Threat against Wayne Co. canvasser leads to federal charges for N.H. woman

Detroit — Federal prosecutors Wednesday filed charges against a New Hampshire woman accused of texting threats to the chairwoman of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers following the presidential election and sending photos of a bloody mutilated female body. Katelyn Jones, 23, a former Olivet resident who lives in Epping, was charged with threatening violence through interstate commerce following an FBI investigation that probed lingering fallout from President Donald Trump's defeat and baseless allegations about voting irregularities. The criminal complaint and an FBI affidavit filed in federal court describe threats made against Monica Palmer, chairwoman of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, after the Republican canvasser voted against certifying the election results. Palmer faced intense scrutiny over her decision to decline certification, then certify and then attempt to rescind her vote on the final certification of roughly 878,000 votes in Michigan's largest county. "The allegations in this case should make all of us disgusted,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said in a statement. “There is simply no place in Michigan, or in the United States, for chilling threats like this to people who are simply doing what they believe is correct.” Palmer declined to comment Wednesday.

The alleged threats come amid a period of extreme behavior directed toward public figures and elected leaders stemming from the election and anger over state restrictions on travel and business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jones was charged two months after FBI agents say they thwarted an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and kill police officers. In all, 14 people have been charged in the alleged kidnapping plot with state and federal crimes. Authorities say the plot involved training and planning by a militia group known as the Wolverine Watchmen to kidnap Whitmer and storm Michigan's Capitol in Lansing. Jones was released on bond Wednesday after a brief appearance during a videoconference in federal court in New Hampshire. She said little beyond answering standard questions from U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea Johnstone, who barred her from having any contact with victims or potential witnesses in the case. She is expected to attend a Jan. 13 videoconference in federal court in Detroit. The threat charge filed against Jones is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Jeff Levin, her court-appointed lawyer, declined comment.

On Nov. 18, she received multiple threatening texts from an unknown person who utilized a cellphone with a 269 area code. "Damn it was not hard finding all of your information disgusting racist b–," one text read. "I don't tolerate people like you, in fact I consider you to be a terrorist and do you know what happens to terrorist," the text read, adding Palmer's name. “The messages were immediately followed by two graphic photographs of a bloody, deceased, nude, mutilated woman, lying on the ground,” FBI Special Agent Emily Munchiando wrote in the affidavit. Investigators traced the phone number to the app TextMe Inc. Company records showed the 269 phone number account was created 10 minutes before Palmer received the first threatening message. FBI agents tracked the IP address used to create the TextMe account. The IP address subscriber was Jones' mother, Linda Jones, in New Hampshire, according to the affidavit. "Therefore, the account that used (269) xxx-xx68 that sent threatening text messages to (Palmer) was created at Linda Jones' residence," the FBI agent wrote. Palmer also received threatening messages on her Instagram page on Nov. 18 from a user named "_etfere." The user posted Palmer's address, phone number and husband's phone number. "Feel free to leave these disgusting racist (sic) a nice little message on their voicemail or for more fun stop by their house," the post read. "Racist terrorist b–," read another post. "Your daughter is beautiful," read another post that included a photo of Palmer, her daughter and husband. "I'd (sic) be a shame if something happened to her. Hmmm I'd (sic) be a shame if something happened to your daughter at school."

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2020/12/23/election-threat-leads-federal-charges-woman/4023295001/

Wayne County's top lawyer defends election certification as Palmer pushes audit

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/11/20/gop-canvasser-palmer-certification-vote-depended-audit-guarantee/6356474002/

Benny

DE BLASIO: "We're going to have sheriff's deputies go to the home or the hotel of every single traveler coming in from the UK."

https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1341800215498682374

Baltimore building explosion injures 23, traps workers

An explosion in a high-rise building in Baltimore has injured 23 people and temporarily trapped a window washing crew on dangling scaffolding

BALTIMORE – An explosion in a high-rise building in Baltimore injured 23 people Wednesday and temporarily trapped a window washing crew on dangling scaffolding. Twenty-one of the victims were brought to area hospitals following the explosion, which caused a partial roof collapse. The city’s fire department tweeted that at least nine of the victims were in critical condition, while another was in serious condition. The trapped workers were rescued through a window. Firefighters continued to search the building Wednesday afternoon. The firefighters’ union tweeted that evidence points to an explosion on the 16th floor of the downtown building, where the offices of Baltimore Gas and Electric Company are located. The fire department said the cause of the explosion remains under investigation. But utility spokeswoman Stephanie Anne Weaver said work on the building’s “air handling and boiler system” likely caused the accident. “Window washing scaffolding was compromised because of the incident and a window washing crew was pulled to safety by the fire department,” Weaver said in a statement. The building was practically empty because of the holidays and the coronavirus pandemic.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/baltimore-building-explosion-injures-10-traps-workers-74879243

