Trayvon SYG Stand

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</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/facebook-right-leaning-pages-lead-discussion-about-home-invasions-right-wing-media-and-nra">https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/facebook-right-leaning-pages-lead-discussion-about-home-invasions-right-wing-media-and-nra</a></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no pix lnx</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><b>On Facebook, right-leaning pages lead discussion about home invasions, with right-wing media and the NRA praising homeowners who shoot suspected intruders</b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><b>Right-leaning Facebook pages earned 65% of total interactions on posts about home invasions, despite sharing only 25% of them</b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Special PROGRAMS</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">GUNS & PUBLIC SAFETY</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">WRITTEN BY NATALIE MATHES</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CARLY EVANS</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">PUBLISHED 04/26/23 </div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><b>On Facebook in the last year, right-wing media outlets have amplified sensational posts that praise people who have shot, and in some instances killed, alleged home intruders. </b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">In a new study, Media Matters compiled and analyzed Facebook posts about home invasions from news and politics pages in the last year and found that right-leaning pages earned 65% of total interactions on posts about home invasions, despite sharing only 25% of them. Among these right-leaning pages are right-wing media outlets and the National Rifle Association.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">A series of recent shootings have refocused the nation’s attention on so-called “castle doctrine” — the idea that a person doesn’t have a “duty to retreat” before using deadly force to defend themselves when in their home — and “stand your ground” laws that apply this idea outside the home, using what critics call a “shoot first, ask questions later” model that allows “anyone who believes their life to be in danger to use lethal force in an act of self-defense, without any duty to retreat.” </div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>On April 13, an elderly man in Kansas City, Missouri, shot teenager Ralph Yarl in the head after Yarl mistakenly rang the home's doorbell while he was trying to pick up his siblings.</b> On April 15, a homeowner in rural New York shot and killed 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis when a car she was riding in pulled into his driveway by accident while searching for a friend’s house. On April 18, a man in Florida shot a 6-year-old girl, her parents, and another neighbor after a basketball accidentally rolled onto his property. The next day, a man in Texas shot two high school cheerleaders who had mistaken his car for their own after a late-night practice.</span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">According to an April 22 report by Insider, gun violence experts say that these recent shootings are “a larger symptom of a distinctly American culture that empowers people to open fire, even when there's no real threat.” This violent culture stems from the<b> NRA’s decades-long campaign pushing “stand your ground” laws across the natio</b></span><b>n. </b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Most Americans are not satisfied with existing gun laws, but right-wing media continue to defend the role guns play in America. For example, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed in January that assault weapons “are not a threat to anybody,” and the Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles said that guns had “nothing to do with” a recent mass shooting in Nashville. Salem Media Group’s Dennis Prager has falsely insisted that “there's no way to stop the ubiquity of guns” in America, and Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk has claimed, “It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.”</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">By defending the role guns play in America and working to convince Americans that there is no real possibility of passing stronger gun control measures in the U.S., right-wing media encourage the false belief that the only way to make ourselves safer is to take matters into our own hands and further arm ourselves. This provides cover for politicians who work with the NRA and, conveniently, creates bigger business for gun sellers. </div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the last year — from April 20, 2022, through April 20, 2023 — Facebook has enabled the NRA and right-wing media outlets to sensationalize and amplify stories about alleged home invasions across its platform. Several of these stories pushed the narrative that people need to own guns in order to defend their families, and even praised people who shoot and kill alleged home intruders. </span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">In the last year, right-leaning Facebook pages shared only 25% of posts about home invasions but earned 65% of total interactions</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">In the last year, Facebook pages that regularly post about U.S. news and politics shared at least 8,100 posts about home invasions, earning over 6.5 million total interactions. Right-leaning pages shared only 25% of these posts (about 2,000) but earned 65% of total interactions, amounting to over 4.2 million.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><b>Several of these posts praised elderly homeowners in particular for shooting, and in some instances killing, alleged home intruders, with Rumble’s Steven Crowder captioning one such post “nice shot.”</b> Others celebrated instances when it was revealed that homeowners would not be charged for shooting and killing people who trespassed on their property. </div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Home invasion Facebook posts praising elderly</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Home invasion Facebook posts celebrating no charges</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Ideologically nonaligned Facebook pages shared 72% of posts (nearly 6,000), but earned only 30% of total interactions (nearly 2 million). Left-leaning pages shared only 3% of posts (about 200) and earned 5% of total interactions, amounting to 294,000.