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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.

RELATED: Judge accused of helping illegal alien evade ICE says she didn’t think ‘avoid ICE’ meant anything illegal

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 

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 

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 

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 

America is on the edge of a financial cliff, and Washington’s so-called “solution” is yet another clever ploy that could further centralize power and lead to a reduction in freedom.

The latest scheme is a bipartisan bill dubbed the Genius Act. The U.S. Senate passed the bill on Tuesday by a vote of 68-30. The bill now moves on to the House, where its prospects are less clear.

It’s time for the right to sound the alarm and reject the Genius Act — at least until it offers protections for individual liberty.

Supporters of the law claim it will modernize digital finance by issuing new regulations for stablecoins, shoring up assets currently used by millions of people worldwide.

But the legislation comes with serious threats to liberty as well. It could ultimately become a backdoor way to create a digital dollar, one that offers minimal privacy protections and is easily controlled by massive institutions unaccountable to voters.

What is the Genius Act?

Officially named the “Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act,” the Genius Act aims to bring order and credibility to the booming stablecoin market.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies tied to supposedly “stable” assets like the U.S. dollar. USD Coin and Tether — two of the most widely used — circulate more than $200 billion combined.

The bill creates a regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers, allowing them to operate under either state or federal supervision. Lawmakers believe this approach will boost credibility with consumers and financial institutions.

The legislation also forces issuers to disclose their reserve assets, submit to public audits, and comply with the Bank Secrecy Act. That law requires financial entities to implement know-your-customer protocols and anti-money-laundering measures — rules that many stablecoin issuers currently avoid.

Most importantly, the Genius Act would force issuers to back their coins with liquid assets, such as U.S. dollars and Treasury securities. For example, for every USD Coin distributed, the issuer would need to maintain $1 in reserves or Treasury bills of equivalent value, ensuring that users can always exchange their stablecoins for dollars.

The Genius Act has drawn broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers from both parties praise its regulatory ambitions. But behind the applause lie serious risks.

Programmable money vs. financial freedom

The bill lays the foundation for a programmable digital currency system — one that lacks basic protections for privacy and liberty.

By granting stablecoins federal recognition and placing them under strict oversight and reserve rules, the Genius Act effectively turns them into government-blessed digital dollars, even if the federal government doesn’t issue them directly.

That might sound like progress — if the bill actually protected consumers. But it doesn’t.

The legislation includes no safeguards to prevent stablecoin issuers from linking usage to social credit systems, such as ESG scores, or restricting legal but politically disfavored transactions. These programmable currencies could easily reflect the ideological preferences of their creators.

RELATED: A brutal wake-up call from America’s most powerful banker

Photo by Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Want to donate to a political cause that a stablecoin company opposes? Expect a digital roadblock. Want to buy red meat, a gas-powered car, or anything else that fails to meet an ESG benchmark? Your money might simply stop working.

That’s not science fiction. That’s the likely outcome if Congress fails to add robust consumer protections to the Genius Act.

A forced hand

No one needs to use stablecoins — at least not yet. The Genius Act doesn’t eliminate traditional dollars. For now, consumers still have alternatives. But that could change quickly.

Stablecoins regulated by the U.S. government offer clear advantages over traditional currency. They move instantly, cost little or nothing to send, and operate around the clock. Because they’re digital, they require no physical infrastructure to create or distribute.

In nearly every respect, government-regulated stablecoins outperform paper money. Once the U.S. government legitimizes them and guarantees their safety, adoption will surge.

As usage grows, demand for traditional dollars could shrink. The companies issuing stablecoins would gain enormous control over economic life. Financial institutions could even begin phasing out physical currency, leaving those who resist digital money with no practical alternative.

That’s why Congress must include strong protections for individual liberty in any bill that accelerates stablecoin adoption. Without those safeguards, Americans may one day wake up to find their economic freedom coded out of existence.

A boon for Treasurys

One of the primary reasons so many in Washington support the Genius Act is that it would increase demand for Treasury bills, which helps the federal government finance its massive debt.

The Genius Act would require stablecoin issuers to back their currencies with cash or U.S. Treasurys. Of the two options, Treasury bills often make more sense for the companies issuing stablecoins. Why? Because Treasury bills pay interest.

Washington is drowning in red ink. With over $36 trillion in national debt and counting, the government desperately needs someone to keep buying its IOUs. Stablecoins could offer a trillion-dollar solution. By 2028, the Treasury Department estimates that stablecoin issuers could hold up to $1 trillion in Treasurys, so long as legislation like the Genius Act becomes law.

The Genius Act isn’t primarily about innovation. It’s about bailing out a bankrupt government.

Who’s pulling the strings?

Even more troubling is who stands to benefit. Major players behind these stablecoins include BlackRock, Fidelity, and other financial giants with deep ties to the globalist ESG agenda and organizations like the World Economic Forum. These aren’t neutral actors. They are ideological enforcers with an appetite for control.

Are these the people we want managing the digital currency of the future?

Are these the institutions we trust to safeguard our freedoms?

It’s time for the right to sound the alarm and reject the Genius Act — at least until it offers protections for individual liberty. If we do not act now, we may soon find ourselves in a nation where every transaction is tracked, every purchase scrutinized, and every dollar you “own” is merely rented from a system that can revoke your access with the flick of a switch.

​Opinion & analysis, Blackrock, Cryptocurrency, Stablecoins, Dollars, Genius act, Financial, Freedom, Privacy, Digital currency, Treasuries, Usd coin, Tether, Donald trump, Securities, Senate, House of representatives, Bipartisan bill, Esg, Social credit score, Interest, Fidelity, Liberty 

Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) isn’t known for her measured political takes, which is why it’s no surprise that she’s not only comparing President Trump to the Somali government — she’s saying he’s worse.

“I grew up in a dictatorship, and I don’t even remember ever witnessing anything like that. To have a democracy, a beacon of hope for the world, to now be turned into one of the worst countries where the military are in our streets without any regard for people’s constitutional rights,” Omar said on “Democracy Now!”

Omar went on to liken Trump to “a failed dictator with a military parade” and claimed that “this was not the country we were born in.”

