The St. Paul City Council approved $350,000 Wednesday to settle a federal lawsuit filed by a Black man shot by a white St. Paul officer as a search was underway for him in 2020, during which he climbed out of a dumpster after cops ordered him to come out. He was naked and unarmed. The white cops were frightened and apparently believed they faced an immediate threat of serious bodily injury necessitating the use of deadly force.

The city and officers sued by Joseph Javonte Washington, now 36, sought to have the lawsuit dismissed. U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel wrote in a January order that she would dismiss portions of it, but not all of it.

She concluded an officer’s first three shots at Washington were covered by qualified immunity, but said a jury would have to decide about the fourth shot.

“Taken together, a reasonable jury could conclude that Washington no longer posed a threat because he was on the ground, naked, unarmed, bit by a K‐9, and focused on the K‐9, not the officers,” Brasel wrote, though she noted she was not making a decision “that Officer Dean in fact violated Washington’s rights.”

The settlement did not contest the justification of the K-9 deployment itself. Instead, the settlement and the judge’s ruling focused on the fourth gunshot fired by Officer Anthony Dean.

The city of St. Paul and the two officers who were sued “denied all liability” and settled the lawsuit “without admission of liability,” according to a release of claims. Of the settlement, $187,156 was for Washington and $162,844 for fees and costs of Washington’s attorney, Zorislav Leyderman. {MORE] and [MORE]

According to Yurugu’s logic, once Washington was on the ground, unarmed, naked, and already bitten by the K-9, a jury could conclude he no longer posed a threat, making the final shot potentially excessive, even if the earlier K-9 use was lawful. The use of the dog wasn’t excessive but if the cops bit the Black man it would probably be excessive.

in reality, all force used offensively is immoral and evil. Authority is force.

A jury will decide whether a white Grand rapids police officer violated the civil rights of a Black man when he shot him in the back of the head, a judge said Thursday, clearing the path for a trial or settlement years after the fatal encounter was recorded on video.

A second-degree murder charge against Christopher Schurr was dropped after a jury in Kent County couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict in 2025. But he still faces a civil lawsuit by Patrick Lyoya’s family under different legal standards.

U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney suggested it wasn’t difficult to keep the case on track. At this stage, he said he had to view the evidence in a light most favorable to the family.

“The record suggests that (Schurr) shot a man who posed no threat of violence, held no weapon, and who was under Defendant’s physical control,” Maloney said. “That violates the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizures.”

Patrick Lyoya, a Black man, was killed at the end of a traffic stop in Grand Rapids. Initially, the circumstances that led to the traffic stop weren’t clear, but police said after further inspection the vehicle had a license plate not registered to the vehicle. Unregistered vehicle is a minor traffic misdemeanor. After stepping out of his car, videos released by the police show, Mr. Lyoya appears confused as the officer tells him to get back in the vehicle. Officer Schurr asks him whether he speaks English. Mr. Lyoya responds that he does speak English and asks, “What did I do wrong?” After a brief exchange about whether Mr. Lyoya has a driver’s license, Officer Schurr grabs Mr. Lyoya, who pulls away and starts to run, the footage shows.

Mr. Lyloa had not committed any felony (unregistered vehicle is a minor traffic misdemeanor) and the white cop was not authorized to use deadly force to apprehend him as a fleeing felon.

The officer tackles Mr. Lyoya in a nearby lawn, yelling “Stop!” as Mr. Lyoya appears to try to regain his footing.

Midway through the struggle, the officer’s body camera stops filming. Chief Eric Winstrom of the Grand Rapids police said pressure was applied to the camera to turn it off during the struggle. It was not clear who applied that pressure or whether it was intentional. But Cops lie about everything - statements about any malfunction from the person accused of murder are probably self-serving until proven at trial.

