US offers to pay relatives of 10 killed in botched Afghan drone strike

Issued on: 16/10/2021 - 

A relative of Ezmarai Ahmadi stands next to a vehicle that was damaged in a US drone strike in the Kwaja Burga neighbourhood of Kabul August 29 that killed 10 people including seven children Hoshang Hashimi AFP

Washington (AFP)

The United States said Friday it has offered to pay unspecified compensation to relatives of 10 people in Afghanistan including seven children who were killed by mistake in a US drone strike as American forces were completing their withdrawal.

In a statement the Pentagon also said it was working with the State Department to relocate to the United States any of those relatives who wish to leave Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

The offer to pay these people was made Thursday in a meeting between Colin Kahl, the under secretary of defense for policy, and Steven Kwon, the founder and president of an aid group active in Afghanistan called Nutrition and Education International, the Pentagon said in a statement.

That organization employed Ezmarai Ahmadi, who was wrongly identified as an Islamic State militant by US intelligence on August 29 during the final days of the chaotic US evacuation from Kabul.

US intelligence tracked his white Toyota for eight hours before targeting the car with a missile, killing seven children and three adults, including Ahmadi.

US Central Command commander General Kenneth McKenzie said at the time that American intelligence had seen the vehicle at a site in Kabul that had been identified as a location from which IS operatives were believed to be preparing attacks on the Kabul airport.

Three days earlier an Islamic State-Khorasan suicide bomber had killed scores at the airport, including 13 US service members.

But last month US officials conceded the drone attack was an error.

In the meeting Thursday "Dr. Kahl noted that the strike was a tragic mistake and that Mr. Ezmarai Ahmadi and others who were killed were innocent victims who bore no blame and were not affiliated with ISIS-K or threats to US forces," said a statement attributed to Defense Department spokesman John Kirby.

"Dr. Kahl reiterated Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s commitment to the families, including offering ex gratia condolence payments," he added without saying how much money was offered.

Last month relatives of the people killed in the attack demanded compensation and a face to face apology.

Austin has apologized for the botched attack. However, Ahmadi's 22-year-old nephew Farshad Haidari said that was not enough.

"They must come here and apologize to us face-to-face," he told AFP in a bombed-out, modest house in Kwaja Burga, a densely populated neighborhood in Kabul.

Haidari, whose brother Naser and young cousins also died in the blast, said on September 18 that the US had made no direct contact with the family.

In the meeting Thursday NEI chief Kwon spoke of how Ahmadi worked with that aid organization "over many years, providing care and lifesaving assistance for people facing high mortality rates in Afghanistan."

© 2021 AFP

COP26 MEETS CLASS WAR
SUMMIT STRIKES
COP26: When and where will strikes take place in Glasgow during climate change summit?


Harry Williamson
Dan Vevers
15 Oct 2021

A SERIES of strikes are set to cause chaos across Glasgow next month when COP26 begins.

Delegates and world leaders are set to descend on the city next month for the UN climate change conference, but strike action may overshadow the summit.

3The RMT union has warned no trains will be running during COP26Credit: PA

3Binmen in Glasgow have voted to go on strike during the climate conferenceCredit: Kenny Ramsay - The Sun

WILL TRAIN SERVICES BE RUNNING DURING COP26?


Rail workers have voted to go on strike during the climate summit amid an ongoing dispute with ScotRail.

Unions have warned there will be no trains running during the major conference.

It comes as the RMT union turned down an offer of a 4.7 per cent pay rise over two years, saying it was a “lousy, rotten” offer.

ScotRail has said it will try to have some trains running in Glasgow during COP26 and the rail provider is still probing what impact the strike will have.

Ongoing strike action has seen ScotRail services disrupted on Sundays.


WILL BINS BE EMPTIED DURING COP26?

Bin collectors in Glasgow have voted to strike during COP26 amid their dispute with COSLA, which represent Scottish councils.

A total of 96 per cent of Glasgow binmen in the GMB union voted in favour of strike action as they rejected a pay offer of £850-a-year increase for staff earning up to £25,000 a year from COSLA.

Refuse workers under GMB, Unite and Unison are all calling for a £2,000 pay rise.

Union bosses have slammed the underfunding, saying services have been "neglected" and the people who deliver them have been "let down".

'HYPOCRISY'

Gary Smith, leader of the GMB, has called the streets of Glasgow “filthy” and said it was “hypocrisy” for the city to host the climate summit.

ARE SCHOOL STAFF GOING ON STRIKE?

Janitors, cleaners and cooks in Glasgow schools are set to strike amid their own pay dispute.

A total of 97 per cent of GMB members in the city's schools voted to strike during COP26.


Glasgow council bosses said it is “impossible to say” on how the strike action would impact schools and whether they would have to close.

A union boss warned that the Scottish Government could be embarrassed on an “international stage” if the demands of cleansing staff are not met.

COP26: Scots warned there ‘will be ZERO ScotRail trains running’ during Glasgow climate change summit

A total of 600 school staff are joining refuse and rail workers, meaning almost 1,500 Glasgow City Council employees will be on strike during COP26.

Tory local government spokesman Miles Briggs said: “With just weeks to go, there is a real risk that a wave of strikes are going to overshadow the crucial COP26 conference.

