Amazon Blocks Ad for Book Critical of Black Lives Matter
Heritage Foundation scholar is latest conservative censored by Amazon
Amazon blocked an ad for a book critical of the Black Lives Matter movement, the latest example of the retail giant censoring conservative voices.
The online retailer prevented the Heritage Foundation from purchasing ads to promote Mike Gonzalez's BLM: The Making of a New Marxist Revolution. Amazon told Heritage that the ad "contains book/s or content that is not allowed," specifically "content that revolves around controversial or highly debated social topics is not permitted." Amazon later reversed its decision and posted the ad, telling the Washington Free Beacon that its "policies were not enforced correctly in this case" and that the employees responsible would receive "additional training."
Amazon refused to explain the nature of the error. But in recent months, the company has used its policies to suppress conservative books. A book on the transgender movement was pulled from the platform in February without explanation. After senators pushed Amazon to explain its decision, the retailer announced it was changing its policies to ban any books that treat gender dysphoria as a mental illness. Amazon funded an effort to place hundreds of copies of critical race theorist Ibram X. Kendi’s book Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You in Virginia public schools.
BLM criticizes the titular movement for its Marxist roots. One of the three Black Lives Matter founders said in 2015 that she and another cofounder "are trained organizers; we are trained Marxists." Gonzalez, a former journalist and Heritage senior fellow, said his book addresses important questions "after the 630 or more riots that left our cities burning, businesses destroyed and billions in damage, and Americans dead."
Gonzalez said Amazon is "trying to limit how many Americans read this book" and asked whether books by left-leaning authors on Black Lives Matter and race faced the same restrictions. Heritage Foundation president Kay Coles James released a statement calling examples of "big tech censorship … inescapable and irrefutable." "Conservative voices are deemed ‘unacceptable’ and are silenced," she said.
Advertising makes up a substantial portion of Amazon’s revenue. Amazon, Google, and Facebook together took up almost two thirds of the digital advertising market in 2020. A growing contingent of lawmakers worry that advertising consolidation on a few online platforms could harm market competition.
Amazon has faced pressure from liberal politicians to exercise more control over which speech is allowed on the platform. Last week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) called on Amazon to ban books containing "misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and treatments."
18 Shot Thursday, 16 Shot Wednesday, Across Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Chicago
Eighteen people were shot Thursday and 16 people were shot Wednesday in Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s (D) Chicago.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports that two shooting fatalities and least 16 other individuals shot and wounded on Thursday.
The first of Thursday’s fatal shootings occurred at 9:15 p.m., when someone walked up to a group of people and opened fire “in the 6000 block of South Racine Avenue.” Twenty-nine-year-old Javier Burch was in the group and was shot and fatally wounded.
Thursday’s second fatal shooting occurred around 11:45 p.m. in the parking lot of a food store located in “the 1300 block of South Canal Street.” A 25-year-old man was in a fight when someone shot him in the head, killing him.
The Sun-Times notes 14 people were shot and wounded Wednesday and two people were shot and killed.
One of the shooting fatalities was a 24-year-old man shot “near the back of a home” located “in the 6600 block of South Kenwood Avenue.” He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
The second shooting fatality resulted from an altercation between a 38-year-old man and a 44-year-old man “near a business in West Humboldt Park.”
The younger man shot the older man, fatally wounding him. The older man was then able to stab and fatally wound the younger man before dying.
Breitbart News observed eight people were shot Tuesday in Mayor Lightfoot’s Chicago and 14 people were shot Monday.
HeyJackass.com pointed out some 204 people have been shot and wounded in Chicago thus far in September 2021, while 38 people have been shot and killed.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
Suspect arrested in Wisconsin cornfield quadruple homicide case, second suspect remains at large
One suspect has been arrested and another remains on the loose in connection with the murders of four people whose bodies were found in a black SUV in a Wisconsin cornfield, police said.
Dunn County officers arrested Darren Lee McWright, 56, of St. Paul, Minnesota, Wednesday, according to a Dunn County Sheriff’s Office press release. Authorities are still searching for Antoine Darnique Suggs, 38, in the case, which left locals in the western Wisconsin community mystified and frightened after the bodies were found over the weekend.
"Any information as to the whereabouts of Antoine Suggs can be called in to the local law enforcement agency or that information can also be provided to the Dunn County Sheriff’s Office so we can forward that to the appropriate law enforcement jurisdiction," the press release said. "Suggs should be considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached."