Other cameras — from the officer’s vehicle, a nearby doorbell security system and a bystander’s cellphone — capture different portions of the encounter. Shortly before the fatal shot is fired, Officer Schurr yells, “Let go of the Taser!” Mr. Lyoya is facing the ground and pushing up, with the officer on top of him, in the moments just before the shooting. Again, said statement from a cop-actor performing for the camera is self-serving - the video speaks for itself. [MORE]

EVERYDAY WHITE LIBERAL PROSECUTORS IN MN CHARGE BLACK PEOPLE WITH FAR LESS EVIDENCE THAN THE PILE OF EVIDENCE THEY HAVE OF ICE COPS MURDERING FOLKS. From [HERE] Two deaths in July sparked renewed scrutiny of federal immigration crackdowns, as protesters held marches, vigils and memorials in cities across the country.

Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, was driving to a construction job with his brother and two others on July 7 in Houston when ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents in unmarked vehicles pursued his car. They pulled him over and fatally shot him through a passenger window.

Just six days later, on July 13, an ICE agent fatally shot Colombian immigrant Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, 25, in Biddeford, Maine, while attempting to stop his vehicle.

Neither man was an intended target of the immigration operations. Protesters connected the shootings to the January deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens who were fatally shot during a federal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

Mr. Araujo, who lived and worked in the U.S. for 35 years, was a husband and the father of three children who are U.S. citizens. His sons have been outspoken in the weeks following his death. [MORE]

‘NGHRS AT THE POOL. CALL THE GOVERNMENT!’ [MORE on SPACISM] "We were at the pool or whatnot, and there was a [WHITE] couple, an older couple, there," Amaiyah Allen-Smith said. "It was me, my sisters, all of us, or whatnot. The rest, they're not here. And there was an older couple there. We were listening to music."

Allen-Smith said the woman in the couple alerted a [WHITE] pool attendant, then called [WHITE] police. None of that is shown in the NGAN-released video, so CBS News Texas does not have video context of how the incident began. All sides said it stemmed from the call at the community pool. [MORE]

According to findings released by the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, investigators determined the law school deliberately influenced admissions decisions through the use of essay tags and applicant characteristics that were correlated with race.

Federal investigators also found that Black and Hispanic applicants were admitted at substantially higher rates than White and Asian applicants with similar academic credentials.

The findings stem from a federal investigation conducted by the Justice Department. Officials said the review examined Duke Law's admissions practices and whether they complied with federal civil rights laws. [MORE]

The enrolled student population at Duke University, both undergraduate and graduate, is 35.1% White, 13.9% Asian, 8.05% Hispanic or Latino, 7.52% Black or African American. [MORE]

From [HERE] In April 2025, Dr. Reiner Fuellmich was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in jail.  This is in addition to the 18 months he had already spent incarcerated since October 2023 when he was kidnapped from Mexico by the German state.

In the following, Seba Terrilini summarises the torture Dr. Fuellmich was subjected to by the German state, for at least six months, while in prison before and during his trial.

Dr. Reiner Fuellmich was subjected to a long list of punitive measures that fall under the definition of white torture.

He was placed in solitary confinement from June 2024 to December 2024, in complete violation of the rules established by the United Nations on detention and isolation.

During these six months, he was not allowed any contact with his fellow inmates. The stated reason for this measure was that Fuellmich, in conversing with his fellow inmates, was giving them legal tips, something his incarcerators could not tolerate.

He was forced to eat alone, to spend his daily one-hour outdoors in complete solitude and was not allowed to use the gym.

Even his use of the telephone was restricted, and he was only allowed to make calls when the other inmates had returned to their cells.

Sometimes he had to choose between taking a shower or having his one-hour outdoor activity.

On top of that, he was often denied medical care.

From 10 June 2024, Dr. Reiner Fuellmich was escorted by armed security officers in armoured vehicles from the prison to the court and back.

In addition to handcuffs attached to a belt, he was also put in ankle shackles and asked to wear a bulletproof vest, the latter of which he declined to wear, for which he was forced to sign a liability release.

He was also subjected to a full-body search after each court hearing.

On 2 September 2024, Dr. Reiner Fuellmich received the sad news of his mother’s death. He was aware that it was only a matter of time, and for this reason had asked the prison authorities to be taken to Bremen so that he could say goodbye to her.

