Kari Lake and pro-assassination antisemite muse about using the Second Amendment to stop “tyrants”

WRITTEN BY ERIC HANANOKI

PUBLISHED 08/04/23 9:

Failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake recently appeared on the podcast of Michael Scheuer, a virulent antisemite who has called for the assassinations of leading political figures like President Joe Biden. During their discussion, Lake stated that the Second Amendment is “there to stop the tyrants.” Scheuer responded by claiming that there’s “an enormous enemy in Washington” and “in the general staff of the military.”  

Lake, who is considering a bid for the U.S. Senate, is a former news anchor who has repeatedly and falsely insisted that she won her 2022 gubernatorial bid. She has referred to herself as “the real governor, the duly elected governor” and told one podcaster that Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs “should be pulled out by her collar." 

She repeatedly appeared on far-right programs during her unsuccessful campaign. She also endorsed — and then rescinded, following media criticism — an antisemitic candidate for state Senate in the non-neighboring state of Oklahoma.

Lake has attempted to stay relevant by positioning herself as Donald Trump’s potential 2024 running mate and releasing an election-denying memoir. Throughout her promotional tour for the book, Lake has appeared on shows like the QAnon-supporting X22 Report, Steve Bannon’s War Room, and right-wing troll Catturd2’s In the Litter Box w/ Jewels & Catturd. 

On July 28, the Arizona Republican appeared on Scheuer’s Two Mikes podcast, which streams on Rumble. Scheuer is a former CIA operative and QAnon conspiracy theorist who has said that Jewish people are “disloyal,” “subversive,” and “lethal enemies of Americans” who "must be stopped and then scoured from the continent.” He has also stated that numerous political figures should be assassinated, including “the Bidens, Harris, the Clintons, the Obamas,” George Soros, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

During the interview, Lake said that “the Second Amendment, in many ways, is the most important amendment” and that it’s “there to stop the tyrants.” (Elsewhere, Lake has directly accused Biden of acting tyrannically.) 

Scheuer pounced on Lake’s suggestion of using the Second Amendment against tyrants by arguing that “what we've seen now is an enormous enemy in Washington and an enormous enemy in the general staff of the military.” 

Scheuer also suggested to Lake that she consider “restoring the state militia,” an idea that she later said was “interesting.” 

ICHAEL SCHEUER: When you were preparing to be governor, did you ever give any thought to restoring the state militia?

KARI LAKE: I had just — you know, I had a lot of people ask those kind of questions and I said — you know — interesting question, I'm sure that's your top issue, but my top issue is the border. And I think we have the people to help secure the border if we just put our will there to secure the border. You know, I think that the most — reason that we are still a country is we do have an armed citizenry.

SCHEUER: Right.

LAKE: The Second Amendment, in many ways, is the most important amendment, because when all else fails, we have that. That's what's keeping the world, honestly, going still, when you've got citizens who are able to protect themselves from tyrants, and that's why it was placed there. It wasn’t placed there for target practice. It wasn't placed there for pheasant hunting. It was placed there to stop the tyrants, and our Founding Fathers were pretty darn smart.

SCHEUER: Yeah. And that's why we initially had a militia — because they were afraid of the federal government encroaching on them. And when they stole that away and made a National Guard, they left the Second Amendment alone. So it's still there. I've often wondered why governors haven't thought, "Well, you know, maybe we should have our own militia again." But it's probably just a wild thought. But it's something that's in the Constitution. No law can overrule the Constitution. And it just seems to me a state should think about that. That's all.

LAKE: Interesting.

SCHEUER: And I don't mean — I would agree with what you said. You probably have enough firepower to do what you need to do for your border. But I mean, what we've seen now is an enormous enemy in Washington and an enormous enemy in the general staff of the military.

LAKE: That's [inaudible]. Well, and our founders understood this more than anyone, because they fought back the most — the largest tyrant you can imagine, King George and the British monarchy, and they died for our freedoms. They died for us to be able to choose our elected officials, our elected representation. And that's one of the reasons I stay in this fight, because I don't want that to have been done in vain.

