The Triangle Trumpet

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As Gov. Stein commends the observance of Ramadan, here's a list of 17 terrorists/jihadis w/ ties to the Triangle area, compiled for @TriangleTrumpet 230+ years in prison convictions for supporting, recruiting, plotting, and attempting to join domestic/foreign terror 🧵🧵🧵

A man was just stabbed on the American Tobacco Trail in Durham in an area the homeless congregate In 2020, a cyclist was stabbed on a Raleigh greenway in an area the homeless congregate Why do we tolerate this?

NC State is the biggest user of H-1B visas in the University of North Carolina System, with over 200 in 2023 Fun fact: H-1B applications from universities get to skip the lottery process, and do not count towards the quotas

The charges against Siler City Police employee Gloria Maldonado who allegedly took cash for U-Visas have been dropped, because one of the "domestic violence victims" who paid her has now been charged with sex offense crimes, and is believed to have fled the country Both Cesar and Enrique Portilla-Platas, the alleged "victims" she was charged with taking cash from, have numerous previous violations for driving without license, tags, etc. suggesting they were/are in the country illegally The entire U-Visa program, intended to support the prosecution of violent crime, has been described by an OIG report as "susceptible to fraud" The DOJ has previously discovered widespread conspiracies to obtain fraudulent U-Visas, including one in Texas which ended with a fraudster dead when a bystander mistook a staged armed robbery for the real deal It seemed odd to me at the time that Gloria Maldonado was only facing state charges for defrauding the foreigners, with no word from the investigating @NCSBI whether the "victims" were actually qualifying for U-Visas, whether she actually had any authority in getting U-Visas issued, whether she had been involved in any previous questionable U-Visas, etc. Should @USAttyBishop and the @USAO_MDNC investigate what is almost certainly crimes under federal jurisdiction? Previous coverage at @TriangleTrumpet: thisweekinthetriangle.com/p/susceptible-…

We can't say with any certainty that this shooter was radicalized by the Wake County Public School System But he did attend a high school school singled out as an example of "environmental education" in an application for a "Green" DOE award Yet, his Earth Science teacher wasn't asked a single question about anything related to his claimed environmentalist "reason" for the shooting when she testified at his sentencing

@Shirley61692761 @PeteKaliner Correct, minocycline

@TriangleTrumpet @PeteKaliner They tried to blame it on a drug he was taking. I think it was an acne medication.

The Raleigh mass shooter who killed five in 2022 left a note claiming an environmentalist motive, according to recent revelations "The reason I did this is because I hate humans," he wrote. "They are destroying the planet/earth" Article: thisweekinthetriangle.com/p/they-are-des… Despite having this note in their possession since the beginning of the investigation, Raleigh Police repeatedly told the public that the motive was unknown The note's existence appears to have been first revealed to the public in a motion by the defense over three years after the shooting, and the full note was read at the sentencing hearing after the shooter plead guilty Austin Thompson, who was 15 at the time, was sentenced to life in prison without parole Neither the prosecution nor the defense showed much interest in probing the "enviro-terrorist" motivation Thompson's school (Knightdale High) and the district it's in both have a particular "green" focus, but none of the six teachers (including his Earth Science teacher) who testified appear to have been asked about his involvement with or interest in anything related to the environment, climate change, etc. Full details in the article at the Triangle Trumpet

1/ Was environmentalism the motive for a 2022 Raleigh mass shooting with five fatalities? Here's what the killer wrote in a note which was just recently revealed to the public: "The reason I did this is because I hate humans they are destroying the planet/earth" 🧵🧵🧵

On this day in 1776, Patriot forces at Moore's Creek repelled a Highland charge by a force of Loyalists recruited from Scottish immigrants Among the American forces were militia from the Hillsborough District Brigade, with companies from Chatham, Granville, Orange, and Wake Lieutentnant Colonel John Butler commanded the Orange County militia at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, which also aided in occupying Cross Creek (now Fayetteville), a Loyalist rallying point in an area where many Scots had settled Butler would go on to replace Gen. Thomas Person as commander of the Hillsborough District Brigade, which he would lead at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse five years later

"They are destroying the planet:" Was Hedingham mass shooting motivated by environmentalism? Austin Thompson does not remember why he shot up his Raleigh neighborhood. But he left a note. thisweekinthetriangle.com/p/they-are-des…

