Monica Petersen, Haiti and the Octopus of the Deep State (Part 1) - Printable Version +- Deep Politics Forum (https://deeppoliticsforum.com/fora) +-- Forum: Deep Politics Forum (https://deeppoliticsforum.com/fora/forum-1.html) +--- Forum: Human Trafficking (https://deeppoliticsforum.com/fora/forum-28.html) +--- Thread: Monica Petersen, Haiti and the Octopus of the Deep State (Part 1) (/thread-16237.html) |
Monica Petersen, Haiti and the Octopus of the Deep State (Part 1) - George Williams - 13-02-2021 **Surviveandheal15 Lives On!!**
Monica Petersen, Haiti and the Octopus of the Deep State Part 1 (Part 2, Part 3 here) By: Anonymous February 13th, 2021 (**Author's Note: This is NOT a "QAnon" Article. This author does NOT believe in QAnon AT ALL. This author furthermore does not intend to promote ANY QAnon conspiracy theories with this article, in ANY way.) "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." - Marie Curie "...the real significance of this scandal for me [...] is the link to contemporary slavery and trafficking. I can't say to what extent, but there is human trafficking happening through the Clinton's [Caracol] Complex. And mining has always been historically linked to trafficking, slavery, and labor exploitation." - Monica Petersen, Research Fellow and Assistant to the Director at the Human Trafficking Center at the University of Denver, in January 2016 Facebook Post (LINK) Synopsis: From Facebook posts, we know that University of Denver Human Trafficking Center Researcher Monica Petersen took a series of trips to Haiti in 2015 and 2016 to investigate human trafficking. We know that she went to talk to Haitian workers, or those very close to them, about working conditions at the Clinton Foundation-sponsored Caracol textile factory in northern Haiti. From a January 2016 Facebook post, we know that Monica Petersen received some kind of report about human trafficking allegedly happening at this Caracol textile factory. Beyond this, we know almost nothing. Petersen officially passed away in Haiti in November 2016, but the circumstances of her death and events leading up to it are still very unclear until this day. A single Washington Post article from December 2016, is the only article I could find about Monica Petersen’s death from any mainstream news agency as of this writing. The silence in the media about Petersen's death in 2016, is both incredibly revealing and disturbing at the same time, potentially telling us a great deal about the true level of censorship we live with in our society. What really happened to Human Trafficking Center Researcher Monica Petersen? Was she correct in her statement before her death that human trafficking was occurring at the Clinton-sponsored Caracol textile factory in Haiti? There is clearly a very very oddly limited "hodgepodge" of social media information regarding Petersen's death. My search for answers to her death, led me to look deeply into this "hodgepodge" of very limited information. The results of this research is this story. What I found in my opinion only greatly deepened the suspiciousness about Petersen's death, and what her investigation in Haiti may have truly revealed. The blatant media black-out and obfuscation of relevant, publicly available information about Petersen’s death is very very striking. It is obvious from reading reporter Glenn Kessler’s single 2016 Post article, the only mainstream press about Monica Petersen’s death to this date, that Kessler is misrepresenting and omitting from disclosure, highly relevant social media posts about Petersen’s investigation into the Clinton-sponsored Caracol factory in Haiti. It is also worth mentioning that when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, Glenn Kessler in his duties as reporter traveled with Clinton frequently and "for several years wrote a blog about his experiences on those trips." In this article, I seek to expose to the best I can, the full scope of the publicly available, relevant social media posts that shine light on Petersen’s human trafficking investigation and her death in Haiti. As can be clearly seen in these online postings, some of the key people involved in these communications, were decidedly left-wing, social justice-oriented activists, not the sort of people you could label as right-wing, pro-Trump QAnon conspiricists. Facebook posts about Monica Petersen's death were shared predominately on right-wing, pro-Trump message boards and other social media sites after her death in November 2016. However, just because these messages were shared mostly on these kinds of sites, does not change the content of the messages themselves, nor the background of the activists who posted the messages. The subsequent media silence about the circumstances of Petersen's death, may speak volumes about the level of criminality against the people of Haiti Monica Petersen was seeking to expose. Background about Monica Petersen According to her obituary, Monica Petersen worked as a Research Fellow and Assistant to the Director of the Human Trafficking Center (HTC) at the