All posts tagged "security"

‘Evil people’ and ‘haters’: Chicagoans endure disruptions to combat convention threats

CHICAGO — Tens of thousands of visitors will pass by a 138-year-old brick church facing a parking lot for the United Center, home of this week’s Democratic National Convention.

Welcoming visitors into the landmark building would be a “blessing” — and timely — given the history of Greater Union Baptist Church, which includes a visit from Black civil rights activist and suffragist, Mary Church Terrell, said Walter McCray, the Baptist church’s pastor.

ALSO READ: 'Powder keg': Massive security presence on display in Chicago amid signs of trouble

“To highlight her is very significant in terms of preserving democracy and voting. We believe in voting and are promoters of voting as a congregation,” McCray told Raw Story in a phone interview. “We think that would be very significant with Kamala Harris as a Black female running for the President of these United States of America.”

But Greater Union Baptist Church will be in a “lockdown” instead. Metal fences and concrete barricades ring its perimeter. Parking is prohibited. The normally welcoming house of worship now resembles a fortress. And communication between the Democratic Party and the surrounding community members — many of whom are Democrats — hasn’t always been great, residents said.

Greater Union Baptist Church near the United Center has barricades and fencing around it on Aug. 18, 2024, due to the Democratic National Convention. (Photo by Dave Levinthal/Raw Story)

Such is the temporary fate of private properties that fall within the designated security “red zone” that requires Secret Service approval for access during the convention.

The specter of terrorist attacks and violent protests have resulted in overwhelming security procedures in this lower-income neighborhood about three miles west of Chicago’s downtown core.

“We're not naive enough to think that everyone will respect the church house, the people of God there, so under the circumstances, we are cooperative,” McCray said.

Greater Union Baptist Church is one of the community organizations located near the convention sites that has needed to completely alter its operations in order to maneuver around security restrictions required by the Secret Service and law enforcement.

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The church in Chicago’s Near West Side neighborhood pivoted to virtual services and meetings for its 67-person congregation while the convention and preparations took place, which members understood even though “everybody misses the fellowship in person,” McCray said.

McCray said much of the congregation consists of “senior seniors” who cannot walk long distances or quickly.

“The aches and pains that come with older age, they have, so to be able to park right in front of the church and not far from the church house, the entry doors, is important,” McCray said. “With the street blocked the way it is, that's problematic.”

Choosing to proceed with virtual services was a “two-sided” decision – both for the protection of the congregation and for the safety of the dignitaries, delegates and visitors attending the convention, McCray said.

“We are very much aware that not everybody is about peaceful protests and demonstrations, and there are some who are very sinister, who would be clandestine in seeking to take what is positive in peace and turn it very negative,” McCray said. “There are very evil people. There are haters who seek to not only harm elected officials, or who would seek to distract from a Democratic National Convention by creating chaos and violence.”

Community outreach efforts

Following a community impact session hosted by the Chicago 2024 Democratic National Convention host committee in early August, the Secret Service got in touch with McCray about security protocols, but representatives of the host committee and Democratic National Committee have not, he said.

The Secret Service provided McCray with a phone number to call in order to help staff members of the church access the building during the week.

The Democratic National Convention Joint Information Center confirmed to Raw Story that the Secret Service and its partners contacted Greater Union Baptist Church as a part of its outreach effort to about 1,300 people, including 500 business representatives, since July 25. Prior to then, the Secret Service community outreach subcommittee held meetings with community groups in the city and suburbs, the information center said.

Less than a mile north of the United Center, a food pantry, Nourishing Hope, operates a warehouse that processes about three million pounds of food each year. The nonprofit runs another warehouse and two walk-in pantries across Chicago, in addition to providing deliveries and online food ordering services.

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Given that it’s outside of the security “red zone” but not far from the convention site, the organization took a precautionary approach to its operations planning during the convention.

“Just making sure that the drivers are paying attention to closures and giving themselves extra time to navigate any sudden closures or delays,” Kellie O’Connell, chief executive officer for Nourishing Hope, told Raw Story. “The other thing that we're messaging to our staff, really, and volunteers is to just make sure that you plan extra time so that you can navigate any increased traffic.”

