A Michigan professor has been placed on leave after he referred to the COVID-19 pandemic as a “leftist” stunt, and posted other messages online that Twitter deemed racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic.

Ferris State University physical science professor Thomas Brennan defended the posts in which he used racist slurs and claimed the health crisis was intended to create “a leftist new world order,” news station WZZM reported.

“I just have to speak out, to try to speak my conscience. I can’t be silent and watch this happen,” Brennan told the news station.

In tweets first reported by the student newspaper The Torch, Brennan claimed the virus was actually a “stunt.”

“Guess what your covid stunt has failed. You won’t get your leftist new order,” Brennan wrote, The Torch reported.

In other tweets, Brennan referred to the Holocaust as a “Zionist eugenics program.”

“They killed the old and weak Jews, and sent the young and strong ones to Israel. And then they blamed it on everyone else,” he wrote on Twitter.

Brennan also used a racial slur to argue that “nobody who wants to vote for Joe Biden imagines anything at this point.”

“These are zombie n—ers. no reason to consider their ideas,” he wrote on Twitter.

The report from the school newspaper said Brennan also used homophobic slurs and repeatedly referred to the “Jewish mafia.”

Brennan said in a letter posted to his website that he believes COVID-19 exists, but “its severity is being exaggerated by revolutionary leftists in the media and government who ‘never let a good crisis go to waste.’”

“The end result of this hysteria, if unchecked, will be a mandatory vaccine,” he wrote.

He also defended his use of the N-word, claiming it was a “linguistic atom-bomb that I only used to get people’s attention.”

“I believe the ’n-word’ is a mind-control spell designed to make us hate each other,” he wrote.

In a separate statement, Brennan insisted that he was “being unfairly portrayed as a racist and anti-Semite,” Michigan Live reported.

The college said it placed Brennan on leave Nov. 19 after it was notified about his “racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs” on Twitter, the outlet reported.

“Individually and collectively we were shocked and outraged by these tweets,” president David Eisler said.

“They are extremely offensive and run counter to the values of our University and our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.”

via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/24/mi-professor-put-on-leave-for-calling-covid-19-leftist-stunt/

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A man murdered in Philadelphia last week was targeted because he was considered a “snitch” for testifying in a 2019 murder trial, his distraught mother said.

Khaleaf Sistrunk, 21, died on Nov. 16 after two gunmen unleashed a torrent of 11 rounds as he sat on a dirt bike near the Clothespin sculpture across from City Hall in Center City. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital, where doctors found him in possession of an unlicensed 9mm handgun, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

“They shot him because they said he was a snitch,” Sistrunk’s mother, who asked not to be identified due to fears of reprisal, told the newspaper. “He was trying to do the right thing and he got killed for it.”

Sistrunk, whose relatives said he had been shot at eight times in the past two years, spoke to police in 2018 about the still-unsolved drive-by killing of his older brother, Khalil. He also testified last year as a witness in a murder trial of a teen who fatally shot his friend on Easter Sunday, the newspaper reported.

Sistrunk was later targeted for his cooperation, relatives said, including an incident in October when a gunman shot at his FedEx delivery truck in Queens Village, seriously injuring his co-worker.

No suspects have been identified in Sistrunk’s slaying, but investigators also believe he was targeted due to his testimony in last year’s trial, police said.

“It’s highly likely that he was murdered due to his role in the 2019 trial,” Homicide Capt. Jason Smith told the newspaper. “It’s retaliation for testifying.”

Potential witnesses to crimes are “afraid” to talk to police investigators due to the “violence that is leveled upon those who cooperate,” Smith said.

“Who can blame them?” he continued.

Sistrunk was devastated by his brother’s death and told police who he thought was responsible for the slaying, his mother said, although his cooperation did not lead to an arrest, the newspaper reported.

But Sistruck did testify in court last year in the 2018 shooting death of his friend, 16-year-old William Bethel. Zahmir White, 18, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and received at least 24 years in prison, according to the Inquirer.

