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NYPD Police Chief’s Son Is Fox’s On-Air Anti-Occupy Wall Street Activist

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The NYPD has an ace in the hole when it comes to spreading anti-Occupy Wall Street propaganda: Local Fox TV station WNYW-TV news anchor Greg Kelly — son of NYPD Police Chief Ray Kelly. On Wednesday, starting at 7:00 AM, Greg Kelly started his broadcast day by spreading the false story that the Occupy Wall Street protestors were planning on shutting down the New York City subway system.

“On Wednesday morning, as protesters tried unsuccessfully to shut down Wall Street, the anchors for the Fox TV station in New York City said several times that the protesters were also planning to “shut down” the subway system in the city later in the day,”  New York Times‘ Brian Stelzer reported. “The anchors discussed no evidence of such a plan, however, and some protest organizers have said that no such plan exists, that the goal is to gather at various subway stations and hand out flyers.”

“Asked about the sourcing of the station’s information, a spokeswoman for the Fox station, WNYW-TV, said, “It’s been reported elsewhere and we addressed it this morning during this interview with York City Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway.” In the interview, Mr. Holloway said the city was “advising New Yorkers to stay informed” about possible subway disruptions.”

But the planned protests were described much more ominously, at times, by the anchors on WNYW.

“This is a big deal,” the Fox co-anchor Greg Kelly said as his newscast started at 7 a.m. Wednesday. “We have thousands of protesters that have indicated they are going to try to shut down the subway system as well, and occupy sixteen transit hubs across the five boroughs.” Mr. Kelly and his co-anchor, Rosanna Scotto, spoke of indications of a “shut down” plan three other times that hour.

At 8 a.m., Mr. Kelly, who is the son of Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, said of the protesters on Wall Street: “Right now they’re kind of milling about. But the word is that they intend to shut down or attempt to shut down the New York Stock Exchange and vast portions of the New York City transit system.”

Around 8:30 a.m. Ms. Scotto said she was “getting a lot of tweets” about the protests and read one from Melody Carr on the air: “How is shutting down everything such as subways going to help the #OWS? it’s going to make the rest of the 99% upset w/them.”

Mr. Kelly weighed in. “So far,” he said, “they’ve focused their ire at the wealthy and those who support them, but when they start to shut down the commuting system for folks who are on their way to work, that’s something else.”

The comments about shutting down the subway continued into the 9 a.m. hour on WNYW, though no protesters or reporters were shown on screen backing up the comments.

WNYW is the flagship TV station of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company. Kelly was a Marine and previously was White House correspondent and covered the Iraq War for the Fox news Channel (FNC.) Kelly is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves.

To be fair, Salon.com’s Glenn Greenwald notes that The New York Times also reported initially that Occupy Wall Street protestors were planning on shutting down the subways, but removed those comments quickly. Not quickly and journalistically appropriately, but they removed them.

Nothing better than a propagandist ace-in-the-hole, unless that’s a relative who’s the ace-in-the-hole.

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News

Trump Appears to Think Jeb Bush Was President: ‘He Got Us Into the Middle East’

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During a rally in South Carolina on Monday, Donald Trump appeared to confuse former Florida GOP Governor Jeb Bush with his brother, former President George W. Bush, while bragging to supporters how he beat him.

Jeb Bush, who was largely considered to be the default Republican Party nominee for the 2016 presidential election when he launched his campaign, dropped out in February of 2016 after the South Carolina primary.

“When I come here, everyone thought Bush was going to win,” Trump said, before claiming he was “up by about 50 points” over Bush. “They thought Bush because Bush was supposedly a military person.”

“You know what he was…He got us into the Middle East,” Trump claimed, wrongly. “How did that work out?”

READ MORE: ‘Isn’t Glock a Good Gun?’ Trump Asks Before Saying He Is Buying One – Campaign Forced to Deny He Did

“But they also thought that Bush might win. Jeb. Remember Jeb? He used the word ‘Jeb,’ he didn’t use the word ‘Bush,’ I said, ‘You mean he’s ashamed of the last name?’ and then they immediately started using the name Bush,” Trump claimed.

The ex-president went on to continue denigrating Jeb Bush, accusing him of bringing his mother to campaign with him.

