“This case could completely wipe out the ATF’s ability to create law and subvert congress, which would be a massive win for the Second Amendment.” [more…]
Category: blaze media
Leftists rage over Trump’s latest patriotic installment at the White House
President Donald Trump installed two big, beautiful flagpoles on the White House grounds on Wednesday, and leftists are losing their minds.
Trump announced the installation on Tuesday, saying the flagpoles were “always missing from this magnificent place.” After the 100-foot flagpoles were put in place, the left-wing media ripped the administration for the changes to the White House grounds.
The flags weren’t the only things that sparked outrage from the left.
The Daily Beast reported on the new flagpoles, calling them one of the latest “monstrous changes” Trump has made to the White House. The “monstrous changes” in question also include renovations to the Rose Garden to make it easier for women to walk on with high heels, according to Trump.
The publication also characterized the patriotic flagpoles, which will fly the American flag and the POW/MIA flag, as “tacky.”
The flags weren’t the only things that sparked outrage from the left. Trump spoke to reporters on the South Lawn during the installation, when he was asked about the deportation efforts being rolled out by the administration. In response, Trump turned to the workers and jokingly asked if any of them were illegal immigrants.
“We’ve got to get the bad people out of here first, and we’re doing that,” Trump said. “We’re taking them out by the thousands. Murderers, drug dealers, people that are mentally insane from insane asylums.”
“Any illegal immigrants in there?” Trump joked, turning to the workers at the press conference. “No? If they were, they’ll find out.”
Mediaite promptly reported on the incident, calling it a “stunning moment” and accused the president of “laughing as he threatened to destroy someone’s ‘whole life.'” The reason the president was laughing, of course, was because he was making a joke.
RELATED: Democrats vote overwhelmingly to allow illegal aliens to continue voting in key district
Mediaite also accused Trump of taking a break from “threatening Iran” to oversee the installation of the flagpoles, suggesting the president is putting foreign policy on the back burner. The article failed to note that Trump took several questions related to the conflict during the press conference.
Despite this, Trump stuck to his big, beautiful flagpoles, encouraging future administrations to keep them up on the White House grounds as a “magnificent” display of patriotism.
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Donald trump, White house, Trump administration, American flag, Flag pole, Mediaite, The daily beast, Iran, Left-wing media, Politics
Viral video shows driver running over woman trying to stop traffic at Los Angeles No Kings protest
Los Angeles police are working to identify the driver of a car who ran over a protester who pushed against the vehicle during a protest against the Trump administration.
The video shows a female protester angrily trying to stop a red sedan from driving through the protest before the driver hits the gas and she ends up on the hood for a second. The woman then falls underneath the car’s tires as other protesters rush to her aid.
She is in fair condition and is expected to recover.
The driver sped away from the scene near Pershing Square on Sunday.
The Los Angeles Fire Dept. said that the woman was transported to a hospital, where she was treated for an isolated lower extremity injury. She is in fair condition and is expected to recover.
A KABC-TV report said that it was unknown whether arrests had been made in the case but that police were investigating it as a hit-and-run.
The outlet posted an edited clip of the viral video on social media, and other angles of the incident were posted online.
The injured woman was described only as being in her 20s.
RELATED: Video captures the moment SUV driver barrels through No Kings protesters after getting surrounded
Photo by Cristopher Rogel Blanquet/Getty Images
A similar scene was captured on viral video in the nearby L.A. suburb of Riverside, where another female protester suffered serious injuries from a driver trying to escape a mob of protesters. Police are investigating that incident as a felony hit-and-run.
Other protests around the country were mostly peaceful and civil demonstrations. More anti-Trump protests are being planned.
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Viral video hitting protester, Car runs over protester, Los angeles no kings protest, Hit and run protester, Politics
‘Rogue’ Biden judge ignores biological truth, blocks Trump’s common-sense passport policy
Gender ideologues’ narrative about sex, identity, and the supposed benefits of medical transvestism has collapsed in recent years under the weight of comprehensive scientific studies. Polling shows the American public also majoritively rejects their core claims and policy aims.
With science and public opinion largely against them, gender ideologues now appear to be primarily fighting their war against common sense in the courts, where they are, for the most part, losing. Meddlesome U.S. district court judges are, however, doing their part to delay the final defeat of gender ideology, at least where the law and federal policy are concerned.
‘Gender ideology is internally inconsistent.’
A day before the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Tennessee’s ban on sex-change genital mutilations and sterilizing puberty blockers for minors, a Biden judge blocked the Trump administration from requiring passports to accurately reflect the holders’ sex.
White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to Blaze News, “This is yet another attempt by a rogue judge to thwart President Trump’s agenda and push radical gender ideology that defies biological truth.”
“There are only two genders, there is no such thing as gender ‘X,’ and the president was given a mandate by the American people to restore common sense to the federal government,” added Kelly.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order rejecting gender ideology and instructing the government to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
“‘Gender ideology’ replaces the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa, and requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim as true,” Trump said in his order.
The president noted further that “gender ideology is internally inconsistent, in that it diminishes sex as an identifiable or useful category but nevertheless maintains that it is possible for a person to be born in the wrong sexed body.”
The president directed his secretaries of state and homeland security to ensure that government-issued identification documents, including passports and visas, were reality-affirming — as they had been until 2021, when the Biden administration began allowing people to choose their own sex marker as well as a third marker, “X,” instead of an “M” or an “F” marker.
RELATED: The culture war isn’t a distraction — it’s the main front
Blaze Media Illustration
Several transvestites joined the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Massachusetts, and Covington & Burling LLP in a lawsuit over the passport policy earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick granted them a preliminary injunction in April preventing the State Department’s enforcement of Trump’s Executive Order 14168 while the lawsuit played out — but only as it applied to six of the plaintiffs.
Kobick suggested that the plaintiffs’ inability to extend their self-deception to their federal documents would make them more “likely to experience worsened gender dysphoria, anxiety, and psychological distress, and they will face a greater risk of experiencing harassment and violence.”
The Massachusetts-based Biden judge expanded her injunction on Wednesday after the plaintiffs amended their complaint and moved to apply the preliminary injunction to other potentially affected gender-benders whom they wanted broadly to be certified as a class.
