Connect with us

Uncategorized

A Florida sheriff is on the warpath against neo-Nazi ‘scumbags’ who want him dead

(JTA) – After hate groups in his county on Florida’s East coast projected antisemitic messages onto the Daytona International Speedway, the local sheriff delivered a press conference with one simple message: He’d had enough.

“We put up their photos, talked about their arrest records, and let everybody know what a bunch of reprehensible thugs were in our community, and what they were up to,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about the February press conference. Standing with local Jewish, interfaith and minority group representatives, the sheriff had announced he would be coming after the “scumbags” who did this. 

“And after that,” he recalled, “all hell broke loose.”

The group that had made its presence known in Volusia County was the Goyim Defense League, one of the country’s most prominent antisemitic organizations, known for harassing worshippers at synagogues and papering neighborhoods with fliers hawking anti-Jewish conspiracies. 

The movement’s leaders recently relocated to the area from California, and they had chosen the Daytona 500, a major NASCAR race that draws more than 100,000 people to the speedway, to make their antisemitic presence known. They didn’t like that the sheriff was now effectively declaring war on them. 

Online after the press conference, several men started making death threats against Chitwood, even harassing his daughter and sending SWAT teams to his parents’ house. Antisemitic groups began planning to hold a public demonstration to oppose him specifically, which Chitwood’s intelligence determined was set for this past weekend in Ormond Beach.

So Chitwood fought back. Last week, thanks in part to his corralling, three men in three different states — California, Connecticut and New Jersey — were arrested and charged with making online death threats against him. Two of the three have already been extradited to Volusia County. 

Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood (right) thanks residents who turned up to counter-protest a canceled demonstration by a neo-Nazi group in Ormond Beach, Florida, April 22, 2023. (Nadia Zomorodian, courtesy of Volusia County Sheriff)

On Saturday the sheriff went to the airport to personally “welcome” one of the men. He hopes to send a message to hate groups more generally that he intends to “keep up the heat” so that they know they will face resistance from law enforcement if they attempt any public demonstrations: “I think that makes it a little bit harder to peddle your wares.”

Amid a national climate of rising antisemitism, one vexing question has been how to tackle antisemitic activity that is trollish but not violent. While European authorities have prosecuted Holocaust denial and other antisemitic sentiments expressed in social media posts, U.S. law is less expansive about what kind of online posts represent criminal activity. Meanwhile, the Goyim Defense League’s most frequent activities — flier drops, banner displays and public demonstrations — make up the fastest-growing type of antisemitic incidents in the United States, according to the Anti-Defamation League, but they do not always violate the law. A citation for littering in Wisconsin last year was the first known charge in the United States related to the Goyim Defense League’s distribution of antisemitic materials.

The issue is especially acute in Florida, where the populations of Jews and avowed antisemites are both growing. Chitwood suspects the state’s rising Jewish population is one of the reasons why white supremacists have also flocked to the area, along with Florida’s relaxed gun laws. 

In this environment, Chitwood’s outspokenness and forceful commitment to eradicating antisemitism — in a county with a relatively small number of Jews — has set a new tone. Raised in a law-enforcement family in Philadelphia — his father was a prominent police officer whose biography chronicles his own battle against “scumbags” — Chitwood speaks in a tough clip peppered with colorful insults directed at his white supremacist opponents (“these clowns,” “little sissies,” “ugly faces”). His passion on the issue is evident when he talks about his desire to be “standing in for John Q. Citizen,” or “some poor son-of-a-gun that’s going to synagogue.” He’s still green enough on the issue that he frequently confuses the Anti-Defamation League with the “JDL,” or Jewish Defense League — a radical violent splinter group of Jewish extremists.

Chitwood has garnered national attention for his actions, as well as the respect of the Jewish community. 

“This sheriff is not like all the others, in a sense,” said Oren Segal, vice president of the ADL’s Center on Extremism. “He’s taking different methods and putting himself out there and showing what one type of response can be.”