Clients who live in the Near West Side and South Loop neighborhoods near the United Center and the other convention site, McCormick Place — particularly seniors — might experience rescheduled food deliveries during the convention. But O’Connell insisted that they will get food for the week.

“Because we're just outside of it, I think we're just being more proactive to make sure that we're educating ourselves on what's happening and how it might impact our operations,” said O’Connell.

Leaders for Nourishing Hope attended a community impact meeting but did not receive personal outreach from Democratic National Convention organizers or partners about the convention’s effect on their operations.

The Secret Service, City of Chicago, Chicago Police Department, Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and the Chicago 2024 Host Committee created a community outreach program in the spring, which included door-to-door visits to residents and businesses around the United Center and the McCormick Place, the Democratic National Convention Joint Information Center told Raw Story.

"The preparation for the 2024 DNC, like any National Special Security Event, is a joint effort. No one federal, state or local agency alone can carry out the measures necessary to secure the event. The expertise of each participating law enforcement, public safety and military agency is critical to the success of the operational security plan," said the Democratic National Convention Joint Information Center in an email, declining to provide a named spokesperson for attribution.

The Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection also canvassed, shared information via email and social media, and hosted meetings with business owners "in the perimeters and in proximity to the venues," according to the Democratic National Convention Joint Information Center.

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“We know that security for this event of this size will have impacts. To that end, the Secret Service and our partners have conducted dozens of outreach up to this point, with businesses, residents and community groups,” said Joel Hefferman, assistant special agent in charge of the U. S. Secret Service, Chicago Field Office, at a press conference on Aug. 2. “The objective is to effectively and efficiently communicate our plan and mitigate confusion as we move forward towards the DNC.”

For the nearly 650 schools in the Chicago Public Schools district, teacher classroom preparations and trainings ahead of Aug. 26 — the first day of school — are proceeding as usual, Evan Moore, a school district spokesman, told Raw Story via email.

But there are disruptions.

Schools near the United Center were informed by district officials that street closures and security barriers may cause their employees to arrive late, Moore said. The principals relayed precautionary instructions and offered opportunities for expanded accessibility in order to avoid congestion, such as open hours for school supply drop off ahead of the convention to the community.

Sports practices for three high schools in the Chicago Public League will be restricted to 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. during the convention, Moore said.

The district adjusted its 2024-2025 school year days to start on Monday, Aug. 26, after the convention. Classes will end Friday, June 12, 2025.

“This shift not only accommodates the city’s logistical needs as they relate to the influx of convention goers, but it also allows time for students to attend, volunteer and participate in the civic process of hosting the convention,” Moore said in a statement on behalf of Chicago Public Schools.

Commuter concerns

Even those outside of the vicinity of the United Center and McCormick Place are taking precautions to avoid street closures and protests during the convention.

“I told everybody at my job, don't you dare create in-person meetings that week. We're doing everything by Zoom,” said John Booras, Republican candidate for U.S. House Illinois District 3 and tax attorney. “Especially as a former police officer, I'm seeing the signs of that being a powder keg right now.”

John Booras, Republican candidate for U.S. House Illinois District 3 and tax attorney, at the Billy Goat Tavern in Wrigleyville for a Chicago Republicans event on Aug. 12. (Photo by Alexandria Jacobson/Raw Story)

Laura Kotelman, a Republican committeeperson for Chicago’s 44th Ward, expressed concern about how the convention will affect her commute downtown for work.

“I don't want to get trapped if there's like roving outages, or they take over Lakeshore Drive. It might be hard to get home,” said Kotelman, recalling protestors’ clash with police at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Chicago in 2012.

Ken Ashner, who lives in Chicago’s South Loop near McCormick Place, said it’s been “so far so good” in terms of navigating his neighborhood, despite a parking ban outside his home. Ashner said he just needed to show his license to access the designated parking space in his building. but finding parking was a little harder for some of his neighbors.

“I talked to a guy this morning, and he said he had to find a place down a little bit further away, but he found one because they're allowing us to use other neighborhoods,” Ashner said. “Obviously, the street closures we know about, so we’re just going around them.”

