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The US and allies start punishing Russia for its Ukraine aggression

The United States and other Western countries <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/germanys-scholz-halts-nord-stream-2-certification-2022-02-22/">have</a> started to impose sanctions on Russia for its moves into eastern Ukraine.
The sanctions so far are forceful signals that target certain financial institutions and individuals — but they are not yet the most severe sanctions the West has the capability to impose.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced what he called the “first tranche” of sanctions, which will include full blocking sanctions on two Russian financial institutions and penalties on Russian sovereign debt, designed to cut Russia off from foreign financing. Biden said sanctions on Russian elites and their families would follow.
The United States’ measures come after <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-envoys-discuss-scope-sanctions-after-russian-move-ukraine-regions-2022-02-22/">Europe</a> and the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-says-russian-invasion-ukraine-has-begun-2022-02-22/">United Kingdom</a> also imposed sanctions on Russia, including asset freezes and travel bans for certain Russian oligarchs and politicians. Germany also <a href="https://twitter.com/Bundeskanzler/status/1496107140993400835?s=20&t=fAYeVgJjiGZp_ATULpQYuQ">paused certification</a> for the $11 billion <a href="https://www.vox.com/22881709/nord-stream-2-russia-ukraine-germany-united-states-cruz">Nord Stream 2 pipeline</a>, something the US and many of its partners very much wanted. (The US a day earlier <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/02/21/u-s-to-sanction-russia-ukraine-territories-independence-00010443">placed targeted sanctions</a> on those doing business in the breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine where Russia was moving in.)
This flurry of diplomatic action came after <a href="https://www.vox.com/22917719/russia-ukraine-invasion-border-crisis-nato-explained">tensions on Ukraine’s border</a> rapidly escalated this weekend, and on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to recognize as independent the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic, two territories in eastern Ukraine where he has manufactured a separatist conflict since 2014. Shortly after, Putin ordered troops into the region for “peacekeeping” operations. European <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/22/russia-ukraine-updates/">officials said Tuesday</a> that Russian troops have since arrived in these breakaway regions.
The United States and some of its partners appeared to vacillate on what, exactly, to call Russia’s actions in the immediate aftermath. This was not the march toward Kyiv that US officials had warned about. But it was a violation of international law and Ukraine’s sovereignty, an attempt by Russia to essentially redraw Ukraine’s borders.
The diplomatic language matters, as the US and its allies have promised Russia will face <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/594002-biden-warns-putin-of-swift-and-severe-costs-if-russia-invades-ukraine">“swift and severe costs”</a> if Putin decides to <a href="https://www.vox.com/22917719/russia-ukraine-invasion-border-crisis-nato-explained">invade Ukraine</a>. And Russia’s latest acts look like the beginning, not the end of this conflict. Biden warned Tuesday that Russia is “poised to go much further in launching a massive military attack in Ukraine.”
The West faces a real dilemma here. The US and its allies are trying to avoid executing the most punishing sanctions just yet, so they have options if, or when, Putin escalates — and there are few signs that Russia is deescalating in eastern Ukraine. Some <a href="https://twitter.com/RepLizCheney/status/1495896311933333504?s=20&t=fAYeVgJjiGZp_ATULpQYuQ">have called for the harshest sanctions now</a>, essentially arguing that failing to harshly punish Putin now won’t deter him at all, a repeat of what happened in 2014. But the West also risks exhausting its harshest tools, leaving nothing left if Russian mounts a greater attack.
The US, in combination with the efforts of European allies, are showing that they’re willing to punish Russia, but these packages are not yet at the level of the <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/america-prepares-the-mother-of-all-sanctions-against-russia/21807487">“mother of all sanctions.”</a> Whether that happens will depend on what Russia does in the coming hours and days, whether sanctions will be enough to stop Putin at all, and the costs the US and Europe are willing to risk giving up.
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<figcaption>A pedestrian walks past Rossiya Bank headquarters in Moscow, Russia, on February 22. The United Kingdom sanctioned five Russian banks — Rossiya Bank, Industrial Savings Bank, Promsvyazbank, Genbank, and Black Sea Development Bank — and three individuals.</figcaption>
<cite>Peter Kovalev/TASS via Getty Images</cite></figure>
“I think what you’re going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades,” <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/01/20/1074466148/biden-russia-ukraine-minor-incursion">President Biden said in January</a>. “And it depends on what it does. It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do.”
Biden received a lot of flak for that comment, but in the end it proved prescient: The US and its allies are trying to figure out how to calibrate for Russia’s declaration of independence and order of troops into eastern Ukraine — a violation of international law and Ukraine’s sovereignty, but something Moscow didn’t need the approximately 190,000 troops it has gathered on Ukraine’s borders to do.
The United States and its allies have ruled out sending troops to defend Ukraine. The West is relying on other foreign policy tools, including defensive support to Kyiv and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/biden-sends-troops-baltics-f-35s-natos-eastern-flank-us-official-2022-02-22/">shoring up the US presence in NATO’s eastern flank</a>, which Biden said Tuesday the US would continue to do. And the next step is sanctions.
Sanctions have, at best, <a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/671672020">a mixed track record</a>. The US has applied aggressive economic blockades on countries like Cuba, but they have not necessarily generated the policy and regime change the US has sought, while also squeezing average citizens.
For sanctions to really work — <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-iran-nuclear-deal">like the coordinated sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table for the original Iran nuclear deal in 2015</a> — wide international participation is critical. But it’s unclear how collective the global response — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/22/china-russia-ukraine-reaction/">specifically, from China</a> — will be to Russia’s moves into Ukraine.
