Beltway Insider: America Suffers PTSD, Copycat Killers, ICE Raids, Epstein Dead, Toni Morrison

As the nation continues to react to the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, a week ago, that killed 31 and injured dozens the undercurrent of gun violence expectation has hurled a nation into Post Traumatic stress mode.

According to Gallup, President Trump's job approval rating, which was tracked for the two week time period ending August 5, 2019, decreased two percentage points to 42% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness increased two percentage points to 53%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated bi-monthly.

Americas Suffering From PTSD

One week ago the nation was reeling from the horrors of twin mass shootings, watching 24 hour news reports of the carnage, the war zone inside the ER's where seasoned medical professionals, even those who had seen combat, explaining "it is no longer if this will happen in your city, it is when."


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Times Square Panic

The undercurrent of gun violence expectation has taken a hold of the American psyche even while citizens have refused to cower to the possibility that the next soft target will be just around the corner, the fear of that possibility is embedded deep in the mind and the reaction was never more realized than the panic that took over New York's Times Square.

In a scene right out of a Hollywood disaster story, street cams recorded an unbelievable reaction where usually unflappable New Yorkers ran for their lives alongside tourists, as a backfiring motorcycle sent loud shotgun sounds. The reverberation produced panic, terror, injury and a glimpse into the psyche of citizens visiting the crossroads of the world.

Many ran into the Shubert theater where the Harper Lee play, To Kill a Mockingbird, was in progress.

"Stopped our show tonight due to a motorcycle backfire that was mistaken for a bomb or a shooting," actor Gideon Glick, who plays Dill in the production, tweeted shortly after. "Screaming civilians tried to storm our theater for safety. The audience started screaming and the cast fled the stage. This is the world we live in. This cannot be our world," The Wrap reported.

The waves of panic set off a chain reaction that revealed a deep fear that until now was reserved only for those who had been directly involved. The Post Traumatic Stress, which collectively the nation hasn't experienced since the murder of President John F. Kennedy, won't simply fade away it will manifest itself differently in everyone.

Trump, The NRA and Gun Laws

President trump spoke briefly this week with reporters on the NRA and gun laws. In the wake of the twin shootings over the weekend, the president said, "We'll see where the NRA will be.  But we must have meaningful, intelligent background checks.  This isn't a question of NRA, Republican, or Democrat.  I spoke to Mitch McConnell yesterday.  He's totally onboard.  He said, "I've been waiting for your call."  I spoke to senators, in some cases pretty hardline on the Second Amendment.  And they understand. We don't want insane people, mentally ill people, bad people, dangerous people — we don't want guns in the hands of the wrong people.  I think that the Republicans are going to be great and lead the charge along with the Democrats."

Copycat Killers – Eight Walmart's Received Threats This Week

Just days after a weekend of twin massacres tore through America, an armed suspect walked into a Walmart in Springfield, Missouri, dressed in tactical gear and armed with a loaded weapon and more than 100 rounds of ammunition.

A quick-thinking store manager pulled the fire alarm alerting workers and shoppers of a potential emergency and the suspect, Dmitriy Nickolayvich Andreychenko, 20, who was recording himself as he entered the store, was detained, at gunpoint, by an off-duty officer.


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Credible threats in Kansas City, Missouri and Winter Park, Florida resulted in the arrests of both suspects. In Tampa, Florida, a man said he was going to "shoot up" Walmart. He was arrested. In Harligen, Texas a threatening Social media post resulted in what local officials deemed as a credible and imminent threat and the suspect was arrested.

Another social media post that resulted in arrest came from a 13-year-old teenager in Weslco, Texas. "Police in Weslaco arrested a 13-year-old boy after the boy's mother brought him to the station Saturday. The boy will face a charge of terroristic threat for making a social media post Wednesday that prompted a Walmart to be evacuated, police said on Facebook," CNN reported

ICE Raids

The Homeland Security Investigations unit of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency executed several federal warrants at seven agricultural processing plants in Mississippi this week arresting more than 680 removable aliens who were unlawfully working at the plants.

