COVID-19 Stimulus Check

Posted on by Thor

Kyle Rittenhouse traveled from his home state to Kenosha Wisconsin where he shot 3 people and murdered two. He felt threatened by hands, a skateboard and someones feet. Had he not been walking around with a weapon he was to young to own, 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, of Kenosha, and 26-year-old Anthony Huber, of Silver Lake, Wisconsin would not have died that night. Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, a protester from West Allis, had his arm vaporized. The jury accepted the defenses claims of self defense and he was acquitted on all charges.

The Washington Post reported that  the shooter used his COVID-19 stimulus check to purchase the AR-15 he used in the fatal Kenosha shooting. “The Post found that the shooter, who was too young to buy a rifle, had arranged for an adult friend to buy the weapon for him using money he had received from a government stimulus program.”

That friend, 19-year-old Dominick Black of Burlington, Wisconsin, purchased the weapon for him at an Ace Hardware store in Ladysmith, Wisconsin on May 1, 2020, according to a criminal complaint charging Black with two felony counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to someone under 18, resulting in death. The gun was then stored at Black’s stepfather’s house in Kenosha, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

The shooter said, “I got my $1,200 from the coronavirus Illinois unemployment because I was on furlough from YMCA,” he said. “And I got my first unemployment check so I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll use this to buy it.’”He told the Post he lived with his mother, a circumstance that would typically mean she claims him as a dependent on her taxes. That would make him ineligible for the $1,200 stimulus payment.

He was referencing several weeks of unemployment compensation approved through the CARES Act, said Washington Post Investigations Editor Jeff Leen. He said the shooter’s mother later told the paper that money for the gun came from “special unemployment” related to the pandemic. It’s more likely the shooter was referring to unemployment than the stimulus program itself, based on his life circumstances and description from him and his mother. That is indeed a “COVID-19 stimulus,” but not the one people would think of based on this post’s description.

Regardless you have to wonder how many more guns were purchased with COVID related government funds. As of November 21, the year 2021 has already become one of the deadliest on record for mass shootings. According to the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), there have been 637 mass shootings in 2021, and more than 39,883 individuals have died via guns by their own hand or at the hand of another.

There has been a rush to buy guns since the pandemic began. According to the FBI, a record-setting 3.7 million firearm background checks were completed in March 2020, the month COVID-19 shutdowns began in the United States. This record was shattered only a few months later as protests for racial justice following the police murder of George Floyd rocked the nation, leading to 3.9 million firearm background checks.

Now that vigilante justice is the accepted norm in America, you can expect the number of senseless deaths to continue to rise.

Vendetta

Posted on by Thor

Kyle Rittenhouse who killed three protestors in Kenosha, Wisconsin with a borrowed AK 47 assault rifle cried in court.The judge then coddled the crying NRA poster child, offering a break.

White supremacists are encouraged to take justice into their own hands in this county. The judge in Rittenhouse’s trial insisted that those who were gunned down could not be called victims by prosecutors.  They could however be called arsonists, and rioters by the defense.

The case will test the distinction between self-defense and vigilante killings.

The Western United states is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases as the south’s numbers drop. States such as Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico have seen a massive jump in cases per 100,000 people. California, Utah and Nevada are seeing a slight increase in case numbers, too.

The West is in a battle with COVID-19 just ahead of the winter months. Colorado has been fighting its worst coronavirus wave in a year, leading to overwhelmed hospitals that are turning away patients, according to The New York Times.

Fanning the Flames of Hate

Posted on by Thor

Democratic Vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris gave a speech before the final night of the Republican National Convention. She said, “My message is simple, reject these voices, this president who has been fanning the flames Of hate.” On August 24, 2020 at the  Republican National Convention, the suburban Bonnie and Clyde, who threatened protestors marching past their Saint Louis mansion, were given a platform to sew seeds of fear in fellow Americans. The very fact that they were raised up by the reality TV president means that others will follow their lead and take to the streets brandishing their weapons. Vigilantes are being encouraged.

The couple is facing weapons charges for the June 28, 2020 incident. They each face a single felony count of unlawful use of a weapon. Charging documents say that pointing an AR-15 rifle at protesters and wielding a semiautomatic handgun, placing protesters in fear of injury. Saint Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner said, “It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner at those participating in nonviolent protest. Protesters said they were not on the home owner’s property. A group of neighborhood residents later condemned Bonnie and Clyde’s actions.

On August 23, 2020 a policeman shoot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man 4 times in the back. Seven shots were fired. Jacob is paralyzed from the waist down. He was shot as he opened the driver’s door to his SUV. His 3 sons were in the back seat. The police shooting was followed by Kenosha protests which included marches, property damage, and arson.

The day after Bonnie and Clyde spoke at the Republican National Convention, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17 year old self-described militia member from Illinois, borrowed friend’s a AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and killed two Kenosha protestors named Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26.  Gaige Grosskreutz, 26 was injured. In my mind, Rittenhouse felt justified taking a long gun to the streets because Bonnie and Clyde had been praised at the Republican National Convention.

The shootings are documented on multiple cell phone videos. The exact order of the evenings horror are still being pieced together. Trump continues to bring chaos to the streets of America while encouraging armed vigilantes. His followers are legitimately a threat to this country and each other. Tucker Carlson of Fox News seemed to justify Rittenhouse’s vigilante shootings, “Are we really surprised that looting and arson accelerated to murder?” Carlson said during his show on Wednesday night August 26, 2020. “How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?” “Fire Tucker Carlson Now” was trending on Twitter following his comments.