“You were not even born here, sorry,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments. “You don’t get to lecture me on what President Trump does and whether or not it’s a dictatorship, and it’s just so laughable.”

“Compare what President Trump has done so far compared to Somalia,” she says. “He revoked DEI foreign aid, over 100 Biden-era policies, he started mass deportations, declared a national emergency at the border, used DOGE to cut a s**t-ton of money and positions, pulled from the WHO, Paris Climate Accords, pardoned some of these J6ers, pro-life advocates.”

“Doesn’t sound very dictator-ish to me,” Gonzales says. “Meanwhile, over in s**thole Somalia … over in 2006, the Islamic Courts Union took control of Somalia — most of it — and strictly enforced Sharia law.”

“You had an extremist group in 2011 challenge the Somalian government for control,” she continues, “and through Sharia law, enacted executions, forced amputations.”

“If you stole or if you violated the dress code, you got your appendages chopped off,” Gonzales adds, noting that in 2021, the president signed a law to extend his term in office and wouldn’t leave.

“But yes, no totally, this is just like Somalia, totally like Somalia, where President Trump is trying to protect American citizens and roll back regulations rather than cut people’s hands off when they steal,” she says.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

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

​Upload, Camera phone, Video phone, Sharing, Free, Video, Youtube.com, Sara gonzales unfiltered, Sara gonzales, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Trump derangement syndrome, Ilhan omar, Somalia, President trump, Donald trump, No kings protests, President trump protests, Democrats, The left, Leftists, Leftist ideology 

Donald Trump has a rare chance this Juneteenth to deliver Democrats their most painful political blow in 160 years.

The man hailed by supporters as a master dealmaker could throw the American system into upheaval by proposing a “MAGA-vellian” reparations plan — a bold mix of populist theater and strategic ruthlessness.

If Trump launched the MAGA Fund, he wouldn’t just rewrite political norms — he’d cement his place as the most disruptive figure in modern American history.

Call it the MAGA Democrat Slavery Compensation Fund.

This plan wouldn’t just shake up Washington. It would redraw the partisan map and deal a death blow to the race-peddling civil rights industry by exposing the fraud at the core of progressive politics. And coming from a president who has vowed to restore Confederate base names, the MAGA Fund would remind voters which party fought to keep slavery alive.

Timing is everything.

Trump acknowledged Juneteenth in his first term and pledged to make it a federal holiday during the 2020 campaign. Biden signed it into law in 2021, but the effort quickly became partisan theater. Critics said Democrats only embraced the holiday after the George Floyd riots, hoping to appease Black Lives Matter activists.

Candace Owens called Juneteenth “sooo lame” and “ghetto.” Charlie Kirk dismissed it as a “CRT-inspired federal holiday” meant to compete with Independence Day.

But now that Trump’s back in the White House — more popular among black voters than any Republican since the 1960s — he’s well-positioned to pull off a maneuver that could rattle his ideological base and neutralize his fiercest critics.

The MAGA Fund would benefit only the descendants of American slaves — not black immigrants, not “people of color,” and not members of the ever-expanding LGBTQIA+ rainbow coalition. It would expose the cynical way Democrats — whose party symbol is a donkey — have used black Americans as political mules for every new “civil rights” cause since the 1960s.

Duke economist Sandy Darity estimates full reparations would cost $10 trillion. The MAGA Fund? Just $855 billion. It would draw from corporate donations — a logical move, since more than 1,000 companies pledged more than $200 billion to “racial justice” causes in 2020.

The MAGA Fund would also weaponize the left’s favorite buzzword: equity.

Progressives insist policies must favor the disadvantaged. Why not apply that within the black community? Under this plan, Oprah Winfrey and LeBron James wouldn’t get the same payout as a Mississippi man working three jobs or a single mom raising four kids in the inner city.

Here’s how it would work:

Black households earning over $100,000 (about 25% of the total) would receive a symbolic $345, referencing the 345 years between the arrival of African slaves in 1619 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.Households earning $50,000 to $100,000 (roughly 30%) would receive $34,500.Families under $50,000 (about 45%) would receive $103,500.

The MAGA Fund would channel the populist energy dominating the right. It would highlight how Democrats, backed by elite institutions, claim to represent the oppressed while serving the powerful. It would force them to either support Trump’s plan or explain why the party of “equity” opposes targeted aid to poor black Americans.

RELATED: Like Black Lives Matter, DEI must die

Saud Ansari via iStock/Getty Images

Even critics like Ann Coulter might back the idea. She’s blasted Democrats for extending black reparations programs to every new “oppressed” group. She’s also listed the conditions under which she’d support reparations.

Of course, Republicans would need to manage their white working-class base. Conservative pundits would rage. But behind closed doors, they could frame the plan as a final settlement — a way to declare the race debate closed. The race hustlers would need a new line of work after Trump stamped the national debt to black Americans “Paid in Full.”

And it wouldn’t just be symbolic.

Put nearly a trillion dollars into circulation and watch what happens. Dave Chappelle joked in a 2003 sketch that reparations would send gold prices soaring, phone bills plummeting, and “8,000 new record labels” starting within an hour. The skit played off stereotypes — but behind the comedy was economic truth.

Studies of universal basic income show recipients typically spend on essentials like food and transportation. A Washington, D.C., program gave low-income moms $10,800. One woman used $6,000 to take her kids and their father to Miami. You don’t need a PhD to know that pumping money into poor communities stimulates demand.

If Trump launched the MAGA Fund, he wouldn’t just rewrite political norms — he’d cement his place as the most disruptive figure in modern American history. Who else but a twice-divorced real estate mogul and ex-Democrat could overturn Roe, win over evangelicals, survive two impeachments and an assassin’s bullet — and then sign big, beautiful reparations checks with a smile?

Will it happen? Probably not.

Politics is too polarized. Corporations would recoil at helping Trump. Professional race merchants would denounce the plan as pandering. The left would lose its mind. The right might lose its nerve.

Still, if the last decade taught voters anything, it’s this: Never bet against the Teflon Don.

​Opinion & analysis, Donald trump, Black lives matter, Reparations, Juneteenth, Holiday, Equity, Equality, Ann coulter, Charlie kirk, Candace owens, Dave chappelle, Racism, Slavery, Slavery reparations, Democrats, Republicans, Maga 

As tensions escalate in the war between Israel and Iran, President Donald Trump has already approved the decision to strike against Iran, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The report on Wednesday cited sources close to the president and said he has withheld the final order in an effort to give Iranian officials a chance to accept negotiations on a peace deal as well as nuclear proliferation.

‘The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week.’

“I have ideas on what to do, but I haven’t made a final — I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due,” said the president to reporters on Wednesday.

The report was the most recent evidence that the U.S. may jump into the fray to defend Israel, despite the warnings and threats from the Iranian regime.

Israel attacked Iran in a military operation dubbed Operation Rising Lion, which targeted their military leadership as well as their nuclear weapon development capabilities. Iran responded by launching a retaliatory missile campaign against Israel. The conflict has entered into its sixth day.

“I may do it, I may not do it,” said the president Wednesday. “The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week.”

A top Iranian official had previously said the regime was open to a nuclear deal if the U.S. agreed to lift all sanctions against Iran.

“Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT with a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance,” read a statement from Iran, referring to Trump.

RELATED: Trump fires off serious threat to Iran — and then leaves G7 forum early to return to White House

The president has traded barbs and threats via social media with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“The US entering in this matter [war] is 100% to its own detriment. The damage it will suffer will be far greater than any harm that Iran may encounter,” wrote Khamenei in one post.

“It was already suspected that the US was involved in the malicious move carried out by the Zionist regime, but considering their recent remarks, this suspicion is growing stronger day by day,” he added.

“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again!” said Trump on Truth Social.

“Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” he concluded.

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When BlazeTV host Steve Deace of the “Steve Deace Show” was jokingly asked to write a children’s book mocking the Pride movement, a light bulb flashed in his mind.

“I actually went home that night and kind of wrote out a loose outline and then worked on it for the next few months from there, and what you have now is the finished product, ‘Richie Meets the Rainbow,’” Deace tells BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere on “Stu Does America.”

The book centers on a young boy named Richie, who goes to school to find “the rainbow-fisted teacher with the blue hair and the nose ring who was there to indoctrinate them.”

“Except Richie has a secret weapon,” Deace explains. “He’s got a dad. And so he goes home, and instead of saying, ‘Shut up, son, I’m watching the game,’ Dad says, ‘You know what, I can pause the game, son.’”

That’s when Richie’s dad shows him the Bible and walks him through the true story of the rainbow.

“He wants his son to know that, quote, ‘unrepentant savages’ have co-opted this with the intent of brainwashing him and future generations, 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,” Deace says.

“That’s how Richie is saved from the demonic school system,” he continues.

While it’s written as a children’s book, it’s actually meant for adults to truly understand what is going on within the school system and leftist indoctrination — and how to stand up and stop it.

“If you’re not a communist, they treat you like you’re a fascist, racist, misogynist, xenophobic, homophobic bigot anyway, so you might as well earn their scorn,” he adds.

Deace had unsurprisingly struggled to get the book published.

“There weren’t a lot of people anxious to publish this. I had to actually publish this book on my own for the first time,” Deace explains. “I had to go to Hungary, Stu, to hire an illustrator that would actually draw this book for me.”

“Not a lot of people, even on the right, anxious to tell this story, which probably tells you one of the reasons why we’re in the position on the right we’re currently in,” he adds.

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​Upload, Camera phone, Video phone, Sharing, Free, Video, Youtube.com, Stu burguiere, The blaze, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Blazetv, Steve deace, Steve deace show, Richie meets the rainbow, Lgbtqia indoctrination, Lgbtq agenda, Lgbtq agenda public school, Stu does america 

The high-profile case against Karen Read is over after a jury found her not guilty of killing her police officer boyfriend, though they found her guilty on a far lesser charge.

The 45-year-old expressed relief to a crowd of supporters outside of the Norfolk County Superior Court after jurors deliberated for at least 22 hours in the emotional case.

Read could have faced a life sentence in prison for the murder charge, but instead she will only serve one year of probation.

Read was accused of second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of John O’Keefe, a Boston Police officer, in 2022. On the night of his death, she dropped him off at a party in the home of a fellow officer.

Prosecutors said that Read had run him over with her SUV before driving away and leaving him for dead in the snow. Read and her attorneys claimed that O’Keefe had been beaten to death inside of the home, and his body was dragged out into the street in order to frame her.

“No one has fought harder for justice for John O’Keefe than I have — than I have and my team!” said Read to supporters after the hearing.

A separate jury hearing the case had declared a deadlock and that trial had ended in a mistrial. A different special prosecutor in the second trial lowered the number of witnesses that provided testimony for the case.

The jury did find that there was enough evidence to pronounce Read guilty of drunken driving.

Read could have faced a life sentence in prison for the murder charge, but instead she will only serve one year of probation for the drunken driving charge.

RELATED: Cops say Florida woman poured Diet Mountain Dew on herself to destroy DNA evidence of murder

Brian Albert, who owned the home where the party was located, accused Read of spreading “lies and conspiracy theories” to infect the prosecution.

“The result is a devastating miscarriage of justice,” added Albert.

Read’s attorneys had produced experts who testified there was no evidence of a collision to support the prosecution’s version of events.

“There is no evidence that John was hit by a car. None. This case should be over right now, done, because there was no collision,” attorney Alan Jackson said in his closing argument.

Supporters of Read wore pink after she said it was her favorite color. The case had made national headlines after online commentators picked apart every detail of the allegations.

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​Karen read verdict, Karen read trial, Gf kills cop boyfriend, Death of john okeefe, Crime 

An economic aide to Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent explained how the deportation policies of President Donald Trump will lead to wage gains for U.S. workers, in an interview with Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck.

Joseph Lavorgna tackled the argument from skeptics that illegal alien low-wage labor is not a significant drag on U.S. wages.

‘There’s no below-market-based rate, so the economics are pretty solid. … You should see nominal wage growth accelerate.’

“Speak to somebody who [doesn’t] believe the talking point that illegal immigration actually suppressed U.S. wages,” said Beck.

“Well, it’s very simple. … If a worker comes in illegally, that allows the employer to pay [him or her] a below-average wage rate. And in turn, that resets the market lower for everybody else,” Lavorgna explained.

“Put another way, if a firm does not have access to abundant — and we can even call it ‘exploitative’ — labor, then those wages economically, [the] microeconomics are such, you have to pay more,” he added. “You’re not kind of [flouting] the law. And what that allows then is for wages to be naturally higher, and what happens is U.S. workers then get paid a fair … market-based rate.”

Raising U.S. wages has been a focus of the Trump administration. On Tuesday the Treasury Department reported that real wage growth had made enormous gains in the first five months of Trump’s second term.

RELATED: Zillow CEO says there’s a link between mass deportations and affordable housing

“There’s no below-market-based rate. So the economics are pretty solid, and Sec. Bessent has highlighted that,” Lavorgna continued.

Some economists argue that migrants, both legal and illegal, benefit the economy by driving prices down through their low-wage labor.

In an interview on a New York Post podcast, Bessent made the case that wage growth during the Biden administration was suppressed because of illegal aliens streaming in.

“Biden opened the border, and it was flooded,” said Bessent. “And for working Americans, that’s a disaster because it’s pressure on their wages.”

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​Deportations and wage growth, Wage growth under trump, Treasury economist joseph lavorgna, Illegal alien wage suppression, Politics 

Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, has a bolder plan than task forces to tackle political weaponization under the Biden administration.

“I think the answer to the problems, and frankly the political promises that have been made about weaponizing the government have been there the whole time, in terms of historical precedent,” Howell tells BlazeTV hosts Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson on “Blaze News: The Mandate.”

“Countries and even the United States, over the course of history, have developed basically truth and reconciliation commissions, or committees, what have you, to deal with some of the biggest historical events and abuses, and I think that’s what we’re looking at when we look at what happened over the Biden administration,” he continues.

And he believes this needs to happen so America doesn’t see a repeat of his first administration.

“We learned this lesson in the first Trump administration. There was a lot of efforts to hold Hillary Clinton accountable, to even produce documents that could help inform what her and Obama did, and the first Trump administration decided not to do that, not to release those things, and to basically let Hillary and Company off,” Howell explains, adding, “I fear that we’re making the same mistake again right now.”

Howell believes that an entity that doesn’t work in the same offices being investigated, as well as one that sits at the top of the entire federal government, should have “the full powers of the government” in order to avoid following in the footsteps of Trump’s last stint as president.

“I’m talking about prosecutorial powers, the power to subpoena, the power to grant immunity, perhaps to recommend pardons, and then also the ability to use government funds to make wrongs right,” he explains.

“And once that exists, outside of, you know, the standard apparatus that we’re used to, I think things start moving along,” he adds.

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​Video phone, Free, Video, Upload, Sharing, Camera phone, Youtube.com, Blaze news, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, Blazetv, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Mike howell, Jill savage, Matthew peterson, Joe biden, The biden administration, Truth and reconciliation commission, Truth and reconciliation, Blaze news tonight 

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court released its decision to uphold a Tennessee law banning gender-related medical interventions for minors.

The case, United States v. Skrmetti, was a 6-3 decision, with Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting. The decision is a historic breakthrough in the fight against transgender ideology. Similar to the Dobbs v. Jackson decision for abortion, the Supreme Court has sent the issue back to the states by clarifying that the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit state-level restrictions on sex-change procedures and puberty blockers for minors.

Skrmetti called out the Biden DOJ for what it was really doing: ‘Attacking a bipartisan law that protects children from irreversible harm.’

This case has been building since September 2022 when the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh blew the whistle on Vanderbilt University for practicing gender-modification surgeries on minors. Walsh helped bring the issue to the attention of Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti. The Tennessee legislature took action and passed legislation the following February to ban the drugs and surgeries used to transition minors. The bill passed the Tennessee House 77-16, with 13 Democrats voting against it. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) signed the bill into law on March 2, 2023.

The left did not let the issue go quietly. On April 20, 2023, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Tennessee, claiming the law discriminated against children on the basis of sex. Six days later, the Biden Department of Justice joined in the legal attack, claiming the Tennessee law violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. DOJ Assistant Attorney Kristen Clarke decried the law, saying it denied children “access to necessary medical care.”

RELATED: ‘Rogue’ Biden judge ignores biological truth, blocks Trump’s common-sense passport policy

Vladimir Vladimirov/Getty Images

Skrmetti called out the Biden DOJ for what it was really doing: “Attacking a bipartisan law that protects children from irreversible harm.”

Although District Judge Eli Richardson initially blocked the law, his decision was overturned that September by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the law finally went into effect.

Rather than admit defeat, the ACLU and Biden DOJ appealed the case, filing a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court. The following June, the court agreed to hear the case, and oral arguments took place on December 4, 2024. The Supreme Court typically takes around six months to decide complex cases, making this June 18 decision a fairly standard timeline.

‘Congress has no excuses left. If they have any moral sense, they will … end this evil industry once and for all.’

The decision has been met with triumphant approval from conservatives. In a statement to Blaze Media, Matt Walsh summarized his work on the issue: “Three years ago, we ripped the lid off Vanderbilt’s sickening pediatric clinic. That ignited Tennessee’s child mutilation ban. Today, the Supreme Court upheld this protection of children and we won.”

At the heart of the legal issue was the question of whether the Tennessee law discriminated on the basis of sex. If so, it would be subject to heightened legal scrutiny under the 14th Amendment. Chief Justice Roberts, in the majority opinion, clarified that the law did not do so. Rather, the law “prohibits health care providers from administering puberty blockers or hormones to minors for certain medical uses, regardless of a minor’s sex.”

Consequently, the law “is not subject to heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment and satisfies rational basis review.”

RELATED: Behind the rainbow curtain: Who is funding the trans agenda targeting kids?

