#NobodyLikesItWhen You seize public land for the #KochAgenda #bundymilitia: image via Anomaly's Army @edmeyer_able, 25 January 2016
Ammon Bundy, leader of an armed group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, sits at a desk he's commandeered at the Refuge on Friday, toting up the day's bonanza of free stuff: photo by Keith Ridler/AP, 22 January 2016
[untitled]: image via Nemoj Danas Satano @NDSatano, 13 January 2016
[untitled] #monopoly #YeeHawd #YeeHawdists #yokelharem #OregonUnderAttack #oregonstandoff #dicksfordicks #supportmalheur: image via DerekB @punkrockmohawks, 14 January 2016
A class act! #YallQaeda #YeeHawd #YeeHawdists #leech #SupportMalheur #dicksfordicks #VanillaIsis: image
via DerekB @punkrockmohawks, 19 January 2016
Blaine Cooper playing dress up: image via Daily Kos, 19 January 2016
Melissa Cooper chugs an energy drink purchased by donations from supporters, while planning the next meal for the armed men occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge. Cooper is in charge of sorting free donated supplies, cooking, and setting up new militia arrivals with a place to sleep. "I'm tired. I'm getting four hours of sleep a night," she said: photo by Amanda Peacher/OPB, 22 January 2016
Strange War Song in the High Desert
A strange challenge from the occupied Malheur Wildlife Refuge. #Liveon2: screengrab from Kelly Gneitng's You Tube account via KATU News, 25 January 2016
Oregon refuge occupant challenges Chris Christie to sumo wrestling: KATU, 25 January 2016
HARNEY COUNTY, Ore. (KATU)
-- One of the men occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Harney
County has challenged New Jersey governor and presidential hopeful Chris
Christie to 10 sumo matches.
In a video posted to YouTube
Saturday, Kelly Gneiting says the group's occupation of the refuge will
end if Christie wins the challenge.
Gneiting is a 425-pound, five-time U.S. sumo champion.
Christie has not yet responded to the video.
Gneiting refers to Christie as his "younger brother" several times in the video while issuing his challenge.
The
former long-haul trucker turned U.S. sumo wrestler didn't take kindly
to Christie's comments about disbanding the Oregon wildlife refuge
"militia" turned occupiers.
"Remember when we used to call you 'Little Christie,'" Gneiting says continuing his taunt.
Burns Paiute Tribe to feds: Stop allowing #OregonStandoff's Bundy free passage to refuge: image via The Oregonian Verified account @Oregonian, 25 January 2016
Gov pleads with Obama, Attorney General and FBI Director to intervene in the #OregonStandoff: image via Talking Points Memo Verified account @TPM, 21 January 2016
Man en route to refuge occupation threatens officers, arrested for DUI: image via KATU News @ KATUNews, 25 January 2016
Man arrested after saying he wanted to join Oregon militia to kill federal agent: Video shows Joseph Stetson refusing to hand over his gun, and he threatened to murder police as he was being arrested for driving under the influence: Sam Levin in San Francisco for The Guardian, 26 January 2016
Oregon police have arrested a man after he said he wanted to join Ammon Bundy’s armed militia occupying a wildlife refuge and intended to “help with killing federal agents”.
Joseph Stetson, 54, was armed with a pellet gun and on his way to
join the protests at the Malheur national wildlife refuge when Oregon
state police stopped him and eventually arrested him for driving under
the influence of alcohol, according to local prosecutors.
The
Harney County sheriff’s office on Monday night published body camera
footage of an Oregon state police trooper questioning and
handcuffing Stetson at a gas station about 30 miles away from the
wildlife sanctuary that a rightwing militia seized on 2 January to
protest the federal government.
Body camera footage released by the Oregon state police showed the trooper questioning and handcuffing Joseph Stetson.
Police had received reports Monday morning that Stetson was armed and
had made comments that he wanted to join Bundy’s militia and intended
to “help with killing federal agents”, according to the Harney County
district attorney.
Stetson told troopers that he wanted to be Bundy’s “personal guard”, officials said.
The video shows Stetson, from Woodburn, Oregon, refusing to hand over
his gun and claiming that the smell of alcohol on his breath was from
medicine. Once the officer started arresting him –- after he reminded him
that police were recording the conversation –- Stetson began threatening
to murder law enforcement officials.
“I will kill all of you. You don’t believe me?” the man said on the
footage. “If I go to jail, when I come out, I will kill you. … You
friggin’ coward sons of bitches! … Are you a real state trooper?” He
later screamed: “I’m the last hope! … Let me go, dammit!”
Officials said Stetson also kicked and damaged the police vehicle door.
Stetson has a violent history, according to police. He was convicted
in 2009 in a case involving burglary and domestic rampage, the Oregonian reported.
For
the past three weeks, commentators across the country have criticized
law enforcement for continuing to let people freely enter and exit the
Malheur occupation, which has enabled a steady flow of supplies and
allowed new groups of armed men to join the protests. Leaders of the
militia have even recruited supporters outside of Oregon.
Police have made a handful of other arrests associated with the occupation -- but all have occurred away from the refuge. One militiamen drove a stolen government vehicle off the wildlife sanctuary and into the nearby town of Burns, 30 miles away.
Another man was arrested for a firearms offense
while driving outside of the refuge. A third man who had spent time at
the occupation crashed his car on an icy road but was only cited for driving without a license, according to police.
It’s
unclear how and when the militia leaders intend to end the occupation.
Bundy recently spoke with FBI officials but made no commitments about
leaving the refuge.
An Oregon state police trooper speaks with Joseph Stetson before his arrest in this screengrab of body camera footage: image by You Tube via The Guardian, 26 January 2016
Not sure how well it'll work to tweet a panorama, but took aside from #oregonstandoff to shoot the Steens yesterday: image via Dave Killen #@killendave, 26 January 2016
Black and White Like Day and Night
Expedition 46 flight engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency shared this photograph with his social media followers writing, “Beautiful night pass over Italy, Alps and Mediterranean”: photo by Tim Peake/AFP, 26 January 2016
A zebra in the zoo at Frankfurt, Germany: photo by Boris Roessler/AP, 26 January 2016
A Palestinian refugee girl poses for a photograph outside her
family’s small house during cold weather on a rainy day in Gaza City: photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA, 26 January 2016
An aurora photographed by ESA astronaut Tim Peake from on board the International Space Station: photo by Tim Peake/ESA, 25 January 2016
Seven year old Wafa-a Wahdan plays next to her family house, which was damaged during the Israeli war against Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014 in the east of Beit Hanun town in the northern Gaza Strip: photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA, 25 January 2016
Children attend a party for children affected by war and in need for psychological support, in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus, Syria.The party was organised by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent: photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters, 25 January 2016
A sunbeam illuminates the eye of a zebra in the zoo at Frankfurt, Germany: photo by Boris Roessler/AP, 26 January 2016
An aurora photographed by ESA astronaut Tim Peake from on board the International Space Station: photo by Tim Peake/ESA, 25 January 2016
Expedition 46 flight engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency shared this photograph with his social media followers writing, “Beautiful night pass over Italy, Alps and Mediterranean”: photo by Tim Peake/AFP, 26 January 2016
A new artwork by British artist Banksy opposite the French Embassy, in London. The artwork depicts the young girl from the musical Les Miserables with tears streaming from her eyes as a can of CS gas lies beneath her. The work is criticising the use of teargas in the refugee camp in Calais.: photo by Alastair Grant / AP, 25 January 2016
Occupation / "Settlement" = No Refuge
Palestinian Bedouin boys climb on the remains of their makeshift homes near al-Azariya, on the West Bank. The Israeli army said it demolished the homes as they were built illegally. The illegal Jewish settlement of Maale Adumin is seen in the background.: photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP, 26 January 2016
Palestinian Bedouins play around the remains of makeshift homes that were demolished by the Israeli army in the West Bank city of al-Azariya: photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP, 26 January 2016
Ban Ki-moon calls
Israeli settlement expansion an 'affront' to the world: Netanyahu says
Ban giving ‘tailwind to terror’ as UN chief says
violence born of Palestinians’ despair after ‘half-century of occupation
and paralysis of peace’: Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem for the Guardian,
26 January 2016
Israel recently confirmed that it would appropriate a large tract of
fertile land in the occupied West Bank.
