Tag Archive for 'Seattle'

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Seattle Weekly slams Seattle mayor Mike McGinn

Published on July 15, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in Backpage and Prostitution and Human Trafficking. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Who’s Fooling Mike McGinn?:

I really would like to know what it takes to work for Village Voice Media. Do you have to swear fealty to the head of VVM? Do you have to fill out your application in the blood of virgins? Is there a reprogramming system that rewires your brain to support human trafficking? Are their families being threatened in a Mafia-like way? Or is it just plain greed?

Anyway Seattle Weekly Editor-In-Chief, Mike Seely, has poison penned this column in response to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn pulling city ads from Seattle Weekly. Again, Seattle Weekly is another propaganda arm of Village Voice Media.

As usually Seely attacks the statistics that allegedly say that 100-300K children are being trafficked in the country per year. VVM says the number is more like in the hundreds.

Does it really matter if it’s in the hundreds or hundreds of thousands? Children are being trafficked and they are being trafficked on backpage which as we all know is owned by Village Voice Media.

However many millions of dollars that VVM says that they’re spending to review their ads it’s obviously not enough. It must not be anywhere near the millions that they’re making on the ads that traffic women and children.

Face up to reality people. It’s all about the money. VVM is not taking a stand because of some First Amendment issue. It’s all about the money they make off the ads. Without the money made on the backs and knees of women and children VVM has a better than average chance of going out of business. So basically they’re taking out their flawed business plans on the women and children being trafficked on their sites. You know, like an actual pimp would do.

Backpage crime post #136
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #722

Seattle mayor pulls city ads from Village Voice Media paper

Published on July 11, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in Backpage and Prostitution and Human Trafficking. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Mayor Mike McGinn

McGinn orders city to suspend ads in Seattle Weekly:

Seattle mayor Mike McGinn has ordered that all ads placed by the city to be pulled from the Seattle Weekly. That’s the Seattle propaganda arm of Village Voice Media. The ads result in roughly $158K which I’m sure would be a blow to the cash strapped VVM. McGinn has ordered the ads pulled because of the prostitution and human trafficking ads on backpage.com.

Again an agent of VVM tries to act like they’re at the forefront of combatting human trafficking.

“I don’t know how that constitutes game-playing,” said Andy Van De Voorde, executive associate editor for Village Voice Media, speaking from Denver. He said the numbers used by activists were exaggerated and have been “subjected to so little scrutiny.”

He added: “We have never downplayed the seriousness of teenage prostitution.”

Van De Voorde said, “We have more than 100 people whose sole job is to screen ads.” And they notify law-enforcement authorities whenever they suspect anything illegal, he said.

You downplay the seriousness of child prostitution just by having the ads on backpage. I know they know this. The problem is that VVM relies so much on the money made from these ads they will not go as quietly as craigslist did. Craigslist used the ads mostly for traffic before they started charging for them which eventually led to them shutting the ads down even though they appear in other places of craigslist but I digress.

Also if 100 VVM employees are scrutinizing ads for illegal activity it’s obvious they’re not doing enough. They’re probably doing what craigslist did and are only pulling the ads that would make them somehow legally responsible.

It comes down to this. The reason that VVM keeps saying that the statistics of children being trafficked in the US is overinflated is because their salaries depend on it.

Backpage crime post #134
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #720

Ashton Kutcher a fan of Seattle mayor

Published on July 9, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in Backpage and Prostitution and Human Trafficking. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher stands with Seattle Mayor McGinn:

Speaking of Seattle mayor Mike McGinn (because we were, you know) it seems that Ashton Kutcher has become a fan of his after Mayor McGinn issued his recent letter targeting the Village Voice Media owned backpage.com.

Mr. Kutcher tweeted the following to his 7 million plus Twitter followers last week…

“I think every mayor should take human trafficking as serious as @mayormcginn in seattle http://t.co/BaxIDoz #dna”

The #dna hashtag refers to the Demi and Ashton Foundation which was started to help combat human trafficking. The same foundation that Village Voice Media has said is relying on faulty human trafficking stats. VVM would say that since they make so much money from prostitution and human trafficking ads on backpage.

