Dec. 19, 2021 - Epoch Times
19:12
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| Good evening. | |
| Over in Florida, new dashcam footage which was just released shows two police officers who were ambushed at a traffic stop. | |
| Miraculously, though, they both survived. | |
| However, this is not an isolated incident, because according to the National Fraternal Order of Police, ambush-style attacks against the police have almost doubled this year. | |
| In this reality, it has prompted the mayor of Chicago, Ms. | |
| Lori Lightfoot, to fight back against crime by introducing a new bill which would allow the city of Chicago to file civil lawsuits against gang members. | |
| And lastly, Pfizer, the vaccine manufacturer, they just released a new presentation which can be found over on the FDA's website and it shows how the efficacy of their vaccine has been decreasing over time and they are making the case for why America needs to approve booster shots. | |
| Let's go through it all together. | |
| This is your daily Facts Matter update, and I'm your host, Roman, from the Epoch Times. | |
| And now let's begin today's discussion by talking about ambush attacks against the police. | |
| Now, there was some recent body cam footage that was released from Brevard County down in Florida, which showed several police officers getting ambush attacked at a traffic stop... | |
| So as you can see, this video starts with two sheriff's deputies who are conducting a traffic stop there on the side of the road. | |
| Now one deputy, he's speaking with the two individuals on the left, while the other deputy, the one on the right, he's speaking to a man in the car. | |
| And by the way, in that same car there are also some small kids. | |
| And so that deputy on the right, he's making some small talk with the man, talking about how he has his own kids at home, and then he asks the man to step out of the car. | |
| However, as you can see, as soon as the man jumps out of the car, he immediately ambushes the deputy, and out of nowhere, he begins to fire a small stock AR-15 style rifle. | |
| The deputies, they immediately fall back, and they make some distance between themselves and the shooter, and they begin to fire back, and as you can see right there, they appear to hit the shooter in the foot. | |
| At this point, by the way, one of the deputies has also been shot in the lower leg. | |
| The suspect, he then goes between the two vehicles in order to route the deputies from behind. | |
| However, the deputies don't realize that the man has circled back around the police cruiser and as you can see, they are still focused towards the front on that car sitting there in front of them. | |
| The suspect, he then emerges from behind the deputy on the left right there and he begins to violently beat him with the butt of his gun. | |
| They both go to the ground and the suspect continues to repeatedly pound on the deputy's head and in that process, he caused a concussion. | |
| Several lacerations to the face as well as fractures to the orbital bone as well as his sinuses. | |
| However, the other deputy then goes around, reloads his weapon, circles back and fires multiple shots at the suspect, killing him in the process. | |
| Miraculously, the two deputies meted out of this ambush alive. | |
| Now, in response to this shooting, here is what the Brevard County Sheriff had to say. | |
| When a registered career criminal with 23 felony charges, 17 misdemeanor charges, multiple convictions for violent offenses, and two active and pending drug trafficking cases is out on our streets where he can attempt to kill our deputies and put others' lives at risk, something is wrong with our system. | |
| Now, you might watch that footage and say, hey, that's terrible, but it's an isolated incident. | |
| However, unfortunately, that is not necessarily the case. | |
| According to data from the National Fraternal Order of Police, which is the world's largest organization of law enforcement officers, they said that these ambush-style attacks have increased dramatically in the year 2021. | |
| Specifically, they said that ambush attacks against the police have gone up by about 91% so far... | |
| This year, in the year 2021, when you compare it to the year 2020. | |
| 91%. | |
| Think about that. | |
| That's almost double of last year. | |
| Here's specifically what this organization posted on Twitter. | |
| Witnessing a surge in violence against the brave men and women of law enforcement, ambush-style attacks on officers are up 91% from 2020, year to date. | |
| So far this year, 150 officers shot, 28 officers killed by gunfire, 51 officers shot, and 40 ambush-style attacks. | |
| And it's worth mentioning that that tweet was from July, so about two months ago now. | |
| Those numbers have sadly increased. | |
| And this, very understandably, is leading to a higher turnover rate among the police force. | |
