Elon Musk chimed in to question ‘how common’ this type of illegal activity is during American elections Bridgeport, Connecticut, the largest city in the state, [more…]
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ICE facility in Portland under daily siege by Antifa militants as riots spread
PORTLAND, Ore. — The City of Roses is no stranger to seeing large portions of its local population rioting in the streets for any reason, big or small. In the aftermath of the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement riots in Los Angeles, Antifa militants in the Pacific Northwest have mobilized to show solidarity.
Keeping true to tradition, the participants in these events are not simply content with giving speeches and marching around before calling it a day. The crowds are encouraged, in person and on social media, to take part in “direct action” to take the fight to the second Trump administration. In Portland, that “direct action” has resulted in besieging the ICE facility located on the south side by the Willamette River.
After holding the driveway for a few hours, the Antifa crowd was easily repelled within a few minutes.
The ICE facility has been targeted many times before this recent round of unrest. The building and the officers defending it were targeted during the 2020 Black Lives Matter riots, in addition to the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse and various Portland Police Bureau precincts.
The entire public entrance for the ICE location is now boarded up to prevent further damage. Graffiti calling for the death of federal agents and President Donald Trump covers the walls.
On Thursday, Antifa activists gathered at Elizabeth Caruthers Park before marching a few blocks to their target. The crowd gathered on the driveway, blocking federal vehicles from entering or leaving. The Federal Protective Service announced multiple times that if the crowd did not move, they would be subject to arrest and crowd control munitions. The rioters booed and jeered at each announcement.
Portland police officers on bicycles and squad cars passed by the scene a few times but did not intervene.
RELATED: Antifa mobilizes in the Pacific Northwest to attack DHS locations and agents
Julio Rosas/Blaze Media
When someone threw a large firework into the perimeter, federal agents moved outside to clear the crowd from the driveway. While some of the Antifa agitators fought back, most scattered in the face of tear gas, flash-bangs, and pepper-balls being shot at them.
After holding the driveway for a few hours, the Antifa crowd was easily repelled within a few minutes.
RELATED: Kids ‘cosplaying as ICE agents’ and performing raids on ‘illegals’ in Roblox game
The Department of Homeland Security stated on Thursday that at least five Antifa rioters “were arrested on various charges including assault on federal law enforcement. … Secretary Noem’s message to the rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down. ICE and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
While the initial wave of riots has died down in Los Angeles, the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration has finally given the far left an excuse to create chaos in some of the nation’s most progressive cities.
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Politics
East Palestine not forgotten: Vance confirms Trump admin will study fallout of nightmarish train disaster
Vice President JD Vance visited East Palestine, Ohio, on the second anniversary of the Feb. 3, 2023, Norfolk Southern train disaster, which darkened the sky over the village with hazardous chemicals, poisoned the surrounding environment, and threatened the health of nearby residents.
“President Trump just wanted to deliver a message that this community will not be forgotten, will not be left behind, and we are in it for the long haul in East Palestine,” Vance told locals in the village’s firehouse.
Vance confirmed Thursday that the Trump administration is returning in search of answers and results.
Vance joined the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya Thursday in announcing a five-year, $10 million research initiative to “assess and address” the health fallout from the derailment.
According to HHS, this multi-disciplinary series of studies will seek to understand the health impacts of chemical exposures on short- and long-term health outcomes, “including relevant biological markers of risk”; monitor the community’s health in order to take preventative measures and support their health care decisions; and connect community members with relevant experts and officials in order to properly address their health concerns.
‘We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open.’
When the Norfolk Southern freight train consisting of 141 packed cars, nine empty cars, and three locomotives derailed in East Palestine in early 2023 due to a failed wheel bearing, 38 cars, 11 containing hazardous materials — including vinyl chloride, benzene residue, hydrogen chloride, ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene — went off the tracks.
RELATED: Who is bankrolling the anti-MAHA movement?
Photo by US Environmental Protection Agency / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
For fear that the fires engulfing the wreckage might trigger a “catastrophic tanker failure,” railroad emergency crews conducted a vent and burn of five tanks of vinyl chloride, producing hydrogen chloride and phosgene gas — the latter of which was used to kill soldiers en masse in World War I.
The resulting columns of smoke that drifted over the village, which forced 2,000 residents to flee their homes, formed what the National Transportation Safety Board called a toxic “mushroom cloud.”
After the controlled burn and amid reports of thousands of dead fish and dying livestock, hazardous materials specialist Silverio Caggiano told WKBN-TV, “We basically nuked a town with chemicals so we could get a railroad open.”
The NTSB indicated in a June 2024 report that the decision to execute the controlled burn “was based on incomplete and misleading information provided by Norfolk Southern officials and contractors. The vent and burn was not necessary to prevent a tank car failure.”
Not only was the decision misguided; it was ruinous.
Thousands of local creatures were killed, nearby waters were heavily contaminated, and possibly cancer-causing airborne toxins were sent into the air across multiple states well beyond.
Blaze News previously reported that the Environmental Protection Agency’s preliminary data in 2023 found that “concentrations for nine of the approximately 50 chemicals measured were relatively high in comparison to the levels considered safe for lifetime exposure.”
“Overall, if ambient levels persisted for these chemicals, they could pose health concerns, either individually (e.g., acrolein, a known respiratory irritant) or cumulatively. Thus, subsequent, spatiotemporal analysis was pertinent,” added the report.
RELATED: JD Vance joined liberal Twitter knockoff Bluesky. Things went off the rails REALLY fast.
Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
East Palestinians reported various health issues in the wake of the derailment, including headaches, gastrointestinal illness, and respiratory and skin irritations.
Owing to the nature of the chemicals and the duration of their exposure, many in East Palestine feared that there could also be long-term health impacts, especially on mothers and children.
The vice president said in a video shared to social media on Thursday that despite significant concerns from those in the area impacted by the derailment, the Biden administration “refused to do anything to actually study the effects of these long-term exposures on the people of East Palestine. Well, now we have a new president and a great new secretary of health and human services.”
‘Once again, this administration is showing the American people what true leadership looks like.’
“The people of East Palestine have a right to clear, science-backed answers about the impact on their health,” said Kennedy.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences indicated that it will distribute the committed $10 million in tranches of $2 million a year over the next five years for one to three awards. Experts have until July 21 to submit research proposals in hopes of securing funding.
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya teased the initiative last month, telling Fox News’ host Bret Baier he was looking forward to addressing “the health questions and the health needs of the American people with excellent, gold-standard research.”
The initiative was celebrated by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), Republican Sens. Bernie Moreno and Jon Husted, and Republican Reps. Mike Rulli and Dave Joyce.
“This funding will enable the people of East Palestine to have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that any potential for long-term health effects will be studied by the scientists at the National Institutes of Health,” said DeWine. “I thank President Trump, Vice President Vance, and Secretary Kennedy for their commitment now and into the future.”
“Once again, this administration is showing the American people what true leadership looks like — putting Americans first,” said Rulli.
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Jd vance, Bhattacharya, Robert f kennedy jr, Rfk, Health, Maha, East palestine, Ohio, Fire, Derailment, Disaster, Poison, Chemical, Politics
LA Dodgers block ICE agents at stadium after campaign to pressure team to condemn deportations
The Los Angeles Dodgers released a statement that they had denied access to their stadium parking lot to agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after calls to speak out against deportations.
Online influencers and some in the mainstream media had mounted a pressure campaign after noticing the baseball team had not made a statement against ICE deportations after the rioting in Los Angeles.
‘This is an organization inextricably linked with the community, so people are wondering, why are they now tone-deaf and falling short?’
On Thursday, local media reported that ICE agents were seen at the stadium, prompting a small anti-ICE protest to respond to the incident. Some speculated that the team was cooperating with federal authorities on aiding with deportations.
KABC-TV captured video of dozens of masked federal agents at the staging area just outside of Gate E at the stadium.
The team responded on social media very soon after.
“This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots,” read the statement. “They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight’s game will be played as scheduled.”
They also posted the statement in Spanish.
“Forty percent of the Dodgers fans are Latino, but the team has been silent as protests against ICE have raged in their city. Now, some folks are talking boycott,” reported Sam Stein of MSNBC.
“The Dodgers, where a young Chicano like myself saw themselves, birthed one of the most, if not the most, dedicated fan base,” wrote CNN journalist Nick Valencia. “This is an organization inextricably linked with the community, so people are wondering, why are they now tone-deaf and falling short?”
RELATED: California city terminates agreement with ICE as Los Angeles rioting continues into 4th day
In 2023, the Los Angeles team faced significant pressure from the other side when they decided to honor the anti-Christian LGBTQ group named “the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” with a community service award during a game. Hundreds of protesters forced the team to cancel the event, but counterpressure from the left led to the team apologizing and reinviting the group.
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Elon Musk responds with 3-word message after SpaceX Starship rocket explodes into massive fireball
Video cameras captured the moment that a SpaceX Starship rocket exploded into a fireball at the Starbase facility in Texas on Wednesday evening.
The company said in a statement on social media that the rocket known as Ship 36 was preparing for its 10th flight test when it experienced a “major anomaly” while on the test stand.
‘Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials.’
“A safety clear area around the site was maintained throughout the operation and all personnel are safe and accounted for,” SpaceX said.
“Our Starbase team is actively working to safe the test site and the immediate surrounding area in conjunction with local officials. There are no hazards to residents in surrounding communities, and we ask that individuals do not attempt to approach the area,” the company added.
Musk appeared to respond to the explosion in a three-word message on X, the social media platform he also owns.
“Just a scratch,” he wrote.
He also retweeted a post reading, “RIP Ship 36,” with a meme about the explosion.
Critics on the left have accused Musk of ignoring deleterious effects from his space endeavors on the local community. Others said that his joining the Trump administration at the Department of Government Efficiency was motivated by the opportunity to undermine agencies that were regulating his companies.
Musk has since ended his time at DOGE and returned to managing his companies, which have been the subject of violent protests and vandalism from the left.
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Who is Vance Boelter — the enigma allegedly behind the deadly Minnesota attacks?
Last weekend on June 14 — the same day No Kings protests ignited across the country — a gunman carried out targeted shootings in Minnesota, killing Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL) and her husband, Mark, and wounding Democratic state Senator John Hoffman (DFL) and his wife, Yvette.
The suspect is Vance Luther Boelter, whose identity was first reported by Blaze Media’s Julio Rosas. Boelter, who allegedly disguised himself as a police officer to carry out the attacks, has been charged with six federal counts, including two counts of stalking, two counts of murder through use of a firearm, and two counts of firearms offenses. On the state level, he faces four felony counts: two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
However, it’s been nearly a week, and Boelter’s exact motive remains unclear. He was appointed to the Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Board by two Minnesota governors — first in 2016 by then-Governor Mark Dayton (D) and again in 2019 by Governor Tim Walz (D). The shootings took place on No Kings Day — a series of nationwide, mostly left-wing protests in the U.S. advocating against perceived authoritarianism in the Trump administration. Further, No Kings fliers were found in the suspect’s vehicle.
At first glance, he appears to be aligned with the Democrat Party. And yet he is accused of specifically targeting Democrat representatives. In fact, the list allegedly found in his vehicle supposedly named Democrat officials exclusively. Reports that Boelter was vehemently opposed to abortion further muddy the waters.
“People on the right and on the left, we want to put suspected killers in a box,” says Liz Wheeler. “We want to say, ‘That person’s left-wing; that’s the Democrats’ fault.’ The left wants to say, ‘That person’s a Trump supporter; it’s Trump’s fault.”’ But neither one of those approaches, she says, give us “a complete picture” of Boelter.
To get a better understanding of the complex character that is Vance Luther Boelter, Liz invited Blaze News managing editor Rob Eno to “The Liz Wheeler Show.”
“We know that he at one point in time had a security company of some sort with his wife, who it looks like he wasn’t living with,” says Eno. “He was living at this 57-year-old guy’s house, renting a room” and “[working] at a 7-Eleven supposedly.”
Boelter’s friend David Carlson indicated in multiple reports that Boelter was a hardcore “Trump supporter,” but Eno says “there’s no video” confirming this.
Liz then brings up a good point: Boelter’s alleged “manifesto” that was recovered from his vehicle has not been released to the public. “The only time that manifestos aren’t released,” she says, “is when it’s a left-wing ideologue who commits this violence and they don’t want all left-wingers to be smeared.”
“But then we have the acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota … Joe Thompson, who said that he hasn’t even seen a manifesto and that there isn’t one,” she adds.
“I don’t know what the guy’s motivation was,” says Eno, noting that it’s possible he thought his actions would “save children.”
But Liz sees a glaring contradiction: Boelter was “appointed by Governor Tim Walz” — one of the most progressive governors on abortion, which Boelter supposedly despises. But if Boelter is a secret Republican who wanted to get back at Democrats, why would he target Melissa Hortman, who had just recently “voted with Republicans to prevent taxpayer money from going to criminal illegal aliens?”
That makes him seem like “a Democrat that’s disgruntled,” says Liz. “I don’t think that he fits into a left versus right ideological box.”
To hear more of Boelter’s conflicting characteristics, watch the video above.
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BlazeTV’s Steve Deace takes aim at ‘Rainbow Jihad’ with best-selling Christian children’s book
BlazeTV host Steve Deace explored the spiritual nature of the divisions that threaten to tear America apart in his 2016 novel “A Nefarious Plot,” which was adapted into the well-received film “Nefarious.”
Like C.S. Lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters,” Deace’s satirical book provided penetrating insights into the nature of evil as well as into how the demonic might seek to pervert language, empathy, notions of justice and tolerance, media, the education system, and politics.
Deace has a new biting book out on the same theme but with a narrowed focus, namely the appropriation of the rainbow by non-straight activists and related distortions regarding marriage and the family.
Numerous American public school libraries across the country are replete with non-straight propaganda — books targeting children that champion deviant lifestyles, sexual promiscuity, and transvestitism and altogether reject traditional understandings of sex, marriage, and virtue.
To a passerby or an uncritical eye, Deace’s new book, “Richie Meets the Rainbow: A Heartwarming Tale of Childhood Enlightenment,” might look like more of the same. After all, the cover features an image of a cartoonish child pointing gleefully at a rainbow — a symbol now associated with degeneracy despite having signified for millennia God’s covenant with man.
Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
In fact, Deace told Blaze News that several of his own listeners “didn’t realize it was a troll and were instantly offended that I had ‘sold out’ to what I call the Rainbow Jihad.”
The book is instead something of a Trojan horse.
“What I call the Rainbow Jihad has noticeably left out the origin story of its own scam,” Deace told Blaze News, “which is why I want to use this book to fill that void. Why wouldn’t they want people to know where their ideology truly comes from? All the potential answers to that question are bad.”
Deace recently told BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere on “Stu Does America” that the book centers on a young boy named Richie who is confronted at school with a blue-haired, nose-ringed, “rainbow-fisted teacher” keen to fill his head with lies.
Fortunately for Richie, he “has a secret weapon,” said Deace. “He’s got a dad.”
“Instead of saying, ‘Shut up, son, I’m watching the game,’ Dad says, ‘You know what? I can pause the game, son, and here at dinner, let’s have a discussion about this,'” said Deace. “And he puts little Richie on his lap, and he grabs this best-selling book — maybe you’ve heard about it before; it’s the greatest best-seller of all time, the Bible — and he walks Richie through the true story of the rainbow.”
“He wants his son to know that ‘unrepentant savages’ have co-opted this with the intent of brainwashing him and future generations,” said Deace. “And he’s going to do something that also is not very prevalent in today’s culture: His dad’s going to get active and going to be a constant force at the school board meeting to make sure … that the voiceless have a voice in him and set the example.”
RELATED: The culture war isn’t a distraction — it’s the main front
Blaze Media Illustration
The book, although written and marketed as a children’s book, serves as a tool for parents to better understand the nature of leftist indoctrination, particularly within the school system, just as “A Nefarious Plot” serves as a tool for understanding the demonic infestation at the greater societal level.
Deace emphasized to Blaze News that when he put pen to paper, the intended reader was “the men.”
‘I didn’t do it for the money, but to send a message.’
“It is time to both make dads the hero of the story again — because they really are the antidote to much of what threatens us culturally,” said the BlazeTV host, “but also to inspire the men to stop being passive and get engaged because they are the solution.”
Deace told Blaze News, “This book has been planned for 10 months to strike right at the heart of Pride Month on purpose.”
Unsurprisingly, Deace had issues getting this particular title published despite his previous successes. Even getting it made proved difficult.
“We had to go all the way to Hungary to find an illustrator able [and] willing to do this for us to get it out there,” said the BlazeTV host. “We had Amazon jack with us during our rollout, and I think we all know why.”
“I only make a few bucks per book, so I’m not going to get rich off of this. I didn’t do it for the money, but to send a message. And that message is this: The time for this demonic trash is at an end,” added Deace.
At the time of writing, the book was ranked #1 Best-Seller in the Children’s Christian Emotions & Feelings Fiction category on Amazon and ranked among the top 10 best-sellers in the Children’s Christian Fiction category on the platform.
As the book climbed the new release charts on Amazon, Deace noted, “We are getting closer to being a certified LGBTQFU best-seller deep in the heart of pride month.”
When asked if Richie will be making additional appearances, Deace told Blaze News that pending the success of this title, he could “foresee a future where Richie Meets Reparations, Richie Meets the Resurrection, Richie Meets the Real St. Nicholas, etc. Just spitballing here. But that’s up to the audience.”
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DNC plagued by infighting and incompetence, leaving Democrats desperate for cash
The Democratic Party is once again in shambles, and even its own members are starting to speak out.
The Democratic Party has remained in free fall ever since President Donald Trump’s sweeping victory, and its members have not yet regained their footing. Most recently, the Democratic National Committee has taken on new leadership in an attempt to salvage the party, but even its staff said the organization is in disarray.