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Using CrowdTangle, Media Matters compiled a list of 1,773 Facebook pages that frequently posted about U.S. politics from January 1 to August 25, 2020. For an explanation of how we compiled pages and identified them as right-leaning, left-leaning, or ideologically nonaligned, see the methodology here. The resulting list consisted of 771 right-leaning pages, 497 ideologically nonaligned pages, and 505 left-leaning pages.   Using CrowdTangle, Media Matters compiled all posts about home invasions from the pages</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">The NRA earned 17% of total interactions on Facebook posts about home invasions in the last year, despite sharing just 0.1% of them</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">The NRA's official Facebook page earned the most total interactions on posts about home invasions during the time frame studied. The page earned over 1.1 million total interactions on just 9 such posts, meaning the NRA shared just 0.1% of Facebook posts about home invasions from U.S. news and politics pages over the last year, but earned 17% of total interactions. </div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">After the NRA, the 6 Facebook pages that earned the most total interactions on posts about home invasions were pages for right-wing outlets, organizations, and personalities. In order, they include Blue Lives Matter, Fox News, Breitbart, Ben Shapiro, Colion Noir, and TheBlaze</span>.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">home invasion other top 6 collage</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><b>The top 6 posts that earned the most total interactions were from the NRA, and all featured headlines praising homeowners for shooting alleged intruders. </b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">NRA Facebook posts about home invasions</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">The NRA has also run at least 115 ads on Meta platforms over the last year on an additional Facebook page. These ads endorsed midterm candidates it claimed would defend your “right to protect your home and family” and attacked candidates it claimed would “leave your family defenseless.” Facebook earned at least $500,000 on these ads, which reached an estimated audience of up to 60.9 million users.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">NRA Meta Ads home invasion</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Networks of Facebook pages operated by right-wing outlets amplified numerous stories praising homeowners for shooting, and in some instances killing, alleged home intruders</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Facebook has a history of profiting from networks of right-wing pages that exploit its platform to amplify various right-wing talking points — including conservative narratives around gun ownership. </div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><b>The Western Journal shared nearly 350 posts about<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> home invasions</span> in the last year across 19 Facebook pages, collectively earning nearly 160,000 total interactions</b>. Some of these posts featured an article praising a resident for sending suspects “running for their lives,” while others claimed, “You know what they say — real gun control means hitting your target. And this homeowner did just that.”</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Western Journal home invasion collage</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">TheBlaze shared 195 posts about home invasions in the last year across 10 Facebook pages, collectively earning more than 300,000 total interactions. Some of these posts featured an article claiming that “armed home invaders wearing ski masks” shot a homeowner, but that homeowner also had a gun and shot “both crooks dead.” Others featured an article headlined, “Video: It’s all smiles before crooks invade home; seconds later it’s all backsides as they run for their lives from homeowner firing ‘AK-47-style’ gun at them.”</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">TheBlaze collage of home invasion posts</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">The Daily Wire’s network shared 160 posts about home invasions in the last year across 7 Facebook pages, collectively earning at least 285,000 total interactions on these posts — some of which cited “castle doctrine” as protecting a woman in Texas who fatally shot an alleged home invader.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">The Daily Wire home invasion collage</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Fox News shared 24 posts about home invasions in the last year across 3 Facebook pages, collectively earning more than 200,000 total interactions. Some of these posts praised elderly homeowners for turning the tables on suspected home invaders.</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">
</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Fox News home invasion collage</div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">Methodology...</div></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1120 an</font></p><h1 class="widgetheadline h1" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em; font-family: Helvetica; color: rgb(31, 31, 31); cursor: pointer; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="widgetheadline-text custom-post-headline" href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/florida-governor-ron-desantis/" aria-label="Here's why Ron DeSantis' new stand-your-ground proposal is so disturbing" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; font-family: " open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" word-break="word-break" break-word="break-word" overflow-wrap="overflow-wrap" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height"> why Ron DeSantis' new stand-your-ground proposal is so disturbi</a>ng</h1><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/07/27/alecs-pr-man-has-a-dark-past-as-spin-doctor-for-african-dictators/">https://www.exposedbycmd.org<b>/2021/07/</b>27/alecs-pr-man-has-a-dark-past-as-spin-doctor-for-african-dictators/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has a history of

defending controversial and harmful legislation, but the man behind

ALEC’s public relations machine, Bill Meierling, has defended actions

far worse than anything done by ALEC.</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Two of Africa’s most

notorious dictators hired Meierling to downplay their abuses of power

and build political support for their <b>authoritarian regimes: Equatorial

Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and Democratic Republic of

Congo’s Joseph Kabila.</b></font></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meierling helped set up the information

ministry of Equatorial Guinea for the country’s tyrant, Obiang, and in

the Democratic Republic of Congo he advocated for Joseph Kabila’s

illegal attempt at a third term as president.</font></span></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A “former member of

ALEC who grew disillusioned with the organization” sourced the materials

for this story to the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), which were

confirmed through Foreign Agent Registration Act filings. Anyone

representing the interests of a foreign government has to register as a

lobbyist and disclose their activities.</font></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Meierling officially <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilhelm-meierling-b534a17" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">joined</a>

ALEC in January 2013 </b>as executive vice president for external relations

and strategic partnerships. As head of the group’s spin machine, he has

since retained that role and become the chief marketing officer.

Meierling “<a href="https://www.alec.org/person/wilhelm-meierling/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">manages</a>

crisis response and provides senior level counsel to investor-,

government-, and public relations divisions of Fortune 500 member

companies regarding state and federal advocacy; environmental, social

and governance (ESG) activism; and other concerns.”</font></span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Meierling, ALEC found an experienced propagandist who led the organization through a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/03/alec-funding-crisis-big-donors-trayvon-martin" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">donor crisis and member exodus</a> when its promotion of “<a href="https://www.alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Shoot_First_Bills" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">Stand Your Ground</a>”

legislation was tied to the death of the unarmed Black teenager <b>Trayvon

Martin.</b> He managed PR when Google’s executive chairman <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2014/09/22/google-were-parting-with-the-climate-change-skeptics-at-alec/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">said</a>

ALEC was “literally lying” about the climate emergency, and when

corporations again dropped ALEC for its keynote speaker David Horowitz’s

<a href="https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2018/09/17/verizon-dumps-alec-denounces-speaker-racist/" data-wpel-link="internal">racist and bigoted remarks</a> at a 2018 annual meeting.</font></span></p><h2><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Meierling Assisted in Equatorial Guinea Propaganda Campaign</b></font></h2><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Before joining ALEC, Meierling <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/wilhelm-meierling-b534a17" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">ran</a> his own PR firm, OpinionMakers International. Through OpinionMakers, he was hired in 2007 as a<b> <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/fara2.opensecrets.org/5789-Exhibit-AB-20070129-1.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">subcontractor</a>

of lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates</b> to work for the Equatorial

Guinea government and President Teodoro Obiang. He was paid handsomely,

raking in $15,000 a month in fees for his firm. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Cassidy and Associates

made headlines with their work for Obiang when an executive <a href="https://apjjf.org/-Ken-Silverstein/2461/article.html" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">bragged</a> about how they were able to get Obiang off Parade Magazine’s top ten list of worst dictators. Obiang only “improved” to being <a href="http://www.dallariva.org/csumba/mba602/Sum08/The%20World's%20Worst%20Dictators.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">ranked</a> the world’s 13<sup>th</sup> worst dictator.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meierling fondly recounted his time in Equatorial Guinea in an <a href="https://www.lyonspr.com/campaigns/humans-in-pr/bill-meierling-humans-in-pr/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">interview</a>,

saying, “I was brought there in the mid 2000’s to help train them and

help prop up the information ministry within the country.” The Ministry

to which he referred is not so much one of information as it is

propaganda.<b> In its <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/FOTP%202007%20Full%20Report.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">2007 Freedom of the Press Report</a>,

the organization Freedom House described Equatorial Guinea as having

“virtually no independent media” and stated that “all domestic radio and

television stations are owned directly by the government or by the

president’s family</b>. State-owned media are dominated by sycophantic

coverage of the government and the president.” <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The country still <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/equatorial-guinea/freedom-world/2020" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">ranks at the bottom</a> of Freedom House’s rankings with no independent journalism or freedom of speech.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The coverage by state run media is so atrocious, a presidential aide once compared President Obiang to God </b>while on a <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3098007.stm" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">radio interview</a>

in 2003. “He [Obiang] can decide to kill without anyone calling him to

account and without going to hell because it is God himself, with whom

he is in permanent contact, and who gives him this strength,” said the

aide. Obiang uses the state controlled media to stay in office, most

recently <a href="http://saharareporters.com/2016/04/26/equatorial-guinea%E2%80%99s-dictator-win-election-landslide-following-crackdown-media-and-civil" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">in 2016</a> when he won a sham election with over 90 percent of the vote.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It

was just an incredible opportunity to build something from the ground

up and to work in a developing nation with the people and the government

that was really interested in growing, changing, and telling their

story,” Meierling said of <a href="https://www.lyonspr.com/campaigns/humans-in-pr/bill-meierling-humans-in-pr/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">his work</a> in Equatorial Guinea.</font></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As part of that job, Meierling specifically worked to spin the dictator’s dismal human rights record.</font></span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In August of 2007, Meierling <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/5789-Supplemental-Statement-20080204-2.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">wrote</a>

a press release highlighting a visit by the United Nations Working

Group on Arbitrary Detentions and the Equatorial Guinea’s supposed

progress on “deprivation of liberty” and other human rights abuses.</font></span></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Whatever

progress allegedly occurred, however, was short-lived. In October of

2007, opposition party member Salvador Ndong Nguema <a href="https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2008/af/118999.htm" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">died</a> from injuries after being tortured in prison.</font></span></p><p><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Later

in 2010, four political opponents of President Obiang were abducted by

Equatorial Guinean security forces in Benin after fleeing the country

years earlier. They were held in the notorious Black Beach prison, where

they allegedly confessed to a 2009 attempted coup. The military

executed them after a brief military trial. Human rights observers <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2010/08/guinea-ecuatorial-ejecuta-cuatro-hombres/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">viewed the military trial as a sham</a> and believed the men were coerced to confess after being tortured.</font></b></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Meierling also consulted with Equatorial Guinea on the development of its oil industry.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> In 2008, he wrote a <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/5789-Supplemental-Statement-20080204-2.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">press release</a> for the government highlighting a trip by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) to the country’s new liquefied natural gas facility.</span> A <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210324020251/https:/digitalstrategies.org/an-introduction-to-digital-strategies-for-healthcare-executives/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">biography</a>

on Meierling for another PR firm that was recently removed described

his work on the project and touted his connections to the Obiang regime.

“When the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and <b>Marathon Oil </b>sought

American support for construction of the world’s largest LNG export

train from Bioko, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea to Elba Island, Georgia, the

African nation’s leadership turned to him,” it said.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While the

country’s oilfields have proven to be plentiful, the average citizen of

Equatorial Guinea still lives in poverty. Despite having a per capita

gross domestic product higher than that of Brazil and China, the country

ranks <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f4d0e2d0-1cc9-11ea-97df-cc63de1d73f4" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">141st out of 189</a> on the United Nations Human Development Index.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Meierling has also worked for Obiang’s son, Teodorin, directly. In March, Meierling’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210324020251/https:/digitalstrategies.org/an-introduction-to-digital-strategies-for-healthcare-executives/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">website</a>

listed Teodorin and his girlfriend at the time, Eve, as former clients

for “reputation” management services, but the content has since been

removed</b>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Teodorin has been the subject of numerous corruption

investigations, and has assets have been seized by U.S., French, Swiss,

and Brazilian authorities based on what the U.S. Justice Department

characterized as “<a href="https://www.voanews.com/africa/supercars-houses-and-suits-equatorial-guineas-teodorin-obiang" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">relentless embezzlement</a>.”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to a <a href="https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FOREIGNCORRUPTIONREPORTFINAL710.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">2010 U.S. Senate investigation</a>,</font></p><blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From