Ken Ashner walks by a street closure in his neighborhood on Aug. 18, 2024. (Photo by Alexandria Jacobson/Raw Story)

The Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications has released maps of affected areas around the United Center and McCormick Place that includes vehicle check points and limited vehicular traffic throughout a couple blocks around each venue.

Vehicle screenings began as early as Friday near McCormick Place, and street closures near both sites started on Saturday. The convention is scheduled to end on Thursday evening with Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepting the Democratic presidential nomination.

Pat Dowell, alderman for Chicago's 3rd Ward, was unavailable for an interview, and Walter Burnett, Jr., alderman for Chicago's 27th Ward, did not respond to Raw Story's request for comment.

'Powder keg': Massive security presence on display in Chicago amid signs of trouble

CHICAGO — Local and national law enforcement officials are ready for battle ahead of this week’s Democratic National Convention, and their presence is, seemingly, everywhere on the ground and water and in the air.

While national party leaders, local officials and the thousands of delegates descending on Chicago are hoping for peace, everyone is braced for violence.

A technician adjusts a solar-powered security camera tower outside McCormick Place in Chicago on Aug. 18, 2024. McCormick Place is hosting many of the daytime events associated with the Democratic National Convention. (Dave Levinthal / Raw Story)

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Tens of thousands of protesters are expected in Chicago’s streets this week, ranging from far-left Gaza advocates to — potentially — far-right supporters of former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.

A fleet of tow trucks stand at the ready outside security barriers at Chicago’s United Center for the Democratic National Convention. (Matt Laslo / Raw Story)

“I'm seeing the signs of that being a powder keg right now,” John Booras — a former police officer in Chicago’s suburbs and current candidate for U.S. House Illinois District 3 — told Raw Story.

Powder keg or not, Chicago Police — aided by dozens of other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies — are making their presence known at most every turn.

On Saturday and Sunday, Raw Story reporters walked and rode their way through Chicago for a first-hand look at how police were preparing.

A half-dozen Chicago Police officers stand watch outside the Ashland "L" Train station on Aug. 18, 2024, near the United Center, where the Democratic National Committee's evening events are being conducted. (Dave Levinthal / Raw Story)

For the past couple days, tourists visiting the city’s iconic Magnificent Mile — a street that boasts the likes of Gucci, Cartier and Armani — have been greeted with large patrols of roving bicycle officers and a heavier police presence than what’s typical for the glitzy main drag.

Snowplows are being deployed as extra layers of security across Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. (Matt Laslo / Raw Story)

Joining the bike cops are motorcycle cops, horse cops and yes, boat cops on Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.

Overnight, while those tourists were sleeping — or clubbing — the city’s security apparatus quickly expanded, as concrete and steel barriers were erected in several key areas where Democratic National Convention activities are scheduled.

Chicago Police officers fill up their motorcycles during their patrol Sunday afternoon. (Matt Laslo / Raw Story)

Three miles south of downtown — just past Grant Park (home of Lollapalooza), the Field Museum (home of the largest Tyrannosaurus rex on record) and Soldier Field (home of da Bears!) — is the McCormick Place Convention Center where the party is throwing a public "DemPalooza" fest for those without official convention credentials.

It’s locked down, Chicago-style.

A Cook County, Ill., bomb squad truck is parked outside McCormick Place in Chicago on Aug. 18, 2024. McCormick Place is hosting many of the daytime events associated with the Democratic National Convention. (Dave Levinthal / Raw Story)

It’s off-season for the city’s expansive fleet of intimidatingly large, rusty and seemingly immovable snowplows, so they’re being deployed as an extra layer of security — on top of the other extra layers of security — on the city’s snowless summer streets.

All the seemingly makeshift security upgrades from the Chicago Police Department have an ominous feeling about them to Booras, who was working as a part-time police officer in suburban Chicago during the George Floyd protests in 2020.

