It’s been really stupid lately here.

One thing that happened is that a fugitive from justice, who is allegedly an undocumented immigrant, would up in my small town. He has a long rap sheet with some terrible crimes on it and he has also, per the US Marshals, been on the run since 1998. In any case, there was a tip that he was at a local shopping plaza and so the feds ended up raiding 2 restaurants in that location. Several people were arrested as they ran, and in the end none of them were the fugitive, who was actually at a different business.

You can say that this is the “fog of war”, but, like Whiskey Pete, you’d be wrong. Here’s the US Marshal office’s account of what happened:

Members of the U.S. Marshals (USMS) Mountain State Fugitive Task Force today arrested in Charles Town an El Salvador man wanted on an outstanding warrant in Galveston County, Texas, for aggravated sexual assault of a child stemming from an incident in September 1998.

Santos Calderon, who is in the U.S. illegally, was taken into custody at the Somerset Village Shopping Plaza in Charles Town. He has been charged as a fugitive from justice and is currently being held at the Eastern Regional Jail.  

Authorities also arrested six other illegal aliens who attempted to evade law enforcement as officers attempted to arrest Calderon.  They were turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Here’s the restaurant’s account of what really happened:

The individual arrested, Santos Calderon, was not an employee of Mi Degollado and had no connection to our business or our family. During the incident, law enforcement entered our restaurant under the mistaken belief that he may have worked here. As a result, several of our family friends, who had no involvement in this matter, were detained. Santos Calderon was apprehended at a different business within the same shopping center.

It is also important to note that no warrants or investigations were related to any member of our staff or family. We regret the distress this situation caused to those present.

Another Mexican restaurant in town was also targeted and is now temporarily closed because of lack of staff. Implicit in all of President’s Grievance’s racist tirades was the promise that red states would be left alone. Instead at least 3 local restaurants have been raided, and the casino in town was raided a few weeks ago. The lesson is that no matter what Trump says, his fascists are coming for everyone.

In another story, there was a weird comment about a shooting in Harpers Ferry a reply to a post by our deadbeat senator, Jim Justice. It seemed fake to me, not only because I live right near Harpers Ferry and had not heard a word about a shooting—which would have been very out of character—but the poster spelled the location as “Harper’s Ferry” which was an immediate red flag. Turns out it was about this nonsense:

Right-wing podcaster Tim Pool has claimed someone “opened fire” while approaching his property.

In a post on X, Pool said a car approached his property on Friday night and “opened fire.” There were no injuries, Pool added. His security team is now “reviewing the incident” and will make a report to law enforcement.

This really makes no sense—mainly because it seems to be a completely fictitious shooting:

The Harpers Ferry Police Department said the incident did not occur within the agency’s boundaries and directed The Independent to the West Virginia State Police and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

A spokesperson for the West Virginia State Police said they have “no information” about the incident. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office could not be reached for comment outside of business hours.

And before you waste one second wondering who would shoot at the house of someone you’ve likely never heard of:

They have millions of followers online. They have been major players in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president. And they worked unknowingly for a company that was a front for a Russian influence operation, U.S. prosecutors say.

An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers — including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson — was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out English-language videos that were “often consistent” with the Kremlin’s “interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition” to Russian interests, like its war in Ukraine.

I’ll leave you with one last story of stupidity here and this picture that is worth 1000 words:

Such is life in West Virginia right now.

I’ll leave you with this: