Transcript

2.14.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to today's reading of the Washington Post. Your reader
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is Alice Stainer, with the reminder that RADIOI is an
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organization for those blind with other difficulties making it difficult
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to read and hold printed material. And as today is
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Valentine's Day, good Shepherd's main concern is love is all
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and so love to all of you on Valentine's Day,
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and I hope you have a good one. So here
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is the front page of the Washington Post. On the
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top left a picture of a very sad picture of
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the quad God Elijah Melina Molina of the United States
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reacting after his competition in Milan with the gold medal
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favorite in the men's single figures getting competition finished eighth
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after falling multiple times during the freeze skate. He just
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looked like he was not on his game. To the
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right of that, in bold letters, Ice to spend thirty
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eight bigion dollars to retrofit sites for tention centers, plans
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to acquire warehouses across the US. Fowles revealed scale and
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resources for massive network by Douglas McMillan and Jonathan O'Connell.
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Below that new territory and failed bidd to indict lawmakers.
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First time DOJ has tried to classify Trump rival's critical
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speech as a crime. By Jeremy Roebuck Perry Stein, Theodoric
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Maya and Salvador Risot. Underneath the picture of Elea Malenin
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on the left, O pair given ten year term for
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role in Virginia double killing, and Iman can read that
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because that has to do with Virginia. DHS runs out
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of cash amid impass and at the very bottom isis
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suspects handed to Iraq as US pursues troop withdrawl, and
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I am going to start with the ICE plans to
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spend thirty eight point three billion dollars turning warehouses into
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detention centers. Documents released Thursday offer the most complete picture
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to date of the Trump administration's controversial and costly plan
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to overhaul immigrant detention using industrial buildings. By Douglas McMillan
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and Jonathan O'Connell. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement expects to
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then spend thirty eight point eight billion dollars on its
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plan to acquire warehouses across the country and retro fit
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them into immigrant detention centers that can hold tens of
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thousands of immigrants. According to agency documents provided to New
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Hampshire's governor and published on the state's website Thursday, ICE
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plans to buy and convert sixteen buildings across the country
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to serve as regional processing centers, each holding one thousand
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to fifteen hundred immigrant detainees at a time. According to
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one of the documents, an overview of the detention plan,
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another eight laws large scale detention centers will hold seven
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thousand to ten thousand detainees at a time and serve
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as the primary locations for international removals. Detainees would spend
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an average of three to seven days at the processing
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sites before being transponted to the larger facilities, where they
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would be held about sixty days before being deported. According
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to the document, The additional detention space is necessary, the
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document states, due to ICE's hiring of more agents and
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an expected surge and arrest The documents offer the most
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complete picture to date of the Trump administration's plan to
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overhaul immigration detention using buildings that were originally designed for
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industrial purposes, an expansive effort aimed at boosting ICE's ability
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to arrest more immigrants and deport them faster, rather than
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moving people around the country to any detention center of
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available beds, the new system of warehouses is designed to
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funnel them into a series of large scale holding centers
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where they will await deportation. ICE documents show. They also
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demonstrate the scale and resources the Trump administration has devoted
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to building a mass deportation network. The plan's thirty eight
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billion dollar plus budget is more than the total annual
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spending for twenty two states, according to state budget data.
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The Washington Post first reported on an earlier draft solicitation
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document in December. ICE has offered little information about the effort,
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prompting concern from state and local officials, who have cited
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several logistical and humanitarian concerns of building large scale detention
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centers in their regions. New Hampshire Governor Kelly Iyott, Republican,
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said in a press release that the Department of Homeland
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Security shared the documents for the first time with her
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on Thursday. Her statement appeared to contradict a claim made
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by Todd M. Lyons, ICE's acting director, who testified at
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a Senate hearing earlier that day that DHS officials had
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previously spoken to the governor about the project. And provided
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an economic impact summary to her. A spokeswoman for DHS
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did not respond to an email seeking comment. The ICE
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document says all new facilities will need to comply with
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federal detention standards and provide for the and humane civil
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detention of aliens. In recent weeks, ICE has spent more
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than six hundred and ninety million dollars acquiring at least
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eight industrial buildings in Maryland, Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Michigan,
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according to real estate deeds and internal ICE records reviewed
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by the Post. The agency has confirmed its interest in
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at least four additional buildings in Georgia, New Hampshire, New York,
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and New Jersey, according to statements made by local officials
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in those places. The government plans to hire contractors to
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carry out extensive renovations, turning vacant shells into holding facilities
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featuring lobbies, recreational space, dormitories, courtroom spaces and cafeterias. At
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of building ICE plans to acquire and Merrimack, New Hampshire.
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The agency expects to spend one hundred and fifty eight
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million dollars retrofitting this facility. According to an ICE economic
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impact assessment I yet posted on her website. It is
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not clear which companies will be hired to renovate and
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operate the new facilities. George Soley, the founder and executive
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chairman of ICE Detention Contracted Geogroup, said on a quarterly
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earnings call with Wall Street Analysis Thursday that his company
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wants to be supportive of the new initiative, but caution
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that renovating warehouses would be more complicated than you may think.
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Geogroup once converted a warehouse into a holding center for
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five hundred people about thirty years ago, nothing like the
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enormous size of the fertility's facilities being posed now, Zolee said.
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The operational implications of how you manage such a facility,
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particularly a large scale facility, is going to be concerning,
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Zolely said. The Post previously reported that some warehouses are
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expected to acceptainees detainees as soon as April. ICE appears
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to have given multiple deadlines from when it expects the
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senters to be operational. According to the overview document, the
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agency will fully we will fully implement a new detention
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model by September thirtieth, and will activate all facilities by
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November thirtieth Manchester Inklink, A local news outlet reported earlier
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on some of the details of the Manchester documents. Details
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of the expensive warehouse renovation effort have come to light
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as Democrats lawmakers in Washington have blocked bills to fund
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DHS and an attempt to force lawmakers to include new
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restrictions from federal immigration agents. Though the federal government is
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hurling toward a partial shutdown beginning this weekend, the closures
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would not impact ICE's funding because Republicans sent the agency
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tens of billions of dollars last year, including a historic
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forty five billion dollars for immigrant detention. In several of
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the towns targeted for the project, local officials have said
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their water and sewer infrastructure would not be sufficient for
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a new facility holding thousands of people. For example, in
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Social Circle, Georgia, a town with a population of five thousand,
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the town is permitted to pump up to a million
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gallons of order per day for much of the year.
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Its peak usage is already above eight hundred thousand gallons,
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according to data the city's manager shared with the Post.
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In the projectover review document, I says it reviewed the
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water supply at all of the proposed buildings and found
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that the capacities currently at the sites are sufficient to
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support the new facilities. However, at the larger sites, the
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document said additional infrastructure would be needed to support wastewater
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systems and numerous solutions will be implemented. The document did
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not provide any more details. Federally owned real estate is
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often exempt from local permitting and zoning rules, but elected
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officials in some of the locations have pressed DHS to
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adhere to these requirements anyway. The detention plan overviewsed eights
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that the Department will comply with the National Environmental Policy Act,
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federal law that requires environmental review of federal real estate
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projects before they can be built. DHS is pitching New
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Hampshire project as a major economic investment that will help
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create twelve hundred and fifty two jobs during renovation and
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two hundred and sixty five jobs each year of operation.
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According to the Economic Impact Document, The Department says it
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expects to spend one hundred and forty six million dollars
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million dollars on the first three years of the facility's operation.
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The analysis for New Hampshire contained what appeared to be
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a copy and paste era in describing ripple effects to
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the Oklahoma economy. ICE plans to buy a warehouse in
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Oklahoma City. ICE plans to buy a warehouse in Oklahoma
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City were scrapped last month after the building's owner decided
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not to sell. At least two other proposed deals in
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Kansas City, Missouri, and in Virginia have also fallen through.
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These cancelations have revealed how the agency has pursued the projects.
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The owner of the Kansas City warehouse, a firm called
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Platform Benches, said Thursday that it had begun negotiating a
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deal to sell its warehouse after being approached by a
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third party private enterprise that it did not name. Platform
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Benches said it learned DHS was the BUYA only once
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the deal got closer. When the public also learned about
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the BIA, the city council quickly passed a five year
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ban on all new, none municipal detention facilities. The company
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said Thursday that it exited a goociations because it said
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the terms no longer met effiduciary requirements for a timely closing.
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The federal government also plans to take ownership of ten
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existing detention centers where ICE currently operates in buildings owned
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by private contractors or local governments, though be few documents said,
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without providing more detail, these facilities, combined with the new warehouses,
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would accommodate a total of ninety two thousand, six hundred
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detainees at a time. The document said, DOJ's targeting of
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Trump critics ramps up with an attempt to indict lawmakers.
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The case is the first time the Justice Department has
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attempted to classify critical speech from prominent Trump detractors as
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a crimeture. Of six of these prominent detractors, one is
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Representative Jason Crowe and they don't tell the States Representative
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Chris Deluzio, Representative Maggie Goodlanda, Senator Elissa Slotkin, Representative Chrissy Hulahan,
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and Senator Mark Kelly. The article is written by Jeremy Roebuck,
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Perry Stein, theodoreic Maya, and Salvadorrizzo. The Justice Department's efforts
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to prosecute President Donald Trump's critics entered a new phase
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this week when federal prosecutors failed to indict six Democratic
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lawmakers who recorded a video reminding military service members of
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their duty to refuse illegal orders. Department lawyers, under pressure
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from the president, previously targeted several of Trump's most outspoken foes,
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including former FBI Director James B. Coney and New York
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Attorney General Letsie James, both faced since dismissed charges last
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year over alleged conduct unrelated to their political views. But
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the case federal prosecutors put before a grand jury Tuesday
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seeking to charge Senators Mark Kelley, Democrat of Arizona, Elissa Slotkin,
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Democrat of Michigan, and four others over their ninety second
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video message marked the first time the Department has directly
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sought to classify critical speech from prominent Trump detractors as
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a crime. Grand jurors roundly rejected the effort, the Washington
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Post reported, but legal observers and the lawmakers at the
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center of the pro robe have argued in the days
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since that the panel's decision is almost beside the point.
