In ‘Uncharted’ Period of Violence, Police Change Tactics but Keep Perspective

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As police around the country grapple with recent violence against their own, Chief Brandon del Pozo of the Burlington Police Department in Vermont is requiring his officers to pair up when responding to calls for service, as a method for added safety and support.

“It’s important for cops to have someone to talk to about what’s going on instead of stewing in a car alone for hours,” del Pozo told The Daily Signal in an interview. “Tense and uncertain environments stop cops from slowing things down, problem solving, and listening to citizens. Just having a partner on hand to process what’s going on will help us return to normalcy.”

Other police departments that are implementing two-person patrols include San Diego, Los Angeles, Oakland, Boston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, another big city agency, the City of Orlando Police Department, is looking into purchasing bullet-proof vests designed to repel sniper fire in a way that normal protective gear can’t.

“It’s just hard for us, especially the past few years, where we’ve seen more ambush style shootings,” Orlando’s police chief, John Mina, told The Daily Signal in an interview. “Here in Orlando, we have a pretty rich history of engaging with the community and we aren’t afraid of doing that. Though morale is good, we are telling officers to be super vigilant, everywhere.”

In interviews with The Daily Signal, law enforcement leaders across the country caution that the fatal shootings of police officers mounting this year are forcing at least a short-term change in law enforcement tactics, and causing anguish among families of police who worry about the people they care for risking their lives on the frontlines.

Yet at the same time, police departments are responding to recent ambush attacks in Dallas and Baton Rouge that left eight officers dead by mostly taking the long view, emphasizing the importance of shoring up community ties as a way to diffuse historic tension around law enforcement.

“Community policing has to continue because it’s the right way to police our communities,” said del Pozo, who polices a predominantly white city experiencing the opioid crisis and violence associated with it. “But my officers have to feel safe before they can connect with citizens. They know that in Vermont we feel a little lucky to have it better than Missouri, or Louisiana, or Minnesota, but we know sometimes there is no logic behind where violence can strike.”

‘Easy Targets’

While larger police departments have the manpower to take extra precautions, and can still maintain quick response times across the areas they cover, other smaller agencies are not changing their tactics because they can’t afford to.

Mark Wasylyshyn, the third-term Republican sheriff of Wood County, Ohio, has not been able to double up patrols in the sprawling rural area policed by his 125 deputies.

He recognizes how police officers are particularly vulnerable to ambush-style shootings, even though the mostly white county he represents is far removed from the tension that exists in more urban cities.

“If someone wants to kill us, we unfortunately are easy targets,” Wasylyshyn told The Daily Signal in an interview. “If someone really wants to kill a cop, they can call 911 and tell us where to be. But while we always have to be vigilant, we are very engaged with our community and I truly believe most people are really good and appreciate their local law enforcement. There are a very small amount of people who want to do us harm.”

Even though Wasylyshyn doesn’t have the flexibility to institutionalize two-person patrols formally, he says deputies always have the option to radio in a request for a second deputy to assist a scene.

The sheriff’s department is also taking other actions to handle mass protest situations, even though there have been few in Wood County.

A mobile field force made up of representatives of area law enforcement agencies, including the police representing the nearby Bowling Green State University, convened for the first time on Monday with the mission of training officers how to maintain peace in situations of civil unrest without imposing on freedoms.

“A lot of problems arise with law enforcement not knowing how to respond to an incident of unrest,” said Eric Reynolds, the chief deputy of Wood County Sheriff’s Office. “When we have officers make mistakes, we discipline them and take care of business. As long as you do that, and focus on training officers the right way, the community appreciates it and doesn’t judge all law enforcement by that one misdeed.”

‘Public and Police Together’

Capt. Marc Yamada of the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland is tasked with reiterating the community-first approach that has come to define modern policing.

It’s a counterintuitive idea, to engage after you’ve been wronged, rather than withdraw — to walk through neighborhoods as a matter of routine, instead of just in response to an emergency.

But this is the way Yamada is telling his fellow officers to respond — including his son, Ryan, a recent college graduate and once-aspiring accountant who chose the most contentious of times to instead join Montgomery County’s police academy.

“While yes, the current events are extremely negative in nature, it just strengthens our belief in community policing,” said Yamada, director of community outreach for the police, a recently created position in the department.

“It’s the public and the police together,” Yamada told The Daily Signal in an interview. “If they trust us and see and know you, they are our first line of defense. The community sees and hears things before we do, and promoting an environment that makes them comfortable enough to just call us leads to prevention and detection of criminal activity.”

‘It’s a Philosophy’

Margaret Mims, the 10-year sheriff of Fresno County in California, says her agency has earned the respect of the community.

In the past five and a half years, she says, the sheriff’s office has had 11 officer-involved shootings out of 1,220,000 calls for service.

The agency trains its 430 deputies on developing verbal de-escalation techniques before resorting to force.