In just four and a half months, DNC Chair Ken Martin has apparently run the party into the ground. Multiple reports quote party officials criticizing Martin’s handling of the DNC’s finances, calling him “weak and whiny” and describing his tenure as “disappointing.”
‘We’re in the most serious existential crisis.’
Rahm Emanuel, who served as chief of staff for former President Barack Obama, expressed frustration about the Democratic Party’s incompetence in the aftermath of Trump’s election.
“We’re in the most serious existential crisis with Donald Trump both at home and abroad — and with the biggest political opportunity in a decade,” Emanuel said. “And the DNC has spent six months on a firing squad in the circle and can’t even fire a shot out. And Trump’s world is a target-rich environment.”
Photo by Christopher Mark Juhn/Anadolu via Getty Images
The DNC has been plagued by disorder for months now, with much of the infighting focused on leadership. Gun control activist David Hogg briefly served as a vice chair of the DNC before he was unceremoniously ousted following a lot of internal drama.
“This is worse than some high school student council drama,” Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin told the New York Times.
RELATED: Jasmine Crockett says Trump impeachment inquiry ‘absolutely’ on the table
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images
The DNC’s crippling financial state may also have caused much of the infighting, with the organization’s funds reportedly shrinking by $4 million from January to April. During the same period, the Republican National Committee’s funds increased by about $29 million.
Multiple sources told the New York Times that donors have been more stingy with Martin at the helm, which has further strained relations within the DNC. Despite this chaos, Martin remains confident in his leadership and the future of the party.
“People invested more money than they ever had before, they dug deeper than they ever had, and they are quite frustrated by the result,” Mr. Martin said. “They want answers. I don’t take it personally. I wasn’t in charge.”
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Higher rates of autism? The harsh reality of being an IVF baby
In-vitro fertilization is sold as a cure-all for those struggling with fertility issues — but not only does it rarely work, it also can cause a myriad of issues in the mother and child when it does.
Jennifer Lahl, founder of the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, is one of the leading voices sounding the alarm.
“IVF is fraught with risk. It’s risky to the woman’s health; it’s risky to the health of the unborn child,” Lahl tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable.” “You can just follow the CDC data, and for the last 10-plus years, overwhelmingly, all IVF cycles fail.”
Data is now coming out that IVF increases the chance of pregnancy-related complications, like preterm labor and birth defects.
“My grandson was born with a heart defect. And when his care was transferred to a big university hospital in California, two independent pediatric cardiologists there said, ‘Is he an IVF baby?’ He’s not, but in the medical literature, IVF babies have much higher rates of congenital heart defects at birth,” Lahl explains.
“Shouldn’t that be something that at least could make us pause and think? We know that pregnancy is risky; I know that, you know, any child that’s born healthy, praise God, because there’s a lot of things that can go wrong to make children born with all kinds of defects, but knowingly doing it, I think, is problematic,” she continues.
Stuckey has also done her research on the issues associated with IVF, and one of them is a higher prevalence of the child being diagnosed with autism.
“Specifically because there was a fertility problem on the father’s part. So that is because say a dad has basically immobile sperm. They’re just not fast enough, strong enough, to do what they have to do in the natural fertility reproduction process,” Stuckey says, noting that in IVF they “take the sperm and put it on the egg.”
“There is a reason that that sperm isn’t working. There’s an underlying issue there that will affect the baby that is born, because those sperm weren’t supposed to re-create, and when you force them to re-create, then the baby is going to inherit a lot of problems,” she adds.
“People like to say, ‘We’re playing God,’ and I always say, ‘Well, no, because God doesn’t play that way. We’re playing naughty people,’” Lahl agrees.
“There’s a natural order to how things are supposed to work and how our bodies are supposed to work, and even though the human body is incredibly resilient, our fertility is very fragile,” she adds.
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Married ex-teacher hit with 52 additional child sex charges related to multiple alleged trysts with 15-year-old male student
A former Illinois special education teacher accused of molesting a 15-year-old student has been hit with 52 additional charges relating to previous accusations of child sex crimes.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced Tuesday in a statement that 30-year-old Christina Formella had been indicted on 52 additional counts of child sex crimes against a student.
‘I feel like I’m gonna throw up.’
Formella is facing 20 counts of criminal sexual assault (Class 1 Felony), 20 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse (Class 1 Felony), six counts of indecent solicitation of a child (Class 3 Felony), and six counts of grooming (Class 4 Felony), Berlin said.
As Blaze News previously reported, Formella was arrested March 16 when she was a teacher at Downers Grove South High School. At the time, Formella was charged with one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse (Class 1 Felony), one count of criminal sexual assault (Class 1 Felony), and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse (Class 2 Felony).
Police bodycam video of Formella’s arrest shows her appearing confused when an officer asks her to step out of her vehicle during a traffic stop. With her husband in the passenger seat of the vehicle, Formella exits the car and is placed in handcuffs.
Bodycam footage shows Formella crying in the back of the police cruiser.
“I feel like I’m gonna throw up,” a sobbing Formella is heard saying.
The DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office stated in a previous news release, “On March 15, 2025, the victim, who was 15 years old at the time of the alleged assault, and his mother went to the Downers Grove Police Department to report inappropriate sexual contact allegedly committed by the boy’s soccer coach/tutor, later identified as Formella.”
It was alleged that the student and Formella were in a classroom for a tutoring session before school began in December 2023 when the teacher sexually assaulted the boy, officials said.
But in its press release Tuesday, the State’s Attorney’s Office said, “Following further investigation, it is alleged that the sexual abuse began in January 2023 and continued through August/September 2024.”
“The new allegations against Ms. Formella, including the allegations of grooming and that the abuse lasted nearly two years, are beyond disturbing,” Berlin proclaimed. “I thank the victim in this case for having the courage to come forward during what I imagine is an extremely difficult time for him.”
Authorities noted that Formella “sent the victim multiple text messages that were grooming in nature and that she and the victim had engaged in sexual acts approximately 50 times, both at the school and at Formella’s home, including at least 45 times at the school.”
WGN-TV reported that the following text exchange was allegedly between the student and Formella:
Student: “I love you so so much mama.”
Formella: “I love you sooooo much baby… Even though this morning was short, it was perfect”
Student: “I know baby it was perfect baby so perfect.”
Formella: “I love having sex with you.”
Student: “I know baby I love it so much… It feels so good… It’s so passionate. .. It’s so intimate … It’s so perfect.”
The alleged victim’s mother reportedly discovered text messages between the boy and Formella on her son’s cell phone.
RELATED: Shocking texts, secret ‘memoir’ reportedly reveal special-ed teacher’s affair with student
In addition, Formella allegedly had a secret “memoir” in her phone’s notes app, in which one note said the student “cheated on me” and called him “disgusting,” according to a petition to deny her pretrial release that People magazine obtained.
“We will never ever be together again,” Formella allegedly wrote. “I’m not a second choice. I’m the best thing you’ll ever have, even with all of my mistakes.”
Formella asserted that she was the victim of a blackmail scheme the student orchestrated.
“[Formella said] everybody comes after her because she is good-looking, and she is just a good person who cared too much about [the boy],” according to court documents the Daily Mail obtained.
Blaze News previously reported that Formella allegedly told investigators that the student broke into her phone and sent text messages to himself to set her up for blackmail.
“She claimed that one day, [the boy] had grabbed her phone unattended, had entered her passcode … had sent the message to his phone, had then deleted the message from her phone, and had saved it to his phone as blackmail,” the documents obtained by the Daily Mail read.
Formella is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 4, the state’s attorney said.
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Second suspect arrested after suburban Chicago couple obediently handed over valuables to armed males in front of their home
A second suspect has been arrested in the wake of a viral video showing a suburban Chicago couple in front of their home obediently handing over valuables to three armed males back in April.
Police in Glenview, Illinois, said Chicago police on Monday arrested 21-year-old Amarion Ray-Williams and took him to the Glenview Police Department, WFLD-TV reported, adding that he was charged with armed robbery with a firearm.
‘It’s just the way of the world.’
Ray-Williams was then placed in the custody of the Cook County Sheriff’s Department for a conditions hearing Tuesday, WFLD said, adding that police have not identified the last individual involved in the headline-grabbing heist.
The sheriff’s department on Thursday told Blaze News that Ray-Williams remained in custody “with no bail/bond amount currently listed.”
Earlier this month, Blaze News reported that the first suspect connected to the case was arrested and charged with armed robbery with a firearm.
Angelo Hatter — a 26-year-old from Chicago — was being held in custody by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, WFLD reported in a separate story. Jail records showed no bail for Hatter; his next court date is July 2.
Angelo Hatter. Image source: Cook County (Ill.) Sheriff’s Office
Authorities shared no details about how they linked Hatter and Ray-Williams to the case, the station said.
In April, Blaze News reported about a helpless suburban Chicago couple recorded by Ring camera in front of their own home obediently handing over their valuables — and even their clothing — to three armed robbers who rushed them.