“Cuts from both SNP administrations in Holyrood and in Glasgow have meant many vital local services have been neglected and the people who deliver them have been let down.

“It is time for the SNP leadership in Glasgow to step up to the mark and make every effort to resolve this situation.”

Glasgow union organiser Chris Mitchell, said: “The eyes of the world will be on Glasgow during COP26, and our politicians now have a choice.

“Will they fairly reward the frontline workers who got the country through the pandemic, or will they risk embarrassing the city and the country on an international stage?”


A COSLA spokesman said: “We appreciate everything that local government workers have been doing. We continue with ongoing, constructive negotiations.”

Asked if schools might have to close due to the GMB action, a Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said it was “impossible to say what the impact would be”.

But she added: “Holding this action only in Glasgow at this time will have disproportionate and unfair local impact in pursuit of a national campaign. We urge them to think again about the timing of this.”


Scots transport minister Graeme Dey claimed the vote by RMT members to take action was “no longer valid” due to a new and “very fair” pay offer.

Asked by BBC Radio Scotland why ScotRail workers were striking, Mr Dey replied: “I have no idea… you would have to put that question to them.”

He added: “An offer was made, has been made, it’s there and it’s a very fair offer.”

But union bosses hit out at the “lousy, rotten offer” of a 4.7 per cent pay bump over two years, saying that it required “members to sell hard-earned terms and conditions in order to get a pay rise”.


RMT Scotland organiser Michael Hogg said: “This offer is not worthy of consideration, it’s a kick in the teeth to workers.”

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.

Cooks and janitors in Glasgow schools will also go on strike during the climate summit

Credit: Alamy

China’s Shenzhou-13 spacecraft docks for six-month mission

From left, Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping, and Ye Guangfu, wave before leaving for the Shenzhou-13 crewed space mission at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China (Chinatopix/AP)


SAT, 16 OCT, 2021 - 04:55
ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTER

China’s Shenzhou-13 spacecraft carrying three Chinese astronauts docked at its space station on Saturday, kicking off a record-setting six-month stay as the country moves toward completing the new orbiting outpost.

The spacecraft was launched by a Long March-2F rocket at 12.23am local time on Saturday and docked with the Tianhe core module of the Tiangong space station some six and a half hours later.

The two men and one woman are the second crew to move into the space station, which was launched last April. The first crew stayed three months.

The spaceship Shenzhou-13 is launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre

 (Li Gang/Xinhua via AP)

The trio will set a new record for the length of time spent in space by Chinese astronauts as the country moves towards complete the orbiting structure.

The first crew members at the station conducted two spacewalks and deployed a 33ft mechanical arm before returning from their 90-day stay in mid-September.

The new crew includes two veterans of space travel – pilot Zhai Zhigang, 55, and Wang Yaping, 41, the only woman on the mission – and Ye Guangfu, 41, who is making his first trip to space.

Sinema rakes in Pharma and finance cash amid reconciliation negotiations

The senator raised more than $1.1 million in the third quarter. About 90 percent of it came from outside her home state.


Sinema is not up for reelection until 2024. But her campaign account has been a landing spot for donors nonetheless. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images


By HAILEY FUCHS
POLITICO US
10/15/2021 
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) raised more campaign money in the last three months than in any quarter since she became a senator. And she hit that $1.1 million haul with a big assist from the pharmaceutical and financial industries, whose political action committees and top executives stuffed her coffers in the middle of negotiations on Democrats’ massive infrastructure and social spending bills.

Sinema has emerged as a key player in those negotiations, with the reconciliation bill needing support from all 50 Democratic senators. But Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have made it clear they will not support the original $3.5 trillion price tag for the bill, and Sinema has also objected to including far-reaching prescription drug pricing proposals, certain proposed tax increases and other party priorities.

As those objections have been registered, Sinema’s Senate campaign has cashed checks from industries facing potential losses or other disruptions. She received $27,800 from PACs of pharmaceutical companies from July through September — up from $5,000 in the three months prior, according to her campaign finance filings.

Sinema’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The pharmaceutical industry has spent millions of dollars on ads and lobbying to fight new rules and regulations that would amount to hundreds of billions of dollars in savings for the government — and consequential losses for the industry’s bottom line.

Her individual donors also included a who’s who of powerful people in the pharmaceutical industry. Top donors included the pharma giant Gilead’s CEO, Daniel O’Day, who gave $5,000 this past quarter. Another $2,900 came in from Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks. The executive chair of Merck’s board, Kenneth C. Frazier, also gave $2,900, as did the chair and CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, Giovanni Caforio. The CEO of Genentech, Alexander Hardy, gave $2,500. Meanwhile, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America’s executive vice president for policy and research Jennifer Bryant, senior vice president for federal advocacy Anne Esposito, and executive vice president for public affairs Debra DeShong each gave $1,000.

Little of the $1.1 million Sinema raised came from her constituents. Nearly 90 percent of Sinema’s cash from individual contributors came from outside Arizona.

Sinema is not up for reelection until 2024. But her campaign account has been a landing spot for donors nonetheless. Sinema never raised more than $700,000 in a quarter during the last Congress, but she has now topped $1 million twice in the last two quarters of 2021.

