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GOP donor Anton Lazzaro sentenced to 21 years for sex trafficking minors in Minnesota

https://apnews.com/article/anton-tony-lazzaro-gop-operative-sex-trafficking-e4fc3e85fe5597b645e74d921246b963

A formerly well-connected GOP donor convicted of giving teenage girls gifts, alcohol and money in exchange for sex has been sentenced to 21 years in prison on sex trafficking charges in Minnesota.

GOP donor Anton Lazzaro sentenced to 21 years for sex trafficking minors in Minnesota

A formerly well-connected GOP donor convicted of giving teenage girls gifts, alcohol and money in exchange for sex was sentenced Wednesday to 21 years in prison on sex trafficking charges.

43 comments

Hazdaz

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kescusay

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I don't see it as actually working. The attempts to smear LGBTQ+ people as groomers only resonate with revolting bigots who want to believe that shit anyway. Everyone else seems to be recoiling from it in horror, especially the younger generations.

Hazdaz

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kescusay

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What I was trying to get at is that the younger generations don't seem to be as susceptible to it, but I see your point. We need to work our asses off to make the next election an overwhelming rejection of the hateful shitheads pushing this crap.

Hazdaz

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the younger generation don't seem to be as susceptible

Hard disagree. I'd go so far as to say they are more susceptible, quite frankly. You might be surrounded by people who follow the news and track politics. Those type of people are NOT typical. At all. Like, at all at all.

Plus there have been the stories in recent days of how a large number of young (teenagers) white males are joining right wing causes. That meam theyve been bamboozled.

kescusay

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More? The statistics I've seen seem to show otherwise. The bigots are extremely loud and have oversized political clout due to things like gerrymandering, but I don't think they have the numbers on their side with young people.

If I'm wrong, I'd like to know, though. Do you have credible sources showing a larger surge in bigotry vs. support among young people?

Hazdaz

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No idea if this link will work:

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=AB5stBj7haVZLtOIezEQKpPoYUJQljxXsw:1691687307326&q=young+white+males+joining+right+wing&tbm=nws&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_kZioytKAAxVKlIkEHfucDxMQ0pQJegQICxAB&biw=1728&bih=888&dpr=2.22

If not, simply google news articles with the keywords "young white males joining right wing"

kescusay

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Horrifying, but not exactly what I was looking for. There are, and always have been, young white men who are susceptible to the lure of fascism, and it's something we have to be vigilant against. But what I'm hoping you have - well, actually, I'm very much going you don't have this, but if you do, I'd prefer to know rather than not know - is actual statistics indicating that fascism is increasing in the younger generations, rather than decreasing.

ImFresh3x

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About 48 percent of Gen Z voters identify as a person of color, while the boomers they’re replacing in the electorate are 72 percent White. Gen Z voters are on track to be the most educated group in our history, and the majority of college graduates are now female. Because voting participation correlates positively with education, expect women to speak with a bigger voice in our coming elections. Gen Z voters are much more likely to cite gender fluidity as a value, and they list racism among their greatest concerns. Further, they are the least religious generation in our history.

https://archive.ph/3Ydkn

some_guy

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The difference is that the Left would have to stoop to their level to be effective at this game. It's the same reason I think we're ineffective at pushing back on rightwing violence. Only a handful of us are willing to commit violence.

While I support nazi-punchers, I myself do not punch nazis. I'd like to think I would, but I honestly wouldn't unless I feared for my safety. And for those who do it to protect the safety of marginalized groups, I applaud.

Hazdaz

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stereofony

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Speak for yourself. As a trans person, I stopped using Instagram entirely because it got to a point where every top level comment, regardless of the subject matter, was a transphobic one (even ones not even REMOTELY related to LGBTQ+ issues).

It was never like this before the recent GOP push in anti-queer rhetoric. It's the worst it's been in my life, tbh. Worse than when my peers used to casually call things "gay" as an insult. Because this time, the rhetoric is genocidal.

kescusay

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I didn't mean to downplay the harm caused by the hateful garbage they're spewing. My son is trans, and sees the same stuff you do on his Instagram.

All I was trying to express is that as aggressive and awful as it is, I see a lot of hope in the fact that the younger generations seem to be disgusted by it, rather than susceptible to it.

But I'll defer to your personal experience on this, though I desperately hope the next election will be a resounding rebuke against the "groomer" shit.

BuddyTheBeefalo

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List of Right-Wing Sexual Predators, Abusers, and Enablers

Hazdaz

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I think I've seen that list and it only gets longer every year. And yet with all that information, the Left can't come up with a good attack on these guys and taint their entire party as being a bunch of creeps.

EssentialCoffee

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Partly because the people supporting them are okay with this. Because it's their people doing it and their people are going to hurt the right people.

You can't logic someone out of a position they didn't logic themselves into.

some_guy

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Share this with those in denial: Who is really committing crimes against children?

