VICE CARSS feed for https://www.vice.com/enhttps://www.vice.com/en%3Flocale%3Den_caenFri, 13 Oct 2023 09:00:00 GMT<![CDATA[Accused Neo-Nazi Mass Murderer Testifies About Strict Religious Mother and 'Extreme Websites' ]]>https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/ak34b4/accused-neo-nazi-mass-murderer-testifies-about-strict-religious-mother-and-extreme-websitesFri, 13 Oct 2023 09:00:00 GMTNathaniel Veltman, the man accused of running down a Muslim family in a premeditated white nationalist attack, took the stand for the first time Thursday, speaking at length about his strict religious upbringing and Internet addictions.

The trial is centered around the murder of a Muslim family who were waiting to cross the street in London, Ontario, on June 6, 2021. On that day, a truck accelerated and swerved into the family killing five out of the six people standing there. Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna Afzaal, and Salman Afzaal's 74-year-old mother, Talat Afzaal, were all killed in the attack—only the family’s nine-year-old son survived.

Veltman was arrested next to his blood-soaked truck in a nearby parking lot just minutes later after asking a bystander to call the police. He was arrested and charged with five counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, and terrorism.

For several hours, Veltman was examined by defense counsel Christopher Hicks. The admitted white supremacist testified that before the attacks he had a “process of decline” where he was consuming a lot of conspiracy videos about “coronavirus and the new world order” and was heavily depressed. He said he tried to use a Christian app that monitors pornography to stop him from accessing “the extreme websites.”

“At some point, I couldn’t stop,” he said.

The majority of the day’s examination actually focused on Veltman’s relationship with his mother who they portrayed as being deeply religious. He said that he was homeschooled until Grade 11 and that she spanked him. He said she would not allow him to seek treatment for his mental illness, would monitor his online behavior, and showed him pictures of people in hell which would cause him to “obsess about not thinking about violent and evil things.”

Eventually, Veltman said he emancipated himself from his mother and went to high school starting in Grade 11. The defense also argued that Veltman had purchased his truck for the sake of transportation rather than to do the attack and that he had a machete in his vehicle when he was arrested for the attack because he liked to “show it off to friends.”

The defense is also expected to call upon an expert to testify about how “hallucinogenic substances” may have played a role in the killings—Veltman had told police he used mushrooms the night before the attack. At no point during his testimony did he express any regret or offer any sort of apology to the family.

The Crown wrapped their case up last week after presenting a mountain of evidence that argued Veltman carried out the crime for ideological reasons. That evidence included the fact he overtly stated he was a white supremacist in an interview with an investigator and left behind a manifesto.

Earlier in the trial the jury played a video taken shortly after Veltman’s arrest showing him admitting to the murders, stating what he did was terrorism and he was happy he carried out the crime. He said he was radicalized by other neo-Nazis and ran down the Muslim family in hopes of inspiring other mass killings. The Crown read portions of a rambling manifesto written by Veltman shortly before the killings, which the defense did not dispute.

The trial continues Friday when Veltman is once again expected to take the stand.

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ak34b4Mack LamoureuxJosh VisserNewsLondonNathaniel VeltmanextremismCanadian NewsThe Extremism DeskCanada
<![CDATA[Elon Musk Accused a Man of Being a ‘Fed’ and Nazi, Now He’s Being Sued]]>https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/m7b5bn/elon-musk-accused-a-man-of-being-a-fed-and-nazi-now-hes-being-suedMon, 02 Oct 2023 15:03:53 GMTA young man falsely accused of being a federal agent posing as a neo-Nazi by Elon Musk and a bunch of other right-wing trolls has launched a lawsuit against the one-time richest man in the world.

Earlier this year, college student Ben Brody, 22, had his life turned upside down when he was accused of being a part of a Pacific Northwest neo-Nazi group. The claims occurred after a neo-Nazi had his mask pulled off when his group had a small brawl with local Proud Boys in Oregon City on June 24. The unmasked neo-Nazi bore a passing resemblance to Brody, who once wrote on a website for his Jewish fraternity that he wanted to work for the government.

This, seemingly, was enough for some of the worst folks online to go to work, and for Musk to jump into the fray.

According to the lawsuit, and in an interview with VICE News at the time of the incident, Brody suffered a “severe degree of mental stress, anguish, fear, personal embarrassment, and psychological harm which disrupted his daily life,” and worried that being publicly connected to a neo-Nazi group will impact his future employment.

“The reality is that too many powerful people with enormous audiences are being reckless with their accusations against private people,” reads the lawsuit against Musk. “The damage they cause is not easily repaired by apologies or counter-speech, no matter how persuasive. Repair of reputations, compensation for harm, and effective deterrence can only occur in our courts.”

The young man is being represented by Mark Bankston, a lawyer who last year successfully sued Alex Jones for $49 million on behalf of the parents of children killed in Sandy Hook. The lawsuit was filed earlier today in Travis County, Texas, where Musk resides.

“I am honored to be assisting this brave young man in standing up against yet another one of Elon Musk’s reckless smears,” Bankston told VICE. “We look forward to restoring Ben’s good name and sending a message that Musk’s conduct is unacceptable.”

Musk purchased Twitter in 2022 and since has been roundly criticized for allowing conspiratorial content to flourish and allowing antisemitic and extremist figures back onto the site. Twitter and Musk did not respond to a request for comment.

Online shitposters, misinformation peddlers, and the worst internet sleuths you could imagine seized upon the fact Brody had once written for his Jewish college fraternity that he wanted to work for the government. This was enough proof for some that Brody was a federal agent pretending to be a neo-Nazi and the group was a “false flag” orchestrated by the United States government—a favorite conspiracy of the far-right.

It wasn’t too long after the false allegations about Brody began swirling on Twitter that Musk, the website’s owner, replied with things like “very odd,” and “always remove their masks” under several tweets falsely accusing Brody and sharing his personal information and photos. These responses, according to the lawsuit, drew much larger audiences to the defamatory tweets because of Musk’s large following.

