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Anchorage Black Lives Matter rioter accused of arson at Seattle East Precinct

Suzanne Downing
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42
Anchorage Black Lives Matter rioter accused of arson at Seattle East Precinct

Federal prosecutors are charging 19-year-old Desmond David-Pitts of Anchorage with arson for setting a fire at the Seattle Police Department East Precinct on Monday night, while officers were inside.

Desmond David-Pitts was arrested Tuesday morning and was subsequently transferred to federal custody.

The Department of Justice report says he tossed trash bags into a sally-port area at the precinct and used a lighter to torch them. David-Pitts has admitted to it in an interview, according to the Department of Justice.

David-Pitts is part of the Black Lives Matter movement in Anchorage, and is a well-known outspoken protester for months. He testified in front of the Anchorage Assembly about police brutality earlier this summer, dropping the “F bomb,” and several other curse words.

An Anchorage police officer shot and killed his younger brother, 16-year-old Daelyn Polu, in February. The shooting was in self-defense after someone in Polu’s car fired shots at the police; one of the bullets hit an officer’s badge and buried itself into his Kevlar vest.

The shooting of Daelyn Polu has been a rallying cry at every Black Lives Matter event in Anchorage this summer, and the family wants to reopen the case. Now, Daelyn’s older brother is involved in trying to lock Seattle police inside their precinct and burning it down.

“This is the fourth defendant to appear in federal court after being charged with criminal conduct that went far beyond any peaceful protest,” said U.S. Attorney Brian Moran. “Those who go to protest but choose violence and criminal acts over protected speech will face the full weight of federal criminal sanctions. This illegal conduct must end.”

“The intentional fire set Monday evening in an organized, pre-planned attack endangered the lives of our officers and our entire community. This was not a peaceful protest, or demonstration for equity, but an act of lawlessness. We are grateful our federal partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office recognize the criminal nature of these acts and are holding those responsible accountable,” said Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best.

According to the complaint, David-Pitts had arrived in Seattle from Alaska three days before Monday’s protest.

After marching with the group in downtown Seattle, he was seen on surveillance video piling up trash against the sally-port door at the Seattle Police East Precinct.

Over an eleven minute period the surveillance video captures him repeatedly lighting it on fire and feeding the flames with more trash bags and cardboard.

While he was lighting the fire, other people who appeared on the surveillance camera were attempting to use crowbars and cement-like materials to try to disable the door next to the sally-port to prevent officers from exiting the building.

At various times on the video David-Pitts appeared to be communicating with the others. Despite the rioters’ efforts to cement the door shut, officers were able to get outside and extinguish the flames, which had grown to 10 feet high.

A similarly equipped group set a second fire around the corner from the David-Pitts arson, and David-Pitts was seen on surveillance working with the others to cut through a chain-link fence that was a barrier around the building.

The second fire was extinguished by Seattle Police Officers and members of the Seattle Fire Department.

David-Pitts was identified less than an hour later in the crowd outside the precinct because of the pink camouflage trousers he was wearing.

Arson is punishable by a mandatory minimum five years in prison and up to twenty years in prison. The case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Seattle Police Department. David-Pitts is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg.

Stopping the jungle primary: Group emerges for the fight against Ballot Measure 2

Suzanne Downing
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25
Stopping the jungle primary: Group emerges for the fight against Ballot Measure 2

A bipartisan coalition of Alaska leaders today launched Defend Alaska Elections, a campaign group that will oppose Ballot Measure 2.

Ballot Measure 2 is a project by Outside special interest groups to throw out Alaska’s trusted election process and replace it with a flawed experiment that has already proven to be a failure in other states.

The campaign is led by Alaskan hero John Sturgeon, who twice defeated the federal government’s attempt to restrict Alaskans’ access to Alaska’s rivers winning two unanimous decisions at the US Supreme Court.

Sturgeon said that Ballot Measure 2 would disenfranchise Alaskan voters and undermine public confidence in the electoral process.

“One Alaskan, one vote is a bedrock principle of our democracy and critical to ensuring fair and transparent elections,” said Sturgeon. “Ballot Measure 2, funded by out-of-state billionaires and special interest groups that Alaskans have never heard of, would open the door to a flood of election manipulation and chaos that will disenfranchise thousands of Alaskan voters and weaken trust in our democratic process.”

Ballot Measure 2 would force Alaskans to elect political leaders using so-called “ranked choice voting” (RCV) in which voters are required to assign a score to every candidate on the ballot, or risk having their ballot thrown out.

Worse, RCV allows low-scoring candidates to steal elections and be certified as “winners,” even though they fail to win either a plurality or a majority of the votes cast. It’s a race to the bottom tier.

