December 1, 2021

USA: Ax-Wielding Antifa Member Attacks GOP Senator's Office In North Dakota, Proudly Plead Guilty, Dems Donated Money To His GoFundMe Legal Fees, Granted Probation, FBI Returned His Ax

WND News
written by Joseph Farah
Tuesday November 30, 2021

Is the Democratic Party protecting Antifa? Yes, it would appear so.

How about the FBI? That's a separate question, and a little more information is needed.

A report from PJMedia explains how a member of Antifa used an ax to vandalize a U.S. senator's office, that of Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.

Then Democrats gave the attacker money, and the FBI returned his ax to him.

The crime took place some time ago already, as Thomas Alexander Starks, 31, of Lisbon, North Dakota, pleaded guilty to destruction of government property last April.

It was last December that he smashed an intercom and glass door at Hoeven's office in Fargo, N.D.

You might recall Donald Trump was president of the United States then.

The report explained, "Federal guidelines suggested Starks should spend 10-16 months in the hoosegow, but because he is a protected member of Antifa, he was sentenced to mere probation and ordered to pay $2,784 in restitution.

"Keep in mind that there are people still in solitary confinement for taking non-violent selfies in the Capitol on Jan. 6," the report said.

Then it reported that the FBI returned the ax he used, and Starks bragged about it on the platform formerly called Facebook, now Meta.

With an image of the ax, he wrote, "Look what the FBI were kind enough to give back to me!"

He also boasts, "I am ANTIFA. I will always attack fascists, racial superiority complexes built around nationalism that promotes genocide to fuel a war machine is the worst humanity has to offer."

After being charged, Starks went online to explain he wanted money to hire a lawyer, in fact, a "quality defender," as the report explained.

"Three North Dakota Democrats threw the fascist some dough. Democrat Party Executive Committee Representative Ellie Shockley donated $100, Democratic-Non Partisan League (NPL) Chairwoman Kylie Oversen also gave $100, and Ellen Chaffee, the Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor in 2012, gave $500," PJMedia reported.

The North Dakota GOP had another view: "It is inexcusable that Chairwoman Oversen would be personally involved in supporting a far-left extremist whose violent actions constitute an assault on our democracy."

That's an understatement.

So, it would seem that Antifa and the Democratic Party are working together.

What about the FBI? Too early to tell.

But the agency seems to have a different view of Antifa antics compared to the Capitol "insurrection" of Jan. 6 and the speedy trial constitutionally guaranteed to the defendants.

It's a travesty. A shocking, horrific, civil rights offense, one that has been drawn out almost a year on charges far less significant. Some of the defendants have reportedly not even been charged with any crime.

Think of it!

Thomas Alexander Starks is free as a bird. He's only serving probation, when he could be serving 10-16 months in lock-up.

What the hell is going on here?

Meanwhile, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who toured D.C. jails two weeks ago, said, "I've never seen human suffering like I witnessed last night."

Greene is promising to issue a report on her visit, which she says will provide findings on the treatment of all D.C. jail prisoners, not just the Jan. 6 defendants.

"I'll never forget hearing their screams," she wrote. "Our detailed report will outline everything we saw in every area of the jail we were allowed to see, on behalf of all inmates." A grim federal inspection of Washington, D.C.'s central jail has left hundreds of inmates, including about three dozen detained Jan. 6 defendants, in limbo, as city officials confront allegations of filthy conditions and inhumane treatment.

Officials are racing to transfer hundreds of inmates in the central jail to other facilities, including nearly 400 to a Pennsylvania prison, following the U.S. Marshals Service report that described rampant abuses by guards, retaliation against prisoners, substandard food and unsanitary plumbing problems throughout the central jail.

The Jan. 6 inmates detained in Washington do not reside in the central jail, but are being held in a nearby annex called the Correctional Treatment Facility. Federal inspectors found that facility to be adequate. But it was these defendants' complaints of mistreatment that prompted the U.S. Marshals to investigate conditions, resulting in the report about the central jail.

Members of the D.C. City Council demanded immediate steps to address the failures at the central jail.

Federal judges presiding over hundreds of Jan. 6 cases have expressed increasing alarm about conditions in the D.C. jail.

U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth last month held the city in contempt for refusing to provide key details about its handling of some defendants. Earlier this month, he released to home confinement Christopher Worrell, a Jan. 6 defendant who is preparing to begin chemotherapy for cancer treatment, contending that he has no confidence the D.C. Department of Corrections would provide adequate medical care.

Lamberth revealed in court that the U.S. Marshals Service had discovered squalid conditions inside the central jail and encountered staff who threatened retaliation against inmates who cooperated with inspectors.