Adopting the language of gender ideologues, Kobick granted the plaintiffs class certification, meaning that the lawsuit can now apply to “people whose gender identity is different from the sex assigned to them under the Passport Policy and/or who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria,” people who simply want their passport to indicate the wrong sex, and “all people who currently want, or in the future will want, a U.S. passport and wish to use an ‘X’ sex designation.”
‘The government has failed to meet this standard.’
“Even assuming a preliminary injunction inflicts some constitutional harm on the Executive Branch, such harm is the consequence of the State Department’s adoption of a Passport Policy that likely violates the constitutional rights of thousands of Americans,” wrote Kobick.
RELATED: Behind the rainbow curtain: Who is funding the trans agenda targeting kids?
Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
“The Executive Order and the Passport Policy on their face classify passport applicants on the basis of sex and thus must be reviewed under intermediate judicial scrutiny,” added the Biden judge. “That standard requires the government to demonstrate that its actions are substantially related to an important governmental interest. The government has failed to meet this standard.”
Li Nowlin-Sohl, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project, called the ruling “a historic win in the fight against this administration’s efforts to drive transgender people out of public life. The State Department’s policy is a baseless barrier for transgender, nonbinary, and intersex Americans and denies them the dignity we all deserve.”
When asked about the ruling, a State Department spokesperson told Blaze News that as a general matter, officials “do not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.”
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State department, Passport, Transgender, Transvestite, Lgbt, Cultural imperialism, District court, Meddlesome judges, Overreach, Judicial, District, Biden judge, Trump, Donald trump, Trans, Politics
What changed? No Kings vs. 2009 Tea Party protests
The No Kings protests that sprang up across the nation in June have sparked comparisons with the Tea Party protests that started around Tax Day of 2009. However, a look back in time reveals a very different treatment by the mainstream media that could not be more at odds with the favorable treatment given to the No Kings protests today.
In 2009, several networks accused Fox News of unfair coverage of the Tea Party movement. ThinkProgress said Fox was “actively promoting the protests,” and Politico even said the network was “blurring the line between journalism and advocacy,” using the term “pseudo-journalism” to describe Fox News’ coverage of the Tea Party protests.
‘The problem is, you can’t buy grassroots energy like we had in 2009, particularly when the “kings” behind the veil are paying for it.’
A Fox News article said, “The grassroots phenomenon, while largely ignored in the mainstream press, has caught fire on the Internet, where platforms like Facebook and Twitter have served as launching pads for demonstrations.” The article went on to describe the Tea Party as a “nonpartisan” movement, though it “largely involved conservatives.”
Double standard
Media Matters for America published a lengthy exposé titled “REPORT: ‘Fair and balanced’ Fox News aggressively promotes ‘tea party’ protests” criticizing Fox News’ coverage of the protests: “While tea-party organizers have stated that the protests are nonpartisan, Fox News and organizers have also characterized the protests primarily as a response to the [Obama] administration’s fiscal policies.”
RELATED: Over 98% of Americans ignore No Kings’ tired tantrum
Michael Beck Photography. Used with permission.
The article concluded with a breakdown of each of the Fox hosts’ supposedly biased coverage of the protests, but MMFA’s main issue was with Fox’s promotion of the events.
Media Matters wrote: “Fox News has in dozens of instances provided attendance and organizing information for future protests, such as protest dates, locations and website URLs. Fox News websites have also posted information and publicity material for protests. Fox News hosts have repeatedly encouraged viewers to join them at several April 15 protests that they are attending and covering.”
By contrast, CBS News published an article on June 13, 2025, titled “‘No Kings’ protests planned across Massachusetts on June 14. Find one near you,” seemingly presuming public interest in the event and encouraging participation.
Left-leaning outlets were as quick to dismiss the grassroots nature of the movement and downplay the size of the protests as right-leaning outlets were to affirm them.
The outlet subsequently updated the title of the article early the next morning. The current version replaced “Find one near you” with “Here’s what to know.”
Grassroots or astroturf?
During the Tea Party rallies of 2009, many outlets called into question the “grassroots” nature of the protests, as Fox News reported them.
The Los Angeles Times published an article called “Republicans stage ‘tea party’ protests against Obama.” The article opens: “Republicans sought to ignite a popular revolt against President Obama on Wednesday by staging ‘tea party’ protests across the nation to demand lower taxes and less government spending — but the tactic carried risk for the party.”
The reported number of people who attended Tea Party rallies seemed to differ across ideological lines as well. A New York Times article reported 200 people in Philadelphia; “several hundred” in Lafayette Park across from the White House; 500 protesters in Pensacola, Florida; around 1,000 people in Austin, Texas; and around 2,000 in Houston, Texas.
RELATED: From ‘F**k Trump’ to handshakes: ‘No Kings’ rally in Texas stays civil
Plexi Images/GHI/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
On the other hand, the Washington Times reported that the rally in Richmond, Virginia, “drew over 5,000 people on a chilly, rainy day and they were pumped,” according to American Majority founder and CEO Ned Ryun. The story went on to report that there were “hundreds of thousands of protesters” at “more than 300 rallies across the country.”
ThinkProgress named FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity as the “heavily staffed” and “well funded” power players behind the organization of these protests. The article was clearly framed to refute Fox News’ coverage of the story, which drew criticism from many other outlets as well.
On the other hand, DataRepublican, a user on X, compiled a database of over 140 organizations that purportedly participated in funding the No Kings protests. This list is not exhaustive, as more organizations will likely be added as more information becomes available.
Some have noted the stark difference between a “grassroots” protest on the left versus the right.
“Oh, the irony. Back when I was helping organize the Taxpayer March on Washington on September 12, 2009, the corporate media leftist apparatchiks like Media Matters were eager to characterize the massive Tea Party turnout that year as paid-for astroturfing. Because that’s how they had always done it,” said BlazeTV host Matt Kibbe, one of the organizers of the grassroots Tea Party movement in 2009. “They still are with their web of government-financed NGOs. The problem is, you can’t buy grassroots energy like we had in 2009, particularly when the ‘kings’ behind the veil are paying for it.”
A Democrat Tea Party
Clearly, there was a great deal of partisan coverage of the Tea Party movement in 2009. Left-leaning outlets were as quick to dismiss the grassroots nature of the movement and downplay the size of the protests as right-leaning outlets were to affirm them. However, some left-leaning outlets today have seemingly changed their outlook toward the 2009 protests.
