Friday, January 15, 2021

 

Pakistan attempts to prosecute Ahmadi US citizens for digital blasphemy

In 2016, Pakistan enacted digital regulations that allow authorities to block online content in the 'interest of the glory of Islam.'

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community website TrueIslam.com. Screengrab
January 13, 2021
By 

(RNS) — Pakistani authorities have asked leaders of the American Ahmadiyya Muslim community to take down its official website, claiming that the U.S.-based site violates Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws and new cybercrime regulations.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said in a legal notice issued on Dec. 24 to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA’s spokesmen, Amjad Mahmood Khan and Harris Zafar, that failure to remove the website TrueIslam.com would result in fines of up to $3.14 million or criminal sanctions, including possible 10-year-prison sentences.

“This is a new frontier in persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in the digital space,” said Khan, a lawyer in Los Angeles who has testified before Congress about blasphemy and religious freedom. “Pakistan wants to impose its abominable blasphemy laws on the whole world by targeting U.S. citizens and U.S. websites.”

Brad Adams, who heads Human Rights Watch’s Asia Division, said “censoring Ahmadis and using blasphemy laws to airbrush them from Pakistani society” is part of the “widespread and rampant discrimination and social exclusion” Ahmadis face in Pakistan.

In Pakistan, home to about 4 million Ahmadis, the constitution and penal code declare members of the Ahmadiyya sect non-Muslims and impose harsh penalties — including death — for those who call themselves Muslims or publicly engage in religious activities. Ahmadis accepts the sect’s 19th-century founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, as the messiah and as a subordinate prophet to the Prophet Muhammad, a belief many Muslims consider blasphemous.

“This is a malicious attempt to chill free speech and expression by a Muslim American website,” attorney Brett Williamson of O’Melveny & Myers, which is representing TrueIslam.com pro bono, wrote in a letter to PTA on Monday (Jan. 11).

He described the takedown notice as “legally infirm, but also patently absurd in its reach.”

The website is registered and hosted in the U.S. and is aimed at an American audience. Zafar and Khan are both U.S. citizens and the threat of extradition is virtually nil, but both have relatives in Pakistan and say penalties would make it impossible to travel there.

Law professor Arturo Carrillo, who directs George Washington University Law School’s Global Internet Freedom Project, said this case shows that the Pakistan government is now using its controversial cybercrime laws in an effort “to repress online expression and content emanating from outside the country’s borders because the government has deemed it to be undesirable and unlawful.”

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA spokesmen Amjad Mahmood Khan, left, and Harris Zafar. Photos via Twitter

PTA officials did not respond to requests for comment.

In 2016, Pakistan enacted digital regulations that allowed authorities to block online content in the “interest of the glory of Islam.” Last year, the government passed blanket censorship laws that would allow authorities to order tech companies to remove digital pornography, blasphemy and anti-state content, drawing ire from Google, Facebook, Twitter and other platforms.

But human rights experts say the takedown notices also come amid increased targeting of Ahmadis’ online religious expression. 

One day after issuing the takedown notice to TrueIslam.com, PTA also sent notices to Google and Wikipedia, threatening penalties and prosecution if the platforms failed to remove “sacrilegious content” associated with the Ahmadi sect’s beliefs.

PTA said it was responding to complaints regarding an “unauthentic” Ahmadi translation of the Quran on the Google Play Store; “misleading” search results that returned the Ahmadi leader Mirza Masroor Ahmad’s name when the term “Khalifa (caliph) of Islam” was searched; and “deceitful” Wikipedia articles that suggested that the Ahmadi caliph is Muslim.

Officials also demanded that all internet service providers serving Pakistan block content from Ahmadi websites, including TrueIslam.com, the English-language magazine Al Hakam and the international satellite TV network MTA. 

Five of Pakistan’s top Ahmadi leaders have also had cases filed against them in recent weeks over religious activity on WhatsApp, Khan told Religion News Service.

Earlier in December, Khan told a hearing of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom that extremists in Pakistan were intent on using the country’s cyber crime statutes to initiate blasphemy cases against Ahmadis.

