14 straight NCAA tournament berths, after being arrested a year earlier for driving under the influence. Since taking over at West Virginia in 2007, Huggins has led the Mountaineers to 11 NCAA tournament appearances.

West Virginia v Iowa State

Legendary Basketball Coach Bob Huggins Arrested On DUI Charges

College basketball

Drunk Driving

West Virginia

The man who killed 11 people and injured seven more during an attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/pittsburgh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pittsburgh</a>, Pennsylvania, in 2018 has been found guilty of all 63 counts he was facing and could now be sentenced to death. 
The shooter’s convictions <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-death-penalty-trial-e9033bf869f03f2132ae4fcecf753e68" target="_blank" rel="noopener">included</a> 11 counts of obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death. The shooting is considered by authorities to be the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.
“There can be no forgiveness,” said the New Light congregation, one of the congregations that was targeted, in a statement the day before the convictions. &#8220;Forgiveness requires two components: that it is offered by the person who commits the wrong and is accepted by the person who was wronged. The shooter has not asked — and the dead cannot accept.”
A criminal complaint <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/pittsburgh-synagogue-mass-shooting-verdict-reached-federal-death/story?id=100104078">showed</a> that the man told authorities that he intentionally targeted the synagogue because he hoped to kill Jewish people. The shooter’s defense attorneys acknowledged that he had done the shooting, but asked jurors to “scrutinize his intent.” 
“There will be no question that this was a planned act and that he killed 11 people,&#8221; defense attorney Judy Clarke said. 
The 50-year-old shooter opened fire on Jewish worshippers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jury-selection-starts-for-2018-pittsburgh-synagogue-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">holding Sabbath services</a> on October 27, 2018, at the synagogue in east Pittsburgh. The attack wounded several Holocaust survivors. 
“The message that the defendant chose to tell the world about himself was clear and unambiguous: He is filled with hatred for Jews,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/16/us/pittsburgh-synagogue-shooting-verdict.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> federal prosecutor Mary Hahn. 
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The shooter was armed with a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, as well as three Glock .357 handguns — and fired all four of the firearms, authorities said. He had hoped to swap a guilty plea for no death penalty, but his offer was turned down. 
The jury will determine if the killer will be executed. The attacker’s legal team has <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pittsburgh-synagogue-massacre-robert-bowers-c395a822a1a684d4c87fa079c59832f4">said</a> he has schizophrenia, as well as structural and functional brain impairments, claims that could be used by the defense as reasoning against the death penalty. 
“How and why did this man, who up until Oct. 27, 2018, had lived a solitary and law-abiding life, wreak the havoc and destruction that he did?” said federal public defender Elisa Long during the trial. 
U.S. District Judge Robert Colville oversaw the trial which took place in downtown Pittsburgh.

US-CRIME-SHOOTING-RELIGION

Tree Of Life Synagogue Shooter Convicted On All Charges, Could Face Death Penalty

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