Daily Archives: July 21, 2021

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) A fraternity of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys has withdrawn its sponsorship of a street dance in the small town of Scotland in September.

David Finnell applied on behalf of the group to have the street dance from noon until midnight Sept. 18 in the Bon Homme County community of about 700 people. The City Council approved the request to close a section of the city street as required for alcohol consumption and food vendors.

Finnell, in a Facebook message to KELO-TV Monday, said that the Proud Boys were dropping sponsorship of the event out of concerns for safety. He did not elaborate.

The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies the Proud Boys as a hate group citing the groups views about women, Muslims and others, as well as appearing with other extremist groups.

Scotlands city attorney Kent Lehr said while the Proud Boys have gained some negative national attention, there have not been any problems locally. Its his understanding that several local or area residents are associated with the Proud Boys, Lehr said.

Im not saying the city is condoning or agreeing with what the group says, Lehr said. The council had to evaluate the street dance request from the Proud Boys as it evaluates any other request, he said.

It has to consider the benefit to the community, any potential disruption (to closing street and caused by the event), the benefit to businesses on Main Street, Lehr said.

Finnell said the Proud Boys planned to raise money for local non-profits before deciding on Monday to withdraw from the event.

More here:

Proud Boys withdraw from sponsoring dance in Scotland, SD - Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) The person who applied on behalf of the fraternity of Proud Boys to have a street dance in Scotland on September 18 told KELOLAND News on Monday that because of safety concerns for the Proud Boys and public, the group would no longer sponsor the event but would try to find a local sponsor.

David Finnell confirmed in a Facebook message that he is the man who asked the Scotland City Council for permission to have a street dance from noon until midnight on Sept. 18. The council approved the request to close a section of a city street with requirements for alcohol and food venders.

Proud Boys is a controversial group that has made the news frequently in the past several months including for its apparent ties to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The council minutes from the July 12 meeting list David Finnells name and said he was making the request on behalf of the fraternity of Proud Boys.

KELOLAND News reached out to Finnell on Facebook for an interview about the request. He eventually declined and said Proud Boys would not sponsor the event.

The councils action to close a section of Main Street for the Sept. 18 event was similar to three other actions taken that night. Sections of Main Street will be closed for a Youth Center Corn Hole Tournament on August 13 and for two events on Aug. 14 in connection to the Scottie Stampede Rodeo celebration.

The request for the Sept. 18 is different because its associated with a national and international organization the FBI said has ties to the Jan. 6 events in Washington, D.C.

In the first presidential debate in September 2020, when asked if he would condemn white supremist groups, President Donald Trump replied that Proud Boys should,Stand back and stand by. Two days later, Trump condemned the Proud Boys.

The Government of Canada placed the Proud Boys on its list of terrorist entities and ideologically motivated violent extremist groups on February 3.

The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies the Proud Boys as a hate group and cites the groups views about women, Muslims and others as well as appearing with other extreme groups such as Neo-Nazis.

Scotlands city attorney Kent Lehr said while the Proud Boys have gained some negative national attention, there have not been any problems locally. Its his understanding that several local or area residents are associated with the Proud Boys, Lehr said.

Im not saying the city is condoning or agreeing with what the group says, Lehr said. The council had to evaluate the street dance request from the Proud Boys as it evaluates any other request, he said.

It has to consider the benefit to the community, any potential disruption (to closing street and caused by the event), the benefit to businesses on Main Street., Lehr said.

Lehr and city finance officer Tanya Bult said the Proud Boys representative indicated the group wanted to raise money for the community with its Sept. 18 event. Finnell confirmed in a Facebook message the Proud Boys planned to raise money for local non-profits before deciding on Monday to withdraw from the event.

Bon Homme County Sheriff Mark Maggs said the involvement of the Proud Boys in a public event does create an element of concern. Overall, the sheriffs office would treat the originally planned Sept. 18 event like it does the Scotties Stampede in the city or Czech Days in Tabor. The sheriffs office would provide security and increase the number of people working that day, Maggs said.

The July 12 council minutes said the Sept. 18 event was to have eight bands.

Lehr said if the event would have had adverse consequences such as assaults or damage to property its not going to happen again, Lehr said.

