Here’s what we know so far about Robert Bowers, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect
Robert Bowers
(CNN) As officials try to put together a picture of the alleged Pittsburgh synagogue shooter, one focus of the investigation is his social media postings, the FBI said. Here’s what we know so far about suspect Robert Bowers, 46:
He allegedly made anti-Semitic statements after his arrest
While in custody and receiving medical treatment, Bowers told a SWAT officer he wanted all Jews to die and also that “they (Jews) were committing genocide to his people,” according to the police criminal complaint. The bloodshed took place on the same day as Saturday Shabbat services. At the time of the shooting, three different congregations were holding services at the Tree of Life.
He was in the synagogue for about 20 minutes
At a Saturday afternoon news conference, officials said the suspect was in the Squirrel Hill synagogue for about 20 minutes. After the attack and as he was leaving the building, Bowers encountered a law enforcement officer and the two exchanged gunfire, officials said. The suspect went back inside to hide from SWAT officers. Bowers was in fair condition with multiple gunshot wounds, officials said. It’s believed he was shot by police.
Trump says synagogue should have had armed guards
He was not known to law enforcement
“At this point we have no knowledge that Bowers was known to law enforcement before today,” said Bob Jones, FBI Pittsburgh special agent in charge. Jones said that while Bowers’ alleged motive is unknown, officials believed he acted alone.
He has an active license to carry firearms
Bowers has an active license and has made at least six known firearm purchases since 1996, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said. On September 29, Bowers posted photos of his handgun collection on his Gab.com account, which included multiple clips and sights. A rifle and three handguns were found on the scene of the attack, the FBI said.
He blamed Jews for helping migrant caravans
On his Gab.com account, Bowers claimed Jews were helping transport members of the migrant caravans. He shared a video that another Gab.com user posted, purportedly of a Jewish refugee advocacy group HIAS on the US-Mexico border. Another post that Bowers commented on described HIAS’ overall efforts as “sugar-coated evil.”
He was not known to law enforcement
“At this point we have no knowledge that Bowers was known to law enforcement before today,” said Bob Jones, FBI Pittsburgh special agent in charge. Jones said that while Bowers’ alleged motive is unknown, officials believed he acted alone.
He has an active license to carry firearms
Bowers has an active license and has made at least six known firearm purchases since 1996, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said. On September 29, Bowers posted photos of his handgun collection on his Gab.com account, which included multiple clips and sights. A rifle and three handguns were found on the scene of the attack, the FBI said.
He blamed Jews for helping migrant caravans
On his Gab.com account, Bowers claimed Jews were helping transport members of the migrant caravans. He shared a video that another Gab.com user posted, purportedly of a Jewish refugee advocacy group HIAS on the US-Mexico border. Another post that Bowers commented on described HIAS’ overall efforts as “sugar-coated evil.”
Seventeen days before the attack, Bowers posted a web page from HIAS that listed a number of Shabbats that were being held on behalf of refugees, an official said. On that list was a Shabbat address that is less than a mile away from the Tree of Life Synagogue. (The chief executive officer of HIAS, Mark Hetfield, said Bowers is not known to the group.)
He called those in migrant caravans ‘invaders’
According to his posts, Bowers believed that those in the migrant caravans were violent because they were attempting to leave countries that had high levels of violence. And Bowers repeatedly called them “invaders” on his Gab posts. “I have noticed a change in people saying ‘illegals’ that now say ‘invaders’,” read one post, six days before the shooting. “I like this.”
A law enforcement source confirmed to CNN that investigators believe the social media postings belong to Bowers and that the language on his account matches the suspected motivation behind the shootings.
His most recent post was five minutes before police were alerted to the shooting
In that Gab post, Bowers said he “can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in.”
Bowers’ photo on Gab.com
Bowers’ photo on Gab.com
His Gab account has frequent anti-Semitic postings
He has reposted a number of posts on his social media accounts that tell Jews to get out or leave. Gab is a social media platform that advocates for free speech and puts nearly no restrictions on content.
(In a statement posted online, Gab says it “unequivocally disavows and condemns all acts of terrorism and violence…Gab’s mission is very simple: to defend free expression and individual liberty online for all people.” Gab said it was alerted to the suspect’s profile on their platform, backed up the data, suspended the account, and contacted the FBI.)
