This week, Tom Simonite wrote a fantastic piece in the MIT Technology Review asking if Wikipedia was in decline. One tidbit of that story identified by the Atlantic is that 90% of Wikipedia’s editors are male. That said, the gender…
Tired of ads? Want to support our progressive journalism? Click to learn more.LEARN MORE
Enjoy good journalism?
… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we here at Raw Story believe in the power of progressive journalism. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and legal efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. And unlike other news outlets, we’ve decided to make our original content free. But we need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. Unhinged from corporate overlords, we fight to ensure no one is forgotten.
We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click to donate by check.
Value Raw Story?
… then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.
Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.
  |  |
Report typos and corrections to: corrections@rawstory.com.
Capitol insurrectionist apologizes to AOC saying he was just ‘following the instructions of’ Trump
January 25, 2021
Capitol insurrectionist Garret Miller apologized to Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) on Monday after he threatened to "Assassinate AOC," CNBC reported.
Following the attack on the Capitol, Miller said that he planned to "hug his neck with a nice rope."
<p>Appearing in court, a federal judge in Dallas ordered Miller to continue to be detained without bail while awaiting his trial. The judge found that Miller is both a danger to the community and a possible flight risk, said the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas.</p><p>"I was in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021, because I believed I was following the instructions of former President Trump and he was my president and the commander-in-chief. His statements also had me believing the election was stolen from him," Miller said in a statement released from his attorney. </p><p>"Nevertheless, I fully recognize Joe Biden is now the President of the United States and that the election is over. Donald Trump is no longer president and I would not have any reason to continue to follow his lead," he said. "While I never intended to harm Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez nor harm any members of the Capitol police force, I recognize that my social media posts were completely inappropriate. They were made at a time when Donald Trump had me believing that an American election was stolen," he said.</p><p>The statement continued: "I want to publicly apologize to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez and the Capitol police officers. I have always supported law enforcement and I am ashamed by my comments."</p><p>After Trump told the group to go home, Miller said he got in his car and drove back to Texas. </p><p>During the attack on the Capitol, rioters were chanting "hang Mike Pence" and calling out for Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Ocasio-Cortez said that she was <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/aoc-says-she-feared-her-life-during-capitol-riot-i-n1254042" target="_blank">afraid for her life during the attack</a> and she and other members of Congress were "nearly assassinated."</p><p>"I did not know if I was going to make it to the end of that day alive, and not just in a general sense but also in a very, very specific sense," the congresswoman said in an Instagram Live video. </p><p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/25/capitol-riots-garret-miller-says-he-was-following-trumps-orders-apologizes-to-aoc.html" target="_blank">Read the full report. </a></p>
CONTINUE READING
Show less
'WalkAway' founder Brandon Straka arrested for Capitol riots after his own family called the FBI on him
January 25, 2021
Yet another far right extremist has been arrested for his role in the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Brandon Straka was charged with three counts by federal prosecutors: impeding law enforcement during a civil disorder, entering restricted grounds, and disorderly conduct with intent to disturb a hearing before Congress. He has been arrested.
<p>Straka founded the "WalkAway Campaign" that sought to encourage Democrats to leave the Democratic Party and spoke at a "Stop the Steal" rally in D.C. the day before the riots.</p><p>The day after the riots, <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/pro-trump-capitol-riot-2649780687/" target="_blank">Straka criticized those on the right were were attempting to blame the riots on antifa</a>.</p><p>The FBI said that "Witness-1" was a relative of Straka to pointed investigators to a video Straka had posted to Twitter. After the video was deleted from Twitter, the relative let the agent know there was a copy of the video posted to YouTube.</p><p>In the video, Straka was seen wearing the same clothes that he had worn the previous day while speaking at the rally.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c11e8daf8825a59b15a90364cb61e8c4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="5e5c3" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUzMzM3Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MzEyNzI2MX0.H1Y91IlCHmxuco4Rr30uMd6IqdQiySRJJf6MVo61y6M/img.png?width=980"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Photos included in criminal complaint against Brandon Straka.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Screengrab.</small></p>
CONTINUE READING
Show less
Trump biographer predicts Republicans will try to turn ex-president into a martyr — but it’ll fail
January 25, 2021
One of President Donald Trump's biographers, Michael D'Antonio, predicted that his supporters will attempt to turn the president into a martyr during his impeachment, but that it will fail.
As Trump heads into his second impeachment trial, his supporters are already issuing threats of violence to lawmakers. The MAGA insurrectionists are well acquainted with the idea of martyrs in their faith, wrote D'Antonio at CNN.com.
<p>"Among the rioters who <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/01/12/evangelicals-donald-trump-capitol-riot-voter-fraud/6644005002/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">broke</a> into the Capitol were many who prayed and others who carried religious symbols -- after they drove legislators from their chamber and occupied it," he explained. "We should expect some of these supporters, not only to recommit to Trump, but also to visit retribution upon Republicans who fail to defend him in his upcoming trial."</p><p>In December, the Arizona Republican Party asked its members if they were <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-nw-arizona-republican-party-rift-twitter-20201211-fxq7ys4shnapbgmbv27ucvtjqy-story.html" target="_blank">prepared to "die" for Donald Trump.</a> "Live a life of service to a cause greater than yourself," the AZ GOP urged followers. They've since moved to censure so-called "never Trump" Republicans like former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Cindy McCain, wife to late Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).</p><p>D'Antonio noted that even Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) alluded to the dangers of going after Trump, saying that the impeachment would be "like pouring gasoline on fire. And, by the way, I think a lot of the people who are out there for the first time, after seeing what happened last week, sort of reckoning with the last four years, now all of a sudden they're circling the wagons and it threatens to make him a martyr."</p><p>Rubio is possibly facing a primary challenge from Ivanka Trump in 2022. D'Antonio noted that when people like Rubio try to use the martyr argument, they're ignoring two main points. First, that Trump isn't already a martyr to his supporters, and second that as a martyr he's a "threat, not to the nation, but to the Republican Party and those GOP senators who vote to convict him."</p><p>Trump is already teasing about starting a third party where Trump supporters can be free from traditional policy principles of the GOP. A <a href="https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3686" target="_blank">recent poll</a> shows that 73 percent of Republicans believe that there was massive voter fraud, something critics are openly referring to as "the big lie." Any Republican will be forced to face off against a Trump-loving primary opponent who intends to hold them accountable for refusing to support the president. </p><p>D'Antonio argued that "Republicans are well beyond the point where they should be worried about a schism on the political right. Trump and his followers are already talking about <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-impeachment-biden-inauguration/card/90pPMzFPqr5fMzg1Bkbs" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">creating</a> their own MAGA party should the GOP fail them. This schism is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/politics/donald-trump-destroy-gop-patriot-party/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">happening</a> and the Republican Party as they knew it is already lost."</p><p><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/25/opinions/trump-impeachment-martyr-dantonio/index.html" target="_blank">Read his analysis at CNN.com.</a></p>
CONTINUE READING
Show less
Trending
Latest
Videos
Copyright © 2021 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | Masthead | Privacy Policy | For corrections or concerns, please email corrections@rawstory.com.