2004 to 2008, Teodoro [Teodorin] Nguema Obiang Mangue, son of the

President of Equatorial Guinea, has used U.S. lawyers, bankers, real

estate agents, and escrow agents to move over $110 million in suspect

funds into the United States. Mr. Obiang is the subject of an ongoing

U.S. criminal investigation, has been identified in corruption

complaints filed in France, and was a focus of a 2004 Subcommittee

hearing showing how Riggs Bank facilitated officials from Equatorial

Guinea in opening accounts and engaging in suspect transactions.</font></p></blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The

report attributed the success of Obiang and his family’s ability to

embezzle funds to the help they received from numerous lawyers,

lobbyists, and consultants to gain influence.</font></p><h2><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Meierling Assisted Congo Dictator in Misinformation Campaign to Keep Him in Office</b></font></span></h2><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">In 2017, while working in his current capacity as chief marketing officer for ALEC, Meierling <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/fara2.opensecrets.org/6476-Short-Form-20171012-4.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">was paid $20,000 per month</a> for public relations work by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). </span>Meierling <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/fara2.opensecrets.org/6476-Short-Form-20171012-4.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">described</a>

the work done through a company called How Handy is That LLC as

“strategic communications services” and reported that he would be

“writing for, advising or representing the foreign principal.”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6476-Informational-Materials-20180607-1.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">Documents</a> disclosed in compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act show a series of op-eds appearing in the <i>Washington Times</i>

in 2017, many of which attack Moise Katumbi, a candidate who was

running in opposition to DRC President Joseph Kabila. While the articles

are labeled as “sponsored,” none of them disclose the DRC government as

the sponsor. One of the pieces authored by Meierling describes the

electoral situation in the DRC as follows:</font></p><blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As

President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

readies his country and its government for Congo’s next free and fair

national election, some of the very opposition groups with whom he

worked to arrange next year’s vote are coordinating with powerful forces

outside of DRC who are deploying millions of dollars in foreign money

to influence its outcome, undermine its integrity and financially

benefit from its aftermath.</font></p></blockquote><p><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meierling brazenly

misinformed readers about the elections in the DRC when he described

them as being “free and fair.” At the time, Kabila was illegally holding

office, as his constitutionally limited two terms had expired in 2016.</font></b></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kabila’s government <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/17/drc-delays-election-to-2018-despite-opposition-anger" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">delayed</a>

the presidential election until 2018, claiming to need more time to

update the country’s voter registry. Protests erupted in response to the

delay, and the United Nations <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/10/17/drc-delays-election-to-2018-despite-opposition-anger" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">reported</a> that <b>government security forces killed 49 protesters.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The group Journalists in Danger “<a href="https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo-2018.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external noopener noreferrer">reported</a>