University of Denver. Petersen officially passed away in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on November 13th, 2016. The Human Trafficking Center graduate program provides "the only two-year graduate level training program in forced labor, human trafficking, and international migration issues in the U.S." Monica Petersen was born and raised in Ames, Iowa, her life growing up included active involvement with her local 4-H club, and many school activities. She received a bachelors degree in Anthropology from Western State College of Colorado, and in 2014, Petersen received a Masters Degree in International Development with a concentration in Human Trafficking from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, at the University of Denver. The Human Trafficking Center, for whom Petersen also worked, is a part of the larger Josef Korbel School of International Studies. (**Very important update: according to the Human Trafficking Center's Facebook page, the Human Trafficking Center permanently shut down at the University of Denver as of June 2021. Also very notably, according to the HTC's statement about its closing on its Facebook page, there is a description of all of the HTC's academic accomplishments over a nearly 20 year period of operation at the U. of Denver. But at the same time, within the statement there is no explanation for why the decision was made to shut the Human Trafficking Center program down, other than that the Korbel School "decided to close" the program). Considering that Petersen's Masters Degree had a focus on human trafficking studies, it is safe to say that she must have taken many classes that were part of the Human Trafficking Center curriculum, and knew quite a bit about the HTC, before 2014. Petersen worked with many social justice-oriented groups during her life, including the Social Wellness Advocacy Network, the Colorado Human Trafficking Council, and the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking. She gave an academic presentation about women victims of human trafficking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her social media postings show that Petersen had a significant academic history researching and combating human trafficking, and was also involved in social justice activism like advocating for the rights of sex workers. In 2014, Petersen wrote a blog post for the Human Trafficking Center blog, titled "Root Causes and Contradictions of the Displaced Youth along the U.S./Mexico Border." In the post, Petersen talked in detail about how "free trade" polices instituted in Central America, and throughout the world, have contributed enormously to increased inequality between the US and Central America and other third world countries, and greatly increased global poverty. As Petersen wrote, this "break-down" in society in Central America has allowed an illegal "informal" economy of gangs and crime to flourish, and horrifically this has contributed greatly to increased child trafficking from Central American countries. Petersen clearly had a deep level of knowledge about economics and global politics, and their impact on human trafficking activities throughout the world. None of this background "fits" with the "QAnon narrative" pushed by our mainstream news constantly now, to say the very least. Before Petersen's death, she appeared on a podcast about human trafficking and sex workers, hosted by Chris Sowa titled “Fighting the Trafficking Narrative from Alaska to Rhode Island.” By all accounts, Monica Petersen was committed to investigating and reporting on human trafficking and other social injustices up until the end of her life. At the time of Petersen's death in November 2016, the Director of the Human Trafficking Center was Professor Claude d’Estree. The 2016 Post article about Petersen’s death, quotes d’Estree as saying the following about Petersen’s death and time before that: “[d’Estree] had employed Petersen until June [2016] as a researcher and as his assistant, after which she moved to Haiti. He said she had been teaching at private pre-kindergarten-through-12 school, Union School Haiti, mainly to support herself, and had been exploring setting up a nongovernmental organization in Haiti. He said she committed suicide but the circumstances are not clear. d’Estree said Petersen had gone to Haiti a number of times, but she was not there to research human trafficking and was not investigating the Clinton Foundation. He said she had been a “brilliant” research fellow, working the past two years to produce a still unpublished article that critiqued a controversial book on the business of sex trafficking by Siddharth Kara.” However, even within the 2016 Post article, Monica Petersen’s own Facebook post contradicts d’Estree’s claim that she was not in Haiti to investigate human trafficking. Later on in the same article, Kessler references a group of Facebook posts, one of which is a post Monica Petersen herself wrote in August 2015. In the post, Petersen says, “I’m down in Haiti for the next 3 wks doing fieldwork on human trafficking (i.e. ALL exploited labor sectors, not just sex).” It is true that Petersen took another trip to Haiti in 2016, so in fairness maybe d’Estree is saying that Petersen was not investigating human trafficking on Petersen’s particular trip to Haiti in late 2016, when Monica Petersen died. Still, why was d’Estree not clear about this in the Post article, and why would he at least not mention anything about what Petersen was doing on her 2015 trip to Haiti, when she clearly was investigating human trafficking? However, this is just the beginning. What I think can be clearly seen in Glenn Kessler’s Post article, is that he very obviously only references certain Facebook posts about Petersen, her time in Haiti and her death. He clearly does not reference a number of other Facebook posts that are publicly viewable about Monica Petersen. The specific posts that Kessler very clearly omits from his article, just so happen to do with Petersen’s investigation into the Clinton-sponsored Caracol textile factory in northern Haiti, and how her death may possibly be related to this investigation. Bill and Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation were heavily involved in financing and otherwise supporting the construction and operation of the Caracol Industrial Park in northern Haiti, near the city of Cap-Haïtien. Caracol Industrial Park is a textile production factory that went into business in 2012. A well-known picture shows Bill and Hillary Clinton posing with a large group of Haitian workers and factory managers at the Caracol Industrial Park for its inauguration ceremony in October 2012. A 2015 report from Politico stated that the Clintons "were instrumental at nearly every step" in the creation of the Caracol Industrial Park. As the BBC reported in 2016, the main employer at the Caracol factory is the South Korean textile corporate giant Sae-A Trading Co. The Caracol textile factory produces clothes for US Big Box retailers like Walmart, Target and Old Navy. Perhaps not coincidentally at all, after Sae-A got its contract to start producing clothing at Caracol, the corporation subsequently donated between $50,000 and $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. A major disappointment with the Caracol factory, at least one that is publicly known, is that the total number of jobs created at the factory has fallen far short of initial projections. Bill Clinton said that Caracol would create 100,000 jobs "in short order," but as of 2019, Sae-A Trading employed only about 13,000 workers at the Caracol factory complex, most of whom are female textile workers. By far the most significant of the Facebook posts Kessler does NOT mention, is a January 4th, 2016 Facebook Post shared by Bella Robinson, a social justice activist from Rhode Island who was a friend of Monica Petersen. In the post, Robinson quotes Monica Petersen giving a “report” or “travel update” about her visit to Haiti. As shocking as it is to say, Robinson quotes Monica Petersen as stating the following about her visit in Haiti: 1.) She personally went to the Caracol Industrial Park in Haiti to investigate working conditions of the plant's workers. 2.) She personally heard of and was possibly actively investigating claims of human trafficking happening at the Clinton Foundation-sponsored Caracol Industrial Park in Haiti. Again, here is the Facebook Post (archived link HERE): In Bella Robinson's Facebook post (from January 4th, 2016) quoting Monica Petersen, Petersen states the following: "Caracol is a garment exporting zone, a field site I visited in August to check out the conditions of the workers (conclusion: working conditions okay, working wages too low & below contracts & legal minimum wage in Haiti.)" Later on towards the end of the same social media post by Monica Petersen, Petersen says the following: "..the real significance of this scandal for me [...] is the link to contemporary slavery and trafficking. I can't say to what extent, but there is human trafficking happening through the Clinton's Caraol [sic] Complex." This Facebook post was clearly only shared by Bella Robinson to her own group of friends on Facebook. As obviously shocking as it is to hear allegations of actual human trafficking occurring at a Clinton Foundation-sponsored textile sweatshop in Haiti, Kessler’s 2016 Post article indeed confirmed that Bella Robinson knew Monica Petersen, and confirms the authenticity of at least one of Bella Robinson's Facebook posts quoting Monica Petersen's "report" of her trip to Haiti. In the Post article, Monica Petersen is named as an "acquaintance" of Robinson. Additionally, Kessler's article states that "...Bella Robinson, a sex worker and activist in Rhode Island in January [2016] had posted a blog post that Petersen had shared on Facebook that had been critical of the Clinton Foundation's work in Haiti." Very very significantly, the Washington Post here does in fact acknowledge that Bella Robinson was sharing actual social media posts by Monica Petersen through her own Facebook posts. Bella Robinson is a Rhode