THE PROBLEM WITH POLIE UNIONS

Collective bargaining protects too many bad cops from discipline

 

By The Editorial Board

 

The Wall Street Journal

June 10, 2020

 

Remember the furor in 2011 when Republican governors tried to reform collective bargaining for government workers? Well, what do you know, suddenly Democrats say public-union labor agreements are frustrating police reform. We’re delighted to hear it—if they’re serious.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Sunday said police collective bargaining and arbitration have prevented the city from holding officers accountable for misconduct. Derek Chauvin, the officer charged with killing George Floyd, had at least 17 misconduct complaints against him in 18 years. His personnel file provides little detail about how these complaints were handled. But it appears he was disciplined only once—after a woman said he pulled her from a car and frisked her for exceeding the speed limit by 10 miles per hour. He received a letter of reprimand.

 

Minneapolis’s Office of Police Conduct Review has received 2,600 misconduct complaints since 2012. Only 12 have resulted in discipline, and the most severe punishment was a 40-hour suspension. “Unless we are willing to tackle the elephant in the room—which is the police union—there won’t be a culture shift in the department,” Mr. Frey said.

 

Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago officer convicted of murdering 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014, had been the subject of 20 complaints—ranking in the top 4% of Chicago’s police department—including 10 that alleged excessive use of force.

A jury awarded a man $350,000 after finding Mr. Van Dyke employed excessive force during a traffic stop. Yet Mr. Van Dyke was never disciplined. A task force on police reform after the McDonald murder found that “collective bargaining agreements create unnecessary barriers to identifying and addressing police misconduct” and “essentially turned the code of silence into official policy.”

 

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Police have a point that complaints against them are often dubious and they need an advocate to defend them. But collective-bargaining agreements go beyond due process and insulate officers from accountability for egregious and serial misconduct.

Some 40 states require or permit collective bargaining for police. A Duke Law Journal study in 2017 that analyzed 178 police union contracts concluded that a “lack of corrective action in cases of systemic officer misconduct is, in part, a consequence of public-employee labor law” that in most states permits unions “‘to bargain collectively with regard to policy matters directly affecting wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment.’”

The authors found that about half of cities had collective-bargaining agreements that required the removal of police disciplinary records after a certain period of time. Cleveland’s contract mandated expunging disciplinary records from department databases after two years. This makes it difficult for supervisors to assess whether officer misconduct is habitual.

About two-thirds of police union contracts also allow or require the use of arbitration in disciplinary cases. Private employers often use arbitration to resolve complaints by and against employees, but cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis allow police unions essentially to select the arbitrator.

A University of Pennsylvania Law Review paper last year found that about half of all union contracts give officers or unions “significant power to select the identity of the arbitrator” as well as “provide this arbitrator with significant power to override earlier factual or legal decisions” and “make the arbitrator’s decision final and binding on the police department.”

The average police department, the paper notes, offers officers up to four layers of appellate review. A quarter of officers fired for misconduct between 2006 and 2017 were reinstated, usually by arbitrators. An Oakland police officer shot and killed two unarmed men within the span of six months, one of whom was fleeing. Oakland paid $650,000 to one of the deceased’s family and fired the officer, but an arbitrator ordered him reinstated a few years later with back pay.

 

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This lack of accountability is endemic to government collective bargaining. The AFL-CIO’s legendary chief George Meany once said “it is impossible to bargain collectively with the government.” Collective bargaining in business is adversarial. But public unions sit on both sides of the bargaining table since they help elect the politicians with whom they negotiate.

Democratic lawmakers in particular depend on public unions for political support, and disciplinary protections are easy to give away in contract talks. Teachers unions are the most powerful example, as collective bargaining frustrates school reform and protects lousy teachers, relegating low-income and minority kids to failing schools.

If big-city Democrats really want to change police incentives, rather than merely pass reform gestures, they’ll have to address collective bargaining. Let’s see if their social-justice convictions overcome their desire for political backing from public unions.

PEACEFUL PROTESTS ARE OFTEN ILLEGAL

When cops use teargas and rubber bullets, it's because a peaceful protest has become illegal

By Howie Katz


The media has made much about the use of teargas and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters.  The media conveniently ignores the fact that when the police resort to teargas and rubber bullets, it's because the mob refuses to obey repeated orders to disperse.

'Peaceful protests' are often illegal.  When demonstrators block roadways and sidewalks, they are keeping other people from going to and from wherever they want to go ... and that is against the law.

The police are being demonized for doing their jobs.  In some cities, cops are reacting to the demonization by refusing to break up the illegal demonstrations.  In other cities, mayors have ordered the police not to break up the mobs.  In either case, the nation has sunk into chaos.

We now have mob rule in many of this nation's cities and it's all about the perceived mistreatment of blacks by the police.  Americans have the right of free speech and peaceful assembly, but mob rule should not ever be tolerated!    

THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BAD SHOOTING, SO LETS BURN DOWN A RESTAURANT AND BLOCK THE FREEWAY

by Bob Walsh

OK, from what I have seen the Atlanta police shooting on Friday night looks like it was out of policy and probably even illegal.  The cops respond to a call from Wendy's.  Guy sleeping (passed out) in the drive-thru lane, blocking things up.  Cops get there, roust the guy, get him out of the car, give him a field sobriety test.  He fails.  Presumably they prepare to hook him and book him and he fights.  He is, judging by the video, younger and bigger than either cop.  After rolling around a bit in the parking lot he snatches one of the cop's Tasers and beats feet.  The cops pursue.  He then (maybe-probably) turns around with the Taser and engages, or attempts to engage, with the Taser.  He stops three bullets.  The Mayor calls for the cops immediate firing before any sort of investigation at all has even begun.  The Chief of Police (White female) says FUCK THIS SHIT, I'M OUT OF HERE and bails.

So, was the shooter the cop who lost the Taser?  If so he KNEW the guy had a Taser and not a conventional firearm.  If not, a Taser does not really look that much like a conventional firearm.  They are bright yellow and very boxy.  If you are not by yourself (there were two cops) the guy is not likely to disable you with the Taser then stomp you to death or steal or service weapon.  That makes the use of deadly force HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE in this case.  

