Published by an old curmudgeon who came to America in 1936 as a refugee from Nazi Germany and proudly served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He is a former law enforcement officer and a retired professor of criminal justice who, in 1970, founded the Texas Narcotic Officers Association. BarkGrowlBite refuses to be politically correct.
(Copyrighted articles are reproduced in accordance with the copyright laws of the U.S. Code, Title 17, Section 107.)
A Deputy Mistook a Blind Man’s Cane for a Gun. He Ended Up in Jail Anyway
Sheriff Mark Hunter called the man’s arrest ‘unacceptable’ as he announced the deputy and her supervisor had been punished
Washington Post
November 10, 2022
Police stop James Hodges, 61, because a folding cane in his pocket looks like a gun.
A sheriff’s deputy stopped a legally blind man walking down the
street in northern Florida on Oct. 31, thinking the object in his back
pocket might be a gun. It turned out to be a walking cane.
Even
though she quickly learned he wasn’t armed, the encounter escalated:
James Hodges refused to give the deputy his ID, and she handcuffed him
with the help of her sergeant. Still, after making sure Hodges had no
outstanding warrants for his arrest, the deputy seemed like she was
about to let him go.
“All right, Mr. Hodges,” Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy Jayme Gohde said, according to body-camera footage of the incident. “Was that that hard?”
With
his hands cuffed behind his back, Hodges turned his head toward her.
“It’s going to be. I want your name and your badge number.”
Her supervisor, Sgt. Randy Harrison, had had enough.
“You know what, put him in jail for resisting.”
James Hodges
Hodges then held up his cane for Gohde to see as she said ‘you don’t have to be ad *** to me’
Hodges explained to both officers that he didn’t have to give them his ID because he clearly showed them he didn’t have a gun.
That
morning, Hodges, 61, was charged with resisting an officer without
violence, a misdemeanor, and taken to the Columbia County jail. On
Monday, a prosecutor dismissed the case against him. Columbia County
Sheriff Mark Hunter has since apologized to Hodges, calling his arrest
“unacceptable” while announcing that he’d punished both employees and
required they go through remedial civil rights training.
“I’m deeply saddened by the negative impact that this has on our agency and this situation has caused to us,” Hunter said in a video posted
to the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page on Tuesday. “I want to reassure
you that as your sheriff, we do make mistakes, but we take corrective
action to fix them.”
A little after 8 a.m. on Halloween, Gohde was
in her cruiser waiting at a stoplight when she spotted what she thought
was a chrome pistol in Hodge’s back right pocket as he approached the
intersection, Gohde wrote in her arrest report. Moments later, she
pulled up to Hodges, stopped her cruiser and got out to talk to him.
“Hi there, what is this in your back pocket? I just saw you walking,” Gohde told him, according to footage from the body camera she was wearing during the incident.
“It’s a navigational aid. What’s the problem? You a tyrant?” Hodges replied.
“Yeah, I am, actually,” she answered. “What’s your name and date of birth?”
Hodges
shows Columbia County Sheriff’s Deputy Jayme Gohde his walking cane,
which she had mistaken for a gun. Minutes later, Gohde arrested Hodges.
(WTLV)
Hodges refused to provide either, telling Gohde that she
didn’t have legal grounds to demand that he provide her the information,
the body-cam video shows. He asked her what crime she suspected him of
committing, prompting her to explain that she thought he might have a
gun in his back pocket and that she wanted to make sure he was “carrying
it properly.”
Hodges pulled the cane from his pocket and held it
up for her to see, asking Gohde if she was detaining him, according to
the footage. Yes, she told him, again asking for his name and date of
birth. Hodges again responded by asking if she had probable cause to
suspect him of committing a crime.
“Would you like me to put you in handcuffs?” she said, which led Hodges to ask that she call her supervisor.
“He’s
right here,” Gohde told him as Harrison approached the scene. Hodges
pleaded his case to the new arrival: Gohde thought he had a gun, and he
showed her that he didn’t.
“So there is no problem,” Hodges told the sergeant.
Harrison
didn’t agree and, like Gohde, asked for identification. Hodges held his
ground, which led the two to handcuff him. Harrison then dug around
Hodges’s pocket, fished out his ID and handed it to Gohde, who radioed
to have a law enforcement official on the other end check for active
warrants.
