WATCH: Cop Snaps in a Fit of Road Rage, Drags Man from Car, Beats Him to a Pulp for No Reason

Disturbing dashcam footage showing a cop senseless beat a young man for no reason has become the subject of an ACLU report and subsequent lawsuit.

Republican Operative Behind WSJ Collusion "Bombshell" Committed Suicide

A longtime Republican operative from Chicago’s North Shore who was at the center of a confusing Wall Street Journal story involving shadowy Russian hackers and Hillary Clinton’s 30,000 missing emails committed suicide, according to the Chicago Tribune. Peter W. Smith, 81, a former private equity executive and longtime political operative, killed himself in a Minnesota hotel room days after telling his story to a reporter from WSJ, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Smith left a carefully prepared file of documents, including a statement police described as a suicide note in which he said he was in ill health and that a life insurance policy was expiring.

Smith"s death, which occurred on May 14, 10 days before the story was published, was one of the most bizarre developments in a hard-to-follow WSJ story that tried (and in our estimation, failed) to implicate former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn in a sinister plot to enlist the help of some Russians to hack the 2016 election...thus "proving" collusion.

In the story, Smith recounted to WSJ his mission to find Hillary Clinton’s missing 30,000 emails – the holy grail of opposition research – which he organized late in the summer of 2016. The project began over Labor Day weekend when Smith, who as WSJ notes had been “active in Republican politics,” assembled a group of technology experts, lawyers and a Russian-speaking investigator based in Europe to acquire emails the group theorized might have been stolen from the private server Mrs. Clinton used as secretary of state. Smith believed that, once found, at least some of the emails would prove to be relevant to her official duties at the State Department, handing the Trump campaign an enormous PR victory and possibly proving that she knowingly misled investigators.

Smith & Co. scoured hacker forums, ultimately finding 5 groups who claimed to have the missing emails, 2 of which were Russian.  However, Smith seemingly doubted the authenticity of the intelligence he received and, as a result, never leaked their contents.

Even more confusing, Smith says he eventually turned over the emails to Wikileaks, but the group hasn’t published them, and denies ever having received them. Smith told the WSJ reporter that he’d considered Flynn an ally, but stopped short of alleging that the two worked together on the project.

Of course, it"s only deep in the story that the WSJ admits they have no idea if Flynn was even involved with Smith...but no one reads an entire article so it"s fairly irrelevant.

What role, if any, Mr. Flynn may have played in Mr. Smith’s project is unclear. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Smith said he knew Mr. Flynn, but he never stated that Mr. Flynn was involved.

And another irrelevant detail from the WSJ:

Mr. Smith said he worked independently and wasn’t part of the Trump campaign.

Smith was found with a bag over his head with a source of helium attached. A medical examiner"s report gives the same account, without specifying the time, and a report from the Rochester, Minnesota police further details his suicide, according to the Chicago Tribune. Smith"s death occurred at the Aspen Suites in Rochester, records show. They list the cause of death as "asphyxiation due to displacement of oxygen in confined space with helium."

In the note recovered by police, Smith apologized to authorities and said that "NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER" was involved in his death. He wrote that he was taking his own life because of a "RECENT BAD TURN IN HEALTH SINCE JANUARY, 2017" and timing related "TO LIFE INSURANCE OF $5 MILLION EXPIRING."

Mystery shrouded how and where Smith had died, but the lead reporter on the stories said on a podcast he had no reason to believe the death was the result of foul play and that Smith likely had died of natural causes.

Smith had been staying at the hotel – in a room typically used by patients of the Mayo Clinic - for several days and had extended his stay at least once but was expected to check out on the day his body was found. "Tomorrow is my last day," Smith told a hotel worker on May 13 while he worked on a computer in the business center, printing documents, according to the police reports.

One of Smith"s former employees told the Tribune he thought the elderly man had gone to the famed clinic to be treated for a heart condition. Mayo spokeswoman Ginger Plumbo said Thursday she could not confirm Smith had been a patient, citing medical privacy laws.

Smith had a history of doing opposition research against President Bill Clinton and had a hand in exposing the “Troopergate” allegations about Bill Clinton"s sex life.

His obituary said Smith was involved in public affairs for more than 60 years and described him as a "quietly generous champion of efforts to ensure a more economically and politically secure world." Smith led private equity firms in corporate acquisitions and venture investments for more than 40 years. Earlier, he worked with DigaComm LLC from 1997 to 2014 and as the president of Peter W. Smith & Co. from 1975 to 1997. Before that, he was a senior officer of Field Enterprises Inc., a firm that then owned the Chicago Sun-Times and was held by the Marshall Field family, his obituary said.

Smith"s last will and testament, signed last Feb. 21, is seven pages long and on file in Probate Court in Lake County, Illinois. The will gives his wife his interest in their residential property and his tangible personal property and says remaining assets should be placed into two trusts.

He was born Feb. 23, 1936, in Portland, Maine, according to the death record.

His late father, Waldo Sterling Smith, was a manufacturer"s representative for women"s apparel firms, representing them in department stores in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, according to the father"s 2002 obituary. The elder Smith died at age 92 in St. Augustine, Fla., and his obit noted that he had been active in St. Johns County, Fla., Republican affairs and with a local Methodist church. Peter Smith wrote two blog posts dated the day before he was found dead. One challenged U.S. intelligence agency findings that Russia interfered with the 2016 election. Another post predicted: "As attention turns to international affairs, as it will shortly, the Russian interference story will die of its own weight."
 

Respected Biology Teacher Killed by Police in Minnesota — He Was Unarmed

Mankato, MN — A community is mourning the loss of a 33-year-old biology teacher this week after he was killed by a Mankato police officer responding to a disturbance at a hotel on New Year’s eve.

Chase A. Tuseth, a graduate of Minnesota State University Mankato, and high school biology teacher in Shakopee, was killed in the early morning hours of New Year’s eve in the Country Inn and Suites in Mankato. Officer Gary Schnorenberg was the officer who killed Tuseth — who was unarmed.

According to police, they were responding to calls of a heated encounter between Tuseth and hotel staff. Tuseth allegedly went behind the counter of the hotel and began throwing things. However, up until police arrived, no one was injured.

After only 5 minutes of the hotel clerk’s 911 call, according to the dispatch audio cited by the Mankato Free Press, Tuseth would be killed.

This short period of time between the 911 call and Tuseth’s death suggests that Schnorenberg, a 30-year veteran of the Mankato Department of Public Safety, must have quickly escalated the situation.

Schnorenberg encountered Tuseth in a hallway near the hotel’s pool and Schnorenberg used his Taser against the man after he ignored “several verbal commands,” the police news release said.

After tasering Tuseth, Schnorenberg tried to place him in handcuffs. However, Tuseth “broke free and began hitting and kicking” the officer, according to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the shooting, as reported by the Star Tribune.

Only seconds later, he was dead.

Mankato officers do not wear body cameras and it is unclear what, if anything, the hotel’s surveillance cameras captured.

A South Dakota man staying at the hotel for a wedding weekend told KEYC-TV that he awoke around 4 a.m. and heard four shots.

According to the dispatch audio, emergency medical personnel said Tuleth had been shot in the left side of his body with the exit wound in his back.

EMTs attempted to revive him, however, they were unsuccessful and Tuleth died on scene.

Up until this point in his life, Tuleth’s only run-in with police was a ticket for drinking and driving in 2008. However, that charge was later dismissed.

Tuleth was not a criminal. He was an upstanding member of society who was killed by police who appear to have quickly escalated the situation to violence.

“He was an innovative teacher,” said Tokata Principal Eric Serbus. “He was always looking for the next and best way to connect with students. He brought his experience of project-based learning from the Integrated Arts Academy to Shakopee public schools. He was on the cutting edge of learning.”

“I never saw this coming,” Tuseth’s roommate, Luke Mikkola said. “He’s a super nice guy. He works with kids and is very accommodating to people of other backgrounds. He’s lived all over the world.”

“This is just too weird, you know,” he said. “It doesn’t have to escalate to this.”

According to the Star Tribune, Tuseth was a 2008 graduate of Minnesota State Mankato and a high-jumper on the track team, said his uncle, Mark Liptrap. He attended high school in Stewartville, Minn., and competed at the state meet in 2001. His mother, Mickie Tuseth, teaches and coaches track and cross-country in the Stewartville School District.

Nekima Levy-Pounds, a mayoral candidate in Minneapolis, who is not afraid to speak out against police violence, addressed the killing in a passionate Facebook post on Monday.

“I hope that folks begin to understand that these types of incidents can happen to anyone in a system that lacks proper checks and balances and accountability,” said Levy Pounds before also drawing attention to the lack of public outcry. “It is equally disturbing to see that there is hardly a public outcry unless groups like the Minneapolis NAACP, Black Lives Matter, or other advocacy groups rise up and bring attention to these issues.

“The public in general, and especially the white majority, should be rising up, asking questions, and demanding accountability. De-escalation tactics and techniques should be the first approach of law enforcement in the overwhelming majority of circumstances instead of a shoot first, ask questions later mentality. We cannot afford to have more unnecessary deaths of any of our residents, irrespective of race, ethnicity, or class at the hands of those who are supposed to protect and serve. The time for change is now.”

Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter and now on Steemit