One inmate said he had been sprayed with pepper spray and prevented from showering, which caused an infection, Lamberth said as he read findings of the inspection. Inspectors also described a water shutoff intended as a punitive measure that led to plumbing problems throughout the jail.
Valley News Live published January 19, 2021: U.S. Attorney Drew H. Wrigley Press Conference: Announcement of Federal Charges for a Violent Incident. Conference starts at 18 minutes into video.
JamesTown Sun News
written by April Baumgarten
Thursday January 7, 2021

FARGO — Prominent Democrats in North Dakota are under fire for donating money to help with the defense of a Lisbon man accused of taking an ax to a Republican U.S. senator’s office entrance in downtown Fargo.

North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party Chairwoman Kylie Oversen, party official Ellie Shockley and Ellen Chaffee, who ran as a Democrat for lieutenant governor in 2012, gave money to a GoFundMe account meant to help Thomas Alexander Starks. The 30-year-old man allegedly used an ax to smash the intercom system and entrance windows of Sen. John Hoeven’s office on Dec. 21 at 123 Broadway N.

Starks could face up to five years in prison if convicted of a Class C felony charge of criminal mischief in state court. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Dakota is investigating the incident, meaning Starks could also face charges in federal court.

Media attempts to reach Starks have been unsuccessful. His attorney, Daniel Bertsch, did not return a message left Wednesday, Jan. 6.

Starks' wife started the GoFundMe account. As of Wednesday evening, 53 people had donated more than $6,600. She set a goal of $15,000 to cover legal costs for a “quality defender” they can’t readily afford, according to the account.

On the page, Starks' wife said her husband is “someone working to build a better world for all” and a “good and innocent man.”

“Tas (Thomas) would never pointlessly put his family’s well-being in jeopardy with reckless vandalism,” she wrote. “Indeed, Tas makes his political statements openly and non-violently.”

Oversen donated $100 to the fund, though her name has disappeared from the list of donors. In a statement, she said she made the donation without considering Starks’ guilt. An attorney herself, she said she believes everyone facing criminal allegations “deserves a full and rigorous defense.”

In a Wednesday statement, North Dakota Republican Party Chairman Rick Berg criticized Democrats who donated to the fund.

“It is inexcusable that Chairwoman Oversen would be personally involved in supporting a far-left extremist whose violent actions constitute an assault on our democracy,” Berg said. “Video evidence leaves little in doubt about this attack, so it is unfathomable why ND Dem-NPL officials would lend their name and financial support to a man they refer to as ‘innocent.’ … We will not be intimidated by violence and extremism – even when it is explicitly and sadly endorsed by our opposition.”

Oversen said she condemns violence against elected officials and public property. She added that her donation does not reflect her views of what happened at Hoeven’s office.

“The attack on me by Republicans is a thinly veiled attempt to distract us from the very real attack on our democracy being perpetrated by members of their own party, this very moment, in the halls of Congress, which were taken over moments ago by an out of control mob,” Oversen said. “This is terrifying.”

She was referring to protesters who stormed the U.S. Capitol building as the Senate debated formalizing former Vice President Joe Biden’s win over President Donald Trump.

In response to Oversen, North Dakota GOP spokesperson Corby Kemmer said the violence in D.C. and at Hoeven's office are equally wrong.

"If Chairman Berg wrote a personal check to any of the terrorists desecrating our" U.S. Capitol, then Oversen "might have a leg to stand on," Kemmer said.

Shockley, who represents southwest North Dakota on the Democratic-NPL Party's executive committee, was one of the first to donate to the fund, giving $500. She has promoted the fund on social media. Shockley is a North Dakota Women’s Network board member and writes a column for The Bismarck Tribune.

She said she donated to the fund because Starks is her friend and she cares about his family getting through this.

"I think it is important for us all to remember that human relationships should come before political expediency," she said. "My financial support for Tas has nothing to do with his or my political views. What I saw was that my friend's family was in a tough spot, and I felt called to help."

Chaffee, who helped lead efforts in 2018 that persuaded North Dakotans to approve a measure to create an ethics commission, donated $100 to Starks’ fund. She served as the president for Valley City State University and Mayville State University.

Messages left for Chaffee on Wednesday were not returned.
"Yeah we can have more fires. I'm thinking forest (nelling?) next. Yeah, um we can have more fires. Yeah even in the most topical forms of American mythology we have plenty of structures that need burning. We asked our city officials plenty of times to take down these structures. They haven't. So we are going to do it ourselves. It's easy work. It ain't nothing to us. We built this country and we will burn it down. I am a descendent of Native Americans and Afro Cubans. So, we built this country. We will burn this down if we so choose. The dogs need to answer to their masters."
UPDATE 12/1/21 at 2:29pm: Added info below.
REMINDER ๐Ÿšจ๐Ÿ‘‡

He says, "Is this not going to be THE BEST FILM YOU'VE EVER MADE IN YOUR LIFE!"

No comments: