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In April 2014, Flint switched its water source from Lake Huron, treated by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD), to the more corrosive and polluted Flint River to cut costs.
(Photo: Joe Brusky/flickr/cc)
'Snyder Not Welcome': Has Flint's Smoking Gun Finally Emerged?
Michigan House Democratic leader becomes the first member of the state Legislature to join call for Gov. Rick Snyder's resignation
Mar 02, 2016
As evidence against the state government continues to accrue, Michigan House Democratic leader Tim Greimel on Wednesday became the first member of the state legislature to join a growing call for Gov. Rick Snyder's resignation over Flint's water contamination crisis.
"It's now clear that for over a year, the governor's top aides and advisers wrote thousands of emails relating to the Flint situation and that they held many meetings and had many conversations about Flint," said Greimel. "It is inconceivable that the governor wasn't aware of what was happening. In fact, the governor's own chief of staff came out last week and indicated that he had been keeping the governor informed all along the way."
"Governor Snyder is a criminal disguised as a public servant."
--Shaunna Thomas, UltraViolet
What's more, the Michigan Democratic Party revealed on Wednesday records obtained under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act suggest that the Snyder administration "forced Flint residents to continue drinking poisoned water due to a dirty deal it signed with the city's Emergency Manager in April 2015."
According to the Detroit Free Press, the state of Michigan prevented Flint from returning water from the Detroit water system to Lake Huron when it agreed to grant the city an emergency loan of $7 million in April 2015.
The deal was signed off on "even after alarm bells were going off all over the Governor's office that lead and Legionnaires' disease were poisoning families," said Brandon Dillon, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party.
"The Snyder administration effectively put a financial gun to the heads of Flint's families by using the emergency manager law to lock the city into taking water from a poisoned source," Dillon said. "While children were being poisoned, the Snyder administration was playing political power games."
Meanwhile, an email in ongoing data dumps shows that Snyder planned to discuss "Flint water" with top staffers in February 2015—nearly nine months before the governor said he knew about a water crisis in Flint.
Progress Michigan said Wednesday:
The message was sent on February 17, 2015 to the Rick for Michigan campaign email account -- rather than the official state email account -- of Allison Scott, the executive director to the governor, and shows that Rick Snyder wanted to personally discuss the "Flint water" situation with top officials in his administration, among other issues. The email seems to be proof that Gov. Snyder lied each and every time he claimed that his staff never brought the crisis to him and that it was not on his radar.
"Gov. Snyder wants us to believe that he knew nothing of the problems in Flint and that he was poorly served by his staffers. This email shows that Snyder was not only aware of the Flint Water Crisis but was concerned enough to discuss it with high-ranking staff in February of 2015," said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan.
"Every time Snyder is confronted with news about this crisis, his excuse has been that he didn't know--he can't say that this time."
--Lonnie Scott, Progress Michigan
"Every time Snyder is confronted with news about this crisis, his excuse has been that he didn't know--he can't say that this time," Scott continued. "This email is the smoking gun people have been looking for and proves that Snyder knew about and discussed the Flint water situation with top-level staffers months before taking any action."
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the national women's advocacy organization UltraViolet announced it has placed full-page ads in three Michigan newspapers this week. The ads give residents and businesses a cut-out sign that they can put up in their homes and storefronts declaring, "Governor Snyder Not Welcome."
"Governor Snyder is a criminal disguised as a public servant," said UltraViolet co-founder Shaunna Thomas. "Snyder's actions have resulted in more than ten thousand children and pregnant women being exposed to dangerously toxic levels of lead that will cause severe brain, nervous system, and liver damage for their entire lives. This is unforgivable."
"Snyder must immediately resign and face criminal prosecution for poisoning the kids and families of Flint," Thomas declared.
Also Wednesday, a coalition of environmental and racial justice groups called on the Democratic National Committee to focus Sunday's debate, which will take place in Flint, solely on racial and environmental injustice.
"The poisoning of Flint epitomizes a larger national crisis of people of color being physically endangered and politically ostracized," said Color of Change executive director Rashad Robinson.
"We need to hear real plans for how to safeguard the people of Flint and other communities in peril from anyone who wants our vote," he said. "The Democratic Party has an opportunity to use their platform to elevate this necessary conversation, putting the voices of those most impacted front and center and hopefully building greater momentum for change."
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Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
color of changedemocratic national committeedemocratic partyflintmichiganpeople powerprogress michiganrick snyderultravioletwaterwomen
As evidence against the state government continues to accrue, Michigan House Democratic leader Tim Greimel on Wednesday became the first member of the state legislature to join a growing call for Gov. Rick Snyder's resignation over Flint's water contamination crisis.
