Victoria White Files $2 Million Suit For Police Using 'Excessive' Force In Jan. 6 Beating

 by Joseph M. Hanneman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A Minnesota woman beaten by police in the Lower West Terrace tunnel at the U.S. Capitol has filed a $2 million civil suit for being repeatedly struck in the head and slammed into a concrete wall on Jan. 6, 2021.

Victoria Charity White, 42, of Rochester, Minnesota, alleges at least two Metropolitan Police Department officers unlawfully used “deadly force” by repeatedly striking her head and face with steel riot batons and fists at about 4 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021.

The complaint—filed on March 27 by Washington attorney Paul Kamenar—names MPD Commander Jason Bagshaw and MPD Officer Neil McAllister, and alleges other unnamed officers took part in the beatings.

It alleges violations of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S. Code § 1983. It is an amended version of a suit Ms. White filed representing herself in January.

“The defendants willfully and unlawfully seized plaintiff by means of objectively unreasonable, excessive, and indeed, deadly force that shocks the conscience, thereby unreasonably restraining and depriving plaintiff of her freedom and inflicting physical and mental harm and anguish,” read the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.

“Because of the senseless and unlawful beating she received at the hands of the defendants and the other MPD officers, Ms. White suffered great physical, traumatic, and emotional harm that day and continues to suffer to this day, particularly the traumatic and emotional harm,” Mr. Kamenar wrote in the lawsuit.

Mr. Bagshaw, the suit alleges: “Repeatedly struck an unarmed and defenseless White about her head, face, shoulders, and upper body with a metal baton and his fists.”

He is being sued in his professional and personal capacity, the lawsuit stated.

Mr. McAllister “along with defendant Bagshaw and other police officers, physically assaulted the plaintiff,” the suit said.

Mr. McAllister is also being sued in his professional and personal capacity.

According to the suit, video evidence shows Mr. McAllister “slamming Ms. White up against the concrete tunnel wall, whereupon, inexplicably, his bodycam is shut off for some 30 seconds.”

The department declined to comment on the suit.

Acceptable force with this type of subject would involve “low-level physical tactics to gain control and cooperation,” with techniques that could involve pain but would generally not inflect injury, the MPD policy cited in the suit states.

The suit outlines the beating first documented in The Epoch Times on Dec. 23, 2021, after Ms. White’s then-attorney Joseph McBride secured the release of previously sealed security video from the tunnel.

The newspaper’s analysis of the CCTV video showed Ms. White was struck by police 39 times in a little over four minutes.

A series of videos show Ms. White suffering rapid fire hits, punches to the head, a baton poked at her head, and being doused with pepper spray.

Bodycam video released in 2023 revealed more information on the beating, including a bystander in the tunnel who begged police to stop striking Ms. White.

At 4:09 p.m., the man said: “No, no, no, please! Please don’t beat her,” according to the video. Two minutes later, as police shouted at him to “move it, keep walking!” the man replied, “No! You’re going to kill her!”

At the time of the first lawsuit, Mr. McBride said a special prosecutor should be named to investigate the beating.

None of the officers allegedly involved in Ms. White’s case has been disciplined or faced criminal charges.

“That is somebody who’s not only acting with authority but is acting with license,” Mr. McBride said, referring to Mr. Bagshaw, then an MPD lieutenant.

“That is somebody who is acting because he has no fear that he’s going to be reprimanded for his actions. Do I think that’s criminal? There is no doubt in my mind that what that man did was criminal.”

Jan. 6 defendant Victoria White was pushed, shoved, and beaten about the head by police in the Lower West Terrace tunnel on Jan. 6, 2021. (Metropolitan Police Department/Screenshots via The Epoch Times)

Mr. McBride filed suit on Ms. White’s behalf on Jan. 5, 2022, but she withdrew the suit in November 2022 to concentrate on defending herself against criminal charges brought by the U.S. Department of Justice for her time at the U.S. Capitol.

That initial lawsuit identified seven police officers who allegedly took part in the beating.

Ms. White was indicted on Jan. 26, 2022, on four counts, including felony civil disorder.

She accepted a plea deal in August 2023 and was found guilty of the civil disorder charge.

Prosecutors sought a four-month jail term, but U.S. District Judge John D. Bates on Nov. 22, 2023, sentenced Ms. White to eight days of intermittent jail time.

Ms. White was featured in the July 2022 Epoch Times documentary, “The Real Story of Jan. 6.”

She said the beatings on Jan. 6 gave her flashbacks to a decade of domestic abuse.

“I’ve had those with my ex, where I'd be awake doing something as simple as laundry, and all of a sudden, I’m there, being choked to death and beat or punched,” she said.

“This was the feeling of all that. It was like those blows, but now in the tunnel.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/victoria-white-files-2-million-suit-police-using-excessive-force-jan-6-beating

Violence, bullying, suicide: It’s time to fight digital addiction in kids like drunk driving

 American kids are experiencing an unprecedented mental health crisis that is driven, in large part, by how much of their day is spent online.

The numbers are horrifying: rates of anxiety and depression among young people have risen by 50% in recent years, and teen suicide is up 29% over the past decade.

Today, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for children ages 10-14 years old, killing more than all cancers combined. 

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Not only do 95% of teens use social media, but a third of them report using it “almost constantly,” the Pew Research Center found.Tatyana Gladskih – stock.adobe.com

The current national debate over a potential TikTok ban has drawn attention to the way that social media, and smartphones dominate our children’s lives.

Not only do a whopping 95% of teens use social media, but Pew Research Center found that a third of them report using it “almost constantly.”

These platforms expose them to excessive violence, extremism, bullying and impossible beauty standards that lay the groundwork for depression, anxiety, eating disorders and, yes, even suicidal ideation. 

Clearly, profits are more important to social media companies than our kids’ well-being.

The more time anyone spends scrolling, the more money these companies make, and they have been fighting tooth and nail to keep it that way. 

As a journalist, media ecologist, and most importantly, as a mom, I believe it’s time for a grassroots movement of parents ready to step up and fight back against this crisis.

That’s why I founded Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA), a way for moms, dads and anyone who cares to create a world where real-life experiences are at the heart of a healthy childhood.

At MAMA, our members urge politicians to enact policies that provide the basic online safeguards our kids so desperately need.

At the federal level, that includes the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which has an astounding 66 bipartisan Senate co-sponsors and would require social media companies to enable the strongest safety settings by default.

Another bill, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0), would expand online privacy protections to teenagers and limit Big Tech’s ability to reach minors with targeted advertising. 

We also need state lawmakers to take action.

That includes implementing safeguards like the Age Appropriate Design Code (AADC), which prevents companies from collecting and selling children’s data.

Here in New York, the legislature is currently considering two well-crafted bills that similarly address addictive algorithms and data privacy.

In addition to instituting these safeguards, we must get cellphones out of schools — now.

Phones in the classroom distract students from their lessons and displace essential in-person socializing. If we want to set our kids up for success, we must ensure that schools promote face-to-face interactions and physically participatory forms of learning, like handwriting and reading from books.

It’s encouraging that several states are passing or advancing legislation to create phone-free schools. Other states should follow suit. 

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Despite the clear dangers of social media, protestors like these in Washington, DC earlier this month were showing their support for the Chinese-owned platform TikTok.Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

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Decades ago, MADD’s group of parents and family members made drunk driving the last thing any teen wanted to do.

Unfortunately, many educators and parents still don’t fully recognize the severe harms of unlimited screen-time. It’s time they did.

We need a national education campaign to help communicate the profound and often unseen role of media and technology in shaping our children’s social, emotional, and academic health.

That’s why MAMA hosts a Virtual Event Series featuring experts who can help light the way out of this crisis.

At MAMA, we model our work after Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Through education, advocacy, and the power of parents’ organizing, MADD changed the way we think about drunk driving and, since 1980, significantly reduced the number of victims.

MAMA is determined to have a similar impact against an equally dangerous drug: the intoxicating, addictive, life-threatening web of online media. 

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(L-R) Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Rep. Mike Gallagher (D-WI) co-sponsored to ban TikTok.Getty Images

Recently, dozens of MAMA members and allies rallied outside a Meta office in New York to demand that social media companies and lawmakers prioritize our children’s well-being over technology.

At that rally, we were moved by the story of Mary Rodee, an elementary school teacher who lost her 15 year-old son, Riley Basford, to suicide after he was a victim of a sextortion scheme on Facebook.

