by Corinne Murdock | Oct 20, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Ron Watkins – a prominent proponent of mass election fraud theories and the ex-administrator of 8chan, the site where the QAnon conspiracy theory originated – announced his run for Arizona’s district one congressional seat last week. He reportedly filed his first FEC report on Sunday.
Watkins recorded a video to announce his run outside of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office, congratulating Brnovich for investigating issues alleged by Cyber Ninjas in their final report of Maricopa County’s election processes. Since relocating to Arizona from Japan this year, Watkins has attempted to meet with Brnovich in person to discuss election fraud.
In his video, Watkins also claimed that the election was stolen from previous President Donald Trump. He promised to fix this by taking down the “dirtiest Democrat” in the “D.C. Swamp”: Congressman Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ-01), who Watkins called “Tom O’Hooligan.”
“I have decided to double down with God as my compass to take this fight to the swamp of Washington, D.C.,” asserted Watkins.
Watkins focused his brief message on rallying support from mainstream Republicans, Trump supporters, and evangelicals.
Watkins’s Twitter account, @CodeMonkeyZ, was suspended on January 8 along with accounts belonging to former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell, and Mike Flynn, the retired Army lieutenant general who briefly served as National Security Advisor for Trump. In a statement, Twitter explained that those accounts and others like them would be permanently suspended for violating their Coordinated Harmful Activity policy.
“We’ve been clear that we will take strong enforcement action on behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm, and given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behavior that has the potential to lead to offline harm, and given the renewed potential for violence surrounding this type of behavior in the coming days, we will permanently suspend accounts that are solely dedicated to sharing QAnon content,” wrote Twitter.
Watkins has platforms on Telegram and Gab.
The mass Twitter suspensions were part of a sweeping effort to eliminate certain rhetoric and content following the January 6 riot at the Capitol. Less than a week after the incident, Twitter removed over 70,000 accounts.
Certain prominent Republicans also supportive of the mass election fraud theory have run in some of the same circles as Watkins.
Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake posed for a picture with Watkins last week, which Watkins posted with the claim that they’d shared dinner together. Lake didn’t post the picture. VICE News reporter David Gilbert claimed that Lake had dinner with Watkins, linking to an article he wrote relying on Watkins’s claim. VICE News also included a statement from Lake saying that she didn’t have dinner with Watkins.
In response to Gilbert’s tweet, Lake reiterated that she hadn’t dined with Watkins and that the picture was taken during an outreach event with over 75 voters in attendance. It is unclear if the article was updated after Lake’s tweet – no editor’s note or disclaimer was published.
“Hey Loser, Be a REAL journalist and contact the people you are writing hit-pieces on. I didn’t eat dinner at this event. I spoke with 75+ voters about my plans for AZ. Why are Leftists infatuated [with] this group? I hang out [with] Conservatives all day – no one ever talks about it,” wrote Lake. “I’d recommend an immediate correction to your propaganda piece and an apology to me and the rest of the world for your s****y reporting.”
In August, Watkins attended MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s “cyber symposium” discussing mass voter fraud theories, where State Senators Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff) and Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu), as well as State Representative Mark Finchem (R-Oro Valley) took the stage. Watkins has shown great support for Rogers as of late.
Prior to December 2020, Watkins ran a user messaging board site, 8chan, owned by his father, Jim Watkins, and the birthplace of the “QAnon” conspiracy theory. The individual behind it, “Q,” claimed that a secret cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic pedophiles operate a child sex trafficking ring worldwide. Adherents also believe that this cabal and Trump were warring secretly; the cabal worked to undermine the previous president while Trump planned for a massive sting operation of the cabal.
Last week, Watkins announced publicly that QAnon doesn’t exist. Prior to this public denial, some rumored Watkins to be Q – speculations deepened by an HBO documentary released earlier this year.
“The fake news media continues to insist that I am part of some QANON conspiracy. As we all know, there is no QANON,” wrote Watkins. “What does exist are the many hardworking, God-fearing people who are breaking tyranny’s grasp over our Country.”
Controversial content isn’t new for Watkins or his father. The father-son duo were subpoenaed by the House of Homeland Security in 2019 to testify about “violent extremist content” that existed on their platform. Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS-02) claimed that there were least three acts of “deadly white supremacist extremist violence” that could be linked to 8chan that year, alluding to three mass shootings that had occurred.
The elder Watkins defended platform content the committee classified as “hate speech” as protected speech under the First Amendment. As for illegal content, Watkins assured the committee that moderators deleted the content as promptly as possible.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 19, 2021 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Matt Salmon, a Republican gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Representative for Arizona’s fifth district, asked the Arizona School Board Association (ASBA) to disaffiliate from the National School Board Association (NSBA). His request was prompted by the NSBA’s move against parents protesting and challenging their school boards; the organization asked the Biden Administration in a letter to investigate those parents for “hate group” activity and potential “domestic terrorism.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland complied; he promised that the FBI was on the case.