In addition, she says, the sheriff’s office meets regularly with representatives of Fresno County’s minority communities, especially its large hispanic population.

“Their concern is they feel they are being targeted by police, and law enforcement’s perspective is when we need you, you need you to help us,” Mims told The Daily Signal in an interview.

Her community is returning the favor, letting their police know that they have law enforcement’s back.

The day after the fatal shooting of police officers in Dallas, Mims walked upon a sign posted on the gate outside of a sheriff’s office substation that read, “We Support Our Deputies.”

Mims, a Republican who serves a conservative region of a liberal state, credits this mutual understanding to an agency-wide dedication to community policing.

“I believe that law enforcement did get away from remembering that they serve the community, and that’s why we are seeing such tension,” Mims said.

“I think other law enforcement agencies made community policing too difficult by trying to assign it to a specific unit within the department,” Mims added. “If you have a special unit, you have members of the broader agency saying, ‘I don’t have to do that. It’s up to them.’ It’s not a unit or program. It’s a philosophy that has to thread its way through the whole organization.”

Mims was born and raised in Fresno County. During her 36 years in law enforcement, she’s experienced lows and highs of police history. She observed the Rodney King riots of 1992, and has obtained numerous awards recognizing her shattering of glass ceilings as a woman police professional.

Today’s and tomorrow’s officers have a chance to define this unique period in policing, Mims says, and she encourages them to approach that task in a positive way.

“Here is what I tell groups who want to become law enforcement: If you want to do it because you want to drive a patrol car, have a gun, and a wear uniform, do something else,” Mims said. “That’s all part of it. But the number one thing is you have to have the heart of wanting to serve the community.”

‘Volatile Situation’

Despite law enforcement’s efforts to continue best practices, and enhance training, some observers worry that these proactive efforts are easier said than done in this fragile moment in police-community interactions.

“There is a period of time when cops are human and they are going to be responding to some situations differently, so you’re not going to be as proactive perhaps in some cases, and that could impact certain kinds of activities,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a research organization in the District of Columbia.

Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of the forthcoming book “The War on Cops,” argues that officers are policing more cautiously due to criticisms they’ve received following recent high-profile officer shootings of black men.

She attributes last year’s spike in murder rates in many U.S. cities to what she views as a backing off from “proactive policing.”

“If you are an officer, you are walking into a very volatile situation right now,” Mac Donald told The Daily Signal in an interview. “Officers are human, and if they are taunted and jeered and decide to back off, criminals are emboldened, more people will carry guns, and the murder increase we have seen since August 2014 is only going to continue and likely deepen.”

If that caution does exist among some officers, Wexler, says, it likely won’t last because it’s not how police know how to do their jobs.

“There is national mood out there that makes everyone a little on edge,” Wexler said. “We are in uncharted territory. And in these kinds of situations and times, there is a tendency for police to be more reticent in engaging with the community. But what is important to recognize is that now more than ever the police need people in the community who have their back. There will never be enough police officers to adequately protect other police officers.”

Justin Smith, the Republican sheriff of Larimer County in Colorado, worries about the consequences of what backing off would mean for the middle/upper class community he serves.

He’s concerned that the recent violence by and against police officers will make it harder to retain good law enforcement professionals.

He says some of his deputies are expressing to him the emotional impact the recent violence has had on their families. Smith fears that disengaging would create more division and resentment toward a profession that demands connectivity.

“My biggest fear honestly with the things we are seeing and feeling is that this has the potential to turn local police against the community,” Smith told The Daily Signal in an interview. “To me, that’s the biggest threat out of this. If officers fall for that approach, we’ve lost the reason we are here. We are here to serve the community. If we fall into an us vs. them mentality, we have lost the game.”

‘What They Love’

Yamada, a 28-year veteran of the Montgomery County police, is proud of his 22-year-old son, Ryan, as he begins the second week of work in this same police force.

Father and son will be serving the community where they were both born and raised, an increasingly diverse county with more than 1 million people.

Though Ryan is coming up through the ranks in one of the most charged moments in policing history, Yamada is hopeful that his son’s experience will be similar to his own.

“I am proud he’s passionate enough to want to do something like this,” Yamada said. “It’s not the optimum time to say I want to choose a career in law enforcement. But when these kids are out here and decide this is what they want to do, you know now more than ever you will get a quality person. If they are doing it now, that’s what they love.” (For more from the author of “In ‘Uncharted’ Period of Violence, Police Change Tactics but Keep Perspective” please click HERE)

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Chinese Scientists Plan First Human Test With Gene Editing Tool

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Chinese scientists are embarking on what appear to be the first human trials with the Crispr gene editing tool, the latest effort by the country’s researchers to master a technology that might someday be a potent tool in developing therapies worldwide.

The group led by Lu You, an oncologist at the south-western Sichuan University West China Hospital, has recruited the first patient for a ten-people clinical trial, which will activate immune cells using Crispr and infuse them back into patients to fight lung cancer. Due to potential risks in using the pioneering treatment for humans, the team has decided to treat the first group of three patients one at a time, Lu said in a phone interview.

Formally called Crispr-Cas9, the genetic editing tool acts like a pair of precise molecular scissors that can cut out unwanted sections of DNA and insert desired ones. The team is using it to remove a gene that encodes a protein named PD-1, which normally keeps the immune cells in check but is also used by cancer cells to hide from the immune system.

The engineering is intended to switch on the immune response to attack cancer. In the pharmaceutical industry, antibody drugs directly blocking the PD-1 protein including Merck & Co.’s Keytruda and Opdivo sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. have become new growth engines for the companies.

“If this technology has good safety and shows certain efficacy, it has wide applications,” said Lu. If successful, it has the potential to become an alternative biotechnology treatment to replace or complement the existing single antibody drugs, Lu said. Lu’s group received approval from the ethics board of the West China Hospital, one of the top facilities in the country. (Read more from “Chinese Scientists Plan First Human Test With Gene Editing Tool” HERE)

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Terrorists Target Munich, Children in McDonald’s; Reports They Screamed “Allahu Akbar” While Murdering

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By Harriet Alexander. Munich police are hunting for a possible three gunmen who they believe have carried out an attack at a shopping centre and McDonalds restaurant.

On Twitter, the local forces said shootings had taken place at Hanauer street, which is the location of both the Olympia shopping center and the adjoining McDonalds.

Reports of the gunman’s behaviour were confused and contradictory.

A Muslim woman told CNN that she heard the gunman yell: “Allahu Akbar,” yet video footage showed a gunman ranting against foreigners and Turks, suggesting a Neo Nazi attack.

Children were said to be targeted. (Read more from “Terrorists Target Munich, Children in McDonald’s; Reports They Screamed “Allahu Akbar” While Murdering” HERE)

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‘Multiple Deaths’ in Shooting Spree at Munich Mall

By WND. Several people are dead and others wounded according to media reports following a “shooting spree” at a shopping mall in Munich, Germany.

The shooting began inside a McDonald’s restaurant across from the mall, according to police. Video posted to social media purports to show the gunman dressed in black outside the restaurant and firing into the crowd.

According to a witness, a man also entered the shopping mall and began firing at random. The shooter then reportedly left the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum center and walked toward a railway station.

Other witnesses reported seeing at least three gunmen and at least one shooter is still on the loose, according to police. There are now also unconfirmed reports of a second shooting at the Stachus train station in Munich. Service has been suspended on train, tram and bus lines, according to a report in Sky News.

The Daily Mail said, “Police have confirmed that there [are] at least six deaths.” (Read more from “‘Multiple Deaths’ in Shooting Spree at Munich Mall” HERE)

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Alaska Supreme Court Strikes Down Parental Notice on Abortions

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In split decision, the Alaska Supreme Court struck down a voter-approved law that required at least one parent to be notified before an abortion practitioner could perform an abortion on a minor girl. The law provided an option for a judge to bypass the notification requirement in special circumstances.

Initially approved in 2010 when Alaska became the first state to pass a parental notification law through a citizen-led initiative, the measure was challenged in the Alaska Supreme Court by Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the nation.

The law passed comfortably in 2010 by a 56 to 43 percent margin.

The achievement was a long sought and welcome victory, particularly for parents and many Catholics who collected petition signatures, waved signs on street corners and prayed to ensure the protection of parental rights. The Catholic Church recognizes the relationship between parent and child as sacred — and not one to be broken by others, including abortion practitioners.

In 2012 Anchorage Superior Court Judge John Suddock upheld major portions of the law, concluding that “minors may be pleasantly surprised when underestimated parents support, comfort and affirm them. Or a teen might overlook available resources. Her parents might help raise the child, and so make college or military service feasible. Parental notification undoubtedly can open doors to unconsidered options for an otherwise isolated young woman.”

Since the law took effect, the number of abortions to girls age 17 and younger had seen a dramatic drop. In 2010, before the law took effect, there were 113 abortions to girls under 17. After the law took effect there were only 87 abortions to girls under 17 in 2011 and the state saw a record low number of reported abortions last year. According to the state’s Bureau of Vital Statistics 1,334 abortions were performed in 2015, the fewest since 2003 when Alaska began recording data.

In striking down the parental consent law, then Chief Justice Dana Fabe was joined by justices Daniel Winfree, Peter Maasen and Joel Bolger. Justice Craig Stowers dissented.

Stowers noted that the parental consent law had “One obvious purpose” and that was “to provide the minor’s parents the opportunity to discuss with their daughter the potential effects of and alternatives to abortion. This is beyond doubt a legitimate interest and right that the State and the parents possess.”

