Far-right groups that block aid to Gaza receive tax-deductible donations from US and Israel


Israeli police prevent activists from blocking trucks carrying humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, southern Israel, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)

Activists stand in front of trucks carrying humanitarian aid as they try to stop them from entering the Gaza Strip in an area near the Kerem Shalom border crossing, southern Israel, Thursday, May 9, 2024. 

 Israeli activists block the exit of Ashdod port to stop trucks they claim are carrying humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip, in Ashdod, Israel, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024.

 Israeli activists block the exit of Ashdod port to stop trucks they claim are carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, in Ashdod, Israel, Feb. 1, 2024.

Israeli police prevent activists from blocking trucks carrying humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip at the Kerem Shalom border crossing, Jan. 29, 2024.

BY URI BLAU, MILAN CZERNY OF SHOMRIM AND JOSEF FEDERMAN

 OF THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 July 15, 2024

JERUSALEM (AP) — Under American pressure, Israel has pledged to deliver large quantities of humanitarian aid into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip. But at the same time, the U.S. and Israel have allowed tax-deductible donations to far-right groups that have blocked that aid from being delivered.

Three groups that have prevented humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza — including one accused of looting or destroying supplies — have raised more than $200,000 from donors in the U.S. and Israel, The Associated Press and the Israeli investigative site Shomrim have found in an examination of crowdfunding websites and other public records.

Incentivizing these donations by making them tax-deductible runs counter to America’s and Israel’s stated commitments to allow unlimited food, water and medicine into Gaza, say groups working to get more aid into the territory. Donations have continued even after the U.S. imposed sanctions against one of these groups.

By not cracking down on these groups, Israel is showing a “lack of coherence” in its Gaza aid policy, said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli nonprofit that has long called on Israel to improve conditions in the territory.

“If you’re on the one hand saying you’re allowing aid in but then also facilitating the actions of groups that are blocking it, can you really say you’re facilitating aid?” she said.

Israeli officials did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. State Department said it is committed to ensuring the delivery of aid, but had no comment on the fundraising efforts by the far-right groups.

Israel has said repeatedly it does not restrict humanitarian aid and that the United Nations has failed to distribute thousands of truckloads of goods that have reached the territory. The U.N. and aid groups say deliveries have repeatedly been hampered by military operations, lawlessness inside Gaza and delays in Israeli inspections.

The three groups examined by AP and Shomrim have slowed the delivery of aid by blocking trucks on their way to Gaza, either by snarling traffic or simply standing in front of the main Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza.

While these organizations are not the primary impediment to aid shipments, they have received tacit support from some Israeli leaders. Israel’s ultranationalist minister for national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has said aid shipments to Gaza should be blocked and he supported the right of opponents to demonstrate, though he said it should not be done violently.

One of the groups, Mother’s March, has raised the equivalent of over $125,000 via Givechack, an Israeli crowdfunding site, the AP and Shomrim found. The group also raised some $13,000 via JGive, a U.S. and Israeli crowdfunding site. Donations to charitable organizations are tax-deductible in Israel and the U.S.

Mother’s March does not raise the money directly. Instead, it works with an allied group called Torat Lechima that raises funds on its behalf.

Torat Lechima, whose name translates loosely as “combat doctrine,” is active in Israeli nationalist circles and works to “strengthen the Jewish identity and fighting spirit” among Israeli soldiers, according to its website. Torat Lechima continues to solicit funds for Mother’s March on the JGive site in the U.S.

Until it was sanctioned last month, a third group, Tzav 9, raised over $85,000 from close to 1,500 donors in the U.S. and Israel via JGive. JGive said that donations made to Tzav 9 were frozen even before the sanctions were imposed and not delivered to the group.

All three groups, which have ties with Israel’s ultranationalist far right, say Israel should not be aiding the Palestinians as long as Hamas is holding dozens of people hostage. They also claim that Hamas is stealing much of the aid, though aid groups have disputed that.

“No to ‘humanitarian’ aid that grants fuel to the enemy who kills us! No to the hundreds of trucks that pass every day through Kerem Shalom – and drag out the war!” Mother’s March said in a recent crowdfunding campaign. It said the funds were needed for demonstrations, shuttles, printing materials and publicity campaigns.

Hundreds of activists set up tents at Kerem Shalom for several nights in early February to stop the delivery of aid. The head of Mother’s March, Sima Hasson, was briefly detained by Israeli police in January after temporarily blocking trucks.

Israeli news reports have shown large convoys of cars blocking aid trucks from traveling on Israeli highways, as well as activists looting trucks and destroying supplies.

In its sanctions order, the White House accused Tzav 9 of violently blocking roads, damaging aid trucks and dumping supplies on the road. It said in May that Tzav 9 members looted and set fire to two trucks in the West Bank carrying aid destined for Gaza. Last week, the White House imposed sanctions on the group’s co-founders.

Israeli police, who fall under the authority of Ben-Gvir, have made few arrests, though the group appears to have stopped its activities in recent weeks.

Tzav 9 defended its actions as “within the framework of the law, in a democratic protest.” It called the sanctions from the U.S. “anti-democratic intervention.”

Neither Mother’s March nor Torat Lechima responded to requests for comment.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which killed roughly 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage.

The offensive has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and unleashed a humanitarian crisis in the densely populated territory. Over 80% of the population is displaced, and international officials say hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of famine.

Two international courts have accused Israel of war crimes and genocide – charges Israel denies as it pledges to keep the aid flowing into Gaza.

Those who violate the sanctions against Tsav 9 could have their assets frozen or face travel and visa bans.

It’s unclear how effective these sanctions will be. Extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank say similar U.S. sanctions imposed on them have had little effect, in part because Israeli leaders helped circumvent them.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined comment. The Justice Ministry, which regulates nonprofits, said it would investigate but had no further comment.

JGive said it complies with Israeli laws. In addition to freezing Tzav 9’s donations, it noted that the Mother’s March campaign ended over four months ago.

The U.S. State Department said it has urged Israel to ensure aid safely reaches Gaza and to punish those who try to block it.

“The targeting of aid trucks by violent extremist settlers is unacceptable, and we’ve made that clear to the government of Israel,” it said. It declined comment on the groups’ fundraising efforts.

