Mexican Cartel Massacre of American Women and Children Was Targeted

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According to law enforcement officials and a family relative, the massacre of three American mothers, Rhonita Maria LeBaron, Christina Langford Johnson and Dawna Langford, and their six children in Mexico this week was targeted. Initially, it was reported they got caught in the crossfire between two rival cartels while traveling north to the United States.

“Nothing about that [attack] says unintentional hit,” a law enforcement official close to the situation tells Townhall, adding one of the women got out of her vehicle with her hands up in surrender before she was shot.

The official stated the family had received threats and reported them. The family also made statements against increased cartel violence in the region. . .

As more details about the attack emerge, experts on the region and cartel violence are weighing in on what happened.

“These [Mormon] sect members were residing in the area basically as guests of the cartel. They were tolerated, but they were also an irritant to the cartel. There’s not a chance in the world that this was random or some crossfire situation,” former Assistant to the FBI Chris Swecker told America’s Newsroom Wednesday.

(Read more from “Mexican Cartel Massacre of American Women and Children Was Targeted” HERE)

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Mexican President Rejects Trump’s Offer for War Against Drug Cartels; Nine Members of Mormon Family, Dual U.S.-Mexican Citizens, Killed in Attack; Slain U.S. Citizens Were Part of Mormon Offshoot with Sordid History

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By Daily Caller. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador flatly rejected President Donald Trump’s offer to “wage war” on drug cartels following the massacre of a U.S.-Mexican family along the border.

During a Tuesday press conference, López Obrador rejected Trump’s public offer to send U.S. military forces to Mexico and help his government combat organized crime. The leftist president — reiterating a position he’s long held — argued that war with the drug cartels was not the best approach.

“We have to act independently and according to our constitution, and in line with our tradition of independence and sovereignty,” López Obrador said Tuesday. “War is irrational. We are for peace. It is a characteristic of this new government.”

The statements came a day after at least nine members of Mormon family, all of whom were dual U.S.-Mexican citizens, were killed in a gruesome ambush while traveling near the border.

Members of the LeBaron family were traveling in three separate vehicles between the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora Monday when they were shot at by individuals suspecting of belonging to a drug cartel. Surviving members recounted a horrific scene: victims burning alive in a flaming vehicle and one child gunned down while trying to run away. Of the nine who were killed, three were women, four were children and two were infants. (Read more from “Mexican President Rejects Trump’s Offer for War Against Drug Cartels” HERE)

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Nine Members of Mormon Family, Dual U.S.-Mexican Citizens, Killed in Attack in Northern Mexico; Trump Offers Support

By Washington Post. Assailants killed at least nine members of a fundamentalist Mormon community in Northern Mexico, authorities said Tuesday, shooting and incinerating women and children in a brutal assault that highlighted the increasing grip of organized crime on parts of the country.

Mexican Public Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo said three women and six children of the extended LeBaron family were killed in attacks on three vehicles Monday in the northern state of Sonora. The victims were part of a community of U.S.-Mexican dual citizens who have lived in Mexico for decades. . .

President Trump offered to help Mexico strike back at the traffickers. “This is the time for Mexico, with the help of the United States, to wage WAR on the drug cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth,” he tweeted. He called López Obrador on Tuesday afternoon to offer support. (Read more from “Nine Members of Mormon Family, Dual U.S.-Mexican Citizens, Killed in Attack in Northern Mexico; Trump Offers Support” HERE)

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Slain U.S. Citizens Were Part of Mormon Offshoot with Sordid History

By NBC News. The nine U.S. citizens who were killed in a brutal ambush by drug cartel gunmen Monday while traveling in Mexico belonged to a Mormon offshoot group that has been touched by cartel violence before.

The group was part of the extended LeBaron family, Mormon fundamentalists who first came to Mexico nearly a century ago — when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City started cracking down on members who were still practicing polygamy.

To escape persecution in the U.S., Alma Dayer LeBaron brought his wives and children across the border to Mexico in 1924 and founded the LeBaron colony in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It was there in 2009 that drug cartels took another member of the family, anti-crime activist Benjamin LeBaron, for ransom, and murdered him. . .

The family has had a sordid history, Bowman said. Its founder’s sons fell victim to infighting. One, Ervil LeBaron, formed his own church that took on a cult following, said Anna LeBaron, who was one of Ervil’s 51 children with 13 wives. She was born at the LeBaron colony and escaped her father’s cult when she was 13; she detailed her experience in a 2017 book, “The Polygamist’s Daughter.” . . .

“My father would order mob-style hits and those would be carried out by his cult members if they stopped believing in him or his practice or religion and left, or sometimes it was rival cult leaders that were blood-atoned for being false prophets,” she said, adding that media outlets dubbed him the “Mormon Manson.” (Read more from “Slain U.S. Citizens Were Part of Mormon Offshoot with Sordid History” HERE)

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Trump Admin Begins Withdrawal from Paris Climate Accord

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The Trump administration announced on Monday that it was officially withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, with the withdrawal officially set to be completed one year from now.