While the storm of misinformation swirled around Brody online, the reality of the impact upon his real life finally made landfall when he was enjoying a Dodgers game with his mother. After initially being confused about why strangers were attacking him on his personal social media page, he slowly began to realize what was happening as they drove home.

"In the car, I was freaking out and very nervous, very anxious, like 'oh my God, I can't believe this happened, you know, my life is over,’" Brody told VICE News in July. "Everything that I tried to work for and all this is just completely gone. And I genuinely felt very anxious, very nervous."

Brody said his family didn’t feel safe being at home that evening and fled for the night. To try to calm the situation, Brody made several Instagram posts explaining he wasn’t the man in the video and was hundreds of miles away at the time. To back up his case he posted receipts from purchases he made that day and time-stamped security footage. But facts play a limited role in this particular corner of Twitter and Brody’s response fell on many deaf ears.

On June 27, after several days of amplifying other people’s posts, the lawsuit states Musk personally committed defamation against Brody when responding to a news article by Zero Hedge—a far-right news outlet that was banned from using Google Ads in 2020 for its racist content and was integral in aiding the spreading of the Sandy Hook conspiracy—with the headline “Patriot Front ‘White Supremacist’ Unmasked As a Suspected Fed.”

“Looks like one is a college student (who wants to join the govt) and another is maybe an Antifa member, but nonetheless a probable false flag situation,” Musk wrote. The lawsuit states this is a clear nod toward Brody. The tweet has been viewed over 1.2 million times since it was posted and while the Zero Hedge post and article were deleted, Musk’s remains up.

musk-brody.png
The tweet in question. Photo via screenshot.

“Musk’s personal endorsement of the false accusation against Ben Brody reverberated across the internet, transforming the accusation from anonymous rumor to gospel truth for many individuals, and causing others to use Musk’s endorsement to justify their desire to harass Ben Brody and his family,” reads the lawsuit.

Brody “suffered physical manifestations of his emotional distress, including difficulty sleeping, panic attacks, headaches, and fatigue which disrupted his daily life and severely impacted his sense of wellbeing” and his family was doxxed several times as a result of the false accusations, the lawsuit states. Brody spoke to VICE News just weeks after everything occurred in the hopes it would clear things up. It was the only time he spoke on the record about the incident.

“Obviously Elon Musk has a huge following and it amplifies stuff, so it definitely made the situation much worse,” he said. “It was terrifying.”

"I felt like I was going to have a panic attack. I couldn't sleep," Brody told VICE at the time. “I was like, walking around and just, like, pacing because I was just so nervous about everything."

One of the biggest worries Brody, a recent college graduate, had was the impact that being tied to a neo-Nazi group publicly would have on his future employment. On top of that, the lawsuit states Brody and his family are worried that as someone accused of being involved in a “false flag” by well-known figures, he’ll be subjected to the same harassment as the Sandy Hook parents and those who ran the restaurant at the heart of “pizzagate” conspiracy.

According to the lawsuit, Brody was told by Musk’s lawyers that if he filed anything they would seek to collect fees against him. The lawsuit does not specify what it is seeking but does state the relief being sought will exceed a million.

The lawsuit breaks down Musk’s history of making salacious and dubious claims on social media. The list is a long one. There was the time Musk had to settle with the SEC after making joke tweets about taking Tesla private at $420 a share—the jokes cost him and Tesla $40 million and he was forced to step down as chair. Then there was the time Musk set off a media firestorm after calling a British cave diver who helped rescue a group of children trapped underground for numerous days a “pedo guy” after the man described Musk’s efforts to help as nothing more than a PR stunt.

More recently Musk’s postings have strayed from bad jokes that cost him exorbitant amounts of money and petty posts after his feelings were hurt and into the overtly political. Last fall, after Paul Pelosi was attacked by a man with a hammer, Musk shared misinformation from a famously dubious site (the same one he commented on with Brody) claiming the attacker was Pelosi’s gay lover. In May, following a mass shooting in an outlet mall in Texas by a far-right gunman that killed eight people, Musk claimed it was ”a psyop” and that Bellingcat, the outlet that broke the story, “specializes in psychological operations.”

“Despite once claiming that ‘Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world’, Musk has been personally using the platform to spread false statements on a consistent basis while propping up and amplifying the most reprehensible elements of conspiracy-addled Twitter,” reads the lawsuit.

“Musk’s reckless attitude, his unpunished pattern of false statements, and his flirtation with the most unreliable and extreme elements of his social media platform made it inevitable that he would falsely attack an innocent private citizen, turning their world upside down.”

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m7b5bnMack LamoureuxMatthew ChampionNewselon muskBenjamin Brodymark bankston
<![CDATA[Are You Ordering Whiskey Wrong? Here's What You Need To Know]]>https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/88q3pg/whiskey-ordering-advice-infoWed, 21 Dec 2022 14:56:36 GMTWhiskey: It’s named after the Gaelic phrase for “water of life.” It basically powers the UK economy. It’s what makes Tom Waits, well, Tom Waits. But all you really need to know is how to drink it.

For the most part, we’re all familiar with the standard roster of whiskey cocktails: an Old Fashioned, a Manhattan, a good ‘ol Whiskey Sour. There are, of course, plenty of more niche options (think: the Boulevardier), but it would seem that true *connoisseurs* are often purists: whiskey of choice, served neat or on the rocks.

Sure, self-proclaimed “Whiskey People” can have an air of pretension about them, but here’s the thing: You need not join their ranks in order to lean a little further into the whiskey-verse. Whether you’re in the market to impress your bartender, or to please your palate, there are only a few key facts you need to know to dive in.

“Keep an open mind and try to forget about all the old tropes you may have heard,” advises Angel Teta, National Whiskey Guardian for Kentucky-based bourbon brand Angel's Envy. “Whiskey has advanced leaps and bounds over the last hundred years, and I truly believe there's something out there for everyone.”

