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An influencer thought someone dropping off ballots was ‘suspect.’ It was the postman

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An influencer thought someone dropping off ballots was ‘suspect.’ It was the postman

A voter enters the Bucks County Administration building in Doylestown, Pa. on Oct. 31, 2024.

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Two days before Halloween, a Pennsylvania postal worker was delivering a box of mailed-in ballots to the Northampton County Courthouse. A man filming with his phone began asking questions and followed the postal worker into the building.

The man doing filming was told that the man with the box of ballots was a postal worker.

“I dunno, apparently he’s with the post office, but that looks very suspect,” said the man filming, zooming in on what he said was “an obscene amount of ballots.”

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The video then zoomed in for a closeup of the postal worker’s face. As of Nov. 2, it had nearly six million views.

County officials in Pennsylvania confirmed to local news outlets that the man filmed in the video was an acting postmaster, doing his job. After the video went online, he began receiving threats.

Even before Election Day, unsubstantiated rumors about voter fraud are beginning to focus on specific public servants and voters. In 2020, this kind of online activity led to harassment, threats and ultimately, played a role in fomenting the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

But this year, videos like these are appearing in a dedicated community on Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, formerly Twitter, and inviting more of the same type of speculation that can result in threats and harassment.

Sharing concerns and trying to make sense of the voting process is a normal part of a free and fair electoral process, said Renée DiResta, an associate research professor at Georgetown University and an expert on election disinformation. “But there’s a really big difference between discussing a concern and putting somebody’s face up and accusing them of treason.”

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In 2020, DiResta said many major social media platforms did more to try to add context and amplify information from credible sources. Under pressure from Republicans, many platforms have backed off on those policies since then. Perhaps the most important factor has been Twitter’s transformation into X since billionaire Elon Musk bought it in 2022 and has steadily turned the platform into pro-conservative social media site with minimal moderation policies.

“I would say the major difference this time, though, is that X is hosting the communities where this sort of effort at sense-making is taking place,” said DiResta.

Over this past year, Musk has become a major backer of Donald Trump’s campaign and himself become an avid sharer of election fraud rumors on X. This month, the super PAC Musk founded to support Trump created a dedicated space on the social media platform to share crowdsourced instances of potential election fraud, where it has quickly amassed a large following of more than 60,000 users.

“Most of the people who are responding to the posts are convinced that the election is being stolen and so feels a little bit more like a place where they’re trying to just gather evidence to prove the thing that they’ve already decided has happened,” said DiResta. “And they’re concerned about that because they keep hearing it from political elites that they trust – people like Donald Trump and people like Elon Musk.”

Each individual post, DiResta said, is woven into a much broader narrative by politicians and pro-Trump influencers, often with conspiratorial overtones. The amalgamation is meant to imply that evidence of voter fraud is massive and insurmountable, despite more than 60 court cases, multiple recounts and ballot audits, that found no evidence of significant voting irregularities in 2020.

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X did not respond to a request for comment from NPR.

Burned by election lies

The impact on the everyday people who get tangled up in these conspiracy theories is profound.

The legal nonprofit Protect Democracy helped file a number of defamation lawsuits against election deniers after the 2020 election, “on behalf of people who found themselves suddenly being lied about in the public sphere for claims that they were breaking the law when they were not breaking the law,” said Protect Democracy counsel Jane Bentrott.

Pro-Trump figures and partisan media organizations like One America News publicly retracted allegations and reached settlements with the people they had falsely accused of election fraud.

Georgia election worker Shaye Moss , right, leaves the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. District Courthouse on Dec. 15, 2023 in Washington, DC. A jury ordered Rudy Giuliani, the former personal lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump, to pay $148 million in damages to the two Fulton County election workers, Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman.

Georgia election worker Shaye Moss , right, leaves the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. District Courthouse on Dec. 15, 2023 in Washington, DC. A jury ordered Rudy Giuliani, the former personal lawyer for former U.S. President Donald Trump, to pay $148 million in damages to the two Fulton County election workers, Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman.

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One prominent case Protect Democracy is involved with is a defamation suit against Trump’s then-attorney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who baselessly accused two Georgia election workers by name of manipulating ballots.

Giuliani was found liable for defamation and a jury awarded the pair $148 million last year.

“The flame that Giuliani lit with those lies and passed to so many others changed every aspect of our lives. Our homes, our family, our work, our sense of safety, our mental health,” said Shaye Moss, one of the workers, after the jury handed down its verdict.

“As he learned,” said Bentrott, “and hopefully others who are paying attention learned, folks who accuse others falsely of breaking the law can have substantial consequences for those lies.”

But even successful defamation cases often take years to resolve and Giuliani has yet to pay the women anything.

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Protect Democracy made an effort to hold high profile figures like Giuliani accountable for spreading false accusations. But overall, the media landscape those influencers are part of has remained intact, according to DiResta.

“What you’re seeing is a pipeline by which somebody makes an allegation, usually a small account, a person with a very concern that feels very real to them, but it’s picked up by a person who has maybe tens to hundreds of thousands of followers.”

DiResta has studied the way the January 6th Capitol riot was motivated in part by beliefs in the messages this pipeline generated.

The day after posting the video of the Pennsylvania postal worker, its creator wrote on X that if the subject of his video did turn out to be just a public servant doing his job, “I’ll take this down and issue a correcting statement. We are after the truth, whatever that may be.” As of Nov. 2, the video remains online.

DiResta said she’s confident American election officials are better prepared for what’s coming this election, but ultimately, “The tone is set still at the top. The people on social media are able to come up with evidence, but they’re doing it to fit the frame set by the political leaders.”

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Read the Verdict in the Civil Case Against Amber Guyger

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Read the Verdict in the Civil Case Against Amber Guyger

Case 3:18-cv-02862-M Document 256 Filed 11/20/24
Page 3 of 7 PageID 7099
3. Question 3: Compensatory Damages
What sum of money, if any, would compensate Plaintiffs for injuries they suffered as a result of
Defendant’s conduct?
Claims of Estate of Botham Jean
(a) Mental anguish experienced by Botham Jean
between the time he was shot and his death:
$
2,000,000
(b) Loss of net future earnings by Botham Jean:
$
5,500,000
(c) Loss of Botham Jean’s capacity to enjoy life:
2,750,000
Claims of Allison and Bertrum Jean
(a) The value of the loss of companionship and society
sustained from September 6, 2018, to today
to Allison Jean:
(b) The value of the loss of companionship and society
that, in reasonable probability, will be sustained from
today forward
to Allison Jean:
(c) The value of the mental anguish sustained from
September 6, 2018, to today
500,000
2,000,000
to Allison Jean:
(d) The value of the mental anguish that, in reasonable
probability, will be sustained from today forward
to Allison Jean:
3
$
6,000,000
5,700,000

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Russia fires intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine for first time

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Russia fires intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine for first time

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Russia has fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, following days of escalation in the conflict.

Ukrainian air defence forces said the missile, which did not carry a nuclear warhead, was fired alongside seven Kh-101 cruise missiles at the southern city of Dnipro.

The use of the ICBM comes after Ukraine launched US-made long-range Atacms missiles and British Storm Shadows at Russian territory in recent days.

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Responding to the Atacms strikes, Russia altered its nuclear doctrine to lower its threshold for first use. ICBMs are designed to carry nuclear warheads across continents, by contrast with so-called short- and medium-range missiles.

Their range of thousands of miles is far greater than that of missiles such as Atacms and Storm Shadows, which can travel 250km to 300km.

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Russia has previously used nuclear-capable missiles to hit Ukraine, albeit with shorter ranges. Russian forces have repeatedly fired ground-launched Iskander short-range ballistic missiles and the air-launched hypersonic Kinzhal missile, both of which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Ukraine said it had intercepted six of the Russian missiles. It added that the ICBM had been launched from Russia’s southern Astrakhan region. It did not specify what kind of ICBM had been used.

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Two people were injured in the attack, according to local authorities.

This is a developing story

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Sarah McBride: Republican speaker backs proposal to ban transgender women from women's restrooms in US Congress, Sarah McBride responds | World News – Times of India

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Sarah McBride: Republican speaker backs proposal to ban transgender women from women's restrooms in US Congress, Sarah McBride responds | World News – Times of India

After House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated support for Republic proposal preventing Trans Congresswoman elected from Delaware Sarah McBride from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol , McBride said that she will use the men’s restroom on Capitol Hill. In her statement, she said that she is not here to fight about bathrooms but to fight for Delawareans.
She added, “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”

She further said, “This effort to distract from the real issues facing this country hasn’t distracted me over the last several days, as I’ve remained hard at work preparing to represent the greatest state in the union come January.”
She stated, “Serving in the 119th Congress will be the honor of a lifetime and I continue to look forward to getting to know my future colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Each of us were sent here because voters saw something in us that they value. I have loved getting to see those qualities in the future colleagues that I’ve met and I look forward to seeing those qualities in every member come January. I hope all of my colleagues will seek to do the same with me.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated support on Tuesday for a Republican proposal to prevent Representative-elect Sarah McBride, the first transgender woman elected to Congress, from using women’s restrooms in the Capitol. This restriction would take effect when McBride assumes office next year.
“We’re not going to have men in women’s bathrooms,” Johnson told The Associated Press. “I’ve been consistent about that with anyone I’ve talked to about this.”
The proposal, introduced by Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, aims to prohibit lawmakers and House employees from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.” Mace confirmed that the bill specifically targets McBride, who recently won the election in Delaware.
Democrats, including McBride, criticized the Republican initiative, labeling it as “bullying” and a “distraction.”
“This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing,” McBride said. “We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars.”
The debate surrounding bathroom access for transgender individuals has gained significant traction nationwide and was a key point in President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign. Currently, at least 11 states have enacted legislation barring transgender girls and women from using female restrooms in public schools and, in certain instances, other government facilities.
Despite potential challenges, Mace expressed her determination to proceed. “If it’s not,” she said. “I’ll be ready to pick up the mantle.”

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