₦airaland Forum

Mirabella00:
Like seriously

Very seriously. I have searched for years for them, not to be found anywhere.

Will pay up to 80k to anyone who can send me these songs, whether YouTube Video or mp3

1) 10k each for the official songs for Nigeria's 25th Anniversary. Both songs start as follows

1) Nigeria is 25, ring the bell....
2) Nigeria is 25, the odds we have survived

30k or more each for the whole album of

1) Lorine Okotie (Jesus I Love You)
2) A gospel song by an OAU group released around 2000/2001. One of the songs goes as follows:

" It is your Mercies yesterday today and forever, Lord your love, Lord your light.." Then adds some Yoruba words I think.


Below is the thread created 10 Years ago for one of the Nigeria Anniversary songs.


https://www.nairaland.com/437568/nigeria-25-theme-song-bongos/1

Nigeria Is 62. Which Way Nigeria?!!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQRryNzHOks

Second time was not the charm.

MacKenzie Scott filed for divorce from her second husband, Dan Jewett, on Monday after less than two years of marriage.

According to documents obtained by the New York Times, Jewett did not contest the divorce and the division of property has already been determined in a prenuptial agreement.

The former couple — who quietly got married in March 2021 — first hinted at marital problems when the science teacher’s name suddenly disappeared from Scott’s philanthropic pledges.

On the site for the Giving Pledge, where billionaires promise to give away half of their fortune before they die, his letter no longer appears with hers.

Her Amazon bio also completely erased any mention of her second husband.

Scott’s divorce comes three years after she and Jeff Bezos announced they were splitting following 25 years of marriage.

“We want to make people aware of a development in our lives,” Bezos, the world’s second richest person, tweeted at the time. “As our family and close friends know, after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue our shared lives as friends.”

He continued, “We feel incredibly lucky to have found each other and deeply grateful for every one of the years we have been married to each other. If we had known we would separate after 25 years, we would do it all again.”

Their divorce came just before Bezos’ affair with TV journalist Lauren Sanchez was exposed.

Bezos and Scott first met when they both worked for the hedge fund D.E. Shaw. They went on to have four children together.

Following their divorce, Scott became the 12th richest person in the world as Bezos’ assets were split in half.

Source: https://pagesix.com/2022/09/28/jeff-bezos-ex-wife-mackenzie-scott-divorcing-husband-dan-jewett/

22 Years after; the memory lingers on!

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska on Saturday resigned from office after a California jury convicted him of lying to federal authorities about an illegal campaign donation from a foreign national.

In a letter to the House, Fortenberry said he was resigning from Congress, effective March 31.

“It has been my honor to serve with you in the United States House of Representatives,” he said in the letter. “Due to the difficulties of my current circumstances, I can no longer effectively serve.”

Fortenberry’s resignation letter opened with a poem, “Do It Anyway,” that’s associated with Mother Teresa. One line from the poem says: “What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway.”

Fortenberry’s announcement followed concerted pressure from political leaders in Nebraska and Washington for him to step down. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Friday urged Fortenberry to resign.

Nebraska Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts said Fortenberry should “do the right thing for his constituents” and leave the office he has held since 2005.

Fortenberry was indicted in October after authorities said he lied to FBI agents in two separate interviews about his knowledge of an illegal $30,000 contribution from his campaign from a foreign billionaire. Fortenberry was interviewed at his home in Lincoln, and then again with his lawyers present in Washington, D.C.

At trial, prosecutors presented recorded phone conversations in which Fortenberry was repeatedly warned that the contributions came from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent. The donations were funneled through three strawmen at a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles.

Fortenberry’s withdrawal from the primary leaves state Sen. Mike Flood as the likely GOP nominee. The former speaker of the Nebraska Legislature, who has won endorsements from Ricketts and former Gov. Dave Heineman, has a strong advantage in the Republican-leaning 1st Congressional District. State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, a Democrat from Lincoln, is also running for the seat.

Pansing Brooks said Fortenberry’s conviction is a “wake-up call” that the district needs a change.

In a statement Saturday, Pansing Brooks said: “This opens the door for a new approach to serving (the 1st Congressional District). I am ready and able to meet that challenge and lead with integrity.”

Source: https://share.newsbreak.com/qu895yr1

Another bombed building.

One of the bombed buildings. Over 60 Russian soldiers died in one building.

Yeltsin hands over the Russian Constitution to Putin in December 1999

In 1999, Islamic militants in the breakaway Chechnya Republic had fought the Russian Army to a standstill, no one could believe it. " Rag tag" Islamists against
the mighty Russian Army".

Boris Yeltsin President of the country was increasingly unpopular and largely seen as a buffoon.
Then a series of bombs went off in different parts of the country including Moscow killing hundreds including soldiers at a barrack. And the world has never been the same again.

The new, but largely unknown Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin declared the bombs were the handiwork of the Chechen rebels and vowed to crush them; he even submitted an op Ed to New York Times seeking the support of Americans. In it, he defended the invasion of Chechnya, saying " what would Americans do if terrorists set of bombs in New York killing Americans"

The bombings and killings of over 300 people led to massive outrage and the invasion of Chechnya by the Russians in what became the 2nd Chechen war.

But even then in 1999; so many things did not add up.
1) There was no investigation of the bombings, Putin simply declared it was the Chechens.
2) How could the Chechen rebles travel 2000 miles to Moscow undetected and detonate multiple bombs.
3) The bomb intended for the city of Ryazan’ did not go off as vigilant citizens noticed a suspicious vehicle and called law enforcement,a bomb was found in the nearby apartment. 3 officers of the FSB ( successor to the KGB) were arrested at the site. Orders were given from Moscow to release the men as the authorities said it was merely a military exercise and the men only had bags of sugar, not explosives.
Ironically the bomb found at that site was made with Hexogen, which was military grade material , only available at one specific Russian military.
3) 4 Bombs in total went off at 4 different locations over several days in September 1999; 3 days before the blast at the city of Volgodonsk, Speaker of the Parliament ,Gennadiy Seleznyov’s a Putin ally mistakenly or otherwise said there was a bombing in the city, 3 days before it even happened. Was the man a Prophet, descendant of the great Nostradamus or di he just know something in advance?


The bombings led to the massive popularity of Putin and made the ever increasingly unpopular Yeltsin hand over to him as President on December 31st 1999.
Several journalists and an FSB officer spent years trying to investigate the bombings and bring the truth to light. Many were assassinated including Anna Politkovskaya who was killed in her apartment and the famous ex FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko whose tea was poisoned in London.

Ironically in Nigeria, 2 years earlier during the Abacha era, several bombs went off around the country between 1996 and 1997, all said to be the work of the opposition NADECO. It was later discovered they were false flag bombs set off government agents likely Al Mustapha's Strike Force led by the infamous Sergeant Rogers.

Did Putin plan the bombings? Why were the journalists killed?

Putin is a dangerous man seemingly ready to sacrifice anything for what he believes is the good of the country or maybe what he believes is beneficial for him.

Honorable Abubakar Lado Suleja (APC, Niger State) calls Tinubu Mr.President during visit of APC Northern Caucuses.

Southern  Governors at the meeting in September declare Tinubu Capone of the South!

Southwest Governors Meet Tinubu. Governor Akeredolu declares him leader of the South-West

Rivers State Former Commissioner of Justice showed his support for Tinubu by wearing his Tinubu T-shirt at  Senator Magnus Abe's office in abuja . Courtesy Nairaland.

President Mohammadu Buhari; previously believed to no longer willing to support a Tinubu Presidency went out of his way to publicly visit him last month.

If Elections Held Today; Bola Tinubu Would  Win! Going by events around the country; no other person even comes near.

Opposition to his rumored candidacy which was very high last year seems to all but disappeared.