The expansive world of whiskey can undoubtedly be daunting, especially if you’re new to the category. So we spoke with Teta to uncover the secrets to ordering whiskey like a pro. In that spirit (get it?), here’s our quick and dirty guide to (sounding like) you know your whiskey:

1. Read up on your regions

Much like with wine, a whiskey’s country of origin plays a pivotal role in its flavor. The heavy hitters are Scotland, Ireland, America, Canada, and, more recently, Japan and India, and each of these regions boasts a unique flavor profile, terminology, and serving style. Here’s the breakdown:

  • Scotland: It’s likely the first country you think of when you think “Whisky People” (note the absence of the “e”). Scottish whisky is called “Scotch,” a protected status granted only to whisky that’s distilled and matured in Scotland for at least three years in oak casks. With 141 Scotch distilleries in operation, Scotch flavors range dramatically, but peaty (a smoky flavor caused by the peat fires used to dry malted barley) offerings are the most notorious. Pro tip: Many Scotch whisky drinkers refer to any liquid unit as a “dram,” no matter how generous the pour.
  • Ireland: Both the Irish and the Scots claim to have invented whiskey, but no one’s been able to prove it outright. Irish whiskeys are triple-distilled, traditionally resulting in a lighter and smoother drink that can often taste a little fruity. 
  • America: There are six major types of American whiskey, all of which are made from different fermented cereal grains: rye, rye malt, malt, wheat, bourbon, and corn. Bourbons are made in Kentucky, and are typically aged two to four years (as opposed to the 10+ years customary for their European counterparts), which gives them their trademark sweetness and smoothness. Unsure of where to start? We suggest you look to Angel's Envy, a Louisville-based craft distiller producing a range of award-winning whiskeys suitable to any taste (though its masterpiece is undoubtedly the Kentucky Straight bourbon). The liquid is aged four to six years in white oak barrels, then transported to French oak casks imported from Portugal's Douro region, and this unique double-finish process leaves notes of vanilla, ripe fruit, maple syrup, toast and bitter chocolate. “As those flavors linger on the palate, our bourbon leaves a lasting impression that appeals to both established whiskey fans and those new to the category,” says Teta. 
  • Canada: Often called “rye” even when it…doesn’t have rye in it, Canadian whisky (again, no “e”) is an eclectic spirit. Often, these varieties involve blending a lighter, triple-distilled grain spirit with a richer “flavoring” spirit. Purists might gag, but drinkers aren’t complaining.

2. Choose your serving style

It's the “Coke or Pepsi” of the bartending world: Should whiskey be sipped on the rocks (on ice) or neat (without ice)?

This seemingly basic question can lead to some impassioned arguments. Neat drinkers maintain that adding ices numbs your taste buds and dilutes the precious spirit, while those who like it on the rocks cite chemistry 101: “Water breaks up the hydrogen bond in the whiskey, so more aromas will release,” explains Teta.

3. Chat with your bartender

“Folks behind the bar love to chat about spirits, and they want to share the knowledge they've worked hard on acquiring,” says Teta.

That said, do your best to read the room. Ordering a Vieux Carré cocktail in a dive bar will elicit some weird looks, as will requesting a Pepsi chaser during a distillery tasting in the Scottish highlands. Look around to see what’s popular, or better yet, ask your bartender what they recommend before committing to a full dram.

4. Spice things up with a cocktail

If drinking whiskey straight makes you feel like a burnt-out private detective, opt for a cocktail. Whiskey is the foundation for countless classics, so you’re not hurting for choice.

“Personally, I am a huge fan of a Manhattan with a twist of lemon” says Teta. “And Angel's Envy is a great fit for this classic cocktail because it's finished in fortified wine barrels, which allows the whiskey to marry perfectly with the Vermouth.”

Like your drinks on the sweeter side? Go for younger whiskey varieties like bourbon or Canadian rye mixed with citrus (the Whisky Sour, the Whisky Smash) or with simple syrup (the Old Fashioned). Want something mysterious and smoky? Choose an aged Scottish or Irish variety in a cocktail that puts its peaty heart front and center (the Penicillin, a Hot Toddy). If bitter and herbal profiles strike your fancy, order the classic Manhattan. And if you simply can’t shake your espresso martini habit, try switching things up with an Irish coffee (made with coffee and Irish whiskey, natch).

Editor’s note: Whether stocking your own home bar, or gifting for the holidays, Angel’s Envy’s premium, award-winning straight Kentucky Bourbon is aged four to six years in new white oak barrels, then finished in secondary French oak Port casks, lending the whiskey a subtle, fruity sweetness that is rich and complex enough to be enjoyed neat or in your favorite cocktail. Best of all, it’s now available across Canada.

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88q3pgKate FaneBranded StaffdrinkingFoodWhiskeybarsBourbonCocktailsAlcoholdrinks
<![CDATA[2022 Is the Deadliest Year Yet for U.S. Mass Shootings, New Data Shows]]>https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/5d3adb/2022-mass-shooting-us-recordFri, 25 Nov 2022 16:45:30 GMTThis year is the deadliest year yet of mass shootings in the U.S., according to a professor who has tracked mass killings for 40 years. 

There have been 36 fatal mass shootings in 2022 so far, including 15 since Oct. 3, said James Alan Fox, a professor of Criminology, Law and Public Policy at Northeastern University. That figure surpasses the record broken in 2019 when there were 33, said Fox, who defines mass shootings as shootings that result in four or more deaths. There is no standard, federal definition for what constitutes a mass shooting in the U.S., which makes it difficult to track mass shooting-related data. Fox said he specifically focuses on shootings resulting in mass loss of life.

“I understand injuries can be debilitating, but there is a big difference between dying and injury and we shouldn’t be conflating injuries and deaths,” Fox said, adding that otherwise, we risk stoking fear and overstating the risks people face when they go out in public.

According to Fox, 186 people have died in mass shootings in 2022, compared to 175 in 2019. In 2017, mass shootings resulted in 177 deaths even though there were fewer shootings than in 2019 in part because the Las Vegas Strip massacre resulted in nearly 60 deaths.

This year’s statistic is a grim one, and comes on the heels of two deadly shootings within a week: Last weekend, a man opened fire at an LGBTQ club in Colorado Springs, killing five, just days before a team leader at a Walmart in Virginia killed six people on Tuesday. 

“The trajectory has been startling,” Fox told VICE News. “We tend to have on average about two mass shootings per month. Since the beginning of October, we’ve had two on average per week.”

Fox is in charge of data collection for the mass killing database in collaboration with the Associated Press and USA Today. Overall, 2019 has still experienced more mass killings in total, which include killings caused by guns and other weapons, than 2022. In 2019, there were 45 incidents, while 2022 has so far logged 40, Fox said. 

“I was expecting it (2022) to be relatively calm compared to other years,” Fox said, because the first half of the year had comparably fewer mass shootings. 

“Since the beginning of fall things have turned worse,” he said. 

Fox said feelings of disenchantment among some Americans and political divisiveness could be partly to blame for the rise in violence. 

“The mood in the U.S. these days is hardly a positive one. People are even talking about civil war, which I don't think we're going to have, but even the fact that people are talking about it is startling,” Fox said. 

But it’s important to remember that mass shootings, especially those that take place in public, are rare and only make up less than one percent of all homicides, Fox said. 

“The scary thing about public shootings—even though they are very rare—is they can happen at any place, at any time, and to anyone, even you,” Fox said. “The largest category of mass shootings are family massacres, but these don't get a lot of attention because most people don’t think it’ll happen to their family.” 

VICE News reported how most mass shootings are linked to domestic violence.

This week’s violence, specifically the shooting at Club Q, also coincides with an increase in hate targeting LGBTQ folks, and a rise in fatal violence against trans and nonbinary people. Since Human Rights Campaign started tracking fatal violence of trans and nonbinary people, the group has officially recorded at least 300 deaths, including 32 in 2022 alone. Trans and non-binary victims of violence are disproportionately Black and under 35.

Follow Anya Zoledziowski on Twitter.

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5d3adbAnya ZoledziowskiJosh VisserNewsColorado Springs shootingMass Shootingsgun violencemass killingsLGBTQHate Crime
<![CDATA[Man Who Assaulted His Girlfriend Named Her ‘Amber Heard’ in His Phone]]>https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/v7vy9y/assault-girlfriend-amber-heardTue, 04 Oct 2022 16:10:08 GMTA man in the UK was jailed for assaulting his girlfriend after a court heard he nicknamed her “Amber Heard” in his contacts.

Sean Lloyd, 35, was jailed for two years and four months after pleading guilty to assault causing bodily harm during a trial at Leeds Crown Court. According to Yorkshire Live, a prosecution lawyer and an unnamed woman, Lloyd’s ex-partner, presented testimony that Lloyd had assaulted the woman and named her “Amber Heard,” like the actress, in his phone.

The woman told the court that Lloyd attacked her on Aug. 4 after the two were out drinking together. At one point in the night, the partner said, the pair parted ways, so the woman went home and then texted Lloyd saying he should go back to his own place. But Lloyd came over and was “banging on the door.”

Prosecutor Jade Bucklow told the court that Lloyd then assaulted his girlfriend. He threw her phone at a wall and shoved a small table, before kicking, hitting, and strangling the woman, Bucklow said, adding that Lloyd was wearing heavy-duty work boots. 

“He was on top of her with his hands around her throat. She tried to get him off her but was unable to do so and unable to scream for help. He was squeezing so tightly and she was scared that—in her words—‘That was it’ and he was going to kill her,” Bucklow said, according to Yorkshire Live. 

Following the alleged Aug. 4 assault, Bucklow said the woman sustained an inchlong cut on her eyebrow, a swollen and marked-up neck, and an eye injury. She has also displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, Bucklow said. Lloyd, who has been convicted twice for drinking and driving, was arrested on the day of the assault and he maintained he didn’t remember what had happened. 

In mitigation, lawyer Howard Shaw said the 35-year-old is “thoroughly ashamed of himself” and "wishes the woman to know how very sorry he is that this incident occurred and how very sorry he is for his behaviour.”

Police did not immediately respond to a VICE News request for comment. 

This allegedly wasn’t the first time Lloyd had assaulted his now ex: The UK-based news site reported how he had previously attempted to strangle his girlfriend before a neighbour intervened. 

Lloyd had even changed her name in his phone to “Amber Heard,” the woman told the court. 

According to one advocate, it’s not surprising that Heard’s name was used as a nickname in a domestic violence case. 

Earlier this year, Heard endured immense misogynistic online backlash while a multimillion-dollar defamation suit took place between the actress and her former husband, Johnny Depp. Depp launched a defamation suit against Heard in response to a 2018 Washington Post op-ed where Heard wrote about her experiences with domestic assault. The piece didn’t name Depp, but the Oscar-nominated actor maintained it’s plainly about him and that it cost him his career. Heard countersued Depp. A Virginia jury found both guilty of defamation but overwhelmingly sided with Depp. Heard has since hired new representation while she tries to appeal the case. 

Heard and Depp accused each other of being abusive while maintaining their own innocence—but throughout the trial the court of public opinion heavily sided with Depp. Even before a verdict was announced, content creators on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube were trying to cash in on the case by producing anti-Heard content. People made fun of her physical appearance, called her a “liar,” and even wished her dead. It was a situation that experts warned would have long-term consequences for domestic assault survivors, who could fear Heard-level backlash for speaking out against their own experiences with violence.

Deepa Mattoo, executive director of the Toronto-based Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic that supports marginalized women who’ve survived violence, said Heard’s name hasn’t come up a lot since the suit ended, but she’s not surprised that the name was used as a label. 

Words like “bitch” and “deviant” are often used to target women who speak out, and now, Heard’s own name is reportedly doubling as a label too, Mattoo said. 

Considering thousands of people watching the Depp-Heard trial threw into question Heard’s allegations against Depp, her name alone carries connotations and reflects “the misogynistic view that the world took,” Mattoo said. “It’s definitely more than just a name.”

The fact that Heard’s name can be used as a label shows the “toxic” and “widespread” influence of celebrity cases, Mattoo added. 

“That’s what this is doing,” she continued. “Making them feel that they are the one who is on the wrong side… Making them feel awful about themselves and pushing them to question themselves and making them feel like the world is questioning them.”