Manchin — who, like Sinema, is not up for reelection in 2024 — also had his most prolific fundraising quarter in recent years. His campaign brought in about $1.6 million during the three month period. And like Sinema, very little of that came from individual constituents in his home state.

Manchin, who has pushed back against the administration’s climate change agenda, cashed in on donations from energy and gas companies, including $2,500 from the PAC for ConocoPhillips, $5,000 from a PAC for Pioneer Natural Resources, and $2,500 from a PAC for The National Stripper Well Association. Willie Chiang, the CEO of Plains All American Pipeline, gave $5,000 to Manchin, as did Joe Gorder, the CEO of Valero Energy. Michael K. Grimm, CEO of Rising Star Petroleum, gave $2,500, and employees of ConocoPhillips, including the company’s CEO Ryan Lance, gave a total of $18,700.

Meanwhile, PACs for the financial services industry — another sector facing potential new regulation in Congress — gave more than $50,000 to Sinema, according to her campaign filing. Goldman Sachs president John Waldron made a maximum donation of $5,800. Two senior managing directors at Blackstone — Giovanni Cutaia and Eli Nagler — collectively gave $5,700, and a managing director of government relations there, Alex Katz, donated $1,000.

The Winklevoss twins, the American investors who battled with Mark Zuckerberg over the founding of Facebook and gained wider fame from the movie “The Social Network,” both maxed out to Sinema this quarter. The brothers are involved in cryptocurrency, a field that falls under the jurisdiction of the Senate Banking Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, on which Sinema sits.

Other donations trickled in to Sinema from top D.C. lobbyists. Those include Steven Elmendorf, partner and co-founder of the firm Subject Matter, who represents the likes of Goldman Sachs and Pfizer (and gave $1,000), and Arshi Siddiqui, a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld who used to work for Speaker Nancy Pelosi (and gave $2,400). Thomas Daschle, a former Democratic senator-turned lobbyist, gave $2,900, and two in-house lobbyists at Comcast — Leo Muñoz and Mitch Rose — gave $500 each.

Those with interest in the battle over potential tobacco and nicotine taxes from Congress were generous, too. John Hoel, an in-house lobbyist for Altria Client Services, a major tobacco company, gave $500. The Cigar Association of America’s PAC donated $1,000. Additionally, a PAC for the National Association of Truckstop Operators, a group with ties to big tobacco companies which has fought the potential taxes, gave Sinema $5,000.

Sinema’s role in negotiating down President Joe Biden’s agenda has brought her ire from the party’s progressive activists. Recently, groups of protesters followed her into the bathroom and traveled to the Boston Marathon race — which Sinema did not run — to advocate for the Biden administration’s spending plans.

INFECTION

Dozens of Oregon law enforcement officers have been members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia


By Jonathan Levinson (OPB)
Oct. 15, 2021 

An analysis by OPB of hacked data uncovers police officers, sheriff’s deputies and military in Oregon who had joined the far right militia group since 2009.

In early summer 2018, it looked as though Oregon voters might get a chance to ban assault weapons in the state.

It was barely two months since a shooter had killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The proposed Oregon ballot measure met stiff legal challenges and was kept off the ballot, but not before militia groups like the Oath Keepers used the proposed gun restrictions as a rallying cry to bring hundreds of people out to a gun rights rally in Salem.

And those recruitment efforts by the Oath Keepers appear to have had some effect.

People wearing hats and patches indicating they are part of Oath Keepers attend a rally at Freedom Plaza Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, in Washington, in support of President Donald Trump.
Jacquelyn Martin / AP

Not long after the pro-gun rally in Salem, Portland police officer Joseph Webber appears to have joined the Oath Keepers militia, an anti-government, anti-immigrant extremist group that was thrust into the national security spotlight for its role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.

According to data leaked earlier this month and reviewed by OPB, Webber — who is still a Portland police officer — is among more than two dozen current and former police officers, sheriff’s deputies, corrections officers, and members of the military in Oregon who appear to have joined the Oath Keepers militia since the group was founded in 2009. OPB compared data in the Oath Keepers leak against public records, social media and state law enforcement certification information to verify the information.

Reached by phone on the same number appearing in the leaked database, Webber denied joining the group before hanging up. He didn’t respond to follow-up text messages.

Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell said he expects officers to follow the bureau’s conduct and professionalism policies whether on or off duty. Potentially applicable policies include a prohibition against associations with people advocating criminal behavior or actions which might discredit the bureau or city.

Lovell told OPB this case has been referred to internal affairs for investigation.

The hacked Oath Keepers data was sent to the transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets, which provided the information to journalists and researchers. In several cases across the country, journalists and citizen sleuths have been able to confirm law enforcement and military members using the leaked data. New York City police officers and a detective in the Hudson County prosecutor’s office were in the leaked data, prompting investigations from those two agencies.

The data include names, membership join dates and contact information for nearly 40,000 people across the country who at one point paid dues to the organization, including more than 1,000 names in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Except where people paid the approximately $1,000 for a lifetime membership, it’s not clear from the data if people are still members.

