Category: blaze media

The Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed that agents served a search warrant at the elections office in Fulton County on Wednesday, and sources say the action relates to the 2020 election.

The Georgia county that includes Atlanta is at the center of claims from President Donald Trump that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

‘People will soon be prosecuted for what they did. … It was a rigged election. Can’t have rigged elections.’

Court filings indicated that the Justice Department is seeking ballots, ballots stubs, and absentee ballot signature envelopes from the election.

The president referred to the claims in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and said the people responsible would be prosecuted soon.

“It was a rigged election. Everybody now knows that. They found out,” said the president. “People will soon be prosecuted for what they did. It’s probably breaking news, but it should be. It was a rigged election. Can’t have rigged elections.”

The bureau would confirm only a “court-authorized law enforcement activity” at the Fulton County Election Hub but offered no other details.

State Senator Josh McLaurin, a Democrat, excoriated the action in a statement to reporters.

“Famously, Donald Trump has made Fulton County the object of his ire,” said McLaurin. “Throughout the country it’s made Fulton County national news for all the wrong reasons because he has pushed these baseless conspiracy theories that the election was somehow, quote, ‘stolen’ and that Georgia was the epicenter of this.”

RELATED: Georgia judge drops 3 charges in Trump election interference case

The search warrant was signed by a Fulton County judge, according to WAGA-TV, which also confirmed that the search was related to the 2020 election.

McLaurin went on to say that election officials had been threatened because of the president’s claims.

“This is extremely alarming,” he added.

This is a developing story.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Fbi raid in fulton, Fulton county elections office, Rigged election, 2020 presidential election, Politics 

A Southern California mother has been released from custody after her child endangerment arrest in connection with a viral video that police said shows her toddler falling from her moving SUV in a Fullerton intersection, KNBC-TV reported. Fullerton is just minutes north of Anaheim.

The video shows a black SUV making an eastbound turn onto West Malvern Avenue from southbound North Euclid Street, police said, adding that as the SUV enters the intersection and completes the turn, the front passenger door opens, and a small child falls to the ground and into the roadway.

‘I felt a mixture of emotions anywhere from anger to worry to shock.’

The SUV immediately stops, nearly causing a traffic collision with the vehicle behind it, police said.

An adult female is then seen running from the driver’s side of the SUV, picking up the child, and returning to the vehicle before the video ends, police said.

The incident occurred Jan. 20, but police said no one reported it until witness Natalie Quintanilla — a mother of four children — reached out to law enforcement over the weekend, KNBC said.

“I felt a mixture of emotions anywhere from anger to worry to shock because it’s something that could have easily been avoidable,” Quintanilla added to the station Tuesday.

Police said a witness came forward Saturday, reported observing the incident, and provided identifying information related to the vehicle involved. Police said officers conducted a follow-up investigation, which led them to a residence in the city of La Habra. Police said officers located the vehicle, the child, and the female involved in the incident seen in the video.

RELATED: Toddler dies after being found submerged in container of water on front porch; mother accused of negligence: Cops

The 19-month-old child suffered injuries consistent with the fall and was transported to an area hospital for treatment, police said, adding that the child is expected to make a full recovery.

The female — identified as Jacqueline Hernandez, the 35-year-old mother of the child — was placed under arrest and booked at the Fullerton City Jail for felony child abuse, police said.

Hernandez was soon transferred to the Orange County Jail; an Orange County Sheriff’s Office official told Blaze News they aren’t releasing Hernandez’s mugshot “at this time.”

Orange County Jail data Blaze News accessed indicated Hernandez was set for release Tuesday.

Indeed KNBC said Hernandez posted $100,000 bail at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The station, citing police, added that Hernandez’s 19-month-old boy was treated and released from the hospital, but it wasn’t immediately clear if the toddler is back in the care of Hernandez.

A neighbor of Hernandez, who declined to be identified for privacy, defended the mother, telling KNBC that “sometimes we do make mistakes.”

“I can almost guarantee you there’s no way that will happen again with her. No way,” the neighbor noted to the station.

KNBC said the Orange County district attorney’s office hadn’t yet officially charged Hernandez but is reviewing the case.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Fullerton, California, Viral video, Toddler, Mother, Arrest, Child endangerment, Orange county sheriff’s office, Jailed, Bail, Fall, Child abuse, Felony, Released, Police, Crime 

Rep. Ilhan Omar, a radical Minnesota Democrat who has in recent years been accused of immigration-related fraud, is facing scrutiny over her finances — with some officials wondering how her net worth apparently surged so much over such a short period of time.

While the liberal media has characterized the government’s recent interest in Omar’s finances as a partisan vendetta, sources familiar with the matter told the New York Times that the Biden Justice Department similarly felt the need to take a look at the Somali-born ethno-nationalist’s finances, campaign spending, and interactions with a foreign citizen.

‘I am not a millionaire.’

One source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told the Times that the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington, D.C., and the DOJ’s public integrity unit initiated the probe in June 2024. Although that was the year Omar’s net worth skyrocketed, the Biden DOJ’s probe supposedly stalled “for lack of evidence.”

President Donald Trump, who suggested in November that Omar “shouldn’t be a congressman, and we should throw her the hell out of our country,” noted in a Truth Social post on Monday that the Justice Department and Congress are “looking at ‘Congresswoman’ Illhan Omar, who left Somalia with NOTHING, and is now reportedly worth more than 44 Million Dollars.”

Trump added, “Time will tell all.”

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) told the New York Post earlier this month that congressional lawyers are looking into how Omar and her husband, Tim Mynett, went from being virtually broke to having a net worth of around $30 million in just a year.

RELATED: Ilhan Omar accuses Trump of ulterior motive for ICE raids — and JD Vance shuts her down

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“There are a lot of questions as to how her husband accumulated so much wealth over the past two years,” Comer said. “It’s not possible. It’s not. I’m a money guy. It’s not possible.”

A source in federal law enforcement also insinuated that Omar was under investigation.

“We are investigating all politicians potentially connected to any of this [fraud] in Minnesota. You can read between the lines,” the source told the Post.

Within months of flatly stating, “I am not a millionaire,” Omar reported assets — chiefly a winery in California and her husband’s investment firm, Rose Lake Capital — valued between $6 million and $30 million in her 2024 financial disclosure.

This could reportedly represent up to a 3,500% increase in net worth in 2024 compared with 2023, when she reported assets valued between approximately $40,000 and $250,000.

The year before she took office as the U.S. representative for Minnesota’s 5th congressional district, Omar had an estimated net worth of -$45,001, according to Open Secrets. Court filings cited by the Post indicated that Mynett’s investment firm only had $42.44 in its bank account as of 2022.

“There is no way such wealth could have been accumulated, legally, while being paid the salary of a politician,” Trump said last week.

The base compensation for most senators, representatives, and delegates is $174,000.

Omar responded to the renewed interest in her finances by suggesting that “years of ‘investigations’ have found nothing” and that Trump was “panicking.”

She also noted in a recent TikTok video that “the value range listed for the assets reflects the full cost assessment of the businesses, in which my husband is one of several partners, and does not reflect his individual share.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Ilhan omar, Omar, Fraud, Incest, Somali, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Finances, Grifter, Grafter, Donald trump, Biden, Justice department, Doj, Politics 

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was sprayed with a liquid while calling for the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem.

Omar was speaking at a town hall event on Tuesday evening when a man walked up from the crowd and sprayed her in the chest with the liquid. She appeared stunned for a second before advancing angrily on the man.

‘We will continue. These f**king a**holes are not going to get away with it!’

He was tackled and arrested soon after. The man was later identified as 55-year-old Anthony James Kazmierczak.