It’s refreshing to see a celebrity endorse a politician over an actual cause and not just because it’s in line with the Hollywood group think.

Backpage crime post #131
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #717

Seattle mayor targets Backpage

Published on July 8, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in Backpage and Prostitution and Human Trafficking. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Mayor Mike McGinn

Seattle mayor, police target Village Voice classifieds:

I occasionally chide Seattle for being overly liberal and overrun with filthy hippies. Sometimes, as in this case, it’s not a bad thing. Seattle and King County have been two jurisdictions that have been at the forefront of taking an active role in the fight against human trafficking.

So it comes as no surprise that in the wake of the Ashton Kutcher/Village Voice fight Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has issued a letter to Village Voice Media (PDF Format) asking them to a sit down with Seattle police in order to help better fight human trafficking.

Also not surprising is that the Seattle Weekly (Village Voice Media’s Seattle propaganda arm) is acting like they’re actually combating human trafficking…

Seattle Weekly’s Editor-In-Chief, Mike Seely, said he’s pleased Mayor Mike McGinn is concerned about sex trafficking and underage prostitution, but noted Village Voice Media has been working to combat it longer than Kutcher has.

Seely said the “majority of Backpage.com’s employees are charged with making sure inappropriate or illegal adult or personal content either doesn’t make it onto the site or is reported to the proper authorities or advocacy organizations, such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.”

If this is true, which I doubt it is, I hate to see the ads that don’t make it on to backpage. That’s the thing though, I doubt every single claim made by Mr. Seely.

This is a black and white and issue for most of the world. You’re either against human trafficking or you’re not. By leaving the adult and escort ads on their site backpage and Village Voice Media is showing that they’re not. There is no spin to sexual slavery.

Backpage crime post #130
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #716

(I apologize for the delay in posting this story)

19-year-old girl accused of being Backpage child pimp

Published on June 26, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in Backpage and Prostitution and Human Trafficking. Closed Tags: , , , , .

Charge: 19-year-old Seattle woman pimped girl:

Why is it that women who sell other women are referred to as the classier moniker ‘Madam’ while guys are just pimps? Both are nothing more than human traffickers.

For example take 19-year-old Micayla Michelle Fourhorns of Seattle. She’s been arrested and held on $100K bond for allegedly prostituting a 17-year-old girl on the Village Voice Media owned backpage.com.

Human trafficking and child prostitution crosses all gender and race categories. It’s obviously something that just doesn’t happen in third world countries. It’s happening in your backyard too.

As usual though this once again shows that backpage’s so-called safeguards are a load of crap because time after time underage girls are being peddled on their site. So backpage, do you really have any safeguards or are you just full of shit?

Backpage crime post #126
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #711

Runaway backpage pimp sentenced

Published on April 1, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in Backpage and Prostitution and Human Trafficking. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Baruti Hopson

Convicted Seattle pimp who fled during trial sentenced to 26 years:

I originally posted about Baruti Hopson here. He’s the backpage pimp from Seattle who was convicted of prostituting a minor but fled before he could be sentenced.

Now he’s been sentenced to 26 years behind bars but it’s not just child prostitution that Hopson was good at but he also allegedly tried to get his victim not to testify…

Hopson also attempted to persuade the girl not to testify against him in messages he sent to the MySpace.com account he’d set up for her, the judge was told Tuesday.

The girl’s mother read aloud some of the messages in court: “Jesus Christ our King has ordered your silence” and “Don’t show up — that’s an order from God,” Hopson allegedly wrote.

Not surprising at all since pimps and traffickers often use the threats of violence to keep their victims in line.

However what’s more saddening is that Hopson’s parents thought the sentence was too harsh…

Responding to comments from Hopson’s parents that Hopson should get a light sentence because he didn’t kill or hurt anyone, Hayden said: “All I heard … is it’s not as bad as murder. … Perhaps it’s worse than murder.”

Considering he raped and prostituted a girl when she was 15 and 16 it was probably worse than murder to his victim.

The fight isn’t over yet. Help spread the word on craigslist and backpage crime by winning a free CraigsCrimeList T-Shirt.