| According to research from the Police Executive Research Forum, they found that between April 2020 and April of 2021, police retirements across the country, they were up by about 45%. | |
| And police resignations, they increased by 18%. | |
| And so naturally, you might be asking yourself, what is causing this change? | |
| Why is there a rise in ambush attacks, as well as a rise in resignations? | |
| Well, it could have something to do with the anti-police rhetoric that gained a lot of traction during the BLM riots and protests which occurred throughout the entire country last summer. | |
| If you remember, during those demonstrations, protesters were repeatedly, throughout the entire country, chanting anti-police slogans, including things like, abolish the police, defund the police, all cops are bastards, As well as other slogans that I wouldn't even repeat in polite company. | |
| In fact, here in New York, where we filmed the show, if you walk around the street, you can still see remnants of those slogans, because they're spray-painted on the walls and street signs here and there. | |
| So the anti-police sentiment is on the one hand. | |
| On the other hand, according to the vice president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, he said that this uptick in crime was partially triggered by the laxing of bail laws, as well as the rogue district attorneys who are not prosecuting violent crime, and instead... | |
| Here's what he told a news outlet. | |
| Furthermore, in a Twitter post which was referencing this article in the Washington Post titled... | |
| As homicides soar nationwide, mayors see few options for regaining control, the National Fraternal Order of Police wrote this. | |
| The same rocket signs. | |
| If you're a mayor and don't know the solutions, here they are. | |
| Restore the rule of law. | |
| Oppose rogue district attorneys not prosecuting violent crime, letting criminals roam free. | |
| And that advice is a perfect segue for us to discuss what is happening over in Chicago. | |
| As you're probably aware, Chicago is in the midst of what can only be described as a crime wave. | |
| It seems like every weekend there are reports of gun violence that are so largesse that I don't know about you, but when I read what's happening there, when I read the reports and the statistics, I actually have to do a double take just to make sure it's not a typo. | |
| For instance, this year, from the beginning of 2021 to today, so in September, there have been 524 murders. | |
| If this trend continues, by the way, this will be the largest amount of murders since 1996. | |
| And furthermore, this summer, a police officer named Ella French, she was shot and killed on the southwest side of Chicago during a traffic stop, which also left her partner critically wounded. | |
| He had his eye unfortunately blown out, and he remains partly paralyzed to this day. | |
| And so, with all of this as the backdrop, two days ago, Lori Lightfoot, who is the mayor of Chicago, she's a Democrat, she unveiled her new plan. | |
| street gangs. | |
| Let me just repeat that. | |
| Two days ago, Lori Lightfoot introduced a new city ordinance which would allow the city of Chicago to target gang leaders by suing them as well as by seizing their assets. | |
| Specifically, this proposal is known as the Victims Justice Ordinance and it would authorize the city to file civil complaints, by the way, not criminal complaints, civil complaints against gang members who knowingly engaged in two or more gang-related crimes within a span of five But the caveat, however, to this ordinance is that at least one of these crimes must be a felony involving profit-driven gang violence. | |
| Here's a statement about this proposal from Mayor Lightfoot. | |
| To be very blunt and clear, we are going after their blood money, money they have profited from the killing of innocents. | |
| However, not everyone is on board with this unique proposal. | |
| For instance, Ms. | |
| Rosanna Rodriguez-Sanchez, who is a council member in Chicago, she's a progressive independent, she said this about this new proposed ordinance. | |
| We believe that the ordinance is a PR move so that the administration can say they are doing something about crime. | |
| That same council member, by the way, she's also advocating for a redirection of police funding towards other things like community services, housing, as well as health care. | |
| And so we'll just have to wait and see whether this ordinance actually passes after... | |
| If it actually passes the city council, and if so, whether being able to sue gang members will have any effect on crime. | |
| If you would like to get deeper into this story, or the story about the unfortunate rise in ambush-style attacks against police officers, I'll throw all that into the description box below this video for you to check out for yourself. | |
| And now, let's switch gears a little bit and discuss Pfizer's new statement about the decreased efficacy of their vaccine over time. | |
