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April 7, 2021 - Epoch Times

19:16

BREAKING: Suspect Identified in Attack; Likely Follower of Nation of Islam | Facts Matter

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	Good evening.
	Yesterday, over in Texas, the state senate over there has passed a bill which will forbid large social media companies from blocking, banning, demonetizing, or discriminating against any of their users based on their political views.
	Meanwhile, over in New York City, the city council over there has passed a measure which eliminated qualified immunity for New York City cops.
	What that basically means is that police officers in New York can now have lawsuits filed against them based on actions that they've taken in the line of duty.
	Now, over in Washington state, the Supreme Court over there has just ruled that the effort to recall a socialist city council member can now move forward.
	And lastly, a Border Patrol agent has just released a heartbreaking video which shows human smugglers tossing two toddlers over a border fence into New Mexico.
	Let's go through these stories together.
	This is your daily Facts Matter update, and I'm your host, Roman, from the Epoch Times.
	Actually, before we move on, I wanted to discuss what just happened over at the U.S. Capitol where there was a serious, serious attack.
	According to the acting Capitol Police Chief, what happened was that a man was driving a car and he slammed that car into two Capitol Police officers who were guarding a checkpoint that was about 300 feet away from the U.S. Capitol.
	The police chief then said that after slamming into those two police officers, the man got out of his car and, quote, with a knife in hand, he lunged at the police officers.
	At that point, the police officers took out their firearms, shot the man, and wounding him in that process.
	So unfortunately, what happened is that one of the U.S. Capitol Police officers died, and then the man, the suspect who was driving the car, he was rushed over to the hospital, and then that man, the suspect, he died as well.
	He actually came to his wounds.
	According to the acting Capitol Police chief, here's what he said in a statement.
	It is with a heavy heart that I announce that one of our officers has succumbed to his injuries.
	This has been a very difficult time for the Capitol Police Department.
	I ask that you keep our U.S. Capitol Police family in your prayers.
	Now, according to the Metropolitan Police Department Acting Chief, a man by the name of Robert Conte, he told reporters that according to his initial assessment, This incident does not look like it's related to terrorism.
	Now, we here at the Epoch Times, we actually reached out to the Capitol Police for comment and clarification on what's happening with the situation, but they have not gotten back to us, likely because they are too busy with everything that's unfolding.
	If you'd like to read more about what happened over at the U.S. Capitol to see some of the videos of the aftermath, as well as to see the developments as they're going to be coming about in the next few hours, in the next few days, that link will be in the description box below this video.
	And I'm Roman in the studio.
	Back to you.
	Now let's start today's discussion over in Seattle.
	Yesterday, the Washington State Supreme Court, they ruled that the effort to recall a Seattle City Council member can now move forward.
	The council member in question is a woman named Kshama Sawant, and she is a member of the political party called Socialist Alternative, who represents Capitol Hill as well as the Central District.
	And this Socialist City Council member is facing a recall because of allegations that she abused her office.
	Well, there are several claims.
	First of all, last year, allegedly, she used her passkey to let in a large group of protesters into City Hall.
	Secondly, she used city resources to promote a ballot initiative to impose taxes on Amazon.
	Thirdly, she allegedly outsourced decisions regarding the hiring and firing of city employees to her party's executive committee.
	And by the way, her party is called the Socialist Alternative.
	And lastly, she's also accused of violating the law when she led a protest march to the private residence of Seattle's mayor, even though she knew that the mayor's address was protected under confidentiality laws.
	And so, because of these four points, a recall effort against her was initiated.
	Now, in September of last year, in September of 2020, a county judge ruled that these four charges were factually and legally sufficient for the recall efforts to proceed.
	Now, Ms.
	Sawant appealed that ruling to the state Supreme Court, and as of yesterday, they denied her appeal and said that the recall effort against her can indeed move forward.
	So, what will have to happen now is that within the next 180 days, the petition against her must collect 10,000 signatures from residents within her district, and if they succeed, the question of whether to recall her or not will get onto the November ballot.
	Now, Ms.
	Hwan's campaign is blaming big business as well as right-wing influence for this recall effort.
	Here's what they wrote over on Twitter.
	Big Biz and the right wing are furious about the impact of socialist politics and social movements in Seattle.
	How we have inspired working people around the country.
	They are now trying to use the courts, their deep pockets, to overturn Councilmember Sawant's 2019 re-election.