Mary’s heartbreaking loss is what fuels our work. 

Addictive algorithms are powerful, and tech companies have deep pockets on top of influential connections.

But, in the end, nothing — and no amount of money in the world — can compete with the love of a parent for a child.

Together, we should ensure our kids live in a world where technology serves humanity — not the other way around.

Julie Scelfo is the founder and mom-in-chief of Mothers Against Media Addiction (MAMA).

https://nypost.com/2024/03/30/opinion/violence-bullying-suicide-we-must-fight-digital-addiction-in-kids-like-drunk-driving/

Israel Believes Only 60-70 Out Of 134 Hostages Are Still Alive

 Israel's official count for the number of people still being held hostage in the Gaza Strip remains at 134 mostly Israeli citizens as well as some foreigners, which includes possibly deceased victims. Amid stalled truce negotiations in Qatar, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz has revealed that Israeli officials believe only 60 to 70 Israeli hostages in Gaza are still alive.

"According to the IDF, a total of 134 hostages and bodies are being held in Gaza," Haaretz wrote Thursday. "Thirty-six of the people were confirmed by the army as killed – some on October 7, when their bodies were taken into the Strip. Of the 98 living hostages, 10 are foreigners (eight Thais, one Nepalese national, and one man with Mexican and French citizenship)."

What's more is that a month ago some of the families of the hostages were informed that 20 captives were in life-threatening condition. An unnamed source close to the crisis told Haaretz, "I hope I'm mistaken, but the number may even be lower"—suggesting there may be even fewer that are alive.

Given the intense battles unfolding across most of the Gaza Strip, it is widely speculated that the hostages are being held somewhere within the miles of underground tunnels below, where Hamas also has command and control centers.

There's a possibility that some of the hostages could have been killed by Israeli's relentless bombing campaign which has decimated entire neighborhoods. A horrifically tragic incident last December saw three Israeli hostages shot dead by Israeli forces who mistook them for Palestinian militants.

Israeli leadership under Netanyahu has been accused by the hostages' families of prioritizing the military operation to defeat Hamas far and above hostage recovery.

Some recent testimony of hostages freed in last year's truce and exchange with Hamas said the following: 

Echoing this sense of an indiscriminate and haphazard policy, testimonies from newly freed Israeli hostages, who were released as part of exchange deals for Palestinian prisoners during a temporary ceasefire in late November, as well as from some of the hostages’ families, indicate that one of the main fears of those held captive in Gaza was the threat of being hit by Israeli airstrikes and shelling. Many of the hostages, according to these testimonies, were held above ground rather than in tunnels, and were therefore particularly vulnerable to such attacks.

Large-scale anti-Netanyahu protests led by victims' families have persisted in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Pressure has also mounted on Washington to strike a ceasefire. 

Prime Minister Netanyahu is currently facing accusations from within his own government of 'sabotaging' the truce process with an aim to prolong the war, and also thus his political future in the top office.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/israel-believes-only-60-70-out-134-hostages-are-still-alive

GOP Win in Court Battle Over Pennsylvania Mail-In Ballot Requirements

 By Zach Stieber of The Epoch Times

Pennsylvania rules that require mail-in ballots to be dated are legal, a federal appeals court has ruled.

A state law that says voters must fill out, date, and sign envelopes containing the ballots is not prevented by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a majority said in the March 27 ruling.

The act bans denying “the right of any individual to vote in any election because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration or other act requisite to voting.”

But that provision “only applies when the state is determining who may vote,” U.S. Circuit Court Judge Thomas Ambro, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, wrote for the majority of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit panel. “In other words, its role stops at the door of the voting place. The provision does not apply to rules, like the date requirement, that govern how a qualified voter must cast his ballot for it to be counted.”

The same court ahead of the 2022 election ruled that state officials must count undated ballots but the U.S. Supreme Court vacated that order. After the state’s acting secretary of state said counties should still count undated ballots, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that counties could not count mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect dates. About 7,900 ballots were not counted in the 2020 election because they were missing a signature or date, or had an inaccurate date, according to state officials.

U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter later ruled that the Pennsylvania law violated the Civil Rights Act provision, meaning Pennsylvania officials had to count mail-in ballots even if they lacked dates, or contained inaccurate dates.