“President Trump made the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement because of the unfair economic burden imposed on American workers, businesses, and taxpayers by U.S. pledges made under the Agreement,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote in a statement. “The United States has reduced all types of emissions, even as we grow our economy and ensure our citizens’ access to affordable energy.”

“Our results speak for themselves: U.S. emissions of criteria air pollutants that impact human health and the environment declined by 74% between 1970 and 2018,” Pompeo added. “U.S. net greenhouse gas emissions dropped 13% from 2005-2017, even as our economy grew over 19 percent.” . . .

President Donald Trump has repeatedly hammered the Paris Accord and the media’s spin on the subject of climate change. . .

Today the United States began the process to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Per the terms of the Agreement, the United States submitted formal notification of its withdrawal to the United Nations. The withdrawal will take effect one year from delivery of the notification. (Read more from “Trump Admin Begins Withdrawal from Paris Climate Accord” HERE)

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Greta Thunberg’s Refusal to Fly on Airplanes Leaves Her Stranded on Wrong Side of the Globe

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Climate change activist Greta Thunberg is asking for help after her refusal to fly on airplanes has left her stranded on the wrong side of the globe.

The Swedish teenager’s plea came on Friday after the United Nations announced the COP25 environmental summit would be hosted in Madrid, Spain. The summit was slated to take place in Chile, but the South American country withdrew hosting responsibilities this week amid national civil unrest.

“As #COP25 has officially been moved from Santiago to Madrid I’ll need some help. It turns out I’ve traveled half around the world, the wrong way,” Thunberg wrote on Twitter. “Now I need to find a way to cross the Atlantic in November… If anyone could help me find transport I would be so grateful.”

Thunberg traveled to the Americas ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York in September. Because she refuses to fly on airplanes, Thunberg made the nearly 3,000-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean via sailboat. (Read more from “Greta Thunberg’s Refusal to Fly on Airplanes Leaves Her Stranded on Wrong Side of the Globe” HERE)

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How Did We Get Here? the Broken Promises and Remainer Activism That Saw Brexit Cancelled a Third Time

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The United Kingdom has failed for a third time to leave the European Union on a date set by its political leaders, just the latest installment in a saga of delays and broken promises in the near three and a half years since the country voted in favor of Brexit.

October 31st 2019 is the latest in a series of dates on which the United Kingdom was meant to Brexit and leave the European Union. The first, on March 29th 2019, came some two years and nine months after the original referendum, triggered after a long period of fruitless negotiation and delay. But it was cancelled after the Remain-supporting Prime Minister Theresa May’s negotiated withdrawal agreement failed to pass Parliament.

This failure eventually brought down the May government, just as the Brexit referendum itself had brought down David Cameron. But it also kicked the Brexit can down the road, a result which Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage predicted with some prescience back in February would lead to delay after delay from that point, putting off Brexit forever.

And indeed it was so — the failure to deliver the March date led to an April 12th date, which itself gave way to October 31st. That date now passing, with the commemorative Brexit coins minted to mark it being melted down.

The next departure date dangled before the noses of the British people is January 31st — which itself will likely be cancelled in favor of another date later in 2020.

(Read more from “How Did We Get Here? the Broken Promises and Remainer Activism That Saw Brexit Cancelled a Third Time” HERE)

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CIA-Trained Afghan Forces Responsible for Atrocities, May Have Committed War Crimes, Says Watchdog

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U.S.-backed Afghan special forces allegedly committed atrocities and are responsible for civilian deaths, according to a Thursday report from Human Rights Watch.

The report called for an investigation into whether the U.S. has been involved in committing war crimes in Afghanistan, according to The Associated Press. It accused Afghan forces allegedly committing atrocities of being “part of the covert operations” of the CIA and suggested disbanding the forces or having the Defense Ministry control them, the AP added.

“These troops include Afghan strike forces who have been responsible for extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances, indiscriminate airstrikes, attacks on medical facilities, and other violations of international humanitarian law, or the laws of war,” the report stated.

Human Rights Watch detailed specific raids in the report, including ones in Zurmat. Afghan and U.S. strike forces allegedly shot four men dead as family members looked on, according to the report, and other people home for a holiday were killed in another house.

The findings in the report have been shared with Afghan and U.S. authorities, according to the AP. It added that the U.S. allegedly hasn’t looked into “raid incidents” by Afghan forces. (Read more from “Cia-Trained Afghan Forces Responsible for Atrocities, May Have Committed War Crimes, Says Watchdog” HERE)

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Six Middle Eastern Countries Join the U.S. in Sanctions Against Hezbollah-Linked Iranian Financial Network

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Six Middle Eastern countries have joined the U.S. in sanctioning an Iranian financial network linked to the Iranian military and Hezbollah, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Wednesday.

Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. are all part of the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC), “a collaborative approach to confronting new and evolving threats arising from terrorist financing,” according to the Treasury Department.

Mnuchin said in a Wednesday statement that he is meeting with officials “from across the region” during his tour of the Middle East to “bolster the fight against terrorist financing” through the TFTC, which was created in May 2017.

“It is a bold effort to expand and strengthen the cooperation amongst seven countries … to counter the financing of terrorism. The TFTC coordinates disruptive actions, shares financial intelligence information, and builds member state capacity to target activities posing national security threats to TFTC members,” Mnuchin continued.

U.S. officials view the collaboration as crucial to continue President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, the fifth largest oil producer in the world, according to The Wall Street Journal. (Read more from “Six Middle Eastern Countries Join the U.S. in Sanctions Against Hezbollah-Linked Iranian Financial Network” HERE)

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A Man Held In One Of China’s Internment Camps Was Beaten To Death By A Drunk Police Officer

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Last year, a Uyghur man imprisoned in one of China’s labor camps died. Chinese officials claimed he died from a heart attack.

But Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that the man, referred to only as Ghalipjan, was actually beaten to death by a drunk police officer while in custody. Ghalipjan, 35, was detained in Pichan county in one of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region’s (XUAR) internment camps. RFA estimates that more than “1.5 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities accused of harboring ‘strong religious views’ and ‘politically incorrect’ ideas since April 2017” have been detained in the labor camps.

China claims the camps are education facilities to reduce terrorism, but as The Daily Wire previously reported, the centers are run like third-world prisons where detainees are regularly sexually assaulted, tortured, experimented on, and given little to no food — all while living in deplorable conditions.

RFA reports that it received a letter from a source that said Ghalipjan’s mother was told the day he died that it was due to a heart attack from an undiagnosed heart condition. The authorities told her that he was sent to a nearby hospital. Ghalipjan’s family went to the hospital to see his body and found he still had a defibrillator attached to his chest. Family members were not allowed to inspect his body.

“Communist Party cadres from No. 1 village in Pichan’s Lamjin (Lianmuqin) township, where Ghalipjan lived with his wife and five-year-old child, oversaw the burial of the young man on the same night that he died, and inexplicably denied family members the right to wash his body according to Muslim funerary traditions,” RFA reported from the letter. (Read more from “A Man Held In One Of China’s Internment Camps Was Beaten To Death By A Drunk Police Officer” HERE)

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Top Turkish Ally Donates to Ilhan Omar’s Campaign

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A top ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met far-left Democrat Ilhan Omar (MN) last month and donated a large sum of money to her campaign, a revelation that comes one day after Omar refused to sanction Turkey for their actions in northern Syria and refused to recognize the Armenian Genocide, which was committed by Turkey.

Halil Mutlu, who is the co-chairman of the Turkish American Steering Committee (TSAC), donated $1,500 last month to Omar’s campaign.

“Founded in 2015, TASC has orchestrated a public relations push to cast doubt on whether the Ottoman empire committed genocide against Armenians more than a century ago,” The Daily Caller News Foundation’s (DCNF) Chuck Ross reported. TSAC is “a U.S.-based nonprofit that has for years waged public relations campaigns in support of Turkish government policies and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan … [and] maintains close ties to Erdogan, routinely hosting the Turkish president during his visits to the U.S., including on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month.”

The DCNF added that Mutlu, who is reportedly Erdogan’s cousin from Connecticut, made the $1,500 contribution to Omar’s campaign on at the end of last month and was featured in a photograph with her.

On Tuesday, Omar was one of the only members of Congress that did not vote to recognize the Armenian Genocide and was the only Democrat member of Congress to vote against sanctioning Turkey for their actions in northern Syria. (Read more from “Top Turkish Ally Donates to Ilhan Omar’s Campaign” HERE)

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Top Ukraine Expert on National Security Council Plans to Testify; Official Set To Back Up Many Of Whistleblower’s Claims

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By Townhall. The National Security Council’s top Ukraine expert, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman of the Army, who heard President Donald Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, plans to provide details of the call to impeachment investigators on Tuesday, the New York Times reported. Vindman will be the first White House official who listened in on the conversation to testify before investigators.

According to his written statement, he was in the Situation Room with other colleagues from the NSC and the office of the Vice President when the call took place. He said he had concerns about the call and reported them to the NSC’s lead counsel once it concluded.

“I did not think it was proper to demand that a foreign government investigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about the implications for the U.S. government’s support of Ukraine,” Vindman said in his opening statement. “I realized that if Ukraine pursued an investigation into the Bidens and Burisma it would likely be interpreted as a partisan play which would undoubtedly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan support it has thus far maintained.” (Read more from “Top Ukraine Expert on National Security Council Plans to Testify” HERE)

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White House Official Who Listened to Trump Call Set to Back up Many of Whistleblower’s Claims: Report

By Daily Caller. An official on the National Security Council will tell lawmakers Tuesday he reported concerns about President Donald Trump’s position toward Ukraine to a top White House lawyer, according to a draft of his statement.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, will be the first White House official appearing for a Democrat-led impeachment inquiry of Trump who listened in on the president’s July 25 phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.

Vindman will say he was “worried” about the pressure Trump put on Zelensky to open investigations into Burisma Holdings, an energy company linked to Hunter Biden, according to his opening statement, which The NYT first reported.

Vindman, an Army officer who served in the Iraq War, will also tell lawmakers that he raised concerns twice with John Eisenberg, the top lawyer on the National Security Council. (Read more from “White House Official Who Listened to Trump Call Set to Back up Many of Whistleblower’s Claims: Report” HERE)

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