	However, the chairman of the recall effort, the man who's leading the effort to recall her, is pushing back.
	He describes himself as a Democrat as well as a liberal, and he said this to media.
	I'm unemployed.
	I live in a studio apartment here on Capitol Hill.
	It's not run by any right-wing anything.
	Now, we here at the Epoch Times will keep our eyes on this recall effort over in Seattle and let you know if anything comes of it.
	If you would like to read more about this case, the link 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.
	Because you already know that videos that are like this, talking honestly about what is happening in this world right now, are routinely censored, throttled, and sometimes outright removed 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 talk a bit about New York City.
	Four days ago, the New York City Council passed a measure which eliminated qualified immunity for New York City police officers.
	Now, in case you don't know, qualified immunity is a legal doctrine which basically insulates government officials from civil liability as a result of their conduct on the job.
	And so, for instance, if a police officer roughs you up during the arrest process, typically there is no way for you to sue that police officer because of what's known as qualified immunity.
	Now, the benefit of this doctrine is that generally, police officers have a pretty difficult job, and if they needed to second-guess every action wondering whether they're going to be sued, they might not be able to carry out their jobs, and so this doctrine protects them from undue interference and threats of liability.
	However...
	Critics of qualified immunity, they argue that this doctrine prevents officials from facing consequences for either their misconduct or for abuse of power, even if their actions violate the U.S. Constitution.
	And of course, this debate has recently entered the public spotlight once again after what happened with George Floyd last year.
	And now New York City has become one of the first major cities, major large cities across all of America, to eliminate qualified immunity altogether.
	Now, Stephen Levin, who is a council member from Brooklyn and a sponsor of this initiative, he told reporters that limiting qualified immunity makes officers more accountable.
	Here's what he said.
	There has to be consequences for misconduct.
	I was really searching for legislation that we can pursue that would have a meaningful impact.
	That officer can walk into court and on the very first day say, I'm not even supposed to be here because this plaintiff doesn't even have the right to bring me to court.
	I'm immune.
	Now, on the flip side of that, critics of this new law are saying that this move will actually make the public, the New York City public, less safe, because police officers might not be more reluctant to take decisive action against violent criminals, because they might fear being sued.
	For instance, Alan Dershowitz, who is a Harvard law professor, he called this move an outrage and said that...
	This is an outrage to take away qualified immunity only from the police.
	The idea that every police officer, when they have to make a decision whether to protect us, whether to protect innocent people, will be thinking about, are they going to take away our home?
	Are they going to take our children's allowance?
	Or are they going to take health care away from us?
	Furthermore, he suggested that it's not fair to only target police officers and remove them from having the same protections that other public officials continue to enjoy.
	Here's what he said.
	And this, by the way, is the same sentiment which was echoed by Patrick Lynch, who is the president of the New York City Police Benevolent Association, who released a statement following this new law, saying that...
	New Yorkers are getting shot and police officers are out on the street all day and all night trying to stop the bloodshed.
	Where are these city council members?
	Safe at home, hiding behind their screens and dreaming up new ways to give criminals a free pass.
	It won't get better unless New Yorkers shame the politicians into doing their job.
	Now, as we discussed in one of our previous episodes, what happens in New York City is typically a good indication for what might happen with the rest of the country.
	And in fact, last summer, in the summer of 2020, a nearly identical measure passed the U.S. House of Representatives, which would have eliminated qualified immunity for police officers nationwide.
	However, at that time, the U.S. Senate was controlled by Republicans, and they essentially killed that bill.
	However, this year, things have changed, and the Senate is now under Democrat control.
	And there is, once again, a push to remove qualified immunity from all local, state, and federal police officers throughout the entire country.
	Just recently, the U.S. House, not the New York House, by the way, the U.S. House of Representatives for the entire United States, they approved what's known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would, among many other things, eliminate qualified immunity for all law enforcement in America.
	As to how this bill will fare in the Senate, well, we'll have to wait and see.
	If you'd like to read more about this new law over in New York, or about this national push for the same thing, those links will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And now, before we move on over to Texas and discuss a new bill, which would potentially outlaw politically emotive censorship on social media, I would like to introduce our sponsor for today's episode, and I will do so from the sound booth.
	The sponsor of today's episode is a very cool company called My Patriot Supply.
	And the reason they're a cool company is that when there's a nationwide food shortage, they make sure that you do not go hungry.
