Latest news with #AlCapone
Spectator
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
The pointlessness of ‘smashing the gangs'
'Smash the gangs' is the fascinating slogan that Keir Starmer's government has settled on for tackling illegal migration. What is the government going to do to stop the hundreds – sometimes thousands – of people sailing across the Channel and coming into England each day? 'We will smash the gangs,' they say. The slogan is interesting for reasons beyond the tough-guy rhetoric. For it suggests, of course, that it is people-smuggling gangs that are the main problem. Perhaps our government sees them as being like press gangs back in the day, roaming around northern France, waylaying passing migrants and forcing them on to rubber dinghies to begin a new life in Britain. Or perhaps they see them as being like Al Capone's or some other mobster's gang: impossible to know how to snare until law enforcement, ever vigilant, finally catches the syndicate slipping up and visibly breaking the law. While the eunuchs at Westminster continue this game, the results of their failure get felt elsewhere. Take Epping in Essex. Until recently, The Bell Hotel in Epping was simply a three-star hotel with a pleasant-looking breakfast buffet. Today it is a 'migrant hotel' – one of the many hotels in this country that taxpayers in our munificence have decided to block-book. Not for ourselves, of course – if you have always worked hard, played by the rules and paid your taxes then you will have to book and pay for your own hotel room should you wish to visit Epping. But if you are a victim of the smuggling gangs then a long stay at a three-star hotel will be yours as part of the welcome package. All part of that brilliant and tough plan to 'smash the gangs'. Unfortunately The Bell has become a bit of an epicentre in recent days. That is because one of the many recent arrivals in the area – bussed in so as to disperse illegal migrants across the country – allegedly did something he shouldn't have. Specifically, a 38-year-old African asylum seeker has been charged with three counts of sexual assault. One of the charges relates to the assault of a young girl on Epping High Road. The man is accused of carrying out his alleged crimes a matter of days after arriving in this country illegally. The residents of Epping weren't thrilled to hear about this. They were particularly incensed that the authorities decided to house a lot of unaccompanied male migrants close to a school. So at the weekend hundreds turned out to protest about migrants being put up at hotels in their area. I don't know quite what such people are expected to do. On the one hand we feel great societal opprobrium over the sexual abuse of children. Yet our society simultaneously has an attitude of near-sanctification towards anyone who can claim to be an asylum seeker. They too must be regarded as victims who are so deserving of our sympathies that the rest of us should pay for them to be put up in hotels until such a time as their asylum claims can be adjudged. Or until the Home Office system loses sight of them. Whichever happens first. So there are competing values at play. The citizenry of Epping just suffered from this values show-down and decided that they were in favour of their daughters not being molested on the high street more than they were in favour of hosting illegal migrants. Some even held signs saying things like 'Send them home!' and chanted 'Protect our kids'. But no sooner had these locals turned out to protest than a number of 'anti-racism' groups turned up to protest them. These always-available activists materialised with their ready-made signs that said things like 'Refugees welcome' and 'Stop the far right'. It cannot be the case that men and women who object to foreign alleged sex offenders being put up in their hotels at the taxpayer's expense should be deemed 'anti-immigrant'. Nor can it be that parents who object to our porous borders letting in people who wait barely a week before they apparently start assaulting the locals should all be deemed 'far right'. But that is where we are. GB News contributor Adam Brooks is a local and was reporting from the scene on Sunday. As he said of the first protestors: 'These are worried mothers, worried children, there's grandmothers, fathers, uncles, grandads, and we've got an anti-racism lot that have turned up. I just cannot believe that an anti-racism mob would turn up against something like this.' Nor could a number of other locals, who proceeded to address the interlopers in unflattering terms. And for once it must be noted that the police proceeded to do a sensible thing. The 'anti-racism' protestors were escorted out of the area. On the principle that one should congratulate people when they do something right as well as castigate them when they do something wrong, the Essex constabulary should be commended. Of course, there is the obligatory duty to state that not every illegal migrant is a potential sex offender. But even if every single one proved to be a legitimate asylum seeker, doctors and dentists to a man, all immediately ready to join the NHS workforce (as the pro-migration lobby would have us believe), how long would it take for them to repay what they have already cost this country? Or to put it another way: how long will it be until the citizens of Epping feel so much benefit from the illegal crossings that they are willing to overlook the odd sex crime? Anyone know? The people-smuggling gangs are a mere fraction of the problem.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Curses as White House Faith Office Lunch Takes Bizarre Turn
