As federal investigators continue piecing together the events leading up to the nation’s deadliest mass shooting, one name continues to surface as a possible accessory to the heinous crime.
While the FBI has identified 29-year-old Omar Mateen, killed by the police at the scene, as the man who opened fire in an Orlando gay night club early Sunday morning, agents believe his wife might be the key to learning more about his motives.
According to developing reports Tuesday, Noor Salman has cooperated with authorities thus far in their investigation into her husband’s actions. Some of what she has revealed, however, has led agents to believe she might have had advanced notice of Mateen’s murderous plans.
Noor Zahi Salman, #Orlando perpetrator's wife under investigation for collaborating on the attack, is a Californian of Palestinian descent.
Such knowledge, if confirmed, could result in scores of accessory charges against her. Reports indicate the chances are high that she will be arrested in connection with the shooting that left 49 dead and dozens more injured.
Fox News cited multiple sources who confirmed Salman revealed during an interview with investigators that Mateen told her he intended to commit an act of violence. Furthermore, the gunman might have called his wife from Pulse — the nightclub he targeted — during the rampage.
Salman, with whom Mateen reportedly had a 3-year-old son, also reportedly revealed that she joined her husband when he purchased firearms shortly before the shooting.
NBC NEWS: Wife of Orlando shooter, Noor Salman, was with Mateen when he went to buy ammunition and a holster prior to the attack sources say
As Western Journalism previously reported, Salman is believed to have driven Mateen to Pulse before the shooting as he scouted potential locations for the attack. (For more from the author of “Sources Say Major Arrest Likely in Connection to Orlando Shooting” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/11029946016_29f72487bc_b.jpg7781024Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-06-15 02:17:102016-06-19 01:16:42Sources Say Major Arrest Likely in Connection to Orlando Shooting
While it does not take much effort to find a Hollywood star or popular singer complain about Americans’ constitutional right to bear arms, there are plenty of celebrities who proudly pack heat and work to ensure that freedom is preserved for future generations. Below are a few that surprised us the most.
James Earl Jones
Renowned screen and voice actor James Earl Jones has been an advocate for gun rights and, at least at the time of his 2004 autobiography, was a card-carrying member of the National Rifle Association.
He made it clear, however, that his support of the Second Amendment does not make him an ideologue.
“When it comes to the right-wing politics of the NRA,” he said, “I don’t get into that. I just believe in my right to have a gun in my house.”
Johnny Depp
The star of popular films including Edward Scissorhands and the Pirates of the Caribbean series is also a fan of the shooting sports.
In a 2009 interview, Johnny Depp recalled fondly firing a variety of guns as a youth.
“We would just go out and line up a bunch of cans and shoot with rifles, handguns and at times, submachine guns,” he said. “When I was a kid it was a controlled atmosphere, we weren’t shooting at humans; we were shooting at cans and bottles mostly.”
He affirmed the experience is one he wants to share with his own children.
“I will most certainly take my kids out for target practice,” he said.
Kurt Russell
Shortly after the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., actor Kurt Russell explained why he believes efforts to disarm Americans is foolish.
“Now is not a good time to lay down your weapons,” he opined. “How will you protect yourself?”
The self-described “hardcore” libertarian went on to assert that gun control is an inherently flawed concept.
Referring to a previous dust-up he and an anti-gun reporter engaged in just prior to the interview, Russell said: “I just didn’t get where he was going saying that gun control was a magic wand of fixing the situation with terrorism. That isn’t going to stop them from what they want to do.”
Ice-T
Though it might not be shocking to hear a gangsta rapper speak fondly of his firearms, Ice-T has expressed some thought-provoking insight on a topic he thinks should be important to all Americans.
The rapper-turned-actor said in an interview with British media that he believes the nation’s founders included the Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights for a very specific reason.
“The right to bear arms is because that’s the last form of defense against tyranny,” he said. “– not to hunt. It’s to protect yourself from the police.”
Kid Rock
Eclectic entertainer Kid Rock is outspoken on a number of controversial topics — not the least of which is his stance on guns.
“I’m always buying more guns,” the Republican rocker announced in a 2015 interview with The Guardian.
Referring to his ever-widening collection, he said that he currently has “everything from a Civil War cannon to an MP5 machine gun and old police guns.”
Vince Vaughn
Echoing Ice-T’s assessment of the Second Amendment, comedic actor Vince Vaughn revealed in a 2015 interview with GQ that he is in favor of unfettered access to guns as provided in the Bill of Rights.
“We don’t have the right to bear arms because of burglars,” he insisted. “We have the right to bear arms to resist the supreme power of a corrupt and abusive government. It’s not about duck hunting; it’s about the ability of the individual.”
Taking his point further, Vaughn noted that most of the nation’s most deadly shootings had one thing in common.
“They’ve only happened in places that don’t allow guns,” he said. “These people are sick in the head and are going to kill innocent people.” (For more from the author of “Here Are the Celebrities — Including More Than a Few Liberals — Who Aren’t Ashamed to Pack Heat” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/TKB-464_and_TKB-015_machine_guns_at_Tula_State_Museum_of_Weapons_01.jpg15002250Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-06-15 02:16:572016-06-19 02:01:01Here Are the Celebrities — Including More Than a Few Liberals — Who Aren’t Ashamed to Pack Heat
In what David Daleiden’s lawyers are calling a “huge win for the pro-life movement” one charge against the undercover Planned Parenthood video producer has been dropped.
Daleiden is the producer of the Center for Medical Progress videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s illegal sale of baby body parts.
Pro-life advocates had expected that an investigation into Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast in Houston would result in criminal action against the abortion provider, and were shocked when Daleiden and his colleague Sandra Merritt were indicted instead.
But now, a judge has ruled in favor of Daeiden by dropping the Class A misdemeanor charge for prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs.
Breitbart News reports:
The judge ruled that the court does not have jurisdiction over the case. The judge ruled for Daleiden as a matter of law. Daleiden lawyer Jared Woodfill told Breitbart Texas, “This is a huge win for the pro-life movement. The charges brought by Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson were spurious at best.”
Daleiden’s other lawyer, Terry Yates, told Breitbart Texas, “I think the judge’s ruling is very sound. She came to her conclusion before addressing the arguments in the motions to quash the indictment.” He said there was many good legal reasons for dismissing the charges laid out in their motions.
Daleiden and Merritt are still fighting a felony charge for tampering with a government record and a misdemeanor charge for offering to buy fetal tissue. (For more from the author of “One Charge Against a Pro-Life Planned Parenthood Videomaker Dropped” please click HERE)
The ex-wife of Orlando mass killer Omar Mateen claimed Monday that she believed he was homosexual — as it was revealed that he frequented the gay nightclub where he staged the nation’s worst massacre in modern times.
Sitora Yusufiy, who was married to Mateen in 2009 for three months, made the shocking claim on Brazilian television station SBT Brazil.
Her fiancé, Marco Dias, speaking in Portuguese on her behalf, said Yusufiy believed that Mateen had “gay tendencies” and that his father had called him gay in front of her. Dias also claimed “the FBI asked her not to tell this to the American media.”
The bombshell came as a male former classmate of Omar Mateen said he had been asked out romantically by the mass killer, who reportedly was a virtual regular at the Pulse nightclub, having visited it more than a dozen times over the years. (Read more from “Ex-Wife Says Orlando Shooter Was Gay, FBI Told Her to Keep Quiet About His Sexual Orientation” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/maxresdefault-137.jpg7201280Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-06-15 00:32:372016-06-19 01:19:11Ex-Wife Says Orlando Shooter Was Gay, FBI Told Her to Keep Quiet About His Sexual Orientation
Orlando terrorist Omar Mateen allegedly jumped for joy when the second plane hit the World Trade Center on 9/11, according to Mateen’s former high school classmates.
Mateen, a U.S. citizen of Afghan descent, gunned down 49 people inside of a popular gay Orlando nightclub early Sunday morning.
