Democratic National Convention Cartoons

Moment of silence for fallen cops marred by jeering at DNC convention

'Black Lives Matter' chant interrupts moment of silence 

 

 

Do you really want these type of people to lead our country for another four years?

A hard-won moment of silence for fallen police officers Thursday night at the Democratic National Convention was marred by chants from the crowd of “black lives matter!” in an ugly moment that angered law enforcement representatives and underscored the anti-cop climate that has gripped the nation.
After the mothers of black men who had been killed in racially charged incidents were welcomed onto the stage earlier in the week, Philadelphia’s Fraternal Order of Police chapter pressed the DNC to honor fallen cops. Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez was invited to speak about the five cops killed in her city July 7, and said she and her fellow officers took the job to "serve and protect, not to hate and discriminate."

Many in the crowd cheered Valdez, but the jeers were audible, too. (Associated Press)

When Valdez asked the crowd to join her in a moment of silence for cops killed in the line of duty, jeers erupted from the crowd.
“Please help me to honor ALL of America's fallen officers with a moment of silence,” as the anti-police group’s namesake slogan echoed through the Wells Fargo Center.
Valdez ignored the jeers and introduced family members of fallen police officers, including the mother of Moses Walker, a 19-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department who was gunned down in 2012 hold a moment of silence.
"Moses didn't live long enough to give all of the gifts he had to give," Wayne Walker told the thousands of delegates. "While we're here, we must do the good we can. Absolutely we have to believe that we're stronger together."

Jennifer Loudon, widow of fallen Chicago police officer Thor Soderberg, also addressed the throng and drew cheers when she said police risk their lives to protect citizens. "I know that in light of recent events, some of us have lost faith," she said.
While many in the crowd appeared moved by the presentation, the jeers did not sit well with law enforcement advocates.
“The comments that were made at the convention last night speak for themselves and I think any intelligent person is going to recognize them for what they are,” said Rich Roberts, spokesman for the International Union of Police Associations.
The Philadelphia chapter of Fraternal Order of Police had earlier blasted the DNC for hosting onstage the mothers of black men killed in racially charged incidents, including Michael Brown, who was killed in 2014 in a confrontation with a Ferguson, Mo., police officer who was later cleared by a Department of Justice investigation, and Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teen who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer.
The mothers of Eric Garner, who died while being arrested on Staten Island for selling cigarettes, and Sandra Bland, who hanged herself in a Waller County, Texas, jail after being pulled over for a traffic violation also addressed the convention Tuesday as a group called "Mothers of the Movement.”

 The group aims to raise awareness about police brutality and gun violence.

Prior to Thursday night’s events, FOP Chapter President John McNesby praised the decision by the Clinton campaign and convention organizers to add family members of fallen officers to the speaking lineup.
"We want fairness to both sides," McNesby told the Philadelphia Daily News. "It seemed like we got the door slammed in our faces. I guess they listened, had a change of thought, change of heart."
McNesby did not immediately respond to a request for comment following the marred moment of silence. However, one retired Philadelphia police officer, who told FoxNews.com he has resumed carrying his gun in light of the growing anti-police climate, said he was disgusted.
“I don’t know what is wrong with people,” he said. “I just don’t understand it. They say they want unity, and then you get this.”
Even as the convention wound down, one San Diego police officer was killed and another wounded by a gunman stopped for a traffic violation. In addition to the five Dallas police officers killed July 7 by a sniper as they guarded Black Lives Matter protesters, three Baton Rouge law enforcement officers were targeted and killed by a gunman on July 16.
Statistics show the number of police officers killed in the line of duty had been on a downward trajectory since 1970. But this year, cop deaths are up more than 50 percent, and the victims in Dallas, Baton Rouge and other cases were targeted for assassination rather than killed in the process of confronting dangerous criminals.
According to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, the number of officers fatally shot is already up 56 percent compared with last year.

Battle of the generals: Flynn blasts Allen for Clinton endorsement

A battle of the brass has broken out in the wake of the Republican and Democratic party conventions, as one of the top generals supporting Donald Trump lashes out at retired Marine Gen. John Allen who delivered a tough-as-nails endorsement of Hillary Clinton in Philadelphia Thursday night.
“I honestly don’t know how John Allen can look at himself in the mirror and say why he supports Hillary Clinton,” retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told "The Kelly File".
Both Flynn and Allen served in the Obama administration. But Flynn, who used to lead the
“I cannot see how John Allen can support somebody who perpetually cannot tell the truth,” he said.
The stinging criticism between senior retired military officers is unusual, even in a presidential campaign. But the tensions could build as each presidential candidate suggests the other would put national security at risk.
In Philadelphia, Allen, who previously led forces in Afghanistan, vouched for Clinton as the leader the country needs.
“We trust in her judgment. We believe in her vision for a united America, we believe in her vision of an America as a just and strong leader against the forces of hatred, the forces of chaos, and darkness,” he said. “I tell you without hesitation or reservation that Hillary Clinton will be exactly, exactly the kind of commander-in-chief America needs.”
Allen walked on the Philadelphia stage as Democrats tried to put a sharper focus on security issues, after being accused of glossing over ISIS and other terror threats the first two nights of their convention. Trump commented on the close of the convention by saying Democrats were living in a “fantasy world.”
Defense Intelligence Agency, has since become an outspoken critic of the president’s anti-ISIS approach – while Allen helped shape that strategy as the president’s special envoy for the anti-ISIS coalition.
Flynn, who spoke at the Cleveland Republican convention last week on behalf of Trump, zeroed in on that portion of Allen’s resume in challenging his credibility.
“General Allen as a retired officer was in charge of our current strategy for well over a year … and during that period of time the rise of radical Islamism and ISIS, you know, it exponentially grew,” he said. “The strategy that John Allen was in charge of … it’s a failed strategy.”