As she did, Hodges told Harrison that he was legally
blind but didn’t need his walking cane in the daylight. He’d used it in
the dark earlier that morning to find his way to the courthouse, where
he’d reported for jury duty before learning it had been canceled. His
request for Gohde’s badge number came soon after she got word that there
weren’t any warrants for him. Less than 30 seconds later, he was in the
back of her cruiser.
Jail records show that Hodges was booked at 8:25 that morning and released 26 hours later.
Two
days after his release, Hodges made a records request for the
body-camera footage and got it the same day, Hunter said in the Facebook
video. Reviewing the footage before its release, a sheriff’s office
employee discovered a “likely” policy violation and, since it concerned a
sergeant, alerted their superiors, the sheriff added.
On Tuesday,
Hunter announced that Harrison was being demoted immediately and
suspended without pay for seven days. Gohde was suspended without pay
for two days. As part of their punishment, both must go through remedial
civil rights training.
Taking “full responsibility” for what
happened, Hunter apologized to Hodges for his arrest. He thanked him for
requesting the video and reporting what deputies had done, saying
correcting such misconduct is “how we get better … how we learn.”
“I
do not feel these deputies’ actions were guided by ill intent but
rather by frustration and failure to rely on their training,” Hunter
added. “Nevertheless, this conduct is unacceptable.”
Boil
water notice issued for the entire City of Houston, Bellaire after
water pressure dropped due to power outage; Estimated 2.2 million people
impacted
A power failure at Houston's East Water Purification Plant (pictured) tainted the water for 2.2 million dwellings and businesses
HOUSTON – The entire city of Houston has been placed under a boil water notice, effective immediately, city officials announced Sunday.
According
to Houston Public Works, the notice was issued after the pressure from
the city’s main water system dropped below the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality’s required minimum of 20 PSI during a power outage
at the East Water Purification Plant on Nov. 27 at 10:30 a.m.
Officials have not announced an expected timeframe on when the notice will be lifted.
Out of an abundance of caution, the city of Bellaire also issued a water boil notice late Sunday night.
Additionally, Houston Independent School District has canceled all operations for Monday due to this issue.
As a result of the Boil Water Notice, the public is advised:
*Do not drink the water without boiling it first.
*Bring all water to a boil for at least two minutes.
*Let it cool before using.
*Individuals without power to boil water are advised to use bottled water for consumption.
According
to TCEQ, children, seniors, and persons with weakened immune systems
are particularly vulnerable to harmful bacteria, and all customers
should follow the precautions detailed above.
KPRC 2 is investigating the City of Houston water department. We told
you earlier this month that more customers reported problems with low
water pressure than in any other major metropolitan water district
surveyed by JD Power last year.
Netanyahu Walks Political and Diplomatic Tightrope as He Forms Coalition
Washington’s
involvement in Israeli politics following the country’s recent
elections is “something new in this space” and not a positive precedent.
By Israel Kasnett
Re-elected
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (centre) and his Likud party
are set to form a coalition government that includes the far-right
Religious Zionism Party whose leaders are Bezalel Smotrich (left) and
Itamar Ben-Gvir (right)
Israel’s presumed prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is working to form a government amid political and diplomatic challenges. The rise of Religious Zionist Party leader Bezalel Smotrich and Otzma Yehudit Party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir
in the recent elections have raised both hopes and concerns on both
sides of the political spectrum. Their popularity has also reportedly
raised concerns in the United States. There are also reports that US
Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides allegedly expressed his concerns to Netanyahu with regard to the possibility of Smotrich being appointed defense minister.
Supporters
of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, as well as many other Israelis, have
expressed their wish to see Israel taking a stronger stance against
Palestinians who wish to harm Israel’s security. Critics who have voiced
their disappointment with the rise of the two politicians are worried
they will control the next government’s agenda, will pull Israel too far
to the right and will force Netanyahu to implement right-wing policies.
Jonathan Schanzer,
senior vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies, told JNS, “The onus will be on Netanyahu to determine how
much they dominate the agenda.”
But he pushed back against those clamoring that the State of Israel has fallen into the hands of the far right.
“This is not Italy,” he said. “We’re not talking about a government dominated by extremists.”
He
suggested that Ben Gvir and Smortrich have grown in influence because
of the uptick in violence that Israel has seen in Judea and Samaria.
“That is due to the influence of Iran, Hamas, of rejectionists on the
Palestinian political spectrum,” he said. “All these things are actually
quite natural in light of that violence.”
Israel is experiencing a
political pendulum swing, and it is possible that the rise of Ben-Gvir
and Smotrich is more a reaction to Palestinian violence and terrorism,
as well as to the makeup of the last Israeli government, than a sign of
the public’s agreement with the two politicians’ religious or political
stance on every issue.
According to Schanzer, “their platform is
one of security and law and order, among other things, and one can
understand why Israelis would vote that way.”
However, Schanzer
said, there are things the two politicians have said, and positions they
have espoused, “that have no place in the Israeli system.”
“This
is the political moment we are all experiencing,” he added. “America is
not immune to it. The United States has their extremists, and the French
and Italians have theirs.”
Schanzer was referring to the recent far-right victories in Europe. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
claimed victory after the right-wing populist Brothers of Italy Party
secured the highest vote share of any party there. France’s far-right
National Rally (RN) Party leader Marine Le Pen secured
42% of the vote in the last election. Likewise, in Sweden, the Sweden
Democrats emerged as the second-most popular party.
“It’s
important to look comparatively,” Schanzer said. “The world is
experiencing some fairly large political changes, and Israel is not
immune.”
Schanzer said Netanyahu is “aware of potential
challenges” Ben-Gvir and Smotrich pose to ties with the Biden
administration, “and appears to be working to mitigate those
challenges.”
One of the policies promoted by right-wing
politicians in recent years includes extending Israeli sovereignty over
all of Area C of Judea and Samaria—a move that allegedly nearly came to
fruition during the Trump administration—but it does not seem Ben-Gvir
or Smotrich have made this a central demand in coalition talks.
Eytan Gilboa,
an expert on US-Israel relations at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan,
and a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and
Security, told JNS that the United States is worried by Ben-Gvir and
Smotrich’s political positions on matters such as legalizing and
expanding settlements, canceling the disengagement law, changes in
military engagement rules, and introducing a death penalty for
terrorists.
Joe Biden is worried by Ben-Gvir and
Smotrich’s political positions on matters such as legalizing and
expanding settlements, canceling the disengagement law, changes in
military engagement rules, and introducing a death penalty for
terrorists.
Each of these issues on its own is problematic for the
United States, said Gilboa, adding, “If you combine all of them
together, it becomes a major challenge.”
Before the US midterm
elections, many Israelis hoped for an overwhelming Republican win, which
would have influenced the relationship between the two countries and
perhaps been more supportive of a Netanyahu-led right-wing government.
While
the expected “red wave” in Congress never materialized, the Biden
administration has said it will work with any Israeli government, based
on interests and values. The problem is, some officials have expressed
disinterest in working with certain Israeli politicians whom they claim
espouse views that differ from those US interests and values.
Gilboa
said the Biden administration “will be looking at what the government
will do and based on that will develop its approach,” adding that
Netanyahu “has to find a way to work with the Biden administration based
on the kind of government he has.”
The current political
situation in both countries is unique—the Democrats held the Senate
after the midterms and Israel’s right-wing parties gained significant
strength—and therefore, according to Gilboa, this is a “complex
situation. We have to wait and see how things are going to develop.”
Gilboa
said Netanyahu “will try to block and control whatever he can to
restrict actions that might alienate or antagonize the US,” but
suggested Israel may still “see some tension and crises” with the Biden
administration.
Both Schanzer and Gilboa agree that the US should wait for the government in Israel to be formed before attacking its policies.
According
to Gilboa, Washington is concerned because it does not want to bury the
two-state solution with the Palestinians and therefore does not want
“to see actions that would prevent a return to the negotiating table
sometime in the future.”
Anonymous officials warning Israel about
Ben-Gvir and Smotrich is, according to Schanzer, “a direct intervention”
and a “significant diversion from the norm.”
Schanzer pointed out that the United States positions itself “as the champion of democracy.”
“The
Israeli people have voted. There is no question this party will have a
role. It is not up to the United States to determine what that role is,”
he said. “It is fair for the United States to express concern about the
rhetoric that these two men have uttered publicly, but to try to shape
the government that is due to come in is premature,” he added.
“It
is one thing to convey these things quietly among allies,” he said.
“It’s another thing to issue unattributed statements or, in the case of
the American ambassador, to directly engage on this issue.”
“We
are watching something new in this space,” said Schanzer, adding that he
does not believe the US involvement is a “particularly positive
precedent that is being set.”
Handgun owners carrying daily in US doubled in 4 years; self-protection cited as main reason: study
The
number of respondents to the online survey who said they had carried a
gun in the last month also nearly doubled from 9 million to 16 million
in 2015
Twice the number of Americans were carrying handguns daily in 2019
compared to 2015, according to a new study published this month.
Twice the number of Americans were carrying handguns daily in 2019 compared to 2015, according to a new study published this month.
Around
6,000 gun owners carried handguns every day in 2019, up from 3,000 in
2015, according to a study from the American Journal of Public Health
published on Nov. 16.
The number of respondents to the online
survey who said they had carried a gun in the last month also nearly
doubled from 9 million to 16 million in 2015.
The study focuses solely on owners carrying a handgun on their person, not in their car.
The upward trend found in the study comes as states loosen
restrictions for carrying a handgun and more gun owners cite protection
as a top concern.
A U.S. Supreme Court case last June also overturned strict gun carrying laws in New York.
The
authors wrote, "This ruling could further catalyze the loosening of
firearm-carrying regulations in different parts of the country at a time
when, as our study indicates, trends in handgun carrying already point
to more US adults carrying loaded handguns in public places, including
without a permit when a permit is required."
The study authors said a June U.S. Supreme Court ruling
overturning restrictive gun-carrying laws in New York could "catalyze
the loosening of firearm-carrying regulations in different parts of the
country."
The
study’s lead authors were Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, an epidemiology professor
at the University of Washington; Amy Gallagher of the University of
Washington; Deborah Azrael of the Harvard Injury Control Research
Center; and Matthew Miller from Northeastern University, and the Harvard
Injury Control Research Center.
The authors added, "Little is known about the frequency and features
of firearm carrying among adult handgun owners in the United States. In
fact, over the past 30 years, only a few peer-reviewed national surveys,
conducted in 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2015, have provided even the most
basic information about firearm carrying frequency."
A gunman allegedly killed five people at a nightclub in Colorado Springs last Saturday.
In
1994, the percentage of gun owners who said their main reason for
having a firearm was protection was 46%, by 2015 it went up to 64% and
spiked to 73% by 2019. In 2021, it was 83%.
Only one state allowed permit less handgun carry in 1990 but by 2021 it had increased to 21 states, according to the study.
The study also comes amid crime spikes in cities across the country.
ADDENDUM: People
who in the past never dreamed of carrying a handgun are seeing the lay
of the land and have decided not to be sheep. -- Trey Rusk
Donald Trump's former ambassador to Israel blasts ex-president for
hosting 'human scum' white supremacist Nick Fuentes and 'anti-Semite
Kanye West' at Mar-a-Lago
Trump's former ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman criticized him Friday. Friedman,
who is an Orthodox Jew, tweeted that Trump was 'better than
this' calling a social visit from an 'antisemite like Kanye West' and
'human scum like Nick Fuentes unacceptable'
By Andrea Cavallier
Daily Mail
November 26, 2022
David M. Friedman, an Orthodox
Jew who served as former President Trump's ambassador to Israel,
publicly blasted Trump for hosting Nick Fuentes and Kanye West in
Mar-a-Lago
Former President Donald Trump is being
criticized for associating himself with far-right activist Nick Fuentes
and disgraced rapper Kanye West - two men who have promoted antisemitism and hate - after the three dined together at Mar-a-Lago earlier this week.
David
M. Friedman, an Orthodox Jew who served as Trump's ambassador to Israel
during his presidency, publicly blasted the former president for
hosting the duo.
'To my friend Donald Trump, you are better than this,' he tweeted on Friday.
'Even a social visit from an antisemite
like Kanye West and human scum like Nick Fuentes is unacceptable. I urge
you to throw those bums out, disavow them and relegate them to the
dustbin of history where they belong.'
Trump was
reportedly 'very taken' with Fuentes during the impromptu dinner and
was impressed by his ability to 'rattle off statistics and recall
speeches dating back to his 2016 campaign' - but had no clue of his
controversial background, sources told Axios.
