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A popular sex classified website said this week that it was shutting down its services in the United States, citing the likelihood that legal challenges would fail to overturn a landmark package of federal sex trafficking laws passed by Congress a year ago.

The decision by MassageRepublic.com marks the latest indication that the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, known collectively as FOSTA-SESTA, has made it difficult for websites selling sex to survive in a climate of higher risk for them.

“When one of these sites shuts down it usually inspires others to shut down,” said Rob Spectre, chief executive of the counter-human trafficking technology company Childsafe.AI. “It’s another signal of the volatility in this market — there are going to be some wild swings ahead this year.”

President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan FOSTA-SESTA into law just days after federal law enforcement officials seized Backpage.com, at the time the dominant player in the internet prostitution market, in a U.S. Justice Department sex trafficking and child prostitution investigation.

Site blames law

Seven people, including the website’s founders, were charged in a 93-count indictment with facilitating prostitution, money laundering and fraud. Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer pleaded guilty to state and federal charges, agreeing to cooperate in the case and shut down the website.

“In the current environment, we are not sure that the challenges … to this dumb law will succeed, so have no choice but to suspend service,” the owners of MassageRepublic.com wrote in a blog post explaining the decision.

“Since FOSTA/SESTA, this site has not billed a single dollar to any advertiser or user, nor has received any other financial income or benefit based on any activity in the US,” MassageRepublic wrote.

MassageRepublic did not immediately respond to an interview request.

Experts say the crackdown has made it much more difficult for men who want to buy sex on the internet.

Sex workers say law hurts them

Sex worker advocates have fiercely criticized FOSTA-SESTA and have argued that taking down Backpage and similar sites would drive prostitution further underground or into the streets. Free speech activists say the laws unconstitutionally burden website owners with policing content.

MassageRepublic argued in its blog post that the main justification for the new law was child exploitation and human trafficking,” not purchasing sex services over the internet.

“We have processes in place to identify this type of behavior, stop listings of that type and never got a complaint for the U.S. about anything like this,” it wrote.
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A popular sex classified website said this week that it was shutting down its services in the United States, citing the likelihood that legal challenges would fail to overturn a landmark package of federal sex trafficking laws passed by Congress a year ago.

The decision by MassageRepublic.com marks the latest indication that the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, known collectively as FOSTA-SESTA, has made it difficult for websites selling sex to survive in a climate of higher risk for them.

“When one of these sites shuts down it usually inspires others to shut down,” said Rob Spectre, chief executive of the counter-human trafficking technology company Childsafe.AI. “It’s another signal of the volatility in this market — there are going to be some wild swings ahead this year.”

President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan FOSTA-SESTA into law just days after federal law enforcement officials seized Backpage.com, at the time the dominant player in the internet prostitution market, in a U.S. Justice Department sex trafficking and child prostitution investigation.

Site blames law

Seven people, including the website’s founders, were charged in a 93-count indictment with facilitating prostitution, money laundering and fraud. Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer pleaded guilty to state and federal charges, agreeing to cooperate in the case and shut down the website.

“In the current environment, we are not sure that the challenges … to this dumb law will succeed, so have no choice but to suspend service,” the owners of MassageRepublic.com wrote in a blog post explaining the decision.

“Since FOSTA/SESTA, this site has not billed a single dollar to any advertiser or user, nor has received any other financial income or benefit based on any activity in the US,” MassageRepublic wrote.

MassageRepublic did not immediately respond to an interview request.

Experts say the crackdown has made it much more difficult for men who want to buy sex on the internet.

Sex workers say law hurts them

Sex worker advocates have fiercely criticized FOSTA-SESTA and have argued that taking down Backpage and similar sites would drive prostitution further underground or into the streets. Free speech activists say the laws unconstitutionally burden website owners with policing content.

MassageRepublic argued in its blog post that the main justification for the new law was child exploitation and human trafficking,” not purchasing sex services over the internet.

