The post Anti-abortion activist accuses DC of First Amendment violation after arrest for chalking pro-life slogan appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Washington, D.C. police violated the First Amendment when officers arrested two anti-abortion activists who were writing “Black Preborn Lives Matter” outside of a Planned Parenthood location, one of the activists told “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Monday.
“This is a violation of our First Amendment right,” said Warner DePriest, an employee of Students for Life of America (SFLA). “This is viewpoint discrimination.”
Video footage shows police warning DePriest and SFLA student leader Erica Caporaletti that they would be arrested if they continued using sidewalk chalk outside of the Planned Parenthood Carol Whitehill Moses Center in northeast D.C.
SFLA claims D.C. police granted them a permit to paint on the street, as well as verbal notice that they wouldn’t be prevented from painting on the street. The organization added that authorities specifically requested they use temporary paint.
DePriest maintains, however, that when he arrived at the center at 5 a.m. Saturday, police said he couldn’t paint “Black Preborn Lives Matter” on the street.
D.C. police did not immediately responded to Fox News’ request for comment.
Several U.S. cities, including Washington D.C., have added officially commissioned graffiti and murals to their streetscape in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, with Mayor Muriel Bowser going so far as to rechristen a two-block section of 16th Street NW “Black Lives Matter Plaza.”
“The city appears to be covered in political graffiti, racial slurs, obscenities, spray paint –indelible — on our public buildings,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson said. “This was chalk, this was colored dust. Am I missing something?”
“You’re not missing anything and that’s what’s so ironic about this situation,” SFLA President Kristan Hawkins replied.
‘BABY LIVES MATTER’ MURAL PAINTED IN FRONT OF PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLINIC
“I couldn’t be more proud of Warner and Erica and the student leaders but more simultaneously afraid [for] our rights because this was clear what was happening was viewpoint discrimination,” Hawkins said. “We have a mayor here in Washington, D.C., that painted the streets ‘Black Lives Matter,’ that allowed activists associated with the Black Lives Matter organization to then go without the permit and [in] permanent paint, paint ‘Defund the Police,'” Hawkins added.
SFLA is currently pursuing legal action. As Hawkins noted, activists painted “Defund the Police” in front of the “Black Lives Matter” slogan, so that it reportedly read: “Black Lives Matter = Defund the Police.”
According to NPR, the city’s Department of Public Works was later seen refreshing some of the paint but left “defund the police” on the street.
“Well it’s not a part of the mural,” Bowser told ABC News in June. “And we certainly encourage expression but we are using the city streets for city art.” When ABC’s Martha Raddatz pressed her further, Bowser said she hadn’t “even had an opportunity to review it.”
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Bowser’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
“We requested permission to paint the streets, ‘Black Preborn Lives Matter’ because now the mayor has opened up the streets for public expression,” Hawkins said. “We didn’t hear from the mayor. We were told from the police to use please temporary paint, which we agreed to do. But yet, we saw the mayor’s response — when we arrived on Saturday morning — with six police cars.”
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]]>The post Louisiana activist rips school board member for ‘shopping’ during debate on renaming Lee High School appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>A video of a black Baton Rouge activist eviscerating a white school board member for online shopping during a meeting about renaming a school named after slave owner Robert E. Lee has gone viral.
Gary Chambers, who was a candidate for the Louisiana state senate last year, tore into Connie Bernard at the meeting on Thursday.
He’d taken a photograph of Connie online shopping on her laptop while others spoke.
She’d defended the school’s name despite Lee’s history as a prolific slave-owner, and told people to ‘learn more about him’.
Chambers said when he got to the microphone: ‘I had intended to get up here and talk about how racist Robert E. Lee was, but I’m gonna talk about you, Connie.
‘Sitting over there shopping while we’re talking about Robert E. Lee.
‘This is a picture of you shopping while we’re talking about racism in history in this country … Because you don’t give a damn and it’s clear.’
Bernard got up and left the room without saying anything.
Gary Chambers, who was a candidate for the Louisiana state senate last year, called on Connie Bernard to resign at a school board meeting last Thursday
Chambers tore into Bernard, saying: ‘Clearly, you don’t give a damn’
Bernard has said she wasn’t shopping while listening to the debate but taking notes and reading online comments
In his speech, Chambers fumed: ‘[You’re] sitting over there shopping while we’re talking about Robert E. Lee.
Since you don’t know history sister, let me tell you what my ancestors said.
‘Robert E Lee was a brutal slave master. Not only did he say, whoop the slaves, he said lay it on them hard.
‘He said put brine on them so it’ll burn them. You sit your arrogant self in here, sit on there shopping, while the pain and the hurt of the people of this community is on display.
‘Because you don’t give a damn. You should resign. You should walk out of here and resign and never come back. You are the example of racism in this community.
‘You are horrible. Now to the rest of the board, you have an obligation to the people of this community.’
