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USAF Veteran Who Fled Child Pornography Charges Now Flies Drones for Russia

USAF veteran Wilmer Puello-Mota at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA, in 2018. (Photo: Todd Maki / USAF / AP file)

A former New England USAF airman who fled the US to avoid prison for child pornography charges has resurfaced in Moscow’s propaganda videos, describing his service in the Russian military as a drone operator in eastern Ukraine. He insisted he is not a traitor. Wilmer Puello-Mota (28) served in the USAF security forces and he deployed to Afghanistan in 2015 to protect pilots and aircraft.

“I’m Will. I’m from Massachusetts,” Wilmer Puello-Mota, who is also a former City Council member in Holyoke, MA, said in the five-minute video released by Russia’s Defense Ministry. “My call sign is ‘Boston.'”

Puello-Mota was supposed to appear in a Rhode Island courtroom on 9 Jan 2024 and plead guilty to possessing sexually explicit images of a child and other charges that could have sent him to prison for at least five years. He instead fled to Russia via Istanbul. Puello-Mota wanted a career in politics and thought being charged with possessing child pornography had ruined his life, his attorney stated.

Puello-Mota served on the Holyoke City Council from 2021 to 2023 and was aligned with conservative council members who supported former President Donald Trump. Halfway through his term, the city tried to kick Puello-Mota off the council after it learned that he had been arrested in May 2020 when police found nude photos and videos on his phone of a 17-year-old girl. He was also charged with obstruction of the judicial system, forgery and counterfeiting.

Sources:

U.S. veteran wanted for child porn charges serving in Russian forces – The Washington Post

CIA Chief in Bosnia to Emphasize US Support Amid Pro-Kremlin Rhetoric of Republika Srpska President

CIA Chief William Burns (second from left) in Sarajevo on 20 August.

CIA Director William Burns was in Sarajevo on 20 August to discuss the “worrying secessionist rhetoric and actions” of the pro-Russian president and government of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Serb entity, Milorad Dodik.

Burns, who arrived from Israel, held meetings at the Bosnian presidency with senior intelligence and government leaders. Dodik has raised concerns among Bosnia’s Western allies because of his ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Dodik reaffirmed in February after personally meeting with Putin that the Republika Srpska would not join Western sanctions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Turmoil in the Balkans would play into the Kremlin’s hands as it could distract the US and Europe from Russia’s war in Ukraine. A visit from D/CIA shows the commitment of the US that Bosnia is a priority of its US foreign policy. The last D/CIA to visit Bosnia-Herzegovina was John Brennan in 2016.

Sources:

CIA Chief In Bosnia To Emphasize U.S. Support And ‘Worrying’ Rhetoric Of Republika Srpska President (rferl.org)

Uyghurs Sentenced to Cumulative 4.4 million Years in Prison

Police guard detainees as they appear to recite words or sing at the Tekes County Detention Center in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region in this image released on 24 May 2022.

All told, Uyghurs imprisoned by China in the far-western region of Xinjiang have been sentenced to a cumulative 4.4 million years, a Yale University’s Genocide Studies Program reports. China’s repression could lead to a ‘total ethnic incapacitation for the Uyghur people’ and the true tally of incarcerations are probably far higher.

In 2017, the Chinese government cracked down on thousands of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities and herded them into re-education camps and prisons.

The 25-page report, “Uyghur Race as the Enemy: China’s Legalized Authoritarian Oppression & Mass Imprisonment,” frames the massive incarceration not only as a crime against humanity and genocide, but also as a form of “dangerous lawfare” designed to erode the Uyghurs’ future prospects for dignity, prosperity and freedom. The study drew on information from the Xinjiang Victims Database, which has data on nearly 62,700 Uyghurs detained in Xinjiang, based on leaked Chinese police documents and other records.

Researchers found 13,114 cases that included a prison sentence, with an average term of 8.8 years, and multiplied the figure by 500,000, which they called a “conservative” figure based on the 540,000 individuals prosecuted by court from 2017 to 2021, to get 4.4 million years.

This massive sinicization program is meant to homogenize the non-Chinese ethnic population. Beijing has also forced cultural assimilation in Tibetan areas of China. Compare the staggering incarceration rates of Uyghurs below.

Sources:

uyghur_report_final_copy.pdf (yale.edu)

Uyghurs sentenced to cumulative 4.4 million years in prison: study — Radio Free Asia (rfa.org)

UN human rights chief issues damning report on Chinese abuses in Xinjiang

American Gun Carnage: Virginia Man in Critical Condition After Being Shot by Two-Year-Old

According to the Chesterfield County Police Department, the unidentified man was about to leave the house and had “placed his handgun on a nearby chair.”

The toddler retrieved it and “accidentally discharged the firearm, shooting the victim,” police said.

The victim was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition and no one else in the house was wounded. Reportedly, the victim is the boyfriend of the child’s mother and police are investigating the incident. The cost of an air ambulance flight within the US can range from $12,000 to $55,000.

In an average year in Virginia, 1,160 people die and 1,624 are wounded by guns. Virginia has the 33rd-highest rate of gun violence in the US.

Virginia Federal firearms licenses in 2021: 423,707

Approximately 44.6% of adults in Virginia have guns at home.