Scheuer invoked the Second Amendment as a solution to political problems during a July 3 exchange with Fox News host Jeanine Pirro. On that podcast, he claimed that prior elections were “rigged” and said he thanks God that “the Second Amendment remains in the Constitution because I don't know how else to take care of these vermin.” 

This is not the first time Lake has invoked the American Revolution and the Second Amendment as a remedy for alleged tyranny. During a December speech at Turning Point USA’s America Fest, Lake called for the imprisonment of Maricopa County election officials and, comparing her circumstances to the tyranny that precipitated the American Revolution, said, “I think we’re right there right now, aren’t we?” 

How a solar eruption would impact astronauts on the moon and Mars

Where was the radiation impact the worst? You might be surprised.

By Elisha Sauers on August 4, 2023

A coronal mass ejection at the sun spews plasma into space in January 2002. 

Credit: NASA / GSFC / SOHO / ESA

For the first time, instruments on Earth, the moon, and Mars measured the effects of a giant solar eruption simultaneously, offering new insight into how radiation exposure varies in different worlds.

The event was a rare kind of a coronal mass ejection — plasma spewed from the outer layer of the sun's atmosphere into space — on Oct. 28, 2021.

This outburst was so immense, it launched energetic particles over a wide expanse of space, slamming into both Mars and Earth while they were on opposite sides of the sun, at about 155 million miles apart. The burst was even able to penetrate Earth's magnetic bubble, making it just the 73rd time this has happened since the 1940s.

On Earth, the atmosphere and magnetic field shield people against the harmful health impacts of most kinds of solar weather events. Scientists are more concerned about disruptions to power grids and telecommunications systems.

But not all worlds are so lucky.

"Understanding these events is crucial for future crewed missions to the surface of the Moon," said Jingnan Guo, an astrophysicist who researched the event, in a statement.

SEE ALSO: Solar flares are shooting into space. How you'll know if one's trouble.

The new research leveraged an international fleet of spacecraft, including the European Space Agency's (ESA) ExoMars orbiter, NASA’s Curiosity rover, China's Chang’e-4 moon lander, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Germany's EuCROPIS Earth orbiter. The results appear in a new Geographical Research Letters paper.

One of the biggest threats to astronauts who are expected to travel deeper into the cosmos over the next couple of decades and beyond will be their exposure to space radiation — often caused by powerful eruptions at the sun.

With the moon and Mars as the latest targets for exploration, NASA and the European Space Agency are trying to better understand these solar events and their risks to humans. Astronauts who receive a high level of radiation absorption — above 700 milligray — may get "radiation sickness," wherein bone marrow deteriorates and can lead to infection and internal bleeding.

If an astronaut gets a dose over 10 gray, they probably won't live more than two weeks, according to the ESA. Apollo astronauts barely missed a solar outburst of that level on the lunar surface in August 1972. Fortunately, the event happened in between the crewed Apollo 16 and 17 missions.

The measured event in October 2021 was only 31 milligray at the moon, based on data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. But experts calculate that an event every 5-or-so years may exceed the "safe dose level" on the moon if no additional radiation protection has been provided, Guo said.

Google rolls out privacy tools to make it easier to remove personal information and explicit images from searches

• By Sofia Elizabella Wyciślik-Wilson
• Published 10 hours ago

Google has announced the rollout of a series of new and updated privacy tools designed to give users greater control over the removal of information about themselves from search results. A new privacy dashboard will alert users if search results start to include their contact information.

As well as making it easier to request the removal of such personal data, Google is expanding its privacy protections to give people a way to remove personal, explicit images from search results. There are also expanded controls for limiting the appearance of other explicit images in searches.

Not all of the privacy tools that Google is talking about are completely new. Last year's Results about you tool, for instance, has been updated to make it easier than ever to request the removal of search results that contain your personal phone number, home address or email address. A more significant update, however, means that alerts will be sent out about new instances of personal data in search results.

Relatedly, Google has also updated its policies on personal explicit images. In a nutshell, the company is simplifying the process of requesting the removal of explicit images of yourself, even if you were the one to originally upload the content.

