The most documented genocide in history continues as Palestinians are slaughtered everyday by Israeli forces who drop bomb after bomb on schools, refugee camps, homes, hospitals, and aid facilities with the full backing of the U.S. The Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal and one of the highest-impact academic journals in the world, estimates that Israel has killed more than 186,000 Palestinians since October 2023. Its July 5th study found the actual death toll is higher than 40,000 because the UN’s toll doesn’t count the thousands of bodies buried under rubble, nor the deaths caused by Israel’s destruction of health facilities in Gaza.

So-called “evacuation orders” force surviving Palestinians into tiny concentration zones where deliberate starvation and disease spread are rampant. Others face torture and sexual abuse in Israeli prisons where systemic assaults by soldiers are well-doucmented, just as they were decades earlier.  

On July 19, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank is illegal, and its laws are “tantamount to the crime of apartheid.” However, that hasn’t stopped pro-Israel groups like AIPAC from pumping $100 million into U.S. elections to force out anti-genocide lawmakers and install their candidates. 

As part of the genocide, Israel has also killed record numbers of aid workers and falsely accused the UN agency, UNRWA, of employing terrorists. Israel has never provided proof of its claims, and an international investigation on April 22 found no evidence of terrorism with UNRWA workers. Still, Israeli soldiers have killed at least 284 total aid workers, including 212 from UNRWA.

Please consider giving to this vital UN aid agency – especially as the U.S. funds Israel’s genocide, no matter how many “red lines” it crosses.

Justin Hill: MO Lawmaker at Pro-Trump DC Capitol Attack Jan. 6

 

Justin Hill at pro-Trump rally on Jan. 6.

Missouri state Rep. Justin Hill attends pro-Trump demonstrations in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. (Source)

January 10, 2021 ~ By Shari Rose

Justin Hill’s Statements & Actions on January 6 at the Capitol

Justin Hill is a Republican lawmaker in the Missouri House of Representatives. He was elected in 2014 and serves on seven committees, including the Joint Committee on Government Accountability. In an interview with the Missouri Independent, Hill confirmed he was at the Capitol demonstration on January 6, but says he did not march into the building with the pro-Trump mob. On Facebook, he posted photos of himself at the Stop the Steal event and holding a Trump flag. He also live-streamed some of his interactions with the crowd on social media.

Justin Hill at DC Capitol pro-Trump event.

Justin Hill livestreams himself on Facebook while walking among Trump supporters in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021. (Source)

A couple hours later, rioters attacked the Capitol building, killed a police officer, planted pipe bombs, and attempted to harm elected officials. In total, five people died.

When U.S. senators returned to their chambers in the evening to finish the democratic process and confirm Joe Biden as president, Justin Hill seemed furious. He wrote on his Facebook page that “The United States Senate lacks Americans with courage to do what is right. They are selling out the American people and our constitutional republic.” Instead of applauding democracy for overcoming a coup attempt, Hill appeared to denounce American senators for fulfilling their elected duties. 

Furthermore, Hill denied witnessing any “violence or property damage” from pro-Trump rioters on the 6th and defended Sen. Josh Hawley for attempting to subvert the 2020 election in Congress: “For Josh to take that stand and say Missourians want answers, we want to investigate this, this is what he is sent there to do,” said Hill. Hawley is currently facing national calls for his resignation for attempting to overturn presidential election results in multiple swing states that voted for Joe Biden.

Justin Hill’s Social Media Posts Leading up to the Capitol Riot

Justin Hill missed his own swearing-in ceremony to the Missouri House to join a pro-Trump Stop the Steal event on Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C. Leading up to the day, Hill shared a number of conspiratorial posts on social media about stolen elections and the software used to count votes.

Justin Hill spreads Dominion conspiracy on Twitter.

Justin Hill calls for the Missouri attorney general to prosecute Dominion voting systems in a tweet on December 2, 2021. It’s not clear if the AG took any action to address the disproven conspiracy theory. (Twitter: HillForMissouri)

On November 30, Hill spread a popular conspiracy theory on Twitter that Dominion Voting Systems was stealing the election for Democrats while using the #stopthesteal hashtag. Two days later, Hill escalated his language, saying that he has “called upon AG Eric Schmitt to prosecute Dominion Voting Systems Inc for unpaid taxes.” Hill also publicly asked Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft to “demand the software source code” on voting machines. 

It appears that neither the attorney general nor secretary of state took any legal action because this is a debunked conspiracy theory. 

Earlier in the month, Justin Hill shared on Twitter that he had moved to Parler, a right-wing messaging app that has since been removed from Apple and Google stores for breaking anti-violence policies. 

Facebook invite for Jan. 6 rally in DC from Justin Hill.

Rep. Hill asks his Facebook followers in a post to join him on January 6th for the pro-Trump March to Save America event in Washington, D.C. (Source)

On December 30, Hill shared a press release in which he applauds Sen. Josh Hawley for attempting to overturn the election results in a handful of swing states. On January 4, Justin Hill shared an invite with his Facebook followers to join the Stop the Steal rally in DC, which quickly devolved into a coup attempt at the Capitol. The link he shared, marchtosaveamerica.com, has since been removed from the web.

In addition to rhetoric on social media, Justin Hill escalated his calls to reject the results of the 2020 presidential election in the Missouri House. On November 10, Hill filed a resolution to declare that the House has no faith in the electoral results of six states that voted for Biden. 

Calls for Justin Hill’s Resignation After Capitol Attack

Hill’s official Twitter account is either deleted or suspended. The Missouri House Democratic Campaign Committee condemned Hill’s actions on Wednesday, and openly called for his resignation: “Any elected official who skips taking their oath of office to the Missouri Constitution in order to support insurrection is not fit for office.”

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Related stories: Amanda Chase: VA Lawmaker at Pro-Trump Capitol Attack on Jan. 6

Related stories: How Trump’s Attacks on Mail-In Voting Set Stage For Declaring 2020 Election Fraudulent

Shari Rose

Shari Rose

Owner of Blurred Bylines 💖💜💙

I created Blurred Bylines in an effort to bring stories from marginalized perspectives into the national conversation. As a former copy editor at the largest newspapers in Arizona and Colorado, I’ve seen first-hand the potential of accurate and accessible information to change minds and affect national policy. 

My stories focus on individuals fighting for justice and their own rights as Americans, survivors of violent crime who rebuilt their lives after tragedy, shifting political trends that seek to strip the LGBTQ+ community and other minority groups of their freedoms, and forgotten figures in U.S. history whose fights for equality persist today.

Through writing these articles, I stumbled upon the power of search engine optimization (SEO) to attract interested audiences to my writing. In addition to the ad-free and paywall-free stories I write at Blurred Bylines, I also perform SEO services for businesses, nonprofits, and fellow freelancers around the country so they can grow their organizations through search engines. 

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