Hazdaz

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Bonesince1997

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I think the Bill Clinton saga and guys like Anthony Weiner, to a much lesser degree, provided just enough ammo on this topic that the GOP was able to make a reverse argument. Not that it applies, the way they argue it. There's still a messaging problem, however, as you've mentioned clearly.

Hazdaz

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The way Democrats handle some of these issues typically only makes things worse. Look at how they bungled the Al Franken issue and forced the poor guy to step down even though he was a great communicator for the party and was one of the few Democrats that was quick on his feet to go on the offensive (not surprising since he was a comedian). Not saying the party should simply brush things under the rug, but for fucks sakes they over do things because of political correctness bullshit.

Hnazant

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Same with churches. They know, they just don't care.

tvbusy

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Or look at it another way: donate your way into GOP so that your crimes get overlooked.

Fapper_McFapper

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At this point is there any sane individual that doesn’t see the GOP for what it is? A criminal enterprise dabbling in treason, pedophilia, torture, rape, self service, and who are generally authoritarian pieces of shit.

Anyone voting Republican immediately gets written off by me as a piece of shit. You know why? Because you’re all insufferable, conceited pieces of shit. You should all be ashamed of yourselves, you’re not, but you should be.

DessertStorms

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Conservatives - always be projecting

PanaX

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Gaslight

Obstruct

Project

some_guy

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What a creepy looking guy. Also, what a creepy attitude:

“I take a lot of offense to the government and court’s notion that I perjured myself in this trial. ... Grooming behavior is the word you used,” he said. “If that’s the case, then I suppose anyone who gives someone a gift, whether it be a cheap gift or a million dollars, is grooming their companion for sex. OK? If that’s the standard that we’re going to apply, then I don’t know how there’s any standard to apply.”

No remorse.

Tarkcanis

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Yes, lets just skip over the minor and sex part of the whole thing.

Haus

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But his arrest fueled outrage among party activists.

TBF, the sun coming up in the morning fuels outrage among GOP activists.

HellAwaits

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not a drag queen

HLMenckenFan

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Every accusation is a confession with these people.

autotldr

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This is the best summary I could come up with:

They likened Lazzaro to financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was arrested in 2019 on federal charges accusing him of paying underage girls for massages and then abusing them at his homes in Florida and New York.

Lazzaro’s indictment in 2021 touched off a political firestorm that led to the downfall of Jennifer Carnahan as chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota.

Prosecutors argued during his trial that Lazzaro enlisted Castro Medina, who he initially paid for sex, to recruit other teenagers — preferably minors — who were white, small, vulnerable or “broken.” He often sent cars to take the girls to his luxury penthouse condo at the Hotel Ivy in downtown Minneapolis, they said.

Lazzaro also helped run the campaign of Republican Lacy Johnson, who failed to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, of Minnesota, in 2020.

Several recipients quickly donated those contributions to charity after the charges became public, including U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer, of Minnesota, who received $15,600 but suffered no repercussions.

The government put his net worth in a bond report at more than $2 million but said its calculations didn’t include his “extensive” but hard-to-trace cryptocurrency holdings.

I'm a bot and I'm open source!

utopianfiat

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Pedocon theory is a theory in the same way the theory of gravity is.

Maruki_Hurakami

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This guy's face is unsettling. His lips are the color of worms that die in a puddle.

xc2215x

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Glad he is going to prison.

Pratai

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Who’s protecting the children from the GOP?

TokenBoomer

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My love for you is like a truck, Lazzaro

Would you like some making f*ck, Lazzaro

My love for you is like a rock, Lazzaro

DarkDarkHouse

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Don’t suck any dicks on your way to prison!

havokdj

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Hopefully someone sex trafficks his butthole in prison for the next 21 years!

negativeyoda

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Dude sucks; full stop, but we can do better than prison rape jokes

Spendrill

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And I shall go you one further, the fact that a lot of people think that prison rape is some kind of justice is directly linked to the poor recidivism stats we have. (I'm in the UK and would like to see more Nordic style rehabilitation type policies.)

havokdj

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Oh he sucks all right, you can ask BUBBA how much he sucks ;)

In all honesty though, he would probably be killed before raped in prison. PREA is considered a worse violation than murder in today's prisons.

Razputinsgirth

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That doesn't sound like the trafficking I think of. Anyone know the legal definition in this case? Still a pos of course but doesn't sound like he's like selling them as sex slaves.. Just statutory prostitutes. In any case, fuck im

Bonesince1997

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He had a recruiter. Underage girls. And all paid for. The case was a federal one, too, and that has impacts.

Razputinsgirth

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Yikes, oh. Fuck depraved rich cunts

SinningStromgald

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https://www.justice.gov/humantrafficking

That gives a nice quick breakdown/definition of trafficking.

dragonflyteaparty

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"Human trafficking, also known as trafficking in persons, is a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts."

Seems like this falls under coercing.

Razputinsgirth

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Got it thanks for the clarification