The raids, which left the communities in shock, as agents bused the detainees to processing centers hours from their homes and in some cases out of state in neighboring Louisiana where they would wait while each received a due process hearing.

Although many were detained, more than 300 have been released with prosecution. ICE agents, acting on orders, have been considered unduly hard and compassionless as they executed the warrants, without thought of the children as in some cases both parents were detained.

Children who had been dropped off at school were informed that their parents were gone, possibly permanently. Other cases a one-year old baby, who was taken in by a local church was left, literally discarded and abandoned as agents removed her parents.

The widespread sweep of illegals has been an ongoing blight in this administration as Trump's immigration policy has received scrutiny and pushback from day one.

A 24-hour toll-free hotline is available for family members of those arrested in this operation to address questions about their detention location and status, and the removal process. This hotline operates in English and Spanish; the phone number is 1-855-479-0502. 

Billionaire Financier Jeffrey Epstein Found Dead

Disgraced Wall Street financier, and convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Edward Epstein was found dead in his cell at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center, Saturday morning, after committing, what is being called a suicide by hanging. He was 66.

The suicide comes days after presiding judge Honorable Richard M. Berman, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, allowed more than a million pages of previously sealed court documents opened and presented as evidence which revealed the depth of depravity that apparently has always been known but never proven.

Of course, as news of the suicide broke, conspiracy theorists, even those who usually refrain from fueling the twitter-sphere with unsubstantiated reports, now had opinions on who or whom, had the 66-year-old Epstein killed or assisted in his suicide.


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Far reaching theories have included Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, The Clinton's, the Federal Government and even Epstein himself. Media reports the Metropolitan Correctional Center is known for its corruption and as it is often the holding cell for the rich and criminal, anything is available for the right price. Former Mob Boss John Gotti, it has been said, was able to receive his favorite steak, still hot, from Peter Luger's steakhouse at request. To hang oneself requires a few minutes in a blind spot.

Victims Still Hoping For Their Day In Court.

The shocking reversal of fortune for Epstein, who built great wealth as a Wall Street financier and included in his portfolio an Upper East Side mansion valued at $77 million, located within walking distance to the Hewitt school, an exclusive all-girls academy where many of his victims attended, as well as a ranch in New Mexico, a home in Palm Beach and the Caribbean. NYPD reported his home safe contained more than $20 million in diamonds, piles of cash, and multiple passports at the time of his arrest on July 6, 2019.

His victims, some who waited for almost two decades to see some sort of justice served, spoke for the first time in court at his bail hearing, adamant, pleading with the judge not to allow this monster back out on the streets.

After crafting a substantial bail package worth more than $100 million, and included both his mansion and private jet, the courts, in a rare show of victim solidarity, refused the lure of wealth, power and privilege and denied the once Wall Street superstar his freedom.

Judge Berman also ruled the former Wall Street power broker wouldn't face trial until June 2020 which translated to ten months at the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Epstein had other plans.

Court documents unsealed reveled association with movers and shakers from the world of finance, politics, Hollywood, and royalty. Epstein who traveled frequently to his many homes in New Mexico, New York, Palm Beach and the Virgin Islands, was said to have used a recruiter to help him source underage girls, groom them, and then force the girls to engage in sexual activity with a who's who of movers, shakers, power brokers and royalty.


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Epstein would then debrief the girls, gathering as much information on the sexual predication's of the "mark" explaining to the girls the information could be used for control. Braiding oneself into another person's power, or the illusion of power, for the purpose of evading prosecution, or opening the doors to high powered connections, isn't new nor invented by Epstein.

Prince Andrew Duke of York is not the only power broker breathing a sigh of relief over the suicide as the formerly sealed horrors of Jeffrey Epstein, who built a financial wall of protection around his widely known secret of repeatedly raping underage girls, had been released.