The question of how to punish Russia also comes with another difficult dilemma: specifically, what costs are the United States and its allies willing to bear.
The most aggressive sanctions, like making it extraordinarily difficult for Russian financial institutions and state-owned banks to trade in US dollars, could inflict a lot of hurt on Russia — and, very likely, its people — if the sanctions sparked inflation or other economic crises. Other dramatic options exist, like blocking Russia’s biggest exports, oil and gas.
But the more far-reaching and destructive the action against the Kremlin, the more potent the potential reverberations in the West. The most severe sanctions, like cutting off Russia from all or parts of the global financial system, may hurt other economies intertwined with it. <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/012122-russian-crude-exports-to-us-highlight-risks-to-ukraine-talks-for-biden">The US</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-09/europe-frets-about-economic-hit-if-russia-is-sanctioned-heavily">Europe</a> are not exempt, especially as these economies are dealing with the post-pandemic recovery and inflation. Russia <a href="https://www.euronews.com/2022/01/31/can-europe-survive-if-russia-stops-supplying-it-gas">may take retaliatory measures</a>, too.
These calculations are not new. The United States and its allies <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/28/world/europe/a-white-house-split-over-russia.html">made similar ones in 2014</a>, after <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/9/3/18088560/ukraine-everything-you-need-to-know">Russia annexed Crimea and invaded eastern Ukraine</a>. Russia has also taken steps to insulate its economy since those sanctions in 2014, making it at least better able to withstand some pressure from the West.
Moscow is also very likely to engage in its own countermeasures, in defense of what it sees as a justified action in Ukraine — which Putin has already said he doesn’t see as a sovereign country. Russia also has the ability to create chaos in other ways, launching cyber operations or disinformation campaigns on Western targets. It could threaten to cut off the Russian energy supply to Europe.
The US and its partners have tried to counter these risks, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/qatar-can-divert-up-15-its-gas-exports-2022-02-22/">for example, trying to get countries like Qatar to make up some of Europe’s energy supply</a>. It’s a sign that Western allies realize any measures against Russia come with risks, though they may see no choice but to take them.
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<figcaption>A worker stands at the landfall facilities of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Lubmin, Germany, on February 15. Germany has paused certification of the pipeline after Russia moved into Eastern Ukraine.</figcaption>
<cite>Michael Sohn/AP</cite></figure>
The US and its allies have a handful of options to punish Russia, some more punishing than others.
So far, Biden has announced “full blocking” sanctions on two Russian financial institutions, VEB and a military bank, along with sanctions on Russian debt. Biden said the actions mean Russia’s government “can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either.”
The measures are largely a warning shot. These institutions are not Russia’s largest banks, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/qatar-can-divert-up-15-its-gas-exports-2022-02-22/">which means the effect on the larger economy will be limited</a>. Russia has decreased the amount of debt held by foreigners, as part of its efforts to insulate its economy after 2014 sanctions.
Europe <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/22/world/europe/eu-sanctions-russia-ukraine.html">has also imposed sanctions on individuals</a> involved in Putin’s decision to declare independence in the two regions in eastern Ukraine, and has put targeted sanctions on Russian banks helping to finance military operations in the Donbas. The EU said it had limited Russia’s access to European financing that might be used to facilitate military activities, and restricted trade with anyone in the two breakaway regions. The UK <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-says-russian-invasion-ukraine-has-begun-2022-02-22/">sanctioned</a> a few oligarchs, and put limited sanctions on some banks.
Perhaps Europe’s biggest penalty came in the halt of Nord Stream 2 development, which was really Germany’s decision to make. No gas was flowing through the pipeline, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22881709/nord-stream-2-russia-ukraine-germany-united-states-cruz">but the US and its allies have warned</a> that the project could become another tool for Russia to manipulate Europe’s national and energy security.
Europe’s reliance on natural gas from Russia is hanging over many of these sanctions decisions. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in announcing the freeze on Nord Stream 2, noted that the country needs to examine the security of its energy supply. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/2/3/russia-ukraine-crisis-how-europe-may-cope-if-putin-shuts-off-gas">Europe is reliant on Russia for about a third of its natural gas</a>, and with fuel prices spiking and the continent already feeling an energy crunch (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/chinas-coal-price-rockets-iea-seeks-surge-green-energy-2021-10-13/">which some believe Russia has been happy to let happen</a>), it is wary of even greater disruptions. Conflict could deepen this crisis. So could Russian retaliation if Moscow messes with gas supplies — <a href="https://twitter.com/MedvedevRussiaE/status/1496112456858574849?s=20&t=LoXxKWhlsBsQRuNVB4-6nw">something it hinted at Tuesday.</a>
As Biden and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-60476137">some of his Western counterparts made clear</a>, this is likely the first round of penalties. The US and the EU presented a fairly united front, a sign that they’re not fracturing under Putin’s pressure. But if harsher sanctions are to come, the risks increase for the West. And they come without any real guarantees any action will deter Putin.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/22/22945610/russia-sanctions-ukraine-nord-stream">https://www.vox.com/2022/2/22/22945610/russia-sanctions-ukraine-nord-stream</a>

vox The US and allies start punishing Russia for its Ukraine aggression

The United States and other Western countries have started to impose sanctions on Russia for its moves into eastern Ukraine. The sanctions...

