Since George Meza aka #RabbiPB is testifying for the defense in the Proud Boys trial, let's remember that on Jan 6 he watched the brutal attacks on the Columbus Doors. Here he is at 2:38 PM, 8s before the breach and 2s after. You can see his Israeli flag patch. 1/
In the morning, George Meza was at the Lot 7 rally, like the other Proud Boy defense witness Michale Graves (who opened for the convicted Stewart Rhodes). Here is Meza with Joshua Macias, arrested for bringing guns to a Philly vote-counting center. 2/
Most of the Lot 7 crowd decamped to the Capitol to join the insurrection and Meza was there early. Here he is at 2:17:31 PM and 2:18:02 PM. Like many Proud Boys, he tends to bail as the fight is heating up. Footage from Vinceableworld, 04:18 and 04:49. 2/ archive.org/details/DitvdK…
Meza is near the Columbus Doors for so long that he shows up in pretty much everyone's footage. Here he is at 2:25 PM, just 23 s after the first doors breach, in footage shot by then-WV-state-rep Derrick Evans (56:19). As usual, Meza is bailing out to a safe distance. 3/
Derrick Evans' FB livestream was released as part of his recent court case - he got 3 months for civil disorder. Meza didn't go inside, but he's arguably more culpable. The only Proud Boy he should be defending is himself. 4/ nbcnews.com/politics/justi…
For completeness, the sighting of Meza in Tweet 1 was from LA Times' @kentnish, 20:53 and 21:03 in the footage released last year. 5/ archive.org/details/pvesDR….
More sightings of Meza: before the main breach 2:36:12 PM he heads away from the doors, then heads back in 2:38:18 JUST in time for the breach. How did he know? Meza has his mask up for this one. AUSA's: ask him why he was hiding. 6/
George Meza, witness for the Proud Boys who claims under oath he saw no violence, WATCHED the breach of the Columbus Doors. Here he is 5s before the doors swing open. It's on YouTube - watch it. Listen to the crowd, as Megan Paradise chants it out. 7/
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Our new Navy Director of Communications watched the action at the Capitol on Jan 6 for Breitbart News. Her worst post might be this one: she flippantly captioned a video of people attacking the North Doors: "Things got a lil sporty here". To her it was a joke. Video tk. 1/
Here's Wong's video of the attack on the North Doors. She can claim she was just a reporter, but her caption shows that she thinks an attack on our Capitol and officers is funny. @SECNAV: is this the message you want to send to the troops, who swear to uphold the Constitution? 2/
Actual reporters, not Breitbart hacks, should ask @SecNav John Phelan: why was Kristina Wong picked? Is this the right message to send the US Navy? That attacking our own Capitol to prevent the peaceful transfer of power is just "a lil sporty"? 3/
It's clear by now: we WILL lose US democracy without a civil society pushback. Today the universities finally rose up, bluntly denouncing "undue government intrusion". The coalition is is now top-heavy with establishment heavyweights. Summary follows. 1/ theguardian.com/us-news/2025/a…
Who signed? Let's start with the Ivies. Status-worship is gross, but it matters that they're nearly all leading now:
* Ivy: Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Cornell, Penn, Brown
NOT Columbia, Dartmouth
* Ivy-plus: MIT, Duke
NOT Stanford, Univ. of Chicago
2/
continuing... universities with big research arms:
* Other elite tech:
NOT Caltech, Rice, Georgia Tech
* Big state R1s: Rutgers, U WA, U MD, U WI Madison, U HI, UC Riverside, Stony Brook
NOT U MI, UIUC, other UCs, UT, etc.
3/
When Trump's goons threatened Harvard it was clear what would happen: first PR, then lawyers. Harvard has now filed suit, solo against 8 government agencies. Two main points: 1) government did not follow procedure, 2) government cannot dictate speech. 1/ harvard.edu/research-fundi…
As you'd expect, Harvard has also put out a smooth letter explaining their lawsuit. It starts by outlining the 5 attacks Trump has made on Harvard. Then pivots to defending research. Then thoughts on antisemitism - giving Trump an offramp he could take. 2/ harvard.edu/president/news…
More careful work: Harvard has kept the 2 ultra-Trumpy lawyers originally hired to negotiate, but added 14 more from 2 specialty law firms: Ropes & Gray, experts in life sciences & pharma research, and Lehotsky Keller Cohn, experts in federal regulations. Choose your fighter. 3/
The public needs to learn how Kristi Noem, a cabinet official with Secret Service protection, got her purse snatched with DHS badge, passport, maybe phone: now a security risk. If she'd asked the SS to stand down for privacy, we need to know who was she having dinner with. 1/
Either #1: Noem had an intimate restaurant dinner (on Easter?) she felt was so important she put US security at risk. Or, #2: Noem didn't ask the Secret Service to back off, and our elite agency let a purse-snatcher get within arm's length of a cabinet secretary. Or.. 2/
Or, #3: everyone is lying and something else happened that resulted in Noem losing her badge and passport. We cannot know without more reporting. Reporters should not let this story get lost in the deluge of scandal. It needs follow-up. 3/
The Trump admin now CLAIMS to have made a mistake. Not "acknowledges". Trump's clowns sent a letter signed by 3 government officials, got the predictable response (mighty Harvard swung into battle), tried to amplify and flopped, and so now are whining it's all Harvard's fault. 1/
The NYT article is pretty good. It repeats admin claims, but makes it clear that they're in chaos. They know they messed up and are scrambling. Predictably, Harvard had been negotiating, before that letter - but it sent them into battle. Unpaywalled link: archive.is/YsHpJ
The timeline: as soon as Harvard rolled out their resistance PR on Monday, the Trump admin knew they blew it. Immediately tried to walk it back. Harvard says no. On Wednesday, they escalated the threats. Still no. Now they're down to complaining it's all Harvard's fault. 3/
A new attack on Harvard, another attempt to impose government control. Trump first tried with $: canceling researchers' grants, threatening taxes. Now an attack via visas: to deport ALL Harvard's international students (38% of PhDs doing lab research). 1/ thecrimson.com/article/2025/4…
Trump's demand, again, is a classic from the fascist playbook: to force Harvard to monitor its students and report to the US government. This visa threat can't be countered with money. But Trump is missing one key issue. Many Harvard international undergrads are global elites. 2/
Harvard educates the children of Saudi sheiks and Russian oligarchs and Greek shipping magnates. Deporting the PhD students would cripple Harvard research. Deporting the UGs would alienate powerful people across the world, people whose respect Trump craves. He may not dare. 3/