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Officials who oversee Seattle’s transit system moved to ban political, religious, and other ads from its facilities and public transportation vehicles soon after Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) prevailed in a freedom of speech lawsuit against the city, earning the right to run FBI’s Most Wanted terrorist posters, Breitbart News has learned.

“People should realize that this is a struggle for the very foundation of any free society: the freedom of speech. If there is a group you can’t criticize, then that group can impose tyranny over you. If we lose this free speech battle, all our other freedoms are lost” Geller recently told Breitbart News via email.

She argued the advertisement ban sidestepped the September 2018 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling in AFDI’s favor, which allowed the group to advertise the Most Wanted terrorist list in Seattle.

However, the new restrictions, dubbed the “Geller ban” and instituted in December 2018 by the King County Department of Transportation’s Transit Division that oversees Seattle’s public transportation system, have ended up preventing AFDI from running the terrorist wanted ads, Geller pointed out, noting that her free speech lawsuit victory was bittersweet.

Before the appeal court’s ruling, judges had denied AFDI the right to place public service ads featuring images of the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorists on Seattle’s public transportation system, due to a perceived disparagement of Islam.

The city’s rejection prompted AFDI to sue the King County Metro system for its suppression of free speech.

“We won the right to run the FBI wanted terrorist poster that Seattle prevailed upon the FBI to withdraw [ in 2013]. And as soon as we triumphed, Seattle transit imposed the infamous Geller ban, banning political, religious and cause-related ads in Seattle (following NY, Washington DC, Boston, Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, etc),” Geller told Breitbart News in the email.

In a document outlining the transit agency’s advertising restrictions, King County officials noted that the policy bans advertising on transit facilities and vehicles that fall within the categories of political, religious, government (except for the county’s), and other forms of “speech.”

“They banned all political ads, as that was the only course of action they could possibly take in order to continue to avoid running my ads,” Geller said. “They’re so determined to continue whitewashing Islam and denying and obfuscating the roots of jihad terror that they are willing to lose immense amounts of revenue from all political advertising.”

Transit agency officials argued that their “viewpoint neutral” ban seeks to prohibit “advertisements that interfere with and divert resources from transit operations, that detract from transit purposes by creating substantial controversy, and/or that pose significant risks of harm, inconvenience, or annoyance to transit passengers, operators, and vehicles.”

“Such advertisements create an environment that is not conducive to achieving increased revenue for the benefit of the transit system or to preserving and enhancing the security, safety, comfort, and convenience of its operations,” the officials added.

Responding to the agency’s argument Geller noted, “I see ads that annoy me all the time. If that is the criterion [for the ban], whose annoyance counts, and whose doesn’t, and why?”

She told Breitbart News that King County’s decision to ban FBI wanted posters featuring some jihadis amounts to the “enforcement of Sharia blasphemy law in another American city.”

King County officials described the transit agency’s advertising ban as  “restrictions” that “foster the maintenance of a professional advertising environment that maximizes advertising, revenue, and protects the interests of the captive audience that uses Metro’s transit services.”

In other words, the county’s transportation department believes that banning certain ads will allow the county to generate more revenue.

“The ban will, obviously, drastically curtail their ad revenues. To argue otherwise is plain deception” Geller noted.

Nevertheless, the county asserted that the advertising policy intends to fulfill the following goals:

Maximizing advertising revenue; maintaining a position of neutrality and preventing the appearance of favoritism or endorsement by the county; preventing the risk of imposing objectionable, inappropriate or harmful view on a captive audience; preserving the value of the advertising space; maximizing ridership and maintaining a safe environment for transit customers and other members of the public; avoiding claims of discrimination and maintaining a non-discriminatory environment for riders; preventing any harm or abuse that may result from running objectionable, inappropriate, or harmful advertisements; [and] reducing the diversion of resources from transit operations that is caused by objectionable, inappropriate or harmful advertisements.

Geller vowed to keep fighting for free speech all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary to ensure Seattle upholds the appeal court’s ruling.

John Carroll University’s student newspaper, the Carroll News, is revising its editorial guidelines in an effort to censor speech after students took offense to a conservative Catholic student editor expressing his views in the newspaper. The newspaper then released a statement chastising the editor, suggesting that “free speech” should make everybody “feel safe in its harmony,” and that the Catholic student’s views are in “direct conflict” with the mission of the Jesuit university. The editor has since resigned from his position.

Students at John Carroll University (JCU) took offense to an op-ed published in The Carroll News by editor Declan Leary, who criticized a new magazine, entitled, Loud & Proud Zine, after it had first criticized him for expressing his views about a JCU-funded drag show last semester. Leary argued that a Catholic university is not an appropriate location for hosting such events.

“For about 30 pages — various contributors — including students, faculty members and three drag performers —– rant about how some scary conservative establishment (whose face is, of course, yours truly) is trying to repress them,” wrote Leary, “the issue isn’t that they’re being repressed; it’s just that nobody really wants to listen to them.”

The student’s op-ed sparked outrage among students, who then reported Leary to the school’s “Bias Response Team,” prompting the university to react by sending an email alerting the campus community of Leary’s opinion piece, claiming that it had caused “feelings of tremendous sorrow, anger, and fear.”

“Some feel unsafe and unwelcome. Many find themselves questioning whether they are valued as members of this campus community,” said JCU in its email obtained by Breitbart News.

The email had been referring to the supposed safety concerns belonging to the “LGBTQIA+” community, disregarding any potential safety concerns that could result from the conservative student being publicly called out to the entire campus community.

“Like who tf do YOU THINK YOU ARE criticizing someone’s art that has symbolic meaning to their personal identity? Literally, fight me,” tweeted one self-proclaimed JCU student, in response to one of the criticisms in Leary’s op-ed.

“If we’re not allowed to criticize art anymore because it has personal meaning to the artist, there are a lot of art critics (all of them) who’ll need to find new jobs,” responded Leary, “P.S. calls to violence… classy.”

The university went on to affirm its commitment to the “LGBTQIA+ community” and assured students that JCU would “work diligently to heal the wounds plaguing our campus community” and “create a space going forward.”

The Carroll News then followed suit by releasing a similar statement, informing the public that the newspaper’s staff manual would be revised to “ensure this issue does not recur in the future,” and that all editors will be “held accountable” to the new rules curtailing speech in the student newspaper.

“Violations of the new code will result in disciplinary action that could lead to removal from staff,” affirmed the student newspaper.

The student newspaper then went on to call out Leary by name, and even took it upon itself to claim that the student’s views are in “direct conflict” with the university’s mission. “Opinion/Editorial Editor Declan Leary’s tone and choice of language in his writing has repeatedly been in direct conflict with the mission of the University,” affirmed The Carroll News.

The revised guidelines have effectively forced Leary to resign from his position as editor, as expressing his opinions will no longer be permissible in the student newspaper next semester.

“I was told that if I stayed, I would be subject to very strict rules for what I’m allowed to say moving forward,” said Leary of his resignation to Breitbart News, “Obviously, that’s not something I’m willing to stand for.”

The student newspaper had also claimed that “free speech” should make everybody “feel safe in its harmony,” and that it is “not meant to demean or make anyone’s identity feel threatened.”

The strict rules against language that “demeans” others’ identity, however, does not appear to apply while demeaning Catholics, as student writers seem to continue publishing pieces chastising Leary over his personal views.

“From the time I began writing for The Carroll News, I received a great deal of support from conservative students who felt more comfortable opposing the progressive orthodoxy of the campus because they saw me standing for conservative beliefs in spite of the significant backlash,” said Leary to Breitbart News.

“This is not just an attempt to shut me down; it is an attempt to shut down everybody like me,” added Leary, who also noted that he is “currently inquiring about the dishonesty of the newspaper’s statement on the matter.”

“They place the blame on me despite their approval of every word I wrote, and they claim to be pursuing new standards despite publishing targeted attacks against me in that very same issue,” said Leary.

The Carroll News did not respond to Breitbart News’ request for clarification on why its staff felt it was appropriate to name a specific student to the entire campus community while questioning a subjective viewpoint of that student in suggesting that his opinions are in direct conflict with the university’s mission.

John Carroll University did not respond to Breitbart New’s multiple requests for comment.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.

Hollywood is once again cutting big checks for Democratic candidates, with celebrities like Ben Affleck, Kevin Bacon, Mandy Moore, and Ryan Reynolds getting involved in the next presidential election nearly a year before the country’s first primary.

According to The Hill, Hollywood stars are eagerly giving to Sen. Kamala Harris’ (D-CA) campaign, even as she lags behind several competitors.

Some of Harris’s donors include: Affleck, who maxed out with a $2,800 campaign donation; former “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm, who gave $1,000; “Two and a Half Men’s” Jon Cryer, almost topping out at $2,775 and talk show host Busy Phillips, who gave $2,000. Other Harris donors include: Lily Tomlin and Don Cheadle, who both gave a handful of $100 donations over the last several months, music producer Quincy Jones with a $2,800 donation, director Lee Daniels, comedian Wanda Sykes and actress America Ferrera.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is also receiving attention from Tinseltown, with Susan Sarandon and Danny DeVito donating $2,700 and $2,800, respectively.

The Hill also reports that Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) has been sucking up cash from Hollywood, like “Kevin Bacon, who gave $2,800 last month; Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea, who together donated $5,600; ‘Glass’ director M. Night Shyamalan and ‘CSI’ actress Marg Helgenberger, who both dished out $2,700 and Jamie Lee Curtis, who gave $1,000 towards Booker’s 2020 efforts.”

Beto O’Rourke has accepted donations from Willie Nelson and Rachael Ray, while “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg (D) received cash from Mandy Moore, Bradley Whitford, and Ryan Reynolds.

As Breitbart News has reported, Hollywood launched an “unprecedented” effort to campaign for Democrats in 2018, dropping cash in campaigns across the country to influence the midterm elections.

A report from September 2018 indicated that celebrities donations to the midterm efforts of Democrats were even more than their donations in presidential election year 2016.