The victims were identified as Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley, 30, Matthew Isiah Pettus, 26, Loyace Foreman, 35, and Jasmine Christine Sturm, 30, all four from Minnesota, police said. Two of the victims were brother and sister, and the other two were reportedly dating. A vigil was held Wednesday for the four victims near where the bodies were discovered.
Biden Surrogate Stripped Of Committee Assignments After Jailbreak
Nothing to see here. Just the typical state of affairs that has devastated America's cities.
FOX Soul had described Rep. Jewell Jones as a Biden Harris Surrogate. And Jones took part in 'Barbershop Conversations' with Biden.
Former Vice President Joe Biden is hoping that barbershop conversations will equate to an increase in voter turnout for the Democratic presidential nominee among Black men in November...
This week, participants will include rapper Jeezy and Michigan Rep. Jewell Jones, D-Inkster, and the conversation will focus on how Black men’s issues impact the nation.
... speaking of issues.
Newly released dashcam footage shows the day Michigan Rep. Jewell Jones (D-Inkster) was arrested in Livingston County after he allegedly drunkenly crashed his SUV.
Jones allegedly had a blood-alcohol level more than twice the legal limit as he drove for at least 50 miles from Southfield to Fowlerville with his Glock pistol in the cupholder before crashing. Jones is accused of becoming combative with police and a paramedic who tried to help after the crash.
"You pulled me over and I’m not doing s---," Jones can be heard saying on the video.
According to a police report, Jones tried to use his position as a lawmaker to get out of the arrest. He is accused of telling officers he will call Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on them, even referring to her by her first name, and threatening the officers by telling them he runs the state budget.
Things have only gotten better since then.
Embattled Michigan state Rep. Jewell Jones (D) was stripped of his committee assignments Thursday following a reported jail escape attempt, The Detroit Free Press reports.
Michigan House Speaker Jason Wentworth (R) announced the sanctions against Jones after the representative allegedly tried to secure his release from jail by taping a universal key to the bottom of his foot.
Jones was also previously accused of spending campaign money at a strip club, according to a July report.
"We have [to] meet people where they're at some times ... #HOLLA," Jones reportedly told The Detroit News when asked about the claim.
I blame systemic racism.
Any chance anyone in the media will ask Biden or 'Gretchen' about this?
Gen. Milley Lied to President Trump About Black Lives Matter Riots
The tricky question about the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is whether he's really this stupid or dishonest.
Now the background for this was the Black Lives Matter riots in D.C. which started a fire in the Church of Presidents and set the White House gatehouse on fire.
Milley reportedly pushed back against claims that the country was facing an insurrection that was "burning America down."
"Mr. President, they are not burning it down," he said, according to Woodward and Costa.
When Milley spoke to Trump, however, he reportedly cited data at that time that said there had only been two cities with major protests, while elsewhere it was 20-300 protesters.
"They used spray paint, Mr. President, that’s not an insurrection," he said.
He then gestured to a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln and said that it was not comparable to the militia bombardment of Fort Sumter in 1861.
"We’re a country of 330 million people. You’ve got these penny packet protests," he said, before adding that the situation was not as threatening as the 1968 riots in Washington.
He also told Trump that it was not an issue for the U.S. military and then addressed systemic racism with Trump, according to the book.
"That’s pent up in communities that have been experiencing what they perceive to be police brutality," he said.
This account comes from Woodward's Peril. It has some similarities to the account in a previous anti-Trump book, Frankly, We Did Win This Election.
Milley spotted President Abraham Lincoln's portrait hanging just to the right of Trump and pointed directly at it, Bender writes.
"That guy had an insurrection," Milley said. "What we have, Mr. President, is a protest."
During one Oval Office debate, senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller chimed in, equating the scenes unfolding on his television to those in a third-world country and claiming major American cities had been turned into war zones.
"These cities are burning," Miller warned, according to the excerpts.
"Shut the f--k up, Stephen," Milley snapped, according to the excerpts.
The accounts differ on the details, but both have Milley minimizing the BLM riots. Which brings us back to the question of whether Milley was really this stupid or this dishonest.
The race riots had injured hundreds of police officers, they had besieged a Federal building, and wrecked D.C. But even back then, Milley was making a pitch for systemic racism, instead of defending the country he had given his oath to.
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