Oath Keepers in Oregon law enforcement

The earliest law enforcement officer in the state to join was Multnomah County Sheriff’s Deputy Phillip Farrell, who signed up in 2009, according to the hacked records. Farrell retired from the Sheriff’s office in 2014 and, until 2019, worked as an instructor at Oregon’s corrections officer academy, according to his LinkedIn, where he recently liked a cartoon of a U.S. Border Patrol agent on horseback. The cartoon — a reference to recently controversial actions taken by Border Patrol — stated the agent is not a villain and that the Haitian immigrant depicted is a lawbreaker, not a victim.


In this screenshot from retired Multnomah County Sheriff's Deputy Phillip Farrell's LinkedIn, a cartoon depicting U.S. Border Patrol and a Haitian immigrant says the Border Patrol officer is not a villain and the Haitian immigrant depcited is a lawbreaker, not a victim.
Screenshot/Facebook /

Farrell did not respond to multiple phone calls and text messages.

Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese, who did not take office until after Farrell retired, called membership in an anti-government organization like the the Oath Keepers reprehensible.

“MCSO has a number of policies addressing members’ behavior(s) that may bring discredit to the Office of Sheriff and/or could be criminal, discriminatory or harassing in nature,” department spokesperson Chris Liedle added in an email.

In some cases, people who signed up for the Oath Keepers listed skills or experience they could contribute to the group.

Related: California sheriff defends his past membership in the extremist Oath Keepers militia

“I currently work in a highly stressful environment,” one recently retired corrections officer from Oregon wrote. “I am professionally trained in restraint applications, use of chemical agents, taser deployment, basic first aid and firearms. I have the skills to de-escalate highly volatile situations.”

Current Nyssa, Oregon, police officer Nicholas Codiga joined the Oath Keepers in 2015, according to the leaked data. Codiga, who used to work for the Warm Springs Police Department, also appears to have shared content mocking Indigenous people on his social media accounts. In one Facebook post, a man who appears to be Codiga is photographed putting his face through a cutout that has long black braids, an orange prison jumpsuit and is holding a “WSPD detention center” sign.

OPB reached Codiga by calling the phone number in the leaked data. After confirming his identity, he hung up as soon as a reporter mentioned the Oath Keeper

In this screenshot from Nyssa police officer Nicolas Codiga’s Facebook account, a man who appears to be Codiga is photographed putting his face through a cutout that has long black braids, an orange prison jumpsuit and is holding a “WSPD detention center” sign. Codiga, worked previously for the Warm Springs Police Department.
Screenshot/LinkedIn /

The Nyssa Police Department also hung up on OPB immediately after a reporter identified themselves. Nyssa City Manager Jim Maret said Codiga is transferring to a different law enforcement agency next month, but declined to say where. Maret said he didn’t know of a city policy prohibiting membership in militia groups.

Coos County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Shane Shobar joined the Oath Keepers in 2013 and wrote to the group, “I come from a long line of military members that have served from WWII to present time.”

Reached by phone, Shobar said he is no longer a member.

“That was years ago, and it was just co-workers and I talking about it, but that was it,” Shobar told OPB. He said patriotism motivated him to join. Asked if he thought being a member of an anti-government militia might conflict with his role as a law enforcement officer, Shobar said he didn’t give it any thought.

Shobar is currently a defendant in a federal civil rights lawsuit, along with Coos County Sheriff Craig Zanni and jail medical staff, over allegations that an inmate’s medical needs were ignored, leading to the person suffering kidney failure, nerve damage and permanent incontinence.

Zanni, who has been sheriff of Coos County since 2010, did not respond to multiple emails requesting comment.

Joining the Oath Keepers is as easy as submitting your name and contact information along with payment, which ranges from $50 to $1,500. The group also asks for a copy of a member’s DD214, verifying their military service, or other proof that they are a first responder. According to the Oath Keepers’ website, prospective members are then “vetted” and gain access to a “members only” online forum.

Former military police officer and current corrections officer at Snake River Correctional Institution Jerod Edmondson told OPB that when he joined the Oath Keepers in 2014, it was because he thought it was a veterans organization. He said he is not still a member and wasn’t aware of the group’s anti-government views when he joined.

Edmondson appears to have shared content on his Facebook page calling for “all illegals” to be deported, suggesting George Soros paid protesters “to riot and burn down Ferguson,” and that Muslim members of Congress are trying to destroy the country from within.


A Facebook screenshot of former military police officer and current corrections officer at Snake River Correctional Institution Jerod Edmondson. The post calls for “all illegals” to be deported, suggesting George Soros paid protesters “to riot and burn down Ferguson,” and that Muslim members of Congress are trying to destroy the country from within.
Screenshot/Facebook /

Edmondson is among six current and former Oregon corrections officers who appear to have joined the militia.

The Oregon Department of Corrections said employees have constitutionally protected speech rights that include off-duty political speech.

“The speech interests of our employees, while significant, are not absolute and there are limitations, including for off-duty speech and/or conduct,” DOC spokesperson Jennifer Black said in a statement. She added speech could be an issue if it affects the department’s mission or “business interests.”
Ties to extremism

The Oath Keepers militia was founded by Army veteran and Yale Law School graduate Elmer Stewart Rhodes in 2009. The group recruits people with experience in law enforcement and the military to prepare for what the organization characterizes as an inevitable armed conflict with the U.S. government.