Stowers criticized his colleagues for failing to uphold basic parental rights saying the ruling “trivializes and makes this right of no effect.”

In writing the majority opinion, Winfree claimed that the law unjustifiably treated minors differently when they sought an abortion as opposed to when they decided to keep their babies. By requiring abortion doctors to notify parents that their daughter was to undergo an abortion but not requiring parents to be notified when their daughter chose to keep the baby was seen as a violation of equal protection under the law, Winfree argued.

“Our response — again — is that the Notification Law’s problem is not with wording, but rather with the lack of an acceptable justification for discriminating between pregnant minors based on how they exercise their fundamental privacy right to reproductive choice,” Winfree claimed. “The equal protection clause guarantees that the State may not discriminate between individuals with respect to a fundamental right unless a compelling governmental interest justifies the discrimination.”

But Stowers had strong words for the court’s rational, saying that the same court had previously stated in a 2007 striking down parental consent that a parental notification law could pass constitutional muster because it would be a less restrictive way to further the state’s interests.

By striking down the parental notification law Stowers said the court has indicated that “no parental notification law recognizing parents’ fundamental legal rights to notification of, much less meaningful involvement in, their minor daughters’ decisions to have abortions will be upheld by this court under its strained jurisprudence defining minors’ rights to equal protection.” (For more from the author of “Alaska Supreme Court Strikes Down Parental Notice on Abortions” please click HERE)

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Trump Campaign Infiltrated? Establishment Hacks Leak Transcript in Advance of Speech, Opponents Steal Show

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In the past week, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has suffered two major leaks pertaining to his campaign. The first preceded his vice presidential announcement, while the second has come just hours before his acceptance speech Thursday evening (see the full text of Trump’s speech HERE).

As of now, multiple news outlets have attained leaked copies of what amounts to Trump’s most important speech yet, his acceptance of the GOP nomination. While the motives for the leak are not yet clear, political opponents of Trump have seized on the opportunity to deflate his big moment.

Correct the Record, a pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, released full copies of the text — drawn from a teleprompter script — to reporters.

“So as if this convention hasn’t been enough of a failure for Trump, somehow he let US get ahold of his full remarks before the speech,” said Brad Woodhouse, president of Correct the Record, in his email to reporters. “Enjoy — we will be sending out our analysis of his lies before the speech so you can watch something else if you like,” he snarkily added.

Correct the Record went on to publish a supposed “fact check” of Trump’s speech, with Clinton’s own press secretary, Brian Fallon reportedly tweeting, “Check it out.”

The Trump campaign did not immediately issue a statement on the matter; however, a spokesman for the campaign confirmed there was at least some degree of authenticity. According to The New York Times, “A spokesman for Mr. Trump confirmed that the text represented a draft of his speech, but would not confirm if it was the most current iteration of the address.”

Around 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, the Trump campaign released excerpts from his upcoming address that matched statements made in the leaked draft. (For more from the author of “Trump Acceptance Speech Leaked, Political Opponents Attack” please click HERE)

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DEMS PANIC: Despite Blowing Through Millions, Hillary Campaign Tied in Ohio

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You say the Matriarch of one of the greatest crime families in U.S. history doesn’t appeal to voters? Wow — who could have predicted that?

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are in a dead heat in the battleground state of Ohio, according to a new poll released Thursday… Clinton and Trump both have negative favorability ratings, with Clinton viewed unfavorably 41 to 51 percent and Trump 38 to 53 percent.

“These largely negative views of the candidates come despite heavy Clinton campaign advertising in Ohio leading up to the Republican Convention and Trump’s efforts to humanize his candidacy with multiple primetime speeches from family members,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.

Yes, your Abuela’s burning through cash in a futile attempt to overcome her sordid reputation and the distinct odor of cat urine that permeates the room when she enters.

Hillary Clinton campaign’s posted another impressive fundraising month in June but blew through almost the entire haul, spending more than in any other month of the cycle so far… The campaign spent $34.5 million and raised $36.4 million, leaving it with a slightly higher cash position of $44.4 million at the end of June, according to its latest report to the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday.

Just $5.9 million, or about 16 percent, of her contributions came from small donors. The campaign said its average donation was $48.

As well they should be, Democrats are pissing their collective pants, which is only adding to the smell of urine in the area.

With [the] start of the Democratic [sic] National Convention just three days away, Democratic [sic] groups are expressing dismay that Hillary Clinton is neck and neck with Donald Trump in the polls.

“Were PANICKED, friends,” said an email shot from the Democratic [sic] Governors Association.

The group and other Clinton supporters are concerned about the polls and the new analysis by numbers guru Nate Silver showing Clinton’s lead down to three points.

The RealClearPolitics average is even worse. Today’s analysis has Clinton’s lead at 2.8 points.