But this latest action, Khan told Religion News Service, is “a very slippery slope in terms of what this could mean for other minorities. We’re the canaries in the coal mine. This would mean any potential website or digital content that is quote-unquote blasphemous can be the subject of criminal prosecution.”

USCIRF Commissioner Johnnie Moore described the takedown notices as “recklessly brazen” and said he expected fierce bipartisan condemnation from both the Trump and Biden administrations.

“Surely, the Pakistani government doesn’t intend on threatening American citizens within the United States?” Moore asked. “Surely, Prime Minister Imran Khan doesn’t want this controversy, now?”



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Melania Trump celebrates her 'Be Best' cyberbullying campaign, Twitter users urge her to 'Be Gone' 

NZ Herald

As turmoil continues in the US, the current First Lady of the country, Melania Trump, has taken to Twitter to celebrate her cyberbullying campaign "Be Best" — but she was met with backlash, as Twitter users pointed out the legacy of her role.

In a video posted to Twitter, Melania begged Americans to "give a voice to our Nation's children & the issues that impact their lives".

"It's the values & spirit of the American people that inspired Be Best," she wrote in the post.

The post was met with swift backlash as users pointed out her husband, Donald Trump, has been the perpetrator of cyberbullying himself, among other thing

"What legacy? Your husband demonstrated to children all over America that bullying wasn't just okay, it was something the President of the United States does. He modeled [sic] childish temper tantrums and insults for four years. That's your legacy, lady," one Twitter user responded.

"Melania Trump is married to one of the nastiest bullies on the planet and was an active participant in the incredibly racist birther movement against Obama. #BeBest was nothing more than a smokescreen. Be better, Melania. Be much better," another person said.

A few Twitter users took the opportunity to point out that Melania's own legacy is not the best one, either.

A few Twitter users opted for responding to Melania's #BeBest tweet with a different hashtag: #BeGone.

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I WANT TO SMOTHER DEMOCRACY 
WITH MY PILLOW

Donald Trump ally Michael Lindell reveals notes urging 'martial law'
15 Jan, 2021 
My Pillow CEO Michael Lindell is seen outside the door of the West Wing at the White House with his notes. Photo / Getty Images

By: Phoebe Loomes

A close adviser to US President Donald Trump has been spotted at the White House clutching a piece of paper that appeared to urge the most powerful man in the world to invoke "martial law".

Michael Lindell, the founder and CEO of MyPillow, was photographed outside the West Wing clutching a typed memo, partially concealed by a fold. However, some of what was written on the memo was visible.
Some of the document is visible. Photo / Twitter: Jabin Botsford

"…nsurrection Act now as a result of the assault on the… martial law if necessary upon the first hint of any… Foreign interference in the election. Trigger emergency powers... Make clear this is China/Iran... used domestic actors".

Also visible on the memo are the names Sidney Powell, a lawyer who worked on Trump's legal campaign to overturn the election result, and Bill Olson, a Florida Republican who lost in the November election.

The document also appears to advise Trump to "move Kash Patel to CIA Acting". Patel is currently the Acting US Secretary of Defence.

Lindell is a strong ally of the president, and remained a vocal supporter in the wake of the siege at the Capitol last week, which killed five people including a Capitol police officer.
 
MyPillow CEO Michael Lindell reveals his notes outside the White House. Photo / Twitter: Jabin Botsford

His bedding company, MyPillow, launched an online offer where buyers could receive a discount by entering the phrase "FightForTrump" at the checkout.

The discount was available on the day of the siege at the Capitol, where Lindell was at the rally, according to the New York Times.
Lindell standing outside the White House. Photo / Twitter: Jabin Botsford

After the deadly riot, Lindell appeared on conservative cable news channel Newsmax and referred to what had transpired as "very peaceful".

Trump's impeachment in the House of Representatives for inciting the insurrection now heads to a Senate trial, which will not begin until Biden is sworn in as the new president.

While he was once expected to leave office as the most powerful voice in his party and the leading contender for its 2024 nomination, Trump has been shunned by much of the party over his response the violence.

