John Oliver On DC Statehood

With a lovely song at the end.

DC: Suspect Arrested In Subway Stabbing Death Of LGBT Activist Kevin Sutherland

Via the Associated Press:

Jasper Spires, the man suspected of stabbing and killing a 24-year-old at a Metro station Saturday afternoon, has reportedly been arrested. The victim, Kevin Joseph Sutherland of Northeast D.C., died after he was stabbed on a train approaching the NOMA-Gallaudet Metro Station Saturday at about 12:50 p.m. An arrest warrant was subsequently issued for Spires for first-degree murder in the case. Sutherland had recently started working for "New Blue Interactive," a political strategy firm. Co-worker Brandt McCool told ABC7, "We all really loved working with Kevin. He came on a few months ago and ever since he has been one of the best digital strategists in the country. He's a bright spot, a pleasure to work with. It's a terrible, terrible tragedy." Sutherland graduated from American University in 2013. He was twice elected Student Government Secretary.

More about Sutherland from the Washington Post:

He was known to enjoy the sunset at a Kenny Chesney concert with a cocktail in hand, and he decorated his student government office at American University — where he advocated for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights — with posters depicting glam shots of pop star Lady Gaga. On his Twitter profile, he led with the Latin words of the Connecticut seal, “Qui transtulit sustinet” — “He who is transplanted still sustains.” By all accounts, Sutherland lived by the motto. In photographs and videos Sutherland posted online, he showed reverence and adoration for D.C.’s monuments and the city’s history, highlighting what he considered the nation’s treasures.

Local Connecticut news reports on the crime.

(Tipped by JMG reader DC Dave)

Pam Geller Sues DC Metro

Via the right wing Daily Caller:

Activist and blogger Pamela Geller is suing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority after the agency refused to run her ads with a drawing of the prophet Muhammad on public transportation in the District of Columbia. On May 20, Geller submitted her ad to WMATA to be placed on buses and in train stations throughout the city, but about a week later the agency announced it would no longer accept “issue-oriented advertising.” At the time, a spokesman for WMATA told The Daily Caller News Foundation the decision to ban issue-oriented ads was not related to any particular organization, but Geller believes it was an attempt to block her right to speak freely. “It’s an end run around the first amendment,” Geller said in an email. “… [and] Public safety has been thrown in for good measure as if these craven quislings know what is conducive to the public good.” In the lawsuit, Geller, along with her non-profit organization American Freedom Defense Initiative, claims WMATA violated her First Amendment rights by refusing to run her ad.

Geller has fought similar battles against transit agencies in New York City, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

Homocon Guy Benson Backs Pam Geller

Fox News' right-hand-homocon is ever so pissed that Pam Geller won't be able to incite bombings on DC public transit. From the Hot Air piece he links to:

She’s forcing the state to admit that the threat of violence is so great that, as a matter of pure public safety, they’d rather give up easy revenue than take the chance of insulting “the prophet.” And, thanks to D.C.’s new policy, she’s gotten the state to spread the cost of censorship to other would-be issue-advertisers, which drives home the point to the wider public that the slippery slope on “hate speech” might be more slippery than the lefties who disdain her tend to assume.

Benson is also tweeting a link to win his new book over at the viciously anti-gay Townhall, where he is the political editor.

DC Bans All "Issue" Ads On Public Transit Rather Than Deal With Pam Geller

Via the International Business Times:

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority reportedly moved Thursday to ban so-called "issue" ads that promote political or religious subjects from appearing on its trains and buses. The board of directors for the authority, also known as Metro, approved a motion prohibiting issue ads through the end of the year, WAMU reporter Martin Di Caro tweeted. The decision came days after Pamela Geller, the woman behind the controversial "Draw Muhammad" contest in Garland, Texas -- where two gunmen linked to the Islamic State group tried to attack and died in shootout -- submitted a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad to appear as a Metro advertisement. Geller is the president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which the Southern Poverty Law Center lists as an "anti-Muslim hate group." Her "Draw Muhammad" event was seen as a response to the January massacre at Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo, known for its satirical cartoons of Islam's founder.

DC's decision follows similar Geller-thwarting policy changes by transit officials in New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.

Pam Geller Announces Plan To Advertise Mohammed Cartoon On DC Transit

"Because the media and the cultural and political elites continue to self-enforce the Sharia without the consent of the American people by refusing to show any depictions of Muhammad or showing what it was in Texas that had jihadists opening fire, we are running an ad featuring the winning cartoon by former Muslim Bosch Fawstin from our Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest in Garland, Texas. Let the American people see what the cowardly press is censoring in accordance with the blasphemy laws under the sharia (Islamic law). The ad campaign has been submitted to the Washington DC MTA to run on buses and train dioramas in the Foggy Bottom, Capitol South, Bethesda, L’Enfant Plaza, Shady Grove stations." - Pam Geller, writing for her blog.

Former Escort Service Owner Pens Tell-All: Sen. Larry Craig Liked His Hookers Butch

Former DC escort service owner Henry Vinson pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges back in 1990 and served five years in a minimum security prison. Twenty years later he's penned a tell-all memoir in which he claims that then-Rep. Larry Craig preferred that his rent boys be "quite masculine."

Vinson employed up to 20 escorts on a given night in this “extremely lucrative” business. “The business was very successful.” Not wanting to pin down a number to his profits, Vinson did mention a frequent customer who would spend $20,000 a month on his escorts. “Of course, in the ’80s that was a lot of money.” Rich in the kind of sordid drama one might expect, Vinson’s book names names. Then-U.S. Rep. Larry Craig of Idaho, he writes, “became a frequent flier of my escort service” and “preferred escorts who were quite masculine.” Although he claims he received many threats of blackmail from many of his powerful clients, Vinson’s business was in full operation until the Secret Service raided his home, his sister’s home and his mother’s home in 1989. And the rest is history.

As you surely recall, in 2007 Larry Craig was busted for soliciting in the men's room of the Minneapolis airport. He did not seek reelection to the Senate in 2008 and is now a lobbyist for the oil industry. Last year Craig was ordered to repay over $240K in campaign funds that he had used in his soliciting defense. (Tipped by JMG reader Javier)

RELATED: Last month Henry Vinson penned an essay for the Advocate in which he mentions that his RICO defense attorney was current Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren. According to Vinson, Van Susteren failed in her attempt to force the government to release the full list of his clients.

DC Rabbi Sentenced To Six Years In Prison For Videotaping Nude Synagogue Members

The "Peeping Rabbi" has been sentenced.

Rabbi Barry Freundel was sentenced to 6-1/2 years for secretly videotaping dozens of women naked in the mikveh of his high-profile Washington D.C. synagogue. The disgraced cleric was sentenced to 45 days for each of 52 counts of voyeurism. The courtroom cheered the decision and Freundel was taken into custody immediately D.C. Judge Geoffrey M. Alprin called Freundel’s sex spree at the Kesher Israel ritual bath a “classic case of abuse of power and violation of trust.” Dozens of women wore orange to the hearing to back a prison sentence for the rabbi, whom they say violated their trust and trampled on common decency. Freundel pleaded for his freedom, claiming that he was a changed man and hoped to make amends. The mikveh, or ritual bath, is used most frequently as purification by people converting to Judaism and by Jewish women seven days after the end of their menstrual cycle. Police began investigating Freundel, who headed the Kesher synagogue for 25 years, when a woman found a camera in a clock radio in the bathing area and turned it over to officers. “I was violated … my rabbi is a pervert,” one unidentified victim said, according to court documents. Another said: “We were at our most holy and our most naked, and he was watching it all.”

The synagogue counts many major DC figures among its members, including Sen. Joe Lieberman. Freundel, who was fired in January, could have faced a much longer sentence but about 100 additional counts could not be levied due to the statute of limitations.

