Southeast
Incumbent SC Rep Timmons hit with resurfaced videos of apparent support of DEI in Congress
An incumbent South Carolina Republican lawmaker is under fire after resurfaced videos show his apparent support for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the halls of Congress.
In the newly resurfaced videos from 2021, Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C., is heard touting his support and promotion of DEI in a hearing titled, “Recruiting, Empowering and Retaining a Diverse Congressional Staff.”
“Since the establishment of this committee, we have made staff retention and diversity a top priority,” Timmons said. “When we talk about modernizing Congress, we don’t just mean updating the technology in the House but investing in and developing a talented and diverse workforce that accurately reflects the communities we represent.”
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WATCH:
Timmons argued that DEI should influence the hiring process in Congressional members’ offices and that “every member’s office should be representative of the people they represent.”
“I want to start with an objective. So, in my mind, our objective should be that every Member’s office — well, let’s start with Congress,” the South Carolina Republican said. “Congress should be representative of the country, and then within Congress, every Member’s office should be representative of the people they represent.”
“So it should be diverse based off of race, gender, geography, socioeconomic background, lifestyle, and it should be proportional based off of the population they represent,” Timmons said. “Can we start there?”
Following the resurfaced video, Timmons’ wrote on Saturday on X that the clips were “selectively edited and taken out of context.” When Fox News Digital reached out to Timmons’ office for comment, a spokesperson directed attention to the tweet.
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“Something we should all be able to agree on is that Congress would be better served if the staff wasn’t made up of the children of DC insiders who grew up in the Swamp. Someone from the Upstate of South Carolina should have the same opportunity to serve in our nation’s capital as someone from Arlington, VA,” Timmons wrote.
“The 2019 ModCom recommendation (which passed unanimously) has nothing to do with 2024 DEI,” Timmons said. “The purpose of the recommendation has been warped by former Speaker Pelosi and woke Democrats, and our Republican majority has now appropriately defunded it in this year’s budget.”
Timmons said that he has “always advocated” for hiring based on ability.
“I have always advocated for hiring the best and brightest, which is clearly not the same as implementing quotas,” he said. “I fully believe DEI is anti-American, and have opposed it every turn. I will continue to push back on the radical left’s woke agenda.”
Timmons’ challenger and South Carolina State Representative Adam Morgan told Fox News Digital that his opponents’ apparent DEI support is “appalling” and “anti-American.”
“It’s appalling that my opponent, an alleged Republican, is in support of anti-American indoctrination and racist affirmative action quotas — and even wants taxpayers to fund it,” Morgan said.
“Meanwhile, I’ve been working to get this leftist indoctrination out of classrooms and to cut funding from universities that push these discriminatory practices. He’s everything wrong with the swamp. The difference between us is stark — he works for the Left, I oppose them.”
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Southeast
Defiant victims who turned the tables on attackers in 2024
This year several crime victims took it upon themselves to fight back against their attackers, and videos captured the incidents. Here is a recap of some of 2024’s most notable examples.
ROAD RAGE RESPONSE
Back in March, a truck driver was attacked by a colleague on the road. Deputies were called to a Love’s Travel Stop for a report of shots fired during a road rage incident along Interstate 75 near Ocala, Florida, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) said.
The victim said he was driving a semi-truck southbound on Interstate 75 when Dylan Belleastin, 43, threw a water bottle at his truck.
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“The victim pulled over to confront Belleastin but decided against it and drove away,” MCSO said on Facebook. “Belleastin then continued to follow the victim and eventually pulled alongside him again, at which time he fired several shots toward the victim.”
Deputies say the victim decelerated in an attempt to avoid being struck before returning fire toward Belleastin “out of fear for his own life.”
Dash camera footage from Belleastin’s semi-truck cab “clearly depicted him shooting at the victim at two separate times,” MCSO said. The suspect was arrested days later, and charged with aggravated assault, criminal mischief, and displaying a firearm during the commission of a felony.
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BIKINI BARISTA STRIKES BACK
In June, the owner of a Seattle bikini espresso shop defended her decision to smash a customer’s windshield with a hammer after he threw coffee at her.
The incident at Taste of Heaven Espresso was caught on camera at 3 p.m. June 11 and shared in a now-viral social media video. Emma Lee, 23, told FOX 13 Seattle it was not the first time the customer had been disrespectful, and she wants him held accountable for his actions.