A tidal wave of money ain’t gonna help Ma Barker. She’s about as likable as a combined Zika-MRSA virus. (For more from the author of “DEMS PANIC: Despite Blowing Through Millions, Hillary Campaign Tied in Ohio” please click HERE)

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DNC Host Committee Asks Court to Keep Donor List Under Wraps

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By Maryclaire Dale. The host committee for the Democratic National Convention wants to keep its donor list under wraps until after the convention even though a state open records agency has ordered its release.

A Philadelphia 2016 Host Committee lawyer told a judge Thursday the release of fundraising records could harm the organization’s last-minute efforts to seek donations and negotiate vendor contracts.

Lawyer David Pittinsky said those efforts were still ongoing even though the four-day convention starts Monday. (Read more from “DNC Host Committee Asks Court to Keep Donor List Under Wraps” HERE)

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Top Clinton Lobbyist Bundlers Tied to Foreign Banks, Governments

By Joe Schoffstall. A number of Hillary Clinton’s top lobbyist bundlers, who have raised millions for her presidential campaign, either directly represent foreign entities or work at firms that represent foreign entities, according to documents from the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Unit.

Hillary for America, Clinton’s campaign committee, has hauled in more than $7 million in bundled lobbyist contributions since its inception. The committee finished 2015 with $4.1 million in bundled lobbyist contributions. It has since added more than $2.9 million to its coffers from lobbyists, with $1.2 million of that amount pouring in during the second quarter of 2016, from April 1 to June 30.

Tony Podesta, owner of the Podesta Group and brother of John Podesta, the chairman of Clinton’s campaign, is a top bundler for Hillary for America. Podesta has bundled $267,835 in contributions to date. Podesta was hired to work on behalf of Saudi interests.

Saudi Arabia has built an extensive lobbying and public relations presence in the United States, the Washington Post reported in April. It has also supplied the Clinton Foundation with millions. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has given between $10 and $25 million to the foundation while Friends of Saudi Arabia has contributed between $1 and $5 million. (Read more from “Top Clinton Lobbyist Bundlers Tied to Foreign Banks, Governments” HERE)

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Trump Veterans Adviser Won’t Back Down From Saying Hillary Should Be Shot for Treason

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A top adviser to Donald Trump on veterans issues who is under investigation for comments calling for Hillary Clinton to be executed for treason was unapologetic late Wednesday, accusing the media of twisting his words.

“I never said she should be shot,” said Al Baldasaro, a New Hampshire state representative and delegate at the Republican convention in Cleveland. “As usual, the liberal media is taking it out of context. What I said was she should be up on treason charges, and the punishment for that is a firing squad.”

Earlier in the week, Baldasaro made the controversial remarks on the Jeff Kuhner radio show when asked about Clinton’s role in the deadly 2012 attack on U.S. embassy facilities in Libya.

“She is a disgrace for the lies that she told those mothers about their children that got killed over there in Benghazi,” he said. “This whole thing disgusts me, Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.”

[H]e repeated the charge [later:] “Anyone that commits treason should be shot,” he told news outlet. “I believe Hillary Clinton committed treason. She put people in danger. When people take confidential material off a server, you’re sharing information with the enemy. That’s treason.” (Read more from “Trump Veterans Adviser Won’t Back Down From Saying Hillary Should Be Shot for Treason” HERE)

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Full Text of Donald Trump’s Acceptance Speech

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The following is the full text draft of Donald Trump’s 2016 acceptance speech, as Politico reports:

Friends, delegates and fellow Americans: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Together, we will lead our party back to the White House, and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace. We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order.

Our Convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.

Americans watching this address tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally, some have even been its victims.

I have a message for all of you: the crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th 2017, safety will be restored.

The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead.

It is finally time for a straightforward assessment of the state of our nation.

I will present the facts plainly and honestly. We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore.

So if you want to hear the corporate spin, the carefully-crafted lies, and the media myths the Democrats are holding their convention next week.

But here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.

These are the facts:

Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this Administration’s rollback of criminal enforcement.

Homicides last year increased by 17% in America’s fifty largest cities. That’s the largest increase in 25 years. In our nation’s capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. They are up nearly 60% in nearby Baltimore.

In the President’s hometown of Chicago, more than 2,000 have been the victims of shootings this year alone. And more than 3,600 have been killed in the Chicago area since he took office.

The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50% compared to this point last year. Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.

The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015. They are being released by the tens of thousands into our communities with no regard for the impact on public safety or resources.

One such border-crosser was released and made his way to Nebraska. There, he ended the life of an innocent young girl named Sarah Root. She was 21 years-old, and was killed the day after graduating from college with a 4.0 Grade Point Average. Her killer was then released a second time, and he is now a fugitive from the law.

I’ve met Sarah’s beautiful family. But to this Administration, their amazing daughter was just one more American life that wasn’t worth protecting. One more child to sacrifice on the altar of open borders. What about our economy?

