(NEW YORK) — A California man was arrested this week for allegedly threatening to bomb Merriam-Webster’s offices and kill its employees over the dictionary publisher’s definitions for women, federal prosecutors said.
Jeremy David Hanson, 34, of Rossmoor, California, was charged on April 20 with one count of interstate communication of threats to commit violence for alleged online threats that he sent to the company in October, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Hanson allegedly sent the company several threatening messages through its “Contact us” section on its website and in the comments section on its webpages that corresponded to the word entries for “Girl” and “Woman.” Rachael Rollins, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said. Rollins said the threats were serious enough to force Merriam-Webster to close its Springfield and New York offices out of an abundance of caution.
“We believe Hanson sent a multitude of anonymous threatening and despicable messages related to the LGBTQ community that were intended to evoke fear and division,” she said in a statement.
Hanson allegedly used the handle “@anonYmous” to post the a message on Oct. 2 on the comment section of Merriam-Webster’s webpage for the definition of the word female stating that “Merriam-Webster now tells blatant lies and promotes anti-science propaganda,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
“There is no such thing as ‘gender identity.’ The imbecile who wrote this entry should be hunted down and shot,” he allegedly wrote in the comment section.
Hanson also allegedly wrote a message on the “Contact us” page stating the company’s headquarters should be “shot up and bombed,” federal prosecutors said.
“It would be poetic justice to have someone storm your offices and shoot up the place, leaving none of you commies alive,” he allegedly wrote.
Hanson posted a similar message on the “Contact us” page on Oct. 8, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The suspect allegedly sent related threats to other companies, non-profits and individuals including the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, Land O’ Lakes, Hasbro, Inc., IGN Entertainment, the president of the University of North Texas, two professors at Loyola Marymount University and a New York City rabbi, according to prosecutors.
“Threats to life are most certainly not protected speech and they cause real fear in victims,” Joseph R. Bonavolonta, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division, said in a statement.
Attorney information for Hanson wasn’t immediately available.
He was released on conditions following a court appearance in the Central District of California, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Katherine A. Robertson in federal court in Springfield on April 29, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
(NEW YORK) — Auto shows were once a marquee event for automakers — a way to let interested buyers see, sit in, touch and get acquainted with the latest models. With many companies pulling out of shows over exorbitant fees and the COVID pandemic canceling shows all over the world, automakers are taking a new approach to win over customers: Haute cuisine and experience centers.
Take Korean luxury brand Genesis. Consumers attending the New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center in Manhattan will not find the stylish and sporty GV70, Genesis’ highly acclaimed sport-utility vehicle that went on sale last year, anywhere in the cavernous space. But a short drive away is the Genesis House, an immersive “sanctuary” in the Meatpacking District that gives consumers a taste of what to expect from the brand. On the first floor are the company’s latest vehicles as well as concept designs and samples of colors and materials.
The 46,000-square-foot space, which officially opened in November, acts as part showroom and part art gallery. The vibe? “Distinctly Korean,” according to the automaker.
On the second level is Onjium, a Michelin-starred restaurant and cultural institute from Seoul, that serves authentic, upscale Korean dishes to gastronomes while the Tea Pavilion, a “veranda-like living room,” offers tea and Korean cookies with panoramic views of the Hudson River and High Line.
“The way to anybody’s heart is through their stomachs, so it makes sense,” Tony Quiroga, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver, told ABC News of Genesis House. A memorable meal can “heighten the prestige” of a brand, he said, and automakers are desperate to stand out and build loyalty.
Japanese automaker Lexus won over car — and food — aficionados with its Intersect by Lexus restaurant, a culinary “experience” that featured world recognized chefs and rotating menus. The Lexus connection was subtle; a wall collage of whitewashed vehicle parts or the Lexus-spindle grille in the bamboo-laminated lattice seamlessly blended into the architecture. Lexus decided to close the Meatpacking restaurant in January.
“From the outset our goal was to build a space designed for people to experience the ethos of the Lexus lifestyle without getting behind the steering wheel,” according to a press release announcing the news. “INTERSECT was intended to enhance the Lexus brand in an impactful and meaningful way, and it did just that. We are proud of what we have accomplished, and we consider INTERSECT BY LEXUS- NYC a great success. The Lexus brand will continue to develop creative and innovative lifestyle experiences to experience amazing, and we look forward to sharing this with customers for years to come.”
