A small amount of justice for a murder that would not have happened if we had a secure border. May her family find some peace.
The man accused of killing Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, at the University of Georgia in February was found guilty of murder on Wednesday. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, is a Venezuelan citizen who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in 2022. He was released by border officials while his immigration case was awaiting review, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The messages “appear to be robotext messages,” and the Nevada’s Attorney General’s Office is working with law enforcement to investigate their source, the office said in a statement on X.
Whoever is sending the racist text messages is using anonymizing software to obscure their location, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill told CNN on Friday. At least some of the messages were sent using an email service routing traffic through Poland, but it does not mean it is where the sender is, the attorney general said.
“They could be coming from Napoleonville, Louisiana, for all we know. We don’t know where they are originating from,” Murrill said.
Murrill said Thursday she directed state investigators “to fully investigate the origins of these disgusting texts that only intend to divide us.” The Louisiana Bureau of Investigations is “still trying to trace where everything is actually originating from,” she told CNN.
Attorneys general in Washington, DC, Virginia, New Jersey, Illinois and Maryland have condemned the messages and urged those who feel under threat to contact law enforcement.
The Dutch king says Jewish people must feel safe in the Netherlands, after violent attacks against Israeli football fans in the centre of Amsterdam.
Willem-Alexander said “our history has taught us how intimidation goes from bad to worse,” adding that the country could not ignore “antisemitic behaviour”.
Youths on scooters had criss-crossed the Dutch capital in “hit-and-run” attacks on Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters who were visiting Amsterdam for a Europa League match, authorities said.
Police said five people were treated in hospital and others suffered minor injuries. At least 62 people have been arrested.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation quietly updated its 2022 crime data to show an increase in violent crimes, despite previous data showing violent crimes had fallen that year, which was touted as a victory for the Biden-Harris administration.
“For some reason, the media, they did pick the crime data that they think goes and makes the Democrats look as good as possible. And then even when the crime data that they’ve relied on turns out by the very source of that data to be wrong, none of them fix it,” John Lott, the founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview this week.
The FBI released its annual crime in the nation data for 2022 last year, which found a 2.1% decrease in violent crimes compared to 2021, Lott explained. The data was lauded by Democrats and the media as part of a turning point for crime woes in the U.S., following the crime wave of 2020, when defund-the-police protests and riots swept the nation and the pandemic’s stay-at-home orders upended daily life.
Now, the data reflects a net increase of 80,029 violent crimes in 2022 over 2021. Lott found that under the umbrella of violent crime, there were an additional 1,699 murders, 7,780 rapes, 33,459 robberies and 37,091 aggravated assaults that year.
What a shame. Memphis is a fun city. Beale Street is getting a little worn, but still a lot of fun.
Memphis, Tennessee, once known for its blues, soul and rock ‘n’ roll music, has now turned into a haven for crime and drug abuse.
A study by WalletHub has named the Southern city the most dangerous city to live in America among the 182 cities surveyed.
The United States Department of Justice also declared that this once-flourishing metro has the highest number of homicides – 129 in the first half of 2024.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Local police in the cartel-dominated city of Culiacan, Mexico have been pulled off the streets after the army seized their guns, officials announced Monday.
But rather than announcing a stepped-up police presence, Ruben Rocha, the state’s governor, said Monday the entire 1,000-member municipal police force would not return to duty until they get their weapons back. Soldiers, state police and National Guard will take over patrolling until then.
Rocha said the seizure of the weapons for inspection of their permits and serial numbers was not a routine check, but rather was “exceptional,” and said “we hope it will end soon.”
Historically, the Mexican army has seized the weapons of local police forces they distrust, either because they suspect some local cops are working for drug gangs or because they suspect they are carrying unregistered, private sidearms that would make abuses harder to trace.
This story paints this as a victory, but it is not. It is the acceptance of a culture ruled by crooks and the people who coddle them at the expense of law-abiding citizens.
A year ago, America’s stores declared a shoplifting epidemic. They closed stores in major cities, hired extra security, locked up key merchandise and declared big losses in their financial statements.