Google explains:

We have long had policies that enable you to remove non-consensual explicit imagery from Search. Now, we’re building on these protections to enable people to remove from Search any of their personal, explicit images that they no longer wish to be visible in Search.

For example, if you created and uploaded explicit content to a website, then deleted it, you can request its removal from Search if it's being published elsewhere without approval. This policy doesn't apply to content you are currently commercializing. More broadly, whether it's for websites containing personal information, explicit imagery or any other removal requests, we've updated and simplified the forms you use to submit requests.

Google is also taking steps to protect users from inadvertently seeing explicit images in search results. By "explicit", Google means pornographic imagery, pictures depicting violence and more. The company is expanding its SafeSearch feature globally so that such images are blurred out in search results unless the option is manually disabled in settings.

More information is available here.

Betfair sees no change or challenge to Biden vs Trump for US 2024.

Ted Menmuir August 4, 2023 Latest News, North America, Sportsbook 

The adage of ‘expect the unexpected’ appears to have been forgotten in US politics, with all signs pointing to a repeat of Joe Biden vs. Donald Trump as the contenders for the US 2024 Election. 

As it stands, nothing seems capable of derailing this outcome, even as former President Donald Trump faces his third indictment in connection with the events leading to the 6 January riots at Capitol Hill.

The indictment of a President, be it sitting or former, should be treated as a global show-stopping affair. Yet Betfair Politics sees no change in the makeup of its US 2024 markets.

Betfair Exchange remains unmoved, with Biden and Trump as the favourites to secure their respective party nominations and compete for the 2024 US Presidential Election. In terms of the US 2024 odds, Joe Biden is the favourite at 15/8, followed closely by Donald Trump at 12/5.

Sam Rosbottom – Betfair

Sam Rosbottom, Spokesman for Betfair Politics, commented: “As the 2024 US presidential election campaign trail kicks into life, the odds suggest we’ll be turning back the clock to 2020 with Joe Biden and Donald Trump as the favourites to win their party’s backing and campaign for a second term in office. Biden is the 15/8 favourite to win next year’s vote with Trump close behind at 12/5. However, there is no close competition in the nomination markets, where both are clear favourites.”

Speculation regarding presidential hopefuls for both the Republican and Democrat parties should be frantic a year ahead of the 2024 elections. Yet, Betfair sees little movement on challengers to an 80-year-old Biden and a twice-indicted Trump, who reportedly faces 78 criminal charges.

For the Republican nomination, Trump leads significantly with odds of 4/9, comfortably ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, whose odds have trailed to 9/1 following a lacklustre campaign. A look beyond Ron sees the contenders of Chris Christie, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley and Glenn Youngkin all index at above 30/1 odds, underlying Trump’s hold over GOP voters.

Meanwhile, in the Democrat camp, Joe Biden is also the clear favourite with odds at 2/5. Gavin Newsom and Robert Kennedy Jr. fo

Greta Thunberg pulls out of Edinburgh Book Festival over sponsor investments

The event was due to take place at the Edinburgh Playhouse on August 13.

The climate activist said she would no longer attend the event 

(Yui Mok/PA) / PA Archive

By Craig Paton

Climate activist Greta Thunberg has pulled out of an appearance at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, accusing one of the event’s sponsors of “greenwashing”.

Ms Thunberg, 20, was due to speak at an event on August 13, but has pulled out in protest over sponsors Baillie Gifford, an investment management firm she claims invests “heavily” in fossil fuels.

The firm, however, rejected the accusation, saying 2 per cent of its clients’ money was invested in the sector.
The event organiser said he “respects” the decision made by the activist, but said he believes Baillie Gifford to be “part of the solution to the climate emergency”.

Greta Thunberg in London: we must raise our voices on global warming

In a statement released through the Festival, Ms Thunberg said: “I am unfortunately unable to attend the Edinburgh Book Festival.

“As a climate activist I cannot attend an event which receives sponsorship from Baillie Gifford, who invest heavily in the fossil fuel industry.


“Greenwashing efforts by the fossil fuel industry, including sponsorship of cultural events, allow them to keep the social licence to continue operating.

“I cannot and do not want to be associated with events that accept this kind of sponsorship.”

Baillie Gifford is one of the main sponsors of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, with a number of events – including one with former prime minister Gordon Brown – taking place at venues carrying the firm’s name.

A spokesperson for the company rejected the accusations from Ms Thunberg, saying: “Only 2% of our clients’ money is invested in companies with some business related to fossil fuels.

“This compares to the market average of 11%. Of those companies, some have already moved most of their business away from fossil fuels, and many are helping to drive the transition to clean energy.

“We are investing on behalf of our clients to grow their savings and retirement funds.

“When we invest in companies on their behalf, we do so over long time periods – typically 10 years or more – so this has naturally led us away from traditional fossil fuel firms. Currently, 5% of our clients’ money is invested in companies whose sole purpose is to develop clean energy solutions.

“We believe in open debate and discussion which is why we are long-term supporters of the Edinburgh International Book Festival.”

Festival director Nick Barley said he was “disappointed”, but added: “I fully respect her decision.”

Mr Barley also sought to defend the event sponsors, saying: “However, in applauding Greta for standing by her principles, we too must stand by ours.

“The Book Festival exists to give a platform for debate and discussion around key issues affecting humanity today – including the climate emergency. As a charitable organisation, we would not be in a position to provide that platform without the long-term support of organisations such as Baillie Gifford.

“We strongly believe that Baillie Gifford are part of the solution to the climate emergency.

“They are early investors in progressive climate positive companies, providing funds to help them grow.

“While they acknowledge there is still work to do, we have seen them make rapid progress throughout our 19-year relationship.”

The director apologised to those who had bought tickets to the event at the Edinburgh Playhouse, and promised refunds.

RCMP cited Standing Rock protests as 'evidence' to create controversial B.C. unit

Story by Brett Forester 

CBC


RCMP used the anti-pipeline resistance at the Standing Rock reservation in 2016 to justify creating a unit in British Columbia to police similar opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, newly released documents show.

Internal files, recently released to CBC News through access to information laws, show the RCMP cited the Sioux-led opposition as "supporting evidence" when creating the force's Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).

Six years later, C-IRG tactical operations on Wet'suwet'en territory in northern B.C. and at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island have sparked nearly 500 complaints and a systemic investigation by the force's civilian review agency.

Then-Insp. Chuck McDonald's proposal, called a "business case," offers the earliest look at why the B.C. RCMP felt it needed the new squad tasked specifically for the Trans Mountain project.

"A protracted and sometimes violent protest and police confrontation occurred in Standing Rock, North Dakota," wrote McDonald in a Jan. 17, 2017, proposal.

"Protesters attempted to physically stop construction; several Canadians attended that protest and have publicly vowed to bring that approach to the KM [Kinder Morgan] expansion."

The Trans Mountain pipeline was owned at the time by the Texas-based energy giant Kinder Morgan, who sold the project to the Canadian government for $4.7 billion in 2018. The expansion would twin an existing pipeline carrying oil from Calgary to Burnaby, B.C. Its estimated cost now tops $30 billion.

The RCMP's concerns about imported tactics from Standing Rock are troubling to one academic, who drew parallels between the documentsand security threat assessments about terrorist actions.

"I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that there's a very strong similarity of language there," said David Milward, a member of the Beardy's and Okemasis' Cree Nation and a professor of law with the University of Victoria.

"For the RCMP, it betrays that they view Indigenous people as a threat to be forcibly repressed."
Researcher draws link to Project Sitka

Milward reviewed the 178-page disclosure, which was heavily censored but provides a rough chronology of the unit's creation.

One May 2017 slide attributed to McDonald features pictures of prominent advocates and activists like David Suzuki, while listing "opposition" community groups and First Nations.

The C-IRG's focus was to be solely the Trans Mountain pipeline, the slide says, before elaborating on the Mounties' approach to profiling the activists involved.

