Remember how the left wanted to have people deplatformed and fired? Tossed in camps? Lives ruined when they refused a vaccine? Now they are screaming for mercy because a shitty comedian was fired.
Cancel Culture
Free Speech?
A man attended protests around the Tampa area. He is alleged to have been using racial and anti-gay language at these protests. The leftists do what they always do- they post pictures of people on the opposing side in the hopes that someone will identify them. That’s what happened here: someone recognized and identified him. At no time is he alleged to have identified his employer during the protests, nor is he alleged to have ever worn uniform items while protesting. Still, he was fired from his job at the Largo Fire Department as a result of his behavior at the protests.
Stoffel’s actions were not consistent with the standards and trust the community expects and deserves. ~Largo Fire Department officials in a statement to the press
A private employer would be in a good position to fire Mr. Stoffel. However, his employer is the government.
The government cannot prohibit the free exercise of speech. Government employees who are not at work do not lose their Constitutional rights simply because the government signs their paychecks. Government employees can speak as private citizens on matters of public concern without fear of retaliation, but their speech can be restricted if it disrupts government operations or is part of their official job duties. Since Mr. Stoffel was protesting on his own time and did not at any time indicate that he was a government employee, he is free to speak his mind. This is a well established legal principle.
The governing constitutional standard, known as the Pickering test, is a flexible balancing inquiry pitting the interests of the government as an employer against the free speech interests of their employees.
- speech spoken as an employee gets no constitutional protections. So the speech cannot be made as a part of an employee’s duties. Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006)
- The speech must be one of concern to the general public. For example, speech complaining about your boss’ management style is not protected. Connick v. Myers (1983)
- In Pickering v. Board of Education, a public school teacher was fired for publishing a “Letter to the Editor” that criticized the local school board’s allocation of school funds. The Court noted that teachers were “the members of a community most likely to have informed and definite opinions” about public school expenditures. This establishes that sometimes citizens who happen to be government employees can have an educated opinion.
Speaking as a citizen and speaking as an employee appear to be mutually exclusive: a speaker can speak either as one or the other. An employee speaks as a citizen whenever the speech is neither an employment grievance nor speech that a part of their professional duties. And while speech spoken as an employee is unprotected, when an employee speaks as a citizen, any reactive adverse employment action would be subjected to a constitutional scrutiny whenever that speech is about matters of public concern. Simple, right?
One other caveat: The speech can’t be detrimental to the mission of the employer. In City of San Diego v. Roe (2004), a police officer was fired for selling sexually explicit videos of himself stripping off a police uniform and masturbating. When the case eventually made it to SCOTUS, the court ruled that the officer had damaged the mission of his employer because he appeared in uniform in the video.
So let’s now take a look at Stoffel’s actions- he was engaged in various protests in the Tampa area. At no time did he announce that he was a firefighter, never appeared in any sort of clothing that identified that he was part of that fraternity, and the speech was not a part of his duties. Some speech, like a public employee’s social media posts considered racist, sexist, or homophobic, could be seen as matters of public concern.
In deciding if the speech is disruptive to the workplace, the court will consider the content of the speech, as well as its manner, time, and place. In this case, it was at a protest where people of both sides of the argument were present.
There was a similar case a few years ago in Lake county, where a teacher that had expressed his disagreement with the concept of gay marriage was terminated after a parent recognized him and started a public cancelling campaign. He sued, and they settled out of court, paying him an undisclosed sum. I posted about it here.
In my opinion, Mr. Stoffel has a good case. He should retain a lawyer and file a lawsuit.
Gaming the Courts
There Goes the Jury Box
Florida passed a law making it illegal for illegal immigrants to enter the state. A Federal judge in Miami issued an order barring the state from enforcing the law, citing the supremacy clause, making the claim that only the Federal government can enforce immigration laws. When the Florida Attorney General told the court that law enforcement agencies weren’t subject to the order, the judge found him in contempt.
The courts are just as partisan and biased as the rest of the nation, and are becoming illegitimate as a result. The orders you get depend on the political stance of the judge in question, and not on the Constitution. I can prove it. Ask this same judge to put out an order telling the states that due to that same supremacy clause, no state can enforce any gun laws, because there are Federal gun laws. Likewise, drug laws, laws against murder, etc.
We all know what would happen.
War on the Right
I Have Questions
A man was shot and killed at the leftist rally in Salt Lake City yesterday, and you practically need a program to figure out what happened. Let me explain:
Arturo Gamboa was at the rally with an AR15 in a backpack. Someone spotted the end of the stock sticking out, and figured out what it was. The man, Sam Hernandez began yelling that the man had a gun in his backpack as he was trying to wrestle it away from him.
