Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s Post

A time for choosing: Law and Order or Chaos w/ no protection or security. No organized law and order will result in eventual vigilante activity and then much larger civil unrest.

please read carefully.

In this election year, Is a civil war in the U.S. possible? Philip Kotler   U.S. politics today is in the worst state since the American Civil War (1860-65). Today’s two political parties, Democrats and Republicans, hardly talk to each other. Every legislative proposal gets killed by the other party. Each party unashamedly charges that the other party will destroy the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. economy. Some state legislators talk about taking their state out of the Union. So far, there is civil unrest and a few occasions of civil strife. There are gang-like groups of male toughs ready to form gun militias. We saw many in the January 6th 2021 insurrection trying to take over the Nation’s Capitol. The protestors set aside the democratic tradition of the rule of law and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. Today we are facing the 2024 Presidential election. I can imagine three events that have the potential to trigger a civil war. The first is the election of Donald Trump. Trump told his followers that he would clean out the swamp and get rid of the vermin. But every action he would take would consolidate Democrats and many politically uncommitted voters to oppose Trump and call for his removal from office. The more extreme Trump’s measures, the stronger the rising opposition. Eventually the Democrats would invade the White House and arrest Donald Trump. The second is the election of Joe Biden. Here Donald Trump would again cry that the election was stolen and call his MAGA supporters and other right-wing extremists and rednecks to take over the Congress and the White House. The third would be the early arrest and jailing of Donald Trump prior to the election. Donald Trump faces several felony counts. In Washington, D.C., he faces four felony counts for trying to overturn the 2020 election. In Georgia, he faces 34 felony counts for paying hush money payments to a porn star. In Florida, he faces 40 felony counts for holding classified documents office and impeding the government’s efforts to retrieve them. Trump’s die-hard followers would undoubtedly take action to free Trump from jail and take actions to harm Trump’s loudest opponents. What makes civil strife more threatening in this age is the presence of so many guns in the hands of extremists. Add the role and speed of the Internet and social media to circulate lies and horror stories about the other side. Note that each political party Is made up of factions that often pursue their own agenda. For a more long-run view of factors starting civil wars, read How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them by Barbara F. Walter.

How does the Trump shooting affect Chicago DemocraticConvention ? 1. Before it, I assumed a Trump victory would energize the left and breathe new life into the likes of Carlos Rosa, Rossana Sanchez, and BJ. Now, I think this effect will be muted. They will need to watch their words more closely and won’t be able to make as many hyperbolic, inflammatory statements. 2. There is going to be a rightward lurch across the country - including in Chicago. I think it began with the ass-showing of the campus protesters, picked up with the Dems pushing an obviously incapacitated man as capable of serving 4 more years, and accelerated with the assassination attempt. Plus Americans like winners and the Left has been on a losing streak (hello SCOTUS). 3. These images of the bumbling, bewildered female Secret Service agents, along with the woman who is leading the agency now, will be the death of DEI. This doesn’t directly affect Chicago much but if there is a return to valuing merit over identity, this will influence things like how people view the pathetic performance of CPS under CTU, who play only one card (the Race Card). 4. This event feels like a bookend moment to the George Floyd killing. That opened wide the era of ACAB and insane public safety decisions made to appease the loud, leftmost fringe. There will be less appetite for things like the SAFE-T Act, police no-chase policy, and hands-off treatment of teen riots. This has been a rough year for the left in general and if that means their influence is weakened in Chicago and we return to more moderate politics, than that will be a good thing.

🦉ME: Darth MAGA not Dark MAGA‼️The Egomaniac #ElonMusk joined forces with the MAGAlomaniac #DonaldTrump to ecstatically pervert the truth about #freespeech, #guncontrol, #votingIDs and the #eliminationofelections at a Trump rally in #Butler #Pennsylvania. The only candidate that has stated that if evangelicals vote for him, there would be no need for future voting is the candidate Musk is supporting. They are the danger to #democracy‼️ Rebuttals below…… 👁️ Yahoo! News The Wrap Sun, October 6, 2024 at 1:17 PM GMT+13 https://lnkd.in/gXQJGKwF #ElonMusk Joins #TrumpRally, Claims Harris Winning Would Make This ‘the Last Election’: ‘I’m Dark MAGA’ | Video 👉Excerpt ‘While the Harris-Walz campaign advocates for gun control, there is no indication the Democratic Party wants to completely eliminate guns. They have also expressed no interest in eliminating free speech or Americans’ right to vote. It’s worth noting that freedom of speech does not mean there is freedom from consequences of said speech. “We’ve got 14 states now that don’t require voter ID. California, where I used to live, has just passed a law banning voter ID for voting. I still can’t believe that’s real. So how are you supposed to have a good, proper election if there’s no ID?” Musk questioned….” Federal law requires newly registered voters in all states to provide a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security Number when they register to vote. There are 15 states in the United States who do not require registered voters to identify themselves when they show up to vote, but voters in those states were required to provide identification when they initially registered. On Sept. 30, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that bans local governments from requiring ID to vote. The law is a response to a March 2024 ballot initiative approved by voters in Huntington Beach, where 53.4% of residents voted to require all residents who want to cast a ballot to show a valid ID. That measure violated state law, which led California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Secretary of State Shirley Weber to sue in order to block local officials from enforcing the measure. “The right to freely cast your vote is the foundation of our democracy and Huntington Beach’s voter ID policy flies in the face of this principle,” Bonta said in a statement. “State election law already contains robust voter ID requirements with strong protections to prevent voter fraud, while ensuring that every eligible voter can cast their ballot without hardship. Imposing unnecessary obstacles to voter participation disproportionately burdens low-income voters, voters of color, young or elderly voters, and people with disabilities.” ‘ 👁️Independent UK https://lnkd.in/gmcSsnDE “Dark MAGA” Elon Musk……suggests Democrats will eliminate elections in America…..insinuating that Democrats would eliminate elections under a Kamala Harris administration. There is no evidence supporting that claim.

