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.
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.
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.
Thursday night, Chandler City Council passed a proposal to spend up to over $56,000 for a “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Study” of the city’s community and its governance.
The proposal identified Cooperative Personnel Services, dba CPS HR Consulting (CPSHR), will conduct the study and offer their consulting services. The city’s Human Relations Commission (HRC) conducted a study last year following a survey from the city about their DEI initiatives. HRC will serve as a “steering committee” of sorts in CPSHR’s efforts, receiving progress reports and updates on the survey.
According to City Manager Josh Wright, the survey will have four phases. First, the creation of a DEI Aspirational Policy that will define the successful outcome of the study; the development of an external and internal communications strategy; definition of what the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion mean; interviews of council members.
The second phase will include an extensive DEI community engagement process. An online survey will be opened and promoted by the city, a community focus group will be formed, and a website will be launched to house all the documents associated with the study’s processes.
The third phase will look at the city’s employees. At this point, the city will have a “DEI Roadmap.”
Wright didn’t expand on what the fourth phase would include, but indicated it would focus on communication and transparency.
“In many ways this process can be thought of as a community dialogue about our shared values and vision for Chandler,” said Wright. “It is not simply a survey on a nondiscrimination policy or any one aspect of DEI, but rather a holistic look at how we build on our strengths as a city, improve in areas where we need to do better, and continue to create a community that is welcoming for all.”
Councilmember Matt Orlando expressed one of his main concerns with the study was that it wouldn’t produce “statistically valid” results. He asked how the HRC would play in the role of conducting the study.
“I don’t want to get this [topic to get] any more polarized,” stated Orlando.
Wright explained that they would create focus groups and further organize the study in the near future. He added that the HRC would serve a “critical role” in conducting the study.
Councilmember OD Harris asked why CPSHR was chosen to conduct the study.
“There is a strong feeling that there were groups that were left out of the discussion,” stated Harris. “Have we went back to talk to those groups? Have we had additional conversations [about] why we chose this particular company?”
Wright asserted that CPSHR was unbiased on the issue. He argued that they were the only consultant who provided all the services under one roof, and were able to do the study in “a timely fashion.” He said that anybody who believed the procurement process overlooked other companies should reach out.
It was revealed that the Request for Proposal (RFP) to conduct the study wasn’t opened up to the public, which several members of the community took issue with in public comment.
According to the mayor, over 600 comments were issued about the proposal. Mayor Kevin Hartke assured the community that he’d read them all.
Prior to the meeting, Harris had expressed high hopes for the proposal in a statement to AZ Free News.
“First and foremost I was elected to represent all city of Chandler residents. We are in the first step, in putting forth a scientific study on discrimination in Chandler. This is the first true study of its kind as we continue to evolve as a community of diverse people and backgrounds. I am very excited to have this conversation tonight. It’s my call to action in-regards to this critical conversation for all City of Chandler residents to share their experiences and life stories. This data will allow us to specifically identify any barriers, find appropriate solutions, and lastly come together for what is best for our community.”
Harris changed his tune once he learned during the meeting that the survey wasn’t open to a public RFP. He expressed his displeasure, attempting to offer an alternative motion to rescind a vote on the proposal and instead open up the survey to public bidders.
However, a majority of the council voted for the proposal, ending that possibility for Harris. Only Harris and Councilmember Christine Ellis voted against the proposal.
The study will be completed in the spring.
Watch discussion of the proposal at the council meeting here.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
The Arizona Senate’s liaison to the Cyber Ninjas-led audit, Ken Bennett, will be hosting a town hall series over the next few weeks to discuss what happened with the audit. The series, “What Happened at the Audit,” was organized by Look Ahead America, an America First nonprofit dedicated to voter outreach and election integrity.
The town halls will occur at the following locations from 7 to 8:30 pm:
· October 19: Hilton Garden Inn Tucson Airport
· October 21: Scottsdale Studios
· October 25: Prescott Gateway Community Room
· October 27: Shugrues Restaurant and Brewery in Lake Havasu City
The town halls will also be live streamed on Rumble and on Look Ahead America’s website.
I invite Arizona patriots to attend Look Ahead Arizona's Town Hall Series "What Happened at the Audit" featuring Ken Bennett (@BennettArizona), moderated by yours truly.
Look Ahead America also hosts the results of the Voter Integrity Project (VIP), an initiative by former President Donald Trump’s 2016 data analyst and strategy director Matt Braynard. Braynard is also the executive director of Look Ahead America. He will moderate the town halls.
Though Cyber Ninjas submitted its final audit report on Maricopa County weeks ago, Bennett has continued his work as liaison. Most recently, Bennett appeared before the U.S. House Oversight Committee to testify last week. Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan was noticeably absent, though he was invited.
During the hearing, Bennett responded to questions about whether he believed the audit showed Trump as having won rather than Biden. Bennett said no.
“I would not characterize it that way. I was asked by the Senate to be the liaison to the Maricopa audit,” stated Bennett. “The Maricopa audit found that the results were very similar to what Maricopa County canvassed in the official results.”
Those interested in attending any or all of the town halls must register in advance here.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
Among the dozens of new laws which took effect in Arizona on Sept. 29 is one that provides for Peer-to-Peer Car Sharing businesses while addressing public safety and bringing in new tax revenues.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) car sharing is the authorized, contracted use of a shared vehicle -for a fee- by an individual other than the shared vehicle’s owner. It does not apply to car rental agents nor to vehicle rentals with the services of a driver, but is optional for traditional short-term car rentals companies as well as individuals.
The new P2P law ensures that tax revenues are collected from those companies like Getaround which operate the platforms used by individual vehicle owners to connect with and rent their vehicles to other drivers. The law, created earlier this year by Senate Bill 1720, now requires such P2P platforms to collect and remit transaction privilege tax (TPT) on a monthly basis for all rentals it arranges.
But it is not only the platforms that have responsibilities under the new law.
An individual vehicle owner not otherwise in the business of renting vehicles does not have to have a TPT license in order to place a shared vehicle on a P2P platform, but the owner must certify to the Arizona Department of Revenue that TPT or Arizona’s use tax was paid when the vehicle was purchased or that out-of-state sales or use tax was paid if the vehicle was purchased out-of-state and later brought into Arizona.
A vehicle purchased in a private, casual sale where no TPT or use tax was paid cannot be certified by the Department of Revenue as an individually-owned shared vehicle. That won’t prevent such vehicles from being rented on a P2P platform, but the rentals are subject to certain surcharges, as are rentals of vehicles that an owner chooses to not certify with ADOR.
Pima and Maricopa counties, as well as the City of Phoenix, imposes additional taxes on short term vehicle rentals, including rentals arranged through a P2P platform.
Senate President Karen Fann attributed passage of SB1720 at the time to the efforts of Sen. David Livingston (R-LD22) and Rep. Travis Grantham (R-LD12) who garnered bipartisan support for the legislation. Among those backing the bill were key stakeholders in the tourism industry, including a major rental car business operating in Arizona.
“The result is a fair set of rules that respects the interests of car rental customers, car rental providers, vehicle purchasers, and the communities in which we operate,” said Kevin Cooper, GM of Enterprise Leasing Company of Phoenix.