Russia-Ukraine border crisis

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Months into Russia’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/12/8/22824015/russia-ukraine-troops-tensions-putin-biden-nato">slow-moving</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60396947">buildup</a> of up to 190,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, Russian President Vladimir Putin <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/21/22944995/russia-vladimir-putin-orders-troops-ukraine-east-donbas">ordered troops into two Ukrainian regions held by Russian-backed separatists</a> — a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/02/21/world/ukraine-russia-putin-biden">dramatic escalation</a> that threatens to spiral out into a larger conflict.
Putin said the troops would perform “peacekeeping” functions, but most experts Vox spoke to said this looks like the beginning, not the end, of Russia’s incursion into Ukraine. (Although it is impossible to predict events with certainty.)
Diplomatic talks between the US and its allies, Russia, and Ukraine have thus far produced no big breakthroughs, and Putin’s move into eastern Ukraine — which the US called the “<a href="https://twitter.com/JenniferJJacobs/status/1496118053133766656">beginning of an invasion</a>” — narrows the chances for a diplomatic off-ramp even more.
Some of the big-ticket demands on Russia’s list are nonstarters with the US and its allies in the North American Treaty Organization, something Russia also probably knows. For example, Moscow wants guarantees that NATO would not expand eastward, including to Ukraine. Ukraine isn’t a member and isn’t going to be anytime soon. The prospect is an irritant to Moscow; three decades ago, some of America’s most renowned foreign policy thinkers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/05/opinion/a-fateful-error.html">argued</a> that NATO should be nowhere near Ukraine.
But Putin has also <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/22/europe/ukraine-putin-reaction-kyiv-intl/index.html">dismissed Ukraine’s sovereignty wholesale</a> and demanded a rolling back of troop deployment to some former Soviet states, which would turn back the clock decades on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/world/europe/russia-nato-security-deal.html">Europe’s security and geopolitical alignment</a>. These demands are “a Russian attempt, not only to secure his interest in Ukraine, but essentially re-litigate the security architecture in Europe,” Michael Kofman, research director in the Russia studies program at CNA, a research and analysis organization in Arlington, Virginia, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22894163/russia-ukraine-putin-biden-nato">told Vox’s Jen Kirby</a>.
In other words, this is about Ukraine. But it’s also about Russia’s insecurities about its place in Europe and the world, and how Putin’s legacy is tied up in that.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/1/31/22910635/russia-ukraine-border-crisis-us-nato">https://www.vox.com/2022/1/31/22910635/russia-ukraine-border-crisis-us-nato</a>

vox Russia-Ukraine border crisis

Months into Russia’s slow-moving buildup of up to 190,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered tro...

The Supreme Court will hear a big case about whether religion is a license to discriminate