From North to South; East to West; political leaders and groups are falling over themselves to declare their loyalty.

The irony of it all is that the man himself has not once declared his ambition; at least publicly.



Sixteen months is a very long time ,whether in politics or any other sphere; that's when the next Presidential elections will hold!

Time will tell.

Traveling around the world is known to be a difficult affair for holders of African passports due to restrictive visa rules.

Now a new global passport index is offering a different take on the ranking of passports. Besides taking into account visa-free access, it looks at building mobility, investment opportunity, and quality of life offered by the countries.

The Global Passport Index, released this week by Global Citizen Solutions, a London-based investment migration consultancy firm, looks beyond visa-free access to offer a ranking that gives a more rounded view of life aspects. It ranks the passports of 197 countries by measuring the attractiveness of the locations for relocation, investment, and dual citizenship, and showing how travel-, investor-, and relocation-friendly passports are.



“A strong passport is not only about travel mobility, Global Citizen Solutions says in a press release. “In today’s increasingly globalized world, people are looking to invest beyond their borders and obtain residency abroad. The difficulty lies in picking the right country” it adds.

The index ranks the island nations of Mauritius and the Seychelles as the most powerful in Africa, while those of Somalia and the Central African Republic are placed lowest.



The rankings take into account three sub-indices. One, the enhanced mobility index, is based on the travel benefits that a passport gives its holder and the level of “attractiveness” of the passport’s country based on its quality of life. Another, the investment index, assesses the economy as an investment option. The third, the quality of living index, covers components relating to the quality of life.

Mauritius and the Seychelles are the only African countries that rank in the top half of the index. They perform particularly well in the enhanced mobility and investment indices, indicating strong economies for investment, good travel benefits, and the attractiveness of the countries due to high qualities of life. Other reasons for their good ranking could be that the islands have a visa-waiver agreement with Europe’s Schengen area, and the Seychelles is a visa-free country.



On its part, South Africa, the third-placed African country, is in the top half globally in the quality of living index, with the Global Passport Index giving it good ratings for freedom, cost of living, and environmental performance.

In contrast to indices that measure the strengths of passports by the number of locations their holders can enter visa-free, the Global Passport Index gives more power to the countries where the passports are from and is more useful in helping figure out where to relocate, rather than where to travel to.


Globally, the top five countries in the index are the US, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, and Denmark.


Source:https://qz.com/africa/2077462/these-are-africas-most-powerful-passports/?utm_source=YPL

Legendary Rapper 50 Cent is convinced the world is coming to an end with the most manly  man in the world Superman now coming out as Bi Sexual.

On his Instagram Page 50 said:

oh shit, the world is coming to a end !
who did this shit to Super Man, �so now he like lois lane and Larry ��‍♂️ain’t this a bitch!

Read Below the Guardian's story on the ground breaking story.



Superman, the renowned superhero of DC Comics, is set to come out as bisexual after falling in love with a man in a new issue, the company revealed on Monday.⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣
For those unfamiliar with the current continuity of DC Comics, there are currently two heroes operating as Superman. One is Clark Kent, who originally debuted in comic books in 1938. The second is his and Lois Lane’s son, Jon Kent. Essentially, Jon spent some time as Superboy before his father recently convinced him to take on the title of Superman as well.⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣
The fifth issue of the DC comic series “Superman: Son of Kal-El” will confirm that the new Superman — Jon Kent, child of Clark Kent and Lane — is bisexual after falling for Jay Nakamura, a male reporter, DC announced this week.⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣
According to DC, the pair will begin dating after Superman suffers from ‘mental and physical burnout’.⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣
“After initially striking up a friendship with reporter Jay Nakamura, he and Jon become romantically involved,” the company said.⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣
“Following a scene where Superman mentally and physically burns out from trying to save everyone that he can, Jay is there to care for the Man of Steel.”⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣
It continues: “Faster than fate. As powerful as hope. Able to lift us all. For all his great power, Jon Kent can’t save everyone, but that won’t stop him from trying. How much can Earth’s new Superman do before this Man of Steel buckles? And when he does, who swoops in to save Superman?”⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣
“I’ve always said everyone needs heroes and everyone deserves to see themselves in their heroes and I’m very grateful DC and Warner Bros. share this idea,” said writer Tom Taylor.⁣⁣⁣⁣