Rob Lennick, director of the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties, is one of Chitwood’s local allies. The federation is known locally for running several charitable programs, including food pantries, meant to reach people in need across the entire community, and Chitwood has a good relationship with them.

Lennick praised Chitwood for taking “a very strong forward position against these neo-Nazis, against these white supremacist groups coming to our community.” (Lennick arrived in Volusia County last year after leaving the Jewish Federation of New Mexico, which collapsed after employees accused him of misconduct.)

Counter-protesters at a planned neo-Nazi demonstration in Ormond Beach, Florida, thank Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood “for standing against antisemitism,” April 22, 2023. Chitwood has had white supremacists who have threatened him online arrested and extradited to his county. (Nadia Zomorodian, courtesy of Volusia County Sheriff)

In the end, the planned neo-Nazi demonstration against Chitwood on Saturday never took place — though a large group of what the sheriff described as “professional counter-protesters” did show up, flying joint American and Israeli flags and thanking him for standing up to antisemitism. Walking among that interfaith crowd, many of whom had traveled from outside the county to be there, was profound for Chitwood. The experience “was very, very humbling,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve wrapped my brain around it yet.”

Segal declined to comment on the degree to which Chitwood’s office has liaised with the ADL. But he praised Chitwood’s outspokenness, and said he considered it a form of “allyship.”

“It’s easy to speak out against something that breaks the law. It’s not always easy to speak out against something that breaks the value of our communities because it’s hateful, because it scares people, because it makes people feel unsafe,” Segal said. He mused that the fact that so many neo-Nazis now have Chitwood in their crosshairs “creates an inadvertent bond between law enforcement and the Jewish community, that they’re both being harassed by antisemites.”

Lennick had advised local Jews not to attend the site of the protests, not even to participate in the counter-protests. “You’re walking a fine line,” he said. “You don’t want to fuel the bad guys.”

Chitwood, though, has made a point out of naming and shaming the antisemites in his midst, believing that the increased media attention will expose further misdeeds and make it harder for them to hold down employment.

“There is now a national spotlight on these GDL punks,” Chitwood said. “Sooner or later, they’re going to stub their toe. And you have all these entities looking at you.”

The sheriff wants to go further in his crusade. He has pushed for a bill in the Florida legislature that would allow him and other law enforcement in the state to charge people with felonies for distributing fliers and broadcasting messages of “ethnic intimidation” on private property. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shows off after signing a bill making “ethnic intimidation” displays a felony in his state, during a ceremony at the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem, April 27, 2023. Randy Fine, a Jewish Republican lawmaker from Florida who authored the bill, stands at left. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

On Thursday, Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed the bill into law during a ceremony in Jerusalem after Randy Fine, the Jewish Republican state representative who authored it, delivered it to him there. (DeSantis last year called Nazis rallying in his state “jackasses” but drew criticism for not condemning them more forcefully.) The law was written specifically to address the kinds of activities the Goyim Defense League regularly engages in, including the Daytona message that spurred Chitwood to address the problem head-on, and enjoyed unanimous support from legislators of both parties.

“I guess we need to thank our scumbag Neo-Nazi invaders for uniting our community and the entire state of Florida against hate,” Chitwood tweeted after the signing.

“I see it as another tool in the toolbox,” Chitwood told JTA about his support of the bill. “You go onto private property and drop these leaflets on somebody’s doorstep or in their driveway, that’s now a felony trespass.”

Chitwood acknowledges that law enforcement can often be slow to respond to crimes of ethnic intimidation, and particularly online harassment, which hinders their ability to organize against a common threat. “We are very reactive,” he said. “No matter what it is, even a car break trend, sometimes you have to break into 20 or 30 cars before we detect a trend to go and do what needs to be done.” 

