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Jamey Rodemeyer: Even After Suicide Bullies Say “We’re Glad You’re Dead”

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Jamey Rodemeyer, the 14-year old Buffalo, NY area student bullied for his sexual orientation, cannot rest in peace. Nor is his family getting the peace or respect they deserve. Despite the fact that local police say they are investigating R0demeyer’s suicide to potentially prosecute the actions of classmates that bullied Rodemeyer to death, students are still harassing and bullying Rodemeyer’s family.

WATCH: In his It Gets Better video, Jamey Rodemeyer said he “came out for being bi and got so much support” from his friends.

At the Williamsville North High School Homecoming dance last weekend, Rodemeyer’s sister, Alyssa (image, above), was harassed and jeered, and, as she says in this video, her brother’s bullies yelled at the school dance, “We’re glad he’s dead,” a comment reminiscent of those found in Jamey Rodemeyer’s Formspring account, like,  “I wouldn’t care if you died. No one would. So just do it. It would make everyone WAY more happier!”

Via The Buffalo News:

“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” Timothy Rodemeyer, the father of Jamey and Alyssa, said of the suspension.

In other developments in the case, which has grabbed intense national attention:

  • Alyssa revealed new details about the day Jamey killed himself and the events at the homecoming dance in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper.
  • Someone recorded parts of the homecoming incident, according to Alyssa, but police do not yet have the video.
  • Alyssa spoke to Amherst police detectives Thursday, and she and other students are scheduled to meet with district officials Monday.
  • Williamsville Schools Superintendent Scott G. Martzloff has begun to publicly defend the district’s response to Jamey’s suicide; he will attend a meeting Monday of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Williamsville North.

“Let me be clear: We will not let the actions of any student threaten the emotional well-being of others,” Martzloff said in a video posted late Thursday on the district’s website that revealed the suspension.

The suspension is the first disciplinary action taken since Jamey’s Sept. 18 suicide.

Jamey was subjected to relentless bullying at Heim Middle School, harassment he documented in online forums where cyberbullies attacked him.

One student — out of several — has been suspended for the school dance attack, but there are several others that reportedly have not been questioned or face any disciplinary or legal action. How this is possible, weeks after Rodemeyer’s tragic suicide, is unimaginable. Moreover, it is a lesson to bullies in Williamsville and across the nation that you can get away with these heinous inhumane acts.

The Williamsville Superintentent of Schools released this video message, almost five minutes long, that serves not as a warning to bullies, but as a feel-good PR stunt to calm outsiders and parents. Additionally, in the video below, initially Superintendent Scott Martzloff had declined to publicly share with students steps being taken to warn of disciplinary actions that could be or are being taken, in order to to protect the perpetrators.

Penn Bullock at Towleroad today posits,

And a broader question: when is anti-gay bullying going to show up on the Republican Party’s radar? Hundreds, maybe thousands of LGBT schoolchildren face daily savagery straight out of Lord of the Flies – while the conservative establishment remains dead-silent. Bachmann, for instance, has failed to sign a petition against homophobic bullying, even as the Justice Department targets the school district in her congressional zone for laxity on bullying.

The silence isn’t uniform. In Albany, State Sen. Stephen M. Saland, a Republican, is sponsoring an anti-bullying bill. But, by and large, the party’s national leadership has nothing to say about the pervasive harassment of LGBT children. Why?

In a nation that has no problem putting elementary school children in handcuffs for fighting, surely doing the same for acts of bullying and harassment leading to suicide should be equally punished?

In a nation that cheers the death penalty and the death of the uninsured,and jeers gay soldiers, why is it when LGBTQ children are attacked, the nation becomes warm and fuzzy — for their tormentors?

