Written by Derrick Broze

A longtime opponent of genetically engineered mosquitoes was found dead in a Washington D.C. hotel as she prepared to present a petition with over 200,000 signatures to the EPA.

(AP) — On Tuesday morning Mila de Mier—a 45-year-old activist from Key West, Florida who opposed the release of genetically engineered mosquitoes—was found dead in a swimming pool at a hotel in Washington D.C. De Meir was visiting D.C. to deliver a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency demanding the agency deny a permit for the release of genetically engineered mosquitoes in Florida and Texas.

WJLA reported:

The D.C. Fire Department says the reported incident happened at the Cambria Hotel & Suites Washington, D.C. Convention Center on 899 O Street, NW. They say they were called to the scene at around 9:35 a.m. Medical crews say they attempted to treat the victim but later pronounced her dead.

Fox5 in D.C. notes that the police report claims a witness found de Mier floating inside the rooftop pool and called 911. The Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. is investigating the exact circumstances of the drowning.

In the days preceding her death, Mila de Mier posted on her Facebook page about the fight against genetically engineered mosquitoes. “The time is now Please sign and share ! We are not guinea pigs,” she wrote. “Is time to set standards when it come to people and Biotecnology.”

Activist Post spoke with Barbara Napoles, a fellow activist and long-term friend of de Mier who accompanied her on the trip to Washington D.C., and one of the last people to see her alive. Napoles worked with de Mier for years as part of the Never Again Foundation, an organization that focused on a variety of environmental causes. Napoles explained that she and de Mier had worked on the GE mosquito issue for years and had previously made trips to the Food and Drug Administration in an attempt to express their concerns.

According to Napoles, de Mier called her on Thursday April 5 to announce her intention to drive from Florida to Washington D.C. to file her petition with the EPA. The two headed to Washington on Sunday, arrived on Monday, and planned to deliver their petition on Tuesday morning. Around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday morning de Mier left Napoles to go for a quick swim at the hotel’s rooftop pool before heading to the EPA. This was the last time Napoles saw de Mier alive. Regarding the possibility of death by accidental drowning, Napoles said Mila de Mier was not known to be a weak swimmer and had swum with whale sharks in the past. Napoles said the two also had plans to go swim with dolphins in June.

“She wanted the people of Houston to have time to comment on the release of GE mosquitoes. She would want people to continue the fight,” Napoles stated. Napoles is referring to the potential upcoming release of GE mosquitoes in the Houston area. The mosquitoes to be released in Houston are created by Oxitec, the British biotechnology company responsible for the same mosquitoes de Mier was fighting in Key West.

Oxitec was involved in the controversial vote in the Florida Keys during the 2016 election. In that vote, residents of the Key Haven voted against the release of the mosquitoes in their community. However, shortly after, the trials were approved for a different location in the Keys. Despite the approval, opposition to the controversial project has not ceased. In late November 2016, Health News Florida reported that a coalition of groups, including the Center for Food Safety and the Florida Keys Environmental Coalition, have filed a 60-day notice of intent to sue the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

In 2017 the Houston Chronicle reported that Oxitec is working on a deal with Harris County officials to release GE mosquitoes in the Houston area. Oxitec is attempting to sway Houston officials by stating that their product has a nearly 100% success rate. Gizmodo reported:

The company claims that trials in Brazil, Panama and the Cayman Islands have reduced mosquito populations by 90%, calling the success “an unprecedented level” of human control over nature. (The World Health Organization, for it’s [sic]part, has stated that while the technology “has demonstrated the ability to reduce the [mosquito] populations in small-scale field trials” there is still “an absence of data on epidemiological impact.”)

By Derrick Broze / Republished with permission / Activist Post

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This article may or may not be accurate. Too much can and is twisted and taken out of context. It's a proven fact there is lots of fake news making the rounds disquised as real news. I am puzzled by the fact so many can not or will not distinguish the difference between "Legal" and "Illegal". The last time I checked it was still "illegal" to enter the US by sneaking in by any means.

From this article.........

"The spokesperson added that the man was later confirmed to be a Mexican national, who had been arrested on 16 prior occasions for entering the U.S. illegally from multiple states."

