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Dallas Police Partner with Anti-LGBT Megachurch Pastor Amid String of Anti-Gay Hate Crimes

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LGBT Groups Call for Department to End Relationship with First Baptist Church As Attacks Continue in Oak Lawn

A partnership between the Dallas Police Department and rabidly anti-LGBT Southern Baptist megachurch Pastor Robert Jeffress (photo) is raising questions about whether homophobia in law enforcement is contributing to a string of unsolved anti-gay hate crimes in the city’s Oak Lawn neighborhood. 

This week, several local LGBT groups called on the Dallas Police Department to end its partnership with Jeffress and his First Baptist Church of Dallas, after he recently compared pro-LGBT businesses to the terror group ISIS during a radio interview with the Family Research Council, itself an anti-LGBT hate group.

Meanwhile, yet another possible anti-gay hate crime was reported early Thursday in Oak Lawn. It was the 18th such incident since September, although LGBT advocates say many more have gone unreported, and police have made no arrests. 

“The confidence from the LGBT community is just about zero,” Cece Cox, CEO of Dallas’ LGBT community center, told KDFW-TV this week. “To have zero arrests, that I’m aware of, and zero legitimate action taken on these crime incidents where people are being brutally injured is really disturbing and raises a lot of questions about [the police department] paying attention.”

On Friday, Cox drew a connection between the department’s partnership with Jeffress and the anti-gay crime wave in an interview with NBCDFW.com. Under the partnership, announced by police Chief David Brown during a “Back the Blue” rally at the church last month, First Baptist reportedly is providing counseling to Dallas police officers, and allowing their children to attend its Bible camps for free. 

“It would be great if he [Brown] would have a conversation with us now, with someone from the LGBT community, about why this doesn’t sit well with us,” Cox said of the partnership. “We have this decision with the partnership, on top of 18 unsolved assaults in Oak Lawn since September. What’s going on?”

Thus far, Brown hasn’t responded to LGBT groups’ concerns about the partnership. Mayor Mike Rawlings, who has a mixed record on LGBT issues and also spoke during the “Back the Blue” rally at First Baptist, told NBCDFW.com that Jeffress’ recent anti-LGBT remarks “hurt [him] deeply” because, “That’s not how Dallas is.” But Rawlings is leaving the decision about whether to end the partnership in the hands of Brown. 

“This is a tricky thing. You know, there are a lot of restaurants that give a free hamburger to police officers,” Rawlings said. “Sometimes those restaurants might then do things that are wacky, too. So, I think Chief Brown will look at this issue and do what’s best.”

Back in November, LGBT activists protested outside police headquarters, criticizing the department for failing to adequately respond to the anti-gay attacks, which have included one victim being stabbed repeatedly outside a nightclub and another being beaten with a baseball bat during last year’s Pride celebration. 

Take Back Oak Lawn, a group formed in response to the attacks, noted that in addition to his hateful remarks about LGBT people, Jeffress has said that women who have abortions should be punished and that Islam is a false religion inspired by Satan.

“We find that based on these very public statements, First Baptist Church poses a danger to the safety of a large segment of the Dallas population,” Take Back Oak Lawn said in a statement. “We are very concerned that they would inadequately be able to provide fair and unbiased counseling services to officers servicing said population. We implore DPD to seriously reconsider their relationship with FBC and work closely with the communities affected by these disparaging statements to instill confidence that they will be kept safe.”

 

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Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license

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‘You’re Kidding Right?’: WH Press Secretary Stunned Over ‘Falsely Called Racist’ Question

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared stunned when a reporter asked her for examples of President Donald Trump falsely being called a racist.

The president this week used his statement on the death of Reverend Jesse Jackson to argue that he is not a racist.

“Despite the fact that I am falsely and consistently called a Racist by the Scoundrels and Lunatics on the Radical Left, Democrats ALL, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way,” he wrote.

On Wednesday, a reporter asked, “Where or when does the president believe he’s been falsely called racist?”

Leavitt replied, “You’re kidding, right?”