Source:https://www.instagram.com/p/CU7WlL6r3Wi/

A military court in Ouagadougou on Monday began the long-awaited trial of 14 men, including the former president, accused in the assassination of Burkina Faso’s left-wing leader Thomas Sankara 34 years ago

The slaying of Sankara, a pan-Africanist icon, has for years cast a shadow over the poor Sahel state, fuelling its reputation for turbulence and bloodshed.

Sankara and 12 others were riddled with bullets by a hit squad on October 15, 1987 during a putsch that brought his friend and comrade-in-arms Blaise Compaore to power.



Compaore, the chief accused, announced through his lawyers last week that he would boycott the trial.

He ruled the country for 27 years before being deposed by a popular uprising in 2014 and fleeing to neighbouring Ivory Coast, which granted him citizenship.

He and his former right-hand man, General Gilbert Diendere, who once headed the elite Presidential Security Regiment, face charges of complicity in murder, harming state security and complicity in the concealment of corpses.

Diendere, 61, is already serving a 20-year sentence for masterminding a plot in 2015 against the transitional government that followed Compaore’s ouster.



He appeared in court dressed in military uniform and looked relaxed.

Another prominent figure among the accused is Hyacinthe Kafando, a former chief warrant officer in Compaore’s presidential guard, who is accused of leading the gunmen. He is on the run.



Compaore has always rejected suspicions that he orchestrated the killing.

His lawyers last week announced he would not be attending a “political trial” that they said was flawed by irregularities, and insisted he enjoyed immunity as a former head of state.

A young army captain and Marxist-Leninist, Sankara came to power in a coup in 1983 aged just 33.

He tossed out the country’s name of Upper Volta, a legacy of the French colonial era, and renamed it Burkina Faso, which means “the land of honest men”.

He pushed ahead with a socialist agenda of nationalisations and banned female genital mutilation, polygamy and forced marriages.

Like Ghana’s former leader Jerry Rawlings, he became an idol in left-wing circles in Africa, lauded for his radical policies and defiance of the big powers.

Burkina Faso has long been burdened by silence over the assassination and many are angry that the killers have gone unpunished.

During Compaore’s long rule, the question of Sankara’s bloody death was taboo.

After his ouster, the interim government in 2015 launched an investigation into the episode, and the following year issued an international arrest warrant for him.

Sankara’s widow Mariam, who lives in southern France, came to Ouagadougou for the opening of the trial.

“This is a day of truth for me, my family and all Burkinabe,” she said, referring to the name of Burkina citizens.

The family’s lawyer, Stanislas Benewende Sankara — who shares the same name but is not a relative — said Compaore’ absence was a “slap in the face” to Burkina Faso’s justice system.

The trial “may not be the end of the tunnel, but we are reaching a very important phase, judicially speaking,” he said.

One of the world’s most impoverished countries, Burkina Faso has also been battling a jihadist insurgency since 2015 that has claimed more than 1,400 lives and forced 1.3 million people from their homes.

Source: https://guardian.ng/news/burkina-faso-starts-trial-of-alleged-killers-of-left-wing-idol-thomas-sankara/

[b]How does the biggest online company in the world shut down for hours; with no end in sight?
Easy- if the CEO ordered it.
Unplanned maintenance?
Routine Checks

Or to preempt US Government crackdown of its operations?

Just on Sunday the biggest current affairs program in the US: CBSs "60 Minutes" aired a piece on a Facebook whistle blower who alleged that Facebook was putting profits above safety; that teenagers were going suicidal over Instagram posts which Facebook did nothing about.
By Monday morning,  Facebook/Instagram were  the number one stories on all channels.

Facebook had known for over a month that a whistle blower had gone to the government with allegations; but no one including Facebook knew who it was except that the individual had leaked thousands of pages to Congress and the media.
On Sunday evening,  the whistle blower came forward: it was
Frances Haugen, a former Product Manager with Facebook.

He allegations were stunning. Hours later Facebook,  Instagram and Whatsapp all went down in the world's biggest online blackout affecting billions of users.

Coincidence? Very unlikely.

More like Mark had everything shut down, things fixed, things scrubbed before the Feds came knocking  AGAIN!

Here are 5 Major Allegations from the Whistle blower as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle from the 60 Minutes interview.[/b]


Source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/amp/Here-are-5-major-allegations-whistle-blower-16508710.php

The whistle-blower whose revelations about Facebook have set off shock waves from Silicon Valley to Washington stepped into the spotlight this weekend.

Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, revealed her identity Sunday on “60 Minutes” as the person who leaked tens of thousands of internal research documents to lawmakers, regulators and the media. She said they showed the social media giant was concealing information about its risks to users, and about its progress in combating hate and misinformation.

The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public, and what was good for Facebook, and Facebook over and over again chose to optimize for its own interests like making more money,” she said in the interview.

She was also confirmed as the source for the Wall Street Journal’s recent investigative series based on the documents, called The Facebook Files.

Here’s what we know about Haugen and her allegations regarding Facebook:

Who is the whistle-blower?

Haugen, 37, is a former product manager at Facebook. Her personal website says she is originally from Iowa City and studied electrical and computer engineering at Olin College, then received her M.B.A. from Harvard University.

She worked at Google, Pinterest and Yelp before landing at Facebook. In the “60 Minutes” interview, she said she was recruited by the company in 2019 and said she would take the job only if she could work against misinformation. She was assigned to the civic integrity team.





In the “60 Minutes” interview, Haugen said the root of the problem at Facebook started in 2018 when it changed its algorithms that pick and choose what users see. “Its own research is showing that content that is hateful, that is divisive, that is polarizing — it’s easier to inspire people to anger than it is to other emotions,” she said.

Haugen’s own turning point, she told “60 Minutes,” came when Facebook dissolved her civic integrity team after the 2020 presidential election, and turned off safety systems that were used to reduce misinformation. She said she then realized, “I don’t trust that they’re willing to actually invest what needs to be invested to keep Facebook from being dangerous.”

In response, according to the New York Times, she decided to copy reams of internal Facebook documents, taking them first to John Tye, founder of the legal nonprofit Whistleblower Aid. She shared many of them with the Wall Street Journal, as well as with some lawmakers, and has submitted them in a complaint to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

She submitted her resignation in April and left Facebook in May, according to the Wall Street Journal.

What are her allegations about Facebook?

Haugen has said the internal documents shed light on a number of allegedly harmful practices by Facebook. Among them:

• Misleading the public: According to “60 Minutes,” Haugen’s complaints say the internal documents show that Facebook knows its platform amplifies hate, violence and political unrest, but that it conceals that from its users. She also told the program that she believes Facebook’s reports on its regulation of COVID-19 misinformation and hate speech are not fully transparent.

• Misleading investors: Haugen’s complaints with the Securities and Exchange Commission also allege Facebook has deceived investors by making public statements that don’t square with its internal actions, according to the New York Times.

• Harm to teens: The documents also revealed that Facebook knew that Instagram, which it also owns, is harmful to teen girls. These revelations were published in a story by the Wall Street Journal last month.

• Affecting global societies: Haugen said the version of Facebook that exists today is “tearing our societies apart and causing ethnic violence around the world.” The “60 Minutes” report cites 2018’s genocide in Myanmar as an example; Facebook has acknowledged it failed to prevent its platform from being used to “foment division and incite offline violence” there.