Hary, of the Israeli activist group Gisha, noted that the efforts of Mother’s March and Tzav 9 appear to have quieted down in recent weeks. But as they continue to seek donors, she said they could resume activities at any moment.

“They’re getting signals from various places in the government that Gaza should be completely cut off,” she said.
___

AP correspondent Julia Frankel contributed reporting from Jerusalem.

Houthi rebels strike ships off Yemen coast, British maritime group says


Earlier this year, weapon technicians prepared a Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4 for air strikes in response to increased malign behavior by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. File Photo by AS1 Leah Jones/U.K. Ministry of Defense/UPI | License Photo

July 15 (UPI) -- Yemen's Houthi militia attacked two merchant vessels Monday, the British Maritime Trade Operations said.

The captain of a ship traveling 70 nautical miles southwest of Yemen's Hodeidah reported a missile fell near the ship at about 8 a.m. GMT.

Forty-five minutes later, the captain reported that two more missiles had exploded near the ship but that the ship and the crew were unharmed. He reported the vessel was attacked by three small blue and white vessels, two with people on board and one unmanned.

The unmanned craft collided with the ship twice and the two manned craft fired at it.

"The vessel and crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to the next port of call," the maritime agency posted.

UKMTO also reported a merchant ship was attacked by a remotely operated boat 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah at noon GMT.

The port side of his ship was hit, causing some damage and light smoke. The vessel was reported safe and proceeded to its next port of call.

The Houthis didn't claim responsibility for the attacks.

On Sunday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for two attacks -- one in the Gulf of Aden and one in Eilat at the southern tip of Israel.

Since November, the Houthis have destroyed two ships, captured another, and launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles, and remotely operated and explosive-rigged boats at more than 100 naval and commercial ships in international sea lanes off Yemen.

On Saturday, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the United States Central Command commander, visited Jordan and Syria to meet with leaders and U.S. service members and "gain a better understanding of the regional security situation," including Yemen.

Kurilla met with Jordan's Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Maj. Gen. Yousef Alhnaity and key members of his staff, Central Command said Monday. He also visited several U.S. military facilities in Jordan and Syria "to assess force protection improvements and the overall defeat ISIS campaign."

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, based in San Diego, arrived in the Middle East on Friday to replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower "to deter aggression, promote regional stability, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region," according to U.S. Central Command.

 

Houthis Launch New Wave of Attacks but One Bomb Boat Fails to Explode

One of the bomb boats failed to explode although it hit a tanker twice in the Red Sea file photo)

PUBLISHED JUL 15, 2024 12:33 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Vessels sailing in the Red Sea are reporting attacks today believed to have been launched by the Houthi rebels, but an apparent boat bomb failed to detonate and the attack was withdrawn. The UK Maritime Trade Organizations is placing its tally with today’s reports at a total of 101 incidents in 2024.

The master of a product tanker reported that the vessel was approached by three small blue and white colored boats while they were approximately 70 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah in the Red Sea. According to the reports, one of the vessels was unmanned and collided twice with the tanker without an explosion. The other two boats were manned and gunfire was exchanged between the boats and the security guards on the tanker before the boats withdrew.  

The incident transpired over about 15 minutes with the tanker reporting it took protective measures. About two and a half hours later the same vessel reported a nearby missile explosion and then 45 minutes later two further explosions. Three hours later an unknown projective also exploded near the same tanker. The master told UKMTO that they were not injured and there was no damage to the vessel.

The vessel is being identified by UK-based digital solutions provider Vanguard as the Panama-flagged product tanker Bentley I (40,000 dwt). Vanguard reports and the Equasis database lists the vessel as being owned by Maritime Trading of Haifa, Israel. The tanker’s AIS signal is off but it last registered showing the vessel transiting the Suez Canal southbound on July 11 bound for China.

Several hours later another crude oil tanker reported damage in a similar position 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah. This vessel was impacted by an uncrewed surface vessel with the master telling UKMTO they experienced “some damage” on the port side along with light smoke. The vessel however was proceeding to its next port according to UKMTO.

Vanguard identifies this tanker as the Chios Lion (17,525 dwt). The vessel is Greek-owned and managed with Vanguard reporting ships from the same management company have recently called in Israel. Another one of the company’s vessels, Transworld Navigator, Vanguard reports was targeted four times between June 21 and 23.

UKMOT also received information on two additional explosions from a previous attack. The unidentified vessel was 15 nautical miles southwest of Mukha, Yemen on July 11 when there were two explosions about one hour apart. 

Late on Monday the Houthi spokesperson acknowledged the attacks and also said they had targeted a product tanker Olvia (6,352 dwt) while it was sailing in the Mediterranean. Registered in Cyprus the vessel appears to regularly visit Israeli ports. The prior attack the Houthis announced over the weekend was against the MSC Unific VI (63,200 dwt). The undated report said the vessel was in the Gulf of Aden when they launched missiles toward the ship. The Liberian-registered containership (5652 TEU) reported departing Djibouti on July 11.

U.S. Central Command continues to issue its daily updates reporting on Sunday the destruction of both aerial and surface drones. EUNAVFOR Aspides also reported on Sunday that the Greek frigate HS Prasa had observed a swarm of aerial drones while escorting a merchant ship. One of the drones was intercepted and the others withdrew.

Big four Australian banks to repay millions in fees to low-income customers

By Paul Godfrey
JULY 15, 2024 

Australian financial regulators said Monday that four of the country's largest banks had agreed to repay $20 million in account fees to hundreds of thousands of customers on low incomes, including many Indigenous "First Nation" people.

 File photo by Paul Miller/EPA


July 15 (UPI) -- Australian financial regulators said Monday that four of the country's biggest banks had agreed to repay $20 million in account fees to hundreds of thousands of customers on low incomes, including many Indigenous "First Nation" people.

ANZ Bank, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Westpac wrongly kept at least two million Australians, including many dependent on social security or government schemes, in high-fee accounts, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said in a news release.

Recipients of certain so-called Centrelink government payments automatically qualify for low-cost accounts, but instead the banks inflicted financial distress through avoidable fees and complicated bank processes, frequently creating barriers for regional and remote consumers, said ASIC Commissioner Alan Kirkland.