The Justice Department in a 2021 complaint referred
to Fuentes, an alt-right figure, as a 'white supremacist' and 'America
First' podcaster.' In an episode of his podcast, Fuentes 'jokingly' denied the Holocaust and compared Jews who were burnt in Nazi concentration camps to cookies in an oven.
The
dinner on Tuesday is the latest example of the former president
associating himself with individuals with extreme or racist views
despite his own son-in-law Jared Kushner being Jewish and his daughter
Ivanka converting to Judaism before their wedding.
White
nationalist Nick Fuentes being interviewed by Alex Jones on InfoWars
Birds of a feather: Nick Fuentes (center) with Alex Jones at a "Stop the Steal" rally in Georgia on Nov. 19, 2020.
Friedman continued in another tweet: 'I
condemned Barak Obama associating with Louis Farrakhan and Jeremiah
Wright. This is no different. Antisemites deserve no quarter among
American leaders, right or left.'
As
backlash against the former president continued on Twitter, White House
spokesman Andrew Bates said: 'Bigotry, hate, and antisemitism have
absolutely no place in America - including at Mar-A-Lago. Holocaust
denial is repugnant and dangerous, and it must be forcefully condemned.'
NBC News has
since reported those close to Trump have been thrown into a tailspin by
the fallout from the meeting, despite the former president allegedly
having no prior knowledge of who Fuentes was.
'This is a f***ing nightmare,' said one longtime Trump adviser who spoke anonymously.
Former
President Donald Trump and Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, dined
together alongside Nick Fuentes earlier this week at Mar-a-Lago
Nick
Fuentes, a white supremacist and Holocaust denier, dined with former
President Donald Trump earlier this week at Mar-a-Lago in Florida
Friedman is pictured with Trump
and Jared Kushner in 2020. Kushner is Jewish and Trump's daughter Ivanka
converted to Judaism before her wedding to Kushner
The
source went on to say they are concerned that the meeting could impact
Trump's chances at taking the Republican nomination in 2024.
'If people are looking at [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis to run against Trump, here's another reason why,' the source said.
On Friday, Ye also confirmed that Trump was 'impressed' with Fuentes in a video posted to Twitter.
'So
Trump is really impressed with Nick Fuentes, and Nick Fuentes, unlike
so many of the lawyers, and so many of the people that he was left with
on his 2020 campaign, he's actually a loyalist' Ye said.
In
a post on Truth Social Friday evening, Trump said he didn't know
Fuentes previous to the meeting and offered an explanation on the
meeting with the rapper.
'Ye, formerly
known as Kanye West, was asking me for advice concerning some of his
difficulties, in particular having to do with his business,' Trump wrote
in the post.
'We also discussed, to a
lesser extent, politics, where I told him he should definitely not run
for President, 'any voters you may have should vote for TRUMP.
'Anyway,
we got along great, he expressed no anti-Semitism, & I appreciated
all the nice things he said about me on 'Tucker Carlson.' Why wouldn't I
agree to meet? Also, I don't know Nick Fuentes.'
Fuentes once 'jokingly' denied the Holocaust in an episode of his 'America First' podcast
The far-right political commentator compared Jews who were burnt in Nazi concentration camps to cookies in an oven
Three
different sources, two Trump advisers and one person who is not
currently involved in the Trump campaign, told NBC News Friday Ye also
brought Karen Giorno, who managed the Trump campaign in Florida during
the 2016 election.
The former president reportedly knew the woman by both name and sight.
A
third unknown party was also brought by the rapper, however, the
identity of the person is unknown and sources said he was 'an associate'
of Ye's.
Fuentes is also helping Ye
in his own 2024 presidential campaign, which is being managed by Milo
Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart editor and alt-right commentator,
according to the rapper.
In 2021, the Justice Department referred to Fuentes as a 'white supremacist'
This comes after Ye and Fuentes showed up at Mar-a-Lago 'unexpectedly,' according to the former president.
'This
past week, Kanye West called me to have dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Shortly
thereafter, he unexpectedly showed up with three of his friends, whom I
knew nothing about,' the ex-president said in an earlier post on the
right-wing social media app.
'We had
dinner on Tuesday evening with many members present on the back patio.
The dinner was quick and uneventful. They then left for the airport.'