“We have processes in place to identify this type of behavior, stop listings of that type and never got a complaint for the U.S. about anything like this,” it wrote.
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 A Coast Guard lieutenant accused of being a domestic terrorist is entitled to be released from custody before his trial on firearms and drug charges, a federal magistrate said Thursday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Day noted that 50-year-old Christopher Hasson hasn’t been charged with any terrorism related offenses. Hasson was arrested Feb. 15 and is awaiting trial on firearms and drug charges. Prosecutors have said he created a hit list of prominent Democrats, two Supreme Court justices, network TV journalists and social media company executives.

Day said he still has “grave concerns” about Hasson based on information prosecutors have presented. The magistrate said Hasson is “going to have to have a whole lot of supervision” before his release, a process that could take several days. 

Release will be contested

Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Robert Hur’s office, said prosecutors would oppose any conditions of release for Hasson. 

Day didn’t order Hasson to be immediately released. The magistrate gave Hasson’s defense attorney, Liz Oyer, a few days to arrange conditions of release that would be acceptable to the court. Prosecutors have vowed to appeal if Day does order his release.

Oyer said her client hadn’t made any direct or specific threats to harm anyone. She said prosecutors are seeking to punish Hasson for “private thoughts” that he never shared. 

“They have not come forward with evidence that Mr. Hasson is a domestic terrorist because he is not,” she told Day. 

But prosecutors have said Hasson is a self-described white nationalist who espoused extremist views for years and “intends to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country.” In a February court filing, prosecutors said Hasson drafted an email in which he said he was “dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth.” 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Windom said prosecutors had presented “clear and convincing evidence” that Hasson poses a danger to the public. 

“The dots were connected directly by the defendant with his own writings,” Windom said. 

Influenced by Norwegian

Prosecutors have said Hasson appeared to be planning attacks inspired by the manifesto of Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in a 2011 bomb-and-shooting rampage. 

On Feb. 21, Day ordered Hasson to be held without bond. At that time, however, the magistrate said he was willing to revisit his decision if prosecutors didn’t bring more serious charges within two weeks. 

On Thursday, Day said he was inclined to order home confinement with electronic monitoring for Hasson and restrict his access to firearms and computers. The magistrate gave Oyer a few days to present him with a proposal before Hasson can be freed.

Prosecutors claim Hasson drew up what appeared to be a computer-spreadsheet hit list that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris. Several network TV journalists — MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough and CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Van Jones — also were mentioned. 

Focus on justices

Hasson also targeted two Supreme Court justices and two social media company executives, prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday. The filing doesn’t name them, but it says Hasson searched online for their home addresses in March 2018, within minutes before and after searching firearm sales websites. 

Investigators found 15 guns, including seven rifles, and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition at Hasson’s basement apartment in Silver Spring, Maryland, prosecutors said. 

“He has these ready to go, ready for use,” Windom said. 

Oyer said Hasson has had a lifelong interest in firearms and likes to hunt and target practice. She said the number of guns he owned isn’t unusual in North Carolina, where he lived for years before moving to Maryland. 

Illegal possession of painkiller

Hasson’s Feb. 27 indictment also accuses him of illegal possession of tramadol, an opioid painkiller. 

Hasson pleaded not guilty last month to charges of illegal possession of firearm silencers, possession of firearms by a drug addict and unlawful user, and possession of a controlled substance. He faces a maximum of 31 years in prison if convicted of all four counts in his indictment. 

Hasson, a former Marine, worked at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington on a program to acquire advanced new cutters for the agency. A Coast Guard spokesman has said Hasson will remain on active duty until the case against him is resolved.  
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 A Coast Guard lieutenant accused of being a domestic terrorist is entitled to be released from custody before his trial on firearms and drug charges, a federal magistrate said Thursday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Day noted that 50-year-old Christopher Hasson hasn’t been charged with any terrorism related offenses. Hasson was arrested Feb. 15 and is awaiting trial on firearms and drug charges. Prosecutors have said he created a hit list of prominent Democrats, two Supreme Court justices, network TV journalists and social media company executives.

Day said he still has “grave concerns” about Hasson based on information prosecutors have presented. The magistrate said Hasson is “going to have to have a whole lot of supervision” before his release, a process that could take several days. 

Release will be contested

Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Robert Hur’s office, said prosecutors would oppose any conditions of release for Hasson. 