Trump intends to leave Washington DC next Wednesday morning (Thursday NZT), just before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration the following day, to begin his post-presidential life in Florida.
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GOP freshman lawmakers splinter over Trump

The House GOP’s high-profile freshman class is fracturing less than two weeks into the new Congress, and it’s all over one man: Donald Trump
.
© Erin Scott-Pool/Getty Images Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wears a "Trump Won" face mask as she arrives on the floor of the House to take the oath of office on the year's opening session on Jan. 3, 2021 in Washington, D.C. 
A SEDITIOUS INSURRECTIONIST, A CONFEDERATE WHITE SUPRAMACIST 

Trump’s failed gambit to overturn the election — and the deadly Capitol riots that followed — forced the newest House Republicans to take some of the toughest and most consequential votes of their careers during their very first days in office.

The result has left a deep and bitter divide among the freshmen, who have already begun to publicly and privately lash out at one another as tensions in the party ramp up. Nearly a dozen newcomers ended up opposing the election challenges that were lodged by a majority of their Republican colleagues, while just one freshman — Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan — broke ranks to support removing Trump from office.

Now, the 45-member group finds themselves increasingly cleaved into two camps of freshmen. There are the members who flipped suburban swing-seats and rejected Trump’s false claims of voter fraud — a group that includes single moms and Cuban and Korean immigrants. And then there are those such as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, who won deep red districts where loyalty to the president is paramount and conspiracy theories are commonplace.

The warring factions in the freshman class mirror the broader rift in the GOP, where there is a widening gulf between a Trump-loving base and the moderate wing that can help make Republicans a majority party in 2022.

And some freshmen have been more vocal than others. One standout is Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who won back a GOP seat in the Lowcountry and has emerged as the most outspoken critic of Trump and the “QAnon wing” in her class.

Mace has excoriated some Republicans for their potential roles in inciting the violent mob on Jan. 6, calling for them to face investigations and other possible repercussions such as censure — which would represent a stinging rebuke of a colleague.

“It’s very important that we hold everybody accountable, and I hope that people are investigated to the fullest extent of the law — starting from the president on down. Including Members of Congress,” said Mace, noting “all options” should be on the table. “We have allowed QAnon conspiracy theorists to lead us.”

Mace, however, said she’s not worried about potential blowback for criticizing her new colleagues: “I do not operate out of fear.”

But she’s also not blind to the risks facing her and her family’s physical safety. Mace said she applied for a concealed carry permit and sent her kids home from D.C. early after she started receiving threats for vowing to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win.

Meijer, meanwhile, said he is now investing in body armor after he joined just nine other Republicans to vote for impeachment. He has also suggested that fears for personal safety had influenced some of his colleagues to support Trump’s challenges to the results of the election.

“This has been for many of us, especially those who decided to vote for impeachment, one of the worst weeks of our lives, one of hardest votes we’ve ever had to take,” Meijer said on MSNBC. “I’ve been talking to a number of colleagues, just felt physically nauseous.”

To the frustration of some GOP lawmakers, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy counseled some of the freshmen about which states to object to and even warned of potential primary challenges if they didn’t, POLITICO first reported.

And in the hours after the Jan. 6 riots, when Congress began resuming the electoral certification process, some freshmen were still torn about how to vote and sought the advice of more senior lawmakers, according to sources familiar with the conversations.

But in the end, the majority of the new House Republicans objected to the results, along with more than 120 GOP lawmakers. Several of the freshmen were even leading the charge against Biden's victory and spoke out on the House floor, including Boebert, Greene, and freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.).

The stark differences in style and substance have led to some clashes among the freshman. During a GOP conference call on Monday, Mace and others criticized Boebert for suggesting that Capitol Police officers were involved in the riot and for live tweeting the speaker’s whereabouts during the siege. Boebert responded that it wasn’t her intent, and asked her colleagues not to accuse her of anything.

And the following day, Axios reported that Mace slammed Greene in a private text chain among all the new GOP members, calling her the “literal QAnon lady.” Greene’s office said that different viewpoints are to be expected in such a large class, but said the congresswoman was primarily concerned about the violation of privacy.

