Police Say Antifa 'Commander' Cried in Fetal Position After Getting Caught

Antifa has been terrorizing cities across the U.S. in recent months, but how courageous are these black-clad anarchists? Let’s take a look at what happened over the weekend when Green Bay police responded to a call about threatening “white people with sticks, baseball bats and helmets headed… towards the police.”

According to WBAY, Matthew Banta, 23, also known as “Commander Red” was found with a flamethrower, fireworks, and smoke grenades heading to a demonstration.

When police caught up to him, he “dropped into the fetal position and began crying,” the officer said.

A responding officer says he saw four individuals walking towards a protest with baseball bats. One man was wearing a metal helmet with goggles and military-style gear with multiple pouches, and was carrying an Antifa flag. When the officer pulled his squad car in front of the group, they ran away. The officer caught Banta, who was carrying the flag, and says Banta “dropped into the fetal position and began crying.” He accused the officer of lying on him; the officer replied nobody was on him. (WBAY)

Banta is accused in Waupaca County of pointing a loaded gun at a police officer and biting and kicking an officer during a protest earlier this month. He’s charged there with second-degree recklessly endangering safety and four other charges. He posted a $10,000 cash bond. A condition of his bond was that he can’t have a dangerous weapon, according to the Brown County district attorney’s office.

“It’s worrisome when people associated with Antifa come here to Green Bay from out of town for the purpose of protesting here or for the purposes of committing violent acts,” said Chief Smith.

Police arrested 15 individuals total on Saturday after a Black Lives Matter protest took a turn and police deemed it unlawful. (WBAY)

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2020/09/02/antifa-fetal-position-n2575505

Operation seeks to find 200 missing Cleveland-area kids

AKRON — Nobody should be surprised by the need for a new federal and local law enforcement effort to find 200 children missing from the Cleveland area, a local human trafficking expert said.

“If they were looking for kids every day, they would find kids every day,” said Suzanne Lewis-Johnson, CEO at RAHAB Ministries in Akron. “It’s about having the resources to find them.”

The first few weeks of Operation Safety Net has already led to the discovery of 25 children between ages 13 and 18, including two who were found in Akron. About one of every four children found so far has been linked to human trafficking, with the rest considered to be endangered.

Lewis-Johnson said the effort is putting needed resources toward a largely hidden problem — vulnerable children who become the target of human traffickers.

Many are from Cleveland and neighboring cities, but authorities are finding kids across northern Ohio and even out of state, U.S. Marshal Peter Elliott said. One was found in Miami.

Elliott said the task force was working Monday to find more missing children and plans to continue for about seven more weeks.

Every case of a missing child is different, Elliott said. But the members of the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, which is helping local law enforcement, are trained to find people, and there’s a lot of crossover.

“Our guys are very good at what they do,” Elliott said. “I think that’s why we’ve had great success in the first couple weeks.”

Before she ran RAHAB Ministries, Lewis-Johnson was an FBI agent and worked on a Child Exploitation Task Force running similar operations.

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200902/operation-seeks-to-find-200-missing-cleveland-area-kids

Seattle police find spike strips, weapons, makeshift shields inside tents during park cleanup

Workers with the Seattle Parks Department were repairing a field house that had been damaged at Cal Anderson Park and cleaning up trash that had piled up since the park was closed on June 30, Seattle police said.

Activists had been occupying the park throughout the month of August, according to the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog. Seattle Parks told the outlet in a statement that the park had been repeatedly vandalized throughout its closure.

While cleaning out a tent in the area, police said workers found what they believed were weapons.

Officers obtained a warrant to search the tent and uncovered a machete, hatchet, homemade spike strips, an unexploded mortar and dozens of makeshift wooden shields.

Police took the items as evidence. No arrests have been made as police continue to investigate.

Cal Anderson Park is located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, the same location where demonstrators formed the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in June. The protest area was cleared out on July 1 following two fatal shootings, and officers returned to the abandoned East Precinct building.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/seattle-police-cal-anderson-park-spike-strips-weapons-shields

Army recruiter sentenced for soliciting sex from girls as young as 10

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — A man was sentenced Monday on one count of sexual exploitation of a child after he solicited girls as young as 10 for sex, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney's Office.

Kenneth Hardcastle, 31, was sentenced to 10 years of sex-offender intensive supervised provision and must register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty on June 22 to one felony charge. A charge of internet luring of a child was dismissed.

Hardcastle was arrested in July 2019 after an Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office undercover operation.