In his letter to ASBA, Salmon reasoned that ASBA shouldn’t support the NSBA’s attempt to have the Biden Administration intimidate parents by investigating them for domestic terrorism.
“[I]t has become crystal clear to the American people that NSBA’s real problem is with everyday parents who are not okay with what is happening in our classrooms,” wrote Salmon. “The bottom line is that I find NSBA’s antagonistic posturing toward concerned parents to be deeply inappropriate and frankly un-American.”
Salmon also asked the ASBA if they consulted about the NSBA’s letter to President Joe Biden ahead of its submission. If they did, he requested to know if they helped edit it.
“I am proud to stand with each and every parent who cares enough to get into this fight for a brighter future, and I hope that efforts will be made by ASBA to reaffirm support for civic engagement in local school board meetings, which cannot be properly achieved until you sever your partnership with NSBA and the poor judgment of its leaders,” concluded Salmon.
Salmon told ASBA that they wouldn’t be leading the pack when it came to withdrawing from the NSBA, noting that Pennsylvania did so last week. He also cited how both Louisiana and Florida’s state chapters condemned the NSBA’s letter.
“TODAY I wrote a letter urging @AzSBA to take immediate steps to withdraw its affiliation with @NSBAPublicEd,” wrote Salmon. “By attempting to intimidate concerned parents, NSBA has disqualified itself from enjoying the benefits of a formal relationship with Arizona.”
ASBA is no longer the only option for school board members. Last week, a coalition of Arizonans launched an alternative to ASBA: the Arizona Coalition of School Board Members (ACSBM). Unlike ASBA, ACSBM offers membership to parents and community members in addition to school board members, and they claim to offer the same caliber of resources and legislative advocacy that ASBA offers currently.
As of press time, ASBA hasn’t issued a public response to Salmon’s letter.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 17, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Facebook admitted to aiding human smuggling across the border, according to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich. Brnovich submitted an inquiry letter at the end of June, asking Facebook about reports that coyotes (human smugglers) and drug cartels use their platform to advertise human smuggling across the border for purposes of illegal entry and sex trafficking.
In a response at the end of August, Facebook stated that while they do prohibit posts offering smuggling services, they do allow content that instructs people how to enter the country illegally or offers further information about how to be smuggled. The social media giant defended this approach as compromise allowing illegal immigrants information on asylum-seeking while minimizing human trafficking exploitation. Facebook cited “human rights experts” as their guide on this matter. The social media giant didn’t address concerns of sex trafficking in its response letter.
“We have been working diligently to proactively remove content related to drug trafficking or promoting human smuggling services from our platform. As an initial matter, our policies prohibit the use of our services for illegal purposes. Our Terms of Service make clear that individuals who violate our policies may be subject to penalties, including but not limited to, having their accounts banned. We don’t allow […] criminal organizations to operate on our platform. We remove posts and reject ads when we see this kind of behavior to keep people safe. We also prohibit sharing content that offers to provide or facilitate human smuggling, which includes advertising a human smuggling service. We do allow people to share information about how to enter a country illegally or request information about how to be smuggled. After consultation with human rights experts, we developed this policy to ensure we were prohibiting content relating to the business of human smuggling but not interfering with people’s ability to exercise their right to seek asylum, which is recognized in international law. Allowing people to seek and share information related to smuggling can also help minimize the likelihood of them being exploited by human traffickers.” (emphasis added)
On Thursday, Brnovich asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Facebook for admitting to facilitating and encouraging human smuggling.
“[O]ur office requests that your Department investigate Facebook’s facilitation of human smuggling at Arizona’s southern border and stop its active encouragement and facilitation of illegal entry,” wrote Brnovich.
In a press release, Brnovich claimed that Facebook’s actions spoke to a larger issue with Big Tech: a flagrant contempt for the law coupled with the desire to retain its power and profit.
“This is another example of how out of touch Big Tech is with America,” asserted Brnovich. “The cartels are seizing control of our southern border, and shame on anyone who is exploiting this crisis to enrich themselves.”
In their response letter, Facebook referenced its policy prohibiting individuals from “facilitating, organizing, promoting, or admitting to certain criminal or harmful activities targeted at people, businesses, property, or animals.” Their only allowance concerns debate, advocacy, and spreading awareness about harmful or criminal activities.
“In an effort to prevent and disrupt offline harm and copycat behavior, we prohibit people from facilitating, organizing, promoting or admitting to certain criminal or harmful activities targeted at people, businesses, property or animals. We allow people to debate and advocate for the legality of criminal and harmful activities, as well as draw attention to harmful or criminal activity that they may witness or experience as long as they do not advocate for or coordinate harm.”
