The Young Turks - Shooting in Brooklyn

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to The Young Turks, the online news show. Make sure to follow and rate our show with not one, not two, not three, not four, but five stars. You're awesome. Thank you. One of the hardest parts of getting older is feeling like something's off in your body, but not knowing exactly what. It's not just aging. It's often your hormones, too.

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Starting point is 00:00:49 A survey found 86% of women lost weight, 77% saw an improved mood, and 100% felt like themselves again. Start your next chapter feeling balanced and in control. For a limited time, get 15% off your entire first order at happy mammoth.com with code next chapter at checkout. Visit happy mammoth.com today and get your old self back naturally. Welcome to TYTYT. Anna Kasparian, Jank Yugar is still away. He'll be back next Monday. Hopefully he's enjoying his time off, but don't worry, we have a fantastic show ahead for you. In fact, there was so much news breaking throughout the day that I can't help but thank my team for being incredibly adaptive to the insane news cycle of the day. But we're gonna talk about the

Starting point is 00:02:19 shooting that took place in Brooklyn this morning. We'll give you the details on that and the details or description of the alleged perpetrator. We're also gonna talk a little bit about how a private college is now expanding its business into the charter school realm as an effort to essentially counteract or counterbalance any type of substantive history that students might be learning at public schools across the nation. It's an incredibly important story and it shows you some of the tactics that right wingers are using to essentially continue misinforming young people about this country's history,

Starting point is 00:03:01 or at least withholding important history lessons from students. We'll also have Francesca Fiorentini join us in the second hour, which I'm really, really looking forward to. But look, the thing that I really want to plug right now is the bonus episode, which is going to be bananas. One of our associate producers is going to join us to have a discussion about the disconnect between Gen Y and Gen Z. But more importantly, there's a study that just came out showing really the shocking upward trend of depression among teenagers.

Starting point is 00:03:36 We'll talk about why that's happening, what those results are. And look, we got to give you guys some dessert in the bonus episode for our members as well. Ted Cruz was asked an incredibly indecent question. So we're gonna have probably an indecent conversation about it. So if you're not a member, you can become one by going to t.yt.com slash join or click on that join button if you're watching us on YouTube. Without further ado, let's get to the big news story of the day. Just before 824 this morning, as a Manhattan bound end train waited to enter the 36th Street station, an individual on that train donned what appeared to be a gas mask. He then took a canister out of his bag and opened it. The train at that time began to fill with smoke. He then open fire, tracking multiple people on the subway and in the platform.

Starting point is 00:04:27 A shooting suspect remains on the loose in New York following a shooting in the New York subway station in Brooklyn, specifically. Ten people were shot at the subway station in Brooklyn. Others are also dealing with non-shooting related injuries, probably from smoke inhalation and that's because the individual, the perpetrator here, apparently through a canister of smoke in an effort to, I don't know, maybe blind people before he opened fire. So I want to really reiterate, this is a story that's developing and it's developing quickly. By the time you watch this video, there could be additional details that have been reported, but we did not get those details by the time we share this story. So I just want to make sure you guys know some of these details

Starting point is 00:05:16 are subject to change. But here's what we know so far. So this man hunt is underway for the suspect who is described as a man wearing a green construction vest and a gas mask. And as you heard the New York City police commissioners say earlier in the video, the suspect opened this gas canister that filled the subway car before opening fire. Shockingly and fortunately, No one is suffering from life threatening injuries. However, five of the shooting victims were in critical but stable condition. So at least 16 people were injured, 10 of them by gunfire in the subway in Brooklyn during the Tuesday morning rush after a man released a canister of smoke and open fire on an

Starting point is 00:06:03 end train. At around 8.24 a.m. as the train pulled into the 36th Street station in the Sunset Park, neighborhood, the man who was wearing a construction vest, put on a gas mask before firing shots that hit people on the train and the nearby platform. So far, a gun and a bag of fireworks has been found at the scene. Authorities believe that the weapon he was using, the gun he was using likely jammed, which is fortunate because there could have been far more victims had that not happened. And also people who were on the train were complaining about the smell of gasoline. And it turns out that a spray bottle full of gasoline was found on the train as well. Although that's all we know about the gasoline spray bottle. We know nothing

Starting point is 00:06:53 else about it. In fact, it has not been confirmed that the gas bottle was something that the perpetrator had in his possession. We don't know. I just want to cover all basis and make sure you guys are aware of what we know for sure, what we don't know for sure. Now, shootings, Unfortunately, have been on the rise throughout the country, but certainly in New York as well. shootings in New York City have increased this year. And the uptake in violent gun crime has been a central focus for Eric Adams since he took office in January. Through April 3rd, shooting incidents rose to 296 from 260 during the same period last year, according to police department statistics. Adams has sought to reassure residents and recently deployed about how,

