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EXCLUSIVE Anti-ICE protesters who harassed black NYC mom UNMASKED as radical activists with checkered pasts

EXCLUSIVE Anti-ICE protesters who harassed black NYC mom UNMASKED as radical activists with checkered pasts

Daily Mail​a day ago

Two anti-ICE protesters who mocked a black New York City mother as she pleaded to get to work have been identified as a former BLM demonstrator who won a major lawsuit against the city and a senior vice president at a market research firm with a history of guerrilla activism.
Trevor Britvec, 36, was filmed alongside Karen Ramspacher, 60, blocking an intersection on Houston Street in lower Manhattan, arguing with a mother who was trying to drive past to get to work.
Conservative commentator for Turning Point USA, Savanah Hernandez, filmed the dramatic exchange and posted it on X Tuesday.
'Just watched 2 white liberals stop traffic and tell a mother who was begging to go to work, that illegals and their children are more important,' she wrote.
'I then asked them how they felt stopping a black woman from getting to work. They both laughed in our faces.'
Britvec was especially sarcastic to the young mother, mockingly responding 'Oh no, not work' to her question of what would happen to her kid if she lost her job.
When asked if he 'cared about stopping a black woman from going to work', Britvec smirked at the camera and admitted 'no'.
Britvec laughed in the face of the black NYC mom as she pleaded for him to move, saying 'oh no, not work' and smirkingly answering 'no' when asked if he 'cared about stopping a black woman from going to work'
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Ramspacher claimed she blocked traffic for less than 10 minutes – a disruption she called a small price to pay to highlight what she views as unjustified ICE raids.
'It was a temporary, momentary interruption to the regular flow of traffic in order to bring attention and express people's concerns about this dangerous situation we find ourselves in where the military and ICE agents are going into the communities and taking our friends and family members,' she said.
She said she did not know Britvek. 'That single video looks like it's that person and me blocking traffic,' the market research exec added.
'That's not what it was. We were preventing the cars from driving into the marchers. There were at least 10,000 of them behind us.'
Ramspacher, who has been participating in guerilla-style protests since the 1980s, explained why she had turned away when Hernandez asked her how they felt as 'white people… stopping a black woman from going to work?'
'I was surprised, and I turned away because that was not the issue that we're there to focus on,' Ramspacher told DailyMail.com.
But both Britvec and Ramspacher have eyebrow-raising histories revolving around the NYPD and 'woke' movements in the city.
According to public records, Britvec sued New York City alleging that his civil rights were violated by the NYPD when he was arrested at a Black Lives Matter protest in July 2020.
Describing himself in his lawsuit as a US Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, he alleged that several NYPD officers pushed him off a bike, struck him with a police baton, and shoved the baton 'up his buttocks' as he was arrested.
He added that he was wearing a face mask at the time 'to prevent the spread of Covid-19 ', and alleged that NYPD officers removing his face mask for a mugshot was also a violation of his civil rights.
According to the public court records, criminal filings against Britvec from this arrest were dismissed in September 2020, and he went on to sue the city along with five other BLM protestors.
In February 2024, the city reached a settlement with the group that saw Britvec awarded $115,000.
Ramspacher has held down a job as senior vice president of Innovation & Insights at market research firm MRI-Simmons. She's also a longtime New Yorker who owns a condo near NYPD headquarters in lower Manhattan.
If there's a protest, its likely Ramspacher has been there as she's been photographed at demonstrations all over the city for the past four decades.
She is a core member of Act Up, an AIDS activist group that famously barged into a CBS studio interrupting Dan Rather on the Evening News in 1991, unfurled banners about condoms during the Pope's visit to New York and has been involved in other guerilla-style protests.
Ramspacher told the now-defunct Out Week magazine she was arrested at an abortion rights protest in 1989 and gave quotes in a report of a 2002 protest against Coca-Cola.
She was pictured at the 2017 25th Annual Dyke March for lesbian rights, at the July 2022 Women's March outside the White House in Washington DC and was quoted in New York Magazine's The Cut in September 2020 at a public memorial to late liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
She also contributed to an Act Up online guide for 'civil disobedience training', in which she advocated for getting arrested at protests to bring attention to the issue at hand.
'A large number of people take arrests to communicate the idea that they are dissatisfied with the way things are- what's happening/not happening,' she wrote in the guide.
'For me, it began as a symbolic act a few years ago and has turned into a necessity both as my 'part' to contribute to the quest for social and political change, and as a channel for personal frustration and anger.'
A reported 80 people were arrested at the protest in New York City on Tuesday, though Ramspacher described it as 'peaceful ' during her attendance between 5.30pm and 8.30pm that evening.
She told DailyMail.com that she hadn't seen footage of the violence at riots in Los Angeles, including burnt-out Waymo taxis and smashed up police cars, but added she believes it is a 'personal choice' for protestors to use methods they feel are proportional.
'The way that I ever get involved is, I see something that seems wrong, and if I can, I try to make a positive difference,' she said.

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BREAKING NEWS Erika Jayne finally breaks silence on ex Tom Girardi's jail sentence for swindling clients out of $15million
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Daily Mail​

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BREAKING NEWS Erika Jayne finally breaks silence on ex Tom Girardi's jail sentence for swindling clients out of $15million

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As well as his jail time, Girardi has been ordered to pay $2,310,247 in restitution to his victims and a $35,000 fine. Judge Josephine L. Staton, who handed down the sentencing, ordered Girardi to surrender to federal authorities by July 17. The sentencing occurred in a courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on June 3, which also happens to be Girardi's 86th birthday. A jury found the once-powerful attorney guilty on four counts of wire fraud in August. Girardi, who built the prestigious LA law firm Girardi & Keese after his fight against a California utility giant inspired the Oscar-winning movie Erin Brockovich, plead not guilty to the four counts (he had been indicted on five counts of wire fraud in 2023). His high-rolling career came tumbling down in 2020 when he was accused of stealing millions in settlements he'd won for the victims of the 2018 Lion Air plane crash in Indonesia, a tragedy in which 189 people died. 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'He will be designated to an appropriate facility,' she said. Girardi's mental competence had been a major issue throughout the trial, with his lawyers previously attempting to push for a new trial in addition to claiming he is unable to assist his lawyers, struggles with his memory, and is legally unfit to appear before a jury (however prosecutors claimed it was mostly an act, alleging he had been faking dementia to evade being held responsible for his crimes, according to the Los Angeles Times). In January 2024 Girardi was cleared to stand trial with U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton declaring he was 'competent to stand trial', despite his Alzheimer's diagnosis. Girardi was previously declared fit by a court-appointed psychologist in June 2023 but his attorneys presented repeated challenges. Neuropsychologist Dr. Diana Goldstein said that she 'has concluded her examination and opined, among other things, that [Girardi] is competent to stand trial,' she wrote. 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Trump wanted to unleash the troops on George Floyd protests. Now the gloves are off
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Trump wanted to unleash the troops on George Floyd protests. Now the gloves are off