Bernard had argued: ‘I would hope that they would learn a little bit more about General Lee, because General Lee inherited a large plantation and he was tasked with the job of doing something with those people who lived in bondage to that plantation, the slaves, and he freed them.’
Chambers appeared on MSNBC on Monday to say he still thinks Bernard should resign
In fact Lee inherited 189 slaves in 1857 and, despite being ordered to free them five years later as per his stepfather’s will, he refused and only emancipated them 1863, a day before the Emancipation Proclamation.
The school board unanimously approved that the name of the school be changed despite Bernard’s comments.
On Monday, Chambers appeared on MSNBC where he said the video showed how black voices were ignored by white people in power.
‘What you saw in that video is really a reflection of what black America is dealing with.
‘You have black folks speaking up passionately about what they feel while you have a school board member, a representative of the public, who is sitting there scrolling on the internet while people are expressing their concerns.
‘We wonder why buildings burn… when we come before you, you scroll on the internet. The state before you, Louisiana is ranked number 50 in the nation.
‘When you look at Republican policies failing us day in and day out and you look at a Republican sitting there, while we’re talking about a critical issue, and ignoring us, it’s heartbreaking and I think that’s why it has resonated with so many people,’ he said.
Board Vice President Tramelle Howard told Bernard at the meeting: ‘The comments you made were extremely tone deaf to our collective community, extremely tone deaf to the students of our district, and I would be remiss if I did not stand up and stand against that.
‘I understand where you were coming from in trying to recognize history but it’s just wrong, totally wrong.
‘This man was a murderer, he was a racist and a bigot.’
In 2016, the school board had voted to remove ‘Robert E.’ from the school’s name while maintaining ‘Lee.’
Bernard was one of five board members who voted to maintain the name at that time, which was attributed to the strongly held feelings of her constituents.
Bernard has since changed her tune, telling WBRZ: ‘My comments last week about the naming of Lee High School were insensitive, have caused pain for others, and have led people to believe I am an enemy of people of color, and I am deeply sorry.
‘I condemn racial injustice in any form.
‘I promise to be part of the solution and to listen to the concerns of all members of our community. I stand with you, in love and respect.’
Thursday’s vote paves the way for a special committee, made up of pupils, local people and staff, to convene and select alternative names.
The school board are seeking to have a new name by July 16.
ROBERT E. LEE – INHERITED 189 SLAVES
Robert E. Lee (pictured) inherited slaves from his father-in-law in 1857
Confederate general-in-chief Robert E. Lee fought in the Mexican-American War and spent three years as a superintendent at West Point, training some of the men who would later serve under him.
He owned slaves from the age of 22, when he inherited several families after the death of his mother Ann Lee.
In 1857, his father-in-law left him 189 slaves who worked on the estates of Arlington, White House, and Romancoke.
The will provided that the slaves should be freed after five years, but Lee tried multiple times to resist this and keep the slaves under his control.
Although he was ‘not a pro-slavery ideologue’ according to one historian, Lee was known to use ‘violence typical of the institution of slavery’ and some slaves tried to escape his discipline. Some were recaptured and beaten on Lee’s orders.
He did not finally free the slaves until three days before Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation would have done so anyway.
Lincoln had offered Lee the command of Union forces in 1861, but Lee defected instead and became a general in the Confederate army.
Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia did battle with Grant’s federal troops in some of the defining battles of the war, which ended with Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House in 1865. Lee died in 1870.
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]]>The post Boston Activist Aubri Esters, Who Championed Safer Drug Use, Dies At 35 appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Veteran Boston activist Aubri Esters, who led efforts to expand treatment for substance use and rights for people who use drugs, was found dead by police in her apartment on Thursday.
Esters had been on methadone to treat an opioid use disorder use for at least a decade. Her cause of death is pending. She was 35.
Esters frequently represented people who use drugs in discussions with the city of Boston and the state. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who worked with Esters on issues including the opioid epidemic in the South End, said he appreciated her perspective.
“I am very saddened to hear of the passing of Aubri Esters who was a staunch advocate for the rights of people who use drugs,” Walsh said in a statement. “She challenged me to look at progressive drug user health policies in a different way, and helped me to grow on these issues. She will be greatly missed.”
Last year, Esters pressed Walsh to minimize the presence of law enforcement at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.
“Increasing law enforcement in a neighborhood that’s already intimidating and scary for a lot of folks is really concerning,” Esters told WBUR.
In 2018, Esters served on the state’s Harm Reduction Commission and pressed for many of the group’s recommendations, including a pilot of one or more supervised consumption facilities. State Sen. Cindy Friedman, who served with Esters on the commission, says she was a passionate and committed advocate.
“She used the bigotry and oppression that she faced as a transgender person, a substance user, and someone who experienced homelessness, to powerfully speak and act to protect those without a voice,” Friedman said in a statement. “Her courage was remarkable.”
Legislation that would launch two or more pilots of supervised consumption sites in Massachusetts is in the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing.
Esters helped create SIF MA Now, a coalition to build public support for supervised consumption sites and other drug harm reduction efforts.