A Mutual Aid Box Alarm System decontamination truck from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency drives around the perimeter of McCormick Place in Chicago on Aug. 18, 2024. McCormick Place is hosting many of the daytime events associated with the Democratic National Convention. (Dave Levinthal / Raw Story)

"When you have to create borders that are two blocks away … we didn't have these precautions, even back then. We weren't afraid of people the way that CPD and security is afraid of what's coming now,” Booras said. "Where there's smoke, there's fire. For them to do this, there are credible threats coming through."

Federal agents running a security checkpoint near the United Center on the afternoon of Aug. 18, 2024. (Matt Laslo / Raw Story)

But snowplows can only cover the square footage they occupy and law enforcement wants to be everywhere. And they will be with the assist of security cameras, drones, helicopters and air quality sensors.

While many delegates are staying downtown in and around McCormick Place, the convention itself is some three miles away from Chicago’s lakefront at the United Center — home of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks — which has also been fortified in recent days.

United States Capitol Police patrol the streets around the United Center Sunday. (Matt Laslo / Raw Story)

Sunday law enforcement officials were seen circling the United Center in a helicopter whose doors were ominously open.

With this year’s Democratic National Convention stretched across the city, there are also troops of bike cops out by the United Center, along with many long gun-wielding federal agents.

A law enforcement helicopter circles the area around Chicago’s United Center Sunday evening ahead of the Democratic National Convention. (Matt Laslo / Raw Story)

The attempt on Trump’s life last month ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee is still fresh on the minds of all the officers assembled in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, where Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to accept her party’s nomination on Thursday.

Chicago snowplow turned security barrier. (Matt Laslo / Raw Story)

President Joe Biden, who withdrew from the race in mid-July, is scheduled to speak at the convention Monday. Thousands of other dignitaries, government officials and state and federal lawmakers will be in attendance.

Local and national law enforcement officials and security contractors setting up concrete and steel barriers downtown Chicago at 2 am Sunday morning. (Matt Laslo / Raw Story)

"Now, those threats don't always materialize. Fewer are the moments of Butler, Pa., and what happened with Trump there. Way more often do they actually succeed, get it right, stop things before they happen. That's the standard,” Booras told Raw Story. “So, it's highly likely that you won't see the horrific violence that maybe is being threatened erupt, but again, that's not something that I would choose to be around if I didn't have to."

Milwaukee girded for massive convention protests. But they got something else.

MILWAUKEE — It was Tuesday evening, and roughly a dozen men dressed in matching orange T-shirts labeled “staff demonstration event safety” sat around a folding table at Haymarket Square.

Here in this free speech zone outside the Republican National Convention’s well-patrolled security perimeter stood a stage, podium, microphone and amplification system ready for someone to make a speech.

But as buses idled to ferry VIP guests to their hotels, no protesters were in sight. The scene? Calm.

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James Hayes, one of the event safety workers at Haymarket Square said he and his colleagues were there “to be extra eyes and ears for the protests — if there were any — and to coordinate with the police” but hadn’t “had much” in the way of protests.

The potential for mass protests and extremist violence at the Republican National Convention loomed as an unpredictable element in a tense election year that took a most dangerous turn with the attempted assassination of Republican nominee Donald Trump the previous weekend.

And while there was plenty of mostly peaceful protest actions in other areas surrounding the convention, the two city-designated “official speaker’s platforms” were virtual ghost towns throughout the week.

The other location, Ziegler Union Square, was tucked behind the Courtyard by Marriott — easily ignored by conventioneers, with the possible exception of the North Carolina delegation, whose marked golf carts were staged in the parking garage.

Similar to their counterparts in designated free speech area on the north end of the convention area, the event safety workers at Ziegler Union Square ambled around the park, sat at benches or stood around on Tuesday.

A man sang “Amazing Grace” through a megaphone, and then switched to preaching as he passed the park and continued down the street. A wooden podium and microphone set up in a pavilion remained dormant.

On Thursday, the final day of the convention, at 2 p.m., Hayes reported that the tempo at Haymarket Square had not picked up in the least.

“At this site, no one’s showed up today,” he said.

Likewise, at Ziegler Union Square on Thursday afternoon, a half dozen security staff lined the perimeter as a young woman sat on a bench listening to music on headphones. The pavilion yet again remained vacant.

