In response to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-video-shows-arrest-that-led-to-rioters-toppling-abolitionist-statue-assaulting-democrat-politician">the arrest</a> of a man who walked into a cafe holding a baseball bat and screaming through a megaphone, a riot broke out in Madison, Wisconsin, Tuesday night. The result was violence, including the brutal assault of a &#8220;gay progressive&#8221; Democratic politician, as well as property damage, including toppled monuments, among them a statue dedicated to an abolitionist.
On Wednesday, Madison&#8217;s Democratic mayor — who champions the idea of &#8220;reimagining public safety&#8221; — issued an incensed rebuke of the &#8220;protesters&#8221; who wreaked havoc in her city the night before, and called for a clear distinction to be made between those exercising their constitutional right to protest and those seizing on the opportunity to engage in &#8220;criminal conduct.&#8221;
&#8220;[W]hat happened last night in Madison was far from peaceful and exceeding dangerous,&#8221; Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in the <a href="https://www.cityofmadison.com/mayor/news/statement-of-mayor-rhodes-conway-0">statement</a> posted Wednesday on her government website. &#8220;People attacked a State Senator who championed workers’ rights in 2011, tore down a statue of an abolitionist who died trying to end slavery during the Civil War, and attempted to set fire to a building with dozens of people inside.&#8221;
&#8220;We need to separate First Amendment protests from those engaged in criminal conduct,&#8221; the progressive mayor declared. &#8220;People engaged in violence and criminal conduct against people or property on the streets of Madison will be held accountable.&#8221;
&#8220;Over the past weeks, we have heard chants of &#8216;who keeps us safe? We keep us safe!&#8217; It&#8217;s time for that &#8216;us&#8217; and that &#8216;we&#8217; to include everyone in Madison,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Because every single person who lives here deserves to be and feel safe in our City. And it is up to every single one of us to make that true. Everyone — police, protester, elected official, business owner, resident — everyone must find it within themselves to show compassion and kindness for each other, and to care about each other&#8217;s safety and well-being. ​&#8221;
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-video-shows-arrest-that-led-to-rioters-toppling-abolitionist-statue-assaulting-democrat-politician">The Daily Wire</a> highlighted, the riot was sparked by an incident caught on video that prompted 911 calls:
<blockquote>The videos, including two posted by the Madison Police Department, show the arrest of a baseball bat-wielding Black Lives Matter protester, identified as <a href="https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/black-activist-arrested-taken-to-ground-by-police-after-disturbance-in-madison-restaurant/article_8356b4c1-4dbf-52ff-9d5b-cadb98bf5356.html">Devonere Johnson</a>, 28, whose threatening behavior and rhetoric prompted 911 calls, and who subsequently resisted arrest and managed to escape. In the videos, bystanders can be seen attempting to accuse police of detaining a black man without cause.
In one video, posted by the Madison PD on Tuesday, Johnson can be seen walking around a cafe with a baseball ball on his shoulder and yelling at the customers and employees through a bullhorn. In his wild, racially charged rant, Johnson refers to himself as “Yeshua Musa” and makes various radical accusations. He initially walks in with a bullhorn in a white man’s face accusing him of being a racist. Johnson, repeatedly using the N-word, then claims that Jesus was actually Horus and has been used to justify rape, murder, pedophilia, and other injustices.</blockquote>
<iframe title="Coopers inside" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vSgI0vCoLMY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Another video shows Johnson appearing to resist arrest while bystanders accuse the officers of supposedly arresting him for simply &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-video-shows-arrest-that-led-to-rioters-toppling-abolitionist-statue-assaulting-democrat-politician">using a megaphone</a>.&#8221;
Among the victims of the Madison riot Tuesday night was Democratic State Sen. Tim Carpenter, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rioters-attack-democrat-state-senator-in-wisconsin-he-responds-im-a-gay-progressive-on-their-side">assaulted</a> after he took photos of protesters demanding the release of Johnson.
“I don’t know what happened … all I did was stop and take a picture … and the next thing I’m getting five-six punches, getting kicked in the head,” Carpenter told The Washington Post. “This has got to stop before someone gets killed. Sad thing I’m on their side for peaceful demonstrations — am a Gay Progressive Dem Senator served 36 years in the legislature.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I took this pic- it got me assaulted &amp; beat up. Punched/kicked in the head, neck, ribs. Maybe concussion, socked in left eye is little blurry, sore neck &amp; ribs. 8-10 people attacked me. Innocent people are going to get killed. Capitol locked- stuck in office.Stop violence nowPlz! <a href="https://t.co/Zw2hdfYG66">pic.twitter.com/Zw2hdfYG66</a>
&mdash; Tim Carpenter (@TimCarpenterMKE) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimCarpenterMKE/status/1275716467007328258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Below is the full text of Rhodes-Conway&#8217;s statement:
<blockquote>Thousands of people have come out in Madison and around Wisconsin to protest the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and the many taken before them. I have heard from thousands of Madisonians in the past week, the vast majority of whom are supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement and the peaceful protests that have occurred in Madison.
However, what happened last night in Madison was far from peaceful and exceeding dangerous. People attacked a State Senator who championed workers’ rights in 2011, tore down a statute of an abolitionist who died trying to end slavery during the Civil War, and attempted to set fire to a building with dozens of people inside. We need to separate First Amendment protests from those engaged in criminal conduct. People engaged in violence and criminal conduct against people or property on the streets of Madison will be held accountable.
Madison Police are involved in a wide-ranging investigation of activities that lead up to the arrest on the square yesterday and will have further information on this investigation when it is available. Officers are also investigating Sunday night hit and run involving a pick-up truck and a pedestrian.
People are asking for real, substantive changes, and the City is responding. The Council moved forward with the creation of an independent police auditor and an independent civilian police oversight committee, and we will continue to work to implement the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Task Force on Police Policy and Procedure. The Public Safety Review Committee and the City Attorney&#8217;s office are reviewing the Madison Police Department&#8217;s use of force policies, comparing them with the 8 can&#8217;t wait standards, the NAACP recommendations, and other best practices from around the country, and will make recommendations for any needed changes. Our Community and Economic Development divisions are working to develop programs and move funds to support wealth-building, housing assistance, small businesses and more in the Black community. Alders are exploring the mental health ambulance model and how to adapt it for Madison. My office is engaging with the question of how to reimagine public safety, and working to engage the community in all of these issues. At the State level, the Governor and Lt. Governor introduced a strong package of proposals around police reform and racial equity.
Over the past weeks, we have heard chants of &#8220;who keeps us safe? We keep us safe!&#8221; It&#8217;s time for that “us” and that “we” to include everyone in Madison. Because every single person who lives here deserves to be and feel safe in our City. And it is up to every single one of us to make that true. Everyone &#8211; police, protester, elected official, business owner, resident &#8211; everyone must find it within themselves to show compassion and kindness for each other, and to care about each other&#8217;s safety and well-being. ​</blockquote>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Broken window.

Mayor: ‘What Happened Last Night In Madison Was Far From Peaceful And Exceeding Dangerous’

Black Lives Matter

Defund The Police

Riots

Wisconsin

Videos have emerged revealing what sparked a riot in Madison, Wisconsin on Tuesday that resulted in an abolitionist statue being toppled, the destruction of private property, and the physical assault of an openly &#8220;gay progressive&#8221; Democratic politician.
The videos, including two posted by the Madison Police Department, show the arrest of a baseball bat-wielding Black Lives Matter protester, identified as <a href="https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/black-activist-arrested-taken-to-ground-by-police-after-disturbance-in-madison-restaurant/article_8356b4c1-4dbf-52ff-9d5b-cadb98bf5356.html">Devonere Johnson</a>, 28, whose threatening behavior and rhetoric prompted 911 calls, and who subsequently resisted arrest and managed to escape. In the videos, bystanders can be seen attempting to accuse police of detaining a black man without cause.
In one video, posted by the Madison PD on Tuesday, Johnson can be seen walking around a cafe with a baseball ball on his shoulder and yelling at the customers and employees through a bullhorn. In his wild, racially charged rant, Johnson refers to himself as &#8220;Yeshua Musa&#8221; and makes various radical accusations. He initially walks in with a bullhorn in a white man&#8217;s face accusing him of being a racist. Johnson, repeatedly using the N-word, then claims that Jesus was actually Horus and has been used to justify rape, murder, pedophilia, and other injustices.
WATCH (warning: language):
<iframe title="Coopers inside" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vSgI0vCoLMY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
As noted by <a href="https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2020/06/24/arrest-led-riot-madison-wisconsin-last-night/">Hot Air</a>, video posted on Facebook then shows the initial attempt to arrest Johnson, with Johnson clearly resisting officers.
While officers are attempting to detain him, bystanders begin suggesting that officers are arresting him for no reason, saying, &#8220;He didn&#8217;t do nothing!&#8221; and demanding that officers release him immediately.
&#8220;He was using a megaphone, and that was it!&#8221; one bystander repeatedly claims, despite Johnson walking around beforehand with a bat in one hand. The false claim is then picked up by other protesters, while the police are berated, amid shouts of &#8220;F*** you!&#8221;
WATCH: (warning: language)
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Posted by <a href="#" role="button">Alan Robinson</a> on Tuesday, June 23, 2020</blockquote>
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The Madison Police Department also posted a longer video that shows the initial arrest of Johnson, his brief escape, and final detainment:
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Johnson&#8217;s arrest would spark a massive riot Tuesday that quickly spun out of control.
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&#8220;Roughly 300 protesters blocked traffic, yelling at drivers and telling them to join the demonstration. A few drivers drove through small crowds of protesters, leaving at least one man injured,&#8221; the <a href="https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/black-activist-arrested-taken-to-ground-by-police-after-disturbance-in-madison-restaurant/article_8356b4c1-4dbf-52ff-9d5b-cadb98bf5356.html">Wisconsin State Journal</a> reported Wednesday. &#8220;Organizers stood on top of a tow truck, vowing that the night would not be peaceful.&#8221;
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&#8220;This is not a peaceful protest, so if you came out here for a peaceful protest, you missed it,&#8221; an organizer said, the paper reports. &#8220;We’re done being peaceful. Now we demanding justice.&#8221;
One of the victims of the riot was Democratic State Sen. Tim Carpenter, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rioters-attack-democrat-state-senator-in-wisconsin-he-responds-im-a-gay-progressive-on-their-side">assaulted</a> late that night after he took photos of protesters demanding the release of Johnson.
“I don’t know what happened … all I did was stop and take a picture … and the next thing I’m getting five-six punches, getting kicked in the head,” Carpenter told The Washington Post. “This has got to stop before someone gets killed. Sad thing I’m on their side for peaceful demonstrations — am a Gay Progressive Dem Senator served 36 years in the legislature.”
Early Wednesday morning, Carpenter <a href="https://twitter.com/TimCarpenterMKE/status/1275716467007328258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1275716467007328258&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.dailywire.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D123501%26action%3Dedit">posted</a> the picture that he said got him attacked and noted that he &#8220;[m]ight have concussion, left eye a little blurry, cheek shollen, sore neck and ribs.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I took this pic- it got me assaulted &amp; beat up. Punched/kicked in the head, neck, ribs. Maybe concussion, socked in left eye is little blurry, sore neck &amp; ribs. 8-10 people attacked me. Innocent people are going to get killed. Capitol locked- stuck in office.Stop violence nowPlz! <a href="https://t.co/Zw2hdfYG66">pic.twitter.com/Zw2hdfYG66</a>
&mdash; Tim Carpenter (@TimCarpenterMKE) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimCarpenterMKE/status/1275716467007328258?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.
&nbsp;

