YouTube removes Rudy Giuliani podcast video and Steve Bannon's channel as it cracks down on misinformation

Kelly Tyko, USA TODAY

President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani still had a Twitter account as of Saturday but one of his recent podcasts was removed by YouTube.



President Trump has been permanently banned from Twitter

A message on a video, which Giuliani also tweeted Friday, says it "has been removed for violating YouTube's Community Guidelines." Google-owned YouTube also confirmed to USA TODAY Saturday that Giuliani's video violated the company's guidelines.

Giuliani didn't immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. His Twitter account tweeted about the video again Saturday night, which is now posted on his website, and wrote "YOUTUBE CENSORED AND REMOVED THIS VIDEO."

YouTube had said it is cracking down on new videos featuring misinformation as they and other tech companies including Facebook and Twitter face backlash after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. In the video podcast, Giuliani describes the events that day, suggesting they were orchestrated to make President Trump look bad.

© Matt Slocum, AP 

Rudy Giuliani, a lawyer for President Donald Trump, challenges vote counting in Pennsylvania on Nov. 4 in Philadelphia.

Rush Limbaugh leaves Twitter: Rush Limbaugh deactivates his Twitter account after President Trump permanently banned

Trump ban: President Trump permanently banned from Twitter over risk he could incite violence

The YouTube account for former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast was taken down.

In a statement, YouTube said it had "terminated Steve Bannon’s channel 'War room' and one associated channel for repeatedly violating our Community Guidelines."

The podcast videos are posted on Bannon's website with this note: "While YouTube announces broad censorship mandates for any channel discussing the election, Steve Bannon discusses the latest on the coronavirus pandemic and the latest updates on the state of the election."

YouTube and social media companies including Facebook and Twitter have been lambasted by critics who say their platforms contribute to the spread of misinformation culminating with rioters storming the Capitol as proceedings to confirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election began.

Facebook and Twitter stepped up enforcement on President Trump's accounts to curb the spread of false information. On Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said posting to Trump's accounts on the social network and Instagram would be blocked indefinitely.

On Friday, Twitter permanently banned Trump. Also on Friday, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh's Twitter account was deactivated. Twitter confirmed to USA TODAY that the account wasn't suspended but "deactivated by the owner."

When USA TODAY asked Twitter about the status of Giuliani's Twitter account as well as a Trump War Room account that was not suspended Friday, the company said the accounts "are currently not in violation of our policies."

Twitter permanently suspended the @TeamTrump account for ban evasion late Friday.

Contributing: Brett Molina and Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY

Follow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: YouTube removes Rudy Giuliani podcast video and Steve Bannon's channel as it cracks down on misinformation

Authorities: Man in 'Camp Auschwitz' shirt at riot arrested

© Provided by The Canadian Press

NORFOLK, Va. — A man photographed wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt during the U.S. Capitol riot was arrested Wednesday in Virginia, authorities said.

Robert Keith Packer, 56, was arrested in Newport News, where he lives. He was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and unlawfully entering a restricted building.

President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building last week after a rally the president held to repeat baseless election grievances. Five people died during the siege, including a Capitol police officer, a woman shot by police and three people who had medical emergencies.

Packer entered the Capitol wearing a sweatshirt with the name of the Nazi concentration camp where about 1.1 million people were killed during World War II, according to a criminal complaint. The sweatshirt also bore the phrase, “Work brings freedom,” a translation of “Arbeit macht frei,” the German phrase that appeared on the camp’s entrance.

The photograph of Packer in the sweatshirt caused an uproar on social media, and the images ultimately helped authorities track him down. The complaint said an FBI agent confirmed Packer’s identity by comparing rally photos to his driver’s license and security footage of him wearing the shirt at a store near where he lives.

During a federal court hearing Wednesday, a prosecutor said the government would not be seeking Packer's detention. A federal judge said Packer would be released promptly on a personal recognizance bond that bars him from visiting Washington unless it’s for a court appearance.

Packer said he intends to hire his own lawyer, instead of a court-appointed attorney. He did not identify who would represent him in the case.

Two police officers from Rocky Mount, Virginia, face the same charges. Sgt. Thomas “T.J.” Robertson and officer Jacob Fracker were both placed on administrative leave by the Rocky Mount Police Department after they attended the rally while off-duty.

A statement of facts written by a U.S. Capitol Police special agent and unsealed Wednesday said Robertson and Fracker were photographed in the Capitol Building “making an obscene statement” before a statue of John Stark, an American Revolutionary War officer from New Hampshire famous for writing the state's “Live Free or Die” motto.

In social media posts, Robertson is quoted as saying: “CNN and the Left are just mad because we actually attacked the government who is the problem and not some random small business … The right IN ONE DAY took the f------ U.S. Capitol. Keep poking us.”

The statement also describes a now-deleted Facebook post by Fracker containing the caption, “Lol to anyone who's possibly concerned about the picture of me going around...Sorry I hate freedom? ...Not like I did anything illegal...”

The statement cites comments Robertson made to news outlets in which he said he broke no laws, did not know about the violence and that he had been escorted into the building by the Capitol Police.

“Moreover, at that date and time, the United States Capitol was on lockdown and the defendants' presence inside was without lawful authority,” Special Agent Vincent Veloz wrote.