121 cases of attacks on media from November 2017 to October [2018] and

attributed 77 percent of these attacks to government agents, including

nearly half to state security forces.”</font></p><p><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meierling is not currently registered as a foreign agent.</font></b></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CMD reached out to ALEC for comment twice for this piece and received no response.</font></p></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="n fn"><span class="full-name"><span class="given-name" style="font-weight: normal;"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>=</b></p></span></span></span></font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1219</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><div><h3 class="magcat-titlte entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: 1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/george-zimmerman-sues-trayvon-martins-family-attorney-publisher-and-others-for-100-million/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.4;"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">George Zimmerman sues Trayvon Martin’s family, attorney, publisher and others for $100 million</font></a><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/george-zimmerman-sues-trayvon-martins-family-attorney-publisher-and-others-for-100-million/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; display: block; letter-spacing: 0px; line-height: 1.4;"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" /></a><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/marissa-higgins/" title="Posts by Marissa Higgins" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="text-align: right; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Marissa Higgins</a><span style="text-align: right;"> </span><span style="text-align: right;">/</span><span style="text-align: right;"> </span><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/daily-kos/" title="Posts by Daily Kos" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="text-align: right; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Daily K</a>os</font></font></font></font></h3></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></font></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman">1. <b>Missouri Legalizes Shooting People for Being in Your Section</b></font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Feeling the Castle Doctrine defined “castle” too narrowly, Missouri State Representative Joe Don McGaugh proposed a bill allowing any citizen to use deadly force to protect against unlawful entry of private property. “This is a common sense extension of the law that would empower a nanny or babysitter, or anyone with the owner’s permission to occupy a property, to defend himself or herself against an intruder,” he said.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Unfortunately, McGaugh didn’t write his bill very carefully, and the Missouri House ended up passing a law that endorses use of deadly force by anyone pretty much anywhere. The bill allows for force by “occupants” of “private property"— conditions written so loosely that occupants could refer to a diner or a baseball game attendee or someone watching a movie, while invasion could mean anybody they feel intruding on whatever property they happen to be on.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As Think Progress <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/05/07/3435145/missouri-house-passes-bill-that-could-authorize-the-babysitter-the-bar-patron-and-the-grocery-shopper-to-use-deadly-force/" style="">explained</a> <span class="print-footnote" style="">[3]</span>, the bill is basically Stand Your Ground, except it replaces the threat of immediate physical harm with the feeling of invasion. Feel threatened in a business by someone you don’t think belongs there? Take out your gun and start shooting. Or, <a href="http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/laboratories-of-democracy-050814" style="">to quote Charles Pierce</a> <span class="print-footnote" style="">[4]</span>, “If you're at a Royals game, don't even think about moving down to the really good seats unless you feel lucky, punk.”</font></font></font></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></font></div><h1 class="title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ALEC Ratified NRA-Conceived Law That May Protect Trayvon Martin's Killer</font></font></font></font></h1><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">

</font></font></font><div id="content-content" class="content-content"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">

</font></font></font><div id="node-11366" class="node odd full-node node-type-news_article"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">

</font></font></font><div class="inner"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">

</font></font></font><div class="meta"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font style="font-weight: normal;" size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="submitted"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Submitted by <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/users/35275/brendan-fischer" title="View user profile.">Brendan Fischer</a> on March 21, 2012 - 6:06pm</font></span></font></font></font></div>

<p> 

A Florida law that may protect the man who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February is the template for an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) "model bill" that has been pushed in other states. The bill was brought to ALEC by the National Rifle Association (NRA), and fits into a pattern of ALEC bills that disproportionately impact communities of color.</p>

<p>

Florida's "stand your ground," or "castle doctrine," law could prevent the prosecution of George Zimmerman, the 28-year-old “neighborhood watch” vigilante who shot the unarmed Martin as the teen returned from a trip to 7-11 with an iced tea and a pack of Skittles. The <a href="http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0776/Sections/0776.013.html" title="reference on law" target="_blank">law</a>, also pushed by its supporters under the name the “Castle Doctrine,” changes state criminal justice and civil law codes by giving legal immunity to a person who uses "deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony." It also bars the deceased's family from bringing a civil suit.

Evidence suggests a major reason Zimmerman thought he needed to use deadly force against the unarmed Martin is because the teen was black -- on the recording of Zimmerman's call to 911 (which he made before pursuing the teen), he is heard using what sounds like a racial epithet and <a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/19/trayvon-martins-killing-was-the-motive-self-defense-or-racism/#ixzz1pmWCxXE4" title="reference on saying" target="_blank">saying</a> "he’s a black male…Something’s wrong with him…These aholes, they always get away.” Zimmerman has not been charged with any crime.</p>

<p>

As Media Matters <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203210004" title="reference on reported earlier" target="blank">reported earlier</a>, Florida's "stand your ground" law is nearly identical to the ALEC <a href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/7/7e/7J2-Castle_Doctrine_Act_Exposed.PDF" title="reference on Castle Doctrine Act" target="blank">Castle Doctrine Act</a>.