The organization has been involved in or planned a number of criminal and violent actions over the past decade, according to University of Albany Assistant Professor Sam Jackson, who wrote a book on the Oath Keepers.

“It’s really problematic if you have members of law enforcement saying, for example, that they’re not going to comply with federal court orders because they think those federal court orders are unconstitutional,” Jackson said.

The Oath Keepers gained national attention in 2014 when the group helped back Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy in an armed standoff with federal officers. Three months later, Lake Oswego police officer Vaughn Bechtol appears to have joined the organization. Bechtol is one of six Oregon law enforcement officers who joined in the months following the Bundy Ranch standoff, according to the hacked data.

In this April 2015 file photo, rancher Cliven Bundy speaks at an event in

 Bunkerville, Nev.
John Locher / AP

“I read their mission statement at the time about military and law enforcement officers upholding their oath of office. I felt that lined up with my values,” Bechtol told OPB in an email. “As I did more research into the group after signing up, I realized they did NOT represent my values. I have never participated in any events, meetings, or discussions with any member of that group and I firmly stand against what they represent now after the atrocities of Jan. 6.”

Lake Oswego Police Department policies don’t explicitly mention militia groups but include multiple prohibitions against on- or off-duty behavior which would discredit the department.

“We expect our officers to share the responsibility of embodying our values while serving our community,” Assistant City Manager Madison Thesing said in a statement.

Thesing said violations of policy are investigated but did not specify if this incident would be.

“Some people might have joined Oath Keepers with a minimal understanding of the group,” Jackson said. “But if you had any real level of engagement with the group you would see their promotion of conspiracy theories, their calls to prepare for violence… Do we really want members of our law enforcement community to be absentmindedly joining civic organizations even if they ... aren’t a pernicious extremist organization like the Oath Keepers? I would hope that the people who we are entrusting with firearms and arrest privileges have better discernment than that.”

Related: 'This Land Is Our Land': OPB podcast examines the rise of a far-right movement

Oregon Oath Keepers also participated in another armed federal dispute in 2015 at Sugar Pine Mine in Southern Oregon.

Codiga is one of two Oregon law enforcement officers who joined around the time of the Sugar Pine Mine standoff, according to the data.

Core to the Oath Keepers’ ideology are a list of 10 hypothetical orders they say they will not obey, including any orders to disarm Americans, to force Americans into concentration camps, to invade any states, to support foreign peacekeepers on U.S. soil, or to subject civilians to military tribunals.

The group has been closely aligned with extremist causes since its inception following the election of Barack Obama, the nation’s first Black president. Oath Keepers founding member and former board member Richard Mack is the founder of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a group that believes county sheriffs are the highest government authority and have the right to ignore state and federal laws.

A number of Oregon sheriffs have aligned themselves with Mack’s movement over the years. In 2013, then-Linn County Sheriff Tim Mueller led eight other Oregon sheriffs in sending a letter to then-Vice President Joe Biden stating they would refuse to enforce any new federal gun laws. More recently, sheriffs from across the state took a page from Mack’s movement and told Gov. Kate Brown they would not enforce state mask mandates, though no state officials asked law enforcement to enforce COVID-19 health guidelines.

Some on the leaked list of Oregon officials, like Shobar and his former colleague, retired Coos County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Robert Kramer, joined the militia in 2013. At the time, local chapters in Southern Oregon were taking on community service projects and championing popular local political issues, according to High Country News.

“I’m into defending the country but not physically overthrowing it at this point,” Kramer told OPB, adding that he only went to one Oath Keepers meeting.

Kramer, who retired in 2018, said he didn’t like that people were “stepping outside of the legal bounds” on Jan. 6., and he said the attacks on law enforcement at the Capitol “cut me a bit.”

Though Kramer said he is no longer a member of the Oath Keepers and was never active in the group, his views line up with at least one of their core beliefs: The U.S. government is waging a war against its own citizens.

“I really do believe with this administration and what they’re doing, they’re trying to push us into some kind of civil war,” Kramer said. “And I think they want to do that so they can come down hard on us.”
Present threat

Oath Keepers in Oregon told Gov. Kate Brown in a 2019 Facebook post that she was risking a civil war after she ordered the Oregon State Police to bring back 11 Republican senators who had fled the statehouse to block climate change legislation from passing. That same month, militia threats forced the state Senate to close for a day

.

In this photo taken Sunday, June 23, 2019, a small crowd of local Republicans show their support of a Republican walkout outside the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore. The gathering took place only a day after the Senate President ordered the statehouse to close over a "possible militia threat."

Sarah Zimmerman / AP

Approximately 22 Oath Keepers have been charged for their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C., though none of those people reside in Oregon. In the investigation’s largest single indictment, at least 18 Oath Keepers face conspiracy charges for their alleged role in plotting to thwart the certification of the Electoral College vote. Five have pleaded guilty and court documents suggest Rhodes, who hasn’t been charged, is a central focus of the investigation.

While some Oregon law enforcement officers joined the Oath Keepers years ago, the leaked data suggests others like Webber and retired Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office reserve deputy Todd Steward joined well after the militia group had firmly established itself and its views on the national stage.

Related: Oregon lawmakers cancel session due to potential militia threat

Clackamas County Sheriff Angela Brandenburg told OPB she supports the state Legislature’s recently passed legislation HB 2936, which states “membership or participation in hate groups, racial supremacist organizations or militant groups erodes public trust in law enforcement officers and community safety.”

“The Legislature has made it clear to every law enforcement organization in the state that it is a conflict for law enforcement personnel to be a member or participate in these groups,” Brandenburg said. “My office will uphold this standard of conduct.”

Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell said officers have different backgrounds and life experiences. He said Webber’s potential membership in a militia is a reminder “that laws and our directives mandate that police do not act on any personal beliefs, but must uphold the Constitution at all times.”

Rep. Janelle Bynum was the chief sponsor of HB 2936, which strengthened law enforcement background checks and allows departments to check applicant social media accounts. But it’s not always possible to screen for something like membership in a militia organization.

“It’s not just a policing issue, it’s a community issue,” Bynum said. “What is an acceptable level of association with people who believe in white supremacy or racial superiority? The true change comes from within. Some of it you can mandate but not most of it.

Kenosha survivor: Wisconsin cops 'conspired' to help killer Kyle Rittenhouse
Matthew Chapman
October 15, 2021

Kyle Rittenhouse


On Friday, Forbes reported that the sole survivor of the Kenosha shooting perpetrated by Kyle Rittenhouse has filed a lawsuit alleging that police were aware the attack was imminent and effectively "conspired" to let it happen.

"Attorneys representing Gaige Grosskreutz, who was a 22-year-old student in Wisconsin at the time of the shooting, filed a 33-page civil lawsuit late Thursday against the city of Kenosha, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, former police chief Daniel Miskinis and others," reported Jemima McEvoy. "The lawsuit alleges the city officials conspired to deprive Grosskreutz' civil rights and obstruct justice, among a litany of other claims, including deprivation of due process, failure to intervene and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The shooting occurred in 2020, during the protests over the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha Police. Rittenhouse, an Illinois teen, traveled to the protests with a rifle, confronting protesters and ultimately killing two and injuring one.

According to the report, the lawsuit alleges police "knew about the plans and intentions" of armed individuals who came to the protests, and did nothing to stop them, even praising them. This tracks with images that showed police thanking Rittenhouse and offering him water near where the shooting took place.

Attorneys for Rittenhouse argue, among other things, that he acted in self-defense and had a right to be carrying the firearm under hunting laws.

Texas book controversy: School administrator told teachers to include Holocaust books with 'opposing' views when explaining new state law

By Ashley Killough, CNN 

A school district superintendent in North Texas apologized Thursday night after one of the district's administrators told teachers that if they have books about the Holocaust in their classroom libraries, then they should also include books that have "opposing" views of the Holocaust.

Adolf Hitler (Wikimedia Commons)

At a training session last week, a school administrator with Carroll ISD in Southlake, Texas, tried to advise elementary school teachers on how to follow new district guidelines for the vetting of books. The guidelines were issued in an attempt to align with a controversial law in Texas that seeks to restrict discussion of race and history in schools.

The training session was first reported by NBC News. After teachers expressed frustration and confusion over the new guidelines, Gina Peddy -- executive director of curriculum and instruction for the district -- invoked the Holocaust as an example of a historic event that would require a teacher to keep on hand other books with "opposing" views.

Audio of the exchange, first reported by NBC News, was secretly recorded by a staff member and obtained by CNN. CNN has reached out to Peddy for comment but has not gotten a response back.

"Just try to remember the concepts of (Texas House Bill) 3979," Peddy says, referring to the new law, known as HB 3979. "And make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has opposing, that has other perspectives."

"How do you oppose the Holocaust?" one teacher could be heard asking.

"Believe me," Peddy said in a longer recording obtained by NBC. "That's come up."

The exchange, according to a source who was there, happened in a hallway amid a smaller group of staff after the training session had ended.

A report by NBC News on the comment sparked an uproar on social media, and the district's superintendent, Lane Ledbetter, issued an apology to the community:

"I express my sincere apology regarding the online article and news story released today. During the conversations with teachers during last week's meeting, the comments made were in no way to convey that the Holocaust was anything less than a terrible event in history. Additionally, we recognize there are not two sides of the Holocaust," the statement read.

"As we continue to work through implementation of HB 3979, we also understand this bill does not require an opposing viewpoint on historical facts. As a district we will work to add clarity to our expectations for teachers and once again apologize for any hurt or confusion this has caused," it said.

Laws introduced in state legislatures such have these have been driven largely over the potential teachings of critical race theory, a hot-button issue for some parents.

Critical race theory recognizes that systemic racism is part of American society and challenges the beliefs that allow it to flourish. While the theory was started decades ago as a way to examine how laws and systems promote inequality, it has taken on new urgency since a series of killings last year of Black Americans by police officers, which led to a national reckoning on race.

Critics have slammed the theory, with conservatives accusing it of poisoning discussions on racism.

HB 3979 in Texas, which was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott and took effect on September 1, states that a teacher may not be compelled to discuss "a particular current event or widely debated and currently controversial issue of public policy or social affairs."

If a teacher does engage in that kind of discussion, the teacher is required to "explore such issues from diverse and contending perspectives without giving deference to any one perspective."