For example, Vox recently wrote an article which played up how effective the protests in 2009 were, saying, “The Tea Party reorganized the Republican Party on its own terms.”
Even more surprising is the affirmation that the Tea Party was a grassroots movement at the start: “Notably, the movement was defined by how decentralized it was at its start — though some national organizations later formed to try to organize and wield populist furor, it was mostly a grassroots movement.”
While there are some very clear differences between the 2025 No Kings protests and the 2009 Tea Party protests in terms of media coverage and organizational support, Vox may be right that the Democratic Party is facing an internal reorganization. Or perhaps the very notion of a grassroots movement on the left has become obsolete.
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No kings, Tea party, Protests, Tax day 2009, No kings protests, Trump, Military parade, Politics
After ICE removes illegal workers, job applicants flood meatpacking plant to replace them
A raid on a meatpacking plant in Nebraska has caused a surge in job applications following the apprehension of 76 employees who were detained and removed from the premises by federal authorities.
After just a few days, a dozen illegal workers had already been removed from the state or deported, while more than 60 were taken to a detention center, NBC News reported.
What happened after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid, though, defied a sentiment that has permeated across the country: that no American wants the jobs that illegal workers perform.
‘Large-scale employment of aliens without legal work authorization.’
As Glenn Valley Foods mourned the loss of what the company called “family” members (referring to illegal employees), prospective employees banged on the doors looking to fill the roles that the company itself said were very hard to hire for.
“It takes skilled people that take pride in what they do,” company president Chad Hartmann told NBC News.
Still, the company’s entire waiting room was packed with people filling out job applications just two days after the ICE raid. Dozens of possible new employees, many of them Spanish-speaking, were coming in and out of the plant, according to the report.
However, there is still a specter hanging around the Omaha plant about the return of ICE agents.
Kevin Richardson/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Following the raid, which is considered to be largest worksite operation in Nebraska this year, even more Glenn Valley Foods employees declined to show up at work, due to feeling “afraid or traumatized.”
Their absence caused a 20% drop in work production that day, the president explained.
Other nearby business operators complained, even in Spanish, to NBC News that many of those who were detained by ICE were their customers. A group of hairstylists said their weekend business suffered because “immigrant customers” were not coming in out of fear of more ICE raids.
The sheer amount of illegal immigration and illegal employment in Nebraska seems to have spiraled out of control. ICE is now conducting thorough investigations in the state and is cracking down on what the agency called the “large-scale employment of aliens without legal work authorization.”
RELATED: Border Patrol arrest at Home Depot punches hole in Democrats’ narrative
Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Ongoing raids have seemingly not had a large effect on the labor market, however.
In April, job openings rose, with the Labor Department reporting 7.4 million job vacancies, up from 7.2 million in March, according to the Associated Press.
By early June, hiring remained steady, the New York Times noted, as 139,000 people were hired and the unemployed rate remained unchanged.
Inflation, trade wars, and tariffs have all been expected to be black eyes for the Trump administration in terms of the job market, but as numbers have remained steady, perhaps Americans do want, and always have wanted, all sorts of jobs — including at meatpacking plants.
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Employment, News, Illegal aliens, Raids, Ice, Job market, Illegal immigration, Politics
‘I was a murderer’: From multiple abortions to redemption in Christ
When Christian content creator April Chapman was practicing the prosperity gospel, she was able to bury her sins — which consisted of multiple abortions — without fully understanding what she had done.
It was only when she discovered the true gospel that she was able to see clearly and ask God for forgiveness.
“Post-abortive women do a very good job of suppressing the truth and their unrighteousness, just trying to block it out and filling the emptiness and the guilt and the shame with other things,” Chapman tells BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey on “Relatable.”
“I had several years of doing that, bad relationships, you know, just trying to find some sort of way to silence the pain that I was experiencing,” she continues. “It caused me to double down with a feminist mindset.”
While Chapman knew being a pro-choice liberal was incompatible with scripture, she had reconciled in her mind that “it was somehow OK.”
“Once I got saved, the Lord brought those things back to my remembrance and allowed me to go through a series or a season, I would say, of healing. But you first have to acknowledge that what you did was sinful. You have to say the words, ‘I was a murderer,’” Chapman explains.
“This was displeasing to God. That was life. Those were babies. So the first thing I had to force myself to do was to humanize those image-bearers in the womb,” she adds.
Chapman now has children with her husband, and she’s made sure not to gloss over the sins of her past when raising them.
“The best way to teach them about the sinfulness of humankind is to show them that their mama was a sinner. A lot of people can’t do that, but God enabled me and strengthened me and equipped me to do that. It’s all a part of the story and the journey,” she tells Stuckey.
“No one is beyond the point of being redeemable. The scriptures have been such a healing balm for me in that, and then God was able to bless the fruit of my womb. I didn’t think that I would ever be somebody’s mama,” she continues, noting that her second abortion was so physically traumatic that she didn’t believe it could happen for her.
Her abortionist, Chapman explains, has “harmed and maimed and injured so many women.”
“These are not chemical abortions; these are surgical ones without anesthesia. I was given a muscle relaxer that I don’t think kicked in. Very traumatic, very traumatic. And then within 24 hours, I was in the ER trying to preserve what was left of my reproductive organs. It was an incomplete procedure. I hemorrhaged tremendously,” she explains.
“The idea that the Lord blessed the fruit of my womb when I thought it could not happen — God was so faithful and merciful and kind in that,” she continues.
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Hegseth blocks Democrats’ smear tactics in fiery Senate showdown: ‘I won’t fall for it’
Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday regarding the department’s fiscal year 2026 budget request — his fourth hearing this month.
Hegseth faced heated exchanges during the hearing as Democratic lawmakers pressed him with hypothetical scenarios aimed at portraying President Donald Trump’s administration as overreaching and authoritarian.
‘It’s all meant to attempt to smear the commander in chief, and I won’t fall for it.’
Democrats grilled Hegseth on the Trump administration’s strategy amid the escalating tension between Israel and Iran, the deployment of troops in Los Angeles, and the termination of “qualified” military leaders.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) questioned Hegseth’s leadership abilities, claiming the DOD “has been consumed by high turnover and disarray” since the secretary’s confirmation.