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This is not a good news story, Kelly, a retired
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Navy captain in astronaut Total reporters during a news conference
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this week. This is a story about how Donald Trump
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and his cronies are trying to break our system to
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silence anyone who lawfully speaks out against them. The attempt
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to charge the lawmakers represents an evolution of the campaign
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that began last year with cases against James and Comy,
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said Brendan Nihan, a professor of government at Dartmouth College.
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Prosecuting people for speech criticizing the president is in some
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ways even more dangerous, especially given these are legislators acting
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in their public role, and especially given and that they
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were calling for the military and national security state to
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follow the law, Nyan said. Still, some Trump allies in Congress,
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including host speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, defended the
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administration's efforts. He told reporters that Slockkin, Kelly and the
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others probably should be indicted. Any time you're obstructing law
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enforcement and getting in the way of these sensitive operations
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is a very serious thing, and it probably is a crime,
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he said. The Justice Department's criminal investigation into the lawmakers
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began after the video organized by Slotkin, a former CIA analyst,
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was posted online in November. Enett, She and the others,
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all of whom served in the military or with intelligence agencies,
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reminded service members of their duty spelled out in the
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Uniform Code of Military Justice to resist unlawful directives. The
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lawmakers said, this administration is pitting air, uniformed, military and
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intelligence community professionals against American citizens. Our laws are clear,
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you can refuse illegal orders. The video did not singulate
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any specific Trump administration policies, but Sloken and Kelly, both
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of whom serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, have
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sharply criticized the president for military strikes he authorized on
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alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean,
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and his decision to deploy the National Guard to cities
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run by Democratic officials. Of the lawmakers who participated in
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the video included representatives Jason Crow, a former Army ranger
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from Colorado, and Maggie Goodlander, a Navy veteran from New Hampshire,
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as well as Chrissy Hulahan, a former Air Force officer,
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and Chris Deluzio, a former Navy officer, both from Pennsylvania.
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Their video drew an immediate reaction from Trump, who demanded
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on social media that the lawmakers faced prosecution for sedition
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and suggested they should even perhaps be punished to execution.
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In Capitol letters, sitious behavior punishable by capital letter's death,
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Trump wrote in one social media post soon after the
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video was posted. He said in another all caps, all
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the way, it was sedition at the highest level, and
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sedition is a major crime. The messages echoed another Trump
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post from last year, in which he, in a missive
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addressed to Pam an apparent reference to Attorney General Pam Bondi,
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insisted the Justice Department moved swiftly to prosecute Comy, James
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and others. We can't wait any longer. It's killing our
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reputation and credibility, he wrote, then adding in caps, justice
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must be served now. Exclamation, exclamation, exclamation. Within months, James
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was indicted on counts of mortgage fraud, while Comy was
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charged with lyon to Congress. Both denied the accusations, and
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their cases related dismissed by federal judge over technical issues
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with the appointment of the prosecutor who had charged them. Slotkin, Kelly,
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and the other lawmakers and maintained they did nothing wrong,
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even as top administration officials have accused them of using
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the video to encourage service members to take actions tenement
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to mutiny. Earlier this month, four of the lawmakers and
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video disclosed that they had been approached by FBI agents
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and declined to give voluntary interviews to prosecutors. It was
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clearly when a lawyer sat down with them just about
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checking a box and doing what the President wanted them
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to do, their heart wasn't even in it, Slockin said Wednesday.
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It is not clear whether the FBI took other steps
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to investigate, but on Tuesday, prosecutors, under the supervision of
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DC's US attorney Janine Pereiro, a former Fox News host
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and staunch Trump allied, presented the case against the lawmakers
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to the Grand Jury. To political appointees led that presentation.
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According to two people familiar with them, who spoke on
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the condition of anonymity to described sealed court proceedings, that
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prosecutors Stephen van der Velden, a former colleague of Heros
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in the District Attorney's office in Westchester, New York, and
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Carlton Davis, a former staffer for host Oversight Committee Chairman.
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Representative James coma Republican Kentucky, sought to charge the lawmakers
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with a felony crime that makes it illegal to interfere with,
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impair or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the
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military or naval forces of the United States, the people said.
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When it came time to vote, none of the grand
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jurors agreed there was sufficient probable cause to charge any
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of the lawmakers with the crime, one of the people
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familiar said. Spokespeople for the Justice Department and for Piro
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have declined to comment on the matter in the days since.
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Amid that silence, the effort has drawn an impassioned response
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from Capitol Hill. The fact that they failed to incarcerate
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a United States Senator should not obviate our outrage, Senator
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Brian Schottz, Democratic Hawaii said during a heated session Wednesday
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in which Democratic senators implored their Republican colleagues to openly
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condemn the Justice Department's actions. Senate Democrats held a special
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caucus meeting Thursday morning to further discuss the situation. They
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tried to incarcerate two of us. I'm not entirely sure
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the United States Senate can survive this if we do
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not have Republicans standing up shot, said Senator Tom Tillis,
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North Carolina has emerged as one of the few Republicans
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to publicly rebuke the president day Department. He described the
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failed attempt to prosecute as exactly the type of weaponization
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of the justice system that the Trump administration has said
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it is fighting against. Political lawfare is not normal, not acceptable,
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and needs to stop, Tillis wrote an opposed to X.