In addition it is being asserted that the cops policed up their brass before the shooting team showed up.  That is at a minimum grossly stupid and possibly an attempt to alter the scene.  It might tend to color the interpretation of how far away from the cop the dead guy was when he got dead.  That could be important.  Tasers have a limited range and anybody trained with one knows that.

So anyway on Saturday night a mob burns the Wendy's to the ground and keeps the fire department from responding.  So a bunch of people lost their job who had not a goddamn thing to do with the shooting.  Then a mob goes up on the freeways and blocks I-85 and I-95 for a few hours, just to piss off a lot of people who are just trying to get home or get to their next appointment or whatever.    

This definitely looks not good.

ANOTHER SENILE JOE PODCAST BOMB

by Bob Walsh

I caught another slice of a Senile Joe The Hairsniffer podcast Friday evening.  He looked at the desk top and babbled incoherently.  I somehow strongly suspect that the Democrat-Socialists are looking very hard at a way to keep him out of anything that even resembles a debate. 

I also understand that he has narrowed his VP pick down to anyone who is a Democrat-Socialist, over 35, urinates sitting down and has no felony convictions.  That are 30 or so people in the party who fit that description so the field is getting smaller.

JOE BIDEN'S ALL-FEMALE VP SHORTLIST

Democrat narrows down his potential running mates to six including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Obama's National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms

 

Daily Mail 

June 13, 2020

 

Joe Biden's search for a running mate is entering a second round of vetting for a dwindling list of potential vice presidential nominees, with several black women in strong contention. 

 

Democrats with knowledge of the process said Biden's search committee has narrowed the choices to as few as six serious contenders after initial interviews.  

 

Those still in contention include Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kamala Harris of California, as well as Susan Rice, who served as President Barack Obama's national security adviser. 

 

Advisers have also looked closely at Florida Rep. Val Demings and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, both of whom are black, and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Latina.  

EDITOR'S NOTE: God help us if Biden defeats Trump.  One of these ladies, if selected as VP, is likely to become President before Biden finishes off his 4-year term.

NOT MUCH BLM AT LAKE TAHOE

By Trey Rusk

We arrived back home late last night.  It was a great trip.  One of the high points was at 8000 feet.  I seldom heard Black Lives Matter.  The bar TV was only on sports and the music had no commercials.  

I never once watched TV in our room.  I checked my phone for messages and read BGB on the toilet when I woke up.  That was all the media I heard.  

I rented a Chevy Tahoe so we could drive around the lake.  It was beautiful.  BLM had 10 people show up at Incline Village last Sunday to stand on a street corner and hold signs about how bad white privilege is in the middle of a rich white upper class town.  It began snowing and they didn't stay long.

We always stay at Harrah's because they are old school.  Most of the Hosts have multi syllable names and staff still wear black suits and black ties.  Nobody stays that misbehaves.  My Host is Ms. Fagliano and make no mistake she comes from a long line business is business people.

While away my sister in law let us know that a Galveston County Community Coalition and Police Forum was holding a forum discussion an the football stadium which literally across the street from my house.  Turns out few people showed.  I watched the local LE officials being herded onto the track but no one in the area was really interested to hear from them or the local church leaders.  I would say there were more cops there than others.  It just doesn't seem to be a problem in Galveston County.  It was locally broadcasted on a FB channel.  I watched part of it last night.  Nothing to see here, folks.

Our trip was a good getaway.  The hotel comped our room and meals.  Southwest Airlines are dirt cheap.  I came back with money in my pocket.  

EDITOR'S NOTE: Trip to Lake Tahoe ... that's exercising your  white privilege.  

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO GET HURT, DON'T RESIST AN ARREST

Demonstrators protesting after black man shot by white officer at Atlanta fast food restaurant

 

By Emilie Ikeda

 

Fox 5 Atlanta

June 13, 2020

 

ATLANTA - Protests erupted on University Avenue overnight after an officer-involved shooting landed a man, who protestors say is black, in the hospital. The GBI is now investigating and said the man died after undergoing surgery.

Atlanta police units initially responded to a 911 call reporting a suspicious person at Wendy's around 10:30 p.m. Friday. Officers found a man asleep in his car, parked in the drive-thru lane and blocking customers, according to GBI.

They reportedly conducted a sobriety test, but when they attempted to arrest the man, identified as 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, a struggle ensued.

Deputy Chief Timothy Peek, with Atlanta police, described officers' numerous attempts to deploy Tasers.

"Ultimately, when the officer used the Taser, it was ineffective for the suspect," Peek said. "It did not stop the aggression of the fight."

Peek added preliminary information shows Brooks  was able to take an officer's Taser from him and use it against the officers.

 

The GBI reported that at some point during the struggle over the Taser, Brooks was shot by an officer.

The late-night shooting fanned the flames around existing tensions with APD. Protests against police brutality just surpassed two weeks in Atlanta.

A crowd lined the Wendy's parking lot overnight -- full of people enraged by videos seen on social media that appear to show the scuffle leading up to gunfire between two white police officers and a black man.

Members of the crowd told FOX 5's Emilie Ikeda that the deputy chief did try explaining what investigators uncovered so far, but many expressed skepticism towards the department's narrative.

"I guess he was trying to clear it up, it was just all the stories were conflicting, none of it made sense, it was like they were trying to cover up something," one protestor described.

In the meantime, District 3 Councilman Antonio Brown empathized with the angered crowd but urged social media users to wait for the facts.

"What's important is information is being properly disseminated about what has occurred," Brown said. "There's misinformation that's given that sparks an outrage."

The GBI said one officer was injured but has since been released from the hospital. Peek told FOX 5 the officers were visibly shaken following the incident.

JUDGE RULES SMOLLETT'S SWEETHEART DEAL WAS NO DEAL

Jussie Smollett loses bid to have new case dropped on double-jeopardy grounds

 

By Megan Crepeau 

 

Chicago Tribune

June 12, 2020

 

Jussie Smollett’s new criminal charges do not violate his right against double jeopardy, a Cook County judge ruled Friday.

The controversial end to Smollett’s case last year — in which the actor entered an informal arrangement to forfeit his $10,000 bond, with no admission of wrongdoing, in exchange for his charges being dropped — does not count as criminal punishment, Judge James Linn ruled.