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U.S. BORDER AGENTS DUMP INJURED MAN OVER BORDER BECAUSE HE 'LOOKS' MEXICAN

BY KASHMIRA GANDER ON 4/11/18 AT 9:29 AM

Updated | A newly released video shows U.S. Border Patrol agents attempting to return an injured man to Mexico, claiming he “looks” Mexican.

The footage obtained by NBC News depicts an incident on the U.S.-Mexico border in Calexico, California on March 27, 2017.

“They are bringing him over here,” a Mexican border agent is heard saying in Spanish.

Responding to repeated warnings that the U.S. agents risked breaking a repatriation agreement, an officer responds, “Why would I have to call the consulate. He’s not in my custody?” The agent added that he has been doing the job for 20 years.

“You don’t even know if he’s Mexican or not,” a Mexican agent adds, to which a U.S. guard replies the man "looks" Mexican. The agent is also heard saying, “If I leave him there he was going to kill himself.”

Mexican border agents prevented their U.S. counterparts from handing over the man, who appears to be injured and mentally unstable. He then walks into traffic in the U.S.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection sent NBC News the video after the network was alerted to it by a whistleblower. The agency did not reveal the names of those shown in the video for privacy reasons and NBC was unable to verify their identities.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer stands guard as pedestrians enter the United States at the San Ysidro port of entry on April 9, 2018 in San Ysidro, California. A newly released video shows a standoff between Mexican and U.S. border agents as the latter tried to repatriate a man.MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES

An unnamed law enforcement source told NBC News that the man was left in a park and was taken to the Mexican consulate a month later as he tried to enter the U.S. from Mexico. The spokesperson added that the man was later confirmed to be a Mexican national, who had been arrested on 16 prior occasions for entering the U.S. illegally from multiple states. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched an investigation after Mexican officials complained.

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told Newsweek the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the incident depicted in the video.

"The Mexican Consulate notified the U.S. Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector about the incident at the time, which was March 17, 2017. After a review of the incident based on the information available, the Sector’s leadership addressed the agents’ actions," the spokesperson said.

"CBP is committed to treating everyone with professionalism, dignity and respect while enforcing the laws of the United States. CBP takes all allegations of mistreatment seriously, and does not tolerate actions that are not consistent with our core values of Vigilance, Service to Country and Integrity.”

Assistant Chief Patrol Agent David S. Kim told NBC News that the actions in the video were not consistent with the force’s normal procedures. “Corrective action was taken to ensure all our agents understand their responsibilities of adhering to established processes, practices, and policies,” he said. A CBP spokesperson told the network the footage showed an “isolated incident.”

The video of the standoff follows a 2017 study by the nonprofit advocacy group American Immigration Council (AIC) into the capture, custody and removal process of Mexican migrants from U.S. The survey of 600 migrants found that 43 percent were not told they had the right to contact their consulate, and almost 60 percent did not receive repatriation documents. Almost a quarter reported immigration authorities subjected them to abuse or aggression as they were apprehended.

“What emerges from the survey data and testimonies is an alarming portrait of the way Mexican migrants are treated while in U.S. custody and through the deportation process," AIC said in a statement at the time.

"Often, migrants do not receive copies of deportation documents and have little understanding of the processes they have undergone and the related legal ramifications. When U.S. officials prevent migrants from accessing critical information and processes, they further deprive individuals of their possible legal opportunities to present immigration claims,” the statement continued.

Guillermo Cantor, research director at the American Immigration Council and author of the study, told Newsweek​: “CBP officers have a history of overstepping the boundaries of their authority. For years, we have been documenting and reporting on the multiple instances of abuse and mistreatment that migrants are subjected to when in CBP custody.

"Specifically, our research has revealed that U.S. immigration officials routinely use misinformation, coercion, and intimidation to remove people from the United States. These practices deprive migrants of basic due process rights, which is extremely problematic.”

This piece has been updated with a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and a comment from Guillermo Cantor​.