• Contributing to political polarization that led to the Capitol riots: Haugen told “60 Minutes” that the dissolving of her civic integrity team and turning off misinformation safety systems contributed to the U.S. Capitol riot in January. She called those actions a “betrayal of democracy.”

How has Facebook responded?

Lena Pietsch, Facebook’s director of policy communications, issued a statement in response to the “60 Minutes” interview. In it, she said allowing hateful content on its platforms is “bad for business” and that the company has “invested ... heavily in safety and security.”

“We continue to make significant improvements to tackle the spread of misinformation and harmful content,” the statement reads. “To suggest we encourage bad content and do nothing is just not true.”

Facebook executive Nick Clegg on Sunday said blaming the Capitol riot on social media was “ludicrous.”

“The responsibility for the violence on January 6, the insurrection that day, is squarely on the people who inflicted the violence and those who encouraged them,” Clegg, the company’s vice president for global affairs, said in a CNN interview.

What comes next?

Haugen will appear Tuesday at a Senate subcommittee to discuss approaches to updating children’s privacy regulations and other online consumer protection laws. According to the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Data Security’s website, Haugen will share insights on Instagram’s effects on teenagers, and how the social media outlet handles children who use it. The hearing, scheduled for 7 a.m. PDT, will be livestreamed at www.commerce.senate.gov.

A British parliamentary committee is also scheduled to hear from Haugen this month, the New York Times reported, citing Tye. She will then appear at the Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon, and meet with European policymakers in Brussels in November.

A federal antitrust lawsuit against Facebook is ongoing. Also, the company has said it will submit documents requested by a congressional panel investigating the role of major social media platforms in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Kellie Hwang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang

Written By

Kellie Hwang

Kellie Hwang is the engagement reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. Before returning to the Bay Area, she held roles as transportation reporter and trending news reporter at the IndyStar in Indianapolis. Previously, Kellie covered dining news and trends, visual arts, events and nightlife for the Arizona Republic, and freelanced for the former Contra Costa Times. Kellie also serves as co-director of the Asian American Journalists Association Features Forum. She is a University of Washington graduate.

The Ondo State First Lady during a visit to the House.

The structure during construction.

Dr. Tolulola Bayode

Being an orphan in Akure and indeed Nigeria If thus trend continues may no longer be the struggle it used to be. All thanks to Dr Tolulola Bayode; who is opening a orphanage never before in Nigeria.

The architectural masterpiece sits on several acres of land and the interior finishing is world class.. Even popular gistloverblog; famous for calling out and seemingly attacking the reputation of public figures and celebrities has been heaping praises on the efforts of the Dr.

The facility known as Dorian children Home
will accomodate 700 children and is scheduled to be opened to the public on October 14th 2021.

Dr Bayode says " We aim at eradicating the helplessness in people's life and creating hopefulness for them."


Source:https://v7place.com/index.php?topic=4389.0

APC's New Golden Boy Fani Kayode Returns To Cheers & Celebration From His Supporters As They Sing " Our Helper O"!

Former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani Kayode and newest member of the ruling APC returned to his home to wild dancing and celebration from his supporters singing "Our helper o"!

Fani Kayode is expected to play a huge role in APCs elections drive.

Watch video here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUDZinRDIvk/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Members of the public and residents of the city of Bloomington, Minnesota showing support to the Mosque.

FBI on the scene the morning of the attack. Then President Trump was widely attacked for not condemning the attack. At the time, he said he wasnt sure the attack was even real.

Scene of the bombing.

Hari and his accomplices who testified against him

His recent look as he transitions to a woman.

Man Who Bombed Mosque in America Is Now A Woman. Judge Has No Mercy; Sentences Him To 53 Years In Prison!

UPDATE: Emily Claire Hari, who was previously known as Michael Hari and recently said she is transgender, has been sentenced to 53 years in prison for the 2017 bombing of a Bloomington mosque.

Hari was convicted in December on five counts, including damaging property because of its religious character and obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs. She did not testify at trial.

