International
Trump Calls For RFK Jr. To Receive Secret Service Protection
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
Former President Donald Trump said on Monday that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should receive Secret Service protection “immediately.”
Trump made the call on Truth Social for the presidential opponent following a failed attempt on his life at a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday that left one attendee dead and two seriously injured. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has previously denied Kennedy’s request for Secret Service protection six times, leading his campaign to spend millions on private security, a Kennedy staffer told National Review.
“In light of what is going on in the world today, I believe it is imperative that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. receive Secret Service protection — immediately,” the former president wrote. “Given the history of the Kennedy Family, this is the obvious right thing to do!”
Both Kennedy’s father, Robert Kennedy, and his uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, were assassinated.
The Kennedy campaign filed a fresh request for protection in early June, a security consultant working for the campaign told Politico.
“DHS has received the request for protection and will review it with due consideration,” a DHS spokesperson said Sunday, according to Politico. “The review process relies on a thorough Secret Service threat assessment and a recommendation from a bipartisan Congressional Advisory Committee. Ultimately, based on that assessment and the recommendation of the advisory committee, the Secretary makes a determination.”
A bipartisan group of House members announced on Sunday that they plan to file legislation to enhance Secret Service protections for Trump and Biden while also providing a security detail for Kennedy, Axios reported. Though enhanced security has bipartisan support now, House Democrats introduced in April legislation that would have stripped Trump of his Secret Service protection due to his felony convictions.
The Secret Service will give closed-door briefings to lawmakers in the coming days, Politico reported Monday. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana pledged on Saturday that the House will conduct a “full investigation” of the assassination attempt.
The Kennedy campaign and DHS did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
Censorship Industrial Complex
UN General Assembly Adopts Controversial Cybercrime Treaty Amid Criticism Over Censorship and Surveillance Risks
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Global cybercrime treaty faces scrutiny over human rights safeguards and potential misuse of cross-border powers.
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As we expected, even though opponents have been warning that the United Nations Convention Against Cybercrime needed to have a narrower scope, strong human rights safeguard and be more clearly defined in order to avoid abuse – the UN General Assembly has just adopted the documents, after five years of wrangling between various stakeholders.
It is now up to UN-member states to first sign, and then ratify the treaty that will come into force three months after the 40th country does that. The UN bureaucracy is pleased with the development, hailing the convention as a “landmark” and “historic” global treaty that will improve cross-border cooperation against cybercrime and digital threats. But critics have been saying that speech and human rights might fall victim to the treaty since various UN members treat human rights and privacy in vastly different ways – while the treaty now in a way “standardizes” law enforcement agencies’ investigative powers across borders. Considerable emphasis has been put by some on how “authoritarian” countries might abuse this new tool meant to tackle online crime – but in reality, this concern applies to any country that ends up ratifying the treaty. Another point of criticism has been that UN members individually already have laws that address the same issues, rendering the convention superfluous – unless it is to extend some of those authoritarian powers to the countries that don’t formally have them, and can’t outright pass them at home for political reasons. Since the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution without a vote – after the text was previously agreed on by negotiators – it is not immediately clear how many countries might sign it next year, and ratify what would then become a legally binding document. In the meanwhile, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres referred to the treaty as “a demonstration of multilateralism.” Where opponents see potential for undemocratic law enforcement practices spilling over sovereign borders, UN representatives speak about “an unprecedented platform for cooperation” that will allow agencies to exchange evidence, create a safe cyberspace, and protect victims of crimes such as child sexual abuse, scams and money laundering. And they claim all this will be achieved “while safeguarding human rights online.” |
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By John Leake
Schizophrenic Jerry Drake Varnell was encouraged and assisted by an undercover FBI agent in “foiled” plot to blow up BancFirst building in Oklahoma City
In researching the strange cases of Thomas Matthew Crooks and Luigi Mangione, I have wondered with whom they were in contact, and if they were possibly groomed, by an undercover FBI who—for reasons that are unclear—wished to incite these young men to participate in violent crimes.
I first started wondering about FBI grooming when I learned about an undercover FBI agent’s involvement in the 2015 plot to attack a convention at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas (see my post “Tear Up Texas”: FBI Encouraged a 2015 Shooting & Did Nothing to Stop It).
This morning I learned about the remarkable case of a 23-year-old diagnosed schizophrenic named Jerry Drake Varnell who—with the encouragement and assistance of an undercover FBI agent in 2017—participated in what he believed was a plot to blow up the BancFirst building in downtown Oklahoma City. He was found guilty in 2019. In 2020 he was sentenced to 25 years in prison “for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction at BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City.”
According to the US Attorney’s Office press release on the conviction:
At trial, the jury heard testimony from an informant who made recordings of his conversations with Varnell. It also heard from the undercover FBI agent who helped Varnell build what he thought was a bomb, an FBI bomb technician, and others. It listened to numerous recordings in which Varnell planned the attack and reviewed numerous written electronic communications that corroborated his intent. Furthermore, it heard the testimony of a defense expert concerning Varnell’s mental health. Through its verdicts, the jury concluded any mental health problems did not prevent Varnell from forming the intent required for conviction. It also determined the FBI did not entrap him.
To me, what is most striking about this case—apart from the fact that the offender was a diagnosed schizophrenic—is how he drew the attention of federal law enforcement. As reported by KGOU (an Oklahoma NPR station):
Government witnesses said they deemed Varnell a threat based on his online activity such as “liking” anti-government groups on Facebook and messages referencing Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Tyler Durden, a split personality character from the 1999 film “Fight Club.” Agents also said Varnell claimed he had built homemade explosives during conversations with undercover FBI agent Williams and an FBI informant named Brent Elisens.
As was repeatedly pointed out by Varnell’s defense attorney:
Varnell is a diagnosed schizophrenic. He told federal agents that his anti-government sentiments started around age 16, the same age his parents say his schizophrenic episodes began.
Defense attorneys asked FBI agents if they knew of Varnell’s paranoid schizophrenia. Retired FBI agent Jennifer Schmidtz, who testified Wednesday, said she knew of “allegations” in a Custer County case involving Varnell and self-reported mental health issues in Varnell’s college transcripts. In a 2017 statement, Varnell’s parents claimed he has been institutionalized on multiple occasions.
The defense has team also focused on an FBI report from Dec. 2016 that stated, “Varnell does not have a job or a vehicle. The threat has not been repeated. Varnell does not have the means to commit the act at this time.”
By August 2017, the defense pointed out, Varnell was still unemployed and without a car. …
Varnell’s property was searched the day of his arrest, and Schmidtz, who supervised the search, testified there was no physical evidence showing Varnell experimented with chemicals capable of causing an explosion. The search did uncover a speech written by Varnell laiden with conspiracy theories about developing psychotropic drugs, the Clintons and Timothy McVeigh.
During cross examinations the defense continued to point out that Varnell never followed through on pieces of the plan he was responsible for, like choosing a time and place and supplying barrels. Varnell came up with a list of locations after encouragement from undercover agent Williams, and he settled on the on the BancFirst location after Williams took him to scout the location on July 13. He suggested Nov. 5 as an attack date, but Williams said it was too far away. And Varnell never supplied barrels, so Williams provided them.
In other words, “undercover agent Williams” was the chief planner and executor of the apparent plot. Jerry Varnell participated in this plot with the encouragement of undercover agent Williams and under the direction of undercover agent Williams.
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