West had previously revealed that Trump - who has already announced he'd be running for the White House in 2024 - rejected the rapper's request to be the ex-president's vice presidential pick.
West has also announced he plans to run for president in 2024.
In a two-minute campaign promo posted to Twitter
Thursday, the embattled artist - who has faced backlash for his remarks
disparaging Jewish people - expanded on those plans, revealing he met
with Trump, 76, Wednesday to discuss them.
A day earlier, West, 45, was seen traveling with Fuentes, as he headed to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
In the brief clip, West offered his own account of the sit-down,
which he said saw him air his presidential aspirations to the former
commander-in-chief, who announced his own renewed bid for the Oval
Office last week.
Titled 'Mar-a-Lago debrief,' the abrupt campaign teaser comes just days after West was spotted in Beverly Hills with the white
supremacist, who has emerged as one of the leading figures of the
far-right for his views on Jews and other minority groups.
The pair then traveled to Miami together, and were spotted outside the former president's Florida private club on Tuesday.
West,
who was dropped by Adidas and several other companies last month for
his antisemitic comments, praises Fuentes in the footage, while also
criticizing Trump - who he said flat out denied his running mate request
in a fit of rage.
Kanye
West has revealed Donald Trump rejected his request to run under him in
the upcoming 2024 election, less than a week after the rapper announced
plans to run for president
In
a two-minute campaign promo posted to Twitter Thursday, the embattled
artist - who has faced backlash for his remarks disparaging Jewish
people - expanded on those plans, revealing he met with Trump Wednesday
to discuss them
'The
thing that Trump was most perturbed about [is] me asking him to be my
vice president,' Kanye said the clip posted on his recently-unlocked
Twitter account on Thanksgiving night.
He
continued: 'I think that was, like, lower on the list of things that
caught him off guard. It was the fact that I walked in with
intelligence.'
He would go on to accuse
the ex-head of state of succumbing to cancel culture by firing
mercurial members of his cabinet such as top aides Karen Giorno and
Steve Bannon, while distancing himself from other public figures such as
Fuentes due to their views.
West would go on to hail Fuentes as a Trump 'loyalist,' touting his support of the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, by citizens loyal to the then outgoing president.
'Nick
Fuentes, unlike so many of the lawyers and some of the people [Trump]
was left with on his 2020 campaign, he's actually a loyalist,' West said
in the video, which featured a caption with the hashtag #YE24.
'When all the lawyers said, 'forget it,
Trump's done,' there were loyalists running up in the White House,
right?' West continued, referring to the politician's unsuccessful
attempts to argue his election loss to current President Joe Biden.
West
proceeded to chide the president for not doing anything to help the
hundreds of Americans being prosecuted for their part in the insurgence
'Why,
when you had the chance, did you not free the January 6ers?' West asked
incredulously, sitting on a counter at his LA studio while speaking to
an interviewer.
The rapper goes on to offer advice to Trump, telling him to
'go and get these people that the media tried to cancel' - ignoring his
own recent troubles while dealing with the media and his owned failed
bid for the presidency in 2020.
At
that point in the bizarre campaign ad, the video flashes photos of
former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, Trump ally Roger Stone,
and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, as to signify some of the
polarizing figures the ex-president has supposedly alienated.
Jones,
who rose to prominence during Trump's campaign and first term in
office, was recently ordered to pay a more than $1 billion to the
families of the Sandy Hook victims for unfounded comments about a
supposed conspiracy surrounding their children's deaths.
Eventually,
West said, he pitched his presidential run to the Republican, who
responded by dismissing his desires for the White House with an
anecdote in which he claimed he granted clemency to former federal
prisoner Alice Johnson for West, and not his estranged wife Kim
Kardashian, who had campaigned for Johnson's release.
Johnson,
67, had been convicted in 1996 for involvement in a Memphis cocaine
trafficking scheme, which came with a life sentence, seen by Kardashian
and other criminal justice reform advocates as much too tough for a
non-violent offender.
Kardashian first
came to the White House in May 2018 to tell Trump Johnson's story. The
president commuted Johnson's sentence on June 6.