The Williamsville police and school district did far too little to protect Jamey Rodemeyer, and now they are doing far too little to protect his family, and to prosecute his tormentors.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hunSYjEKB8M%3Fversion%3D3%26hl%3Den_US

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Congressman Pummeled for Praising Students Mocking Black Protester With Monkey Sounds

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U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia, is under fire after praising University of Mississippi students, some wearing American flag outfits, mocking a Black woman protester by making monkey sounds and shouting, “lock her up.”

“Counter-protestors at the University of Mississippi made racist remarks — including monkey noises and comparisons to Lizzo — towards a Black woman who was part of a planned protest against the war in Gaza,” Los Angeles Magazine reported Friday.

Collins, who tried to defund Vice President Kamala Harris’ Office in November, declared his support for the counter-protesters at “Ole Miss,” as the University is called.

“Ole Miss taking care of business,” he wrote on social media, atop the video (below).

The counter-protesters, as evidenced in the video, appear to be mostly white.

A large number of users on the social media platform X responded, accusing the Congressman and the counter-protesters of racism.

“When is the inevitable ‘I don’t have a racist bone in my body’ tweet coming,” wondered Rewire News Group editor-at-large Imani Gandy.

“Which part is your favorite, Mike?” asked Fred Wellman, the former executive director of The Lincoln Project. “Is it the white kid acting like a monkey at the black woman or the white security guy acting like she’s a threat? I’m trying to figure out which flavor of racism has you all excited the most?”

READ MORE: MAGA State Superintendent Supports Chaplains in Public Schools – But Not From All Religions

Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic clinical instructor Alejandra Caraballo responded to the Georgia GOP congressman, “Thanks for confirming you’re a massive racist piece of sh*t.”

Mississippi Free Press news editor Ashton Pittman wrote: “Rep. Mike Collins, R-Georgia, praises a video showing a University of Mississippi frat boy dancing like a monkey and making monkey noises near a Black woman student who was protesting for Palestine while other frat boys chant ‘lock her up.'”

In a separate post describing a separate video taken of the same group Pittman wrote: “Frat bros at @OleMiss chant, ‘Lizzo! Lizzo!’ and shout, ‘F**k you fatass, f**k you b*tch’ at a Black woman who was protesting for Palestine. Do people really think these counterprotestors are doing it to support Jews?”

Journalist John Harwood did not mince words, writing, “Congressman proud of the racism.”

“Okay, Mike. We get it,” wrote podcast host, documentary director, and author W. Kamau Bell. “You want to be famous for being a racist. Fine. I’ll help you become a famous racist. You’re welcome.”

The original video is here.

See Rep. Collins’ post and the video below or at this link.

Caution: the video is disturbing.

READ MORE: Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’

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Noem Heads to Mar-a-Lago After Branding Kids She Ministered in Church ‘Little Tyrants’

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Amid more damning revelations from her soon-to-be released book, embattled South Dakota Republican Governor Kristi Noem will head to Mar-a-Lago this weekend as ex-president Donald Trump auditions potential vice presidential picks in front of high-dollar donors. Noem was also slated to attend a Republican fundraiser in Colorado this weekend but it was canceled over alleged safety concerns after news broke she had bragged about shooting her 14-month old dog.

While Noem’s shooting to death of her wirehaired pointer, Cricket, which she detailed in the book, is still making headlines overnight a new revelation made news: Noem falsely claims in her book she met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

A spokesperson for Noem “seemed to concede that the Kim story was false Thursday night,” and notified her publisher, Politico’s Ryan Lizza reported in his exclusive.

But less noticed appears to be the actual text of Noem’s false story, in which she brands children she ministered in church “little tyrants,” and compared them to the murderous North Korean dictator.

READ MORE: RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties

“Through my tenure on the House Armed Services Committee,” Noem wrote, according to Politico, “I had the chance to travel to many countries to meet with world leaders. I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all).”

CNBC reported this week Trump “will mingle with potential vice presidential running mates and wealthy Republican donors at the Republican National Committee’s spring donor retreat. The meetings are likely to act as informal tryouts for a short list of politicos in the running to join the Trump ticket.”