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In the past few years, the Supreme Court danced around the question of whether religious conservatives have a constitutional right to violate anti-discrimination laws — and specifically laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people.
Now, it appears ready to come out and say that at least some businesses have a constitutional right to discriminate.
On Tuesday, the Court announced that it will hear <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/303-creative-llc-v-elenis/">303 Creative v. Elenis</a>, a case that is likely to give at least some businesses a right to openly refuse services to LGBTQ customers.
This question first arose in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-111_j4el.pdf">Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission</a> (2018), where the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Yet, while Masterpiece Cakeshop was a victory for the religious right, it turned out to be a <a href="https://archive.thinkprogress.org/the-supreme-courts-opinion-in-the-anti-gay-baker-case-is-a-stupid-waste-of-time-punt-d1b63eeb195f/">very narrow one</a>. The Court held that states could still enforce bans on anti-LGBTQ discrimination, but that state officials had to be careful not to disparage the religious beliefs of people who use those beliefs to justify discrimination.
Then, in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-123_g3bi.pdf">Fulton v. City of Philadelphia</a> (2021), the Court handed down a similar nothingburger opinion, ruling in favor of a government contractor that refused to work with same-sex couples seeking to foster a child — but on <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/6/17/22538645/supreme-court-fulton-philadelphia-lgbtq-catholic-social-services-foster-care-john-roberts-religion">exceedingly narrow grounds</a>.
303 Creative presents many of the same questions at issue in Masterpiece Cakeshop and Fulton. It involves a web design company owned by a woman named Lorie Smith, who <a href="https://casetext.com/case/303-creative-llc-v-elenis-3">refuses to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings</a>. She claims that “doing that would compromise my Christian witness and tell a story about marriage that contradicts God’s true story of marriage.”
Thus far, Smith has not sold her services to anyone who wants a wedding-related website, because she fears violating Colorado’s law prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people. She wants the Supreme Court to give her license to design wedding websites for opposite-sex couples — and only for opposite-sex couples.
In the likely event that Smith prevails before this <a href="https://www.vox.com/22889417/supreme-court-religious-liberty-christian-right-revolution-amy-coney-barrett">very conservative Court</a>, 303 Creative could offer another narrow victory to religious conservatives. Or it could wind up dismantling what remains of a <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/494/872">seminal 1990 precedent</a> holding that religious individuals typically need to follow the same laws as everyone else. At the very least, 303 Creative could give people in creative professions a sweeping new right to discriminate.
In <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/494/872#writing-USSC_CR_0494_0872_ZO">Employment Division v. Smith</a> (1990), the Supreme Court held that people who object to a law on religious grounds must still obey that law, unless it imposes obligations on religious people that don’t apply to secular individuals. In Smith’s words, religious objectors must still follow a “valid and neutral law of general applicability.” (A federal statute <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/2/25/21150692/supreme-court-religion-discrimination-lgbtq-foster-fulton-philadelphia-first-amendment">applies a stricter rule to federal laws that burden religion</a>, but this rule <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=8746804851760570747&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">does not apply to state laws that burden people of faith</a>.)
In other words, a law that prohibits all businesses, regardless of whether their owners are secular or religious, from discriminating against LGBTQ customers complies with Smith. But a law that imposes obligations on religious institutions, but not secular businesses, would likely be found unconstitutional.
Shortly after Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation gave Republicans a supermajority on the Supreme Court, however, the Court’s new majority <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/4/12/22379689/supreme-court-amy-coney-barrett-religion-california-tandon-newsom-first-amendment">started dismantling Smith</a> by redefining what constitutes a “neutral law of general applicability.” As a 5-4 Court held in <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/20a151_4g15.pdf">Tandon v. Newsom</a> (2021), “government regulations are not neutral and generally applicable . . . whenever they treat any comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise.”
The Court, moreover, defined the term “any comparable secular activity” quite expansively. Suppose that, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, a state placed restrictions on church attendance that it didn’t apply to grocery stores. Under Tandon, the restrictions on churches would be illegal, even though people are much more likely to catch Covid at a highly attended religious service than at a supermarket.
Among other things, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/12/2/21726876/supreme-court-religious-liberty-revolutionary-roman-catholic-diocese-cuomo-amy-coney-barrett">people don’t typically gather together for hours in a grocery store</a>, or socialize in a supermarket, or sing hymns while they are buying food. But the Court did not care about these distinctions in Tandon, deeming attending religious services and buying groceries to be “comparable” activities.
In any event, the plaintiffs in 303 Creative argue that Colorado’s anti-discrimination law is not neutral or generally applicable because it <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/21/21-476/193619/20210924115918275_USSC%20Petition%20for%20Writ%20of%20Certiorari.pdf">only applies to certain forms of discrimination</a>. Among other things, the law permits gender discrimination when such discrimination “has a bona fide relationship” to the services provided by that business. So a women-only gym is allowed to remain a women-only gym.
To be clear, the Court’s previous cases express no view on whether states should permit businesses to engage in gender discrimination. They merely leave the question of whether to permit businesses like single-sex gyms up to state lawmakers. States have historically been allowed to decide which forms of discrimination they wish to prohibit and which ones they wish to permit, and there is a great deal of variation among state anti-discrimination laws.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, for example, about a dozen states have <a href="https://www.hrc.org/resources/state-equality-index">no laws whatsoever prohibiting LGBTQ discrimination</a>, while other states have expansive protections.
In Tandon and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22889417/supreme-court-religious-liberty-christian-right-revolution-amy-coney-barrett">similar cases</a>, however, the Court signaled that any law that imposes restrictions on religious objectors is suspect if it provides any exemptions for secular activity. So it’s unlikely that this Court will allow Colorado to apply its anti-discrimination law to religious objectors, because the law does contain an exception for secular businesses such as single-sex gyms.
303 Creative also asks just how important preventing anti-LGBTQ discrimination is, in the eyes of the justices.
The lower appeals court that heard 303 Creative largely <a href="https://casetext.com/case/303-creative-llc-v-elenis-3">approached it as a free speech case</a>. Lorie Smith is engaged in an inherently creative activity, making custom websites for her customers, and the Colorado law would make her design websites that promote a message she disagrees with — a message supporting a same-sex wedding. That’s the sort of compelled speech that the First Amendment typically forbids.
Yet the lower court ruled against Smith, pointing to a test known as “<a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/11/8/20952728/democrats-virginia-ruth-bader-ginsburg-equal-rights-amendment">strict scrutiny</a>.”
As a general rule, there are few absolutes under the Constitution. Though laws compelling speech, discriminating on the basis of race, or singling out religious people for inferior treatment are all presumptively unconstitutional, such laws can survive judicial review when they advance particularly important goals — that is, when they advance a “compelling interest” and when the law is “narrowly tailored to satisfy that interest.”
The lower court determined that Colorado has a compelling interest in “ensuring ‘equal access to publicly available goods and services,’” and that the state’s anti-discrimination law is properly tailored to achieve that goal. Exempting Lorie Smith from that law, the court explained, “<a href="https://casetext.com/case/303-creative-llc-v-elenis-3">would necessarily relegate LGBT consumers to an inferior market</a>.”
But the Supreme Court has suggested that preventing anti-LGBTQ discrimination is not a “compelling interest” that can survive the strict scrutiny test. In <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5322529599500468186&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr">Burwell v. Hobby Lobby</a> (2014), a majority of the Court concluded that “the Government has a compelling interest in providing an equal opportunity to participate in the workforce without regard to race,” but it rather pointedly did not state that the government has a compelling interest in preventing anti-LGBTQ discrimination — of, for that matter, in preventing discrimination on the basis of gender.
Moreover, while Masterpiece Cakeshop and Fulton were narrow decisions, both permitted plaintiffs who refused to provide services to LGBTQ individuals to engage in such discrimination.
The Court has been signaling for a while, in other words, that it is likely to grant religious objectors a license to violate laws prohibiting anti-LGBTQ discrimination. At the very least, 303 Creative is likely to give Smith a license to do so, and it could very well give an expansive license to all business owners who claim that their religion requires them to discriminate against LGBTQ people.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/2/22/22945657/supreme-court-religion-lgbtq-303-creative-elenis-colorado-discrimination">https://www.vox.com/2022/2/22/22945657/supreme-court-religion-lgbtq-303-creative-elenis-colorado-discrimination</a>