Greg Poulos and Angie Beltsos were walking to their front porch in Glenview around 10 p.m. April 21 after dinner in Chicago when a car pulled up, WBBM-TV reported.
Police said three males approached them, pulled out guns, and demanded their belongings, WBBM said, adding that Beltsos said she saw one male “running at us pointing a gun, screaming at us to give him everything.”
The couple did just that.
Video shows one of the robbers telling them to “give me all that s**t,” and Poulos and Beltsos immediately tossed their cell phones and keys to the ground; Beltsos also gave up her purse, the station said.
“You got it. You got it. Here, take it. Take it. Take everything. Take everything. Take everything. Take everything. Take everything. Here, you can have it. Honest to God, guys,” Poulos was heard on the clip telling the robbers, WBBM reported.
“I started throwing shoes and coats,” Beltsos noted to the station in the aftermath. Video shows them both removing their jackets for the crooks.
Poulos told WBBM, “I was always taught by my father just give whatever they want, give what they want, and your life is far more valuable.”
The nightmare didn’t end there, however.
Video doesn’t show that the crooks soon “had us lie down on our stomachs, and pointing guns at us, and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, is this how it’s going to end today?'” Beltsos recounted to WBBM, adding that “for a moment, they were standing there, and they ran off.”
Police told WBBM the robbers sped out of the neighborhood in a Jaguar SUV, which was later found abandoned and empty in Chicago.
The village of Glenview is about 40 minutes northwest of Chicago and is “one of the best places to live in Illinois,” according to Niche. It’s also a haven for retirees and boasts “a lot of restaurants, coffee shops, and parks” as well as “highly rated” public schools, Niche adds.
Poulos added to WBBM that people nowadays have “to be vigilant and keep their head on a swivel.”
Blaze News spoke to employees of two businesses located less than a mile from where the robbery took place, and both workers strangely used the same word in the aftermath of the harrowing encounter: “numb.”
One employee confessed to Blaze News, “I’m numb to it.”
The worker from the second business — even upon hearing that a suspect had been arrested — told Blaze News that “you just kind of become numb to the situation.”
“It’s unfortunate,” she added to Blaze News about the robbery itself. “It’s just the way of the world.”
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Glenview, Illinois, Suburban chicago, Cook county sheriff’s office, Arrest, Couple robbed at gunpoint, Crime
Chain-snatching migrant moped gangs are having their dreams crushed by NYC mayor — but he won’t mention it
After what has seemed like years of New York City circling the drain due to crime, Mayor Eric Adams (D) responded by writing a scathing review of mopeds and scooters.
In an op-ed in Caribbean Life, the mayor said New Yorkers have “strong feelings” toward the vehicles, which they’ve seen driving the wrong way down streets, leaving seniors scared and pedestrians “terrorized.”
Every day, the mayor claimed, residents are dreading the sound of modified mopeds driving down the streets and possibly crashing into them.
‘If your ride is illegal, say bye bye.’
Worse, the vehicles are being used in violent and heinous crimes, the mayor wrote. Unregistered dirt bikes, mopeds, and scooters are involved in cellphone snatches and wallet theft and are used as getaway vehicles after shootings and robberies.
As a result, Adams started a humor-fueled campaign of destruction against the vehicles, telling residents, “We are literally crushing it,” as he makes trips to the junkyard to send the vehicles to their graves.
What the mayor is not revealing, however, is that many of the gangsters involved in the crimes are illegal immigrants.
RELATED: Federal prosecutors ditch jobs in a huff, refuse to admit wrongdoing in ‘flawed’ Eric Adams case
“Illegal moped? More like NO-ped,” the official mayor’s account wrote on X.
The post said Adams’ administration has confiscated more than 100,000 illegal vehicles during his tenure.
“If your ride is illegal, say bye bye,” the X post said.
While admitting the mopeds are illegal, the mayor’s office is leaving out the fact that their operators often are, too. Many of the criminals come from illegal alien gangs that are rampantly taking advantage of citizens, investigative reporter Oren Levy told Blaze News.
Levy has been exposing some of the gangs in his reporting and says they are actually “highly organized migrant robbery crews.”
Levy told Blaze News that migrant criminals sneak up on unsuspecting victims, rip chains off their necks, and, in some cases, rob people at gunpoint.
“These aren’t isolated incidents — this has been happening for a while now,” Levy added.
RELATED: Why I’m rooting for the lunatic over the creep in NYC
The mayor’s op-ed failed to mention migrants, immigrants (legal or illegal), or even the term “gang,” which Levy said was typical of Adams’ deflections.
“It’s time for Mayor Eric Adams to take real action. He has the power to issue executive orders that would allow federal authorities to step in. Instead of blaming the city council, he should lead and do what’s needed to protect New Yorkers,” Levy said.
Mayor Adams is facing a likely defeat in the mayoral election in November, if the polls can be believed. Former Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo (D) holds double-digit leads in 12 of the most recent 15 polls published by the New York Times.
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News, New york, New york city, Eric adams, Illegal immigrants, Migrants, Migrant gang, Politics
JD Vance joined liberal Twitter knockoff Bluesky. Things went off the rails REALLY fast.
Vice President JD Vance is not exactly a shrinking violet. The Marine veteran who rose from relative poverty to become second in command of the world’s greatest nation has a habit of seeking out fruitful confrontation.
At the Munich Security Conference in February, for instance, Vance told European officials to their faces that they were stepping toward tyranny and turning their backs on the values they once shared in common with the United States. Just weeks later, he bashed the U.K.’s censorship regime with leftist British Prime Minister Keir Starmer seated right next to him in the Oval Office.
While he has long participated in fiery exchanges with Democratic lawmakers and other antagonists, both in person and on Elon Musk’s X, Vance evidently wanted to bring the conversation to leftists on their own turf.
The vice president created an account Wednesday on the liberal Twitter knockoff Bluesky. Things went off the rails pretty quickly.
Vance kicked off his Bluesky residency by writing, “Hello Bluesky, I’ve been told this app has become the place to go for common sense political discussion and analysis. So I’m thrilled to be here to engage with all of you.”
‘I might add that many of those scientists are receiving substantial resources from big pharma to push these medicines on kids.’
Accompanying his initial post was a screenshot of the Supreme Court’s majority decision in United States v. Skrmetti, in which the court upheld Tennessee’s ban on sex-change genital mutilations and sterilizing puberty blockers for minors — clearly a touchy subject for the Bluesky crowd.
RELATED: Sacrificing body parts and informed consent to the sex-change regime
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Vance highlighted a portion of the decision in which Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, “There are several problems with appealing and deferring to the authority of the expert class. First, so-called experts have no license to countermand the ‘wisdom, fairness, or logic of legislative choices.'”
Roberts noted further in the excerpt, “Contrary to the representations of the United States and the private plaintiffs, there is no medical consensus on how best to treat gender dysphoria in children. Third, notwithstanding the alleged experts’ view that young children can provide informed consent to irreversible sex-transition treatments, whether such consent is possible is a question of medical ethics that States must decide for themselves.”
Vance added in a follow-up message, “To that end, I found Justice Thomas’s concurrence on medical care for transgender youth quite illuminating. He argues that many of our so-called ‘experts’ have used bad arguments and substandard science to push experimental therapies on our youth.”
“I might add that many of those scientists are receiving substantial resources from big pharma to push these medicines on kids,” continued Vance. “What do you think?”
Regardless of whether Vance’s intention was to troll the netizens of Bluesky, the result was the same.
Apoplectic leftists immediately piled into the comments various smears and accusations. Many threatened to report Vance in hopes of getting him banned for some perceived offense or another.
The attacks were, however, interrupted roughly 12 minutes after Vance’s first post when the platform suspended him, according to Axios reporter Marc Caputo.
Leftists looking to vent were confronted with a message that read, “Not found. Account has been suspended.”
RELATED: Runaway judges, rogue rulings — and JD Vance is having none of it
Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
Despite the appearance that Vance’s account may have been suspended because of his politics or perhaps because he shared a court ruling that struck at the heart of the sex-change regime, Bluesky claimed in a statement obtained by Forbes, “Vice President Vance’s account was briefly flagged by our automated systems that try to detect impersonation attempts, which have targeted public figures like him in the past.”
“The account was quickly restored and verified so people can easily confirm its authenticity,” continued the statement. “We welcome the Vice President to join the conversation on Bluesky.”
As of Thursday morning, Vance’s initial posts were buried in negative comments, although he had netted over 7,500 followers. According to the user tracker Clearsky, he had been blocked by over 81,000 users at the time of publication.
Blaze News reached out to the vice president’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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Vice president jd vance, Vance, Bluesky, Twitter, Social media, Trolling, Troll, Ban, Republican, Liberal, Vice president, Politics
Trump’s best move for Iran: Regime change, bombs, or nothing?
The prospect of U.S. military involvement in the escalating Israel-Iran conflict has created a bitter rift among the MAGA coalition. Interventionists are pushing for U.S. support of Israel’s strikes, arguing it’s in America’s best interest to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, while isolationists oppose involvement, contending that America ought to focus on her long list of domestic issues.