“You cannot have any criminal penalty, whether it’s jail, probation, conditional discharge … none of that can be ordered on the innocent or presumed innocent or the unadjudicated,” Linn said in denying the defense’s request to throw out the case.

In addition, Linn noted Smollett’s new case was brought after a different judge, Michael Toomin, ruled that the first prosecution was void in its entirety. That was because Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx improperly recused herself, Toomin said last year. The new case was brought by veteran attorney Dan Webb, whom Toomin appointed special prosecutor.

With Linn’s ruling, Smollett remains mired in legal drama on many fronts, including a lawsuit brought by the city of Chicago, which is seeking to recoup the costs of the police investigation of the alleged hoax. The actor participated in the Zoom hearing via audio from Los Angeles.

The legal principle of double jeopardy protects defendants from being tried twice for the same crime — but in general, it only kicks in when someone begins a trial or pleads guilty, according to legal experts.

Prosecutors were quick to point out Friday that jeopardy had never “attached" to Smollett’s first case.

Smollett’s attorney, Tina Glandian, argued that the conclusion to Smollett’s case, while unusual, was similar to a pretrial diversion or deferred prosecution program, which were arguments also made by Cook County prosecutors in the aftermath of the case’s dismissal.

And Smollett entered into the agreement with the expectation that if he held up his end of the bargain, it would close the book on his case, Glandian said.

“This money was a fine, it was a penalty that he had to pay in order to resolve this matter, it’s something he agreed to do while maintaining his innocence,” she said.

Double jeopardy protections bar defendants from being punished twice, Glandian pointed out, and the $10,000 bond forfeiture counted as punishment even without a guilty plea.

But that money was paid voluntarily in exchange for dropping the charges — not as a condition of any formal plea agreement or because a judge ordered it as a sanction, argued Sean Wieber of the special prosecution team.

And actual deferred-prosecution programs have conditions far more involved than what Smollett did, including a year of supervision, full restitution and regular court dates.

“We know he didn’t participate in (deferred prosecution) and instead they say he effectively complied," Wieber said. “But effective compliance is no compliance at all, because there was no actual enrollment.”

In all, the informal nature of Smollett’s agreement with the previous prosecutors offered him “zero certainty of finality,” Wieber said.

In declining to toss out the charges, Linn, echoing many observers before him, said he had never seen anything like what happened the day Smollett’s first charges were dropped.

“I don’t know exactly how to describe it,” he said. “I’ve never quite seen a transcript (or) anything like that. Perhaps clarity will come about that at some later date, there are maybe other people to address that … what didn’t happen is that double jeopardy attached to that proceeding.” 

A special Cook County grand jury indicted Smollett in February on six counts of disorderly conduct alleging he orchestrated a racist and homophobic attack on himself in downtown Chicago in January 2019.

The allegations were similar to charges brought by Foxx’s office last year. Foxx had recused herself from overseeing the prosecution, revealing she’d had contact with a member of Smollett’s family early in the investigation at the request of Tina Tchen, Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff.

But in appointing attorney Dan Webb as special prosecutor last year, Toomin wrote that Foxx botched the recusal by handing the reins to her top deputy. Because the recusal was invalid, the entire process played out without a real prosecutor at the helm, he wrote.

LAWLESSNESS IN SEATTLE AS MAYOR CALLS INSURRECTION A PATRIOTIC BLOCK PARTY

Seattle police union chief says his city is 'closest I've ever seen' to being a 'lawless state'

 

By Julia Musto

 

Fox News

June 12, 2020

 

Seattle Police Officers Guild President Michael Solan told "Outnumbered Overtime" Friday that the city is now the "closest I've ever seen ...  to becoming a lawless state."

Solan called for local leaders to help restore order after anti-cop protesters declared a six-block section of the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood to be an "autonomous" area and a "cop-free zone."

 

Solan told host Harris Faulkner that legitimate issues of police brutality and racism had been "stolen by unreasonable activists in the city of Seattle.

"And now, they control six square blocks," he added. "They control the precinct. And that is a direct result of our city-elected officials lacking the political willpower to enforce the rule of law."

"And, this is the closest I've ever seen our country, let alone the city here, to becoming a lawless state when public safety issues are deeply, deeply concerning," Solan went on.

"And, if…unreachable activists have taken over an East Precinct voluntarily given up by an elected officials’ decisions, what’s to stop them from taking another precinct?" he asked. "And...West Precinct -- where 300 protesters marched on it two nights ago, where officers were ordered back inside, outside the perimeter -- If we lose that flagship precinct, that houses the 911 communications center. Therefore, if that becomes disabled, how do we provide public safety services to the entire city?"

"This is how serious this conversation is," he asserted.

Seattle's Democratic mayor, however, had a different take on the demonstration. On Thursday, Jenny Durkan told CNN that the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) was more akin to a patriotic "block party."

In an exclusive interview with Fox News' Harris Faulkner earlier Thursday, President Trump described Durkan's handling of the situation as "pathetic," and assured that his administration is "not going to let Seattle be occupied by anarchists."

"I will tell you, if they don't straighten that situation out, we're going to straighten it out," he promised.

"We need leadership from somebody. Because it's not occurring in the city right now," Solan urged.

"The overall Seattle community, the reasonable people, fully support reasonable activism. Not this unreasonable activism that, sadly, has taken our city hostage," he told Faulkner.

'We need rule of law here. And, as a Seattle resident, I am so embarrassed," he added. "And, as a proud professional public safety officer, we are more than willing to be brought to the table as a stakeholder. But, we have yet to be invited, and our open letter to the mayor has yet to [be] publicly acknowledged."

"We need some serious help in Seattle," Solan concluded.
__________

Crackdown on autonomous zones: Tennessee governor says he won't tolerate protester camp in Nashville as North Carolina cops tear down barricades - but Seattle police union says city is near 'lawlessness' after five days of the 'CHAZ' 

 

Daily Mail 

June 13, 2020

 

Demonstrators in Nashville, Tennessee and Asheville, North Carolina have attempted to emulate protesters in Seattle by establishing police-free 'autonomous zones' protected by barricades, as police union officials in Seattle warn that their city is on the verge of 'lawlessness'.

