news // no. 6 Fire 1n the disco! » Another fire breaks out in New West as police charge man for previous pier park damage Timothy Easling Contributor any news organizations have reported Donald Trump throughout his presidential term as refusing to condemn white supremacy. Yet in contradiction to these many outlets, Trump has repeatedly condemned white supremacy and disavowed any public support offered him from racist organizations. Agencies such as ABC have commented themselves along with allowing comments from characters such as Joe Biden: “He’s yet once to condemn white supremacy, the neo-Nazis. He hasn't condemned a darn thing.” Kamala Harris has also gone on the attack without a fact-check on CNN— among others: “The president of the Illustration by Athena Little United States, in the year of our lord 2020, refuses to condemn white supremacists.” While far from a complete summary of Trump's public condemnations of racism, here is a collection of quotes from over the years. “..David Duke just joined. A bigot, a racist, a problem.” - February 14, 2000 “David Duke endorsed me? Okay, alright, I disavow, okay?” - February 26, 2016 “T've disavowed David Duke all weekend long on Facebook, on Twitter, and obviously it's never enough.” - February 29, 2016 “T totally disavow the Ku Klux Klan. I totally disavow David Duke. Ultimately he got to the Ku Klux Klan, which obviously I'm going to disavow.” -March 3, 2016 CBS’ John Dickerson: “David Duke is saying to his supporters and followers, vote Jessica Berget Assistant Editor his year has not been easy on New Westminster. On top of COVID damaging both the food service and business sectors, the city has been subject to not one but two major fires—with 29 days between them. The September 13 New Westminster Pier Park fire was extinguished after 10 days. Another fire was reported at a Queensborough neighbourhood on October 12 in the plastic recycling plant and is now being treated as possibly suspicious. In an interview with CTV News, Assistant Deputy Chief Rob Dick said that surveillance videos are being investigated because “it was raining for the last two days quite heavily, no electrical outlets present,” to CTV News. “The fact that the fire started with no real cause, we are treating it asa suspicious fire at this point.” More than 40 firefighters, including some called in from Delta and Richmond, assisted with the extinguishing and were able to control the fire after several hours. Thankfully, this fire was not nearly as damaging as the one from last month, which is estimated to cost about $10 million to repair. theotherpress.ca According to New Westminster Police, a man has now been criminally charged for the fire at Pier Park which destroyed much of the pier and the iconic “W” statue. On October 13, Sean Warnick, a 49-year- old man, was charged with mischief to property over $5000 and damaging property with arson. He has since been released from custody with conditions and made a scheduled court appearance on October 14, according to CTV News. But what motivates people to deliberately set fires? According to Psychology Today, fire setting is recognized as a mental illness attribute—a behaviour that stems from other deeply rooted issues, as it can be an “irresistible compulsion” for some people. They also say arson is used as a weapon of revenge or for other destructive aims and that it is more common among males (females commit nearly one third of deliberate fires), and victims of sexual abuse. Fire setters also tend to be socially isolated and lack coping skills with a prevalence of suicide being higher with those who set fires deliberately. Furthermore, according to Firehouse, a media outlet aimed at education for fire/ rescue professionals, there are six motive classifications associated with fire starters: vandalism, excitement, revenge, crime concealment, profit, and extremism. Fact-check » Did Trump condemn white supremacy? for Donald Trump. White supremacists are saying vote [...] do you want those votes?” Trump: “No, I don’t want them and I don’t want him to say it [...] I don't like any group of hate. Hate groups are not for me. But I have said this before. The press hates me to say it. They just don’t want to pick it up.” — March 6, 2016 “Racism is evil—and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.’ — August 14, 2017 “Tm not talking about the neo-Nazis and white supremacists because they should be condemned totally” - August 15, 2017 “In one voice our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and white supremacy.” — August 5, 2019 “Any group of hate, I don't like it. Any group of hate, whether it’s white supremacy, whether it’s any other kind of supremacy, whether it’s Antifa, whether it’s any group of hate, I’m very concerned about it and I'll do something about it.” - August 7, 2019 During the debate, Trump was asked if he was willing to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and he replied as he had during the many years leading up to the debate: “Sure. I’m willing to do that,” before putting the question in the context that Chris Wallace had asked it (riots over the summer, such as Kenosha): “I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing.” Have something you want fact- checked? Send it in to us at news@ theotherpress.ca!