Carroll ISD had previously issued the rubric for teachers on how to vet the books in their classroom libraries, but many teachers found it confusing, the source told CNN. Several teachers were also upset about a fourth-grade teacher being reprimanded by the district's school board just days earlier for having "This Book Is Anti-Racist" by Tiffany Jewell in the classroom, the source said.

The reprimand, which came after a parent complaint, made national news and contributed to a sense of deep frustration among some teachers, especially since the new Texas law addresses curriculum, not classroom libraries.

At the meeting last week, teachers were vocal about their concerns, according to the source in the room.

"The teachers were so angry," the source said. "They stood up and yelled and fought back in a way that was frightening but also empowering."

The source said teachers raised multiple questions at the meeting about the new vetting guidelines and after receiving mixed messages from the district over whether to keep their classroom libraries open during the vetting process. Peddy, according to the source, went to seek clarification from other administrators. Peddy returned and, after the training session was over, made the Holocaust example in the hallway as teachers were leaving.

According to audio played for CNN, Peddy pledged to stand by the teachers as they began the vetting process.

"I know you feel like you're being put at risk, I do know that. Just leave them open," she said, referring to the classroom libraries. "Look through the whole book, but leave your libraries open while you do it. I know that you have the best interests of your kids in mind and we're going to stand behind you."

Clay Robison, spokespeson for the Texas State Teachers Association said he was angered by the comments made in the audio recording about including opposing views of the Holocaust.

"I was angry," he said in a phone interview with CNN. "But, also, I wasn't terribly surprised."

Robison noted that while the law does not specifically deal with books in teachers' classrooms or specifically require a teacher to give equal weight to perspectives that deny the Holocaust, he said the law has enough ambiguity to "encourage that kind of reaction."

Robison said the Texas State Teachers Association has long opposed the bill because it is open to misinterpretation and can cause confusion for educators. Robison said teachers across the state are "angry" and fear consequences over the books they include in their classrooms.

"It doesn't require these teachers to pull these books off their shelves, but it certainly encourages parents who don't like those books -- who feel uncomfortable with those books -- to put pressure on their school boards and their school administrations to...pull the books off."

Since the law took effect six weeks ago, Robison said the incident in Southlake is just one example of the confusion and frustration that he expects to see as the school year continues, not to mention the expected political battles.

"School board presidents run for election. And this is an issue that could figure very prominently in school board elections, particularly conservative communities," he said.

This story has been updated to reflect that the audio recording was first obtained by NBC News.

Satellite photos show how Trump wrecked a sensitive sand dune system in Scotland to build a luxury golf course

tcolson@businessinsider.com (Thomas Colson) 

Before-and-after satellite images showing the destruction of sand dunes after Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course was built on them.

 Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies

Before-and-after photos show the environmental damage caused by Donald Trump's Scottish golf course.

Trump opened the course on a sand dune system in 2012 despite fierce local opposition.

Newly obtained satellite photos show the stark change in the landscape since the course opened.

In 2006, the New York real-estate magnate Donald Trump purchased a stretch of coastal land in Aberdeenshire, northeast Scotland, for the purpose of building "the world's best golf course."

There was noisy local opposition to the plan, but Trump had a relationship Scotland's then-first minister, Alex Salmond. In 2008, the Scottish government stepped in to approve his plan, touting the economic benefits the resort would bring to the country.

Despite warnings that the construction of an 18-hole course would destroy the sand dunes around it, Trump had pressed ahead, saying: "We will stabilize the dunes. They will be there forever. This will be environmentally better after it [the course] is built than it is before."

But as conservationists predicted, the part of the highly sensitive ecosystem on which Trump International Golf Links was built was largely ruined. Officials announced in December 2020 that the coastal sand dunes Trump's the resort would lose their status as a protected environmental site because they had been partially destroyed.

Insider has obtained before-and-after photos from the satellite technology firm Maxar, which show the dramatic destruction of the prized Foveran Links sand dunes between March 2010 and April 2021.
March 2010

Satellite images taken in March 2010 of Foveran Links show the dunes in their full unspoiled form:

Overview of the area where Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course would be built, 

taken in March 2010. Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies.

The site contained areas of mobile sand and dunes that were semi-fixed in position, as well as marshes, dune grassland, and low-lying areas called dune slacks, according to a government document designating Foveran Links as a site of special scientific interest.

A closer image of the dunes shows some of these features in more detail:

 A closer view of the area containing the sand dunes at Foveran Links where Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course would be built. 

Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies.

NatureScot, Scotland's conservation agency, said that Foveran Links was "a very high-quality example of a sand dune system characteristic of north east Scotland, and was of exceptional importance for the wide variety of coastal landforms and processes."

April 2021

Images taken of the course in April 2021 show how many of the sand dune features at the southern third of Foveran Links, where Trump's golf course was built, had been partially destroyed.

Here is a general overview of the area:

 An overview of the area containing Donald Trump's Aberdeenshire golf course and the destroyed sand dune ecosystem, taken in April 2021. Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies

These side-by-side photos show a zoomed-in view of the 18-hole links course (right), along with what it looked like before the course was constructed (left):

Before-and-after photos of the coastal stretch of land where Donald Trump built his Aberdeenshire golf course. 