The Trump campaign embraces Jan. 6 rioters with money and pardon promises Three years after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, the future of the government's massive investigation into the riot, as well as the fate of many rioters themselves, may hinge on this year's presidential election. In response to the violent assault on the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump, federal agents and prosecutors launched one of the largest investigations in American history. FBI Director Christopher Wray, a Republican appointed by Trump, called the attack an act of "domestic terrorism." The FBI has now arrested upward of 1,200 people. Prosecutors have secured around 900 guilty pleas or convictions at trial – in cases ranging from breaching the Capitol building to assaulting police, obstructing Congress, bringing a gun onto Capitol grounds and seditious conspiracy. If Trump wins in 2024, he has repeatedly pledged to roll back much of that investigation. An NPR review of social media posts, speeches and interviews found that Trump has made calls to "free" Jan. 6 defendants or promised to issue them presidential pardons more than a dozen times. Trump has said he would issue those pardons on "day one" of his presidency, as part of a broader agenda to use presidential power to exact "retribution" against his opponents and deliver "justice" for his supporters. "We'll be looking very, very seriously at full pardons," Trump told an interviewer in 2022. "I mean full pardons with an apology to many." "LET THE JANUARY 6 PRISONERS GO," Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social, in March 2023. Later that year, Trump re-posted a Truth Social post stating, "The cops should be charged and the protesters should be freed." In the immediate term, a pardon for Jan. 6 defendants would free them from prison as well as other court-ordered supervision, and end ongoing prosecutions. The pardon would also allow the hundreds of defendants convicted of felonies to legally own guns again. Some judges in Jan. 6 cases have imposed sentences that include requirements to seek mental health care and restrictions on viewing "extremist media." A full pardon would lift those requirements, too. https://lnkd.in/g9Vqm_zs #TrumpforPrison

King County has a unique system of inquests and in this examination in the Seattle Times, the reporter twice attacks the criminal justice system and tries to characterize both current and past inquest systems as rigged: #1. “The inquest into her death didn’t take place for five years and the result was predictable — the officer’s actions were justified.” #2. “The outcomes were predictable: The officer inevitably testified their actions were necessary, and the inquest juries almost invariably went along.” Do you know why the inquest juries, made up of King County community members, found the actions of the officers justified? Because they were justified. Any loss of life is tragic, but to assume jury members are somehow “going along” is absurd. The delays are certainly unacceptable for both families and the officers involved, and result from a years-long hiatus imposed by the County Executive. However, the real reason some are unhappy is because citizen juries continue to find that in the vast majority of cases, the use of force was not only lawful and justified, but often heroic. Why? Because that is a finding that comes from actual facts presented at a legal proceeding, and is not based on media coverage, social media posts, or demonizing quotes from civil plaintiffs’ attorneys. As the reporter points out, correctly, when there has been a specific use of deadly force in King County that has been deemed potentially criminal in nature by the elected prosecutor, the case was charged, the citizen jury found the officer guilty, and they are appealing the verdict. Accountability, with due process-- the way it should work. Politicized systems that try to go around due process, and create outcomes based on narratives and political framing, are the opposite of what our criminal justice system, and our Constitution, require. Officers in our state too often feel that policy makers do not support them, and they will be subjected to unfair processes created to produce certain outcomes, not based on facts. We need to ensure accountability, with due process, when necessary and more strongly support professionals doing the job the right way as they enforce the laws written by those same policy makers. As a King County Senior Prosecutor sums up well in the article, “The truth is that most of these cases are justified… Sometimes that’s hard for a family to hear — especially five years later.”

An expert witness should base their conclusions on facts, not solicitation of an active case based on your viewing of a BWC nor for favoring a certain prosecutor. You must be free of actual of perceived bias. How can you agree to “help” the prosecution when you do not have entire case file? And more importantly, why are we finding out from the media? There is still no outrage from public officials who once were quick to interfere and now find themselves silent. Silence is complicity. If the trial results in a guilty verdict, we will bear witness to an immense injustice. If the trial results in a not-guilty verdict, race relations will worsen with police. Had the Hennepin County Attorney relied on courage and the law, this could have been avoided. We should be outraged. Not because you love or hate police. We should be outraged because we have an injustice that is going unchecked and our leaders remain silent.