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BREAKING: Marines Detain First American Citizen in Los Angeles

Marines detain American citizen in Los Angeles, Israel and Iran continue to launch significant strikes, another U.S. citizen detained for looking like an undocumented immigrant, and more.

Aaron Parnas Jun 13

It is about to be a very long night right now. I will be providing you coverage through it all. If you believe in independent journalism that speaks truth to power, now’s the time to support it. A subscription helps keep this work going—unfiltered, relentless, and accountable.

Here’s the news of the day:

United States News:

• The United States Marines have detained an American citizen in Los Angeles, according to Reuters.

• Elzon Lemus, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen and electrician from Brentwood, is speaking out after being wrongfully detained by ICE agents during a traffic stop in Westbury while on the job.

• Despite repeatedly asserting his citizenship and questioning the stop, Lemus was handcuffed, searched, and held for 25 minutes without explanation or apology — an encounter his attorney calls a clear case of racial profiling and potential constitutional violation.

• A military commander has confirmed that approximately 200 Marines have been deployed to Los Angeles to safeguard federal property and personnel. The move comes amid heightened concerns over security in the area.

• Kilmar Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to human smuggling charges in a Tennessee federal court. The case is now proceeding through the legal system as federal authorities continue their investigation.

• A federal judge—U.S. District Judge Denise J. Casper in Boston—has issued a preliminary injunction blocking key provisions of President Trump’s March 25 executive order on federal elections. The ruling halts directives requiring documentary proof of citizenship for voter registration, barring states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day, and conditioning federal election funding on compliance.

• MY ADDITION:RFK JR: A FARMER RECENTLY COMMENTED THAT HE LOST 90% OF HIS CHICKENS DUE TO BIRD FLU...BIRD FLU IS FOUND IN MILK...LONG TERM HEROIN ADDICT & BRAIN WORM RFK JR JEOPARDIZES HEALTH DUE TO HIS INCOMPETENCE & STUPIDITY! THERE ARE NO INSPECTORS TO INFORM YOU ABOUT FOOD CONTAMINATION.....
  
  BRAIN WORM RFK JR BABBLE:     A Department of Health and Human Services document sent to lawmakers to justify Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial decision to reverse CDC guidance on COVID vaccines cites disputed or unpublished studies and misrepresents others, drawing sharp criticism from health experts. One called it “willful medical disinformation,” especially concerning the safety of vaccines for children and pregnant women, while others condemned Kennedy’s bypassing of formal CDC procedures and reliance on flawed evidence.

Israel vs. Iran

• Iran launched around 100 ballistic missiles at Israel, with about 10 making impact; over 60 Israelis were injured in the assault. One Israeli has died according to preliminary reports.

• The U.S. assisted Israel in repelling the attack, which has prompted Israel to declare that Iran has "crossed the red lines."

• In response, Israel launched a new wave of strikes inside Iran, including dozens of jets targeting key sites, with confirmed destruction of Iran’s above-ground enrichment facility at Natanz.

• Israel has carried out strikes in Tehran targeting residential districts close to Iran’s Supreme Leader and near the presidential complex, according to The New York Times. These strikes are part of Operation Rising Lion—Israel’s largescale military campaign aimed at nuclear and military facilities—resulting in significant civilian casualties and hitting sensitive political zones

• A senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has accused the U.S. of attempting to “deceive us through negotiations,” indicating that purported diplomatic talks were in reality a ruse aimed at misleading Tehran

• French President Emmanuel Macron has placed France's military on high alert in the Middle East, urging French nationals to avoid travel to the region amid escalating tensions. He emphasized France’s commitment to protect its citizens, diplomats, and military personnel while calling for maximum restraint from all parties

• The U.S. State Department has warned that any Iranian attack on American citizens, bases, or infrastructure would result in severe consequences. Officials emphasized that the U.S. is fully prepared to defend its interests and respond decisively.

• Iran’s U.N. ambassador told the Security Council that Israeli strikes have killed 78 people—including senior military and nuclear personnel—and injured over 320.

See you in the morning.

— Aaron

 

The power of the vote and the peaceful transfer of power

Jane Scarborough   Guest Columnist 

Published Jun 7, 2021 

Never has the power of the vote been clearer than it is today. With one of our two political parties conducting a nationwide campaign to create legal roadblocks for millions of citizens’ ability to access the ballot, current Republican senators vote with impunity and without regard to the wishes of their constituents — so confident are they of reelection in their “safe” districts back home.

The current efforts to “gerry-rig” our election process go hand and hand with the “gerrymandered” safe districts.

While the Constitution was amended twice in the last century to extend the vote to women and 18-year-olds, this is the first time in our modern history there has been a national effort to restrict citizens’ ability to vote. Equally disturbing is that the new state law restrictions rekindle the memory of post-Reconstruction in the South over 100 years ago. At that time, Jim Crow laws were passed to circumvent the 14th and 15th Amendments that granted citizenship rights, including the right to vote, to the newly freed Blacks. The parallels have caused some to label these new GOP voting restrictions “Jim Crow 2.0”.

At this point, President Biden and the Democrats should abandon all talk of bipartisanship in Congress since that requires two good-faith partners for it to succeed. The GOP leadership has clearly indicated they have no intention of negotiating in good faith as demonstrated in the talks leading up to their vote blocking a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The GOP’s transparent hypocrisy in their denial of the significance of the insurrection may have given the Democrats an unexpected gift, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can now create a commission of her choosing and whose members will have subpoena power.

In addition, the Democrats should move swiftly to alter or abandon the Senate filibuster rules. Passage of HR 1 (“For the People Act”) would override most of the states’ restrictions on voting procedures and set national standards for modernizing voter registration. Together with the passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, restoring the pre-clearance requirement eliminated by the Supreme Court in its 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision, Congress would be exercising its broad powers under the Constitution to regulate federal elections and to enforce the 14th Amendment’s protection of the right to vote.

The right to vote is the hallmark of a free democratic society. This past presidential election was the first time in our history that the peaceful transfer of power was challenged by the defeated incumbent president and his enablers. The results of the 2022 mid-term elections will either be a rejection of GOP efforts to control who can vote or it will further embolden Republican leaders to continue “gerry-rigging” the vote and gerrymandering the districts in violation of their oath of office and at the expense of our democracy. This is the test of our lifetime, one we cannot afford to fail.

Trump and the Republican Party must be defeated and our democracy preserved at the ballot box at the hands of the voters. 

Jane Scarborough, of East Falmouth, is a retired law professor at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston. She taught Constitutional law for many years.