Again, I will tell you the plain facts that have been edited out of your nightly news and your morning newspaper: Nearly Four in 10 African-American children are living in poverty, while 58% of African American youth are not employed. 2 million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the President took his oath of office less than eight years ago. Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.

Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000. Our manufacturing trade deficit has reached an all-time high – nearly $800 billion in a single year. The budget is no better.

President Obama has doubled our national debt to more than $19 trillion, and growing. Yet, what do we have to show for it? Our roads and bridges are falling apart, our airports are in Third World condition, and forty-three million Americans are on food stamps.

Now let us consider the state of affairs abroad.

Not only have our citizens endured domestic disaster, but they have lived through one international humiliation after another. We all remember the images of our sailors being forced to their knees by their Iranian captors at gunpoint.

This was just prior to the signing of the Iran deal, which gave back to Iran $150 billion and gave us nothing – it will go down in history as one of the worst deals ever made. Another humiliation came when president Obama drew a red line in Syria – and the whole world knew it meant nothing.

In Libya, our consulate – the symbol of American prestige around the globe – was brought down in flames. America is far less safe – and the world is far less stable – than when Obama made the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America’s foreign policy.

I am certain it is a decision he truly regrets. Her bad instincts and her bad judgment – something pointed out by Bernie Sanders – are what caused the disasters unfolding today. Let’s review the record. In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map.

Libya was cooperating. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq was seeing a reduction in violence. Iran was being choked by sanctions. Syria was under control. After four years of Hillary Clinton, what do we have? ISIS has spread across the region, and the world. Libya is in ruins, and our Ambassador and his staff were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers. Egypt was turned over to the radical Muslim brotherhood, forcing the military to retake control. Iraq is in chaos.

Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis that now threatens the West. After fifteen years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before.

This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction and weakness.

But Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy. The problems we face now – poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad – will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them. A change in leadership is required to change these outcomes. Tonight, I will share with you my plan of action for America.

The most important difference between our plan and that of our opponents, is that our plan will put America First. Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo. As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America First, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect. This will all change in 2017.

The American People will come first once again. My plan will begin with safety at home – which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and order. On the economy, I will outline reforms to add millions of new jobs and trillions in new wealth that can be used to rebuild America.

A number of these reforms that I will outline tonight will be opposed by some of our nation’s most powerful special interests. That is because these interests have rigged our political and economic system for their exclusive benefit.

Big business, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place. They are throwing money at her because they have total control over everything she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.

That is why Hillary Clinton’s message is that things will never change. My message is that things have to change – and they have to change right now. Every day I wake up determined to deliver for the people I have met all across this nation that have been neglected, ignored, and abandoned.

I have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals. These are the forgotten men and women of our country. People who work hard but no longer have a voice.

I AM YOUR VOICE.

I have embraced crying mothers who have lost their children because our politicians put their personal agendas before the national good. I have no patience for injustice, no tolerance for government incompetence, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens.

When innocent people suffer, because our political system lacks the will, or the courage, or the basic decency to enforce our laws – or worse still, has sold out to some corporate lobbyist for cash – I am not able to look the other way.

And when a Secretary of State illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can’t see her crime, puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and faces no consequence – I know that corruption has reached a level like never before.

When the FBI Director says that the Secretary of State was “extremely careless” and “negligent,” in handling our classified secrets, I also know that these terms are minor compared to what she actually did. They were just used to save her from facing justice for her terrible crimes.

In fact, her single greatest accomplishment may be committing such an egregious crime and getting away with it – especially when others have paid so dearly. When that same Secretary of State rakes in millions of dollars trading access and favors to special interests and foreign powers I know the time for action has come.

I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it. I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders – he never had a chance.

But his supporters will join our movement, because we will fix his biggest issue: trade. Millions of Democrats will join our movement because we are going to fix the system so it works for all Americans. In this cause, I am proud to have at my side the next Vice President of the United States: Governor Mike Pence of Indiana.

We will bring the same economic success to America that Mike brought to Indiana. He is a man of character and accomplishment. He is the right man for the job. The first task for our new Administration will be to liberate our citizens from the crime and terrorism and lawlessness that threatens their communities.

America was shocked to its core when our police officers in Dallas were brutally executed. In the days after Dallas, we have seen continued threats and violence against our law enforcement officials. Law officers have been shot or killed in recent days in Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan and Tennessee.

On Sunday, more police were gunned down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three were killed, and four were badly injured. An attack on law enforcement is an attack on all Americans. I have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our streets and the safety of our police: when I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order our country.

I will work with, and appoint, the best prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the country to get the job done. In this race for the White House, I am the Law And Order candidate. The irresponsible rhetoric of our President, who has used the pulpit of the presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a more dangerous environment for everyone.

