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MAGA and butterflies and..., jeez, it's wierd

crescent

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crescent
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Butterfly sanctuary closes as QAnon believers, thinking it’s home to sex trafficking ring, plot caravan there

according to an email blast put out by the Center, it was forced to close for three days “due to credible threats we have received from a former state official.”

Center director Marianna Wright “was advised by [a] former state official (whose daughter is the Hidalgo County GOP chairperson) that she should be armed at all times or out of town this weekend,” due to a caravan of attendees at a MAGA-themed border security conference taking place in McAllen, Texas, eight miles away, that same weekend. The “We Stand America” event is scheduled to feature speeches from a host of luminaries in the stolen election/QAnon/anti-vaccine/MAGA universe/build-the-wall universe, including disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, “Stop the Steal” advocate Rep. Mark Finchem (R-Ariz.), stolen election figurehead Patrick Byrne, and QAnon promoter Mel K.
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Kolfage, who has called the Center’s employees “butterfly freaks” running a “sham” sanctuary devoted to profiting off human misery, has pushed the theories hard, including sharing doctored photos of rafts at a dock outside the Butterfly Center. He’s also spammed Wright with violent threats over Twitter, eventually resulting in his account being suspended. Kolfage himself is not speaking at the event, presumably because he’s currently under indictment for wire fraud and tax evasion due to allegedly stealing from the We Build The Wall nonprofit he founded.

Despite there being no evidence of trafficking or smuggling being run through the Center, the MAGA faithful have already started to make it a target. The email blast described an incident that went from troubling to potentially deadly when on Friday, Jan. 21, an unnamed “congressional candidate from Virginia” showed up with someone claiming to be a Secret Service agent, and “demanded access to the river so they could ‘see the rafts with the illegal crossing’ our property.”
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People impersonating Secret Service agents and stealing phones from the center's employees and then nearly running down people who tried to stop them. Local Law enforcement taking their own sweet time responding. It's bizarre.


Perhaps someone was giving too much thought to Nabokov's butterflies.
 
Norman Alexander said:
When does public demonstrations of criminal lunacy actually result in arrests? Or at least detentions "for their own good"?
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ponderingturtle said:
When it is not close allies of the police doing it.
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Indeed. Would not rely on local police to lift a finger to stop right wing political violence.

The advice given to stay armed is probably the best bet. They should beef up security of their land, if they can, and probably should get in the habit of carrying rifles on their property. It's Texas, so gunning down intruders, especially armed intruders, is not going to be difficult to legally justify.

They could also just abandon the property until this blows over. It would be better if people with principles stood up to these right wing crazies and met force with force, but I wouldn't blame anyone for just laying low.
 
This is from Texas Public Radio's website:
The Center’s executive director, Mаriаnnа Trevino-Wright, made the decision to keep the nature preserve closed during the rally after she and her staff were allegedly physically attacked there last week by congressional candidate Kimberly Lowe and an aide...A physical altercation followed in which Wright was thrown to the ground and Lowe and her aide attempted to leave the property in their vehicle with Wright’s mobile phone.

According to the affidavit, Trevino-Wright’s son attempted to close a gate in order to prevent Lowe and her aide from leaving the property with Wright’s mobile at which point “Lowe nearly struck him with her car, but in the now-deleted Facebook Live by Lowe, you can hear her screaming, ‘Get the **** out of my way,’ as she speeds toward him and see she swerves to avoid the partially-closed gate.” Texas Public Radio link
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There's more to this however. The Center first attracted the ire of right wingers when they filed a lawsuit against Steve Bannon's We Build The Wall.
Wright says harassment at the Center has been ongoing since 2019, when the nature conservatory filed suit against the fundraising nonprofit We Build The Wall. That nonprofit’s leadership includes Brian Kolfage and Stephen Bannon among others who have since been charged by the Department of Justice for defrauding donors. The Butterfly Center’s lawsuit against Kolfage, now in federal court, alleges that any private border wall built downstream of the property would be in violation of a 1970 international boundary treaty with Mexico as well as result in land loss and erosion on the nature preserve. The legal action has made both The National Butterfly Center and Mаriаnnа Trevino-Wright targets of far-right conspiracy theorists ever since–including those in the QAnon movement.
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The extreme wingers are doing what they always do. Fight dirty. In this case, smearing the National Butterfly Center by alleging they're a front for smuggling undocumented people into the United States. There's no evidence of it, but hard core wingers don't need evidence. It's all about tactics. They are exactly the kind of people they're supposed to be fighting against.

Meanwhile, Kimberly Lowe, the congressional candidate from Virginia who assaulted the Center's director Mаriаnnа Trevino-Wright, was subsequently banned from the We Stand America rally. Lowe's office also deleted most of the Facebook videos from the candidate’s trip to the Butterfly Center.
 

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crescent said:
Butterfly sanctuary closes as QAnon believers, thinking it’s home to sex trafficking ring, plot caravan there




People impersonating Secret Service agents and stealing phones from the center's employees and then nearly running down people who tried to stop them. Local Law enforcement taking their own sweet time responding. It's bizarre.


Perhaps someone was giving too much thought to Nabokov's butterflies.
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Don't try to understand stupid it will only make your head acke.
 
newyorkguy said:
This is from Texas Public Radio's website:


There's more to this however. The Center first attracted the ire of right wingers when they filed a lawsuit against Steve Bannon's We Build The Wall.


The extreme wingers are doing what they always do. Fight dirty. In this case, smearing the National Butterfly Center by alleging they're a front for smuggling undocumented people into the United States. There's no evidence of it, but hard core wingers don't need evidence. It's all about tactics. They are exactly the kind of people they're supposed to be fighting against.

Meanwhile, Kimberly Lowe, the congressional candidate from Virginia who assaulted the Center's director Mаriаnnа Trevino-Wright, was subsequently banned from the We Stand America rally. Lowe's office also deleted most of the Facebook videos from the candidate’s trip to the Butterfly Center.
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I can only shake my head at the amount of stupidity we see coming from these people. Unbelievable.
 
It's part of the organized attack on science we are seeing.
I smell the religious right at the bottom of it. They have always hated science since it conflicts with their book of fairy tales.
 
dudalb said:
It's part of the organized attack on science we are seeing.
I smell the religious right at the bottom of it. They have always hated science since it conflicts with their book of fairy tales.
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Which I've always found odd. Please, that whole "electricity" thingey?
 
Center to remain closed indefinitely in response to terrorist threats from the right.

Texas Butterfly Park To Close Indefinitely As Conspiracy Theorists Intensify Attacks
Trump-allied operatives have baselessly accused the National Butterfly Center of being involved with child trafficking.

The park reopened on Monday and Tuesday to members only, but will now close to both members and the rest of the public amid ongoing fears for the safety of its staff and patrons.
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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/national-butterfly-center-closure-conspiracy-theories_n_61f876fee4b02de5f51d13f5
 
BobTheCoward said:
They are letting the terrorists win.
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Well, terrorism wouldn't be so popular if it weren't effective.

I would have preferred if they took to patrolling their land armed with AR-15's loaded with green tips, but actually risking your life to confront such people is easier said than done.
 
This is just another example of how far off the cliff the right wing nut jobs have gone. People who are attracted to conspiracies have found a home in the GOP that's been legitimized by Trump and his supporters like Giuliani, Ron Johnson, MTG, Mo Brooks, etc. As I've said before, the common thread that links conservatism is fear and fear is a key component to conspiracists.

‘Creating Conspiracy Beliefs’ Explores Fear, Anxiety, Media, Social Interactions

Recent political events and the COVID-19 pandemic create the impression that conspiracy theories are spreading more quickly and widely than ever. Fear and uncertainty predispose people to believe conspiratorial narratives of danger and hidden plots, fueled by – and, in turn, fueling – media coverage.
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crescent said:
Kolfage, who has called the Center’s employees “butterfly freaks” running a “sham” sanctuary devoted to profiting off human misery, has pushed the theories hard, including sharing doctored photos of rafts at a dock outside the Butterfly Center.
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This is only different to a degree than what trump does just about everytime he gets in front of a crowd. Bashing and trashing.

I don't think it matters to the MAGA crew if accusations are true. In fact, in terms of intimidation, they may prefer accusations that are clearly NOT true. The thinking seems to be, 'If you oppose me or get in my way, I'm going to fight dirty. I'll accuse you of anything I can think of so long as it damages you. And my people will swear they absolutely believe it. Be careful!'
 
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