The land is near Jordan, in an
area where Israel already has many illegal settlement farms built on
land Palestinians seek for a state.
UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon said he was “deeply troubled” by reports that the Israeli
government had approved plans for more than 150 new homes in “illegal
settlements in the occupied West Bank”. “These provocative acts are bound to increase the growth of settler
populations, further heighten tensions and undermine any prospects for a
political road ahead,” Ban told a United Nations security council meeting on the Middle East.
Non stop killing! Between 14-20 January 5 pal civilians killed 23 injured across #WestBank: image via Ray - #Palestine @rayoosheh, 22 January 2016
Danegeld
Denmark to adopt controversial reforms aimed at dissuading asylum seekers: image via Yahoo News @Yahoo News, 26 January 2016
Danish parliament approves plan to seize assets from refugees: New laws
allow police to search asylum seekers to secure cash and valuables,
along with other measures to deter migration: David Crouch in Copenhagen
and Patrick Kingsley in London for The Guardian, 26 January 2016
Denmark has become the latest European state to force refugees to hand over
their valuables, with the continent increasingly using scare tactics and
physical deterrents to deal with the biggest migration crisis since the
second world war.
Following similar moves in Switzerland and southern Germany,
Denmark’s parliament voted on Tuesday to allow police to search asylum
seekers on arrival in the country and confiscate any non-essential items
worth more than 10,000 Danish kroner (about £1,000) that have no
sentimental value to their owner.
The bill presented by the centre-right minority government of the
prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, was approved by 81 of the 109
lawmakers present, as members of the opposition Social Democrats backed
the measures.
The Danish government says the procedure is to cover the cost of each
asylum seeker’s treatment by the state, and mimics treatment of Danish
citizens on welfare benefits.
The new measures are aimed at deterring refugees from seeking asylum in Denmark: photo by Johan Nilsson / TT News Agency/PA via ITV News, 26 January 2016
The UN has nevertheless called the move concerning and regrettable,
while an opposition party termed it “morally horrible”. An academic
specialist confirmed that Danes are expected to use their own income
before claiming benefits, but pointed out that except in rare occasions
police do not have the right to search Danish welfare claimants.
Rights campaigners have also criticised the laws, which will also
prevent refugees from applying to be reunited with their children for
three years, and will only give war refugees from Syria a single year of
protection.
Mohammed, 19, from Bangladesh, at the refugee camp in Thisted, northern Jutland. Danish politicians have approved a law allowing the state to seize valuables from refugees to cover the cost of their maintenance: photo by Sara Gangsted/EPA, 26 January 2016
Earlier this month, government spokesman Marcus Knuth told the
Guardian it was “ludicrous” to compare the new law to the treatment of
Jews during the Holocaust, since similar laws apply to Danish citizens
on welfare benefits. “We’re simply applying the same rules we apply to
Danish citizens who wish to take money from the Danish government,” Knuth said.
But opponents of the law argue that while refugees can in general
still expect to be treated humanely in Denmark, the new legislation is
ethically unsound. Pernille Skipper, an MP and legal affairs
spokesperson for Enhedslisten, a leftwing Danish party, said: “Morally
it is a horrible way to treat people fleeing mass crimes, war, rapes.
They are fleeing from war and how do we treat them? We take their
jewellery.”
Denmark's Minister of Immigration and Integration, Inger Stojberg, listens to the parliamentary debate: photo by Reuters/Mathias Loevgren Bojesen/Scanpix via ITV News, 26 January 2016
Klaus Petersen, professor at the Centre for Welfare State Research at
the University of Southern Denmark, confirmed that Danish welfare
claimants have to give up their savings before they receive benefits --
but not their valuables, unlike refugees. They will also not be searched
except in rare circumstances.
Petersen said: “A Danish citizen could be searched in an extreme case
if the municipality has a suspicion of fraud, but you need court
permission to do so. For refugees, you would not need a court
permission.”