"It's now clear that for over a year, the governor's top aides and advisers wrote thousands of emails relating to the Flint situation and that they held many meetings and had many conversations about Flint," said Greimel. "It is inconceivable that the governor wasn't aware of what was happening. In fact, the governor's own chief of staff came out last week and indicated that he had been keeping the governor informed all along the way."
"Governor Snyder is a criminal disguised as a public servant."
--Shaunna Thomas, UltraViolet
What's more, the Michigan Democratic Party revealed on Wednesday records obtained under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act suggest that the Snyder administration "forced Flint residents to continue drinking poisoned water due to a dirty deal it signed with the city's Emergency Manager in April 2015."
According to the Detroit Free Press, the state of Michigan prevented Flint from returning water from the Detroit water system to Lake Huron when it agreed to grant the city an emergency loan of $7 million in April 2015.
The deal was signed off on "even after alarm bells were going off all over the Governor's office that lead and Legionnaires' disease were poisoning families," said Brandon Dillon, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party.
"The Snyder administration effectively put a financial gun to the heads of Flint's families by using the emergency manager law to lock the city into taking water from a poisoned source," Dillon said. "While children were being poisoned, the Snyder administration was playing political power games."
Meanwhile, an email in ongoing data dumps shows that Snyder planned to discuss "Flint water" with top staffers in February 2015—nearly nine months before the governor said he knew about a water crisis in Flint.
Progress Michigan said Wednesday:
The message was sent on February 17, 2015 to the Rick for Michigan campaign email account -- rather than the official state email account -- of Allison Scott, the executive director to the governor, and shows that Rick Snyder wanted to personally discuss the "Flint water" situation with top officials in his administration, among other issues. The email seems to be proof that Gov. Snyder lied each and every time he claimed that his staff never brought the crisis to him and that it was not on his radar.
"Gov. Snyder wants us to believe that he knew nothing of the problems in Flint and that he was poorly served by his staffers. This email shows that Snyder was not only aware of the Flint Water Crisis but was concerned enough to discuss it with high-ranking staff in February of 2015," said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan.
"Every time Snyder is confronted with news about this crisis, his excuse has been that he didn't know--he can't say that this time."
--Lonnie Scott, Progress Michigan
"Every time Snyder is confronted with news about this crisis, his excuse has been that he didn't know--he can't say that this time," Scott continued. "This email is the smoking gun people have been looking for and proves that Snyder knew about and discussed the Flint water situation with top-level staffers months before taking any action."
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the national women's advocacy organization UltraViolet announced it has placed full-page ads in three Michigan newspapers this week. The ads give residents and businesses a cut-out sign that they can put up in their homes and storefronts declaring, "Governor Snyder Not Welcome."
"Governor Snyder is a criminal disguised as a public servant," said UltraViolet co-founder Shaunna Thomas. "Snyder's actions have resulted in more than ten thousand children and pregnant women being exposed to dangerously toxic levels of lead that will cause severe brain, nervous system, and liver damage for their entire lives. This is unforgivable."
"Snyder must immediately resign and face criminal prosecution for poisoning the kids and families of Flint," Thomas declared.
Also Wednesday, a coalition of environmental and racial justice groups called on the Democratic National Committee to focus Sunday's debate, which will take place in Flint, solely on racial and environmental injustice.
"The poisoning of Flint epitomizes a larger national crisis of people of color being physically endangered and politically ostracized," said Color of Change executive director Rashad Robinson.
"We need to hear real plans for how to safeguard the people of Flint and other communities in peril from anyone who wants our vote," he said. "The Democratic Party has an opportunity to use their platform to elevate this necessary conversation, putting the voices of those most impacted front and center and hopefully building greater momentum for change."
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
As evidence against the state government continues to accrue, Michigan House Democratic leader Tim Greimel on Wednesday became the first member of the state legislature to join a growing call for Gov. Rick Snyder's resignation over Flint's water contamination crisis.
"It's now clear that for over a year, the governor's top aides and advisers wrote thousands of emails relating to the Flint situation and that they held many meetings and had many conversations about Flint," said Greimel. "It is inconceivable that the governor wasn't aware of what was happening. In fact, the governor's own chief of staff came out last week and indicated that he had been keeping the governor informed all along the way."
"Governor Snyder is a criminal disguised as a public servant."
--Shaunna Thomas, UltraViolet
What's more, the Michigan Democratic Party revealed on Wednesday records obtained under Michigan's Freedom of Information Act suggest that the Snyder administration "forced Flint residents to continue drinking poisoned water due to a dirty deal it signed with the city's Emergency Manager in April 2015."
According to the Detroit Free Press, the state of Michigan prevented Flint from returning water from the Detroit water system to Lake Huron when it agreed to grant the city an emergency loan of $7 million in April 2015.
The deal was signed off on "even after alarm bells were going off all over the Governor's office that lead and Legionnaires' disease were poisoning families," said Brandon Dillon, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party.
"The Snyder administration effectively put a financial gun to the heads of Flint's families by using the emergency manager law to lock the city into taking water from a poisoned source," Dillon said. "While children were being poisoned, the Snyder administration was playing political power games."
Meanwhile, an email in ongoing data dumps shows that Snyder planned to discuss "Flint water" with top staffers in February 2015—nearly nine months before the governor said he knew about a water crisis in Flint.
Progress Michigan said Wednesday:
The message was sent on February 17, 2015 to the Rick for Michigan campaign email account -- rather than the official state email account -- of Allison Scott, the executive director to the governor, and shows that Rick Snyder wanted to personally discuss the "Flint water" situation with top officials in his administration, among other issues. The email seems to be proof that Gov. Snyder lied each and every time he claimed that his staff never brought the crisis to him and that it was not on his radar.
"Gov. Snyder wants us to believe that he knew nothing of the problems in Flint and that he was poorly served by his staffers. This email shows that Snyder was not only aware of the Flint Water Crisis but was concerned enough to discuss it with high-ranking staff in February of 2015," said Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan.
"Every time Snyder is confronted with news about this crisis, his excuse has been that he didn't know--he can't say that this time."
--Lonnie Scott, Progress Michigan
"Every time Snyder is confronted with news about this crisis, his excuse has been that he didn't know--he can't say that this time," Scott continued. "This email is the smoking gun people have been looking for and proves that Snyder knew about and discussed the Flint water situation with top-level staffers months before taking any action."
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the national women's advocacy organization UltraViolet announced it has placed full-page ads in three Michigan newspapers this week. The ads give residents and businesses a cut-out sign that they can put up in their homes and storefronts declaring, "Governor Snyder Not Welcome."
"Governor Snyder is a criminal disguised as a public servant," said UltraViolet co-founder Shaunna Thomas. "Snyder's actions have resulted in more than ten thousand children and pregnant women being exposed to dangerously toxic levels of lead that will cause severe brain, nervous system, and liver damage for their entire lives. This is unforgivable."
"Snyder must immediately resign and face criminal prosecution for poisoning the kids and families of Flint," Thomas declared.
Also Wednesday, a coalition of environmental and racial justice groups called on the Democratic National Committee to focus Sunday's debate, which will take place in Flint, solely on racial and environmental injustice.
"The poisoning of Flint epitomizes a larger national crisis of people of color being physically endangered and politically ostracized," said Color of Change executive director Rashad Robinson.
"We need to hear real plans for how to safeguard the people of Flint and other communities in peril from anyone who wants our vote," he said. "The Democratic Party has an opportunity to use their platform to elevate this necessary conversation, putting the voices of those most impacted front and center and hopefully building greater momentum for change."
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LATEST NEWS
'Worst-Case Scenario of Famine' Unfolding in Gaza: IPC Report
"An entirely man-made famine," said one United Nations expert. "The threshold of famine has been reached with widespread starvation and malnutrition across the war-torn enclave including among children."
Jul 29, 2025
The latest alert on Gaza from the world's leading authority on starvation and malnutrition is not a warning of what could come in the besieged enclave, where Israel is still blocking nearly all humanitarian aid, but of the "worst-case scenario" that has already taken hold.
"Famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip," said the Integrated Phase Food Security Classification (IPC), which ranks food security levels on a scale of 1 to 5, in its Tuesday analysis.
Since the IPC's analysis in May, in which it projected that half a million Palestinians in Gaza would reach Phase 5—Catastrophe, defined as an "extreme lack of food"—by September, Israel's bombardments and ground operations have intensified, and people's access to food across the enclave has continued to be "alarmingly erratic and extremely perilous," said the IPC, with more than 1,000 people killed while trying to access food and humanitarian aid.
Between May and July, the proportion of households facing extreme hunger has doubled in Gaza, said the IPC, and the food consumption threshold for famine "has already been passed for most areas of the Gaza Strip." One in three people in Gaza are now going days at a time without consuming any food.
At least 147 people have died from starvation, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
In May, the IPC projected that malnutrition would soon reach critical levels in the governorates of North Gaza, Gaza, and Rafah, with more than 70,000 children under age 5 and 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women facing acute malnutrition—and said all of Gaza was facing "a risk of famine."