Documents revealed Epstein accusers alleged he forced them to engage in sexual activity, in various locations in the US and Caribbean, with former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, US Senator George Mitchell, Prince Andrew Duke of York and Attorney and noted Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz. Multiple media have indicated all have denied the allegations.

Buckingham Palace has denied elements of the story for decades, indicating the second son of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth had been photographed and a confidant of Epstein's.

"A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said: "This relates to proceedings in the United States, to which The Duke of York is not a party. Any suggestion of impropriety with underage minors is categorically untrue. The Duke of York accepts it was unwise to have met Mr Epstein in December 2010. The Duke has not met with Mr Epstein since,"' CNN reported.

Others who have been photographed with the former Hedge Fund broker included President Donald Trump who indicated Epstein was a "terrific guy" always surrounded by beautiful women, a little on the young side. The President has never indicated he felt compelled to report Epstein or the possibility the "younger" women many be underage and forced into sex slavery.

For Epstein, the fall from the dizzying heights of the worldly gods, globetrotting with the power brokers of high finance, political insiders, royalty and the once impenetrable walled city of vast wealth, like the mythical Icarus who flew to close to the sun, Epstein who arrogantly flaunted his crimes finally lost as his protections came crashing down around him.

Attorney General Barr Issues a Statement

"I was appalled to learn that Jeffrey Epstein was found dead early this morning from an apparent suicide while in federal custody. Mr. Epstein's death raises serious questions that must be answered. In addition to the FBI's investigation, I have consulted with the Inspector General who is opening an investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Epstein's death," said Attorney General William P. Barr in a released statement.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman Issues a Statement

"Earlier this morning, the Manhattan Correctional Center confirmed that Jeffrey Epstein, who faced charges brought by this Office of engaging in the sex trafficking of minors, had been found unresponsive in his cell and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter of an apparent suicide.  Today's events are disturbing, and we are deeply aware of their potential to present yet another hurdle to giving Epstein's many victims their day in Court. To those brave young women who have already come forward and to the many others who have yet to do so, let me reiterate that we remain committed to standing for you, and our investigation of the conduct charged in the Indictment – which included a conspiracy count – remains ongoing," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman in a released statement.

The FBI continues to urge anyone who feels they may be a victim or have information related to this case to please contact 1-800- CALL FBI.

 

Toni Morrison, Author, Nobel Prize Winner, Dead at 88

Toni Morrison, whose writings on the African American experience became the foundation for a generation after her to celebrate a culture and way of life, exposing the horrors of a past and the vibrancy of a hopeful future, has passed away this week. Ms. Morrison was 88

After her death was announced, celebrities, dignitaries, Intellectuals, educators, and the common man, spoke eloquent tributes honoring the words written by the former railroad engineer’s daughter.

Oprah Winfrey said, "In the passing of Toni Morrison, we lost one of our greatest voices & storytellers. Holding close those touched by her being & her gift. Her work gave us power, hope & freedom. While our world shines a little less bright today, we know "something that is loved is never lost."

Morrison was the first African American and first female to win the Nobel Prize for Literature for her most widely known work, "Beloved." She wrote with dignity, heart, and with a skill that translated the words printed on page to emotions that traveled encompassing the mind of the reader. Once read, never forgotten.

Her own career seemed blessed, in part because of the early escape from the Deep South, and primarily because she worked hard, was intrigued by the written word, had parents who nurtured her thirst for great writers and great literature. They reminded her, often, of the Negro experience, through songs and stories of hardship and escape, celebration, faith and belief in a God who delivers.

Ms. Morrison like many of her generation and race suffered the injustice of segregation even as her parents moved, prior to their marriage and her birth, to avoid the war in the south that was brimming.

Taking the stories of those days, the times and harshness of seasons and events she transfixed generations of readers and inspired generations of writers.

 

For more information on President Donald Trump www.whitehouse.gov.

Sources: whitehouse.gov.

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