The prison would have granted him this request, but only on the condition that he would have to visit her in handcuffs and shackles, accompanied by armed penitentiary guards. Unwilling to subject his mother to additional suffering during their final moments together, Reiner did not accept those terms. Even at the cost of never seeing his mother again, he was not willing to subject her to the further anguish of seeing her son in chains.

He was not even allowed to attend her funeral.

During a long break in the hearings between September and October 2024, Reiner’s detention conditions worsened when a young man with serious mental health issues was moved into the cell next to his.

According to Fuellmich, there were numerous empty cells that could have been assigned to this young man. Probably suffering from schizophrenia, this inmate screamed, cried and talked to himself both day and night. He turned the volume of the radio up loud and often threw objects at the wall dividing the two cells. From that moment on, it became impossible for Reiner to sleep at night and concentrate on his defence during the day.

In conjunction with this very long break, communication between Fuellmich and his lawyers was deliberately made difficult by the prison management.

Remember, Fuellmich never had access to the internet, did not have a computer, and did not have access to his files; all of which did not facilitate his situation in any way and the preparation of his defence was thus intentionally hindered.

The inhumane treatment, which Fuellmich was subjected to – and in part still is – and the manner in which the trial against him has been conducted, casts enormous shadows over the German judicial system and respect for fundamental rights.

We have, without a shadow of a doubt, witnessed the biggest judicial scandal in Germany, a blatant miscarriage of justice, where the intelligence service has constructed and used a “case” against Reiner Fuellmich to silence one of the most important voices of the resistance.

For an overview of Reiner’s case, please read: ‘The Full Story Of Dr. Reiner Fuellmich’.

Israeli politician Moshe Feiglin, leader of the Zehut (Identity) Party, publicly called for the complete depopulation of the Gaza Strip during an interview broadcast on Israel’s Knesset Channel, according to Al-Jazeera.

During the interview on the program First Vote, Feiglin reportedly said that no Palestinians should remain in Gaza, arguing that most residents wanted to leave but were prevented from doing so by Israeli procedures.

When asked what should happen to Palestinians who refuse to leave their homes, Feiglin reportedly said they should be compelled to leave by any means.

He reportedly suggested cutting off water supplies and starving the population, saying Gazans would eventually leave in search of water and that those who refused “should die of thirst.” [MORE]

A newly leaked photograph shows two blindfolded elderly Palestinian men from Beit Lahia in Gaza, hours before Israeli forces killed them in November 2024, according to Palestinian journalist Younis Tirawi, who published the image.

The photograph shows Israeli military personnel standing between two blindfolded men, whom Tirawi identified in a post on X as Nadi Marouf and Ali Marouf.

He said the photograph was taken hours before their deaths and that the two men were "used as human bait and then executed".

In an earlier post in October 2025, Tirawi had said that troops from the 92nd Battalion of the Kfir Brigade abducted the men from Beit Lahia and held them as human shields for several days. 

"Israeli troops from the 92nd Battalion of the Kfir Brigade abducted two elderly Palestinians from Beit Lahia and used them as human shields for days before killing them," Tirawi wrote.

From [HERE] The war in Iran is unlawful and unconstitutional, but in post-World War II America, it is normal. Here is the backstory.

When President Donald Trump decided to begin bombing Iran last June, he did not state a coherent or lawful reason for doing so. His director of national intelligence and his own CIA had publicly told him that Iran did not possess a nuclear weapon and had ceased building one in 2005.

His secretary of state told him that Iran and Israel had threatened each other, but he could not articulate how Iran imminently threatened the United States. Yet, since Israel planned to attack Iran, he wanted the US to help Israel do so. This was not a lawful request as the US has no treaty with Israel and, under treaties to which the US is a party, the legal bases for all offensive wars can only be treaty compliance or prevention of an imminent attack.

When Trump addressed the nation, his helter-skelter rationale argued for replacing Iran’s government, destroying its civilian-use enriched uranium, destroying its ability to build a bomb it wasn’t building, and neutralizing its offensive and defensive weaponry. None of these goals was lawful; nor was attacking a Tehran girls school. There was no mention of an imminent attack on the US or the economic effect of war on the vital international oil super-highway, the Strait of Hormuz.