Madison Arrest

WATCH: Video Shows Wild Incident, Arrest That Led To Rioters Toppling Abolitionist Statue, Assaulting Democrat Politician

Race

A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/24/us/politics/trump-biden-poll-nyt-upshot-siena-college.html">New York Times/Siena College poll</a> out Thursday shows former Vice President Joe Biden opening up a wide lead among registered voters in six key states President Donald Trump won in 2016.
In some cases &#8212; particularly Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin &#8212; Biden leads the president by double digits, likely giving the Trump campaign some pause as they re-evaluate their campaign team and their campaign strategy.
&#8220;The surveys – conducted by Siena College for the New York Times – show the former vice president and presumptive Democratic nominee leading the GOP incumbent in the White House 47-36 percent among registered voters in Michigan, 50-40 percent in Pennsylvania, and 49-38 percent in Wisconsin,&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-trailing-biden-in-6-key-battleground-states-according-to-new-polling">Fox News reports</a>.
In addition, Biden now leads in Florida, Arizona, and North Carolina &#8212; three states Trump won by a solid margin in 2016, when facing off against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton &#8212; by comfortable margins.
All of the states listed were narrowly &#8220;blue&#8221; before Trump turned them red in the last election, and the campaign is likely to know that Trump needs to make a strong argument for his own continued employment within the Rust Belt, where manufacturing and industrial workers make up the vast majority of swing voters.
Although the New York Times leans left editorially, the NYT/Siena College polls have often been good predictors of electoral success and failure &#8212; and it was an NYT/Siena College poll, which showed that progressive 2020 contenders like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) losing dramatically to Trump in places like Florida and Arizona that drove many key Democrats to abandon the far left and embrace the more &#8220;moderate&#8221; Biden candidacy back in early 2020.
Fox News also notes that &#8220;most of the polls released on Thursday are pretty much in line with results from other recent surveys in the six key battleground states. An average of the latest polls in these states compiled by Real Clear Politics shows Biden with an 8.6 point margin in Michigan, 8 points in Wisconsin, 6.3 points in Pennsylvania, 6.2 points in Florida, 4 points in Arizona and 1.4 points in North Carolina.&#8221;
And while other polls have seemed to indicate voters currently see the 2020 election as a referendum on Trump&#8217;s performance, the NYT/Siena College poll specifically shows support for Trump eroding among white voters &#8212; the president&#8217;s key constituency. Although white voters approve of Trump&#8217;s handling of the economy &#8212; in this case, by a wide margin &#8212; they remain concerned about his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and of the widespread unrest that followed the death of George Floyd, a black man who perished while in the custody of the Minneapolis Police Department.
&#8220;Trump faces headwinds on his handling of the protests against police brutality and racial injustice as only 31% believe he has handled them well,&#8221; <a href="https://www.axios.com/biden-leads-trump-battleground-polling-nyt-5675f5ad-09ac-46ca-827b-406cdce28c34.html">Axios reports</a>. &#8220;55% of the battleground voters said they believe the federal government should be working to limit the spread of the coronavirus, even if it hurts the economy, while just 35% said the federal government needs to restart the economy.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Joe Biden Donald Trump

POLL: Biden Leading Trump In Six Key Battleground States, Some By Double Digits

2020 Election

Donald Trump

Florida

Joe Biden

Michigan

Violent rioters in Wisconsin destroyed two statues on Tuesday night, including a statue of a Union colonel who died fighting against slavery and to bring an end to the Confederacy.
The destruction of property happened outside the Wisconsin State Capitol, where rioters destroyed the statues of Wisconsin&#8217;s motto &#8220;Forward&#8221; and of Col. Hans Christian Heg, &#8220;an abolitionist who died trying to end slavery during the Civil War,&#8221; The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/06/24/madison-protesters-pull-down-forward-hans-christian-heg-statues-attack-senator-sculptures-in-lake/3247948001/">reported</a>.
&#8220;Heg was an anti-slavery activist who fought and died for the Union during the U.S. Civil War,&#8221; the outlet notes. &#8220;His nearly 100-year-old sculpture was decapitated and thrown into a Madison lake by protesters.&#8221;
While the original Forward statue was erected in 1895, the protesters tore down the replica commissioned in the 1990s. The Wisconsin Historical Society <a href="https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS2752">describes</a> the &#8220;Forward&#8221; statue as an &#8220;allegory of devotion and progress.&#8221; The fact that the statue was given a prominent position at the Wisconsin State Capitol was considered &#8220;an unusual honor for a woman&#8221; of Jean Pond Miner&#8217;s day, who created the statue.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Statue of Hans Christian Heg, an anti-slavery activist and American Civil War soldier, was beheaded in Madison, Wis. and thrown in the lake. The Forward statue was also toppled. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlackLivesMatter</a> <a href="https://t.co/kx0OTbcMyR">pic.twitter.com/kx0OTbcMyR</a>
&mdash; Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1275772503189676034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The continued destruction of American statues happened around the same time that the violent rioters <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rioters-attack-democrat-state-senator-in-wisconsin-he-responds-im-a-gay-progressive-on-their-side">attacked</a> an openly gay Democrat state senator.
The National Parks Service <a href="https://www.nps.gov/people/hans-heg.htm">highlighted</a> Heg&#8217;s military service fighting for the Union and noted his final battle:
<blockquote>Wisconsin Governor Randall appointed Heg a colonel on October 1, 1861, and assigned him the task of raising a Scandinavian Brigade in response to the pending war that faced their adopted country. Recent immigration from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark provided more than 75,000 able bodied citizens in 1861. Heg&#8217;s recruiting efforts included an editorial in the Emigranten, Oct. 5, 1861. In this call, Heg asked for a thousand men—Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes. He said, &#8220;The officers of the regiment will be men who speak the Scandinavian languages. Thus an opportunity to enter the service is afforded those Scandinavians who do not yet speak English.&#8221; From this call, Norwegian volunteers from Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois formed the Fifteenth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Heg was a gifted volunteer officer in the Union Army, his first military command being the Fifteenth. Notable engagements of the Fifteenth Wisconsin included Island No. 10, the Battle of Perryville, the Battle of Stones River, the Tullahoma Campaign, the Battle of Chickamauga, the Siege of Chattanooga (Missionary Ridge), the relief of Knoxville, Rocky Face Ridge and Dalton, the Battle of Resaca, and the Atlanta Campaign.
Colonel Heg&#8217;s final battle was at Chickamauga on September 19, 1863. The Fifteenth Wisconsin was fully exposed to enemy fire during repeated attacks and counter attacks throughout the day. While actively rallying his brigade from one of these repulses, Heg received a mortal wound, of which he succumbed to in a nearby field hospital. A triangular pyramid monument of eight inch shells, ten feet in height, marks the spot where Colonel Heg was mortally wounded (seven more of these pyramids can be located throughout Chickamauga Battlefield).</blockquote>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Wisconsin House Awaits Vote On Controversial Budget Bill After Senate Republicans Abruptly Passed

Rioters Destroy Statue Of Union Colonel Who Died Fighting Slavery, Confederacy. Also Destroy The ‘Forward’ Statue.