This year, retailers are telling a very different story — or no story at all. It’s as if the shoplifting crisis suddenly vanished.
[…]
Last year, Target said a scourge of petty theft and organized groups stealing merchandise dented its profit by more than $500 million. Target also closed nine stores, saying “theft and organized retail crime” threatened worker and customer safety and made business unsustainable.
[…]
Stores have also added ways to prevent theft, which may have been effective at reducing the problem, even if they frustrated shoppers. Companies locked up products and removed self-checkout stations.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was subpoenaed by the House Education Committee on Wednesday as part of the GOP lawmakers’ latest investigation into the Democratic presidential ticket, probing into an issue that has long been Walz’s kryptonite: child nutrition programs.
[…]
A Minnesota-based nonprofit, Feeding Our Future, is accused of misusing $250 million of taxpayer dollars from a COVID-19 relief fund intended to feed children in need.
Walz has not shied away from addressing the largest pandemic relief fraud in the nation, which happened right under his nose.
At a press conference in August, before being picked by Harris, Walz addressed his administration’s lack of fraud prevention and a scathing legislative audit that called the MDE’s oversight “inadequate.”
“I think what you’re seeing is if you commit fraud in Minnesota, you are going to be caught as you are going to go to prison,” Walz said. He pointed to administrative changes and safeguards to prevent future fraud, such as implementing an inspector general for the MDE.
The federal government charged over 70 defendants, five of whom have been convicted of fraud, while the rest await trial.
Feeding our Future benefited from the child nutrition program designed to aid hungry children during the pandemic, as schools and care facilities were shut down. Prosecutors allege Feeding our Future submitted fake names of children to the Department of Education to receive funds.
Walz and the other officials subpoenaed have until Sept. 18 to release the documents requested.
A U.S. Bureau of Prisons official said Cárdenas Guillén had been released from prison and was placed in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That would normally suggest he would be deported back to Mexico.
A Mexican official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said Cárdenas Guillén faces two arrest warrants in Mexico, making it likely he would be detained upon arrival.
Cárdenas Guillén was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2010 and ordered to forfeit tens of millions of dollars. It was not clear why he did not serve his full sentence, but he had been extradited to the U.S. in January 2007.
Read this story and think to yourself… how much vetting did the Biden administration really do before granting the illegal immigrant protection from deportation? They are likely getting thousands and thousands of applications. Are they really checking the information in them if they are able to grant immunity in 24 hours?
Cecilia sat in front of her computer repeatedly refreshing the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services webpage on Monday, waiting for the application for the Biden administration’s “Keeping Families Together” program to show up on her screen.
Minutes later, she clicked it open and submitted the form in less than 20 minutes.
A little more than 24 hours later, she got an e-mail sharing the news that she had been waiting 20 years to hear.
“I see that I got approved, and I’m like, oh that was quick,” she told ABC News in an interview. “I was lost for words…a whole bunch of emotions were going on.”
Cecilia, who asked ABC News not to disclose her full name so she can freely disclose her immigration status, is one of the first immigrants to receive parole in place, a temporary relief from deportation under a new program that allows undocumented spouses and stepchildren of United States citizens to apply for permanent legal residence without having to leave the country.
A New Zealand charity that works with low-income people says it unknowingly distributed candies containing potentially lethal levels of methamphetamine.
[…]
Ben Birks Ang, a spokesperson for the NZ Drug Foundation, told the AP that each candy had a street value of 1,000 New Zealand dollars ($608), suggesting the donation was not intentional. Authorities said it was possibly a smuggling attempt that had gone wrong.
A Massachusetts Salon owner feels ‘violated’ after the United States Secret Service broke into her business during a nearby fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Footage from a Ring security camera shows an agent approaching the front door of the business in Berkshire, Massachusetts last week before coming back to tape over the video camera.
Alicia Powers, the salon owner, said after the camera was covered, agents broke into the building by picking the lock and then allowing multiple people to use the bathroom inside over a two-hour period.