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At their news carference Wednsday, Kelly told reporters that he
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and Slotkin learned about the attempt to indict them Tuesday
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through media reports. If things had gone a different way,
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we'd be preparing for arrest, Slotkin said. Since then, lawyers
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for several of the targeted lawmakers have sent letters to
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Pyoto and Bondi seeking assurances that the investigation is over
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and that prosecutors will not seek to indict them again.
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They've also instructed the Department to retain all records of
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the investigation, threatening potential legal action for violating the lawmakers
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free speech rights. In a separate suit filed by Kelly,
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the federal judge Thursday halted Defense Department efforts to formally
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censor the senator over his video remarks, saying the effort
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to do so trampled on Sena to Kelly's First Amendment
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freedoms and threatened the constitutional liberties of millions of military retirees.
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The intimidation was the point to get other people beyond
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us to think twice about speaking out. But the real
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question is if the President can do this to us
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sitting senators, who else can he do it to, Slotkin
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said on Wednesday and on the front page. Much of
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DHS runs out of money at the ICE negotiation's fault
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them Democrats refused to fund the department without new restrictions
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on federal immigration agents. By Riley Began and Theodoric Mayo,
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much of the Department of Homeland Security ran out of
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money Saturday morning after negotiations stalled between the White House
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and congressional Democrats over new restrictions on federal immigration agents,
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and lawmakers left town without funding the department. The shutdown
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impacts about thirteen percent of the federal civilian workforce, although
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most of the affected DHS employees were required to keep
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working even if they are not being paid. Democrats demanded
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new restrictions on federal immigration agents in exchange for voting
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to fund DHF after Alex Pritty was killed last month
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in Minneapolis. But the shutdown does not halt immigration and
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customs enforcement or Customs and VODER protection operations because Republicans
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in Congress sent those agencies tens of millions of dollars
28:09
in extra funding last year. Instead, the brunt of the
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impact will fall on other agencies within DHS, a sprawling
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department that includes the Transportation Security Administration, which provides airport security,
28:26
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Coast Guard. Unlike
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in the final hours before many previous funding deadlines, most
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lawmakers were not in Washington on Friday trying to negotiate
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a last minute deal. The Senator journed Thursday for a
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week long recess after Democrats blocked consideration of a bill
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that would have funded DHS through September thirtieth, and some
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lawmakers in both parties immediately flew to Germany to attend
28:58
the Munich Security Conference Hoist. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat
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of New York, criticized Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Blue Louisiana,
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for adjourning the House rather than keeping lawmakers in Washington
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as negotiations continued. We've drawn a hard line in the
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sand on behalf of the American people, and we're not
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going to allow the Congress to cross it, Jeffreys told
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reporters Friday, Ice needs to be dramatically reformed, period full stop.
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican of South Dakota and
29:39
Senate Minority Leader Charles C. Schumann, Democrat of New York
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have told senators will return to Washington if a deal
29:46
is struck, and Johnson has told members not to go
29:50
on government funded trips over the break. Democrats sent the
29:55
White House a detailed proposal last week outlining their demands,
29:59
including tighter rules on warrants, a ban on federal immigration
30:04
agents wearing masks, and a requirement that they wear body cameras.
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The White House responded with a counterproposal Wednesday night, which
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Democrats dismissed as unserious. Jeffreys said Friday that he expected
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Democrats to send a response, but did not provide a timeline.
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President Donald Trump told reporters Friday, we're talking, but we
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have to protect law enforcement. I know what they want,
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I know what they can live with. The Democrats have
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gone crazy. The shutdown is the third time in at
30:42
least part of the federal government has run out of
30:45
money since Trump returned to office, but Congress has funded
30:51
every department except DHS through September thirtieth, limiting the scope
30:55
of this shutdown compared with the previous two. During a shutdown,
31:01
all federal functions necessary for public safety, national security, and
31:06
protecting government property may continue, though affected employees work without pay.
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Employees whose jobs are not considered essential are temporarily furloughed.
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The first missed pay period for DHS employees will be
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March third. DHS is not publicly released an updated plan
31:30
for how the agency would continue to operate during a shutdown,
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but its last shutdown plan, released in September, indicates that
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ninety one percent of its employees would continue to work
31:43
without pay. A DHS spokesperson said in a statement to
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The Washington Post that the agency's essential functions would continue
31:53
during the shutdown, but that many employees will be forced
31:57
to work without pay, putting stray on the front line
32:01
defenders of our nation. Russell Bote, the White House Budget Director,
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asked DHS and a memo Friday to execute plans for
32:13
an orderly shutdown. The administration, he added, will continue to
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seek good faith bipartisan solutions to complete the appropriations process
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while the agency is partly shuttered. As they prepared to
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leave for the week Thursday, both parties blame the other
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for the impending partial shutdown. Every intention of this gets
32:37
a step closer because I think the White House is
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giving more and more ground on some of these key issues,
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but so far they're not getting any kind of response
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from Democrats, Juon said, adding I think if people are
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operating in good faith and actually want a solution, that
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deal space is there. I think this can get done.
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Democrats refused to fund DHS passed Friday after federal immigration
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officials killed Pretty and another US citizen, Renee Good, in Minneapolis,
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during the largest immigration enforcement operation in the agency's history.
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They have argued they cannot send the agency more money
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and tell Congress enacts new restrictions. Schumer posted a video
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Friday showing federal immigration agents shoving people to the ground
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and pepper spraying them. This is why Democrats voted no
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on more funding for ICE, and we will continue to
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do so until ICE is reined in and the violence ends,
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he wrote on x The restrictions Democrats are seeking include
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requiring federal immigration agents to wear identification and body cameras
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and borring them from wearing masks and operating near schools,
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medical facilities. Churches, polling places, child care facilities, and courts.
34:07
Many Republicans have said there open to some of the
34:09
potential changes, but rejected calls for immigration officials to identify themselves,
34:15
arguing that it would make them easier doxing targets. Others
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have pushed back hard, arguing the Democrats of forcing a
34:25
shutdown over an issue on which Republicans believe they have
34:28
an advantage. The electrical cord that brought President Trump into
34:34
office both times was the open border's crowd and what
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they did to this country. The American people want deep
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rotations and not just of the worst of the worst.
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Senator Eric Schmidt, Republican of Missouri, said more than sixty
34:53
percent of people think the deployment of federal immigration agents
34:57
in US cities has gone too far. To a poll
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conducted early this month by a p norric and more
35:04
than half of respondents said Trump had gone too far
35:07
in his efforts to deport immigrants illegally living in the US.
35:13
Congress faced a similar situation late last year, when Republicans
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and Democrats deadlocked over expiring subsidies that lowered costs were
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Affordable Care Act health insurance plans without a deal in
35:27
place to preserve them, Senate Democrats refused to back new
35:30
spending bills, leading to the longest government shutdown in US history.
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That shutdown ended with a promise to vote on extending
35:39
the subsidies, which failed. DHS received one hundred and seventy
35:45
billion dollars through the tax and spending law that Republicans
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passed last year, including seventy five billion for ICE alone,
35:54
ensuring the agency could continue its controversial enforcement operations To
36:00
fight the funding lapse, Immigration agents in Minnesota have repeatedly
36:06
clashed with protesters and state and local officials since the
36:10
beginning of operations Metro Surge, which began in December, and
36:15
have been filmed using aggressive tactics against US citizens and
36:19
undocumented people without criminal records. Tom Homan, the Trump administration's
36:26
Borders are, said Thursday that the agency would end its
36:30
enforcement campaign in the Twin Cities, but Democratic senators said
36:34
that was not enough to persuade them to back off
36:37
their demands. I'm a little bit of a show me
36:41
the money kind of gal. Right now, I'm going to
36:44
see what's going to actually happen. But I understand that
36:49
I don't think that has any bearing on the negotiations.
36:54
The question of the negotiation is where the ICE is
36:57
going to continue to use these ealy and dangerous tactics.
37:02
Senator Tina Smith, Democrat of Minnesota, said on Thursday, I'm
37:10
going inside the paper for a rather fun article out
37:15
of England. A man was running from police. Eight lamas
37:23
caught him. They acted responsibly, efficiently in an organized manner.
37:31
Heidie Price said of her lamas, adding quite frankly, I
37:35
think they did pretty good police work. And there's a
37:38
picture of Heidi Price with one of her lamas snuggling
37:42
up to her. Maggie Penman wrote the article, Haidie Price
37:49
pulled up to her home last week after a long
37:52
day working as a psychiatric nurse and found her road
37:56
in Derbyshire, England, lit up by pols. When she got
38:02
out of her car, she saw officers and her partner,
38:05
Graham Aliva. I was met at the front door being
38:10
told Ma lamas were heroes, Price said. Oliva said he
38:15
had let their dogs out on their farm and was
38:19
alarmed to hear the illamas making warning cries in the distance.
38:23
He followed the noise to investigate the commotion. It's quite
38:28
a weird and haunting sound, oliver said, it sounds like
38:33
someone laughing. In their field, he found the family's eight
38:38
lamas encircling a man in a puffet black puffer jacket
38:43
who had apparently hopped the fence to get onto the farm.
38:47
Oliva would learn the man was using it as a
38:50
cutthrough to evade police. The man seemed terrified, oliver added,
38:57
I wanted to know what he was doing in my field,
39:00
Olivera said, and he said he had come through a
39:04
hole in the fence. Aliba asked the man to walk
39:08
to the fence with him and show him where there
39:10
was a hole, worried that one of the animals they
39:14
also have cattle and peacocks, would escape there. When they
39:18
got back to the fence, though, the man unexpectedly scrambled
39:23
over it and ran, Olivera said. Alva said he had
39:28
noticed police in the area and wondered if there was
39:31
a connection to the fence jumper. So I went in
39:34
their direction, waved the torch that's the flashlight attracted their
39:39
attention and asked if they were after a chap in
39:42
a black puffer jacket, and they said yes they were,
39:45
and not to approach him because he could be dangerous.