The efforts in Tennessee and North Carolina were met with a strong response from local authorities, in contrast to Seattle where demonstrators in the 'CHAZ' have taken control of a police precinct and remain manning the barricades armed after five days.

In Asheville, activists say that about 100 people gathered Friday night on Lexington Avenue under the Interstate 280 overpass, where they attempted to block the street with barricades and take control of the area.

Police responded in force and tore down the barricades, video from the scene shows. Demonstrators issued a cry for reinforcements on social media and vowed to return on Saturday.

'People are needed now! Please share this if you can't be here. Supplies also needed,' one organizer posted on Twitter. 

In Nashville, a group of protesters converged on the Legislative Plaza on Friday, announcing plans to seize the area in front of the Tennessee statehouse as an 'autonomous zone.'

The demonstrators declared that the plaza would be re-named Ida B. Wells Plaza, after the early civil rights leader. Video from the scene showed the demonstrators chanting and singing on the plaza late into the night, apparently left to their own devices by law enforcement.

However, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, warned protesters in his state against trying to seize territory.

'Lawlessness, autonomous zones, and violence will not be tolerated,' Lee said in a statement. 'Further, Tennessee law expressly prohibits camping on state property not expressly designated as a campground area, and that law will be enforced.'

 

The 'Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,' or CHAZ, in Seattle continued to thrive on Friday, after demonstrators seized control of a police precinct and the surrounding blocks. 

MAYBE GOV. ABBOTT SHOULD NOT HAVE REOPENED THE TEXAS BARS

Gunman claiming to be 'UFC fighter from California' wounds 8 outside San Antonio bar after being refused entry

 

By Robert Gearty  

 

Fox News

June 13, 2020

San Antonio police were investigating a shooting in the parking lot of a popular bar that wounded eight people.

Officers responded around 11:30 p.m. and were looking for the gunman, an inebriated man who said “Don’t you know who I am? I’m a UFC fighter from California,” Police Chief William McManus said at an overnight news briefing.

The victims were five men and three woman between the ages of 23 and 41, McManus said.

Two were grazed by bullets and refused treatment. The other six went to the hospital and were in stable condition.

The most seriously injured victim was a man who suffered a gunshot wound to the back, the chief said.

The suspect was with four other people—another man and three females—when they showed up at the REBAR nightspot. A bouncer at the door stopped them from entering.

 

“They were not allowed in because they were inebriated,” McManus said.

After asking the bouncer if he knew who he was, the shooter walked to his vehicle parked across the street and returned to the REBAR parking lot with a rifle, he said.

“There were a lot of shots fired,” McManus said.

LIBERALS THINK POLICE SHOOTINGS SHOULD BE RIGHT ALONG THE US CENSUS LINES

Oklahoma cop: Research shows officers shoot fewer black people ‘than we ought to’ 

 

By Joshua Rhett Miller

New York Post

June 10, 2020

A top Oklahoma cop is under fire after saying research suggests police are shooting black people “24 percent less than we probably ought to be.”

Tulsa Police Department Major Travis Yates made the startling remarks Monday during a podcast with talk radio host Pat Campbell, Public Radio Tulsa reports.

“You get this meme of, ‘Blacks are shot two times, two and a half times more,’ and everybody just goes, ‘Oh, yeah,’” Yates said. “They’re not making sense here. You have to come into contact with law enforcement for that to occur.”

If a “certain group” of individuals commit more crimes, Yates said, they will encounter police more regularly than their counterparts.

“Who in the world in their right mind would think that our shootings should be right along the US Census lines?” Yates asked. “That’s insanity.”

“All of the research says we’re shooting African Americans about 24 percent less than we probably ought to be, based on the crimes being committed,” he continued, according to Public Radio Tulsa.

Yates also voiced his disapproval of ongoing police protests in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, noting that Officer Derek Chauvin has been arrested and is facing prosecution along with three other officers in the May 25 killing.

“What are you doing? What do you mean, justice?” Yates continued. “Justice at this point has been done. Well, then it turned into systematic racism, systematic police brutality.”

Yates then brushed aside those accusations, saying systemic abuse of power and widespread racism by law enforcement officials “just doesn’t exist,” according to the report.

In a statement released early Wednesday, Yates claimed he was misquoted by Public Radio Tulsa and planned to sue for libel.

“For one thing, beyond the outrageous, inflammatory headline, I was misquoted,” Yates told KTUL. “In what seems like an attempt to discredit me, the article reads ‘all of the research …’ However, I clearly prefaced this statement with attribution, and mentioned my sources by name.”

 

Yates claims he cited research on the podcast by suspended Harvard economist Roland Fryer, as well conservative political commentator Heather Mac Donald and data from the National Academy of Sciences.

The article by Public Radio Tulsa, however, does not mention that context, Yates said.

Yates also took issue with the phrase “police should actually be shooting” African Americans more frequently, KTUL reports, although the statement was not attributed to Yates as a direct quote in the Public Radio Tulsa story.

“I never said actually,” Yates’ statement read. “This is plainly false and factually inaccurate. And to think that beyond a discussion of comparative statistics that I would suggest that the ‘police should actually be shooting’ anyone is simply outrageous.”

The Tulsa Police Department, meanwhile, distanced itself from Yates Wednesday, saying it does not “endorse, condone or support” his comments.

“This matter has been referred to our Internal Affairs Unit,” a statement read. “We want to make it clear the statements made by Yates are not a part of curriculum or training provided by the department.”

Tulsa’s mayor, G.T. Bynum, also blasted Yates’ comments as “dumb” in a statement released Wednesday — and added that they are under review.
 
“He does not speak for my administration, for the Tulsa Police Department, or the City of Tulsa,” Bynum said. “His comments are under review by the Chief’s Office. And if he didn’t mean to make the statement in the way it has been received, he owes Tulsans a clarification and an apology.”

A message seeking comment from Tulsa police was not immediately returned Wednesday.

OBAMA'S IDENTITY POLITICS TORE THE US APART AND HE APPESED AND KOWTOWED TO AMERICA'S WORST FOES

Time for Trump to be Trump at home and abroad: Actions must be taken to end mob rule, restore order, stand with police and protect the silenced, terrified citizens worried about their safety, their families, and their freedom to love their country.