“Federal law prohibits a state from erecting immaterial roadblocks, such as this, to voting,” Judge Baxter, appointed by former President Donald Trump, wrote at the time, referring to the Pennsylvania law.

According to the law, a voter casting a ballot by mail must mark the ballot, then place it inside a provided envelope. That envelope must then be placed into a second envelope, which contains the areas for the date and signature.

“The elector shall then fill out, date and sign the declaration printed on such envelope,” the law states.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) and other groups appealed Judge Baxter’s ruling, arguing that her conclusion was wrong.

“This is a crucial victory for election integrity and voter confidence in the Keystone State and nationwide. Pennsylvanians deserve to feel confident in the security of their mail ballots, and this 3rd Circuit ruling roundly rejects unlawful left-wing attempts to count undated or incorrectly dated mail ballot,” Michael Whatley, the RNC’s chairman, said in a statement after the new ruling was handed down.

Groups that sued over the law expressed disappointment.

“If this ruling stands, thousands of Pennsylvania voters could lose their vote over a meaningless paperwork error. The ballots in question in this case come from voters who are eligible and who met the submission deadline,“ Mike Lee, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. ”In passing the Civil Rights Act, Congress put a guardrail in place to be sure that states don’t erect unnecessary barriers that disenfranchise voters. It’s unfortunate that the court failed to recognize that principle. Voters lose as a result of this ruling.”

The ruling can be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the groups have not yet indicated whether they'll appeal.

Justice Samuel Alito has said that the Pennsylvania law did not appear to violate the Civil Rights Act provision because it did not deny people the right to vote.

“When a mail-in ballot is not counted because it was not filled out correctly, the voter is not denied ’the right to vote,'” he said previously. “Rather, that individual’s vote is not counted because he or she did not follow the rules for casting a ballot.”

Several other justices supported his view, offered in a dissent when the rest of the court initially said Pennsylvania counties could keep counting undated ballots.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/republicans-score-win-court-battle-over-pennsylvania-mail-ballot-requirements

Biden Claims Saudi Arabia, Qatar 'Ready To Normalize' With Israel

 Via The Cradle

US President Joe Biden said at a campaign event on Thursday that Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are ready for a full normalization of ties with Israel. During the event – which was meant to show unity in the Democratic Party ahead of US elections in November this year – Biden was joined on stage by former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

"I’ve been working with the Saudis and with all the other Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan and Qatar. They’re prepared to fully recognize Israel. There has to be a post-Gaza plan, and there has to be a trade to a two-state solution. It doesn’t have to occur today. It has to be a progression and I think we can do that," Biden said. 

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which has resulted in a reported over 32,000 mostly civilian deaths, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stated that normalization with Tel Aviv is still on the table.

However, Riyadh has doubled down on its demands for concessions to the Palestinians, including, most prominently, the demand for the eventual realization of statehood. 

Washington has been devising a plan for post-war Gaza, which includes the idea of a "reformed" Palestinian Authority (PA) assuming control over administration in the strip. In late February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled a similar plan, which included demilitarizing Gaza, forming a local governing authority, and a broader normalization pact with Arab states, including the Saudis. 

Politico reported on the same day as Biden’s campaign event that the White House, State Department, and Pentagon are discussing the potential establishment of either a "multinational force" or a "Palestinian peacekeeping team" to oversee the affairs of a post-war Gaza. 

Yet Israel has yet to achieve its goal of dismantling the Palestinian resistance and is continuing brutal and incessant airstrikes daily. "There are too many innocent victims, Israelis and Palestinians," Biden added at the event. 

"We’re in a position where Israel’s very existence is at stake. You had all those people massacred," the president said about 7 October, adding: "It’s understandable Israel has such a profound anger and Hamas is still there, but we must in-act, stop the effort that is resulting in significant deaths of innocent civilians and particularly children."

Several pro-Palestine activists erupted in chants throughout the campaign event, accusing Biden of complicity in the 'genocide' being carried out against the Palestinian people in Gaza. 

The president’s approval ratings have suffered significantly in recent months as a result of his handling of the war in Gaza, particularly due to Washington's continued fueling of the Israeli war effort with funds and munitions.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/biden-claims-saudi-arabia-qatar-ready-normalize-israel