Ed Kim, president and chief analyst of AutoPacific, said visitors to Genesis House can learn about the cultural influences on the vehicle’s designs.
“Many brands are looking at creative ways to get the brand message across to consumers,” he told ABC News.
BMW, Lotus, Ford and Porsche have experience centers dotted across the U.S., allowing enthusiasts to pay money to test-drive the hottest models on a track — and possibly leave with one, too.
“It happens all the time — people buy a BMW after the program,” Dan Gubitosa, director of BMW Performance Centers, told ABC News. “We point them to a dealer closest to where they live.”
BMW operates two performance driving schools: the Spartanburg, South Carolina, location opened in 1999 followed by the Thermal, California, track in 2015. In August BMW will open a satellite program — the BMW M Track Series — at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We certainly expose people to the brand. That’s the objective of these schools,” Gubitosa said.
About 23,000 people attend BMW’s driving schools each year and the programs range from half or full-day instruction with professional race car drivers. Prices start at $299 for two hours and top out at $3,995 for two days at the M School.
“The high-performance cars are here. BMW’s most popular models — the X3 and X5 — are here too. We also have an off-road course. You can test-drive just about anything,” Gubitosa said.
Porsche has nine experience centers globally, with locations in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Germany, Italy and Tokyo. The tenth Porsche Experience Center [PEC] will welcome visitors in 2024 in Toronto.
“You don’t have to be an owner to come and drive or tour through the gallery,” Michelle Rainey, manager of the Atlanta Porsche Experience Center, told ABC News. “We want to be approachable to all people and we’re always making sure we have the latest and greatest vehicles so it’s representative of what’s at our Porsche dealers.”
More than 550,000 people have signed up for driving programs at the Atlanta and LA Experience Centers since 2015, according to a Porsche spokesperson. A major expansion to the Atlanta track, debuting in early 2023, includes a 1.3-mile handling circuit that was inspired by the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca, the Carousel from Germany’s Nurburgring-Nordschleife track and the Tail of the Dragon in the Smoky Mountains. There will also be a low-friction, wetted 197-feet asphalt circle and an ice-hill, with a wet and slick surface along with an incline and decline to demonstrate traction control, according to Porsche. Current programs start at $365 for 90 minutes and Porsche’s coveted sports cars like the 911 GT3, Taycan Turbo S and Cayman GT4 are available to drive.
“We’re teaching you all about the cars,” said Rainey. “We are always developing new programs that appeal to new audiences.”
Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power, pointed out that these experience centers are essentially creating brand ambassadors for automakers.
“If you buy a BMW and you go to the performance driving school, you’re going to be much more enthusiastic about the brand. It’s about indoctrinating you and getting you into the brand,” he told ABC News.
Added Kim: “For a brand like BMW or Porsche, performance is at the very core and very foundation of what they’re about. It makes sense to do things like experiences.”
Quiroga, of Car and Driver, still views auto shows as the ideal way to reach the largest audience of potential buyers. The NYIAS attracts at least 628,000 U.S. households on average each year, according to one report.
“Auto shows are incredibly expensive for manufacturers to attend … but they still matter for consumers,” he argued. “It’s still a really easy place to get excited and see a lot of cars without the pressure of a salesman. Not attending is going to hurt automakers eventually.”
(WASHINGTON) — NASA kicked off its first Earth Day celebration since the COVID-19 pandemic Friday at Washington, D.C.’s Union Station. The weekendlong event allows attendees to navigate informational exhibits led by NASA specialists on topics such as planet rotation, volcanic eruptions and NASA’s newest scientific expeditions.
Bill Nelson, NASA’s administrator and highest-ranking official, made an appearance announcing a mission control initiative focused on NASA’s state-of-the-art climate-monitoring system called the Earth Information Center, which is expected to launch in the next few years.
Nelson, who championed environmental causes as a Democratic senator from Florida for 18 years, said NASA’s role in curbing climate change is bringing a data-driven approach to everybody, including all levels of government, universities, schools, the private sector and the “everyday American.”
“The reason we want to bring this to the public is this is our home,” Nelson said. “This is the planet, it’s the only one we have. We want to keep it.”
