You Might Want to Rethink

The dog owner who was caught on camera slapping around his dog has just been charged ... TMZ has learned.

The Santa Monica City Attorney's Office charged Jeffrey Previte, CEO of an environmental consulting firm in L.A., with 1 count of animal neglect ... a misdemeanor. If convicted, he faces up to 6 months in county jail and a maximum fine of $500.

As we reported ... Previte snapped on the dog, Bici, back in August in the hallway of his Santa Monica apartment building. The video was pretty damn disturbing ... showing Previte dragging, choking and slapping his poor dog after it started peeing.

A professional hotline dedicated to reporting funny business at the polls was inundated with calls alleging voter intimidation this election cycle ... far surpassing anything they saw 4 years ago.

Election Protection is a safe haven for whistleblowers who see something fishy or downright illegal at polling places all over the country -- and according to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (a nonprofit that manages the hotline) ... 2020 was crazy busy.

A rep for the Lawyers' Committee tells TMZ ... since the month of October, their collection of 40k-plus legal volunteers fielded upwards of 115k calls about potential voter suppression -- which pales in comparison to the total 150k or so calls they got for the ENTIRE year in 2016.

As of this past weekend -- when early voting was in full swing in a majority of states -- we're told EP got a call from out from Hanover, VA about what appeared to be a militia group holding a parade in front of a polling place ... which freaked out some people.

Lawyers' Committee adds that officials on the scene noted there were BLM counter-protesters on hand too -- and that voters were feeling uneasy about the whole thing in general. We're told local authorities were alerted to check it out and make sure nobody was being harassed.

On Tuesday, Lawyers' Committee tells us they received several calls regarding alleged voter intimidation in Florida ... from counties like Hillsborough, Brevard, Palm Beach and more. In Orange County, we're told they got a report of 5 pickup trucks blocking the entrance to a polling place there ... something Election Protection says they flagged to officials.

There are more incidents they were made aware of on Election Day, including pollsters taking temp checks in Virginia -- which some folks thought was meant to keep people from voting -- as well as a heavy reliance on paper ballots, misappropriated voting machines and delayed opening times at polling places in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio and other states.

President Trump's locked and loaded for a loooong night of watching election results ... dishing up comfort foods, and one menu item feels like a troll job aimed at Black Lives Matter demonstrators.

Pigs in a blanket are being served up to Trump's 400 guests watching all the election map drama unfold at the White House. Remember, the President repeatedly accused BLM protesters of shouting an anti-police chant, "Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon."

The Prez even mentioned it during the final presidential debate.

The hors d'oeuvres are being served individually at the White House, and under glassware. Yes, these pigs in a blanket are super classy! Unclear if they were fried, but they don't appear to be adorned with bacon.

The rest of the menu at the watch party looks similar to what he served to Clemson's national championship football team when they visited the White House during the government shutdown.

Trump's family, chief of staff Mark Meadows, donors and cabinet members are chowing down on sliders, french fries, chicken tenders and a wide selection of desserts.

A couple of kayakers are lucky to be alive after a humpback whale damn near swallowed them whole ... and it was all caught on video.

Julie McSorley and Liz Cottriel were kayaking and whale watching Monday off California's Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo when, out of nowhere, the massive mammal came up to the surface to gobble up a big pool of fish.

Check out the video ... you can see other kayakers and paddle boarders near the whale ... with another kayaker filming the incident from a distance. At first, it appeared like the whale swallowed the women, but their kayak only capsized and they were thrown underwater.

Cottriel told FOX26 News, "I'm thinking to myself, 'I'm gonna push.' Like, I'm gonna push a whale out of the way! It was the weirdest thought. I'm thinking, 'I'm dead. I'm dead.' I thought it was gonna land on me. Next thing I know, I'm underwater."

Several paddle boarders reportedly came to their rescue before they hopped back on their kayak and rode back to shore. Cottriel said when they got back to the car "I was shaking my shirt and a bunch of fish came out of my shirt." None of the women suffered injuries ... but McSorely reportedly lost her car keys.