Day didn’t order Hasson to be immediately released. The magistrate gave Hasson’s defense attorney, Liz Oyer, a few days to arrange conditions of release that would be acceptable to the court. Prosecutors have vowed to appeal if Day does order his release.

Oyer said her client hadn’t made any direct or specific threats to harm anyone. She said prosecutors are seeking to punish Hasson for “private thoughts” that he never shared. 

“They have not come forward with evidence that Mr. Hasson is a domestic terrorist because he is not,” she told Day. 

But prosecutors have said Hasson is a self-described white nationalist who espoused extremist views for years and “intends to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country.” In a February court filing, prosecutors said Hasson drafted an email in which he said he was “dreaming of a way to kill almost every last person on the earth.” 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Windom said prosecutors had presented “clear and convincing evidence” that Hasson poses a danger to the public. 

“The dots were connected directly by the defendant with his own writings,” Windom said. 

Influenced by Norwegian

Prosecutors have said Hasson appeared to be planning attacks inspired by the manifesto of Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in a 2011 bomb-and-shooting rampage. 

On Feb. 21, Day ordered Hasson to be held without bond. At that time, however, the magistrate said he was willing to revisit his decision if prosecutors didn’t bring more serious charges within two weeks. 

On Thursday, Day said he was inclined to order home confinement with electronic monitoring for Hasson and restrict his access to firearms and computers. The magistrate gave Oyer a few days to present him with a proposal before Hasson can be freed.

Prosecutors claim Hasson drew up what appeared to be a computer-spreadsheet hit list that included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic presidential hopefuls Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris. Several network TV journalists — MSNBC’s Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough and CNN’s Chris Cuomo and Van Jones — also were mentioned. 

Focus on justices

Hasson also targeted two Supreme Court justices and two social media company executives, prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday. The filing doesn’t name them, but it says Hasson searched online for their home addresses in March 2018, within minutes before and after searching firearm sales websites. 

Investigators found 15 guns, including seven rifles, and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition at Hasson’s basement apartment in Silver Spring, Maryland, prosecutors said. 

“He has these ready to go, ready for use,” Windom said. 

Oyer said Hasson has had a lifelong interest in firearms and likes to hunt and target practice. She said the number of guns he owned isn’t unusual in North Carolina, where he lived for years before moving to Maryland. 

Illegal possession of painkiller

Hasson’s Feb. 27 indictment also accuses him of illegal possession of tramadol, an opioid painkiller. 

Hasson pleaded not guilty last month to charges of illegal possession of firearm silencers, possession of firearms by a drug addict and unlawful user, and possession of a controlled substance. He faces a maximum of 31 years in prison if convicted of all four counts in his indictment. 

Hasson, a former Marine, worked at Coast Guard headquarters in Washington on a program to acquire advanced new cutters for the agency. A Coast Guard spokesman has said Hasson will remain on active duty until the case against him is resolved.  
…

A quarantine order was issued Thursday for hundreds of students and staff at two Los Angeles universities who may have been exposed to measles and either have not been vaccinated or can’t verify that they have immunity. 

Measles in the United States has climbed to its highest level in 25 years, closing in on 700 cases this year in a resurgence largely attributed to misinformation that is turning parents against vaccines. Roughly three-quarters of this year’s illnesses in the U.S. have been in New York state.

The University of California, Los Angeles, said that as of Wednesday there were 119 students and 8 faculty members under quarantine. Seventy-one students and 127 staff members are quarantined at California State University, Los Angeles after a possible measles exposure at a campus library, school officials said. 

“The Department of Public Health has determined that there is no known current risk related to measles at the library at this time,” Cal State said in a statement. 

Quarantines vary

UCLA said some people could remain in quarantines for up to 48 hours before they prove immunity. A few may need to remain in quarantine for up to seven days, officials said.

Such an order mandates that the exposed people stay home and notify authorities “if they develop symptoms of measles, and to avoid contact with others until the end of their quarantine period or until they provide evidence of immunity,” the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement. 

The orders come as a small outbreak of measles is occurring in Los Angeles County involving five confirmed cases linked to overseas travel. The state recorded 38 measles cases as of Thursday, versus 11 around the same time last year, said Dr. Karen Smith, director of the California Department of Public Health.