While others in the conservative movement are making “bold declarations” of what to do in Iran, Glenn Beck is “not recommending anything” and is instead “asking questions.”
“A nuclear armed Iran is really bad, but I want Israel to take care of it. I don’t want to be involved,” he says.
Someone else who is taking a similar nuanced approach is Sean Davis, CEO and co-founder of the Federalist. On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn and Sean discussed the various paths Trump could take — none of which, they admit, are great.
“We don’t want bad people” — especially “our enemies” — “to have weapons they could use to destroy us or our friends,” says Davis. “I think probably everyone agrees on that.” Unfortunately, we live in a world where having nuclear weapons is the only way regimes can prevent their overthrow. Davis points to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who voluntarily gave up his nuclear weapons program after the Iraq invasion, hoping to avoid trouble. However, the U.S., NATO, and allies, under leaders like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, then overthrew and killed him, setting a new precedent: If you want to stay in power, you need nuclear weapons.
With that event in mind, Davis says he “doesn’t have a good answer” for how to keep nuclear weapons out of Iran’s hands. Even if America or Israel bomb Iran’s Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, it would only temporarily get rid of the “mechanism for … enriching uranium.” “What that doesn’t get rid of is the incentive” to make nuclear weapons, says Davis, noting that “in four or five years,” we’ll likely be forced to “deal with that” again.
Some are suggesting a third option — regime change, which in theory would be democratic in nature and led by the Iranian people and their organized resistance to overthrow Iran’s current theocratic leadership.
Davis, however, “[doesn’t] think regime change is a great idea.” “We’ve seen how well that works; it turns into an unmitigated disaster,” he says, comparing the idea to opening “Pandora’s box of insanity.” For now, all he has is a question: “What is the best possible way to incentivize people we don’t like and don’t like us to not have [nuclear] weapons?”
Coaxing Iran to lay down its nuclear weapon aspirations with “economic incentives” is likely not going to solve the problem, either. Iran is “sitting on oil, which is probably the most precious and important natural resource on earth. I don’t think [bribery] works,” says Davis.
“What we’re left with is probably the whack-a-mole that’s been going on for years,” he says, “and the nation that’s probably best suited to deal with that” is the one “at risk,” which is Israel, given Iran doesn’t have “the ballistic missile capability” to pose a real threat to the U.S.
“So I think the least worst option is probably Israel doing what it does every five to 10 years and going and trying to degrade their ability to mechanically make this stuff, wait to see what happens, [and] do it again over and over and over,” he tells Glenn.
While Glenn is with Davis “100%” on this option, he brings up a good point: The United States is the only country with a “bunker buster” that could wipe out Iran’s Fordow plant, which is buried deep under a mountain. That bomb “has to be dropped from one of our planes,” though, which would automatically make us “part of the war.” He floats the idea of perhaps “selling” the bomb to Israel and making it be the one to drop it, but that would still involve the U.S. indirectly.
In either case, there’s also the reality that we don’t know how Iran will respond if either the U.S. or Israel bombs it. Iran might “take [it] on the chin” to avoid further conflict, or it might “unleash hell.”
“Whenever you go and punch someone in the face, you now have to deal with the consequences of how they’re going to respond,” says Davis.
Glenn shares Davis’ sentiments on there being no truly good options. He recalls a Ronald Reagan social security saying that applies to “everything” these days: “There’s going to come a time where we’ve made so many mistakes there won’t be a good solution to anything; every choice will be a bad choice.”
“And I think we’re here,” says Glenn.
To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above.
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The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Iran israel, Iran, Israel, Fordow, Nuclear war, Iran nuclear deal, Iran nuclear weapon, Blazetv, Blaze media, The federalist, Sean davis
Oversight Project over target: Dems seethe as facade of autopen presidency comes crashing down
Democratic lawmakers walked out of a Senate hearing Wednesday on former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, its cover-up, and its alleged exploitation behind the scenes.
The Republican lawmakers who remained at their posts were rewarded with troubling insights into the fallout of both the cover-up and America’s apparent governance in recent years by an unelected cabal of ideologues.
One of the more troubling revelations to come out of the hearing was that in addition to the executive orders, commutations, and pardons issued with Biden’s name affixed in recent years, many of the laws passed by Congress may similarly be illegitimate.
The Oversight Project, a government watchdog, revealed in early March that Biden’s signature on numerous pardons, commutations, executive orders, and other documents of national consequence was machine-generated.
Biden was not the first president to employ the autopen; however, there is cause to suspect that unelected individuals in Biden’s orbit abused the autopen throughout his presidency, particularly toward the end, to advance their radical agendas.
In effect, there appears to have been a shadow presidency — what President Donald Trump suggested to Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck in October was a “committee” of unnamed bureaucrats — whose impact has yet to fully be understood.
Photo by Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images
Multiple investigations have been launched into the alleged autopen abuse in the wake of the Oversight Project’s damning discoveries and amid mounting evidence of staffers, family members, and other “gatekeepers” having made decisions on Biden’s behalf.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on “how the Biden cover-up endangered America and undermined the Constitution,” seeking greater clarity both on how Democrats and the media did their best to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline from the public and on how his decline was exploited behind the scenes.
Democratic lawmakers on the committee, some of whom helped gaslight the nation about Biden’s mental acuity in recent years, refused to hear testimony from former deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and former Idaho Solicitor General Theodore Wold, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, and University of Virginia law professor John Harrison — and boycotted the hearing.
‘They lied to us for four years, and we know they lied. They know they lied.’
Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin (Ill.) and Peter Welch (Vt.) did, however, show up at the outset to protest their colleagues’ closer look into the apparent conspiracy to keep Biden in office and his autopen signature viable.
Before leaving the room, Welch complained that Congress could instead be discussing climate change, health care, the possible war with Iran, and America’s debt. He stressed, “What we’re doing right now won’t help.”
Durbin noted on X, “This partisan farce of a hearing is a waste of our time and resources.”
RELATED: Who was president these last four years? We deserve an answer
Photo by ALEX WROBLEWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Contrary to the Democrats’ suggestion that the hearing was a useless exercise, Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, suggested to Blaze News that it is critically important now, even though Biden is no longer president, to seek accountability and answers.
“The autopen administration brought great shame on the United States and was an international embarrassment,” said Howell. “The United States must live by the most basic contours of its own Constitution if it is to project power and credibility. If we, as a nation, can’t tell the world who was running the White House for four years, then we have more than a ‘threat to democracy.'”
After highlighting Democratic denial of Biden’s decline over the course of his presidency, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley (R) pointed to Democratic senators’ empty seats and asked, “Where are they now? They don’t want to answer for any of those quotes now. They lied to us for four years, and we know they lied. They know they lied. It’s why they’re not here.”
Wold, a board member of the Oversight Project, noted in his testimony that the “U.S. Constitution vests the executive power in a single person: the president” and underscored that despite the overgrowth of the executive branch since the nation’s founding, the president remains “the single source of democratic legitimacy.”
‘Over half — 32 in total — were signed with an autopen.’
“The president takes positive actions and authenticates those actions through his signature. His signature is required for the most significant actions he may undertake: to sign an executive order, to take any action vested in him by the Constitution, as in granting a pardon, and to take the most important action of all: to sign a bill into law,” said Wold. “In all these cases, the president’s signature is itself the protection of democratic principles. When the president signs, he communicates his assent and endorsement of the action he takes.”
Wold suggested that the risk of divorcing the president’s signature from his legitimate assent and endorsement was realized during the Biden years, particularly when clemency warrants and executive orders were signed during his physical and apparent mental absences.
“In June 2022, the Biden White House began deploying the autopen to sign clemency warrants, and executive orders in July of 2022. Autopen use skyrocketed from there,” said Wold. “We found that of the 51 clemency warrants issued during the Biden presidency, over half — 32 in total — were signed with an autopen.”
RELATED: Justice is coming for Biden’s ‘autopen’ pardons — and Trump’s DOJ just put everyone on notice
Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
The former Idaho solicitor general noted that among the more controversial acts of possibly illegitimate clemency were the pardons for members of the Biden family, Anthony Fauci, and General Mark Milley.
‘We need to get those documents.’
Wold later emphasized that the “president actually has to make the decision — that cannot be delegated to a staffer or an adviser,” but there was no indication “that anyone other than staff were making these decisions.”
While much has been made of the questionable legitimacy of Biden’s more controversial pardons, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) cut deeper, asking Wold whether legislation that passed both chambers of Congress but then was signed by a presidential staffer without the president’s authorization is law.
“No,” said Wold.
Hawley noted, “For every time that Biden authorized the autopen, there should be a record of that.”
Wold confirmed that “in the policy paper flow to the Oval Office, there should be a record of what documents are presented to the president, when, and when he gave his assent to the actions that are listed in those documents, whether it’s a judicial nomination or it’s a statutory response to Congress.”
“We need to get those documents,” responded Hawley.
‘Those who received autopen pardons should be charged for the crimes they were pardoned for.’