Computer system used by Clinton campaign hacked, FBI investigating

Hillary (roger rabbit) Clinton

A computer system used by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was hacked, a spokesman for the Democratic nominee said Friday.
Nick Merrill said in a statement that the cyber breach was part of a larger hack attack on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that was made public earlier this week.
The violation concerned a DNC analytics data program used by the Clinton campaign and "a number of other entities," Merrill said. He added that security experts hired by the campaign had found "no evidence" that the campaign's own internal systems were compromised.
However, such third-party, connected systems represent appealing options for hackers searching for less-protected routes to attack an organization.
Soruces familiar with the incident confirmed to Fox News that the FBI is investigating the breach as well as another cyberattack on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC).
The investigation was first reported by Reuters, which said that the Justice Department's national security division was investigating whether the cyberattacks threatened the U.S.

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An FBI statement did not mention the Clinton campaign specifically, but said it was aware of reporting "on cyber intrusions involving multiple political entities, and is working to determine the accuracy, nature and scope of these matters."
It is not clear what types of data the DNC service was analyzing, but partnerships with modern e-commerce companies can allow sophisticated tracking, categorization and identification of website visitors. This can help organizations tailor their online content, advertising and solicitations to be more effective.
The report that Clinton's campaign was hacked comes the same day that the cyberattack on the DCCC, which raises money for Democratic congressional candidates, was made public. Sources told Fox News Friday that the DCCC hack bears similarities to the breach of DNC files.
President Barack Obama has said Russia was almost certainly responsible for the DNC hack, an assertion with which cybersecurity experts have agreed.
Two private cybersecurity firms have said they found evidence pointing to Russian government involvement in the DNC hack when they analyzed the hackers' methods and efforts to distribute the stolen emails and other files. The hacker groups, identified as Cozy Bear and Fancy Bear, used different but sophisticated techniques to break into the DNC and try to avoid detection. Most of the DNC emails appeared to have been stolen May 25.
The DNC breach led to the leak of 19,000 internal emails by WikiLeaks that appeared to show a pro-Clinton bias in the organization -- and, in turn, led to DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz stepping down ahead of this week's Democratic National Convention.
The hack of the DCCC’s web server allowed the hackers to create and redirect traffic to a fake donations page, made to look and feel authentic, sources said. From there, hackers were able to capture all data entered on the page. Sources said the objective behind the hack is not clear, though it could be to harvest data on Democratic donors and supporters.
Additionally, Fox News has obtained analysis of the DCCC hack from private sector cybersecurity firm FireEye that suggests the intrusion was carried out by a Russian-government aligned hacking group dubbed "Tsar Team (APT28)."
In its research, FireEye notes it previously confirmed that malware analyzed from the DNC hack was also consistent with "Tsar Team", which has been implicated by FireEye in numerous cyberattacks aimed at foreign targets on behalf of the Russian government in the past.
Computer hacking, emails and indications of Russian involvement have evolved into a political issue in the presidential campaign between Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump.

This week, Trump encouraged Russia to seek and release more than 30,000 other missing emails deleted by Clinton, the former secretary of state. Democrats accused him of trying to get a foreign adversary to conduct espionage that could affect this November's elections, but Trump later said he was merely being sarcastic.

Clinton deleted the emails from her private server, saying they were private, before handing other messages over to the State Department. The Justice Department declined to prosecute Clinton over her email practices, though FBI Director James Comey called her "extremely careless" in handling classified information.

The battle begins: Clinton, Trump barnstorm the battlegrounds post-convention

Clinton's 'risky strategy' to make 2016 race all about Trump

Hillary on Benghazi,
“What difference does it make?”

 Video of Clinton talking about Benghazi.

 The battle begins — and gaining an edge in the key battleground states appears to be the strategy for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump as each fires an opening shot in the three-month fight to win the White House.
“As of tomorrow, we have 100 days to make our case to America,” Clinton told supporters in Philadelphia on Friday, after claiming the Democratic nomination for president.
Each campaign is hurtling out of the convention stretch drawing a stark contrast with the other, while putting in immediate face time in the swing states that will decide the November election.
On Friday, Clinton launched a bus tour with Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine that will take them across the battleground state of Pennsylvania and next into Ohio, hitting themes like manufacturing, infrastructure and small business support. The tour will take them through Rust Belt hubs like Pittsburgh and Youngstown.
Along the way, the Clinton campaign is loudly accusing Trump and running mate Mike Pence of offering a gloom-and-doom vision, what Clinton on Thursday dubbed “midnight in America.”
But Trump counters that Democrats are offering a “fantasy world” that ignores the real problems. Campaign manager Paul Manafort charged that those problems have only been exacerbated by President Obama and Clinton’s leadership.
“Because she has no message, she has to try and confuse by making these kinds of attacks,” Manafort told Fox News on Friday. “If it’s midnight in America, it’s because of the seven-and-a-half years of the Obama-Clinton administration.”
Each, however, is claiming to be the country’s true change-maker. A new Trump ad says the billionaire businessman offers “change that makes America great again” – while Clinton-Kaine say he’s offering “empty promises.”