Things got a bit awkward during the White House Faith Office luncheon on Monday. Not only did President Donald Trump curse in front of faith leaders—calling Biden-era indictments against him 'bulls--t'—he raged that he he had been investigated more than the gangster Al Capone, bragged he has 'always made money,' and incorrectly claimed gas prices are the lowest they have been in 50 years. Those topics did not appear to be part of Trump's prepared remarks. As he addressed assembled religious business leaders from the podium, he looked down occasionally at his speech but went off on tangents as he worked his way through the text. 'I've ended the radical left war on faith, and we're once again protecting religious freedom instead of destroying it, and God is once again welcomed back into our public square,' Trump said, clearly part of his prepared remarks. Trump, 79, compared himself to Capone moments later. He characterized the notorious gangster, believed to have murdered over 200 people, as 'great.' 'I was under investigation more than the late, great, Alphonse Capone,' Trump said. 'Think of it. Al Capone would kill people for dinner. If he left the room and he didn't like him, he'd have him shot, killed, buried under a building someplace, as part of the foundation of a building. They're all over the place, and I said I had more time under investigation than the legendary Alphonse Capone, or probably anybody else.' Trump then misremembered that he had been indicted four times in 2023, not five. 'The one thing I did that was very helpful, I was indicted five times. Indicted, that wasn't a word that was in—my father's looking down, my mother's looking down, that my son's not supposed to be indicted,' he said. 'I think I got indicted five times, impeached two times. All bulls--t, right? Terrible stuff.' The luncheon crowd, comprising 60 CEOs and business leaders who donate to faith-aligned charities, did not appear to mind the president's meandering, as they clapped and cheered throughout his speech as he rambled. 'Gas prices have reached the lowest level in five decades,' Trump remarked at one point. 'Actually, it's going to be, we're going to see some really good numbers where, you know, drill, baby drill, drill, baby drill. I've got to make sure that people can afford to produce the gas. ... 'But the gas has gotten to the lowest level in decades, and you're seeing $1.99 $1.98. I saw $1.95 at certain states, not California, because every time it goes down, they add taxes onto it,' Trump rambled. 'All they do is they keep adding taxes. Terrible governor, doesn't know what he's doing. He may be, he may be a candidate, but if you, if you go by success, you can't have him be a candidate.' Fox News reported that the White House luncheon is the 'first event of its kind.' The White House Faith Office was created by executive order in February. Trump grew up in a Reformed Church but rarely attends services as an adult. He has made a habit of name-dropping God since entering politics a decade ago, and he won the presidency in 2016 off the backs of Evangelical voters who later became his MAGA base.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Curses as White House Faith Office Lunch Takes Bizarre Turn
Things got a bit awkward during the White House Faith Office luncheon on Monday. Not only did President Donald Trump curse in front of faith leaders—calling Biden-era indictments against him 'bulls--t'—he raged that he he had been investigated more than the gangster Al Capone, bragged he has 'always made money,' and incorrectly claimed gas prices are the lowest they have been in 50 years. Those topics did not appear to be part of Trump's prepared remarks. As he addressed assembled religious business leaders from the podium, he looked down occasionally at his speech but went off on tangents as he worked his way through the text. 'I've ended the radical left war on faith, and we're once again protecting religious freedom instead of destroying it, and God is once again welcomed back into our public square,' Trump said, clearly part of his prepared remarks. Trump, 79, compared himself to Capone moments later. He characterized the notorious gangster, believed to have murdered over 200 people, as 'great.' 'I was under investigation more than the late, great, Alphonse Capone,' Trump said. 'Think of it. Al Capone would kill people for dinner. If he left the room and he didn't like him, he'd have him shot, killed, buried under a building someplace, as part of the foundation of a building. They're all over the place, and I said I had more time under investigation than the legendary Alphonse Capone, or probably anybody else.' Trump then misremembered that he had been indicted four times in 2023, not five. 'The one thing I did that was very helpful, I was indicted five times. Indicted, that wasn't a word that was in—my father's looking down, my mother's looking down, that my son's not supposed to be indicted,' he said. 'I think I got indicted five times, impeached two times. All bulls--t, right? Terrible stuff.' The luncheon crowd, comprising 60 CEOs and business leaders who donate to faith-aligned charities, did not appear to mind the president's meandering, as they clapped and cheered throughout his speech as he rambled. 'Gas prices have reached the lowest level in five decades,' Trump remarked at one point. 'Actually, it's going to be, we're going to see some really good numbers where, you know, drill, baby drill, drill, baby drill. I've got to make sure that people can afford to produce the gas. ... 'But the gas has gotten to the lowest level in decades, and you're seeing $1.99 $1.98. I saw $1.95 at certain states, not California, because every time it goes down, they add taxes onto it,' Trump rambled. 'All they do is they keep adding taxes. Terrible governor, doesn't know what he's doing. He may be, he may be a candidate, but if you, if you go by success, you can't have him be a candidate.' Fox News reported that the White House luncheon is the 'first event of its kind.' The White House Faith Office was created by executive order in February. Trump grew up in a Reformed Church but rarely attends services as an adult. He has made a habit of name-dropping God since entering politics a decade ago, and he won the presidency in 2016 off the backs of Evangelical voters who later became his MAGA base.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump Curses as White House Faith Office Lunch Takes Bizarre Turn
Things got a bit awkward during the White House Faith Office luncheon on Monday. Not only did President Donald Trump curse in front of faith leaders—calling Biden-era indictments against him 'bulls--t'—he raged that he he had been investigated more than the gangster Al Capone, bragged he has 'always made money,' and incorrectly claimed gas prices are the lowest they have been in 50 years. Those topics did not appear to be part of Trump's prepared remarks. As he addressed assembled religious business leaders from the podium, he looked down occasionally at his speech but went off on tangents as he worked his way through the text. 'I've ended the radical left war on faith, and we're once again protecting religious freedom instead of destroying it, and God is once again welcomed back into our public square,' Trump said, clearly part of his prepared remarks. Trump, 79, compared himself to Capone moments later. He characterized the notorious gangster, believed to have murdered over 200 people, as 'great.' 'I was under investigation more than the late, great, Alphonse Capone,' Trump said. 'Think of it. Al Capone would kill people for dinner. If he left the room and he didn't like him, he'd have him shot, killed, buried under a building someplace, as part of the foundation of a building. They're all over the place, and I said I had more time under investigation than the legendary Alphonse Capone, or probably anybody else.' Trump then misremembered that he had been indicted four times in 2023, not five. 'The one thing I did that was very helpful, I was indicted five times. Indicted, that wasn't a word that was in—my father's looking down, my mother's looking down, that my son's not supposed to be indicted,' he said. 'I think I got indicted five times, impeached two times. All bulls--t, right? Terrible stuff.' The luncheon crowd, comprising 60 CEOs and business leaders who donate to faith-aligned charities, did not appear to mind the president's meandering, as they clapped and cheered throughout his speech as he rambled. 'Gas prices have reached the lowest level in five decades,' Trump remarked at one point. 'Actually, it's going to be, we're going to see some really good numbers where, you know, drill, baby drill, drill, baby drill. I've got to make sure that people can afford to produce the gas. ... 'But the gas has gotten to the lowest level in decades, and you're seeing $1.99 $1.98. I saw $1.95 at certain states, not California, because every time it goes down, they add taxes onto it,' Trump rambled. 'All they do is they keep adding taxes. Terrible governor, doesn't know what he's doing. He may be, he may be a candidate, but if you, if you go by success, you can't have him be a candidate.' Fox News reported that the White House luncheon is the 'first event of its kind.' The White House Faith Office was created by executive order in February. Trump grew up in a Reformed Church but rarely attends services as an adult. He has made a habit of name-dropping God since entering politics a decade ago, and he won the presidency in 2016 off the backs of Evangelical voters who later became his MAGA base.
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Contributor: Alligator Alcatraz, the concentration camp in Florida, is a national disgrace
The first detainees have started arriving at Alligator Alcatraz, Florida's immigrant detention center in the Everglades. The facility went up on a former airstrip in eight days and will have an initial capacity of 3,000 detainees. Florida's Republican state Atty. Gen. James Uthmeier, the driving force behind the project, posted on X recently that the center 'will be checking in hundreds of criminal illegal aliens tonight. Next stop: back to where they came from.' Alligator Alcatraz — the camp's official name — raises logistical, legal and humanitarian concerns. It appears intentionally designed to inflict suffering on detainees, and to allow Florida politicians to exploit migrant pain for political gain. Some of the first people held there have already reported inhumane conditions. 'Alligator Alcatraz' is a misnomer. Alcatraz was home to dangerous criminals, including Al Capone and George 'Machine Gun' Kelly. These were violent offenders who had been tried and convicted and sent to the forbidding island fortress. In contrast, we don't know whether detainees sent to Alligator Alcatraz will have had their day in court. We don't know whether they will receive due process in immigration courts or be charged with a crime. We do know that the majority of people whom Immigration and Customs Enforcement is arresting have no criminal records. Remember, simply being in the U.S. without authorization is not a crime — it is a civil infraction. And the ranks of the undocumented include many people who once had lawful status, such as people who overstayed their visas and people with temporary protected status and other forms of humanitarian relief that the current administration has rescinded. Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research center, reports that 71% of immigrant detainees have no criminal record. In Florida, ICE has arrested an evangelical pastor, a mother of a newborn and a U.S. citizen. These are the kinds of people who might end up spending time in Alligator Alcatraz. In fact, Florida state documents show that detainees there could include women, children and the elderly. Alligator Alcatraz will place detainees in life-threatening conditions. The site consists of heavy-duty tents and mobile units, in a location known for intense humidity and sweltering heat. Tropical storms, hurricanes and floods pass through the area regularly. On a day when the president visited, there was light rain and parts of the facility flooded. This is not a safe place for the support staff who will be working there, nor is it for detainees. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has praised the 'natural' security at Alligator Alcatraz as 'amazing.' When asked if the idea was for detainees to get eaten by alligators if they try to escape, President Trump replied, "I guess that's the concept.' However, escapes from immigration detention are rare. The June escape by four men from a New Jersey detention center made headlines, in part because it was such an unusual occurrence (three of the escaped detainees are back in custody). So the construction of a detention center with a 'moat' of forbidding wildlife is just performative cruelty. Consider the gleeful ways that Florida Republicans have promoted Alligator Alcatraz. The state GOP is selling branded merchandise online, such as hats and T-shirts. On his website, the attorney general is hawking his own products, including Alligator Alcatraz buttons and bumper stickers. But immigration detention is a serious matter. It should not be treated like a cheap spectacle, with souvenirs available for purchase. Immigrant advocacy groups are rightfully alarmed by Alligator Alcatraz. They're not the only ones: Environmental groups have protested its impact on the surrounding ecosystem, while Indigenous tribes are angry because the camp sits near lands that are sacred to them. The author of a global history of concentration camps has concluded that Alligator Alcatraz meets the criterion for such a label. The most troubling aspect of Alligator Alcatraz is that it may be a harbinger of things to come. The budget legislation that the president signed into law on July 4 allocates $45 billion for immigration detention over the next four years. Other states may follow Florida's example and set up detention centers in punishing locales. This will likely happen with little oversight, as the administration has closed the offices that monitored abuse and neglect in detention facilities. Yes, Homeland Security and ICE are mandated by law to arrest people who are in the country without authorization and to detain them pending removal. That is true no matter who is president. Yet Alligator Alcatraz is a state project, outside the normal scope of federal government accountability. On Thursday, state lawmakers who sought to inspect the facility were denied entry. In embracing Alligator Alcatraz, the administration is testing the limits of public support for the president's immigration agenda. According to a June Quinnipiac survey, 57% of voters disapprove of the president's handling of immigration. A more recent YouGov poll found that Alligator Alcatraz is likewise unpopular with a plurality of Americans. Alligator Alcatraz is not a joke. It is a dehumanizing political stunt that puts immigrant detainees at genuine risk of harm or death. Raul A. Reyes is an immigration attorney and contributor to NBC Latino and CNN Opinion. @RaulAReyes; @raulareyes1 If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