According to an arrest affidavit, a person told police after they contacted a man through a dating website, and through Snapchat, he said he wanted to be with someone younger and that he wanted to have sexual contact with a 10-year-old girl.

Police then worked with the reporting party to use an undercover phone number to send Hardcastle a photo of a female sheriff's deputy and tell him that it was her friend "Sarah" and that she was 14 years old, the affidavit says.

Hardcastle then texted who he thought was "Sarah" even after she said she was 14, according to the affidavit. The affidavit also says he requested lewd photos of "Sarah," as well as to learn about her prior sexual relationships.

Hardcastle also engaged in sexually explicit behavior during a video chat, the affidavit says.

https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/crime/former-army-recruiter-sentenced-probation-sexual-exploitation-child/73-5f9b4424-7fb1-42c5-85b7-4e39d4940545

Three people charged in connection with human trafficking

Three people have been charged in connection with human trafficking offences in Glasgow.

Two men, aged 18 and 26, and a woman, aged 26, have been arrested and charged after an intelligence-led operation on Friday.

Officers carried out searches at five different properties in Glasgow at 6.40am on Friday.

One property in London was also searched, in an operation supported by the Metropolitan Police.

Detective Inspector Mark McLennan, of Glasgow Public Protection Unit, said: “On Friday, officers from Glasgow’s human trafficking unit carried out an operation to search five addresses in the South Side of Glasgow and one address in London, which has been supported by the Metropolitan Police.

“There has been a substantial period of planning for this operation alongside our partner agencies at the home office immigration enforcement crime and financial investigation Scotland and as a result, two men aged 18 and 26 and a woman aged 26 have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking.

“This would not be possible without the continued support of those within the community and I would encourage that if anyone has any information or concerns surrounding human trafficking that they get in contact with police.

“Our message is clear, we will use every policing tactic and resource available to us to target those who attempt to exploit vulnerable individuals.”

Detective Superintendent Fil Capaldi, head of Police Scotland’s Human Trafficking Unit, said: “Modern slavery and human trafficking have no place in our communities.

“As Friday’s action demonstrates we will target criminals who abuse, control and exploit people.

“We will continue to work with partners, nationally and internationally, to bring offenders to justice, and to raise public awareness to help identify victims and ensure they get the support they need and to end this despicable trade in human beings.”

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/three-people-charged-connection-human-124218888.html

'PAEDO' ISLAND Ghislaine Maxwell’s embarrassing sex docs could be released as Virgin Islands bid to unseal them to sue Epstein estate

GHISLAINE Maxwell's embarrassing sex secrets could be laid bare following moves by the Virgin Islands to unseal legal documents so they can sue Jeffrey's Epstein estate.

Lawyers for the island's government argue they are likely to be highly "relevant" to their ongoing claim against the shamed financier's massive fortune.

The "top secret" documents are from a now-closed defamation lawsuit against Maxwell by Epstein and Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Roberts.

It has been reported they could contain details incriminating others in Epstein's circle, and include an “extremely personal” deposition Maxwell gave in the 2015 lawsuit.

Legal experts for the islands argue the sealed material is of particular importance because Epstein himself cannot testify in their suit against him because of his prison suicide last year.

“In light of Epstein’s death in federal prison after the discovery in this action was taken, his direct testimony is unavailable," attorney William Narwold wrote in a court filing.

He then added: "Thus, any testimony by or about Epstein in this action may be critical to the USVI’s (US Virgin Islands) law enforcement action."

The sealed material in the Roberts case has been at the centre of a legal battle between herself and Maxwell, who is fighting to keep depositions and other evidence in the case secret.

Within the documents which were unsealed earlier, Roberts alleged Maxwell had sexual contact with females as young as 15.

In a May 2016 deposition, documents show Roberts was asked to describe any females she saw Maxwell have "sexual contact with" her "own two eyes."

According to the documents, she replied, "There's so many, I don't know where you want me to start," and was then asked to describe the girls.

Roberts responded, "There were blondes, there were brunettes, there were redheads," documents show. "They were all beautiful girls. I would say the ages range from 15 to 21."

When asked where she saw Maxwell have sex with other women, Roberts said “100 percent” where Epstein owned his private of Little St. James island.

“The island was a place where orgies were a constant thing that took place. And again, it’s impossible to know how many,” Roberts said in her deposition.