Starting point is 00:07:39 a dozen anti gun police units, okay? So we're gonna talk about that in more detail in just a moment. But first, I do want to give you some more details about what is being reported about the perpetrator and I'll also share some of the videos that have made their way online on social media. So as we speak, authorities are specifically looking for an Arizona U-Haul truck. I say an Arizona U-Haul truck because it's license plates. are Arizona license plates. The specific license plate number is A as an Apple, L as in Larry, 31408. That's AL 3148. Authorities believe that the perpetrator is the individual in the

Starting point is 00:08:25 U-Haul truck. That's why they're looking for that U-Haul truck. So if you have any information about that, obviously reported to the authorities as soon as possible. And we do have some disturbing video of what the scene looked like. This video doesn't show any blood. It's not gory. It's one of these subway cars where people can hear the gunshots. From what I can tell, it's not the specific subway car that was targeted by this perpetrator, but you can hear the gunshots in the background. So let's take a quick look at that. And I'm not going to try me, especially because you're captive, especially because you're captive if you're in a subway car that's moving.

Starting point is 00:09:25 And certainly the individuals who were in the subway car that was targeted by this perpetrator were unable to escape until the car stopped. So imagine how Imagine how terrifying that is, how much panic that leads to, someone throws a gas canister, I'm sorry, a smoke canister, and then immediately after that you hear the gunshots. And so again, stories developing will fill you in on what we learn as it develops. But I wanted to get back to what Eric Adams is focusing his attention on. And this is certainly what most Democrats love to point to whenever mass shootings happen in the country, whenever there's gun violence in the country, they claim they want to do something about guns.

Starting point is 00:10:07 Now, there is also a disconnect among the left in this country that I think is well-intentioned in wanting criminal justice reform. But in an effort of pursuing that kind of haphazardly, there are all sorts of individuals who basically don't get prosecuted for gun-related crimes. And I'm not even kidding. So I'll give you a specific example of what an official says. District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the same individual who has decided to stop pursuing criminal charges against Donald Trump, said something really interesting when he came into office in January. He announced in his day one memo that certain gun crimes would not be prosecuted, but why? Why wouldn't they be prosecuted?

Starting point is 00:10:57 Isn't it kind of fascinating how he's like, yeah, you know, I'm going to just stop pursuing this criminal investigation into Donald Trump, he'll lie and say that's not the case, although two prosecutors working on that investigation stepped down because Alvin Bragg stopped pursuing the criminal investigation. But to then find out that this man doesn't think that gun related crimes should be prosecuted, it just, it really does blow my mind. It really does. But what I also found really interesting while I was, you know, researching this story and trying to understand what's been going on in New York, which has been dealing with a significant increase in subway related crimes, violent crimes to the tune of a

Starting point is 00:11:38 55% increase is that the left has been furious with Eric Adams and city officials for wanting to do something that I think is common sense. So in 2019, they passed their no cash bail reform, which I'm actually in favor of as it pertains to nonviolent offenders. So if you get caught with possession of drugs, I'm sorry, I don't think that you should be stuck in a jail cell until you get your day in court, especially if you don't have the funds, if you don't have the means to bail yourself out. So I think that the intention for bail reform is a good intention, but there were all sorts of violent crimes grouped into this reform, meaning that certain individuals who were caught with illegal possession of a firearm got to take advantage

Starting point is 00:12:31 of that reform, even though I would argue if you get caught with an illegal gun, it's important for you to not be able to take advantage of a reform that was specifically marketed to the American people as a way of looking out for nonviolent offenders who might be living in poverty, right? So I want to be clear, we don't know anything really about this suspect. So I'm not trying to make a point about how, oh, this was a repeat offender who got to take advantage of no cash bail. I'm just talking about the weird contradiction that we're seeing among the left when it comes to gun related crimes. So after that 2019 no cash bail reform was implemented, officials realize there are some things included in this that we're not comfortable with, including some violent crimes. And so they started to change things.

Starting point is 00:13:25 In fact, very recently, Eric Adams and Kathy Hockel had essentially fought for certain exceptions to the no cash bail program. And I want to give you those details right now, okay? In April of 2020, lawmakers expanded the list of crimes eligible for pretrial detention, including certain hate crimes, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds, money laundering, and criminally negligent homicide. I think that makes sense. I think that anyone who poses a threat to public safety should not be able to take advantage of no cash bail,

Starting point is 00:14:05 especially if they are caught with possession of an illegal weapon. The agreement gives judges considering bail more discretion to take into account factors such as defendant's gun records or whether they have violated an order of protection. It would also add certain gun crimes to the list of offenses that are eligible for for bail and make it easier for police to arrest people who have received multiple appearance tickets in a short time period. Those measures are in tandem with other criminal justice proposals. Governor Kathy Hochel has emphasized, including making it easier to charge someone with illegal gun trafficking. I don't know, I think that sounds super reasonable, everyone,