Backpage crime post #102
Prostitution/Human Trafficking Post #689

Seattle has a runaway backpage pimp

Published on January 31, 2011 by Trench Reynolds in Backpage and Prostitution and Human Trafficking. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Baruti Hopson

Pimp convicted — but not to be found:

32-year-old Baruti Hopson of Seattle was convicted of prostituting an underage girl on the Village Voice Media owned backpage.com. The problem is he wasn’t there to hear his conviction. He testified in his own defense but since he was out on bail he decided to just skip the verdict. So now he has the new charge of being a fugitive to look forward to.

Hopson’s victim was a runaway who he took in then turned her out on the streets or in this case backpage.

Hopson’s case was the first heard under new Washington laws that increase the maximum sentences for child traffickers.

Under the enhanced legislation, pimps face standard sentences of seven to 10 years, up from roughly two, if the victim is under 18. Hopson faces a prison sentence of 20 to 26 years once he’s captured.

How sad is it that the sentencing was recently just two measly years for traffickers? It’s even sadder that the new law only gives them seven years? The saddest thing of all is that Village Voice Media keeps counting their mountains of cash while these girls are sold and traded on their website.

In 10 years Geebo.com never had a trafficking ad.’

The fight isn’t over yet. Help spread the word on craigslist and backpage crime by winning a free CraigsCrimeList T-Shirt.

Backpage crime post #85
Prostitution/Human Trafficking post #666

Seattle Juggalo pleads guilty to beating mentally ill man to death

Published on October 14, 2010 by Trench Reynolds in Juggalos. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Two transients plead guilty in fatal beating of mentally ill man:

I originally posted about Juggalo Steven Bauder and his non-juggalo friend Marcus Dennis here. They were both in trial for the hours long beating death of 25-year-old Noel Lopez.

Dennis believed that Lopez raped a 15-year-old female friend of his. Police say that Lopez liked the girl but the two never had any kind of sexual relationship. Bauder, considering himself a ‘street enforcer’ assisted Dennis with beating Lopez to death.

Two weeks after the trial started the pair have pleaded guilty to Noel Lopez’s death. In the terms of the plea they are facing a max of 26 years. If they would have been convicted of first degree murder they were looking at life sentences. The pair will be sentenced in early 2012.

Bauder also considered himself part of a group called Downtown Juggalos. Again, if you don’t want police to consider you a gang don’t all dress alike and have the same haircuts and commit murder. That’s what gangs do.

Seattle Juggalo gets ready to go to trial

Published on September 28, 2010 by Trench Reynolds in Juggalos. 7 Comments Tags: , , , .

Court case progresses in alleged ‘Juggalo’ attack:

It seems that we have another Juggalo getting ready to go up the river. This time it’s 25-year-old Steven D. Bauder from the Seattle area. Bauder and an accomplice, 22-year-old Marcus D. Dennis, are accused in the 2008 murder of 25-year-old Noel Lopez in a beating that was said to have taken hours.

The motive behind the crime seems to be that Bauder didn’t seem to care for the way that Lopez was treating his 15-year-old ‘street sister’ whatever the hell that means. So Bauder and Dennis took him to a construction site where they beat Lopez to death.

Bauder has bought into the gimmick so much he allegedly considers himself a ‘street enforcer’.

Again, I am not saying that all Juggalos are criminals but there seems to be a large number of you that believe the gimmick a bit too strongly. And it’s not the music that makes assclowns like Bauder into psychopaths. I’m sure he already was one.

Oregon man sentenced for craigslist child prostitution

Published on June 23, 2010 by Trench Reynolds in Craigslist and Prostitution and Human Trafficking. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Ore. man gets nearly 16 years for sex trafficking:

39-year-old Donnico T. Johnson of Portland, Oregon was sentenced to almost 16 years in federal prison on child prostitution and trafficking charges.

Johnson would traffic a 15-year-old Seattle girl between Portland and Seattle for the purposes of prostitution and of course he advertised the girl on craigslist.

I wonder if this means that craigslist will send a cease and desist letter to the federal government to stop linking craigslist to child prostitution.

Hell, for that matter where is my C&D from craigslist?