His posts included criticism of President Trump
Among the many anti-Semitic social media posts were comments suggesting that President Trump was surrounded by too many Jewish people. “Trump is surrounded by k****”, “things will stay the course,” read one post on the Gab social media platform, which used a derogatory term to describe Jews. Another post, apparently intended as an insult, read: “Trump is a globalist, not a nationalist,” Bowers said two days before the shooting. “There is no #MAGA as long as there is a k*** infestation.
He said he didn’t vote for Trump
Roughly four hours before the shooting, Bowers commented in a post that he did not vote for Trump.
He was involved in trucking
A law enforcement official familiar with the ongoing investigation tells CNN that Bowers has a commercial driver’s license and a history associated with the trucking industry.
He received a traffic citation in 2015
A CNN review of criminal records found a 2015 traffic citation against Bowers for allegedly driving without tags.
He’s been charged with hate crimes
Bowers faces 29 charges in all, including 11 counts of using a firearm to commit murder and multiple counts of two hate crimes: obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death and obstruction of exercise of religious beliefs resulting in bodily injury to a public safety officer.
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A New Hotline for racist white people
Although this is satire and there’s truth in it the number really does work and if you’re a racist or even an Uncle Tom looking at this post and get up in your feelings every time Ti tells the TRUTH this is the number for you ! Hotline available 24 hours a day seven days a week Call 1-844-WYT-FEAR that’s 1-844-998-3327
Bomb Mailing Suspect Cesar Sayoc Was A Big Trump Fan With A Criminal History
The man arrested on suspicion of mailing at least a dozen suspicious packages to Democrats criticized by Donald Trump is a big fan of the president, with a long criminal history.
Cesar Sayoc, 56, was taken into custody by federal authorities on Friday in Plantation, Florida, according to multiple press accounts. Law enforcement also took possession of a van covered in stickers supporting Trump and criticizing Democratic officials.
Sayoc is a registered Republican and called himself a promoter and booking agent. He was also an amateur bodybuilder and worked as a stripper, according to The Associated Press. He was once sentenced to probation for a bomb threat, the AP reported.
According to The New York Times, Sayoc threatened a power company customer representative in a dispute over a utility bill. He said the bombing would be worse “than 9/11” and that he planned to blow the agent’s head off, according to records released by the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office, the Times reported.
Sayoc appeared to be living for years in his van, which was parked in a lot outside a strip mall in Aventura, Florida, and was showering at a nearby beach or at a local fitness center, according to the AP. The van was plastered with pro-Trump slogans, photos of the president and at least one sticker saying, “CNN sucks.”
Some of Sayoc’s social media posts appeared to suggest he was a member of Florida’s Seminole tribe. Relative Lenny Altieri told the Times that Sayoc’s mother was from Brooklyn and his father was from the Philippines. He was raised by his grandparents, Altieri told the Times.
He was arrested numerous times, including for felony grand theft in the third degree in November 2013; he pleaded guilty the next year. He was found guilty of a misdemeanor retail theft charge that stemmed from a May 2015 incident, along with multiple traffic violations.
Sayoc declared bankruptcy in 2012, when he had $21,109 in liabilities. The filing indicated he lived with his mother, owned an 11-year-old Chevy Tahoe with 285,000 miles on it, had collected unemployment and was working as a store manager. His attorney’s office was flooded with phone calls after his name emerged.
A Twitter account made in 2016 that appears to belong to the suspect has more than 1,000 images, many dedicated to baseless conspiracy theories. A spam of posts from this year all claim that Parkland, Florida, school shooting survivor David Hogg was a protester paid by billionaire George Soros. Another post claims Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) took money from the Russians and is a “poverty pimp.” And in a July post, he claims that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is known for “ripping off the elderly.” Soros, Waters and Wasserman Schultz were all targets of suspicious packages this week.
Other intended recipients of the packages included former President Barack Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Robert De Niro, former Attorney General Eric Holder, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and former CIA Director John Brennan.
A Tampa resident who said he encountered Sayoc in a hotel parking lot in Miami last May told HuffPost that the suspect was quirky — given the stickers on his van — but didn’t seem “violent” during their hourlong conversation.