From the <a href="http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0776/Sections/0776.013.html" title="reference on Florida law" target="_blank">Florida law</a>:</p>

<p>(3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>And from the <a href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/7/7e/7J2-Castle_Doctrine_Act_Exposed.PDF" title="reference on ALEC model" target="_blank">ALEC model</a>:</p>

<p>(3) A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another, or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.</p>

</blockquote>

Florida Senator Durell Peadon, an ALEC member, <a href="http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=15498" title="reference on introduced" target="blank">introduced</a> the law in his state and it passed in early 2005; the NRA was <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/05/01/nra_plans_to_push_expanded_gun_law_beyond_florida/" title="reference on behind the bill" target="blank">behind the bill</a> and its lobbyist Marion Hammer <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/Retreat_from_NRA%27s_force_St.Petersburg_Time.DOC" title="reference on reportedly" target="blank">reportedly</a> "stared down legislators as they voted." After Governor Jeb Bush signed it into law, Hammer <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/NRA_2005.png" title="reference on presented the bill" target="_blank">presented the bill</a> to ALEC's Criminal Justice Task Force (now known as the Public Safety and Elections Task Force) months later.

As the Center for Media and Democracy has uncovered, the NRA <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/NRA_2005.png" title="reference on boasted" target="blank">boasted</a> that "[h]er talk was well-received," and the corporations and state legislators on the Task Force voted unanimously to approve the bill as an ALEC model. As CMD and Common Cause have noted, ALEC Task Force meetings are <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1102489--america-s-secret-political-power" title="reference on closed to the press and public" target="blank">closed to the press and public</a>, but corporations and ideological special interests or trade groups like the NRA vote as equals with elected officials. At the time, as CMD has documented, <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20050810000953/http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/0805/08alec.html" title="reference on Wal-Mart was the corporate co-chair of the Task Force" target="blank">Wal-Mart was the corporate co-chair of the Task Force</a>. Since becoming an ALEC model, 16 states have passed laws that contain provisions identical or similar to the ALEC "Castle Doctrine Act." In 2007 it was passed in four states and <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20081106040540/http:/www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Legislative_Scorecard" title="reference on highlighted" target="blank">highlighted</a> by ALEC on their "legislative scorecard," as discovered by Common Cause.

<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/11/11107/18-arrested-wisconsin-assembly-using-cameras-guns-still-allowed" title="reference on In 2011" target="blank">In 2011</a>, controversial governor and ALEC alum Scott Walker signed into law in Wisconsin a Castle Doctrine bill that echoes the ALEC bill in key elements. On March 3 of this year, 20-year-old college student Bo Morrison was <a href="http://fox6now.com/2012/03/21/district-attorney-issues-no-charges-in-slinger-shooting/" title="reference on shot and killed" target="blank">shot and killed</a> by a homeowner in Slinger, Wisconsin as the young man hid from police after attending an underage drinking party. <a href="http://fox6now.com/2012/03/21/district-attorney-issues-no-charges-in-slinger-shooting/" title="reference on Because of the Castle Doctrine" target="_blank">Because of the Castle Doctrine</a>, no charges will be filed in the shooting. Like Trayvon Martin, Bo Morrison was black.</p>

<h2>Codifying Racial Bias</h2>

<p>“The 'Stand Your Ground' law is a license to kill,’’ former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey <a href="http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46805726/ns/today-today_people/t/trayvon-martins-parents-trust-friends-phone-call/#.T2oKwGJWrtI" title="reference on told" target="_blank">told</a> NBC News, noting that the number of "justifiable homicides" in Florida has tripled since the law was passed in 2005.

The Castle Doctrine and its "stand your ground" provisions give license for people to engage in vigilantism without liability. As such, the ALEC bill can put the decision to take a life in the hands of a person whose fears are motivated by prejudice and racial bias. The law establishes a <em>presumption</em> that a person acted in self-defense if a killer claims they had a reasonable fear of bodily harm, but in situations like the killing of Trayvon Martin, where there were few eyewitnesses other than the alleged killer and the person who is killed, the presumption of immunity can be very difficult to rebut. In those circumstances, unfounded fear based on racial prejudice that leads to murder could end up being protected under the law.

If the ALEC "Castle Doctrine Act" opens the door for racial bias to be protected under the criminal justice system, the ALEC model "Voter ID Act" may sanction racial prejudice in the electoral system.</p>

</div>

</div>