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Texas Democrat Beto O'Rourke's Senate campaign sued over unwanted text messages

A Texas man grew so frustrated over receiving text messages from the U.S. Senate campaign of U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, that he's taking the organization to court.

A class-action lawsuit filed against the Beto for Texas campaign on behalf of all Texans alleges the group sent text messages to voters without obtaining permission to contact them, therefore violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

The law bans the use of automated telephone equipment to send texts or calls to a person’s cellphone without their permission -- except for emergency purposes.

The suit was filed in Northen District of Texas Court and names Collin County resident Sameer Syeed as the plaintiff.

The suit demands the campaign pay at least $500 per text message to Syeed and other members in the suit.

Syeed alleges he received nine texts from the Beto for Texas campaign in 2018. He came across a series of error messages and disconnected dial tones when he tried calling the numbers he was receiving the messages from.

Attempts to stop the messages by texting back didn't work either.

Chris Evans, communications director for the Beto for Texas campaign, said the program is legal.

“Our grassroots volunteer program with thousands of Texans canvassing, phone banking, texting, and organizing is the largest this state has seen. It is fully compliant with the law,” he said.

O'Rourke is in a tight U.S. Senate race against Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz. In a recent debate between the two, O'Rourke channeled his inner President Trump and referred to Cruz as "Lyin Ted."

NSA Contractor Accused of Leaking US- Election Russian Hack To Remain In Prison

A U.S. intelligence contractor accused of illegally leaking a classified report on Russian interference in U.S. elections to a media outlet pleaded not guilty on Thursday to an espionage offense, and a federal judge denied her request for bail.

Reality Leigh Winner, 25, is accused of passing the top secret National Security Agency report to The Intercept last month while working with Pluribus International Corp, which provides analytical services for U.S. defense and intelligence.

Winner was charged in a federal grand jury indictment on Wednesday with a single count of willful retention and transmission of national defense information, a felony offense under the Espionage and Censorship Act that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

A federal judge ordered that Winner remain held without bond after prosecutors argued during Thursday's three-hour hearing that she posed a flight risk and public danger, citing what they called “disturbing” comments found in her notebook.

In one notation she wrote: “I want to burn the White House down,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Solari told the judge. The prosecutor said investigators also found the names of three Islamic extremists known to federal authorities listed in Winner's notebook.

Combination photo showing Reality Winner, the U.S. intelligence contractor charged with leaking classified National Security Agency material is seen in these undated booking photos in Lincolnton, Georgia, U.S., received on June 8. Winner is accused of leaking a confidential NSA report on Russian interference in the U.S. election to a media outlet; she has plead not guilty.LINCOLN COUNTY, GEORGIA, SHERIFF'S OFFICE/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS

According to a probable-cause affidavit from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Winner admitted to intentionally printing a copy of the intelligence report in her office and mailing it to the news outlet.

The NSA document in question provided technical details on what it said were Russian attempts to hack election officials in the United States and a voting-machine firm before the presidential election in November, two U.S. officials with knowledge of the case have confirmed to Reuters.

The FBI said unauthorized disclosure of the secret document “could reasonably result in exceptionally grave damage to the national security,” though the government has not alleged that Winner sought to share the report with foreign agents.

She is the first person charged with leaking classified information to the media since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who has called for investigations into leaks to the media.

A White House spokeswoman said at a press briefing ahead of Winner's detention hearing that Trump believes anyone found guilty of unlawfully disclosing government secrets should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Winner, shackled at the feet and wearing an orange jumpsuit in court, said little during Thursday's proceeding, except to reply, “Not guilty, your honor,” when asked for her plea, and to answer “yes” and “no” to procedural questions put to her by the judge.

Winner's parents testified in support of her request to be released from jail on bond, describing their daughter as a church-going patriot who volunteered for the military and was never previously in trouble.

“Your honor, my daughter is a good girl. She will do whatever you tell her to do if you grant her bond,” her stepfather, Gary Winner, told the judge.

Solari countered that Winner's political agenda mattered more to her than her oath to protect secrets entrusted to her, adding that she might be tempted to flee if further charges were brought in the continuing investigation.

Canada Immigration Says Only 28 Americans and No Celebrities Have Applied For Canada Move After Election

Of the group of Hollywood celebrities that said they would move to Canada, or elsewhere, if Republican President-elect Donald Trump won the election, none have followed through on their plans, according to reported.

Canada's immigration services department said only 28 Americans have applied for 'Trump-related refugee status', according to Heat Street, and none of them appear to be celebrities.

Comedians Rosie O'Donnell, Jon Stewart and Whoopi Goldberg, and performers Miley Cyrus, Samuel L. Jackson, Amy Schumer and Cher were among the dozen or so celebrities that threatened to leave the states if Trump was elected.