We have a right to our private property and that right is strongly protected in several places in the U.S. Constitution. Without a warrant or probable cause, these agents broke into a private business to use for their own purposes. The purpose is immaterial. The Secret Service had no more right to enter that building without permission than any thug on the street. If a rando had broken in, they would be prosecuted and put in jail. The same thing should happen to the agents. They don’t get to say, “ope, our bad” and move on. I wouldn’t be able to do that. They should be held to the same or higher standard.
The whole thing speaks to a culture at the Secret Service that disregards the rights of citizens and does not hold itself accountable. It speaks to a culture of an agency that considers itself above the law. They are behaving as a modern Praetorian Guard instead of as a law enforcement and protection agency in a Constitutional Republic.
It seems that all of our federal agencies have become rotten to the core.
Protests erupted in the Venezuelan capital the day after President Nicolás Maduro claimed victory.
The opposition has disputed Mr Maduro’s declaration as fraudulent, saying its candidate Edmundo González won convincingly with 73.2% of the vote.
[…]
A heavy military and police presence was on the streets of Caracas with the aim of trying to disperse protesters and prevent them from approaching the presidential palace.
Crowds of people chanted “freedom, freedom!” and called for the government to fall.
[…]
In a speech on Venezuelan state television, Mr Maduro said it is his “obligation to tell you the truth”.
“We are all under the obligation to listen the truth, to gear up with patience, calmness and strength because we are familiar with this movie and we know how to face these situations and how to defeat the violent.”
[…]
Mr Maduro has accused the opposition of calling for a coup by disputing the results. “This is not the first time we are facing what we are facing today,” he said.
“They are trying to impose in Venezuela a coup d’etat again of fascist and counter-revolutionary character.”
The Venezuelan attorney general warned that the blocking of roads or breaking any laws related to disturbances as part of protests would be met with the full force of the law.
Does that rhetoric look familiar? The claim to speaking the “truth” and labeling all opponents as liars? The claim that opposing an obviously fraudulent election is a “coup?” The rigorous enforcement of laws against political opponents while allies run wild? All of this after disarming average citizens in the name of “safety.” Only those ignorant of history don’t know what’s going on. This is the classic Communist playbook and we are seeing it here in America.
French rail company SNCF says 800,000 passengers have been affected by what the country’s Prime Minister Gabriel Attal described as “acts of sabotage”.
A series of fires caused the disruptions early on Friday morning, hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
Several high-speed TGV lines have been hit to the west, north and east of the capital and SNCF has warned the disruption could last for days. Eurostar has also warned customers of longer journey times and cancellations.
Good for them. We win back this country at the local level with work like this.
HARTFORD — The Hartford Union High School (HUHS) Board voted not to accept a revised definition of the term “sex” under Title IX on Monday night.
[…]
The current HUHS process regarding students wanting to use different pronouns or a different name would not change. The school would still contact the parents and set up a meeting or have conversations with the parents, and only the parents’ written permission would allow HUHS to address the student by that name or pronouns.
School Board President Tracy Hennes, also a Moms for Liberty member said the Title IX document itself is very long and complex and it feels like the Department of Education is trying to force districts to accept it in an election year, as well as that there are required trainings for staff that would have to be implemented before the school year.
[…]
HUHS Board member Nolan Jackett said he was hesitant to accept the revised policy, due to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises V. Raimondo, which struck down Chevron Deference (an administrative law principle that compelled federal courts to defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous or unclear statute).
“The Department of Education, without congressional authority, they shouldn’t be going and making drastic changes like this,” said Jackett.
[…]
According to HUHS Board member Heather Barrie, based on paraphrasing what both Hennes and Lacy said, if this is not a reasonable way for the government to act, the district shouldn’t go along with it and they should wait for the current challenges to the policy to go through the court system (which could take “years and years and years,” according to Lacy).
HUHS Board member Craig Westfall motioned to approve the revised policy, but no other members, which included Hennes, Jackett and Barrie, seconded the motion, thus it failed and the current policy will stay on the books. HUHS Board member Don Pridemore did not attend the meeting.
