
Without naming Trump, his Republican rival DeSantis condemns his indictment
By Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON Florida Governor Ron DeSantis criticized the indictment of rival Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump
2023-06-10 08:58

GOP Congressman’s ‘scary as hell’ tweet seemingly calls for insurrection after Trump indictment
GOP Representative Clay Higgins appeared to call for an insurrection following the announcement that Donald Trump would face a second set of indictments stemming from his possession of sensitive documents following his presidency. On Thursday evening, Mr Trump announced on Truth Social that he would face indictment a second time — making him the first president ever to face federal charges — in the wake of the Mar-a-Lago raid by the FBI. After the announcement, Mr Higgins, a GOP congressman from Louisiana and a former law enforcement officer, issued a strange tweet responding to the news. "President Trump said he has 'been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM.' This is a perimeter probe from the oppressors. Hold. rPOTUS has this," he wrote. "Buckle up. 1/50K know your bridges. Rock steady calm. That is all." Mr Higgins has previously referred to Mr Trump as "rPOTUS," and Joe Biden as "iPOTUS." QuacksAnonymous, a researcher on Twitter who follows right-wing extremist spaces, told The Independent that the "rPOTUS" abbreviation was originally used by resistance Democrats when referring to Mr Trump — with "r" standing for Russian — but was later co-opted by conservatives who do not accept the results of the 2020 election, now using the "r" to stand for "real." It is unclear what "iPOTUS" refers to with regard to Mr Biden, though it may mean "imposter" when considering the meaning behind "rPOTUS." More troubling though is his comment regarding bridges. The Washington Post's Will Sommer — who has authored a book on QAnon and previously hosted a podcast focused on esoteric right-wing grievance culture — was baffled by the tweet and asked for assistance parsing the language. “Any ideas on what '1/50k know your bridges' means, besides literally knowing your local bridges? Not something I’ve encountered before,” Sommer asked on Twitter. Jeff Sharlet, the author of The Undertow: Scenes From a Slow Civil War, a New York Times bestselling book about US militia movements, provided Sommer with an answer. "Deep scary: 1/50 k refers to military scale maps & publicly available US Geological Survey maps of areas mostly surrounding military installations," he wrote. "This isn’t a metaphor. This isn’t slow civil war. This is a congressman calling for the real thing." Mr Sharlet admitted that "I think this is scary as hell." He also theorised that “rPOTUS” means “real POTUS” in Mr Higgins’ usage. The alarming response prompted Twitter users to ask Mr Sharlet for his intepretation of Mr Higgins’ tweet. “Prepare for war. ‘Know your bridges’ is militia speak for closing them down. County level insurrection,” Mr Sharlet replied. Former New Jersey Democratic Representative Tom Malinkowski, who served at the same time as Mr Higgins, called the congressman "dangerous" and "unhinged" after the comment. "Most of this guy's House GOP colleagues know he's dangerous and unhinged," Mr Malinkowski wrote. "But they tolerate him. That is all." The Independent has reached out to Mr Higgins for comment. This is the second time in as many months that Mr Higgins has made headlines. Last month he grabbed and shoved an activist who was shouting questions at Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and other GOP lawmakers during an outdoor press conference in Washington DC. Mr Higgins was caught on video grabbing the man's shirt and forcefully shoving him backward. He then kept the man grappled until police arrived and separated the two. He offered a response peppered with law enforcement lingo following the incident. "Activist was a 103M. Threatening. He was escorted out and turned over to Capitol Police. Textbook," Mr Higgins wrote in a tweet. "103M" is police radio code for a "mentally disturbed individual”. Read More Hiding documents from the FBI and foreign nuclear plans: Key allegations in Trump’s unsealed indictment Trump bragged a ‘secret’ document ‘totally wins my case’. A tape of his remarks could land him in prison Trump lashes out at ‘deranged lunatic’ and ‘psycho’ Jack Smith as startling secret papers charges revealed Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement
2023-06-10 08:55

Indiana man charged with stalking, harassing Taylor Swift after allegedly sending threatening messages and showing up at concert
An Indiana man has been arrested and charged with stalking and harassing Taylor Swift for several months.
2023-06-10 08:51

DeSantis pledges to restore name of notorious Confederate general Braxton Bragg to Fort Liberty
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pledged to restore the name of a military fort to the name of a Confederate general in North Carolina if he is elected president. The 2024 candidate for the Republican nomination for president made the remarks at the North Carolina Republican Party convention on Friday evening. “I also look forward to, as President, restoring the name of Fort Bragg to our great military base in Fayetteville, North Carolina,” he said during the Old North State Dinner in Greensboro. “It's an iconic name and iconic base, and we're not gonna let political correctness run amok.” Earlier this month, the Department of Defense announced that Fort Bragg, which was established in 1918, would be renamed Fort Liberty. The Pentagon began the initiative to rename military bases in 2020 in response to the Black Lives Matter protests after a white police officer killed George Floyd. Fort Bragg had been named for Braxton Bragg, who was a general for the Confederate States of America. He also served as a adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis. He also owned slaves and many in the South also despised him for abandoning Kentucky during the Civil War. Unlike other Confederate generals like Robert E Lee, he refused to surrender. Mr DeSantis is one of three presidential candidates speaking at the state convention. Former president Donald Trump and former vice president Mike Pence will also speak at the convention. The governor also claimed to have banned “Critical Race Theory,” a niche legal theory taught in law schools but that conservatives have used as a catch-all term to describe most teaching about racism. “We place renewed emphasis on American civics, about teaching kids about our Constitution and our Bill of Rights and about what it means to be an American,” he said. “Because no matter what avenue they take, they choose in life. they are all going to be citizens of our republic.” Mr DeSantis also took a subtle swipe at Mr Trump during his speech. “I tell you this leadership at the end of the day is not entertainment,” he said. “It's not brand building.” He also emphasised how he won re-election by double digits in November, while Republicans, many of whom Mr Trump endorsed, fell short in Senate races. “We had good stuff in some other states,” he said. “But we had huge disappointments across the board. We have 49 Republican US senators, we should have 55 Republican US Senators right now.” Mr DeSantis launched his campaign for president last month and is often polling second against Mr Trump but continues to lag by double digits in most surveys. The governor also touched on many themes that have also animated his campaign, such as fighting, “woke ideology,” which he called a form of “cultural Marxism.” “Woke represents a war on truth itself,” also briefly seeming to hit the former president, who said that Republicans who crow about the word “woke” do not know how to define it. Mr DeSantis also mentioned how he banned teaching about gender identity and sexual orientation in schools, most notably with his “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, which triggered a fight with Walt Disney. “And I know in Florida, they basically called the shots for many, many decades but there’s a new sheriff in town,” he said. Mr Trump and Mr Pence will address the North Carolina Republican Convention on Saturday. Read More DeSantis accused of changing pronunciation of his own name DeSantis news – latest: Florida governor most popular with rich Republicans as he defends move to fly migrants to California Fort Bragg drops Confederate namesake for Fort Liberty, part of US Army base rebranding Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement
2023-06-10 08:45

Kolkata metro: A British engineer's unrealised India underwater train
Sir Harley Dalrymple-Hays's plan to build an underground rail in Kolkata did not take off because of lack of funds.
2023-06-10 08:27

US couple struggle to bank huge haul of pennies
A couple in Los Angeles attempt to cash in dozens of bags filled with the coins found in a basement.
2023-06-10 08:27

Brian Kilmeade Says David Beckham Learned to Speak English When He Came to MLS
Fox News' Brian Kilmeade claimed David Beckham learned to speak English when he came to MLS.
2023-06-10 08:25

Ireland Baldwin shares adorable photo of daughter Holland, says she tried to delete social media account as it is 'harmful'
'I love connecting with you all, sharing laughs and glimpses of my little life,' Ireland Baldwin wrote in her recent social media post
2023-06-10 07:59

Khloe Kardashian says being a mom is a 'magical experience' despite challenge of bonding with surrogate baby Tatum
'With Tatum, it's taking months and we still don’t have a complete bond,' said Khloe Kardashian
2023-06-10 07:53

Agutaya archipelago doctor who cared for 13,000 people on her own
The pandemic was far from Dr Alena's only challenge on a far-flung archipelago in the Philippines.
2023-06-10 07:51

Fox host Mark Levin screams at camera in outrage at Trump indictment over secret papers
Fox News host Mark Levin delivered an eight-minute on-air rant after news broke of Donald Trump’s indictment over his alleged mishandling of classified papers. Appearing on Sean Hannity’s segment on Thursday night, Mr Levin became irate as he accused the Biden administration of weaponising what he called the “Department of Injustice” to advance a criminal case against Mr Trump. None of the key players at the centre of the Palm Beach, Florida, case against the former president escaped the vicious rant. The radio personality especially honed in his criticism against US Attorney General Merrick Garland and Special Counsel Jack Smith, who Mr Levin branded a “mob lawyer” and a “Soviet star prosecutor,” respectively. “This is a disgusting mark in history by these bandits in the White House,” Mr Levin yelled to the camera. “Joe Biden is the crookedest crook that has ever been in the oval office... What’s going on here is a disgusting disgrace and it is a war on Trump, a war on the Republican party, and a war on the Republic” Mr Levin went as far as claiming that Thursday, 8 January, was the “real insurrection,” not the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol — which put the lives of elected officials in danger and left five people dead — all while unchallenged by Hannity. The host of Life, Liberty & Levin, who once claimed he would “never” support Mr Trump, continued to spew more accusations against the FBI, the DoJ, and the Biden administration. He noted he “[doesn’t] want to hear about the technicalities [in Trump’s case] and his [alleged] obstruction,” because it is a “documents” case and it should have never been criminalised.” “For what? For what? And they indict him today? And they indict him today in Miami?” a flustered Mr Levin said. “Don’t be bamboozled by these cable channels and these fools telling you, ‘He’s not above the law,’ Are you kidding me?” Mr Trump faces seven criminal charges, including the willful retention of national defence information, obstruction of justice and conspiracy related to his alleged unlawful retention of national defence information at Mar-a-Lago. The scope of the evidence remains unclear as the indictment is under seal. Mr Trump has already been indicted in New York in connection to hush money payments made to Stormy Daniels. He faces more potential indictments in Georgia and Washington, DC, a prospect that could see him facing trial in four separate jurisdictions while running to return to the highest office in America. Read More Trump indictment: Ex-president kept nuclear and military papers and showed some to unauthorised people Kevin McCarthy says Trump indictment will ‘disrupt the nation’: ‘We’re not going to stand for it’ Florida man: Why prosecutors charged Trump in the Sunshine State, and what it means for the judge and jury Ivanka reveals why she snubbed Trump’s 2024 campaign Loser Trump will gift Democrats the White House in 2024 Trump’s 2024 announcement proves it — he’s the weakest he’s ever been
2023-06-10 07:46

Belmont Stakes purse and payout: Full prize money breakdown
The Belmont Stakes purse and payout is lower than the other two Triple Crown races but the prize money is still a significant chunk of change.The 155th running of the Belmont Stakes will put a new name in horse racing history and fill some pockets to the brim.While the Kentucky Derby and the...
2023-06-10 07:29