At least one celebrity who threatened to leave has changed his tune, however.

Bryan Cranston, of 'Breaking Bad' and 'Malcolm in the Middle' fame, told the Today Show that he now wants Trump to succeed.

Cranston recently reprised his role as teacher-turned-drug-manufacturer Walter White to take a comedic jab at Trump's cabinet nominees on Saturday Night Live.

High school students' Makes Mockery of Trump assassination Highlights Post-Election Bullying, Harassment

A skit performed in a south Texas high school English class that portrayed the assassination of Donald Trump is just one of the latest cases of K-12 election hysteria.

Officials at San Antonio’s Marshall High School claim they took "appropriate action" following the skit, in which a student dressed as Trump was shot by a classmate, complete with gunfire sound effects from a cellphone. But some parents say harsher punishment was warranted, and critics worry that political polarization has found its way into schools.

“Honestly I have run out of words to describe how angry I am and how shocked I am that they’re still in school today,” parent Melinda Bean told the San Antonio Express-News.

The misguided skit was just one in a slew of controversial acts happening across the country in the wake of Trump’s win over Democrat Hillary Clinton on Election Day.

Most media coverage following Trump’s victory has focused on sometimes violent protests in cities around the country, but it is now clear the election's reverberations are being felt all the way down to elementary schools.

Students at a Detroit-area middle school reportedly chanted "build the wall" last week, in an apparent reference to Trump's call for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
White students at a central Pennsylvania technical high school reportedly chanted “white power” in the hallways and referred to students of other races as their slaves.
A 15-year-old Maryland boy wearing a Trump “Make America Great Again” hat was reportedly beaten by a group of high school students.
Last week, a California high school student was also attacked after she expressed her support for Trump, in an attack captured on cellphone video.

Experts in child development and psychology say that this type of bullying has occurred in the past, this year it has taken on a more ominous tone and been seen a greater scale given how divisive the presidential campaign season was.

“This election was unusually nasty,” Judith Myers-Walls, a professor emerita of human development and family studies at Purdue University told FoxNews.com. “It was in many ways at a child’s level with the candidates at times acting like they were in pre-school.”

Myers-Walls said that with the pervasive media coverage and constant presence of the candidates on television, the Internet and social media, it is no wonder that young students picked up slogans – “Build the Wall” and “Lock Her Up” are just two examples – without even truly grasping what they mean.

It’s important, Myers-Walls said, that both parents and educators talk to students when they see them expressing these types of behavior and it’s even more important to know when to introduce them to what’s going on in regards to politics.

“You need to get a sense of where they are and what they feel about certain issues,” she said. “A lot of times children have some ideas that adults wouldn’t even think about.”

CRUMBLING 'NEW YORK TIMES' IS BEGINNING TO GET MORE SUBSCRIPTION AFTER ELECTION

Donald Trump tweeted on Sunday that the New York Timesis “losing thousands of subscribers.” As it turns out, that’s not true.

Not only is Trump’s statement wrong, but the president-elect has likely even helped the newspaper grow its readership. The Associated Press reports that within just one week after Election Day, the Times saw its digital subscriptions boost by 41,000. That is the largest one-week increase it has seen since the paper launched its digital subscription model in 2011.

Trump has had a contentious relationship with the Timesthroughout this election cycle. He often tweets about its “dishonest” reporting whenever something negative is published about him, and he has even threatened to sue the newspaper. It has even joined the ranks of “Crooked Hillary,” “Lyin’ Ted,” and “Little Marco” with its own Trump-coined nickname: “Failing New York Times.”

He has used that moniker to refer to the newspaper on Twitter dozens of times since launching his campaign, appearing in nearly every one of his tweets about the Timessince the summer. On other occasions he has called it “a dying newspaper” and “a seriously failing newspaper with readership which is way down,” and has said that its numbers are “so dismal.”

In one of these instances he attempts to drive his point home by pointing to declining advertising revenue. The Times did actually report reduced advertising revenue in the third quarter of this year. However, that’s an industry-wide trend that isn’t reflective of the quality of its reporting, especially considering it also reported a 116,000 increase in digital subscriptions .

Black Teenagers Gang-Beats A Trump Supporter Brutally. (VIDEO)

David Wilcox was just minding his business the other day when he got rear-ended on a Chicago street.

When he got out of his car to exchange insurance information - a mob of teenagers pounced. He was dragged from his car and pummeled as a crowd of onlookers watched.

“Somebody yelled, ‘That’s one of those white boy Trump supporters,’” Mr. Wilcox told CBS Chicago. “I said, what does that have to do with this? We’re talking about insurance here.”

Video of the attack has gone viral on social media and I've posted it below. It shows an untold number of suspects brutally beating Mr. Wilcox – egged on by the crowd.

To continue reading Todd Starnes column on ToddStarnes.com.

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