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March 30, 2021 - Epoch Times

17:28

'Heavily Armed' ANTIFA Rioters Stormed Oregon Capital; 3 Arrested; Communist Origins | Facts Matter

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	Good evening.
	City officials over in Baltimore have just announced that they are permanently no longer going to be prosecuting low-level crimes like prostitution and drug possession.
	Meanwhile, over in Oregon, over 100 Antifa members who are heavily armed with guns, bats and shields, they clash with pro-Trump supporters over the weekend.
	Now, over at the U.S. southern border, Senator Ted Cruz attempted to take a video of the migrant detention facility, but he was blocked by a Biden staffer who told him that he couldn't film.
	And lastly, in order to pay for their multi-trillion dollar infrastructure package, the Secretary of Transportation floated the idea of taxing Americans for every mile that we drive.
	Let's go through these stories together.
	This is your daily Facts Matter update, and I'm your host, Roman, from the Epoch Times.
	Now let's start today's discussion over in Baltimore.
	In a surprising turn of events, at least to me, the city of Baltimore has announced that they are permanently no longer going to be prosecuting crimes that they described as being low-level and nonviolent, things like prostitution and drug possession.
	The state attorney for Baltimore, she said this at a press conference.
	Clearly, the data suggests that there is no public safety value in prosecuting these low-level offenses.
	She then went on to say during that press conference that not prosecuting offenses such as trespassing, urinating in public, and drug possession will allow prosecutors to focus more on serious crimes, adding that...
	I want my prosecutors working with the police to focus on violent offenses like armed robbery, carjackings, and yes, drug dealing and distribution organizations that are the underbelly of the violence in Baltimore.
	Not using valuable jury trial time on those that suffer from addiction.
	America's failed war on drugs and drug users in the city of Baltimore is over.
	Now, what's interesting to note here is that this decision did not come overnight.
	In fact, one year ago, in March of 2020, Baltimore stopped prosecuting lower-level crimes, like things like trespassing as well as traffic offenses, in order to prevent COVID outbreaks in prisons, basically by stopping the flow of people into prisons.
	And according to data from state officials, since then, the overall population of prisoners is down 18% in the city of Baltimore, while at the same time, many areas of Baltimore experienced a reduction in crime, such as a 20% drop in violent crime and a 36% decrease in property crime.
	However, not everything is rosy.
	Officials said that they've seen a spike in some other types of crime during this period of time, such as a 31% increase in violent crimes related to domestic violence.
	So it's not exactly crystal clear whether these policies are having a positive effect or not.
	However, the officials are saying that the reduced number of 911 calls for low-level crimes allow their police department to spend more time and more resources addressing violent crimes.
	And the police commissioner of Baltimore, he seems to be supportive of this new approach, telling reporters that However, opponents of this approach are saying that this goes well beyond just a policy choice by prosecutors.
	For instance, Robert Cassidy, who is a state senator in Maryland, he said this...
	Prosecutors take an oath to uphold the Constitution in the state of Maryland, and the Constitution says the General Assembly sets the policy, not the prosecutors.
	I respect the whole prosecutorial discretion.
	That's not prosecutorial discretion.
	That is an exercise in legislating.
	That is what the legislature is supposed to do.
	And so now, with this permanent new change in Baltimore, with things like prostitution, trespassing, and drug possession no longer being prosecuted, we'll just have to wait and see how it ultimately affects violent crime in the city.
	Now, if you'd like to read more about this new policy change, that link will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And also, I'd like to hear your thoughts about this new policy.
	Do you think that it's right to not prosecute these lower-level crimes?
	Will this have a positive effect for the city, a positive net effect?
	Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment in the comment section below this video.
	And now let's move on over to Georgia.
	Four days ago, the governor of Georgia, he signed into law a number of election reforms, including requiring photo ID for absentee voting, the need for security at Dropbox locations, creating mandatory dates for early voting, expanding early voting access across the entire state, among many other changes on how elections in the state of Georgia are now to be run.
	Now, prior to being signed into law, this bill, which is about 95 pages long, passed through Georgia's House and Senate along purely partisan lines.
	Not a single Democrat voted for these reforms.
	But Georgia's state Congress is currently majority Republican, and so they were able to push these reforms through.
	Now, shortly after signing this bill, here's what the governor, Brian Kemp, here's what he said.
	I was proud to sign Senate Bill 202 to ensure elections in Georgia are secure, fair and accessible.
	I appreciate the hard work of members of the General Assembly to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.
	With Senate Bill 202, Georgia will take another step toward ensuring that our elections are secure, accessible and fair.
	Now, among several other things, this new law, which by the way is officially called the Election Integrity Act of 2021, requires a Georgia driver's license, or some other type of state-issued ID, in order to vote by absentee mail.
