Saturday, August 26, 2023

Beleaguered labs: Controversy swirls around the recently revealed existence of an illegal biological lab in the City of Reedley, Fresno County, California; Council Member Garry Bredefield wants answers… "On July 25, the Mid Valley Times broke the shocking story that an illegal biological lab had been operating in Reedley since December where, according to a lab representative, “mice were genetically engineered to catch and carry the COVID-19 virus.” After further inspection, investigators found blood, tissue, bodily fluid samples and thousands of vials that were not labeled. They also found 900 mice — nearly 200 of them dead. On May 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention inspected the lab and found infectious agents that were both bacterial and viral, including Hepatitis B and C, rubella, malaria, E. coli, pneumonia and chlamydia. It became apparent that the lab had illegally disposed of medical waste that possibly ended up in the landfill. This lab was licensed in Nevada, not California, and one of the addresses listed for this company was a vacant building in Las Vegas. It’s believed that the people operating the lab were Chinese nationals, and it was reported they were refusing to cooperate with investigators. I received calls from concerned constituents asking about the lab and hoping to get information they had every right to know. It’s important to remember what our community, nation and world have gone through from the nearly three-year COVID pandemic, which many believe resulted from a lab leak out of China. The COVID virus was responsible for the destruction of lives and livelihoods. Children were foolishly locked out of school for years, and destroyed academically, socially and emotionally. People lost their freedoms; were forced to get experimental vaccines; wear ineffective masks; and repeatedly lied to by the CDC and government officials. Any information that challenged the lies and tyrannical mandates were suppressed by social media. We had local officials that were silent and complicit with all the unconstitutional and destructive government orders. And now, after the illegal biological lab in our area was made publicly known, they are silent yet again. We have every right to know about this lab and what was going on there. So on July 31, I held a press conference raising questions asked by my constituents…"


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Is this lab sponsored by the Chinese government? What was the purpose and goals of their experimenting with COVID? What were they doing with all the bacterial and viral infectious agents? Are the people that were running and operating this lab Chinese nationals or American citizens? If they are not American citizens, are they here illegally? Are there any current potential dangers to the public as a result of their experiments and the illegal dumping of medical waste that involved COVID and other potential infectious agents? With Naval Air Station Lemoore only 40 miles from the lab, is the location of this illegal lab merely coincidence? Most importantly, why wasn’t the public informed of this illegal lab? The Fresno County Department of Public Health has an obligation to notify the public of potential dangers. It is disgraceful that our board of supervisors has thus far been silent on the matter and represents a willful decision to hide from and shirk their duties as elected representatives."

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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "The fact of the matter is that if not for the Mid Valley Times’ reporting of the illegal lab story eight months after the illegal lab’s initial discovery , when would the County Department of Public Health and board of supervisors have notified the public. With China’s history of stealing intellectual properties, recent acquisition of land near U.S. military sites and their gathering of intelligence via spy balloon that flew over American military sites compounded with the discovery of this illegal biological lab here in Fresno County, government officials at every level must be more hypervigilant and enact better safeguards to ensure public safety."

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COMMENTARY:  "Fresno councilmember: Supervisors must give full disclosure about Reedley lab; Opinion,"  by  Councilmember Garry Bredefield,  published by The Fresno Bee, on August 25, 2023. (Garry Bredefeld represents northeast Fresno on the city council. He is campaigning for the Board of Supervisors’s seat held by Steve Brandau.)

GIST: "On July 25, the Mid Valley Times broke the shocking story that an illegal biological lab had been operating in Reedley since December where, according to a lab representative, “mice were genetically engineered to catch and carry the COVID-19 virus.”


 After further inspection, investigators found blood, tissue, bodily fluid samples and thousands of vials that were not labeled. They also found 900 mice — nearly 200 of them dead.


On May 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention inspected the lab and found infectious agents that were both bacterial and viral, including Hepatitis B and C, rubella, malaria, E. coli, pneumonia and chlamydia.


 It became apparent that the lab had illegally disposed of medical waste that possibly ended up in the landfill. 


This lab was licensed in Nevada, not California, and one of the addresses listed for this company was a vacant building in Las Vegas. 