“I’m going to finish my remarks. It is important for me to continue,” Omar said after going back to her podium. “We will continue. These f**king a**holes are not going to get away with it!”

Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson Trevor Folke said that the congresswoman was not hurt.

The incident was captured in video footage from several different angles, as well as close-up photographs.

Police said he used a syringe to spray the liquid. Kazmierczak is being held at the Hennepin County Jail without bond on suspicion of third-degree assault charge.

RELATED: Ilhan Omar mocks Trump and others for praising Charlie Kirk: ‘These people are full of s**t!’

Photo by Angelina Katsanis/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Many on social media immediately began to question the circumstances surrounding the incident and many suggested that the congresswoman had staged the attack to elicit sympathy.

The president weighed in on the issue and landed strongly on the side accusing Omar of a hoax.

“I don’t think about her. I think she’s a fraud,” Trump said. “She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her.”

An email reviewed by Blaze News showed that the Justice Democrats political action committee had immediately begun a campaign asking for donations on Omar’s behalf. Those donations would be split with the PAC.

RELATED: Ilhan Omar compares Stephen Miller’s immigration rhetoric to Nazism

Photo by Angelina Katsanis/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The U.S. Capitol Police said they would seek the most serious charges against the man to deter other attacks. A report from Alpha News cited sources that said the liquid had been identified by hazmat officials as apple cider vinegar.

Omar posted a defiant statement on social media.

“I’m ok. I’m a survivor so this small agitator isn’t going to intimidate me from doing my work,” she wrote. “I don’t let bullies win. Grateful to my incredible constituents who rallied behind me. Minnesota strong.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Ilhan omar attacked, Who is anthony kazmierczak, What liquid in omar attack, Was omar attack a hoax, Politics 

A delivery nurse was stripped of her ability to practice in Florida after she posted a video online wishing harm on a pregnant Trump administration official.

A video circulated on social media of Lexie Lawler, a then-nurse for Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital, stating that she hopes White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suffers a painful childbirth that leaves her with permanent injuries.

‘Making statements that wish pain and suffering on anyone, when those statements are directly related to one’s practice, is an ethical red line we should not cross.’

“As a labor and delivery nurse, it gives me great joy to wish Karoline Leavitt a fourth-degree tear. I hope that you f**king rip from bow to stern and never s**t normally again, you c**t,” Lawler stated in the video.

Lawler was fired this week from her position with Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

“The comments made in a social media video by a nurse at one of our facilities do not reflect our values or the standards we expect of health care professionals,” a spokesperson for the hospital told the Palm Beach Post. “Following a prompt review, the individual is no longer employed by our health system.”

“While we respect the right to personal opinions, there is no place in health care for language or behavior that calls into question a caregiver’s ability to provide compassionate, unbiased care,” the spokesperson added.

RELATED: ‘Make their lives f**king miserable’: Deranged leftist nurse apparently urges poisoning and drugging ICE agents

Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier reacted to the Lawler video, stating, “Being fired isn’t good enough. Any healthcare worker who fails to uphold his or her obligation to provide adequate, safe healthcare should not be licensed in Florida. No excuses!”

Lawler responded to the public pushback in a separate video posted to social media.

“They murdered a man in Minnesota, and you motherf**kers are coming after me because I used bad language?” Lawler said, referring to the death of Alex Pretti. “F**k you. I’m on the right side of this. F**k you.”

RELATED: More than 100 outraged community members denounce elementary school teacher over 2-word post about ICE

James Uthmeier. Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Uthmeier announced on Wednesday that Lawler “is no longer allowed to practice nursing in Florida.”

“Making statements that wish pain and suffering on anyone, when those statements are directly related to one’s practice, is an ethical red line we should not cross. I’m proud of @FLSurgeonGen for taking this decisive action,” he wrote.

Lawler’s husband, Tim, created a GoFundMe requesting $14,000 in donations for his wife’s legal fund. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fund had raised over $10,000.

“Lexie Lawler was fired for political speech,” the GoFundMe post reads. “She is a liberal woman who used her personal social media — on her own time — to sharply criticize a public figure tied to a cruel, harmful administration. Her words were blunt, angry, and unapologetic. They were directed at power, not her workplace. That speech was lawful. The retaliation was real.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​News, Florida, Healthcare, Health care, James uthmeier, Karoline leavitt, Politics 

As Minnesota descends into chaos reminiscent of 2020, one viral post on X has Americans like BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock pondering how Christians should be responding to the world being set on fire, yet again.

“If u can’t clearly & boldly state the craziness of Democrats being unable to define what a woman is & saying men can get pregnant, AND the madness of Republicans defending the murder of Alex Pretti, then you’re following a political party/ideology & not The Lord Jesus Christ,” Fox Sports analyst Chris Broussard wrote in a post on X.

“How should Christians be responding to ICE officials and the killing of Alex Pretti? How should we be responding to this controversy?” Whitlock asks his panel on “Jason Whitlock Harmony.”

“We should always respond prayerfully. We should always respond according to scripture, according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That’s with any situation,” BlazeTV contributor Anthony Walker responds.

“It becomes so layered that we actually lose the situation at hand. So that’s why, I again, I underline prayerfully, scripturally, and spiritually,” he adds.

BlazeTV contributor Virgil Walker also believes the proper response should be looking to God.

“Whether it was the death of George Floyd, or the death of anyone, regardless of their ethnicity, regardless of the conditions by which death occurred, we should mourn the loss of an image bearer created in the image of God. Regardless of ideological framework, regardless of all of the camera angles, regardless of any of that,” Walker responds.

He also points out that scripture tells us not to rejoice in the death of the wicked.

“I’m not saying that Alex was wicked, that man who passed away was wicked … I’m simply saying that if we’re not going to rejoice in the death of the wicked, we should not rejoice in anyone’s death,” he explains.

However BlazeTV contributor Shemeka Michelle has a bit of a different take.

“I’ve been frustrated, Jason, over this entire thing … the idea that Christians are just supposed to be, I don’t know, like these weak, perfect people. And I’m really tired of people trying to qualify Christians and tell us how we’re supposed to feel or think about certain social issues that are happening in the country,” Michelle says.

“I feel like my empathy button is broken,” she adds.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Free, Video, Upload, Video phone, Sharing, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Jason whitlock, Jason whitlock harmony, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Christianity, Alex pretti, Christians, Ice shooting, Ice shooting minneapolis, Ice protests 

The Democrat-controlled Virginia General Assembly gave final legislative approval earlier this month to a proposed constitutional amendment that would give lawmakers emergency powers outside the 10-year redistricting process to gerrymander the Old Dominion’s congressional maps.

“Virginia’s proposed redistricting amendment is a response to what we’re seeing in other states that have taken extreme measures to undermine democratic norms. This approach is short-term, highly targeted, and completely dependent on what other states decide to do themselves,” Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) said last week.

“Virginia will be responsive and targeted, but only with the will of the people. I trust the voters to get this right,” she continued.

However, Tazewell County Circuit Judge Jack Hurley Jr. ruled on Tuesday that the approval of the proposed amendment — which former Gov. Glenn Youngkin characterized as a “shameless, reprehensible political power grab by Democrat lawmakers” — was illegal.

‘Take a look in a mirror.’

Hurley noted in his ruling that Democratic lawmakers failed to follow the right procedure concerning the passage of a constitutional amendment. Democrats failed in part by flouting the requirement that a two-thirds supermajority approve of the introduction of the unrelated subject of redistricting at last October’s special legislative session, he said.

“This blatant abuse of power by a majority IGNORES their own rules and resolutions thereby trampling ANY and ALL procedural rights of the minority,” Hurley wrote.