Bult said the council would have needed to review any licenses from vendors selling malt beverages or food on the street on Sept. 18. Those vendors would have brought their licenses to the Aug. 9 council meeting, Bult said.

The public has not raised any questions or concerns with her at the city office about the originally planned Sept. 18 event, Bult said.

Scotland Mayor Curt Hofer did not return messages left by KELOLAND News. Attempts to reach other city council members were not successful.

Read more:

Proud Boys representative says group plans to withdraw sponsorship of September event in Scotland, South Dakota - KELOLAND.com

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer meets with Texas House Democrats at the U.S. Capitol. More than 60 Texas House Democrats left the state overnight for Washington, D.C., in order to block a voting restrictions bill. (Win McNamee / Getty Images)

Thank you for signing up forThe Nations weekly newsletter.

Democratic Texas Representative James Talarico didnt come to Washington, D.C., to embarrass Foxs Pete Hegsuth, but thats what he did last week. The youngest member of the Texas delegation, now 32, Talarico violated a lot of Democrats precepts, including my own (Im a Never Foxer), to mix it up with the lightweight Trump-backing Fox prime-time host. He took him down.

You have made a lot of money personally and youve enriched a lot of corporations with advertising by getting on here and spewing lies and conspiracy theories to folks who trust you, Talarico told Hegseth. He challenged him: Tell your voters right now that Donald Trump lost the election. Hegseth sputtered; Talarico went viral.

Since then, hes been on MSNBC with Joy Reid and Jonathan Capehart and joined CNNs Jim Acosta; Im sure Im missing someone. Monday night the whole Texas delegation is doing an MSNBC voting rights town hall. Meanwhile, hes been meeting with congressional leaders and voting rights icons to try to push congressional Democrats to work harder to pass a voting rights bill that will make the rollback planned by the Texas GOP impossible.

Its hard work, whether in his diverse House District 52, the Austin Capitol, or Washington, D.C., where Democrats nominally run all three branches but President Joe Manchinoops, I mean West Virginia Senator Joe Manchinseems to have the last word on whats possible. In an interview, Talarico confirmed that Senate leaders told the Texas Democrats that the two pending infrastructure bills are their priority, but said their D.C. visit had raised the pressure to make sure some kind of voting rights legislation passes before the Senate goes into recess on August 6.

I appreciate Talaricos optimism, but retain my pessimism that any kind of voting rights legislation can follow closely on the heels of whatever infrastructure bill passesif any. If Talarico and Co. succeed in staying out of Texas through the special session, Governor Greg Abbott is promising to call another one ASAP. This is an uphill climb.

But I dont know uphill as intimately as Texas Democrats do. So if Talaricos at least somewhat optimistic, Im going to try to get there, too.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.Current Issue

Subscribe today and Save up to $129.

Can you help our readers understand which aspects of the Texas bill will hit your constituents particularly hard?

Thats a tough question, because there are so many harmful provisions. One is the reduction of early voting hours. My district has a lot of working folks who cant take off in the middle of the day to go vote so they need extended hours. I have a lot of senior citizens in my district, and this bill will make the provision of mail-in ballots harder. I have a lot of my own family members in my district, this is where I was born and raised, and this bill would empower partisan poll watchers like the Proud Boys to stand over my grandmothers shoulder while she is trying to cast her ballot. Thats why this is not only political, but its very personal.

Were Democrats able to add amendments to soften the impact?

Well, the discussion is a little confusing because there have been different versions of this bill. As you know, we are in special session right now; we had regular session in the spring. The same basic voter suppression bill has had many forms. In the regular session, the Texas House Democrats watered down the bill to some extent, though it was still very harmful. But in the Senate, led by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, his version was even more extreme: It eliminated Souls to the Polls, where mostly African American congregants go vote after church on Sundaythen it shortened the hours, and pushed them back to 1 pm, which is after people usually go vote. It also had a frightening provision that would have made it easier to overturn electionsand that was the bill we were able to defeat in the regular session with the walkout.

Readers like you make our independent journalism possible.

Now the bill is somewhere in between the watered-down version and that real extreme version, but it still has so many classic voter suppression methods. If you dig into the meat of this bill as I have, some of the hidden provisions make it really hard for voters who dont speak English to access an assistor. I used to teach in San Antonio, and a lot of times our parents would have their children go with them to vote, so they could read them the ballot or help explain

You dont have ballots in Spanish in Texas?