Maxwell had earlier filed an emergency motion with the federal appeals court in Manhattan, looking to block the release of two additional documents.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12558782/ghislaine-maxwell-sex-docs-virgin-islands-unseal-epstein/

Massive release of methane gas from the seafloor discovered for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere

Gas hydrate is an ice-like substance formed by water and methane at depths of several hundred meters at the bottom of our oceans at high pressure and low temperatures. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, roughly 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and it is estimated that methane frozen in these sediments constitute the largest organic carbon reservoir on Earth. The fact that methane gas has now started leaking out through gas hydrate dissociation is not good news for the climate.

"It has been estimated that there are more organic carbon in the form of methane in hydrates than in all fossil fuels combined. The leakage of methane could lead to a feedback loop in which the ocean warming melts gas hydrates resulting in the release of methane from the ocean floor into the water. The warmer it gets, the more methane leaks out," explains Marcelo Ketzer, professor of environmental science at Linnaeus University.

This process is believed to have triggered and amplified climate changes in our geological past. In collaboration with Brazilian and French colleagues, the researchers at Linnaeus University have now, with the help of sediment samplers and remotely-operated submarines, discovered that this process takes place in the Southern Hemisphere. The samples with gas hydrates have been collected in the South Atlantic sediments, near the Brazilian coast.

"These findings contribute with new evidence that this is a global phenomenon," says Marcelo Ketzer.

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-massive-methane-gas-seafloor-southern.html

University of California system can no longer consider SAT, ACT results in admissions, judge rules

University of California schools can no longer use SAT and ACT test results in deciding undergraduate admissions as the school system's "test optional" policy at some of its campuses may unfairly benefit those who can access a test amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a judge ruled.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman said that "test optional" policy at some U.C. campuses denies students who do not submit standardized test results a "second look" during the admissions process that those who do submit the tests are afforded.

The U.C. system, one of the nation's largest and most prestigious university systems, had planned to phase out its use of the SAT and ACT, announcing in May that it was suspending the testing requirement for its applicants through 2024 as it looked to create its own standardized test.

However, the system allowed for a "test optional" policy at some campuses in the mean time, which would permit students who want to take the SAT and ACT to submit their scores in hopes of boosting their admission chances.

Seligman said attorneys for the U.C. system showed that by submitting their scores, students at the "test optional" campuses "can only help, and never hurt an applicant.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/education/2020/09/02/university-california-colleges-barred-using-sat-act-results/5689307002/

Philippines court orders US marine who killed transgender woman to be freed

A US Marine convicted of killing a transgender woman in the Philippines has been ordered freed on the grounds of good conduct after serving half his maximum 10-year sentence, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton has been in detention since the October 2014 motel killing of Jennifer Laude after he met her at a bar while on a break from joint military exercises in the northern city of Olongapo.

A court ruled Tuesday that Pemberton held in a special jail at the Philippine military headquarters in Manila qualified for early release, his Filipina lawyer Rowena Garcia Flores said.

Court officials in Olongapo and spokespeople for the Philippine military or US embassy could not be reached for comment.

A statement from Philippine military spokesman Major-General Edgard Arevalo said they had not received any court order, but they would abide by it.

The decision was deplored by Harry Roque, now the spokesman for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte but who briefly represented the Laude's family during the trial.

"Laude's death personifies the death of Philippine sovereignty and the light penalty imposed on Pemberton proves that despite the president's independent foreign policy… Americans continue to have the status of conquering colonials in our country," he said.

Virginia Suarez, a lawyer for the Laude family, asked the court to reconsider Pemberton's release.

https://news.yahoo.com/philippines-court-orders-us-marine-130948133.html

Germany says nerve agent Novichok found in Russia's Navalny

BERLIN (AP) — The German government says tests performed on samples taken from Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny showed the presence of the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.

Navalny, a politician and corruption investigator who is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest critics, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on Aug 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.

He was later transferred to Berlin’s Charite hospital, where doctors last week said there were indications that he had been poisoned.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement Wednesday that testing by a special German military laboratory had shown proof of “a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group.”

Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent, was used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain. It is a cholinesterase inhibitor, part of the class of substances that doctors at the Charite initially identied in Navalny.

Seibert said the German government will inform its partners in the European Union and NATO about the test results. He said that it will consult with its partenrs in light of the Russian response “on an appropriate joint response.”

Navalny’s allies in Russia have insisted he was deliberately poisoned by the country’s authorities, accusations that the Kremlin rejected as “empty noise.”

The Russian doctors who treated Navalny in Siberia have repeatedly contested the German hospital’s conclusion, saying they had ruled out poisoning as a diagnosis and that their tests for poisonous substances came back negative.

https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Germany-says-nerve-agent-Novichok-found-in-15537016.php

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