	This new requirement actually replaces what Georgia had before, which is just a signature-matching process that the governor called time-consuming, labor-intensive, and at times arbitrary.
	Governor Kemp added that...
	When voting in person in Georgia, you must have a photo ID. It only makes sense for the absentee ballot to have the same standard as well.
	Now, another change that'll come from this new law is that secured drop boxes, the boxes where you go and drop off your votes if you're voting absentee, are to be placed inside of early voting locations.
	And there now must be constant surveillance of these boxes by an election official, a police officer, or a licensed security guard.
	Now, right after this bill was signed into law, the very next day, in fact, Joe Biden came out and he said that his administration is looking at options to reverse or to counter this new Georgia law, which he claims is an attack on the right to vote.
	Now, as to why exactly Joe Biden thinks this way, here's what he said.
	This law is a blatant attack on the Constitution and good conscience.
	And it's the Jim Crow in the 21st century.
	Some of the new measures, such as reducing the number of polling sites across the state, would disproportionately affect black neighborhoods.
	Now, when he made those comments, Joe Biden did not elaborate further on this alleged discrimination.
	But he did say that he is having the Justice Department look into this new law.
	Now, we here at the Epoch Times, we actually reached out to the Georgia governor for comment, and he emailed us back saying this.
	It is obvious that neither President Biden nor his handlers have actually read SB202, which I signed into law yesterday.
	This bill expands voting access, streamlines vote counting procedures, and ensures election integrity.
	Furthermore, when addressing the claim that this new law is somehow discriminatory, here is what Governor Kemp told us.
	There is nothing Jim Crow about requiring a photo or state-issued ID to vote by absentee ballot.
	Every Georgia voter must already do so when voting in person.
	President Biden, the left, and the national media are determined to destroy the sanctity and security of the ballot box.
	In fact, even President Trump, who has historically been at odds with Governor Kemp over in Georgia, he recently came out and applauded this new election law, releasing a statement that said in part, Congratulations to Georgia and the Georgia state legislature on changing their voter rules and regulations.
	Now, if you would like to read more about the specifics of this new law, or about the Biden administration's efforts to fight it, those links will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And by the way, that is that same little description box that is right below that like button that I hope you take a moment to smash.
	In fact, you don't have to wait until 2022 to vote.
	You can vote with your finger right now and smash that like button.
	Because you already know that videos that are like this, talking honestly about what's happening in this country and this world, are routinely...
	Censored, throttled, or outright removed sometimes by big tech giants like YouTube.
	However, when you smash that like button that's below this video, you are forcing the YouTube algorithm to share this video out to potentially thousands of more people, letting the truth be known far and wide.
	And now let's move on over to Oregon.
	Yesterday, heavily armed members of Antifa clashed with motorists and counter-protesters in Salem, which is Oregon's capital city.
	According to the police department, approximately 100 Antifa people, wearing their usual black-clad outfits, arrived at the Capitol Mall armed with weapons such as guns, bats, and shields.
	In fact, a tweet from the local police department described this group as being heavily armed.
	Now, video footage from that event, it shows members of Antifa assaulting people who had either pro-Trump or pro-law enforcement flags, and at one point, someone in the crowd actually threw a rock directly at a driver, shattering his driver's side window.
	In another instance, one man, who had the lights in his truck smashed by Antifa, brandished a handgun.
	You can see him here in this photo.
	This man was detained by police, but then later released shortly afterwards.
	In fact, here's what the police wrote in a summary of the day's incident.
	Soon after their arrival, the Salem Police Department began to receive reports that individuals from the Court Street Group were targeting vehicles driving by.
	The victims reported their vehicles were damaged by paint-filled balloons, rocks, and other hard objects being thrown at them as they passed.
	One vehicle sustained significant damage after a large tree limb was thrown through the front window into the vehicle's passenger seat.
	In total, three people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, criminal trespass, and unlawful pointing of a laser.
	However, those three people will likely be bailed out very soon, as a bail fund said that it was coordinating with the Salem Antifa chapter to pay bail for those who were arrested.
	Now, if you've been following what's been happening over in Oregon, and in particularly Portland, over the last few years, this Antifa clash does not come as a surprise to you.
	However, if you don't know much about what Antifa is, we here at the Epoch Times, we created a very short video as a primer.
	Take a look. Take a look.
	Thank you.
	Take a look.
	Thank you.
	Thank you.
	Now, if you would like to read more about the clash over in Salem yesterday, or if you would like to see some of the pictures that were taken on site, that link will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And now let's talk a bit about taxes.
	Three days ago, the Biden administration's transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, he floated a proposal that would tax Americans for each mile that they drive, saying that it shows a lot of promise.
	Now that comment came during a discussion on how the Biden administration will fund their multi-trillion dollar infrastructure package, and here's what Pete Buttigieg said.
	If we believe in that so-called user-pays principle, the idea that part of how we pay for roads is you pay based on how much you drive.