Robertson told The Roanoke Times that he does not support the violence that occurred.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “For it to go like that is absolutely ridiculous.”

A federal judge said at a hearing Wednesday that he would release Fracker and Robertson on unsecured bond. A condition of their release is that they cannot visit Washington, unless it’s for a matter related to the case against them.

FBI spokeswoman Christina Pullen said another Virginia man, Douglas Allen Sweet, of Grimstead, also was arrested Wednesday on charges including violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.

Sweet was charged along with five others who police said were on the upper level of the United States Capitol Visitors Center.

The criminal complaint against Sweet and five others described a scene in which several dozen people were “making loud noises, and kicking chairs, throwing an unknown liquid substance at officers, and spraying an unknown substance at officers.”

Capitol police ordered the crowd to leave, and the crowd responded by shouting and cursing at the officers, the complaint states. Police said Sweet and the five others “were positioned towards the front of the crowd, close to the Capitol police officers who were responding.”

“The six individuals, like others in the larger crowd, wilfully refused the order to leave,” the complaint says.

One of Sweet’s daughters, Robyn Sweet, said in a Facebook message to a reporter that her father "doesn’t mean any harm and is a good person at heart.”

"I think he truly believes that what he is doing is the right thing. But I feel he has become terribly misguided and disillusioned by the far-right groups he involves himself with,” she said.

___

Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia. Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report.

Ben Finley And Denise Lavoie, The Associated Press

QAnon Enthusiast Marjorie Taylor Greene Has A New Conspiracy Theory About Nancy Pelosi

Trump loyalist and QAnon believer Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, known for repeatedly refusing to wear a mask in the Capitol building, accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of exposing Congress members to COVID-19 after lawmakers convened to reelect Pelosi to lead the House of Representatives

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On Monday, Democratic House member Pramila Jayapal tweeted saying she tested positive for coronavirus after being evacuated to a secure room where several Republicans who “not only cruelly refused to wear a mask but recklessly mocked colleagues and staff who offered them one.” Quick to jump in with an alternative scenario in which Jayapal could have been exposed to the virus, Greene responded via Twitter, saying that Jayapal should speak with Pelosi “before you point fingers at me or anyone else.” She further theorized that it was infected House members who attended the vote for Speaker last week who must have transmitted the virus.

When asked about her accusation by NBC-affiliate 11Alive News, Greene stood by her claim, insisting that anyone who received a positive COVID-19 test result has Pelosi to blame. “Healthy people do not spread COVID. COVID positive people spread COVID,” she said in a statement. “Everyone was exposed ALL week by the COVID positive members who Nancy Pelosi brought into the Capitol and into Washington DC. It is absolutely ridiculous and insane to blame those of us who did not have COVID or symptoms…It’s absurd to say they caught it during the safe room.” Greene failed to mention that the idea that a person must exhibit symptoms in order to carry coronavirus has been disproven by medical experts, who say that it is common for people to be asymptomatic and spread the virus unknowingly.

During the attack on the Capitol on January 6, many Congress members hunkered down in windowless safe rooms for hours, no more than an arms-length from each other. While they may have been safe from the violence nearby, a video first published by Punchbowl News shows multiple maskless Republicans, including Greene, refusing masks offered to them by Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt. According to an email sent by Congress’ attending physician, Brian Monahan, it is possible that individuals may have been exposed to the virus during that time.



A week after the riot, three Democratic lawmakers sheltered in that room have reportedly tested positive for coronavirus. Jayapal dubbed it a “superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack,” in a statement released on her website.

Since blaming Pelosi for the spread of COVID-19 among Congressional members, Greene has also turned her anger toward reporters calling them “liars” as she entered the Capitol building on Tuesday. As she went through newly installed metal detectors, she reportedly thanked officers for working before lashing out at photographers taking photos.

According to NBC News, Greene began yelling and asking what the journalists were reporting on, and inquiring where they were when people “burned buildings and looted.” This was an apparent reference to Black Lives Matter marches this past summer; clearly Greene didn’t pay attention to the months of extensive coverage of that movement.

Interestingly, Greene was wearing a mask on Tuesday as she went through the additional security measures. But, as recently as this morning, Greene has continued to respond to reports of Congress members likely being exposed during the riots on Twitter maintaining that Pelosi is solely responsible. Clearly, Greene has never met an anti-Democratic conspiracy theory that she doesn’t like — or didn’t create

There's a reason why Capitol rioters dressed up in costumes

They stormed the Capitol dressed like mayhem. Amidst the sea of MAGA hats and Trump flags, there were rioters in animal pelts and superhero costumes; they came dressed as Uncle Sam, Abraham Lincoln and Lady Liberty, and in tactical gear; one person wore Superman body armor, replete with muscles, and a plastic mask of President Donald Trump's head. There was no shortage of face paint. There were pioneers, tons of camouflage and iterations of the Punisher — the Marvel character who has been co-opted as a symbol of the far right.