Tuesday's report, said the International Rescue Committee, was "a devastating but entirely predictable confirmation of what the IRC and the wider humanitarian community have long warned: Israel's restrictions on aid have created the conditions for famine, and the window to prevent mass death is rapidly closing."
More than 20,000 children have been admitted to health centers for treatment for acute malnutrition, with more than 3,000 facing severe malnourishment—the effects of which, said the IRC, can be "lifelong and irreversible" in children who survive.
At least 16 children under 5 have died from starvation since July 17, said the IPC—representing a "rapid increase" in hunger-related deaths that is unlikely to slow down without an end to Israel's blockade and a major ramp-up in the distribution of humanitarian aid—which is currently sitting in thousands of trucks just outside the enclave, as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said Tuesday.
"The worst-case scenario of famine is now happening in Gaza according to the leading world experts," said Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA commissioner-general, whose agency has provided aid and services to Palestinians in Gaza for decades. "An entirely man-made famine. The threshold of famine has been reached with widespread starvation and malnutrition across the war-torn enclave including among children. More than 100 people have died due to hunger in the past few weeks alone. The only way to reverse this catastrophe is to flood Gaza with a massive scale up of aid."
An estimated 62,000 metric tons of staple food—not including fresh foods like vegetables and meat—is required to enter Gaza each month to cover the basic needs of the population. In May and June, only 19,900-37,800 metric tons of food entered the enclave. That includes food provided by the U.S.- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, where Israeli soldiers have reported that they were directed to shoot at Palestinian civilians trying to access aid.
"People are starving not because food is unavailable, but because access is blocked, local agrifood systems have collapsed, and families can no longer sustain even the most basic livelihoods," said U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Qu Dongyu. "We urgently need safe and sustained humanitarian access and immediate support to restore local food production and livelihoods—this is the only way to prevent further loss of life. The right to food is a basic human right."
As international outrage has grown over the images of starving Palestinians in recent days—with even the U.S. corporate media and Democratic establishment finally speaking out against Israel's blocking of humanitarian aid—Israel has paused some fighting and allowed airdrops of food, which aid groups have condemned as a "grotesque distraction" that will provide nowhere near the aid that's needed.
"Israel's genocide has thrown Gaza into the final chaotic stages of a full-blown human catastrophe," said Bushra Khalidi, policy lead for Oxfam in the occupied Palestinian territories. "Airdrops, and brief pauses for relative crumbs of aid, is nowhere near enough to prevent human death at an unimaginable scale. We need urgent forceful diplomacy and whatever restrictive measures are necessary in order to achieve an immediate and unconditional cease-fire, break Israel's siege, and allow humanitarian aid to flow freely and safely throughout Gaza."
As Common Dreams reported Monday, Republican leaders in the U.S. including President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have shown no signs that they will act on the new data in the IPC report; both continued to dismiss the international condemnation of Israel's blockade in Gaza, repeating debunked claims that Hamas is to blame for the starvation of Palestinians.
The U.S. has continued to provide the Israel Defense Forces with support despite its own laws stating that the U.S. cannot send military aid to countries that block humanitarian aid.
Khalidi said the IPC's new warning of "an unfolding famine—one created entirely by Israel's murderous siege—must finally rouse the international community to act with a clarity and resolve that has so far been beyond it."
"World leaders have been variously divided, complicit, uncaring, and collectively ineffectual in stopping Israel's campaign of erasure," said Khalidi. "In failing to protect the Palestinian people, they have no more excuses left. Ending Israel's genocide of Gaza is a test not only of our world order but of our collective humanity."
Netherlands Bans Two Israeli Cabinet Ministers Who 'Called for Ethnic Cleansing' in Gaza
As mass starvation in Gaza reaches horrific new levels, European governments are attempting to pressure Israel to stop blocking humanitarian aid.
Jul 29, 2025
As Israel's starvation campaign in Gaza accelerates, the Netherlands has banned two far-right Israeli ministers from entering the country after they "repeatedly incited violence against the Palestinian population," and "called for ethnic cleansing in the Gaza Strip."
The officials—National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich—are both members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition, and they have called for Palestinians to be forced out of Gaza in order to make room for Israeli settlers.
In a letter sent to Dutch lawmakers Monday evening, Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp declared the two ministers "persona non grata," adding that "the war in Gaza must stop."
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that one in three people in Gaza is going multiple days at a time without eating. Meanwhile, acute malnutrition rates have quadrupled over the past month to the point where nearly 1 in 5 children is at risk of death from hunger.