It’s believed that the people operating the lab were Chinese nationals, and it was reported they were refusing to cooperate with investigators.


I received calls from concerned constituents asking about the lab and hoping to get information they had every right to know. It’s important to remember what our community, nation and world have gone through from the nearly three-year COVID pandemic, which many believe resulted from a lab leak out of China.


The COVID virus was responsible for the destruction of lives and livelihoods. Children were foolishly locked out of school for years, and destroyed academically, socially and emotionally. 


People lost their freedoms; were forced to get experimental vaccines; wear ineffective masks; and repeatedly lied to by the CDC and government officials. 


Any information that challenged the lies and tyrannical mandates were suppressed by social media. 


We had local officials that were silent and complicit with all the unconstitutional and destructive government orders. 


And now, after the illegal biological lab in our area was made publicly known, they are silent yet again.


We have every right to know about this lab and what was going on there. So on July 31, I held a press conference raising questions asked by my constituents:


Is this lab sponsored by the Chinese government? What was the purpose and goals of their experimenting with COVID? What were they doing with all the bacterial and viral infectious agents? Are the people that were running and operating this lab Chinese nationals or American citizens? If they are not American citizens, are they here illegally? Are there any current potential dangers to the public as a result of their experiments and the illegal dumping of medical waste that involved COVID and other potential infectious agents? With Naval Air Station Lemoore only 40 miles from the lab, is the location of this illegal lab merely coincidence?


Most importantly, why wasn’t the public informed of this illegal lab? The Fresno County Department of Public Health has an obligation to notify the public of potential dangers. 


It is disgraceful that our board of supervisors has thus far been silent on the matter and represents a willful decision to hide from and shirk their duties as elected representatives.


Since my press conference, Fresno County has been somewhat more forthcoming, but the information released has raised more questions. 


The county reports that they had a press release ready to go out to the public in the spring of this year had the public found out about the lab. 


When the lab did not become public, no information was put out. 


Now, one supervisor says he was informed about the lab in late March. 


Meanwhile, two other supervisors refuse to tell the public when they were informed about the lab or what they were told about it.


Supervisor Steve Brandau has remained silent about his knowledge of the lab except to attack constituents who are angry at not being informed — calling them “sychophants” for supporting my efforts to hold him and his colleagues publicly accountable. Supervisor Ernest “Buddy” 


Mendes called me “Joe McCarthy” for calling out the Board of Supervisors’ lack of transparency — a comment typical of his ignorance and need for a history lesson.


Outside of the board of supervisors, Fresno Bee columnist Marek Warszawski attacked me for raising the questions I did.


“By linking the Reedley lab with the Chinese state, Bredefeld fanned all the racist fears and stereotypes that go along with that, even if he didn’t explicitly join them at the hip,” Warszawski wrote. Playing the race card is the typical, predictable response.


The fact of the matter is that if not for the Mid Valley Times’ reporting of the illegal lab story eight months after the illegal lab’s initial discovery , when would the County Department of Public Health and board of supervisors have notified the public?


With China’s history of stealing intellectual properties, recent acquisition of land near U.S. military sites and their gathering of intelligence via spy balloon that flew over American military sites compounded with the discovery of this illegal biological lab here in Fresno County, government officials at every level must be more hypervigilant and enact better safeguards to ensure public safety.


This week, the city council passed a proposal brought forward by myself and two of my colleagues, Councilmembers Miguel Arias and Nelson Esparza, which will implement increased regulations on any future biological labs in the city


House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has already said there will be a congressional investigation into this lab.


We cannot tolerate information being hidden from the public, or a lack of accountability and transparency from our leaders, which is what we’ve seen from the board of supervisors. 


The public, which pays their bills, has a right to know what happened.


Garry Bredefeld represents northeast Fresno on the city council. He is campaigning for the Board of Supervisors’s seat held by Steve Brandau."


The entire commentary can be read at:

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/fresno-councilmember-supervisors-not-telling-123000029.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;

SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929

FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.

Lawyer Radha Natarajan;

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!


Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;


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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:


David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”


https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/

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