Before the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank called the attack on Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center an "act of domestic terrorism a highly sophisticated plot."

Mohamed Omar, executive director at Dar al-Farooq, and others gave victim impact statements on Monday that included asking the judge to impose a life sentence.

"Every time I want to pray or go to the mosque, [the memories of that day] are a dark cloud... I feel terrorized... this attacker came to damage and destroy our sense of security," Omar said in court. "It damaged me and my community," he added.

"I felt really scared because I was going to start school in the same building soon and we lived like six blocks away from the mosque," said Idris Yusuf, who was 9 years old when the bombing happened. "I was scared because if these people could do this to our mosque, what's stopping them from coming to Muslim people's homes too."

Hari said the victims who testified during Monday's hearing have been through a "traumatic ordeal" and she wished them "God's richest blessings in Christ Jesus."

After the sentencing, acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk said, "Hari's actions caused an entire faith community to live in fear... We heard from 21 community members in court today... they exemplify courage and strength."

Co-defendants Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris each pleaded guilty to five counts and testified against Hari. They are still awaiting sentencing.

“The only way we can ensure that our houses of worship and our communities are safe from these types of hate is if we come together and stand for justice not because you know me, not because you are relating to me, not because you share an identity with me, but you stand for what is right,” said Abdulahi Farah, a Dar Al-Farooq board member. “Today was a long day but we come out of here with a lot of hope to move forward to keep building our community and to keep being resilient.”

The leader of an Illinois anti-government militia group who authorities say masterminded the 2017 bombing of a Minnesota mosque is in a federal court on Monday, awaiting sentencing for several civil rights and hate crimes in an attack that terrified a community.

Emily Claire Hari, who was previously known as Michael Hari and recently said she is transgender, faces a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison for the attack on Dar al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington. Defense attorneys are asking for the minimum, but prosecutors are seeking a life sentence, saying Hari hasn't taken responsibility for the attack.

"This bomb – the Defendant's bomb – was an act of terror intended to destroy the heart of a community," prosecutors wrote in papers asking for a life sentence. While no one was physically hurt, prosecutors wrote, "the Defendant irrevocably destroyed the sense of safety and peace that a house of worship is supposed to provide."

Hari was convicted in December on five counts, including damaging property because of its religious character and obstructing the free exercise of religious beliefs. She did not testify at trial and it was unknown if she would make a statement at sentencing.

Mohamed Omar, executive director at Dar al-Farooq, and others gave victim impact statements on Monday that included asking the judge to impose a life sentence. They described their shock and terror at the attack. Many members were afraid to pray there and some never returned. Mothers were scared to bring their kids to the mosque, which also serves as a charter school and community center.

"I felt really scared because I was going to start school in the same building soon and we lived like six blocks away from the mosque," said Idris Yusuf, who was 9 years old when the bombing happened. "I was scared because if these people could do this to our mosque, what's stopping them from coming to Muslim people's homes too."


Several men were gathered at Dar al-Farooq for early morning prayers on Aug. 5, 2017, when a pipe bomb was thrown through the window of an imam's office. A seven-month investigation led authorities to Clarence, Illinois, a rural community about 120 miles (190 kilometers) south of Chicago, where Hari and co-defendants Michael McWhorter and Joe Morris lived.

Authorities say Hari, 50, led a group called the White Rabbits that included McWhorter, Morris and others and that Hari came up with the plan to attack the mosque. Prosecutors said at trial that she was motivated by hatred for Muslims, citing excerpts from Hari's manifesto known as The White Rabbit Handbook.

McWhorter and Morris, who portrayed Hari as a father figure, each pleaded guilty to five counts and testified against her. They are awaiting sentencing.

RELATED STORIES

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It wasn't initially clear how the White Rabbits became aware of Dar al-Farooq, but the mosque was in headlines in the years before the attack: Some young people from Minnesota who traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State group had worshipped there. Mosque leaders were never accused of any wrongdoing. Hari's attorneys wrote in court filings that she was a victim of online misinformation about the mosque.