"Banks knew that many of these customers on low incomes were in inappropriate high-fee accounts, and it has taken ASIC's intervention to force them to act," Kirkland said.

"Before our review, most banks only provided their customers with difficult 'opt-in' processes for switching to low-fee banking options, including forcing some consumers to travel hundreds of kilometers to their nearest bank branch."

The banks will return an average of $100 to each of 200,000 customers who they have since migrated to low-fee accounts, of which $16.7 million will go to customers receiving ABSTUDY payments -- education grants covering tuition, board, travel and books -- paid to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders and those in areas with significant First Nations populations.

The commission said its intervention would also save affected customers an estimated combined $7.3 million annually in fees going forward.

The move follows a July 2023 report by the watchdog that found some customers with high-fee transaction accounts, including First Nations people, were being charged more than $2,000 in overdraft fees annually.

The commission ordered banks to provide data on fees charged to consumers in locations with higher-than-average proportions of Indigenous people and for customers in receipt of ABSTUDY payments.

Analysis found that many Indigenous consumers identified from the data had high-fee accounts and consequently were paying "avoidable" fees, despite being eligible for low-fee "basic" accounts.

While welcoming the steps the banks had taken, Kirkland said more needed to be done to ensure the issue did not recur, noting that it was the second example in as many months where the industry had failed to put customers' needs at the center of their businesses.

"It highlights the impact the banking system can have on Australians. Fair banking services for all Australians, including those on low incomes or located in regional or remote areas, are critical for our financial system," he said.

"Banks need to ensure they have systems and processes in place so customers on low incomes can easily transition to low-fee accounts, regardless of their location."

He added that the commission expected all banks -- not just those who were the subject of Monday's report -- to take note and take steps to improve the accessibility and distribution of low-fee accounts, including deploying adequate resources to the provision of specialist services to First Nations people.

RIP

Winston, one of the world's oldest silverbacks, dies at age 52 at San Diego zoo

Winston, a western lowland gorilla, died Saturday following years of declining health. He was euthanized at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park where he resided since 1984. Photo courtesy of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance/Release

July 15 (UPI) -- Winston, one of the world's oldest silverback gorillas, has died at the age of 52, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.

He was euthanized Saturday following years of declining health, said the San Diego Zoo Safari Park where Winston lived.

"This gentle giant will be remembered for his quiet strength, easygoing nature and heart of gold," the park said in a statement on Facebook announcing the gorilla's death.

The western lowland gorilla was a beloved resident of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park where he resided since 1984

He was the troop leader within the Gorilla Forest habitat at the park and had fathered nine children and adopted two unrelated male gorillas, the park had said late last year.

Winston was also one of the first known cases of COVID-19 being contracted by a great ape -- a disease that he survived.

However, the famed gorilla has suffered from heart problems since at least 2017, the park said on its website, adding that cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death for a great ape in zoos.

The park said wildlife care teams monitoring his heart had noticed signs of decline in recent years, and had been treating the gorilla for several age-related conditions, including heart, degenerative joint and kidney diseases.

"After careful consideration stemming from furthering complications form his worsening conditions, and with Winston's quality of life top of mind, wildlife health and care teams made the difficult decision to compassionately euthanize him," the zoo said.

The park said Winston was described by his wildlife care specialists as representing "the best of us."

"His contributions to gorilla conservation will continue to improve the lives of great apes around the world for generations to come," it said.

EU sanctions violent Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank

JULY 16, 2024 

Ultra Zionist Ben-zion "Bentzi" Gopstein, chairman of the Israeli far-right wing organization Lehava, was sanctioned by the European Union on Monday. File Photo by Abir Sultan/EPA

July 16 (UPI) -- The European Union has again leveled sanctions at violent Israeli settlers and their associated outposts and organizations on accusations of systematically abusing the human rights of Palestinians in the West Bank.

The sanctions announced Monday target five people and three organizations, freezing their assets and barring them entry into the EU.

Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Golan Heights are widely regarded as illegal under international law.

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began Oct. 7, there has been greater attention placed on Israel's occupation. Embolden by the conflict, extremist settlers have been increasingly attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.

On Monday, the EU sanctioned Tzav 9, an group of violent Israeli activists founded in January 2024. The organization, which was sanctioned late last week by the United States, is accused of blocking trucks delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza.

It also accused the group of conducting violent protests and attacking and destroying food trucks and their contents.

Ben-Zion "Bentzi" Gopstein was also hit with sanctions. He is the leader of Lehava, a radical right-wing Jewish supremacist group that was previously sanctioned by the European Union and blacklisted by the United States last week.

Moshe Sharvit and his Moshe's Farm in the Jordan Valley were sanctioned by the EU on Monday for having "engaged in settler violence and threats toward Palestinian residents in shepherding communities" close to his West Bank outpost, it said.

Zvi Bar Yosef and his illegal Zvi's Farm outpost were also sanctioned as he has "repeatedly attacked and committed acts of violence against Palestinians from the villages of Jibya, Kaubar and Umm Safa, causing severe injuries to some of them," it said.

Baruch Marzel and Isaschar Manne were the other two people targeted for sanctions by the EU on Monday.

"The listed individuals and entities are responsible for serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank, including abuse of the right of everyone to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental integrity, the right to property, the right to private and family life, to freedom of religion or belief and the right to education," the EU said in a statement.

The sanctions come days after the EU and the rest of the Group of Seven nations last week condemned Israel's recent move to illegally recognize five unauthorized Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying it was undermining peace efforts.

Britain, Canada, the United States and the EU have previously imposed sanctions on illegal Israeli settlers amid the war.

Divided land, disputed origins: India's Brokpa people

Agence France-Presse
July 15, 2024 

The Brokpa people of Ladakh have no written language, practise a culture of polygamy, and have their own calendar (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP)

High in the icy Indian Himalayas, a long-isolated people recall origin myths of millennia-old migrations from afar -- an identity in disputed lands twisted today by politics.

The Brokpa people of Ladakh have no written language, practice a culture of polygamy, and have their own calendar.

The most cherished ballad of the Brokpa, some 6,000 of whom live in a rugged mountain valley of the Indus river, is the "song of history".

A new verse is added every 12 years, a cycle which counts as just one "year" in their calendar.