American History

Violent rioters in Wisconsin reportedly attacked an openly gay Democrat state senator on Tuesday night as they engaged in the destruction of property outside the Wisconsin State Capitol.
The riots reportedly began after an African-American man was <a href="https://youtu.be/vSgI0vCoLMY?t=18">arrested</a> earlier in the day after he entered a restaurant shouting at people while on a megaphone and carrying a baseball bat.
&#8220;During the melee late Tuesday, Democratic state Sen. Tim Carpenter was assaulted after taking a photo of protesters,&#8221; USA Today <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/24/madison-protesters-pull-down-statues/3248384001/">reported</a>. &#8220;Protesters, chanting for the release of the man who&#8217;d been arrested earlier, also broke glass at the Tommy Thompson Center on West Washington Avenue and smashed windows at the Dane County Jail and at the state Capitol before police arrived just before 1 a.m. &#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/TimCarpenterMKE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TimCarpenterMKE</a> was just punched in the face by Madison protesters because he was filming. Several people attacked him. <a href="https://t.co/jyGIfe0Ogq">pic.twitter.com/jyGIfe0Ogq</a>
&mdash; Dylan Brogan (@telldylan) <a href="https://twitter.com/telldylan/status/1275657586377965576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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I believe this is State Senator Tim Carpenter. Minutes earlier he told us the protesters assaulted him. Then he collapsed walking towards the Capitol. We called paramedics. An ambulance is here now. <a href="https://t.co/uUSdKyQ1hp">pic.twitter.com/uUSdKyQ1hp</a>
&mdash; Lance Veeser (@lanceveeser) <a href="https://twitter.com/lanceveeser/status/1275664180994080768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Carpenter told The Washington Post that he might have suffered a concussion and a fractured nose from the attack along with a bruises all over his body.
&#8220;In one photo of the melee, Carpenter, dressed in a blue T-shirt and shorts, is standing in the street and looks to be engaged in an animated conversation with at least two people. It is not clear what was said between Carpenter and the protesters before the situation turned violent,&#8221; The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/24/madison-police-protest-senator/">reported</a>. &#8220;Early Wednesday, Carpenter emailed The Washington Post a short video he took of a large group of protesters. In the 10-second clip, several people start yelling and pointing in Carpenter’s direction before at least two rush over to him and appear to grab at his phone.&#8221;
“I don’t know what happened … all I did was stop and take a picture … and the next thing I’m getting five-six punches, getting kicked in the head,” Carpenter told The Post. “This has got to stop before someone gets killed. Sad thing I’m on their side for peaceful demonstrations — am a Gay Progressive Dem Senator served 36 years in the legislature.”
Carpenter later wrote on Twitter, &#8220;This is the picture that got me assaulted and beat up by a mob. Punched &amp; kicked in the head. Might have concussion, left eye a little blurry, cheek shollen, sore neck and ribs. This has to stop before some innocent person get killed. I locked up in the Capitol until it’s safe.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is the picture that got me assaulted and beat up by a mob. Punched &amp; kicked in the head. Might have concussion, left eye a little blurry, cheek shollen, sore neck and ribs. This has to stop before some innocent person get killed. I locked up in the Capitol until it’s safe
&mdash; Tim Carpenter (@TimCarpenterMKE) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimCarpenterMKE/status/1275710960171397121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The latest spate of violence from rioters comes after they have attacked law enforcement officials in recent weeks, burned buildings to the ground, looted stores, and destroyed statues and monuments across the country.
In response to rioters trying to destroy statues on federal property, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-authorizes-feds-to-arrest-anyone-who-vandalizes-statues-on-federal-property">announced</a>, “I have authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the U.S. with up to 10 years in prison, per the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act, or such other laws that may be pertinent. This action is taken effective immediately, but may also be used retroactively for destruction or vandalism already caused. There will be no exceptions!”
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Wisconsin Republicans Try To Push Through Legislation Aimed At Limiting Incoming Democrats Power

Rioters Attack Democrat State Senator In Wisconsin; He Responds: I’m A ‘Gay Progressive,’ ‘On Their Side’

Democratic Party

An Anytime Fitness location in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, has issued an apology after the gym posted an “I Can’t Breathe” workout regimen, a reference to some of the last words uttered by George Floyd, the 46-year old African American man who was killed after a police officer pushed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.
The workout regimen appears to have been posted on a whiteboard sign, and featured a group of exercises along with the words “I Can’t Breathe,” the words Floyd repeated as he was on the floor with a police officer’s knee pushing against his neck. The sign also had a stick-figure type person kneeling on the floor, and the bottom of the sign shows the words &#8220;and don&#8217;t you dare lay down.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The intent was to create a workout to depict <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeorgeFloyd?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GeorgeFloyd</a>’s final moments&#8230; and they thought this was a fitting tribute Anytime Fitness Wauwatosa Wisconsin <a href="https://t.co/PG2zVS0w9N">pic.twitter.com/PG2zVS0w9N</a>
— Innocuous Dove (@DoveInnocuous) <a href="https://twitter.com/DoveInnocuous/status/1270806865455255552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
“I deeply apologize,” co-owner Jen Dunnington told<a href="https://www.tmz.com/2020/06/10/wisconsin-gym-anytime-fitness-i-cant-breathe-workout-sign-apology/"> TMZ</a> in an interview, who reportedly said the idea was thought up by a trainer who wanted to &#8220;honor&#8221; Floyd&#8217;s memory. She also claimed that the intent of workout was to make it “so hard that we felt what he felt,” and suggested she was unaware of how the sign appeared until it was brought to her attention.
&#8220;I didn&#8217;t read it in that way, but I do definitely apologize that those words were on there,” said Dunnington, who also mentioned that “the line on there should not have been on there.”
Anytime Fitness told <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anytime-fitness-under-fire-for-i-cant-breathe-fitness-routine/">CBS News</a> in an email the franchise location’s owner and “entire staff have volunteered to be the first ones to participate in the antiracism training that we announced last week and are providing for all franchise owners across our portfolio of brands.&#8221;
The fitness company also posted its own apology to Twitter, saying that they were “shocked and devastated” that a franchise would choose to post an “I Can’t Breathe” workout.
&#8220;As leaders of Self Esteem Brands and the Anytime Fitness brand, we were shocked and devastated to see that one of our franchise locations chose to offer an &#8216;I Can&#8217;t Breathe&#8217; workout,&#8221; said the fitness company&#8217;s corporate office. &#8220;No matter the intent, we absolutely do not condone the words, illustrations or actions this represents.&#8221;
 &#8220;One of our publicly-stated commitments to antiracism work is to bolster education efforts for our franchise owners to lead with empathy, love and respect,&#8221; said the company. “This incident makes it clear that we have work to do in this space; immediately, we are sharing this incident with our franchise owners worldwide as an example of what not to do, why it is offensive, and what locations should be doing instead.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A statement from Anytime Fitness Co-Founders and Brand President regarding Wauwatosa, WI incident <a href="https://t.co/qUmeaeQ5eT">pic.twitter.com/qUmeaeQ5eT</a>
— Anytime Fitness (@AnytimeFitness) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnytimeFitness/status/1270753380907048967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Close-Up Of Dumbbells In Gym

Wisconsin Gym Apologizes For Posting ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Workout

George Floyd

Hours after the Wisconsin state Supreme Court struck down the governor&#8217;s extended stay-at-home order, patrons flooded the bars to celebrate in ways they have not celebrated in nearly two months.
According to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/wisconsin-bar-crowds-stay-at-home-order-supreme-court-coronavirus">Fox News</a>, some bars, such as Nick&#8217;s Bar in Platteville, reported a full house within 45 minutes of the Supreme Court&#8217;s ruling; all young people, none of whom wore masks or practiced &#8220;social distancing.&#8221;
&#8220;Live video showed guests standing and sitting close to one another around the bar while dancing, drinking and singing to music. The establishment wrote that it was serving at least two dozen people within an hour of reopening,&#8221; reported Fox News.
&#8220;The Iron Hog Saloon in the Town of Port Washington had reopened its doors by 3 p.m. Wednesday, <a href="https://www.wisn.com/article/tavern-league-of-wisconsin-to-bars-open-immediately/32468830" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WISN</a> reported,&#8221; the report later added. &#8220;Owner Chad Ardnt said he’s upped cleaning protocols and decided to reopen given his nine employees have not received a paycheck in months. Video filmed by the station from inside the bar showed customers were not wearing face masks.&#8221;
Immediately after the ruling, the Tavern League of Wisconsin, a trade organization of about 5,000 members, announced that establishments can immediately open while asking that businesses follow safety guidelines in accordance with the local municipalities.
&#8220;The Court’s decision takes effect immediately, meaning that – at the state level – Order #28 is unenforceable and there are no longer requirements that people remain in their homes, or restrictions on nonessential travel or business operations including restaurants and taverns,&#8221; the <a href="https://www.tlw.org/">Tavern League said</a>.  &#8220;Our lawyers are reviewing the ability of local municipalities or counties to pass their own Safe at Home Orders. For the time being, Licensees should know they may face fines for opening in violation of a local order. For that reason, it is important to consider any local orders and consult with the municipality issuing their license. The following is from the Wisconsin Counties Association which states it is unclear whether locals have the authority to pass Safe at Home Orders.&#8221;
The court&#8217;s decision did allow room for local municipalities to institute their own ordinances that were immediately passed following the ruling.
&#8220;In Dane County, home to the capital of Madison, officials quickly imposed a mandate incorporating most of the statewide order,&#8221; reported Fox News. &#8220;City health officials in Milwaukee said a stay-at-home order they enacted in late March remains in effect.&#8221;
Some bar openings, such as state Street Pub in Green Bay, Wisconsin, were short-lived after local authorities instituted their own lockdown orders.
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45 minutes after the bars open in Wisconsin&#8230;. <a href="https://t.co/xqaDlS6ajP">pic.twitter.com/xqaDlS6ajP</a>
&mdash; Nick&#39;s bar (@nicksonsec) <a href="https://twitter.com/nicksonsec/status/1260746591918608386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The court&#8217;s ruling came after Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers extended the state&#8217;s lockdown orders, which were supposed to end on April 24, to May 26 under the advisement of his Health Secretary Andrea Palm. In the ruling, the court argued that Tony Evers had overstepped his power and that the order should be subject to legislative review.
“Without legislative review, ‘an unelected official could create law applicable to all people during the course of COVID-19 and subject people to imprisonment when they disobeyed her order,&#8217;” the court wrote in the opinion.
In response, Evers said that the state Supreme Court has thrown Wisconsin into chaos at the prompting of Republicans.
“Today, Republican legislators convinced four members of the state Supreme Court to throw the state into chaos,” Evers said. “They have provided no plan. There&#8217;s no question among anybody that people are going to get sick. Republicans own that chaos.”
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Some Brown County bars reopen after state Supreme Court throws out stay-at-home order. <a href="https://t.co/xgYn3Efizt">https://t.co/xgYn3Efizt</a>
&mdash; Green Bay Press-Gazette (@gbpressgazette) <a href="https://twitter.com/gbpressgazette/status/1260731148147265537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 14, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

