Ukraine continues to send a much different message than what US officials are saying concerning a potential Russian invasion. On Sunday, an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a diplomatic solution to the current tensions with Russia is more likely than a military conflict. “An honest assessment of the situation suggests that the chance of finding a diplomatic solution for de-escalation is still substantially higher than the threat of further escalation,” said presidency advisor Mykhailo Podolyak. On the same day, Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security...
de-escalation
Lawsuit Update: Woman, Given Speeding Ticket on Way to Work, Shot By Cop
In June of 2020, family and friends of Hannah Fizer, 25, were shocked to learn that their beloved daughter and friend had been killed during a stop over an alleged speeding violation. Then, four months later, they learned there would be no justice and the officer who killed the unarmed woman as she sat in her vehicle—was back on the job. Since then, Fizer’s father, John Fizer, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Pettis County seeking damages against Pettis County Deputy Jordan Schutte. The lawsuit argues the shooting was an unjustified, an excessive use of force and that Schutte did not...
Mom Sues Cop Who Shot Her Daughter in the Head During a School Fight
The family of Mona Rodriguez was shocked and heartbroken in September after learning their 18-year-old daughter was shot in the head by a Long Beach Unified School District police officer. Rodriguez, who was unarmed and presenting no threat to the cop who shot her, was kept on life support for several days after the shooting until she was taken off life support on October 5 and her organs donated. The shooting was captured on video and was apparently so over the top that the cop who shot her, Long Beach school safety officer Eddie F. Gonzalez, 51, was immediately fired and subsequently...
Gaza Ceasefire to Take Effect Friday Morning
On Thursday night, Israel’s security cabinet voted unanimously in favor of a ceasefire to end the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza that has been raging since last Monday. The ceasefire was brokered by Egypt and is set to take effect early Friday morning. A Hamas official told Reuters that Israel and Hamas will enter a “mutual and simultaneous” Gaza truce at 2 am on Friday. According to Ynet, one Israeli official said the truce was an agreement on “quiet in exchange for quiet.” Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya reported that Egypt was sending monitors to Gaza. Israeli airstrikes continued to pound...
Amid Gaza Killings, Biden Approves $735 Million More Weapon Sales to Israel
A report from The Washington Post revealed that the Biden administration approved a $735 million arms sale to Israel. Congress was officially notified of the sale on May 5th, less than one week before Israel began its latest bombing campaign in Gaza, which, so far, has taken the lives of over 200 Palestinians, including over 60 children. A congressional aide told The Hill that the bulk of the $735 million deal is for Boeing-made Joint Direct Attack Munitions, which can convert unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions. U.S. arms sales and military aid to Israel are nothing new, but...
Israel Vows Further Escalation in Bombing of Gaza
Israel continued its bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip through Tuesday and into Wednesday morning as the death toll continues to mount. Gaza’s health ministry said early Wednesday that so far, at least 35 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, including 12 children. Israel started bombing Gaza on Monday, which was framed as retaliation for rocket fire from Gaza that did minimal damage. After the first series of Israeli airstrikes targeted residential neighborhoods and killed 20 Palestinians, including 10 children, the rocket fire out of Gaza has stepped up. According...
Cop Walks Up, Sucker Punches Random Teen
On the day he was attacked by those he has been told are their for his protection, high school sophomore, Carlos Rodriguez had committed no crime, was not suspected of committing a crime, and was simply being a kid. However, his innocent, compliance with officer orders, and his young age were no defense against the brutal and despicable actions of Harris County sheriff’s deputy Bert Dillow. The incident originally took place on March 26 and despite video evidence capturing the unprovoked assault on a child, Dillow remained a deputy for over a month and was only just fired last week. He...
Denver’s Replacement of Cops With Mental Health Workers Has a 100% Success Rate
As The Free Thought Project has previously reported, the Virginia-based Treatment Advocacy Center, an organization dedicated to eliminating the barriers faced by those with severe mental illnesses, released a jaw-dropping report in regard to police interactions with the mentally ill. In their report titled, Overlooked in the Undercounted: The Role of Mental Illness in Fatal Law Enforcement Encounters, researchers discovered that people with an untreated mental illness are16 times more likely to be killed during an interaction with police than anyone else. According to the study, by all...
Ratcheting Down
Wednesday morning Trump announced new sanctions on Iran rather than sending in the B-52s in response to Iran's missile attack response to America's killing of their top general Qassem Soleimani. So that's wrong but sure could be worse. Then he declared that the UN Security Council powers must help him negotiate a brand new better nuclear deal to replace the last one; a total non-starter, and he must know that. So that just amounts to filler and bluster. Trump then emphasized America's energy independence from the Middle East. A great line about how now we're leaving would have gone great...
News Roundup 1/6/20
US News Mayor Pete is pushing for the US to take action in Syria. Daniel Larison explains why Mayor Pete’s ‘do-somethingism’ is a foolish policy. [Link] The Department of Homeland Security says there are no credible threats to the US homeland. [Link] Soleimani Assassination Trump said Soleimani was killed because he had killed Americans and planned to kill more. After the killing of Soleimani, Secretary of State Pompeo said the US carried out the attack to prevent an inanimate attack that endangered 100s of US soldiers. Pompeo said the US is committed to de-escalation. [Link] Iran says...