Island-based social justice activist, sex worker rights activist, and sex worker. She is the Executive Director of "COYOTE RI," a support organization for current and former sex workers and trafficking victims. She is also a founding member of the "AMOR Network," which describes itself as "an alliance of grassroots organizations, providing community support in Rhode Island and southern New England for victims of hate crimes and state-sponsored violence." In addition, Robinson has a scholarly background investigating and writing about sex worker rights' issues as well as sex trafficking. Her and Professor Elena Shih, an American and Ethnic studies Professor at Brown University, co-wrote a research paper titled "Organizing under Criminalization: Policing and Sex Worker's Rights in Rhode Island." In the paper, Robinson and Shih discuss the history of de-criminalization and re-criminalization of sex work in the state of Rhode Island, and the impact re-criminalization has had on the lives of sex workers in the state. Rhode Island de-criminalized prostitution for 30 years and re-criminalized it in 2009. Robinson and Professor Shih also have conducted research surveys where they interviewed sex workers in Rhode Island, and sex workers nation-wide, in order to try to better understand "the realities of consensual sex work and sex trafficking in the US." The nation-wide survey Robinson and Shih conducted interviewed 1,494 sex workers. Professor Shih herself teaches courses in human trafficking, labor migration and sex work, amongst many other subjects at Brown University. Shih also serves on the Board of Directors of Robinson's "COYOTE RI" organization. Bella Robinson clearly has a background both in researching and writing about the nature of sex trafficking and sex work, at an academic level. After Monica Petersen's death in November 2016, many of Robinson's Facebook posts concerning Petersen and her death in Haiti were shared or linked to across various right-wing, pro-Trump/QAnon message boards and websites. People critical of Robinson might try to say she is affiliated with the QAnon "movement" and therefore dismiss what she posted. However, Robinson's background indicates a long involvement with left-leaning, social justice-oriented activism, amongst other information that does not suggest anything of her being affiliated with the "QAnon crowd." It is clearly very hard to dismiss her social media posts as yet another QAnon "rant." The same exact thing can be said about Monica Petersen. Monica Petersen passed away in Haiti in 2016, obviously before the current "QAnon craze" took hold. Petersen clearly had a very well-established academic and activist background researching and investigating human trafficking. Yet again, none of this fits into the "QAnon narrative" at all. Despite this, the entire focus of Kessler's 2016 Post article (titled "'Pizzagate' rumors falsely link death of sex-worker advocate to nonexistent Clinton probe") is a "debunking job" against the supposed conspiracy theories that Petersen's death had anything to do with the Clintons. In his Post article, Kessler states that after Petersen's death in November 2016, the blog post that Robinson posted on Facebook quoting Monica Petersen the past January, was shared in a Reddit discussion thread and went viral. Kessler states that after the blog post went viral, "This then resulted in a flurry of "news stories" falsely claiming that Petersen had written the blog post and was killed for investigating the Clintons." Kessler then quotes Robinson responding to her post going viral, quoting her as saying, "Some guy from Reddit found an old Facebook post on the Clintons and screen shot it and tagged it in this, and even after I confirmed that her death had nothing to do with the Clintons, he made up stories that the family couldn't get answers." Kessler quotes Robinson as saying that her comments "were taken out of context, and that she was actually trying to end the speculation." Kessler further quotes Robinson as saying that,"Monica Petersen's death is a PRIVATE family matter and it had nothing to do with the Clinton scandal. " Here is the blog post linked to from the Kessler's 2016 Washington Post article: This post contains a total of 4 social media posts about Monica Petersen. The Post-linked imgur site contains two November 2016 Facebook posts from the University of Denver Human Trafficking Center (Petersen's employer), and the "Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking", both of which announced and discussed the recent death of Monica Petersen. There is also an August 15th, 2015 Facebook post from Monica Petersen herself, where she discusses her upcoming trip to Haiti in 2015, stating: "I'm down in Haiti for the next 3 wks doing fieldwork on human trafficking (i.e. ALL exploited labor sectors, not just sex)[...]". Finally, the Post-linked imgur site contains a January 3rd, 2016 Facebook post from Bella Robinson quoting Monica Petersen. In this post, Monica Petersen discusses the upcoming Haitian Presidential elections, and Petersen discusses the Clinton's alleged corruption in Haiti. Probably NOT coincidentally at all, this particular Jan. 3rd, 2016 post from Petersen does NOT make reference AT ALL to human trafficking. However, in Bella Robinson's Jan. 4th, 2016 Facebook post (link is HERE) posted on Facebook the very next day, Petersen clearly states that "human trafficking" was allegedly occurring at the Clinton's Caracol Industrial Park. It does not take a genius to figure out that Glenn Kessler, clearly deliberately chose to feature in his Post article the Petersen Facebook post that did not report alleged human trafficking at the Caracol complex, and blatantly ignores the post by Petersen where she clearly states that "human trafficking" is happening at Caracol Industrial Park (which again was posted on Facebook literally the next day.) If you think this reeks of a completely blatant and obviously selective omission of factual information on Glenn Kessler's part as a journalist, to say the very least, as horrible as it is to say, this is just the beginning. One thing I immediately noticed when I did a Google news search query for "Monica Petersen." As of February 2021, Glenn Kessler's Washington Post article about Monica Petersen was literally the only mainstream news article about Petersen's death I could find anywhere from any remotely "mainstream" news agency. I mean anywhere. I could not find another article about Monica Petersen's death from any other news agency other than the Washington Post. (If I am wrong about this, please tell me). I could not even find an article in the Denver Post, Petersen's hometown paper at the time of her death. Just looking at the absolute absence of any other mainstream reporting about Petersen's death, I cannot help but feel that there has to be some kind of orchestrated "clamp-down" on information in regards to Petersen's death. Also very strikingly: one thing should be immediately noted about Glenn Kessler's past employment history: as Kessler's Wikipedia page notes, in his job duties as a journalist he "... traveled with three different Secretaries of State- Colin Powell, Condeleeza Rice, and Hillary Clinton - and for several years wrote a blog about his experiences on these trips." Glenn Kessler, the author of the only news article about Monica Petersen's death from any mainstream news source pretty much anywhere, also just so happens to be the.... former personal travel companion to and blog writer for Hillary Clinton herself!! If this does not reek even deeper of massive conflict of interest and journalistic malpractice, it yet again gets worse. I will return to Kessler's Post article later, but first I think it is most important to do what the Post clearly does not: provide archived links and descriptions of all the Monica Petersen-related social media posts I could find on the internet that had information relevant to her death and time spent in Haiti. I present these posts in chronological order, as best as I can discern their chronological order. From 2015 to roughly November 2016, both Bella Robinson, quotes from Monica Petersen in Robinson's posts, as well as Facebook comments from Petersen's friends shortly after her death, shed light on deeply troubling information about Petersen's time in Haiti as well as her death there, to say the very least. As will be clearly seen, Kessler's December 2016 Post article references almost none of the highly relevant information that is publicly available. The fact that Kessler published this article in the Post in December 2016, after all this information was publicly viewable on social media, denies any excuse that he did not have access to this information. Time Line of Monica Petersen-Related Facebook Posts 8/15/2015 Post: Personal Facebook post from Monica Petersen herself. Kessler does reference this post in his 2016 article. In this post, Petersen is asking some questions to an unknown Facebook page she recently joined. Petersen states that she is visiting Haiti "... for the next 3 wks doing fieldwork on human trafficking (i.e. All exploited labor sectors, NOT just sex). She describes herself as a "social anthropologist who wants to do solid research on [human trafficking]." Petersen says that as part of her field research, she is seeking to work with sex worker rights organizations in Haiti that are truly "pro-sex worker orgs," and not what she considers to be "sex trafficking savior" organizations seeking to "rescue" sex workers. She goes on to say "rescuing people" is a "stupid & imperialist concept." Bella Robinson responds to Petersen's post, suggesting she look into one such organization she might want to work with in Haiti, the "American Jewish World Service." Petersen then thanks Robinson on the message thread, saying that she was searching for their office or their representatives in Haiti while she herself was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but that she could not yet find them and was trying to reach them. 1/03/2016 Post: Kessler's Post article states that Robinson posted this in January 2016. Kessler does