READ MORE: Trump’s Wild 24 Hour Truth Social Frenzy

“I will pull you plethora of examples,” she said, vowing to get her team “going through the internet of radical Democrats throughout the years … who have accused this president falsely of being a racist, and I’m sure there’s many people in this room and on network television, across the country, who have accused him of the same.”

“In fact, I know that because I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” she said, before noting that Trump is hosting a Black History Month celebration later on Wednesday.

Trump, she said, will “talk about how his policies are advancing opportunity and prosperity for all Americans through record tax cuts, through the Trump accounts that all Americans can access regardless of race.”

“These are a great thing,” she continued, before noting that the president “has also awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding to strengthen educational outcomes at historically Black colleges and universities, across the country.”

READ MORE: ‘Gaslight America’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Blasts Trump Ahead of His Trip to Georgia

She also said that Trump is “protecting the hard-earned benefits of the 2.4 million Black veterans who honorably served in our nation’s armed forces by reducing the Black backlog of veterans waiting for their VA benefits, and for their home loans through the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

“So, there is a lot this president has done for all Americans, regardless of race, and he has, absolutely, been falsely called and smeared as a racist, and I’m happy to provide you those receipts,” she added.

READ MORE: ‘Republicans Have to Lose’: Far Right Extremist Leader Puts Trump on Notice

 

Image via Reuters 

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‘Gaslight America’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Blasts Trump Ahead of His Trip to Georgia

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Former Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is sharply criticizing President Donald Trump ahead of his Thursday trip to her former district, where he made — and then apparently forgot — an endorsement in the race to fill her old House seat.

“Well, we have a lot of people that want to take Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene’s place,” Trump said on Monday, as The Daily Beast reported. “Many, many candidates, and I have to choose one.”

Greene ignored Trump’s gaffe, but hit him, his administration, and her former Republican colleagues head-on in a post on X where she accused them all of trying to gaslight the American people.

“If you had put America FIRST from the start, instead of your rich donor class and foreign policy, you wouldn’t have to strategize on how to gaslight Americans,” wrote Greene, a former top Trump ally.

READ MORE: Trump’s Wild 24 Hour Truth Social Frenzy

“If you had not called the Epstein files a hoax and treated the Epstein survivors (rape and trafficking victims) like they didn’t exist and if you would release all the files and put your rich powerful friends in prison then Americans might actually listen to your ‘messaging,'” she charged.

Mocking them all as on the “struggle bus,” Greene explained the situation her former constituents now face.

“Approximately 75,000 households in my former district had their health insurance double or more on January 1st of this year because the ACA tax credits expired and Republicans have absolutely failed to fix our health insurance system that was destroyed by Obamacare,” she said.

Republicans have blocked Democrats’ efforts — including a federal government shutdown over the expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies — to prevent the health care premiums crisis.

Greene said that hundreds of thousands of people in her former district saw their health insurance premiums double last month.

“Many dropped their policies and no longer have health insurance,” she wrote. “And that’s on top of EVERYONE ELSE who complains DAILY about the absurdly high cost of health insurance!!!”

She said the billionaires running the White House, the Trump administration, and Congress aren’t affected by the high health insurance premiums, noting that all of them have “very nice affordable government health insurance plans.”

READ MORE: ‘Republicans Have to Lose’: Far Right Extremist Leader Puts Trump on Notice

“I’m talking about younger healthier people and families not on meds who can’t afford to pay $1500 to more than $2000 per month just for their monthly health insurance premiums,” she wrote, “not including $7-10,000 for a deductible before their ridiculously expensive health insurance policy kicks in.”

Greene also took a shot at House Speaker Mike Johnson, who, she said, “claimed he had the Republican plan during the 8 week shutdown in the fall, then carried on and has done nothing proving he lied once again.”

She also blasted Trump’s “messaging” efforts.

“Trump RX doesn’t fix this so that’s not your messaging answer,” she wrote. “A Truth Social Post or Trump video isn’t fixing this either.”

“Messaging won’t fix this,” she added.

Greene then moved on to foreign policy, warning Trump not to go to war with Iran. She also urged him to release the Epstein files, and told him to “stop the bullying, harassment, and name calling.”

“It’s immature, childish, and turning so many people away. Real leaders don’t act this way and it’s a horrible example set on the world’s stage. This isn’t the behavior we want to teach our children.”

“Deliver real results for the regular American people because respect is earned not given,” she said.

READ MORE: ‘Insulting’: Fox News Panel Implodes as Host Clashes With Liberal Guest Over Voter ID

 

Image via Shutterstock

 

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Trump’s Wild 24 Hour Truth Social Frenzy

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Over a single 24-hour stretch, from Tuesday to Wednesday morning, President Donald Trump unleashed 48 Truth Social posts, from debunked election fraud conspiracy theories to posts including him among the “three Greatest Presidents,” to praise of what a great grandfather he is.

“Trump is an incredible grandfather,” wrote @TONYxTWO on the social media site X, which was screenshotted and posted by Trump to his Truth Social page at 7:04 AM Wednesday, along with a TikTok video of Trump with his grandchildren.

“Vote for grandpa,” one of his grandchildren told campaign rallygoers.

“That’s Barron,” Trump also said in the video, holding an infant in an old clip. “He’s strong, he’s smart, he’s tough, he’s vicious, he’s violent — all of the ingredients you need.”

READ MORE: ‘Republicans Have to Lose’: Far Right Extremist Leader Puts Trump on Notice

In another post, at 6:34 AM Wednesday, Trump screenshot a social media user who wrote: “PASS THE SAVE ACT.!!!” That post included a video with footage from 1996, lambasting now-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In it, Schumer was advocating for legislation that was an apparent effort to stop fraud related to illegal immigration.

Just one minute earlier, Trump shared a video promoting debunked election fraud claims, including saying that 2.7 million “Trump votes” appeared to have been deleted in the 2020 election.

BBC News debunked that claim in November 2020.

At 6:05 AM, Trump posted a screenshot of a social media user’s baseless election fraud claim: Michigan had over 100 percent turnout. BBC News also debunked that claim in November 2020.

At 10:58 PM on Tuesday, Trump posted a link to a right-wing website with an article titled, “Key political voice in Georgia urges state to take over Fulton County elections after FBI raid.”

One minute earlier, he wrote in a different post: “Crooked Elections cannot be allowed in the U.S.A. President DJT.”

That post also included a screenshot of a post by a social media user who wrote: “Dan Bongino had John Solomon on his show today and Solomon made an interesting prediction: That Trump will soon unveil evidence that foreign powers meddled in the 2020 election, which will result in John Thune ultimately caving on the filibuster and the Save America act will get passed.”

READ MORE: ‘Insulting’: Fox News Panel Implodes as Host Clashes With Liberal Guest Over Voter ID

It also included a video alleging that China sent fake drivers’ licenses to help Joe Biden.

At 7:43 PM, Trump posted a video of himself, speaking from the Oval Office, honoring the fifth anniversary of the passing of right-wing pundit Rush Limbaugh.

Trump described him as a “great man, a great conservative,” who was a friend of his. Trump went on to say that Limbaugh endorsed Trump just after his 2015 presidential run announcement from Trump Tower, where he had famously said that Mexico was not sending their best.

In six separate posts on Wednesday afternoon, Trump posted graphs that appeared to show Republican primary polling in Indiana, and how his endorsements would push a candidate from low numbers into the top position. One chart claimed that a Trump endorsement would put a candidate polling at 12 percent all the way to 54 percent.

Minutes earlier, Trump twice posted: “The Great Economist, Stephen Moore: ‘In the past Century, the three Greatest Presidents were Calvin Coolidge, Ronald Reagan, and Donald J. Trump!'”

Trump posted twelve photos of himself with the late Reverend Jesse Jackson, who passed away on Tuesday. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had used Jackson’s death as an opportunity to argue that he is not a racist.

Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, Trump posted a screenshot of a post by Fox News host Mark Levin, who wrote: “Now, finally stop the b — — trying to link POTUS to Epstein. The Woke Reich grifters, congressional Democrat hacks, and the media thugs continue to libel POTUS, from Russia to Epstein. We’ve a country to save from these reprobates and others.”

READ MORE: Trump Administration Hit With Lawsuit for Removing Pride Flag

 

Image via Reuters 

 

 

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