“Remember,” Trump said, “he brought his mother, his wonderful mother who’s 94 years old and it was pouring and they’re wheeling her around and it’s raining and horrible. I said, ‘Who would do that your mother, 94 years old. How desperate are you to win?”

Media Matters’ Craig Harrington, commenting on Trump’s latest gaffe, observed: “In the past two weeks, Donald Trump has:

– Warned that Joe Biden might start ‘World War 2’
– Confused his 2016 election opponent (Hillary Clinton) with former President Barack Obama
– Confused his 2016 primary opponent (Jeb Bush) with former President George W. Bush.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Careening’ Toward ‘Risk of Political Violence’: Experts Sound Alarm After Trump Floats Executing His Former General

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Fulton County Judge in Trump Case Orders Jurors’ Identities and Images Must Be Protected

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The Fulton County Superior Court judge presiding over Georgia’s RICO, conspiracy, and election interference case against Donald Trump on Monday afternoon ordered the identities and images of all jurors and prospective jurors to remain secret, ordering they may only be referred to by a number.

“No person shall videotape, photograph, draw in a realistic or otherwise identifiable manner, or otherwise record images, statements, or conversations of jurors/prospective jurors in any manner” that would violate a Superior Court rule, Judge Scott McAfee ordered, “except that the jury foreperson’s announcement of the verdict or questions to the judge may be audio recorded.”

“Jurors or prospective jurors shall be identified by number only in court filings or in open court,” he added.

READ MORE: ‘Careening’ Toward ‘Risk of Political Violence’: Experts Sound Alarm After Trump Floats Executing His Former General

Judge McAfee also ordered no juror’s or prospective juror’s identity, “including names, addresses, telephone numbers, or identifying employment information” may be revealed.

MSNBC’s Katie Phang posted the order, and added: “Another important part of the Order: no responses from juror questionnaires or notes about jury selection shall be disclosed, unless permitted by the Court.”

Judge McAfee’s order comes after Donald Trump’s weekend of attacks on his former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. Trump strongly suggested he should be executed for treason. Trump also strongly suggested he would target Comcast, NBC News, and MSNBC if he wins the 2024 presidential election.

Responding to the news, MSNBC’s Medhi Hasan observed, “We have just normalized the fact that the former president, and GOP presidential frontrunner, is basically a mob boss.”

 

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‘Isn’t Glock a Good Gun?’ Trump Asks Before Saying He Is Buying One – Campaign Forced to Deny He Did

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During a photo shoot at a South Carolina gun shop, Donald Trump posed with and then said he wanted to buy a Glock, asking if it is “a good gun.”

Some say it might be illegal to sell a gun to anyone under criminal indictment, and if he took the gun with him that too might be illegal. It was not clear if, despite saying he would, he actually bought the firearm. The Trump campaign initially said he had, although later backtracked on its claim, and deleted the social media post saying he had.

In the photo op (video below,) Trump posed with several people, including the Republican Attorney General of South Carolina, Alan Wilson, who has held that elected position since 2011.

“Trump’s spokesman announced that Trump bought a Glock today in South Carolina. He even posted video,” wrote former Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob. “If Trump took the gun with him, that’s a federal crime since he’s under indictment. There’s also a law against selling a gun to someone under federal indictment like Trump.”

READ MORE: ‘Poof’: White House Mocks Stunned Fox News Host as GOP’s Impeachment Case Evaporates on Live Air

Reuters’ crime and justice reporter Brad Heath posted the federal laws that might apply, as well as Trump’s campaign spokesperson’s clip of the ex-president’s remarks, and his spokesperson saying, “President Trump purchases a @GLOCKInc in South Carolina!”

CNN analyst Stephen Gutowski, who writes about gun policy, added, “It would be a crime for him to actually buy this gun because he’s under felony indictment. Did he actually go through with this purchase?”

“People under felony indictments can’t ‘receive’ new firearms. That also means you can’t buy them,” he also wrote.

MSNBC anchor and legal contributor Katie Phang wrote, “I don’t know if he actually bought the gun. At least it didn’t happen in this video. Also, the Attorney General of South Carolina is in this video. Is he watching Trump commit a crime?”

But some pointed to a federal judge in Texas’ ruling from last year. Reuters reported, a “federal law prohibiting people under felony indictment from buying firearms is unconstitutional.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

 

 

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