reference this particular post in his 2016 article. Robinson's Facebook post quoting Monica Petersen. As stated previously, Petersen discusses the Clinton's alleged corruption in Haiti, specifically she states her belief that the Clintons planed to "loot" Haiti for gold and work in some conjunction with groups from the Dominican Republic to accomplish this purpose. Petersen also speculates that a partner of Haitian President Michel Martelly (who she calls "Martelly's guy") is going to steal the upcoming Haitian Presidential Election, and speculates that the Clintons' alleged gold mining "plans" were going to be responsible for the steal. Also very significantly, Monica Petersen refers to her Masters Thesis from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, of which the Human Trafficking Center, for whom she also worked, is a part of. Petersen says her Thesis focuses on researching "modern structural slavery," and "disaster capitalism." 1/04/2016 Post: Bella Robinson's post quoting Petersen's "report" from Haiti. Glenn Kessler DOES NOT refer at all to this specific post in his 2016 Post article. This is the specific Facebook post where Petersen says that human trafficking is happening through the Clinton's Caracol Industrial Park. From the beginning of the post, it is clear Petersen is back in Haiti doing field work like on her previous 2015 trip. In her post, Petersen continues to describe her investigation into Clinton-related corruption in Haiti. Petersen discusses the Morne Bossa gold mine in the north of Haiti. The North Carolina-based VCS mining company, on which Clinton's brother Tony Rodham sat on the board, got the permit to mine gold at the Morne Bossa mine in 2012. In the post, Petersen describes how the Clintons may have allegedly worked with the Haitian Presidential Administration of Michel Martelly, in a "crony" manner, to attempt to begin mining gold at Morne Bossa in 2012. As Petersen also describes, the Clinton Foundation established the Caracol Industrial Park at the same exact time in 2012, and Caracol is fairly close to the Morne Bossa mine. Petersen speculates whether the Clintons may have had some ulterior motive for establishing the Caracol textile factory and beginning mining gold at Morne Bossa at the same time, wondering if it was just "easy money" for the Clintons or if there was something more to it. It is very important to point out here that this January 4 2016 Facebook post quoting Monica Petersen, contains very significant information about her activities in Haiti that closely corroborates what Petersen is quoted as saying in Kessler's 2016 Washington Post article, in Petersen's August 15 2015 Facebook post referenced in his article. Very significantly, in the January 4 2016 post, Petersen states that she visited the Caracol Industrial Park in 2015, saying the following: "Caracol is a garment exporting zone, a field site I visited in August [2015] to check out the conditions of the workers (conclusion: working conditions okay, working wages too low & below contracts & legal minimum wage in Haiti)." This very closely matches with what Petersen stated in her own Facebook post dated August 15 2015 (as referenced by the Washington Post), where she said: "I'm down in Haiti for the next 3 wks doing fieldwork on human trafficking (i.e. ALL exploited labor sectors, not just sex)". There is clearly corroboration from both these Facebook posts, that Petersen was actively investigating human trafficking in Haiti and that she personally visited the Caracol complex sometime in August 2015. From these posts, we know that Petersen states that she intended to investigate a potentially wide range of human trafficking activities occurring in Haiti (i.e., across "ALL exploited labor sectors"). It therefore clearly makes sense that as Petersen herself is quoted as saying, she would go and talk with textile workers at the Caracol complex, since the textile export industry across Haiti is notorious for its incredibly exploited, low-wage workforce. So again, there is very significant corroboration of information regarding Monica Petersen's activities in Haiti, from both Petersen's August 2015 Facebook post, and this January 4 2016 Facebook post quoting her less than half a year later. This in my opinion, provides very significant evidence to support the validity of Petersen's comments quoted in Robinson's January 4 2016 Facebook post presented here. Again, Glenn Kessler quite conspicuously neglects to mention at all this January 4 Facebook post in his Washington Post article. Petersen states that the main buyers for Caracol's garment exports are Gap, Target and Wal-Mart, all of which are corporations Petersen states are "linked" to the Clintons. Petersen states that "family money, not local livelihoods" were motivating the Clintons to develop the Caracol garment factory. Petersen goes on to discuss how she believes that Hillary Clinton, in her role as Secretary of State,"ensured" that Michel Martelly won the "rigged" Haitian Presidential elections in 2010, and that the Clintons wanted Martelly's "hand-picked successor" to win the 2016 election. Petersen states that the Clintons wanted Martelly's successor government to allow Tony Rodham's VCS Mining to begin mining at Morne Bossa. Petersen also states that the time period of mining activity at Morne Bossa "oddly corresponds" to the first and second coups against Haitian President Aristide. Petersen discusses the lack of an assessment of the environmental risks of mining at Morne Bossa, warning about the threat mining at Morne Bossa posed to farmers and the surrounding ecosystem. Petersen states that regardless of the actual amount of mineral wealth available in Haiti, the Clintons viewed Haiti as just another third world country to exploit: "a couple billion here, there, everywhere adds up." Most crucially, towards the end of her post, Petersen states the following: "I can't say to what extent, but there is human trafficking happening through the Clinton's Caraol [sic] complex. And mining has always been historically linked to trafficking, slavery and labor exploitation." Petersen goes on to speculate about the nature of the workforce at the nearby Morne Bossa mine, believing that Dominicans were most likely the contracted managers at the mine, and Haitian workers were most likely being exploited as laborers at the mine as "low or no cost" labor. Petersen states at the end of her post: "That's two huge human trafficking scandals, an environmental degradation scandal, a social displacement scandal, a Presidential election scandal, a scandal with billions in unaccounted for earthquake aid...all leading back to the Clintons racist cronyism in Haiti." Significantly, Petersen specifically mentions two human trafficking scandals, but in this post, and from what I can find on social media, Petersen only specifically made claims about human trafficking happening at the Caracol factory in Haiti. So if Petersen said "two huge human trafficking scandals" were occurring in Haiti that linked back to the Clintons, where else could the other alleged human trafficking be happening in Haiti?? November 2016 Post: Personal Facebook post from Bella Robinson. Kessler DOES NOT refer at all to this specific post in his 2016 Post article. Robinson posted this in the comments section of the "My favorite abolitionist" Facebook group, a pro-sex worker and pro-LGBT Facebook group, soon after Petersen's death in November 2016. Robinson posted the following, "RIP Monica Petersen: It seems that Monica was in Haiti investigating the Clintons possible ties to a pedophile ring. Monica family hasn't been able to get any straight answers about her death." November 2016 Post: What appears to be Bella Robinson on Facebook, is commenting with another unknown poster. Kessler does NOT reference this Facebook post in his 2016 article. Robinson's name and profile picture is partially "smudged out" but part of her distinctive Facebook profile picture and a chunk of her name can be seen in the photo. An unknown Facebook poster asks Robinson questions about Petersen's recent death. Petersen responds, saying, "All I know is she committed suicide and she left a note. I don't know the cause of death or anything else. I can't even find any public record of media that mentions her death other then her own FB page, and redditt, and a few spin offs." Robinson goes on to give details to the other poster about Petersen's upcoming memorial service at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, on November 18th, 2016. November 2016 Post: Personal Facebook post from Bella Robinson, posted sometime after Petersen's death in November 2016. Kessler does NOT reference this Facebook post in his 2016 article. Robinson shares a Reddit discussion thread about Monica's Petersen's death on Facebook. One of her friends comments, asking, "How credible the Reddit link and discussion? Robinson responds, saying, "I found out what happened, and if you message me I will explain. I don't think it is appropriate to post what I know in public." November 2016 Post: This Facebook post is a discussion thread about Petersen's recent death on the Human Trafficking Center Facebook page, posted shortly after Petersen's death. Kessler does NOT reference this Facebook post in his 2016 article. In the discussion thread, a poster states: "The alt.right and faux news site went nuts today, hinting that Clinton had [Monica Petersen] killed for investigating her. Please, can you or the family issue a statement to stop this inane conspiracy garbage?" In the thread, the Human Trafficking Center then responds to this poster, saying, "It's actually best to ignore them. It will only feed the flames of their craziness." However, in the very same discussion thread, another poster, claiming to be a childhood friend of Monica Petersen, says the following: "[Monica] was my classmate growing up and I got word she was murdered. A statement would be nice so rumors do not swirl." Another poster on the thread comments,"I sincerely hope you were able to get hold of [Petersen's] notes.... you may get some answers from them..." (Part 2 Here) |