Scuffle disrupts compromise with police at Chabad headquarters around prayer, social distancing

A gathering of young men in front of the Chabad movement’s Brooklyn headquarters led to a scuffle with police, who have been permitting prayer services there for a month despite the ban on gatherings amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The incident highlighted the attempts by law enforcement to balance the devout community’s spiritual needs with safety considerations, and local movement leaders’ struggle to control the behavior of a small number of young students who have not returned home to their families.

The stress of the pandemic and the imposition of new rules like social distancing and the wearing of masks has resulted in finger-pointing at groups considered lax in their observance the new of public health practices, from people playing basketball to Orthodox Jews, whose large families, small living spaces and high rates of interaction with each other have caused them to experience higher-than-average rates of coronavirus infection.

Chabad had shut the doors to its global spiritual hub at 770 Eastern Parkway on March 18 in deference to state rules prohibiting gatherings of any size. Yet since that date, police had allowed minyans, or prayer gatherings of more than 10 people, outside the building, on the condition that participants adhere to “social distancing” rules like standing six feet apart and wearing masks.

“The police are fine with it,” said Rabbi Eli Cohen, executive director of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Center, of the gatherings.

Community liaison officers for the 71st precinct declined to comment.

Those services happened mostly on the Jewish Sabbath — Friday night and Saturday — but on Thursday, April 16 a group of college-aged men came together to celebrate the end of Passover. Under normal circumstances, the doors to 770, as it’s called, are open wide, and thousands might come to sing and share a glass of wine.

On Thursday, one or two of the boys began to dance, spurring the police officers stationed in front of the building to intervene. That in return resulted in physical altercations that were caught on camera and posted to social media.

https://forward.com/news/national/444205/coronavirus-chabad-770-yeshiva/

Michigan Hires ‘Tech Provider to Democratic Campaigns’ to Collect Medical Data on Coronavirus Patients

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) administration has hired a progressive campaign organization to collect private medical data on coronavirus patients.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said in a release:

As part of efforts to continue expanding COVID-19 testing and contact tracing of potentially exposed Michiganders, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) again expanded its testing criteria to include all essential workers still reporting to work in person, whether they have symptoms or not, and launched a large-scale effort with more than 2,000 volunteers to expand contact tracing capacity. …

Contact tracing is a proven public health strategy that involves identifying those affected by COVID-19 and interviewing friends, families and others near that person about their contacts and symptoms. MDHHS is contracting with Great Lakes Community Engagement, a firm that specializes in outreach campaigns to engage citizens, and Every Action VAN, a voter/individual contact platform used by non-profits, to provide software to help organize remote phone banking and track information and contacts.

“Great Lakes Community Engagement” has no discernible presence on the Internet. A request from Breitbart News to MDHHS for more information on the seemingly obscure organization was not immediately answered.

“Every Action VAN” is “trusted by” Planned Parenthood, SEIU, NARAL, and NextGen Climate, according to its website.

Related to that company is NGP VAN, which bills itself as “the leading political technology provider to Democratic & progressive campaigns & organizations.”

Livingston County Commissioner Wes Nakagiri was the first to discover the connection after he volunteered to perform contact tracing for the state.

According to Nakagiri’s website:

When performing contact tracing, volunteers are assigned to assist Public Health officials in reaching out to citizens who have come into contact with someone who has been diagnosed with the coronavirus. The volunteers make phone calls to convey important instructions to citizens who have a higher likelihood of contracting the coronavirus. Additionally, volunteers could ask personal questions such as: How is your health now? Do you have shortness of breath? Do you have abdominal pain? Can you tell me the names and ages of persons living in your household? What is your email address? The volunteers then log the results of these phone calls into a database ostensibly for use by medical professionals.

Nakagiri said the training documents tell volunteers to enter confidential medical information gained from contact tracing “into the NGP VAN database.”

“This enables NGP VAN to share this confidential information with both the MDHHS and Democrat candidates,” Nakagiri said.

“Providing confidential information collected from contact tracing to Democrat candidates is an egregious violation of the public trust.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/04/21/michigan-hires-tech-provider-to-democratic-campaigns-to-collect-medical-data-on-coronavirus-victims/

Abrams: Gov. Kemp Risks ‘Putting More Lives in Danger’ by Reopening Georgia

Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D) said Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) was risking “putting more lives in danger” by reopening the state amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Abrams said, “I think it’s important to put in context Georgia’s place in the national economy. We’re the eighth largest state in the nation, but we have the 14th highest infection rate and the seventh slowest testing rate. What that means is that these jobs that are reopening, these businesses that are reopening will force front line workers back to the work without having been tested, without having access to a health care system to help them if they are in need.”

She continued, “Georgia refused to expand Medicaid. You have one of the highest rates of closures of hospitals, and we do not have people who have been able to get access to the unemployment benefits that could allow them to take care of themselves while they’re at home. The worry is that by trying to push a false opening of the economy, we risk putting more lives in danger, and there’s nothing about this that makes sense. The mayors of Atlanta, Albany, and Savannah have all questioned the wisdom of doing this, and the fact is the governor didn’t consult with mayors before making this decision.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2020/04/21/abrams-gov-kemp-risks-putting-more-lives-in-danger-by-reopening-georgia/

Death Toll in Nova Scotia Shooting Attack Spikes to 23 - Canadian Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) confirmed Tuesday that at least 23 people have died as a result of the mass shooting in Canada's Nova Scotia over the weekend.

According to a news release issued by the RCMP, the discovery of additional remains this week has led authorities to believe that 23 individuals, aged 17 and up, are dead following Canada's deadliest mass shooting.

It was previously reported that 18 people were killed in the massacre - allegedly carried out by a 51-year-old denture-maker who disguised himself as a police officer.

Police became aware of the deadly incident on April 18 after responding to reports of a possible shooting at a home in Portapique. While several casualties were found inside and outside of the house, authorities were unable to initially locate the suspect.

After expanding their search to the immediate area, authorities encountered structures and vehicles that had been set ablaze.

Police claimed the suspect had donned a police uniform, and even made his vehicle resemble an RCMP cruiser, in order to evade capture.

“His ability to move around the province undetected was surely greatly benefited by the fact that he had a vehicle that looked identical in every way to a marked police car,” RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said, as reported by NBC News.

However, the search came to an end on April 19 when the 51-year-old was spotted at a service station and later shot by responding officers. The suspect would go on to die in a hospital.

"Our thoughts are with all of the victims’ families and we are particularly mindful of families who have not yet received confirmation that their loved ones were involved," the RCMP said in the news release. "This is an unprecedented incident that has resulted in incredible loss and heartbreak for countless families and loved ones."

https://sputniknews.com/world/202004211079046847-death-toll-in-nova-scotia-attack-spikes-to-23—canadian-police/

Zuck'd Again? State Governors Say Facebook Contacted Them About "Reopen America" Events

State governors have denied asking Facebook to remove ‘Reopen America’ event pages, saying that it was the social network that contacted them over the matter, not the other way around as initially reported.

Fake news CNN reporter Oliver Darcy tweeted Monday that Facebook had taken down pages promoting lockdown protests, pointing to California, New Jersey, and Nebraska, and saying that the action was taken “on the instruction of governments in those three states”:

Fellow fake news CNN reporter Donie O’Sullivan noted that Facebook had taken the action after “consultation with state governments”, again making it appear that the governors had demanded Facebook take down the pages.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/zuck-lied-state-governors-say-facebook-contacted-them-about-reopen-america-events

GONE GONE

30 Online Predators Arrested In Operation ‘COVID Crackdown’

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Cops arrested 30 men earlier this month during Operation COVID Crackdown – an online sting that sought to identify and apprehend predators who use the internet to exploit children. In each case, offenders used online platforms to initiate explicit conversations and solicit sex from police officers posing as children. When each of the suspects arrived at agreed upon locations, detectives took them into custody. The men, who ranged in age from 20 to 74, were charged with a combined 68 felonies.

Row 1 from left to right:

Cesar Vales II, 29, of Manassas, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Halmar Lizama Henriquez, 26, of no fixed address, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Juan Moreno Colindres, 65, of Maryland, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Moises Aguilar Cano, 36, of Manassas, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Renzo Portal, 26, of Centreville, charged with solicitation of a minor and soliciting a minor for prostitution

Zachary Kearns, 31, of Oakton, charged with two counts of solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Row 2 from left to right

Carlos Deras Lopez, 30, of Alexandria, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Franklin Galvez, 25, of Maryland, charged with solicitation of a minor and soliciting a minor for prostitution

Jose Argueta Amaya, 32, of West Virginia, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Mohamed Mansaray, 23, of Alexandria, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Pedro Gonzalez, 50, of Fairfax, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Yuson Joshi, 27, of Woodbridge, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Row 3 from left to right:

Carlos Giron-Reyes, 22, of Woodbridge, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Eric Womack, 36, of Washinton D.C., charged with two counts of solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Jean Pardo Pesantes, 22, of Maryland, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Jose Mejia Carabantes, 36, of Fairfax, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Nelson Sosa Grande, 38, of Fairfax, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

Xavier Jackson, 24, of Springfield, charged with solicitation of a minor and attempted indecent liberties

https://breaking911.com/30-online-predators-arrested-in-operation-covid-crackdown/