© Provided by NBC News

Perhaps the most recognizable person of the day was conspiracy theorist Jake Angeli, also known as the "Q Shaman," who was shirtless to expose numerous tattoos, most notably one of a Valknut, an old Norse runic symbol that has been turned into a hate symbol by white supremacists. Angeli, who has been arrested, also wore red, white and blue face paint and a fur headdress with prominent horns. He carried a spear with an American flag attached near the blade.

To many, the costumes at the "Stop the Steal" riot seem ridiculous. "We spend $750 billion annually on 'defense' and the center of American government fell in two hours to the duck dynasty and the guy in the Chewbacca bikini," read a tweet liked hundreds of thousands of times. But when we actually read the T-shirt slogans and interpret the symbols — especially given the history of groups like the Ku Klux Klan — what the Capitol insurrectionists wore becomes more consequential and a lot more menacing.

When the Ku Klux Klan started in the mid-1860s, Klansmen did not wear the white hoods and robes we imagine them in now. They had no uniform. As historian Elaine Frantz explains in her essay "Midnight Rangers: Costume and Performance in the Reconstruction-Era Ku Klux Klan," the early Klansmen wore something far more similar to the hodgepodge we saw on display at the Capitol last week: animal horns, fur, fake beards, homemade costumes that drew on traditions of carnival or Mardi Gras, masks, pointy hats, polka dots. For Frantz, who also wrote a book about the birth of the KKK, the parallels between the appearance of 19th century Klansmen and the Jan. 6 rioters were impossible to ignore.

"When I looked at this weirdo who was dressed as a Viking, I was like, 'Does he know what he's doing?'" Frantz tells NBC THINK about Angeli. "Is he aware of this tradition, or is it a coincidence? Or is it not just a coincidence and he's not aware, but it's something which travels through our culture in the background? Maybe he doesn't even know what he's doing, but he's doing exactly what he would have done in the 19th century."




Duration 2:49 

Who were the Capitol Hill rioters, and the woman who was shot?

But whether or not the "Q Shaman" knew exactly whom he was channeling when he put on his horns and fur, putting on the outfit is likely to have influenced his behavior.

Abe Rutchick, a professor of psychology at California State University, Northridge, explains that dressing in costume can affect how we act. "If we're dressing in costume, we're clearly trying to evoke a role or a character. It can influence people's self-perception and behavior," he said. For instance, Jake Angeli shirtless, with horns and fur on his head, quickly becomes the Q Shaman, similar to the way Jack Napier in clown makeup can turn into the Joker.

The fact that many of the outfits from the Capitol look comical is, historically, also not a coincidence. "Adopting this carnivalesque posture, they can actually say: 'We're not really hurting them. They're just afraid because they're fearful,'" Frantz says with respect to how early Klansmen argued away their crimes.

Frantz, who is a professor of history at Kent State University, sees parallels between past absurdism and the comedic element now. "Comic frames are very helpful, because it gave people a way to deny what was really happening," he says. He cites using Pepe the Frog as an example of how that tactic is still used today. "The comic deniability of populist movements," she calls it.

Take, for instance, the lunacy of a man waving for the camera as he walks off with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's lectern. How could he be doing something wrong — he looks so emboldened and silly? Or the brazenness of wearing your employee ID badge to the revolution. It must be noted that both of these men, like the vast majority of the rioters last week — and the 19th century Klansmen — were white. Race adds another element of deniability.

While not all of the rioters last week wore costumes, and indeed a majority of them did not, nearly all wore symbols or logos or insignias of some kind. There was Robert Keith Packer, who wore a gruesome sweatshirt that read "Camp Auschwitz" on the front and "Staff" on the back. Or Doug Jensen, who has been indicted on six federal charges, who specifically called attention to his QAnon shirt on social media. Members of the Oath Keepers, a militia movement that focuses on recruiting current and former members of the military, were also there wearing body armor and customized baseball caps. Numerous other extremist groups in attendance wore some kind of insignia or symbol declaring their affiliations in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. There was, of course, a proliferation of the highly recognizable Confederate flag.

Rutchick explains that the purpose of wearing uniforms, insignias, tattoos or symbols that show allegiance is twofold; they create a sense of in-group camaraderie and a sense of out-group distance. We see (mostly) benign examples of this phenomenon at sporting events. As you get closer and closer to the stadium, you see more and more people wearing your team's hat, and the more excited you get. Excitement grows as density grows; it's human nature.

A more sinister version occurred in Washington last week. Rioters came together at the rally, gathering strength in numbers and by identifying with one another through their symbols and costumes. "As soon as you see someone in your group and in context, there's a connection," Rutchick says.

Members of the far-right Proud Boys — whom Trump famously told to "stand back, and stand by" during his 2020 campaign — were at the Capitol in large numbers, and they were characteristically organized. The group, which usually dresses in yellow and black — often in the form of a Fred Perry polo shirt — told members to dress all in black this time, as if they were part of the anti-fascist movement known as antifa. "We will not be attending D.C. in colors. We will be blending in as one of you. You won't see us. You'll even think we are you," Joe Briggs, an organizer for the group, said in a video on Parler. "We are going to smell like you, move like you, look like you."

After the riots, some conservatives tried to claim that the violence was perpetuated mainly by antifa agitators.