Hurley noted further that using the special session to pass the measure in October was impermissible because early voting in the Virginia’s 2025 elections had already begun and “the Constitution REQUIRES an intervening election FOLLOWING the first passage of a proposed Constitutional Amendment.”

RELATED: This is what happens when a state elects a ‘moderate’ Democrat

Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

The judge also indicated that Section 30-13 of the Code of Virginia — which requires the posting of such a constitutional amendment at the front of every courthouse and its publication by clerk of the House of Delegates no “later than three months prior to the next ensuing general election of members of the House of Delegates” — was not followed.

“Defendants woefully argued that the posting could occur three (3) months prior to the 2027 election and still comply with the statute even if the proposed Constitutional Amendment was voted on in the Spring of 2026,” Hurley wrote.

Hurley, evidently concerned about state Democrats’ recent efforts to change related rules on the fly, noted, “Even if the General Assembly is NOT required to follow its own Rules and Resolutions, and even if ‘election’ is narrowly defined as ‘Election Day,’ the Court FINDS the General Assembly FAILED to comply with Section 30-13 of the Code of Virginia, which therefore PROHIBITS the proposed amendment from being submitted to the voters for their consideration.”

Julie Merz, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the ruling was a “rogue decision” and expressed confidence it would be overturned on appeal.

The Democratic leaders in the Virginia House and Senate said in a joint statement, “Republicans who can’t win at the ballot box are abusing the legal process in an attempt to sow confusion and block Virginians from voting. We will be appealing this ruling immediately.”

The Virginia GOP noted in response that those Democrats now accusing Republicans of “abusing the legal process” were just found to have “violated the VA Constitution by trying to force a vote on a constitutional amendment to give themselves more political power without following the rules.”

“Maybe take a look in a mirror,” the state GOP added.

Failure on appeal could spell trouble for Democrats in the midterm elections. CNN indicated, after all, that Virginia “represents the largest potential number of seats Democrats still could pick up through redistricting.”

While bad news for Democrats if the ruling stands, those congressional Republicans whose districts were targeted — Reps. Rob Wittman, Jen Kiggans, John McGuire, and Ben Cline — will likely be able to breathe easier.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Midterm elections, Elections, Gerrymander, Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Virginia, Old dominion, Abigail spanberger, Leftism, Congress, Politics 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended President Donald Trump’s Venezuela policy Wednesday, telling lawmakers that negotiations with Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro had repeatedly failed and that the administration exhausted every diplomatic option before acting to arrest him.

Rubio appeared before the Senate following the Jan. 3 operation that resulted in Maduro’s removal, a move that triggered sharp debate over presidential war powers and congressional oversight.

‘For the first time in 20 years, we are having serious counter-narcotics talks with Venezuelan authorities about going after narcotics organizations,’

According to Rubio, Maduro proved incapable of honoring agreements, making continued negotiations futile.

“He’s broken so many deals, not even the Vatican has been willing to interact with Maduro in the past because he’s broken so many of these deals,” Rubio said. “He’s just simply not a guy you can make a deal with.”

RELATED: ‘We are not doing this any more’: Rubio to strip billions in foreign aid from ‘NGO industrial complex’

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Rubio said Maduro’s strategy was to stall until political conditions in Washington changed.

“What he wanted to do was tap us along and buy three years of time until he could deal with a new administration that he thought may be more favorable,” he said.

“He was an impediment to progress.”

Rubio argued that meaningful reform in Venezuela was unattainable as long as Maduro remained in control, highlighting the impossibilities of the release of political prisoners, the transition of the country’s oil industry to a legitimate oil industry, and the erosion of Iranian, Russian, or Chinese influence.

“None of these things would have been possible as long as Maduro was there,” he said.

He told lawmakers that the president acted only after “exhausting” all other avenues.

RELATED: ‘You should f**king kill yourself’: DHS releases terrifying audio of anti-ICE agitator threatening Minnesota agent

Rubio emphasized that Maduro’s removal has opened doors that had been closed for decades, particularly on drug enforcement and countering foreign adversaries in the region.

“For the first time in 20 years, we are having serious counter-narcotic talks with Venezuelan authorities about going after narcotics organizations,” Rubio said.

He said similar progress is being made to push back against hostile foreign influence.

“For the first time in 20 years, we are having serious conversations about eroding and eliminating the Iranian presence, the Chinese influence, the Russian presence as well.”

Rubio added that there is growing interest within Venezuela to repair relations with Washington.

“In fact, I would tell you that there are many elements there in Venezuela that welcome a return to establishing relations to the United States on multiple fronts,” he said.

Rubio’s testimony came after Republicans narrowly blocked a war powers resolution that would have limited Trump’s ability to conduct further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval. Vice President JD Vance was forced to break a tie vote.

Several lawmakers from both parties have complained about what they describe as insufficient communication from the administration, particularly surrounding the Maduro operation and broader foreign policy shifts.

Democrats, including Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, argued that the administration failed to present evidence justifying urgent action without consulting Congress, according to Reuters. Republicans, meanwhile, remain divided between backing Trump’s aggressive foreign policy and reasserting Congress’ constitutional authority regarding military action.

Rubio said the administration is focused on stability, not escalation, and stressed that long-term goals remain in development.

He also addressed broader regional diplomacy, saying that the administration hopes to re-establish alliances that were previously impossible.

“We’re not there,” he said. “This thing still is in its infancy.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Rubio, Venezuela, Foreign affairs, Maduro, Trump, Military 

A decorated U.S. Marine veteran — who reportedly survived dangerous military missions overseas — was shot and killed at his Missouri home during what was supposed to be the sale of an iPhone on Facebook Marketplace, according to police. The distinguished service member allegedly spent the last moments of his life delivering a heartbreaking message to his family.

According to KOMU-TV, police were dispatched around 8:15 p.m. Jan. 18 concerning reports of gunshots at a residence in Columbia.

‘While stationed in Baghdad, Burke founded the Oasis Church.’

The Columbia Police Department said in a statement that 42-year-old Michael Ryan Burke was shot at his home.

Citing court documents, the New York Post reported that Burke was trying to sell his iPhone 15 Pro for $585 after arranging the sale on Facebook Marketplace.

Court docs said Burke provided a buyer with his address, and around 8:10 p.m. one of the suspects messaged the seller: “I’m here.”

Moments later, the transaction reportedly spiraled into violence, and Burke was shot. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

RELATED: What was to be fun Florida trip ends in ‘cold-blooded’ triple murder: Elderly tourists dead, suspect earlier beat murder rap

Police arrested Alexis Baumann, Kobe Aust, and Joseph Crane, all 18 years old, along with a fourth individual whom authorities identified as a juvenile.

Citing court documents, the New York Post reported that one suspect confessed to investigators that they had “arranged to meet with the victim under the ruse of buying the victim’s cell phone.”

The Post reported that Baumann told investigators she drove the group to Burke’s home, and Crane and the juvenile went inside.

KOMU-TV in a separate story reported that Baumann confessed to investigators that she heard three gunshots from inside the home and recalled that the juvenile ran out of the home; the suspects drove away from the crime scene, according to court documents.

Citing the probable cause statement, WDAF-TV reported that detectives used traffic cameras to determine that the suspects’ car traveled in the direction of a nearby Walmart.

Just after the shooting, Burke’s stolen phone was sold at an ecoATM at a nearby Walmart, according to court documents.

Court documents indicated that surveillance cameras caught Baumann and the juvenile suspect selling the phone at Walmart.

A day before Burke was killed, the juvenile stole another cell phone under the guise of a Facebook Marketplace sale, according to court documents. The Post reported that the juvenile told the alleged victim, “If you touch me, I’ll shoot you.”

Baumann and Aust were arrested on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and first-degree burglary; Crane and the juvenile were arrested on charges of second-degree murder, armed criminal action, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, and unlawful use of a weapon, Columbia Police said.

All three 18-year-old suspects are being detained without bond at the Boone County Jail, while the unidentified juvenile is being held at the Boone County Juvenile Office.

(L to R) Kobe Aust, Alexis Baumann, Joseph Crane. Image source: Boone County (Mo.) Jail

Jerry Reifeiss — who met Burke 24 years ago as a fraternity brother at Mizzou’s Sigma Nu — revealed the Marine’s heartbreaking last goodbye.

Reifeiss told KRCG-TV that Burke contacted his mother and sister: “He texted them saying that, ‘Hey, I’m dying, and I love you.'”

“That was just Ryan,” Reifeiss continued. “He always put people in front of him and wanted to make sure people knew how he felt.”

Before he died, Burke reportedly called 911 and gave a description of his attackers to the dispatcher.

“He didn’t want to go on to the next life and pass away without providing some information to us here that would bring justice to these people and let people know he always loves them,” Reifeiss said.

Reifeiss said of the arrests, “I’m very happy the police did their job and were able to get these people very quickly, assuming these are the correct people.”

Burke’s obituary said he served as a “Force Reconnaissance Marine in the United States Marine Corps, holding the rank of Staff Sergeant, with both active-duty and reserve service.”

Burke was deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. From 2014 to 2021, Burke served as a medic in Baghdad.

While stationed in Baghdad, Burke founded the Oasis Church. According to his obituary, Burke also founded Holy Smokes — a men’s Bible study group. Burke also preached and taught in Uganda, the Philippines, Kenya, the U.K., and throughout the U.S.

The obituary states, “He was deeply committed to creating lasting impact, helping fund schools and churches in Africa and Asia, including support for 14 churches in the Philippines.”

One of Burke’s passions was fighting human trafficking, and he worked both locally and internationally to help victims.

Burke also served as a firefighter with the city of Columbia.

Police said there is an “active and ongoing investigation” into the alleged murder.

Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the Columbia Police Department at 573-874-7652 or call CrimeStoppers at 573-875-8477.

The Columbia Police Department did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Arrests, Christianity, Church, Crime, Facebook marketplace transaction, Faith, Marines, Missouri, Murder, True crime, True crime news 

Jack Posobiec is sounding the alarm that the growing unrest surrounding ICE operations is no accident, but part of a coordinated effort to intimidate, obstruct, and destabilize law enforcement.

And he believes Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) is in on it.

“These situations, obviously they’re always unfortunate, right? Obviously the chaos and the confusion and any time a human life is lost, it’s totally unfortunate. But imagine that you’re an ICE officer, and you have an entire city who is out to get you,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales tells Posobiec.

“They’ve created these chats to monitor you, to follow you, to harass you, to intimidate you, to obstruct you from doing your job. … How can we be surprised that this happened?” she asks.

“I think it also helps to kind of zoom out and look at the context in so many of these situations,” Posobiec replies. “Tim Walz, who’s the governor of Minnesota, he could right now issue an executive order saying that he wants the state police and the local police to work with ICE, and that they would be able to go out and provide security.”

“But that’s not what he’s done. No, Tim Walz has sent out the National Guard to go give milk and cookies and doughnuts to the agitators that are out there at the Whipple Center. He’s actually taking sides against ICE,” he continues, pointing out that the tactics being used against ICE are eerily similar to the Chinese Communist Party.

“And it occurs to me that, ‘Oh, yeah. Didn’t Tim Walz go to China 30 times, including lying about being there during Tiananmen Square?’ So, you wonder why it looks like a Chinese Communist insurgency,” he says.

“That’s exactly where Tim Walz learned how to do this stuff. These guys are operational. They are trained,” he adds.

Posobiec has also learned that the protests are “more heavily organized than Portland, more heavily organized than CHAZ, than anything that we’ve seen before.”

In fact, it’s so insidious that Posobiec tells Gonzales, “We’re dealing with a domestic Marxist insurgency.”

“What do the Marxists do? What do the communists do? They use them as a martyr, these useful idiots, because they want to create the crisis because then they can use the crisis to destabilize the actual party in power or the government that’s in power, because they want to take power themselves,” he says. “This is a tried and true communist tactic.”

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Video, Video phone, Upload, Camera phone, Sharing, Free, Youtube.com, Come and take it with sara gonzales, Sara gonzales, Sara gonzales unfiltered, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Jack posobiec, Tim walz, Minnesota riots, Minnesota protests, Minneapolis protests, Communist china, Unrest, Ice protests 

A nurse may have lost her job after she posted several videos on social media seemingly encouraging people to poison Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to prevent them from enforcing immigration laws.

Libs of TikTok shared a compilation of videos allegedly from Malinda Rose Cook’s social media. Cook reportedly worked for the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.

‘Nobody’s gonna die, just enough to incapacitate them, get them off the street for the next day.’

“I thought of something good,” the nurse apparently states in the first video. “Sabotage tactic, or at least scare tactic: All of the medical providers, grab some syringes with needles on the end. Have them full of saline, or succinylcholine, you know, whatever, whatever. That will probably be a deterrent. Be safe.”

Succinylcholine is a muscle relaxant used as a local anesthetic to cause short-term paralysis.

In a second video, while wearing her scrubs, she seemingly tells viewers, “For today’s resistance tip, I vote, anybody got any poison ivy, poison oak in their yard? Get some of that up, with gloves, obviously. Get it in some water.”

She then apparently describes soaking the poison ivy and oak in a gallon of water and putting the tainted water in a water gun.

“Aim for faces, hands,” the medical worker appears to say.

RELATED: Activist judge who downplayed Don Lemon’s church antics, summoned ICE director donated to pro-illegal-alien group

Poison ivy. Andrew A. Nelles/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

In a third video, she suggests that single women use dating apps to set up dates with ICE agents.

“They’re an ICE agent, bring some Ex-Lax, put it in their drinks. Get ’em sick. You know, nobody’s gonna die, just enough to incapacitate them, get them off the street for the next day,” she seems to say. “Highly easily deniable. You know, you could get sick too. ‘Won’t eat there again.’ I’m just saying, let’s get ’em where they eat.”

“Somebody’s not going to be supporting these guys. Where’s the hotel where they eat? Who makes that breakfast? Let’s find them,” she adds.

“Let’s make their lives f**king miserable,” she continues, according to the video.

“Anything you can do to make the living conditions bad.”

She also apparently suggests hiding dead fish in their hotel rooms.

“Just stay toxic,” she concludes.

RELATED: More than 100 outraged community members denounce elementary school teacher over 2-word post about ICE

Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

VCU Health released a statement yesterday, announcing that a health care worker had been placed on administrative leave while an investigation was underway.

“We prioritized the health and safety of anyone who comes to us for care,” the statement read. “We are aware of a series of videos that appear to have been posted by an individual confirmed to be an employee of our health system. The content of the videos is highly inappropriate and does not reflect the integrity or values of our health system.”

Later that same day, VCU Health stated that it had terminated the individual’s employment.

“Following an investigation, the individual involved in the social media videos is no longer employed by VCU Health. In addition, VCU Health has fulfilled its reporting requirements under Virginia state law,” it stated.

Cook was previously listed on VCU Health’s website but has since been removed.

Blaze News reached out to VCU and Cook for comment.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​News, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Immigration crisis, Illegal immigration crisis, Illegal immigration, Immigration, Vcu health, Virginia commonwealth university medical center, Health care, Healthcare, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Politics 

On Monday, January 26, President Trump announced that he had had “very good” and “productive” conversations with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) amid the escalating anti-ICE protests, violence, and backlash over fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

According to statements from all three, their conversations centered on de-escalating tensions from the anti-ICE protests and federal immigration operations in Minnesota, including potential reductions in federal agent numbers, allowing state-led investigations into the recent fatal shootings by agents, cooperation on handing over criminal noncitizens from state custody, reassigning Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, and assigning border czar Tom Homan to oversee matters on the ground.

Many people on the right interpreted this as the Trump administration caving to leftist protesters. Glenn Beck confesses that that was his initial reaction upon hearing the news.

“When I first saw this story yesterday … I thought, is he waving the white flag? What is he doing? … Is this all about the election and getting re-elected and he’s got to make nicey-nice?” he admits.

But deeper scrutiny led Glenn to believe that it is not surrender but rather “counterinsurgency” that we are witnessing in the Twin Cities.

“We’re seeing Trump shift the battlefield, not abandon it,” he says, explaining that if Trump were legitimately surrendering, he would “end the enforcement nationwide,” “call off ICE operations,” “publicly repudiate Homan or Miller,” “admit wrongdoing,” and “accept the ‘Gestapo snatching people off the streets’ narrative.”

But “none of that happened,” says Glenn.

Instead, Trump “narrowed the enforcement criteria. Political pressure is rerouted, optics cooled, legal authority preserved, responsibility transferred back to the states,” he explains. “This is not a surrender. I believe this is a reframing of the fight, and it’s really smart.”

From the get-go, Trump was clear about ICE’s objective, says Glenn: “Get the really bad criminals off the streets.”

“So the goal was never ICE agents everywhere all the time. The goal was this: Force blue-state leadership to choose publicly and unmistakably between protecting violent criminals or cooperating with federal law enforcement,” he explains.

Minnesota was sliding into irremediable chaos, which would only benefit the radical left, which is aiming to cultivate a “legitimacy crisis,” he says. Escalation is exactly what the insurrectionists wanted Trump to do.

But he smartly didn’t drop the hammer. Instead, he made some moves in order to win the “optics war” — one of them being relocating Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, whom Glenn calls “a walking headline” and a “symbol” for the left’s anti-ICE movement.

This one move, Glenn says, accomplished a number of things. It weakened the Senate shutdown talks, took the media’s favorite villain out of the story, and moved the fight from “personality back to policy.”

“This is classic Trump,” he says.

“Never die on someone else’s hill if it isn’t the hill you chose. … Only die on the hill you choose,” he adds, quoting Trump’s iconic 1987 book “The Art of the Deal.”

“So when he talks to Walz and Frey, I don’t think this is capitulation. I think these were traps.”

To hear more of Glenn’s analysis, watch the video above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Glenn beck, The glenn beck program, Blazetv, Blaze media, Tim walz, Jacob frey, Minneapolis, Minneapolis protests, Minnesota, Anti ice, Anti ice protests, Renee good, Alex pretti, Ice agents, Bovino, Gregory bovino, Tom homan 

Senate Democrats were caught this week trying to rehabilitate an old grievance and use a three-year-old tragedy to mobilize more opposition to the Trump administration’s enforcement of federal immigration law.

On Tuesday, Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee shared a picture of 8-year-old illegal alien Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, noting she “died in government custody.”

‘It’s really f**ked up how Trump let her die in 2023.’

“She had sickle cell and congenital heart disease but couldn’t access timely and adequate medical care,” said the Democrats’ post on X. “We need to reform immigration detention.”

However, Democrats neglected to mention that Anadith died on the Biden-Harris administration’s watch in 2023, when the southern border was effectively open and border facilities were overwhelmed.

Anadith, a girl with a heart condition who was born in Panama to Honduran migrants, was brought illegally into the U.S. on May 9, 2023. While waiting for a deportation flight to Honduras with her mother, father, and two siblings in a Customs and Border Protection facility in Harlingen, Texas, the girl experienced a medical emergency and died.

CBP indicated that during her intake at the Donna Processing Facility in Donna, Texas, the girl was medically assessed and “did not complain of any acute illnesses or injuries.” Days later, however, she “voiced complaints of abdominal pain, nasal congestion, and cough” and was “prescribed and administered doses of Oseltamivir (Tamiflu), as well as Ondansetron (Zofran).”

RELATED: Ilhan Omar accuses Trump of ulterior motive for ICE raids — and JD Vance shuts her down

Former Biden spokesman Andrew Bates. Photographer: Oliver Contreras/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Following agency protocols, the family was moved to Harlingen, which was used specifically for cases requiring medical isolation. At the Harlingen facility, the girl continued to receive medical attention and medication; however, her condition worsened. After her mother’s unsuccessful requests for an ambulance, the girl suffered a seizure. She was taken to Valley Baptist Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead on May 17, 2023.

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee — several of whom have advocated for cuts to Department of Homeland Security funding — claimed in a minority staff report last year that CBP facilities are chronically understaffed and that “the circumstances that resulted in Anadith’s death were unfortunately not an aberration, but indicative of systemic problems with the provision of medical care in CBP facilities and CBP’s broader failure to properly oversee that care.”

Democrats concern-mongered in their report that “more individuals and children may die” under the Trump administration.

As with their January 2025 minority report, Senate Democrats’ Tuesday tweet appears aimed at exploiting a tragedy that occurred under the previous Democrat administration — and under a homeland security secretary Democrats refused to impeach — to condemn the current administration.

One critic, EV Partners founder Robert Sterling, wrote in response to the Democrats’ viral tweet, “Man it’s really f**ked up how Trump let her die in 2023.”

Conservative writer Brian Pfail noted, “I’m not one for party politics, but this is an outright disgusting grievance post to emotionalize views on border enforcement. Low-information liberals will attribute this to the Trump admin, yet it was Biden. To them, none of these deaths are valued beyond political fervor.”

As other critics began to pile on, Biden’s former deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates reflexively worked on damage control, writing, “Not about Democrat or Republican/left or right. Just absolutely wrong.”

Republican operative Tim Murtaugh said in response, “What’s remarkable, Andrew, is the level of pride you must have felt when posting this, completely unaware that it had happened while you worked in the White House yourself. Just remarkable. Top notch work from beginning to end.”

Bates dug in his heels, writing, “I stand by what I said. It’s horrible and shouldn’t have happened.”

“What makes me proud is that the American people are rejecting the cruelty that ICE is forcing on Americans and immigrants, putting all of us in danger,” added the former Biden spokesman, who does not appear to have spoken out at the time of Anadith’s death.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Customs and border patrol, Cbp, Customs, Border, Illegal alien, Immigration, Biden, Joe biden, Andrew bates, Senate democrats, Anadith danay reyes alvarez, Guilt, Leftism, Politics 

A gun-toting Los Angeles homeowner shot at a burglar who broke into the residence early Tuesday morning.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting at the home in the 11600 block of Laurel Crest Drive in Studio City around 4 a.m., KNBC-TV reported, citing the Los Angeles Police Department.

‘Too bad owner didn’t hit more suspects.’

Police said the homeowner shot at one of the burglary suspects, whom authorities identified as a 16-year-old male, KNBC reported.

The two suspected burglars fled the scene in a Black Chevy Traverse, the station said.

Police said the driver of a car matching the description of the suspected burglars’ getaway vehicle dropped off a 16-year-old at a hospital with gunshot wounds, KNBC noted.

The teen was hospitalized Tuesday afternoon, and his condition was stable, the station said, citing police.

None of the residents in the home were injured, and it was unknown if anything was taken, KNBC reported.

According to the station’s video report, the second suspect is still on the loose, there were no physical descriptions of either suspect, and video shows a shattered glass back door.

RELATED: Two teens — 15 and 16 — force their way into home, physically attack resident. But victim is armed with handgun and shoots intruders dead.