Photo by CHIP SOMODEVILLA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

In a statement to Blaze Media, Dr. Brad Watson, a legal scholar at Hillsdale College’s Graduate School of Government, concurred with the majority opinion: “The Court was correct in refusing to apply heightened judicial scrutiny to a law prohibiting transgender treatment of minors. The majority recognizes that judges have no expertise in such matters and possess no constitutional warrant to second-guess legislative determinations so long as those determinations rest on a rational basis.”

Similar to the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, this decision gives states the freedom to legislate on the issue. The question that remains for conservatives is whether they will be able to effectively follow up on this decision with meaningful legislation at the state or national level.

Matt Walsh is among those pushing for the GOP to take decisive action to cement this victory. In his statement to Blaze Media, he called on Congress to ban these surgeries at a national level: “Congress has no excuses left. If they have any moral sense, they will end these state-by-state fights with a federal ban and end this evil industry once and for all.”

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​Scotus, Supreme court, Tennessee, Transgender, Sex change, Minors, Matt walsh, Vanderbilt university, Politics 

California police say they have identified and arrested two suspects in a hit-and-run investigation, after a driver barreled through No Kings protesters on Saturday.

Video of the incident went viral online, with many commentators saying the driver was justified in hitting the gas because the vehicle was surrounded by threatening protesters, one of whom had damaged the vehicle.

Her injuries included a punctured lung, numerous severe skull injuries, a broken leg, and a cracked rib.

Police identified the driver as 58-year-old Russell Prentice of Riverside and also identified another suspect who allegedly tried to destroy evidence in the case. Prentice was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and hit-and-run causing injury.

The video went viral online with millions of views.

Candase Wenzel, 39, was also arrested and charged with accessory after the fact and destruction of evidence. The Riverside Police Dept. said that Wenzel drove Prentice’s vehicle out to Phelan, a remote desert town, in order to intentionally destroy and conceal evidence in the alleged crime.

Police said they reviewed numerous videos of the incident at the intersection of University Avenue and Orange Street at about 9 p.m.

A KABC-TV report said the protest in Riverside included about 5,000 people, and only minor vandalism was reported, apart from the hit-and-run.

RELATED: Video captures the moment SUV driver barrels through No Kings protesters after getting surrounded in California

Friends of the victim identified her as 21-year-old Alexa Carrasco and said doctors had placed her in a medically induced coma and that she had undergone numerous surgeries. They said her injuries included a punctured lung, numerous severe skull injuries, a broken leg, and a cracked rib.

A KCAL-TV report said that police indicated they were not yet ready to discuss what motivated the driver’s actions.

A GoFundMe donation account has raised tens of thousands of dollars for Carrasco.

A similar incident was reported at the Los Angeles No Kings protest and was caught on video. In the video, a female protester can be seen trying to block a red sedan attempting to drive through the protest before the driver hits the gas and she tumbles underneath the tires. Police are trying to identify the driver in that incident as well.

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​Protester hit and run, Riverside no kings, Arrest driver hit and run, Russell prentice arrest, Politics 

A 31-year-old Maryland mother called police in Delaware last week saying her 3-year-old daughter was the victim of an armed kidnapping.

Darrian Randle of North East initially told police she was driving along the 500 block of Gender Road in Newark around 7 p.m. June 10 when her daughter — Nola Dinkins — became upset, so she pulled over and tried to comfort her, WCAU-TV reported. North East is about a half-hour southwest of Newark.

‘We just can’t fathom how a human being can do this to another human being.’

Randle claimed a white man approached and held her at gunpoint before kidnapping her daughter, the station said.

Randle described the man as about 40 years old, bald with peach fuzz on his head, and wearing a black hoodie and gray basketball shorts, WCAU reported, citing investigators. Randle also claimed the man was in a vehicle driven by a blonde, white woman, officials told the station.

More from WCAU:

When the Amber Alert was issued Tuesday night, officials released a description of the man as well as a vehicle they believed he was driving, a dark-colored SUV, likely a Ford or Chevy, with rust or dirt on the exterior.

Wednesday morning, however, Andrea Botterbusch of the New Castle County Police Department, said that the Amber Alert was canceled after investigators determined that Randle’s initial statement to police was a lie.

“Detectives determined that the initial account of the incident given by the mother was false,” Botterbusch said, according to the station.

RELATED: Teen girl says father threatened her with ‘honor killing’ before allegedly trying to strangle her outside Washington state HS

New Castle, Delaware, police asked Maryland State Police to check out Randle’s last known address — part of a standard procedure in missing-children investigations — to make sure the girl wasn’t mistakenly left there and to corroborate Randle’s claims, WBAL-TV reported.

Maryland State Police said troopers went to the house of Randle’s boyfriend, 44-year-old Cedrick Antoine Britten, on Elk Nest Drive in North East, WBAL reported.

Britten told police the child was not home and had left with her mother, Randle, WBAL said.

Troopers asked to view video from several cameras outside the house, WBAL said, adding that charging documents say video shows only Randle leaving the house — and that the child was “never observed on camera.”

Britten also let troopers search his house, WBAL said, adding that charging documents state that while they didn’t find the girl, they did notice an odor of cleaning products — specifically bleach.

Britten also let authorities search his vehicle, WBAL said, adding that police said troopers found a child’s blanket with a reddish-brown smear consistent with blood. Britten said the blanket didn’t belong to him and that a stranger in a park gave it to him last summer, WBAL added.

Delaware authorities interviewed Randle, who initially made a number of false and misleading statements before admitting after some time that her kidnapping claim wasn’t true, WBAL said, citing charging documents.

Authorities said Randle then told them she struck her child at Britten’s house in North East, WBAL reported.

“Randle confessed to physically striking [the child] with a belt approximately 15-20 times about her body during the daytime hours on Monday [June 9],” the charging documents state, according to WBAL.

The child fell to the ground, and she wasn’t moving and was unresponsive, WBAL said, citing the charging documents, adding that Randle told authorities she picked up the child, realized her daughter was no longer breathing, and called for Britten.

More from WBAL:

Randle said she and Britten tried CPR but realized the child was dead. At that point, the charging documents state, Randle and Britten put the child in Britten’s vehicle and drove around for a while before returning home and putting the child inside a suitcase.