Concern, contractors, preparation

Jeff Fleming, director of communications for the Milwaukee Mayor’s Office, said the contractors were hired through the city’s Office of Community Wellness and Safety.

“We opted to have the staff of people most involved in violence prevention activities, just because they’re familiar with tense situations and they’re well equipped to deal with them,” Fleming told Raw Story. “Their skills were not needed.”

Fleming said he would try to find out how much the city spent on the event safety team, but was not able to provide the information prior to publication.

The city committed to provide space for demonstrators and a parade route as part of its contract with the Republican National Convention, Fleming said.

The city allotted speaking time slots at the two demonstration locations from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on the four days of the convention in advance to applicants. Fleming said the city received 140 applications, but on Thursday, he estimated that only 15 percent of the applicants had used their assigned timeslots.

While describing Haymarket Square as a “premier site” with sightlines to the “front doors” of the Fiserv Forum, where the Republican’s convention took place, Fleming acknowledged that protesters had other, more appealing options.

“Frankly, people can stand on the street corner and state their opinions loudly and proudly,” he said.

Protesters were free to go anywhere outside of the pedestrian restricted perimeter, unless they had official convention credentials, which almost none — if any — did.

That afforded them the ability to protest directly outside a Secret Service checkpoint one block from the arena. Others made their voices heard throughout the week across the Milwaukee River on Water Street, where they could interact with delegates coming and going from their hotels and various restaurants and entertainment venues.

Some of those who signed up for speaking slots, Fleming said, “may have arrived anticipating there would be a crowd waiting for them to speak, and there was not any crowd waiting for them, so they left.”

Having their say

While the city’s designated demonstration areas largely went unused, that doesn’t mean protesters sat the convention out entirely.

About 3,000 people led by a local coalition of left-wing groups that highlighted support for Palestine, reproductive rights and immigrants’ concerns brought a spirited march from Red Arrow Park to the Secret Service checkpoint outside of the Fiserv Forum on Monday.

The following evening, a smaller group of people protested the police killing of a homeless veteran one mile west of the convention by visiting officers from the Columbus Police Department.

Heather Ryan and her daughter, Heaven — who have been protesting Republican nominating conventions together since 1996, when Heaven was 6-months-old — showed at Red Arrow Park around 1 p.m. Thursday, after traveling from Des Moines, Iowa.

Dressed in matching black T-shirts that said “B—--- get stuff done,” the mother and daughter pulled out bullhorns and chanted, “2-4-6-8, Donald Trump get away.”

Before long, they attracted a gaggle of right-wing counter-protesters, live-streamers and photojournalists.

Heather Ryan, a liberal activist from Iowa, and Andre Williams, co-leader of the fascist group New Frontier, face off. (Jordan Green / Raw Story)

Andre Williams, one of the leaders of the fledgling fascist group New Frontier, approached the Ryans with his own bullhorn, while holding a Donald Trump fan. (Williams’ and the other leader of the group met for the first time in person in Milwaukee on Tuesday, according to their Telegram channel.)

“Your guy’s a racist,” Heather Ryan told Williams.

Williams countered by body shaming her.

“Where’s Weight Watchers when you need it?” he said. “Oh my gosh!”

Williams had a pistol strapped to his hip, which is legal in Wisconsin.

He first challenged Ryan for calling him a fascist, but then conceded, “Okay, I’m a fascist. What are you going to do about it?”

New Frontier’s Telegram channel celebrates Corneliu Codreanu, founder of the Romanian fascist group Iron Guard, and Carl Schmitt, who was considered the preeminent jurist of the Nazi Party in World War II Germany. The group excludes Jews, and although one of its leaders, Williams, is Black, the group took pains in a recent Telegram post to clarify that it “is not and will never be an anti-white organization.”

“God blessed Donald Trump. Christ is king,” Williams told Ryan. “Maybe you should go read the Bible. Go to church.”

A woman wearing a crucifix filmed the exchange with her cell phone, and then moved closer. Heather Ryan rebuffed the woman’s attempt to engage in a debate. The woman responded through her own bullhorn: “You’re over the decibel limit. I’m going to call the police.”