This Administration has failed America’s inner cities. It’s failed them on education. It’s failed them on jobs. It’s failed them on crime. It’s failed them at every level.

When I am President, I will work to ensure that all of our kids are treated equally, and protected equally.

Every action I take, I will ask myself: does this make life better for young Americans in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Ferguson who have as much of a right to live out their dreams as any other child America?

To make life safe in America, we must also address the growing threats we face from outside America: we are going to defeat the barbarians of ISIS. Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism.

Men, women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A nation in mourning.

The damage and devastation that can be inflicted by Islamic radicals has been over and over – at the World Trade Center, at an office party in San Bernardino, at the Boston Marathon, and a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted our LGBT community. As your President, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology. To protect us from terrorism, we need to focus on three things.

We must have the best intelligence gathering operation in the world. We must abandon the failed policy of nation building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria. Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terror.

This includes working with our greatest ally in the region, the State of Israel. Lastly, we must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place.

My opponent has called for a radical 550% increase in Syrian refugees on top of existing massive refugee flows coming into our country under President Obama. She proposes this despite the fact that there’s no way to screen these refugees in order to find out who they are or where they come from. I only want to admit individuals into our country who will support our values and love our people.

Anyone who endorses violence, hatred or oppression is not welcome in our country and never will be.

Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers. We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people.

On Monday, we heard from three parents whose children were killed by illegal immigrants Mary Ann Mendoza, Sabine Durden, and Jamiel Shaw. They are just three brave representatives of many thousands. Of all my travels in this country, nothing has affected me more deeply than the time I have spent with the mothers and fathers who have lost their children to violence spilling across our border.

These families have no special interests to represent them. There are no demonstrators to protest on their behalf. My opponent will never meet with them, or share in their pain. Instead, my opponent wants Sanctuary Cities. But where was sanctuary for Kate Steinle? Where was Sanctuary for the children of Mary Ann, Sabine and Jamiel? Where was sanctuary for all the other Americans who have been so brutally murdered, and who have suffered so horribly?

These wounded American families have been alone. But they are alone no longer. Tonight, this candidate and this whole nation stand in their corner to support them, to send them our love, and to pledge in their honor that we will save countless more families from suffering the same awful fate.

We are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities. I have been honored to receive the endorsement of America’s Border Patrol Agents, and will work directly with them to protect the integrity of our lawful immigration system.

By ending catch-and-release on the border, we will stop the cycle of human smuggling and violence. Illegal border crossings will go down. Peace will be restored. By enforcing the rules for the millions who overstay their visas, our laws will finally receive the respect they deserve.

Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied – and every politician who has denied them – to listen very closely to the words I am about to say.

On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced. We are going to be considerate and compassionate to everyone.

But my greatest compassion will be for our own struggling citizens. My plan is the exact opposite of the radical and dangerous immigration policy of Hillary Clinton. Americans want relief from uncontrolled immigration. Communities want relief.

Yet Hillary Clinton is proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration, and mass lawlessness. Her plan will overwhelm your schools and hospitals, further reduce your jobs and wages, and make it harder for recent immigrants to escape from poverty.

I have a different vision for our workers. It begins with a new, fair trade policy that protects our jobs and stands up to countries that cheat. It’s been a signature message of my campaign from day one, and it will be a signature feature of my presidency from the moment I take the oath of office.

I have made billions of dollars in business making deals – now I’m going to make our country rich again. I am going to turn our bad trade agreements into great ones. America has lost nearly-one third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997, following the enactment of disastrous trade deals supported by Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Remember, it was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, one of the worst economic deals ever made by our country.

Never again.

I am going to bring our jobs back to Ohio and to America – and I am not going to let companies move to other countries, firing their employees along the way, without consequences.

My opponent, on the other hand, has supported virtually every trade agreement that has been destroying our middle class. She supported NAFTA, and she supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization – another one of her husband’s colossal mistakes.

She supported the job killing trade deal with South Korea. She has supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TPP will not only destroy our manufacturing, but it will make America subject to the rulings of foreign governments. I pledge to never sign any trade agreement that hurts our workers, or that diminishes our freedom and independence. Instead, I will make individual deals with individual countries.

No longer will we enter into these massive deals, with many countries, that are thousands of pages long – and which no one from our country even reads or understands. We are going to enforce all trade violations, including through the use of taxes and tariffs, against any country that cheats.

This includes stopping China’s outrageous theft of intellectual property, along with their illegal product dumping, and their devastating currency manipulation. Our horrible trade agreements with China and many others, will be totally renegotiated. That includes renegotiating NAFTA to get a much better deal for America – and we’ll walk away if we don’t get the deal that we want. We are going to start building and making things again.

Next comes the reform of our tax laws, regulations and energy rules. While Hillary Clinton plans a massive tax increase, I have proposed the largest tax reduction of any candidate who has declared for the presidential race this year – Democrat or Republican. Middle-income Americans will experience profound relief, and taxes will be simplified for everyone.