A number of commenters underneath KNBC’s Facebook post about the incident aired spirited reactions to it:

“California will probably charge the homeowner on some ridiculous law, and the 16-year-old’s family will probably sue the homeowner and win,” one commenter noted.”If you’re old enough to commit a crime then you’re old enough to get shot,” another user said.”Good,” another commenter stated. “Too bad owner didn’t hit more suspects.””Hopefully he learned his lesson [to] not break into people’s houses,” another user offered.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​2nd amend., Self-defense, California, Crime thwarted, Fighting back, Gun rights, Guns, Home invasion, Hospitalized, Los angeles, Police, Studio city, Teen suspect, Wounded, Crime 

Earlier this week, President Trump sent border czar Tom Homan to speak personally with leaders in Minnesota. In the latest update to those exchanges, President Trump called out a top official at the center of the controversy for refusing to cooperate with the administration.

On Wednesday morning, Trump issued a stern warning to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) after Frey indicated on Tuesday afternoon he was not going to enforce federal immigration law.

‘He is PLAYING WITH FIRE!’

Frey posted a short thread to X summarizing his position, stating that Minneapolis “will not enforce federal immigration law, and that we will remain focused on keeping our neighbors and streets safe.”

Trump noted his surprise at Frey’s apparent switchback following a “very good conversation with him”: “Could somebody in his inner sanctum please explain that this statement is a very serious violation of the Law, and that he is PLAYING WITH FIRE!”

President Trump sent Homan to Minnesota on Monday to discuss a solution with Mayor Frey and other leaders in the state. As of Monday, Trump said on Truth Social that “lots of progress is being made!”

RELATED: Homan heads to Minnesota: ICE to continue making arrests amid ‘violent organized protests,’ $20B fraud, Trump says

Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images

By Tuesday, Homan likewise believed that he had had a “productive” conversation with Frey and Gov. Tim Walz (D). He said that “we all agree that we need to support our law enforcement officers and get criminals off the streets.”

In his message, posted hours before Homan’s, Frey emphasized the safety of the community and the strain on local police officers, stating that his “main ask is for Operation Metro Surge to end as quickly as possible.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Politics, Governor tim walz, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Tim walz, Jacob frey, Mayor jacob frey, President trump, Truth social, Border czar, Tom homan, Trump, Donald trump 

It’s bad enough that when Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” ends in May, democracy will die. But we’ll also lose one of our nation’s finest joke-smiths.

Case in point? Colbert’s latest riff on ICE agents enforcing the law in Minnesota.

Whenever a woke movie or TV show gets blitzed by fans, the legacy media rushes to blame ‘review bombing’ as the culprit. It’s never the show’s fault, mind you.

The far-left comic noted the chilly temperatures facing Minneapolis residents this weekend, impacting both protesters and law enforcement agents. That’s a modicum of good news regarding the latter, Colbert crowed.

“This weekend, temperatures in Minneapolis are expected to plunge to around zero degrees, which could hinder the Trump administration’s continuing immigration crackdown. … I mean this with respect: I hope their dongs freeze and snap off. Like a graham cracker.”

Steve Allen. Jack Paar. Johnny Carson. None delivered wit and wisdom quite like Colbert. He will be missed (assuming he stays away for good!).

Hudson’s Diamond status

Hollywood has forgiven Kate Hudson for crushing the rom-com apparently.

The star of the awful, terrible, no-good “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” (and other forgettable low points of the genre) kept on working after that cinematic train wreck. Meanwhile Oscar voters looked the other way.

Hard. Can you blame them?

That ended this week when Hudson’s performance in “Song Sung Blue” snagged her a Best Actress Oscar nomination. It’s a wonderful, bittersweet story about a Neil Diamond tribute duo falling on hard times. And to be fair to Goldie Hawn’s daughter, she knocks it out of the park in the film.

Few expected Hudson to crack the top-five list of the year’s best performances by an actress, but she defied the odds. Let’s hope she continues to stay far away from Matthew McConaughey.

Potty-mouth Pratt

You kiss your mother with that mouth, Star-Lord?

Chris Pratt isn’t just an A-lister who can do comedy and action. He’s a Christian husband and father who speaks kindly about his faith. And he doesn’t bully those who don’t share his worldview.

Rare. Refreshing. Cool.

Yet the “Mercy” star lost it on the red carpet when actress Tilly Norwood’s name came up. Tilly isn’t real. She’s an AI construct whose very existence threatens flesh-and-blood actors who fear losing their livelihoods in the AI revolution.

That includes Pratt apparently.

“I don’t feel like someone’s going to replace me that’s AI … I heard this Tilly Norwood thing, I think that’s all bull***t. I’ve never seen her in a movie. I don’t know who this b***h is.”

Guessing he’ll be putting a few dollars in the swear jar.

RELATED: Brave Hollywood stars hit Sundance red carpet in defiance of ICE ‘gestapo’ terror

Photos by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

No ‘bomb’ shelter for ‘Melania’

Let the review bombing commence!

Whenever a woke movie or TV show gets blitzed by fans, the legacy media rushes to blame “review bombing” as the culprit. It’s never the show’s fault, mind you, just angry bigots who hate seeing diversity on screens large and small.

Yeah, that’s why the uber-diverse “Fast & Furious” series lasted for 10 films … and counting.

The latest alleged review bombing victim? Paramount Plus’ “Starfleet Academy” series.

So will we see the same media framing for “Melania”? The January 30 documentary takes us behind the scenes of what it means to be FLOTUS in the Trump era. Now given that the vast, vast, vast majority of film critics lean to the left (and hard), will the movie get a fair critical shake?

And if not, will we see cries of “review bombing” from the usual suspects? To paraphrase Bret Easton Ellis’ literary classic, the chances are “less than zero.”

Closet-maxxing on ‘SNL’

To be fair, today’s “Saturday Night Live” fan isn’t familiar with actual jokes.

“Stranger Things” alum Finn Wolfhard hosted the most recent “SNL” episode, one featuring a sketch tweaking the Netflix’s show’s “coming out” sequence. The episode in question got drubbed by many as woke on steroids.

So “SNL” created a bit mocking Netflix for trying to extend the show’s brand at all costs. It’s a commentary on how Hollywood can’t stop milking popular IPs for all they’re worth. Did anyone ask for “Welcome to Derry,” the HBO Max prequel series to Stephen King’s “It”?

Except one of the show’s characters, Will, couldn’t be a part of the various spin-offs because his “coming out” monologue is still going on. And on. And on.

Well select fans recoiled at the bit. Here’s a sample:

“SNL making fun of will byers being gay and sexualising max mayfield all in one night,” a fan commented. “Me if i ordered a homophobicburger with a side of misogynyfries.”

Good news for all involved. The show will no doubt resume its regularly scheduled Orange Man Bad theater this weekend.

​Hollywood, Entertainment, Culture, Stephen colbert, Late night, Woke, Melania trump, Movies, Chris pratt, Toto recall 

While the Trump administration continues trying to put out real and proverbial fires started by Democrats, more are igniting across the country.

Now a Democratic candidate appears to be promising to kill the president as part of his campaign platform.

‘That kind of vile comment makes it clear that Elliot Forhan is not qualified to be attorney general.’

On Tuesday, a video went viral of Ohio attorney general candidate Elliot Forhan (D) promising to “kill Donald Trump” if elected.

“I want to tell you what I mean when I say that I am going to kill Donald Trump,” Forhan, a former Ohio state representative, said in a video posted to Facebook.

RELATED: ‘Convicted and f**king dangles’: NeverTrumper Rick Wilson calls for execution of top White House adviser

Current Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R); Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

“I mean I’m going to obtain a conviction rendered by a jury of his peers at a standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, based on evidence, presented at a trial, conducted in accordance with the requirements of due process, resulting in a sentence, duly executed, of capital punishment,” Forhan said in the video.