vox The Supreme Court will hear a big case about whether religion is a license to discriminate

In the past few years, the Supreme Court danced around the question of whether religious conservatives have a constitutional right to viola...

Ahmaud Arbery’s killers convicted on federal hate crimes charges

Twenty-five-year-old Ahmaud Arbery <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2020/5/6/21249202/ahmaud-arbery-jogger-killed-in-georgia-video-shooting-grand-jury">was Black, unarmed</a>, and out for a run in a Georgia neighborhood near where he lived when three white men chased him down, and accosted, assaulted, and shot him dead nearly two years ago. Whether that all happened because the victim was Black, well, that’s something a lot of people feel they already know.
The effects of racism are often more visible than racist intent. Perhaps that is one reason the prosecutors <a href="https://www.vox.com/22801394/racism-ahmaud-arbery-murder-trial">dodged the topic of racial motives</a> almost entirely in the state murder trial of Travis McMichael, now 36; his father, Gregory, 66; and William “Roddie” Bryan, 52 — the men who carried out what has been labeled a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/todaysdebate/2021/11/24/ahmaud-arbery-modern-day-lynching/8723517002/">modern-day lynching</a> in broad daylight. Each was convicted in November of an array of charges related to Arbery’s fatal shooting that day, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/11/24/22798878/ahmaud-arbery-guilty-verdict-trial-mcmichaels-bryan">including malice murder, felony murder, and false imprisonment</a>. In January, all <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/01/07/ahmaud-arbery-murder-sentencing/">received life sentences</a> in Georgia state prison, with the McMichaels having no chance at parole.
On Tuesday, a jury also convicted the men of hate crimes and other charges in <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-georgia-men-charged-federal-hate-crimes-and-attempted-kidnapping-connection-death">a separate, second federal trial</a> brought by the Department of Justice. Federal prosecutors argued that the men were driven to kill Arbery because of <a href="https://www.ajc.com/news/crime/feds-defendants-driven-by-pent-up-racial-anger-in-arbery-killing/XP5MJFTAAJDWFJMZBQNW245NVM/">“a fatal dose of racial resentment and racial anger.”</a> The <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/02/21/ahmaud-arbery-hate-crimes-trial-georgia/6884728001/">jury</a> — reportedly consisting of three Black people, eight white people, and one Hispanic person — agreed.
The conviction is significant for many reasons, in particular that it recognizes the role of race in the attack and killing of the unarmed young Black jogger and all but ensures the defendants will serve additional prison time. The prosecution and verdict also comes on the heels of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/27/politics/merrick-garland-justice-department-combat-hate-crimes/index.html">Attorney General Merrick Garland’s recent efforts</a> to combat hate crimes, which have spiked during the pandemic.
The difference between the Georgia murder trial and the federal hate crimes trial mattered, particularly since neither race nor racism was raised as a factor by the prosecution in the murder trial, save for a mention in district attorney Linda Dunikoski’s closing statement. Howard Law School professor Justin Hansford said that amounted to a “whitewashing of this trial,” <a href="https://www.vox.com/22801394/racism-ahmaud-arbery-murder-trial">telling Vox after the verdict</a> that the tactic played to those afraid to talk about race.
The federal hate crimes charges made such avoidance impossible.
Federal hate crime prosecutions, for those victimized, can offer not only a promise of additional punishment for offenders but also an acknowledgment of the role bigotry played in a crime. That can be a powerful thing.
The defendants are also all pursuing appeals of the life sentences they received in their Georgia trial. (While many states have their own hate crime laws, Georgia did not have one at the time of Arbery’s death.) If they are successful, whatever federal sentences they will now receive would not be redundant.
The trial almost didn’t happen: Federal prosecutors initially thought they’d sealed a plea deal for two of the defendants, the McMichaels, to avoid having to try the hate crimes case at all.
The terms of the deal would have required both of the McMichaels to plead guilty to one charge of the government’s multi-count indictment: the part alleging that it was “because of Arbery’s race and color” that they interfered with Arbery’s right to enjoy the use of the public road on which he was jogging.
Then, late last month, US District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood took the rare step of refusing the plea deal struck by the US Department of Justice. Because that proposed deal collapsed, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/02/04/1078245310/ahmaud-arbery-travis-greg-mcmichael-hate-crime">so did their admissions of guilt</a>.