About 20 feet away, four members of the city’s event safety team eyed the confrontation, but didn’t intervene. Eventually, the argument subsided and the contesting parties drifted apart.

Last year, ahead of a Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, Heather Ryan had been flagged by a special agent with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a “person of concern.” The trigger was a social media post when she was removed from the Iowa State Fair by state troopers last year. Heather Ryan and her niece were thrown out for blowing a whistle during Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ conversation with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The Ryans said they felt compelled to travel to Milwaukee to protest the convention because they believe a second Trump term augurs the arrival of fascism in the United States.

“There’s a sense of helplessness when you’re going up against this gigantic beast that’s taking away rights,” Heather Ryan told Raw Story.

“I refuse to go quietly into the night,” Heaven Ryan added.

“It’s Project 2025,” Heather said when asked fascism would look like. “It’s my kids carrying period passports to prove they’re not pregnant. It looks like firing civil servants and replacing them with Trump loyalists. It’s overwhelming, and I’m sure that’s by design.”

Fleming said that while it appears the city of Milwaukee over-prepared for the protests at the Republican National Convention, he would be reluctant to impart any lessons to other cities that host party conventions in the future.

Least of all, Chicago, which hosts the Democratic National Convention next month.

“I don’t want to assume that Chicago will face the same kind of predicament of having staff ready to go and not as many people showing up,” he said. “It’s possible they have better organized activist groups…. They might see more protests.”

Milwaukee locals fume after RNC lockdown following Trump shooting

MILWAUKEE — Law enforcement is tightening down security in Milwaukee in advance of the Republican National Convention following the assassination attempt on its presumed nominee Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Restrictions on pedestrian access to a 20-block area surrounding Fiserv Forum had been set to go into effect at 6 p.m. central time Sunday under the operational security plan developed by the Secret Service, but authorities moved up implementation of the pedestrian security restrictions. By noon on Sunday, residents and convention vendors were greeted with 10-foot metal security fencing along both sides of West McKinley Avenue, one block north of Fiserv Forum.

A vendor who identified himself as “A-Train” — owner of Motorcycles, Bars & Cigars — found himself trying to figure out a way to get through the security fencing so he could sell cigars and T-shirts at a barbecue restaurant inside the security perimeter.

“This is turning into a s---show since they tried to kill the former commander-in-chief,” A-Train said, as he wheeled a luggage case full of his wares down the sidewalk.

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A man who said he lives on a street north of the perimeter said he hadn’t received any notice that the security restrictions were being moved up, and he had planned to catch a ride from a friend with a car who was going to pick him up on the street. Now, he found a fence blocking his access to the vehicular traffic on West McKinley Avenue.

Delegates have been arriving in Milwaukee over the weekend, and Trump is expected to accept the party nomination on Thursday evening.

A-Train said he was told he wouldn’t need a credential to get inside the security perimeter, and eventually he found an unmanned gate in the security fencing, and was able to enter without any problem.

Enhanced security was also apparent outside Fiserv Forum as television media crews set up equipment. Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations patrolled a corridor fashioned from bike racks between the arena and media outposts set up outside a row of bars across the plaza.

A Homeland Security Investigations agent patrols a security corridor in front of Fiserv Forum.Jordan Green / Raw Story

Former GOP congressman invites scrutiny by using campaign cash for 'security'

In a terse note responding to the Federal Election Commission, the old campaign committee for former Rep. Peter King (R-NY) said it intends to keep operating even if the congressman has no intention of again running for office.

But the FEC also has questions about how it is operating, including thousands in expenses for security, which is allowed for sitting members of Congress but not former members.

King, 79, who left office in 2021, has almost $400,000 remaining in his old congressional campaign account, according to the latest FEC filing. The account is subject to FEC rules and oversight.

In September, the FEC questioned expenditures that Pete King for Congress reported in the first half of this year.

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“Your most recent report discloses a significant amount of residual cash on hand,” the FEC’s letter said. “Please explain the committee's intended use of the residual campaign funds. … Be aware that committee assets, including cash-on-hand, may not be converted to personal use.”