39:48
Alva said the man had allegedly stolen packets of tobacco
39:53
from a woman nearby. Oliver pointed the police in the
39:57
right direction and he was soon rested. In a statement,
40:03
Derbyshire Police officers arrived on the scene shortly after getting
40:07
a call at six pm on February second, we recalled
40:12
reports of a woman having a number of packets of
40:15
tobacco stolen from her in the Mansfield Road South Normanton area.
40:22
The statement said the suspect, who was in his thirties,
40:26
was charged with theft and has been released on bail.
40:29
According to a statement, police did not release more information
40:33
or the man's name. Price and Oliver both said they
40:38
did not have a more detailed account of a crime,
40:41
and they also did not know why police said the
40:44
suspect might be dangerous. Price said her lamas should get
40:49
formal recognition for their assistance in the arrest, even if
40:53
the crime was petty theft. And there is a picture
40:56
of four the Lambas lined up with the fifth one
40:59
in the background, and there's a picture. They're brown with
41:03
their high necks and ears pointed forward. They acted pretty responsibly,
41:09
efficiently in an organized manner. Price said quite Frankly, I
41:13
think they did pretty good police work. Llamas are often
41:18
used by farmers as guard animals for flocks of sheep
41:22
or chickens because they are instinctively protective, galloping toward any
41:29
unfamiliar person or animal and surrounding them. There are around
41:35
six feet tall, and they're pretty intimidating, Price said, though
41:40
she added they wouldn't actually attack anyone. Their only defense
41:45
mechanism is spitting. Price noted this isn't the family's first
41:50
farm adventure. Their cows have briefly run off, their bulls
41:55
have slipped out, and Alama once escaped and tried to
41:58
get on a bus. Price and Oliva reluctantly rescued the
42:03
a llama several years ago when a friend of theirs
42:06
was struggling to find a home for them. The couple
42:09
didn't plan to keep them, but as they started to
42:12
work with the animals and train them, they grew attached.
42:16
Price also has trained them as therapy animals for neurodivergent patients.
42:22
They are absolutely incredible animals, Price said. They even come
42:27
in the house when they're ill and at Christmas. They're
42:31
really gentle. They're very intelligent. Price added, given how trendable
42:37
llamas are, Price say, perhaps they could even be more
42:40
suitable for police works than dogs. Mine had the strategic positioning,
42:46
the calm eye contact the patients of saints, and they
42:50
had a non aggressive approach and they still managed to
42:54
catch a criminal without restraining anyone, Price said. Price said
42:59
that herlamas have spent some time with police officers before
43:03
perhaps in forming their lama crime fighting instincts. The lamas
43:08
have escaped a couple of times and the police have responded,
43:12
so I reckon they're probably considering themselves even She added.
43:18
We learned the difference between lamas and alpacas when we
43:22
were in South America a few years ago, and alpacas
43:27
have the wonderful wool for sweaters and they are very soft.
43:33
But their differences are primarily in size, ear shape, and
43:38
facial features, with llamas being nearly twice as large as
43:43
alpacas and they have long, curved, banana shaped ears and
43:48
long faces, while alpacas have short, straight, spear shaped ears
43:53
and a smashed face. But their wool, the alpaca wool delightful.
44:01
Going back to Minneapolis, Don Lemon indictment video appears to
44:07
contradict Key claims the FOMA CNN ANCA now, an independent journalist,
44:15
faces criminal charges after covering a protest at a church
44:19
in Saint Paul last month. By Samuel Oakford. Video footage
44:27
appears to contradict key aspects of a federal indictment's description
44:32
a form of CNN ANKA Don Lemon's actions that are
44:36
protest last month inside a church in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
44:40
According to a review by The Washington Post, Lemon, another
44:45
independent journalist, and several protesters are all charged with the
44:49
same two criminal accounts. They are accused of conspiring to
44:54
deprived congregants of their religious rights and of interfering with
44:59
access to a place of worship. The January twenty ninth
45:04
indictment calls the nine defendants' agitators and says they ended
45:10
the church in a coordinated takeover style attack in multiple instances.
45:16
It describes the alleged conduct of the two journalists and
45:20
the protesters collectively. It does not characterize Lemon or Georgia
45:25
Fort as journalist, though it notes that he was live
45:29
streaming video on his online program, The Don Lemon Show,
45:34
and that Fort, acting separately, conducted an interview at one point,
45:41
and there are pictures of Don Lemon a formacynn ANKA
45:45
interviewing church goers and a protester and a pottest past
45:51
at City's Church in Saint Paul, Minneapolis on January the eighteenth,
45:56
and he has a microphone in his hand. Journalists have
46:01
a long history of embedding with protesters without facing charges,
46:05
but being present as a reporter does not guarantee immunity,
46:09
according to experts. At least one independent journalist who is
46:13
inside the Capitol during the January six, twenty twenty one
46:17
assault was later convicted of trespassing and other misdemeanor crimes.