<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-crime-race-and-ethnicity-hate-crimes-savannah-4843bf04cf74034b2f396a844599f899">According to the Associated Press</a>, Wood rejected the government’s plea deal because it locked her into adding 30 years of prison time (atop the McMichaels’ existing life-without-parole sentences), and she felt that Arbery’s family should have a say at the sentencing.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1645593440_1640_192626" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23224794,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/DCH6EH-3sclSYzNuvIJLo1qIPRc=/0x0:5226x3486/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Tk8YF8abHpHIyiD0mLSgwtKwLDA=/0x0:5226x3486/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/vFrjhaNPyWYUvfi6vzG-hvlhpM0=/0x0:5226x3486/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oCZ82AH1xKWAIOIbNpLFuF3aItI=/0x0:5226x3486/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/i286KiG7hOE6s1N1e5ap1tc3Zoo=/0x0:5226x3486/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/GgxZxVnAqSx9w9n_Y_NWtPKPhp8=/0x0:5226x3486/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/oIhNslaXmEfGZpvu0GmB68GlB2w=/0x0:5226x3486/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UsohPdVZoag_ry6YUdKXQhYcqtk=/0x0:5226x3486/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Tqe5-OGUFehuCC8A02SScxRD_3U=/0x0:5226x3486/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="5226" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_3D0BNt4wDIUkHqaKiucBKUwXyQ=/0x0:5226x3486/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rbk6U4bH0B5WbVI1_mRB2gKXBv4=/0x0:5226x3486/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R549NKtreCE944wQmo5o-SUf2SQ=/0x0:5226x3486/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/18aq9H7M_JON3GpBjg4UTZM0m30=/0x0:5226x3486/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KzmFc1eQ4rQWkLTYHbGLGbLeNus=/0x0:5226x3486/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/G_vryyTn8VuhB7LPOZTNcPty_4c=/0x0:5226x3486/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9VuEPAfnh0s-cv0CSMfqFuSktAs=/0x0:5226x3486/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/34Joz6npdFcTtSleIkUVlYQ_5SU=/0x0:5226x3486/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KJZ-BSFf_iDwERpvyfWBgh6hic8=/0x0:5226x3486/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/xZ0nFfF_xzhS0KIefAbtEeyTTBM=/0x0:5226x3486/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5226x3486):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224794/GettyImages_1236775615.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, attends the murder trial of Travis McMichael, his father, Gregory, and William “Roddie” Bryan in Georgia in November.</figcaption>
<cite>Stephen B. Morton/Getty Images</cite></figure>
Arbery’s family, who had previously objected to any plea deal being struck, disagreed with a provision allowing Travis McMichael to transfer immediately from state prison to federal custody — where, they argued, conditions wouldn’t be as tough for him or his father, were he to join him. “Please listen to me,” Wanda Cooper-Jones, who is Arbery’s mother, told the judge, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ahmaud-arbery-crime-race-and-ethnicity-hate-crimes-savannah-4843bf04cf74034b2f396a844599f899">per AP</a>. “Granting these men their preferred choice of confinement would defeat me. It gives them one last chance to spit in my face.”
The two-week federal trial did shine a light on race. Federal prosecutors presented reams of evidence, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/02/22/arbery-verdict-hate-crimes/">including racist text messages and social media posts</a>, in their attempts to show that racism was a motivating factor for the men when they chased down Arbery and shot him. One text sent by Travis McMichael months before Arbery’s killing stated, “We used to walk around committing hate crimes all day.”
That hate crime prosecutions are uncommon, and became even rarer during the Trump administration, matters.
The <a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh236/files/media/document/fhcp0519.pdf">Justice Department data</a> is somewhat surprising. There were 647 “hate crime matters,” as they were termed, investigated by US attorneys’ offices between 2005 and 2009. Fewer reports — 597 — were investigated between 2015 and 2019, marking a decrease of 8 percent. In total, however, of nearly 1,900 suspects investigated between 2005 and 2019, 82 percent were not prosecuted. The overwhelming majority of those cases were not pursued for lack of evidence.
However, 85 percent of defendants convicted of a hate crime were sentenced to prison, with an average term of more than 7.5 years.
Convicted in their federal trial, Bryan and the McMichaels are likely looking at considerably more time than 7.5 years; it could explain their willingness earlier to plead guilty to committing crimes against Arbery because he was Black in exchange for 30 years’ imprisonment.
The federal conviction of the McMichaels and Bryan may seem like a strong indicator of the viability of hate crime laws to administer criminal punishment and accountability. It sounds like a reason to argue that the system works.
Scott Hechinger, a former public defender, had a different perspective. “To me, the trials underscore how ill-equipped the criminal legal system, process, and punishment is to achieve accountability and healing,” said Hechinger, who is now the executive director of <a href="https://zealo.us/action/zealous/about">Zealous</a>, a national advocacy and education initiative that uses media and the arts to combat systemic injustice. “Ahmaud Arbery’s killers were sentenced to life without the possibility of ever being released. Sentenced to death in prison. Yet still, his killers remain unrepentant and indignant. Meanwhile, even worse: Arbery’s family remains unwhole, unhealed, traumatized.
“I hope that this second trial, which may result in a verdict that their crimes were actually motivated by racial animus, brings some closure to the family,” Hechinger said before the trial began this month. “I fear that it won’t. I fear that the worst possible outcome may be new expansion and harsher application of federal criminal laws and sentences that we know from experience, always disproportionately get enforced against Black and brown people and people of lower socioeconomic statuses.”