In
response to West's pitch, Trump offered an anecdote about how he
granted clemency to former federal prisoner Alice Johnson (at left in
2020) for West, and not his estranged wife Kim Kardashian, who had
campaigned for Johnson's release
Kardashian's
(left) first trip to the Trump White House came in May 2018, with
President Trump (right) commuting the sentence of Johnson, a Memphis
cocaine dealer, days later. The supermodel is in the midst of a very
contentious divorce with the disgraced shoe designer
West,
however, in his campaign clip dismissed the president's spiel as a
'would-be mob-esque' story meant to intimidate him into submission.
That
said, West said he did not become offended until Trump insulted
Kardashian to his face, though the insult itself is censored in the
footage.
Trump allegedly told West, 'you can tell her I said that.'
The
rapper said that at that point, he became annoyed by the unspecified
barb, telling the interviewer, 'That's the mother of my children.'
Meanwhile,
the rapper is facing allegations that he harassed his former employees
at Adidas - which carried his Yeezy shoe brand up until last month - by
showing them pornography, including graphic images of Kardashian, 42,
herself.
The
pair split early this year, but have yet to officially divorce. Since
then, West has grown increasingly unhinged on social media, culminating
in the massive outcry leveled against him last month.
West - still in the midst of the very public divorce - spawned the backlash when he complained a 'Jewish underground media mafia' is ruining his career, along with a host of other antisemitic remarks.
A
day earlier, West , 45, was seen traveling with known white nationalist
and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, as he headed to Trump 's Mar-a-Lago
resort in Florida before a planned dinner with the former president
The
comment saw West stripped of several lucrative major partnerships with
companies like Adidas and Balenciaga - which itself has come under fire
for a recently pulled ad campaign that showed kids showing off teddy
bears in bondage - as well as billions of dollars in a matter of days.
West,
who was banned from Twitter for his antisemitic diatribe, tweeted
Sunday 'Shalom :)' after being reinstated earlier in the day.
In
his clip posted Thursday, West would go on to reveal that Trump was not
pleased by his plans overtake the White House, and unleashed his own
diatribe criticizing the rapper, telling him he would lose if he ran
against him.
'Trump
started basically screaming at the table telling me I was gonna lose,'
West recalled, adding, I mean, has that ever worked for anyone in
history?'
Keeping true to his trademark arrogant persona, the rapper added: 'I'm like, 'Wait, hold on Trump - you're talking to Ye.''
The clip ended the intro to West's 2016 song Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1, accompanied by a title card reading 'YE24.'
Two
days earlier, the rapper raised eyebrows after being spotted with known
antisemite Fuentes in Beverly Hills days before the pair set off to
Miami together.
The
known anti Semite - who supported the January 6 riots and is a stalwart
of the alt-right -and West were spotted inside a Miami airport wearing
blue jackets
Many subsequently took to Twitter to reveal their unease at the sighting, as both have recently gone on anti-Semitic rants.
Daily
Beast reporter Will Sommer called the situation 'uniquely bad' as
Fuentes is an 'outright neo-Nazi' that has recently 'whipped up hate
toward Jews.'
'It's hard to be shocked
by anything anymore, but Charlottesville marcher and Holocaust denier
Nick Fuentes being hosted at the former president's resort still feels
uniquely bad,' he wrote on Wednesday.
'[Fuentes is] being embraced by one of the biggest celebs in the country and, reportedly, Trumpworld.'
Inside
Elections reporter Jacob Rubashkin expressed unease, writing: 'So
Holocaust denier and white supremacist Nick Fuentes and Hitler-obsessed
anti-Semite Kanye West are hanging out at the former president's home -
where Kanye claims he had an audience with Trump.'
West enjoyed dinner with Trump, who recently announced his 2024 presidential run. Fuentes was reportedly not present at dinner
Another blamed Fuentes for West's
anti-Semitic rants, writing: 'Kanye West is gone forever he's hanging
out with Nick Fuentes. No wonder he's been hating on Jewish people
lately. God, this is just sad.'
USA Today correspondent Will Carless noted that Fuentes is 'banned from Twitter and other platforms' for being a 'bigot.'
West
recently had his Twitter reinstated by new CEO Elon Musk, but his
Instagram remains restricted. Both were paused due to West's
anti-Semitic rants, where he claimed he'd bring 'death con 3' to Jews
and that Sean 'Diddy' Combs was controlled by the community.
'Hate likes company, I guess,' Carless wrote on Twitter.
