Experts say that since "community spreading" is already happening in the US, imposing the #TravelBan will have a limited impact. "At best travel bans only delay the spread of an epidemic by a short while," Professor Paul Hunter said. vice.com/en_us/article/… 2/6
Even Trump's own former admins think the ban is pointless. Former Homeland Security Adviser, @TomBossert said "there’s little value to European travel restrictions" calling it a "poor use of time and energy" vice.com/en_us/article/… 3/6
The fact flights can continue from the UK, Ireland, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and many other countries in Europe, means Trump's "European ban" has huge holes in it. Former Finnish PM @alexstubb said omitting the UK was “nothing short of irresponsible” vice.com/en_us/article/… 4/6
And in Brussels, politicians are saying the #TravelBan is a political one, designed to make Europe the scapegoat for Trump's mishandling of the #coronavirus outbreak in the US vice.com/en_us/article/… 5/6
Finally, it's worth noting that Trump's three European golf resorts are in countries (two in Scotland, one in Ireland) that are not impacted by the #TravelBan. Though I'm sure that's just a coincidence....
For those who haven't heard of them, constitutional sheriffs are actual elected sheriffs, but they believe that they hold the ultimate power in their county and that no federal or state agency can overrule them.
They believe their power comes from the constitution—even though there is no mention of sheriffs in the constitution—and God.
2/11
The movement's roots can be traced to the Posse Comitatus group that emerged in the early 70s, after it was founded by William Potter Gale, a member of the antisemitic, quasi-religious group known as Christian Identity.
"The history of law enforcement in America is inextricable from white supremacy," @JessPish write in her incredible book The Highest Law in the Land (which you should definitely read)
A private Facebook group with 27,000 members is pushing dangerous pseudoscience to parents of young children, claiming it can cure a range of ailments—including autism.
The group, set up in 2022, is run by Julia Czelazewicz, known online as Detox Mama. In a video on TikTok (where she has 500K followers) she says she first found out about the detox treatment she's peddling from Sherri Tenpenny —an antivaxxer famous for this claim
2/8
The product is a zeolite, classed as a dietary supplement with no medical benefits by its manufacturer.
But it's sold as a cure for everything from cancer to autism by the alternative health community. Renowned antivaxxer Larry Cook sells it via his Detox For Autim website
Loomer likely first came onto Trump's radar for disrupting a version of Julius Caesar in Central Park in 2017 that had a Trump-like figure in the lead role.
She was arrested, but critically, she was also interviewed by Trump's favourite TV star at the time, Sean Hannity
2/8
Loomer worked for a number of far-right disinfo outlets (including InfoWars) but in 2020 decided to run for Congress. After she won the GOP primary, Trump praised her publicly, but it wasn't enough to win the general election.
The plan was written in late August 2023 by Moscow-based company Social Design Agency. The company founder Ilya Gambashidze shared his plans with high-ranking officials in the Kremlin, and notes obtained by the FBI show Putin was among those being briefed.
2/11
Central to the plan was not trying to convince Americans that Russia was great, but to expose America's darkest fears
"They are afraid of losing the American way of life and the ‘American dream.' It is these sentiments that should be exploited," Gambashidze wrote.
Back in 2014, the harassment campaigns were aimed at games developers and commentators who sought to broaden women’s place in gaming.
Those tactics eventually “became embedded into the MAGA movement” and “seeped into the fabric of US democracy,” says @AttorneyNora
2/6
At the, time, the person who saw the terrible potential of Gamergate was Steve Bannon
“What he tried to do with Gamergate was really standardize those tactics so that many more people understood how to do gender trolling or race trolling as a political tactic.” @BostonJoan said
3/6