Jerry Falwell Jr. Obtains Arrest Warrants for Journalists Who Covered Liberty U’s Reopening Amid Coronavirus Crisis: LISTEN

Jerry Falwell Jr., the rabidly anti-LGBT president of Liberty University, reportedly has obtained arrest warrants for journalists from the New York Times and ProPublica after the outlets published stories critical of his reckless decision to reopen the school’s campus amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Falwell Jr. told right-wing radio host Todd Starnes on Wednesday that he also plans to file defamation suits against the two publications. He claims it was the journalists — not him — who put Liberty University students at risk by traveling to the school from coronavirus “hotspots” to cover the story.

“We had signs posted at every entrance — no trespassing except students, faculty, staff and anybody with official university business,” Falwell said. “To us, it’s so hypocritical for them to come to a campus that’s doing everything right — social distancing, takeout food only, protecting our students who have no place else to go and no classes — and come on on our campus from New York, or Washington or wherever the hotspot is they come from, and put our students at risk. … It’s gonna be an ugly legal fight, I’m sorry to say, but you know I feel like they forced us into a corner, and I don’t think God wants Christians to just sit back and not protect what they believe in. … It’s just sad that they would take advantage of something that’s killing people, a virus that’s a horrible thing. This is not a time to be partisan, but what do they do? They go after the one school — that’s doing it just like every other school — that’s not liberal, that’s conservative and Christian, and they use this virus as an excuse to politicize and attack Christians, and to attack conservatives, and that’s the really sad part.”

Politico reports: Photocopies of the two warrants published on the website of Todd Starnes, a conservative radio host, charge that Julia Rendleman, a freelance photographer for the Times, and Alec MacGillis, a ProPublica reporter, committed misdemeanor trespassing on the Lynchburg, Va., campus of the college while working on their articles. Falwell and Liberty, one of the most high-profile evangelical schools in the country, have come under fire for welcoming students back to campus after the school’s spring break despite the pandemic, while nearly every other college in the country has ordered students off campus. In an interview on Starnes’ show, Falwell ripped a New York Times report that nearly a dozen students were experiencing symptoms of Covid-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. The Times cited “the physician who runs Liberty’s student health service,” who said three students so far had been tested for coronavirus, with at least one student, who lives off campus, testing positive.

More from Talking Points Memo: Richard Tofel, president of ProPublica, told TPM that though there were reporters on Liberty’s campus to report out a couple of stories, he has received no word about the warrant. “We’ve heard nothing about this, and we’ve not heard from the University or from the authorities in Virginia on this at all,” he said. “As the story indicates, there was reporting there on obviously the most important news story of many years.” New York Times Senior Vice President of Communications Eileen Murphy expressed the outlet’s “disappointment” in Falwell’s action. “Our freelance photographer was engaged in the most routine form of news gathering: taking a picture of a person who was interviewed for a news story,” she told TPM in a statement. “We are disappointed that Liberty University would decide to make that into a criminal case and go after a freelance journalist because its officials were unhappy with press coverage of the university’s decision to convene classes in the midst of the pandemic.”

Listen to Starnes’ interview with Falwell below.

The post Jerry Falwell Jr. Obtains Arrest Warrants for Journalists Who Covered Liberty U’s Reopening Amid Coronavirus Crisis: LISTEN appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Jerry Falwell Jr. Obtains Arrest Warrants for Journalists Who Covered Liberty U’s Reopening Amid Coronavirus Crisis: LISTEN

#AM_Equality: April 9, 2020

HRC PRESIDENT ALPHONSO DAVID ON SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS’ TREMENDOUS ADVOCACY: “Through his campaign and career in public service, Senator Bernie Sanders has driven equality forward for marginalized communities and energized voters from every walk of life,” said David (@AlphonsoDavid). “He created a movement centered on issues of justice that elevated issues long overlooked on the national stage. People of every community responded to the Senator’s call for changes to a status quo that has failed to address a variety of issues affecting marginalized communities across the nation. This important conversation will continue thanks to Senator Sanders’ tireless efforts.” Read more from HRC.

HRC PRESIDENT ALPHONSO DAVID ON DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS: “As in all emergencies, the most vulnerable are the most at risk during the COVID-19 crisis,” said David. “Data is emerging showing Black communities are contracting and dying from the virus at particularly high rates and our own research shows the economic and health impacts this pandemic may have on LGBTQ people. We cannot ignore the role that bias plays in health disparities.” Read more from HRC.