Indeed, elite Hollywood cash went almost exclusively to Democrats. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 99.7 percent of donations from high levels of the entertainment industry went to Democrats or Democratic-supporting Super PACs.

South Seattle College Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter president Katie Daviscourt told Breitbart News that she feels “more empowered than ever” despite last week’s “bias incident” resulting in a hit and run car accident and a phone call to 911. The conservative student offered her remarks in a Tuesday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow.

Daviscourt spoke to Marlow on Tuesday about a recent hit and run accident that police are investigating, and also consider to be a “bias incident” after a man allegedly followed the conservative student with his vehicle as she walked to her car last week. The man caused Daviscourt to fear for her life, before the man struck another vehicle and fled the scene.

The student told Alex Marlow that despite last week’s incident, she feels “more empowered than ever,” and that “other students are catching on,” with regards to the importance of expressing their conservative views.

Daviscourt said one officer told her that he considered the incident a “hate crime,” adding that she believes the man is a student, noting that he had “showed up to class” on Monday, where he was then “served with emergency suspension papers.”

The South Seattle College TPUSA chapter president is the first guest for what will be a new series on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily, in which students will be invited onto the show to tell their firsthand accounts of what life is like for conservatives students on high school and college campuses across the country.

Marlow talked about the importance of getting students involved with telling their stories on the show.

It’s so important, because Andrew Breitbart’s vision was to take on all of the core cultural institutions, starting with Hollywood, and then later on, the establishment media, but also, the third leg of that leftist stool is our academic system — and I think that part of the key way of fighting back is enabling some of the young people to come forward, tell their stories and talk about what they’re doing on campus to fight as counterculture rebels — this is becoming more and more common, this is something that we’ve witnessed throughout the country, particularly where conservative students are being intimidated into silence, and your story is not the only story, I’m looking at one just from yesterday, where Candace Owens — Antifa threatening her event at University of Pennsylvania —this seems like it’s a daily occurrence at this point.

“Yes, they have turned into the radical leftist party — and I don’t know when enough is enough,” said Daviscourt, “Intervention has to happen at some point, there’s a war on conservatives, and its actually a frightening time to be a conservative, especially if you’re in a very liberal city like I am.”

Daviscourt added that she plans to remain active with TPUSA on campus despite the incident.

“I definitely want to be more outspoken, and I want to do it for other conservatives students that felt like me,” said Daviscourt, “I was extremely silent after the [2016] election ¯ but when students who approach my [TPUSA] table that share similar views — their eyes seriously light up — they cannot believe that someone is on campus with similar views.”

“American patriots have fought and died to make this country the greatest country in the world,” affirmed Daviscourt, “and this statement rings true today, because we are a capitalist nation.”

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.

Notre Dame Cathedral has stood since medieval times as a symbol of Paris, its inhabitants, and their faith.

After the catastrophic fire Monday that destroyed the cathedral’s roof and iconic spire, and scorched the inside of the church, Parisians have vowed to rebuild.

The world reached out through social media to express grief and sadness with the French people, but one response is standing out from the others, both for what was said — and what wasn’t.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, fresh off the fallout from downplaying the 9/11 attacks, apparently hasn’t learned a single lesson from the tidal wave of outrage she faced.

The Minnesota Democrat’s response to the Notre Dame fire is conspicuously absent of any mention of the religious purpose of the cathedral itself, or its place in Western Christianity as one of the most iconic churches in the world.

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Art and architecture have a unique ability to help us connect across our differences and bring people together in important ways. Thinking of the people of Paris and praying for every first responder trying to save this wonder.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 15, 2019

And there it is — the Notre Dame Cathedral was just reduced to “art and architecture.”

Although she did call it a “wonder,” which it most certainly is, considering the groundbreaking structural designs that stand as a testament to the strength and beauty of Gothic construction, Twitter users were not happy with Omar’s reaction.

Did something happen to some building?

— Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) April 15, 2019

Amazing you found a way to phrase this without saying “Notre Dame,” “cathedral,” or “church.”

— Angela Morabito (@AngelaLMorabito) April 16, 2019

A Christian Church burns and she is concerned about art and architecture. I wonder if that would be her take if Mecca burned.

— Carmine Sabia (@CarmineSabia) April 15, 2019

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This disaster, although difficult to imagine for the faithful who depend on the cathedral for religious services, shouldn’t have been hard to respond to.

A simple “thoughts and prayers” for the congregation, the first responders, and the clergy would have been sufficient.

To go even further, sympathizing with the Christian community for the near-destruction of a religious icon might have been more than enough.

But expecting that from someone who downplayed 9/11 as simply an event where “some people did something” may be too much to ask.

Omar had an opportunity here to reach out to people of a faith different from her own, as well as work to repair the damage done by her previous comments.

But she torched that chance to the ground with a single tweet.

Under the circumstances, it would have been better if she hadn’t commented at all.

Ilhan Omar can easily rectify her mistakes with a public apology, but no one familiar with her public life so far will be expecting that.

We can only hope the lawmaker does better during the next catastrophe.

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