Ian
Haworth, a speaker for Turning Point USA, wrote: 'So now that Kanye
West is hanging out with Nick Fuentes - an open white supremacist - is
it time to conclude that the blind money-motivated defense of Kanye is
about as anti-conservative as possible at this point?
'How far are we from questioning what Nick Fuentes REALLY means?'
Fuentes
started gaining notoriety in 2017 after he left Boston University
following claims that he was receiving 'threats' after attending a white
supremacist rally, Unite the Right, in Charlottesville, Virginia,
according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
He
also hosts a live-stream show called America First, which has a
'cult-like following,' according to ADL, and his fans are called
Groypers.
The young man uses his
various platforms to push anti-Semitic and racist comments and has
denied the Holocaust on multiple occasions.
During
one of his live-stream episodes, he reportedly compared Jews being
incinerated in concentration camps to cookies in the oven.
Fuentes'
platform largely pushes to preserve white, European-American identity
and culture and pushes the conspiracy theory that the white race is
impending destruction through white genocide.
He once said: 'I don't see Jews as
Europeans and I don't see them as part of Western civilization,
particularly because they are not Christians.'
West
became embroiled in controversy after debuting White Lives Matter
shirts at Paris Fashion Week, alongside conservative commentator Candace
Owens, on October 3.
The rapper then
sparked global outrage after he tweeted on October 8: 'I'm a bit sleepy
tonight but when I wake up I'm going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE...The
funny thing is I actually can't be Anti Semitic because black people are
actually Jew also...you guys have toyed with me and tried to black-ball
anyone whoever opposes your agenda.'
The
rapper was later asked by Piers Morgan if he regretted the tweet and he
said: 'No. Absolutely not, absolutely not. I fought fire with fire. I'm
not here to get hosed down. That's a different type of freedom
fighter.'
He later clarified: 'I will
say I'm sorry for the people that I hurt. I feel like I caused hurt and
confusion, and I'm sorry for the families of the people that had nothing
to do with the trauma that I had been through and that I use my
platform where you say, 'Hurt people hurt people,' and I was hurt.'
West's
recent controversy started on October 3 at Paris Fashion Week, where he
debuted White Lives Matter shirts, alongside Candace Owens (pictured)
West
went on to reportedly tell Sean 'Diddy' Combs that 'Jewish people told
you to call me' and that they were not going to 'threaten or influence
me.' West also said the rapper was 'breaking my heart' and that 'no one
gets in between me and my money'
His rants would later see brands pulling
out from his billion-dollar brand, including Vogue, Balenciaga, and
Adidas, causing him to lose his billionaire status.
The
biggest blow to West's empire was when Adidas pulled its $1.5 billion
deal from the singer after facing severe criticism for stalling so
long.
The German sporting goods
behemoth announced the move in a statement released online, with the
sportswear maker having put its partnership with West under review
earlier this month 'after repeated efforts to privately resolve the
situation.'
The partnership began in
2013 after he left a collaboration with Nike and the deal was the
crowning jewel of his fortune, with sales climbing to $1.7 billion in
2020 – earning him $191 million in royalties that year alone.
Forbes estimates that the Yeezy business
with Adidas is worth $1.5 billion, and the company confirmed that it was
likely going to lose up to $250 million of its net income in 2022 as a
result of the split.
'Adidas does not
tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech. West's recent
comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and
they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual
respect and fairness,' the company's statement read.
'After
a thorough review, the company has taken the decision to terminate the
partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded
products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies. adidas will stop
the Adidas Yeezy business with immediate effect.
Re-elected
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (centre) and his Likud party
are set to form a coalition government that includes the far-right
Religious Zionism Party whose leaders are Bezalel Smotrich (left) and
Itamar Ben-Gvir (right)
David M. Friedman, an Orthodox
Jew who served as former President Trump's ambassador to Israel,
publicly blasted Trump for hosting Nick Fuentes and Kanye West in
Mar-a-Lago
White
nationalist Nick Fuentes being interviewed by Alex Jones on InfoWars
West
went on to reportedly tell Sean 'Diddy' Combs that 'Jewish people told
you to call me' and that they were not going to 'threaten or influence
me.' West also said the rapper was 'breaking my heart' and that 'no one
gets in between me and my money'