Assistant federal defender Shannon Elkins also said gender dysphoria fueled Hari's "inner conflict," saying she wanted to transition but knew she would be ostracized, so she formed a "rag-tag group of freedom fighters or militia men" and "secretly looked up 'sex change,' 'transgender surgery,' and 'post-op transgender' on the internet."

Prosecutors said gender dysphoria is not an excuse and said using it "to deflect guilt is offensive."

In their request for a life sentence, prosecutors asked for several sentencing enhancements, arguing the bombing was a hate crime led by Hari. They also say Hari committed obstruction when she tried to escape from custody during her transfer from Illinois to Minnesota for trial in February 2019. Hari denies trying to flee.

Hari, a former sheriff's deputy and self-described entrepreneur and watermelon farmer, has written self-published books, including essays on religion, and has floated ideas for a border wall with Mexico. She gained attention on the "Dr. Phil" talk show after she fled to the South American nation of Belize in the early 2000s during a custody dispute. She was convicted of child abduction and sentenced to probation.

Before her 2018 arrest in the mosque bombing, she used the screen name "Illinois Patriot" to post more than a dozen videos to YouTube, most of them anti-government monologues. In one video just days before her arrest, Hari said FBI and local law enforcement were terrorizing Clarence and she asked "freedom-loving people everywhere to come and help us."

Hari, McWhorter and Morris were also charged in a failed November 2017 attack on an abortion clinic in Champaign, Illinois. Plea agreements for McWhorter and Morris say the men participated in an armed home invasion in Indiana, and the armed robberies or attempted armed robberies of two Walmart stores in Illinois.



Source: https://kstp.com/minnesota-news/emily-claire-hari-sentenced-dar-al-farooq-islamic-center-bloomington-bombing/6236596/

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland Eastern Shore judge who was about to be arrested at his home on federal charges of sexual exploitation of a child was found dead Friday, officials said.

FBI agents went to the residence of Caroline County Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Newell in Henderson, Maryland, early Friday.

“Upon entering the residence the agents found Newell suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound,” a joint statement from Acting Maryland U.S. Attorney Jonathan Lenzner and other officials said. “He was pronounced dead at 6:43 a.m. Maryland State Police will lead the investigation into the apparent suicide.”




According to a federal affidavit unsealed Friday, investigators from the Maryland State Police responded to a cabin in Fishing Creek, Maryland, on Hoopers Island on July 23 after a minor found a video camera in the bathroom, took photos of it with his phone and called his parents. Police arrived and interviewed two minors. One of the minors said the two had spent the night at the cabin, along with a man and four other boys.

Investigators interviewed Newell at the cabin the same day, according to the affidavit. The 50-year-old judge waived his Miranda rights and agreed to be interviewed. Newell told police that 10 “members” had access to the cabin who “come and go.” Newell also denied placing a camera in the bathroom, the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, Newell went to his bedroom after the interview to plug in his cell phone and make calls. Investigators observed him reaching under his bed and placing his fist up to his mouth. Investigators suspected that Newell had ingested evidence because a memory card from a box with camera equipment appeared to be missing. He was taken to a hospital for CT scans, which showed he had ingested a metallic object, the affidavit said.

Authorities executed search warrants at Newell’s cabin, truck, boat and office and seized numerous digital devices. Investigators found a hard drive in a safe at Newell’s residence that showed videos of boys showering, the affidavit said.


“In some of the videos, Newell is seen setting up the camera in the bathroom,” the affidavit said.

The FBI interviewed several youths who said they had been to the cabin with Newell and that he had checked their naked bodies for ticks while in the bathroom.


Newell had been on leave for more than a month. He had been a judge since 2016. Before that, he was the county’s state’s attorney since 2003.

Source: https://www.newsbreakapp.com/n/0btDbZZi?s=a99&pd=06QqqFh3