"No need to maintain information on demonstrators/organizers exercising their right to lawful advocacy, protest and dissent," it says, rather only those "who commit criminal acts and show ongoing propensity for criminal acts."

A May 2017 slide from a briefing on the Community-Industry Response Group discussing protests against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, features a photo of David Suzuki, left, speaking at a rally. (RCMP)© Provided by cbc.ca

"I think it's actually a pretty scary development," Milward said of the focus on monitoring.

"It goes hand in hand with the RCMP's Project Sitka."

In 2015, the RCMP intelligence project dubbed Sitka listed 89 Indigenous rights activists the police considered "a criminal threat to Aboriginal public order events." The project was updated before Trans Mountain's approval.

"They're being encouraged to take so-called preventive measures," Milward said of C-IRG and Sitka.

"It's a pretty scary dive off the slope to preventative repression, but it's targeted specifically towards Indigenous peoples."

Researchers Andrew Crosby and Jeffrey Monaghan obtained the Sitka report under access to information law from CSIS, Canada's civilian spy agency, for their book Policing Indigenous Movements.

Monaghan said the databanking of information like this comes with risks to civil liberties.

"The risks are tremendous. The oversight is minimal," said Monaghan, an associate professor of criminology at Carleton University.

"No one is really going to find out if their Facebook information is collected."
'Temporary project team'

The C-IRG created operational and strategic policing plans for Trans Mountain later in 2017 and briefed governments in 2018, the files show.

"The C-IRG is a temporary project team that is to exist for the duration of the [Trans Mountain] construction," said a 2018 consultation document for the B.C. government. "Temporary project team" was underlined in the slide.

Activist camps along the route were "closely monitored by C-IRG," the document said. The squad also offered to work on "other, unrelated public order issues," namely "large-scale opposition to prospective LNG projects."

A May 2018 federal briefing where the Mounties outlined concerns about "resource protests" from the previous 25 years, along with the evolution of tactics, was included. Most of the incidents listed had an Indigenous rights element which the RCMP omitted to mention, Monaghan noted.

A May 3, 2018, briefing for the minister attributed to RCMP commissioner Brenda Lucki included this slide on trends in resistance to resource development projects. (RCMP)© Provided by cbc.ca

Monaghan said the slide could be seen as demonstrating political bias against Indigenous rights activists, particularly through the framing of the standoffs as resource protests rather than land disputes.

"There is this real implicit valuation of the company's position and the pipelines and devaluation of the land claims," he said.

"They're never mentioned."

Standing Rock a 'case study,' says RCMP

C-IRG's new commander Supt. Ken Floyd was not available for an interview.

Staff Sgt. Kris Clark, BC RCMP senior media relations officer, said in a statement that RCMP saw Standing Rock "as a case study on the current and evolving tactics used in similar civil disobedience events" that led them to adopt a "measured approach."

Clark said C-IRG officers, due to their training and experience, "quickly became the standard for such operations."

But the unit's work sparked criticisms of its three main operations in the past six years, which have come with a $50 million cost — 10 times higher than first estimated.

The complaints prompted some, like Shiri Pasternak, associate professor of criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University, to call for the unit's suspension while the investigation and lawsuits play out.


RCMP climb a gate at the Gidimt'en camp on Wet'suwet'en territory on Jan. 7, 2019. (Chantelle Bellrichard/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca

She said the shift from Trans Mountain to resource development in general demonstrates "serious mission drift" by the unit.

"When you have a hammer, all you see is a nail, right?" Pasternak said.

"When [the RCMP] see conflict emerging around these resource sites, the response is criminalization, whereas these are legitimate and significant Indigenous rights."

Asked for a response, Clark's statement said the RCMP takes member conduct seriously and welcomes the review agency's probe.

"We acknowledge that due to the nature of the conflict, with the goal of the protesters to stop continued work, civil litigation or other related tactics are almost inevitable."