ACLU: Love Is In The Air

The ACLU and many other LGBT allies are live-tweeting from outside the Supreme Court where a cavalcade of crackpots is fighting for camera time with repulsive banners, including on that reads "You are worthy of death." (That's infamous street preacher Ruben Isreal's group.) Other nutters are screaming abuse over portable loudspeakers while annoyed civil rights activists roll their eyes. If you have access to a television, CSPAN 1 is regularly cutting away from their panel discussions to the riotous scene outside the court. Over on CSPAN 3, hate groups are hold a press conference at the National Press Club, where at this writing Mat Staver is ranting in his familiar nutjob fashion. Oral arguments commence at 10AM and are scheduled to run until about 1PM. Shortly after the arguments conclude we'll get audio files and I'll posted those here immediately.[Bottom photo by JMG reader ArchiLaw]

DC Pride To Celebrate 40th Anniversary

Fun clip. The schedule of events is here.

One-Man Helicopter Lands On US Capitol Lawn, Feds Order Security Lockdown

ABC News reports:

A small helicopter landed on the Capitol's West Front this afternoon in Washington, D.C. and the man piloting the small aircraft has been arrested, authorities said. According to the Tampa Bay Times, a 61-year-old mailman in Florida threatened to drive his gyrocopter through protected airspace to deliver the mail. The Ruksin native, Dough Hughes, has contemplated the plan for more than two years, according to the newspaper. “No sane person would do what I’m doing,” he reportedly said. ABC has not yet confirmed the Times’ report or that the pilot is the same person.

Click over to the Tampa Bay Times the read about this guy's strange quest. He's very lucky he wasn't blown out of the sky. Also, why wasn't he blown out of the sky?

DC Hit With Widespread Power Outage

And right when Rand Paul was making his big announcement out in Kentucky.

WASHINGTON: Catholic Archdiocese Joins Fight To Block DC Gay Rights Measure

Via the Washington Blade:

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington signed on to a letter to members of the U.S. Senate on March 20 calling for Congress to block a D.C. bill that would protect LGBT students from discrimination at religious schools operating in the city. The letter, which was signed, among others, by Cardinal Donald Wuerl calls the Human Rights Amendment Act approved by the D.C. Council last year an attack on religious freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of association in the nation’s capital.

The letter also calls on Congress to kill another bill approved by the Council and signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser, the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Act. That measure would prohibit D.C. employers from discriminating against employees based on their personal reproductive health choices, including a decision to have an abortion. D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton joined city officials in strongly disputing claims that the two bills would infringe on religious freedoms or freedom of speech. The Archdiocese of Washington oversees 139 Catholic parishes and 95 Catholic schools in D.C. and five counties in Maryland.

The campaign is being led by Ted Cruz. His "disapproval resolution" would require passage from both chambers of Congress and the signature of President Obama. Ain't gonna happen.

NOM Unveils Hate March III Details

Sen. Ted Cruz, Hate Group Lackey

Responding to pressure from NOM, the Family Research Council, and Alliance Defending Freedom, Sen. Ted Cruz is seeking to have Congress repeal a new Washington DC law that requires all city universities to abide by local LGBT anti-discrimination laws. Pending action from Congress, the law will go into effect next month. Cruz's "disapproval resolution" would require passage from both chambers of Congress and the signature of President Obama. Which isn't going to happen, but hey, it will play well back in Texas.

DC Legal Pot Law Goes Into Effect, GOP Threatens To Have Mayor Arrested

Via USA Today:

Despite warnings from congressional Republicans, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser allowed D.C.'s marijuana legalization law to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, told Bowser that if she continued with her plan to implement marijuana legalization she would face "very serious consequences," The Washington Post reported. "You can go to prison for this," The Post quoted Chaffetz as saying. "We're not playing a little game here." Bowser was undeterred by the threat of prison time. "We are acting lawfully," she told reporters. "I have a lot of things to do, being in jail wouldn't be a good thing." Nearly two thirds of D.C. voters approved Initiative 71 in November. Under Initiative 71, people ages 21 or older will be allowed to possess two ounces or less of marijuana, use marijuana on private property and give one ounce or less to another person as long as no money, goods or services are exchanged. Residents will also be permitted to cultivate up to six marijuana plants — although no more than three mature plants— in their primary home.