[…]
Lacy said it is likely that HUHS will be hit with an audit from the U.S. Department of Education, through the Wisconsin Department of Instruction, for not approving the revised Title IX policy.
That last sentence is why we need to get rid of the Department of Education. Not only has it failed to improve educational outcomes despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars, but it is also how they federal government bullies local communities into adopting their ideology.
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez will resign his office on Aug. 20 following the conviction in his federal corruption trial, according to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.
Murphy, who will select an interim replacement, said Tuesday afternoon he has received Menendez’s resignation letter.
In the resignation letter to Murphy, obtained by ABC News, Menendez said he intends to appeal the verdict but does not want the “Senate to be involved in a lengthy process that will detract from its important work.”
Federal prosecutors in New York alleged the New Jersey Democrat accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in the form of cash, gold bars, mortgage payments and more in exchange for the senator’s political clout. Three New Jersey businessmen who were also charged, along with the governments of Egypt and Qatar, were the alleged recipients. Two of those co-defendants, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, were also convicted of all counts they faced.
Meh. It’s not an act of honor or worthy of respect if it is only done after being forced into it.
US Secret Service director Kim Cheatle has resigned after security failures surrounding an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“As your director, I take full responsibility for the security lapse,” Ms Cheatle said in a resignation letter to agency staff on Tuesday.
She had faced calls from both Democrats and Republicans to step down after a contentious House committee hearing on Monday about the incident.
Lawmakers became increasingly frustrated when she refused to answer questions about the shooting at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania earlier this month.
For a few days after the assassination attempt on Trump, I took it for what it looked like. It was a loony, disaffected, young man – probably radicalized by toxic anti-Trump rhetoric – who acted out his hate trying to enter immortality. I don’t usually go for conspiracy theories – Occam’s Razor and whatnot.
But after the infuriating testimony of Cheatle, the missing recordings, the refusal to beef up Trump’s protection after repeated requests, the deliberately ignored perfect shooting platform, the encrypted comms, and more and more and more. I’m beginning to think there’s more to this.
Attorneys for President Joe Biden‘s son Hunter Biden, citing the recent decision by a federal judge in Florida to dismiss the classified documents case against Donald Trump, filed a pair of motions in California and Delaware Thursday seeking to dismiss both federal criminal cases against him.
“The Attorney General relied upon the exact same authority to appoint the Special Counsel in both the Trump and Biden matters, and both appointments are invalid for the same reason,” attorneys for Biden argued in the filings.
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon ruled this week that special counsel Jack Smith‘s appointment in Trump’s classified documents case was unconstitutional, prompting several legal observers to argue that the same logic should apply to Hunter Biden.
Cannon’s order, however, draws a distinction between Smith and other special counsels.
Attorney General Merrick Garland pulled Smith from The Hague, where he was prosecuting war criminals — not the Justice Department. By contrast, the special counsel in Hunter Biden’s cases, David Weiss, previously served as U.S. Attorney in Delaware, where he had been appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Cannon characterized Smith as a “private citizen exercising the full power of a United States Attorney,” saying that his appointment was unconstitutional because it “effectively usurps” the authority of Congress.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives analysts at a facility in West Virginia search through millions of documents by hand every day to try to identify the provenance of guns used in crimes. Typically, the bureau takes around eight days to track a weapon, though for urgent traces that average falls to 24 hours.
[…]
In an era of high-tech evidence gathering, including location data and a trove of evidence from cell phones and other electronic devices used by shooting suspects, ATF agents have to search through paper records to find a gun’s history.
In some cases, those records have even been kept on microfiche or were held in shipping containers, sources told CNN, especially for some of the closed business records like in this case.
The outdated records-keeping system stems from congressional laws that prohibit the ATF from creating searchable digital records, in part because gun rights groups for years have fanned fears that the ATF could create a database of firearm owners and that it could eventually lead to confiscation.