“The cases have influences on people’s behaviors,” she added.

Follow Anya Zoledziowski on Twitter.

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v7vy9yAnya ZoledziowskiLeah FeigerNewsamber heardjohnny deppdomestic violencegender based violencejohnny depp amber heard trialGenderworldnewsUK news
<![CDATA[A Canadian Town Was Partially Washed Out to Sea by Storm Fiona]]>https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/7k8e9g/storm-fiona-canadaMon, 26 Sep 2022 14:59:38 GMTAt least one person is dead after Hurricane Fiona tore through Atlantic Canada and washed out several homes in Newfoundland.

Police confirmed that the unnamed 73-year-old woman died after the post-tropical cyclone, marked by hurricane-level winds and rising sea levels, washed her out of her home in Port aux Basques, Newfoundland. The 4,000-person town, located on the southwestern tip of the province and the site of the main ferry connection to Canada’s mainland, was hit particularly hard. Images circulating online show a town with houses barely left

standing, including several that collapsed, as well as some submerged under water during the storm. Roofs were torn off and sheds were toppled over, while furniture continues to sit idle among the rubble in the aftermath. 

“I’m seeing homes in the ocean, I’m seeing rubble floating all over the place—it’s complete and utter destruction,” René J. Roy, chief editor at Wreckhouse Press and Port aux Basques resident, told the Associated Press. Roy added that an estimated eight to 12 homes and buildings were washed out.

The RCMP, Canada’s federal police, said the town was grappling with electrical fires and residential floods, and declared a state of emergency. 

On Saturday, the Canadian Hurricane Centre said Fiona likely has the lowest pressure of any storm that’s touched down in the country—in other words, one of the strongest ever to hit the country. 

The cyclone touched down in the area early Saturday after traveling north from the Caribbean, causing heavy rain, intense gusts of wind, and waves that exceeded heights of eight to 10 metres. In addition to Newfoundland, it battered Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec, felling trees and destroying a significant amount of infrastructure, including public transportation links. 

As of Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people across the region were still out of power. 

Defence Minister Anita Anand said Canadian troops would deploy to help clean up AtlanticCanada, but she did not say how many. 

While it’s difficult to link any one weather event to the climate crisis, typically, tropical storms hurling north toward Canada lose their intensity by the time they touch down. So, it’s possible that the climate crisis will result in more intense storms going forward. According to a study in Nature, ocean warming could be linked to increases in storm intensity. 

Gordon McBean, a Western University professor with the department of geography and environment, told Global News, “I think the evidence that I’ve seen is that the number of hurricanes may not go up, but the number of intense hurricanes, Categories 4s and 5s, will actually increase in intensity.”

McBean said it’s likely eastern Canada will see more extreme weather events going forward. 

Before touching down in Canada, at least five people were found dead in the Caribbean as a result of Fiona. 

Follow Anya Zoledziowski on Twitter.

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7k8e9gAnya ZoledziowskiJosh VisserNewsworldnewsclimate changeclimate crisisCanadian NewsAtlantic Canadastorm fionaPort aux Basques
<![CDATA[Hospitals Remove Trans Healthcare Information After Far-Right Attacks]]>https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/pkgz7n/vanderbilt-trans-clinic-healthcare-info-erasedFri, 23 Sep 2022 15:28:12 GMTOne day after notorious right-wing figure Matt Walsh tweeted about a Tennessee clinic that provides critical care for trans patients, the hospital removed several pages about that care from its site—an outcome that risks making it even more difficult for trans people to access healthcare.

On Tuesday, Walsh tweeted a thread about Vanderbilt Transgender Clinic, making false accusations that healthcare providers at the clinic “castrate, sterilize, and mutilate minors,” among others. Shortly after, the Vanderbilt Clinic for Transgender Health at Vanderbilt University website was taken down, a “404: This page could not be found” error in its place. 

Vanderbilt isn’t the only health center that’s had to limit available public information after being targeted by right-wing social media accounts. Just this week, Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio removed information about trans care from its site, including information about healthcare providers, shortly after being targeted. As Media Matters reported, in-person support group meetings for trans youth were cancelled at Lurie Children’s hospital of Chicago because of security risks. 

By losing access to healthcare information online, many patients may have a harder time figuring out what services are available to them, Ari Drennen, LGBTQ program director with progressive media watchdog Media Matters, told VICE News.

“Right-wing media have established a pattern where they'll tweet out stuff from the websites of gender-affirming care centers—stripped of any context—and then make incendiary statements on top of that,” said Drennen, who has written about this issue.

“Many of these hospitals treat patients who live many hours away,” Drennen said. “It can be hard to find hospitals who provide good treatment options, so it's very important for information about procedures that are offered to be accessible to potential patients who are considering those procedures and for whom those procedures are medically necessary.”

In a statement emailed to VICE News, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center confirmed it is the subject of social media posts and said they “misrepresent facts about the care the medical center provides to transgender patients.” 

The hospital “began its transgender health clinic because transgender individuals are a high-risk population for mental and physical health issues and have been consistently underserved by the U.S. health system,” the statement said, adding parental consent is needed for patients under 18. 

Studies show that trans people are more likely to experience mental health struggles, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and thoughts of suicide, than cisgender people. Puberty blockers and gender-affirming therapies, which are safe and effective, are correlated with better mental health outcomes for trans people, and teens who are able to access gender-affirming therapy typically have better mental health outcomes than trans people who have to wait until adulthood.

But despite the evidence in support of gender-affirming therapy, there’s been an onslaught of anti-trans misinformation peddled by far-right social media accounts. And it’s not just Vanderbilt that’s been targeted—other hospitals that offer gender-affirming care, including Akron Children’s Hospital and Golisano Children's Hospital at the University of Rochester, have also been targeted by right-wing groups. Last month, the Boston Children’s Hospital received a bomb threat after a far-right group spread misinformation about is transgender healthcare program. Staff and healthcare providers were inundated with harassment, including violent threats, too, the hospital said in a statement.