Opposition to Ballot Measure 2 crosses the political spectrum, with Republicans, Democrats, and Nonpartisan voters all concerned about the unwarranted attack on Alaska’s elections.

Former Senator Mark Begich (D) and former Governor Sean Parnell (R), writing in the July 23, 2020 Wall Street Journal, said “As former elected officials from different parties, we’ve had our share of disagreements. But we are united in our belief that the Better Elections initiative would be bad for our state. Alaskans shouldn’t have to doubt that their votes count.”

Defend Alaska Elections is also opposed to another radical element of Ballot Measure 2, which would throw out Alaska’s normal primary election and replace it with a California-style “jungle primary.” It would deprive Alaskans of their right to nominate candidates to represent their political party in the general election. It also serves to manipulate voters’ choices, by obscuring the political affiliations of those who do appear on the ballot.

“Our election system isn’t broken, and we don’t need Lower 48 powerbrokers to ‘fix’ it for us,” said Sturgeon. “Ballot Measure 2 replaces our simple and straightforward election system with a 25-page-long mess that isn’t fair, democratic, or needed.”

For more information contact Brett Huber at 907-312-6600

Democrats spent big and surged in percent of D-votes cast in August primary

Suzanne Downing
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15
Democrats spent big and surged in percent of D-votes cast in August primary

Federal Senate candidate Al Gross poured big money, including Outside millions and $1 million from his own pocket, to turn out the Democrat vote for the primary. And it worked — the Democrats turned out via absentee ballot.

With $2.297 million spent to push voting among Democrats, (not including the $1.5 million from the Lincoln Project, or money from the 314 Action committee) he may have succeeded in pulling in an additional 10,000 Democrat ballots, spending over $250 per vote.

This also explains why Congressional candidate Alyse Galvin, running for the Democrats, pulled ahead of Congressman Don Young in overall votes. That is a first. In 2018 when she ran, she only pulled 21,742 votes. Today, she has nearly 50,000, thanks to the absentee ballot push.

The expenditures and their result can be deduced from the numbers posted at the Division of Elections, since about 10,000 more Democrats voted in the primary than they did in 2018.

The percentage of Republican ballots voted this August shows the Democrats surging in turnout, and how MRAK arrives at the 10,000:

  • 2020: 53% Republican ballots of 126,409 total ballots cast, 21.49% turnout
  • 2018: 63% Republican ballots cast of 115,727 total ballots cast, 20.42% turnout
  • 2016 63% Republican ballots cast of 88,817 total ballots cast, 17.22% turnout
  • 2014 61% Republican ballots cast of 193,097 total ballots cast, 39.02% turnout
  • 2012 65% Republican ballots cast of 125,937 total ballots cast, 25.34% turnout
  • 2010 70% Republican ballots cast of 164,047 total ballots cast, 33.65% turnout
  • 2008 58% Republican ballots cast of 193,533 total ballots cast, 40.62% turnout

This Democrat outcome, if it holds in November, has strong implications for down-ticket candidates for House and Senate seats in marginal conservative districts.

While Sen. Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young are well-regarded in Alaska among moderates and conservatives, the Democrats across the country are working hard to flip the U.S. Senate and House blue for a sweep of the elections, and these Primary results will help Gross and Galvin raise big dollars from wealthy liberals and political action committees, as the primary result gives them the appearance of being more viable.

Plane crash kills two in Fairbanks

Suzanne Downing
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1

A midair collision above an airstrip parallel to Dolphin Way in west Fairbanks has taken two lives.

A Piper Supercub flown by Larry D. Dalrymple, 73, of Fairbanks collided with a Cessna 172 flown by Shane E. Bennett, 52, of Fairbanks.

After the collision both aircraft crashed into the ground on the gravel runway.  The Cessna burst into flames on impact.  Dalrymple was seriously injured and he was transported to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. 

Bennett was killed in the crash.  A 40 yoa male was extricated from the burning wreckage and was transported to FMH with life-threatening injuries. 

One other passenger was inside the C172 and that person was also killed in the crash. Troopers were trying to contact next of kin.

Alaska State Troopers has not yet notified the next of kin for the second person who died.

FAA personnel are on scene and they are investigating the crash and that National Transportation Safety Board is enroute.

‘Conversion,’ or how to misspell the word ‘privacy’

Anchorage Daily Planet
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11
‘Conversion,’ or how to misspell the word ‘privacy’

In a 9-2 vote, the Anchorage Assembly late last night adopted an ordinance banning so-called conversion therapy for minors, and rejected determined, laudable efforts by Assemblywomen Crystal Kennedy and Jamie Allard to amend the legislation.

The ordinance defines conversion therapy as a practice seeking to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It prevents licensed professionals – such as therapists or school counselors – from engaging in efforts to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The ordinance, though, applies only to licensed professionals, not clergy acting in a religious capacity or parents and others unlicensed to provide counseling.

Proponents argued the ordinance is necessary to protect young people from abuse, mistreatment and coercion in the therapy process. Opponents argued it would interfere in the relationship between a child and his or her church, therapist and family, while abridging their rights of privacy, confidentiality and free speech.

The controversial practice has drawn fire from medical professionals and counselors, but a majority of the 60 or so people who testified in the two-day meeting, it should be noted, opposed the ordinance.

Explaining her opposition to the ordinance as written, Kennedy said: “It is one-sided. It really only serves to protect those who want to promote and protect homosexuality. There’s always another side, and we’ve heard a lot of that from a lot of the testimony over the last several days.”

We are left to wonder at what appears to be a serious intrusion in the counseling process by local government. It appears to us that the ordinance introduced by Assembly members Felix Rivera, Austin Quinn-Davidson and Chris Constant is an unnecessary overreach; that parents should have the last say when it comes to their children, not the Anchorage Assembly.

Only one thing is certain about this ordinance: It will end up in court, and likely sooner than later.

Anchorage Assembly, do what’s right and do it now

Guest Writer
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0
Anchorage Assembly, do what’s right and do it now

By KRISTEN BUSH

We’ve all had one of “those” Thanksgivings; the turkey got burnt, Uncle John got drunk, that wayward rebel nephew showed up, and your mother-in-law told you that your stuffing was dry.  Drama!   Even the neighbors know that your house on Thanksgiving is a catastrophe.  

Well folks, Alaska is the neighborhood and Anchorage is currently the catastrophe that nobody wants to invite to Thanksgiving dinner.  

We have a mayor drunk on his own power, and an Assembly that recklessly feeds him hypothetical “drinks” fueling that power. The same Assembly is voting for ordinances and supporting mandates that fundamentally seek to dismantle our economy, haphazardly trying to put our police force at risk, destabilizing our parental rights, and circumventing jurisprudence with the CARES Act funds.  All in an effort to advance the Administration’s, or their own, personal agendas and special interests.  

And the good, hard-working citizens and businesses of Anchorage have no seat at the table so they can look the Mayor and Assembly in the eye and say, “we are not being fed at your Thanksgiving table, Mr. Mayor!”

Gov. Mike Dunleavy distributed CARES Act funds to all Alaska cities, boroughs, towns and villages and Anchorage received a very large piece of that pie (Thank you, Governor).  

Our governor entrusted those local entities to be good stewards of these funds and act in the best interests of their populace as it relates to COVID-19 money, not as it relates to pet projects and not as it relates to pre-existing social programs for issues the Berkowitz Administration has been ineffective in solving for the prior few years.

The Assembly was being blasted by public testimony that quite frankly, made many Assembly Members look very uncomfortable – when they were listening – and before the Mayor’s mandates resulted in barricaded doors that keep the public out of sight.  

This is all done on the premise of safety and under the justification that the Assembly receives all our comments electronically and they weigh them very carefully.  

The truth is, and every adult knows this, when you get called out for something, it has far greater impact when it’s face-to-face than if you just received a reprimand in a two page letter.  

There’s a key component to public, in-person testimony that is missing from electronic testimony – nobody else hears it and the testifier never even knows if you read past the first sentence.  

The Assembly can sit up in their Loussac Castle and not have to see the faces of the people they are hurting and ignoring and failing and falsely accusing of racism.

Assembly members, why are you so afraid of facing your constituents? It’s ever so comfortable for you to sit in a vacuum and hear your flowery speeches on your feelings and justifications when your voices bounce back in your own ears.

The Assembly is violating the Open Meetings Act, and that must change and it must change immediately.  The people of this city have the right to open meetings of this Assembly and to face those who were elected to serve them!

As to restrictions on gatherings, churches, bars and restaurants- the mayor is unilaterally shutting down businesses with unfounded proof that they are any greater risk than the thousands of people shopping in grocery stores and hardware stores and playing sports.

The continuing stranglehold on the hospitality industry is unjustified and destroying people’s life work.  The small businesses of the MOA used to employ a significant portion of the work force.

Mayor Berkowitz, I personally invite you to get your hammer and nails out and show up to help nail the boards on the doors and windows of the businesses that you are shutting down. Boards nailed over the doors and windows of any business is a board that may never be removed. Go help them with that, Mr. Mayor, because that is figuratively the only help you’ve given them.  