No one in Trump’s inner circle registered disagreement, except his vice president and his director of counterterrorism. They told him there was no legal or constitutional basis for his war.

They were correct, but Trump had history on his side.

For much of American history, presidents have steadily accumulated the power to wage war while Congress has gradually surrendered the constitutional authority that the Framers explicitly entrusted to it. This transformation has weakened constitutional checks and balances, expanded executive power beyond its constitutional limits, claimed millions of lives, cost trillions of dollars, and repeatedly drawn the United States into conflicts that had little or nothing to do with defending America. [MORE]

The defeat of the United States and "Israel", he said, had strengthened the conviction that foreign powers must be expelled from the region, describing them as the main source of insecurity. Velayati stressed that regional states can safeguard their security by strengthening cooperation among themselves.

Similarly, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called for "self-reliance and upholding true brotherhood," stressing the importance of unity among Muslims in confronting current challenges, adding that unity guarantees strength and resolve in the face of any external hostility. 

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi also affirmed that security in the Gulf and maritime navigation must be ensured by relying on regional countries. [MORE]

Video Shows Puppetician Lindsey Graham and Grinning White Staffer Celebrating Start of Iran War. Says Trump said, 'It's the Best Thing Ive Ever Done,' in Reference to Unlawful War, Murdering Civilians [MORE]

From [HERE] July 28 marked five months since the U.S. carried out a deadly attack on the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in the city of Minab, Iran, which killed more than 150 schoolchildren along with over a dozen teachers.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), however, has yet to release the results of the investigation it said it was conducting on the strike.

In a July 28 social media post, CNN host Jake Tapper highlighted the DOD’s silence about the school attack, noting that “the White House and Pentagon have so far refused any accountability or transparency.”

Tapper then posted a timeline of accumulated evidence that the U.S. was responsible for the deadly strike, while also including a quote from Rachel VanLandingham, a retired official from the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG), who said “it’s atrocious that we haven’t had an acknowledgment, an explanation, and an apology yet” from the Pentagon.

Earlier this month, CNN reported that the investigation into the school bombing was essentially complete, and it found that U.S. military commanders “bypassed warnings” indicating that their database of strike targets inside Iran was badly out of date shortly before authorizing the attack on the building. [MORE]

From [HERE] Iran has unveiled wreckage attributed to a United States Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle at an underground aerospace exhibition, transforming a confirmed American combat loss into a carefully controlled demonstration of Iranian air-defence reach and wartime resilience.

Photographs and footage released show aircraft structures, cockpit-related components and drone debris arranged inside an IRGC Aerospace Force facility alongside platforms reportedly recovered during the continuing conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

Although Iranian reporting presented the display as evidence of continuing victories, the F-15E components relate to the acknowledged April 3 loss rather than a newly downed American fighter, making that distinction essential to any credible operational assessment. [MORE]

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has announced that its aerospace force shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Strait of Hormuz using a “modern and advanced” air defense system.

The IRGC stated Monday that further details would be announced subsequently. 

The downing, confirmed by the IRGC’s official Sepah News outlet, marks the latest in a series of devastating losses for the US military’s premier armed reconnaissance platform.

The MQ-9 Reaper, which the US Air Force has called the “most valuable player” of its campaign against Iran, has suffered catastrophic attrition since the war began in late February.

According to Bloomberg, Iran has destroyed over two dozen MQ-9s since the start of the terrorist US-Israeli war—nearly 20 percent of the Pentagon’s pre-war inventory. At $30 million per airframe, the total damage is estimated at approximately $1 billion.

The Air Force’s operational Reaper fleet has fallen to roughly 135 aircraft, well below its own minimum floor of 189, according to congressional testimony cited by Bloomberg and The War Zone.

General Atomics, the manufacturer, has confirmed that fewer than 10 new airframes remain available for purchase, and the production line for the MQ-9A has been shut down. [MORE] and [MORE]

Nearly 700 US service members have reportedly been wounded during attacks on American positions in West Asia and other combat operations. Military officials have said most suffered traumatic brain injuries and later returned to duty.