46:24
Expert said that if Lemen was operating as a journalist
46:28
during the January eighteen protest at City's Church in Saint Paul,
46:32
rather than as a participant, that could undermine accusations that
46:36
he was part of a conspiracy or that he intended
46:40
to interfere with protective rights. During the approximately forty five
46:45
minutes women live streamed at the church, he conducted interviews
46:49
and repeatedly identified himself as a reporter while also voicing
46:54
sympathy for the protester's cause. The indictment notes that Lemon,
46:59
whose anti Trump commentary has made him a favorite target
47:03
of the political right, addressed his livestream viewers for a
47:08
parking lot where protesters were gathering ahead of what he
47:11
called clandestine operation. He said he was not disclosing where
47:17
they had assembled or where they were going. He was
47:20
driven to the church by a college student who was
47:23
working with him that day as a producer, an individual
47:27
who footage shows later chanted with protesters inside the church. Lemon,
47:34
the producer, and three of the other demonstrators pleaded not
47:37
guilty to both charges in federal court in Saint Paul
47:41
on Friday. After Lemon's arrest, His attorney, Abe D. Lowell
47:47
said in a statement, Don has been a journalist for
47:51
thirty years and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was
47:56
no different than what he has always done. Lowelled comment
48:00
for this story in the live stream fort posted before
48:05
her arrest. She said, it's hard to understand how we
48:10
have constitutional rights when you can just be arrested for
48:14
being a member of the press. A spokeswoman for the
48:17
Justice Department declined to comment for this story. Court filings
48:22
indicate that investigators reviewed multiple live streams, as well as
48:27
footage from the church that has not been made public.
48:31
Don Lehmann participated in the disruption of a worship service
48:35
on private property. It was asked to leave, said Greg Scott,
48:40
a representative of True North Legal, a law firm for
48:44
the church, adding that Leomen remained in the sanctuary for
48:47
some time and went on to harass congregants outside the sanctuary.
48:55
Lemen allegedly oppressed, threatened, and intimidated perission. The indictment alleges
49:03
that Leomen fought and the seven other defendants oppressed, threatened,
49:08
and intimidated people in the church by physically occupying most
49:14
of the main isle and rows of chairs near the
49:16
front of the church, engaging in menacing and threatening behavior.
49:22
The protesters targeted the church that day because they believed
49:26
a pastor there also served as a local official with
49:30
the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Video shows women entering
49:35
the church alone shortly before eleven a m. A live
49:40
stream from Black Lives Matter Minnesota captures women standing at
49:45
the back of the sanctuary when the protest begins. About
49:49
two minutes later, he Soue moves forward to where the
49:53
demonstrators are gathered and can be heard on his speed
49:56
narrating the events for his audience. Live stream shows protesters
50:02
chanting anti islogans and in some cases confronting parishioners. In
50:08
one instance, a protester one of the other defendants confronts
50:13
a nearby parishioner about the immigration crackdown in Minnesota. Why
50:18
are you ignoring the crimes of humanity that are happening
50:21
in the city every day, he says, his voice raised.
50:25
Lemon remains toward the front of the church, sometimes off
50:28
to the side, and sometimes near the main isle, for
50:32
roughly sixteen minutes. For less than half of that time,
50:36
he is off camera, but his feed remains live with
50:39
the audio from his microphone. His feed drops out entirely
50:43
on several occasions for a few seconds at a time.
50:47
The videos in audio reviewed by the Post contained no
50:50
indication that Leomen threatened church congregants or chanted or yelled.
50:56
I'm not a part of the group. I'm just here
50:59
photographing and I'm a journalist, women can be heard telling
51:03
someone a little under three minutes after the protest started.
51:07
He then exits the crowd, squeezing between rose as he
51:11
heads to the side of the sanctuary. Lemon's producer of
51:15
the day, Jerome Richardson, who is among those charged, can
51:18
be seen engaging in call and response with protesters on
51:23
his speed Leomen speaks about how harshly people are being
51:28
treated on the streets and about what he says violations
51:32
of due process of the protest. He says, you have
51:36
to be willing to go into places and disrupt and
51:39
make people uncomfortable. That is what this country is about.
51:44
Lemon accused of trying to oppress and intimidate a pastor.
51:50
The indictment alleges that Lemon, Fort and Richardson largely surrounded
51:55
a pastor standing close to him in an attempt to
51:59
oppress an intimidate him, and physically obstructed his freedom of
52:02
movement while Lemon peppered him with questions to promote the
52:07
operation's message. After cutting it briefly, Lemon's feed restarts when
52:13
he's standing to the pastor's right. The micro fie up
52:16
to the pastor's face and the camera operator is in
52:19
front of the pastor, and there's a picture just showing
52:23
that the pastor, Jonathan Parnell, is not the past of
52:28
protesters believed work for ice. Fort soon approaches and stands
52:33
on Parnell's left, filming as she holds out her microphone.
52:38
Footage reviewed by The post shows Richardson standing near the
52:41
pastor and Lemon before the camera pans away. Parnell tells
52:46
Lemon that demonstrators were asked to leave but would not,
52:49
and he calls the protest shameful. After a few questions,
52:54
Parnell attempts to draw the conversation to a close, telling
52:58
Lemon he needs to take care of my flock, my family.