Greene responded to Axios with a similar sentiment: “Who is the freshman rep that is betraying everyone's trust and leaking our group chat to the press?”

McCarthy has tried to maintain unity in his ranks, repeatedly warning members not to attack each other over their positions on the issue.

“I do want everyone to understand: emotions are high,” McCarthy said on a GOP conference call this week, according to a source familiar with the conversation. “What you say matters. Let’s not put other people in danger. Let’s watch what words we’re using and definitely not be using other members’ names in any media.”

Amid the riots and impeachment, few incoming freshmen classes have experienced as chaotic of first few weeks in office. And the political implications of their votes will reverberate throughout the coming months: the House Democratic campaign arm is already seizing on their votes on impeachment and vote certification to use as a cudgel in 2022.

GOP recruiters crowed about the rising stars who ousted Democrats in November, a diverse crop of candidates who they hoped would improve the party’s image in suburban America and dominate the spotlight. There’s Reps. Young Kim, one of the first Korean-American women in Congress; Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, whose family fled communist Cuba; and Mace, the first woman to graduate from The Citadel military college.

But the large number of retirements by older mainstreet Republicans in the Trump era mean the party has also seen an infusion of new representatives from safe, red seats. The most notable are Greene and Boebert, who both suggested before winning election that they believed in aspects of the far-right QAnon movement.

Many of those new members have proved eager to imitate the president’s brash and often-offensive style. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) had to apologize during her first week in office for praising Hitler in a speech addressing Trump supporters. Meanwhile, Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) deleted his personal Twitter account after complaining that there were “more arrests for stealing a podium” on Jan. 6 than for “stealing an election on” Nov. 3. Then there’s Cawthorn, who urged a crowd to “lightly threaten” their members of Congress if they want to motivate their votes and actions.

The coronavirus — and how seriously to take it — has also created a rift in the new GOP class. Freshman Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), a hardline conservative who ousted the libertarian-leaning Denver Riggleman in a primary, faced blowback for calling Covid “a phony pandemic” in a December speech in downtown D.C.

And Greene has refused at times to wear a mask, arguing it’s “my body, my choice.”

BUT SHE WOULD DENY HER SISTERS THAT RIGHT TO CHOOSE ABORTION 

To which, Mace shot back in a subtweet of her own: “My body. My choice. And I choose to wear a mask.”
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US Capitol riots: Members of Congress request investigation into 'suspicious' visitors
14 Jan, 2021 



A rioter carries the lectern of US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. 


By: Rohan Smith


Extraordinary allegations have been levelled at members of the US Congress who are accused of taking Trump fanatics on "reconnaissance" missions through the Capitol building a day before the insurrection under the guise of "public tours".

A group of about 30 members of Congress, led by Democrat Mikie Sherrill, has written to Capitol Police requesting an investigation into the visitors allowed in the day before the deadly riot, on January 5.

"Many of the members who signed this letter, including those of us who have served in the military and are trained to recognise suspicious activity, as well as various members of our staff, witnessed an extremely high number of outside groups in the complex," Sherrill said.

"This is unusual for several reasons, including the fact that access to the Capitol Complex has been restricted since public tours ended in March of last year due to the pandemic."

The uptick in visitors was so noticeable that it got reported to the sergeant at arms on January 5.

Yesterday, Sherrill claimed to have witnessed some Republican members of Congress leading visitors in what she called "reconnaissance" of the building. She did not specify which members of Congress she was referring to.

In a Facebook Live video, the former navy helicopter pilot claimed she saw first-hand "members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol on January 5th, a reconnaissance for the next day".

The claims came hours before Donald Trump became the first US president to be impeached for a second time.

In her video, Sherrill detailed the frightening events that unfolded as she and her colleagues attempted to certify the election while a mob of Trump supporters tried to stop them.

"I think most of you know how proud I've always been to be an American," she said. "And to be part of this great country. One of the things that is a birthright is our democracy … the peaceful transition of government.

"As I was sitting in the House chamber, I began to get reports on my phone. I heard that the building where members have their offices across the street from the Capitol was being evacuated.

