Free Republic

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -- Madison’s Metro Transit won’t stop running during the coronavirus outbreak, but the bus service is drastically cutting back on the number of passengers who will be allowed on any given line and will eventually draw back the number of routes it runs in a day. Starting Wednesday, Metro Transit will cap the number of passengers allowed on the bus to 15 riders. It is asking people to take the bus for essential trips, for example: if they are going to work, a medical appointment, or the grocery store. In all other cases, passengers should try to...

A Metro Transit police officer has been arrested and charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State, marking the first time a U.S. law enforcement officer has been accused of trying to aid the terrorist group. Nicholas Young, 36, of Fairfax, Va., was arrested Wednesday morning at Metropolitan Police Headquarters in Washington and his employment was terminated. Young, at the request of an undercover federal agent, sent codes for mobile messaging cards that Young believed would be used by Islamic State fighters overseas to communicate, according to an indictment filed in federal court in Alexandria, Va.

A Somali Muslim Metro Transit driver, 32-year-old Mahmud Dabshir Aden of Minneapolis, who came to the U.S. as a ‘refugee’ from Somalia 8 years ago, was arrested by Metro Transit Police for refusing to let a pregnant teenage girl off the bus, exposing himself, and demanding oral sex, according to the criminal complaint filed.Star Tribune /TopRightNews Aden was charged with soliciting for prostitution, a felony that carries a sentence of as much as 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $50,000. He is being held pending his next court appearance Monday afternoon. (That’s all? He exposed himself to...

In a reversal of an earlier decision, Metro Transit said Thursday it would not allow a bus ad alleging "Israeli war crimes," saying a flood of comments has convinced officials that service could be disrupted. The ad, purchased by the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, ties alleged Israeli war crimes to U.S. military aid. The ad had been set to run for a month on the sides of 12 buses starting next week. Metro also rejected proposals for two counter ads. "The escalation of this issue from one of 12 local bus placards to a widespread and often vitriolic international debate...

KING5 photo King County Executive Dow Constantine on Thursday temporarily suspended all non-commercial advertising on Metro Buses following complaints about a planned bus ad that criticized Israel.The ads from the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign read "Israeli War Crimes Your Tax Dollars At Work."In a statement, Constantine said he approved an interim policy that bans accepting any new non-commercial ads. The anti-Israel ads, which were to start appearing on buses in Seattle after Christmas, have been rejected, Constantine said."The escalation of this issue from one of 12 local bus placards to a widespread and often vitriolic international debate introduces new...

Supporters of Israel mounted an impressive campaign this week to try and prevent Seattle buses from running anti-Israel advertisements, sending over 1,800 email messages to local government council members and to the bus company involved. The planned advertisements show a group of Arab children standing near a bombed-out building and carry the text: "Israeli War Crimes: your tax dollars at work." The ads are supposed to appear on at least 12 buses that run through downtown Seattle, starting December 27, the second anniversary of the Cast Lead counter-terror campaign mounted by Israel after eight years in which Gaza terrorists shelled...

Seattle's Metro bus agency, a public entity, set off a controversy by accepting anti-Israel advertising to run on the sides of its busses. The ads were sponsored by a group calling itself the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, run by a veteran anti-Israel protestor Ed Mast, also known as an activist in the terrorist-linked  International Solidarity Movement (ISM). Because Seattle has a history of antisemitic violence by jihadists (local media called the murderous gunman who invaded the Jewish Federation in Seattle 5 years ago "mentally ill," but he was unmistakably a jihadist), the bus ads set off a wave of fear...

SEATTLE – "Israeli War Crimes," the enormous advertisement reads. "Your tax dollars at work." Do you think Metro should allow the signs on its buses?

SEATTLE – "Israeli War Crimes," the enormous advertisement reads. "Your tax dollars at work." To the right of the image is a group of children -- one little boy stares out at the viewer, the others gawk at a demolished building, all rebar and crumbled concrete. It's an ad you'll be seeing soon on a handful of Metro buses in downtown Seattle. A group calling itself the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign has paid King County $1,794 so that 12 buses will carry that message around town, starting two days after Christmas. That's December 27: the two-year anniversary of Israeli attacks...

A city bus driver who complained about a gay-themed ad got official permission not to drive any bus that carries that ad, according to an internal memo confirmed Tuesday by Metro Transit. Transit authorities call it a reasonable accommodation to the driver's religious beliefs. Amalgamated Transit Unit Local 1005 officials at the bus company say it condones intolerance; besides, drivers never have been excused from other buses carrying ads they found objectionable - from political candidates to pink bras. Requests for religion-based considerations are increasingly in the news, as workplace observers say more Americans bring their faiths to their jobs....