53:03
When Lemon asks him another question, the pastor appears to
53:06
place his right hand on Lemon's side. I want to
53:09
be respectful, but please don't push me, Lemon tells him,
53:13
and Parnell lifts his hand from the reporter's side. The
53:17
Justice Department indictment alleges with that explanation that it was
53:21
Lemon who caused the pastor's right hand to graze Leomen.
53:26
Lemon presses ahead. He asked Parnell if he tried to
53:30
talk to the protesters, which the pastor responds, no, one
53:34
is willing to talk. I got I have to take
53:37
care of my church and my family, so ask that
53:39
you actually would also leave this building unless you're here
53:43
to worship. I always worship. I am a Christian, women says,
53:48
he thanks Parnell and steps aside, the pastor walks away,
53:52
ending the interview, which lasted for less than two minutes.
53:56
In the video and audio reviewed by the Post, at
53:59
no point does minipia to obstruct the pastor's movement. Scott,
54:03
the representative at the church's legal firm, said, it is
54:07
indisputable that women invaded the pastor's space while his church
54:11
was being invaded. There is no world in which the
54:14
aggressor and the accosta can be flipped here. The charge
54:18
of interfering with access to a place of worship was
54:21
brought under a rarely used provision in the Face Act,
54:25
enacted in nineteen ninety four primarily to combat violence, threats
54:30
and blockades targeting abortion clinics and other reproductive health facilities.
54:37
Judy Approbaum, who as counsel did then Senator Edwin M.
54:42
Kennedy was the lead congressional staffer in drafting the legislation,
54:47
reviewed the live stream footage for the Post. She said
54:51
the law defines physical obstruction as preventing someone from entering
54:55
or exiting a place of worship and making it unreasonably
54:59
difficult or hazardous, adding that's the tall order, and I
55:03
don't think the video showed that seven minutes after he
55:08
was asked to leave, Women exits the sanctuary and begins
55:12
interviewing people outside. At the entrance of the church, Leomen
55:18
allegedly obstructed congregants leaving the church. The indictment alleges that
55:23
Leomen confronted some congregants and physically obstructed them as they
55:29
tried to exit the church building to challenge them with
55:33
facts about US immigration policy. The video shows women holding
55:38
the door for people who are leaving. One parishioner walks
55:42
out and briefly answers questions from women who identifies themselves
55:46
as a journalist. In the conversation before the church boy
55:49
says I don't want to interview right now. Leomen says, okay,
55:54
thank you, I appreciate it. Leomen steps inside the church's
55:58
first set of doors, and which is a worshiper who
56:01
appears to be leaving. He asks, can I talk to you, sir?
56:05
What do you think of this? The man responds that
56:08
he agrees with the right to protest, but disagrees with
56:11
the demonstrator's approach. As protesters begin to stream, the man
56:17
also tells women that he believes Trump's immigration operation is
56:22
keeping Americans safe. Do you believe that, Leomen ask, honestly,
56:27
let me talk to you, just on the facts. You're
56:30
not a journalist, the man responds, walking away. Lemon follows
56:35
him outside, attempting to continue the conversation, saying that undocumented
56:40
people and immigrants commit far less crime than American citizens.
56:45
We're done here, the man says. Leomen says into his microphone,
56:51
That's the interesting thing about this is that they won't
56:54
listen to facts. The man overhears in energects no, no, no, no.
57:00
He accuses women opposing as a journalist and not sharing
57:03
the facts from both sides. Lemon tries to continue the conversation,
57:08
trailing him outside until the man walks away, though women
57:13
persists in his questioning and has a disagreement with the parishioner,
57:17
and no time does the man appear in the footage
57:19
to be physically prevented from leaving the church. There is
57:23
clearly no physical obstruction of that exit, said Applebaum, who
57:29
later served as director of the Federal Legislative Legislation Clinic
57:34
at the Georgetown University Law Center. And I don't see
57:38
any use of force nor any threat of force by
57:43
Don Lemon in my last bit, mister Maclamore, who died
57:50
February third at age ninety, was touring the world with
57:55
the Fifth Dimension, and he always had a microphone in
57:58
one hand and his camera in the other. And mister
58:02
Maclamore died February third at age ninety was best known
58:06
as founding member of the Fifth Dimension, the genre blending
58:11
musical group behind the cheery chart topping songs like Aquarius
58:18
Let the Sunshine in a metal of d from the
58:21
rock musical hair. In an era of physical unrest and
58:26
racial unrest, physical violence, he and his fellow singers honed
58:30
a fizzy style they called Champagne soul, reaching a post
58:35
hippie audience. This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius,
58:40
they sang, while fusing jazz, pop and R and B.
58:45
And with that, I closed today's reading of the Washington
58:49
Post for Valentine's Day, Saturday, February the fourteenth of twenty
58:54
twenty six. I hope you have a good day. Please
58:58
keep on listening to RADIOI throughout the day, and I'll
59:01
be back next week. Bye.