"I heard there were crowds gathering … and that the Vice President had been evacuated. Shortly thereafter I watched Nancy Pelosi, the speaker, evacuated from our chamber. And then the doors were shut and locked. We attempted to continue the debate but that became impossible as crowds … started banging on the doors. And so we were told to get out the gas masks in case we had to egress through tear gas.

"Then we were told that we had to get down … because they were worried that an active shooter was going to get into the chamber. As I was on the floor I heard other members making calls home, afraid that would be the last call that they ever made.

"I called my husband and told him I was okay. I told him I had to go and as I was getting ready to leave the chamber, I noticed a colleague … was having a little bit of trouble. I helped her down the stairs.

"We were concerned, worried around every corner that we might find the mob. I was told later that members of that mob were carrying zip ties and wearing body armour and were willing to take prisoners.

"We made it to the secure location and then, in an act that shows the bravery of so many members of this body … as we were holed up in the chamber by a mob of domestic terrorists violently trying to overthrow our ability to certify the election, they went back hours later into that very chamber so we could finish the debate and certify the election.

"We had armed members of a mob incited by the President. Militias that the President of the United States called to the Capitol … to ensure we did not have a peaceful transition of power."

She said she planned to hold members of Congress who allegedly assisted the mob accountable.

"I also intend to see that members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol on January 5th, a reconnaissance for the next day, those members of Congress that attempted to help the President undermine our democracy … I'm going to see that they are held accountable."

The Washington Post reported that several Capitol Police officers have been temporarily relieved of their duties amid investigations into suspected ties to rioters and for showing "inappropriate support for last week's attempted insurrection".
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MORE #BOEBERT

AP Exclusive: 

MLB suspends political donations after DC riot


NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball is suspending all political contributions in the wake of last week's invasion of the U.S. Capitol by a mob loyal to President Donald Trump, joining a wave of major corporations rethinking their efforts to lobby Washington.

“In light of the unprecedented events last week at the U.S. Capitol, MLB is suspending contributions from its Political Action Committee pending a review of our political contribution policy going forward,” the league said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The National Football League said it will reconsider its donations but did not commit to suspending them.

“We are re-evaluating our political giving policies through the Gridiron PAC,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the AP in a statement Wednesday.

Following the insurrection last week by Trump supporters while Congress attempted to certify the results of the presidential election, many companies have said they will avoid making donations to members of the House and Senate who voted to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Trump. Others, like MLB, have postponed political giving to both political parties altogether.

MLB was the first of the major professional sports leagues to say it would halt lobbying through its PAC in the wake of the deadly Capitol riots.

The Office of The Commissioner of Major League Baseball Political Action Committee has donated $669,375 to Senate and House candidates since the 2016 election cycle, with 52.4% of that money going to Republican candidates, according to The Center for Responsive Politics.

Among its lobbying successes was a bill in 2018 that exempted minor league baseball players making as little as $5,500 per season from federal minimum wage laws, preempting a lawsuit from three players filed four years earlier. The “Save America’s Pastime Act” appeared on page 1,967 of a $1.3 trillion spending bill.

Since the 2016 election cycle, MLB has made contributions to two senators and nine representatives who were among those opposing certification of Biden's victory.

The Senate Republicans are Ted Cruz (Texas) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (Mississippi), and the House Republicans are Roger Williams (Texas), Kevin McCarthy (California), David Schweikert (Arizona), Steve Chabot (Ohio), Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma), Adrian Smith (Nebraska), Michael Burgess (Texas), Rick Crawford (Arkansas) and Elise Stefanik (New York).

Giants, Diamondbacks owners donated to pro-QAnon Rep. Lauren Boebert

Cassandra Negley·Writer SFGATE
Thu, January 14, 2021, 9:08 AM·4 min read

The team owners for the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks donated max contributions to Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), a QAnon supporter who tweeted the location of House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi during the U.S. Capitol attack and has clashed with police, according to FEC filings reviewed by the SFGATE.