“He wasn’t talking violent or anything like that but basically talked about fake news, Obama, Hillary Clinton, stuff like that. He said his family didn’t agree with him, that he only associated with other Trump supporters,” said the man, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Korey.
When Korey, a 40-year-old black Trump supporter, saw the van on TV Friday morning, he immediately identified it as Sayoc’s. Korey said he couldn’t believe the “regular Republican” he had spoken to was the bomb suspect.
“It was crazy, man. He never said nothing verbally hateful. He didn’t say, ‘I want to kill Obama.’ He railed against him but never threatened,” Korey said.
Korey said he was one of those who initially believed the bombs being sent to top Democrats were a false flag operation perpetrated by the left, as Trump implied Friday morning.
“I was thinking it too. I thought it was someone doing this to send a message to scare people. Maybe a Democrat,” he said. “Finding out that this guy did it — it was kinda like, I can see him doing it, just due to how much support or how passionate he was about the news media and Hillary Clinton. I put two and two together, and now I’m like, wow, he really was crazy.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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Casey Anthony Is Dating a Man 7 Years After Murder Acquittal ‘Who Can Overlook Her Past’
Casey Anthony is dating someone new, a source close to her tells PEOPLE.
The Florida woman, who was famously acquitted of murder in 2011 in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, mostly lives a low-key, uneventful life in the South Florida home of one of the private investigators who worked on her case. She had previously gone on a “a handful of dates” with different guys, according to the source.
But one particular guy has caught her attention, the source says: a man in his early 30s who works a professional job. They have been seeing each other for about three months. “She’s had trouble finding guys who are interested in her,” the insider says. “But he’s a really special guy who can overlook her past.”
Anthony’s controversial past includes the 2008 disappearance of Caylee, who was missing for 31 days before Anthony reported her missing at the insistence of her mother. After a worldwide search for the missing toddler, the girl’s remains were found in a wooded lot less than one-third of a mile from the Anthony family home.
Anthony’s 2011 trial was a media circus, with at least 40 million people watching at least some of the testimony, according to Nielsen Research. She was acquitted of murder and manslaughter charges on July 5, 2011 — but convicted of four counts of lying to police.
After her controversial acquittal, she was described by a Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman as “one of the most hated women in America” — a moniker that stuck.
The source tells PEOPLE that Anthony’s new boyfriend is aware of her past, but is still interested in her. “He is giving her a clean slate,” says the source. “She’s now in her 30s. She’s a different person than she was when she was an emotionally-stunted 21-year-old. He sees what she could be.”
This boyfriend seems to be another step in Anthony’s quest to move on. In a 2017 interview with the Associated Press, she said she was unlikely to have more children. “If I am blessed enough to have another child — if I’d be dumb enough to bring another kid into this world knowing that there’d be a potential that some little snot-nosed kid would then say something mean to my kid — I don’t think I could live with that,” she said.
But 18 months later, Anthony has softened her stance.
“For a long time she was like ‘no way,’” the source told PEOPLE last month. “But time has changed that and she’s now open to it in a way she hasn’t been before.”
Anthony works as a researcher for her private investigator. She keeps a small circle of friends, and is occasionally spotted at restaurants or clubs in Palm Beach County, Florida. She is not in contact with her family.
She continues to distance herself from her infamous past. In 2012, Anthony and her mother, Cindy, began wearing matching necklaces that contained Caylee’s ashes in small vials. PEOPLE confirmed earlier this year that Anthony no longer wears hers.
The source declined to identify Anthony’s boyfriend, but PEOPLE has viewed photographs of Anthony with him. The couple goes to movies and restaurants, keeping a low profile. “He doesn’t want to live a public life,” says the source. “For now, he’s happy being anonymous.”
Megyn Kelly fired from Today Show for making Blackface Comment
WOW I would go in but that’s for another post. Roland Martin and Black Twitter schooled her though.
Pt 1
Pt 2
Tyler the Creator Smashed His Tesla Into a Parked Car, Victim Is Excited About Getting Paid
Tyler the Creator was involved in an accident early Thursday morning when he drove his Tesla Model X into a parked car on Sunset Blvd.