Iran Seeks UN Help To ‘Disarm’ Iraqi Kurdish Parties

Mohammad Kazem Al-e-Sadegh, Iran’s envoy to Iraq

Iran's ambassador to Baghdad called for the assistance of the United Nations in “disarming Kurdish opposition parties” operating in Iraq.

In a Thursday meeting with Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, Mohammad Kazem Al-e-Sadegh highlighted the activities of Kurdish parties opposing the Islamic Republic in the Kurdistan Region.

According to the IRNA state news agency, Al-e-Sadegh claimed that the UN's cooperation is necessary to counter the “threat” posed by these parties who are openly leading calls to overthrow the regime and are blamed for much of the unrest the country has witnessed since September.

Iran has previously urged both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government to disarm the Kurdish parties based in the Kurdistan Region. Iran's officials have warned that failing to comply with this demand would lead to military action against these parties' camps within Iraqi territory.

Last year, a security agreement was signed between Iran's former secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, and his Iraqi counterpart, with a significant portion dedicated to the disarmament of Iranian opposition parties in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have conducted missile and drone attacks against Iranian Kurdish groups based in northern Iraq, a reaction to the Iranian Kurdish parties allegedly instigating protests, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman, while in the custody of the morality police.

The Kurdish parties involved, such as Komala and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), generally advocate for Kurdish autonomy within a federal Iran.

Ethiopia’s declaring a state of emergency in its Amhara region as local fighters clash with military

 Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen attends a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on June 8, 2023. Violent unrest is escalating in Ethiopia’s Amhara region as federal security forces clash with a local ethnic militia, leading the deputy prime minister in an unusually outspoken statement to call the situation “increasingly grave.”

 (Ahmed Yosri/Pool Photo via AP, File)

 August 4, 2023

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers is declaring a state of emergency in the country’s Amhara region after authorities pleaded for help as clashes intensify there between regional forces and the military.

The prime minister’s office announced the decision on Friday after the region’s leader said regular law enforcement was no longer able to contain the violence. The declaration needs approval from Parliament.

“The threat the activity is imposing on national security and public peace is increasing day by day,” the declaration said, noting severe economic damage as well and blaming “armed extremist groups.”

Ethiopia’s second most populous region has been gripped by instability since April, when federal authorities moved to disarm Amhara’s security forces following the end of the devasting two-year war in the neighboring Tigray region. Authorities last year also tried to dismantle the informal Amhara militia known as Fano.

This week, residents have reported fighting across the Amhara region as militia members attacked army units and protesters blocked roads. Flights to two popular tourist towns, Lalibela and Gondar, have been suspended. Internet access has been affected.

A state of emergency likely means restrictions on movement and increased powers of detention.

South African citrus farmers push for petition against EU at WTO

The farmers say EU's restrictions could cut South Africa's orange exports to Europe by 20% this year alone.

Citrus farmers say the EU citrus market currently sustains a total of 70,000 jobs in South Africa, 

South African citrus farmers want their government to lodge a complaint against the European Union at the World Trade Organisation over the European bloc's citrus black spot regulations which they say threaten thousands of jobs.

The measures imposed by the EU in June 2022 require enhanced cold treatment for citrus exports due to concerns over False Codling Moth, a pest commonly found in sub-Saharan Africa, and Citrus Black Spot (CBS), a fungal disease which leaves dark spots on fruit.

The EU's plant health rules could cut South Africa's orange exports to Europe by 20% this year, according to the Citrus Growers Association of Southern Africa (CGA).

South Africa's citrus industry says its current pest and disease control measures are highly effective and accuses the EU of protectionism.

There have been no comments yet from the EU and South Africa's trade department.

Multi-million dollars

South African farmers are currently battling electricity and logistics challenges and increased input costs and cannot absorb the additional 2 billion rand ($106.98 million) annual cost for CBS risk management, Deon Joubert, the CGA's special envoy on market access and EU matters, said in a statement.

"The CGA calls on the South African government to work with the industry to put a stop to these CBS regulations and fight for South African jobs and revenue. Declaring a WTO dispute is truly a matter of urgency," Joubert said.