The people want to work.  Businesses want to open.  Article 1 of the Alaska Declaration of Rights of the Alaska Constitution states, “This constitution is dedicated to the principles that all persons have a natural right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of the rewards of their own industry…”  

Mayor, Assembly, you can no longer hold hostage the people’s right to their own industry. Your mandates are arbitrarily singling out one industry, limiting and handicapping their functionality and failing to funnel CARES Act funds into the community of our local businesses, workers and households. It is a travesty that the MOA’s $156 million of CARES Act funds were received on May 21.  They have been sitting on this money since May. 

This Assembly has been grossly incompetent at getting funds into businesses and struggling households. The Assembly needs to sustain the economic capabilities of all businesses that are hurting with these funds and it needs to be done swiftly and with the strongest fiscal ceiling possible, as small businesses are the lifeblood of our city.  And economic support to households that are in utter desperation also need to be supported promptly and without delay.

I implore this Assembly and Mayor to recognize that you are up in those seats not for the few, but for the many.

Your obligation is to all residents of Anchorage and you owe it to us to be prudent with the CARES Act funds and save our city. We don’t need you to spruce up beetle kill and make bike trails and buy hotels. We need you to care for our economy, our businesses, our households, our schools, our police with that money. And fast.
If the Assembly and mayor collectively fail in this endeavor, our city won’t be a vibrant, diversified, successful city but will continue this path of becoming a hollow shell that loses families, becomes known as anti-business, and will look like another run-down, abandoned metropolis the likes of Seattle, Portland, or San Francisco.  All those cities were once proud jewels of beauty, safety, and success.  

We are literally sitting on the same precipice that is now in their rear-view mirror.  We must fight against arriving at the same destination with everything we’ve got.  

We are begging you, get this done right, and get it done swiftly. Before it’s too late.  

Open this city up and let people mitigate their risk the same we always have, with integrity and intelligence.

If every other major Alaska community is open and doing this now, so can we. We must stop regulating in fear mode.

Remove the emergency powers of the mayor and get back to representing the constituents instead of yourselves.

Do what’s right. Do it now. 

Kristin Bush is an Anchorage civic-minded citizen.

All businesses matter: Governor expands CARES aid, Legislature agrees

Suzanne Downing
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8
All businesses matter: Governor expands CARES aid, Legislature agrees

Help is on the way. Starting Monday, Aug. 31, businesses that received any amount of Paycheck Protection Program or Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds will become eligible to apply for AK CARES grants, as will businesses that are secondary sources of income.

Businesses can apply through the online application portal (www.akcaresonline.org) on Monday.

This change to the AK CARES program was made possible by the Revised Program Legislative procedure submitted to the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee by Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Aug. 20, and approved by the committee today.

“I want to personally thank the Legislative Budget & Audit Committee for their focus and prompt response in approving my plan that will provide much needed critical relief to small Alaskan businesses as quickly as possible,” Dunleavy said. “I have directed my team to immediately begin distributing these funds.”

The AK CARES program launched on June 1, and was initially intended to assist Alaska’s small businesses that did not receive any federal assistance. On Aug. 6, the program was expanded to include commercial fishermen, 501(c)6 nonprofit organizations, and small businesses that received $5,000 or less in PPP or EIDL funding.

Now that these businesses have had a few weeks to submit applications and the AK CARES program still has funds remaining, the program is being expanded to ensure the State assists as many small businesses as possible.

Businesses that have received funds through different assistance programs – such as the PPP, EIDL, or a local grant program – can request funds for any eligible expenses under the AK CARES program; with the exception of expenses claimed or paid by other assistance programs.

DCCED encourages businesses that will become eligible on Monday to begin preparing their applications right away. To prepare, businesses should review the AK CARES checklist, examples of eligible expenses, instructional video, frequently asked questions, and the preview of the online application, all of which can be found on the AK CARES Grant FAQs and Checklist webpage.

Once an AK CARES grant application has been submitted, the business may receive follow up phone calls and/or emails from the grant processor. Two of the main processing issues to date have been the lack of complete applications and lack of responsiveness from applicants; thus, DCCED encourages applicants to submit prompt responses to follow up questions and requests for information, which are necessary to finalize these grants. Applicants should also check their voicemails and email inboxes daily, including junk folders, to ensure they receive potential follow up questions timely.

Anchorage Assembly bans some therapeutic conversations about gender confusion, sexual preference

Suzanne Downing
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64
Anchorage Assembly bans some therapeutic conversations about gender confusion, sexual preference

THERAPISTS GET FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS CLIPPED

Sex therapy just got a bit trickier for counselors in Anchorage. There are lines that can’t be crossed. They are lines that are hard to define. Yet they come with big penalties if they are not obeyed.

An ordinance that prohibits licensed counselors and therapists from helping youth deal with their gender confusion or homosexuality issues passed the Anchorage Assembly on Wednesday, on a vote of 9-2.

Only Assembly members Jamie Allard and Crystal Kennedy voted against it.

The vote to strike down the free speech rights of Anchorage counselors and therapists came late in the night on Wednesday, after hours of testimony from both sides of the controversy.

Gay testifiers said they don’t think “conversion therapy” is beneficial to those under the age of 18 and is actually harmful.

Opponents of the ordinance said that it is an infringement on the rights of counselors and parents, and also harms youth who are trying to come to terms with their homosexual interests, experiences, or explorations.

All of the testimony came via telephone, as Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has forbidden people from entering the Assembly Chambers at the Loussac Library, where the Assembly has been meeting illegally for the month of August, in violation of the Open Meetings Act.

The ban includes school counselors, but not athletic coaches or members of the clergy — but only when they are acting in the capacity of a religious adviser. If they are acting in the capacity of a mental health professional, they are prohibited from these delicate conversations with youth.

Also prohibited from having these conversations with youth are physicians or assistants, osteopaths or assistants, registered or practical nurses or assistive personnel, certified nurse aides, physical or occupational therapists or assistants, psychologists or psychological associates, social workers or associates, licensed professional conservators or guardians, naturopaths, or a person who performs counseling as part of the person’s professional training.

The ban comes with a $500 per-day fine for anyone performing what is called “conversion therapy.” The ordinance does not specifically outline what that therapy entails, but states that it is discredited and harmful.

The ordinance does not intend to limit counselors from actually encouraging or accepting homosexuality or gender identity changes among those under the age of 18, only from discouraging it. It states clearly that various forms of sexuality are part of the natural spectrum of identity. However, it does not define all forms of sexuality, such as sexual addiction, hyper-sexuality, cross-dressing, or pan-sexuality. The ordinance applies to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender sexual preferences.

According to Gallup, in 2017 the percentage of Americans who identify as LGBT was 4.5%, but 8.1% of millennials self-identified as LGBTQ.

[Read the full ordinance at this link.]

Counselors may still assist and support youth as they go through chemical castration and other medical procedures to present themselves as the opposite sex.

Counselors may also provide acceptance, support, and understanding of a young person’s sexual preferences, but may not provide a counter viewpoint or inquire of the child about whether or not their sexual behavior is the result of prior abuse. To do so would indicate they are not honoring the child’s human rights, according to the ordinance.

Counselors can support the “identity exploration, and development, including sexual orientation and gender identity-neutral interventions to prevent or address unlawful conduct or unsafe sexual practices.”

This means any conversations about gender identity must support the child’s viewpoint, rather than the child and the family as a whole. But the ordinance does not address what happens if the child is ambivalent or changes his or her mind about his or her sexuality.

“It is unlawful for any provider to provide, apply, or use sexual orientation or gender identity change efforts with a patient who is a minor,” the new law reads.

Laws such as this have been passed around the country, and many are equally vague about what it means to perform “conversion therapy.”

New World Order in Anchorage dining scene: No live music or dancing

Suzanne Downing
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122
New World Order in Anchorage dining scene: No live music or dancing

Mayor Ethan Berkowitz is expected to change the rules for Anchorage once again, starting Sept. 1, according to released documents by the Downtown Partnership.

There will be no live music or dancing allowed in public places in Anchorage, and those restaurants that are still in business will be allowed to open at 50 percent capacity, but diners must wear masks until they are eating. No one will be allowed to stand at a bar where food or alcohol is being served; instead, they will need to take a seat. Groups at restaurants and bars may not mix with other groups. Six foot distancing is required at all times, with tables no closer than 10 feet.

All these measures and others are part of the Berkowitz plan to limit the spread of COVID-19 in Anchorage, as revealed in a notice from the Downtown Partnership.

Anchorage restaurants and bars have been closed by the mayor for the better part of five months. For about 70 days during that period, they were allowed to operate at a diminished capacity.

From May 11 until July 22, the mayor allowed them to open at 50 percent capacity with stringent rules for numbers of patrons and sanitation. From July 22 until Aug. 3, the capacity was cut to 25 percent for bars, and was 50 percent for restaurants. Since Aug. 3, no indoor dining or serving has been allowed in Anchorage. Several restaurants have closed permanently due to the uncertainty of the Berkowitz regime.

25 case of COVID-19 were diagnosed during the most recent 24-hour reporting period in Anchorage.

The Perfect Cup cafe gone as Assembly sits on CARES Act funds

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