Antifa Rioter Tries to Weasel Out of Andy Ngo Lawsuit. This Judge Isn't Having It

On June 29, 2019, Portland antifa rioters physically assaulted Andy Ngo, editor-at-large at The Post Millennial, who was reporting on the riot at the time. After police apparently failed to investigate the assault, Ngo took matters into his own hands in June, filing a lawsuit against Rose City Antifa and members of the mob who allegedly beat up Ngo. Benjamin Bolen, the antifa rioter whom Ngo blamed for one of the assaults, attempted to weasel out of the lawsuit via an Anti-SLAPP motion. Multnomah County Judge Kathleen Dailey rightly refused this move. “This is finally a step in the right direction for the rule of law in Portland where the police, district attorneys office, and local politicians have totally failed to bring justice to the perpetrators of this heinous act,” Harmeet Dhillon, CEO of the Center for American Liberty and a lawyer representing Ngo, said in a statement Tuesday. “We brought this lawsuit as a last resort in the face of their unwillingness to enforce the law. As we have watched America’s greatest cities burn live on television at the hands of Antifa terrorists, we know they were emboldened by the inaction in Portland.” Ngo sued Rose City Antifa, Bolen, Corbyn (Katherine) Belyea, Joseph Christian Evans, John Hacker, Madison Lee Allen, and fifty other antifa rioters. He alleged that Bolen punched him in the abdomen on May 1, 2019. According to the lawsuit, John Hacker threw an unknown liquid on Ngo’s head while the journalist was at his local gym. Then antifa rioters threw containers full of liquid at Ngo’s head at a protest on June 29 — “milkshakes” that Portland Police warned might contain quick-drying concrete. Belyea allegedly threw one of these “milkshakes.” Finally, again on June 29, an antifa mob again attacked Ngo, throwing projectiles at him, punching him, and kicking him. Evans and Allen allegedly took part in this attack. “Antifa members engage in rioting, property destruction, and armed brawls with political opponents and bystanders or journalists perceived to be allies of their opponents,” the lawsuit explains. “According to Antifa, any violence against public demonstrations by groups they view as fascist, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, conservative, or right-wing is inherently ‘self-defense’—irrespective of whether such groups actually subscribe to such views— because such public demonstrations purportedly lead to violence against marginalized groups.

Ngo’s lawsuit notes that antifa’s attacks on this particular journalist undermine the group’s “self-indulgent proclamations of protecting minority groups,” because Andy Ngo is both gay and of Asian descent. The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages of more than $300,000, tripled to $900,000, along with “temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunctive relief prohibiting Defendants from harassing, threatening, harming, or attempt to do the same to Ngo, and prohibiting Defendants from further engaging in” violence against Ngo. In response to this lawsuit, Bolen filed an anti-SLAPP motion, claiming that Ngo targeted him for his constitutionally-protected speech. This move amounted to an attempt to weasel out of the lawsuit on false pretenses. Judge Kathleen Dailey refused his motion and she struck from the record as inadmissible certain attacks on Ngo that Bolen included in his affidavit. Bolen claimed that he did not attack Ngo. Rather, he accused Ngo of mixing him up with someone else and attacking Bolen because he exercised his constitutional right to protest. Oregon’s anti-SLAPP law shields people from lawsuits based on claims that “arise out of” their exercise of such rights. Yet Ngo is not suing Bolen for taking part in a protest. Ngo claimed that Bolen physically assaulted him. Physical assault is not protected speech, and Bolen admitted as much. Bolen may be innocent of assaulting Ngo, but he cannot use an anti-SLAPP law to strike Ngo’s claims against him. His attempt to weasel out of the lawsuit may only weaken his position.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/tyler-o-neil/2020/12/22/antifa-rioter-tries-to-weasel-out-of-andy-ngo-lawsuit-this-judge-isnt-having-it-n1224975