Averaging almost 50,000 deaths from firearms annually, the US the only high-income country to report such a high death toll from gun violence. Until America can shed its dangerous love of firearms, this type of carnage will continue.

Sources:

Man in critical condition after being shot by 2-year-old – ABC News (go.com)

Gun-Violence-in-Virginia-2024-05.pdf (everystat.org)

3. Virginia – Gun map: Ownership by state – statistics and rates (cbsnews.com)

https://airambulance.com/blogs/post/how-much-does-air-ambulance-cost/

https://www.statista.com/topics/10904/gun-violence-in-the-united-states/#topicOverview

https://www.thetrace.org/2023/12/data-gun-violence-deaths-america/

‘Islamic State Supporter’ in Las Vegas Indicted on Terrorism Charges

A Las Vegas resident who wrote in chatroom that he would be “starting lone wolf operations in Las Vegas against enemies of Allah” was indicted by a Clark County grand jury on eight counts of four different terrorism- and explosives-related charges.

Joshua Robles, a juvenile at the time of his November 2023 arrest, had in-depth knowledge of the Islamic State (IS) group, sought to communicate with members of the group, and had components of explosives in his bedroom.

The Metropolitan Police Department arrest report read that Robles “intended to carry out acts of violence against the perceived enemies of ISIS and their religious doctrine, and the violent acts would take place in the Las Vegas area.” A search of his home uncovered components to construct an explosive device.

This young man doesn’t have to join IS to cause casualties; as noted above, Americans suffer from appalling firearms violence daily.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source:

‘Islamic State supporter’ in Las Vegas indicted on terrorism charges | Stars and Stripes

Historic Milestone for Polish Space Science with Launch of Eagle Eye Satellite

Polish space science and technology reached a historical moment with the successful launch of the EagleEye satellite into Earth’s orbit. Facilitated by SpaceX, the mission took place from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

The satellite will deliver high-resolution images of the Earth, providing data for research and monitoring purposes. The mission is expected to last at least one year and will orbit the Earth at a low altitude, gradually descending from an initial height of approximately 500 km to around 350 km. EagleEye was designed entirely in Poland from the ground up and manufactured locally except for microprocessors.

Sources:

Polish EagleEye Satellite: A Landmark Project for the Space Sector – Creotech

Historic milestone for Polish space science as they successfully launch Eagleeye satellite | Euronews

‘Behind Closed Doors’: Ex-Trump Aide Spills Secrets to DNC

Former Trump White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham speaks on stage in front of an apparent text message with Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on 20 August 2024 in Chicago. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A former White House press secretary for Donald Trump delivered a stinging rebuke of her former boss at the Democratic National Convention. Stephanie Grisham told Democrats she wasn’t just a Trump supporter, she was a “true believer” and one of his closest advisers, spending Easter, Christmas and Thanksgiving with the Trump family at Mar-a-Lago.

“Behind closed doors, Trump mocks his supporters,” she said. “He calls them basement-dwellers.”

During a pandemic-era hospital visit, as people died in the intensive care unit, Grisham said Trump was “mad that the cameras weren’t watching him.”

“He has no empathy,” said Grisham. “No morals. And no fidelity to the truth. He used to tell me, ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie. Say it enough, and people will believe you.'”

Grisham said she resigned the same day she asked former first lady Melania Trump whether it was OK to tweet that “peaceful protest are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness & violence.”

Mrs. Trump replied: “No,” according to a screenshot of the conversation displayed at the convention.

“I couldn’t be part of the insanity any longer,” she said, noting she was “skewered” for not holding White House briefings. “Unlike my boss, I never wanted to stand at that podium and lie.” She earned applause as she noted she’s once again behind a podium — “advocating for a Democrat.”

You can only imagine how former President Trump must have reacted to this.

Watch the clip below or at this link.

Source:

‘Behind closed doors’: Ex-Trump aide spills former boss’ secrets to packed DNC – Raw Story

Kenya ‘Psychopath’ Serial Killer Suspect Escapes from Custody

Kenyan police launched a major manhunt for a serial killer who escaped from a Nairobi police cell, along with a dozen other detainees. He had confessed to murdering and dismembering 42 women. Collins Jumaisi (33) was described by police as a “vampire, a psychopath.” He was arrested last month after the horrific discovery of mutilated bodies in a slum garbage dump in Nairobi.

The dumped bodies threw a fresh spotlight on Kenya’s police force as they were found just 100 yards from a police station. And this is the second time in barely six months that a suspect in a high-profile case has escaped from custody.

Kenya’s police watchdog, the Independent Police Oversight Authority, was looking into whether there was any police involvement or a “failure to act to prevent” the killings. Kenyan police are often accused by rights groups of carrying out unlawful killings or running hit squads, but few have faced justice.

There are approximately 101,000 personnel in the Kenyan Police Service. This summer Kenya deployed 600 experienced police officers to restore law and order amid worsening civil strife and gang violence in Haiti under a UNSC-approved mission.

Source:

Kenya ‘Psychopath’ Serial Killer Suspect Escapes From Custody | IBTimes

https://www.kenyapolice.go.ke/