President Donald Trump saw an opportunity to deploy thousands of active-duty troops to American streets in 2020 after the police murder of George Floyd galvanized protests across the country. However, some officials in his first administration resisted the idea and checked some of Trump's more violent impulses when it came to resistance against his agenda. Trump ultimately did not invoke the Insurrection Act that year — reportedly at the guidance of officials who are no longer in his circle. Five years later, the president — surrounded by 'law and order' loyalists — federalized the National Guard for the first time in more than 50 years to deploy 4,000 service members across Los Angeles. Another 700 U.S. Marines are standing by, with dozens already guarding federal agents while they make immigration arrests. The administration appears to be aiming to avoid what Trump sees as a mistake from his first term. 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Trump now appears to be trying to avoid a repeat of the summer of protests that plagued the final months of his first term in office and derailed a campaign he ultimately lost at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and political debate focused on racial justice. 'Can't you just shoot them?' Thousands of people flooded streets across the country throughout the summer of 2020. The police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor sparked daily demonstrations against police brutality and racism, including in the streets of Washington, D.C. It led to violent clashes and vandalism in cities. Pictures of burning buildings and cops in riot gear dominated news coverage. 'Can't you just shoot them?' Trump said at the time, according to his former Defense Secretary Mark Esper. 'Just shoot them in the legs or something?' 'I had to figure out a way to walk Trump back without creating the mess I was trying to avoid,' Esper wrote in his book A Sacred Oath, describing Trump as 'red faced and complaining loudly about the protests underway' in the nation's capital. Trump demanded law enforcement officers 'crack skulls' and 'beat the f*** out' of protesters, according to the book Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost by The Wall Street Journal 's Michael Bender. 'Don't we have an island that we own? What about Guantanamo?' Trump reportedly said, referring to the Cuban naval base that became a notorious prison during the War on Terror. Esper and General Mark Milley, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff serving as the nation's top military leader, appeared to be among the only senior administration officials who could confront the president and his chief loyalists. During one Oval Office debate, Trump's adviser Stephen Miller compared scenes of burning buildings and crowds clashing with police to war zones — which infuriated Milley, according to Bender's book. 'Shut the f*** up, Stephen,' Milley reportedly fired back. But in public, Trump praised Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, whose state erupted with unrest and chaotic scenes after Floyd's murder. 'I know Governor Walz is on the phone, and we spoke, and I fully agree with the way he handled it the last couple of days,' Trump said at the time. 'I was very happy with the last couple of days, Tim,' he said. 'You called up big numbers and the big numbers knocked them out so fast it was like bowling pins.' Trump even dismissed the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act at the time and suggested he could not go over the heads up governors to deploy federal troops into the states. 'We have laws. We have to go by the laws. We can't move in the National Guard. I can call insurrection, but there's no reason to ever do that,' Trump said during an election town hall. 'We can't call in the National Guard unless we're requested by a governor,' he said. 'If a governor or a mayor is a Democrat, like in Portland, we call them constantly.' 'We're gonna have troops everywhere' Trump is no longer moored by advisers willing to argue against his instincts. During his 2024 campaign, Trump appeared to change his tune, suggesting that he would call on the National Guard 'if things were getting out of control.' 'I would have no problem using the military, per se,' he told Time in April 2024. 'We have to have safety in our country. We have to have law and order in our country. And whichever gets us there, but I think the National Guard will do the job.' Within weeks after his inauguration, administration officials began to discuss how to leverage the military to support the president's immigration enforcement plans, a hallmark of his 2024 campaign, according to CNN. First, Trump sent thousands of active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border with permission to detain anyone caught illegally crossing until law enforcement officers arrived on the scene. Troops have been deployed to the southern border under previous administrations, typically in a supporting role alongside federal officers. But under Trump, federalized troops are allowed to detain and search anyone within a 170-mile stretch of federal land spanning three states. The administration also is mulling the use of military bases to detain immigrants. A February memo outlined a plan to detain roughly 1,000 immigrants at Fort bliss in Texas. That plan could serve as a model for immigration detention at several other military bases, according to DHS officials. In January, Trump outlined a plan to detain as many as 30,000 immigrants inside the notorious naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The detention center has held dozens of immigrants at various points since February. But officials have also discussed how to send troops into the nation's interior, and whether they could act as a protective body for federal agents performing raids and arrests. After anti-ICE raid demonstrations kicked off across Los Angeles, Trump mobilized the California National Guard against the wishes of Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. His order said troops would protect federal property and federal personnel. Then he announced active-duty Marines would support local law enforcement, escalating a response that critics fear is a test for Trump's radical expansion of military force against civilians. Trump did not invoke the Insurrection Act, though the president and administration officials have repeatedly labeled protesters 'insurrectionists' and 'seditionists' — sparking fears that the president is laying the groundwork for mass deployment of military assets across the country. Both actions drew legal challenges from Newsom and watchdog groups. In a televised address, Newsom said Trump's actions put his state and the nation at the brink of authoritarian control. 'California may be first, but it clearly won't end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next,' he said. Another lawsuit from watchdog group American Oversight called the deployment 'an opening salvo in a coordinated national strategy and not simply an isolated incident.' 'Deploying the military to quash protests over the administration's inhumane and legally dubious immigration policies — especially over the objection of elected state leaders — is a dangerous, though unfortunately predictable, escalation by the Trump administration,' according to American Oversight executive director Chioma Chukwu. 'If left unchecked, this abuse of power under thin legal pretense can be readily replicated across other states in the future,' he added. In his testimony before House lawmakers on June 12, Hegseth refused to answer whether the Defense Department would respect court rulings — including the Supreme Court — if they struck down Trump's order. 'We should not have local judges determining foreign policy or national security policy for the country,' he said. Asked on June 8 whether he planned to send troops to other parts of the country, Trump said 'we're gonna have troops everywhere.' 'We're not going to let this happen to our country. We're not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden,' he said. Two days later, he warned that any protests during a military parade in Washington, D.C. would be met with 'very heavy force.' 'If there's any protester who wants to come out, they will be met with very big force,' he said from the Oval Office. 'I haven't even heard about a protest, but [there are] people that hate our country.' Noem, appearing next to the president that day, said Minnesota's Governor Walz 'let his city burn' in 2020. 'The president and I have talked about this in the past,' she said. 'He was not going to let that happen to another city and to another community, where a bad governor made a bad decision.'

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