Giants principal owner Charles B. Johnson and his wife, Ann, each donated the maximum allowable amount of $2,800 for a congressional candidate. Diamondbacks owner Earl “Ken” Kendrick and his wife, Randy, also donated $2,800 each.

The donations are from September, two months before election day. The report of their previous donations comes after MLB suspended all political contributions in the wake of the U.S. Capitol riot.

Colorado Rep. Boebert’s ties to QAnon

Boebert was a surprise victor in the June 30 Republican primary and garnered immediate support from President Donald Trump even though he initially backed her opponent. She was sworn in on Jan. 3.

She said in May she hopes QAnon “is real because it only means America is getting stronger and better and people are returning to conservative values,” via Axios. She has since tried to distance herself from it.

The FBI first denoted these baseless fringe conspiracy theories as a new domestic terrorist threat in August 2019

Giants owner largest Republican sports donors

The contributions by the Johnsons are dated Sept. 23, per SFGate. Johnson, 88, has deep ties with the Republican party. He has contributed $10,995,500 to Republican campaigns or super PACs that support Republicans since 2016, per an October investigation by ESPN and FiveThirtyEight. His net worth is nearly $4.9 billion, according to Forbes, and he’s the second-richest owner in MLB.

It’s nearly five times as much as the second-highest contribution total of Orlando Magic team owner Dan DeVos — the brother-in-law of outgoing secretary of education Betsy DeVos — who gave $2.28 million. Johnson also gave $35,000 to bipartisan groups and $5,200 to Democrats.

Giants owner involved in Hyde-Smith controversy

Arizona Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick donated the maximum amount to the campaign of controversial congresswoman Lauren Boebert. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

Johnson’s donations have drawn attention before. He and his wife donated max amounts to Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s campaign in 2018, but asked for it back after she said of a supporter: “If he invited me to a public hanging, I would be on the front row.”

Johnson said in a public statement the remark was “stupid” and that he’d gotten his donation returned.

“On the whole, I don’t like the idea of politics affecting anything I do with the Giants,” he said, via the San Francisco Chronicle.

MLB also asked her campaign to return its donation.

D-backs owner, wife backed Trump opponents in 2016

The Kendricks gave their donations on Sept. 12. Ken Kendrick has given $1,379,700 to Republicans since 2016, per ESPN and FiveThirtyEight. No contributions to bipartisan or Democratic groups are listed.

Before the 2016 presidential election, wife Randy Kendricks helped fund a super PAC to portray Trump as “too reckless to be president,” via the Arizona Republic. She said then she couldn’t stay silent after Trump refused to disavow former KKK leader David Duke.

Via the Arizona Republic in March of 2016:
“We should be able to denounce white supremacists and we should be able to do it quickly,” said Kendrick. She went on to describe a conversation she had with her husband.

“Ken said, ‘Randy, our obligation is to our own ethics, our integrity, our values. They aren’t to a particular party. We didn’t take a loyalty oath to the party.’”

She added that Trump’s followers may not realize the “tinderbox you could set off if you exacerbate” racial and ethnic tensions.
Rep. Boebert has been asked to resign after Capitol riot

Boebert is under calls to resign. Dozens of Colorado’s elected officials in her 3rd Congressional District wrote to U.S. House leaders to condemn her acts “based on her association with the right-wing groups that supported the insurrection of the Capitol building,” per 9News in Colorado.

They asked for an investigation, adding "there is deep concern about her actions leading up to and during the protests that turned into a violent and deadly mob."

Boebert tweeted throughout the attack on the Capitol carried out by Trump supporters. She wrote “Today is 1776” at 8:30 a.m. and while the mob was in the Capitol wrote that lawmakers were “locked in the House Chambers” and “the Speaker has been removed from the chambers.”

Other congresspeople have said and written on Twitter that they were told not to disclose their location in order to keep everyone safe. Republicans have also reportedly raised concerns about Boebert risking their safety with her tweets, via The Hill.

When Congress came back that night to certify the election of President-elect Joe Biden, Boebert voted against ratifying the results. 