District Attorney Larry Krasner told the newspaper that his office is working with cops to identify who killed Sistrunk while acknowledging the “tragic reality” of people being fearful of testifying in court or cooperating with police.

“But in the meantime, every public official and agency can and must examine the conditions that made him unsafe in his old neighborhood or while he was at work,” Krasner said.

Sistrunk was Bethel’s lone friend to testify at White’s trial. He was aware of the risk it entailed, his mother said.

“They hunted him to kill him,” she said. “Doing the right thing gets you killed, and that’s what happened to my son.”

Philadelphia police told The Post no arrests have been made in Sistrunk’s slaying as of Wednesday.

“The investigation is active and ongoing with our Homicide Unit,” a police spokeswoman wrote in an email.

via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/25/philadelphia-man-fatally-shot-for-being-a-snitch-mother-says/

Photo Credit: Family Handout

A Chicago couple made a selfless decision when their big wedding plans were upended by the coronavirus pandemic — they got married at City Hall instead and donated their $5,000 catering deposit to buy Thanksgiving dinners for those in need.

Emily Bugg, 33, and Billy Lewis, 34, had planned to tie the knot at a funky warehouse in the West Town neighborhood, bringing in 150 guests from across the country, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.

But it soon became clear those plans weren’t feasible in light of a COVID-19.

“It just didn’t feel like it was in the cards,” Bugg, 33, told the outlet.

The couple, who met on the online dating app Bumble in 2017, ultimately decided they’d rather get married now than wait for the ongoing pandemic to subside, The Washington Post reported.

“We had come to a place where we had some big decisions to make,” Lewis told the paper. “We decided to just go ahead and get on with our lives.”

The pair got hitched at City Hall on Oct. 1 — but made sure their wedding savings still got good use.

Bugg works as an outreach worker at the non-profit Thresholds, which helps those with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions. Because of the pandemic, the organization could not hold its usual Thanksgiving gatherings for its clients, the Sun-Times reported.

So she and her now-husband persuaded their caterer, Big Delicious Planet, to use their $5,000 deposit to package Thanksgiving meals for 200 clients — including turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and cranberry sauce, according to the report.

Bugg, along with some co-workers, also personally delivered the food.

“She took what could have been a really sad situation for herself, her husband and her family and she turned it into something magical and beautiful,” Bugg’s boss and Thresholds CEO Mark Ishaug told the paper.

Bugg said she and Lewis were “disappointed” about the circumstances but “realized we still have so much.”

“Canceling a wedding compared to what other people were going through wasn’t as big a deal,” she said.

via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/26/couple-cancel-wedding-donate-5k-deposit-to-the-hungry/

Photo Credit: Sophie Cazottes Photography

Russian President Vladimir Putin may be the father of a secret teenage lovechild with a cleaner who is now worth more than $100 million, according to a report.

An investigation by Russian media outlet Proekt has linked the notoriously secretive 68-year-old leader to Svetlana Krivonogikh, who now lives in an elite area of St. Petersburg reserved for Putin’s pals.

Her 17-year-old daughter, Elizaveta Krivonogikh, “bears a phenomenal resemblance to the Russian president,” the investigation, which has also been shared in The Moscow Times, said.

The outlet shared photos of the teen — which it did not publish because of her age — with a face-recognition expert who said there was a 70 percent similarity between Putin and the youngster.

“From this information, we can draw the conclusion that they may be related,” Professor Hassan Ugail, Director of the Center for Visual Computing at the University of Bradford in the UK, told Proekt.

Elizaveta Krivonogikh was born in 2003 — while Putin was still married to now-ex Lyudmila Shkrebneva.

Proekt said Elizaveta Krivonogikh’s birth documents do not list a father, and only list “Vladimirovna” as the name deriving from her father.