“Aubri loudly and consistently elevated the voices of people who use drugs and taught so many people about the value of that voice in making policy,” said Dr. Kim Sue, another SIF MA Now co-founder. “It was born out of a sense of the true emergency that people live with every day.”
Esters’ death brings home that emergency for many.
Esters’ Facebook page lists work as a community organizer at the Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants group, as an outreach educator with Victory Programs and as a volunteer organizer at the Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee.
In 2016 she was among the winners of a hackathon focused on ways to reduce drug addiction and deaths. Her team proposed a mobile van that would travel to heroin-use hot spots around Boston. Staff would hand out clean needles, offer counseling and a two day supply of Suboxone, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder.
“From my experience as a homeless person who was a drug user, I know that some people won’t go to recovery centers because of the shaming and the stigma that’s involved, a lot of the times unintentionally from the providers there,” Esters told WBUR.
People who worked with Esters say she was at the center of the movement to save lives, reduce the shame associated with substance use and end the criminal treatment of people with this disease.
“Aubri would stand her ground and speak for those no longer with us or left out, with voices that were ignored. I loved this about her,” said Gary Langis, an outreach and harm reduction specialist at Boston Medical Center. “Her spirit will remain, reminding us that change can only happen by adding our collective voices to the movement for positive change.
Esters was born in Revere. Her Facebook page lists attendance at Whitinsville Christian School, Uxbridge High School and Waltham High School and says she studied interrelated media at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
An outdoor service is planned for Thursday at 5 p.m. at First Church in Cambridge.
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]]>The post Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong says Beijing’s bill is about boosting Communist regime, not national security appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong called Beijing’s proposed national security legislation “more evil” than the scrapped extradition bill that triggered mass protests in Hong Kong last year.
“We all know that the national security legislation is not about the security of China, it’s just about enhancing, embracing the Communist regime in China,” Wong, secretary general of pro-democracy group Demosisto, told CNBC.
There is also fear the national security laws could lead to Chinese intelligence agencies setting up bases in Hong Kong and enforcing law directly.
Unlike other laws in the territory, the bill introduced last week allows Beijing to bypass Hong Kong’s legislature before implementation, reigniting concerns about deteriorating freedoms in the city. The motion to draft the law is expected to be passed on Thursday when China’s annual parliamentary session ends. It would be implemented in months, after details are drafted and passed by Beijing.
Wong slammed that process, saying “This proposed law is a stepping stone for the future interference of eroding the political and economic freedom in Hong Kong.”
He argued that the law could criminalize free speech, including criticism of chief executive Carrie Lam and calls for her to step down. Wong — who has taken his cause overseas, including to the U.S., for support — said that such activities may be considered subversion in the future under the national security law.
Wong said that the law could be arbitrarily enforced and that the prosecution of those who breach it may not take place in Hong Kong.
“In the future, I might not be jailed in Hong Kong anymore, I might be jailed in China, in Beijing and that is the tremendous threat we might need to face,” said Wong.
Time is running out in Hong Kong.
Joshua Wong
secretary general of Demosisto
This will affect the faith and credibility that has been placed in Hong Kong’s business environment, he said.
Last week, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong expressed concerns about the law. It said the freedoms that distinguish the city from mainland China, like its independent judiciary and the freedom of assembly, have been key to Hong Kong’s position as a global financial center.
There is a “fear factor developing in the business community,” AmCham said in a statement. The business group said definition and details of the law are necessary to alleviate that feeling.
“A Beijing inspired national security law leaves open an interpretation of how such an act will be enforced. How will it affect the rule of law? Will it mean limiting online, press and personal freedoms? People may also ask whether Beijing’s concern over foreign interference adds an element of risk to foreigners living here,” AmCham President Tara Joseph said in a statement.
‘One country, one system’
Over the weekend, the introduction of the national security law spurred thousands to protest in the streets, despite social distancing guidelines that remain in place to contain the coronavirus outbreak. More protests are taking place on Wednesday against the planned national security law and a bill criminalizing disrespect of China’s national anthem.
“Time is running out in Hong Kong … (that is almost turning from) ‘one country, two systems’ to ‘one country, one system’ and (this) seems to be the beginning of the end,” said Wong, referring to the principle which China uses to govern Hong Kong.
He said that the breaches the premise of the Sino-British Joint declaration, a bilateral agreement that was registered at the United Nations. The treaty was signed to guarantee Hong Kong’s autonomy for 50 years after the former British colony’s sovereignty was transferred to China.
It also calls into question the status of Hong Kong as a free port and economy for the free flow of capital, Wong argued.
On Tuesday, an official to the National People’s Congress told CNBC that Beijing proposed the national security law as Hong Kong lawmakers have not been able to, despite their obligation under Article 23 of the city’s mini-constitution.
Hong Kong leader Lam said in a statement Friday that the new law would only target acts of secession, subverting state power and organizing and carrying out terrorist activities, as well interference by foreign or external forces.
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