(newsweek)

U.S. MILITARY KILLED 'A COUPLE HUNDRED' RUSSIANS IN SYRIA AIRSTRIKES, POMPEO SAYS AS TRUMP CONSIDERS NEW ATTACK

Mike Pompeo, the CIA director nominated to be secretary of state, told lawmakers Thursday that the U.S. killed up to 200 Russians in airstrikes conducted against forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in February.

U.S. officials have so far remained silent about the number of casualties inflicted by a coalition assault on pro-Syrian government fighters that the Pentagon claimed opened fire on Syrian Democratic Forces in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor. Both a U.S.-led coalition and the Russia-backed forces supportive of Assad are battling the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) in the region, but recent tensions have produced fears of a conflict erupting between Washington and Moscow.

"In Syria, now, a handful of weeks ago, the Russians met their match. A couple hundred Russians were killed," Pompeo said during his confirmation hearing in Washington.

CIA Director Mike Pompeo testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination to be secretary of state on April 12. Pompeo has vowed to take a tough stance against Russia at a time of volatile relations between Washington and Moscow.LEAH MILLIS/REUTERS

Pompeo was named as Trump's choice to replace former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who reportedly found out in February he was out of the job from the president's tweet. The shake-up was followed by another high-profile switch, when Trump announced he wanted former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton to replace national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

Bolton and McMaster, two hawkish, hard-line conservatives, have discussed taking a tougher stance against Russia, which the U.S. has accused of interfering in the foreign affairs of other countries. A year after the U.S. and its allies intervened against ISIS in 2014, Moscow began its own war against the jihadis and rebels threatening Assad's rule since a 2011 uprising backed by the West, Turkey and Gulf Arab states.

The dual offensives have decimated ISIS's once-widespread, self-proclaimed caliphate, but tensions between competing local and international forces on the ground have since surged. A Turkish invasion in January drew a number of U.S.-backed Kurds out of the fight against ISIS, and the remaining, majority-Arab faction of the Syrian Democratic Forces has had a volatile relationship with pro-Syrian government fighters, which included Iran-backed Shiite militias as well as Russian volunteers.

Sometime between February 7 and 8, the Syrian Democratic Forces claimed to have come under fire by pro-Syrian government forces and called for coalition backup. The U.S. responded with heavy air power, killing an unknown but reportedly large number of targets. Russia, which acknowledged that some of its citizens were involved, and Syria argued that the Syrian Democratic Forces initiated the attack to consolidate control of nearby, formerly ISIS-held oil fields.

Days later, the U.S.-led coalition bombed a Soviet-built T-72 tank operated by pro-Syrian government forces in a second incident. Defense Secretary James Mattis said last month that a third encounter was avoided when the U.S. joint chiefs of staff contacted its Russian counterpart, resulting in pro-Syrian government forces retreating. However, Mattis said he had no reason to think that Moscow was in direct control of these Russians, believed to be part of private military companies.

In this still from footage released by the Defense Department, a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone, also know as Predator B, destroys a Russia-built T-72 tank in eastern Syria on February 10. The U.S. said the strike was in self-defense as pro-Syrian-government forces advanced on Pentagon-backed fighters on the ground.DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Since then, the U.S. and Russia have engaged in a new escalation over conflicting claims about a chemical weapons attack in the formerly insurgent-held Damascus suburb of Douma. While Mattis said Wednesday he was "still assessing" responsibility over the suspected toxic gas attack, the U.S. has vowed to take military action, and allies France, Saudi Arabia and the U.K. have announced their potential support.

Russia has denied these claims, and Moscow's ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, said Wednesday that Russia was threatening to down both U.S. missiles and their launch sites, echoing a previous warning by a top Russian general. Trump, meanwhile, taunted his Russian rivals on social media, promising that missiles would hit Syria, but on Thursday he tweeted that he "never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!"

In addition to a possible confrontation with Russia, Pompeo's and Bolton's hearings were set to come ahead of two major administration deadlines. Trump has demanded a renegotiation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal by mid-May, but its other signatories have so far defended the agreement. The new Cabinet would also inherit the nuclear crisis with North Korea, although Trump has agreed to hold a historic meeting with leader Kim Jong Un by May.

(newsweek)