Tag Archives: riot

Russia-Ukraine War

Violence in Bashkortostan grows as Russian security forces clash with protesters

[WBHG News 24] – Despite -20°C weather and multiple arrests of activists on Tuesday, up to 10,000 protesters turned out to support activist Fail Alsynov in the Russian city of Baymak in the Republic of Bashkortostan.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs, Rosgvardia OMON, and the FSB struggled to control the crowd, which threw snowballs and ice and pushed back on shield-wielding police. Russian security forces responded with riot batons and tear gas in an attempt to disrupt the crowd. The protest turned increasingly violent, and Russian security forces were forced to retreat.

Environmental activist Alsynov was convicted to four years in prison on Wednesday for inciting hatred or enmity for using the phrase “kara halyk,” which roughly translates to black people in Russian. In Turkic-Bashkir, spoken in the Bashkortostan region of Russia, the phrase translates to poor people. Bashkir and Russian are the official languages of Bashkortostan, and Bashkir is taught in schools.

Alsynov was charged after making a speech opposed to a gold mine planned for the region, stating that the site would cause environmental damage and attract more “poor people” to the area. His supporters say the arrest has nothing to do with the gold mine or the speech and is revenge for previously blocking the construction of a soda ash mine. In that incident, the mine was to be built on a site considered sacred by ethnic Bashkirs.

The situation has deteriorated to the point that Russia is blocking channels on Telegram providing information about the protests. As protesters clashed with police, thousands chanted, “We are the poor people.”

Pictures and videos showed injured protesters and people suffering from tear gas exposure. One local activist released a video appealing for Russian soldiers from Bashkortostan fighting in Ukraine to return to “defend their land and people.”

The Republic has a population of about 3 million. Despite having only 2.1% of Russia’s population, it has experienced the fourth-highest military losses in the Russia-Ukraine War. Outside observers have accused the Kremlin of using the war to ethnically cleanse minority groups. Almost 70% of the population is Bashkirs or Tatars, and a majority practices Sunni Islam.

Despite being one of the most mineral and resource-rich regions in Russia, the average household income is just $409 a month, with figures inflated due to the significant number of residents who have joined the Russian Federation Armed Forces to escape poverty.

It is a rare display of significant unrest in Russia and support for an environmental activist.

Local, National

BREAKING: OPA recommends two SPD officers be fired for their actions during the 1/6 insurrection

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[SEATTLE, Wash] – (MTN) The Seattle Office of Police Accountability released its highly anticipated report today on the January 6 conduct of 6 SPD officers in Washington D.C. during the insurrection and has recommended two officers be fired. A combination of Crosscut, The Stranger, and Divest SPD, identified the six officers two months ago. According to The Stranger, “named employee 1” and “named employee 2,” are tentatively identified as Alexander Everett and Caitlin Rochelle.

According to Report 2021PA-0013, the officers violated 3 policies each. The officers claimed that they went to the Capitol because Donald Trump had asked them to, but didn’t enter any restricted areas. However, as part of a parallel FBI investigation, OPA received pictures that clearly showed the officers in a restricted area witnessing people scaling the Capitol walls and officers being assaulted.

In a written statement, OPA Director Andrew Myerberg said, “That they were direct witnesses to people defiling the seat of American democracy and assaulting fellow law enforcement officers—and did nothing—makes this all the more egregious.”

Everett and Rochelle allegedly went to Washington D.C. to see Trump at the Stop the Steal Rally as part of their honeymoon.

Acting Police Chief Adrian Diaz stated on January 8 that if evidence was provided that showed officers violated any laws, he would fire them. Both the Seattle Police Department and the Seattle Police Officers Guild indicated they would make statements later today.

Three officers were determined to have not violated any policies or laws and only exercised their First Amendment rights. A sixth officer refused to cooperate with the investigation. the OPA does not have the power to compel or order an officer to provide evidence, so the case for “named employee 3” is “non sustained, inconclusive.” The Stranger reported on Twitter that there is an ongoing FBI investigation into unspecified SPD officers and their conduct on January 6.

Crosscut reported yesterday that the Seattle Police Officers Guild has filed a grievance against the city over the request for information from the OPA as part of its investigation. In the days following the insurrection, Mike Solan, the SPOG President, was outspoken in blaming Antifa for the insurrection and sharing false claims on social media and his podcast. The City Council along with several organizations called for Solan to resign for his statements, which he ignored. Solan’s conduct on Twitter is currently subject to two OPA investigations.

So far over 530 people have been arrested for the January 6 insurrection, which left at least 5 people dead and forced the evacuation of Congress and the Vice President from the House chambers, and delayed the certification of the 2020 national election. Donald Trump and his supporters have continued to push “the big lie” that the 2020 election was corrupt and stolen, despite no meaningful evidence to support the allegations.

The Department of Justice has not made a statement to confirm or deny any SPD officers are under active investigation for their actions on January 6.

BIPOC, Editorial, LGBTQIA, Local, National

Malcontentment Happy Hour: May 10, 2021

Video

Our live webcast from the former Seattle Anarchist Jurisdiction

The show from May 10, 2021, featured David Obelcz and our co-host Jennifer Smith. Patrons at the $5 and above level get access to our show notes and research documents.

  • Toyota campaign contribution story made our readers salty
  • Colonial Pipeline shutdown committed by Russian hackers
  • No one is talking about the AAHM raid done by the King County Sheriff
  • Franklin Graham coming to Bellevue and protests planned – controversy explained
  • Democracy vouchers explained
  • Jenny Durkan’s Textgate
  • Seattle Deputy Mayor Casey Sixkiller enters the 2021 mayor race
  • Angelyiah Lim wins the 2020 Lee Johnson Community Service Award

National

Toyota is largest donor to post-insurrection election objectors despite pledge to end contributions

[KIRKLAND] – (MTN) More than 4 months after hundreds of insurrectionists stormed the Capitol on January 6 to thwart certification of the 2020 Presidential election results, Toyota has donated over $62,000 to 40 Republicans, the largest amount from any company that pledged to stop GOP contributions in the wake of the election violence.

In the hours and days that followed January 6, a litany of companies made pledges to no longer fund GOP candidates who fomented former President Donald Trump’s followers. According to a report in Popular Information, April 15 was the first major campaign finance deadline since the insurrection. After Congress reconvened to certify the election results, while the sting of tear gas remained in the halls and blood on the floor, 147 Republicans voted against election certification.

What makes Toyota stand out from other companies that have since made donations, is the dollar amounts involved and how many other businesses stood by the pledges they made. According to Maplight, over 1,100 individual corporate PACs donated to at least one Congressperson who objected to election certification in 2020. In the first quarter of 2021, that number plummeted to less than 70.

Benefactors of the Toyota PAC include Congresspersons Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Cliff Bentz (R-OR), Barry Moore (R-AL), Alex Mooney (R-WV), Jeff Duncan (R-CS), Eric Alan “Rick” Crawford (R-AR), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Tim Walberg (RMI), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY).

On April 11, in response to a Newsweek article published on April 10 revealing the donation to Congressperson Toomey, Toyota released a statement they were adjusting their stance on who, and why they would donate to candidates.

“We do not believe it is appropriate to judge members of Congress solely based on their votes on the electoral certification.”

“Based on our thorough review, we decided against giving to some members who, through their statements and actions, undermine the legitimacy of our elections and institutions.”

The donation by Toyota’s PAC to Congressperson Biggs of Arizona stands out as being counter to this position. Congressperson Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) released a nearly 2,000 page report in March outlining the social media activity for dozens of lawmakers in the days leading up to, during, and after the January 6 insurrection. The report for Representative Biggs is over 50 pages long.

As early as November 5, Biggs was retweeting calls to “go to total war,” over the 2020 election. On January 8, 2021, Biggs was already calling any attempt to impeach then-President Trump a “manufactured hoax.”

Tweet thread by republican congressperson andy biggs, Arizona, who has benefit from toyota pac donations since the January 6, insurrrection

There has been significant speculation that Representative Biggs’s words and actions have been at least reviewed by the Department of Justice, but to date, no sitting member of Congress has been directly accused of being directly involved in the insurrection plot.

In a tweet from 2018, Biggs thanked Toyota Financial Services for a tour of their facility in Chandler, Arizona, located in his Congressional district.

congressperson andy biggs, (r-AZ) in 2018 at Toyota financial services offices in chandler, Arizona

On June 29, 2020, Toyota announced they were opening a Parts Distribution Center (PDC) in Phoenix, Arizona, in partnership with Koi Distribution. The press released stated the center would stock 57,000 different parts for Toyota and Lexus products, and employ 61 people.

In 2020, Toyota’s PAC donated $8,000 to Biggs, a significant increase from the $3,500 the PAC donated in the 2018 election cycle.

Another contribution that stands out is one made to Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. Toyota doesn’t have any offices, engineering, manufacturing, design, distribution centers, or research and development facilities in the deeply red state. According to the Toyota corporate website, the 97,000 square mile state only has 7 Toyota dealerships.

