Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., forced to lay off approximately 19,000 workers last month in the wake of conservative blowback over the endorsement of Bud Light by social media influencer and trans rights activist Dylan Mulvaney of San Diego.

Borderline hello

By coincidence or not, the May 22 hard landing of a U.S. Homeland Security helicopter at Brown Field Municipal Airport — an event which is currently under investigation by the National Transportation Board — came only months after the November 17, 2022, downing of a similar version of the Eurocopter AS350. That crash killed Porfirio Sánchez Mendoza, security chief of the central Mexican state of Aguascalientes. Reported CNN, “’We deeply regret the death of these five men,’ Aguascalientes Governor Teresa Jiménez said in a press conference, who extended her condolences to the bereaved. Jiménez said investigations into the cause of the incident had begun but added that ‘everything indicates’ an accident, and that she would share more details upon completion of the investigation.” Some in Mexican media saw a darker side, with El Financiero calling the variety of helicopter that crashed “one of the most innovative and safe in the country,” and reporting, “Witnesses affirm that firearm detonations were heard, although this version has not been confirmed by state authorities.”

Teresa Jiménez sees cause for sorrow but not suspicion —unlike some others.

Raising particular suspicions was the history of the crash’s key victim. “This year, Sánchez Mendoza had been detained for alleged acts of torture, although he was released after seven months.” Notes a February Associated Press account, “Sánchez Mendoza has been tied to the former federal security chief Genaro García Luna, who is awaiting trial in the United States.” Said Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in a statement following Garcia Luna’s subsequent conviction on bribery charges, “García Luna, who once stood at the pinnacle of law enforcement in Mexico, will now live the rest of his days having been revealed as a traitor to his country and to the honest members of law enforcement who risked their lives to dismantle drug cartels.” According to a November 18, 2022, post on the blog Borderland Beat, Sánchez Mendoza “described Aguascalientes as a ‘porous state’, explaining that criminal groups from other entities filter in.”

Meanwhile, back in San Diego, the preliminary report by the NTSB on the 10:10 pm May incident at Brown Field says the two Homeland Security crew members on board were uninjured, while the specific extent of damage to the aircraft remains undisclosed but was reportedly substantial. “The AS350/H125 Light Enforcement Helicopter is a short-range, turbine-powered helicopter used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Air and Marine Operations to perform missions such as aerial patrol and surveillance of stationary or moving targets,” according to a Customs and Border Protection fact sheet. The helicopters “are the optimal aerial surveillance platform in metropolitan areas because their vertical lift capability and maneuverability enable operations from off-airport sites and within close proximity to congested airports. Electro-optical/infrared sensors and video downlink provide intelligence and communications support that enhance officer safety during high-risk operations and increase covertness during surveillance operations. Video recorders document suspect activities for evidentiary use.”

On March 30, Mississippi Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith sent out a news release blasting the Biden Administration for not spending enough on the helicopters, which are made by Airbus in Columbus, Mississippi. “For the last 35 years, Customs and Border Patrol has flown a fleet of about 100 light enforcement helicopters, which happened to be manufactured in Mississippi. Very good, very proud of the support Mississippi has given the border secure missions.” The release continued: “Hyde-Smith, who visited the southern border in January, stressed the fact that Border Patrol agents need a new fleet of modern helicopters to improve border surveillance and law enforcement capabilities amid a worsening border crisis. The aircraft are used in missions involving illegal border incursions, search and arrest warrants missions, and high-risk area patrols.” In conclusion: “When we talk to the Border Patrol agents and say, ‘Do you need this,’ they say, ‘Oh my God, do we need these,’ because they have such a task in front of them,” Hyde-Smith said.”

Boozy funding

Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., forced to lay off approximately 19,000 workers last month in the wake of conservative blowback over the endorsement of Bud Light by social media influencer and trans rights activist Dylan Mulvaney of San Diego, was paid $225,000 for “fundraising events costs” incurred by the so-called ballot measure committee of Democratic state Senator Toni Atkins, according to the group’s mid-year disclosure filing, dated July 29. In addition, $955.96 was paid to Southwest Airlines to fly to Phoenix on February 10 for a fundraiser, with a return three days later. During the first six months of this year, the committee collected $372,580 in cash, bringing its total stash as of June 30 to $520,669.

Toni Atkins: Livin’ high at the Kona Kai.

Meanwhile, the Atkins for Lieutenant Governor 2026 committee picked up $268,950 during the period, and spent just $70,214, bringing cash on hand to a hefty $1,407,629. On April 29, the Atkins election committee laid out $753.87 at the Underwood Bar & Bistro in Graton, CA to host a lunch for the candidate and ten others, the disclosure says. It put down a $4,222.45 “event deposit” at Shelter Island’s Kona Kai Resort & Spa, and later sent the resort an additional $8506 to cover a 117-plate May 19 lunch. An April 29 brunch with the candidate and 12 others at the tony Solage resort and eatery in Calistoga ran a total of $5446. Last year, the high-dollar getaway was hit with a sexual harassment suit, charging that “management failed to address persistent sexual harassment endured and repeatedly reported by multiple women,” according to a February 28, 2022, account by the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat. Three female employees claimed that “inappropriate behavior included intrusive questions about the women’s personal lives and relationships, sexual talk, inappropriate touching and, later, increasingly threatening behavior like waiting for them in the parking lot after shifts.” Claimed one of the women: “I’m very familiar with spa personalities, and this is the first one that stopped me in my tracks.”

— Matt Potter

(@sdmattpotter)

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