FROM TWITTER 


JAX@SpiritualHear10
·Jan 10

Replying to 
@laurenboebert

This was an inside job and 
@laurenboebert was the inside person. 

@SpiritualHear10 Lauren Boebert may have caused serious injury and destruction by tweeting during the insurrection to the Capitol. She could easily have aided and abetted this action. Please have her investigated and/or removed.   


Colorado officials pen letter requesting probe into Boebert's actions

Some Colorado officials have sent a letter to congressional leadership requesting a probe into Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-Colo.) actions leading up to and on the day of the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, according to multiple reports.

In the letter published by KUSA and first obtained by The Steamboat Pilot and Today, the officials across Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, which Boebert represents, raised “deep concern about her actions leading up to and during the protests that turned into a violent deadly mob.”

Boebert has faced backlash and calls to resign over tweeting out the location of lawmakers as the Capitol was being breached. Some GOP lawmakers voiced concerns over Boebert’s tweets in a heated call on Monday.

“Representative Boebert’s actions, including her statements on the floor immediately preceding the insurrection and her social media posts leading up to the riots were irresponsible and reprehensible,” the officials wrote.

The letter says the congresswoman’s speech and tweets encouraged the “mob mentality” of her followers, as well as those who directly participated in the mob.

The officials asked for an investigation and to follow through with any appropriate disciplinary action. The lawmakers also said they reached out to Boebert directly and have not received a response.

“Our bigger concern is that hate groups are proliferating in America and they are heavily armed. We request that you create a Congressional panel to thoroughly investigate these groups. They pose a real threat to American democracy, to our communities and to our residents,” the lawmakers wrote..

The letter was addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Boebert’s office didn’t immediately return a request for comment on the letter.

The Steamboat Pilot and Today noted that Boebert was giving a speech objecting to Arizona’s electoral vote just before Congress went into recess due to the riot. After the riot, Boebert still voted to uphold objections to Arizona and Pennsylvania’s Electoral College vote.

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Twitter on Wednesday said that the brief locking of a GOP congresswoman's account was the result of "incorrect enforcement action." 

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), a freshman member of Congress who recently said she wanted to carry her Glock pistol in the Capitol, reported Wednesday on Instagram that she received a weeklong ban from posting from her account. 

A spokesperson for Twitter confirmed to The Hill Wednesday afternoon that the site's content moderation team "took the incorrect enforcement action" in response to one of the congresswoman's tweets, and had rectified the decision by unfreezing Boebert's account and placing a warning on the tweet in question.



Comments - Lauren Boebert For Congress (@laurenboebertco) on Instagram: 

“America, land of the free?"

"The Tweet in question is now labeled in accordance with our Civic Integrity Policy. The Tweet will not be required to be removed and the account will not be temporarily locked," said the Twitter spokesperson.

The incident appeared to center around a Jan. 9 tweet in which Boebert falsely accused the Democratic National Committee (DNC) of rigging the 2020 election. The tweet is now labeled with a content warning from Twitter which restricts users from replying to or otherwise interacting with the post.

The mix up with Twitter comes about a week after President Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter after the platform determined that his future posts would incite violence. Other mainstream social media platforms such as Facebook have also taken restrictive measures against Trump in his final days of his presidency after he encouraged a group of his supporters last week to gather at the Capitol while Congress certified the 2020 election results.

  •  Following his remarks, a mob of rioters attacked the Capitol building breaking windows, vandalizing lawmakers' offices and forcing staff, media and members to evacuate both chambers of Congress to undisclosed locations

Boebert was recently involved in tensions that flared between Capitol Police and some Republican lawmakers who argued over the use of metal detectors outside the House chamber following the violent insurrection. Boebert was seen by a reporter setting off the metal detector and refusing to turn her bag over for inspection. 

Later Boebert tweeted: "I am legally permitted to carry my firearm in Washington, D.C. and within the Capitol complex." She added that the detectors are "just another political stunt by Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi" that wouldn't have prevented last week's riots.

SHE TWEETED THAT PELOSI HAD BEEN MOVED DURING THE CONFEDERATE INSURECCTION AND INVASION OF THE CAPITOL

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