The crash happened around 12:30 AM according to the LAPD, and the “See You Again” rapper pushed the parked vehicle 50 feet into the street after the collision. His white Tesla appeared totaled.
Officials say no injuries were reported, but it’s unclear exactly how the rapper is doing after the incident.
Sources on scene of the accident tell The Blast Tyler seemed composed as police arrived on scene, and he quickly walked away as cameras began to notice the accident involved a celebrity. It’s unclear if a sobriety test was performed on the celebrity.
Witnesses at the accident didn’t notice anything crazy inside the star’s vehicle, other than a fur hat and some “nice clothes.”
Tyler was not arrested, and a police report was left on the victim’s car identifying the rapper as the owner of the Tesla. Photogs interviewed the man whose car was hit by Tyler, and he admits the entire thing is a bummer, but is excited for a “decent check” that he plans on receiving.
Both vehicles were later towed from the scene.
The Odd Future star, who just dropped a new version of “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” for the upcoming animated feature, has not yet commented on the accident.
Article via TheBlast
Toni Braxton Announces ‘As Long As I Live Tour’ – Fans Support Her And Say Her Sisters’ Music Doesn’t Match Her Success
Toni Braxton just made her fans happy with her latest announcement on social media. She let her followers know that a brand new tour is just around the corner. Here are all the details that you need.
Someone praised her and told her that their sisters don’t compare or match neither her sound nor success:
‘You’re sooooooooo dope….sorry your sisters could never compare or match your sound or success…they were better off letting you keep the mantle instead of trying to steal it..now look…it destroyed relationships because of jealousy and competition…but noooooo one can compare to Toni Braxton…no one..you were and still are the best singer I know…love should’ve bought you home last night…OMG..your songs with baby face ..wow. SWV should feel sooooooooo blessed to share this superstage with you… Blessings to you…all things work together for the good of them who live the Lord and are called to his purpose…Walk in the light’
Another follower posted ‘Hopefully they will come to Tulsa or Texas, talking about fun and amazing. ?’
Another follower said that she also needs to goto U.K: ‘Need to add UK for your fans out there who made your album go # 1’
Someone else wrote ‘Oh wow!!!!! @tonibraxton it would be amazing to also hear music from your love, marriage and divorce album!!! Either way, I can’t wait! ???’
Toni was in the spotlight again recently after her sister Tamar Braxton announced that she was hospitalized due to her lupus complications. But what Tamar said was not confirmed.
Charlamagne Tha God Says He Canceled Kanye Interview Because Kanye’s Off His Meds
Last week, radio host Charlamagne Tha God and Kanye West were meant to have a live interview for a TimesTalk on mental illness. That interview, however, was abruptly canceled just two days prior with Charlamagne saying it was his decision to scrap the interview because “to have that conversation with him right now would not be productive.” Charlamagne has now elaborated that point to Stephen Colbert, saying he doesn’t think it’s right for anyone to discuss mental health with Kanye when Kanye is no longer taking his medication for bipolar disorder, which Kanye said he was when they previously spoke on the subject earlier this year. “I think he needs to figure that out,” Charlamagne says. The decision to ax the interview came two days after Kanye met with Trump claiming to be misdiagnosed; Charlamagne then called Kanye’s people to inform them the interview was no longer happening and says they were “relieved,” but also made him break the news to Kanye himself. According to Charlamagne, Kanye’s trip to Uganda wasn’t the reason for the cancellation.
Article via Vulture
Tamera Mowry Makes A Surprise Announcement On ‘The Real’— ‘I’m Down To Suck Some Toes’
Talk about keeping it REAL! Tamera Mowry made a candid declaration in the latest segment of The Real’s “Girl Chat.” Read on for the latest.
Tamera made a VERY special vow during today’s extra intimate girl talk after she said she was confronted by a male viewer. The fan was SHOCKED that she admitted she didn’t suck her hubby Adam Houseley’s toes.
So, after being publicly shamed, she declared Opens a New Window. to the show’s captive audience and fellow panelists—Adrienne Houghton, Loni Love, and Jeannie Mai—“I’m down to suck some toes! I’ll do it ONCE!”