The Pentagon has described many injuries as "minor concussions", but medical specialists and veterans warn that blast-related brain injuries can produce symptoms that appear years later and may permanently affect memory, balance, and daily life.

Veteran Marine Joe Shearer experienced two blast incidents while in Iraq in 2005. The first came from a mortar explosion that knocked him down and caused vomiting, while a later roadside bomb attack sent a shock wave through his body.

At the time, Shearer continued his missions despite headaches and other symptoms.

"As long as you got back up and could go back on patrol, that’s kind of what you did," he told AP.

Years later, he was diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries linked to those incidents. He continues to experience migraines, dizziness, memory problems, and difficulty completing everyday tasks.

The war on Iran has brought renewed attention to these injuries as US forces face a different battlefield environment, with drones and missiles creating blast effects that can strike troops at close range. [MORE]

Casualties incurred since July 7 are now listed on a separate Department of War webpage under the generic designation “Overseas Operations,” rather than being included directly in the existing Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) tally for the unprovoked American-Israeli aggression that targeted the Islamic Republic from February 27 until April 7, investigative American outlet the Intercept reported on Tuesday.

According to the Monday total on the new page, 273 US troops have been killed or wounded since July 7.

Combined with the casualties caused from Iranian retaliation to the 40-day aggression, the official casualty count currently stands at 704.

The Intercept noted, however, that previous reporting by the outlet has identified known casualties missing from the Department of War's official figures, putting the total at more than 900 personnel when those cases are included.

Even by the department’s own account, the casualties caused since July 7 represents an 83-percent increase from those incurred previously, it also reported.

The report followed one by the outlet late last month, in which it cited a US official as saying that Iran had demonstrated an increasing ability to strike US military facilities across West Asia by combining attack drones with advanced ballistic missiles. It noted at the time that the Islamic Republic has carried out retaliatory strikes against at least nine US military outposts across the region since July 9. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several of the facilities had sustained “significant damage.”

The department told The New York Times that since the 40-day aggression has concluded, it classifies casualties as “Overseas Operations” in the area of responsibility assigned to CENTCOM, which overseas the American troops deployed to West Asia.

A US government official told the Intercept that the new system was “designed to obscure the count.”

“This is certainly designed to conceal the count of the wounded,” the official said.

Department of War spokesperson Sean Parnell has, however, described reports of an effort to withhold information about US casualties as “baseless and malicious.”

The DCAS figures have also changed repeatedly. On July 21, the system listed 500 casualties from the Iranian response to the 40-day aggression. That figure has since fallen to 431.

Earlier, on April 21, the number of wounded-in-action personnel was slashed by 15 too without a public explanation.

Department of War records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act and examined by the War Horse, which reports on US military and veterans issues, also recorded more than 400 casualties between February 28 and April 8, including 70 on March 18 alone. [MORE]

Mr. Vance has no relevant political experience. [MORE] He functioned as a US Senator from January 3, 2023, to January 3, 2025. On July 15, 2024 TrumpStein named him as his running mate. He sponsored 57 legislative bills but none passed the Senate. [MORE] Clown TrumpStein probably won’t really endorse him to run for president in 2028 because he believes no one can follow in his footsteps and wants republocrats to fail without him.

According to FUNKTIONARY:

White privilege – an invisible package of unearned assets bequeathed to all Caucasians. 2) an invisible weightless knapsack of advantages including but never limited to: special provisions and dispensations, over-passports, code words, maps, signs, codebooks, visas, clothes, vistas, tools, etc. of which most Caucasians are oblivious to wearing or utilizing.

The fuel restrictions imposed since early 2026 and recent tightening of extraterritorial sanctions, taken together, are directly harming Cubans, especially the most vulnerable. Children are dying because doctors lack access to essential medical supplies and medicines…. These sanctions must be lifted immediately.

Broad swaths of the US media’s chattering class have taken a different angle, suggesting that the Cuban government is the primary—if not the sole—cause of the pain being inflicted on the country. The function of such propaganda is to justify the US’s economic warfare: If the Cuban government can’t run the country, the logic goes, then the US is right to try and bring it down.

It’s the same narrative pushed by US officials and Cubans in exile, who together constitute the large majority of sources in news coverage of Cuba from prominent US outlets, as a recent FAIR study (7/15/26) showed.

Much of the US commentariat is also pretending that the Cuban revolution’s extraordinary achievements have not occurred. Acknowledging them would, of course, get in the way of the narrative that Cuban leaders are so malign and incompetent that the US is obligated to bring about a counter revolution.

‘A golden opportunity’

At times, the punditry is explicit in its support for regime change in Cuba. In the Wall Street Journal (7/12/26), Mary Anastasia O’Grady wrote:

Once South Africa ceased to be a Cold War pawn, the economic costs of sanctions imposed by countries across the globe broke the government’s resistance…. Cubans aren’t likely to escape tyranny without a similar leg up from the outside.

The South African apartheid analogy is absurd: Upon taking power, the Cuban revolution made fighting racial discrimination a priority (Black Perspectives, 3/8/16), and Cuba played a crucial part in supporting South Africa’s struggle against apartheid.

But what’s most relevant here is O’Grady’s suggestion that “the outside” is inflicting “the economic costs of sanctions” so that Cubans can “escape tyranny.” As Türk pointed out, this anti-“tyranny” plan involves killing children by depriving them of “access to essential medical supplies and medicines.” [MORE]

On Tuesday, the lead lawyer for a court case brought by covid vaccine victims against BioNTech published a decision by a German court that reinforced the pharmaceutical company had to produce data concerning vaccine harms.

BioNTech was appealing an earlier court decision which ruled it must produce the injury data.  The company lost its appeal.

From [HERE] BioNTech Manufacturing GmbH must comply with the final partial judgment of the Aurich Regional Court and provide the plaintiff with the disclosure ordered therein.

The Aurich Regional Court has ordered BioNTech to provide the plaintiff with disclosure regarding the effects and side effects of batches FE6975 and 1D020A known to the defendant from 21 December 2020, up to the last oral hearing, as well as further findings on the assessment of the tolerability of harmful effects of Comirnaty, insofar as they relate to the complaints presented by the plaintiff (including autoimmune disease, circulatory disorders, vascular occlusions, cardiac arrhythmias, hyperinflammation syndrome, menstrual disorders, nervous system dysfunctions, tinnitus, POTS, PEM, ME/CFS). [MORE]

Federal prosecutors in Atlanta are bringing an obstruction charge against a U.S. citizen who gave customs officers what is known as a duress passcode, which activated software that erased the contents of his phone.

The authorities stopped Samuel Tunick, an Atlanta resident, for interrogation at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as he returned to the United States on Jan. 24 last year, according to a November grand jury indictment. The authorities seized his phone before allowing him to enter the country. A hearing on the case was held last week in federal court in Atlanta.

The prosecution is one of the earliest known instances of federal authorities charging a person with destroying evidence with a program designed to wipe a device when a specific code is entered.

Mr. Tunick’s lawyers argued during the hearing last week that the seizure was unlawful, and that he was targeted because of his political activism against Atlanta’s plan to build a police and fire training center within a 1,000-acre stretch of urban woodland. Opponents argue that the center, known as Cop City, would militarize officers and destroy precious green space.

The Statute Behind the Charge

The federal statute underlying the charge makes it a felony to destroy evidence or transfer assets to keep the government from seizing them, or to tip someone off about an upcoming search or wiretap. It carries a penalty of up to five years in federal prison, a fine, or both.

The act applies before, during or after a search. If the target of an investigation knows that a search or seizure is imminent, and that person acts to thwart it, he or she would fall under the statute, experts said.

The federal public defender’s office, which handles most cases in the Northern District of Georgia, said that only one other federal indictment had been filed on this charge in the last 30 years.

The 2019 case involved an accusation of destruction of evidence related to drug trafficking, said Matthew Dodge, a federal public defender who is on Mr. Tunick’s legal team. [MORE]