He said attempting to change laws relating to climate raises challenges in political viability.
“Sometimes, politically, that’s hard because it’s entrenched in special interests,” Nelson said. “But we’ve got to keep trying.”
While still in the conceptual phase, the center would be funded by the president’s most recent budget proposal for fiscal year 2023. The $2.4 billion could fund real-time climate- and weather-monitoring systems easily accessible to the public.
Nelson said it’s wonderful to see kids’ eyes light up when they interact with the exhibits.
NASA hopes to inspire children like 8-year-old Connor Everitt to explore their scientific passions. Connor said he dreams of becoming an engineer and is inspired by NASA’s innovations.
“Anything that we can do to inspire them to have a greater tomorrow for the entire world is a good thing,” his father, Cole Everitt, said.
(NEW YORK) — Textbook publishers say they have been left in the dark about why their mathematics books were rejected by the Florida Department of Education, with the state claiming the textbooks sought to “indoctrinate” students.
ABC News contacted the eight publishers who were rejected on the basis of “special subjects” — including critical race theory, a discipline often practiced in higher education that analyzes the role of racism in U.S. legal systems.
Other “special subjects” included Common Core education standards, as well as Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) techniques. SEL is a practice that infuses social and emotional development skills with various school subjects.
Several companies say they’ve not yet heard from the state about the reasoning behind the rejections or how they implemented said “special subjects” in their textbooks.
The Florida Department of Education says that since some content is copyrighted, it is unable to publicly release examples about the reasons textbooks were rejected. However, they released examples that were given to the department that show statistics on racism, mentions of social awareness and discussions on emotional learning frameworks.
Florida has rejected almost 41% of the textbooks submitted for the upcoming school year, the department said in a statement last week.
For grades K-5, 71% of materials were rejected. In grades 6 through 8, 20% were rejected. In grades 9 through 12, 35% were rejected, according to the department.
The state Department of Education says that 21% of all rejected books incorporated “prohibited topics” or “unsolicited strategies,” including apparent instances of critical race theory.
In June 2021, the department sent an addendum to the bid specifications for mathematics textbooks to these publishers.
“In an effort to make sure Florida students have the highest quality instructional materials, we are advising publishers and school districts to not incorporate unsolicited strategies, such as social emotional learning and culturally responsive teaching,” the letter stated.
Some of the biggest textbook publishers in the country were later included in the long list of rejections, including McGraw Hill, Cengage Learning, Savvas Learning Company — formerly known as Pearson K12 Learning — and Macmillan Learning.
“Savvas has a long and successful track record of working with the Florida Department of Education to ensure that our instructional materials deliver high-quality, research-based pedagogy designed intentionally to align with the current Florida standards for mathematics,” a Savvas spokesperson told ABC News.
Several of the companies said they are not clear as to what needs to be fixed or how they broached “special subjects” against the state’s wishes.
“At Macmillan Learning, everything we do is in service of our common goal with educators — to see students succeed,” a Macmillan Learning spokesperson told ABC News.
“We were surprised and disappointed to learn that a statistics text from Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers (the Advanced Placement and 9-12 High School division of Macmillan Learning) was not on the approved list of titles from the State of Florida with no explanation,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the company’s “Statistics and Probabilities with Applications” textbook received “considerable demand from districts and schools throughout the state” and earned a high score of 4.6 out of 5 on Florida’s Subject-Specific Standards Score.
Publishers now must appeal this decision, or revise the submissions to meet Florida’s expectations.
Some teachers may be limited in how many books they can choose from. From the latest list of approved books, grades K-2 teachers seemingly only have one book they can choose.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed publishers for the alleged inclusion of certain subjects.
“It seems that some publishers attempted to slap a coat of paint on an old house built on the foundation of Common Core, and indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism, especially, bizarrely, for elementary school students,” DeSantis said in the announcement of rejected books.
ABC News’ Will McDuffie contributed to this report.
(PHOENIX) — There are at least 11 large wildfires currently raging in the Southwestern U.S. — largely in Arizona and New Mexico.
The Tunnel Fire in Arizona has burned 21,087 acres and is 3% contained as of Friday. This is one of multiple large wildfires burning in the state, with the Crooks Fire also burning south of Prescott.
Dangerous fire weather conditions are expected in the coming hours across portions of Colorado and New Mexico where an extreme fire danger alert is in place.
Strong winds, very dry and warm conditions will fuel potentially dangerous weather that could spark new fires and make any existing fires difficult to battle.
Wind gusts could top 60 to 70 mph along with relative humidity values falling into the single digits in spots.
Widespread drought conditions persist across much of the West into the Plains. Over 93% of New Mexico is facing severe drought conditions.
A severe weather threat will unfold across a large swath of the Plains Friday evening into the night. Severe thunderstorms will be possible from the Texas panhandle up into the Dakotas.
Severe thunderstorms moving into the region may bring damaging wind gusts and large hail. Tornadoes could also occur.
The bulk of these storms will begin around 8 to 9 p.m. ET and will persist into the overnight period in some areas.
Weather alerts are in effect across more than a dozen states from California to Minnesota.
There are widespread red flag and high wind warnings in effect across several states, including Denver, Colorado and New Mexico.
A wind advisory remains in place for Flagstaff, Arizona, and surrounding areas until 8 p.m. MT, with more wind gusts on the way.
Winter weather alerts are in effect across parts of the Rockies into the northern Plains. A blizzard warning is in effect from Miles City, Montana, to Minot, North Dakota.
Flood watches are in effect for parts of the Upper Midwest as well. Storm impacts are winding down along the West Coast as the system moves eastward and into the Plains.
On Saturday, the severe thunderstorm threat will stretch from Oklahoma up to Minnesota with more damaging wind gusts, large hail and the possibility of tornadoes.
(NEW YORK) — Dozens of New York City Education Department employees are being placed on unpaid leave as of Monday for submitting fake coronavirus vaccine cards.
“Fewer than 100″ employees submitted the fake vaccination cards, the DOE said Friday. A union official estimated about 70 employees were impacted.
The United Federation of Teachers, the union representing educators in the city, is preparing to challenge the move, saying some teachers claim they were wrongly accused and placing them on unpaid leave violates “the basic notion of due process.”
“It is wholly improper for the DOE to unilaterally remove UFT members from the payroll based on mere conjecture that vaccination documentation is fraudulent,” Beth A. Norton, general counsel for UFT, wrote in a letter to the city.
“The UFT demands that the DOE immediately rescind the aforementioned notices and confirm by the close of business April 22, 2022 that the affected UFT bargaining unit members will remain on the payroll on April 25, 2022 and thereafter,” the letter added. “Should the DOE fail to comply with this demand and the due process procedures, the UFT is prepared to initiate litigation to challenge the DOE’s improper actions.”
The Department of Education defended its actions in a statement.
“Fraudulent vaccination cards are not only illegal, they also undermine the best line of protection our schools have against COVID-19 — universal adult vaccination,” The Education Department said in a statement. “We immediately moved to put these employees — fewer than 100 — on leave without pay.”
New York City has engaged in a prolonged legal battle with teachers over its vaccine mandate. The mandate went into effect on Oct. 4, 2021, at the behest of then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. The city required all public school teachers — in the largest school system in the country — to receive at least one dose of the vaccine.
The city said 95% of staffers had complied with the rule by Oct. 4.
But a legal battle raged on in the courts even after the mandate went into effect, with a group of teachers appealing all the way to the Supreme Court. Just this week, the nation’s highest court refused to hear the case without explanation.
ABC News’ Mark Osborne contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A man opened fire from his apartment window in a “sniper-style” shooting in Washington, D.C., on Friday, injuring four people, before the suspect took his own life.
D.C. police responded to the Cleveland Park and Van Ness areas around 3:20 p.m. and found three shooting victims — two men and a 12-year-old girl, authorities said.
The two men are in critical but stable condition, while the child was hospitalized in stable condition with a minor gunshot wound, police said at a Friday evening press briefing. One of the men was a retired Metropolitan police officer, authorities said.
A fourth victim who sustained a gunshot wound later came forward to police. The victim — a woman in her mid-60s — had a graze wound to her upper back and received medical treatment on site, police said.
The suspect died by suicide in his apartment when police closed in, according to Metropolitan Police Department Police Chief Robert Contee.