Tsering Gangphel, 85, said it details Brokpa legends that they came from ancient Rome.

Other Brokpa people recount myths of ancestral links to Alexander the Great's army, who invaded in the fourth century BC.

Scientists are sceptical, with one study of Brokpa DNA suggesting their roots lay in southern India.

But Gangphel -- who said he can sing a thousand songs in the Brokpa language detailing their culture -- is adamant about his people's past.

"We still celebrate our arrival here by dancing and singing in each village, once every three years," Gangphel told AFP, at his home overlooking the roaring river.

"We are Aryans," he added.

The deeply contested term refers to opaque pre-history -- which critics say is today more about gritty realpolitik than foundation fables.

- 'Validate their hold' -

In South Asia's ancient Sanskrit language, "aryan" means "noble" or "distinguished", not a separate ethnicity.

It was once a loose term suggesting that people from Europe to Asia had linked ancestors in Central Asia, reflected in common linguistic roots.

That is a far cry from the genocidal Nazi fantasies of a blond-haired and blue-eyed master race.

Some right-wing Hindus use the term to claim "Aryan" ancestors originated in India, linking it to a Hindu and national identity.

For the Brokpa, the term "Aryan" has been used as a tool to promote both tourism and India's geopolitical ambitions.

Ladakh, part of Kashmir, is divided between India and Pakistan by a highly militarised frontier.

Each country claims the region as their own.

In 1999, Brokpa yak herder Tashi Namgyal sighted "Pakistani intruders" in Indian-controlled territory and told Indian troops.

That triggered a 10-week conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals which cost 1,000 lives on both sides.

"I saved the nation's honor," 60-year-old Namgyal told AFP, proudly showing army letters praising his service.

After the fighting stopped, Indian authorities pushed tourism in Brokpa areas calling their lands the "Aryan Valley".

The tourism ministry promotes them as the "Last Aryan Villages of India".

Mona Bhan, a Brokpa expert at Syracuse University in New York, says the community uses "Aryan" to highlight its socio-cultural practices and history.

But Indian Hindu nationalists have used the term to "validate their hold on India's disputed territory", according to the anthropologist.

- 'It's a sin' -


The Brokpa calendar means a child's first birthday is marked when they turn 12.

Using that calculation, a laughing and grey-haired Gangphel remarked that he is "just seven years old".

Gangphel, a father of six who has two wives, said marrying outsiders was frowned upon.

"Being Brokpa means being unique in language, dress and dance," said 14-year-old schoolgirl Etzes Dolma.

But an influx of tourists and government development policies are bringing increasing modernity.

Earth and wood homes are being replaced with concrete and glass construction.

The Brokpa worship their traditional gods, but those now are often amalgamated into other beliefs.

Most Brokpas in India are Buddhists, while in Pakistan many have become Muslim.

Sangay Phunchok, 43, a lama, or Buddhist spiritual leader, said he shifted faith after hearing that "our ways will not grant us heaven".

A monastery is being built in the village, but the Brokpa also honor their ancestral gods at a shrine of piled ibex horns.

"We still pray to our own gods," Gangphel said. "But goat sacrifice has stopped, because our lama said it's a sin."

Did plague really decimate Neolithic farmers 5,200 years ago, as a new study suggests?

The Conversation
July 14, 2024

One of the complete Neolithic skeletons found in the Frälsegården passage grave in southern Sweden. Karl-Göran Sjögren., Author provided

Around 5,200 years ago, plague was not just present but common in six generations of one Swedish family, according to a new study.

The researchers analysed both the ancient DNA of these people’s skeletal remains and the pathogens that left traces in them. Three different strains of plague were present, of which the latest was possibly significantly more virulent than the earlier two. However, none had the gene that enabled the flea-based transmission behind the spread of the bubonic plague, the Black Death disease that resulted in the loss of half the population in some parts of medieval Europe between 1347 and 1351.

The authors of the new study analysed ancient DNA from 108 Scandinavian Neolithic people found in eight “megalithic” large stone tombs in Sweden and one stone cist (a coffin-like box in the ground) in Denmark. The plague bacterium Yersinia pestis was found in about 17% of those whose DNA was sequenced, but this probably underestimates its frequency.

The three distinct waves of plague spread through the population over a period of around 120 years. The first two waves were small and contained, but the third was more widespread.

Population crashes

The researchers suggest the wide prevalence of plague around 5,200 years ago could have contributed to the striking declines seen in the Neolithic population in Europe. These declines, of the order of those seen during the Black Death, have been revealed by archaeological research in southern Scandinavia and many other parts of Europe over the last 15 years.

We know this in part because the number of radiocarbon-dated archaeological sites drops very considerably in this period. Analysis of fossil pollen from plants and trees preserved in bogs and lakes also suggests areas that had previously been cleared for farming saw the regrowth of forests, so these two lines of evidence support one another.

But while the population declines are not in doubt, the idea that plague was responsible is much more open to question. To understand why, we need to go a bit further back.

Farming was brought to southern Scandinavia about 6,000 years ago by immigrant descendants of people originally from present-day Turkey. These farmers had intermixed to varying degrees with the local hunter-gatherers – the people already present in Europe – as they dispersed across the continent over the preceding 2,500 years.

Neolithic passage grave at Falbygden, southern Sweden. Frederik Seersholm, Author provided


The population of farmers in southern Scandinavia expanded very rapidly, reaching a peak around 5,600 years ago, 400 years after their arrival. At this point, it started to decrease, dropping by perhaps as much as 60-70% over the following 300 years.

The decline was not a sudden event like the Black Death, but a gradual process. In fact, by the time of the occurrences of plague revealed by the new research, the population level had already reached its floor. But the population continued to remain low, so plague might have been instrumental in this.

Britain makes an interesting comparison. Here too, farming was introduced by immigrants around 6,000 years ago, and we see exactly the same pattern: the population rises to a peak 400 years later, then gradually declines until it reaches a low point 500-600 years later.

After the first couple of hundred years of farming immigration, there is very little evidence of continental connections that could have introduced plague until the arrival of new immigrants from the east after 4,500 years ago.

