Month: April 2018

A Pennsylvania man who sued a New York City bar that booted him out for being a supporter of President Donald Trump lost his case in a Manhattan courtroom Wednesday, the New York Post reported.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice David Cohen ruled it’s “not outrageous” to toss out Trump supporters from bars because there are no laws to protect against political discrimination.

What happened?

Greg Piatek, a 31-year-old accountant, stopped by The Happiest Hour in West Village after he paid his respects at the 9/11 Memorial in January 2017, and shortly after Trump was sworn into office.

Piatek, who wore a “Make America Great Again” hat into the bar, said he and his buddies received rude service from the bartender.

“Anyone who supports Trump — or believes in what you believe — is not welcome here! And you need to leave right now because we won’t serve you!” Piatek claimed he was told after he complained about the service.

So, Piatek filed a lawsuit for an unspecified amount for emotional damages against. He claimed the bar “offended his sense of being American.”

The Happiest Hour’s lawyer Elizabeth Conway told the judge that state and city laws protect against religious discrimination, not political beliefs, and “supporting Trump is not a religion.”

The plaintiff’s lawyer told the judge that Piatek’s hat is part of his spiritual belief.

“The purpose of the hat is that he wore it because he was visiting the 9/11 Memorial,” attorney Paul Liggieri said in court. “He was paying spiritual tribute to the victims of 9/11. The ‘Make American Great Again’ hat was part of his spiritual belief.”

What did the bar employees want?

The bar’s employees wanted Piatek to take off the hat.

“Rather than remove his hat, instead he held true to his spiritual belief and was forced from the bar,” Liggieri said.

Cohen asked how the employees would know of Piatek’s “unusual religious beliefs?”

“They were aware he was wearing the hat,” Liggieri answered.

“How many members are in this spiritual program that your client is engaged in?” Cohen asked.

“Your honor, we don’t allege the amount of individuals,” Liggieri said.

“So, it’s a creed of one?” Cohen asked Liggieri.

“Yes, your honor,” Liggieri replied.

After a short break, Cohen returned with his ruling.

“Plaintiff does not state any faith-based principle to which the hat relates,” Cohen said. “Here the claim that plaintiff was not served and eventually escorted out of the bar because of his perceived support for President Trump is not outrageous conduct.”

It’s unclear whether Piatek will file an appeal.

via TheBlaze.com – Stories

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.theblaze.com

via Conservative Tribune

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.westernjournal.com/ct

via Conservative Tribune

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.westernjournal.com/ct

Robert Mueller is the special counsel investigating collusion between Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia to steal the 2016 presidential election. […]

via Downtrend.com

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://downtrend.com

via Conservative Tribune

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.westernjournal.com/ct

The post Broward Deputies vote ‘no confidence’ in Sheriff Scott Israel appeared first on Hot Air.

via Hot Air

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://hotair.com

A federal judge has ruled the University of California, Berkeley, must face a lawsuit that it discriminated against conservative speakers like Ben Shapiro and Ann Coulter, Courthouse News reported. The court dismissed some of the plaintiff’s claims, but allowed others to stand.

U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney found Wednesday that the plaintiffs presented an adequate argument that the university “used an overly broad events policy to charge excessive fees and impose other unreasonable restrictions on conservative speakers,” according to the report.

Chesney took issue with a section of the policy that allows the university to impose stricter rules based on an event’s “complexity,” according to the report.

She rejected, however, the allegation that the university deliberately tried to squelch conservative viewpoints. She found that some liberal events did not carry the same security issues when compared to conservative speakers.

Also, Chesney dismissed a claim for punitive damages, the report states.

What is the background?

Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth organization, and Berkeley College Republicans sued University of California President Janet Napolitano (the former secretary of the Department of Homeland Security) and other school officials in April 2017, Courthouse News reported. The lawsuit claims the college unconstitutionally suppressed conservative speech on campus.

The lawsuit was filed shortly after the college cited safety concerns and cancelled an event with conservative commentator Ann Coulter, CNS reported.

College organizers offered to reschedule the event at a venue that was off-campus and during a week when classes were not held, according to the report.

Another complaint in the lawsuit involved “exorbitant” security fees for events that included appearances by Shapiro in September 2017 and conservative writer David Horowitz in April 2017. According to the lawsuit, both events were cancelled because of the expensive security fees.

Chesney found the university charged a much higher ($9,162) security fee for the Shapiro speech than it did for events featuring Supreme Court Justice and Obama appointee Sonia Sotomayor in the same venue, the report said.

In contrast, liberal speakers such as former Mexican President Vicente Fox and former Clinton White House official Maria Echaveste, were allegedly given the opportunity to speak as a central campus location during afternoon and evening hours, according to the plaintiffs.

“We’re very pleased that our lawsuit against UC Berkeley officials in their individual and official capacities is moving forward,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Harmeet Dhillon. “We look forward to litigating these issues.”

How did Berkeley respond?

“We are pleased that the court carefully considered the issues and upheld the Major Events Policy that the campus adopted last year,” Dan Mogulof, assistant vice chancellor of UC Berkeley’s Office of Communications and Public Affairs, said in an email to Courthouse News.

Mogulof also maintained the university was justified in charging the fee, as it had spent more than $800,000 on security expenses for Shapiro’s visit.

“The campus strongly contends that the fees charged were lawful and appropriate, and this ruling does not conclude otherwise,” Mogulof said.

Settlement talks are expected to begin on June 5 with a magistrate judge.

via TheBlaze.com – Stories

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.theblaze.com

This is an extraordinary story – not only of the quick thinking and compassion of police officers but also of the compassion of a random bunch of truck drivers, who had no idea when they set out last night that they would ever be part of something like this.

via CanadaFreePress.Com

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://canadafreepress.com/

Pro-life students were blasted as “pale faces” during an open-mic event — ironically titled, “Speak Out for Justice” — at the University of Minnesota-Duluth while a pro-life Muslim student said she was repeatedly denied the chance to speak, Campus Reform reported.

Student Advocates for Choice member Reilly Manzer ripped into a host of other enemies during Saturday’s event, the outlet said, including “white supremacists I have to call my peers,” those who believe “all lives matter” — which he called “honky nonsense” — as well as the “I-don’t-see-race people” and those who “scream” at him for “kneeling during the national anthem.”

But Manzer had a special message — accented with a couple of F-bombs — for those who oppose abortion.

“I’m f***in’ tired of the pale faces of the pro-life group that compare abortion to slavery and the Holocaust and then go and complain to the university that they’re being discriminated against because people call them the f*** out,” Manzer was heard saying on video.

Campus Reform said Manzer declined to comment to the outlet about his words, which also included a mention of “white fragility,” a takedown of those who disagree with toppling statues of southern Civil War figures — as well as a call to “rise up and rip white supremacy from its roots.”

Here’s the clip. (Content warning: Some strong language):

A Muslim student reportedly wanted to speak as well, but there was a little problem…

Ayah Abuserrieh, a Muslim pro-life student, told Campus Reform she wanted to get behind the mic as well and tell the crowd how her faith informs her support for the pro-life cause.

But she told the outlet that “when I came up to the open-mic, they told me ‘no’ twice. Other students were allowed to speak about things that made them uncomfortable…and I wanted to speak about the harassment that cultural minority groups face on campus.”

Abuserrieh — a prominent member of the Muslim Students Association, College Republicans and Bulldog Students for Life — added to Campus Reform that the open-mic organizers “didn’t even know what I wanted to say” when they denied her request to speak.

She also called Manzer’s characterizations of pro-life students “gross and ridiculous,” the outlet said.

“The idea that the pro-life movement is related to white supremacy…it’s ridiculous that people actually believe that,” Abuserrieh told Campus Reform. “Bulldogs for Life and College Republicans are some of the most inclusive groups on campus. There’s never been a time where [I] — as a Muslim person of color — [have] felt uncomfortable whatsoever.”

This writer’s perspective

Could it be that if the open-mic organizers balked at Abuserrieh’s repeated requests to speak, they did so because they know who she is and what she stands for — and that she’s a “person of color” — and didn’t want to risk seeing that pro-life “pale faces” narrative dismantled before their eyes?

As Campus Reform noted, given Abuserrieh is a prominent member of the Muslim Students Association, College Republicans and Bulldog Students for Life, she wouldn’t seem to be an unknown quantity on campus.

One also wonders: If Abuserrieh were a well-known member of liberal groups on campus and staunchly pro-choice, would she be denied a chance to speak at an open mic that touted “justice” in its title?

via TheBlaze.com – Stories

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.theblaze.com

Ken Bone, the man who became Internet famous for asking questions during one of the 2016 Presidential debates (and for wearing a now-iconic red pullover), says his son was suspended from school pending an investigation after Bone posted a photo of him and his son getting time in at the gun range.
On Thursday, Bone reposted the photo, noting that his son was now facing an inquiry from school officials.

via Daily Wire

Enjoy this article? Read the full version at the authors website: https://www.dailywire.com/rss.xml