THANKFUL THURSDAY — HRC CELEBRATES “MODERN FAMILY” FOR 11 GROUNDBREAKING SEASONS: “When Modern Family premiered nearly a decade ago, we lived in a very different world. Modern Family brought Cam and Mitchell into the living rooms of Americans across the country, and the show’s portrayal of love and acceptance has moved LGBTQ representation forward like never before,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “Modern Family has inspired us to embrace ourselves and others for who they are — and for that we cannot thank the cast and crew enough. Every step of the way, the Human Rights Campaign has been proud to share in these moments and you will each always be a part of our modern family.” Watch here.

• To celebrate yesterday’s finale of “Modern Family,” Jesse Tyler Ferguson (@jessetyler) also took over HRC’s Twitter to share memories from the show and explain how we need to keep moving the needle forward on LGBTQ issues. Read the full takeover here.

COVID-19 HEALTH CRISIS PUTS LGBTQ HOMELESS YOUTH AT INCREASED RISK: Read more from NBC Out.

• HRC has compiled a list of direct online and phone support services for LGBTQ youth. Learn more here.

TODAY — HRC PRESIDENT ALPHONSO DAVID TO JOIN NEW BI-WEEKLY BROADCAST SERIES FROM OUT LEADERSHIP (@OutLeadership): Learn more here.

GET CULTURED – Entertainment, arts and sports news!

LIL NAS X (@LilNasX) OPENS UP ABOUT “OLD TOWN ROAD,” HIS QUEER IDENTITY AND HIS DECISION TO COME OUT: Read more from The Guardian.

SINGER REBECCA BLACK (@MsRebeccaBlack) COMES OUT AS QUEER: More from Billboard.

GLOBAL EQUALITY NEWS

HRC GLOBAL FELLOWS — COLLABORATING WITH LGBTQ ADVOCATES IN ALBANIA: Last October, HRC Global welcomed Sidita Zaja (@siditazaja), an activist and executive director of United Pro LGBT in Albania. This past February, HRC Global Senior Manager Taylor N.T. Brown traveled to Albania to work with Zaja and community advocates in support of their campaign for LGBTQ acceptance and supportive policies. Read more from HRC.

READING RAINBOW – Bookmark now to read on your lunch break!

HRC unveils new LGBTQ Zoom backgrounds so you can Zoom with pride; Forbes covers five LGBTQ women writers to read during social distancing; NewNowNext covers the top 11 things we’ll miss about “Schitt’s Creek”

Have news? Send us your news and tips at [email protected]. Click here to subscribe to #AM_Equality and follow @HRC for all the latest news. Thanks for reading!

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Barr Accuses Media of ‘Jihad’ Against Unproven Coronavirus Drug, Says Americans Can’t Keep Hiding Under Their Beds: WATCH

Attorney General Bill Barr accused the media of waging a “jihad” against hydroxychloroquine, the unproven drug touted by President Donald Trump as a treatment for coronavirus, during an interview on Fox News on Wednesday.

Barr told anchor Laura Ingraham that despite being “statesmanlike” in his response to the coronavirus crisis, Trump has had to face  “snarky ‘gotcha’ questions from the White House media pool,” Newsweek reports. He added that “the stridency of the partisan attacks on [Trump] has gotten higher and higher,” and said the “politicization of decisions like the hydroxychloroquine has been amazing to me.”

“Before the president said anything about it, there was fair and balanced coverage of this very promising drug,” Barr said. “The fact that it had such a long track record, that the risks were pretty well known, and as soon as he said something positive about it, the media has been on a jihad to discredit the drug. It’s quite strange.”

Barr also referred to current social-distancing guidelines as “draconian,” and called for them to be lifted at the end of April, repeating Trump’s recent claim that “the cure cannot be worse than the disease.”

“Yes. I think they – I think they have been patient,” Barr said in response to a question about religious groups affected by social-distancing guidelines. “And I think we have to be very careful to make sure this is – you know, that the draconian measures that are being adopted are fully justified, and there are not alternative ways of protecting people. And I think, you know, when this – when this period of time is — at the end of April expires, I think we have to allow people to adapt more than we have and not just tell people to go home and hide under the bed, but allow them to use other ways – social distancing and other means – to protect themselves.”

Watch the full interview below.

The post Barr Accuses Media of ‘Jihad’ Against Unproven Coronavirus Drug, Says Americans Can’t Keep Hiding Under Their Beds: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Barr Accuses Media of ‘Jihad’ Against Unproven Coronavirus Drug, Says Americans Can’t Keep Hiding Under Their Beds: WATCH