Satellite image © 2021 Maxar Technologies.

'They've just killed it as a natural environment'

Bob Ward, policy and communications director at LSE's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, explained to Insider earlier this year how building on top of the dunes had resulted in their destruction.

"Sand dunes are a dynamic system, they're wind-driven, so they go backward and forwards," he said.

"Building a golf course on top means you can't have the dunes moving around, so they have to stabilize them. So they've essentially planted vegetation on top of them and put physical constraints on them so the dunes can't move and it's not a dynamic system anymore."

"The argument the Trump International Golf Links used was that they'd protected them by stabilizing them. But essentially what they've done is they've just killed it as a natural environment."

The Trump Organization did not respond to Insider's request for comment.

Uber Freight boss says 'we're living in shipping Armageddon,' and it's going to take the entire industry to fix it
insider@insider.com (Mary Hanbury) 

© Provided by Business Insider Containers stacked up at the Port of Los Angeles. 

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong

Uber Freight chief Lior Ron told CNBC that we've reached "shipping Armageddon."
Ron said it would require the entire industry to fix the crisis - there's no one single cure, he said.
Better wages may help to attract truckers turned off by the long-haul driving lifestyle, he said.

Uber's logistics boss says the "entire industry" must pull together if it wants to fix the shipping crisis.

In an interview with CNBC's Jim Cramer, Uber Freight chief Lior Ron said that we've reached "shipping Armageddon." The company was using its own technology to help tackle the problem, but only a sector-wide solution would work, he said.

"It really requires the entire industry because we are facing just unprecedented times," he said. "We're ordering more and more packages that we love to consume to our doorstep, but the supply chain is completely imbalanced ... the entire network is different."

Uber Freight, Uber's logistics arm, launched in 2017. In the same way as its core ride-hailing product works, Uber Freight acts as a middleman, providing an app to connect independent truck drivers with shippers that have cargo. Ron said that there were more than 1 million truck drivers using the app.

The global supply chain network is on its knees. After a fall in shipping demand during the early days of the pandemic in 2020, a surge at the end of that year led to delays, port traffic jams, and blockages across the supply chain. Now, containers are getting jammed up in ports because of both rising demand and a continuing shortage of dockworkers and truckers to unload them and take them to their destination.

Earlier this week, the White House stepped in, announcing plans to shift the clogged-up Port of Los Angeles to a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week schedule to help ease traffic. Retailers Walmart, Target, and Home Depot also announced extra working hours to shift their own stock from containers and help de-jam cluttered ports.

When asked whether better wages was the solution to the trucking problem, Ron said that it was an important element, but wouldn't resolve the problem on its own. Long-haul trucking has become less appealing to drivers, especially in the wake of the pandemic, he said.

"It's harder for them to be on the road and there is a better alternative in driving closer to home and doing last-mile delivery. We ask them to do more and more and maybe they don't want to even have to go on the road because they have to be stuck in facilities or have health concerns," he said.

International call for Myanmar to let envoy meet Suu Kyi

Issued on: 15/10/2021 

The military authorities have said they will not allow ASEAN special envoy Erywan Yusof to meet anyone currently on trial, which includes Suu Kyi 

Sydney (AFP)

Eight countries and the EU diplomatic chief on Friday urged the Myanmar junta to let a regional special envoy meet ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The call comes as concerns grow over the military government's commitment to a "five-point consensus" agreed with regional bloc ASEAN to defuse the bloody crisis that erupted after Myanmar's February 1 coup.

ASEAN foreign ministers met virtually on Friday evening to debate whether to exclude Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing from an upcoming summit over his government's intransigence.

Brunei, which currently holds ASEAN's rotating chair, will issue a statement Saturday on the meeting's outcome, diplomatic sources said.

The military authorities have said they will not allow ASEAN special envoy Erywan Yusof to meet anyone currently on trial, which includes Suu Kyi.

In a joint statement, the United States, Britain, Australia, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, Norway and East Timor say they are "deeply concerned about the dire situation in Myanmar" and urged Naypyidaw to "engage constructively" with the special envoy.

"We further call on the military to facilitate regular visits to Myanmar by the ASEAN Special Envoy, and for him to be able to engage freely with all stakeholders," said the statement, also endorsed by EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.

This last phrase is an apparent reference to the junta refusing Yusof, who is also Brunei's second foreign minister, access to Suu Kyi.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated that Yusof should be allowed "a meaningful visit where he would be able to meet with all parties".

"We urge the regime to facilitate a visit by the special envoy," Price told reporters.

The State Department also announced that senior official Derek Chollet will head from Sunday to Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, in part to address the crisis in Myanmar.

Rebuffing pressure, the Myanmar foreign ministry on Thursday insisted Yusof could not "go beyond the permission of existing laws" and urged him to focus on meeting government officials instead.

International pressure has so far had little impact on the junta, which launched a brutal crackdown on protests against its power grab that has so far killed nearly 1,200 civilians.

February's coup ended the country's brief dalliance with democracy after decades of army rule, though the army has pledged to hold elections by August 2023.

The military government, which calls itself the State Administration Council, has defended its actions pointing to alleged vote rigging in last year's election, won easily by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

© 2021 AFP