The leader of The Base, 47-year-old New Jersey native Rinaldo Nazzaro, was a Pentagon contractor who in 2014 worked with Special Operations Command (SOCOM), one of the most secretive elements of the U.S. military and the tip of the spear in the war against jihadist terror groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda.
A person familiar with the matter said Nazzaro, who had at least a top secret security clearance for a time, was among a group that briefed special forces officers on military targeting and counterterrorism efforts in the Middle East in 2014. (Previously, the BBC reported that Nazzaro was an FBI analyst and a Pentagon contractor.)
This information matches up with details of his service that Nazzaro shared with other members of The Base in encrypted chats obtained by VICE News.
Sompo Saengduanchai loses yet again in his fraudulent claim to the copyright on Ultraman. This time it was in his home country.
On this day, 25 September 1968, the Seattle city council brought in a gun-control law at the behest of Republican mayor, James Braman to prevent self-defence patrols by the Black Panthers. Authorities around the US were panicked by the sight of African-Americans defending themselves from violence by white racists and police. In particular they were alarmed in Seattle when armed Panthers appeared at Rainier Beach high school to defend Black students who had been attacked and threatened by whites. The city passed an emergency measure to prohibit the display of a “dangerous weapon” to “intimidate others”. It was just one of many laws introduced around this time, often by Republicans, and often with the support of the National Rifle Association, to disarm Black people.
Learn more about the Panthers in these books by former members: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/books/black-panthers
Pictured: a Black Panther protest against the law https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1537718123079999/?type=3