“We are deeply concerned by these attacks on our clinicians and staff fueled by misinformation and a lack of understanding and respect for our transgender community,” the hospital told Boston.com

Shortly after Vanderbilt was called out, users on accounts like 4Chan started called for the murder of doctors providing care to trans youth, tweeted Alejandra Caraballo, a Harvard instructor with the Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic.

Drennen said the reactions online have parallels to the murder of George Tiller, an abortion provider who was killed by a man with extreme anti-abortion views. 

“There’s nothing to suggest that they're going to stop this anytime soon, which is incredibly alarming,” Drennen said.

Follow Anya Zoledziowski on Twitter.

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pkgz7nAnya ZoledziowskiLeah FeigerNewstransgendertransgender healthmatt walshAnti-transVanderbilt Transgender ClinicGender
<![CDATA[Hundreds of Pets Got Out of Afghanistan. Their Rescuers Didn’t.]]>https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/7k84ve/pets-afghanistanThu, 08 Sep 2022 11:55:24 GMTEarlier this year, a family of Afghan women who had fled the Taliban’s takeover walked into a makeshift animal shelter in Vancouver, Canada. Before them were Air and Bella, their two cats they were forced to leave behind during the fall of Kabul. It was an unexpected reunion; they had no idea they’d be reunited with their pets. 

“So many months of tumultuous uncertainty and then lo-and-behold these cats you thought you'd never see again are there waiting for you and happy to see you,” said Owen Laukkanen, one of the volunteers in charge at the makeshift shelter who witnessed the reunion. 

In February, about five months after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, Air and Bella were just two of about 300 cats and dogs that landed in Vancouver aboard a charter plane from Kabul. Part of a massive international effort dubbed “Mission Possible,” some were reunited with their old owners: military personnel or Afghans who had managed to flee the country when the Taliban seized control one year ago. Others were adopted by Canadians. A coalition of shelters helped raise additional funds alongside SPCA International and a local shelter in Kabul to get the pets to Vancouver.

But while the animals have reached safety, most of the people who looked after them in Kabul have not. Instead, they’re still in hiding in Afghanistan or in a third country, waiting for U.S. visas.

Animals from Kabul, Afghanistan, arrive in Vancouver, Canada, in February.
Animals from Kabul, Afghanistan, arrive in Vancouver, Canada, in February. (Photo by SPCA International)

“One year later all the animals have been evacuated, reunited with their owners, but the staff including vets and animal handlers are still stuck in a third country. Children are not going to school, men and women are not working,” a vet who helped care for the animals and who’s now waiting in a third country told VICE World News in a text. His identity has been concealed for protection.

More than 100 people, many of whom worked or volunteered with Kabul Small Animal Rescue (KSAR), are currently navigating different versions of the same fate. For many, the clock is ticking: If their visas in third countries expire, they say they could face deportation to Afghanistan, where their lives would be in danger. The group is made up of women, ethnic minorities, and people with past ties to U.S. forces—all targeted by the Taliban.

According to a GoFundMe in support of the team, “The refugees have been beaten and assaulted in Afghanistan, one of them had her face burned with hot water, one suffered a severe concussion, one had his spine injured so badly from a beating he had to have corrective surgery, and there were several who barely escaped after attempts on their life.” 

In July, one of the KSAR veterinarians still living in Afghanistan was stabbed to death. 

A veterinarian with the group, Mariam Amini, said the first time the group faced the Taliban while trying to get the pets out last summer was “the most dangerous part of my life.” 

Now, she’s in a third country, where she’s unable to work and where living costs are prohibitively expensive. “A year of my life has been wasted,” said Amini, who is one of the first female Afghan veterinary surgeons. To pass the time she teaches English to child refugees.

“I am so disappointed that they forgot us. They forgot the team who worked for those animals.”

Meredith Festa, founder of Long Island-based dog shelter Paws Unite People (PUP), has been coordinating donations to support the rescue team and is overseeing their visa applications. According to PUP, it costs about $20,000 per month to support those who made it out but are waiting for countries like the U.S. to work on their visa applications. 

Festa said money is running out and “every person in the group… is in danger” if they do.

Despite promising to prioritize Afghan refugees, the US has experienced major delays when it comes to processing visas for them, including for those particularly at risk of execution by the Taliban because they worked closely with US forces. Last month, the New York Times reported that processing of special immigrant visas for people who worked alongside Americans could take three years.

About 250 to 300 people have been arriving in the US every week, and almost all of those folks applied for visas before the Taliban seized control over Kabul, the Times said. 

In an email to VICE World News, the US State Department confirmed that tens of thousands of Afghans have applied or expressed interest in applying for visas.

A State Department spokesperson said that in order to speed things up, the department increased staff processing special immigrant visa applications “by more than fifteen-fold.” The pandemic also caused delays because interviews were previously put on hold, but they’ve since restarted. 

It’s not the only example of animals getting out before people. Last year, controversy went to the top of the UK government after Paul “Pen” Farthing, a British ex-marine who ran NOWZAD, another animal shelter in Afghanistan, evacuated nearly 200 cats and dogs while his staff was initially left behind. Farthing said that outcome “wasn’t my choice” and a NOWZAD social media at the time called it a “devastating blow” and committed to helping the staff, who escaped Afghanistan a few weeks later in September 2021. 

The first KSAR vet said he’s worried about what will happen if his visa is denied and he has to return to Afghanistan. 

“Just imagine the trauma and anxiety we are facing every day and living in limbo. It hurts everybody’s souls,” he said. “We never thought, and no Afghan thought, a day like today would come.”

One of the dogs that was flown out of Afghanistan and into Canada earlier this year. Photo courtesy of Owen Laukkanen.
One of the dogs that was flown out of Afghanistan and into Canada earlier this year. (Photo courtesy of Owen Laukkanen.)

Another rescuer, whose identity is withheld for safety reasons, has been moving from village to village in Afghanistan, trying to evade the Taliban while waiting to get out. Access to the internet and electricity is spotty at best. 

“I am so happy that those animals are safe now,” the 24-year-old who helped evacuate the animals and is now hiding in Afghanistan. “In the meantime I am so disappointed that they forgot us. They forgot the team who worked for those animals.”