In response, Pete King for Congress told the FEC in October that its spending was entirely for campaign committee business and that salaries paid by the campaign committee were for “services related to the prior office holding of the former Congressman.”

Former congressional candidates may use excess campaign funds to make donations to other political campaigns, give to certain non-profits and pay expenses related to winding down a campaign committee. They may also disgorge it to the U.S. Treasury’s general fund.

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King’s expenses from the first half of 2023 include $12,372.22 in payments to American Express for a credit card, but the FEC filing contains no detail on how the money was spent. The filing lists $17,314 in payments to individuals as “salary” with no detail on the work performed.

Neither King nor Anne Rosenfeld, the treasurer of Pete King for Congress, responded to Raw Story’s requests for comment. King is currently a registered lobbyist with Eckert Seamans working for clients including JetBlue and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

King’s third quarter FEC report could raise more red flags. That’s based on how the filing characterizes some of his spending: “security related to prior position.”

King reported spending $4,269.08 in the third quarter of this year on security — specifically, payments to four individuals for “salary” related to security.

The FEC has previously weighed in on similar matters.

When former Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-CA) asked the FEC in 2017 if he could use excess campaign funds to repair his home security system, the FEC drafted a proposed opinion that denied the request. Gallegly withdrew his request before the opinion could be presented to FEC commissioners.

The opinion stated that excess campaign funds “may not be used to pay for the repair or replacement of Mr. Gallegly’s home security system, because doing so would constitute an impermissible personal use of campaign funds under the Act and Commission regulations.”

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Such situations are evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine “whether the expense would fall within the definition of ‘personal use’; that is, whether the expense would exist irrespective of a candidate’s campaign or an individual’s duties as an officeholder.”

King retired after 28 years in Congress. He was known as a moderate but was accused of demonizing American Muslims for chairing congressional hearings in 2011 on the radicalization of American Muslims and for saying there were “too many mosques in this country.” He also supported former President Donald Trump’s 2017 executive order halting immigration from certain predominantly Muslim countries.

In September, King wrote in The Hill about going back to Capitol Hill and seeing the dysfunction in the Republican Party.

“Today’s dissidents are at best ego-driven headline hunters or hopelessly naive innocents trying to prove they are the most conservative of the conservatives,” King said.

Lauren Boebert says the Pentagon has labeled her a 'security threat'

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, says the Pentagon considers her a "security threat."

In a tweet posted Saturday, Boebert said the Pentagon "apparently" now thinks that she's a security threat because she opposes "Biden's plans for a woke military." While there is no such thing as a "woke military" design, Biden has recently announced a plan to purge hate and white supremacy from the military and other governmental arms. Boebert personally took that news as a coded message about going after conservatives, but didn't elaborate upon the connection that she had made.

"Call me whatever you want, but I’m not backing down today or ever," Boebert wrote in the tweet.

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There was no further explanation about what she purportedly did to earn herself the threat designation.

Recently, Boebert has been in the news for her divorce, as well as for her vocal opposition to the debt ceiling deal.

US, Mexico seek to revamp fight against drug cartels

Mexico says it no longer wants helicopter gunships and other weapons from the United States to fight drug cartels, calling for a new approach

Mexico City (AFP) - The United States and Mexico are set to discuss an overhaul of their joint fight against drug cartels during a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said Mexico no longer wants helicopter gunships and other weapons to combat drug traffickers, urging the United States to invest in regional economic development instead.

Ahead of Blinken's visit, his first to Mexico as the top US diplomat, Washington indicated that it was ready to revamp a 13-year-old program called the Merida Initiative that provided US military firepower, technical support and security training.

"We believe we are due for an updated look at our bilateral security cooperation," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.

He said Washington wanted to see the "significant gains" made by the Merida Initiative "preserved, that that cooperation is deepened and that we have an updated approach that accounts for the threats of today."

The Mexican government has gone further, calling for an end to the Merida Initiative.

"We don't want it to be like it was before when they brought us a helicopter gunship and a photo was taken of the US ambassador with the president," Lopez Obrador said in June.