A guilty verdict and additional prison time may help give the Arbery family some peace, and that is significant. The more central question of this federal trial, amid continuing debates about the effectiveness of hate crime laws, is whether such laws have a deterring effect on racist violence. (Research <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/4/10/15183902/hate-crime-trump-law">suggests they don’t</a>.)
What is a hate crime prosecution supposed to prove? And who is it even protecting?
Bryan Adamson, a professor of the First Amendment and civil rights at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, noted that a second trial can be necessary when the deprivation of someone’s civil rights results in death. The men in this case were convicted of hate crimes charges as well as kidnapping charges; the McMichaels also faced and were convicted on charges of using a firearm in the crime.
Adamson told Vox that federal prosecutors had a much different hill to climb than their counterparts in the state’s trial. However, the burden of proof is, in a sense, was also on the defense this time around.
“Prosecutors are going to have to demonstrate, by direct or by circumstantial evidence, that the defendants were motivated by the race of Ahmaud. That brings in some nuances and issues regarding proving motivation, which can be a challenge,” Adamson said before the trial began. “The prosecution has to put it front and center, but the defense then has to attempt to present a case that shows that there was anything else but race that motivated them to do what they did.”
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<figcaption>Travis McMichael during his sentencing in Georgia on January 7.</figcaption>
<cite>Stephen B. Morton/Getty Images</cite></figure>
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<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1645593440_10_192628" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23224823,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BvUNdzxGkwY39zRC3etCe2ETck8=/0x0:5172x3450/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ikWW670aGi6gH5MhdrCxfAL0GRs=/0x0:5172x3450/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MpUyb1f3GuO5TIWrkJRYJIcrC7o=/0x0:5172x3450/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9wHvXWXlhiDtzAd7AYLHxcdvHog=/0x0:5172x3450/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nBlL5SdpAaeo5EP3fpksZ11g6-s=/0x0:5172x3450/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Tv3nj3eqRSStd3jSeClYZq73l7M=/0x0:5172x3450/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MqG12Vc_rhwbyIu9q9Qr4ltPM5E=/0x0:5172x3450/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/n11tetxa7xcs-QVnHjosktiMIvg=/0x0:5172x3450/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/kJ92fWO70fs67e_y-MRtvuGgCZ4=/0x0:5172x3450/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="5172" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sbp34m-PFUWHSkqq1yOc0ETM73w=/0x0:5172x3450/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jrtqIWTTGJrueU1lHtKDOU5Apa0=/0x0:5172x3450/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-AvTyhgiDfBdkKNQFiQ6IbjZH8Q=/0x0:5172x3450/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Z2nfAWW6I8ryIjnZPnJVrUeXHnk=/0x0:5172x3450/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/u5pvK8RrKlTt82BNhlaIZ3GNcfo=/0x0:5172x3450/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JGyxWmx35HoiKBuHcfYZ41QzoEQ=/0x0:5172x3450/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wNdFIfn0C1U4GiI_FYaDA_c5jDU=/0x0:5172x3450/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fx7kZi6ncBRqTJiHqj_nbFYAZag=/0x0:5172x3450/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/r4ACRB1nwgQOV5bddJ_FqdGps_c=/0x0:5172x3450/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/_nguY8hT-Wjw2Al8-zGEkzGxlqU=/0x0:5172x3450/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:5172x3450):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23224823/GettyImages_1237588514.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>Greg McMichael at his sentencing hearing on January 7.</figcaption>
<cite>Stephen B. Morton/Getty Images</cite></figure>
</div>
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Bryan and the McMichaels claimed in state court that they were attempting a citizen’s arrest for a series of alleged burglaries for which they suspected Arbery, though they had no evidence. They argued their encounter was legal based on a Georgia code, since repealed, that dated back to 1863 — a law that “was basically a catching-fleeing-slave law,” Cornell University criminal law expert Joseph Margulies <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/10/26/1048398618/what-is-the-citizens-arrest-law-in-the-trial-over-ahmaud-arberys-death">told NPR</a> in October. Even the excuse that the men hoped would absolve them was stained by racism.
Adamson believed before trial that the defendants may try recycling elements of that failed criminal defense: They have argued that they were concerned about the crime in their neighborhood and the safety of property in the area. Many of the defense’s efforts leading up to the hate crimes trial were directed toward keeping evidence out of the case — including testimony from Bryan that Travis McMichael uttered a racial slur after fatally shooting Arbery, as well as racially offensive texts allegedly sent from Bryan’s phone. The texts ultimately were presented to the jury.
Update, February 22, 2022: This story has been updated to reflect the February 22 conviction of the defendants on federal hate crimes charges.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22922329/ahmaud-arbery-hate-crimes-federal-trial-guilty">https://www.vox.com/22922329/ahmaud-arbery-hate-crimes-federal-trial-guilty</a>