Toyota isn’t alone in supporting Congressional leaders that voted to block certification of the Electoral College results despite pledging not to. Cigna and JetBlue are two consumer brands that stand out. Intel and Microsoft have also made donations to GOP-led organizations, stating they did so with assurances that their money would not go to the 147 previously identified Congressional leaders.

According to Car and Driver, the Toyota RAV4, Camry, Tacoma, Corolla, Highlander, and 4Runner were among the top 25 vehicles sold, based on retail total volume, in 2020. The Seattle PI reported that the Toyota Corolla was the number 5 seller in the city of Seattle for 2020.

BIPOC, Editorial, Health and Lifestyle, LGBTQIA, Local, National

Malcontentment Happy Hour: May 6, 2021

Video

Our live webcast from the former Seattle Anarchist Jurisdiction

The show from May 6, 2021, featured David Obelcz and our co-host Jennifer Smith. Patrons at the $5 and above level get access to our show notes and research documents.

  • Tik Tok creates a lead in the 18-year-old case of missing person Sofia Juarez
  • Man pulls a gun on protesters in Portland, Oregon
  • Insurrections Landon Copeland has multiple outbursts in federal court
  • A Kirkland coffee order turns racist
  • Malcontented Minutes
    • First Nation Tribe buying the Palms Casino in Las Vegas
    • Vermont man arrested for hate crime after trying to run over a Black man
    • Amazon refuses to remove anti-transgender book from store
    • Caitlyn Jenner says do as I say not as I do
    • California bar is busted for selling fake vaccination cards
    • Arkansas woman steals a gun laden work truck, gets naked, gets arrested
    • Orphaned polar bear cub in Russia loves hugs and humans, and gets a new home
    • California bear relaxes in swimming pool while four cubs watch
    • National Park Services gets 45,000 applications for 12 slots to thin bison herd
    • U.S. government is using tech to warrantlessly grab personal information out of technology-laden cars
  • COVID Update

BIPOC, Editorial, Local, National

Malcontentment Happy Hour: April 26, 2021

Video

Our live webcast from the former Seattle Anarchist Jurisdiction

The show from April 26, 2021, featured David Obelcz and our co-host Jennifer Smith.

  • Six Seattle police officers who attended January 6 insurrection tentatively identified
  • Seattle City Council President Lorena Gonzalez and 2021 Seattle mayoral candidate
  • Twitch employee makes hateful and racist comments using their corporate account
  • Eastside Restaurant Week extended to Tuesday, April 27

BIPOC, Breaking News, Local

SPD officers in Washington, D.C. during January 6 insurrection tentatively identified

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[SEATTLE] – (MTN) Researchers have tentatively identified the names and backgrounds of the 6 Seattle police officers who attended the Stop the Steal rally that devolved into an attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election. Crosscut and our researchers had identified three officers previously.

The six Seattle police officers who allegedly were in Washington, D.C., during the insurrection are:

  • Scotty Bach, Acting Lieutenant through January 6, 2021, now listed as Sergeant
  • Jacob Briskey, Sergeant, K9 Officer
  • Alexander Everett, Officer, previously identified
  • Jason Marchione, Officer, previously identified by Crosscut
  • Caitlin Rochelle, Officer, previously identified 
  • Michael Settle, Vice Unit, Acting Sergeant

SPD listed Scotty Bach as an Acting Police Lieutenant assigned to the Southwest Precinct on October 15, 2020. The data shows he was an Acting Lieutenant through January 6, 2021, and returned to the rank of Sergeant on January 7. Bach is currently under investigation by the OPA for three separate incidents. 

Sergeant Jacob Briskey has been the subject of multiple uses of force complaints, and the city of Seatle had to pay a $269,000 settlement in 2009. In that case, Romelle Bradford sued for being wrongly arrested by Briskey and being “roughed up,” per a Seattle Times report in 2008. The city appealed the finding and ultimately lost the case.

Alexander Everett and Caitlin Rochelle were previously identified as a married couple who went to the January 6 Stop the Steal Rally. Acting Chief Diaz suspended the couple with pay after other officers came forward and reported their activity in Washington, D.C. They were married in December 2020, and it is reported that the trip to hear Donald Trump speak was their honeymoon. 

Jason Marchione is assigned to the South Precinct, and Crosscut previously revealed his attendance at the insurrection on January 6. Marchione and Rochelle are coworkers who work on the same shift. Marchione has had six OPA complaints since he started with SPD in 2017, and almost half of the use of force claims against the officer have been made by Black people. In one case, a Black man claims that Marchione broke the man’s wrist during a “hard takedown.”

Michael Settle is an Acting Police Sergeant Detective specializing in human trafficking. Little is know about Settle beyond a single investigation in 2010. 