No, we do, but sometimes voters either cant read or need a little more help. Youd bring your son or your daughter, or another assistor, to help you through the process. Weve historically done that in Texas with no problem.

I know your delegation has been splitting up to meet with individual senators, although you all met with Vice President Kamala Harris. Whove you gotten to meet with?

Yes, I was in the meeting with the vice president. I was also in the meeting with Senator Elizabeth Warren. Others have met with Senators Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, majority leader Schumer, and of course Senator Manchin.

Has any member of your delegation met with President Biden yet?

Not yet. We have requested that meeting, and I hope well be able to meet with the president in some way while were here. But we have not gotten word thats been scheduled.

You didnt get to meet with Senator Manchin personally

No, that was mostly our leadership and senior members of our delegationand as you know Im the baby of the bunch

Get unlimited access: $9.50 for six months.

They had to keep you out!

Yes! But one of my colleagues, Representative Senfronia Thompson, who is the longest-serving woman and African American in Texas historyshes an iconshe met with Senator Manchin, and she shared how her parents in Houston had to save up money to pay the poll tax. An incredibly powerful story, to hear how previous generations struggled so mightily to access the franchise.

Yet he still says he wont support a so-called carve-out of the 60-vote rule to pass a voting rights bill. What do you think is going on therewhat did you hear from your colleagues?

Our colleagues walked away from the meeting feeling optimistic about what would be possible with Senator Manchin. Hes obviously a big supporter of voting rights. H was a secretary of state and he wants to be a leader on the issue, which is a great place to start fromwe cant say that for every senator, especially not on the Republican side of the aisle. Hes also, obviously, been very committed to the filibuster, which I disagree with. Its a Jim Crow relic that needs to be done away with if were going to let our democracy function. But it seems that there may be an opportunity to pass some core voting rights provisionssomething like the John Lewis Voting Rights Actwhich Senator Manchin believes could get significant Republican support. Now, whether or not thats true is something thats above my pay grade. But we in Texas are desperate for anything that could prevent this bill from becoming law in Texas.

Manchin did float a compromise voting rights proposal that was pretty good, even endorsed by Stacey Abrams, which McConnell trashed as the Stacey Abrams compromise, and you know what that means. But infrastructure seems like everybodys priority right now. What are you hearing?

What we were told at the meetingsthe Senator Manchin meeting and the Senator Schumer meetingis that they want to get past infrastructure before they go to voting rights. But they also said our presence here has put a lot of pressure on them to get to voting rights as quickly as possible. Which was our goal. We also wanted to galvanize the national media to be talking about voting rights and to be putting that pressure on leaders of Congress and on the president and the vice president. Im not a senator, but from what Ive been told, the Senate needs pressure and the Senate needs a deadline. And thankfully we have both of those things now because the Senates August recess is coming up, August 6 I believe, which is also when our special session ends in Texas.

The last thing Ill mention is that week is also the anniversary of another Texan, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, signing the Voting Rights Act

Also on August 6.

Seems like the universe is trying to tell us something about what needs to happen at the beginning of August

Lets hope we listen.

Read the original:

This Texas Democrat Doesn't Want Proud Boys Standing Over His Grandmother as She Votes - The Nation

KERNERSVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) A Kernersville man arrested for his involvement in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol building will appear in court.

Charles Donohoe will have a status conference Thursday at 2 p.m.

Donohoe, a Marine veteran, is charged with helping plan the attack on the Capitol.

Prosecutors have released videos they said show Donohoe, along with hundreds of others, pushing their way up the stairs of the Capitol and past the police.

Whats happening today? Get your daily news wrap-up with the FOX8 newsletter.

In the same video, you see New York Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola carrying a police riot shield up the stairs.

Did you steal a riot shield? a man asks in another video released by prosecutors.

In that video, investigators said Donohoe and Pezzola are shown carrying the riot shield through the crowd, just minutes after they stole it from a Capitol Police Officer.

At 2:11 p.m. that afternoon, investigators said Pezzola used the shield to smash open the windows of the capitol and allowed a flood of rioters through the opening and into the Capitol building.

