Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday argued against sending in the National Guard to remove disruptive anti-Israel protesters from college campuses, saying he wants to give university presidents more time to resolve the matter. “What needs to happen, at least at the beginning, is these university presidents need to get control of the situation,…
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The post Supreme Court Poised to Agree with Trump: Former Presidents Are Immune from Some Prosecutions appeared first on Breitbart.
Escape From Tarkov Fans Furious Over New $250 Edition With Exclusive PvE Mode: ‘This Cannot Be Tolerated’
Escape from Tarkov players are in an uproar over a new $250 upgrade called The Unheard Edition, with many deeming the pack “pay-to-win” and “selfish.”
The Unheard Edition of BattleState Games’ popular extraction shooter includes exclusive access to a laundry list of content, including an exclusive PvE co-op mode where progress doesn’t reset. Although the price tag without tax is steep as is, what many find offensive are the extra bonuses that the pack includes. Some notable features include expanded PMC pockets and increased Fence standing, which give buyers an edge by, for example, making NPCs less aggressive depending on player distance.
“This isn’t just perks like ‘increased stash space’ or ‘larger secure pouch,’” one Reddit user said. “This is blatant ‘you get a giant head start in front of everyone else.’
“Any other good extraction shooters out there?” they add.
Pay-to-win is a term most multiplayer fans hope they never hear when their favorite game is being described. It suggests that Escape From Tarkov rewards players for simply spending money while punishing those who don’t, but The Unheard Edition is causing a stir for more reasons than one.
Perhaps the most controversial action might be that many players were previously led to believe they would receive all future Escape From Tarkov content for free. The now-unlisted Edge of Darkness Edition, which provided a list of other goodies for $140, previously promised that buyers would receive “free access to all subsequent DLCs.”
It’s because of this that players were livid to find that The Unheard Edition is asking for hundreds of dollars to enjoy that new PvE co-op mode. It is worth noting that some are reporting that they are only being asked to pay an additional $100 for the new pack if they already own Edge of Darkness.
Many others seem to share the same sentiment, as official Escape from Tarkov social media channels are now plagued with memes and complaints from users upset with The Unheard Edition. Its Discord is in especially bad shape. While BattleState’s moderation team quickly moved to temporarily shut down most channels, the few that remain are filled with thousands of copy-and-pasted messages from players calling BattleState’s actions “selfish,” “unacceptable,” and “disrespectful.”
“This cannot be tolerated,” part of the repeated post says.
escape from tarkov discord server rn pic.twitter.com/GFY0t7gYIz
— Verrial (@Verrial_) April 25, 2024
BattleState isn’t taking the backlash too well either. The developer’s responses began simply enough, with Lead Community Manager appl3z0r sharing an explanation for disgruntled players on Discord (via Forbes).
“It ain’t DLC, its unique feature of the new edition added,” they said when describing the PvE mode.
They continued in a separate message: “DLC means additional downloadable content. PvE is a feature and a gamemode. Just because you all want it to become a DLC it wouldn’t mean it is one. It’s featured game mode for the new edition of the game.”
BattleState extended this explanation on X/Twitter, telling fans that it will keep them “updated on new features exclusive for EOD owners.” Things got more complicated when the official X/Twitter account for Arena Breakout: Infinite got involved. Many have compared the Tencent-made game to Escape From Tarkov, and BattleState didn’t appreciate it when the account began to take shots after the backlash began.
Have a nice 20 minute adventure in the blatant plagiarist game. In and out pic.twitter.com/DZe3A0I8Z4
— Battlestate Games (@bstategames) April 25, 2024
With the Discord shut down and BattleState firing back at other publishers on X/Twitter, many have flocked to Reddit to air their frustrations. A pinned post on the subreddit proclaims that “the gates are open,” giving users free reign to post and complain about The Unheard Edition as they please.
“Let’s start this off right – we (the mod team) are just as livid about this situation as you are,” the post says.
The Reddit page contains hundreds of popular posts from today, including accusations that The Unheard Edition’s free unique weapon isn’t so unique. Another post details an initiative that seeks to proceed with a lawsuit against BattleState.
The Escape From Tarkov woes stem from an update that BattleState published today. In addition to pulling back the curtain on The Unheard Edition, it revealed a number of changes and improvements for the experience.
IGN has reached out to BattleState for comment.
For more on Escape from Tarkov, be sure to check out why we called the shooter “brutal” in 2018.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
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Judge Shoots Down Effort To Identify FBI, Undercover Police On Jan. 6
Judge Shoots Down Effort To Identify FBI, Undercover Police On Jan. 6
Authored by Joseph M. Hanneman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A federal judge in Washington D.C. has denied seven motions from a defendant seeking to identify FBI agents in Jan. 6 crowds and gain access to undercover videos shot by Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers, at least one of whom incited the crowds at the U.S. Capitol.
In a 22-page order, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled against William Pope on a range of motions filed in his Jan. 6 criminal case since May 2023.
Judge Contreras partially granted a government cross-motion to modify the evidence protective order in the case. “I now have the most restricted discovery access conditions of any Jan 6 defendant,” Mr. Pope wrote on X.
“All I’m asking for is a fair fight in court, but he’s denying me rights to defend myself Pro Se that aren’t denied to attorneys,” Mr. Pope told The Epoch Times in a statement. “Even though some January 6 attorneys have filed highly sensitive materials as public exhibits, or leaked them on social media, I have not released a single sensitive or highly sensitive file governed by the protective order.”
Mr. Pope, 38, publisher of the news website Free State Kansas, was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, covering the protest and subsequent violence.
Federal prosecutors charged him with civil disorder, corruptly obstructing an official proceeding, entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, impeding ingress or egress in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, impeding passage through the Capitol grounds or buildings, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.
He faces a July 22 trial.
Sought FBI Agents
Mr. Pope most recently asked the court to compel federal prosecutors to identify all FBI special agents or other employees who were “material witnesses” at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and produce “all photographs, videos, and records related to their presence.”
In that motion, Mr. Pope cited two suspected FBI agents who attended Jan. 6 events at the Capitol with former special agent John Guandolo, who once served as the Bureau’s liaison with U.S. Capitol Police.
Mr. Guandolo “has said in interviews that he was with several active-duty FBI agents on January 6, and that he and those agents have been interviewed by the FBI regarding their observations,” Mr. Pope wrote in his Feb. 12 motion.
One of the men was seen on security video clapping enthusiastically as a large crowd of protesters rushed up the east steps to the Columbus Doors. “Oh, oh, oh man, this is huge,” the man said, heard on Mr. Guandolo’s cell phone video that showed the crowd ascending the steps.
The other suspected agent was seen on Capitol Police security video meeting with an FBI SWAT team shortly after its BearCat tactical vehicle rolled onto the House Plaza at about 2:30 p.m. Twenty minutes later the SWAT team responded to the South Door after the shooting of Air Force veteran Ashli Babbitt by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd.
Federal prosecutors argued they have no obligation to investigate the identity or roles of FBI agents on Jan. 6. The judge concurred.
“The Court agrees with the government and finds that defendant has failed to show that the government has an obligation to produce the requested material,” Judge Contreras wrote.
In another motion denied by Judge Contreras, Mr. Pope sought to compel the U.S. Department of Justice to inventory and provide access to all Capitol Police security video it has had in its possession.
Mr. Pope said footage is missing from some of the 1,800 USCP security cameras, and prosecutors have only produced 6,000 hours of security video in discovery. A U.S. House committee that oversees Capitol Police has released 20,000 hours of an expected 40,000 hours it will post publicly.
Mr. Pope wrote that the importance of the security video—thousands of hours of which are now available on Rumble—is underscored by an investigation suggesting two Capitol police officers perjured themselves in the first Oath Keepers trial in the fall of 2022.
Video obtained by Blaze Media showed that a supposed confrontation between Officer Harry Dunn and the Oath Keepers could not have occurred as he described under oath. Capitol Police Special Agent David Lazarus, who testified that he witnessed the confrontation, was in another part of Capitol grounds at the time.
‘Not Beneficial’
“While Pope asserts that the missing camera footage is ‘highly relevant to January 6 cases, including [his] own,’ … he does not explain what he expects the footage to show or why that footage would assist in his defense,” Judge Contreras wrote. “Much of the camera footage that Pope requests depicts areas where Pope never set foot. That footage is therefore not beneficial to Pope’s case.”
The judge also denied Mr. Pope’s Aug. 21, 2023, motion seeking video shot by more than two dozen members of the MPD Electronic Surveillance Unit on Jan. 6. He first requested access to the Electronic Surveillance Unit videos in March 2023.
The August 2023 motion cites MPD internal affairs investigations of MPD officers Nicholas Tomasula and Lt. Zeb Barcus. Hundreds of pages of documents on Mr. Tomasula were heavily redacted, Mr. Pope said, and “the two reports have led to more questions about misconduct by undercover police.”
Mr. Tomasula was identified as the MPD officer heard on video encouraging protesters on the Northwest Steps to keep going and enter the Capitol. He was heard participating in crowd chants such as, “Whose House? Our House!”
At the foot of the Northwest Steps, as a protester climbed up a makeshift ladder onto the balustrade, Mr. Tomasula shouted: “C’mon, man, let’s go! Leave that [expletive],” his video showed. Mr. Tomasula got help from a protester climbing onto the balustrade, then shouted to protesters moving up the steps, “C’mon, go, go, go!”
Federal prosecutors admitted in 2023 that Mr. Tomasula acted as a provocateur embedded in the crowd on Jan. 6.
Judge Contreras concluded Electronic Surveillance Unit video is only relevant to the extent Mr. Pope can identify an undercover officer whose path he crossed.
“While evidence of undercover officers instigating the riot on January 6 could—hypothetically—be helpful and material to Pope’s case, Pope’s motion ‘never identifies a single individual he interacted with whom he now suspects to be an undercover actor,’” Judge Contreras wrote.
“Pope does not say that he himself spoke with or was induced by any undercover officer,” the judge wrote. “Therefore, he cannot make an entrapment defense with the evidence he seeks from the government, and the material he seeks is irrelevant and immaterial.”
Mr. Pope complained that prosecutors restricted his access to some of the investigative materials, which he described as “highly explosive” and “exculpatory.”
In previous filings, Mr. Pope described several self-identified Antifa supporters who were intercepted by undercover MPD officers on Jan. 6, including one who was carrying a gun.
MPD officers made a traffic stop at 10:15 a.m. on Jan. 6 of a vehicle containing three Antifa operatives: Jonathan Kelly, Logan Grimes, and Dempsey Mikula.
“Undercover officers who stopped their vehicle said they had received reports that the individuals were carrying weapons,” Mr. Pope wrote. “No footage of this incident has been produced by the government in discovery. However, Kelly live-streamed part of the police stop to Facebook.”
Metropolitan Police arrested Mr. Grimes—who identifies as a woman and uses the name Leslie—for carrying a pistol without a license and being in possession of a high-capacity magazine and unregistered ammunition, according to Mr. Pope. The charges were dropped on Jan. 7, 2021.
In a previous filing, Mr. Pope identified undercover MPD officer Ryan Roe, who encountered a still-unidentified protester seen cutting down green plastic temporary fencing on Capitol grounds. Mr. Roe said to #FenceCutterBulwark, “Appreciate it, brother,” according to his video.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 04/25/2024 – 19:45
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