Follow Anya Zoledziowski on Twitter.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect additional context surrounding the escape of NOWZAD's staff from Afghanistan. 

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7k84veAnya ZoledziowskiNatasha GrzincicHelen NianiasNewsworldnewsAfghanistanTalibanrescue animalsAfghan refugeesKabulKabul small animal rescueCanadian News
<![CDATA[Cop Kills Unarmed Black Man Seconds After Opening His Bedroom Door]]>https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/pkg3e7/columbus-ohio-cop-shooting-donovan-lewisThu, 01 Sep 2022 18:41:19 GMTA Columbus, Ohio, cop fatally shot an unarmed 20-year-old Black man within seconds of opening his bedroom door on Tuesday, as officers attempted to serve him a warrant for his arrest. 

Police body camera footage released to the public captured the killing. 

According to Columbus Police Department Chief Elaine Bryant, police were looking to serve Donovan Lewis, 20, a felony arrest warrant on charges of improperly handling a firearm, assault, and domestic violence. 

The bodycam footage shows at least three officers and a police dog arriving at Lewis’ home around 2 a.m. on Tuesday. 

Officers knock at the door of his apartment, cupping their ears against it and announcing their presence. 

“We’re not leaving, we know you’re inside,” one of the officers says. “Come to the door.” 

After about eight minutes, a man eventually answers the door, telling the officers that he was asleep. The cops enter the apartment and detain two people before announcing they’re going to send in a K-9.

The dog walks around the kitchen and then barks at the door of a bedroom. An officer opens the door, immediately draws his weapon, and fires off a shot while Lewis is sitting up in his bed.

Officers ask Lewis to crawl out of the room as he writhes in bed, before entering the room and handcuffing him.

“Get your hands behind. Stop resisting,” one of the officers says as they restrain him. “He’s pulling away.”

They begin searching him, during which an officer exclaims, “Let’s get him out to the medic.”

After being treated at the scene, Lewis was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead at 3:19 a.m, about an hour after the shooting.

Bryant identified the shooter as Ricky Anderson, the K-9 unit officer and a 30-year veteran of the force.

Rex Elliot, the attorney for Lewis’ family, called Lewis’ death “utterly senseless” during a press conference Thursday morning.

“If you think Officer Anderson had some justification for firing his weapon, then ask yourself why the police officer that had his weapon drawn with the clearest view of Donovan Lewis did not discharge his firearm,” Elliot said. “There is no question that excessive deadly force was recklessly used by officer Anderson when he shot and killed an unarmed Black man."

Chief Bryant said Wednesday that police found a vape pen found on Lewis’ bed. In a frame-by-frame breakdown of the footage, the chief showed Lewis had his right hand raised and his left hand back towards the pillow.

“Donovan Lewis lost his life. As a parent, I sympathize and grieve with his mother. As a community, I grieve with our community. But we’re going to allow this investigation to take place,” Bryant said during Wednesday’s press conference, according to local news station NBC4.

The shooting is now the subject of an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The fatal incident marked the third time in eight days that Columbus police fired their gun at a suspect, according to NBC4. 

The department had already been facing scrutiny over the use of deadly force against Black people. In December 2020, former Columbus police officer Adam Coy shot and killed 47-year-old Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man, in his garage while responding to a 911 call he had nothing to do with. Coy is currently awaiting trial on murder charges. 

In April 2021, Columbus officer Nicholas Reardon fatally shot 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant four times as she lunged toward someone with a knife. A grand jury declined to bring charges against Reardon earlier this year.

The incident is also another example of police killing an unarmed Black person while trying to serve them an arrest warrant. Earlier this year, 22-year-old Amir Locke was shot and killed by police as he slept in his Minneapolis home during a no-knock raid. In March 2020, Breonna Taylor was killed by Louisville police as she slept in bed next to her partner. Last month, the Department of Justice brought new charges against four officers involved in her killing.

Follow Trone Dowd on Twitter.

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pkg3e7Trone DowdNatasha GrzincicNewspoliceColumbusDonovan LewisOHIO8:46 Newspolice brutalityRACISM
<![CDATA[Black Man Charged With Murder of White Teen Says He Was Standing His Ground]]>https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/jgpgv3/georgia-marc-wilson-trial-stand-your-groundFri, 26 Aug 2022 14:38:19 GMTLate one night in June 2020, William Marcus Wilson, a 21-year-old Black man, fired his legal handgun at a pickup truck full of teenagers after some of the teens allegedly called him a racial slur and tried to run him and his white girlfriend off the road in Statesboro, Georgia. The next day, Wilson learned that one of those bullets struck and killed 17-year-old Haley Hutcheson, who was in the backseat of the truck.

This week, Wilson, who goes by the name Marc, is on trial for felony murder and aggravated assault, which carries a life sentence and the possibility of the death penalty. Wilson and his legal team are arguing that despite the tragic events, Wilson was left with no option but to stand his ground to ensure his safety, as well as that of his girlfriend.

“Me and my girlfriend were very scared that night,” Wilson told a detective after the shooting. “A truck full of—all I saw were white males—white males driving their car at me and are flipping me off and yelling racial slurs.”

Self-defense claims led to acquittals for Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse and George Zimmerman, who killed Trayvon Martin. But this is a rare case of a Black man using a stand your ground defense, and the historical data does not point in his favor. 

“Wilson’s trial is a particularly interesting case because it’s a dynamic of a self-defense case that we haven't seen,” Melissa Redmon, the prosecutorial justice program director at the University of Georgia’s School of Law and a former Fulton County district attorney, told VICE News. “It's something that should be watched closely to make sure that Marcus Wilson is afforded the same consideration and support that other [defendants] who have alleged self-defense have gotten.”

Fearing for his life

At around 1 a.m. on June 14, 2020, Wilson and his then-girlfriend Emma Rigdon, who is white, were driving away from a Taco Bell in Statesboro. At a stoplight, they pulled up next to a pickup truck. According to Wilson’s defense team, Wilson said two male teens in the truck leaned out of the window and called Rigdon a “n----- -loving bitch,” and shouted, “Your lives don’t matter!”