NEXT: Kernersville Proud Boy remains in federal custody

Lawyers for Donohoe said the feds havent provided ample evidence that Donohoe helped plan the attack.

They also argue theres no evidence that Donohoe ever even entered the building.

Prosecutors have argued that Donohoe, who is allegedly a high-ranking Lieutenant in the Proud Boys, could incite more violence in the future.

More:

Kernersville Proud Boy arrested in Capitol riot will appear in court - WGHP FOX 8 Greensboro

First person sentenced in Capitol riot, no jail time

Anna Morgan-Lloyd is the first defendant to be sentenced in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and admitted to unlawfully entering the Capitol and will serve 3 years of probation, do 120 hours of community service and pay $500 in restitution.

Newsy, Newsy

Lawyers representing accused Capitol rioter Dominic Pezzola argue he should be freed from custody pending his trial because his constitutional rights are being violated and because he presents no flight risk.

AttorneysSteven Metcalf and Martin Tankleff filed a 230-page motion for bail to see Pezzola, 43, of Rochester let out on conditional release pending trial.

Pezzola, who has now been jailed for five months in a Washington, D.C., jail,is accusedwith assaulting a United States Capitol Police officer during the Jan. 6 riots andallegedly ripping away the officer's riot shield, which he then used to break open a Capitol window. That gavepeople unfettered access to the interior of the building, according to court documents.

He is charged with two counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States; two counts ofassaulting, resisting, or impeding a Capitol Police officer, and other charges. Pezzola pleaded not guilty in early May to an 11-count superseding indictment.

In a release, Pezzola's daughters, ages 16 and 20, said they miss their father and want him to come home, because "he is the rock of our family.When we see people charged with worse crimes than our father, we cant help but think of how our father remains incarcerated.

Pezzola's common-law wife Lisa Magee said her husband "participated in a social justice movement, just like so many other people have over the past two years. However, my husband is being treated differently because he was arrested in connection with incidents that happened on January 6, 2021.

USA Today reports that at least535people have been arrested in connection with the breach of the Capitol. Pezzola is charged under the same indictment with fellow Proud Boys Matthew Greene, of Syracuse, and William Pepe, of Beacon, Dutchess County.

Like Pezzola, Greene is being detained without bail, while Pepe is free on his own recognizance.

Pezzola's attorneys Tankleff and Metcalf said in a release The continued detention of Dominic is discriminatory and deprives him of his constitutional rights.

"Dominics human rights are being denied daily. Dominic is also being denied his right to aid in his own defense.

Metcalf and Tankleff outline three major arguments forPezzola's pre-trial release:

Prosecutors allege Pezzola and others conspired, planned and then participated in an effort to interfere with Congress counting the Electoral College votes to certify President Joe Biden's victory. The Proud Boys, a white supremacist extremist organizationlabeled as a hate group,used social media, text messaging, and encrypted applications to recruit and organize their efforts.

Assistant United States Attorney Erik Kenerson wrote in a February filing that Pezzola committed a crime of terrorism.

"Felony destruction of property ...is a federal crime of terrorism," Kenerson wrote. He said the law defines a "'federal crime of terrorismas an offense that 'is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct.'"

For subscribers: Take a peek inside the stunning, abandoned Rochester subway tunnels

Business: Wegmans taking baby steps to reopen its food bars at select stores

Watch: Black bear caught on doorbell cameras prowling through Pittsford neighborhood

If a federal judge denies the motion to release Pezzola, his attorneys ask that he be released to the custody of a third party (most likely his wife) and placed into a pretrial services agency monitoring program that could include electronic monitoring, work release, and curfew.

A Des Moinesman, Douglas Jensen, 41, a QAnon adherent who was videotaped at the Capitol breach was freed by a federal judge Tuesday into house arrest and electronic monitoring, the Associated Press reported. Jensen was not accused of toppling any barricades, damaging any property or fighting with anybody at the Capitol, the judge said.

Contact Will Clevelandat wcleveland@gannett.com. Follow him onTwitter @willcleveland13.Thanks to our subscribers for supporting quality local journalism. If you arent a subscriber, please consider a digital subscription.

More here:

Pezzola's attorneys argue Proud Boy should have access to laptop and be released pending trial - Democrat & Chronicle