Recreational use of marijuana is also legal in Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state.

"Ex-Gays" To Sue DC Over Torture Ban

Via the Christian Post:

An ex-gay organization is planning legal action against the District of Columbia for its recent banning of conversion therapy, also called Sexual Orientation Change Efforts therapy, for minors. Voice of the Voiceless, an organization focused on ex-gay rights and recognition, is in the early stages of planning to bring legal action against the government of the nation's Capital over the recently passed bill. Christopher Doyle, president and co-founder of VoV, told The Christian Post that at present they are seeking a plaintiff to bring a case against the new law. "We are still seeking a plaintiff (minor and their family) who has been disenfranchised by this law in the District, but at this point, we cannot find a licensed practitioner who even practices SOCE therapy in the District, nor can we identify a client who has been disenfranchised," said Doyle.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: When the DC City Council unanimously passed its ban, Doyle called the action "a victory for gay pedophiles everywhere." DC Mayor Vincent Gray signed the bill into law three weeks ago, prompting the Liberty Counsel to declare that "an assault on almighty God" had been committed. Tony Perkins bleated that DC City Council members had "opened a frightening chapter" on the recruiting of children into homosexuality. The Liberty Counsel has lost every single legal battle to overturn statewide bans on "ex-gay" torture in California and New Jersey, including before the US Supreme Court.

Mat Staver: "Ex-Gay" Torture Bans Are An Assault On Almighty God

WASHINGTON: Mayor Vincent Gray Signs DC's "Ex-Gay" Torture Ban Into Law

Via press release from NCLR:

Today, Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray signed a bill that protects youth and their families from the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy. D.C. is among a growing number of states to pass or consider such laws, which reflect the unanimous view of medical, mental health, and child welfare experts that attempts by therapists to change a young person’s sexual orientation or gender identity are ineffective and unsafe, putting youth at risk of severe depression and suicide attempts.

California and New Jersey have already enacted similar laws, and more than a dozen states have introduced legislation similar to that enacted in D.C. Both the Ninth and Third Circuits have rejected attempts by anti-LGBT organizations to challenge the laws, holding that they are a valid exercise of states' authority to protect public health and safety.

“This law ensures that mental health practitioners can no longer abuse their power to harm young people and families by propagating the dangerous lie that there is something wrong with being LGBT or that therapy can change their core sexual orientation or gender identity,” said National Center for Lesbian Rights Staff Attorney and #BornPerfect Campaign Coordinator Samantha Ames. “By signing this bill into law, Mayor Gray has taken an important step to protect the health and safety of LGBT youth and to prevent unscrupulous therapists from preying on vulnerable families.”

Tony Perkins: DC Banned "Ex-Gay" Torture To Further Recruiting Of LGBT Youth

"In Washington, D.C., destructive behavior isn’t just encouraged -- efforts to stop it are punished! If kids are looking for a way out of their same-sex attractions, they’ll have to start outside of the nation’s capital. Under a measure just passed by the D.C. Council, counselors can lose their license just for offering the kind of therapy these children seek. Like California and New Jersey, the District is radically opposed to helping young people shake the unwanted sexual feelings they have for members of the same sex. The fact that children are seeking this help doesn’t seem to matter to D.C., which is intent on locking kids into a lifestyle with devastating health, emotional, and societal consequences. Instead, the District wants to make it an offense to help children come to grips with their natural biology -- opening a frightening chapter in the liberal recruiting of LGBTs." - Hate group leader Tony Perkins, in a press release that goes on to call on Congress to block the law's enactment.