US-HEALTH-VIRUS-PROTEST

Wisconsin Bars Flooded With Patrons Hours After State Supreme Court Strikes Down Stay-At-Home Order

Coronavirus

Tony Evers

On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Democratic Governor Tony Evers&#8217; lockdown order, &#8220;marking the first time a statewide order of its kind has been knocked down by a court of last resort,&#8221; according to the <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2020/05/13/wisconsin-supreme-court-strikes-down-tony-evers-coronavirus-orders/5179205002/">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a>.
&#8220;Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down Gov. Tony Evers&#8217; order to stay home in a 4-3 decision,&#8221; reporter Molly Beck broke Wednesday evening.
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BREAKING: Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down Gov. Tony Evers&#39; order to stay home in a 4-3 decision.
&mdash; Molly Beck (@MollyBeck) <a href="https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1260691610485964800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;The state&#8217;s highest court sided with Republican lawmakers Wednesday in a decision that curbed the Evers administration&#8217;s power to act unilaterally during public health emergencies,&#8221; the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report outlined. &#8220;The <a href="https://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&amp;seqNo=260868" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-track-label="inline|intext|n/a">4-3 decision</a> was written by four of the court’s conservatives — Chief Justice Patience Roggensack and Justices Rebecca Bradley, Daniel Kelly and Annette Ziegler. The court’s fifth conservative, Brian Hagedorn, wrote a dissent joined by the court’s two liberals, Ann Walsh Bradley and Rebecca Dallet.&#8221;
&#8220;Without legislative review, &#8216;an unelected official could create law applicable to all people during the course of COVID-19 and subject people to imprisonment when they disobeyed her order,'&#8221; wrote the majority, according to the outlet.
The ruling means Evers&#8217; lockdown order is effectively moot. Now, legislation will have to actually be passed before Wisconsin residents can have their freedoms curtailed statewide in the name of &#8220;slowing the spread&#8221; of the virus.
And, still, local officials can implement policies as they see fit within the state: &#8220;With no COVID-19 policies in place, bars, restaurants, and concert halls are allowed to reopen — unless local officials implement their own restrictions,&#8221; the report noted.
Republican State Sen. Dan Feyen said in a statement that state officials will develop a reopening plan, while Wisconsin residents will engage in &#8220;good old-fashioned common sense and personal responsibility.&#8221;
&#8220;This decision will undoubtedly go down as one of the most blatant examples of judicial activism in this court&#8217;s history. And it will be Wisconsinites who pay the price,&#8221; said a dissent from Dallet, a liberal justice on court.
Legal cases are expected to continue to emerge as the spread of COVID-19 has been considerably slowed and lockdown orders in many areas are yet to loosen in any substantive way.
On Tuesday, for example, a judge denied an order from Michigan’s left-wing Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office ordering 77-year-old barber Karl Manke to close his shop, as reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michigan-ag-orders-elderly-barber-closed-over-lockdown-order-judge-nope">The Daily Wire</a>.
David A. Kallman, the barber’s attorney, confirmed to <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2020/05/judge-denies-attorney-generals-demand-to-shut-down-owosso-barber-shop.html">Michigan Live</a> that Shiawassee County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Stewart turned down a complaint by the office of the Attorney General to obtain a temporary restraining order against the business.
Manke has been issued two citations and could face up to 90 days behind bars and/or a $500 fine for reopening last week. “The next step now would depend on if the (Attorney General) appeals or not,” Kallman said, <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2020/05/judge-denies-attorney-generals-demand-to-shut-down-owosso-barber-shop.html">Michigan Live</a> reported. “I don’t know if they’re going to, but for our point of view, the next step is two criminal charges pending against him in district court for misdemeanors.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michigan-ag-orders-elderly-barber-closed-over-lockdown-order-judge-nope">Michigan AG Orders Elderly Barber Closed Over Lockdown Order; Judge: Nope.</a>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Gov. Tony Evers

Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Democrat Governor’s Lockdown Order

COVID-19

lockdown

During oral arguments on Tuesday over a lawsuit filed by Wisconsin GOP legislators to bar the state from extending Governor Tony Evers’ stay-at-home orders, a conservative judge called the decision to implement stay-at-home orders “the very definition of tyranny.”
“The 90 minutes of argument, heard remotely by video conference, came after Evers, a Democrat, and leaders from both parties in the Legislature met for the first time to discuss a bipartisan response to the pandemic, which through Tuesday afternoon had killed 353 Wisconsin residents and sickened more than 8,500,” the <a href="https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/conservative-justices-appear-skeptical-of-authority-for-safer-at-home-extension-to-battle-coronavirus/article_857c9888-a25c-50bf-8230-78218f5e662b.html">Wisconsin State Journal</a> reported.
Evers first issued his stay-at-home order on March 24, then extended it to April 16 to expire on May 26.
State Assistant Attorney General Colin Roth stated that “people will die” if the extension order were to be repealed and nothing replaced it, according to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/496231-wisconsin-supreme-court-justice-questions-whether-stay-at-home-orders">The Hill</a>. That prompted Judge Rebecca Bradley to counter, &#8220;My question for you is, where in the constitution did the people of Wisconsin confer authority on a single, unelected Cabinet secretary to compel almost 6 million people to stay at home and close their businesses and face imprisonment if they don&#8217;t comply, with no input from the Legislature, without the consent of the people?&#8221;
Bradley continued, &#8220;Isn&#8217;t it the very definition of tyranny for one person to order people to be imprisoned for going to work, among other ordinarily lawful activities?&#8221;
Roth replied that statutes existed in state law giving power to the Department of Health Services &#8220;to do whatever is necessary to combat a novel, deadly, communicable disease like the one we&#8217;re facing today.&#8221; The secretary-designee of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services is Andrea Palm.
The Wisconsin State Journal explained, “The court will decide two issues: whether Palm violated state law governing the issuance of emergency rules by ordering the extension of ‘safer at home,’ and whether the order exceeded the authority DHS has under state law by closing nonessential businesses, ordering state residents to stay at home and forbidding nonessential travel.”
The GOP legislature’s request to hold the enforcement of the suspension for six days so DHS could create a new emergency rule with the legislature’s help is supported by “Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the Wisconsin Dairy Alliance, hunting and fishing groups, and the Wisconsin Tavern League, among others,” the Wisconsin State Journal noted.
On Saturday, as a demonstration was held outside Brookfield Square Mall to protest Wisconsin’s stay-at-home orders, Keith Best of the Republican Party of Waukesha County <a href="https://www.wisn.com/article/protesters-most-without-masks-demand-evers-reopens-wisconsin/32353004">stated</a>, “Well, Wisconsin needs to open up. there are too many small businesses that are going to be out of business if we don&#8217;t open up … So many other states are opening up way before we are, just in the Midwest alone. Gov. Evers should open up now, gradually in the state, especially areas in the north and have Dane County and Milwaukee County open up last.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

NEWS: APR 24 Rally to Reopen Wisconsin Protest

Wisconsin Judge Slams Dem Governor’s Stay-At-Home Orders: ‘The Very Definition Of Tyranny’

On Friday, Wisconsin  state Senator State Rep. LaKeshia Myers issued a statement accusing the anti “Safer-at-Home” rally on Friday that drew roughly 1,500 people of being an “exercise in white privilege,” arguing there were &#8220;no mass arrests or municipal citations issued for this non-essential gathering.”
<a href="https://www.wisn.com/article/wisconsin-state-rep-lack-of-rally-enforcement-was-exercise-in-white-privilege/32259832">WISN reported</a> that on Saturday Myers claimed she had received death threats and people had published her home address after her statement was released. Her Saturday statement read, &#8220;While I have alerted the proper authorities, I remain steadfast in my thought that we need continued compliance and equity in enforcement with the governor&#8217;s &#8216;Safer at Home&#8217; order.”
The statement Myers had previously released regarding “white privilege” read:
<blockquote>The rally held at the Wisconsin State Capitol (Friday) by individuals protesting the governor’s ‘Safer at Home’ order was clearly an exercise in white privilege. Even though a permit was denied and the capitol building was closed to the public, protesters openly defied the governor’s directive by gathering en masse on the capitol grounds while waving confederate flags and carrying military grade assault rifles. While some of the individuals participating were Wisconsinites there are also many who have traveled from out of state to participate in this deleterious display of demagoguery. In many municipalities across Wisconsin people who break the ‘Safer at home’ order can be fined, with the maximum penalty being jail time.
Why then, has Wisconsin Capitol Police failed to act?  Why have there been no mass arrests or municipal citations issued for this non-essential gathering? In order for us to move past this pandemic and to truly flatten the curve we need compliance from the public. In any other situation, willful non-compliance with the law is met with the full force of law enforcement, yet when the protestors are predominantly white and male defiance is rewarded with inaction and complacency. If we expect to recover from this pandemic, with the fewest casualties possible, immediate action needs to be taken. I urge Governor Tony Evers to use the law enforcement mechanisms at his disposal and to ensure that protestors at the Capitol are given citations and effective law and order is restored.</blockquote>
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Listed below is my statement regarding the Anti-Safer at Home Rally held at the Wisconsin State Capitol today. <a href="https://t.co/YhW4b6BhV5">pic.twitter.com/YhW4b6BhV5</a>
&mdash; Rep. Lakeshia Myers (@RepMyers) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepMyers/status/1253795181188378624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 24, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Myers later doubled down on her initial statement, asserting, &#8220;While there were people of color present at the rally, the overwhelming majority of those present were white. It is not lost on me that the response likely would have been very different had the majority of protesters been people of color. This is not speculative but based on historical facts … As an American, I wholeheartedly believe in our Bill of Rights. I also understand it is necessary to temporarily cede certain freedoms for the common good and public health is most definitely a common good.&#8221;
Bob Tarantino, one of the organizers of the protest, stated, “We want Governor Evers to open up all businesses in the state immediately before everybody goes out of business,” as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/us/politics/coronavirus-protests-madison-wisconsin.html?auth=login-email&amp;login=email">The New York Times</a> reported.
Last week, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald filed a lawsuit challenging the extension Evers put in place until May 26. Vos stated, “There’s no Republican that I know that isn’t taking the virus seriously. There’s no Republican that I know that thinks we should just go back to normal tomorrow. We need to have a gradual rollout,&#8221; as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/25/wisconsin-protestors-attack-stay-at-home-orders-unnecessary-or-government-cabal/">The Washington Post</a> reported.
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">subscriber</a>.  
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TOPSHOT-US-HEALTH-VIRUS-PROTEST

Wisconsin Rep Denounces Protest As ‘Exercise In White Privilege,’ Later Claimed She Got Death Threats

white privilege

The Wisconsin legislature, which is led by the GOP, filed an emergency petition with the state&#8217;s Supreme Court to temporarily block Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ stay-at-home order from being enforced.
On April 16, Evers <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-nw-wisconsin-stay-at-home-order-extended-20200416-eajw46fjqvegpf4x43yenweqfm-story.html">extended</a> his stay-at-home order through May 26; it closed all K-12 schools for the remainder of the academic year and kept most nonessential businesses closed. Evers’ original stay-at-home order was implemented on March 25. Evers stated that his order had saved between 300 and 1,400 lives, asserting, “Folks, we’ve saved lives together. At the end of the day, my bottom line is keeping people safe and we’re not out of the clear just yet.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and other Republicans responded to the extension by arguing that the orders should be less restrictive in more rural areas of the state, but Evers insisted that a “massive” expansion of testing and more contact tracing to make sure another wave of the coronavirus would not occur would be necessary before loosening restrictions.
<a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/493953-wisconsin-legislature-sues-to-stop-enforcement-of-governors-stay-at-home">The Hill</a> reported on Tuesday, “In <a href="http://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/13/fitzgerald/media/1402/20200421-supporting-memorandum-final.pdf">an emergency petition</a>, the legislature argued that the emergency order goes beyond the executive branch&#8217;s statutory powers.”
Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald issued a statement saying, “Wisconsinites are forced to sit by with no voice in the process. Other Midwestern states with more confirmed cases, like Ohio, have set firm dates to begin a phased reopening far earlier than the Evers administration.&#8221; The duo called the extension &#8220;unprecedented administrative overreach&#8221; leaving them no choice but to &#8220;ask the Supreme Court to rein in this obvious abuse of power … Wisconsinites deserve certainty, transparency, and a plan to end the constant stream of executive orders that are eroding both the economy and their liberty even as the state is clearly seeing a decline in COVID infections.”
Asking the court for an injunction to issue for a six-day stay of the order, they continued, “Such a stay would fairly accommodate the parties’ mutual interest in preserving the status quo and ensuring no disruption to the state’s efforts to control the spread of COVID-19.”
Evers defeated incumbent Governor Scott Walker in 2018 in a narrow race by roughly 31,000 votes, <a href="https://www.apnews.com/9cb07feb84c44e96939ce71501763aec">according to The Associated Press</a>. Evers led Walker 49.6% to 48.4%. That difference barely allowed Evers to escape a recount, as Walker himself had implemented a law in which a candidate could ask for a recount if the margin of victory was less than 1%.
<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scott-walker-narrowly-loses-wisconsin-governors-race-and-he-cant-ask-for-a-recount-because-of-a-law-he-put-in-place/">CBS News</a> noted, “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wisconsin-governor-scott-walker-loses-to-democrat-tony-evers-2018-11?utm_content=buffera5fad&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=facebook.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer-bi">Business Insider reports</a> that the threshold is due to a law Walker signed after President Trump was elected. Mr. Trump won Wisconsin by 23,000 votes, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who received just 1 percent of the vote, demanded and received a recount, the <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/30/gov-scott-walkwisconsin-tightens-recount-rules-after-jill-stein-forced-retally-2016-presidential-vot/911484001/">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports</a>. In response, the state legislature passed a measure mandating that in the future, candidates could only request a recount if they were losing by less than 1 percent.”
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If a candidate in Wisconsin is losing by less than 1 percent, they can ask for a recount — but Walker lost by 1.2 percent.
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GOP-Led Wisconsin Legislature Files Petition To Block Dem Governor’s Stay-At-Home Order

Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling of Wisconsin is standing up to Governor Tony Evers, refusing to enforce the Democrat&#8217;s lockdown order, dubbed the &#8220;Safer at Home&#8221; order, which the sheriff says is unconstitutional.
&#8220;Wisconsin law gives the Governor and the Wisconsin DHS the authority to develop emergency measures and enforce rules and orders to protect the public during a health crisis,&#8221; said Sheriff Schmaling in a statement, reported <a href="https://www.wisn.com/article/racine-county-sheriff-refuses-to-enforce-safer-at-home-order/32193363#">WISN 12 News</a> on Friday. &#8220;However, state law does not have the power to supersede or suspend the Constitutional rights of American citizens.&#8221;
The Safer at Home order was recently extended from April 25 to May 26 by the governor.
&#8220;I urge the Wisconsin DHS to develop a workable plan that balances the safety of our citizens while at the same time acknowledging the fact that there is a way for business to operate even during the current health situation,&#8221; Schmaling continued. &#8220;I have all the confidence in Racine County business owners that they can make the appropriate adjustments in the way they operate during this difficult time to accommodate for the safety of their employees and guests.&#8221;
&#8220;The overreaching measures taken by State government will have dire lifetime consequences for businesses, homeowners, and families. I took an oath to uphold the constitutional rights of our citizens, and I can not in good faith participate in the destruction of Racine County businesses or interfere in the freedoms granted to all of us by our Constitution,&#8221; Schmaling&#8217;s statement reads.
&#8220;Wisconsin law gives the authority and the responsibility for investigating and enforcing public health violations to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services and local health departments,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We will leave the enforcement of public health orders to the health department experts.&#8221;
&#8220;It is important that we stay focused on our obligations and responsibilities to those areas of the law that we are charged with enforcing,&#8221; the statement said. &#8220;We have and will continue to concentrate our resources and efforts at keeping our roads safe and protecting our citizens from criminal activity.&#8221;
&#8220;COVID-19 isn’t going to go away any time soon. I strongly encourage all of us to start thinking of our new &#8216;normal&#8217; way of doing business,&#8221; Schmaling added. &#8220;Let’s get Racine County back on its feet again and move ahead. I understand the seriousness of the current health situation and I urge all Racine County citizens to continue to be responsible and to follow the social distancing, mask, and hygiene recommendations of the CDC and the Wisconsin DHS. Let’s continue to look out for our neighbors and those less fortunate around us. Brighter days are ahead.&#8221;
Schmaling isn&#8217;t the only sheriff to put his foot down on excessive lockdown orders. As noted by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sheriffs-say-no-to-democrat-governors-draconian-lockdown-orders-we-will-protect-civil-liberties">The Daily Wire</a>, four northern Michigan sheriffs released a statement last week saying they will not be enforcing some of Democrat Governor Gretchen Whitmer&#8217;s lockdown orders, calling it an “overstepping” of executive authority.
According to <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map">Johns Hopkins</a>, Racine County in Wisconsin has 164 confirmed cases and eight COVID-19-related deaths as of Sunday evening.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sheriffs-say-no-to-democrat-governors-draconian-lockdown-orders-we-will-protect-civil-liberties">Sheriffs Say No To Democrat Governor’s Lockdown Orders: We Will Protect ‘Civil Liberties’</a>

Christopher Schmaling

Sheriff Says No To Democrat Governor’s Lockdown Order: ‘I Took An Oath’

After receiving emails from the Chinese consulate asking him to pass a resolution praising China for its fight against the coronavirus, which originated in China, Wisconsin Senate President Roger Roth (R-Appleton) wrote a resolution slamming China for lying about the coronavirus.
&#8220;When [Roth] received the first one dated Feb. 26, he saw it was from a hotmail account and disregarded it as a prank,&#8221; the Wisconsin Examiner <a href="https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2020/04/10/chinese-government-asks-wisconsin-senate-for-a-commendation/">reported</a>. &#8220;Then on March 10, 2020, he received a follow up, and Roth says he had his staff start digging, reaching out through government channels. They were able to confirm that the email requests were legitimate — and they were told Chinese diplomats routinely use private email accounts because they are faster.&#8221;
The Chinese sent Roth a draft of the resolution that they wanted him to use which was full of communist propaganda and said, &#8220;there is no need to overreact.&#8221;
The main section of the communist propaganda <a href="http://s17596.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Wisconsin-Senate-Resolution-on-supporting-Chinas-battle-against-COVID-19-revised.pdf">resolution</a> stated:
<blockquote>Whereas China’s action has been critical to the global fight against the epidemic, and China has adopted unprecedented and rigorous measures for disease control and prevention, including locking down Wuhan, a metropolis of 11 million people, house-to-house temperature checks, postponing the return to work after the Lunar New Year break of hundreds of millions of travelers, construction of hospitals of more than two thousand beds on green fields within days, bringing in medical teams from across the country to Hubei Province. These measures have been effective in curbing the virus from spreading to other parts of China and the world. As a result, the daily number of newly confirmed cases in China has dropped sharply to double digits, over 60,000 (to be updated) people have been cured and discharged from hospital, and the case fatality rate has remained lower than SARS, EBOLA and MERS; and
Whereas China has been transparent and quick in sharing key information of the virus with the WHO and the international community, thus creating a window of opportunity for other countries to make timely response</blockquote>
“Then I got mad, because that’s when [COVID-19] cases started cropping up here and you saw the problem exacerbated as we started to learn the truth,” Roth told the Wisconsin Examiner. “I just sent them back a one-word response. I said ‘nuts.’&#8221;
“Then a couple of days later I said that we are going to introduce a resolution, it’s just not the one that the Chinese government wants,&#8221; Roth continued. &#8220;We’re going to introduce one that speaks the truth to the lies that I believe are being told around the world, so that’s how we ended up with the resolution as it was introduced.”
Roth put together the following <a href="https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2019/related/proposals/sr7">resolution</a>, in response to the request from the Chinese consulate, condemning China for its actions during the pandemic and for other acts of tyranny [emphasis original]:
Relating to: acknowledging that the Communist Party of China deliberately and 
intentionally misled the world on the Wuhan Coronavirus and standing in 
solidarity with the Chinese people to condemn the actions of the Communist 
Party of China.
Whereas, the State of Wisconsin is currently in a state of emergency due to the 
rising spread of the Coronavirus that originated in the Wuhan Province of China, as 
the number of infected individuals in Wisconsin rose to over 700 and also consisted 
of 8 deaths as of March 26, 2020; and
Whereas, the Chinese people are a great people, and heirs to one of the greatest 
civilizations in human history, held hostage by a brutal and oppressive regime these 
past 70 years; and
Whereas, the Communist Party of China has engaged in a continued pattern 
of human and natural rights abuses perpetrated by the country&#8217;s communist 
administration, including the Communist Party&#8217;s treatment of Tibet, the internment 
and “reeducation” of 1.5 million Muslim Uyghurs in concentration camps, the 
enactment of a one-child policy responsible for aborting hundreds of millions of 
children, the majority of them female, a record of organ harvesting and forced 
sterilization, crackdown on the Tiananmen protests, and restrictions on individual 
expression and religious practice; and
Whereas, the Communist Party of China has repeatedly demonstrated a lack 
of interest in respecting international norms, including a history of currency 
manipulation, intellectual property theft, and restricting Chinese market access, 
while receiving the condemnation of numerous American Presidents and Legislators 
from both political parties for these practices; and
Whereas, the Communist Party of China, led by President Xi Jinping, has 
moved to consolidate power, scrapping term limits to create a de facto life term for 
the President of China and continually squashing democratic-based initiatives in 
and outside of mainland China; and
Whereas, the Chinese government is currently engaging in a barrage of 
misinformation throughout all corners of the globe, attempting to pass off the 
responsibility of their negligent and reckless response to the virus; and
Whereas, the Chinese government has imprisoned their own citizens who 
dared disseminate accurate information on the Coronavirus, destroyed early 
samples of the virus, refused to release timely and accurate information on the virus, 
and continued to allow infected individuals to leave the Wuhan Province after 
reasonable evidence of person-to-person contamination was present; and
Whereas, reports have indicated that had the Chinese Government acted in a 
more efficient, transparent, and responsible way, cases worldwide of the virus may 
have been limited by 95 percent; and
Whereas, on February 5, 2020, the first confirmed case of Coronavirus was 
identified in Wisconsin; and
Whereas, on February 26, 2020, and again on March 10, 2020, the Chinese 
Consulate reached out to the Wisconsin Senate President requesting that the Senate 
pass a resolution — written by the Chinese Consulate — including propaganda 
and falsehoods such as:
<blockquote>“China has been transparent and quick in sharing key information of the virus with the WHO and the international community, thus creating a window of opportunity for other countries to make timely response”</blockquote>
Whereas, the Wisconsin State Senate deems it necessary and prudent to 
combat the spread of misinformation propagated by the Communist Party of China 
and the need to push back on the claims that the virus originated anywhere but 
China; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the senate, That the Wisconsin Senate acknowledges that the 
Communist Party of China has deliberately and intentionally misled the world, 
suppressed vital information on the statistics and spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus 
both domestically and abroad, allowed millions of individuals to travel outside of the 
province and country despite clear warnings that the virus could be transmitted 
person-to-person, and engaged in active suppression and persecution of individuals 
looking to truthfully discuss information related to the Coronavirus, which has led 
to a global pandemic the likes of which has not been seen for generations; and, be it 
further
Resolved, That the Wisconsin Senate hereby stands in solidarity with the 
Chinese people, condemning the actions of the Communist Party of China in the 
strongest possible terms, and acknowledges that millions, both in China and around 
the world, are at risk of illness and death due to the negligence and hostile actions 
of the Chinese Communist Party.

Wisconsin state capitol building in Madison Wisconsin

Chinese Consulate Asks Wisconsin State Senator For Praise In Resolution. He Gives Them A Resolution They Won’t Forget.

China

The Ragin&#8217; Cajun is ragin&#8217; again.
James Carville, a former adviser to President Clinton, blasted Republicans after a majority of the Wisconsin&#8217;s Supreme Court justices ruled that the state&#8217;s Democratic primary should proceed, despite concerns over the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
&#8220;My kind of mission in the short-term is to sound the alarm to say [that] Mitch McConnell and the Supreme Court — they&#8217;re going to do everything they can to hold onto power,&#8221; Carville said during an appearance on MSNBC.
&#8220;This thing in Wisconsin was one of the most awful things I&#8217;ve ever seen in my life,&#8221; Carville said. &#8220;The extent that they will go to to hold onto power — it was all about one Supreme Court seat in Wisconsin — they will kill people to stay in power, literally.&#8221;
Neither MSNBC anchor Brian Williams nor former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele objected to Carville&#8217;s claim that Republicans &#8220;literally&#8221; will kill people.
He also called the court&#8217;s ruling &#8220;one of the most awful things I&#8217;ve ever seen in my life.&#8221;
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, had sought to delay the primary, asserting that voters and poll workers could be exposed to the flu-like virus. But in a 4-2 vote, the Supreme Court ruled that the governor did not have the power to postpone the election. Five of the seven justices on the court were appointed by Republicans, but one abstained because he was on Tuesday&#8217;s ballot.
Hours after Evers issued an executive order Monday postponing the primary, the Wisconsin high court ordered the election to proceed. But Evers said he issued the order because there was no other option. &#8220;There&#8217;s not a Plan B. There&#8217;s not a Plan C,&#8221; the governor said.
&#8220;Frankly, there&#8217;s no good answer to this problem — I wish it were easy. I have been asking everyone to do their part to help keep our families, our neighbors, and our communities safe, and I had hoped that the Legislature would do its part — just as the rest of us are — to help keep people healthy and safe,&#8221; he said.
Earlier in the MSNBC segment, Carville predicted that Trump would be soundly defeated in November.
&#8220;I am totally, totally unimpressed by President Trump&#8217;s political powers,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I have absolutely no fear. What I do fear is what you had in Wisconsin where they try to muck with the election and stop people from voting. But if we go to post in November with anything close to a level playing field, it&#8217;s going to be a Democratic wipeout. People are not going to vote for four more years of this.&#8221;
Carville, 75, appeared shortly after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) suspended his presidential campaign, making former Vice President Joe Biden as the presumptive nominee. Carville expressed sympathy for the democratic socialist.
&#8220;I was not a fan of Sen. Sanders&#8217; candidacy — I was not for him,&#8221; Carville said. &#8220;However, every political professional, I mean, they have dreams. I mean, he ran and he and his wife had a dream &#8230; and I kind of feel sorry for him in a way.&#8221;

Politicon 2017 &#8211; Day 1

CARVILLE: Republicans ‘Will Kill People To Stay In Power, Literally’

Bernie Sanders

James Carville

Republican Party

Requests for absentee ballots flooded Wisconsin’s elections offices ahead of the state’s Tuesday primary, causing serious lapses and thousands of lost ballots.
At least 9,000 absentee ballots were never placed into the mailboxes of voters across Wisconsin, according to The New York Times. Officials <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/us/politics/wisconsin-election-absentee-coronavirus.html">found</a> three tubs of requested ballots sitting in a post office building near Milwaukee. Ballots that voters filled out and sent back never arrived, and some that arrived were postmarked too late to be counted.
More than 860,000 countable ballots had arrived at Wisconsin’s election offices by Tuesday, a state record. The coronavirus pandemic fueled a massive spike in demand for absentee ballots that overwhelmed Wisconsin’s absentee voting system for thousands of residents. Those that requested ballots but did not receive them had to vote in person at their local polling place, if at all.
&#8220;This has all the makings of a Florida 2000 if we have a close race,&#8221; Wisconsin State Assembly minority leader Gordon Hintz (D) told The New York Times. Hintz was one of the thousands of residents who requested to vote by mail but never received a ballot.
Activists and campaign lawyers across the state are waiting as ballots continue to arrive from different parts of the state, but they are ready to act should any race come down to a thin margin.
Official results from the elections will not be <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/an-awkward-coronavirus-democratic-primary-in-wisconsin">released</a> until April 13, the deadline to receive absentee ballots, according to The Washington Examiner.
Wisconsin’s contest was the first since state governors began issuing stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The chaos of Wisconsin’s attempt to hold an election during a pandemic and state-wide stay-at-home order is a warning to other states with elections coming up to expect a spike in absentee voting, and bolster their voting systems accordingly.
More than a dozen states have delayed their elections because of the coronavirus pandemic. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the state assembly <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/federal-judge-rules-wisconsin-primary-can-proceed">refused</a> a similar proposal, pointing to state law that would cause state offices to be left temporarily vacant from the original date of the election to when one could be held.
Republicans in the Wisconsin State Assembly blocked a proposal by the governor to conduct the election entirely by mail and another proposal that would have allowed ballots eligible if postmarked after April 7 but received by April 13.
Instead, Evers ordered Wisconsin national guardsmen to staff polling places and aid election workers while drastically cutting down on polling places. Milwaukee, which typically has 180 polling sites, set up just five, causing long lines of voters to assemble outside each one.
A week before the election, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2020/04/01/coronavirus-milwaukee-barrett-says-its-dangerous-go-polls/5108992002/">urging</a> city residents to stay home on election day because of the pandemic, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
&#8220;I don’t think that it’s good public policy, I think it’s dangerous during a pandemic,&#8221; Barrett said. &#8220;And I hope that people do not go to the polls on Tuesday. As much as I want them to vote, I do not want them to put their lives in jeopardy, I don’t want them to put the health and safety of our poll workers in jeopardy.&#8221;

Wisconsin Election Proceeds Despite Stay-At-Home Order During Coronavirus Pandemic

Chaos In Wisconsin As Thousands Of Absentee Ballots Never Reached Voters

Unless the United States Supreme Court intervenes sometime before midnight, the Wisconsin Democratic primary will take place Tuesday, despite a statewide shelter-in-place order largely preventing Wisconsin residents from leaving their homes amid the threat of coronavirus.
The Wisconsin National Guard will staff the polls rather than the typical volunteers and only one person will be allowed into each polling place at a time, but otherwise, the Wisconsin state primary will go on as normal, according to the <a href="https://www.syracuse.com/politics/2020/04/wisconsin-primary-still-on-with-in-person-voting-but-supreme-court-may-intervene.html">Associated Press</a>.
The state&#8217;s Democratic governor tried, at the last minute, to stall the primary, asking the Republican legislature to extend the vote-by-mail deadline until mid-May but the GOP legislature, concerned that the effort would result in widespread vote irregularities &#8212; and could delay special election results by weeks, leaving the legislature hamstrung &#8212;  resisted, leaving the decision up to the courts.
&#8220;[Wisconsin governor Tony] Evers and Republicans initially agreed that it was imperative for the election to proceed because thousands of local offices are on the ballot Tuesday for terms that begin in two weeks,&#8221; the AP noted. &#8220;There is also a state Supreme Court election putting the conservative incumbent against a liberal challenger.&#8221;
Wisconsin is currently the only state on the primary schedule to move ahead with their primary, even though several key states are scheduled to hold contests in April, May, and early June. Those states claim even something as important as voting should not supercede coronavirus-related shelter-in-place orders and that people should not have to risk a COVID-19 infection in order to cast a ballot.
&#8220;Your choice is to go and vote in person and take a chance on contracting COVID-19 or stay home,&#8221; one Democratic Wisconsin state senator told the Associated Press. &#8220;What do you think people are going to do?”
<a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-preview-yes-wisconsin-is-still-holding-its-primary-on-tuesday/">FiveThirtyEight, though, says</a> that Wisconsin&#8217;s unique situation &#8212; empty legislative seats and a hotly contested court battle &#8212; made it more difficult for the state to reschedule its primary.
Wisconsin, the polling outfit reported, is &#8220;also holding general elections for several local offices — judges, mayors, county executives — including some whose terms begin on April 20 (so the election had to take place before then). In addition, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers probably did not have the power to alter the election without the consent of the Republican legislature, and that was always unlikely given the bad blood between the two.&#8221;
There&#8217;s another problem: Wisconsin isn&#8217;t set up to handle a massive vote-by-mail effort. So far, voters have requested more than 1.2 million absentee ballots, and the state has only ever processed around 800,000 &#8212; and that was in a presidential election, with a full staff of election officials.
Former Vice President Joe Biden may reap the only reward of Tuesday&#8217;s contest in Wisconsin: according to the latest polls, Biden is expected to chalk up a runaway victory against Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), even though the Vermont socialist won the state against Hillary Clinton back in 2016. That puts Biden at least a few dozen delegates further ahead of Sanders &#8212; an important leap forward, given that so few states are holding primaries that he may not be able to secure the 1,991 delegates necessary to lock down the Democratic presidential nomination before its August convention.

ballot box

Wisconsin Primary WILL Go On Despite State Shelter-In-Place Orders, Court Says

Voting Rights

A shocking new poll from Quinnipiac &#8212; a polling firm that generally favors Democrat and left-leaning candidates &#8212; shows President Donald Trump beating every last contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination in the all-important, must-win state of Wisconsin, crushing Democrats&#8217; hopes of retaking the White House in November.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WISCONSIN Trump 50% (+11) Klobuchar 39% . Trump 51% (+10) Warren 41% . Trump 49% (+8) Buttigieg 41% . Trump 49% (+8) Bloomberg 41% . Trump 50% (+7) Sanders 43% . Trump 49% (+7) Biden 42%<a href="https://twitter.com/QuinnipiacPoll?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@QuinnipiacPoll</a> 2/12-18<a href="https://t.co/YezsOptZpg">https://t.co/YezsOptZpg</a>
&mdash; Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) <a href="https://twitter.com/Politics_Polls/status/1230543030953926658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The poll queried registered voters in three swing states &#8212; Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania &#8212; with Wisconsin being the most important. Without Wisconsin, Democrats can&#8217;t sail to victory over Trump in the Electoral College, and with Wisconsin, Trump is less vulnerable if he loses other battleground states.
Trump trounces every serious Democratic contender in head-to-head matchups in Wisconsin by seven points or more, beating former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) by seven, former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg by eight, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) by 10 and 11 points, respectively.
Trump fares less favorably against the field in both Michigan and Pennsylvania, but is either even or within the margin of error against most Democratic candidates &#8212; hardly the position that Democrats want to be in before Trump hits the campaign trail in earnest. Trump is most vulnerable to Biden and Bloomberg in Pennsylvania and Sanders in Michigan &#8212; but not so vulnerable that the gap between candidates is impossible to overcome.
These results are all assuming, of course, that Quinnipiac oversampled Democrats &#8212; something it is notorious for doing. A right-leaning poll, like Rassmussen, might show Trump on the winning end of these same contests.
The poll also means that Trump is likely overperforming expectations in more Trump-friendly swing states like Minnesota, Florida, and Maine &#8212; and it may signal that Trump&#8217;s message of a Democratic party held hostage by the far-left and hell bent on nominating a socialist is working its magic with swing voters.
Trump also seems to be reaping the benefits of a booming economy, particularly among working class, Rust Belt voters.
<blockquote>Looking at how voters rate their own personal financial situations compared to 2016, the last presidential election, more than half in each state say they are better off:
<ul>
<li>Wisconsin: 62% say better off, 20% say worse off, 16% volunteer the same;</li>
<li>Pennsylvania: 57% say better off, 20% say worse off, 21% volunteer the same;</li>
<li>Michigan: 55% say better off, 21% say worse off, 22% volunteer the same.</li>
</ul>
Asked to rate their state&#8217;s economy, Wisconsin voters are the most positive:</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/02/13/immigration-to-america-is-down-wages-are-up">The Economist</a>, Wednesday, noted that, under Trump, the working class has experienced a &#8220;wage boom&#8221; that correlates with Trump&#8217;s aggressive economic policies, and some voters appear to be making that connection.
The Quinnipiac poll is just the first of many swing and battleground state polls that will be taken and released across the 2020 presidential campaign, but the fact that Trump is leading so early, before really taking his re-election campaign on the road, and while Democrats are dominating the airwaves, has a lot of left-leaning commentators and activists worried.
&#8220;Frightful, Dems. Wake up!&#8221; noted clearly panicked, anti-Trump Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin.
&#8220;Holy crap!&#8221; added another. &#8220;This should scare the hell out of you.&#8221;
Most also noted that Sanders, who leads the pack, may be part of why swing state voters are leaning against voting Democrat.
&#8220;My theory on this is Bernie pulling away from the field solidifies the narrative that Trump is pushing that the left is off the rails and &#8216;gone radical socialist,'&#8221; one analyst suggested. &#8220;I think it tightens if WI people sees a different narrative rise.&#8221;
If Bernie Sanders is crowned the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, of course, there will be no competing narrative.
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trump wisconsin

Uh Oh: New Poll Shows Trump Beating ALL 2020 Democrats In Must-Win Wisconsin

On Monday, a 17-year-old student at Waukesha South High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, brought a gun to school, but after he allegedly pointed it at police officers who were attempting to deescalate the situation, one officer, an 11-year veteran of the police department, fired at the student, wounding him and preventing him from possibly using his firearm.
<a href="https://secure.marketwatch.com/story/student-exchanges-gunshots-with-school-resource-officer-in-milwaukee-according-to-local-reports-2019-12-02?link=MW_latest_news">MarketWatch</a> reported, “A Waukesha South High School student informed a school resource officer that a classmate had a handgun at around 10:17 a.m., Waukesha Police Chief Russell Jack said. He said the resource officer went to the classroom to confront the 17-year-old suspect and move other students in the room to safety.”
Jack said, “The suspect would not remove his hands from his pocket and continued to ignore officers’ commands. The suspect removed his handgun from his waistband and pointed it at the officers. An officer was forced to discharge his firearm, striking the suspect.”
<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/12/02/waukesha-south-high-school-gunshots-exchanged-wisconsin/2586995001/">USA Today</a> reported, “According to emergency radio traffic, the first Waukesha Fire Department units at the scene reported to dispatchers that the patient was conscious, alert and breathing. A fire commander at the scene told other arriving fire/EMS crews that the patient sustained ‘relatively minor wounds’ and that no additional emergency responders were needed.”
No one else was injured.
One student said, “We were in the corner of the room, in the dark, with the lights off. We&#8217;ve had drills before. This one was different because of how long it was.&#8221; Another added, &#8220;Ten minutes go by and I&#8217;m like, &#8216;I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s a drill anymore.&#8217;”
A school district spokesman issued this statement, according to <a href="https://fox6now.com/2019/12/02/waukesha-police-waukesha-north-hs-now-on-lockdown/">Fox6Now</a>:
<blockquote>Today at approximately 1:15PM North High School went into a lockdown until 2:04PM. The students and the staff responded quickly as all students were cleared from the hallway and in a locked classroom out of site. All the students were put into lockdown due to a report that a student claimed to have a weapon.  The School Resource Officer (SRO) responded immediately to the situation. At the same time, as the building was put into a lockdown the Waukesha Police Department responded quickly to the building. A thorough sweep of the building was conducted and no weapon was found. Again we appreciate all the quick response by the staff and students. The safety and security of all students and staff are a top priority. I appreciate your patience during the time of the lockdown in allowing us to attend to the matter.</blockquote>
In March 2018, former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker offered a $100 million school safety plan, stating, “No child, parent, or teacher should ever have to feel unsafe in school. This package of bills focuses on ways we can help schools be safe, just like we did at the federal level ensuring that every airport and airplane were safe after 9/11.&#8221; The <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2018/03/15/gov-scott-walker-offers-100-million-plan-boost-school-safety-wisconsin/427690002/">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a> reported, “Walker&#8217;s plan would provide $100 million in grants to schools; create an Office of School Safety in GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel&#8217;s office; require reporting of threats at schools; require parental notification of bullying; incorporate trauma-informed care into training; and improving school safety plans.”
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Milwaukee Cityscapes And City Views

Armed Student Shows Up At High School. Police Respond, Show Why They’re Necessary.

Guns

Hillary Clinton has a new excuse for her 2016 loss to now-President Donald Trump: voters in places like Wisconsin, which she notoriously did not visit, were disenfranchised by voter identification laws and prevented from casting ballots in her favor.
Clinton told an audience at George Washington University that she&#8217;s been counseling 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/news/461723-hillary-clinton-voter-suppression-has-led-to-crisis-in-democracy-in-the-us">according to The Hill</a>, and among her pearls of wisdom is a warning to watch out for Republican &#8220;voter suppression,&#8221; which she believes comes in the form of laws requiring a photo ID to vote.
Clinton specifically blames Republican voter suppression for Stacey Abrams losing the election for Georgia governor, but, for the first time, extrapolated the problem to the 2016 presidential election, claiming that around 200,000 voters in Wisconsin were turned away from the polls because of that state&#8217;s voter ID requirement (Clinton, of course, lost Wisconsin in a brutal swing state defeat, despite what she claims were internal polls showing her far ahead of Trump)
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Hillary Clinton: &#8220;You can run the best campaign. You can have the best plans. You can get the nomination. You can win the popular vote. And you can lose the Electoral College and therefore the election for these 4 reasons. Number One: Voter suppression.&#8221; 
Via The Hill <a href="https://t.co/Ks4S6tDdfI">pic.twitter.com/Ks4S6tDdfI</a>
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) <a href="https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1174055558019764225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 17, 2019</a></blockquote>
&#8220;You can run the best campaign, you can have the best plans, you can get the nomination, you can win the popular vote. And you can lose the Electoral College and therefore the election for these four reasons. Number one, voter suppression,&#8221; Clinton told the crowd of around 300.
&#8220;We saw what happened in Georgia where Stacey Abrams should be governor of that state,&#8221; Clinton continued.
&#8220;Registered voters were kept off the rolls. Their registrations just piled up in some back office with no intention to ever enroll them so that they could actually vote. We also saw what happened in 2016. Experts estimate that anywhere from 27,000 to 200,000 Wisconsin citizen voters, predominantly in Milwaukee, were turned away from the polls. That’s a lot of potential voters.&#8221;
Abrams lost by more than 50,000 votes, and early claims of &#8220;voter suppression&#8221; turned out to be largely false. Brian Kemp, who defeated Abrams, did purge thousands of voters from the rolls over the course of his tenure — under a massive database cleanup project — but <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/2018-midterms-whats-the-truth-about-the-53-000-pending-voters-in-georgia">subsequent investigations</a> showed those voter profiles featured information mismatches or had long gone dormant.
But Stacey Abrams&#8217; claim of voter suppression in Georgia is far more solid than Clinton&#8217;s claim of voter suppression in Wisconsin. Clinton&#8217;s &#8220;200,000&#8221; number actually appears to be a misquote of a &#8220;300,000&#8221; number that originated in a tweet shortly following Clinton&#8217;s Wisconsin loss. The tweet claimed &#8220;300,000 voters were turned away by the states strict Voter ID law,&#8221; thereby offering proof that the election had been &#8220;rigged&#8221; for Donald Trump, ostensibly by the Russians. The number also, it seems, appeared in a New York Times article post-election.
<a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/300000-wisconsin-voters-turned-away-due-to-voter-id-laws/">Even Snopes</a>, which is undeniably a left-leaning &#8220;fact checker&#8221; organization, didn&#8217;t buy the claim. Upon a cursory investigation, Snopes discovered that the &#8220;300,000&#8221; number originated with a court finding striking down a Wisconsin voter ID law that the court claimed may have disenfranchised 300,000 voters — but that the exact number of people prevented from voting by the law was unknown.
By the time Clinton ran for President in 2016, the legislature had already changed the law, so even if 300,000 people were actively prevented from voting by the law as it existed in 2014, when the court analyzed it — something even the court itself doubts &#8212; the number was certainly outdated by November of 2016.
But, as Clinton has proven time and again in the wake of her loss, the facts matter little. Clinton lost Wisconsin not because voters were kept from the polls, but because she failed to overcome Donald Trump&#8217;s message of economic populism in a purple state, where moderate Democrats — and particularly union workers — don&#8217;t find themselves beholden to their party leadership. Clinton never made her case to Wisconsin voters, so they voted for the other guy.
That would mean, of course, that certain Trump voters aren&#8217;t racist, and that&#8217;s a reality Clinton can&#8217;t accept.
“We are witnessing a deliberate and ongoing effort to undermine the integrity of our elections and silence millions of Americans &#8230; particularly women, the elderly and people of color,” Clinton said at the end of her speech. “It’s no accident. It’s in service to their larger goals of obtaining and keeping power.”

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WATCH: Hillary Clinton Now Claims ‘Voter Suppression’ Caused Her To Lose The 2016 Election

Hillary Clinton

Rep. Sean Duffy (R-WI) announced on Monday that he would be stepping down from Congress in late-September, halfway through his fifth term.
“Recently, we’ve learned that our baby, due in late October, will need even more love, time, and attention due to complications, including a heart condition,” Duffy wrote in a statement to <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/458828-gop-rep-sean-duffy-resigning-from-congress">The Hill</a>. “With much prayer, I have decided that this is the right time for me to take a break from public service in order to be the support my wife, baby, and family need right now. It is not an easy decision – because I truly love being your Congressman – but it is the right decision for my family, which is my first love and responsibility.”
“On September 23, I will step down and allow others to step forward to begin laying our their own vision and plans for leading this beautiful district and the most honest, hard-working, family-oriented, patriotic, and God-fearing constituents in America,” the statement continued.
Duffy rose to fame as a cast member on MTV’s ‘Real World’ reality television show in the late-1990s. He subsequently continued as a cast member on other shows within the franchise into the early-2000s. He met his now-wife and Fox News personality Rachel Campos-Duffy years later when they both appeared on ‘Road Rules: All Stars.’ Together, the couple has eight children and are expecting a ninth.
Duffy is also a two-time winner of the Lumberjack World Championship’s speed-climbing competition and hosts a weekly podcast, aptly titled the “Plaidcast.” It is not clear whether he plans to continue the beloved podcast.
Prior to joining Congress, Duffy served as a Wisconsin District Attorney after he was appointed by then-Gov. Scott McCallum. He continued to serve in the role for four more terms.
Duffy has represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District since he assumed office during the Tea Party wave in 2011. The district is the largest in the state of Wisconsin, covering 20 counties, and has become increasingly red over the past few election cycles.
In 2018, the Wisconsin congressman was re-elected to the seat after winning more than 20 percent of the vote. President Donald Trump also won the district over his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton by 21 points during the 2016 presidential election. The district is a Republican stronghold and is not expected to be competitive going into the 2020 election cycle.
Duffy currently sits on the prestigious and powerful House Committee on Financial Services and is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
The announcement of Duffy’s departure comes on the heels of a slew of other Republican members of Congress who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/49962/third-house-republican-one-week-announces-they-molly-prince">recently revealed</a> they would be stepping down from their position as well.
In July, Reps. Martha Roby (R-AL), Paul Mitchell (R-MI), and Pete Olson (R-TX) all announced within a week of each other that they would be leaving Congress prior to 2020. Like Duffy’s district, both Roby and Mitchell’s districts are forecast to stay reliably red. Olson’s district, however, is expected to be a top-tier battleground going into the next election cycle.

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Wisconsin

Mayor: ‘What Happened Last Night In Madison Was Far From Peaceful And Exceeding Dangerous’

WATCH: Video Shows Wild Incident, Arrest That Led To Rioters Toppling Abolitionist Statue, Assaulting Democrat Politician

POLL: Biden Leading Trump In Six Key Battleground States, Some By Double Digits

Rioters Destroy Statue Of Union Colonel Who Died Fighting Slavery, Confederacy. Also Destroy The ‘Forward’ Statue.

Rioters Attack Democrat State Senator In Wisconsin; He Responds: I’m A ‘Gay Progressive,’ ‘On Their Side’

Wisconsin Gym Apologizes For Posting ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Workout

Wisconsin Bars Flooded With Patrons Hours After State Supreme Court Strikes Down Stay-At-Home Order

Wisconsin Supreme Court Strikes Down Democrat Governor’s Lockdown Order

Wisconsin Judge Slams Dem Governor’s Stay-At-Home Orders: ‘The Very Definition Of Tyranny’

Wisconsin Rep Denounces Protest As ‘Exercise In White Privilege,’ Later Claimed She Got Death Threats

GOP-Led Wisconsin Legislature Files Petition To Block Dem Governor’s Stay-At-Home Order

Sheriff Says No To Democrat Governor’s Lockdown Order: ‘I Took An Oath’

Chinese Consulate Asks Wisconsin State Senator For Praise In Resolution. He Gives Them A Resolution They Won’t Forget.

CARVILLE: Republicans ‘Will Kill People To Stay In Power, Literally’

Chaos In Wisconsin As Thousands Of Absentee Ballots Never Reached Voters

Wisconsin Primary WILL Go On Despite State Shelter-In-Place Orders, Court Says

Uh Oh: New Poll Shows Trump Beating ALL 2020 Democrats In Must-Win Wisconsin

Armed Student Shows Up At High School. Police Respond, Show Why They’re Necessary.

WATCH: Hillary Clinton Now Claims ‘Voter Suppression’ Caused Her To Lose The 2016 Election

Rep. Sean Duffy Announces His Resignation From Congress

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