	The gas tax used to be the obvious way to do it.
	It's not anymore.
	So a so-called vehicle miles travel tax, or mileage tax, whatever you want to call it, could be the way to do it.
	Now, other funding possibilities that he brought up during that conversation include a new set of bonds, a carbon tax, as well as an increase on the gas tax.
	And actually, as to why the gas tax doesn't in and of itself achieve the goal of taxing people based on how much they drive, here's what he said.
	The gas tax has traditionally been part of how we fund the Highway Trust Fund, but we know that it can't be the answer forever, because we're going to be using less and less gas.
	We're trying to electrify the vehicle fleet, so if there's a way to do it that doesn't increase the burden on the middle class, we can look at it.
	But if we do, we've got to recognize that it's still not going to be a long-term answer.
	Now one thing that at least I thought of when I read that statement, of taxing people based on how much they drive, is how exactly will the government determine how much and how far you've driven?
	Well, that was now discussed during that question-and-answer session, so we'll just have to wait and see what kind of method they come up with.
	Now, regarding the infrastructure bill itself, Republicans have largely been signaling an opposition to that proposal, because one, of its large size, and secondly, because they say that there are indications that they will be frozen out of negotiations again.
	For instance, Shelley Moore Capito, who is a Republican senator from West Virginia, she said this...
	I'm very disappointed with what I'm reading because I'm envisioning that the same thing is going to happen that happened with our COVID attempts to become a part of that.
	Now, if you would like to read more about this multi-trillion dollar infrastructure package or about the possibility of being taxed for every mile that you drive, those links will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	Now let's talk a bit about the U.S. southern border.
	It was just reported by a section chief of the Border Patrol that over the last several days, more than 861 criminals have been encountered at the border, including 92 sex offenders and 63 gang members.
	Here's what this Border Patrol chief wrote on Twitter.
	Within the copious amounts of groups being encountered in the Rio Grande Valley, a Salvadorian man with a prior conviction for murder was discovered.
	Fiscal year-to-date Rio Grande Valley agents have arrested over 861 criminal aliens to include 63 gang members and 92 sex offenders.
	In another message on Twitter, he wrote that, Border Patrol agents recently encountered five large groups of illegal aliens near the Rio Grande.
	In total, 539 individuals were taken into custody.
	Within the groups were 93 unaccompanied children aliens.
	So far, this fiscal year, the Rio Grande Valley has encountered over 18,000 unaccompanied children aliens.
	Now, all of this comes as Joe Biden has received bipartisan backlash, with even some Democratic lawmakers calling on Biden to reinstate some of President Trump's immigration policies.
	However, last week, Joe Biden said that he would not apologize for rolling back President Trump's policies, and he brushed off criticism that illegal immigrants were coming over because they perceived him to be a nice guy.
	However, the situation has now gotten so dire that the Biden administration is now actually asking federal government employees to volunteer their time, up to 120 days, to assist border officials.
	Now, over the weekend, a number of Republican senators made a trip down to the U.S. southern border, and they described what they called a heartbreaking humanitarian crisis.
	For instance, Senator Ted Cruz, he told reporters this.
	All of us today witnessed the Biden cages.
	What is occurring here on the border is heartbreaking, and it is a tragedy.
	Now, in terms of what they actually saw inside of the migrant facilities for unaccompanied children, here's what Ted Cruz said.
	We saw cages after cages after cages of little girls, of little boys lying side by side, touching each other, covered with reflective emergency blankets.
	There was no six-foot space.
	There was no three-foot space.
	There wasn't a three-inch space between the children lined up one after the other after the other.
	And children as young as infants, we saw play pens with infants and toddlers playing.
	We also saw a group of children who just today tested positive for COVID-19.
	Now, when Ted Cruz attempted to actually film some of the conditions that he saw, a Biden staffer blocked his camera, saying that he was not allowed to film.
	Take a look.
	Please give dignity to the people.
	Please give dignity to the people.
	So you work for the commissioner, your senior advisor.
	You were hired two weeks ago, and you're instructed to ask us to not have any pictures taken here.
	Please respect the people, the rules.
	Because the political leadership at DHS does not want the American people to know it.
	Please respect the rules, sir.
	You keep standing in front of the pictures, so you don't want the pictures taken.
	Please respect the rules.
	Now, we here at The Epoch Times, we reached out to the Biden administration for comment on the remarks that were made by the senators, but we have yet to hear back.
	If you would like to read more about the situation over at the U.S. southern border or to watch the full version of Ted Cruz's video, those links will be in the description box below this video.
	And now lastly, if you haven't already, smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm, subscribe to this YouTube channel if you haven't already in order to get this honest reporting delivered directly into your YouTube feed while you still can.
	And until next time, I'm your host, Roman from The Epoch Times.

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