In the clip, he did not indicate which crimes worthy of the death penalty he thought President Donald Trump has committed.

The Republican attorney general candidate for Ohio, Keith Faber, promptly posted a response to Forhan’s unhinged rant.

“That kind of vile comment makes it clear that Elliot Forhan is not qualified to be attorney general,” Faber said. “Look, it is important that [gubernatorial candidate] Amy Acton and the other Democrats on the ticket call him out for such conduct.”

This isn’t the first time Forhan has faced public scrutiny for his rhetoric. Just days after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, Forhan made a Facebook post that said, “Violence is wrong. F**k Charlie Kirk.”

Faber didn’t miss his chance to remind people of that vile comment from Forhan: “Add to that his recent celebration of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and you see just what kind of individuals the Democrats are running for attorney general.”

Forhan has also faced backlash and professional consequences for what some have alleged to be “erratic and abusive” behavior involving a female constituent and others, according to a 2023 article by Fox News.

Forhan was never charged with a crime, though he was stripped of his legislative privileges and committee assignments as an Ohio legislator in the last General Assembly amid allegations and an investigation into his conduct, according to Statehouse News Bureau last February.

The primary election in Ohio will be held on May 5.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Donald trump, Politics, Charlie kirk, Elliot forhan, Ohio, Ohio attorney general, Ohio general assembly, Facebook, Keith faber, 2026 midterms, Democrats, Dave yost 

The Minnesota-based federal judge who declined to issue arrest warrants for Don Lemon and several of the radicals accused of storming into Cities Church on Jan. 18 demanded on Tuesday that acting ICE Director Todd Lyons “appear personally before the Court and show cause why he should not be held in contempt of Court.”

Despite U.S. District Court Judge Patrick Schiltz’s portrayal in the liberal media as a conservative-minded and “mild-mannered George W. Bush appointee,” it appears that Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin’s characterization of Schiltz as “just another activist judge” is more apt.

‘Another activist judge who is clearly more concerned about politics than the safety of the Minnesotans.’

Bill Melugin of Fox News revealed this week that Schiltz is linked to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, a liberal activist outfit that provides free legal representation to illegal aliens, low-income migrants, and so-called refugees in Minnesota and North Dakota.

The ILCM routinely criticizes the men and women of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, accusing them of occupation, racism, “Islamophobi[a],” and engaging in “execution-style murders.”

After Schiltz’s name was found among the donors and volunteers listed in the ILCM’s 2019 annual report, the judge — dubbed the “latest hero to the anti-Trump resistance” by Politico — admitted to Fox News Digital that he has “donated for many years to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.”

“I have also donated for many years to Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid. I believe that poor people should be able to get legal representation,” added Schiltz, who has served as a delegate at Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party conventions.

The donor to the illegal alien support group noted in a Monday court filing that his “patience is at an end” and ordered Lyons to explain on Friday why he should not be held in contempt for supposedly violating an earlier order.

RELATED: DOJ tries to put the squeeze on Don Lemon over church invasion — but judge says no, enraging Bondi: Report

Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Schiltz indicated that Juan Hugo Tobay Robles, an Ecuadorian national who illegally entered the U.S. in 1999 and was detained by immigration agents on Jan. 6, should have been provided with a bond hearing or released earlier this month.

The Bush judge indicated in his Tuesday order that if Robles was released before the hearing, Lyons would not be required to appear. A lawyer for the Ecuadorian told the Associated Press that his client was released Tuesday afternoon.

“Judge Patrick J. Schiltz is just another activist judge who is clearly more concerned about politics than the safety of the Minnesotans,” stated DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Does this judge really think Director Lyons should take time out of his day leading ICE to target the worst of the worst criminal illegals including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and terrorists into our country to testify at a hearing for one illegal alien’s removal proceedings?”

While Schiltz evidently figured that swift and decisive action was required in the case of Robles, he took an entirely different approach in the case of the radicals who assembled on Jan. 18 for a so-called “ICE Out Action,” then stormed a Christian church in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

After the church invasion, the Trump Justice Department promptly filed a criminal complaint in the District of Minnesota charging eight of the suspected invaders with violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinics Entrances Act.

The DOJ’s pursuit of accountability was frustrated at the outset when Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko — whose wife reportedly works for Minnesota’s anti-ICE attorney general, Keith Ellison — declined to support all but three of the requested arrest affidavits.

After Micko threw up additional roadblocks, the DOJ turned to Schiltz for a review of the magistrate’s no-probable-cause finding in hopes that he might issue the warrants.

In an angry and sarcastic Jan. 23 letter to the Eighth Circuit’s chief judge, Steven Colloton, Schiltz downplayed the church invasion, glossed over the invaders’ intimidation tactics, cast doubt on whether arresting them would deter copycats, emphasized that “there is no emergency,” and noted that if the petition filed by the government seeks an immediate decision, “the petition is frivolous.”

In a separate letter, he suggested there was “no evidence that [Don Lemon and his producer] engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so.”

Sure enough, Schiltz indicated that he would not issue arrest warrants until conferring with his colleagues — a meeting that was supposed to happen last week but was delayed.

Over the weekend, a three-judge Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals panel denied the government’s petition to review the magistrate’s refusal to sign the warrants.

While U.S. Circuit Court Judge Steven Grasz, an appointee of President Donald Trump, recognized that the complaint and affidavit “clearly establish probably cause for all five arrest warrants” and that “there is no discretion to refuse to issue an arrest warrant once probable cause for its issuance has been shown,” the government had “failed to establish that it has no other adequate means of obtaining the requested relief.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Judicial activism, Judge, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Cities church, Don lemon, Invasion, Immigration, Ice, Illegal immigration, Us immigration and customs enforcement, Todd lyons, Immigrant law center of minnesotaa, Politics, Patrick schiltz, Schiltz 

Money talks. Everything else is just BS. That is true in all areas of life, but it’s especially true in politics.

Trump is now repeating the modus operandi of his first term, in which he proclaims bold cuts, reforms, and changes to federal policies, programs, and agency spending levels in the form of executive orders. He summarily ignores his own policies by lobbying Republicans in Congress to pass annual appropriations bills that fund pretty much every spending level and most policies of his predecessor — so much so that most of these bills garner support from all but the most radical Democrats in Congress.

This bill is the crown jewel budget bill of the GOP trifecta at the peak of Trump’s power, and yet Democrats have no concerns voting for it.

Unfortunately, it is the government funding that matters when attempting to secure permanent change to federal agencies, not ephemeral executive orders or press releases.

On Friday, House Republicans passed a minibus bill with all but the 64 most progressive of the 213 Democrats voting yes. The fact that the 24 most conservative Republicans opposed it despite pressure from the administration should tell you that it does not reflect Trump’s campaign promises.

This minibus included Defense, Homeland Security, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development. Trump has proposed hundreds of policies throughout those departments that are extremely offensive to Democrats, yet they had no problem supporting the budget bill. Why?

They feel they dodged a bullet in this funding bill, especially while being out of power. The statement from Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, says it all:

These bills invest in working people across the country and utterly reject President Trump’s plan to defund our kids’ education, evict millions of families, and slash lifesaving medical research nearly in half. The message to President Trump is: America will continue to fund cancer research, we are going to keep investing in affordable housing and tackling homelessness, Congress will not abolish the Department of Education, and the people’s representatives will have the final say on how taxpayer dollars get spent.

…

While there’s a whole lot more I wish these bills would have addressed, these compromise bills protect critical investments in the American people, reject truly heartless cuts that would have undone decades of progress — and they are a significantly better outcome than another yearlong CR. I look forward to ensuring they get signed into law.

