It appears that many of the Los Angeles protesters – some of whom were very violent – were paid by left-wing advocacy groups including the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Union del Barrio.
Another group paying for troublemakers to show up and throw rocks at cars and torch police vehicles is funded by several left-wing groups, including the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights. George Soros Open Society Foundation has given this group money, and shocker, funding the coalition was the state of California which delivered $34 million in Fiscal Year 2022-23.
The state of California also channels tax monies to the LA Rapid Response Network, which also recruited lawless protesters.
We must demand that our financially strapped state quit funding groups which advocate for people who violated U.S. law to be in the country illegally. The best way is to send a message is at the polls by quit electing a governor and legislators sympathetic to foreign invaders.
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Some of the best sheriffs in California are from the rural counties. They have the proper perspective on things and reject the views of urban county sheriffs tainted by whims of their progressive constituent base.
One of the best statements released in advance of last weekend’s “No King” protests was Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni who stated: “Designated federal agencies (ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, HS, etc.) specialize in immigration investigations, and as federal law enforcement, have the complete right to do so. Laws cannot be optionally enforced based on emotional responses. We support and respect our federal partners in the assignments they conduct as law enforcement officers.
“We respect the right of people to peacefully protest.
“Blocking public spaces, destroying property and violence, which is riotous behavior, will not be tolerated. The Sheriff’s Office is prepared to respond and assist other law enforcement agencies and take action should any criminal activity take place during a protest.”
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Skulls of mush have infiltrated Stanislaus County as evidenced by the small handful of residents who advocated for the county to pull back on law enforcement funding.
A mask-wearing progressive woman named Roberta went before the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors and while calling for less spending on police operations and more on social services, made a silly statement saying the county doesn’t need to buy License Plate Readers (LPRs).
Apparently she has no idea that LPRs are worth their weight in gold and make the community safer.
Ceres has had LPRs for a while and has not only recovered stolen vehicles but helped apprehend thieves and dangerous criminals, including a person who was linked to a shooting at Redwood Park.
Yes, License Plate Readers are needed, Roberta. Get educated about what they do.
Progressive social justice crusaders should be selective about which examples of so-called police brutality they push for the formation of a Police Review Board or whatever they want to call it. I’m all for weeding out all bad cops but bringing up the April 1 traffic stop made by Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Deputy Alexander Helms on black motorist Joshua Rhoads backfires when you actually watch the officer’s bodycam footage. Rhoads was pulled over at night for running a red light. Instead of taking what was coming to him – a traffic ticket – he acted like a true idiot, just as defiant and uncooperative to the officer as seen in the numerous videos of folks who think they don’t have to endure questions from an officer. He pushed the deputy’s patience and frankly to the limit and deserved being manhandled and Tasered. On top of that, his mouthy girlfriend was giving the deputy grief for doing his job, all while thinking a cell phone video would help exonerate her beau’s inexcusable behavior.
Deputy Helms deserve an award not consternation. He was every bit the professional we expect from officers.
Another individual named John Carlo of the Central Valley Black Indigenous People of Color Coalition, was dismissive of Rhoads’ horrible attitude toward the cop which he feels didn’t “constitute really, justifiably tasing him and his girlfriend, punching him, and then pulling a gun out on him.”
Carlo is wrong. Police do have a right to pull a person from a car if they refuse to cooperate. But check out the video of the traffic stop for yourself. It’s on YouTube so just search for “Bodycam Shows Escalation In Patterson Traffic Stop Ending With Taser Use By Deputy.”
Don’t be stupid in a traffic stop. You don’t get tasered if you cooperate and not give an officer an attitude. If you feel an injustice has been done, pursue a case in court later, not on the side of the road.
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It’s apparent that Gavin Newsom has a White House strategy for 2028.
It’s to go full-board Woke and radical left to win the hearts of his Democratic Party – as seen by his recent fighting Trump at every turn and his support and protection of illegal aliens – and then swing back to the middle to fool everyone that he’s not going to turn the rest of the country into his failed California.
Newsom hasn’t fixed a single problem in his time as an elected official in California – only made things worse. The poverty rate is higher, homelessness is worse, infrastructure is falling apart and home prices are so high nobody can afford to live here. He spent billions on homelessness with nothing to show for it.
And let’s not forget the mismanagement of forests and devastating fires, his inept handling of crises, and the state’s finances with a $12 billion to $73 billion budget deficit while he plays a game of shuffle funds around and kick the can down the road to Governor Rob Bonta when he leaves office. (Bonta, a Newsom clone, likely wins the election since most California voters are programmed to only fixate on the “D” behind a name on the ballot which truly stands for “Disaster.”
If the American economy continues to improve under Trump – and it looks like it will – then J.D. Vance has a shot at being the first bearded president since Benjamin Harrison.
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Members of the news media are routinely emailed reports of significant motor vehicle crashes from all over the Central Valley and it’s become abundantly clear to me that young drivers are being led to the slaughter by their cell phone habits while driving.
We saw two more examples last week:
A June 10 drive in the Madera area ended in a crash that took the life of a woman in her early 20s. From the press release: “For reasons still under investigation, the driver veered to the left and collided with a PG&E power pole … then overturned and came to rest on its left side. The driver sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene by emergency personnel.”