He’s frank about the police’s shortcomings when it comes to dealing with such behavior. The fact that he is a sheriff, he said, meant that it was easier to bring the perpetrators of out-of-state online death threats to justice. And, he said, broad coordination across different law enforcement entities for the specific addressing of antisemitism in the state does not yet exist: Apart from communication with some neighboring county sheriffs and the FBI, efforts to collaborate with the broader law enforcement community have been slow.

But, he said, he remains committed to trying to fight antisemitism in his own backyard at the very least. “It is personal,” Chitwood said. “This is my community.”

—
The post A Florida sheriff is on the warpath against neo-Nazi ‘scumbags’ who want him dead appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Post Views: 684
Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Turkey Preparing Law to Let PKK Fighters Return Under Peace Plan

A portrait of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan and a sign with the words “Serok Apo,” are displayed on a hillside in the Qandil mountains, Iraq, Oct. 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

Turkey is preparing a law to let thousands of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters and civilians return home from hideouts in northern Iraq under negotiations to end generations of war.

A senior Middle East official and a Kurdish political party source in Turkey said the proposed law would protect those returning home but stop short of offering a general amnesty for crimes committed by former militants. Some militant leaders could be sent to third countries under the plans.

Bringing PKK guerrillas and their families home from their bases in mountainous northern Iraq is seen as one of the final hurdles in a peace process launched a year ago to end a war that has killed 40,000 people.

While officials have spoken publicly about reconciliation efforts in general terms, the sources disclosed details that have not previously been reported, including proposals for returns to take place in separate waves of civilians and fighters, and for commanders to be sent to third countries.

The Middle East official, describing the sensitive negotiations on condition of anonymity, said legislation to allow the returns could come before the Turkish parliament as soon as this month.

PLAN COULD INCLUDE SEPARATE WAVES OF RETURNS

Turkey‘s intelligence agency MIT, which has led talks with the PKK, did not immediately comment on the proposal. The PKK did not immediately comment.

Since Kurdish militants launched their insurgency in 1984 – originally with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state – the conflict has exerted a huge economic and social burden on Turkey and neighboring countries.

Ending it would boost NATO member Turkey‘s political and economic stability, and ease tensions in Iraq where the PKK is based, and Syria where Kurdish fighters have been allied with US forces.

In a major breakthrough, the PKK announced a decision in May to disarm and disband after a call to end its armed struggle from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan.

In July the group symbolically burned weapons, and last month it announced it was withdrawing fighters from Turkey as part of the disarmament process. It called on Ankara to take steps to let its members participate in “democratic politics.”

But the terms of reconciliation have been sensitive, with Turkey wary of offering a wide amnesty for what it considers past crimes of a terrorist organization.

Numan Kurtulmus, who heads a reconciliation commission set up by Turkey in August, said last week that any legal steps would come only after Turkey verifies that the PKK has completed its dissolution process.

“Once Turkey’s security and intelligence units have verified and confirmed that the organization has truly laid down its arms and completed its dissolution process, the country will enter a new phase of legal regulations aimed at building a terror-free Turkey,” he said.

According to the senior Middle East official, the proposal now being discussed would see roughly 1,000 civilians and non-combatants return first, followed by about 8,000 fighters after individual screening.

Beyond that, the official said Turkey had so far rejected taking back around 1,000 senior and mid-level PKK figures, and wants them relocated to a third country, possibly in Europe.

Talks were ongoing on that issue, with some parties involved in the negotiations concerned that excluding PKK top brass from repatriation could eventually fuel a renewed insurgency, the official said.

Legislation to enable returns could come before the Turkish parliament as early as the end of November, the official added.

Tayip Temel, deputy co-chair of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party – which though an opposition party has worked closely with the government on the peace process – said the ongoing negotiations focused on a formula personally emphasized by Ocalan.

“Work is underway on a special law for the PKK to enable the democratic and social reintegration of its members,” Temel told Reuters.

“The law will cover everyone returning from the PKK, whether civilian or militant. There is no plan for a phased return. The formula being worked on is comprehensive and applies to all.”