The state typically sees fewer than two dozen cases a year, she said.

This year, California’s cases stretch across 11 counties and affect patients from 5 months to 55 years of age. 

More than 76% of patients were not vaccinated or didn’t receive the recommended two doses of vaccine, Smith said. Fourteen of those infected had traveled overseas to countries including Philippines, Thailand, India and Ukraine.

Vaccine considered safe

Measles in most people causes fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body. However, a very small fraction of those infected can suffer complications such as pneumonia and a dangerous swelling of the brain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the vaccine for everyone over a year old, except for people who had the disease as children. Those who have had measles are immune.

The vaccine, which became available in the 1960s, is considered safe and highly effective, and because of it, measles was declared all but eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.
…

A quarantine order was issued Thursday for hundreds of students and staff at two Los Angeles universities who may have been exposed to measles and either have not been vaccinated or can’t verify that they have immunity. 

Measles in the United States has climbed to its highest level in 25 years, closing in on 700 cases this year in a resurgence largely attributed to misinformation that is turning parents against vaccines. Roughly three-quarters of this year’s illnesses in the U.S. have been in New York state.

The University of California, Los Angeles, said that as of Wednesday there were 119 students and 8 faculty members under quarantine. Seventy-one students and 127 staff members are quarantined at California State University, Los Angeles after a possible measles exposure at a campus library, school officials said. 

“The Department of Public Health has determined that there is no known current risk related to measles at the library at this time,” Cal State said in a statement. 

Quarantines vary

UCLA said some people could remain in quarantines for up to 48 hours before they prove immunity. A few may need to remain in quarantine for up to seven days, officials said.

Such an order mandates that the exposed people stay home and notify authorities “if they develop symptoms of measles, and to avoid contact with others until the end of their quarantine period or until they provide evidence of immunity,” the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a statement. 

The orders come as a small outbreak of measles is occurring in Los Angeles County involving five confirmed cases linked to overseas travel. The state recorded 38 measles cases as of Thursday, versus 11 around the same time last year, said Dr. Karen Smith, director of the California Department of Public Health.

The state typically sees fewer than two dozen cases a year, she said.

This year, California’s cases stretch across 11 counties and affect patients from 5 months to 55 years of age. 

More than 76% of patients were not vaccinated or didn’t receive the recommended two doses of vaccine, Smith said. Fourteen of those infected had traveled overseas to countries including Philippines, Thailand, India and Ukraine.

Vaccine considered safe

Measles in most people causes fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body. However, a very small fraction of those infected can suffer complications such as pneumonia and a dangerous swelling of the brain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the vaccine for everyone over a year old, except for people who had the disease as children. Those who have had measles are immune.

The vaccine, which became available in the 1960s, is considered safe and highly effective, and because of it, measles was declared all but eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.
…

U.S. officials have expressed confidence that those who have been operating under waivers to buy Iranian oil will be able to find alternative supplies when those waivers expire next week.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call, the officials cited China, Iran’s biggest oil customer, as a country they say should be able to fulfill its oil needs elsewhere.

China has criticized the U.S. decision, saying Chinese business with Iranian companies is transparent and legal.

U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran last year after he abandoned the 2015 international agreement that gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for it limiting its nuclear activity.

The sanctions are meant to pressure Tehran to change what the administration calls Iran’s “malign activities,” and so far, the Trump administration says the measures have denied the Iranian government $10 billion.

The United States issued eight waivers when it brought back the sanctions in November, temporarily exempting most of the biggest buyers of Iranian oil. Those included China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece. Since the sanctions were reintroduced, Italy, Greece and Taiwan have halted their Iranian oil imports.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday his country must resist the sanctions because the Trump administration does not intend to negotiate in good faith with the Islamic republic.

“The U.S. is not ready to hold negotiations at all and its measures are aimed at breaking up the Iranian nation,” Rouhani said.

He added that Iran will “have to make the U.S. regret its decision for which we have no choice but to resist.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said despite the U.S. actions, Iran would still be “able to export our oil to the extent that we need and when we decide.” He added the actions will not “remain without an answer,” but did not provide details.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also warned the United States, saying at an Asia Society event in New York it should “be prepared for the consequences” if it tries to stop Iran from finding buyers of its oil and using the Strait of Hormuz to transport it.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo justified ending the temporary waivers that were granted at a news conference Monday. 

“The goal remains simple: to deprive the outlaw regime of the funds it has used to destabilize the Middle East;” he said.
…

U.S. officials have expressed confidence that those who have been operating under waivers to buy Iranian oil will be able to find alternative supplies when those waivers expire next week.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call, the officials cited China, Iran’s biggest oil customer, as a country they say should be able to fulfill its oil needs elsewhere.

China has criticized the U.S. decision, saying Chinese business with Iranian companies is transparent and legal.

U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran last year after he abandoned the 2015 international agreement that gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for it limiting its nuclear activity.

The sanctions are meant to pressure Tehran to change what the administration calls Iran’s “malign activities,” and so far, the Trump administration says the measures have denied the Iranian government $10 billion.

The United States issued eight waivers when it brought back the sanctions in November, temporarily exempting most of the biggest buyers of Iranian oil. Those included China, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Italy and Greece. Since the sanctions were reintroduced, Italy, Greece and Taiwan have halted their Iranian oil imports.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday his country must resist the sanctions because the Trump administration does not intend to negotiate in good faith with the Islamic republic.

“The U.S. is not ready to hold negotiations at all and its measures are aimed at breaking up the Iranian nation,” Rouhani said.

He added that Iran will “have to make the U.S. regret its decision for which we have no choice but to resist.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said despite the U.S. actions, Iran would still be “able to export our oil to the extent that we need and when we decide.” He added the actions will not “remain without an answer,” but did not provide details.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also warned the United States, saying at an Asia Society event in New York it should “be prepared for the consequences” if it tries to stop Iran from finding buyers of its oil and using the Strait of Hormuz to transport it.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo justified ending the temporary waivers that were granted at a news conference Monday. 

“The goal remains simple: to deprive the outlaw regime of the funds it has used to destabilize the Middle East;” he said.
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John William King, who was convicted of one of the grisliest crimes in modern American history, has been executed in Texas.

King, 44, was executed by lethal injection Wednesday night at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville. The avowed racist was the second person to be executed for the dragging death of a black man, James Byrd Jr., in Jasper, Texas, in 1998.

Officials said King kept his eyes closed and replied, “No,” to the warden when asked whether he had any last words. But he did release a written statement that said, “Capital Punishment: Them without the capital get the punishment.”

Shocking crime

King was only 24 when he orchestrated Byrd’s murder, which shocked the nation.

In the predawn hours of June 7, 1998, three white men, King, Lawrence Brewer and Shawn Berry, offered Byrd a ride. Instead, they drove him to a secluded area where they beat him and spray-painted his face before tying a logging chain around his ankles, attaching it to the back of the truck and dragging him down a secluded road in the woods for about 5 kilometers.

Officials said Byrd was alive for at least the first 3 kilometers before his body was torn apart. His naked body was left near a black church just outside Jasper. The rest of his body was found about 2 kilometers away, court records show.

He had been decapitated and dismembered during the drive.

While no motive was presented during the trials, prosecutors have repeatedly pointed to racism as the reason for the crime.

All three men, King, Brewer and Berry, were convicted of capital murder. King and Brewer were sentenced to death and Berry received a sentence of life in prison.

Brewer was executed in 2011.

In the years since the dragging, Byrd’s family has established the Byrd Foundation for Racial Healing. His sister, Louvon Byrd Harris, 61, said her family still hopes to build a multicultural center and museum in Jasper to promote diversity and education.

Hate crime legislation

Considered one of the most gruesome crimes in U.S. history, it shocked not only local residents, but the nation. It also brought about hate crime legislation in Texas and the U.S. Congress.

One such law was the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2009. Shepard was a gay student in Wyoming who was beaten, tortured and left for dead in October 1998. He died of his wounds six days after he was attacked.

According to the Justice Department, the law has been used to indict 88 defendants in 42 hate crimes cases, with 64 convictions, as of last summer.
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