Robert Zirkle, Mateen’s classmate who rode the bus to school with him daily, told the Washington Post Mateen “was making plane noises on the bus, acting like he was running into a building.” Zirkle added that prior to 9/11 he and Mateen were friendly but “After 9/11 happened, he started changing and acting different.”
Mateen was sent to the dean’s office for “saying some really rude stuff,” including “That’s what America deserves,” according to another former classmate. The former classmates remember Mateen being escorted out of Florida school when other children took offense to his comments.
In a separate instance after 9/11, Mateen falsely proclaimed that Osama Bin Laden was his uncle. Two classmates told the Washington Post that Mateen’s behavior after 9/11 was significantly altered and bizarre. They speculated Mateen was either suspended or expelled from school for his constant fights and strange behavior.
Mateens behavior and statements after 9/11 may be key to understanding how he began sympathizing with radical Islamic terrorism and the Islamic State.
FBI Director James Comey told reporters Monday that Mateen had previously sympathized with Iranian-backed Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah. Comey also said there were “strong indications of radicalization,” with “potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations.”
Comey further confirmed reports Mateen attended the same mosque as the first American-born suicide bomber in Syria and was under investigation for nearly 10 months before the investigation was closed. Mateen’s father claimed in the late hours after the attack, the massacre “had nothing to do with religion.”
Mateen called 911 three times during the course of the attack, according to the FBI, to declare his allegiance to ISIS and praise the Tsarnaev brothers, who were responsible for the 2013 Boston marathon bombings. (For more from the author of “Orlando Terrorist Cheered on 9/11, Classmates Say” please click HERE)
A federal judge has issued a permanent injunction against enforcing Alabama’s law banning same-sex “marriage,” despite the Alabama Supreme Court’s decision upholding that law.
In March 2015, shortly before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision, which ruled that same-sex “marriage” is a Constitutional right, the state Supreme Court had ordered probate judges to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses, saying the state law remained in effect.
In January of this year, Chief Justice Roy Moore reaffirmed that 2015 state Supreme Court decision. In an Administrative Order he reminded the state’s judges that the ban on same-sex “marriage” remained in effect, and advised them not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples . . .
However, U.S. District Judge Callie V. Granade ruled last week that state officials are bound by the United States Supreme Court’s decision.
Judge Granade’s injunction is permanent, preventing judges and any official “who would seek to enforce the marriage laws of Alabama that prohibit or fail to recognize same-sex marriage” from doing so. (Read more from “Judge Says Alabama Must Perform Gay ‘Marriages'” HERE)
A Georgia judge who rejected the name change proposed by a transgendered woman who identifies as a man is facing a challenge to his decision.
Columbia County Superior Court Judge J. David Roper had ruled that Rebeccah Elizabeth Feldhaus could not change her name to Rowan Elijah.
“The question presented is whether a female has the salutatory right to change her name to a traditionally and obviously male name,” the judge wrote in March. “The court concludes that she does not have such right.”
“I don’t know anybody named Elijah who’s female,” Roper said, according to a hearing transcript. “I’m not going to do that. I’ve never heard of that. And I know who Elijah was, one of the greatest men that ever lived.”
This week, Roper’s decision came under fire as attorneys for Feldhaus filed papers with the Georgia Court of Appeals to overturn Roper’s ruling.
Feldhaus said in a statement that he felt insulted and objectified to be told he can’t use the name that his family, friends and even co-workers already use.
“It can be a scary situation when I show up for work or the first day of class and my legal name does not match my public presentation and my gender identity,” said Feldhaus, who attended Augusta University. “I just want to change my name so that it reflects who I am.”
Roper had said he did not approve of changing male to female names.
“I will allow a gender-neutral name change that will benefit the general public because I don’t want them to have to go through the embarrassing issue of trying to figure out what to do with you when you present, in your appearance today, with a female name, particularly if you had on a uniform and you were dressed like a man,” Roper told Feldhaus, who is in the Army Reserve. (For more from the author of “Transgender Appeals Judge’s Ruling Denying Her Bid to Use Male Name” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/Respect_and_Equality_for_All_Trans_People_4764133272_2-1.jpg22432990Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-06-12 21:38:442016-06-12 21:38:44Transgender Appeals Judge’s Ruling Denying Her Bid to Use Male Name
Americans should use their “God-given responsibility” and vote this November, the Rev. Billy Graham said in a call to action published on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website.
In a Q-and-A format, Graham responds to a questioner who voiced a common thought heard across the nation as elections approach.
“I’m sick of politicians and political campaigns, and I’ve decided I’m not going to vote this year. It wouldn’t do any good anyway, because just one vote won’t make any difference. Why bother?” asked the questioner.
Graham met the question head-on.
“Let me ask you a question: What would happen to our nation if everyone decided not to vote? You know the answer — before long we’d lose our freedoms and be ruled by a power-hungry dictatorship,” said Graham.
“No system of government is perfect, including ours. But all it will take to make it collapse is an indifferent citizenry,” he wrote.
“But I also urge you to vote for another reason: I believe it is a God-given responsibility,” he wrote.
Graham noted that even amid the governmental and political shortcomings of the Roman Empire, Jesus preached that everyone had a responsibility to be good citizens.
“He said, ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s’ (Matthew 22:21). The same principle is true for us today: We should do everything we can to encourage and support good government — including voting,” Graham wrote. “Understand the issues…know where the candidates stand on them…ask God to guide you — and then vote.”
Graham said a Christian’s responsibility does not end there.
“Beyond that, however, pray for our nation and its leaders — not just the President, but all who’ve been entrusted with public office. It’s the most important thing you can do,” he wrote. (For more from the author of “Billy Graham Reminds Americans of Their ‘God-Given Responsibility'” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/maxresdefault-131.jpg7201280Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-06-12 21:31:322016-06-12 21:31:32Billy Graham Reminds Americans of Their ‘God-Given Responsibility’
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad is encouraging citizens of his state to spend more time reading the Bible by calling for a Bible-reading marathon. And now a couple of organizations are threatening to sue over what they believe is a violation of the separation between church and state.
Branstad, a Republican, signed a proclamation encouraging Iowans to read the Bible on a daily basis “each year until the Lord comes” and to participate in a 99 county Bible reading marathon from June 30 to July 3.
The Bible reading marathon is set to take place with Bible scripture read out loud in front of the courthouses in all of Iowa’s 99 counties. Several Christian-based groups, including the Iowa Prayer Caucus, are organizing the events. Some of the events will include prayers every 15 minutes, The Des Moines Register reported.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Freedom From Religion Foundation have criticized the proclamation and are considering suing, The Des Moines Register reported.
“The Governor’s proclamation is frankly outrageous and embarrassing, and inconsistent with our core American and Iowan principles of inclusion and respect of all its people of all faiths, as well as those who are not religious,” ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis said in a statement to The Daily Signal.
Freedom From Religion Foundation Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor told The Daily Signal that her organization, an atheist and agnostic nonprofit based in Madison, Wisconsin, is asking Branstad to rescind the proclamation.
“It’s totally beyond the purview of a governor or any public official to request that people read the Bible, much less that they engage in a Bible marathon or that they read any ‘holy book,’” Gaylor told The Daily Signal. She added: “Government is supposed to be neutral towards religion. It’s not supposed to play favorites.”
Gaylor says the proclamation is “unconstitutional” and “egregious” and that her organization is “hoping to sue.”
“We have a godless, secular Constitution,” Gaylor said. “There’s no Bible in it.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation sent a letter to Branstad on Wednesday saying that the proclamation sends a message that “Iowa prefers and endorses the Christian faith over other religions and over nonreligion,” of which the organization says violates the separation of church and state.
Branstad says he was “shocked” to have groups threaten to sue him over the Bible reading proclamation.
“Virtually every president since Abraham Lincoln has signed proclamations encouraging prayers and Bible reading right on through including President Obama,” Branstad told WHO Radio. He added: “Other governors, of both parties, have done this.”
Branstad told WHO Radio that First Liberty Institute, a legal organization that exclusively defends Americans’ religious freedom, “has offered to defend us” if sued. Branstad said:
I feel very confident based on the information they [First Liberty Institute] provided me that we will be successful if they’re stupid enough to file the lawsuit. It may be just a threat or an effort for them to raise money from left-wing groups, but I just think this is absurd to threaten a public official for doing something good to encourage people to read the Bible or to pray.
“The governor has every right to issue this proclamation,” Hiram Sasser, deputy chief counsel for First Liberty Institute, said in an emailed statement to The Daily Signal. “These types of proclamations have been issued by governors and presidents since the days of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Whenever courts are asked to address these proclamations, the courts have routinely thrown the cases out because, since no one is injured by them, no one has standing to sue over them. So Gov. Branstad’s proclamation is beyond judicial question.”
The executive director of The Family Leader Ambassador Network, Greg Baker, wrote that Branstad’s proclamation is “clearly constitutional.” The Family Leader, the umbrella organization for The Family Leader Ambassador Network, is based in Urbandale, Iowa, and is on a mission “inspiring Christ-like leadership in the home, the church, and the government.”
“In fact, Gov. Branstad’s proclamation echoes Benjamin Franklin’s suggestion at the very Constitutional Convention itself that an appeal to God needed to be made for His intervention and that each day of the Convention must begin in prayer,” Baker wrote. “Or when President Abraham Lincoln in his Second Inaugural address boldly proclaimed that God was judging America for its sins and in order for the Civil War to end, America need to repent.”
Branstad told WHO Radio that Iowa Prayer Caucus State Director Ginny Caligiuri had approached him about doing this particular proclamation.
Caligiuri defended the marathon in an email to The Daily Signal:
The separation of church and state was to protect the church from the state, not the state from the church. It was to protect our nation from coming under the rule of one particular denomination, such as happened in Great Britain, not to keep men and women of faith out of the government.
“We are reading the Word of God on the grounds of our courthouses,” she added, “because we as a nation have turned from our biblical foundations and our nation is in big trouble.” (For more from the author of “After Iowa Governor Calls for Bible-Reading Marathon, Groups Threaten to Sue” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/maxresdefault-129.jpg16002560Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-06-10 22:16:582016-06-10 23:18:01After Iowa Governor Calls for Bible-Reading Marathon, Groups Threaten to Sue
Hillary Clinton’s very first campaign event since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee will be a speech for Planned Parenthood, America’s number one abortion provider.
Planned Parenthood has endorsed Clinton for president saying she would “always defend” taxpayer funding for the organization, according to a press release by the Susan B. Anthony List. The abortion organization receives over $500 million in federal funding every year and accounts for one-third of all abortions in the U.S.
In response to the news, the Susan B. Anthony List called Clinton’s visit “revealing”:
“It’s revealing that Hillary Clinton’s first major stop as the Democratic presumptive nominee would be to Planned Parenthood, the leader of the deep-pocketed abortion industry. Clinton has put abortion at the center of her campaign and has said the ‘unborn person has no constitutional rights.’
“What Clinton does not realize is that on the issue of life, the majority of Americans – including majorities of young people and women – stand with us, not her. Americans oppose taxpayer funding of abortion and support a compassionate limit on abortion after five months. She has staked out her turf far outside the mainstream. We welcome this opportunity to engage and expose her, confident the American people will reject her abortion ideology at the ballot box.”
It’s actually quite fitting that Clinton, who is currently under “criminal investigation” for her use of a private email server, will be speaking in support of Planned Parenthood, an organization recently under investigation for their alleged illegal sale of baby body parts.
In contrast to Clinton’s attendance at a pro-abortion Planned Parenthood conference, conservatives are defending religious liberty at a Faith and Freedom Coalition event. The event, Road to Majority 2016, will run through Saturday, June 11th. (For more from the author of “Hillary’s First Stop as Nominee – a Planned Parenthood Abortion Conference” please click HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/maxresdefault-128.jpg7201280Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2016-06-10 21:53:492016-06-10 23:21:04Hillary’s First Stop as Nominee – a Planned Parenthood Abortion Conference