There's deep concern for what will happen tonight and beyond in the streets of America, regardless of who wins the Presidential election, and we've learned the feds have spent millions to protect the candidates and the building they want to live in.

According to federal docs obtained by TMZ, the Secret Service has dished out $2.6 million in security expenses to protect Donald Trump and Joe Biden tonight -- money earmarked for contractors who specialize in setting up secure perimeters at political events.

One company, Arcus Group LLC, is raking in $988,788 to secure the perimeter of the White House on Election Night. Another company, Showcall Security Services will collect $1.6 mil to keep Joe Biden safe in Delaware Tuesday night.

Each company will construct barriers and walls to keep people out. As you've seen by now, the perimeter of The White House has already been fortified.

Cities across the U.S. are also preparing for the worst ... businesses from Washington D.C. to Beverly Hills have been boarded up out of fear of potential unrest. Police forces have beefed up their operations as well, bringing in additional officers and reinforcements.

President Trump has a thought or two about big-name music acts who perform for Joe Biden these days -- especially Jon Bon Jovi, whom he claims is a total brownnoser.

POTUS rallied Monday in Avoca, PA and talked about the fact Lady Gaga is set to perform for Joe Biden at a dueling rally in the Keystone State later today. He claimed to know "a lot of stories" about her, suggesting she's not so "good" -- whatever that means.

As you might've heard, Gaga's doing a show for the Democratic nominee on the eve of the election ... something she also did for Hillary Clinton, as well, back in 2016. Guess Biden's not superstitious.

Trump also went after Bon Jovi, who performed at a Biden drive-in rally last week, and claimed the dude kisses his ass in private. Yep, the President actually said that.

BTW, Jon also performed for Hillary in 2016 -- and in keeping with that theme ... Trump even took some shots at Jay-Z, another one of Hillary's marquee music acts that year. His performance was a little controversial at the time because he used explicit language.

He made sure to remind everyone about Jay dropping f-bombs ... which apparently has DT clutching his pearls.

A guy in Montana thought it'd be a great idea to war a Ku Klux Klan outfit for Halloween -- and, apparently, so did the people at the bar who voted him as having the best costume.

This happened in Glasgow, MT Saturday night, where witnesses say this guy was bar hopping around town and stopped at a joint called Sam & Jeff's. Patrons there loved his homage to hatred and awarded him the grand prize for the bar's costume contest.

Lots of people took photos of him, naturally and it's stirred outrage in the community. Many people are calling out Sam & Jeff's, and another bar, Dink's, which allowed him to wear the KKK getup.

The backlash had an impact. The man under the hood has identified himself as Luke Morehouse, and he apologized on Facebook ... as did the owner of Sam & Jeff's.

The bar owner, Sam Knodel, says he's deeply sorry for the "distasteful and offensive actions" that went down at his place of business. He adds that although Halloween's full of offensive costumes, this one crossed the line ... and should not have infiltrated the bar on their watch.

As for the contest, Knodel explains that the bar flies were the ones who deemed him the winner ... and that in no way reflects the views of himself or his partners.

Morehouse also apologized -- albeit somewhat in an ass-backward way. He admits his costume was offensive and disgusting, and didn't think of the repercussions. While saying sorry to those he offended, he also says in the same breath, "What started as an innocent costume escalated and there are no excuses for it and I can not take that back."

President Trump gave his Florida rally crowd what they wanted -- a strong suggestion he's going to send Dr. Anthony Fauci packing after the election.

Trump was addressing his supporters in Opa-locka shortly after midnight when he began talking about COVID-19 ... specifically, repeating his misleading claim that the country is "rounding the turn" on the pandemic as cases and deaths surge.

This prompted the crowd to break out in a "Fire Fauci!" chant, to which the Prez implied he's already planning to ax America's leading infectious disease expert.

Trump said ... "Don't tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election ... I appreciate the advice." The crowd loved it.

The President added that Fauci's a good guy but has been wrong about a lot, something he's repeated as they've openly feuded in the media over the last months.

Trump recently said the country is tired of listening to "Fauci and these idiots." If he wins, seems likely Trump would take that as a sign most of the country agrees with him.