RELATED: Pete Hegseth defends deployment of troops in response to anti-ICE riots
Senator Jack Reed. Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
Hegseth countered Reed’s critique by highlighting global instability under the prior administration, citing the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, the outbreak of war in Ukraine, and the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
“That was a view of weakness and chaos unleashed by the Biden administration under the previous defense secretary,” Hegseth said, referring to former Sec. Lloyd Austin. “So, if a few changes have to be made in the first portion of my term in order to get it right, I think that’s pretty acceptable to establish deterrence and rebuild our military and restore the warrior ethos.”
Several Democratic leaders decried Trump’s decision to send National Guard troops to Los Angeles amid the anti-immigration enforcement protests that turned destructive and violent.
“What he’s doing may well be illegal,” declared Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “I want to ask you about contingency plans for the use of active duty military in other cities. Do you have such contingency plans?”
Blumenthal noted that he was “deeply disturbed and alarmed” by Trump’s move.
Hegseth retorted, “Senator, I would just say, we share the president’s view that, as you characterized it, we are ‘deeply disturbed and alarmed’ that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] officers are being attacked while doing their job in any city in America.”
Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) also questioned Hegseth about the deployed troops, pressing the secretary with outlandish hypotheticals.
“You claim lethality is your top priority. Do you plan to unleash this lethal force against U.S. citizens and civilians in L.A. and other cities?” Hirono asked.
Hegseth rejected the senator’s characterization.
“I would like to have a professional response,” Hirono snapped.
“Given this regime’s dangerous policy of mobilizing troops inside the U.S., the politicizing of the military is a legitimate concern,” she continued. “If ordered by the president — I’m going to ask you once again — to shoot peaceful protesters in the legs, would you carry out such an order from the president?”
Hegseth replied, “I reject the premise of your question and the characterization that I would be given or are given unlawful orders. It’s all meant to attempt to smear the commander in chief, and I won’t fall for it.”
RELATED: President Trump has constitutional and statutory authority to use the National Guard domestically
Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) used his time to defend Hegseth after Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) claimed that the secretary would never be “held accountable” for allegedly disclosing military actions over the messaging application Signal.
Mullin fired back, “I wonder who was held accountable for the disastrous withdrawal out of Afghanistan, where 13 soldiers died and left thousands of Americans behind underneath Secretary Austin’s lead?”
“Did one person get held accountable during that time?” Mullins questioned.
The senator defended Hegseth’s record at the DOD after Democrats proclaimed that the department had been plagued with turmoil under his leadership.
Mullin noted that the DOD had the “lowest morale measured in our military history” and “absolutely disastrous” retention rates under Austin.
“You had recruitments that wasn’t even meeting lowered standards that you guys lowered,” Mullin told his fellow lawmakers. “Now, we have the highest morale that’s been measured in decades in the military. We have recruiting numbers that are exceeding expectations.”
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General Mills to remove artificial colors from cereals. Is chemical linked to infertility next on chopping block?
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. keeps racking up the wins in his campaign to help President Donald Trump make America a healthier nation, particularly on the dietary front.
His latest victory — and American consumers’ by extension — was secured at General Mills, the American ultra-processed food giant with cereal brands that include Cheerios, Chex, Cocoa Puffs, Lucky Charms, and Wheaties.
General Mills announced plans on Tuesday to remove artificial colors from all of its U.S. cereals and all K-12 school foods by next summer. The company indicated that it also intends to remove all fake coloring from its full lineup of American-facing products by the end of 2027.
How it started
In April, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration outlined a plan to phase out all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from America’s food supply.
The FDA initiated the process to revoke authorization for Citrus Red No. 2 and Orange B in the short term and to eliminate another six synthetic dyes — FD&C Green No. 3, FD&C Red No. 40, FD&C Yellow No. 5, FD&C Yellow No. 6, FD&C Blue No. 1, and FD&C Blue No. 2 — by the end of next year.
‘That era is coming to an end.’
The agency also requested that companies move up their timelines for the removal of FD&C Red No. 3.
RELATED: Kennedy has Big Pharma ads in his sights — and he’s not the only one mulling a crackdown
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Vani Hari, a critic of the food industry who founded Food Babe, told Blaze News in November that the brighter artificial colors, which are helpful with sales and attractive to children, are harmful to their health.
“The science shows that these dyes cause hyperactivity in children, can disrupt the immune system, and are contaminated with carcinogens,” said Hari. “There are safer colors available made from fruits and vegetables, such as beets and carrots. Food companies already don’t use artificial dyes en masse in Europe because they don’t want to slap warning labels on their products that say they ‘may cause adverse effects on attention in children.'”
Extra to seeking the removal of the harmful chemicals, the FDA indicated in April that it would partner with the National Institutes of Health to conduct research on how food additives impact kids’ health and development.
“For too long, some food producers have been feeding Americans petroleum-based chemicals without their knowledge or consent,” said Kennedy. “These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development. That era is coming to an end. We’re restoring gold-standard science, applying common sense, and beginning to earn back the public’s trust.”
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary noted that “given the growing concerns of doctors and parents about the potential role of petroleum-based food dyes, we should not be taking risks and do everything possible to safeguard the health of our children.”
How it’s going
A number of companies have proven amenable to the changes advocated by the Trump administration.
RELATED: How Big Pharma left its mark on woke CDC vax advisory panel — and what RFK Jr. did about it
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Thirteen days after HHS’ announcement, Tyson Foods indicated it was on track to remove all petroleum-based dyes from its production process by the end of May. Top executives from PepsiCo, Danone North America, and TreeHouse Foods similarly signaled commitments to scrap artificial colors.
‘When the government sets clear, science-based standards, the food industry listens and acts.’
The American fast-food chain In-N-Out Burger revealed last month that it was removing artificial coloring from two of its drinks and swapping out its high-fructose corn syrup-based ketchup for an alternative that uses real sugar.
A spokesman for the company told CNN that the changes were part of the chain’s “ongoing commitment to providing our customers with the highest-quality ingredients.”
Kennedy encouraged more companies to similarly volunteer “to prioritize Americans’ health and join the effort to Make America Healthy Again.”
Blaze News previously reported that Kraft Heinz got on board this week, stating that it will remove artificial food, drug, and cosmetic colors from products in the United States before the end of 2027.