The teen has reportedly been living under an assumed name for years — and immediately deleted photos showing her face from her social media accounts when reporters started contacting her, the outlet said.

Her mother, now 45, had been a cleaner from a modest background before becoming a beneficiary of a company that owns a small share in the Putin-linked Rossiya Bank, as well as owning properties in numerous cities, according to the investigation.

She also owns a nightspot known for “erotic shows,” the report says, estimating her total assets as being at least $102 million.

Flight logs reportedly link her to flights also taken by Putin, and her current home in “the most elite housing that a St. Petersburg resident could wish for” is somewhere reserved for the president’s closest friends, the report said.

The alleged relationship likely ended “somewhere near the end of the last decade,” Proekt reported.

Numerous Putin sources refused to discuss the allegations with Proekt, and Svetlana Krivonogikh did not return Proekt’s messages despite an initial promise to talk, the outlet said.

But Putin’s spokesperson denied ever hearing about Krivonogikh when probed by local reporters.

“This is the first time I’ve ever heard of such a woman and I can’t tell you anything about this,” Dmitry Peskov, told reporters, The Moscow Times said.

“Yes, I was asked about this name and I have never heard anything about it and I do not know anything,” he insisted.

Putin, meanwhile, has a track record of secrecy regarding his reported brood.

He has never officially confirmed his two daughters from his first marriage — Maria and Katerina who are both in their 30s — and is widely rumored to have up to four kids with former gymnast Alina Kabaeva.

via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/26/vladimir-putin-allegedly-has-a-secret-lovechild-with-cleaner/

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An unemployed Las Vegas woman posed as a nurse and gave unlicensed “vampire facials” to dozens of unwitting clients during illicit parties — which left some patients with painful side effects or requiring medical attention, police said.

Maria Sabata Gutierrez, 49, was busted on Nov. 18 as officers executed a search warrant at her home, according to an arrest report obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Gutierrez admitted to detectives to administering the treatment designed to re-inject platelet-rich plasma into the skin to activate collagen cells.

“She also disclosed selling medications she purchases from Mexico to patients,” an arrest report states. “She is currently unemployed and does these medical procedures on the side.”

Gutierrez, who is identified in the arrest report as Maria DeJesus Gutierrez, told detectives she had been doing the procedures for the past year on roughly 50-60 patients for about $100 a pop, police said.

An investigation was launched by detectives after a woman showed up at a Las Vegas hospital in late September with “swelling and pain” on her face and bumps in her mouth, police said.

The woman told investigators she got the trendy skin procedure after a recommendation from a friend who attended one of Gutierrez’s “vampire facial parties” — illicit get-togethers that took place every other week since as March or April, police said.

After Gutierrez took blood from the customer’s arms, it was then “placed into a machine” that separated it before being re-injected into her face, the woman told police.

The treatment at a licensed medical facility typically costs about $1,000, investigators said.

“In addition to the vampire facials, [the customer] was also getting a similar procedure with her blood being reinjected into her buttocks,” the arrest report states. “This procedure has [been] happening weekly and cost $100.”

While holding the parties, Gutierrez always wore medical scrubs and a backpack containing a blood centrifuge and other supplies. She told a witness she previously worked for a medical office and did the procedures regularly, but lost her license, police said.

Gutierrez also told a doctor who contacted her after one of her patients went to a hospital that she got her equipment online from Mexico, police said.

She then told the doctor she had been “operating out of her trunk,” according to the report.

The doctor told Gutierrez to stop performing vampire facials and got in touch with police, prompting undercover detectives to later set up a meeting with her and arranged to get the procedure for $212, police said.

Gutierrez, who is facing charges including furnishing a dangerous drug without a prescription and acting as a medical practitioner without a license, has a preliminary hearing set for March. Her attorney could not be reached for comment Tuesday, the newspaper reported.

via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/25/las-vegas-nurse-allegedly-held-vampire-facial-parties-cops/

Photo Credit: Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department