Megan Fox just went scorched Earth on her ex, Brian Austin Green, for posting a Halloween photo with their youngest son ... and she didn't pull any punches.

BAG threw up the post on IG Sunday, which depicted him at home in a Yeti costume and his and Meg's boy, Journey, behind him in what appears to be a Spider-Man outfit. Brian's doing some goofy pose, and he captioned it ... "Hope you all had a good Halloween!"

Innocent enough, right? WRONG!!!! At least according to Megan, who left one hell of a public comment ... ripping BAG to shreds.

She writes, "Why does Journey have to be in this picture? It’s not hard to crop them out. Or choose photos that they aren’t in." Megan adds, "I had a great halloween with them yesterday, and yet notice how absent they are from my social media."

She continued, saying ... "I know you love your kids. But I don’t know why you can’t stop using them to posture via Instagram. You’re so intoxicated with feeding the pervasive narrative that I’m an absent mother, and you are the perennial, eternally dedicated dad of the year. You have them half of the time. Congratulations you truly are a remarkable human!"

One last jab from Megan ... "Why do you need the internet to echo back to you what should be inexhaustibly evident in the way your children love you?" Oof, gut punch. Then again ... Brian has posted his three boys' faces before, so it's strange MF flipped over this.

We've reached out to Brian for comment ... so far, no word back, and we're guessing he's not gonna respond.

President Trump is reportedly gearing up to prematurely declare himself the winner of Tuesday night's election if he gets an early lead ... but Kamala Harris has other plans.

Axios published a story Sunday, claiming sources in Trump's inner circle have heard he's actively making plans to call himself the definitive winner if it looks like he's ahead of Joe Biden in a handful of key states -- namely, Ohio, Florida, Texas, Arizona and other key holdings.

The report says Trump has spoken to people in his camp and ran the scenario of him walking up to the podium and claiming victory ... even if all the votes aren't counted yet.

Well, to that Kamala basically says ... PSSSHHH, PLEASE! Reporters asked the Democratic VP-hopeful about the story Sunday, and she told them Trump wouldn't even have the opportunity to do that, because she and Joe Biden plan on cleaning up nationwide.

She says, "Well, first of all, we plan to decisively win this election. So, I don't, I don't think we're going to need to get to that point." Well said ... sounds like she's confident.

Still, if the Axios report is true and Trump follows through ... it sounds like this election is going to be hotly contested, and a winner will likely not be announced Tuesday -- assuming it's close. Remember, the 2016 election wasn't called until very late in the night.

Jon Jones' fists are as good a weapon as any, but when it comes to someone allegedly trying to steal his crap at home ... nothing gets the job done like a 12-gauge!

The UFC superstar posted security footage that he says was captured at his home -- presumably, in Albuquerque, where he lives -- that shows what appears to be a man sneaking around his driveway at night, peering into cars ... and trying to make a clean getaway.

Check it out ... as the alleged burglar hears the garage open, he makes a run for it. Little does he know that JJ is a professional athlete. Not only that, he was locked and loaded!

You can see Jon give chase with what he says is a shotgun he owns, and he was catching up to the dude pretty quickly on foot. Both men run off camera, and you don't get to see what happened after ... but Jon broke it down in detail in a follow-up IG caption.

He says he ended up tapping on the driver-side window of this guy's vehicle with the muzzle of his firearm -- to us, that means he caught the dude and held him up at gunpoint and presumably waited for cops to arrive. Jon adds, "Next time you try to rob someone, make sure you’re fast enough to out run them."

Kentucky State Police used to train their cadets with inspiration from 2 infamous leaders ... Robert E. Lee and Adolf Hitler.

One of the training slides had the title, "Violence of Action," and instructed cops to be "ruthless killer[s]," like Robert E. Lee and imploring officers to have, "a mindset void of emotion" and to "meet violence with greater violence," like Hitler.

And, there's more ... another training slide reads, "The very first essential for success is a perpetually constant and regular employment of violence." That is from Hitler's "Mein Kampf" manifesto. The Dept. then linked to a Hitler page on Goodreads. There are 3 quotes from Hitler in the training program.

A spokesperson for the Dept. says the slides were removed back in 2013, adding, "Our administration does not condone the use of this material."

