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02-02-2022, 12:53 PM
By Josephine Harvey
02/01/2022 08:52pm EST | Updated 43 minutes ago
A South Texas butterfly sanctuary will close indefinitely due to safety concerns after it was repeatedly targeted by right-wing conspiracy theorists who baselessly accused it of aiding human traffickers.
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The butterfly conservatory, which pushed back against Trump administration efforts to erect sections of a U.S.-Mexico border wall near its 100-acre nature preserve in Mission, Texas, has been tied up in litigation for years with the former presidential administration and its allies at We Build The Wall, making it an ongoing target for harassment.
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a right-wing congressional candidate from Virginia, Kimberly Lowe, had visited the center, shooting videos for social media and accusing staff of being “OK with children being trafficked and raped.”
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The butterfly center first sued the Trump administration in 2017 on environmental grounds, arguing that proposed border wall construction would destroy crucial habitat for butterflies and birds, and even block migration routes for species that fly lower to the ground. The center alleges that workers began work surveying their land and cutting down trees on their property without permission.
It later sued We Build the Wall, a nonprofit led by Bannon that raised more than US$25 million with online fundraisers. The lawsuit accuses the organization and its founder, Brian Kolfage, of defaming the butterfly center and Treviño-Wright, and opening them up to “targeted harassment,” among other allegations about its efforts to construct the wall in Texas near the nature preserve.
We Build the Wall founder Brian Kolfage, Bannon and several others were indicted in August 2020 for allegedly using donations for personal expenses.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/national-...e5f51d13f5
02/01/2022 08:52pm EST | Updated 43 minutes ago
A South Texas butterfly sanctuary will close indefinitely due to safety concerns after it was repeatedly targeted by right-wing conspiracy theorists who baselessly accused it of aiding human traffickers.
......
The butterfly conservatory, which pushed back against Trump administration efforts to erect sections of a U.S.-Mexico border wall near its 100-acre nature preserve in Mission, Texas, has been tied up in litigation for years with the former presidential administration and its allies at We Build The Wall, making it an ongoing target for harassment.
......
a right-wing congressional candidate from Virginia, Kimberly Lowe, had visited the center, shooting videos for social media and accusing staff of being “OK with children being trafficked and raped.”
......
The butterfly center first sued the Trump administration in 2017 on environmental grounds, arguing that proposed border wall construction would destroy crucial habitat for butterflies and birds, and even block migration routes for species that fly lower to the ground. The center alleges that workers began work surveying their land and cutting down trees on their property without permission.
It later sued We Build the Wall, a nonprofit led by Bannon that raised more than US$25 million with online fundraisers. The lawsuit accuses the organization and its founder, Brian Kolfage, of defaming the butterfly center and Treviño-Wright, and opening them up to “targeted harassment,” among other allegations about its efforts to construct the wall in Texas near the nature preserve.
We Build the Wall founder Brian Kolfage, Bannon and several others were indicted in August 2020 for allegedly using donations for personal expenses.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/national-...e5f51d13f5