ROAD RAGE: According to the feds, Solomon Owens admitted to fatally shooting Joseph Adams on February 9, 2026 because Adams wouldn't let him "change lanes" Owens has been charged federally for the .300 Blackout AR-15 with which he allegedly shot Raleigh SWAT officers serving the murder warrant Press release: justice.gov/archives/usao-…

Solomon Owens has document affiliation with the Haley Street Folk Nation Gang Owens was let out jail with a suspended sentence for taking a would-be member of the gang to commit two homicides in 2018 Less than a year later he was caught robbing a Circle K in Durham, and had his sentence activated in addition to the new charges Now, he's charged with shooting an apparently random father victim to death in his vehicle in Garner Police say when SWAT came to arrest him in Raleigh, he shot one officer in the head and another in a ballistic shield with a 300 Blackout AR-15 Should a gangbanger like this have been punished more severely for his previous crimes?

Do you want to learn more about the Revolutionary history of North Carolina? Here at the @TriangleTrumpet, we're celebrating the semiquincentennial with a series on the local Revolutionary history of our beat Link: thisweekinthetriangle.com/s/celebrating-…

The night she was murdered, a 14-year-old girl allegedly told her 18-year-old male sexual partner that "she wasn't going to let him pimp her around anymore" I am truly disturbed by the details revealed in North Carolina court last month in the trial of their alleged killer​​​​​​​ According to evidence presented by the prosecution, Devin Clark, 18, had been sending messages to at least a dozen people on Snapchat looking for someone to drive him and 14-year-old Lyric Woods from her parents so they could engage in sexual activity As payment for the ride, Clark offered that the driver could have sex with the 14-year-old as well (I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that's in violation of multiple statutes) Isaiah Ross, 17, took him up on the offer and drove the three of them into rural Orange County in his mother's vehicle The bullet-ridden bodies Clark and the 14-year-old were found dead by ATV riders the next day Based on forensic evidence and one of Ross's friends, to whom he allegedly bragged about the murders, prosecutors say Ross got into an argument with Clark, shot him with his own gun, killed the 14-year-old girl to avoid a living witness, hid the bodies, then fled the state (Ross was arrested in Delaware) Ross, on the other hand, claimed that Clark and the 14-year-old were arguing, with her telling him that she didn't want to be his "whore" or be "pimped out" by him, leading Clark to murder her Ross testified that Clark then turned his gun on him, and he was forced to disarm and shoot him in self-defense The jury found Ross guilty of a lesser second degree murder charge for the killing of Clark, but deadlocked on the murder charge for the killing of Woods Ross was sentenced to 20-25 years incarceration, and is facing retrial on the second first degree murder charge as well LEFT: Lyric Woods (14) CENTER: Devin Clark (18) RIGHT: Issiah Ross (17)

Being an immigrant is not mutually exclusive with being an American citizen For example, the Nigerian king who plead guilty to Medicaid fraud the other day has been voting in Johnston County since 2008

History isn't a just set of interesting facts or instructional anecdotes, it's one of the shared elements that binds a community together That's why for the 250th, @TriangleTrumpet will be covering local Revolutionary history, from the Regulation to the antifederalists of the Hillsborough Convention to the patriot namesakes of counties like Harnett, Franklin, and Person If you're interested, make sure to sign up (for free) and don't miss an issue: thisweekinthetriangle.com/p/introducing-…

Why is one of America's most conservative denominations supporting radical pro-"refugee" organizations? Are the Southern Baptists aware when their churches are supporting refugee non-profits which are lobbying against ICE and for immigration policies akin to open borders? Covered in this week's newsletter: thisweekinthetriangle.com/i/186683614/is…

Introducing the Semiquincentennial Series: Why Local History Matters Here at the Triangle Trumpet, we're celebrating the 250th anniversary of 1776 with a year-long series on the local Revolutionary history of our beat thisweekinthetriangle.com/p/introducing-…

@MostlyPeaceful He says the antifa firing episode is "parts of [his] past that [he's] already owned and learned from" Reporting at @TriangleTrumpet: thisweekinthetriangle.com/i/183718582/fi…

@MargoinWNC Nida Allam literally spoke at a protest against ICE seizing an illegal alien reported to be a convicted domestic abuser at the Durham courthouse thisweekinthetriangle.com/i/169354820/du…