One of the most recent famous examples of this policy in action was when the social media giant banned previous President Donald Trump for “his praise” of the “violence” that occurred on January 6. The ban was indefinite at first, but was later shortened to a period of two years upon further review.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 16, 2021 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Raytheon’s employees at their Tucson headquarters are resisting the defense company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. On Thursday, a group protested outside of the headquarters.
The protesting employees have created a website to give fellow employees information on their rights, options, and samples of religious exemption letters that were accepted by Raytheon, as well as any updates and legal or legislative news.
All of the accepted religious exemption letters cited an objection to the vaccine’s development using fetal cell lines or tissues, from the perspective of the Catholic or Christian faiths.
Project Veritas, an outlet construed as “far-right” that specializes in investigative and undercover reporting, discovered via internal emails from a whistleblower that Pfizer had attempted to hide the fact that aborted fetal cell lines and tissues were used in the development of mRNA vaccines.
The Raytheon employees also included letters to the FDA from Dr. Patricia Lee and her legal representation, Siri & Glimstad. As an emergency room doctor for over 15 years, Lee attested that she’d never before seen the number of vaccine injuries that she’s witnessed from the COVID-19 vaccine. Lee said these injuries were serious, often fatal: transverse myelitis resulting in quadriplegia (inflammation on both sides of the spinal cord, resulting in paralysis of all four limbs), pneumocystis pneumonia (a type of pneumonia normally only seen with weakened immune systems, usually HIV/AIDS patients or those taking immunosuppressants), multi-system organ failure, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (blood clots in the brain), postpartum hemorrhagic shock and septic shock (life-threatening issues following birth), and disseminated CMV and CMV viremia (flu-like symptoms, most common in immunosuppressed patients).
“It appears statistically improbable that any one physician should witness this many COVID-19 vaccine injuries if the federal health authority claims regarding Covid-19 vaccine safety were accurate,” asserted Lee.
Lee also claimed that many of her colleagues are also reporting similar issues.
According to the employees, Raytheon also pushed up their vaccination deadline. Originally, the deadline was New Year’s Eve. Now, Raytheon wants all employees to comply by December 8.
One Raytheon employee appeared in a radio interview with The Conservative Circus. He explained that Raytheon can’t afford to lose employees over their vaccine mandate. According to the employee, “Ernie,” the company’s Tucson headquarters hosted a job fair recently where around 3,000 people showed up. Out of all those applicants, two or three were offered a job: most didn’t have the qualifications or couldn’t get the security clearances.
“I don’t know what they’re going to do and why they think this is going to be a good thing,” said Ernie.
Ernie also disclosed that no talks about vaccine mandates were ever occurring prior to the Biden Administration. He also revealed that half of the people who recently got sick from COVID-19 were breakthrough cases – they were vaccinated.
Ernie also revealed that Raytheon was asking invasive questions concerning religious exemption requests. These included: how often do you attend worship services? Do you abstain from taking other medicines that were possibly developed from aborted fetal cell lines or tissues?
Early last month, President Joe Biden issued a mandate requiring any companies with over 100 employees to either have their workforce vaccinated or subjected to frequent testing.
This latest mandate from Biden may follow the patterns of another vaccine-related mandate: earlier this year, Biden required all federal employees and contractors to either be vaccinated or subjected to frequent testing. With this latest mandate, Biden dropped the option of frequent testing – now, federal employees must be vaccinated.
Raytheon’s other deadline for employees for disclosure was on Friday. There are approximately 13,000 employees at the Tucson headquarters.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Corinne Murdock | Oct 16, 2021 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona State University (ASU), University of Arizona (UArizona), and Northern Arizona University (NAU) will require their employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by December 8. This latest development is due to the Biden Administration’s order for federal contractors and subcontractors to get vaccinated by the hard deadline of December 8. The universities’ mandates will also affect student workers.
The Arizona Board of Regents explained that the three universities have substantial federal contracts that necessitate compliance with the Biden Administration’s vaccine mandate.
“The universities have hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts, funding critical research, employment and educational efforts,” stated spokesperson Julie Newberg. “We respect individual opinions regarding the vaccine and will include disability (including medical) and religious accommodations consistent with federal rules.”
UArizona President Dr. Robert Robbins reiterated the reality of their situation in an email to employees: the universities rely heavily on millions of dollars in contracts with the federal government.
“President Biden recently issued an Executive Order that requires institutions that contract with the federal government, such as the University of Arizona, to comply with guidance from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force,” wrote Robbins. “The University has hundreds of millions of dollars in federal contracts, funding critical research, employment, and educational efforts, and already has received amended federal contracts that include this requirement.”
Governor Doug Ducey hasn’t issued any statements on the three universities’ mandates as of press time, though he has expressed ardent disapproval for both vaccine and masking mandates, as well as issued orders to curtail these mandates and approved legislation outlawing them.
Per the universities’ latest published reports, ASU has over 17,000 employees, UArizona has over 16,000 employees, and NAU has just under 5,000 employees.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