vox Ahmaud Arbery’s killers convicted on federal hate crimes charges

Twenty-five-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was Black, unarmed , and out for a run in a Georgia neighborhood near where he lived when three white men...

The Truth About Ukraine

One of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s closest allies has slammed western legacy media reports of an imminent Russian invasion as “obviously fake news” that has actually served to harm Ukraine.
David Arakhamia, the head of the “Servant of the People” faction in Kiev’s parliament, made the comments during an interview on the TV channel 1 + 1.
Asserting that the crisis would all be over in a matter of weeks, Arakhamia said U.S. media propaganda was just as bad as Russian propaganda.
“I think that when that phase is over in two or three weeks, we should make a retrospective analysis of how large, very well-known media began to spread information worse than Olga Skabejeva and Vladimir Solovyov,” said Arakhamia, referring to two allies of Vladimir Putin.
“Obviously fake news in CNN, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal … We have to study this, because it’s part of a hybrid war,” he added.
The Ukrainian party leader noted that Ukraine was merely being used as a pawn in an attempt by Russia to get a new security agreement.
Arakhamia also blamed legacy media “fake news” for negatively impacting the Ukrainian economy, with the false invasion rumors costing the country up to $3 billion dollars a month.
[embedded content]
As we <a href="https://summit.news/2022/02/17/czech-president-russia-would-be-crazy-to-start-a-war-with-ukraine/">highlighted</a> earlier, Czech President Miloš Zeman slammed the constant false claims that Russia is about to attack as a massive “embarrassment” to the U.S., comparing it to the failure to find WMD in Iraq.
“As for the U.S. intelligence services, this is their third embarrassment. The first was in Iraq, where no weapons of mass destruction were found. The second was in Afghanistan when they claimed that the Taliban would never conquer Kabul. Well, the third is now,” Zeman said.
Meanwhile, Russia has <a href="https://summit.news/2022/02/17/russian-government-mocks-western-media-for-desperately-wanting-a-world-war/">enjoyed laughing</a> at the United States over their relentlessly hysterical fake warnings of war.
“Today we mark another day of the ‘start of war with Ukraine,’ which did not happen again, to the Western media outlets’ regret, no matter how hard they whip up the hysteria,” said Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
The tweet was accompanied with a video of tumbleweeds.
Earlier today, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken channeled Colin Powell during a UN speech in which he asserted (with no evidence) that Russia was planning a chemical attack as a false flag pretext to invade.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true" readability="10.570637119114">
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken:
– We do not see Russia drawing down forces 
– Forces preparing to launch attack against Ukraine in coming days 
– Russia plans to manufacture a pretext for its attack 
– Russian pretext could include fake or real attack using chemical weapons <a href="https://t.co/mGrPxpeKL0">pic.twitter.com/mGrPxpeKL0</a>
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) <a href="https://twitter.com/TRTWorldNow/status/1494346971682942987?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2022</a>
</blockquote>
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source <a href="https://summit.news/2022/02/22/the-truth-about-ukraine/">https://summit.news/2022/02/22/the-truth-about-ukraine/</a>

revolution summit The Truth About Ukraine

One of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s closest allies has slammed western legacy media reports of an imminent Russian invasion as “...

Jan. 6th Video Shows Oath Keepers Working With Capitol Police To Rescue Riot Police

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2022/02/jan6footage.jpg" /></div>
Unbelievable video sent to us from a listener shows two men proclaiming to be Oath Keepers assisting a uniformed Capitol police officer to lead at least a dozen Capitol Riot Police to safety.
This video suggests Oathkeepers were not involved in an insurrection, as claimed by the FBI and others.
Someone show this to Stewart Rhodes’ lawyer!
There’s also video proof that <a href="https://banned.video/watch?id=61ef1cdf31408b14990a923f" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Alex Jones called on rioters not to attack the Capit</a><a href="https://banned.video/watch?id=61ef1cdf31408b14990a923f" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">o</a><a href="https://banned.video/watch?id=61ef1cdf31408b14990a923f" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">l</a> and pleaded with them to fall back, contrary to what the Jan. 6th Select Committee alleges.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/jan-6th-video-shows-oath-keepers-working-with-capitol-police-to-rescue-riot-police">https://www.infowars.com/posts/jan-6th-video-shows-oath-keepers-working-with-capitol-police-to-rescue-riot-police</a>

news Jan. 6th Video Shows Oath Keepers Working With Capitol Police To Rescue Riot Police

Unbelievable video sent to us from a listener shows two men proclaiming to be Oath Keepers assisting a uniformed Capitol police officer to ...