Trump DESTROYS the Press and Democrats at the WHCD. And Boy, the Media Couldn't Handle It!

ICE sparks fury for reportedly detaining pastors — then threatening to take their kids

Faith leaders are calling on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immediately free a pair of pastors who advocates say were wrongfully detained by ICE agents in Texas on Thursday while traveling to a religious retreat.Pastor Nepthalí Zozaya Saucedo and his wife, pastor Cinthia Saraí Cardona Otero, were detained by federal immigration enforcers after arriving at McAllen International Airport.According to the couple and their church leaders, the longtime pastors at the Comunidad Cristiana Emanuel Assemblies of God congregation in Edinburg, Texas were on their way to a marriage retreat in North Carolina organized by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association when they were detained and taken to a US Border Patrol processing center in McAllen.At a Friday press conference hosted by leaders from the Assemblies of God and the Latino Christian National Network, LCN board member Sandy Ovalle said that the couple has valid R-1 religious worker visas.“We are calling for their immediate release, the protection of their due process rights, and an urgent oversight into ICE’s conduct,” Ovalle said. “No one should be pressured to give up their rights under the threat of losing their children.”A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Religion News Service that the pastors are “illegal aliens” who overstayed their visas.Addressing the conference by phone from the detention center, Nepthalí said that the couple was threatened with separation from their US citizen children if they did not sign papers authorizing their “voluntary” deportation.“They spoke with us about separation—to be separated from our children and even as married people,” he said, according to Religion News Service. “They spoke about how much time that we could end up spending here.”Speaking during the press conference, Comunidad Cristiana Emanuel senior pastor Sarai Martinez Luna said, “I think it’s very cruel that somebody that had no status for deportation be pressured to sign a voluntary deportation based on the separation of their children.”Friday’s news conference followed a Wednesday press briefing by faith leaders at the Texas Capitol in Austin to condemn the killings of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine, Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán in Florida, and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston.“This is not of God. This is no peace that we want a part of because let’s be honest, this isn’t a peacekeeping initiative. This is a terror campaign with the mission of traumatizing our neighbors until they self-deport,” said Dan De Leon, senior pastor at Friends Congregational Church in College Station. “We don’t need terror. We need peace.”Elyse Rosenberg of the National Council of Jewish Women and Temple Beth Shalom in Austin said during the press conference that “throughout our history, we have repeatedly seen first-hand the consequences of governments exercising unchecked power on vulnerable populations.”Friday’s event also preceded nationwide vigils in more than 300 communities across the nation on Saturday to demand justice for the dozens of people who have been killed by federal enforcers or died in ICE custody during President Donald Trump’s second term.“We refuse to grieve quietly. We refuse to accept this terror and violence as inevitable," Crystal Cron, executive director of Presente! Maine, said ahead of the vigils. “Johan Sebastián should still be here with his wife and daughter—and instead, his name joins a growing list of people killed by an institution that treats our communities as disposable.”“This is bigger than one shooting,” Cron added. “We will not stop fighting until there is justice for the Durán Guerrero family and a total dismantling of this lawless, criminal agency that took him from them.”

Who is Troy Jackson? Maine’s swap-in for Graham Platner in Senate race

Democrats are betting Jackson’s rural roots, labor background and populist message can connect with voters as Republicans say he is a longtime lawmaker with a blustery past.

Worse Than Graham Platner? Troubling Personal Questions Emerge for Maine’s New Democrat Nominee for Senate – And He May Be Ineligible to Run

The Maine Democratic Party may have just nominated a candidate who may be worse than the nominee previously forced out of the race, and there are even questions about whether he's eligible to run. The post Worse Than Graham Platner? Troubling Personal Questions Emerge for Maine’s New Democrat Nominee for Senate – And He May Be Ineligible to Run appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

‘Like Graham Platner but worse’: GOP group vows $42,000,000 campaign against last-minute replacement Democrat

A Republican group has vowed to spend at least $42 million against the new nominee to be one of Maine’s Democratic senators, Troy Jackson, the Daily Caller […]

‘No Kings’: Without Statewide Vote, Democrats Anoint Troy Jackson to Replace Graham Platner, Open Convention with Performative ‘Land Acknowledgment’

As The Gateway Pundit reported, Democrat Graham Platner was forced out of the Maine Senate race after he won over 70% of the vote in the state’s Democratic primary amid new allegations of rape. The post ‘No Kings’: Without Statewide Vote, Democrats Anoint Troy Jackson to Replace Graham Platner, Open Convention with Performative ‘Land Acknowledgment’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Troy Jackson picked to challenge Collins in Maine after Platner's exit

Democrats selected former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson on Saturday to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins this fall after Graham Platner's embattled campaign ended.Why it matters: Jackson's selection is another win for the left flank of the Democratic party, which lined up behind another progressive candidate as their best shot at flipping one of the most important seats to win back Senate control.Driving the news: Delegates to a special nominating convention selected Jackson Saturday morning, the Associated Press reported. Jackson all but locked up the nomination last weekend after Democrats across the state overwhelmingly selected his preferred delegate slate."We're well on our way to getting the government that we fucking deserve," Jackson said in a video to supporters at the time. Top contenders in the crowded race subsequently ended their campaigns. Jackson replaces the scandal-plagued Platner, who was accused of sexual assault — an allegation he denies.Catch up quick: Jackson, whose campaign describes him as a fifth-generation logger and "lifelong fighter for workers' rights," finished third in June's Democratic primary for governor.His campaign priorities include passing Medicare for all, cutting off tax dollars to Israel's military, abolishing ICE and passing a federal right to abortion.Progressive kingmaker Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) endorsed Jackson in the gubernatorial race.What to watch: Jackson may have glided through his party's nomination process, but Republicans have been preparing for a massive ad blitz against whoever ended up as Platner's replacement.Go deeper: The Trump effect: Why Dems embraced a Platner time bomb

Troy Jackson secures Democratic nomination for Maine Senate seat after chaotic primary race

Progressive former state senate president gains nomination after Graham Platner dropped out over sexual assault allegationsIn a race defined by scandal, withdrawals and a frantic hunt for a replacement candidate, Maine Democrats hit reset on their chaotic Senate primary on Saturday as Troy Jackson officially secured the party’s nomination.He took the stage at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor to rapturous applause, a standing ovation and Noah Kahan’s Northern Attitude blaring over the speakers. “This is the absolute honor of my life,” Jackson said. Continue reading...