It is easy to ignore or dismiss things that seem confusing or silly or over the top. But our clothing choices, like our tweets, can say a lot about who we are. "Big protest in D.C. on January 6th," Trump tweeted Dec. 19. And perhaps in a choice of phrase that inspired some of the animal fur on display, "Be there, will be wild!"

Mix of extremists who stormed Capitol isn't retreating

BOISE, Idaho — As rioters laid siege to the U.S. Capitol, the seat of American democracy became a melting pot of extremist groups: militia members, white supremacists, paramilitary organizations, anti-maskers and fanatical supporters of President Donald Trump, standing shoulder to shoulder in rage

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© Provided by The Canadian Press

Experts say it was the culmination of years of increasing radicalization and partisanship, combined with a growing fascination with paramilitary groups and a global pandemic. And they warn that the armed insurrection that left five people dead and shook the country could be just the beginning.

“We look at it like a conveyor belt of radicalization," said Devin Burghart, executive director of the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights. “Once they step on that conveyor belt, they’re inundated with propaganda that moves them along that path until they’re willing to take up arms.”

Photographs and video of the Capitol siege showed people wearing attire with symbols associated with the anti-government Three Percenters movement and the Oath Keepers, a loosely organized group of right-wing extremists.

Many of those who stormed the Capitol were wearing clothes or holding signs adorned with symbols of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which centres on the baseless belief that Trump is waging a secret campaign against the “deep state” and a cabal of sex-trafficking cannibals. One of the intruders was wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” sweatshirt, a reference to the Nazi death camp.

Those who monitor online chatter say the threat of more violence by far-right fringe groups hasn't abated, though it has been tougher to track since the social media platform Parler, a haven for right-wing extremists, was booted off the internet.

“We’re certainly not out of the woods yet. I’m afraid that we’re going to have to be prepared for some worst-case scenarios for a while," said Amy Cooter, a senior lecturer in sociology at Vanderbilt University who studies U.S. militia groups.

The FBI is warning of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration next Wednesday. Cooter believes smaller gatherings at state capitals are a greater threat than a large, centrally organized event in Washington, given the heightened security there.

How many extremists are out there is unclear. Individual fringe groups tend to be small, with the largest claiming hundreds of members, but countless others have been swept up in the fury of late.

To understand the mix of extremists in the Capitol melee, it helps to look at history.

Much of the modern militia movement was a reaction to the push for tougher gun control laws in the 1990s. An 11-day standoff that left three people dead on Idaho's Ruby Ridge in 1992 galvanized the movement, as did the disaster in Waco, Texas, the following year, when 76 people died in a fire after a 51-day standoff at the Branch Davidian cult compound.

A decade later, Cliven Bundy and his sons Ryan and Ammon Bundy engaged in armed standoffs with the federal government, first in a fight over grazing rights on federal land in Nevada in 2014, then in a 40-day occupation of a national wildlife refuge in Oregon in 2016. Those standoffs drew the sympathies of some Western ranchers and farmers who feared they were losing the ability to prosper financially.

Meanwhile, America’s white supremacy movement -- as old as the country itself and energized by the civil rights movement of the 1960s -- used every opportunity to stoke racism and increase recruitment. Within the last two decades, nationalists and white supremacists were especially successful in leveraging anti-immigration sentiment and the backlash over Barack Obama's election as the nation’s first black president in 2008.

Some who follow such movements say the coronavirus pandemic provided the perfect recruitment opportunity.

Militias helped distribute surplus farm produce to the unemployed. Neo-Nazis pushed conspiracy claims that the government was trying to limit “herd immunity.” An anti-government group launched by Ammon Bundy last spring called People’s Rights held an Easter church service in defiance of a lockdown order in Idaho.

“That was the moment that sent a message nationwide that it was OK to take an insurrectionist posture toward COVID guidelines -- and from that moment you saw this take hold across the country,” said Burghart, whose organization published an October report on the People’s Rights network.

While previously those upset about COVID-19 rules would complain online, suddenly individuals were defying authorities by opening their gyms or refusing to wear masks in very confrontational ways. For these individuals, social media accelerated a radicalization process that normally takes years into just a few months, fueled by the powerlessness many felt amid COVID-19 shutdowns.

“You had all of these kind of small interventions to try to fight against any kind of common-sense health restrictions," Burghart said. “And in that moment you saw, simultaneously, militia activists getting involved in the COVID struggle and COVID insurrectionists taking up the militia posture and wanting to get involved with militia groups.”

The danger could intensify. The Capitol insurrection both further normalized the idea of violent government overthrow and allowed extremist groups to network with a broader population, said Lindsay Schubiner, an expert in extremism with the Western States Center.

As those groups continue to train and expand -- many already offer instruction in weapons, first aid, food storage and ham radios -- the risk of “lone wolf” actions also increases, she said, with members taking matters into their own hands when they feel their group has not gone far enough.

Stewart Rhodes, an Army veteran who founded the Oath Keepers in 2009, had been saying for weeks around the election that his group was preparing for a civil war and was ready to take orders from Trump. The group recruits current and former law enforcement officers and military personnel.

During a Nov. 10 appearance on far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars show, Rhodes said he had “good men on the ground already” in the Washington area who were “armed, prepared to go in if the president calls us up.”

“In case they attempt to remove the president illegally, we will step in and stop it,” he said.