He confirmed that Turkey had raised the idea of some PKK figures being sent to third countries, but said this would have to be discussed with the potential hosts.

DIFFERENT PROCEDURES FOR DIFFERENT GROUPS

Another source at DEM, parliament’s third-biggest party, said the commission drafting the proposal was working on a single, PKK-specific law that would avoid the language of a general amnesty.

“Different procedures will apply to different groups of returnees,” the source said, adding that some returning PKK members will likely face investigations and trials. “Otherwise, it will be hard to reach common ground among parties in the commission.”

Once the parliamentary commission completes its work, it is expected to recommend the special PKK law to parliament, paving the way for potential legislation.

Human Rights Watch urged lawmakers to use the peace process to reform laws that have long been used to charge and incarcerate non-violent Kurdish activists.

The commission “has a unique opportunity to help shape a post-conflict society and should make bold recommendations to repeal abusive laws used to silence and marginalize people,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW.

Post Views: 3
Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Media Amnesia: Zohran Mamdani’s Extremism Forgotten as Pro-BDS Socialist Wins New York City Mayoral Race

Democratic candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts after winning the 2025 New York City Mayoral race, at an election night rally in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, US, Nov. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

The clean-up has begun.

As votes rolled in and it became clear that Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani had secured the big victory long predicted, the media whitewash was already underway.

Mamdani’s rise — from relative unknown to mayor of America’s largest city — is, politically speaking, extraordinary. He won more votes than any candidate in a New York City mayoral race in 50 years.

But it was also a campaign haunted by allegations of antisemitism, anti-Israel extremism, and sympathy for radical Islamist movements and chants like, “Globalize the intifada.” Those allegations were well-founded, which is precisely why the media — until now — felt obliged at least to mention them, if only to dismiss them as “smears.”

Now that he’s won, even that pretense of scrutiny is vanishing.

The Record the Media Are Erasing

These facts are not in dispute — and they have all been previously documented by HonestReporting and others:

  • May 2021 – Pro-Palestinian rally, Manhattan:
    Led BDS chants and attacked city officials who traveled to Israel.

    Aug 4–6, 2023 – DSA National Convention, Chicago:
    “When the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.” (Video resurfaced Oct 2025)

    2023–2025 – Multiple posts and interviews:
    Repeatedly labeled Israel an “apartheid” state and accused the US of “subsidizing genocide.”

    June 5, 2025 – Media interview:
    Refused to affirm Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, saying instead that he supports “a state with equal rights for all” and opposes any “hierarchy of citizenship… on the basis of religion.”

    June 8, 2025 – Cornell Tech boycott call:
    Urged a boycott over the university’s partnership with Israel’s Technion.

    June 2025 – NBC’s Meet the Press:
    Refused to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada,” saying it’s “not language I use,” but stopping short of disavowing it.

    July 16, 2025 – Private meeting:
    Said he wouldn’t use the phrase “globalize the intifada” going forward, but defended it as “a protest slogan against occupation.”

    Oct 1–2, 2025 – ABC’s The View:
    Called the Gaza war a “genocide” to audience applause.

    Oct 27–28, 2025 – Debate fallout:
    Told an emotional story about a hijab-wearing “aunt” who stopped riding the subway after 9/11 over “Islamophobia” fears — but discrepancies later emerged, forcing him to walk back the claim and clarify that he had actually been referring to a cousin.

    Nov 4, 2025 – MSNBC’s Morning Joe:
    Declared, “I support BDS.”

The Whitewash in Real Time

Now that Mamdani has won, much of the media is pretending none of this ever happened.

What were once documented facts about his statements and positions are being rewritten as mere accusations by political opponents.

This is how media rehabilitation works: reframe the record, dilute the facts, and gaslight the public into thinking the extremism was never there.

Take CNN, which described Mamdani as having “reached out to New York’s Jewish community, which had been roiled by his criticisms of Israel’s government.”