A court hearing was initially scheduled for April 2, 2021, to review a temporary injunction, but that hearing was declared moot. 

Andrew Myerberg, the director of the OPA, told NPR, that officers are entitled to their political views, and the investigation will look into whether SPD policy was violated. The OPA added that if the officers committed federal crimes, they would work together with federal investigators.

The OPA has 180 days to release its findings of the officer’s activities to the public. Those results would be published in June and early July of 2021.

Local, National

Local Proud Boy leader Ethan Nordean has bail revoked

[WASHINGTON D.C.] – (MTN) Federal Court District Judge Timothy J. Kelly moved to revoke bail for Proud Boy leaders Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs. The two stand accused of being central leaders in the January 6 Capitol insurrection that left five dead, and forced lawmakers to suspend the 2020 election certification process.

In a lengthy decision, Judge Kelly wrote, “The defendants stand charged with seeking to steal one of the crown jewels of our country, in a sense, by interfering with the peaceful transfer of power,” Judge Timothy Kelly said as he explained his decision. “It’s no exaggeration to say the rule of law and … in the end, the existence of our constitutional republic is threatened by it.”

Nordean has been released and returned to custody multiple times since his first arraignment on initial charges. A Washington District Court judge decided to release him in February, but prosecutors filed an emergency stay which was upheld. Then Judge Beryl Howell ordered Nordean released stating that the case for conspiracy was weak. Nordean was released under strict conditions.

In an indictment issued in March, Nordean, Biggs, Aach Rehl, and Charles Donohoe were charged with a litany of charges with more evidence to support the prosecutor’s claims.

Nordean was witnessed leading the Proud Boys in a march down Constitution Avenue at the same time then President Donald Trump was speaking. Nordean and the group of Proud Boys did not wear their signature black and yellow shirts. They are accused of charging the weakly defended checkpoints on the outer barricades of the Capitol.

Nordean took on a leadership role on January 6 due to the arrest of Enrique Tarrio on January 4. Tarrio is accused of a hate crime and property destruction for the burning of Black Lives Matter banners at two historic churches in Washington D.C. In an interview with CNN, Tarrio revealed he has testified before a federal grand jury about the January 6 insurrection.

BIPOC, Editorial, LGBTQIA, Local, National

Malcontentment Happy Hour: February 22, 2021

Video

Our live webcast from the Seattle Anarchist Jurisdiction

The show from February 22, 2021, featured David Obelcz and our co-host Jennifer Smith.

  • Most Tacoma Police Department officers will have body cams by end of the week
  • UW students suspended from attending in-person classes after a snowstorm kegger
  • Rochester, New York Police release 86 more minutes of video of 9-years-old girl pepper sprayed
  • Justice for Elijah McClain inches closer
  • Malcontented Minutes
    • Ohio bomb squad is called on Sprinkles the cat
    • Mashpee-Wampanoag First Nation will keep their tribal lands
    • Mariners president resigns after telling the awful truth about baseball
    • Lake Travis residents in Texas help each other in face of winter disaster
    • Catholic League leaders say Joe Biden’s LGBT obsession is hurting Christians
    • LGBTQ virtual spaces help keep college students connected to combat isolation and depression
    • U.S. shelters for migrant children near-maximum capacity as Biden Administration struggles with “kids in cages’
    • A mariachi band from Houston serenades Ted Cruz outside his home to bring a bit of Mexico vacation to him
    • Mancin Music on TikTok video absolutely shreds Kashmir by Led Zeppelin
    • Kayne West and Kim Kardashian are calling it quits
  • Chad Wheeler arrest video and audio released by Kent Police
  • Walking while Black incident in Plano, Texas
  • Insurrection Update
  • The tale of three vehicular assaults and three different forms of justice in the United States

Editorial, National

Insurrection update for February 21, 2021

Video

From Malcontentment Happy Hour, February 18, 2021

A summary of events from February 15 to February 18, 2021

The fallout from the January 6, 2021, Insurrection continues

  • Former social media icon Donald Trump and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell are at war for the soul of the Republican Party
  • Six U.S. Capitol police officers are suspended with pay and another 29 under investigation for aiding insurrections on January 6
  • Leo Bozell IV, son of the founder of NewsBusters, was arrested for his participation in the insurrection
  • Johnathan Mellis aka Cowboy Screech is angry Antifa is getting credit for the insurrection and he wants the world to know it was Trump supporters who did it
  • Eric Munchel and his mother Lisa Eisenhart are refused bail
  • John Sullivan aka Jayden X is allowed to continue to use Facebook, Twitter, and encrypted communications software by a D.C. judge