Contee said a tripod was set up in the fifth floor apartment and the man appeared to be targeting people at random on the street below.
Six guns were found in the suspect’s apartment, including both long guns and handguns, as well as “multiple, multiple rounds” of ammunition. Contee said dozens of shots were fired, but they were still collecting evidence of exactly how many.
Police identified 23-year-old Raymond Spencer, of Fairfax, Virginia, as a person of interest “based upon the things we have seen on social media,” Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Chief Stuart Emerman told reporters during an update Friday night.
While Contee would not officially confirm that Spencer was the person found dead in the apartment, he said they were no longer looking for anyone in connection to the shooting.
Contee confirmed that a social media video of the shooting appeared to be credible, but was unsure if it was streamed live or recorded and later posted.
“Today, evil reared its ugly head in our community,” Contee said.
“It speaks to the depravity of some of the individuals we have to face in our community. … There could’ve been more damage done, more lives lost,” Contee later added.
Earlier in the evening, while still searching for Spencer, Emerman said, “We’d like to speak to Mr. Spencer, figure out if he has any role in this or any connection to this. Hopefully that’ll lead us in a direction to identify what happened here and why.”
Contee said they still do not have a motive in the shooting. The suspect was not previously arrested, Contee added.
Students from the Edmund Burke School who were on lockdown during the incident are now being reunified with families, officials said Friday night.
“We have experienced this too much in our country. The epidemic of the gun violence, the easy access to weapons has got to stop,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said. “People should not be scared taking their children to school.”
The FBI Washington Field Office confirmed in a statement to ABC News that it is assisting police in the response.
“The situation is ongoing and the FBI will provide appropriate personnel and resources, as requested and needed,” the office said.
Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Washington Field Division are also helping with the shooting investigation.
ABC News’ Luke Barr and Jack Date contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.
The Russian military has now launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, as it attempts to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Apr 22, 12:19 pm
UN chief to meet with Putin in Moscow
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.
Guterres wrote separate letters to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday asking to meet “to discuss urgent steps to bring about peace in Ukraine,” a U.N. spokesperson said earlier this week.
The international swimming federation FINA said it has suspended swimmer Evgeny Rylov, a Russian Olympic gold medalist, for allegedly attending a March concert where Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the invasion of Ukraine. The suspension will last nine months.
FINA also said Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials won’t be invited to any FINA events through the end of 2022.
Apr 22, 9:30 am
European Council president holds call with Putin
European Council President Charles Michel and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a call Friday. Michel said afterwards on Twitter that he “strongly urged for immediate humanitarian access and safe passage from Mariupol and other besieged cities all the more on the occasion of Orthodox Easter.”
Michel also said he “firmly reiterated” the EU’s support for Ukraine and “condemnation and sanctions for Russia’s aggression.”
According to the Kremlin’s readout of the call, Michel asked Putin to have direct contact with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Kremlin said Putin “reaffirmed the well-known position on this matter, noting that such a possibility depends, in particular, on concrete results in the ongoing negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives, during which the Ukrainian side is showing inconsistency and is not ready to seek mutually acceptable solutions.”
Apr 22, 8:15 am
UK to reopen embassy in Kyiv
The United Kingdom announced Friday that it will soon reopen its embassy in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.
The U.K. Embassy in Kyiv, in northern Ukraine, was forced to temporarily close in late February due to Russia’s invasion. A contingent of British staff remained in western Ukraine to provide humanitarian and other support. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed Friday that the embassy will reopen next week, “dependent on the security situation,” according to a press release from the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
“The extraordinary fortitude and success of President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people in resisting Russian forces, means we will shortly be re-opening our British Embassy in Kyiv,” U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement. “I want to pay tribute to the bravery and resilience of the Embassy team and their work throughout this period.”
The embassy premises in Kyiv are currently being made secure before staff return, starting with U.K. ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons. The U.K. continues to advise its citizens against all travel to Ukraine, according to the FCDO.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
Apr 22, 7:58 am
Russia aims to ‘contain Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol,’ UK says
Russia’s decision to blockade a steel plant in Mariupol “likely indicates a desire to contain Ukrainian resistance” in the strategic port city “and free up Russian forces to be deployed elsewhere in eastern Ukraine,” the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Friday in an intelligence update.
The Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant is the last holdout for Ukrainian fighters in besieged Mariupol.
“A full ground assault by Russia on the plant would likely incur significant Russian casualties, further decreasing their overall combat effectiveness,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, heavy shelling and fighting continues across eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region as Russian forces seek to advance further toward settlements including Krasnyy Lyman, Buhayikva, Barvinkove, Lyman and Popasna, “as part of their plans for the region,” according to the ministry.
“Despite Russia’s renewed focus they are still suffering from losses sustained earlier in the conflict,” the ministry added. “In order to try and reconstitute their depleted forces, they have resorted to transiting inoperable equipment back to Russia for repair.”
Apr 22, 6:34 am
Putin to speak with European Council president
Russian President Vladimir Putin will have a telephone conversation with European Council President Charles Michel on Friday before meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“Putin will now have an international conversation,” Peskov told reporters Friday. “It will be the President of the European Council, Michel. And then during the day, Putin is scheduled to have an operational meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council.”
The U.S. has assessed that the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol remains contested, and that Russian airstrike activity remains focused there and on the Donbas region, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday.
Russia now has 85 battalion tactical groups, each made up of roughly 800 to 1,000 troops, inside of Ukraine, the official said. More of these groups are headed to the Donbas region, the official said.
(WASHINGTON) — GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Friday became the first member of Congress to publicly testify under oath about the events surrounding the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Monday night, a federal judge allowed a legal challenge by a group of Georgia voters to move forward as they seek to disqualify Greene from running for reelection, citing her alleged role in supporting the attack.
The voters argue a provision of the Constitution’s Fourteenth Amendment known as the “disqualification clause” prevents Greene from holding federal office.
Passed after the Civil War, the disqualification clause bars any person from holding federal office who has previously taken an oath to protect the Constitution — including a member of Congress — who has “engaged in insurrection” against the United States or “given aid or comfort” to its “enemies.”
An avid supporter of former President Donald Trump, Greene has denied any involvement in the attack and said she is appealing.
Judge Charles Beaudrot presided over Friday’s hearing and expert witnesses were called to testify.
In his opening statement, Ron Fein, a lawyer representing five voters who made the complaint against Greene and the legal director of Free Speech For People, argued why Jan. 6 should be considered an insurrection.
“This was not the type of insurrection where the leaders were standing in Richmond, Virginia, giving long-winded speeches,” Fein said. “Rather, the leaders of this insurrection, of whom there were a number, were among us — on Facebook, Twitter and corners of social media that would make your stomach hurt. The evidence will show that Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of them.”
“The most powerful witness against Marjorie Taylor Greene’s candidacy, the most powerful witness in establishing that she crossed the line into engagement of insurrection is Marjorie Taylor Greene herself,” he said.
Fein told ABC News in an email that the Georgia “voters who filed this lawsuit have a right to have their challenge heard” and that he looked forward to questioning Greene under oath.
Inside the courtroom, he pressed the congresswoman on her oath of office.
“If you were aware that somebody was going to unlawfully interfere with the constitutional process of counting electoral votes, you would be obliged to have them arrested or stopped, right?” Fein asked.
She responded, “I had no knowledge of any examples, and so that’s the question I can’t answer.”
The time frame for the judge to render his decision on whether Greene should remain on the ballot is tight. Early voting for the Georgia primary begins May 2 and the primary itself is on May 17.
James Bopp, Greene’s attorney, told ABC News this week that the challenge to Greene is “absurd” and that it shouldn’t be up to judges to decide who represents Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.
“Those voters have a right to vote for the candidate of their choosing. And they have a right to have their vote counted,” he told the court in his opening statement Friday, adding that Greene was not a perpetrator but a “victim” of the attack, which he argued was “despicable” but not an insurrection.
“Her life was in danger, she thought,” Bopp said. “She was scared and confused.”
Bopp also represents GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who is facing a similar challenge against his reelection from a group of voters in North Carolina.
Cawthorn’s lawsuit to dismiss the challenge to his reelection is set for oral arguments on May 3 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia.
In an interview Tuesday with ABC News affiliate WTVC-TV, Greene called the legal challenge a “scam.”