A video posted by Jan-Michael Paul on Reddit shows Hernandez saying loudly, “This is a rifle right here,” and then flagging down nearby police: “Hey! This guy, I just grabbed this from this guy. He’s right there!”
An armed man who was part of an Antifa security team fired a handgun three times at Gamboa, striking and killing Arthur Folasa Ah Loo, a 39-year-old man who was participating in the march, as well as hitting and wounding Gamboa. (Great security there)
Gamboa was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of murder — although investigators admit that he did not fire his weapon.
Comments and Questions
If any of my readers know more, please chime in. As far as I know, open and concealed carry are both legal in Utah. If that is the case, Gamboa didn’t break the law, unless they try to say that he was brandishing or something. It seems to me that he should be able to get him a decent lawyer and beat this, even though it will cost him some bucks.
An arresting officer alleged in a probable cause statement that Gamboa acted with “a depraved indifference to human life” and his conduct led to Ah Loo’s death. Salt Lake County prosecutors ultimately will decide what charges, if any, Gamboa will face. He is currently being held in jail without bail and had not been formally charged as of Sunday afternoon.
The press is screaming that Hernandez is a hero because he wrestled the gun away from Gamboa, but even the police say that Gamboa never fired a shot. The people whose guns needed to be wrestled away were the so-called peacekeepers. In fact, it appears as though Gamboa was also part of the self-described security team and this was a “friendly fire” incident.
The more important thing to note is that there are armed Antifa members embedded in the crowds at these protests. This situation is a powder keg just waiting for a spark. The left is preparing to kill as many people as it takes to make their revolution a success.
Things are going to get messy.
Anti American left
As I Have Been Saying for 5 Years
We are seeing an in progress Communist coup of this nation. It is being funded by our own tax dollars, controlled by the Democratic Party, coordinated through the US intelligence agencies, and following the CIA insurgency manual nearly to the letter. Now we see reports from Peter over at Bayou Renaissance Man that there are financial statements linking the Democrat party directly to the riots and rioters. I am working to confirm that report right now. The closest I can find with a quick search is this:
If confirmed, this is evidence that the Democrats are actively engaged in fomenting violent action in order to advance their political cause. This is a criminal act and should be prosecuted. Of course, any action taken against the Democrats will just bring more cries of how Trump is a Fascist dictator who is trying to take over the government. Not only that, but it is apparent that significant portions of the US government have been coopted into the plot. For those reasons, nothing will be done.
The press can’t be relied upon, as they report that the riots are just “people having fun, watching cars burn,” and are not a riot.
The risk of open warfare increases. It’s only a matter of time before someone decides to cry “Havoc,” and release the dogs of war. Be alert, more peaceful protests are being planned all over the nation on Saturday. It’s best to avoid them.
“But, but, but January 6th.” Is the only thing the left has. Eight months of leftists rioting in 2020, followed by a 4 hour riot by the right, and that’s what they focus on. Part of me says “Let’s just do it. I am sick of this posturing,” while another part of me knows just how bad it will be.
Anti American left
Leftist Violence
A couple of events this week show how the left communists are still engaged in violent warfare against everyone who doesn’t agree with them.
In the first case, we have a tranny who attacked students on campus at UT Dallas by swinging a bike lock on the end of a cable, striking a young woman in the head. That’s right- a crazed man committed an armed battery on a young lady, whose only crime was daring to speak out for women’s rights. The worst part? It isn’t the first violent attack carried out by this man.
This attack was a deadly force incident. Swinging objects like skateboards, bike locks, or clubs are going to get a lethal response from me.
The second case also occurred on a college campus- this time in UNC Asheville. A table of pro-life students were attacked by a leftist student who screamed “I fucking hate you!” While accusing them of being fascists.
The student was identified as Adrian Miguelez, a candidate for student council.
The leftists keep up with their campaign of violence. I won’t be a victim, and this is why I am armed.
Gaming the Courts
Hypocrisy
All of the pearl clutching about how Trump is evil for ignoring the judges orders opposing his executive actions is complete partisan bull hockey. Here is what AOC said two years ago when a Federal Judge in Texas suspended the approval of abortion pills:
When it comes to executive actions, I don’t believe that any low level judge has the power to overrule the President. Any order to stay or overrule a President’s executive actions can, in my opinion, only come from SCOTUS.
Why? SCOTUS is the only court that is explicitly created by the Constitution. Lower courts are established by Congress. A judge in a court created by Congress shouldn’t be able to overrule the chief executive.
