TYB
Curtis Sliwa Among Arrests at Migrant Shelter Protest
21 August 2023 10:09 AM EDT
Guardian Angels founder and former New York City mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa was among those arrested Sunday at a street protest of a Staten Island shelter for asylum seekers.
Backlash has come from the community and local elected official since a former assisted living facility was selected to house some of the migrants who have streamed into New York City, silive.com reported.
Another rally also was held on Staten Island last week, the news outlet noted.
Protesters filled sidewalks, a road median, and a portion of a major boulevard as speakers argued against the shelter at Sunday's protest, headed by Sliwa, Staten Island artist Scott LoBaido, and former New York City comptroller candidate John Tabacco.
Signs and chants demanded "close the borders," and "stop the invasion," silive.com reported. Police monitored the event and provided crowd control.
"I've taken it upon myself to lead this effort with good people all throughout New York state, because they are not going to get away with invading our country with illegal aliens," Sliwa told the crowd, the news outlet reported.
He also called on Mayor Eric Adams to open up the official mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion, to asylum-seekers rather than opening shelter sites across the city's five boroughs.
Sliwa then led the blocking of the road in front of the designated Staten Island shelter facility.
"Today, this is not Republican versus Democrat versus independents," he said, silive.com reported. "We're joined together at the hip in solidarity. It's us and we, not I and me. It's Americans versus those who would destroy the America that we know."
After warning protesters to leave the roadway and retreat to sidewalk or face arrest and charges of disorderly conduct, police officers arrested Sliwa and LoBaido along with several other protesters, the news outlet reported.
For Sliwa, it was his 79th arrest, the news outlet reported, with the most recent during a protest of a tent shelter in Queens for asylum seekers.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., called for charges to be dropped against those arrested Sunday, the outlet reported.
"In the summer of 2020, police were told to lay off BLM protesters rioting in our streets," she said in a statement. "But now citizens peacefully protesting the city's secret deal that led to the eviction of senior citizens at an assisted living facility to house migrants who illegally entered our country at taxpayer expense are being arrested at the direction of our mayor.
"This is outrageous and I call on our district attorney to drop any and all charges against Curtis Sliwa, Scott Lobaido, and the other concerned citizens who were wrongfully arrested."
The use of a converted assisted living facility is estimated to cost New York more than $12 billion through July 2025, with the city already having spent $1.45 billion, according to the outlet.
More than 50,000 migrants remain in the city's care, prompting 198 emergency shelter sites around the five boroughs, silive.com reported.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/migrant-shelters-curtis-sliwa/2023/08/21/id/1131450/
California Bill Proposes Fines, Prison Time For Parents Who Cause 'Substantial Disorder' At School Board Meetings
August 21, 2023
A bill floating in the California state legislature has received intense scrutiny by proponents of First Amendment rights, who are concerned that parents in the Golden State’s school system could be barred from voicing their opinions about their children’s education.
The bill, SB 596, was introduced by Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-Calif., and proposes that “any parent, guardian, or other person whose conduct in a place where a school employee is required to be in the course of the employee’s duties materially disrupts classwork or extracurricular activities or involves substantial disorder is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $500, nor more than $1,000, or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year…”
According to Fox News, this bill would be an expansion of a preexisting law that barred parents from disrupting classroom activities and extend it to “off-campus activities.” In this context, a school board meeting could be considered an off-campus activity.
This bill comes after Californians have been pushing back on curriculum in school districts like MVUSD (Murrietta Valley), where parents supported the passage of a new policy that requires the school to notify guardians if their child identifies as transgender.
If SB 596 passes, it is conceivable that speaking up at a school board meeting in California could potentially be defined as a misdemeanor. The amended bill itself states:
“Any parent, guardian, or other person whose conduct in a place where a school employee is required to be in the course of the school employee’s duties materially disrupts classwork or extracurricular activities or involves substantial disorder, including substantial disorder at any meeting of the governing board of a school district, the governing body of a charter school, a county board of education, or the state board, is guilty of a misdemeanor.”
California’s beleaguered school system has already gone through the ringer in the wake of the Covid pandemic with Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., at the helm of the state’s Covid-related policies.
Schools in California faced astringent masking policies and Newsom’s administration pushed hard for a statewide K-12 vaccine mandate.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., one of Newsom’s biggest critics, noted on X, “California schools, by the way, continue to have among the worst student learning outcomes and widest achievement gaps in the country.”
Per Fox News, Senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, Sarah Parshall Perry, told the Daily Signal of the bill, “I find it curious that there’s no definition of ‘substantial’ or ‘disruption’ within the proposed text.”
According to the text of the bill itself, “course of conduct” would mean a “pattern of conduct composed of two or more acts occurring over a period of time,” and “harassment” would be defined as “willful” behavior that is directed at a specific person that “seriously alarms, torments, or terrorizes the person, and that serves no legitimate purpose.”
Further, the bill itself stated that verbal, written, or electronic communication could also be construed to school employees as a “credible threat.”
https://www.rsbnetwork.com/news/california-bill-proposes-fines-prison-time-for-parents-who-cause-substantial-disorder-at-school-board-meetings/
Driver plows into at least 7 pedestrians at NYC crosswalk in bloody hit-and-run
August 21, 2023 2:49am
A vehicle plowed through seven pedestrians at a Midtown Manhattan crosswalk late Sunday, leaving at least one critically injured, according to police and law enforcement sources.
The driver of a Honda Accord hit the seven victims around 11:55 p.m. at West 36th Street and 6th Avenue and kept driving to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, sources said.
Five pedestrians were rushed to Bellevue Hospital, with at least one person in critical condition, sources said.
Another victim in stable condition was taken to a different hospital.
One victim refused medical attention, sources said.
A 29-year-old female person of interest was later taken into custody after she was involved in a three-car crash on the Long Island Expressway at the Clearview Expressway in Queens, sources said.
https://nypost.com/2023/08/21/nyc-crash-leaves-one-critically-injured-after-driver-plows-into-at-least-7-pedestrians/