“All I did was what I’m legally and allowed to do by the Constitution as a member of Congress, and that was I objected to Joe Biden’s Electoral College votes from a few states,” Greene said.
Greene also said she was a “victim” on Jan. 6.
Mike Rasbury, one of the voters challenging Greene’s eligibility to run for reelection, said in a statement that Greene “took an oath of office to protect democracy from all enemies foreign and domestic … However, she has flippantly ignored this oath and, based on her role in the January 6 insurrection, is disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution from holding any future public office.”
Rasbury was in the courtroom while Greene testified.
GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida was also present in the courtroom Friday, in an apparent show of solidarity with his fellow firebrand Republican.
Speaking on Fox News Monday night, Greene told host Tucker Carlson that Democrats are trying to keep her name off the ballot, maintaining she had nothing to do with the attack on the Capitol.
“I have to go to court on Friday and actually be questioned about something I’ve never been charged with and something I was completely against,” Greene said.
The challenges against Greene and Cawthorn are part of a larger legal effort to prevent anyone allegedly involved in the events surrounding Jan. 6 — or who supported it — from running for reelection.
Similar challenges are being brought against GOP Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona and theoretically could be brought against Trump if he decides to run for office again in 2024.
(NEW YORK) — As the midterm elections inch closer and political conversations heat up, one organization is hoping to bring people together despite their differences.
America Talks, in partnership with Gannett and USA Today, launched in 2021 aiming to connect Americans of varying political ideologies. Participants in the online event answer a short survey and the questions ask how they feel about political topics so that they can be paired with someone who has different perspectives than their own. Then, they are matched with someone from across the country and given a guide to help foster the conversation. The idea is based on contact theory, a sociological concept that person-to-person contact can help reduce friction.
The second annual America Talks takes place on Saturday.
Brian Roy, an Independent from Benton, Kentucky, and Brian Webb, a Libertarian from Sheridan, Wyoming, found common ground and friendship during their America Talks conversation last year.
“We began to talk about the differences in Wyoming and in Kentucky. We talked about real everyday things that were not divisive and mean-spirited. And so we’ve continued that dialogue, and he sends me pictures and we talk and we talk about the weather, how cold it is in Wyoming versus how wet it is,” Roy told ABC News, adding that “he checked on us during the aftermath of the tornado back in December.”
“We just had a real genuine conversation, and you know what, we don’t enter into politics. So it’s been good and it’s refreshing, and I wish it would happen here more at home where I live, but it’s still very difficult to communicate with some people,” Roy said.
Mizell Stewart III, vice president of news performance, talent, and partnerships for Gannett told ABC News the program is about “elements of what Americans agree on rather than what divides Americans.”
“In other words, let’s engage people in conversation that is really person to person, not through a social media filter,” Stewart said.
Half of Americans who voted for Joe Biden and almost 60% who voted for Donald Trump view the opposing party as “presenting a clear and present danger to American democracy,” according to the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
And the divisions date back to before the Trump era. Since at least 2012, Americans are more likely to say conflicts between Democrats and Republicans are stronger than between other groups, according to a Pew Research Center study out of 17 countries. Americans also say the country is more divided now than it was before the pandemic.
“I am someone that enjoys politics,” said Roy. “I enjoyed talking about politics up until about two or three years ago, and then it got so contentious, and it got so unfriendly, even among family and very close friends that it got to where it was just no longer a discussion that I wanted to join in.”
While divisions run high, the Pew Research Center also found both Republicans and Democrats when questioned had certain things in common, like wanting their preferred candidates to address the needs of all Americans “even if it means disappointing some of his supporters.”
According to Mizell, those kinds of commonalities are what America Talks is all about.
“…As we begin to peel away layers of expectations, if you will, in conversations like this and really engage in dialogue, what we find is that we have much more in common than we realize,” he said.
That is the lesson Roy has taken away.
“We’re all Americans. We all care about our local communities. We care about our state, we care about our country,” he said. “And when we get down into the weeds of partisan politics, everybody… is attracted to a sound bite, most of them negative, and that’s the sad part.”
“There’s no two-way conversation and I just wish people would relax, calm down,” he added. “When they look at the flag…I wish people would look at that and try to remember that we’re all in this together. And we can agree to disagree.”