Antifa
Don’t Let Your Guard Down
I spent years telling everyone who would listen, and some who wouldn’t, that the US was being subjected to an attempted coup. I pointed out that Antifa and BLM were carrying out attacks and ambushes like they were receiving professional training, equipment, and funding. This Central Florida cell is a prime example. The entire thing was following the CIA insurgency manual. Many people thought I was nuts. They told me that my tinfoil hat was too tight. One prominent blogger publicly laughed at me.
Now seeing all of the things that DOGE is turning up, it turns out that I was right. Our own government was trying to toss out legitimate elected officials and take over. They were using our own tax dollars to do it.
Don’t think that it’s over. Trump has given us a brief respite, but they will start up again. Soon. Perhaps as soon as the run up to next year’s elections.
Anti American left
Your Rights are Just an Obstacle
This is the story about how cops will try to lie to gain entry to your house. As an example, I am going to use the story of Stephanie Rapkin, a woman who lived in Shorewood, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. She was 64 years old at the time of these events. She was on her way home in 2020 when BLM decided to stage a protest in front of her house. They were blocking traffic and wouldn’t allow her to get to her house. She got in a confrontation with a 17 year old protester and wound up spitting in his face. The confrontation was caught on film. She then went inside of her home. Police were called. She was arrested then released due to COVID restrictions.
This is what BLM and their willing accomplices do- they provoke a confrontation while filming it. Then the cops come over and arrest you. That’s exactly what happened here. Never open your door or speak to police, they aren’t there with your best interests in mind. This continued the next day, when BLM decided to protest directly in front of her house. This is how the press characterized it:
peaceful protesters showed up on the sidewalk of Rapkin’s home to denounce the actions she took the day prior. The woman came out of her home and again started arguing with the demonstrators. That exchange led to her slapping and shoving one of the protestors.
Shortly after, police arrived at Rapkin’s residence and attempted to arrest her. At that time Rapkin kneed an officer in the groin before she was placed in the cop car. Rapkin is (still alive and) now facing criminal charges for battery, disorderly conduct, resisting an officer and battery to law enforcement,
The cops spent the next 30 minutes knocking on her door, but she didn’t answer. Good for her. Eventually, the cops decided that she wasn’t opening the door because she was probably committing suicide, even though there was no evidence that this was the case. They used this pretext to kick down her door, enter her home, search her home, and arrest her. Rapkin, who is an attorney, pointed out to them that they were illegally in her home without a warrant, but they arrested her for disorderly conduct anyway, claiming that they were there to check on her welfare and didn’t need a warrant due to exigent circumstances. During the arrest, she kicked one of the cops in the balls. Good for her.
The left had what they wanted. They claimed that Rapkin had attacked while BLM was “peacefully protesting.” Her case went to trial, and she was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. The leftist press claimed that the majority of Americans agreed with BLM and pushed to have her disbarred. They got their wish, but not in the way that they intended.
The police were caught on camera before they entered the home, discussing how they were going to arrest her on sight, and discussing how to find a pretext to enter her home. Rapkin sued them, and the discussions about circumventing her rights were enough to prove that the cops knowingly violated Rapkin’s constitutional rights, thus removing their qualified immunity. The case was settled out of court for $760,000.
Ms. Rapkin is now disbarred, but not by discipline. She stopped paying dues because she retired. As they say, take the money and run. She is now nearly 70 years old. It’s cases like this that caused me to put Milwaukee in Zone 3:
Zone three cities are areas where violence has has taken place with little to no attempt at mitigating response from local authorities. Additionally, police and/or prosecutors are likely to bring the full weight of the law down upon those who attempt to defend themselves from these actors, or those who speak out against them.
Don’t think that, just because Trump won the election, that the cops, officials, and communists in Milwaukee have simply given up or decided to follow the law. No, they are simply biding their time until they can attack again. Stay out of Milwaukee. I wonder what the loss of USAID slush fund money has done to the movement?
Here is a lawyer’s perspective on this case:
Purge of history
Four Boxes
People who live in Maine are seeing one of their boxes of liberty being used as leverage to eliminate a second. The legislature in Maine, which is split 75 Democrat, 73 Republican, 3 other, voted last night to censure and remove the voting rights of a Republican legislator for daring to complain on social media about a male high school athlete who competed this year as a female, taking first place.
The Democrats said that they thought it was a violation of their ethical standards to publish a picture of a minor on social media. The vote was split along party lines. As a result, the people who are represented by Rep. Laurel Libby have had their electoral voices taken from them.
Now that people in Maine have seen the ballot box and the soap box taken from them, their only recourse is to resort to the other two boxes. Libby plans on filing a lawsuit to defend her rights. If the courts permit this to stand, there is only one box remaining.