We’re Safe Here… Or Are We?

Here in Connecticut sometimes we complacent, we are a blue state, we have a progressive legislature that supports LGBTQ+ rights, we have some of the strongest gun laws in the nation, we are safe here… but we have some right-wing extremist here in the “Constitution Sate” who are racists and anti-LGBTQ+.

We are not immune to violence.

Alleged Thwarted Mass Shooter Left Trail Of Racist And Anti-Transgender Posts
TMP
By Josh Kovensky
August 16, 2019

A Connecticut man who had amassed an arsenal of tactical weapons and body armor, and who police say may have been preparing for a mass shooting, left a trail of virulently racist and anti-trans postings online.

TPM found that social media accounts registered to Norwalk, Connecticut resident Brandon Wagshol both reflected elements of the police accusations against him and contained rants against minorities.

Wagshol was arrested, officials said, after a joint FBI-local police investigation on a tip that the 22-year old was trying to import “large capacity rifle magazines from out of state.” During the investigation, Wagshol wrote a Facebook post “that showed his interest in committing a mass shooting,” leading to a raid on his house and his arrest, the FBI and local police said in a joint statement.

Police say that they uncovered a weapons cache during the raid, including titanium body armor and a combat helmet.

The Hour had this to say about him,

NORWALK — A city man accused of showing interest in “committing a mass shooting” in a social media post — who had allegedly obtained rifle parts online in an attempt to build his own rifle — was charged with illegal possession of large capacity magazines Thursday, according to police.
[…]
The FBI’s National Threat Operations Center had received a tip that Wagshol was “attempting to purchase large capacity rifle magazines from out of state,” a news release said. The FBI and Norwalk police immediately launched an investigation.

During the investigation, officers found that Wagshol was buying rifle parts online in an attempt to build his own rifle, police said, adding that Wagshol “had a Facebook post that showed his interest in committing a mass shooting.”

And he had access to an arsenal...

As they searched the home, officers seized a .40 caliber handgun, a .22 caliber rifle, a rifle scope with a laser, four firearm optic sites, a firearm flashlight, body armor with a titanium plate, a full camouflage outfit, a ballistic helmet, tactical gloves, a camouflage bag, computers, and numerous .40 caliber, .22 caliber and .300 blackout rounds of ammunition, police said.

The guns were registered to Wagshol’s father, who lives at the home. Police said the guns were accessible to Wagshol. Police said the father has not been charged with anything as of Thursday, but that the investigation is still ongoing.

When we have Pride events, TDOR, and other LGBTQ+ we have to be aware of our surroundings.

Back in 2009 at a marriage equality rally on the north side of the capitol and anti-marriage rally was held on the south… a young man came around to our side of the rally and left a jar containing a liquid on the steps of the capitol. The police not knowing ended the rally and brought in the bomb squad.

Some in the anti-marriage faction claimed it was a miracle because the liquid was holy water that ended the pro-marriage rally; we say it was an act of terrorism.

After El Paso, Latinos across America voice a new kind of fear
Across the country, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters contemplate the idea of becoming a target, and worry about the future.
USA TODAY Network
August 17, 2019

The mass shooting in El Paso was one of the deadliest hate crimes in American history against Latinos.

The shooter left a manifesto with anti-Hispanic and anti-immigrant sentiment.

Now, the fear among Latino people is palpable.

Latinos are calling this a turning point. The shooting, they say, has peeled back the hate behind words they've tried to ignore. It has sliced open the racism many grew up learning to navigate.

How do you turn the other cheek, they wonder, when the weapon is loaded with bullets?

The killing of 22 people in a border city has left them fearful of living in their own country: because of the brown color of their skin, because they speak Spanish or because of where they or their families were born.
[…]
Here, Latino and Latina voices from across America tell us in their own words what it is to live in fear.

In the Washington Post they wrote,

Hate crimes are on the rise. What does it take to get state governments to respond?
By Alison Faupel , Heather L. Scheuerman , Christie L. Parris and Regina Werum
August 13, 2019

The El Paso attack comes amid a five-year upward trend in reported hate crimes in the United States, according to the FBI. The spike is marked by particularly shocking killings, including those of nine members of a historically black church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015, 49 people at a Latino gay nightclub, Pulse, in Orlando in 2016, and a counterprotester at the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing in April, Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) called this rise in hate crimes “an urgent crisis in our country” and blasted law enforcement agencies for failing to take stronger action.

It is us; we are the ones that are ultimately responsible for our own safety.

I know it sounds trite but “If you see something, say something.”

Don’t hide in fear because that is what they want us to do, be aware of your surroundings at the TDOR, at Pride events, at the Trans Day of Visibility, and at other events where people gather.

When I was working I was appointed the “Safety Engineer” for the factory and had I 40 Hour Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response training for emergency responses so now when I go into a building I look for emergency exits the first thing when I enter a room. It is a good habit to get into.

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Then we have the words and wisdom of the Attorney General of the United States, the honorable William Barr (said with tongue-in-cheek) where according to Department of Justice’s brief the DoJ endorses the view of the funeral home owner, Thomas Rost...

Rost stated under oath that he “believe[s] that the Bible teaches that it is wrong for a biological male to deny his sex by dressing as a woman or for a biological female to deny her sex by dressing as a man” and that Rost “would be violating God’s commands if [he] were to permit one of [Harris Homes’] male funeral directors to wear the uniform for female funeral directors while at work, or if [he] were to permit one of [Harris Homes’] female funeral directors to wear the uniform for male funeral directors while at work.” J.A. 131. Rost made clear that, “[i]f a female funeral director were to tell [Rost] that she would not comply with the uniform requirement for female funeral directors while at work, [Rost] would discharge her for refusing to comply with [Harris Homes’] dress code.” J.A. 134. Harris Homes did not discriminate because of sex by treating a biologically male employee who refused to abide by the dress code the same way it would have treated a similarly situated biologically female

employee who refused to abide by the dress code.
You got that?

It is okay to fire a woman who refuses to wear a skirt or a dress! And the DoJ endorses that view.

I would like to point out that the Supreme Court said that was in violation of Title VII in the case of Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228 (1989). But the Department of Justice won’t let a little thing like a Supreme Court ruling get in their way for “Religious Freedom.”