Starting point is 00:14:48 especially since, you know, the left has been calling for stricter gun regulations for as long as I can remember. But it turns out the left in New York, not in favor of these changes to the no cash bail program. Okay. So on the parties left, the bail changes drew sharp rebukes with progressive saying changes to the original laws take back advances the state made in protecting people from low income and minority communities from discrimination. in the criminal justice system. Brooklyn Democratic Assembly member Latrice Walker criticized the deal after being one of the architects of the 2019 reforms. Walker said in a statement that the largest changes will quote rollback progress the state has made toward ending the criminalization of poverty because the initial law ended cash bail in most cases. I don't want to, I don't know about you guys,

Starting point is 00:15:46 I don't want to end cash bail in most cases. I want to end cash bail in cases pertaining to nonviolent crimes, not in cases pertaining to gun related crimes. So let me ask you guys something, because I'm very curious, what is the point in fighting for gun regulations if you're not going to prosecute people who are breaking those gun related regulations? What is the point? How is that criminal justice reform? I just, I'm not buying it, and I get it, the left, some members of the left, they've built their brand on being incredibly pure, but I'm sorry, zero tolerance policies, whether it's in the direction of criminal justice reform or against criminal justice reform is not the solution.

Starting point is 00:16:37 There is no point in fighting for or advocating for gun laws. If you're also simultaneously gonna push district attorneys to not prosecute gun related crimes. It's stupid, it's stupid. And if you're worried about judges being discriminatory in how they make decisions about no cash bail related to gun crimes, how about judges don't get to make that decision. How about if you get caught with an illegal weapon, if you're breaking gun laws, how about you you don't get to take advantage of no cash bail, period, because you are a threat to public safety. Owning, possessing, using illegal weapons is not what I had in mind when it came to the no cash

Starting point is 00:17:26 bail program or reform. So look, again, we don't know the details about the perpetrator here. We don't know if he's from Arizona, even though he allegedly was in a U-Haul truck with Arizona plates. We know nothing, really. So the story's developing. But I do think that if the left or Democrats are going to start proposing solutions to the very obvious uptick in crime that we're seeing in the country, you don't really have a leg to stand on if you're simultaneously calling for, you know, no prosecution or no cash bail for violent offenders, including people who commit gun related crimes. And again, Alvin Bragg, not pursuing criminal charges, against Donald Trump for what his own former personal lawyer said was financial fraud.

Starting point is 00:18:15 It's just fascinating. When he then turns around and says certain gun crimes won't be prosecuted. Don't agree with that. I think that's a stupid system. And by the way, we should also take a look at how New Yorkers feel about this. 60% of, I'm sorry, 60% say that crime is a very serious problem across New York with another 31% saying it's somewhat serious. Closer to home, 27% say crime in their community is a very serious problem. And another 36% say somewhat serious. Nearly one quarter of New Yorkers are very concerned. They may be the victim of crime. And while the left wants to minimize the increase in violent crime that we're seeing in major cities across the country, I would argue that it's a bad tactic.

Starting point is 00:19:03 If you do want to pursue common sense criminal justice reform, I think that that's actually something that we should pursue. I think that's something that's important. I'm not making an argument here that our criminal justice system has been too lenient or has a history of being too lenient. I do think that in an effort, in a well-intentioned effort to pursue criminal justice reform, certain things, certain reforms were passed without really thinking about the unintended consequences. And we should fix those unintended consequences. instead of making excuses for it, because that window for criminal justice reform is closing quickly with people feeling concerned about the uptick in crime. Even if you don't think the uptick in crime is a big deal, if the majority of people in your community think it is a big deal, you shouldn't minimize it. You should take it seriously.

Starting point is 00:19:52 And finally, by a 65 to 27% margin, voters say the so-called bail reform law should be amended to give judges more discretion to keep dangerous criminals off the the streets rather than the law shouldn't be, rather than the law shouldn't be amended to give discretion on bail back to judges because it could once again lead to people of color being disproportionately denied bail. Again, I just think if it has to do with a violent crime involving guns, why are we even having a debate about whether or not the person, the perpetrator, should take advantage of a reform that again was marketed to the American people as something that would only benefit individuals who have been accused of a nonviolent crime. So we'll see what happens. It's very, very likely that the pendulum is going to swing right

Starting point is 00:20:43 back to where we do not want it to swing, which is mass incarceration, which is all sorts of punitive measures that end up having their own set of unintended and terrible consequences. And so either we take the situation seriously, either we are consistent on how we feel about strengthening gun laws, or we act like a bunch of clowns who minimize the very real issue that we're seeing, again, in a lot of these major cities across the country. All right, moving on. Hope you guys enjoyed that spicy take. So let's talk a little more about New York, because there's another story.

Starting point is 00:21:21 And this one is a doozy for the state Democrats. New York's Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin has been arrested in a federal corruption investigation, not a good look, especially for the current governor, Kathy Hochelkel, who was planning on running to be, you know, to continue serving as governor and his running mate happened to be Benjamin Brian. Now what happened? Well, Benjamin, I'm sorry, Brian Benjamin. Benjamin, Benjamin, a Democrat was accused in an indictment of participating in a scheme to obtain campaign contributions from a real estate developer in exchange for Benjamin's agreement to use his influence as a state senator to get a $50,000 grant of state funds, meaning taxpayer money, for a non-profit organization, the developer controlled.

Starting point is 00:22:30 So the nonprofit's name is Friends of Public School Harlem, which was run by a guy named Gerald Migdal. Gerald Migdal is the real estate developer. He's the one who This episode is brought to you by Square. You're not just running a restaurant. You're building something big. And Square's there for all of it, giving your customers more ways to order. whether that's in-person with Square kiosk or online. Instant access to your sales, plus the funding you need to go even bigger. And real-time insights so you know what's working, what's not, and what's next. Because when you're doing big things, your tools should to.

Starting point is 00:23:09 Visit square.ca to get started. Who founded this nonprofit, and he's the one who made this alleged deal with Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin, who, by the way, has since stepped down from his role. role, he has resigned following his arrest. Now facing charges including bribery, fraud, conspiracy, and falsification of records, Benjamin pleaded not guilty Tuesday at an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court. He was released and bail was set at $250,000. The terms of his release call for his travel to be restricted and bar him from returning to the state capital in Albany. So it's just a pay to play to play.

Starting point is 00:23:53 type of situation. Now, let me just be clear, as we talk about on this show incessantly, legalized bribery is very much part and parcel of our governing system. Okay, there are so many ways politicians can get like unlimited campaign donations from corporate donors. Like you have to really try hard to break corruption laws. And allegedly, Lieutenant Governor, former Lieutenant Governor, Brian Benjamin managed to do just that. So this scheme apparently stretched from 2019 to 2021. Two months after Benjamin became lieutenant governor, the real estate developer, Migdal, who steered campaign contributions toward Benjamin's failed bid for New York City Comptroller was indicted. Federal authorities accused him of conspiracy to commit wire fraud,

Starting point is 00:24:45 wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in illegally giving donations to Benjamin's campaign. So what he did here is, you know, it's illegal because he essentially was donating money to Benjamin's campaign while pretending to be other people, right? The money was coming from Magdal, but when he was contributing the money to the campaign, he was posing as other people, or he he would get other individuals to donate the money directly to Benjamin, and then he would reimburse them for the campaign donation. Again, Migdal would make campaign contributions to Benjamin's campaign via checks written in the name of relatives who did not share his last name and in the name of LLC Migdil controlled in an attempt to conceal the origin of the

Starting point is 00:25:37 contributions. So they allegedly falsified campaign donor forms. They allegedly misled municipal regulators and allegedly provided false information in vetting forms, Benjamin submitted while he was being considered to be appointed as lieutenant governor. And again, Kathy Hockel is in a little bit of trouble because she named him as her running mate. And it doesn't appear that that will be the case moving forward. If Benjamin resigns, by the way, and he did resign, he would likely appear on the ballot for the 2022 gubernatorial Democratic primary, even if Hokel picks a new lieutenant governor, according to state election laws. And so that puts Hockel in a unique disadvantage because you now have a man who's been charged

Starting point is 00:26:22 with some serious offenses appearing on the ballot with you, even if he's no longer your running mate. Which it sucks, that kind of sucks. But that's where we're at with this investigation. It does remind me of a similar investigation that took place in Los Angeles. Los Angeles City Council members were also caught up in a pay-to-play scheme involving real estate developers. And we're talking about Democrats in that case as well. So we'll see how this all plays out. But it shows you how this system of corruption is one that both parties take advantage of. And even with all these loosened campaign contribution laws in place, you still have

Starting point is 00:27:06 lawmakers who don't think it's enough. They go even further and they break. whatever lax laws we have in place already. Anyway, we gotta take a quick break. When we come back, we've got more news for you, including how one private college is planning on indoctrinating public school students through their expansion of charter schools. We've got that story and more coming right up. What's up everyone? Welcome back to the show, Anna Casparian with you.

Starting point is 00:27:50 And there is a new development in this right wing culture war, the war against information, education, history, and we've got a private college leading the charge. So let's get right to it. A private college known as Hillsdale College is now expanding its education business into the charter school domain, in this case as an effort to essentially counterbalance any accurate history curriculum that public schools might have to offer. And I want to be clear that these schools, charter schools, are privately owned, but they're publicly funded. It's a way of funneling our taxpayer money from the public education system into charter schools, which again are privately run and usually do not have to abide by certain

Starting point is 00:28:46 standards that most public schools would have to abide by. And so Hillsdale College is fighting what it calls progressive and leftist academics by expanding its footprint in the charter school world pushing the boundaries on the use of taxpayer money for politically tinged education. Now again, charters are privately run, but publicly funded. And so what are they planning on doing here? How widespread is this venture? Hillsdale has ambitious plans to add to its network of classical public charter schools, which focuses on the centrality of the Western tradition.

Starting point is 00:29:25 And Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee recently invited the college to start 50 schools using public funds, including 32 billion, or I'm sorry, 32 million set aside for charter facilities. Hillsdale's network currently includes 24 schools in 13 states. But that's not enough. They're planning on expanding. What's really interesting about Hillsdale College is that it started, it was established by abolitionists. And it has now deteriorated into an institution that pushes revisionist history. Not only on a college level, but clearly they're now moving toward grade schools as well. The college has also developed a 1776 curriculum, which sets out to portray America as an exceptionally good country.

Starting point is 00:30:15 During a time when education has become inflamed by divisive cultural debates, Hillsdale has been criticized for its glossy spin on American history, as well as its ideological tilt on topics like affirmative action. Shocker, they are not in favor of affirmative action. Again, just when you go back to the roots of this college and how it was started by abolitionists, it is kind of incredible to see how much it's deteriorated. Educators and historians have also raised questions about other instruction at Hillsdale's charter schools, citing their negative take on the New Deal and the Great Society and cursory presentation of global warming. And so this is yet another example of right wing projection playing out.

Starting point is 00:31:05 For decades, Americans have been told over and over again by right wingers in this country that the public education system is just meant to indoctrinate the country's youth into hating America. It's all indoctrination. But the reason why I say it's projection is because we have seen one case study after the other, of right wing institutions, right wing lawmakers, right wing school boards, making decisions that transparently and intentionally indoctrinate kids and feed them revisionist history. Which by the way, let's take a step back because I'm old enough to remember what history lessons were like when I was in grade school, when I was in high school.

Starting point is 00:31:49 And this notion that it's somehow too critical of America is so ridiculous. I mean, as you guys probably already know, our public education system has actually done a pretty good job omitting important details about this country's history, right? In an effort to kind of paint the United States as, you know, a country that had a few problems in the past. But we've really, we've gotten past it. We've managed to combat all of it. That's what I remember about history. In fact, I didn't learn decent history until I was graduated from high school and was able to research about it, read about it on my own, in my own time. That was when I learned a lot more.

Starting point is 00:32:34 But right wingers think that the watered down version of American history that currently exists in public schools still isn't good enough. It isn't revisionist enough. They want to go even further. I just, and the thing that's amazing to me, let's just pause for a second before I give you more details about this story. You're going to propagandize history lessons and school curriculum in an effort to what, trick America's youth into thinking that America's perfect, to trick American youth into thinking that we've got it all figured out, to trick the people who are about to take out tens of, thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, that we've got it on lockdown. We've got it all figured out. America is number one, no other country compare. Really, you're gonna trick them. You're gonna trick them when they graduate college,

Starting point is 00:33:29 saddled with student loan debt, and essentially serve as indentured servants working jobs where they're mistreated, underpaid, and easily replaced by robots, you're gonna trick them into of thinking America's perfect. Okay, good luck to you. Good luck to you. Now, the college, Hillsdale College relies partly on donations from conservative benefactors that are fueled by aggressive fundraising campaigns, including on Rush Limbaugh's radio program before he died, and in Hillsdale's widely circulated digest, which is known for provocative articles, including a 2017 piece in which President Vladimir Putin of Russia was called a hero to populist conservatives around the world. Wow, that sounds super pro-America, bro. Nice, nice. Let's applaud the

Starting point is 00:34:27 authoritarian madman of Russia who has invaded a country, a sovereign country, and proceeded to kill. At this point, we don't know the exact numbers, but all these civilians, civilians, including women and children, innocent individuals in Ukraine. Yeah, let's go ahead and talk about how he's a hero to conservatives around the world. Pretty gross. Now, money from these pitches, meaning these fundraisers, help finance Hillsdale's charter school operation, which began in 2010 with a grant from the Chicago-based Barney Family Foundation endowed by Stephen Barney, a financial industry executive. Now, I was doing a little bit of research on their curriculum and Hillsdale College has like a video series that you can watch on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:35:14 And the one that caught my attention was titled, why is the middle class shrinking? And guess what? They didn't get into why the middle class is shrinking at all. But they did get into a lengthy lesson about the importance of self-sustainability and not having to rely on the government. Yeah. No, but don't worry guys. they're going to trick young people into thinking that lifting yourself up by the bootstraps is the way to go. They're going to trick them, even though their lived experiences will be the antithesis of that. And finally, in addition to Hillsdale's 22 member charter schools, which receive a full suite of Hillsdale curriculum and training, two other public schools are

Starting point is 00:36:03 regarded as affiliates that use Hillsdale's curriculum with eight more affiliates poised to open, including one in Tennessee. Applications are filed for more schools, including three of the 50 additional schools, Hillsdale has said it plans to open in Tennessee. And Hillsdale is arguing, listen, all we're doing here is we're providing the curriculum, we're providing the training for educators in these new charter schools. We're not in charge of the charter schools. We're not operating the charter schools. We're just providing the disinformation and the revisionist history that the educators will then instruct the students on. And the problem here, aside from misinformation or revisionist history,

Starting point is 00:36:50 is the fact that the real point of charter schools is to do away with unionized teachers. That's another part of this equation that I don't think gets reported on enough. Conservatives hate the fact that educators are protected by union representation, They want less oversight by the government. They want to be able to allow right wing teachers to teach whatever the hell they want. And they want to ensure that the educators have no union protection. So if at the end of the day, they want to create working conditions that aren't so great. If they want to cut corners with salary or with pay for teachers, they'll be able to do it.

Starting point is 00:37:32 They don't have to worry about a union representative, you know, breathing down their necks and demanding more for the the educators who work hard and are usually underappreciated in society. So the right wing, as much as I hate to admit it, since they're well financed, since they're organized, since they think strategically, at the end of the day, they end up winning. And so these stories are not meant to just complain about what the right wing is up to. It's supposed to be a teachable moment for the left because while it might feel good to experience that emotional release of yelling at people on Twitter, that's not organizing, that's not thinking strategically. In the meantime, these people are definitely thinking strategically and they're

Starting point is 00:38:24 taking control of our judicial system. They're taking control of our classrooms, our school boards. It's a huge problem, and it's about time we start thinking how we're going to counterbalance it, not by just simply using social media or engaging in PR stunts, but more importantly, in how we can connect with other people in our community, other people who are concerned about this issue to fight back collectively. That's really the only solution. Anyway, we gotta take a quick break. When we come back, Cam Newton thinks that we're interested in his thoughts about women,

Starting point is 00:39:00 I have a response to his thoughts. I'm really looking forward to sharing them with you. So we're going to take a quick break and we'll come back with that story and more. All right. Let's get to our next story right. Let's get to our next story right. away because I want to make sure we have enough time to talk about it. I grew up in a three-parent household, my mom, my father, and my grandmother. And I knew what a woman was, not a bad bitch. Okay, what's the difference?

Starting point is 00:39:45 A woman. Yeah, this is where NFL quarterback Cam Newton thinks women are interested in hearing his thoughts on females. We'll respond to it in just a moment. It's about to get good. Okay. A bad bitch is a person who, just, you know, girl, I'm a bad bitch, you know, I'm doing this, I'm doing that.

Starting point is 00:40:06 I looked apart, but I don't act apart. Yes, the big boy in the video that we just watched is Cam Newton. He is an NFL quarterback for those of you who don't follow the NFL. He's currently a free agent, but I'm not really interested in talking about his sports career. I am interested in addressing what he said in that video, because he seems to think that he is God's gift to women and that, you know, he has the ability to pass judgment on women who don't fulfill certain roles that he feels they need to fulfill. And so in this rant, he's decided to essentially say that, look, women need to serve me, okay? And if they're not serving me, then they're really useless. And he equates so-called bad bitches with women who might feel empowered to pursue non-traditional roles in society.

Starting point is 00:41:10 He's not in favor of that. And he elaborates on that in this clip. Let's watch. And there's a lot of women who are bad bitches. And I say bitches in a way not to degrade a woman, but just to go off the aesthetic of what they deem is a boss chick. Now, a woman for me is handling your own, but knowing how to cater to a man's needs, right? And I think a lot of times when you get that aesthetic of like, I'm a boss bitch, like I'm a dish, I'm a dad, no, baby, like, but you can't cook. Okay. You don't know,

Starting point is 00:41:52 you don't know when to be quiet. You don't know how to allow a man to lead. No, you guys get it like the super mature grown up man with a superhero t-shirt and a goofy hat is telling us how women need to act. So notice he said, you know, women can like, you know, they should be handling their own thing. Meaning they should, they should work, they should be independent, they should be able to survive independently in this insane economy. But that's not good enough for this catch, Cam Newton, okay? you need to be able to bring him as slippers when he comes home from work. You need to be cooking for him. You need to be his personal servant.

Starting point is 00:42:32 Because if you're not, then you ain't a woman. What's missing in this exchange and this conversation is, what the hell does Cam Newton offer to his female partners? Oh, that's right. Actually, no, I do know what he offers to his female partners. In fact, when his longtime girlfriend was pregnant with their fourth child, turns out he cheated on her and got another woman pregnant. Is that what a big boy does?

Starting point is 00:42:59 Is that something to be proud of? See, here's the thing. We all make mistakes and we all have our flaws and our vices. But for him to sit there as a guy who got his side chick pregnant as his longtime girlfriend was pregnant with his fourth child, How about you shut up? How about you learn when to shut up? And look, Cam Newton has a history of this. In fact, why don't we go to this next video? This is from a press conference where a female sports reporter asks him a sports related question. Just take a look at how he responded to her.

Starting point is 00:43:40 I know you take a lot of pride in seeing your receivers play well. Devin Funchess has seemed to really embrace the physicality of his routes and making, getting those extra yards. Does that give you a little bit of an enjoyment to see him kind of truck sticking people out there? It's funny to hear female talk about routes. It's funny. It's funny to hear a goofball think that his opinion about women and how they should behave matters. It seems like he's super uncomfortable. being around empowered women. That's what it really comes across.

Starting point is 00:44:17 Because if you watch that press conference, we're dealing with a female sports reporter who's asking a perfectly fine question, can't handle it, can't handle it. And apparently women who like to think of themselves or refer to themselves as boss bitches also makes him incredibly uncomfortable. And he somehow finds something to criticize them for and in his mind, the inability to wait on him as if you're his indentured servant, makes you less of a woman. And again, saying all of this while he's sitting there with a superhero t-shirt and a goofy hat with the kind of history he has with his own love interests, yeah, not interested in hearing

Starting point is 00:45:00 what you have to say about women. And by the way, like for any like chauvinists out there who listen to what he says, like yeah, he totally gets it, man, totally gets it. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So what do you do to help your female partners? Because if a woman is expected to work, earn a living, be independent in this economy or in a relationship, and then also come home and do the cooking and clean. What about what about all the, you know, roles that, because women are engaging in all sorts of untraditional roles, which I'm in favor of, right? Unfortunately, a lot of women don't have a choice. You don't have a choice to abstain from working. You don't have the choice to be a stay-at-home mom. You need a dual-income household in order to survive in this economy. So since women are forced in many cases to get out in the workforce, leave their kids at a daycare or with family members in order to do that,

Starting point is 00:46:01 what's what's Cam Newton doing? Is he engaging in any of the untraditional male roles to ensure that there's, you know, some fairness in his relationships? But that's a silly conversation to have, considering he cheated on his pregnant girlfriend and got another girl pregnant as his girlfriend was pregnant. That's who Cam Newton is. And he's giving women advice on how to act. Now, how about you shut up? Anyway, small men, man, small men rule the world. Always given positions of power, always applauded, small. Cam Newton is a small, small, sad man.

Starting point is 00:46:39 Just back to the matter. All right, finally, let's talk about the latest in the January 6th riots because it turns out a former cop has been found guilty of all charges. An ex-Virginia sergeant and capital rioter by the name of Thomas Robertson was found guilty on all six charges he faced for his actions on January 6th. And I don't know if Tim Poole is paying any attention to this story. I want to make sure he is. So make sure you draw his attention to this because he seems to be severely misinformed when it comes to the January 6th riots. We'll get to the details on that in just a moment. But first, here's the context. Robertson faced charges including impeding law enforcement officers, obstructing an official

Starting point is 00:47:47 proceeding, entering and remaining in restricted grounds. That's the part I want Tim Poole to focus on, by the way. And tampering with evidence. The jury heard from multiple witnesses during the trial last week, including Washington police officers who were there during the attack, federal agents and Robertson's former police colleague and co-defendant who testified as part of a plea deal with the government. So Robertson has been awaiting his trial in jail since July, and that's after investigators said that they found a rifle and also bomb making material in his home. They also learned that he bought another 37 guns. on the internet after his original arrest in January of 2021.

Starting point is 00:48:35 According to Tim Poole's logic, he shouldn't have even faced any of these charges because you guys, there were no signs in the Capitol saying that you cannot trespass. Again, we'll get to that in just a minute. But I want that to like marinate in your mind as I give you more details to this story. During the trial, a D.C. Metropolitan police officer testified that a man carrying a stick who prosecutors say was Robertson, hit him and another officer as they tried to pass through the mob of rioters during the attack. Prosecutors played several clips of the incident, including footage from police body cameras worn that day. Prosecutors also cited online post,

Starting point is 00:49:16 Robertson allegedly wrote a month before the attack where he called for an open, armed rebellion. The defendant made good on that promise. Assistant U.S. District Attorney, I'm sorry, Assistant U.S. attorney Elizabeth Alloy told the jury during opening arguments saying that Robertson used a large stick to impede officers who were called in as backup during the riot. And then finally some more details on this, Robertson's former Rocky Mount police colleague, Jacob Fracker testified that Robertson joined him inside the Capitol, took a photo with him, and joined in chanting and cheering with the crowd inside. Fraker also testified that he had given Robertson his cell phone after the pair were told

Starting point is 00:50:04 to turn themselves in, and that Robertson had put the phone in a container for ammunition and told him something to the effect of problem solved. And let's keep it real. His defense was pretty weak, maybe because there was so much evidence against him. And in closing arguments, Robertson's attorneys argued that he had no plans to go down and say, I'm going to stop Congress from doing this vote and continue to suggest that the stick Robertson had with him was simply a walking stick. He just, that's all it was, guys. It was a walking stick. It's just sometimes he slips and hits others with the walking stick, you know. But it's a walking stick. That was his defense. Pathetic. Now, notably, he had his case heard before a jury.