Kentucky has been reeling for months in the wake of the Breonna Taylor killing, where Kentucky State Police have been involved in handling the various protests.

Beverly Hills may be an omen of what's coming next week, because things got crazy on the streets and cops started swinging their billy clubs at both Anti-Fascist and Pro-Trump demonstrators.

SWAT teams, local police officers and private security were deployed all throughout Bev Hills Saturday in anticipation of major unrest over the next few days. City officials had already announced they'd be doing this -- along with shutting down ritzy Rodeo Drive -- but it appears they wanted to get the muscle out well ahead of time to set a tone.

Check out these shots we got of armored trucks lining the streets, with officers in full tactical gear ... ready to rock and roll if s*** hits the fan. Not only that, but several different shops, storefronts and boutiques along Rodeo were doing a full board-up blitz as well.

Might've been a good move to get the ball rolling on this, because as it turns out ... there are dueling protests happening nearby right now, and violence appears to already be breaking out between anti-fascists and Trump supporters. The former were seen marching toward the latter near the famous Beverly Hills Sign in Beverly Gardens Park. Apparently, these clashing demonstrations have become a regular thing around there, especially lately.

We've got eyes on the ground ... and we're told cops are already breaking up some of the fights, which is leading to more aggressive behavior and violence by default. One of our brave photogs, Melanie, even got shoved to the ground by a cop -- which you see in our clip -- this just seconds after they declared the protests unlawful assemblies and started dispersing the crowds.

A group of Trump supporters on the outskirts of Austin reportedly ran a Biden campaign bus out of town after trying to hold an event there ... and, apparently, it got pretty scary.

A few Democratic lawmakers -- who were riding in the Biden bus and hoping to stump for JB and Kamala Harris in Pflugerville, TX on Friday -- tweeted out the frightening encounter as it was unfolding ... claiming they had to abandon their plans for security reasons.

Those reasons, according to them, amounted to a small caravan of Trump supporters who'd been following them along their stops in Texas, and who allegedly harassed the bus when it made a stop near the Austin area. One local politician, Rafael Anchia, even claimed some of the Trumpers were armed, and appeared to be threatening the group inside if they stayed.

Some have claimed the President's own sons were somehow responsible for inciting the crowd to do this, but it's unclear where those accusations stem from. In any case, the trouble didn't stop after the bus decided to get outta Dodge ... because the same group that was protesting them on the ground reportedly hopped in their own pickups ... and gave chase!

There's a bunch of different videos that show at least three to four Trump-flag bearing vehicles tailing the Biden bus along I-35 for a good while, and getting awfully close. A Biden campaign spokesperson even reportedly said the convoy attempted to run the bus "off the road," and was creating a dangerous situation on the freeway for surrounding cars.

In one of the videos, you see a few trucks surround the bus and attempt to slow it down. It's pretty freaky -- but luckily, it doesn't sound like anyone was harmed ... and the Biden campaign was eventually able to get law enforcement to step in and escort them to safety.

A Halloween party packed to the gills with TikTokers, YouTubers and many others was unceremoniously broken up by cops after numerous complaints that the bash was COVD unsafe.

It went down Friday night in swanky Bel Air, CA., with scores of partygoers crammed together in tight spaces ... most of whom are not wearing masks.

Cops showed at around 2 AM after receiving multiple complaints from neighbors about noise, COVID restrictions and parking issues.

Police broke up the party without incident and the costumed partygoers got up and left ... many with drink still in hand.

An online design store is accused of selling several grossly anti-Semitic products featuring Hitler made to look like Colonel Sanders with the logo for KFJ -- Kentucky Fried Jews.

The offensive images hit social media Thursday, purportedly showing items for sale on bapup.com -- including cell phone cases, face masks, neckties, umbrellas and more. However, late Thursday night the online store was seemingly shut down.

The site now has a message saying ... "Due to an ongoing internal investigation of our designer activities and an upgrade to our database system, our site is temporarily unavailable."

Many people online claim they contacted the site about the offensive content, while others went to the site's hosting company, GoDaddy, to report it as well.