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UltraViolet Applauds Conviction of Donald Trump for Sexual Assault & Defamation Against E. Jean Carroll
NEW YORK
Moments ago, a jury in Manhattan federal court found Donald Trump liable for defamation and sexual assault, awarding $5 million in compensatory and punitive damages to writer E. Jean Carroll.
In response to the verdict, Shaunna Thomas, executive director of UltraViolet, a leading national gender advocacy organization and outspoken supporter of Carroll, issued the following statement:
"Finally, a court has confirmed what we have all known for decades. Trump is a sexual abuser. Now, he is a convicted sexual abuser.
“We are grateful to E. Jean Carroll for sharing her truth. We stand with her and survivors of sexual violence.
"In the wake of the #MeToo movement, more people feel comfortable sharing their personal stories of sexual abuse and harassment. With that, coming forward and into the public eye carries a high cost and risk of retaliation. That risk is amplified when the accused is an influential, notoriously dishonest, and petulant public figure like Donald Trump.
"We know that sexual violence and rape culture is all around us, often perpetuated or carried out by those in positions of power. E. Jean Carroll is one of over 20 women who have come forward with stories of sexual assault by Donald Trump — the former President of the United States.
"When media outlets like CNN give Trump a platform, they do a disservice to all their viewers. Contrary to the network’s excuses, hosting a town hall with Trump isn’t about hearing ‘both sides.’ It’s a brazen ploy to seize ratings.
“In our view, CNN’s town hall provides Trump, who was just found guilty of sexual assault by a jury in federal court, more opportunities to spread lies and disinformation with impunity. The network not sharing whether they plan to fact-check Trump on air merely adds insult to injury. We still believe that CNN needs to cancel this event.
"We also urge all media outlets, including CNN, to take rape accusations and convictions more seriously. Giving convicted or alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse a platform plays a significant role in perpetuating intense stigma and shame surrounding these issues. Survivors of sexual violence deserve better than this."
In 2021, members of UltraViolet outwardly criticized Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice for shielding Trump from Carroll’s defamation lawsuit. The group also sent a joint letter to President Biden denouncing the decision and has been in full support of E. Jean Carroll since she filed suit against Trump in 2019.
UltraViolet is a powerful and rapidly growing community of people mobilized to fight sexism and create a more inclusive world that accurately represents all women, from politics and government to media and pop culture.
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'The World Is Proud of You, Guido': American Peace Activist Honored in Iranian Lego Video
"Your dignity stands taller than the place you stood, and it will live forever in our memory."
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Explosive Media, one of the independent outfits generating the viral videos about the war in Iran, created a short piece on Saturday to honor the American father of two who climbed atop a bridge in the Washington, DC this weekend to demand an end to the conflict.
"In honor of Guido Reichstadter, the man who climbed the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge to make his voice of protest heard," the group said in a post alongside the video short. "Your dignity stands taller than the place you stood, and it will live forever in our memory."
As Common Dreams reported, Reichstadter climbed the bridge wearing a t-shirt that simply read "End War" beginning on Friday afternoon, remained in protest overnight, and told one reporter he intends to remain "for a few days at least."
In honor of Guido Reichstadter,
the man who climbed the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge to make his voice of protest heard.
Your dignity stands taller than the place you stood,
and it will live forever in our memory. 🫡🏔️ pic.twitter.com/WANYzS7kIh
— Explosive Media (@ExplosiveMediaa) May 2, 2026
Reichstadter said he climbed the 168-foot-tall bridge “because the government of the United States is engaged in acts of mass murder in my name. And I refuse to be complicit in that.”
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A pharmaceutical company which manufactures mifepristone filed an appeal to the US Supreme Court on Saturday asking for emergency relief from the "sweeping and dangerous" lower-court ruling Friday that would prohibit the mailing of the widely used abortion medication nationwide.
Danco Laboratories, which makes the popular drug and is part of ongoing litigation stemming from a legal challenge by the Republican-controlled state of Louisiana, said Friday's ruling by the Fifth Circuit of Appeals—a decision roundly condemned by reproductive rights advocates as an attack on women's health and the right to choose across the country—will cause "tremendous uncertainty" on the "legal status of mifepristone throughout the country” if it goes into effect.
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The company asked the nation's highest court for an immediate administrative stay to the 5th Circuit's ruling while the challenge to the drug's availability makes its way through lower courts. It also urged the Court to take up the case itself prior to the upcoming summer recess.
According to Politico:
Even a temporary disruption of access to mifepristone will have massive implications. The medication is used in nearly two-thirds of all pregnancy terminations, and a quarter of patients depend on telehealth to obtain them. The ruling also cuts off telemedicine prescription of the drug for non-abortion purposes, such as easing miscarriages.
In the wake of Friday’s ruling, medical and progressive advocacy groups stressed that doctors can still use telehealth to prescribe the other abortion pill — misoprostol. The drug can be used on its own to end pregnancies and carries fewer restrictions because it is used for an array of other purposes, including treating ulcers and stopping hemorrhages.
Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward who also the legal effort to make mifepristone available by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic as then-Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, issued the following statement
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Following Friday night's ruling by the 5th Circuit, Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of the advocacy group Reproductive Freedom for All, said the stakes could night be higher for the right to choose in the United States.
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President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez of Cuba on Saturday responded with stark and defiant words to the latest attacks coming from US President Donald Trump, who on Friday signed a new executive order authorizing even more aggressive sanctions against the island nation and later threatened to invade the country.
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"What does 'No Kings' mean when one man can snap his fingers and kill innocent Cubans on a whim?"
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In addition to the signed executive order, Trump said during a Friday campaign-style event in Florida that the US "will be taking [Cuba] over almost immediately."
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In a floor speech earlier this week, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) rebuked the Trump administration for the humanitarian disaster it has unleashed in Cuba, which follows what he described as a "failed" policy towards the island country over decades.
As Trump ramps up his threats of war against Cuba, we must understand what led us to this point: 65 years of a bankrupt Cuba policy.
If we want to avoid war with Cuba, we must rein in this lawless President & learn from the failed, bipartisan policies that led us to this point. pic.twitter.com/H9MqviSe6d
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) April 30, 2026
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