 

By Caroline B. Glick 

 

Israel Hayom

June 12, 2020

 

Donald Trump was elected four years ago because Americans wanted to save their country. Both in domestic and foreign policy, in the eighth year of Barack Obama's presidency, America was going off the rails. At home, Obama's identity politics were tearing the country apart. As is now graphically apparent, identity politics are not about expanding justice. They are geared towards tearing Americans away from one another and undermining the very idea of America.

Abroad, America had become the laughingstock of its enemies and the worst nightmare of its friends, as Obama and his merry band of foreign policy "experts" abandoned and denigrated allies and reorganized America's foreign policy around a commitment to appeasing and kowtowing to America's worst foes, first and foremost, Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.

 

Trump rose to the top of a crowded field of Republican candidates because voters believed that the iconoclast who made good deals because he cared about the result and didn't care what people thought of him would make America great again. They believed they could trust him to tell the truth and do what needed to be done, no matter how many inbred "experts" told him differently.

And America needed a leader who wouldn't shy away from controversy.

In 2016, with Obama's backing, the radical, anti-American, anti-police #BlackLivesMatter group was ascendant. Police had targets on their backs. Two weeks before the Republican Convention in July 2016, five police officers were massacred in Dallas after anti-police protests in the city. Days before the convention, three policemen were murdered and four were wounded in another massacre in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Defending law enforcement officers and pledging to restore safety to America's cities was a major theme of Trump's convention address and a major pledge of his campaign. And he delivered.

According to FBI data, after rising sharply in the last years of the Obama presidency, violent crime in America went down in every year of Trump's presidency.

Those gains are now being reversed now. The radical mobs Trump pledged to remove from America's streets have returned. Waving the banner of identity politics and spewing hatred of America they are wreaking havoc, terror, devastation, and crime. Last week saw a 100% rise in the number of murders and shootings in New York City. Los Angeles experienced a 250% rise in shootings and murder. Last weekend, Chicago saw the highest murder toll in a 24-hour period in 60 years.

Businesses have been looted and destroyed. And the violence continues and mutates daily. A mob of Antifa thugs took over six square blocks of Seattle and is working to reenact its conquest in other cities. Progressive mayors and governors are responding by kneeling and blaming Trump.

The police, for their part, are walking away. As police officer Travis Yates wrote this week in a stunning essay at the Law and Officer website, police officers are demoralized by the politically powerful mobs of radical leftists that demonize them. The rational choice for officers today is to quit, he wrote bitterly.

This crisis is tailor-made for Trump's leadership. Trump was elected to defang the commissars of political correctness that terrorized Americans intellectually, socially, racially, and physically. When he said, "We cannot afford to be politically correct anymore," he was speaking for hundreds of millions of Americans who were afraid to speak out lest they lose their jobs or face social ostracism for harboring dissident views of identity politics.

Now the commissars have become wardens and all of America is their prison. Americans are now expected to kneel when the Star Spangled Banner plays and disavow American history while swallowing whole a false, malicious new history that claims America has been a force for evil at home and worldwide since it was nothing more than a sparkle in a racist colonialist's eye.

Trump's approval ratings dropped 10 points in the space of a week. It's possible that terrified voters are afraid to tell pollsters the truth and that the numbers are false. But its also possible that the drop is real.

In the face of this chaos and madness in the streets of America, Trump is not doing what he does best. He is not standing center stage defending the father and mother holed up at home, terrified of the mob marching down their street or looting their store. He is not protecting high school and college students who must accept the mob's rules or face ostracism and failing grades. He is doing many things, to be sure. But they are scattershot and uncertain.

Trump has the advisers in place to put together a plan for immediate implementation. Roundtable meetings will not suffice. Actions must be taken to end mob rule, restore order, stand with police and protect the silenced, terrified citizens worried about their safety, their families, and their freedom to love their country.

Everything Trump entered politics to oppose is returning and threatening to take over America for good.

Now is his moment to act forthrightly and decisively. Now is the time for Trump to be Trump.

The same holds in foreign affairs. Administration officials – Trump loyalists – are down in the dumps right now. Trump's low polling numbers may or may not reflect the true state of affairs but they harm his ability to influence foreign actors. The leaders of Germany and France are practically frothing at the mouth in expectation of deliverance from the first US president in memory that actually expected them to act like real allies, pay their share of the NATO budget and stand with the US and against Iran as it sprints towards the bomb and against China as it uses its 5G network to leapfrog over the US.

The Chinese are betting that their virus, which capsized the Trump economy will spell the demise of their nemesis. And the Iranians are so sure that he will be defeated that they are enriching uranium in broad daylight.

When he came into office, the first step Trump took to make clear to all takers that America would no longer be abandoning its interests and its allies and would stand with Israel. This wasn't a move – as his haters claimed – to rally his evangelical base. It was a strategic play.

Israel is not just the US's most loyal and steady ally in the Middle East, it is also the ally that was most brutally betrayed by Obama and despised by Obama's progressive supporters. It makes sense that the likes of Black Lives Matter and the BDS thugs are joined at the hip and united in their hatred of the Jewish state.

Police are the guarantors of America's domestic peace. They are charged with keeping Americans safe and make it possible for America to succeed and prosper.

The strength of America's alliance with Israel is a reflection of the strength of American power. Since Israel shares the same values and interests as the US, a strong Israel serves as an extension of US power in the Middle East. So too, Israel is the bogeyman of the foreign policy establishment worldwide. So when America stands with Israel it is standing against the foreign policy mob. Standing up to the mob is not for the faint of heart. So by standing with Israel, the US proves its courage and power.

Trump's reversal of Obama's hostile policies towards Israel got the world's attention. They made the likes of Iran and China realize he meant it when he said that he was adopting policies that would be good for America and bad for its foes. By standing with Israel Trump also showed other spurned allies America could be trusted again.

On January 27, Trump presented his vision for peace in the Middle East. It is based on a rejection of the "experts" collective "wisdom" regarding the region that had formed the basis for 25 years of failed US Middle East policy. Contrary to the consensus view, Trump understood Israel wasn't responsible for the absence of peace.

The source of war, radicalism, and terrorism in the Middle East was radical Islam and the Arab world's rejection of the Jewish people's right to freedom and sovereignty in their homeland. The rejectionist Palestinians were the apotheosis of the Arab world's pathologies.