A regional spokesman for the UN refugee agency, Zoran Stevanović,
said: “Denmark has traditionally been an inspiration to others for
setting human rights standards. However, rather than showing and
providing solidarity and sanctuary, Denmark is focusing on developing
and implementing individual and restrictive responses. UNHCR regrets
that Denmark is introducing restrictions to its asylum policy rather
than focusing on building and promoting a fair distribution of asylum
seekers within all countries in the EU.
“The law introduces restrictive measures on asylum seekers that
increasingly hinder their ability to apply for asylum in Denmark. We are
particularly concerned by reduced social benefits and restricted access
to family reunification. We are also concerned that refugees with
temporary protection are only allowed to reside in Denmark for one year
and yet are only able to apply for family reunification after three
years.”
Denmark accepted about 20,000 asylum seekers in 2015 -– 2% of the total to arrive in Europe last year.
To further deter future asylum seekers, Denmark also recently
introduced more stringent border controls, forcing more potential asylum
seekers back to Germany, which took in about 1.1 million migrants last
year.
Refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iraq seek asylum in Denmark: photo via The Independent, 26 January 2016
Welcome to Europe. Give us your valuables.
OK, this was a nazi achievement, but it seems that #Denmark will catch up shortly: image via Thomas Mavrofides @blacktom1961, 26 January 2016
I
honestly just can't wrap my mind around #Denmark's law allowing seizure
of refugees' valuables. "Hi, you survived war, now pay for it.": tweet by Rawya Rageh @RawyaRageh, 26 January 2016
Welcome to Europe.
Are you:
A multinational corporation > don't worry about tax etc
A refugee fleeing war > give us your valuables #Denmark: tweet by David Schneider @David Schneider, 26 January 2016
"If you've got any money - you certainly don't go to #Denmark. That's just ridiculous."
Immigrant to @BBCWorldTonight: tweet by Bonnie Greer @Bonn1eGreer, 26 January 2016 Brent, London
The European race to the bottom is officially won by #Denmark. Once a humane nation.: tweet by Jan Egeland @NRC_Egeland, 26 January 2016
Danish police officers stopped asylum seekers from Syria in September at the Padborg train station, near the border with Germany: photo by Mauricio Lima for The New York Times, 26 January 2016
Danish police officers stopped asylum seekers from Syria in September at the Padborg train station, near the border with Germany: photo by Mauricio Lima for The New York Times, 26 January 2016
Migrants in Padborg, Denmark, walking to police vans last week after officers checked the identity papers of people on a train arriving from Germany: photo by. Sean Gallup / The New York Times, 13 January 2016
Migrants in Padborg, Denmark, walking to police vans last week after officers checked the identity papers of people on a train arriving from Germany: photo by. Sean Gallup / The New York Times, 13 January 2016
#Denmark's refugee asset grab: The most punitive step yet among EU nations to deter refugees: image via POLITICO Europe Verified account @POLITICOEurope, 26 January 2016
Press release: #Denmark Parliament must reject cruel changes to refugee law #refugeeswelcome: image via Amnesty EU @AmnestyEU, 20 January 2016
Cruel and regressive changes to #Denmark's refugee law MUST be rejected. #refugees: image via Amnesty International Verified account EU @amnesty, 21 January 2016
#Denmark ADOPTS CONTROVERSIAL LAW TO SEIZE ASYLUM SEEKERS' VALUABLES #migrantcrisis: image via Eta Centauri (ηCen) #ECentauri, 26 January 2016
I've carried this coin from a visit with me for years but clearly #Denmark must be desperate so I'm sending it back: image via Pete Taylor @kimondo, 26 January 2016 Wadsworth, London
Tribute for Passage
An aid worker sits in silence next to the body of a young girl as he waits for police to arrive on North Lesvos: image via PositiveAction @PositiveActionH, 26 January 2016
3 comments:
Tom, by chance I was reading an article about Ta-Nehisi Coates just this morning. These lines struck me:
To be white now has no meaning divorced from “the machinery of criminal power.”
A bit harsh, but interesting.
Deeply repelled by Denmark's decision. And by the thought that Sweden might be listening.
Tom,
"Ammon Bundy . . . toting up the day's bonanza of free stuff:" -- and meanwhile, breaking news on the Malheur Front, Ammon Bundy busted (probably locked up) . . .
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