The charging documents state that Randle put the suitcase in the basement overnight before asking Britten to take it somewhere.

Charging documents state investigators went to an area on Dune Drive in North East, where a suitcase containing remains was found, WBAL said, adding that Britten’s house backs up to the vacant lot where he’s accused of dumping the girl’s body.

WCAU in a separate story, citing court documents, said the remains were consistent with an emaciated child and completely wrapped in plastic wrap.

Maryland State Police said identification of the remains is pending the medical examiner’s autopsy results, WCAU noted, adding that the medical examiner also will determine the cause and manner of death.

Maryland State Police on June 11 said Randle was taken into custody on charges of first- and second-degree murder, first-degree child abuse resulting in death of a minor under 13, and other charges, WBAL reported.

RELATED: Florida woman allegedly told her 10-year-old through Roblox to drop baby on its head and try to burn foster parents to death

Randle remained in Delaware police custody and was awaiting extradition to Maryland on a $1 million bond, WBAL said, adding that Britten was in Maryland and was charged as an accessory to first- and second-degree murder and other charges.

Prosecutors wanted Britten held without bond, WBAL said, but the judge released him on a $75,000 bond and home detention.

An employee of business located near the scene of the crime told Blaze News on Wednesday that “we were all shocked and saddened” by the murder — and “even more sad” after learning the girl’s body was left within “walking distance” of the business. But the employee added to Blaze News that “some of us” attended Monday night’s vigil for Nola, and that it was “very nice” to see so many people there.

RELATED: Parents’ damning texts about their children lead officials to grisly fire pit discovery: Court docs

Chad Marshall, a resident of the Elk Nest neighborhood in North East, told WBAL that “we just can’t fathom how a human being can do this to another human being.”

RELATED: Man accused of murdering daughter allegedly trying to marry state’s witness, perhaps to keep her from testifying against him

An unnamed neighbor added to WBAL, “Having a mother that’s supposed to love their child and make sure they’re doing right by them, hearing she was abused and eventually killed, that’s a horrible thing. Hearing that this happened so close to where we live, it’s very unfortunate for the little girl, and it just makes us watch our kids even more.”

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​Murder charge, Mother, Daughter, Kidnapping claim, False amber alert, White man blamed, Gunpoint, Beaten, Lying to police, Delaware, Maryland, Police, Belt, Crime 

While the world’s eyes are locked onto the conflict between Israel and Iran in the Middle East, Christians everywhere continue to face violent persecution.

Nigeria’s Catholic population has been facing what appears to be their systematic removal by their Muslim neighbors, and an attack over the weekend is the latest example of a long train of persecution.

‘These cold-blooded attacks on defenseless communities where countless have been slaughtered … are an affront to God.’

Muslim Fulani militants “raided a predominantly Catholic Christian town” in Benue State, Nigeria, killing over 200 Christians overnight, according to a Saturday morning post by Save the Persecuted Christians on X. The post included graphic images of the victims of the massacre, reporting that they were “butchered and burned” during the attack.

“This is genocide,” the initial post concluded.

RELATED: Blaze News investigates: Why are Islamists targeting Catholic priests?

Photo by AUDU MARTE/AFP via Getty Images

The Christian charity speculated that this attack was in “retaliation” for Makurdi Bishop Wilfred Anagbe’s recent testimony before the U.S. Congress in which he said, “A long-term, Islamic agenda to homogenize the population has been implemented, over several presidencies, through a strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate the Christian identity of half of the population.”

Although Benue State, Nigeria, is overwhelmingly Catholic, this area has faced a series of escalating attacks by militant Muslims in the past months.

“These cold-blooded attacks on defenseless communities where countless have been slaughtered, homes destroyed, and families left in anguish — are an affront to God, a stain on our shared humanity, and a terrifying reminder of the utter breakdown of security in our land,” Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji of Owerri said at a recent conference.

Despite the brutal conditions for the Christian population in Nigeria, outlets like OSV News and others have reported that the Church is growing in the violence-stricken country.

“The Catholic Church grows in the country, with a record number of confirmations and Mass attendance,” OSV News reported

On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV prayed for “security, justice, and peace” in Nigeria, with a special intention for the “rural Christian communities of the Benue State who have been relentless victims of violence.”

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​Politics, Religion, Catholic church, Nigeria, Benue state nigeria, Christianity, Islam, Genocide, Bishop wilfred anagbe 

Iran has once again violated its obligations under the International Atomic Energy Agency, thumbing its nose at the international community and inching the world closer to open conflict.

In the past, such provocation might have triggered a kinetic military response. But what if President Trump had another option — one that avoids American bloodshed, leverages international law, and puts the mullahs on the defensive using the very tools they rely on to maintain power?

President Trump doesn’t need to invade Iran to change it. He needs only to interrupt it.

Rather than ordering a strike package or putting boots on the ground, Trump could pursue a bold diplomatic gambit.

Under Article 41 of the United Nations Charter, the Security Council can authorize measures “not involving the use of armed force” to enforce its will. These include the “complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication” (my emphasis).

In other words, an embargo. But not just the old-fashioned kind.

A new kind of war

Time is a critical variable in any conflict. Traditional embargoes — naval blockades, sanctions regimes — require months or years to produce meaningful results. But a digital embargo, launched under the auspices of Article 41, could produce near-instantaneous effects on Iran’s command and control, propaganda apparatus, and internal cohesion.

Imagine this: Iranian cell networks silenced. Internet access throttled or shut down entirely. Satellite links disrupted. State television (or what’s left of it) cut off from its viewers. Social media — so often used as a tool of repression and misinformation — rendered inert.

This isn’t science fiction. These capabilities exist. And with international backing, their coordinated use against the Iranian regime would amount to a strategic information offensive — precisely the kind of campaign envisioned by the pioneering concept of SOFTWAR.

The battle for perception

SOFTWAR — short for soft warfare — is the doctrine of using information systems, media, and psychological operations to degrade an adversary’s will and capacity to fight without firing a single shot. The term isn’t just rhetorical flourish. As the progenitor of the U.S. military’s first “virtual unit” — a joint team of California Air and Army National Guardsmen tasked with exploring information dominance — I’ve seen the possibilities firsthand.