These immigrants carried a type of genetic ancestry, known as Eurasian steppe ancestry, that had first appeared in the western half of Europe around 5,000 years ago. It seems significant that, so far, the earliest evidence of plague in Britain is after this, from two Bronze Age sites dating to around 4,000 years ago.

It’s also worth noting that farming was very late arriving at the northwest extremities of Europe. Immigrant farmers had arrived in southeast and central Europe 8,500 and 7,500 years ago respectively. Here too, wherever people have looked, they have found similar boom-bust population patterns.

In other words, there seems to be some general process going on here that we still don’t really understand. Possible explanations include outbreaks of violence as the population peaks, and climate cooling events affecting crop yields. For the moment, disease outbreaks look a less likely explanation.

Stephen Shennan, Professor of Theoretical Archaeology, UCL

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The five scholars who won two Nobel prizes – and what sets them apart

The Conversation
July 15, 2024 

Professor Marie Curie working in the laboratory in Paris

There is often much debate about who is the greatest among sportsmen and women, movie stars, leaders or artists. But some scholars have truly made a staggering difference to the world.

Winning a Nobel prize is a rare, extraordinary achievement, but five remarkable people have done it twice. Who are they? What sets them apart? And who is the greatest?

This is an inherently subjective discussion in which time and context matter a great deal.

 Here are five top contenders.

Marie Curie – physics (1903) and chemistry (1911)

In a photo of the first Solvay conference for physics and chemistry in 1911, one person stands out among the giants of physics in attendance: the only woman. Marie Curie is the most famous of these five scholars and for good reason.

The world today, as well as science in general, is different because of her. She won her first prize for her work on radioactivity (physics), and then her second a mere eight years later for discovering the elements radium and polonium (chemistry). Among laureates she is the first woman, first double winner, and the first (and only) in two different scientific fields.

The first prize as co-winner was shared with her husband and with Henri Becquerel. The Curies are a family of five Nobel winners, and the institute she established produced four more.

Curie’s accomplishments are all the more impressive given that she had to fight to obtain a great deal of her opportunities, including gaining a world-class laboratory and becoming a member of the French academy (for which she was never selected).

Fred Sanger – chemistry twice (1958 and 1980)



Fred Sanger. National Library of Medicine

As a molecular biologist, I confess to a soft spot for Fred Sanger – he is one of my heroes. His two prizes were awarded for creating the processes for sequencing (reading the instruction booklet of) proteins and DNA.

The first, for work on the structure of insulin, he won alone. He shared the second with two other researchers. Sanger’s contribution was his method for determining DNA structure, still used today.

There is no overstating the importance of Sanger’s breakthroughs. Everything from the Human Genome Project to the very discipline of practical molecular biology stem from his sequencing methods. In contrast to the picture painted of Marie Curie, Sanger was a quiet, unassuming figure. It suggests double Nobel laureates don’t all fit the same mould. He should also be far more recognised than he is.

Linus Pauling – chemistry (1954) and peace (1962)




Pauling in 1922. Ball Studio - No Copyright

Pauling is the only person to receive two unshared prizes. Only he and Curie have won for two different fields. His discoveries in chemical bonding won him the first, and he helped found molecular biology as a discipline. His work inspired others in race for the DNA structure.

He pioneered quantum chemistry and made the extraordinary prediction of the existence of alpha helices and beta sheets – the secondary structures of proteins. If not for basic errors in predicting the DNA structure, he could have won a third prize but that eventually went to the molecular biologists Francis Crick, James Watson and Maurice Wilkins. His mistakes inadvertently helped the scientist Rosalind Franklin find what was missing. Franklin was the unsung hero of DNA’s discovery, excluded from the Nobel prize despite her crucial contribution.

His second prize was not one of the science prizes but the peace prize. It was awarded for his passionate advocacy for nuclear disarmament with his wife, and he placed himself in the public eye against nuclear testing of weapons wherever possible. He was awarded every major chemistry prize during his life.

John Bardeen – physics twice (1956 and 1972)

Much as with Sanger, Bardeen’s practical breakthroughs cannot be overstated.

The invention of transistors – a device used to amplify or switch electrical signals and power – and the discovery and communication of superconductivity, where materials conduct electricity with little or no resistance, won him his two physics prizes.

Both were shared three ways, but he was the first to receive two prizes in the same field. He really should be a household name, as his work has touched every area of our lives and impacted multiple disciplines.


Some might imagine double Nobel laureates as highly focused on their own careers, but Bardeen helped contribute to others winning the physics prize through generous collaboration with other scientists.

Karl Barry Sharpless – chemistry twice (2001 and 2022)

A more modern champion, Sharpless is the only one still living. Both his prizes were shared but sit among an extraordinary list of prizes he has been honoured with including the Priestley medal and Wolf medal.

His first was for a process called catalytic asymmetric synthesis. The second was for “click chemistry”, where molecular building blocks can be made to snap together quickly and efficiently to form new compounds.

Not only was he the scientific “king” of click chemistry, but he was also a fine communicator of the science behind the processes named after him.

Sharpless has transformed life around us without our knowing it by making difficult chemistry processes easier. Like others in this shortlist, his passion for the subject and curiosity are boundless. Indeed, in his eighties, he is still at the forefront of research and one of the most respected academics in the world.

So there isn’t an archetype for double Nobel prize winners. Everyone will have their own view on the greatest among these five. For me, it is hard to argue against Marie Curie, who had to overcome huge obstacles as a female scientist at the beginning of the 20th century.

The deck was stacked against her in an extraordinary manner and she blazed a trail for other Nobel winners. Sanger should also be considered among the greatest practical scientists in history, because we’re still reaping the benefits of his successes through the modern genomics revolution.

Sam McKee, Tutor and researcher in Philosophy of Science, Manchester Metropolitan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

MAGA FALSE FLAG; TUMP THE MARTYR

Pro-Trump signs spotted outside would-be assassin's home: witnesses

David Edwards
July 15, 2024

Neighbors of the man who allegedly shot Donald Trump said that they spotted campaign signs for the former president outside his home in recent years.

WPXI first reported Monday that law enforcement officers had interviewed the neighbors of Thomas Matthew Crooks, who Secret Service snipers killed following the assassination attempt.
"It was around 10 o'clock this morning when we started to see some movement," WPXI reporter Lauren Talotta said during an afternoon broadcast. "That's when we saw investigators dressed in plain clothes as well as FBI agents approach this house."

