In Plain Sight: Uncovering Border Patrol's Relationship with Far-Right Militias at the Southern Border

Sothern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch: Antigovernment militia groups in Arizona appear to be working in tandem with some Border Patrol agents in Pima County, based on a Hatewatch review of social media.

As militias on the border have become more brazen in recent months, it appears some Border Patrol agents have turned a blind eye to their activities. Hatewatch has reviewed several videos of Border Patrol agents interacting with these border militia members, in some cases even appearing to have established friendly relationships.....

These groups have a history of engaging in conspiracy-fueled missions that aim to portray migrants as cartel members and child predators. Although VOP appears to have been around since at least 2015, they’ve veered from their initial mission of providing services to homeless veterans and have shifted their focus to intercepting migrants from Central and South America. In 2021, the current Veterans on Patrol organization appears to have very little do with veteran affairs, and according to the group’s website, their new priority is to protect “America’s children by disrupting Child traffickers along the southern Arizonan Border!”

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2021/07/29/plain-sight-uncovering-border-patrols-relationship-far-right-militias-southern-border

A lawyer hoped history books would help her Capitol riot clients grow. She was called a traitor — and worse.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/07/31/capitol-riot-lawyer-books-defense/



She is a bit naïve about her clients. But naivete is noble.

Source: Washington Post

“You may not believe in this virus even though 600,000 people have died,” said U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton. “I’m not going to be a part of spreading this virus because of what you don’t believe.”

The judge also warned Goodwyn’s lawyer, John Hull, that he could be held in contempt for repeatedly interrupting the proceedings and for calling a pretrial services officer “prissy” and “arrogant” in an email.

“I’ve never seen a lawyer send something like you sent,” Walton said. “You will not do it again.” Hull said he did not regret his actions, because his client “was really upset” about the possibility of going back to jail.

“I believe I would not cause someone to die by not wearing a mask,” he concluded. That response made Walton explode again, asking Goodwyn, “When did you go to medical school?”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/riot-defendant-refuses-mask-angers-judge/2021/07/30/677938ec-f15c-11eb-bf80-e3877d9c5f06_story.html

A prominent vaccine skeptic who appears often on Fox News went so far as to claim Israel’s data showed something amounting to a “complete vaccine failure on every level.”

The reality, as it often is with such claims, is quite different from how it’s being pitched.

While cases are indeed rising significantly in Israel because of the more vaccine-resistant delta variant, that’s from a very low baseline. The country remains at a fraction of its former case numbers.

Epidemiologist Katelyn Jetelina last week explained this misleading use of data, which is known as a base rate fallacy — or base rate bias in epidemiology:

The more vaccinated a population, the more we’ll hear of the vaccinated getting infected. For example, say there’s a community that’s 100% vaccinated. If there’s transmission, we know breakthrough cases will happen. So, by definition, 100% of outbreak cases will be among the vaccinated. It will just be 100% out of a smaller number.
Cue Israel. They are one of the global leaders in vaccinations; 85% of Israeli adults are vaccinated. So, say we have the following scenario:
...
With an infection rate among the vaccinated of 2% and infection rate of 13% among the unvaccinated, this would give us an efficacy rate of 85%

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/19/vaccine-skeptics-zero-israel-again-some-reason/

https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/p/israel-50-of-infected-are-vaccinated

https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/base-rate-fallacy/

Source: Washington Post

Tampa man, 20, admits intending to block Congress with Oath Keepers in new Capitol riot guilty plea

A Tampa man pleaded guilty Tuesday to joining a “stack formation” of Oath Keepers members and associates who allegedly breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, becoming the latest to cooperate with prosecutors and the first among the formation to specify that he intended to hinder Congress that day using intimidation and coercion.

U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta of Washington accepted the plea after Berry acknowledged that he coordinated plans and discussed the need to bring firearms for Jan. 6 in the nation’s capital with Oath Keepers members.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/tampa-man-20-admits-intending-to-block-congress-with-oath-keepers-in-new-capitol-riot-guilty-plea/2021/07/20/74bf6320-e980-11eb-8950-d73b3e93ff7f_story.html

Source: Washington Post

An Alabama military base is taking increased actions to combat the ongoing prevalence of coronavirus infections, authorizing leaders to ask for proof of vaccination of service members not wearing a mask while on duty. It is the first military base in the continental United States to allow leaders to check the vaccination status of those in uniform.

The order issued Tuesday by Maj. Gen. David Francis, commanding general of Fort Rucker, states that unmasked uniformed personnel “must be prepared to show proof of vaccination” when on the base.

“Due to the rising rates in the counties around us and some on Fort Rucker, we’re now implementing G.O. number 12,” Francis said in a video posted July 12 on Fort Rucker’s official Facebook page, referring to the general order issued to Fort Rucker personnel. “The big difference is going to be that if you are not wearing a mask, the leadership will be able to ask you, ask soldiers, to prove that they’ve been vaccinated by showing their vaccination card.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/07/14/alabama-fort-rucker-vaccination/

Source: Washington Post

An Idaho man photographed hanging from the Senate balcony and sitting in the presiding officer’s chair in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony obstruction of Congress, admitting to joining a group who came to Washington armed with firearms, knives and body armor to support President Donald Trump.



Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/guilty-plea-senate-balcony-capitol-riot/2021/07/14/b5e060d4-e4d5-11eb-8aa5-5662858b696e_story.html

The Justice Department has agreed to pay $6.1 million to a technology contractor to create a massive database of videos, photographs, documents and social media posts related to the Capitol riot as part of the process of turning relevant evidence over to defense attorneys for the more than 500 people facing criminal charges in the Jan. 6 events, according to a court filing and government records.

To take on the daunting task, the federal government has turned to Deloitte Financial Advisory Services, a firm prosecutors called “a litigation support vendor with extensive experience providing complex litigation technology services.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/09/doj-database-capitol-riot-prosecutions-498911

Israel reported that the Pfizer vaccine was 64 percent effective against the Delta variant, even as other studies suggest a higher rate. All of the research so far indicates that vaccines help prevent hospitalization.

In Britain, researchers reported in May that two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine had an effectiveness of 88 percent protecting against symptomatic disease from Delta. A June study from Scotland concluded that the vaccine was 79 percent effective against the variant. On Saturday, a team of researchers in Canada pegged its effectiveness at 87 percent.
And on Monday, Israel’s Ministry of Health announced that the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 64 percent

Although the range of these numbers may seem confusing, vaccine experts say it should be expected, because it’s hard for a single study to accurately pinpoint the effectiveness of a vaccine. But once vaccines hit the real world, it becomes much harder to measure their effectiveness. Scientists can no longer control who receives a vaccine and who does not. If they compare a group of vaccinated people with a group of unvaccinated people, other differences between the groups could influence their risks of getting sick.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/07/07/world/covid-19-vaccine-coronavirus-updates-

Two powerful countries, two important anniversaries. On Thursday, July 1, the Chinese Communist Party celebrated 100 years since its founding. On Sunday, July 4, the United States celebrated 245 years since the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The differences between these two political milestones are stark — and remind me of why I’m lucky to be an American.

The Declaration of Independence is rooted in the liberal belief that all individuals “are created equal” and that they possess “unalienable Rights” including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” By contrast, in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s bombastic oration on Thursday, there was no mention of individual rights. It was all about collective entities — the Chinese nation, the Chinese people, the Chinese Communist Party. Xi told his subjects to “uphold the firm leadership of the Party” because “China’s success hinges on the Party.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/05/republicans-are-treating-history-like-china-does/