The list of Republican “special guests” includes U.S. Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and J.D. Vance, Rep. Elise Stefanik, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem.

Also expected to attend are House Speaker Mike Johnson, U.S. Reps. Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and other elected Republicans along with RNC co-chair Lara Trump.

READ MORE: Election Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report

NBC News, which says Rep. Donalds is also under consideration, on Friday added there will be “a fundraising retreat that could serve as a screening session” for potential vice presidential running mates.

Meanwhile, the Jefferson County, Colorado Republican Party chair announced a fundraising dinner Noem was slated to attend was canceled after threats were made, The Denver Post reports.

“We understood there was a planned organized protest outside of the hotel, led by Progress Now,” Nancy Pallozzi said. “I felt that our event would be negatively impacted, and we could not take the risk that those who made threats would cause physical harm.”

 

 

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RFK Jr., Embracing Far-Right, Spoke at Fundraiser for Anti-Government Group With J6 Ties

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Over the weekend independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spoke at a fundraiser for a far-right anti-government group in Erie County, New York – a slice of the country that had a large proportion of residents arrested and charged for crimes related to the January 6 insurrection. Kennedy, a conspiracy theorist and vaccine denialist, increasingly is embracing the far-right.

“That group, Constitutional Coalition of New York State, has founders who not only have ties to Donald Trump but are also connected to the stop-the-steal movement through their activist network, which includes groups that had a presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6,” The Daily Beast reported Friday. “It’s yet another instance of Kennedy—who is mounting one of the most well-funded third-party presidential threats in decades—serving as a peculiar bridge between his own anti-establishment movement and Trump’s.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center includes the Constitutional Coalition of New York State (CCNYS) on its page of anti-government groups. Political Research Associates, which detailed the high proportion of January 6 residents arrested and charged, included the Constitutional Coalition of New York State in its February report on “The Rise of the Far Right in Western New York.”

READ MORE: Election Denialism Embraced by ‘Large Proportion’ of Trump’s Followers: Report

“If you don’t think the government is lying to you, you’re not paying attention,” Kennedy told attendees at the CCNYS fundraiser, The Buffalo News reports.

“CCNYS founders Nick and Nancie Orticelli are also affiliated with the Watchmen, a nearby militia who Nick has encouraged his social media followers to join. The Watchmen had several members at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and one member, Pete Harding, is still facing charges for violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds,” The Daily Beast noted. “Nancie Orticelli has also hosted the Watchmen’s founder, Charles Pellien, on her weekly radio show on several occasions.”

One of Kennedy’s goals in traveling to New York was to get on the ballot for the November presidential election. Various polls show him taking votes from both President Joe Biden and ex-president Donald Trump, but Kennedy currently has only qualified to be on the ballot in three states, Utah, Michigan and Hawaii, the newspaper reported.

But The Washington Post on Thursday reported The American Independent Party of California, which has a history of “far-right ties,” and “backed segregationist and former Alabama governor George Wallace in 1968, nominated Kennedy for president.”

Kennedy “said this week that he has qualified to be on the ballot in California and will accept the nomination of the American Independent Party, which has a history of associating itself with far-right figures and individuals who have expressed racist views.”

Some news reports and RFK Jr. himself say the Trump campaign was actively courting Kennedy, attempting to convince him to consider being the ex-president’s 2024 vice presidential running mate.

“That MAGA dalliance with Kennedy could be coming back to bite the Trump campaign, some Republicans close to the former president worry,” The Daily Beast also reported.

“’They can only blame themselves,’ a Trump-aligned strategist told The Daily Beast, requesting anonymity to speak candidly about private conversations about the risk Kennedy poses, ‘because they cozied up to him and thought it was funny.’”

Watch WIVBTV’s report on Kennedy’s trip to New York below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Won’t Commit to Accepting Election Results if He Doesn’t Win State He Falsely Claims He Won

 

 

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