"That's where the family of Crooks was last seen," she explained. "We spoke with a neighbor who told us that they've been outside the house going door to door, canvassing the neighborhood and speaking with people who live here."
Talotta confirmed earlier reports that said Crooks was a registered Republican.
"Records show he is a registered Republican and neighbors today told us that they've actually seen Trump signs outside of the home over the course of the last few years now," she added.

EXCLUSIVE:Trump’s ‘secretary of retribution’ has a ‘target list’ of 350 people he wants arrested

Talotta's report noted that investigators were searching through Crooks's social media accounts for a motive.

A clip of the report was highlighted on X Monday afternoon.

Watch the video below from WPXI.

Forbes yanks article speculating Trump could gain Black voters by being shot

Matthew Chapman
July 15, 2024

A controversial opinion article in Forbes has been withdrawn that asked whether former President Donald Trump could gain with Black voters due to the failed attempt to shoot him at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

According to The Washington Post, the article, titled "Will Surviving Gunfire Be Donald Trump's Next Appeal To Black Voters?" has been widely panned as offensive to Black Americans and disavowed by the editorial team, with the Forbes union posting to X, "This post does not represent who we, @ForbesUnion, are as a newsroom, or our ethical and journalistic principles."

For his part, author Shaun Harper, a University of Southern California professor and diversity, equity and inclusion authority, has said that the article meant to state the opposite of what the title implied. Harper, who himself is Black, said the article was trying to say Trump could try to use the shooting in a pitch to Black voters, not that Black voters would actually find it a compelling reason to vote for him.

This is not the first time, however, that a controversy has erupted over how Trump's efforts to appeal to Black voters, who according to polls, remain President Joe Biden's strongest voting bloc, but who also could shift to the right in 2024.

Read also: Donald Trump starts fundraising off his own assassination attempt

In February, after Trump hawked pairs of gold sneakers, Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo caught flack on social media for suggesting: "This is connecting with Black America because they love sneakers."

"This a big deal, certainly in the inner city," Arroyo said. "So when you have Trump roll out his sneaker line, they're like, 'Wait a minute, this is cool.' He's reaching them on a level that defies and is above politics. The culture always trumps politics. And Trump understands culture like no politician I've ever seen."

More recently, Trump suggested that Black voters might like him more now because they can relate to him being criminally indicted. And at the Atlanta debate last month, Trump triggered outrage among some Black commentators by saying Biden allowed in migrants who took "Black jobs" — with some inferring he considered Black people suited to low-paid agricultural labor.

'God spared our great leader': Trump rally shooting spurs religious MAGA mania

Kathleen Culliton
July 15, 2024 

A supporter of Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. President Donald Trump cheers ahead of a campaign rally at Sunset Park on June 9, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The former president continues campaigning around the country amidst ongoing legal troubles. Trump is scheduled to sit for a probation interview via video on June 10 related to the felony conviction in his New York hush money case. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

God, angels and Jesus Christ himself were standing guard over former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania Saturday and the proofs are a twisted flag, a bloody ear and the many torments the convicted felon has faced, his followers say.

Republican lawmakers, pundits and followers have flocked to declare a miracle saved Trump from Thomas Matthew Crooks' AK-15 even as they blamed Democrats' political speech and hinted the Federal Bureau of Investigations was somehow complicit.

"Republicans at the RNC are claiming that Trump’s shooting proves he was chosen by God," the New Republic reported Monday. "Conservatives’ insistence that Trump survived the attempt on his life by divine intervention, just so that he could be reelected, crosses the line into cult territory."

The chorus of Trump's religious well-wishers includes House Speaker Mike Johnson, Rep. Mary Miller, and Fox News hosts Emily Compagno and Kayleigh McEnany, all of whom have used Christian language to champion their chief.

"GOD protected President Trump,” wrote Johnson.

“God spared our great leader," Miller told the Chicago Sun Times.

“It is a miracle,” McEnany said on television, according to the New Republic. “He clearly had Christ protecting him in that moment.”


The New Republic declared Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick took the cake for the "over-the-top cultism" seen in an X message posted Saturday.

“By the slightest turn of your head in a mere microsecond or the shield of a teleprompter, your life was spared by the Grace of a Merciful and Holy God,” Patrick wrote. “God has had his hand on you since you first ran for President. That I believe. No man could survive all you have been through without the Grace of God upon you.”


In fundraising messages sent to subscribers, Trump has come short of religious rhetoric but played up his moral values.

"I will always love you for supporting me," Trump said in one message. "Unity. Peace. MAGA."

The New Republic notes Trump's followers were eager to join the chorus.


"The religious fervor for Trump was quick to spread online," wrote Olmsted. "Some people claimed to spot a spiritual sign hanging above Trump’s rally before the former president had even mounted the stage: a flag that got twisted looked kind of like an angel."

Trump Media stock value soars after ex-president's attempted assassination

By Chris Benson

 A trader on Monday wears a red hat in support of former President Donald Trump while working on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) floor on Wall Street in New York City. The stock value of Trump Media Group, the parent company of Truth Social, soared Monday after Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Trump in Pennsylvania. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

July 15 (UPI) -- The stock value of Trump Media Group, the parent company of Truth Social, soared Monday after Saturday's assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.

Trump Media & Technology Group shares, under the "DJT" ticker, spiked about 30% to a $40 price point in early trading Monday, at one point reaching $42, the highest level for Trump stock in more than a month, while stock share remained far below its $62 peak.

Meanwhile, the price increase ran with a swell in the wider market as well with each major stock index ticking upward with a record high for the Dow Jones.

After a mass shooting, gun stock tends to rise. The day also saw stock value in gun manufacturers go up with Smith & Wesson Brands up 10% and Sturm, Ruger & Co. up roughly 7% as of Monday afternoon.

The ex-president and presumptive Republican nominee is Truth Social's majority shareholder. The stock value jump arrived the same day U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed the classified documents case against the former president, ruling the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith supposedly violates the Appointments Clause of the Constitution, according to Cannon's opinion.

"The stock serves as a little bit of a proxy for sentiment toward Donald Trump himself," Tyler Richey, a Sevens Report Research analyst, told ABC News.