Trump's plan recognizes that the first step to peace is for Israel to render permanent its control in Judea and Samaria because only by doing so will it kill the myth that Israel is an "occupier" in its ancestral homeland and extinguish the hope of the Palestinians and their supporters that Israel can be destroyed. Peace can be accomplished only after Israel's legitimacy and security are taken off the table.

So the first step on Trump's road to peace is for Israel to apply its laws to all of its communities in Judea and Samaria and to the Jordan Valley, Israel's eastern frontier with Jordan. Once that step is implemented, the Palestinians will be expected to take specific actions, like ending their payments to terrorists to show that they are willing to make peace. Peace itself, which can lead to a Palestinian state, requires the Palestinians to do basic things like accept Israel and dismantle Hamas.

It is hard to know if peace will ever come. But if it ever does, it will be on the basis of the Trump plan. Because unlike all the plans that preceded it, Trump's peace plan is based on reality.

Unfortunately, the excitement that greeted Trump's plan was overtaken by the multiple crises of more recent months. Moving it forward is likely not on the top of Trump's list of priorities.

That list ought to be reconsidered though. Now is the time for decisive action. Trump's domestic enemies and international rivals are using his distraction to try to undermine his revolutionary accomplishment. Democrats are threatening Israel with a downgrading of relations if Israel dares to apply its laws to the areas envisioned in Trump's plan. Germany is leading Europe's passive-aggressive charge with threats of sanctions if Israel implements its sovereignty plan in accordance with Trump's vision for peace. Threatening Israel is seen by these forces as a means to begin dismantling all of Trump's foreign policy achievements and undermining the public's perception of his competence.

If Trump wishes to defeat his opponents and restore his credibility, the first thing he should do is call on Israel to apply its sovereignty to its communities in Judea and Samaria and to the Jordan Valley in accordance with his blueprint for peace. Doing so will restore faith in Trump's seriousness of purpose, and increase his credibility at home and abroad.

The American voters elected Trump to be Trump. They will reelect him if he sticks to his guns. Staring down the mob, defending the police, and protecting the public; standing with Israel, and advancing his vision of reality-based peace are the two legs on which he built much of his pre-coronavirus success. Now they are the two main bases on which he will reassert his leadership and win his second term.

NO WONDER TRUMP DOES NOT WANT BOLTON'S BOOK RELEASED

John Bolton's bombshell book will accuse Donald Trump of being willing to 'ENDANGER or weaken' the U.S. just to get re-elected and say he deserved to be impeached for MORE than Ukraine

 

By Geoff Earle 

 

Daily Mail

June 12, 2020

 

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton's forthcoming memoir will paint a picture of 'chaos' in the White House and a president focused exclusively on his own reelection, the book's publisher is promising.

The book will lay out additional 'misconduct' beside the president's interactions with Ukraine – actions that led to Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate – and with an aggressive posture Bolton is describing as 'Game on.' 

Trump is a person 'for whom getting reelected was the only thing that mattered,' Bolton writes. 

Although Democrats tailored impeachment to Trump's conduct toward Ukraine, Bolton describes 'Ukraine-like 'transgressions' in a 'full-range of his foreign policy,' according to a release for the book.

'I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations,' Bolton writes. 

He writes that the House committed malpractice by tailoring impeachment exclusively to Ukraine. 

Bolton's book, which he signed with Simon & Schuster for a reported $2 million, has been a highly anticipated tell-all, adding to other portraits of chaos by former FBI Director James Comey, former Trump advisor Omarosa Manigault, and author Michael Wolff.

It is'nt all tire. It promises to be filled with 'perspective and humor' from the mustachioed Iran hawk.

The House Intelligence Committee sought to bring Bolton in for testimony during its impeachment probe into Trump's conduct toward Ukraine, but he didn't participate, to the consternation of some Democrats who said he was saving material for his book.

His memoir will go beyond an administration pressure campaign to get Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, to include alleged misconduct in additional countries, Axios reported. 

The former UN ambassador and Iran hawk is also blasting Trump for trying to limit his ability to put out the book. 

The rumpled Bolton is known to take copious notes, and the White House is poised for the release of potentially damaging information. 

An excerpt from the epilogue on the back cover of the book reveals the fighting posture Bolton brings to the effort.

'As if impeachment were not enough, I also found myself confronting the daunting challenge of fighting an incumbent President determined to prevent publication of a book about my White House experiences,' he writes.

 

'Trump behaved typically, directing the seizure and withholding of my advisors’ personal and other unclassified documents, despite numerous requests for their return; obstructing my Twitter account; and making outright threats of censorship. His reaction thus ranged from the mean-spirited to the constitutionally impermissible. My reaction … m response? Game on.'

 

National security official Fiona Hill testified that during a tense meeting Bolton described Trump's Ukraine policy, being driven by Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, as a 'drug deal' that he wanted no part of.

MAN FELLED BY SATUE BECAUSE COPS STOOD AROUND AND DID NOTHING WHILE IT WAS BEING DESTROYED

Protester left in a coma from falling Confederate statue in Virginia

 

WVEC

June 11, 2020

 

PORTSMOUTH, Va.  — As protesters in one Virginia city tore down parts of a Confederate monument Wednesday night, part of the falling statue fell on to a protester, who has been left in a coma.

 

According to WVEC, protesters gathered around Portsmouth's Confederate monument on the night of June 10.

Chanting "No Justice, No Peace," people used bolt cutters, hammers, and other objects to chip away at the monument. Muskets and swords held by the statue's figures were ripped away.

Portsmouth police were on scene, but they did not step in to stop the protesters, similar to the situation as several monuments have been torn down in Richmond this week.

The heads of the four soldiers surrounding the Portsmouth monument were cut off.

But according to WVEC, the celebratory mood of the crowd came to an abrupt halt shortly after 9 p.m., when one of the statues was torn down and fell on a protester.

On Thursday, Black Lives Matter 757, the group that organized the demonstration Wednesday night, tweeted that the man who was hurt was Chris Greene. The group linked to a GoFundMe page set up to help Greene's family with expenses.

At the point of the injury, police moved in to secure the area with crime scene tape as medics took Greene away on a stretcher. They asked that the remaining protesters leave. After kneeling in prayer for Greene, they left.

Mayor John Rowe said police didn’t intervene earlier because that could have escalated the situation.

Portsmouth City Council held an emergency meeting earlier in the day on Wednesday and decided on a July 28 hearing to decide on the monument's fate, but that was too far into the future for the demonstrators who gathered Wednesday night.

The monument has sat near the intersection of Court Street and High Street in Olde Towne since it was built in the late 1800s.

The monument is one of multiple targeted for vandalism and removal by protesters over the past two weeks, including three in Richmond in just a few days.

Virginia State Police said they will conduct the investigation into the injury incident, per the request of the Portsmouth Police Department. Portsmouth police are handling all other investigations.

The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office for the city of Portsmouth will determine if any charges will be filed.

James Boyd, the Portsmouth NAACP chapter president, said that “people are just tired of being sick and tired” and that the monument represents more than 400 years of oppression.

KAEPERNICK'S FREEDOM FIGHTERS LIBERATED TAMPA WALMART

Sheriff's office needs help identifying hundreds of Walmart looters who stole more than $100,000 worth of items 

 

Fox 13 News 

June 11, 2020

 

TAMPA, Fla. - The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is hoping you can help them identify hundreds of looters who broke into a Walmart store and more than $100,000 worth in merchandise.

According to HCSO, it was just after 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 30 when
a crowd gathered in front of the Walmart Supercenter on East Fletcher Avenue.

The store was closed due to the police brutality protests occurring outside the University Mall, but people wielding blunt objects like hammers broke the glass entrance doors and stormed into the store.

Footage released by the sheriff's office shows wave after wave of looters streaming through the front door -- past the social-distancing reminders -- and ransacking the store's electronics section, hauling away computers, TVs, and more.

After reviewing the video, detectives believe somewhere around 200 people participated. An estimated $116,000 in merchandise and damages was reported.

"Not only is this violence completely unacceptable, it was disrespectful to the protesters who were out there that night trying to express their message in an impactful way," said Sheriff Chad Chronister. "We are actively working to identify each and every one of these suspects and ask the public to provide any information they may have."

TATTOOS NABBED POLICE CAR-TORCHING KAEPERNICK FREEDOM FIGHTER

Woman arrested for torching 5 police vehicles during Seattle protests

 

By Elise Takahama

Seattle Times

June 12, 2020

 

 

SEATTLE — A Tacoma woman was arrested Thursday morning for allegedly setting fire to five Seattle police vehicles during a downtown Seattle protest two weekends ago, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Margaret Channon, 25, is accused of of burning police vehicles parked near Sixth Avenue and Pine Street on May 30, the statement said. She was arrested without incident at her Tacoma home.

She is charged by criminal complaint with five counts of arson.

“This defendant was captured by multiple cameras using an accelerant, lit like a blowtorch, to start fires in five vehicles — putting the public at risk and creating the very real possibility of a structure fire amidst the throng of people protesting downtown,” Brian T. Moran, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, said in the statement.

The five vehicles were a 2018 Ford Transit Connect van, a 2006 Dodge Caravan, a 2009 Chevrolet Express van, a 2016 Ford Explorer and a 2017 Ford Explorer, according to the criminal complaint. Channon used an aerosol can and flame to ignite the five vehicles, the complaint alleges.

According to the complaint, investigators reviewed various videos taken of the arson, as well as videos taken at a protest the night before.

Channon appears in videos from both days, and tattoos on her hands and arms are clearly visible, the statement said. Investigators found a number of her social media accounts, which helped confirm her identity, the statement said.

Channon is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Seattle at 1 p.m. Friday, according to a Seattle police statement.

LIBERALS WILL SAY THAT HAD HE BEEN WHITE, HE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE

Deputies Claim They Killed a Black Man in His Home When He Tried to Grab a Gun. His Family Says Otherwise

 

By Pilar Melendez

 

Daily Beast

June 12, 2020

 

A Los Angeles man was fatally shot in his home by deputies Thursday morning in a tragic domestic dispute call gone wrong. His family, however, insists the tragic incident could have been avoided if authorities didn’t prematurely pull the trigger.

Michael “Blue” Thomas, 62, was killed in his living room in the early hours on Thursday after Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a domestic dispute call, a spokesperson told The Daily Beast. But while authorities claim Thomas was shot after reaching for one of the deputy’s guns, his fiancée and attorney insist the opposite—that he was turning away.

“They broke the front down and they grabbed Mr. Thomas immediately,” Bradley Gage, the family’s attorney, told The Daily Beast on Friday. “As they were holding him, they hurt him by twisting his arm. At that point, because he was uncomfortable, Mr. Thomas tried to move and one deputy just stepped back and shot him.”

“He was murdered without justification,” he added. “It was 100 percent avoidable.”

According to the Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded to a “domestic violence in progress call” in Lancaster at around 5:30 a.m. The 911 call was made by Thomas’s fiancée, Kimberly. She later told deputies she “was assaulted by the suspect,” according to a statement from authorities.

“During the call to 911, she never speaks to the operator but rather the phone line is left open,” the statement said. “For several minutes arguing and fighting between the caller and the suspect can be heard in the background.”

Once deputies arrived, authorities said they tried to detain Thomas, but he “refused to comply with the deputy’s orders and an altercation” ensued.

“During the altercation, the suspect reached down and attempted to gain control of one of the deputy’s firearms. It was at that time when a deputy-involved shooting occurred,” the statement said.

However, Gage said that Thomas did not own a weapon and was only having a verbal argument with his fiancée when police arrived—which police could have observed “from a window outside instead of barging in.” He said that Kimberly did not go into detail with him about why she initially called the police—but he noted that the pair had lived together for 21 years and often communicated loudly because she is “mostly deaf.”

“The claim that he reached for a gun is completely false,” Gage added, noting that the incident “completely defies the fourth amendment.” “He was disabled, he had problems with his hands. It would have been painful for him to try to grab a gun.”

In an interview with CBS Los Angeles, which first reported the shooting, Kimberly also said that Thomas never tried to grab one of the deputies’ guns. “I heard Michael say, ‘I have a right to not let you in the house,’” she said.

Authorities said Thomas was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. No deputies were injured.