Users on militia forums cheered on the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol and hailed them as patriots, according to a review of social media posts by the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. Many saw the attack as a call to arms.

Authorities have arrested more than 100 people on charges linked to the Capitol siege, but court documents don’t publicly identify any of them as members of a militia-style group, according to an Associated Press review of records.

Less than a week after the riot, several armed men in tactical gear with “Texas Militia” labels on their combat fatigues gathered at the Texas state capitol as lawmakers returned to work for a new legislative session. Texas GOP chairman Allen West posed with the group for a photo and shared the picture on the party's Twitter account.

The gathering at the Texas statehouse in Austin came the same day President Trump flew to the southern border in Alamo, Texas, where he took no responsibility for his part in fomenting the violent insurrection in Washington, D.C. “People thought that what I said was totally appropriate,” Trump said.

Stopping extremist groups may be impossible, but pushing those groups further to the political margins is possible, Schubiner said.

“Everyone who believes in inclusive democracy and does not believe in political violence needs to come out and say so strongly, and then back that up with actions,” she said.

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This story has been corrected to show that the “Texas Militia” group gathered at the Statehouse in Auston while Trump was at the Texas border. Flaccus reported from Portland, Oregon and Kunzelman reported from College Park, Maryland. Associated Press writer Paul Weber in Austin, Texas contributed to this report.

Rebecca Boone, Gillian Flaccus And Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press

AOC Thought She Was Going To Die During The Siege & She’s Calling Out Republicans Who Still Don’t Care

In an alarming video addressing the attack on the Capitol last week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said that she did not know if she was going to “make it to the end of that day alive” after Trump supporters and extremist groups stormed the building where members of Congress were certifying the Electoral College votes. Between descriptions of her experience and that of fellow “Squad” member, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, some are suspecting that there are those on the inside who cannot be trusted

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© Provided by Refinery29 Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez(D-NY) listens as Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on “An Examination of Facebook and Its Impact on the Financial Services and Housing Sectors” in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC on October 23, 2019.

 (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

“I myself did not feel safe going to that extraction point, because there were QAnon and white supremacist sympathizers and, frankly, white supremacist members of Congress in that extraction point who I know, and who I felt would disclose my location, who would create opportunities to allow me to be hurt, kidnapped, etc,” Ocasio-Cortez said during her Instagram Live on Tuesday night. “And so, I didn’t even feel safe around other members of Congress.” At another point in the livestream, AOC said that she did not feel like it was an exaggeration to say that “many members of the House were nearly assassinated.”

She did not provide further details about her experience on January 6, saying that she wasn’t sure she could, given security issues. Throughout the violent insurrection, many Congress members were forced to evacuate either to designated safe areas or to barricade themselves in offices. “There was a sense that something was wrong,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “Obvious with the violence, but there was a sense that something was wrong from the inside.”

While others rushed to other buildings on the Capitol grounds, members of Pressley’s office barricaded themselves in, using furniture and extra water jugs that had accumulated during the pandemic. Pressley’s chief of staff, Sarah Groh, said that during the attack they made an unsettling discovery. “Every panic button in my office had been torn out – the whole unit,” Groh said, adding that she had used them before in that office. As Groh, Pressley, and her husband were escorted to several different secure locations, Groh said they were not only worried about the rioters, but because they didn’t know which law enforcement officers they could trust.

Ocasio-Cortez echoed a similar experience saying, “But next to that, there was also acts of betrayal. And to run in the Capitol in our nation’s capital and not knowing if an officer is there to help you or to harm you is also quite traumatizing.” Whether she was referring to the Capitol officers who reportedly appeared to have joined the ranks of the rioters, or if she was referring to something that has yet to be shared publicly, is unclear.

One Democratic lawmaker went as far as to accuse Republican colleagues of leading groups on tours of the building the day before the mob stormed the Capitol. While addressing her constituents in a Facebook Live broadcast on Tuesday night, Rep. Mikie Sherrill described seeing “members of Congress who had groups coming through the Capitol that I saw on January 5 for reconnaissance for the next day.” Sherill did not identify which members of Congress she saw leading these groups, reports the Washington Post.

One thing AOC was very clear on during her Instagram Live is that anyone who helped lame duck President Donald Trump must be removed from office. She specifically called out Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz who have been some of the loudest voices pushing to overturn the election results. She included the other 145 Republicans in the House and Senate who voted in favor of throwing out the election results in her call for resignations. Calling for their resignations, Ocasio-Cortez said, “You do not belong in the United States Senate. Let me give you a sneak peek: You will never be president. You will never command the respect of this country, never. Never. And you should resign.”

Shedding light on the secret reproductive lives of honey bees

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

Honey bee health has been on the decline for two decades, with U.S. and Canadian beekeepers now losing about 25 to 40% of their colonies annually. And queen bees are failing faster than they have in the past in their ability to reproduce. The reason has been a mystery, but researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of British Columbia are finding answers.

IMAGE: NC STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCHER ALISON MCAFEE PREPARES QUEEN CELLS TO GO INTO HONEY BEE MATING COLONIES. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO BY ALISON MCAFEE.

Their latest research, published Jan. 8 in the journal Communications Biology, offers clues about what's behind queen bee failure, finding that when sperm viability is low, the expression of a protein known to act against pathogens such as bacteria and viruses is high.

David Tarpy, a University Faculty Scholar and professor in NC State's Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, says the study has important implications for beekeepers and their customers, the farmers who rely on honey bees to pollinate their crops.

"Beekeepers have identified problem queens as a top management concern, but what's causing the problem is largely invisible. Queens go bad, and we don't know why," Tarpy said.

Alison McAfee, a postdoctoral scientist at NC State and UBC, was the study's lead author. She explained that to have a healthy hive, honey bees depend on a healthy queen, the only female bee in a colony that can reproduce.

The queen mates with many males, but only early in life, storing all the sperm that she'll use in her lifetime in her spermatheca, an abdominal organ that looks like a tiny pearl. When the sperm begin to die, the queen can't produce as many fertilized eggs. That causes the colony's population to decline.

"Queens have the potential to live for five years, but these days, half the time queens (in managed honey bee colonies) are replaced within their first six months because they are failing," McAfee said. "If a beekeeper is really lucky, a queen might live two years. Beekeepers need answers about why their queens are failing.

"The more we can find out about what is actually happening within these failed queens, the closer we can get to understanding why this queen failure is happening in the first place."

In their research, McAfee, Tarpy and their colleagues found that queens that were failing reproductively had significantly fewer sperm than ones that were reproductively thriving. And a higher percentage of the sperm they did have were dead. The researchers also discovered that compared to reproductively healthy queen bees, the failed queens were more likely to have higher levels of two viruses - sacbrood virus and black queen cell virus.

"The high levels of these viruses and poor sperm viability made us interested in seeing if there was a trade-off happening in the honey bee queen," McAfee said. "There's a classical hypothesis in reproductive biology that you can't do everything well, so there's a trade-off between immunity and being able to reproduce. It's been found in quite a few other organisms, including insects, that there are such trade-offs."

To find out if the same would be true with the honeybee queen, the researchers used a tool known as a mass spectrometer to gain a better picture of what was going on in the spermatheca of the healthy and failed queens. They identified 2,000 different proteins and determined which ones were linked to sperm viability.

One of the most significant proteins linked to sperm viability, McAfee said, was lysozyme. Lysozyme is an enzyme that's part of animals' immune systems.

"The queens with the highest sperm viability had the lowest abundance of lysozyme, indicating that they weren't investing resources in this kind of immune response," McAfee added. "That supports this idea that there's a trade-off between the queens being able to fight off infections and being able to maintain their stored sperm."

Tarpy said that the research could begin allowing researchers to find the cause of queen failure and find molecular tools that could "help identify bad queens upstream in the process before beekeepers use them and before they realize they're bad."

Right now, the cause of queen failure isn't clear. "The underlying mechanisms could be disease. They could be pesticides. They could be improper nutrition," he said. "We don't know, so we are working our way backward to identify the causes."

Once the causes are clearly understood, Tarpy added, scientists can then work forward "to help beekeepers keep mortality levels down to sustainable levels and thus keep their colonies thriving."

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This research was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Genome Canada and Genome British Columbia, Project Apis m, the Boone Hodgson Wilkinson Trust, the Canadian Bee Research Fund and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute for Agriculture.

An abstract of the paper follows.

"Trade-offs between sperm viability and immune protein expression in honey bee queens (Apis mellifera)"

DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-01586-w

Authors: Alison McAfee, North Carolina State University and the University of British Columbia; Abigail Chapman and Leonard J. Foster, University of British Columbia; Jeffery S. Pettis, Pettis and Associates; and David R. Tarpy, North Carolina State University

Published: Jan. 8, 2021 in Communications Biology.

Queens of many social hymenoptera keep sperm alive within their specialized storage organ, the spermatheca, for years, defying the typical trade-off between lifespan and reproduction. However, whether honey bee (Apis mellifera) queens experience a trade-off between reproduction and immunity is unknown, and the biochemical processes underlying sperm viability are poorly understood. Here, we survey quality metrics and viral loads of honey bee queens from nine genetic sources. Queens rated as 'failed' by beekeepers had lower sperm viability, fewer sperm, and higher levels of sacbrood virus and black queen cell virus. Quantitative proteomics on N?=?123 spermathecal fluid samples shows, after accounting for sperm count, health status, and apiary effects, five spermathecal fluid proteins significantly correlating with sperm viability: odorant binding protein (OBP)14, lysozyme, serpin 88Ea, artichoke, and heat-shock protein (HSP)10. The significant negative correlation of lysozyme--a conserved immune effector--with sperm viability is consistent with a reproduction vs. immunity trade-off in honey bee queens.

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Age matters in identifying maltreatment in infants and young children with fractures

SOCIETY FOR ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE

 NEWS RELEASE 13-JAN-2021

Research News

 

IMAGE: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND RECOMMENDATIONS, 15 ARTICLES 1980-2020 view more 

CREDIT: KIRSTY CHALLEN, B.SC., MBCHB, MRES, PH.D., LANCASHIRE TEACHING HOSPITALS, UNITED KINGDOM.

DES PLAINES, IL -- Among children who were not in an independently verified incident, evaluation for child abuse should be done by specialty consultation in children aged less than three-years old presenting with rib fractures and children aged less than 18-months presenting with humeral or femoral fractures. That is the conclusion of a study titled Identifying Maltreatment in Infants and Young Children Presenting with Fractures: Does Age Matter?, to be published in the January 2021 issue of Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM), a journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM).

The lead author of the study is Ian C. Mitchell, MD, a pediatric surgery specialist, Departments of Surgery, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and Baylor College of Medicine, San Antonio, TX. The findings of the study are discussed in a recent AEM podcast.

According to the study findings, 77 percent of children presenting with rib fractures aged less than three years were abused; when those involved in motor vehicle collisions were excluded, 96% were abused. Abuse was identified in 48% of children less than 18?months with humeral fractures. Among those with femoral fractures, abuse was diagnosed in 34% and 25% of children aged less than 12 and 18?months, respectively.

Commenting on the study is Mark R. Zonfrillo, MD, MSCE, associate professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Hasbro Children's Hospital:

"Undiagnosed child abuse can lead to subsequent serious injury or death, and understanding injury characteristics that can predict increased risk of an abusive injury is critical. This systematic review identified rib fractures in children younger than three years old and humeral or femoral fractures in children younger than 18 months old, and without an independently verified injury mechanism, as higher risk for abuse. For these patients, the authors recommend diagnostic evaluation and consultation for potential abuse in order to minimize morbidity and mortality from these intentional injuries."

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ABOUT ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Academic Emergency Medicine, the monthly journal of Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, features the best in peer-reviewed, cutting-edge original research relevant to the practice and investigation of emergency care. The above study is published open access and can be downloaded by following the DOI link: 10.1111/acem.14122. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact Tami Craig at tcraig@saem.org.

ABOUT THE SOCIETY FOR ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE

SAEM is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to the improvement of care of the acutely ill and injured patient by leading the advancement of academic emergency medicine through education and research, advocacy, and professional development. To learn more, visit saem.org.

Effects of head trauma from intimate partner violence largely unrecognized

Rutgers researcher speaks on new international effort to understand ramifications of injuries

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

While there is an abundant amount of research about traumatic brain injuries in athletes and those serving in the military, the same data is scarce when it comes to concussions and head and neck injuries sustained due to intimate partner violence.

Carrie Esopenko, assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Sciences in the Rutgers School of Health Professions says that the World Health Organization estimates that one in three women will experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in her lifetime, and studies suggest that anywhere between 30% to 90% of women who experience physical abuse at the hands of an intimate partner experience head trauma. Yet not enough data is being collected to understand how this head trauma affects cognitive and psychological functioning as well as the underlying neural effects.

Esopenko is part of a new Intimate Partner Violence Working Group studying intimate partner violence-related head trauma as part of the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium, an international, multidisciplinary group that seeks to provide a collaborative framework for large-scale analysis and neuroimaging and genetic studies in patient groups. She discusses the effect that head trauma due to intimate partner violence can have on individuals and the challenges the working group faces in gathering data as recently published in the journal Brain Imaging and Behavior.

What is the risk for traumatic brain injury in those who suffer abuse?

Although intimate partner violence occurs at any age, it is most prevalent in the 18- to 24-year-old age group, and older adults are also vulnerable. Males and females experience IPV, but violence against women tends to result in more severe and chronic injuries. Due to the high degree of physical aggression associated with this type of abuse, there is a significant risk for traumatic brain injury caused by blunt force trauma, being violently shaken or pushed.

Another significant concern is anoxic brain injury, which can occur due strangulation or attempts to impede normal breathing. The prevalence of head injuries in women who have sustained IPV is estimated to be between 30 percent and 92 percent, with a high proportion of these women reporting injuries as a result of strangulation. It is estimated that more than 50 percent of women exposed to intimate partner violence suffer multiple brain injuries due to abuse-related head trauma.

What are the consequences of such injuries?

Past research suggests that IPV can impact cognitive and psychological functioning as well as have neurological effects. These seem to be compounded in those who suffer a brain injury as a result of trauma to the head, face, neck or body due to physical and/or sexual violence. However, our understanding of the neurobehavioral and neurobiological effects of head trauma is limited.

Studies suggest that women who experience IPV report cognitive dysfunction, including impaired reaction time, response inhibition, working memory, attention and a range of other cognitive, behavioral and emotional difficulties. They often report a high degree of mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, suicidal ideation and PTSD. There is evidence that intimate partner violence-related brain injury also alters brain function and structure.

What is unknown about traumatic brain injury in victims of domestic violence?

While research on traumatic brain injury in other populations, like athletes and the military, has dramatically increased over the past two decades, research on intimate partner-related brain injury is vastly understudied. We need to know more about the effect of sex, socioeconomic status, race and/or ethnicity, age at first exposure - including childhood trauma, duration and severity of IPV exposure, and psychiatric disorders on the neural, cognitive and psychological outcomes associated with IPV-related brain injuries. Knowing this can help us to predict outcomes and help personalize treatment and intervention strategies.

What are the working group's goals?