He argues that investing in development projects in the region would help counter not only drug trafficking but also migrant flows -- another major challenge facing the two countries.

Under the Merida Initiative, the United States has given Mexico about $3 billion since 2008 for law enforcement training and equipment such as Black Hawk helicopters.

At the same time, US authorities have focused on helping Mexico to arrest drug kingpins like Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and send them to the United States to face trial.

Merida Initiative 'dead'

Blinken, accompanied by US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, will hold meetings with Lopez Obrador and other top Mexican officials, including Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, during his one-day visit.

Mexico will use the talks to push for steps to speed up extraditions between the two countries and reduce the flow of arms from the United States, Ebrard said this week.

In August, Mexico filed an unprecedented lawsuit against major US gunmakers in a Boston court over illegal cross-border arms flows that it blames for fueling drug-related violence.

Mexico is plagued by cartel-related bloodshed that has seen more than 300,000 people murdered since the government deployed the military in the war on drugs in 2006.

Many experts believe the strategy of militarization has failed because it has resulted in the cartels being fragmented into smaller, more violent cells, while drugs continue to flood into the United States.

The new security framework will focus "not just on crime, but also on the underlying cause of crime," a senior US administration official said.

"We're going to be looking at ways we can increase joint efforts to decrease demand for narcotics," he said.

The two countries would continue to pursue the cartels, including their laboratories and supply chain, the official said.

But the new strategy would put more emphasis on stopping flows of firearms and drug money from the United States to Mexico, in order to "deny revenue to these cartels," he added.

Forging a new joint strategy will not be easy, said Michael Shifter, president of the US-based think-tank Inter-American Dialogue.

"The Merida Initiative is indeed dead," he said.

"Mexico is expected to press for significant US assistance and investment in the southern part of the country, but with budget pressures and other priorities in Washington, US officials are unlikely to be receptive," he said.

Huawei listed anew as threat to US national security

Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei had called for a reset in ties with the US after falling foul of former president Donald Trump, but the Biden administration has listed his company as a potential national security threat

San Francisco (AFP) - US regulators on Friday listed Huawei among Chinese telecom gear firms deemed a threat to national security, signalling that a hoped for softening of relations is not in the cards.

A roster of communications companies thought to pose "an unacceptable risk" to national security included Huawei Technologies; ZTE; Hytera Communications; Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, and Dahua Technology.

"This list is a big step toward restoring trust in our communications networks," said Federal Communications Commission acting chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.

"This list provides meaningful guidance that will ensure that as next-generation networks are built across the country, they do not repeat the mistakes of the past or use equipment or services that will pose a threat to US national security or the security and safety of Americans."

The five Chinese companies that provide communications equipment or services were on a roster compiled by the FCC and the Homeland Security Bureau as per US law.

Huawei chief and founder Ren Zhengfei last month called for a reset with the United States under President Joe Biden, after the firm was battered by sanctions imposed by Donald Trump's administration.

In his first appearance before journalists in a year, Ren Zhengfei said his "confidence in Huawei's ability to survive has grown" despite its travails across much of the western world where it is maligned as a potential security threat.

The comments came as the firm struggled under rules that have effectively banned US firms from selling it technology such as semiconductors and other critical components, citing national security concerns.

Insisting that Huawei remained strong and ready to buy from US companies, Ren called on the Biden White House for a "mutually beneficial" change of tack that could restore its access to the goods.

Continuing to do so, he warned, would hurt US suppliers.

Founded by Ren in 1987, Huawei largely flew under the global radar for decades as it became the world's largest maker of telecoms equipment and a top mobile phone producer.

That changed under former president Donald Trump, who targeted the firm as part of an intensifying China-US trade and technology standoff.

Trump from 2018 imposed escalating sanctions to cut off Huawei's access to components and bar it from the US market, while he also successfully pressured allies to shun the firm's gear in their telecoms systems.

Ren also has had to deal with the December 2018 arrest of his daughter, Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, on a US warrant during a Vancouver stopover.

Meng, 49, faces fraud and conspiracy charges in the United States over alleged Huawei violations of US sanctions against Iran, and separate charges of theft of trade secrets.

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