What transpired on video was the culmination of a 15-minute exchange over the price of a 32-ounce coffee and 24-ounce water, Lee said. The price tag was $22.
“You don’t get to name your own price,” Lee told FOX 13, adding the man screamed, spit and tried to pry open the business’ window. “It was a threat. I felt in danger. It’s OK for him to be outraged about the price of his drinks, enough to assault me, but it’s not appropriate for me to respond?”
CARJACKING THWARTED
In October, a D.C. bartender was attacked on video while at a gas station by three teenagers who tried to take off with his Jeep.
The suspect, Randy White, told FOX 5 DC the teens demanded his belongings. He instead fought back until the trio eventually gave up and left the gas station.
“Where I grew up, it’s just… I work too hard for what I have,” White told the local Fox station. “I can’t give up my property like that. It’s not in me. I wasn’t raised that way. I was just hoping that they would see that I am resisting them and they would’ve just given up or went off, but that wasn’t the case. I was able to keep them occupied and fight them off long enough that they ended up cutting their losses and hitting bricks.”
QUICK-THINKING CALLER
Not all who fought back did so physically.
Also in October, a Florida woman who was being held captive prior to an alleged attempted rape called 911 to order a “pizza.”
“I would like to order a pizza,” a 911 call shared by Volusia Sheriff’s Office on social media starts out. “I’m so stuck in here.”
“OK. Are you aware you’re calling 911?” the dispatcher asks the female caller, who responds, “Yes, I’m sure I’m calling to that number.”
Dispatchers were able to “triangulate her phone,” Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood said, explaining that the victim did not know her location. The victim was able to tell the dispatcher she was being held by an unarmed man. Once her location was determined, deputies were sent out.
The victim can be heard screaming for help in shared body camera footage.
“He’s trying to rape me. Can you help me?” she asked.
“Thank you, Lord!” she repeatedly said while crying, after being rescued. “Thank you, Jesus.”
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Southeast
Two Hurricane Helene victims, a family of four and a Vietnam veteran, gifted campers on Christmas Day
Two families in North Carolina who were impacted by Hurricane Helene received the gifts of a lifetime on Christmas Day – a new place to call home.
The first recipient was the Penley family, of Boone, North Carolina, who lost everything during the storm.
The family of four was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday following the birth of their second child and was planning on moving into a homeless shelter until EmergencyRV stepped in.
“We weren’t gonna have that at EmergencyRV. We got this trailer here for them and it’s going to be a great place for them to stay now,” the company said in a video posted on X.
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The RV gifted to the Penleys will comfortably fit their family, which consists of two adults, a toddler and a newborn. It has a bedroom on one side of the camper and two sleeping areas on the other side, along with a nice-sized bathroom and a large kitchen area with seating at a table and a couch.
The second recipient was Timothy McCord, a 70-year-old Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam. Helene tore the roof off of his camper, where he continued to live despite experiencing leaks and other damage.
EmergencyRV traveled to Canton, North Carolina, to gift him a brand-new camper after McCord’s daughter contacted the company explaining that he needed help.
“You helped me turn my life around and I appreciate it,” McCord said when his new home was delivered.
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EmergencyRV is a non-profit organization that provides housing to displaced survivors of natural disasters and has gifted 77 campers to people impacted by Helene since the storm wreaked havoc in the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee at the end of September. The RVs are gifted completely free with a clean title in the recipient’s name.
The organization said it has 700 families on its waiting list who have been fully vetted and are truly in need of help following a natural disaster.
“We take this seriously as we have limited resources,” the organization said on X. “We also ensure that the family has a legal and safe place to park an RV before we will gift it and deliver to them.”
Though they prioritize veterans and first responders, EmergencyRV said they have helped families and singles who lost their home or suffered serious damage in Helene.
EmergencyRV was established by Woody Faircloth and his then 6-year-old daughter in 2018 in response to the deadly Camp Fire in Paradise, California.
Their goal was to raise enough money to bless one family impacted by the fire with a RV. They were able to do that and have since donated hundreds of RVs to victims of wildfires and other natural disasters.
Read the full article from Here
Southeast
Career criminal, 31, arrested for 35th time — see his list of offenses
A Florida man was arrested for his 35th time right before Christmas, after stealing a car and attempting to escape authorities.
Kevin Campana, 31, was taken into custody on Monday after allegedly breaking into a local auto repair shop in Edgewater, Florida and stealing a customer’s car while wearing no shoes, according to the Edgewater Police Department.
Read the full article from Here
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