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For Immediate Release
September, 30 2020, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Valerie Jean-Charles
Color Of Change PAC: Trump is Calling His Supporters to Violence and Facebook Is Helping Him Do It
"In last night's debate, Donald Trump made his call to violence crystal clear. Just minutes after he told a terrorist organization to 'stand by,' they started suiting up and preparing to attack America. Donald Trump needs white nationalists at the ready because he needs violence to win the election. He wants white nationalists to invade polling places across the country and prevent voters from voting, to invade our streets and attack people who are protesting, and to prevent ballots from being counted.
WASHINGTON
"In last night's debate, Donald Trump made his call to violence crystal clear. Just minutes after he told a terrorist organization to 'stand by,' they started suiting up and preparing to attack America. Donald Trump needs white nationalists at the ready because he needs violence to win the election. He wants white nationalists to invade polling places across the country and prevent voters from voting, to invade our streets and attack people who are protesting, and to prevent ballots from being counted. He made clear that his campaign is not about winning votes, it's about holding onto power--no matter the cost.
"And Facebook is helping him do it. The call to arms Donald Trump announced last night is a call he has been promoting on Facebook for years. All while Facebook pretends they don't know what his words mean or the effect they will have--denying the effect those words have on the lives of the Black Americans whom white nationalists target and attack.
"Facebook has allowed a video ad from the Trump campaign to run for over a week that features the President's son calling for an "army" to "enlist" to intimidate and confront voters at the polls. We have demanded that Facebook remove this video for violating its stated policy about violence and voter suppression, and they have flatly refused. Trump's calls for violence are a threat to all Americans--and our election--but only because enablers like Facebook allow him to amplify that message as often and loudly as he wants, ignoring Facebook policies without consequence.
"It's time for Facebook to stop playing dumb, take responsibility for their complicity in white nationalist violence and hold Trump to the same standards they hold everyone else. There are no rules if there is no enforcement."
LATEST NEWS
Facing Death Penalty, Tremane Wood Granted Surprise Last-Minute Reprieve
"I'm so, so grateful for everyone who fought so hard and diligently to save my son," said his mother. "For the first time in months, I'm able to breathe."
Nov 13, 2025
Tremane Wood's family members and death penalty opponents welcomed Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt's decision to grant clemency on Thursday morning, just minutes before the 46-year-old was set to be executed by lethal injection for a murder his late brother admitted to committing.
"After a thorough review of the facts and prayerful consideration, I have chosen to accept the Pardon and Parole Board's recommendation to commute Tremane Wood’s sentence to life without parole," the Republican governor said in a statement. "This action reflects the same punishment his brother received for their murder of an innocent young man and ensures a severe punishment that keeps a violent offender off the streets forever."
"In Oklahoma, we will continue to hold accountable those who commit violent crimes, delivering justice, safeguarding our communities, and respecting the rule of law," he continued.
Wood has spent over two decades on death row since the 2002 botched robbery in Oklahoma City that ended Ronnie Wipf's life. Both the victim's mother and survivor Arnold Kleinsasser opposed Wood's execution.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, at Wood's clemency hearing, his attorney, Amanda Bass Castro Alves, said that "the compassion and the mercy that the victims in this case have extended to Tremane, rooted in their life-affirming Christian values and in their recognition that we have all fallen short, is nothing short of transformative."
"Mrs. Wipf and Arnold are showing Tremane—and in fact, are showing all of us—that even when irreparable harm has been inflicted, there is a path forward beyond vengeance, a path forward that is instead paved by forgiveness, by compassion and by mercy," the lawyer added.
Stitt—who had faced mounting pressure to spare Wood—said Thursday that "I pray for the family of Ronnie Wipf and for the surviving victim, Arnie; they are models of Christian forgiveness and love."
The governor's decision came after the US Supreme Court declined to halt Wood's execution. Since taking office, Stitt has granted clemency in a death penalty case only one other time: In 2021, he reduced Julius Jones' sentence to life without parole amid concerns that he may be innocent.
The Julius Jones Institute celebrated Stitt's move in a social media post with allied groups, writing that "God moved, and Tremane will not be executed. His sentence has been changed to life without parole! Thank you to everyone who stood with him every call, every email, every share, every prayer. You showed up, and it mattered."
"Our heart is with Tremane and his family as they finally exhale after these heavy weeks. My heart is also with Ronnie Wipf’s mother, who showed courage and compassion in believing Tremane should live," the post continues. "This is a moment filled with relief, gratitude, and deep emotion. And as we hold space for Tremane’s family, we also continue standing in faith for Julius."
The Julius Jones Institute still intends to hold a prayer vigil at 6:00 pm local time on Thursday at OKE City Community Church.
"I'm so, so grateful for everyone who fought so hard and diligently to save my son," Wood’s mother, Linda Wood, told HuffPost. "For the first time in months, I'm able to breathe."
Death Penalty Action said that "Gov. Stitt waited until the very last moment—absolutely torturous for all involved—but we are grateful for this decision. Tremane LIVES. Sending our love to all involved and those who know and love him."
Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform thanked the Pardon and Parole Board for "its rigorous review and moral clarity in recommending clemency," as well as the governor. The group's executive director, Mike Shelton, said that Stitt "took the time to carefully consider the troubling questions surrounding this case."
"Today, Oklahoma got it right, not just because of a single decision, but because thousands of community members made their voices heard," Shelton added. "Their collective courage and engagement were instrumental in bringing attention to the need for justice."
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Trump DOJ Sues California Over Redistricting Initiative
"These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court," vowed a spokesman for California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Nov 13, 2025
The US Department of Justice on Thursday filed a lawsuit against California over its new redistricting plan, which was approved overwhelmingly by voters in the state last week.
The DOJ joined a lawsuit filed by the California Republican Party that alleged the state's new redistricting plan is racially discriminatory because it intends, in addition to other "racial considerations," to give preference to Latino voters, who have traditionally voted for Democrats.
"Race cannot be used as a proxy to advance political interests, but that is precisely what the California General Assembly did with Proposition 50—the recent ballot initiative that junked California's pre-existing electoral map in favor of a rush-job rejiggering of California’s congressional district lines," the complaint alleged.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi, in justifying the DOJ's intervention into California's mid-decade redistricting, described the effort as "a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process" and vowed that "Governor Newsom’s attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand."
Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, hit back at the DOJ's allegations and vowed that the state would not be backing down.
"These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court," he told CNN.
California decided to commit to a mid-decade redistricting plan in response to President Donald Trump's unprecedented push to get Republicans across the country to redraw their states' maps to help the GOP maintain control of the US House of Representatives in next year's midterm elections.
Trump's gerrymandering push, which began in Texas and subsequently spread to Missouri and North Carolina, has been hit with several setbacks, including California's redistricting plan, as well as a district court in Utah nixing a Republican-drawn map in favor of one in which Democrats are seen as heavy favorites to pick up an additional seat.
Dave Wasserman, a senior elections analyst at Cook Political Report, wrote in a post on X on Tuesday that the Democrats’ victories in Utah and California, as well as reported plans to redraw maps in Virginia, have “pushed the mid-decade redistricting war closer to a draw.”
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'Pretty Much Put Us Out of Business': Uproar After Shutdown Bill Targets Hemp Industry
"Recriminalizing hemp will force American farms and businesses to close and disrupt the well-being of countless Americans who depend on hemp," warned one critic.
Nov 13, 2025
Advocates for hemp on Wednesday decried a provision of the Republican government funding law signed by President Donald Trump that tightens restrictions on the versatile plant—a move critics say will devastate a $30 billion industry.
The new restrictions set a stricter limit on the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)—the psychoactive chemical in cannabis—in order to close a loophole that allowed for the sale of unregulated food and beverages containing intoxicating hemp-derived compounds.
Twenty-two Democratic senators—including advocates for legal recreational or medical marijuana—joined almost all Republicans in voting against an amendment introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to strip out the restrictions from the final bill. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was the only other Republican to back Paul's effort.
"Our industry is being used as a pawn as leaders work to reopen the government," Jonathan Miller, general counsel for the US Hemp Roundtable, an industry group, warned ahead of the vote. "Recriminalizing hemp will force American farms and businesses to close and disrupt the well-being of countless Americans who depend on hemp."
Hemp—which is used in a wide range of products from clothing to construction materials to fuel, food, and biodegradable plastics—was legalized under the 2018 farm bill signed by President Donald Trump during his first term.
But lawmakers including Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)—who backed the 2018 legislation—argued that cannabis companies are exploiting a loophole in the farm bill to legally manufacture products with enough THC to get consumers high.
Paul, however, ripped the provision, arguing in a Thursday Courier Journal opinion piece that it "destroys the livelihood of hemp farmers."
"This could not come at a worse time for our farmers," Paul wrote. "Costs have increased while prices for crops have declined. Farm bankruptcies are rising."
"For many farmers, planting hemp offered them a lifeline," he continued. "Hemp can be used for textiles, rope, insulation, composite wood, paper, grain, and in CBD products, and growing hemp helped farmers to mitigate the loses they’ve endured during this season of hardship."
Paul noted that "the provision that was inserted into the government funding bill makes illegal any hemp product that contains more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container."
"That would be nearly 100% of hemp products currently sold," he said. "This is so low that it takes away any of the benefit of the current products intended to manage pain or other conditions."
Charles and Linda Gill have grown hemp on their family farm in Bowdoinham, Maine since the plant was legalized in 2018.
“We are not in the business of these intoxicating hemp products on the market, which are the ones that are screwing it up for everybody,” Charles Gill told Maine Morning Star's Emma Davis on Wednesday. “They’re abusing the system.”
“All our current products would be banned,” Gill said of the new restrictions. “It would pretty much put us out of business.”
Hemp defenders vowed to contest the new law.
"The fight isn't over," Hemp Industry & Farmers of America executive director Brian Swensen said on X after the law's passage.
"In 2018, President Trump and Congress legalized hemp, delivering more jobs and opportunities to American farmers and small businesses," Swensen said, adding that the restrictions "will devastate American farmers, business owners, veterans, and seniors."
"The hemp ban will also open up dangerous black markets for hemp and allow China to take over the entire hemp market," he added, claiming "it kills over 325,000 American jobs and destroys the industry."
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