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) — who concluded Biden’s was the “autopen presidency, a government run by committee rather than a leader chosen by the American people” — indicated that he will be “pursuing a Special Access Request to obtain Biden’s staff secretary’s autopen memo and records tracking Biden’s authorization of several autopenned documents.”
Howell told Blaze News that the Oversight Project has “produced lists of which documents were signed by the autopen. As to ‘who’ is behind them, we have been communicating our findings to the governmental investigative bodies.”
When asked about the Oversight Project’s next steps where the autopen saga is concerned, Howell told Blaze News, “We have no steps planned. We have gallops planned. Stay tuned.”
In terms of what accountability looks like at this stage — especially after President Donald Trump declared last month on Truth Social that those who exploited Biden’s cognitive impairment and allegedly “took over the Autopen” were guilty of “TREASON at the Highest Level” — Wold told Blaze News, “Those who received autopen pardons should be charged for the crimes they were pardoned for. Those who operated the autopen without the direction of the president should be charged with potential crimes ranging from impersonation of an official to forgery.”
Wold noted further that when congressional lawmakers meet later this month to discuss the matter further, they should consider “whether the 25th Amendment needs to be updated given the unexpected event of those responsible for invoking it deciding that they preferred an incapacitated president.”
Blaze News reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Mike Howell is a contributor to Blaze News.
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Joe biden, Biden, Autopen, Mike howell, Theo wold, Oversight project, Ted cruz, Us senate, Senate, Conspiracy, Fraud, Treason, Biden white house, White house, Executive action, Hawley, Schmitt, Politics
Stop trying to segregate the American founding
Race relations in the United States have unraveled in recent years, not only because of genuine disagreement, but because many Americans now grow up believing the nation is fundamentally unjust — racist to the core, perhaps even irredeemable.
This idea, once fringe, now enjoys institutional backing. Critical race theory and DEI ideology assert that the U.S. was founded on slavery and white supremacy. And they dominate schools, corporations, and government agencies alike.
Don’t displace the Fourth of July. Don’t divide what should unite us.
As a result, America has seen a quiet comeback of sanctioned segregation. Colleges increasingly host race-based graduation ceremonies. Society encourages people to define themselves first by racial identity, not shared citizenship. That should alarm anyone who once marched for equal rights in the 1950s and ’60s.
When Americans stop thinking of each other as fellow citizens, the glue that holds the republic together dissolves.
Juneteenth and the new segregation
Consider one example of this trend: the push for a separate “independence day” for black Americans.
On June 17, 2021, Joe Biden signed Senate Bill 475 into law, establishing a new federal holiday: “Juneteenth National Independence Day.” The bill commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Texas and issued General Order No. 3, announcing that slaves in the state had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation — two years after it was signed.
Former slaves in Texas celebrated, and in the years that followed, Juneteenth spread across the South. But it never held central importance in the broader civil rights movement.
Juneteenth did not abolish slavery. It merely marked the day slaves in one state learned they had been legally freed. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863, applied only to states in rebellion — excluding Union-supporting border states like Kentucky and Delaware, where slavery remained legal until the ratification of the 13th Amendment in December 1865.
A false independence narrative
Some activists now argue that Juneteenth should serve as “Black Independence Day.” That’s a mistake.
This view implies that African Americans have no rightful claim to the Fourth of July or to the principles of the Declaration of Independence. But those ideas belong to all Americans — not just the descendants of the signers.
It’s true that many historical figures sought to exclude black Americans from the promise of the Declaration. Chief Justice Roger Taney made that argument explicit in the Dred Scott decision. Confederates like Alexander Stephens and John C. Calhoun claimed that “all men are created equal” never applied to African Americans.
They were wrong.
What Frederick Douglass really believed
Some cite Frederick Douglass’ famous 1852 speech — “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” — to support the idea that black Americans should reject the founding. But they ignore the full context.
Douglass, speaking two years after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, condemned the hypocrisy of a country that declared liberty while tolerating bondage. “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” he asked. “A day that reveals to him … the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.”
But unlike Taney, Stephens, and Calhoun, Douglass didn’t reject the Declaration. He upheld it.
RELATED: Frederick Douglass: American patriot
Photo by Carol M. Highsmith/Buyenlarge/Getty Images
Douglass took hope from the principles it proclaimed and called on America to live up to them. He dismissed the Garrisonian claim that the Constitution was pro-slavery. “Interpreted as it ought to be interpreted,” he said, “the Constitution is a glorious liberty document.”
He believed America’s founding held the moral resources to defeat slavery — and it did.
The universal promise of 1776
America’s founders didn’t invent slavery; they merely inherited it. At the time of the Revolution, slavery was a global institution, practiced on every continent and defended by every empire. Slavery, including African slavery, was a manifestation of the argument of the Athenians at Melos as recounted by Thucydides in his history of the Peloponnesian War: “Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” Even Africans sold fellow Africans into slavery.
The Declaration of Independence marked a sharp break from that past. It asserted that all human beings possess natural rights — and that no one may rule another without consent.
Thomas Jefferson famously observed that humanity had long been divided into those born “booted and spurred” and those “born with saddles on their backs.” The founders rejected that model. They established a republic based on equality before the law, not the interests of the stronger over the weaker.
They also knew slavery contradicted those ideals. Many believed the institution would die out — an Enlightenment relic destined for extinction. Still, the political compromises they made to preserve the Union allowed slavery to persist, and it took a war to end it.
Why the founding still matters
The Civil War was not a rejection of the founding. It was a fulfillment of it.
As Harry Jaffa wrote, “It is not wonderful that a nation of slaveholders, upon achieving independence, failed to abolish slavery. What is wonderful … is that a nation of slaveholders founded a new nation on the proposition that ‘all men are created equal,’ making the abolition of slavery a moral and political necessity.”
The Declaration of Independence lit the fuse that ultimately destroyed slavery.
So let Americans celebrate Juneteenth — gratefully, joyfully, and historically. Let the holiday recall the biblical jubilee it was meant to evoke.
But don’t displace the Fourth of July. Don’t segment America’s founding. Don’t divide what should unite us.
As Douglass said: “I would not even in words do violence to the grand events, and thrilling associations, that gloriously cluster around the birth of our national independence.”
He went on: “No people ever entered upon the pathway of nations, with higher and grander ideas of justice, liberty and humanity than ourselves.”
Douglass understood something too many have forgotten: The genius of the American founding lies not in who it excluded but in the promise that, one day, it would include everyone.
Opinion & analysis, Frederick douglass, Slavery, Juneteenth, Holiday, Segregation, American founding, Declaration of independence, Constitution, Abraham lincoln, Principles, Equality, Liberty, Dred scott, Roger taney, John c. calhoun, Harry jaffa, Race, Racism, Critical race theory, Diversity equity inclusion, Joe biden, Black independence day, July 4
Here’s to ‘Bosch’ — the best TV show of the last 10 years
Late last April, one of the most consistently excellent and criminally underrated series on television ended its 11-year run.
In a sea of prestige dramas trying to out-slick each other with flashy cinematography and convoluted twists, “Bosch” and its immediate sequel, “Bosch: Legacy,” stood apart — grounded, methodical, and unflinchingly real. The two shows were not only crime procedurals; they formed an ode to justice, to the city of Los Angeles, and to the people who live in its shadows.
In a world of shrinking attention spans and algorithm-driven content, “Bosch” is refreshingly analog. It trusts the viewer.
Moral gravity
At the heart of both shows is Titus Welliver’s performance as LAPD Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch. Welliver doesn’t just play Bosch, he inhabits him, bringing a weary moral gravity to a character guided by the principle that “everybody counts or nobody counts.”
It’s rare to see a protagonist stay so consistently true to his code without veering into caricature. In Welliver’s hands, Bosch is not a superhero — he is a deeply principled man operating in a world that has long since stopped rewarding principles.
What elevates “Bosch” even farther is its ensemble cast — seasoned, nuanced, and richly interconnected. And for fans of “The Wire,” “Bosch” is like a reunion tour of greatness.
Through the ‘Wire’
Jamie Hector, unforgettable on the legendary HBO series as ruthless, up-and-coming drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield, plays Bosch’s partner Jerry Edgar with quiet complexity and an evolving conscience. He brings a calm, inward energy that balances Welliver’s intensity.
The late Lance Reddick, always regal and sharp, reprises another authority figure as Chief Irving, a political operator whose arc turns increasingly poignant as the show progresses.
Even the great Chris Bauer (who anchored season two of “The Wire” as tragic union leader Frank Sobotka) is a key figure in the final case of the final season, delivering yet another command performance.
RELATED: Peter Falk’s ‘Columbo’ returns us to a safer, saner America
NBC/Getty Images
These appearances aren’t just fan service — they reinforce the show’s commitment to realism. These are actors who know how to play the long, quiet game of institutional drama, bringing an authenticity forged in the crucible of David Simon’s Baltimore to Michael Connelly’s Los Angeles.
The soul of the show
As both executive producer and the author of the “Bosch” novels (read them!), Connelly is the soul of the show, ensuring that it never loses the vivid and precise understanding of L.A.’s criminal ecosystem — from the politics of the LAPD to the ghosts of the Hollywood Hills — so evident in the books.