Wilson later told police that when the light turned green, the pickup truck swerved in front of them and tried to knock his car off the road. Wilson said the males in the truck were leaning out the window screaming more racial slurs while flashing middle fingers at them. 

It was just weeks after the murder of George Floyd, and Wilson said he was already feeling nervous, so he pulled out a gun and fired two warning shots at the truck. 

He said he heard a loud sound that made him think they might be shooting back at him or ramming his vehicle.

Fearing for his life, Wilson said he fired his gun once more at the truck. That bullet struck and killed Hutcheson. 

When Wilson found out the next day that one of the passengers of the truck had been killed, he turned himself in. He was denied bail after Ogeechee Circuit Superior Court Judge Michael Muldrew, who originally presided over the case, said Wilson posed a “significant threat to the persons in the community,” despite having no criminal record.

In February, Muldrew was recused from presiding over the trial; the defense claimed he met with two of the prosecuting attorneys in private and allowed them to view emails Wilson sent to his family. Muldrew was replaced with Judge Ronnie Thompson, who granted Wilson his release on a $100,000 bond.

However, Thompson ruled that Wilson’s case was not airtight enough to grant him immunity from the charges under Georgia’s stand your ground laws.

And the teens tell a different story, one that says Wilson never had a claim to self-defense and that they did not yell out racial slurs. They told police they thought Rigdon was a classmate they’d seen earlier that night who also has a Black boyfriend. In opening statements, Chief Assistant District Attorney Barclay Black said that no matter what happened before the shooting, Wilson was wrong to escalate the encounter by using deadly force, and his decision to do so resulted in the death of an innocent person.

“As we proceed through that evidence… one thing is going to ring true through this whole trial,” Black said Wednesday, according to the Statesboro Herald. “That is no matter what gets thrown around this courtroom, no matter what fingers get pointed at anybody, Haley Hutcheson didn’t do a doggone thing to anybody, except get a bullet in the back of her head.”

Since the incident, the teens’ memories of that night have been called into question. All four admitted to drinking alcohol as they drove around town. In their investigation, police found beer cans at the scene that match the brand they were drinking, with investigators believing that the loud noise Wilson heard was likely a can that was thrown at his car. And at least one of the police reports written by a Statesboro detective reads that one of the teens, Luke Conley, was seen by a witness yelling out of his window right before the shooting.

Additionally, Conley is currently facing charges of obstruction of justice for withholding information and providing conflicting statements about who he saw in Wilson’s car. A month prior to the shooting, Conley was also arrested on charges of driving under the influence and a hit-and-run. Neither case has been litigated, according to Georgia court records.

Race matters

The defense, led by former Georgia NAACP president and attorney Francys Johnson, argues that despite the tragic death of Hutcheson, Wilson responded reasonably.

“This case is about how Emma Rigdon and William Marcus Wilson missed their early graves when they decided to go on a late-night run to Taco Bell,” Johnson said during his opening statement Wednesday.

Since Johnson took on the case in July 2020, he’s been blunt about his belief that race has played a major role in how this case has been perceived.

“We believe that if Marc Wilson was a white gentlemen that night, accosted by a truckload of angry, belligerent, possibly drunk Black men, and he used a legally possessed firearm to defend himself and his passenger, that he would have been given a medal and not given a prosecution,” he told reporters during a Zoom call at the time, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Data backs Johnson’s belief. Stand your ground laws, which give legal gun owners the legal grounds to use deadly force when threatened regardless if there are non-lethal options available, exist in some form across 37 states, according to the Giffords Center, including in Georgia.

But from 2005 to 2010, the first five years after stand your ground laws were introduced, just 11 percent of cases involving a Black shooter invoking stand your ground and white victim were deemed justified, according to a 2020 study by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, compared to 45 percent of cases involving a Black victim and a white shooter.

One of the most famous cases of stand your ground being used successfully was in 2013, when George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a Black 17-year-old who was walking home through Zimmerman’s neighborhood, was acquitted. Zimmerman successfully claimed he felt threatened by Martin, despite initiating the interaction by following him through the neighborhood. 

And just two months after Hucheson’s death, in August 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, shot and killed two people and injured a third during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was found not guilty on all charges including intentional homicide. The white teen successfully claimed self-defense, arguing that he had little choice but to use deadly force when confronted by protesters both at a car dealership he says he was trying to protect, and people who tried to disarm him after the initial shooting.

But that trend may be changing. Last November, Greg and Travis McMichael failed to convince a Georgia jury that they acted in self-defense when they shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery, a Black 25-year-old jogger who they suspected was a burglar in their neighborhood. They were both sentenced to life in prison.

Redmon said that the impact the Arbery case had about who can claim self-defense is very likely to loom over the jury in this case, in a way that will possibly benefit Wilson.

“The McMichaels prevented Arbery from disengaging. Here, you have the exact opposite: a couple going about their business and the victims initiating the contact and being antagonistic towards them,” Redmon said. “When we think about self-defense, we typically think about someone coming at you and you having to defend yourself as opposed to you initiating an encounter and it [going] wrong.”

But it doesn’t mean that there won’t be hurdles to overcome for the defense.

“When someone is deceased, most citizens are going to look to what could have been done to prevent this. That's the difficulty in getting them to accept a self-defense defense in most cases,” Redmon said. “In this case, you have the deceased victim who in a sense was an innocent bystander in that she wasn't driving the truck.”

Ultimately, it will come down to which version of events the jury will ultimately believe.

“The state is going to focus on the reasonableness and whether or not that fear and his subsequent actions were reasonable,” Redmon said. “The other thing is the credibility and which version of events is most likely to be true. Both sides will have to convince the jury which version of events actually happened.”

The jury selected to decide the case is made up of eight white males, four white females, two Black females, and one Hispanic male. The jurors range in age from 20 to 70. The trial is expected to last through to the beginning of next week.

Follow Trone Dowd on Twitter.

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jgpgv3Trone DowdNatasha GrzincicNewsRACISMStand Your GroundGEORGIACrimeMarc Wilsonself-defensekyle rittenhouseGeorge Zimmerman