Gage, who has represented police officers and victims of officer-involved assaults for more than 35 years, stated that Thursday’s incident was a violation of the constitution. He was demanding accountability for all the officers involved. He said the officer who shot Thomas should be charged and the other deputies who were present should come forward and “admit the criminal act.”

“It’s time to take ownership,” Gage said.

The Sheriff’s Department told The Daily Beast that the Homicide Bureau, internal affairs and the county’s Office of the Inspector General are doing separate investigations—which is standard procedure during officer-involved shootings. It was not immediately clear if any of the officers involved had been disciplined for the Thursday incident.

The fatal shooting comes as residents in all 50 states have taken to the streets, engaging in both peaceful and destructive protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. While demonstrators are speaking out against racial injustice and police brutality, many of them have been met with further violence from law enforcement. It has prompted several cities to confront the brutal methods used by their own police officers, many of them captured in harrowing video footage.

But for Gage, Thursday’s incident is another painful reminder that law enforcement reform has a long way to go.

“There is no doubt in my mind that if Mr. Thomas was white, he would be alive today,” he said.

OFFICERS TAKING THE KNEE ARE DUMB COPS WHO DO NOT RALIZE THE PROTESTS ARE AGAINST THEM

FOP: Chicago officers who kneel with protesters could be kicked out of police union

 

By Dane Placko 

Fox 32 Chicago

June 11, 2020

CHICAGO - The new president of Chicago’s powerful police union has issued a stern warning to officers. He says any officers showing sympathy to police protesters while in uniform could be thrown out of the union.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot isn’t happy about it.

“I don’t believe it’s the time or place to be doing that,” said Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara.

In office for only a month, Catanzara is laying down the law for his members.

“If you kneel, you’ll be risking being brought up on charges and thrown out of the lodge,” Catanzara said.

It has become a common scene over the past week, seeing police officers around the country kneeling with protesters as a symbolic show of support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

But Catanzara says it is essentially an act of treason for police officers, because those protesters are pushing for policies he says will hurt the police.

“Specifically this weekend. This was about defunding and abolishing the police officers. And you’re going to take a knee for that? It’s ridiculous,” Catanzara said.

When asked about Catanzara’s threat, Mayor Lightfoot – who has been extremely critical of the FOP – took a hard pass.

“I don’t really think we should credit those kinds of really unfortunate comments. I’m not going to dignify them with any further response,” the mayor said.

Anyone kicked out of the FOP will still be able to work as a Chicago police officer, but they will not have all the benefits and protections afforded by the union contract.

 

In 2017, Catanzara got into trouble when he posted a photo of himself in uniform on Facebook with a sign supporting President Donald Trump, gun rights and standing for the anthem.

He says kneeling Officers are doing the same, just on the other end of the political spectrum.

“Well that’s a political stance. I want to see what happens on the department level. I’m going to guess nothing because the mayor supports this kind of stuff,” Catanzara said.

SHERIFF HARRY YOUNG WILL NOT GET THE BLM VOTE, BUT HE WILL GET THE KKK VOTE

Georgia sheriff's Facebook call to 'get back to the tradition of hanging traitors' sparks outrage after activist reshares it weeks later during Floyd protests

 

By Ryan Fahey  

 

Daily Mail

June 12, 2020

 

A Georgia sheriff shared a meme calling to 'get back to the tradition of hanging' in early May, sparking outrage when an activist re-shared it weeks later amid the George Floyd protests.  

Sheriff Harry Young, who has held the position in Grady County, south Georgia for 16 years, shared a meme on his personal Facebook page in early May depicting prisoners waiting to be executed underneath a set of gallows.  

The text over the image reads: 'Can we get back to the tradition of hanging traitors?' 

Young's post was forgotten for a number of weeks before local community activist, Laura Register shared it a second time, shortly after the death of George Floyd, saying she was 'completely disgusted' at the comments. 

She also inferred that people of color were likely to receive unfair treatment under his jurisdiction. 

The sheriff responded, passing a comment on the looting that followed protests across the country at the start of the month. 

'If you like destroying hard working people's property because of one officer's horrible decision then you are the problem!!!' Young wrote.

On 4 June, despite backlash from Register and other residents, Young said he would not apologize for the post and that resignation was out of the question, the Times Enterprise reported.

 

'I'm not a coward,' he said. 'I'm not going to let some people who have no idea about anything in law enforcement or what you have to do in law enforcement sit there and make up rules that I need to do.'

He added that the negative responses on social media mostly came from people who hate President Donald Trump and other Republicans, adding that one of the users was someone who had a personal vendetta against him for being arrested numerous times, adding they 'have no respect for the law.'

Young said many residents had reached out to him to offer support. 

In an interview with the Times Enterprise, Register insisted that she didn't think Young should resign from his position. 

'He is our top law enforcement officer, and that's the only reason I shared it,' she said. 

Young, who said he was a former Democrat, said that he employs as many black officers as white and that promotions are consistent.

SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE YELLED AT HER DOG TO POOP

21-year-old Colorado woman shot dead after argument about dog poop 

 

By Kenneth Garger

New York Post

June 12, 2020

A woman was fatally shot and her boyfriend wounded by a gunman who reportedly took issue with how the couple told their dog to poop during a walk in Denver on Wednesday.

The victims — identified in reports as Isabella Thallas, 21, and Darian Simon — were walking their pooch near Coors Field when 36-year-old suspect Michael Close quarreled with them from inside his apartment, the Denver Post reported.

“The suspect got into a verbal altercation with the victims related to the victims telling the dog to poop,” according to a probable cause statement obtained by the newspaper.

Close reportedly asked the couple if they were going to train their pooch or just yell at it, the police records state.

Simon told police he tried to ignore Close before shots rang out, striking him twice and killing his girlfriend.

Police caught Close later Wednesday as he was driving on a nearby highway, the report said. A rifle and a handgun were found in his car, cops said.

Thallas’ mother, Ana Thallas, mourned the death of her daughter in a Facebook post.

“Today we lost a daughter, sister, grand daughter, niece and friend,” Ana wrote.  “The Lord called her home and she is resting in peace with Him.

“We asked that you kindly respect our privacy and Isabella’s life by keeping this positive and loving.”

A GoFundMe page set up to help cover Isabella’s funeral costs had raised over $45,000 as of early Friday.