The CHP saw fit to add: “The California Highway Patrol reminds the public to always pay attention to the road ahead and never drive distracted.”
A June 11 crash in Clovis took the life of a 24-year-old Visalia man. From the press release: “The driver of the Toyota lost control and veered into the eastbound lane, directly into the path of the Peterbilt truck.”
We can’t ask them what they were doing just before they were killed but we all know that the “for some unknown reason” is that many drivers are crashing because their eyes are on their phones and not the road.
In 2023, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,275 people were killed in vehicle crashes related to distracted drivers – mostly distracted by their phones.
Why aren’t we making a bigger issue of this senseless slaughter of mostly young people?
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You have to wonder about the male in his 20s and his propensity to make some really horrible decisions. They seem to be the ones who represent the lion’s share of criminals and who die young from their own stupidity.
This was my reflection after reading about the 27-year-old male driver who was killed while fleeing an officer in Kern County. A Sheriff’s deputy tried to pull him over for a traffic violation but he led them on a pursuit at speeds of over 100 mph and crashed into a pole. Along the way he was tossing illegal items from the car.
It would have been far better to surrender and go to prison for a few years instead of going to the morgue in a body bag. But stupidity begets stupid results.
If you’re a criminal and think you can get away from police in a chase, your odds aren’t good. Just pull over and take what’s coming to you and you’ll live to old age.
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While we’re on the topic of road safety, last year, according to preliminary data from the CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, more than 116,000 crashes were the direct result of unsafe speed. Those crashes resulted in nearly 500 victims killed and over 48,000 people injured.
But get this: So far this year, CHP officers issued more than 47,000 citations for speeds over 100 mph! Why anyone needs to be traveling that fast needs to have their head examined.
This underscores why enforcement needs to occur. You may have read that the CHP has employed an unmarked “stealth” or incognito Dodge Durangos on the highways in an effort to catch the dangerously reckless among us in traffic. But a liberal public defender in LA has made hay about such vehicles, saying Specially Marked Patrol Vehicles (SMPVs) are in violation of Title 13, section 1141 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) forbidding the CHP from vehicles that are fully black. Richard Ewell, public defender for LA County, said “The CHP is violating the California laws, and they’re doing it flagrantly. The law is pretty clear on the books. By painting their cars this way, it’s a violation of that law.”
Okay, so change the law; but don’t look to Democrat lawmakers to author that bill.
In Ewell’s demented anti-police mindset, he told the Corsair online: “They’re going after the symptoms, but they’re not going after the causes of why people commit crimes. It seems they’re trying to be sneaky and undercover, and only try to bust people and give people tickets and arrest people.”
So it’s up to the CHP to be concerned with the causes for people breaking the law? In what world, sir? People speed because they are self-centered and feel only they matter so to hell with you for holding them up getting from Point A to Point B. Lots of young men drive as dangerously as Paul Walker because they feel it’s some kind of masculine thing to endanger our lives. We all know how it ended for Paul Walker.
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Apparently Councilmembers James Casey and Cerina Otero were out of bounds when they ran ads in the Courier and mailed out letters to citizens to get folks out to the June 2 budget workshop because they included the city’s logo.
Casey and Otero did not have anything but good intentions spending their own money in an attempt to get citizens to participate in their city decision making. Using the city logo is technically against city code since it implies city sponsorship of materials sent out. Apparently they have been admonished and we’re certain they won’t be doing that again.
Despite their rather insignificant trespass, their actions of informing the public were admirable and show leadership.
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At last week’s council meeting James Casey continued to express dismay at a lack of citizen participation at council meetings. I’ve said it before that the public just doesn’t give a rip no matter how much notifying the city does.
City Manager Doug Dunford made an great point when he suggested that few members of the Ceres City Council have attended a meeting before they decided to become candidates for office. Even future policymakers mostly don’t attend meetings!
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It’s apparent that a lot of parents should not have reproduced for we’re left with their hoodlums.
Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra mentioned a rash of doorbell ditching with kids rapping on doors with rocks and running off. She said they banged on her garage door and it sounded like gunfire. She also reported damage to her garage door when one of the punks got his shoe stuck in the bottom panel. Vierra said: “It’s not a game and it can be very dangerous.”
True, all it takes is a trigger-happy property owner who is confused about a possible threat and starts firing away.
These childish pranks are not being done by grown men but by immature kids who, shall we say, aren’t exactly the straight-A variety. Are their parents so disconnected that they are completely unaware of their kids’ activities away from the house, such riding bikes in packs and blocking the traffic of those trying to go about their way?
Do they even care if their offspring is out making life difficult for society?
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Milt Treiweiler continues to appear before the Ceres City Council to urge them to “shut the senseless growth down.”
If anything, not enough home building has occurred. California is about three million to four million housing units short. Treiweiler just doesn’t want subdivisions spreading out and swallowing up valuable farmland. He suggests all future building go up and not out.
It’s not as simple an issue and there are realities at play. He wants building to take place east of Oakdale, west of Patterson, along I-5 (it’s already happening along 580 west of Tracy), east of Fairfield, along Highway 12 and in Arizona, Nevada, Utah and New Mexico. He’s a voice crying in the wilderness because economic forces are at play where building will continue on fertile Valley soil.
This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com