Starting point is 00:50:54 And I think that that made all the difference because Tim Poole had made one of the stupidest arguments in order to provide cover for the Capitol rioters. If you don't remember what that stupid argument was, let me remind you. A lot of people keep saying trespassing. And I think it's because we're like, you know, they entered this property. But the capital is public property. My understanding is that many of these buildings, I'm not sure about the capital specifically are open to the public in most cases. And for a lot of these people, you can watch video of the police opening up the door and saying, I agree with your right to protest. So these people who walked in and were looking around and like smiling and waving, they were not informed. They weren't allowed to be

Starting point is 00:51:36 there. There were no signs. There's no warning. The first thing that has to happen is, excuse me, During an official proceeding, you need to leave. Oh, sorry about that, bye bye, but they didn't do that. So I'm wondering if this is even trespassing. Tim Poole's wondering if it's even trespassing because there were no sign saying that you may not trespass, right? Apparently he missed all of those videos that were littered across the internet, showing how cops who had barricaded the building, who tried to block off the building, were overpowered by violent rioters.

Starting point is 00:52:11 rioters who had attacked them physically in order to get through. Apparently, the entire country was able to see those videos except Tim Poole. Who knows? Maybe maybe the beanie was on too tight. Maybe it was covering his vision, covering his hearing, I don't know. But to watch those videos and make an argument, they're like, well, you know, the rioters didn't know that they weren't allowed to, you know, storm through police barricades, storm into the building. Some, by the way, defecating on the floor, like they didn't know. They didn't know that that was wrong. They shouldn't have done that. Now recently, Tim Poole made the mistake of thinking that he could come

Starting point is 00:52:50 after me and Jank, tweeting this, how it started versus how it's going. Hey, Anna Casperi and Jank Yugar, I was right. Imagine getting dunked on as aggressively as Tim Poole was dunked on for that stupid argument. And then turning around to argue, I was right. I was right. Were you though, him. So as evidence for why he was right, he included a screenshot of this daily mail article. The winning capital riot defense blame the cops. Government defense contractor becomes first defendant acquitted of all charges after arguing that officers opened door to rotunda and let him in. And so the story is about one of the capital rioters, Matthew Martin is his name. And his case was a little different from the case that I shared details about earlier.

Starting point is 00:53:44 Because number one, he happens to be a federal defense contractor. And I'm speculating here, but I would argue that someone who has ties to the federal government as a federal defense contractor, maybe gets treated a little differently. And to be sure, his case was treated differently because it was not heard before a jury. Matthew Martin was acquitted by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden after a two-day bench trial, Martin who chose to go to trial in the misdemeanor case before a judge rather than go before a Washington jury, Martin is the first January 6 defendant to be fully acquitted at trial. So let's just, let's repeat that last part again. Let's put that graphic up. Let's repeat that last

Starting point is 00:54:28 sentence one more time for Tim Poole, who's a moron. Martin is the first. January 6 defendant to be fully acquitted at trial. He did not have his case heard before a jury. A Trump appointed judge was the only individual who made a decision about the future of this capital rioter, who again happens to be a federal defense contractor. Martin testified at his bench trial that he didn't see everything that was happening around him during the attack. Apparently he's blind as well. Even though the video he recorded, which was played by the government, shows broken windows and an alarm blaring when he enters

Starting point is 00:55:10 the Capitol on the east side after rioters bust open the doors leading to the rotunda. McFadden said, by the way, that the first charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building was a close call. The judge is saying this. He's like, this is a close call. I should probably not acquit you, but I'm going to do it anyway as a Trump appointed judge. But that there was reasonable doubt whether Martin knew he was entering a restricted building. Again, you hear the alarms in the video evidence, you can see the chaos around him, but it doesn't matter. He apparently didn't know that he's not supposed to enter that building. Again, shows broken windows and an alarm blaring as he enters the

Starting point is 00:55:59 the Capitol on the east side after rioters bust open the doors leading to the rotunda. And by the way, another important statistic for Tim Poole, who apparently likes to point to this one specific case to bolster the dumbest argument ever made. The FBI has more than 775 arrests in connection with the January 6th attack. More than 2,500 people are believed to have entered the Capitol that day, and hundreds of others assaulted officers outside the building. So, So if you're going to point to the one case that seems to be skewed in the favor of this capital rioter because of how the case played out, maybe just spare a moment to mention the literal hundreds of other arrests. And more importantly, the several cases that we've already talked about on this show where the perpetrators were found guilty. There's been a lot of that as well.

Starting point is 00:56:55 But Tim Poole, you know, curiously seems to have some sort of interest in providing cover for what happened in the Capitol that day, all while pretending to be someone who identifies as a liberal. Is anyone really buying that? Anyway, listen, Tim, you're way out of your league. You want to play with the big dogs, you better start reading. loosen up that beanie, start thinking a little bit. Anyway, we got to take a break. When we come back, Francesca Fiorentini will join me for the second hour. Thanks for listening to the full episode of the Young Turks. Support our work, listen ad-free, access members, only bonus content, and more by subscribing to Apple Podcasts at Apple. at apple.co slash t yt. I'm your host, Shank Huger, and I'll see you soon.

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