Almost immediately following the assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler in western Pennsylvania on Saturday, Trump Media value began to rise in pre-market trading.

But Richey added that, while he thinks Truth Social's financials "are atrocious," despite that there may be "a resurgence" of "your die-hard Trump fans and fair-weather supporters who think, 'This is a life or death situation, we're going all in.'"

In June, Trump Media and Technology Group's shares dropped nearly 10% bringing the stock's total slide to nearly 40% following Trump's May 30 felony conviction by a jury of his peers in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business documents in an attempt to cover up an affair with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

This comes as Meta, Facebook's parent company, recently said it would remove restrictions placed on Trump's social media accounts ahead of this week's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis.

"But the prospects, while a little doubtful, are still there," Ritchey said about Truth Social.

THE FORGOTTEN ONES
Corey Comperatore, other victims identified in Trump rally shooting

Two other Pennsylvania residents were also shot at the rally, Shapiro said.


Law enforcement snipers set up before the arrival of former president Trump on a rooftop overlooking a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania Saturday. During the campaign rally Trump was rushed off stage by Secret Service after a shooting. A man attending the rally was fatally shot. 

Photo by David Maxwell/EPA-EFE


July 14 (UPI) -- The victim in the Saturday assassination attempt of Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania has been identified as a former volunteer fire chief and died while attempting to protect his family, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday.

Corey Comperatore, 50, was attending a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., with his wife and two daughters, Shapiro said, and dove on them when gunshots interrupted Trump's speech about 6 minutes in.

"Corey went to church every Sunday," Shapiro said in a press briefing Sunday. "Corey loved this community, and most especially Corey loved his family. Corey died a hero."

Comperatore was the former chief of the Buffalo Township, Pa., Volunteer Fire Company.

Comperatore was an avid supporter of Trump and excited to be at the rally Saturday, Shapiro said. He was there with his wife and two daughters and dove over them to protect them when gunshots were heard in the crowd, the governor said Comperatore's wife Helen had told him.

"He was a hero that shielded his daughters," Comperatore's sister, Dawn Comperatore Schafer, posted on Facebook.

"His wife and girls just lived through the unthinkable and unimaginable. My baby brother just turned 50 and had so much life left to experience. Hatred has no limits and love has no bounds. Pray for my sister-in-law, nieces, my mother, sister, me and his nieces and nephews as this feels like a terrible nightmare but we know it is our painful reality."


Two other Pennsylvania residents were also shot at the rally, Shapiro said.

The second victim has been identified as 57-year-old David Dutch, of New Kensington, Pa., who is currently listed in stable condition, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. The third victim was identified as 74-year-old James Copenhaver, of Moon Township, Pa. He is also listed in stable condition.

"These victims and their families are certainly in our thoughts today," said Col. Christopher Paris, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner. "The Pennsylvania State Police continue to work tirelessly alongside our federal, state and local partners as this investigation continues."

"Last night was shocking for this community and for this commonwealth, and I know, for this country," Shapiro continued. "Political disagreements can never, ever be addressed through violence. Disagreements are OK, but we need to use a peaceful political process to settle those differences."

The shooter was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park. He was fatally shot just seconds after firing at Trump with an AR-15 that was purchased by his father in 2013, the FBI said. There is no known motive for the attempted assassination, the agency said.

Shapiro said he has called for flags to fly at half-staff in honor of Comperatore.

"Corey was the very best of us. May his memory be a blessing," Shapiro said.

Officials have said there are no changes planned for the Republican National Convention, scheduled to kick off Monday in Milwaukee.

Thousands of protesters gather outside Republican National Convention amid tight security


 Protesters march in Milwaukee on Monday, to denounce former President Donald Trump and the GOP agenda. Photo by Paul Beaty/UPI | License Photo

July 15 (UPI) -- Thousands of anti-Trump protesters from across the country marched outside Monday's Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, united in their opposition to the GOP agenda and varied in their causes, which ranged from abortion and LGBTQ rights to pro-Palestine and climate change.

The Coalition to March on the RNC 2024, which is made up of local and national organizations, looped from Red Arrow Park in downtown Milwaukee, outside of the "hard" security zone around the Fiserv Forum where the convention is being held. Hundreds of protesters could be seen carrying signs and shouting as they marched amid sweltering temperatures.

"Today went extremely well," Coalition Co-Chair Omar Flores said after the march. "We had no confrontations."

"We've had these plans for years, we know what we're doing," protester Kobi Guillory told WITI-TV. "We are very experienced at protesting. We're having a family-friendly demonstration here."

The protests come amid heightened RNC security and calls to tone down the political rhetoric, just two days after former President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania, as protesters pushed into the "soft" security zone and got a bit closer to Fiserv with no police confrontations.

"There's been some doubts coming into this from folks in Milwaukee, that a march right now is very dangerous, that we shouldn't do it, and we always countered that narrative," Flores said.

"We feel like that's a Republican-supporting narrative that it's going to be dangerous. We knew from the start that we know how to host a family-friendly march."

About 3,000 protesters gathered at Red Arrow Park where members from more than 100 activist groups, including the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Anti-War Committee and the Climate Justice Committee, spoke out about their causes.

"We need a platform and policy that is actually going to address climate change and we can't do that so long as we have U.S. militarism, so long as we have reliance on fossil fuels, and so long as those corrupt parties are in power," Berg said, as he blamed both Democrats and Republicans.

Victoria Hinckley, who was expelled from the University of South Florida for participating in an anti-Israel encampment, spoke out against attacks on abortion.

"These attacks on reproductive freedom and abortion access are harshly felt in the South, especially in states like Florida and Texas with the emergence of anti-abortion bills banning abortion within the first few weeks of pregnancy," Hinckley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel./


While few speakers referenced Saturday's shooting, organizers said it did not change their plans or what was said, as Kobi Guillory of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization told the crowd it is a matter of "life and death."

"Defeating the Republican agenda is a matter of life and death for working and oppressed people."

‘Fight, fight, fight’ against Donald Trump vow Republican National Convention protesters

“Fight, fight, fight, abortion is a human right,”

Jordan Green, Investigative Reporter

RAW STORY
July 15, 2024 

Left-wing protesters march to the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention began on July 15, 2024. (Jordan Green / Raw Story)

MILWAUKEE — Moments after a gunman shot Donald Trump in the ear, the bloodied former president raised his hand in defiance and mouthed the words, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” as Secret Service agents led him to safety.

But at a Secret Service checkpoint leading to Fiserv Forum on Monday, where the first day of the Republican National Convention kicked off, demonstrators were angling for another kind of fight.

“Fight, fight, fight, abortion is a human right,” the protesters chanted in an effort to make their faces seen and voices heard to the thousands of Republican politicians and convention delegates in attendance.

“We are within sight and sound,” Alan Chavoya, a co-chair of the Coalition to March on the RNC 2024, declared. The crowd, numbering in the thousands, chanted back: “Sight and sound! Sight and sound!”

Milwaukee officials have not made this easy for the demonstrators.

The far-left coalition of organizations had sued the city of Milwaukee and the U.S. Secret Service to uphold their right to be heard outside the convention. March organizers met with city leaders on Saturday and said they had reached a “handshake agreement” allowing them to take their preferred march route, which took them within earshot of the Fiserv Forum.

Billed as a “family friendly” event, the march wound through downtown Milwaukee for about two hours. Despite the protesters’ proximity, conventioneers largely ignored them. Volunteer protest marshals on bicycles maintained a robust buffer that mitigated the risk of confrontation, even as the protesters boisterously chanted, “F--- Donald Trump” as they left the security checkpoint outside Fiserv Forum.



Left-wing protesters prepare to march across the Juneau Avenue bridge on July 15, 2024, en route to Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention is taking place. (Jordan Green / Raw Story)

Security is always overwhelming at national party conventions such as this. But officials have ramped up safety protocols to even greater degrees in the two days following the attempt on Trump’s life, which also killed a bystander at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania where Trump was speaking.

Undaunted, protesters unleashed a list of grievances against Republicans for anyone who’d listen.

They decried the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.


They railed against the curtailment of reproductive rights.

They bemoaned what they view as an assault on the rights of immigrants living — or wanting to live — in the United States.

Taking aim at Republicans — and Democrats

Trump, who has already arrived in Milwaukee, has suggested he’ll call for “unity” during his nomination acceptance speech at the convention this week.

The demonstrators from Wisconsin and several other states, including Minnesota and Colorado, were having none of it.

“The most utterly fascist elements of the U.S. ruling class have descended on Milwaukee,” Cody Urban, with the International League for People’s Struggle, said during a press conference earlier in the day at Red Arrow Park, immediately across the Milwaukee River from the Fiserv Center.

But he didn’t just single out Trump, bashing both Trump and Democratic President Joe Biden as “two of the world’s largest war criminals.”

Palestinian flags thronged the march, reflecting one of the coalition’s points of unity: “Stand with Palestine.”

The unanimity of support for Palestine within the protest coalition stands in stark contrast to the Democratic Party faithful, some of who staunchly oppose Israel’s actions and others who continue to back Israel’s bloody, months-long effort to eradicate Hamas, the de facto ruler of Palestine. Israeli attacks have killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, many of whom are civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Tens of thousands more have been insured and untold numbers of children, in particular, face starvation.

Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, received resounding applause when he declared that “Israel has no right to exist as a white supremacist settler-colonial state.”

That is a position echoed by Freedom Road Socialist Organization, a Marxist-Leninist group of which several of the speakers claimed membership.

Underscoring the manner in which the issue cuts against both major political parties, Abudayyeh said he expects to see tens of thousands of people marching next month against “Genocide Joe” and “Killer Kamala” — scornful nicknames pro-Palestine protesters have given to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

While a small detachment of protesters heckled perceived counter-protesters with impromptu chants of “Milwaukee don’t like fascists,” Trump’s open promise to consolidate the power of the executive branch and serial flouting of the law — a Manhattan jury convicted Trump on 34 felony counts in May — received scant attention from the protesters.

Asked about a federal judge’s decision on the same day to dismiss charges against Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents, Omar Flores, one of the coalition co-chairs, said at the press conference: “No comment at this point.”

On at least one issue, speakers called out the Republican nominee in a way that drew an implicit contrast with his Democratic opponents, who will gather in Chicago to choose their presidential nominee next month.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, with Milwaukee-based Voces de la Frontera, blamed Trump for a massacre carried out by a young white nationalist who murdered 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in 2019, while echoing the former president’s rhetoric calling large-scale migration an “invasion.”

“It’s undeniable that Trump’s rhetoric, policies and actions have contributed to a climate of increased violence, and legitimized hate crimes by white nationalists,” Neumann-Ortiz said.

She went on to decry Trump for summoning his supporters to Washington, D.C., where they “demanded the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence” during the certification of the 2020 electoral vote on Jan. 6, 2021, and for bringing “the white supremacist and armed Proud Boys into the political mainstream.”

Despite heightened tensions across the country surrounding the attempt on Trump’s life at a Pennsylvania rally over the weekend, the left-wing protesters made it known that their plans to march would remain unchanged.

Preparations for de-escalation at the march proved to be unnecessary even as six employees of the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service strolled through the crowd at Red Arrow Park, and members of a Columbus Police Department “dialogue” team scouted the perimeter.

The only counter-protesters were a handful of anti-abortion activists holding garish posters of aborted fetuses, who were mostly ignored, and a group of Republican National Convention delegates in matching red shirts who passed the park without incident.

Asked for comment about the implications of the assassination attempt, Flores curtly dismissed the question.

“I think the Republicans are experts on political violence,” he said.

Next stop for the protesters?

Illinois, a short drive or train ride away.

Many of the protesters said they plan to also protest the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month, and in many respects, the script they used today was indistinguishable from what is likely to be shouted at Democrats.

Jordan Green is a North Carolina-based investigative reporter at Raw Story, covering domestic extremism, efforts to undermine U.S. elections and democracy, hate crimes and terrorism. Prior to joining the staff of Raw Story in March 2021, Green spent 16 years covering housing, policing, nonprofits and music as a reporter and editor at Triad City Beat in North Carolina and Yes Weekly. He can be reached at _jordan@rawstory.com. More about Jordan Green.