"People are starving not because food is unavailable, but because access is blocked, local agrifood systems have collapsed, and families can no longer sustain even the most basic livelihoods," said Qu Dongyu, the director-general of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Israel said it allowed 120 aid trucks to enter the strip on Sunday. But according to U.N. aid chief Tom Fletcher, that is "a drop in the ocean" compared to what the population needs to survive.
As starvation in Gaza approached what a U.N.-backed report described Monday as the "worst case scenario," Smotrich and Ben-Gvir have doubled down on calls for maximum torment.
After Netanyahu announced that Israel would allow a meager trickle of aid into the strip following international outcry, Ben-Gvir described Netanyahu as "morally bankrupt" for allowing any food into the strip.
"I think at this stage, the only thing you should be sending to Gaza is shells," Ben-Gvir said. "To bomb, conquer, encourage emigration, and win the war."
Last week, at a conference in the Israeli parliament with far-right Jewish settlers, Smotrich discussed plans "to relocate Gazans to other countries," which he said "will serve as a means of facilitating the settlement of the strip" by Jewish Israelis.
In May, Smotrich said, "Within a few months, we will be able to declare that we have won. Gaza will be totally destroyed," and spoke of "concentrating" its civilians in preparation for their mass exodus from the strip.
"They will be totally despairing, understanding that there is no hope and nothing to look for in Gaza, and will be looking for relocation to begin a new life in other places," he added.
The Netherlands is not the first country to attempt to punish the far-right ministers.
Earlier this month, Slovenia became the first nation to ban Smotrich and Ben-Gvir from entry, citing their incitement of "extreme violence and serious violations of the human rights of Palestinians" with "their genocidal statements."
The United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Norway have also imposed financial sanctions on the two men.
On Tuesday, the European Commission proposed partially suspending Israel from the $100 million Horizon research program, citing the Gaza famine.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that unless Israel complies with agreements to allow humanitarian aid access, he would support banning Israel from the prestigious research program and potentially take other "national measures to increase the pressure."
"The government's goal is crystal clear," Schoof said. "The people of Gaza must be given immediate, unfettered, safe access to humanitarian aid."
Korean Scientist With Green Card Detained for a Week and Denied Access to His Lawyer
"If the Constitution doesn't apply to somebody who's lived in this country for 35 years and is a green-card holder... the Constitution doesn't apply to anybody who's been in this country for less time than him," said an attorney representing the scientist.
Jul 29, 2025
A permanent U.S. resident has been held in detention for the last week without apparent explanation and without access to legal representation, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
According to the Post, 40-year-old Tae Heung "Will" Kim was detained by immigration officials at the San Francisco International Airport on July 21 after returning from attending his brother's wedding in Korea. In the week since his detention, he has still not been released despite being a green-card holder who has lived in the United States since the age of five.
Eric Lee, an attorney representing Kim, said he has been unable to contact his client and that Kim's only past brush with the law came back in 2011 when he was ordered to perform community service over a minor marijuana possession charge in Texas.
A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seemed to suggest in a statement to the Post that this past instance of marijuana possession was enough justification to detain and deport Kim.
"If a green-card holder is convicted of a drug offense, violating their status, that person is issued a Notice to Appear and CBP coordinates detention space with ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations]," they said. "This alien is in ICE custody pending removal proceedings."
Lee told the Post that he reached out to CBP to ask whether his client had protections under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments of the United States Constitution that guarantee rights such as the right to an attorney. In response, the CBP official simply told Lee, "No."
"If the Constitution doesn't apply to somebody who's lived in this country for 35 years and is a green-card holder—and only left the country for a two-week vacation—that means [the government] is basically arguing that the Constitution doesn't apply to anybody who's been in this country for less time than him," Lee said.
Lee added that it would be particularly uncommon for immigration officials to deport his client based solely on a 2011 marijuana possession charge given that Kim had successfully petitioned to seal the offense from his public record after fulfilling his community service requirements. Because of this, Lee said that Kim's case should easily clear the waiver process that allows officials to overlook past minor offenses that could otherwise be used to justify stripping people of their permanent legal resident status.
Prior to his detention, Kim was pursuing a PhD at Texas A&M University, where he was doing research to help develop a vaccine against Lyme disease.
Immigration enforcement officials under the second Trump administration have been particularly aggressive in trying to deport students who are legally in the United States.
Turkish-born Tufts University student Rümeysa Öztürk was detained for months earlier this year after she was apparently targeted for writing an editorial in her student newspaper critical of the school's refusal to divest from Israel. Russian-born Harvard University scientist Kseniia Petrova, meanwhile, is currently facing deportation after she was charged with allegedly smuggling frog embryos into the United States.
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