| Sorry. | |
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| And now Roman in the studio, back to you. | |
| And now let's move on over and discuss Pfizer. | |
| So you might not know this, but tomorrow, which is September the 17th, there is going to be a crucial FDA meeting. | |
| During that meeting, a panel will come together, they will debate, and then they will vote on whether to recommend booster shots to the rest of the country. | |
| And ahead of that meeting, it appears that Pfizer is making the argument that booster shots should, in fact, be pushed. | |
| That's because during a presentation that was released just earlier this week, Pfizer came out and they acknowledged new data from both Israel and from the United States, which suggests that the efficacy of their vaccine has been dropping, and they claim that the way to counteract this is through booster shots. | |
| They said that these booster shots are effective in dealing with the virus variants, which are apparently the reason that the efficacy of the vaccine is falling in the first place. | |
| Here is specifically what Pfizer said during a presentation, which again was released just earlier this week. | |
| Real world data from Israel and the United States suggests that the rate of breakthrough infections are rising faster in individuals who were vaccinated earlier in the vaccination campaigns compared to those who have been vaccinated more recently. | |
| Furthermore, during that same presentation, Pfizer blamed the drop in efficacy, like I mentioned earlier, on the new Delta variant. | |
| Here is specifically what that presentation said. | |
| The observed decrease of vaccine effectiveness against COVID infections is primarily due to the waning of vaccine immune responses over time rather than a result of the Delta variant escaping vaccine protection. | |
| Then, specifically in that presentation, Pfizer cited a new study from Kaiser Permanente, which is a healthcare company here in America, and that study suggested that the protection against COVID has dropped significantly. | |
| According to that study, the vaccine efficacy for those who received both doses of the vaccine went from being 88% in the first month all the way down to 47% after 5 months. | |
| And therefore, according to this presentation, Pfizer claims that booster shots should be given to all people who are 16 years and above, and they should be given six months after the person received their second dose of the vaccine. | |
| However, this idea is not universally accepted. | |
| For instance, as we discussed in yesterday's episode, there was a group of scientists, including officials from both the FDA as well as the WHO, who recently published an article in the Lancet Medical Journal warning against authorizing booster shots to the general population. | |
| Here's specifically what that article said. | |
| Current evidence does not appear to show a need for boosting in the general population in which efficacy against severe disease remains high. | |
| Even if boosting were eventually shown to decrease medium-term risk of serious disease current vaccine supplies could save more lives if used in previously unvaccinated populations. | |
| And so we will just have to wait and see what will happen tomorrow when the FDA convenes, debates, and votes on whether booster shots should be recommended to America. | |
| By the way, in the meantime, if you would like to check out the full presentation from Pfizer for yourself, it's available over at the FDA's website. | |
| I'll throw a link to it in the description box below. | |
| However, just as a quick aside, there's something interesting to note while we're moving in this direction. | |
| And that is that the country of Israel, which has some of the highest vaccine rates in the world, they are now seeing so many new virus cases that they are considering a fourth dose, meaning a second booster shot. | |
| Which is perhaps a conversation that we will be having here in America in a few months if things continue down this trajectory. | |
| If you'd like to read more about what's happening over in Israel for yourself, I'll throw a link to that article in the description box below as well. | |
| And all I ask in return is that you take a quick second to smash that like button for the YouTube algorithm. | |
| And now let's move on over to Florida. | |
| So today is September the 16th, meaning that a new Florida law has officially gone into effect. | |
| And according to this new law, any entity within the state of Florida which requires Florida residents to show proof of vaccination will face a hefty fine to the tune of $5,000 for every violation. | |
| Specifically, this new law, which can be found in the 2021 Florida Statutes under Section 381, it prohibits all businesses, all nonprofits, all schools, as well as all government agencies from requiring their customers or their patrons to provide any documentation certifying that they are either vaccinated or have recovered from COVID as a prerequisite to gain access to either their premises or their services. | |
| Here's specifically what a notice from the Florida Department of Health, here's what it says about this new law. | |
| Now, there is a caveat there, which is that this law applies only to customers and patrons. | |
| So if a business wants to impose a vaccine mandate on their employees, well, they are still able to do that, because that's not covered under this new law. | |
| Now, in terms of the rationale behind this law, why Florida is taking this approach, well, according to Governor Ron DeSantis, it's because doing otherwise would essentially create two different classes of citizens, with different rights and privileges for the vaccinated versus the unvaccinated. | |
| Here's what he said back in April on this front. | |
| No COVID vaccine is required by law. | |
| Now, while Florida is taking this approach, Los Angeles, they have taken the exact opposite. | |
| That's because just yesterday, LA County, which is, by the way, the most populous county in America, they announced that proof of vaccination will be a requirement of We're good to go. | |
| In explaining her rationale behind this order, here's part of a statement by the LA Health Director. | |
| This is a reasonable path forward that will position us to be better able to break the cycle of surges. | |
| This modified health officer order aligns with the continued need to reduce risk of transmission and increase vaccination coverage. | |
| She further added that in her opinion, vaccine passports are now a very important strategy for quickly raising vaccination coverage across our county and ending the pandemic. | |
| Now, Los Angeles is not the only city slash county to take this approach. | |
| On Monday, New York City officially implemented their vaccine passport system for all restaurants, all bars, all gyms, and other facilities such as entertainment venues. | |
| And businesses that don't comply with these ordinances here in New York City, meaning that if they indeed serve customers who are now vaccinated, well, they will face hefty fines. | |
| Likewise, last month over in San Francisco, they also rolled out a vaccine passport system, very similar to what you're seeing in New York City. | |
| And so, looking at what's happening across this country, what we're beginning to see is two different models, two different systems that are simultaneously developing here in America in different parts of the country. | |
| In red states, like in Texas, South Dakota, and Florida, they are fighting back against vaccine passports, and they are favoring individual liberty as well as personal choice. | |
| However, in blue states and blue cities, they are moving in a totally different direction. | |
| They are beginning to enforce things like vaccine passports, with the thinking being that some measure of personal liberty should be sacrificed for what they call public safety. | |
| And it goes without saying that obviously how this all plays out will have reverberations well into the future of our country. | |
| And if you'd like to read more about what's happening over in Florida or in LA County or in New York City, I'll throw all those links into the description box below this video so you can dive deeper into them for yourself. | |
| Now, lastly, as I already mentioned in several previous episodes, on the very same day that Joe Biden was sworn into office, YouTube made the unilateral decision to demonetize our program. | |
| We can now no longer run any ads before, during, or after episodes, and the Super Chat feature has mysteriously been disabled. | |
| They're essentially trying to snuff out our independent journalism. | |
| However, we here at the Epoch Times, we did not take the slang down, and instead we created something very cool. | |
| It's called Epic TV. It's our brand new no-censorship video platform where you can find all of the awesome Epic Times video programs, like The Larry Elder Show, China in Focus, Life and Times, Crossroads with Joshua Phillip, Counterpunch with Trevor Loudon, as well as, of course, our program Facts Matter, and on there we'll publish exclusive content that we do not publish here on YouTube, frankly, because the censorship is too rampant. | |
| If you want to check out Epic TV, I'll throw a link to it right there in the description box below. | |
| I hope you click on it. | |
| I hope you subscribe. | |
| And I hope that you join us on this journey of exploring this beautiful, beautiful world through honest journalism based on truth and tradition. | |
| 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 type of honest news content delivered directly into your YouTube feed. | |
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| And then until next time, I'm your host, Roman from the Epic Times. |
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