“Bosch” is also paced like a novel: patient, rich in detail, and unconcerned with the need to manufacture drama. Instead, tension arises naturally from the characters’ decisions, regrets, and stubborn decency.
Unlike much of contemporary television, which seems obsessed with style over substance, “Bosch” is anti-glamour. Its color palette is sun-bleached and realistic, its villains often mundane and terrifyingly human. Its cops aren’t action heroes, but working-stiff detectives who make phone calls, pore over reports, and follow leads with grit and intelligence. There are no melodramatic shoot-outs without consequence — just slow justice, often paid in pain.
An ‘earned’ sequel
After “Bosch” ended after seven seasons in 2021, Welliver reprised the character in the 2022 sequel “Bosch: Legacy.” Now retired from the LAPD, Bosch is a private investigator who often finds himself working with his one-time professional nemesis, defense attorney Honey “Money” Chandler (Mimi Rogers).
“Bosch: Legacy” avoids the common pitfalls of spin-offs. Its elevation of Bosch’s daughter Maddie Bosch (Madison Lintz) to a central figure is earned rather than forced. The show evolves naturally, expanding the “Bosch” world without abandoning its roots. Connelly and his team know their audience isn’t looking for reinvention but rather continuity, truth, and character. And they deliver.
Refreshingly analog
In a world of shrinking attention spans and algorithm-driven content, “Bosch” is refreshingly analog. It trusts the viewer. It tells hard stories about justice, loss, race, and power in L.A. without shouting. It makes you care, then makes you wait. And when it finally hits its emotional beats, it hits like a freight train.
So here’s to “Bosch” — a show that never chased trends, never insulted its audience, and never wavered in its dedication to storytelling.
With a dream cast that bridged generations of great television (“The Wire” alumni among them) and the steady hand of Michael Connelly guiding the ship, “Bosch” was the best show on TV for a decade.
“Bosch” will live on, of course, available on the usual sites to be revisited by longtime fans and discovered by new ones. As “Bosch” inevitably cedes its place in the culture to newer, shinier entertainments, we can appraise its achievement as a whole and call it something else: a classic.
Bosch, Harry bosch, Culture, Television, Entertainment, Michael connelly, Crime fiction, Amazon, Recommendation
Illegal alien accused of threatening to slit throat of Bondi-appointed US attorney
A U.S. attorney in New York learned firsthand the danger that criminal illegal aliens pose to the community after he was chased and threatened with a knife in downtown Albany earlier this week.
Just before 10 p.m. on Tuesday, John Sarcone, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, had just left his office and was strolling by a Hilton Hotel, enjoying a cigar, when he suddenly spotted a man behaving suspiciously.
“I got my eye on him, then I turn back and I’m in front of the Hilton, and I’m just standing there, and I’m looking at him … and he then starts yelling at me in his language that I don’t understand,” Sarcone later said, according to the Times-Union.
The man then reportedly approached Sarcone, pulled a knife, and lunged in his direction.
‘We take these things seriously — whether you’re the US attorney for the Northern District or your name’s John Smith and you live on Morton Avenue.’
Sarcone stepped into the hotel lobby for safety and called Sheriff Craig Apple of Albany County but then went back outdoors to keep an eye on the man. The situation then apparently escalated.
“I didn’t want him to get away, and I yelled out at him,” Sarcone recalled. “He turns around, and he starts yelling again … and then he pulls the knife out, and then there’s this (gesture) across his throat thing, like he’s going to slit my throat, and then comes at me again, and I ran back towards the hotel, and then he stopped and then turned around.”
Police quickly arrived on the scene and apprehended the suspect, identified as 40-year-old Saul Morales-Garcia. Sheriff Apple confirmed that Morales-Garcia, a Salvadoran national, is in the U.S. illegally, WNYT reported.
Sarcone was not injured in the incident, but at a hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors demonstrated that they are not playing games. Morales-Garcia has been charged with second-degree attempted murder, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree menacing. The defendant has another court appearance scheduled for next week.
“It’s important that everybody understands that we take these things seriously – whether you’re the U.S. attorney for the Northern District or your name’s John Smith and you live on Morton Avenue,” District Attorney Lee Kindlon said outside the courthouse.
Morales-Garcia reportedly told investigators he did not know Sarcone was a federal official. Public defender Vincenzo Sofia argued in court that the evidence did not warrant an attempted murder charge and requested release under probationary supervision, but the judge ordered the defendant held without bail.
Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The defendant has a lengthy rap sheet both in America and abroad. Morales-Garcia has a felony conviction in El Salvador and has been deported from the U.S. on at least one occasion, in 2010. When he re-entered the U.S. illegally again is unclear.
According to multiple reports, he also has a “criminal record” in at least three states and an active warrant for his arrest.
In April 2022, Morales-Garcia was convicted of a DUI and driving without a license in Monroe County, Georgia. A month later, he apparently failed to appear in court, prompting a bench warrant, but the bench warrant is tied to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. Whether the two Georgia incidents are related is unclear, the Times-Union reported.
‘Kathy Hochul puts illegals first and New Yorkers last.’
In December 2023, Morales-Garcia was arrested by federal Park Police officers in Virginia and charged with disorderly conduct, engaging in a physically threatening act likely to inflict injury, possessing an open container of alcohol, and being intoxicated in public. Five months later, he was charged with retail theft in a city just outside Philadelphia.
The Times-Union reported that the outcomes of those cases are currently unknown.
ICE agents were reportedly at the courthouse on Wednesday, when Morales-Garcia and at least one other illegal alien were scheduled to appear. It is unclear whether the agents interacted with Morales-Garcia.
The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.
RELATED: Elise Stefanik agrees to withdraw her nomination to maintain GOP’s ‘razor-thin’ majority in House
Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images
At least one New York federal lawmaker is speaking out about the alarming incident.
“In Kathy Hochul’s New York, nobody is safe, not even President Trump’s U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of NY John A. Sarcone III, who was ‘confronted and chased’ by an illegal alien armed with a knife in Albany last night, the Times Union reported,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) posted to X on Wednesday.
“Three separate times, Hochul signed executive orders to protect violent illegal aliens from deportation. Kathy Hochul puts illegals first and New Yorkers last. We desperately need a governor who puts New Yorkers first and restores law and order to our streets.”
In response to a request for comment, Hochul sent Blaze News what appears to be a generic email, promising “to rebuild our communities and continue to move our great state forward.”
“I promise to do everything I can, every single day, to create a stronger, safer future for you, our families, and our communities and to make government a force for good once again.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Sarcone to the U.S. attorney position back in March. Sarcone previously served on President Donald Trump’s campaign legal team in 2016.
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John sarcone, Us attorney, Northern district of new york, New york, Albany, Saul morales-garcia, Craig apple, Lee kindlon, Illegal alien, Illegal immigration, Elise stefanik, Kathy hochul, Politics
Why I won’t celebrate Juneteenth as a federal holiday
Expect a wave of corporate media pieces today, all aiming to elevate Juneteenth’s importance in the American consciousness. These articles are sanctimonious, astroturfed exercises in progressive virtue signaling — gaslighting the public into believing Juneteenth deserves equal or even greater recognition than the Fourth of July.
But Juneteenth neither marks the beginning of slavery nor its end. Activists have hijacked the holiday to undermine the moral clarity of Independence Day.
Juneteenth has been weaponized to fracture America’s identity through deception and denigration.
Juneteenth commemorates the day Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Texas on June 19, 1865, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and declare the end of slavery in the state. Early celebrations called it “Jubilee Day,” marking the delayed but welcome fulfillment of the Constitution’s promise and the Declaration’s revolutionary spirit — at least in Texas.
For decades, Juneteenth remained a Texas tradition. It held official status as a state holiday for 41 years and an unofficial one since 1866. But in recent years, radical activists have repurposed it as a tool to advance a racialist rewrite of American history.
A ‘George Floyd’ holiday
Before George Floyd’s death in 2020, few progressives were even aware of Juneteenth’s existence. But after Black Lives Matter-led riots caused over $1.5 billion in property damage and left at least 20 dead, the left seized the cultural moment. Activists bullied lawmakers into submission — both figuratively and literally.
That year, members of Congress knelt in kente cloth as a gesture of obedience. The Pentagon renamed military bases to satisfy a new moral order. Corporations slapped critical theory slogans on products. The so-called “black national anthem” was played at sporting events, eclipsing the actual national anthem.
And then came the crowning gesture: the creation of a new federal holiday. Juneteenth became the woke sacrament, signaling America’s supposedly unending racism.
It was ludicrous then. It’s borderline insane now.
Juneteenth is Texan — and that’s all
Texas has every right to honor Juneteenth. The holiday commemorates the fulfillment of America’s founding ideals and the abolition of one of humanity’s most enduring evils. But beyond Texas, it holds no national significance.
Juneteenth doesn’t fall on the date of the Emancipation Proclamation. It doesn’t mark the actual end of slavery in the United States. Activists howl in protest, but the truth remains: Juneteenth has been repurposed to challenge and eventually replace Independence Day.
Most of the people writing solemn op-eds about Juneteenth don’t know its history — and they don’t care. What they do care about is creating a “new” Independence Day, one that fits a progressive narrative. Its placement on the calendar — just weeks before July 4 — is no accident.
This is part of the left’s long march through American institutions. National holidays shape national identity. And Juneteenth now functions as a tool to fracture that identity under the guise of moral progress.
Under the Biden administration, some military installations flew flags calling Juneteenth “National Independence Day.” The Department of Defense distributed official guidance using that exact phrase. Nikole Hannah-Jones, architect of the historically illiterate “1619 Project,” uses Juneteenth to promote her claim that America’s true founding began with the arrival of African slaves, not the signing of the Declaration.
Divide, rewrite, replace
As a former Marine and combat veteran, I recognize these tactics: divide and conquer, rewrite and replace. They follow a playbook.
Juneteenth’s federal recognition aims not to celebrate American emancipation but rather to distract from the actual Independence Day. The broader goal is to erode national unity and advance a Marxist agenda: divide Americans by race, replace shared history with grievance, and erase what came before.
RELATED: We should scrap Juneteenth, aka George Floyd Day, for a holiday commemorating America’s 1865 rebirth
Blaze Media Illustration
I lived in Texas for many years. I’ll celebrate Juneteenth as a Texas holiday. The end of slavery deserves celebration. I would even support a national holiday that commemorates the abolition of slavery, honestly.
But I won’t join in the farce that Juneteenth represents America’s independence. Too many Americans gave their lives to preserve our constitutional republic and the revolutionary idea that all men are created equal and endowed by God with unalienable rights.
Independence Day remains the foundation of this nation. It paved the way for emancipation, the defeat of fascism, the collapse of communism, and the rise of the most prosperous country in world history.
The radical left understands this. That’s why it has targeted Juneteenth as a cultural wedge. Leftists expect Americans to bow at the altar of wokeness and pretend not to notice. And if we object, they call us pro-slavery.
I reject that lie.
I refuse to bend the knee to a movement that seeks to destroy everything good and true about this country. The stakes are too high — and the truth is too important to surrender.
Opinion & analysis, George floyd, Juneteenth, Texas, Independence day, Fourth of july, Federal holiday, Jubilee day, Virtue signaling, Marxism, Racism, Critical race theory, Black lives matter, Riots, Civil war, Slavery, Abolition
A tax hike is coming — and it’s not just for the rich
Academy Award-winner Elizabeth Taylor, married eight times to seven men, likely entered each union with the hope it would last. Good things, after all, should be permanent.
Yet in Washington, permanence is too often treated as a liability. Nowhere is this more apparent than in tax policy. Thanks to arcane rules surrounding budget reconciliation, Congress routinely enacts pro-growth reforms with an expiration date baked in.
A permanent extension of the reconciliation bill’s pro-growth elements would produce more ‘bang for the buck’ than a temporary extension.
Consider the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Though the measure would extend and build upon President Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, it fails to permanently extend several of the law’s most pro-growth elements.
That’s a mistake. Again, good things should be permanent.
Pro-growth policies need permanence
Earlier this month, Unleash Prosperity Now — a nonprofit aligned with President Trump — organized a letter signed by more than 300 economists, myself included, urging Congress to “extend President Trump’s tax cuts permanently to prevent a tax increase on January 1, 2026.”
Why do we insist upon permanence? Permanent pro-growth public policies result in better economic outcomes. In contrast, temporary policies create troublesome uncertainty, which, in turn, sows confusion for consumers and businesses, making financial planning and investment needlessly difficult.
A permanent extension of the reconciliation bill’s pro-growth elements would produce more economic “bang for the buck” than a temporary extension. It’s that simple.
According to the Tax Foundation, “Permanence for the [bill’s] four cost recovery provisions would more than double the long-run economic effect.” These provisions would include 100% bonus depreciation, expensing of research and development investment, and a more generous interest deduction limit, among others.
The Tax Foundation concludes:
The current package produces meager effects on GDP and a smaller U.S. capital stock over the long run because the cost recovery provisions sunset. As lawmakers continue to debate the tax package, they should not compromise on permanence for the most pro-growth provisions.
This view aligns with the prevailing economic literature. For example, a 2019 study by the St. Louis Federal Reserve concluded, “A rise in uncertainty is widely believed to have detrimental effects on macroeconomic, microeconomic, and financial market outcomes.”
If that warning were plastered on the side of a pack of cigarettes, it would read, “Congressionally induced policy uncertainty is hazardous to the country’s economic health.”
Jobs under threat
Fortunately, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) is determined to extend the reconciliation bill’s most pro-growth elements permanently. Bravo, Mr. Chairman!
Permanence aside, why did more than 300 economists call for preventing the tax increase scheduled under current law?
RELATED: I was against Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ — Stephen Miller changed my mind
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
If taxes increase as planned, the economic fallout could be steep. Wells Fargo warns that average monthly job creation could plummet from 133,000 in the first quarter to just 25,000 next quarter — and then turn negative, with an estimated loss of 17,000 jobs per month in the fourth quarter.
If Congress fails to “spike the hike,” Wells Fargo estimates economic growth will slow to a tepid 1.1% this year and next.
A warning to deficit hawks
For those worried about the deficit, here’s the paradox: Letting the economy slow — or worse, slip into recession — is the surest way to worsen the nation’s fiscal health.
To further underscore the situation, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who directed the Congressional Budget Office from 2003 to 2005, cautions: “Given the weak state of the economy, it [the scheduled tax increase] would likely trigger a recession, and the budget outlook never gets better in a recession.”
Yes, it’s that simple.
Elizabeth Taylor once quipped, “If you hear of me getting married [again], slap me!” At least, she had the right intentions. Congress, on the other hand, routinely resorts to temporary policies to game the reconciliation process. That needs to stop.
To guard against recession, Congress should reconsider the tax increase scheduled for next year. But to boost economic growth, Congress should follow Crapo’s lead and extend permanently the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act pro-growth provisions.
Opinion & analysis, Congress, Democrats, Republicans, Senate, Mike crapo, Taxes, Spending, Tax increases, Tax cuts and jobs act, Donald trump, One big beautiful bill, Big beautiful bill, Reconciliation, Tax foundation, Unleash prosperity now, Jobs, Unemployment, Economic growth, Economists, Wells fargo, Recession, Congressional budget office, Douglas holtz-eakin, Elizabeth taylor, Marriage
Whoopi Goldberg says blacks are oppressed in the US just as much as Iranians under totalitarian regime in ‘The View’ debate
The women of “The View” got into a bitter debate after Whoopi Goldberg made an absurd claim on the plight of black Americans as compared to those living under the Iranian regime.
On their show Wednesday, Goldberg tried to undermine criticism of the Iranian government from Alyssa Farah Griffin, the former Trump aide, by bringing up the historical treatment of black people in the United States.
‘This is the greatest country in the world. I know that. … But every day we are worried. Do we have to be worried about our kids? Are our kids gonna get shot because they’re running through somebody’s neighborhood?’
“Let’s remember, too, the Iranians literally throw gay people off of buildings. They don’t adhere to basic human rights,” Griffin said, which caused the panel to erupt in argument.
“Let’s not do that, because if we start with that, we have been known in this country to tie gay folks to the car. Listen, I’m sorry, they used to just keep hanging black people,” Goldberg responded.
Griffin protested that the two examples were completely different, but Goldberg insisted that they were the same.
“Murdering someone for their difference is not good, whoever does it! It’s not good!” Goldberg said.
“It’s very different to live in the United States in 2025 than it is to live in Iran,” said Griffin at one point.
“Not if you’re black!” Goldberg responded.
“Not for everybody!” replied Sunny Hostin.
“Guys, don’t go to Tehran,” Griffin said. “Do not. No one at this table can go to Tehran.”
RELATED: Co-host on ‘The View’ blames ‘rise in violent Christian nationalism’ for mass shootings
Photo from ABC/LOU ROCCO via Getty Images
“Listen, let me tell you about being in this country. This is the greatest country in the world. I know that, and we all know that,” said Goldberg. “But every day we are worried. Do we have to be worried about our kids? Are our kids gonna get shot because they’re running through somebody’s neighborhood?”
Griffin tried once again to frame the argument in a way that Goldberg might agree with, but she persisted nevertheless.
“Nobody wants to diminish the very real problems we have in this country, but I think it’s important we remember there are places much darker than this country,” said Griffin.
“But not everybody feels that way. Not everybody feels that way,” Goldberg interjected. “Listen, I’m sorry, you know, when you think about the fact that we got the vote in 1965 —.”
“They don’t have free and fair elections in Iran!” Griffin interrupted. “It’s not even the same universe!”
“You know what, there’s no way I can make you understand,” Goldberg replied.
The segment can be viewed in its entirety on the YouTube channel for the show.
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Alyssa farah griffin vs whoopi, Whoopi vs griffin, The view debate on blacks, Blacks vs iranians, Politics