There remain important challenges to understanding the interaction between intimate partner-related brain injury and cognitive and psychosocial functioning, mental health and neural outcomes. Of importance is the identification and characterization of brain injury in this population, which is often difficult because brain trauma is often overlooked or not diagnosed in this population. By forming a global collaboration across disciplines -- researchers, clinicians, first responders, community organizations and policymakers -- we hope to help tailor measures that can be used across groups for consistent data collection that will enable us to combine large-scale datasets to answer these difficult questions and facilitate further translation of research outcomes to clinical care and community-based supports.

Stats on HIV among men who have sex with men could help resolve China's epidemic

In China's decades-long war against HIV, the time has come to explore infections among young men who have sex with men, new study shows

CACTUS COMMUNICATIONS

Research News

 

IMAGE: RISING INCIDENCE OF HIV INFECTION IN YOUNG MEN WHO PRACTICE SEX WITH MEN HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR IMPROVED PREVENTIVE MEASURES EARLY ON, IF CHINA'S EPIDEMIC IS TO BE BROUGHT TO... view more 

CREDIT: CHINESE MEDICAL JOURNAL

Since the dawn of the 21st century, there has been a rapid rise in the number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in China, and today, the epidemic continues to grow. Several populations are victims of this virus, including injection drug users, sex workers, and men who have sex with men (MSM). In the various decades since HIV has gripped China, these groups and others have variously been at the forefront or background of national efforts to tackle the epidemic.

In the recent past, the prevalence of HIV has been high among the MSM population, particularly, MSM students. According to China CDC's national data on newly reported HIV/AIDS cases, there was a 35% annual increase in cases among student MSM from 2011 to 2015. Between 2005 and 2007, the HIV prevalence among this population was 3%. This increased to 6% between 2008 and 2010.

Dr. Jing Zhang, researcher at the NHC Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology (China Medical University) and lead scientist on a recent study on HIV incidence among MSM youth in China, says, "This increasing HIV prevalence could be because of expanding HIV testing in China in the recent years, or it could be that the number of recent infected cases has truly been growing." Explaining her rationale for the study, she continues, "To clarify why this increase is happening and its proportions, we need data on the 'incidence'. The incidence is one of the most crucial indicators of the trend of the epidemic and is key to understanding the impact of prevention measures. Because unlike 'prevalence', which accounts both recent and established cases, 'incidence' more specifically records only the recent cases. Data on incidence is what is lacking among the MSM student population."

In their study, which has been published in Chinese Medical Journal, Dr. Zhang and her colleagues conducted a multi-center study, measuring not only the incidence but also the rate of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) among MSM college students in seven cities across China during 2012 and 2013. The TDR negatively impacts the prognosis of HIV-infected individuals when receiving antiretroviral therapy, the main measure China has taken to combat the epidemic over the years.

"For an epidemiologist and public health provider, concrete data on these trends of recent incidence and TDR is valuable evidence for understanding the epidemic and evaluating the outcomes of the prevention measures employed thus far," Dr. Zhang says.

In the study, a total of 4496 candidates--565 MSM college students, 1094 non-student MSM youth < 25 years of age, and 2837 non-youth MSM ≥ 25 years of age--were enrolled from Shenyang, Nanjing, Shanghai, Ji'nan, Changsha, Zhengzhou, and Kunming. Blood samples of these participants were tested for antibodies against HIV (via the "BED-CEIA test") to confirm recent HIV infection (less than 168 days). In case of HIV strains with resistance associated sequences, TDR was recorded.

The scientists found 436 HIV-positive participants, 186 of whom were recent infections. Among MSM college students, the proportion of HIV recent infections was 70.3%, among non-student MSM youth it was 50.8%, and among non-youth MSM it was 35.1%. The TDR prevalence rates were ~7%, 2%, and ~5%, respectively, for these groups. In short, in the recent past, more MSM college students had become infected than the other groups, and they were more likely to be resistant to antiretroviral therapy.

Drawing on previous studies about behavioral changes among young MSM, Dr. Zhang explains, "The median age of first anal intercourse for these men in China has significantly decreased from 33 years for those born during 1940-1959 to 18 years for those born during 1990-1996. This could be indicative of the gap in current sexual health education in China. China has taken many actions to mitigate the HIV epidemic among students in higher education institutions, including comprehensive education on sexual health and more accessible HIV testing. According to our findings, and given these changing trends, this education should be provided as early as possible during college, or preferably in high school, as soon as youth become sexually active."

Further highlighting and underlining the importance of her team's study, Dr. Zhang remarks, "This study unravels the high proportion of recent HIV infections among college student MSM in 2012-2013. This is expected to facilitate an understanding of the growing HIV epidemic among MSM college students in China today. The study also addresses the importance of regular HIV testing among students and young MSM, emphasizing to this population the importance of early diagnoses. It further brings to the fore the need for TDR testing among this population before initiation of antiretroviral therapy for better response and prognosis."

With such meticulous data collection and proactive measures, perhaps the HIV epidemic in China will soon see an end.

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Reference

Title of original paper: Disparity of human immunodeficiency virus incidence and drug resistance in college student, non-student youth and older men who have sex with men: a cross-sectional study from seven major cities of China

Journal: Chinese Medical Journal

DOI: 10.1097/CM9.0000000000001161