In this case, combatant commanders could employ SOFTWAR principles to carry out a tailored, non-kinetic campaign: degrading Iran’s internal communications, disrupting regime propaganda, and flooding the digital space with content that inspires dissent and destabilizes the theocracy’s grip on power.

Article 41 doesn’t just permit such actions — it provides the legal basis for them. The operative word in the U.N. Charter is “interrupt.” That grants flexibility. “Interruption” can mean anything from throttling bandwidth to flipping the narrative script. Every act of suppression by the Iranian regime could be met with a counterstroke that undermines its legitimacy and erodes public confidence.

RELATED: Israel’s strategy now rests on one bomb — and it’s American

Photo by Mehmet Yaren Bozgun/Anadolu via Getty Image

Bursting Iran’s reality bubble

Iran’s clerical regime depends on a tightly controlled narrative to survive. Interrupt that narrative — inject confusion, sow doubt, and amplify internal frustrations — and you begin to unmake the regime from within.

Television broadcasts could be co-opted to present alternative visions of Iranian life. Disaffected youth could receive direct messages from the free world. Clerical edicts could be ridiculed, refuted, or simply drowned out.

In the digital age, perception is reality — and controlling perception is a form of power more potent than many realize.

If executed with precision, coordination, and the right legal cover, such a campaign could avoid the mass casualties, blowback, and open-ended commitment of a traditional military operation. It could also mark a new chapter in U.S. strategy — one that prioritizes data dominance over deadweight tonnage.

A unit ahead of its time

The 1st Joint SOFTWAR Unit (Virtual), which I had the honor of organizing, was established to explore exactly these kinds of strategies. Though the unit now sits in bureaucratic limbo, its mission has never been more urgent — or more applicable — than in the current standoff with Iran.

President Trump doesn’t need to invade Iran to change it. He needs only to interrupt it.

With the Security Council’s approval and the backing of U.S. information forces, he could do just that — and rewrite the rules of engagement for the 21st century.

​Opinion & analysis, Chuck de caro, Softwar, Iran, Nuclear weapons, Tehran, Communications, United nations, America, National defense, National security, Boots on the ground, California, National guard, Narrative, Information warfare 

Since Donald Trump’s unexpected exit from the G7 Summit this week, he’s made several comments on social media that hint at an escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict.

French President Emmanuel Macron told the press that Trump’s early departure was tied to Iran negotiations, but Trump fired back on Truth Social that he couldn’t be more wrong.

“Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire,” Trump wrote.

“Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!” he added.

Trump’s following posts have then ranged from hopeful sentiments reflecting peace between Israel and Iran to talks of peace being “fabricated, fake news.”

In one post, he wrote that we “have complete and total control of the skies over Iran” and that the U.S. does not plan to take out the “so-called Supreme Leader,” making sure to add “at least not for now.”

Trump also wrote “unconditional surrender” in another post.

While BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales herself is confused as to what Trump’s next move is, she explains that “that’s exactly what you want in these situations.”

“Because the other side, the Kim Jong Un, the Vladimir Putin, the Iranian leaders, don’t exactly know if he’s crazy enough to do it. That’s exactly what I want from a leader,” she says.

“He’s not one of these people who just wants to be involved in war,” Gonzales continues. “That’s never been who he is, and you cannot convince me that anyone even in his ear could convince him otherwise, because that is an actual moral, a value, that he has had throughout his entire adult life.”

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Massachusetts District Judge Shelley Joseph denied wanting to help an illegal alien evade federal detention by helping him exit a courtroom through a back door.

In 2018, Joseph was presiding over a drug possession hearing for Jose Medina-Perez, a man from the Dominican Republic who had already been deported from the U.S. in 2003 and 2007.

During the hearing, the judge asked for the official recording of the proceeding to be turned off while she had a discussion with the defense attorney, allegedly to talk about how to help the illegal immigrant evade ICE agents. This week, the defense attorney testified as to what was said during the unrecorded period.

‘It sends a dangerous message that political activism is more important than the rule of law.’

Attorney David Jellinek testified on Monday that during a 52-second off-the-record sidebar conversation, he told Judge Joseph he wanted to get his client, the illegal alien, out of the courthouse without interacting with ICE, the Boston Herald reported.

The attorney said he was aware of a back door used by court officers for criminal defendants and told the judge he would use it with her permission. Jellinek said, according to the Boston Herald, that he knew he was “on the edge” of ethical and legal standards, but said he did not break the law.

In a report from CBS Boston, the transcript of the hearing revealed that Jellinek had another reason for wanting to help his client evade ICE.

RELATED: Judge back under fire for allegedly helping twice-deported illegal alien accused of drug crimes evade ICE

Jellinek reportedly stated that he thought ICE was looking for the wrong man and wanted time to investigate and prove that fact.

When Judge Joseph was asked if she thought her discussion with Jellinek meant he wanted to “go out the back door,” Joseph replied, “Oh, God no.”

Joseph was also asked in the CBS Boston report whether she knew the words “avoid ICE” meant to avoid federal authorities in “any improper way,” to which she replied no.

Joseph also said she would “absolutely not” have been a party to anything illegal like that, either.

According to the Boston Herald, Joseph could face devastating punishments.

Special counsel Judith Fabricant from the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct has recommended Judge Joseph be indefinitely suspended and stripped of her $207,855 salary for an alleged failure to uphold the standards of a judge.

The commission cannot remove a judge, but Fabricant suggested that a referral to lawmakers for Joseph’s removal should be made.

RELATED: NYC comptroller locks arms with man to prevent ICE arrest: ‘Show me your warrant!’

Newton District Court Judge Shelley Joseph (C) cries after leaving federal court in Boston on April 25, 2019. Photo by Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told Blaze News that Judge Joseph’s actions represent a troubling breakdown of public trust in the judicial system.

“When a sitting judge allegedly aids a twice-deported criminal in evading federal law enforcement, then attempts to cover it up by disabling a courtroom recorder, it sends a dangerous message that political activism is more important than the rule of law,” Craney said.

Craney added that accountability on the bench “must be restored” and that the hearing was “long overdue.”

The case will likely not be settled until at least early August, however, as a hearing officer said the parties involved have until July 3 to file briefs and then until July 10 to respond to them.

A written report and recommendation for the CJC comes 30 days after that, which would be around August 10.

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After the COVID lockdowns, the Western global leadership class had little credibility left. So it seemed insane when they immediately pivoted to a new crisis — but that’s exactly what they did.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered demands from elites in Europe and America for NATO-aligned nations to involve themselves in the conflict. Many Republicans were initially on board, with Fox News and CNN marching in lockstep behind intervention. But the Republican base quickly soured on the war once it became clear that U.S. involvement didn’t serve American interests.

If the situation really is dire, let the Trump administration make its case to the people. Present the evidence. Debate it in Congress. Vote.

In a strange inversion, the right became anti-war while the left championed military escalation.

That reversal matters now, as some in the GOP look to drag the country into another long conflict. We should remember what Ukraine taught us.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded, many conservatives instinctively aligned with Ukraine. The Soviet Union had been an evil empire and a clear enemy of the United States. It was easy to paint Russia as an extension of that threat. President Biden assured Americans that there would be no boots on the ground and that economic sanctions would cripple Russia quickly.

But the war dragged on. Hundreds of billions of dollars flowed to Ukraine while America entered a painful economic downturn. Conservatives began asking whether this was worth it.

Putin was no friend of the U.S., and conservatives had valid reasons to distrust him. But suddenly, anyone questioning the war effort was smeared as a Russian asset. Opposition to the war became an extension of the left’s deranged Russiagate conspiracy, which painted Donald Trump as a blackmailed Kremlin agent.

Some Republican politicians kept pushing the war. Fox News stayed hawkish. But much of the conservative commentariat broke ranks. They knew that the boys from Appalachia and Texas — exactly the kind of red-state Americans progressives despise — would again be asked to die for a war that served no clear national purpose.

From that disillusionment, conservatives drew hard-earned lessons.

They saw that U.S. leaders lie to sustain foreign conflicts. That politicians in both parties keep wars going because donors profit. That Fox News can become a mouthpiece for military escalation. That you can oppose a war without betraying your country. And that American troops and taxpayer dollars are not playthings for globalist fantasies.

“America First” began to mean something real: Peace through strength didn’t require constant intervention.

Unfortunately, many of those lessons evaporated after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

That attack was horrific. No serious person denies the brutality of Hamas or questions Israel’s right to defend itself. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has treated the attack as a green light to target longtime adversaries, including Iran. As a sovereign nation, Israel can pursue its own foreign policy. But it cannot dictate foreign policy for the United States.

In 2002, Netanyahu testified before Congress that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons. He said toppling both the Iraqi and Iranian regimes would bring peace and stability. He was wrong.

He wasn’t alone, of course. Many were wrong about weapons of mass destruction and the Iraq War. But Netanyahu’s track record is highly relevant now. While conservatives once fervently supported the Iraq invasion after 9/11, many — including Tucker Carlson and Dinesh D’Souza — have since apologized. They admit they got it wrong.

RELATED: The culture war isn’t a distraction — it’s the main front

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Afghanistan, while flawed, had clearer justification. The Taliban had harbored Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. But the lies about weapons of mass destruction and failed nation-building in Iraq turned that war into a conservative regret.

In March, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified that Iran had not resumed efforts to build a nuclear weapon. Gabbard, like Trump allies Robert Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel, and Pete Hegseth, was chosen precisely for her skepticism of the intelligence bureaucracy. Trump remembers how his first term was sabotaged by insiders loyal to the status quo. This time, he selected appointees loyal to the voters.

Gabbard’s assessment contradicts Netanyahu, who claims Iran is months away from having a bomb. That’s a massive discrepancy. Either Iran hasn’t restarted its program, or it’s on the brink of building a nuke.

So which is it?

Did U.S. intelligence fail again? Did Gabbard lie to Congress and the public? Or did she simply say something the ruling class didn’t want to hear?

Trump, Gabbard, and Vice President JD Vance understand how Iraq went wrong. They know Americans deserve evidence before another war — especially one that risks dragging us into a region we’ve already failed to remake at great cost.

Yet the war hawks keep repeating the same lie: This time, it’ll be quick. The United States is too powerful, too advanced, too economically dominant. The enemy will fold by Christmas.

Biden said the same about Ukraine. And hundreds of billions later, we remain in a grinding proxy war with Russia.

Now, while still financing that war, Americans are told they must back a new war — this one initiated unilaterally by Israel. The U.S. faces domestic strife, crippling debt, and an ongoing open-border crisis. Involvement in yet another conflict makes no sense.

Israel may be right about Iran. Tehran may indeed have developed a nuclear program behind the world’s back. But if Israel wants to wage a war, it must do so on its own.

The Trump administration has made clear that it wasn’t involved in Israel’s pre-emptive strikes and didn’t approve them. If Israel starts a war, it should fight and win that war on its own. America should not be expected to absorb retaliation or commit troops to another Middle Eastern project.

These wars are never short, and they are always expensive.

Even if Iran’s regime collapses quickly, the aftermath would require a long, brutal occupation to prevent it from descending into chaos. Israel doesn’t have the capacity — let alone the political will — for that task. That burden would fall, again, to America.

So before conservatives fall for another round of WMD hysteria, they should recall what the last two wars taught them.

If the situation really is dire, let the Trump administration make its case to the people. Present the evidence. Debate it in Congress. Vote.

But don’t sleepwalk into another forever war.

​Opinion & analysis, Israel, Iran, Nuclear weapons, America first, Donald trump, Benjamin netanyahu, Anti-war, Wmd, Iraq war, Elites, Deep state, Lies, Republicans, Ukraine war, Russia, Proxy war, Forever wars, National interest, Tulsi gabbard, Jd vance, Diplomacy, Vladimir putin, Russiagate, Fox news, Cnn, Media bias, Taliban, Osama bin laden