This bill is the crown jewel budget bill of the GOP trifecta at the peak of Trump’s power, and yet Democrats not only have no concerns voting for it but enthusiastically support it. What gives?

The DOGE appears to be a fossil from a hundred years ago. The $1.25 trillion “minibus” bill reversed all the DOGE cuts to agencies like the NIH and CDC. Overall, spending will increase slightly over Biden’s final year — a year that was notorious for biblical levels of spending.

Here are some of the top concerns with the FY 2026 budget bill.

It fully funds the Department of Education. Even as Trump “abolished” the entire department, this bill funds the department at Biden’s level of $78.7 billion. Worse, Democrats secured a provision prohibiting the administration from transferring Education Department funds to other agencies, which had been a point of contention in negotiations. Once again, appropriations talk, executive orders walk. According to a Democrat summary of the bill, the total funding for the Labor-HHS-Education portion of the bill is $224 billion, a slight increase in current levels. This is simply astounding given that Republicans never believed in even having these departments at the federal level. If we can’t cut from these agencies, then where will we cut?Section 8 galore! Well, what’s worse than locking in Biden’s education and health spending? Increasing Biden’s HUD spending by nearly $8 billion! If there was ever a department conservatives wanted to abolish, it was always HUD. This is something that should be determined at the local level. Once again, Trump promised to cut the department in half, yet increased spending for every program he planned to trim or eliminate.

The bill provides $38.4 billion in tenant-based Section 8 vouchers and a $2.4 billion increase from fiscal 2025. It also provides $18.5 billion for project-based rental assistance, a $1.7 billion increase from last year.

The bill also provides $1.25 billion for HUD’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program, after the Trump administration budget request and the original Republican House Transportation-HUD appropriations bill promised to eliminate the program. These programs provide grants to state and local governments and local NGOs to essentially seed red states with liberal voters and ruin the character of rural communities.

RELATED: Trump’s primary endorsements are sabotaging his own agenda

Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

The bill also provides nearly $7 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Program and the Economic Development Initiatives for housing-related activities and $86 million for fair housing programs. Trump promised for years to eliminate the program altogether.

The only point of contention in the bill is the DHS portion, which Democrats are now threatening to oppose. But let’s be clear: Before the fatal shooting in Minneapolis, they were even willing to pass Trump’s DHS bill and did not perceive it as much of a threat.

At the time the bill was released, Senator Murray boasted that Democrats “defeated Republicans’ hard-fought push to give ICE an even bigger annual budget, successfully cut ICE’s detention budget and capacity, cut CBP’s budget by over $1 billion, and secured important, although still insufficient, new constraints on DHS.” She also lauded the rejection of “all Republican poison pill riders,” such as defunding sanctuary cities.

Democrats are, of course, forced to play to their base. However, on the specifics, this bill contains some horrendous provisions.

Cheap foreign labor: It allows the secretary to double H-2B visas, going from 66,000 to 130,000 H-2B visas.Prohibits ICE from deporting illegal aliens who sponsor unaccompanied minors based on any information provided by HHS. So HHS is supposed to vet the sponsors, but if it determines they are here illegally and tells ICE that, ICE is prohibited from deporting them.

Why would we double foreign worker visas and make it harder to remove those literally engaged in trafficking children over the border by hiring cartel smugglers?

Well, despite all the rhetoric, press releases, tweets, and executive orders, good ol’ Joe Biden had it right when he proclaimed, “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.” Evidently, we are now valuing almost everything all that he funded in his budget when he made that comment.

​Executive orders, Trump, Gop, Democrats, Minimus bill, Doge, Fy2026, Ice, Dhs, Opinion & analysis 

In 2025, the nomenclature caught up with the reality. For decades, the United States had operated under the fiction of a Department of Defense, a name that suggested protection, reaction, and a reluctance to engage. When Secretary Pete Hegseth signed the memoranda that would redefine the American military for the algorithmic age, the letterhead had changed. It was the Department of War again.

The revival of the old title was not merely cosmetic. It was an unapologetic signal, a shift from a defensive posture to a mission-focused one. Then between late 2025 and early 2026, Hegseth released a flurry of new memos announcing that the United States intended to become an “AI-first” war-fighting force. The language was clipped, urgent, and devoid of the hand-wringing that usually accompanies the introduction of new lethal means. The department now treats AI not as a support tool but as a core element of warfare, intelligence, and organizational power.

There is a simulation engine that alludes without irony to Orson Scott Card’s novel about child soldiers fighting insectoid aliens.

Reading through these documents, one is struck by the anxiety of the “algorithm gap,” which echoes the “missile gap” of the Cold War, with the stakes shifted from megatonnage to processing speed. The prevailing sentiment is that falling behind an adversary’s AI capabilities would be as catastrophic as falling behind in nuclear weapons. The Department of War does not intend to be a laggard. “Speed and adaptation win,” one memo states.

To achieve this speed, the Department has declared war on its own bureaucracy. The memos speak of a “wartime approach” to innovation, dismantling the risk-averse culture that has defined Pentagon procurement for half a century. The endless committees and boards have been dissolved, replaced with a “CTO Action Group” empowered to make quick calls. The ethos is that of Silicon Valley, grafting Mark Zuckerberg’s call to “move fast and break things” onto an institution whose business is to break things in a more literal sense.

The specific initiatives, what the Department calls “Pace-Setting Projects,” read like the chapter titles of a science-fiction novel. There is “Swarm Forge,” a project designed to pair elite war-fighters with technologists to experiment with drone swarms. There is “Ender’s Foundry,” a simulation engine meant to war-game against AI adversaries, a name that alludes without irony to Orson Scott Card’s novel about child soldiers fighting insectoid aliens. There is “Open Arsenal,” which promises to turn intelligence into weapons in hours rather than years.

RELATED: ‘Reckless and seditious’: Hegseth issues brutal demotion of Democrat senator over ‘illegal orders’ video

Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images

What is being built here is “civil-military fusion,” a concept the Chinese have long championed and which the United States is now adopting with a convert’s zeal. The Department is actively courting the private sector, mentioning commercial AI models such as Google’s Gemini and xAI’s Grok. It is bringing in tech executives to run the show, with a new chief technology officer empowered to clear bureaucratic blockers.

The transformation is not limited to the battlefield but permeates the “enterprise,” a sterile word for the three million personnel who make up the Department’s nervous system. The vision is total: Under a program called GenAI.mil, every analyst, logistician, and staff officer will be issued a secure AI assistant to draft reports and code software. The goal is to embed AI systems across war-fighting, intelligence, and support functions until the distinction between soldier and data processor dissolves. The focus is on “decision superiority,” out-thinking the opponent at every turn.

The drive for decision superiority leads to a profound shift in the role of human judgment. The memos describe “Agent Network,” a project to develop AI agents for battle management “from campaign planning to kill chain execution.” They speak of “interpretable results,” a concession to the idea that humans should know why the machine decided to fire. The momentum is toward “human on the loop,” in which a human may abort an attack, rather than “human in the loop,” in which the human must initiate it. We are entering an era of “hyper-war,” in which AI systems could escalate a conflict in seconds, before a human commander can pour a cup of coffee.

The Department is betting that American ingenuity, harnessed in code, will secure the future, that it can maintain “America’s global AI dominance” through force of will and capital. The memos outline a future in which algorithms join soldiers on the battlefield, data platforms become as crucial as tanks, and decisions are increasingly informed by machines. It is a grand experiment in efficiency. We have decided that if warfare is now a battle of algorithms, we intend to algorithmically outgun the world. The name on the building has changed to reflect the reality: We are no longer defending. We are computing the kill.

​Tech, War, Ai, Department of war