America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world. Reducing taxes will cause new companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country. Then we are going to deal with the issue of regulation, one of the greatest job-killers of them all. Excessive regulation is costing our country as much as $2 trillion a year, and we will end it. We are going to lift the restrictions on the production of American energy. This will produce more than $20 trillion in job creating economic activity over the next four decades.

My opponent, on the other hand, wants to put the great miners and steel workers of our country out of work – that will never happen when I am President. With these new economic policies, trillions of dollars will start flowing into our country.

This new wealth will improve the quality of life for all Americans – We will build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, and the railways of tomorrow. This, in turn, will create millions more jobs. We will rescue kids from failing schools by helping their parents send them to a safe school of their choice.

My opponent would rather protect education bureaucrats than serve American children. We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare. You will be able to choose your own doctor again. And we will fix TSA at the airports! We will completely rebuild our depleted military, and the countries that we protect, at a massive loss, will be asked to pay their fair share.

We will take care of our great Veterans like they have never been taken care of before. My opponent dismissed the VA scandal as being not widespread – one more sign of how out of touch she really is. We are going to ask every Department Head in government to provide a list of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate in my first 100 days. The politicians have talked about it, I’m going to do it. We are also going to appoint justices to the United States Supreme Court who will uphold our laws and our Constitution.

The replacement for Justice Scalia will be a person of similar views and principles. This will be one of the most important issues decided by this election. My opponent wants to essentially abolish the 2nd amendment. I, on the other hand, received the early and strong endorsement of the National Rifle Association and will protect the right of all Americans to keep their families safe.

At this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical community who have been so good to me and so supportive. You have so much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits.

An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson, many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views.

I am going to work very hard to repeal that language and protect free speech for all Americans. We can accomplish these great things, and so much else – all we need to do is start believing in ourselves and in our country again. It is time to show the whole world that America Is Back – bigger, and better and stronger than ever before.

In this journey, I’m so lucky to have at my side my wife Melania and my wonderful children, Don, Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron: you will always be my greatest source of pride and joy. My Dad, Fred Trump, was the smartest and hardest working man I ever knew. I wonder sometimes what he’d say if he were here to see this tonight.

It’s because of him that I learned, from my youngest age, to respect the dignity of work and the dignity of working people. He was a guy most comfortable in the company of bricklayers, carpenters, and electricians and I have a lot of that in me also. Then there’s my mother, Mary. She was strong, but also warm and fair-minded. She was a truly great mother. She was also one of the most honest and charitable people I have ever known, and a great judge of character.

To my sisters Mary Anne and Elizabeth, my brother Robert and my late brother Fred, I will always give you my love you are most special to me. I have loved my life in business.

But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country – to go to work for all of you. It’s time to deliver a victory for the American people. But to do that, we must break free from the petty politics of the past.

America is a nation of believers, dreamers, and strivers that is being led by a group of censors, critics, and cynics.

Remember: all of the people telling you that you can’t have the country you want, are the same people telling you that I wouldn’t be standing here tonight. No longer can we rely on those elites in media, and politics, who will say anything to keep a rigged system in place.

Instead, we must choose to Believe In America. History is watching us now.

It’s waiting to see if we will rise to the occasion, and if we will show the whole world that America is still free and independent and strong.

My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: “I’m With Her”. I choose to recite a different pledge.

My pledge reads: “I’M WITH YOU – THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.”

I am your voice.

So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for their future, I say these words to you tonight: I’m With You, and I will fight for you, and I will win for you.

To all Americans tonight, in all our cities and towns, I make this promise: We Will Make America Strong Again.

We Will Make America Proud Again.

We Will Make America Safe Again.

And We Will Make America Great Again.

THANK YOU.

(For more from the author of “Full Text of Donald Trump’s Acceptance Speech” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Google Searches for ‘3rd Party Candidate’ Skyrocket During Trump’s Speech

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Google searches for “3rd party candidate 2016” have absolutely skyrocketed this week during the GOP convention, increasing by at least a whopping 10,000 percent (based on the values given by Google).

The undoubted crescendo took place when Donald Trump took the stage Thursday night to formally accept the Republican nomination for president. While he spoke searches shot up to almost three times their highest previous point.

Check out the statistics on the graphic below:

It appears that Americans turned on Trump’s speech only to turn away and desperately consult Google on who the other options may be.

But what’s more troubling for the GOP nominee, is the aggregation of searches in major swing states. Colorado tops the list for regional interest and is closely followed by Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Thursday’s GOP convention theme was “Make America One Again,” but according to those watching at home, unity was far from being achieved.

Somewhere Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are cheesing. (For more from the author of “Google Searches for ‘3rd Party Candidate’ Skyrocket During Trump’s Speech” please click HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.