The CGA says the EU citrus market currently sustains a total of 70,000 jobs in South Africa, generating about $800 million annually in annual export earnings.

Last year, South Africa lodged its first-ever WTO dispute complaint when it challenged the EU's phytosanitary requirements for imports of oranges and other citrus products related to the False Codling Moth.

Consultations are still underway over that complaint, according to the latest update on the WTO website.

Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale vows to speak out against homophobia so his brother and other don’t ‘fear abuse’

By George Ramsay, CNN
 Fri August 4, 2023

Aaron Ramsdale stars in the Premier League game between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield on April 9.

Jon Super/AP

CNN —

Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale has said that he can no longer remain silent over homophobic abuse in football out of love and respect for his brother.

Writing in The Players’ Tribune, Ramsdale explained how he wanted football to be “a safe and welcoming place for everyone,” including his brother Oliver, who is gay.

Fiery soccer game between US and Mexico ends early amid homophobic chants

“Over the years, I’ve probably bit my tongue a few too many times – both in dressing rooms and on social media – whenever I hear homophobic comments or stupid things being said,” Ramsdale wrote.

“And I think maybe my brother has done the same, thinking it would make my life easier.

“Well, all that ends today … I want my brother, Ollie – or anyone of any sexuality, race or religion – to come to games without having to fear abuse.”

According to a report of the 2022-23 season released by Kick It Out, the English football anti-discrimination group said it received 1,007 reports of discriminatory behaviour, a 65.1% rise on the previous season.

While racism was the most prevalent form of discrimination, Kick It Out said research undertaken by Signify, which investigates online threat and disinformation, had identified “peaks of homophobic and misogynistic abuse targeting several high-profile WSL [Women’s Super League] players,” even as the game’s authorities continue to promote a number of campaigns tackling homophobia and promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Ramsdale said that his brother, who is a performer on London’s West End, is “the real superstar of the family” and “the brave one.”

Ramsdale catches the ball during a match between Arsenal and Everton in February.

Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images

He added: “My brother is gay, and he’s lived his life in an open and authentic way since he went off to school. I’m so proud to say he’s my brother.

“I haven’t talked about it before, but with everything going on in football right now, I thought it was important to mention.

“Oliver is a lot like me, in many ways. He’s a regular bloke. Loves football. Loves knocking about with his mates. Loves the Gunners. He’s proud of me, and I’m really proud of him.”

In his wide-ranging Players’ Tribune letter, Ramsdale also wrote about his rise from the lower leagues of English football, the abuse he has received on the pitch and on social media, and his wife’s miscarriage while they returned from a holiday earlier this year.


“There’s really no way that I can describe the pain of that six-hour flight back to London, even now,” Ramsdale wrote.

“I just want people out there to know that they’re not alone if they’re going through it themselves. When we got back, I didn’t tell many people what happened. Only my family, my teammates, and of course [Arsenal manager] Mikel [Arteta].”

The 25-year-old Ramsdale, who joined Arsenal from Sheffield United two years ago, said that Arteta “forever has my respect for how he handled our grief.”

He also explained how, just days after the miscarriage, he was kicked in the back by a Tottenham fan after Arsenal’s 2-0 victory in the North London Derby.

Arsenal and Tottenham players react to the incident between Ramsdale and a supporter at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Nick Potts/AP

According to ESPN, the fan was subsequently banned from attending football matches for four years, handed a 12-month community order, and made to pay Ramsdale £100 ($127).

“I remember when I got back to the dressing room, I couldn’t even celebrate because I got pulled out to give a police statement,” the goalkeeper said about the incident.

“You know, I almost felt bad for the bloke who had done it, because I thought to myself: If he only knew me as a person, and what I’m actually going through right now, there’s no way that he would’ve done that.

“If we bumped into each other one day and got chatting about football, we’d probably be mates.”

Ramsdale has made three appearances for England and was an integral part of Arsenal’s Premier League title pursuit last season, which saw the Gunners finish five points behind Manchester City.

The new Premier League season begins on August 11 with Arsenal opening its campaign against Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium the following day.