	They call themselves America's leader in survival food.
	And basically, I mean, if you live through 2020, you know, when there's a big global problem like the virus or local problems like riots happening across major cities in America, one of the first ways that you feel it is that your supermarket store shelves, they become empty.
	I mean, I don't know about you where you live, but in my neighborhood, when I went to the supermarket around March or April, most of the fresh food was actually gone.
	And so what they do is that they send you great food, about 2,000 calories per day, that'll remain fresh for up to 25 years if you store it properly.
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	Again, that's preparewithroman.com.
	It'll also be in the description box below this video.
	And there you can save $70 on their popular four-week food kit.
	So again, preparewithroman.com.
	The link will be in the description box below this video.
	And MyPatriotSupply, thank you so much for sponsoring our episode.
	And now, Roman in the studio, back to you.
	And now, let's head on over to Texas.
	Yesterday, the Texas Senate passed a bill which will forbid large social media companies, social media companies with at least 100 million users per month, to either block, ban, demonetize, or discriminate against any of their users due to their political views.
	The bill, which is officially known as Senate Bill 12, would apply to companies like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, as well as several other platforms.
	Now, Brian Hughes, who is a state senator who sponsored this bill over in Texas, he posted a video on Twitter saying that, And a small group of people in San Francisco cannot dictate free speech for the rest of us.
	It needs to be an open exchange of ideas, and Senate Bill 12 is going to get Texans back online.
	Now this Senate bill, among many other things, it will require social media companies to make their moderation policies known publicly, to publish reports about which content has been blocked, and to create an appeals process for the removed content.
	Now if this bill becomes law, the giant social media companies will likely not just take it lying down.
	In fact, last month, our sister media, NTD Television, we had a chance to interview Mr.
	Hughes, and here's what he said on this topic.
	We know we're going to be sued if we pass this bill.
	Facebook is going to take us to court.
	Facebook and Google and Twitter have armies of lawyers and lobbyists who will be fighting us on this.
	But we're on the right side.
	The law is on our side.
	Yes, we expect to see this bill passed, put in place, and protecting Texans free speech.
	And so now, after having successfully passed the Texas Senate, this bill will now be debated and voted on in the Texas House, and then if it passes there, it will be sent over to the governor's desk to be signed into law.
	Now, we here at the Epoch Times will keep you abreast of any developments in this process, and if you would like to read more about this bill for yourself, the link to it will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And now let's talk a bit about New Mexico.
	Two days ago, a Border Patrol agent over there shared this heartbreaking video on Twitter.
	In this video, what you're looking at here is a human smuggler dropping two toddlers from the top of the border barrier into New Mexico.
	That's about 14 feet high, by the way.
	Here's a statement from the Border Patrol on what actually took place.
	Immediately after both children landed on the ground, two smugglers immediately fled the area and abandoned the helpless little girls on the north side of the international boundary line.
	Fortunately, those two toddlers, those two little girls, were rescued by Border Patrol.
	They initially were sent over to the local Border Patrol station for medical checks, and then afterwards they were sent to a local hospital for further medical checks, and after being medically cleared, they are currently being held in a Border Patrol temporary holding facility.
	Now, the section chief who initially shared this video made this statement.
	I am appalled by the way these smugglers viciously dropped innocent children from a 14-foot border barrier last night.
	If not for the vigilance of our agents using mobile technology, these two tender-aged siblings would have been exposed to the harsh elements of desert environment for hours.
	We are currently working with our law enforcement partners in Mexico and attempting to identify these ruthless human smugglers so as to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
	Now, this video, among several other things, showcases the dire situations that you can find on the U.S. southern border, and currently it seems like things are actually getting worse.
	In fact, it was just reported that in the month of March, there were 150,000 illegal border crossings, which is, by the way, 50,000 more than the previous month.
	It's a 33% increase.
	In fact, if this trend continues, if nothing is effective at actually curtailing it, then according to a Border Patrol official, that would mean that by the end of this year, an estimated 1 million illegal immigrants will arrive at the U.S. southern border illegally.
	In fact, so many are being apprehended that, in fact, just yesterday it was reported that the Department of Health and Human Services has the Department of Defense to house more unaccompanied minors.
	Here's what an official from the Department of Defense had to say.
	We have received a request for assistance from HHS for the potential use of Camp Roberts in California to house unaccompanied minors.
	We are moving forward with analyzing that request for assistance right now.
	Although during that statement, he did not say how many children would be potentially housed on that base.
	And we here at the Epoch Times, we actually reached out to the California National Guard for comment on this issue, but we have yet to hear back.
	However, this report underscores the fact that federal holding facilities are just getting filled up to the max with illegal border closets.
	And as to what happens with them once they're apprehended, well, according to a new report, the vast majority of them, upwards of 85 percent of family units at least, who are apprehended by Border Patrol, are quickly released into the United States.
	According to an official that we here at the Epoch Times spoke with, although under cover of anonymity he didn't want his identity revealed, because right now there's essentially a gag order, by the way, on Border Patrol agents, The families who are being released are given either a notice to appear in court to begin their immigration proceedings, or they are given nothing and released on what he called their own recognizance.
	Now, President Trump recently came out and said that he will be making a trip to the U.S. southern border very soon.
	During an interview with Fox News, here's what he said.
	A lot of people want me to.
	They want me there.
	They've asked me to go.
	And I really sort of feel I owe it to them.
	They're great people.
	They're doing an incredible job.
	It's impossible now with what the Biden administration has done.
	Now, specifically, one of the things that he was referring to there is the fact that Joe Biden rolled back a number of key measures that the Trump administration had implemented to enforce border security, such as, for instance, ending the so-called catch and release program, which allows illegal immigrants who are claiming to be asylees to be released into the United States as they await their court hearings.
	And for your reference, by the way, less than one in five of these asylum claims are ultimately granted.
	Now, according to experts that we here at the Epoch Times have interviewed, they said that these changes in policies were what led to the sharp increase in illegal border crossings, with now over 150,000 having crossed just last month alone.
	Now, the Biden administration, they defended their policy changes, arguing that the system under President Trump was way too restrictive and too cruel.
	However, according to President Trump, the situation will likely get worse.
	Here's what he added during that interview.
	Thousands and thousands of people are coming up right now as we speak, and you're going to have millions of people pouring into our country, and it's going to destroy our country.
	I don't know what they're doing, and they don't know what they're doing.
	It is a very, very dangerous situation.
	I'd love not to be involved.
	Somebody else is supposed to be doing it.
	President Trump said that he will likely be making a trip to the U.S. southern border in the next couple of weeks.
	On the other hand, though, the White House recently announced that there are no plans, at least at present, for Joe Biden to visit the U.S. southern border.
	And as we discussed in a previous episode, I believe two episodes ago, Joe Biden recently tasked Kamala Harris with handling the situation at the U.S. southern border, and supposedly she will be making a trip down there in the near future.
	Here's what she said during a recent interview.
	At some point, absolutely, we will go down to the border.
	But the reality also is that in addition to the border, we also need to deal with the root causes.
	We need to deal with what's happening in the Northern Triangle and address it in a way that is about not only diplomacy, but bringing our allies together.
	Now, if you would like to read more about what's happening over at the U.S. southern border, or if you'd like to watch that heartbreaking video of those two toddlers being tossed into New Mexico, those links will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
	And now lastly, as we already discussed in a previous episode, on the very same day that Joe Biden was sworn into office, YouTube made the unilateral decision to demonetize our program, to demonetize Facts Matter.
	We can now no longer run any ads before, during, or after our episodes, and the Super Chat feature has just been disabled.
	They have essentially snuffed out our ability to monetize our content.
	Now, luckily, we do occasionally have sponsors, which are usually companies run by patriots who sponsor content like ours, but when a platform like YouTube demonetizes us, it's essentially an act of trying to snuff out our independent journalism.
	However, if you would like to support Epic Times, I'll throw a link into the description box below this video to a page where you can go to and subscribe to the Epic Times.
	It only costs a few dollars every month, but by subscribing, you will be supporting independent journalism.
	You will gain unfettered access to all of our content, all of our reports, all of our interviews, our video documentaries, and if anything ever happens here on YouTube, you will have continuous access to all of our video programs like Facts Matter, Crossroads, American Thought Leaders, and all the rest.
	Again, that link will be in the description box below this video.
	I hope you click on it, I hope you subscribe, and I hope that you join us on this journey of exploring this world through honest journalism that's based in truth and tradition.
	Now lastly, if you haven't already, smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm, subscribe to this YouTube channel in order to get this type of honest news content 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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