Arkansas Senate Approves Bill Banning ‘Sanctuary’ Cities

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas—The Arkansas Senate voted Friday, April 5, to prohibit cities from refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities and threatened to cut off their funding if they adopt “sanctuary” policies, even though no city in the state has done so. The majority-Republican Senate voted 24-5 for the bill, which would also prohibit cities from preventing local law enforcement from asking about someone’s immigration or citizenship status. Under the measure, a city would be ineligible for discretionary funds or grants administered by the state if the attorney general determines it is an illegal sanctuary city. The bill now heads to the majority-Republican House.

The Arkansas Municipal League, which opposes the measure, has said it doesn’t know of any city that has adopted sanctuary policies or is moving toward doing so. The Republican behind the measure said the penalties are needed to prevent any sanctuary cities from operating in the state. “This is more a proactive measure to ward off something, some city in Arkansas saying, ‘hey, we’re going to set ourselves up as a sanctuary city,’” Sen. Gary Stubblefield said after the vote. “You do that and you do it at your own peril.”

Arkansas is among several states where Republicans have pushed for legislation banning sanctuary cities. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam last month vetoed similar legislation, and another measure is being considered by Florida lawmakers. Neighboring Texas enacted a wide-reaching ban two years ago that was upheld by a federal appeals court last year. Opponents have said the ban could sow distrust between the immigrant community and law enforcement. Democratic Sen. Will Bond, who opposed the bill, noted it would require the attorney general to investigate any complaint about a sanctuary city and would keep the records of that probe closed to the public. Bond also said the measure would take away the Legislature’s power by allowing the attorney general to determine whether cities are eligible to receive funds. A spokesman for Gov. Asa Hutchinson said the Republican planned to review the measure over the weekend. Hutchinson had spoken out against a similar proposal targeting “sanctuary” colleges and universities that failed before a legislative panel two years ago.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/arkansas-senate-approves-bill-banning-sanctuary-cities_2868992.html

Australia makes failing to take down violent video criminal in wake of New Zealand massacre livestream

Facebook and other online platforms could face steep penalties for failing to block violent video, under a new Australian law passed in the wake of the Christchurch shooting in New Zealand. “The internet is not an ungoverned space,” Australian Attorney General Christian Porter said this week during a parliamentary debate over the legislation. “Internet platforms must take the risks posed by the spread of abhorrent violent material online seriously. The new offenses will therefore be accompanied by criminal penalties.” Those penalties include stiff fines for offending corporations and up to three years' imprisonment for individuals who fail "to ensure the expeditious removal of audiovisual or audiovisual material that is recorded by the perpetrator or an accomplice and that depicts specified abhorrent acts and violent conduct."

Porter touted the law as a response to the massacre at a mosque in Christchurch last month. The suspected shooter, an apparent white supremacist and an Australian citizen, livestreamed the attack, broadcasting to the world the murder of at least 50 people. “The material was livestreamed on Facebook and available on that platform for almost an hour and 10 minutes until the first attempts were made to take it down,” Porter said. “Simply put, we find that unacceptable.”

The bill was unveiled Monday and passed into law on Thursday, a pace that troubles even some supporters of the legislation who worry about the legislation will lead to unintended censorship. “This bill is clumsy and flawed in many respects,” Mark Dreyfus, an opposition lawmaker, warned during the debate. “Not even New Zealand, where the Christchurch atrocity occurred, has attempted to make this change in such a short time frame.” Porter’s team included “exemptions for violent material to be broadcast or hosted if it is used for certain purposes, including law enforcement, court proceedings, research, artistic work or journalism,” NPR noted.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/australia-makes-failing-to-take-down-violent-video-criminal-in-wake-of-new-zealand-massacre-livestream

Honduran drug cartel kingpin gets 37 years in prison for trafficking cocaine into US

A former leader of a Honduran drug cartel was sentenced by American authorities to federal prison on charges of trafficking thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the U.S. Noe Montes-Bobadilla, 35,was handed a 37-year prison sentence by U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady for the Eastern District of Virginia. Court documents filed by the Department of Justice state that Montes-Bodadilla was the kingpin of the Honduras-based "Los Montes" drug cartel.

The thousands of shipments trafficked through the country put the cartel among the most powerful in Central America, serving as the central trafficking point for Colombian cocaine imports heading to the U.S. via Mexico. “Montes-Bobadilla was a violent leader of one of the largest drug-trafficking organizations in Honduras,” said U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger in a Justice Department statement issued Friday. The court documents say that Montes-Bobadilla and his associates paid off law enforcement and government officials throughout Central America to transport the cocaine shipments by boat and roads. It also pins a vast number of violent acts, including kidnappings and murders, on the organization headed by Montes-Bobadilla. The announcement by the Justice Department comes amid ongoing efforts by the administration to combat illegal immigration and crime, including drug trafficking, at the southern border.

The State Department announced this week it would cut aid to the "Northern Triangle" countries in Central America — El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala — whose citizens make up many of the caravans that have traveled north with the intention of claiming asylum at the U.S. border. President Trump threatened to close the southern border with Mexico, citing congressional inaction in authorizing the funding necessary for border security. Trump is keeping "all options on the table" in regards to securing the southern border with Mexico, a White House official said on this week, reinforcing Trump's threats earlier this week to close the border if more isn't done to stop illegal immigration. Trump told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. will either have a “strong border” or a “closed border.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/honduran-drug-cartel-kingpin-gets-37-years-in-prison-for-trafficking-cocaine-into-us

>>6073245

That is how all of these people function, never let a tragedy go to waste, they use it to their advantage. In this way, they can continue their FFs without anyone giving it the critical eye. If it's not recorded live it didn't happen any other way than the way they say it happened. 911 revisited per say.

Ecuador calls claims it will revoke Julian Assange's asylum 'fake news'

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is showing “ingratitude and disrespect” to the country that has provided him refuge since 2012, the Ecuadorian foreign ministry said late Friday. That rebuke was delivered as Ecuador denies coordinating with the United Kingdom about the arrest of Assange, who has been sheltering in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for seven years, and said it will not revoke his asylum.

"The Ministry of Foreign Relations and Human Mobility categorically rejects the fake news which had been circulated over these last few days on social media — many of which are being disseminated by an organization linked to Mr. Julian Assange, concerning an imminent termination of the diplomatic asylum which has been extended to him" since 2012, according to a statement from the ministry. WikiLeaks maintains that Assange is in danger of being handed over to British authorities in order to deflect attention from leaked documents that have sparked a corruption probe against Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno.

Assange entered the London embassy in 2012, trying to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced charges of sexual assault. The WikiLeaks founder, already notorious for leaking of U.S. diplomatic cables in 2010, subsequently played a key role in Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential elections by released emails stolen from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta. Ecuador restricted Assange’s internet access in 2018, in response to the 2016 election interference, and the relationship has worsened as Moreno accused the organization of leaking the documents that gave rise to the corruption scandal. “If President Moreno wants to illegally terminate a refugee publisher’s asylum to cover up an offshore corruption scandal, history will not be kind,” WikiLeaks replied this week. Swedish authorities have dropped the sexual assault charges, but Assange could still be arrested for violating the terms of his bail if he leaves the embassy. “Granting diplomatic asylum is a sovereign power of Ecuador, which therefore has the right to grant or terminate it when it deems it justified and without consulting third parties,” the Foreign Ministry said.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/ecuador-calls-claims-it-will-revoke-julian-assanges-asylum-fake-news