Criticisms of Israel’s government?

Is claiming that Jews thousands of miles away are somehow responsible for police violence in New York — that “the boot of the NYPD is laced by the IDF” — merely a policy critique?

According to CNN, yes.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal insisted Mamdani “says Israel has a right to exist,” while the New York Times wrote that he simply “declined to say it should be a Jewish state.”

That is dishonest framing.

Mamdani has explicitly rejected the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state — which is what Israel is. To say you support Israel’s existence only if it stops being Jewish is not to affirm its existence at all.

It’s like declaring support for Japan’s right to exist — just not as a country run by Japanese people or speaking Japanese.

Then there’s Rolling Stone, which bizarrely claimed Mamdani “hasn’t said or done anything antisemitic” and “did not call to ‘globalize the intifada.’”

Such media examples aren’t hard to find. They are everywhere now — each one sanding off the rough edges of Mamdani’s record.

The Image Laundering Has Begun

The mainstream press has shifted into image-rehabilitation mode, presenting Mamdani as a unifying progressive rather than a divisive ideologue.

This isn’t so much journalism as it is public relations for an extremist whose record is a matter of record.

Make no mistake: the same outlets now gaslighting Jewish readers about who Mamdani is are the ones already hinting that this “Muslim socialist mayor” could one day be president.

And for that to happen, his Jew-hating, pro-terror past must be scrubbed from memory.

Welcome to the memory-holing of Zohran Mamdani.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

Post Views: 14
Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Palestinian Authority Admits It Prioritizes Terrorists Over Children’s Education

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun meets with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon, May 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

It is more important to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to provide terrorists with millions of dollars in rewards than to provide Palestinian children with an education, admits a senior PA education official.

The official confirmed what Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has long been reporting — that the PA prioritizes terrorists over its children’s education.

In an interview on PA television, the official declared that teachers refrain from working full-time because they are not paid their full salaries by the PA.

The teachers are not paid in full because Israel freezes the tax money that it collects for the PA as long as the PA financially rewards terror. This is known as Israel’s Anti Pay-for-Slay Law, which she called “theft of funds” by Israel.

What the official did not mention is that if the PA would not prioritize terror payments, there would be no Israeli deductions, and teachers would work full-time.

Click to play

Official PA TV host: “Dr. [Suhair Qassem], tell us more details about the obstacles facing the [education] system or the educational training programs.” …

PA National Institute for Educational Training Director-General Dr. Suhair Qassem: “If we talk about the reason why we are reducing the [teachers’] work hours, why the teacher refrains from working, the reason for this is the theft of funds [i.e., Israel’s freeze of PA taxes used for Pay-for-Slay].”

[Official PA TV, Educational Podcast, Oct. 15, 2025]

The PA teachers’ union had announced two months ago that if the PA did not pay the teachers their full salaries, they would only work three or four days a week. The PA has only paid 70% of the salaries of its employees, which include these teachers, since the start of the school year.

Therefore, teachers have not been working full time, and the children are only receiving a part-time education.

PMW has explained that were the PA to stop its “Pay-for-Slay” terror-rewards program, the PA’s entire financial crisis would be resolved and its employees would all be able to regularly receive their salaries in full.

The PA runs its Pay-for-Slay program with full knowledge that it will not have money left to pay its teachers. These terror salaries come to a tune of 30 million USD a month.

Earlier this year, PMW exposed that the PA was lying about having changed its system to become need-based and that families of prisoners and Martyrs continued to receive terror payments as they have in the past.

The PA’s financial crisis is self-inflicted — the result of its “terrorists first” ideology institutionalized from the very top by Mahmoud Abbas, who has repeated again and again that “even if we have [only] one penny left, it is for the prisoners and Martyrs.”

Ephraim D. Tepler is a contributor to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Itamar Marcus is the Founder and Director of PMW, where a version of this article first appeared.

Post Views: 10
Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News