“This voluntary step — phasing out harmful dyes in brands like Kool-Aid, Jell‑O, and Crystal Light — proves that when the government sets clear, science-based standards, the food industry listens and acts,” tweeted Kennedy.
While stressing that 85% of its full U.S. retail portfolio is “currently made without certified colors,” General Mills said Tuesday it would eliminate the remainder of artificial coloring in short order.
“Across the long arc of our history, General Mills has moved quickly to meet evolving consumer needs, and reformulating our product portfolio to remove certified colors is yet another example,” said General Mills CEO Jeff Harmening.
RELATED: Meat the enemy: How protein became the left’s newest microaggression
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Knowing the trust families place in us, we are leading the way on removing certified colors in cereals and K-12 foods by next summer. We’re committed to continuing to make food that tastes great and is accessible to all,” added the executive.
The removal of synthetic dyes from the food supply is a giant step, though there remains at least one chemical in cereals with effects that may warrant further action.
No artificial colors — but infertility?
A peer-reviewed study published last year in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology suggested that current concentrations of chlormequat chloride in oat-based foods “warrant more expansive toxicity resting, food monitoring, and epidemiological studies.”
Researchers on the study from the Environmental Working Group, a chemical watchdog accused in recent years of exaggeration, indicated that food samples purchased in 2022 and 2023 “show detectable levels of chlormequat in all but two of 25 conventional oat-based products.”
Quaker Oats and Cheerios were allegedly among the affected cereals.
‘Do we really need more chemicals in our food?’
Chlormequat, first registered in the U.S. in 1962 as a plant growth regulator and recognized decades later by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as “toxic to wildlife,” has been linked in animal studies to disrupted fetal growth, damage to the reproductive system, delayed puberty, and reduced fertility.
While the EPA suggested in 2023 that there were no dietary or residential risks of concern associated with human exposure to chlormequat, the 2024 study suggested that “more recent reproductive toxicity studies on chlormequat show delayed onset of puberty, reduced sperm motility, decreased weights of male reproductive organs, and decreased testosterone levels in rats exposed during sensitive windows of development, including during pregnancy and early life.”
Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
Secretary Kennedy has criticized the use of chlormequat chloride, which he deemed “one of those ‘forever chemicals,'” on grains.
He noted in July 2023, “This chemical was prohibited by the very same EPA in 1962 for use on anything but ornamental plants in greenhouses. That was before the agency was captured by industry.”
Kennedy added, “Chlormaquat is linked to disruption of fetal growth, metabolic alterations, lower sperm motility, deceased testosterone, delayed development in puberty, and other effects. At a time when chronic disease is at an all-time high, do we really need more chemicals in our food?”
Blaze News reached out to HHS about the removal of artificial dyes as well as about chlormequat in the food supply but did not immediately receive a response.
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Robert f. kennedy jr., Health, Maha, Make america healthy again, Cereal, Chlormequat, Science, Fda, Makary, Health and human services, Hhs, Politics
Border Patrol arrest at Home Depot punches hole in Democrats’ narrative
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. — The sound of a car horn honking in a strip mall parking lot echoed repeatedly as a driver followed close behind an unmarked U.S. Border Patrol SUV. The agent quickly drove out of the parking lot, with the wannabe lookout following close behind.
The civilian driver was so focused on the Border Patrol SUV he discovered that he drove right by two other unmarked Border Patrol vehicles in the lot. Blaze Media was embedded with Border Patrol on Tuesday to see firsthand how the large force of agents who have been deployed to the area are helping arrest illegal aliens.
‘Is that really kind of person you want around your family?’
While our vehicle managed to escape detection the first time, a man in a mask started filming our SUV a few minutes later. Assistant Chief Border Patrol Agent for the El Centro Sector David Kim rolled down the window to see what the man wanted.
“We don’t welcome you here. We feel you put fear into our community. … This is not good. You’re scaring working people. You’re not looking for criminals. You’re not; you know that. This is wrong,” the masked man told Kim. “Why? Tell me why. Why do you do this?”
RELATED: Los Angeles is what ‘America Last’ looks like
Julio Rosas/Blaze Media
When Kim explained the law Border Patrol was enforcing was 8 U.S.C. § 1325, the man replied, “That’s an immoral law.”
A few hours after the encounter with the illegal alien advocate, Border Patrol agents arrested Juan Diego Euan at a Home Depot in Cerritos for being in the United States illegally. After the arrest, it was discovered that he had a serious criminal conviction.
Originally from Mexico, Euan was convicted in 2015 for having sex with a minor under 16 years old and was in prison for two years. He also had six previous arrests for illegal entry.
El Centro Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino said Euan’s arrest highlights how “child sexual predators have day jobs. Contrary to what some mayors say, big box hardware stores *wink wink* are places where criminal aliens congregate.”
The “mayors” Bovino was referring to include Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), who has repeatedly criticized federal immigration officials for targeting hardware stores to arrest illegal aliens.
“Let me be clear — chasing people through a Home Depot parking lot does not make Los Angeles safer,” Bass said on X.
Bass has said the crackdown on illegal workers will hurt the local economy because there are entire sectors in Los Angeles “that depend on immigrant labor. This administration is waging a war against our own economy.”
“There’s this misconception that people we’re finding at say Home Depot or at Lowe’ s or car washes … that they’re just hardworking people out there; they’ve never done anything wrong in their life. We made [that] arrest at Home Depot,” Kim said, referring to Euan.
“Someone is going to find a day laborer, bring them to their house, be around their family … and no is going to know that that person had sexually assaulted a child at some point in their life. And is that really kind of person you want around your family?” Kim asked.
While the Border Patrol units Blaze Media was with were able to apprehend illegal aliens without bystanders getting in the way, the same could not be said for the agents operating in Pico Rivera. Locals in a Walmart parking lot accosted the Border Patrol agents, who were driving marked vehicles. A fight broke out, and at least one person was arrested by the agents.
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Politics
Glenn Beck shares the KEY to understanding Trump’s threats to Iran
In the midst of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran, President Trump has put the latter on notice. Yesterday, he demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” and suggested that the U.S. may target Iran’s head of state if the Islamic Republic refuses to stop its strikes against Israel or retaliates against American forces in the region.
The problem is “we can’t afford another war,” says Glenn Beck, calling Americans “all warred out.” And yet, we can’t ignore the grim reality that “Iran is the head of the snake” in the Middle East.
Despite America’s division on the issue, war with Iran is beginning to seem like a very real possibility. “Every sign says yes,” says Glenn. “We’re mobilizing; we’re moving assets in … the Israelis said everybody needs to get out of Tehran.” Further, the U.S. is floating the idea of using a B-52 bomber with a special bomb designed to penetrate deep underground, where Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant resides.
However, President Trump, in a Truth Social post yesterday, made it clear that while the U.S. knows the location of Iran’s “Supreme Leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he will not be targeted and killed, at least “for now,” but warned that America’s patience was “wearing thin.”
All considered, the prospect of war with Iran has many conflicted and confused, but Glenn says there’s one key to understanding what’s going on — and that key lies at “the core” of “who [Donald Trump] is.”
We know without question that Donald Trump is a brilliant “negotiator,” and “when you negotiate at this high level, you don’t tell everyone what you’re doing,” says Glenn.
The first thing President Trump did was demonstrate that his word is ironclad, he explains. Unlike former presidents who have allowed Iran to cross “red lines” without consequences, Trump proved his “credibility” when on day 61, Israel “unleashed hell” on Iran’s nuclear facilities after Trump gave Iran a 60-day ultimatum to negotiate a nuclear deal.
With Iran now forced to take Trump’s threat of providing Israel with U.S. GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs seriously, the stage is set for high-stakes nuclear negotiations. As Americans watch Trump’s bold moves with a mix of awe and unease, wondering, “Are we going to war?” Glenn says Iran is asking the same question. It knows now without a doubt that “the guy doesn’t bluff,” he says.
However, what Iran doesn’t understand is that Trump is also an expert negotiator. It’s good that it doesn’t understand this, Glenn says, because it keeps the power in Trump’s hands. However, he’s “afraid the American people don’t understand [Trump’s negotiating abilities], either,” evidenced by the firestorm of conservative debating over his responses to Iran.
Trump’s plan, Glenn explains, is likely intentionally concealed to outmaneuver Iran. Public division among supporters, especially the online warring between prominent conservative pundits, signals weakness to Iran, undermining Trump’s strategy by suggesting a fractured base.
“I know the president hates nuclear war. I know the president likes Israel, but he’s not wanting to fight their wars. I know the president knows how much trouble we’re in with Islamic extremism,” and “if I know all of those things to be true,” then Donald Trump is almost certainly “negotiating … hoping that Israel will do the job” and America “won’t have to,” he speculates.
“I have to ask: Is the world’s best negotiator now negotiating? And I believe the answer is yes.”
To hear more of Glenn’s analysis, watch the clip above.
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The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Blazetv, Blaze media, Iran, Donald trump, Israel iran, Israel, Middle east
Lindsey Graham champions sending troops to Iran despite Americans’ weariness of endless war
Senator Lindsey Graham (S.C.) skipped over a few recent wars in an interview Tuesday to make a historical argument in favor of an American military intervention in Iran — action he has urged for well over a decade.
Gillian Turner, a talking head at Fox News, where Graham has been a frequent guest in recent days, told the senator that while a Ronald Reagan Institute poll found that 84% of Americans say that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon matters to U.S. security and prosperity, “the rub, as you well know, is probably like 110% of Americans don’t want to have another 20-year-long or even 20-month-long war in the Middle East.”
‘I’d rather open up Pandora’s box than empty it.’
A poll conducted by the Economist and YouGov June 13-16 found that 16% of Americans think “U.S. military should get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran.” Sixty percent of respondents said America should not get involved, and 24% said they weren’t sure. When asked whether the U.S. should continue to engage in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, 56% said yes.
“If you think radical Islam can be dealt with and ignored — dealt with without being dealt with — then you’re wrong,” said Graham. “You got to stand up to these people.”
RELATED: A treacherous week for America First (and Israel, too)
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images
“We live in a world where we have to defend ourselves,” continued the senator, a former proponent of the false Iraqi weapons of mass destruction narrative who co-sponsored the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq resolution of 2002. “I don’t think it’s going to be 20 months, but here’s what I do believe: If we don’t get it right now, we’re going to pay later.”
Graham employed different language but more or less made the same argument 15 years ago, years before he said that “the world is literally about to blow up.”
RELATED: Iran is not the next Iraq War — unless we make the same mistake twice
Photo by Wisam Hashlamoun/Anadolu via Getty Images
“If you use military force against Iran, you’ve opened up Pandora’s box,” he reportedly told a crowd at the American Enterprise Institute in September 2010. “If you allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon, you’ve emptied Pandora’s box. I’d rather open up Pandora’s box than empty it.”
Graham also suggested at the time that military operations should be executed with regime change in mind — something he supported in Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
‘The men and women who serve, they’re the ones going.’
When asked in the interview Tuesday whether he could “make the commitment that this would not lead to a longer war,” Graham said, “I can guarantee you that if the ayatollah gets a nuclear weapon, he would use that.”
Graham then appeared to insinuate that American troops are required in Iran, stating, “The men and women who serve, they’re the ones going — not people answering the poll. And if you ask them, ‘Would you be willing to risk your life to stop the ayatollah from having a nuclear weapon?’ All of them would say, ‘Yes.'”
“We live in a world where you got to confront problems,” said Graham. “You want to avoid World War III? Learn the lessons from World War II.”
RELATED: Israel’s strategy now rests on one bomb — and it’s American
Photo (left): Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images; Photo (right): Iranian Leader Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images
The senator appeared to insinuate that a failure to help attack Iran was akin to appeasing Adolf Hitler, stressing that American freedom was conditional on attacking Iran: “If we do not fight for our freedom, we will lose it.”
Fox News’ John Roberts subsequently alluded to the opposition by some Republicans to another regime-change war, referring to Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent tweet in which she noted, “Anyone slobbering for the U.S. to become fully involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/MAGA. Wishing for murder of innocent people is disgusting. We are sick and tired of foreign wars. All of them. And this one will quickly engulf the Middle East, BRICS, and NATO as countries are required to take a side.”
Graham said the Republican opposition to “supporting Israel against Iran could literally be put in a phone booth” and claimed Greene simply doesn’t understand the threat posed by the “religious Nazis.”
In a separate interview on the same network, Graham implored President Donald Trump to go “all in” on Iran, suggesting that the U.S. should “do joint operations” with Israel if necessary.
On Tuesday, Trump noted on Truth Social that he knew exactly where Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was “hiding.” While indicating that Khamenei was “an easy target, but is safe there,” Trump promised not to “take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
After indicating American “patience is wearing thin,” Trump wrote, “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!”
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Foreign entanglements, Lindsey graham, Regime change, Foreign intervention, Intervention, War, Iran, Israel, Tehran, Fox, Warmonger, Boots on the ground, Donald trump, Politics
The ‘demonically influenced’ seek out those suffering. Here’s how to stop them.
We’ve been told our whole lives to “trust the experts,” but what happens when those experts — even the religious ones — lead us astray?
In a recent segment of “Ask Deace Anything” on the “Steve Deace Show,” one man came to BlazeTV host Steve Deace with this question after his girlfriend, who has PTSD and bipolar disorder, was hospitalized during a bad episode.
While his girlfriend was in the hospital’s care, the hospital chaplain told her she was an “empath” and had “psychic abilities,” before going on to baptize her.
She not only feels “spiritually empowered” and has “doubled down on New Age mysticism,” but refuses to listen to criticism since it came from a chaplain — someone she sees as a religious authority.
“That’s demonic,” Deace responds. “The most important thing that you could do, if you’re not doing it already, is to get yourself, and her with you if you can, into a faithfully witnessing, Bible-believing and -preaching church.”
“That is the most important thing that you could do,” he continues.
“This heretic gave her an idol, and because that idol gave her meaning in her suffering that, whatever her church experience up until this point, sadly has not offered for her.”
“And we greatly need and desire to have meaning in our suffering, purpose in it. And unfortunately, much of the modern Christian church will teach you suffering is to be avoided, frankly, or worse, will play into victimology,” he adds.
This, Deace explains, turns the one suffering into “a mark for the one who comes along and finds purpose and meaning for her in her suffering.”
“So you need to get the two of you, but at least you, into a church that teaches the full counsel of God. Because ultimately,” Deace continues, “your relationship will not survive a question of authority between you and this occultic guru, demonically influenced individual.”
“You’re going to lose, because this individual gave her something you can’t ever give her: purpose in her suffering,” he adds.
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Phone associated with accused assassin’s home traveled to Dubai, Nepal, India, and Turkey, report says
A cell phone associated with the Minnesota residence of accused political assassin Vance Luther Boelter went on extensive travel over the past three years — including trips to Dubai, Turkey, and India — the Oversight Project reported Tuesday.
Based on a geofence analysis of Boelter’s home in Green Isle, Minn., the Oversight Project said it found a “unique device” that it tracked going back three years.
The Oversight Project used the phone’s unique Ad ID number that is picked up on various phone apps to track its travel near the family home in Sibley County, around the Twin Cities area, nationally, and internationally.
“What’s more interesting is the amount of international travel linked to this device — visits to Africa, Nepal, Turkey, India, and Dubai,” the Oversight Project posted on X. “Also visited some major U.S. cities such as Washington D.C., and other places like the Chicago Yacht Club.”
Mike Howell, president of the Oversight Project, told Blaze News that the investigation of the phone is just beginning, so the group does not yet have explanations for the locations and patterns of travel.
The phone data seems to relate to things Boelter has posted online about his employment history and travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.
Boelter, 57, was charged June 16 in federal court in Minnesota with two counts of murder, two counts of stalking, and two firearms charges related to stalking. He was captured late June 15 in Sibley County, Minn., after the largest police manhunt in Minnesota history.
RELATED: The stuff of nightmares: Boelter allegedly sought to kill 4 lawmakers
A cell phone associated with accused Minnesota assassin Vance Boelter pinged across the United States and internationally.Image from the Oversight Project
He is charged with the assassination of Democrat Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, in their Brooklyn Park, Minn., home at about 3:30 a.m. June 14. Boelter is also charged with shooting and attempting to kill Democrat state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in their home in Champlin, Minn.
Federal prosecutors said Boelter did online research on four legislators’ homes prior to his shooting rampage. He allegedly visited one home in Maple Grove, but no one was home. He reportedly parked down the block from another home in New Hope, but was scared off by a squad car from the New Hope Police Department.
The suspect was disguised as a police officer, wearing a “hyper-realistic” silicone mask that covered his entire head. In his vehicle, police say they found what was described as a handwritten “hit list” with the names of more than 50 lawmakers and other public officials.
‘We’re doing farming and fishing projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo.’
In the vehicle Boelter allegedly abandoned at the Hortman home, police found notebooks with a handwritten list of politicians, lawmakers, and Planned Parenthood officials. The list included Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (DFL), U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Rep. Hortman, former Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman (D), and several officials associated with Planned Parenthood North Central States.
According to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court, Boelter got the Hoffmans to open their front door around 2 a.m. June 14 by pounding and shouting, “This is the police! Open the door!” When the senator and his wife tried to push Boelter back out the door, he shot them both, according to the federal criminal complaint. The Hoffmans are recovering in a hospital. A statement released by the Hoffman family said the senator was shot nine times and his wife suffered eight bullet wounds.
Police in nearby Brooklyn Park almost intercepted the suspect on the front porch of the Hortman residence at 3:30 a.m., but he opened fire on officers as they arrived, according to the FBI. Boelter then allegedly burst into the home and shot the Hortmans to death. He also allegedly shot their golden retriever, Gilbert, who had to be euthanized due to his grave injuries.
More than three hours after the Hortman killings, Boelter reportedly approached a man at a North Minneapolis bus stop and asked to buy an e-bike from him. The men took the bus to the witness’ residence, where Boelter paid him $900 for the e-bike and a used Buick sedan, prosecutors said.
The suspect was able to evade a massive police dragnet for nearly 40 hours. Police found the abandoned Buick on a rural Sibley County highway on June 15. A police aerial drone spotted Boelter in a wooded area about one mile from his Green Isle residence. Boelter put his hands up and surrendered to a SWAT team around 9:15 p.m.
Employment history
According to Boelter’s LinkedIn page and a video he made for a course in the funeral industry, he founded a company called Red Lion Group dedicated to increasing the food supply in the populous Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It appears Red Lion consisted of Boelter and his wife, Jennifer. There is no indication that he was associated with other entities named Red Lion, such as the United Kingdom-based charity or the hospitality holding company.
RELATED: ‘Weak, emasculated leader’: Ex-Vikings player blames Tim Walz for Minnesota killings
FBI agents stage in a neighborhood in Green Isle, Minn., on June 15, 2025. Law enforcement agencies were searching for Vance Boelter, a suspect in the killing of DFL state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman. Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
In a LinkedIn post in 2023, Boelter said he was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo “working on several projects.”
“Red Lion Group had a great meeting with the new governor of Congo Central to talk about private business projects,” Boelter wrote. “That are all moving forward in that a [sic] province.”
In an undated video posted online, Boelter explained his food-industry history and desire to help the African nation produce more of its own food.
“The company I was working for at the time wasn’t interested in doing anything in Africa. So I talked with my wife, and we decided I would just put in my two-week notice and we’d just go off on our own to try to do these projects to help out in Africa,” he said. “So we’re doing farming and fishing projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
The Red Lion Group website domain name was registered on Jan. 25, 2023, according to the domain lookup site Whois. The domain is set to expire on April 15, 2026. The website does not appear to be connected to the internet. The domain ownership information is masked.
One of Boelter’s online biographies makes a fleeting reference to international travel. He and his wife are the registered owners of Praetorian Guard Security Systems, which appears to be little more than a website and some Ford vehicles customized to look like police cruisers.
Some of the addresses associated with the company on state records are residential homes. The company’s registered office address in Prior Lake, Minn., is a divorce law firm. There is no listing on LinkedIn, nor any employees under the company name.
RELATED: Survivors of Minnesota assassination attempt release statement: ‘Incredibly lucky to be alive’
A tow truck removes an abandoned Buick sedan allegedly driven by accused assassin Vance Boelter as police search the area on 301st Avenue in Belle Plaine, Minn., on June 15, 2025.Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
According to Vance Boelter’s biography on the Praetorian Guard website, he “has been involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.” It does not provide details on the “security situations.” The website has been taken offline, but some of its content is accessible on the Wayback Machine.
A lifelong friend of Boelter, David W. Carlson, said Boelter was having financial difficulties recently. Boelter’s LinkedIn page said he was “looking to get back into the U.S. food industry” and was open to senior-level jobs.
Southern Minnesota family
Boelter grew up in Sleepy Eye, a town of 3,400 in southern Minnesota, about 110 miles southwest of Minneapolis. His father, Donald LuVerne Boelter, was a legendary baseball coach for 34 years at Sleepy Eye Public School and earlier at Ceylon High School. With 309 career wins, nine conference titles, and a .620 winning percentage, Donald Boelter was inducted into the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2009. He died in September 2013 at age 80.
Vance Boelter’s mother is 90 and still lives in southern Minnesota.
His brother, Tarry Boelter, was a star baseball player at the University of Minnesota and briefly played for the Minnesota Twins. He was a 350-game-winning baseball coach at Murray County Central High School in Slayton, Minn. He was inducted into the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame in 2013.
Vance Boelter married the former Jennifer Doskocil in Winona, Minn., on October. 4, 1997. At the time, Boelter lived in Arcadia, Minn., and his new wife was from Springbrook, Wis. They went on to have five children.
Boelter’s jobs took the family across the country, living in Muldrow, Okla., Shakopee, Minn., Sheboygan Falls, Wis., Inver Grove Heights, Minn., Gaylord, Minn., and Green Isle, Minn., according to public databases.
Boelter had been a plant manager at Lettieri’s LLC, a manufacturer of food-to-go products in Shakopee, Minn. The company was later purchased by Greencore Group. While working at Lettieri’s, Boelter was appointed to the Dakota-Scott Workforce Investment Board by the Dakota County Board.
In 1994, Boelter worked at a processing plant for Gold’n Plump chicken in Cold Spring, Minn.
Mike Howell is a contributor to Blaze News.
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Politics
Ferris Bueller’s surprisingly traditional ‘Day Off’
Forty years ago this month — June 5, 1985, to be exact — a high school senior named Ferris Bueller decided not to go to school.
Instead, he took his girlfriend, Sloane, his best friend, Cameron, and a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder (“borrowed” from Cameron’s dad) on an adventure-packed odyssey through Chicago, during which they lunched at a hoity-toity French restaurant, took in a Cubs game, and participated in the Von Steuben Day parade, all while engaging in an epic race against time, parents, and Vice Principal Edward R. Rooney.
Ironically, it’s Ferris who exhibits the very leadership qualities Vice Principal Rooney lacks.
Spoiler alert: He gets away with it.
“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is a teenage rebellion fantasy, but of a very different sort from the type Hollywood cranks out today.
For conservative pundit and former Nixon speechwriter Ben Stein, who had a small but indelible role as a droning economics teacher, the movie is a glorious product of the Reagan era. Noting that Hughes “was an ardent Republican” who “believed Reagan could transform all of us into Ferris Buellers,” Stein celebrates Ferris as “an unregulated high school kid in an unregulated world.”
RELATED: Jennifer Lawrence’s pro-chastity sex comedy
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
But Ferris is no libertarian. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” celebrates loyalty, courage, and even justice. It encourages us to love our families, to stand up for our friends, and to be grateful for the time we’re given on Earth.
Yes, Ferris breaks the rules, but his mischief — unlike that of the 1960s radicals who came before him (or, for that matter, the leftists currently wreaking havoc on our streets) — is creative rather than destructive.
In fact, take a closer look at his itinerary, and you see that Ferris follows a strict moral code of his own.
Real friendship is sacrificial
Ferris’ name may be in the title, but this is Cameron’s story. Ferris is the same carefree, popular guy at the end of the movie as he is at the beginning.
Cameron complains about being roped into his best friend’s “stupid crap,” but eventually we understand that all of Ferris’ elaborate planning — not to mention the risk he assumes — is for Cameron’s benefit. It’s Cameron, not Ferris, who really needs this day off. As a true friend, Ferris realizes that the only way to break Cameron out of his shell is to make him face his deepest fears — even if Cameron ends up hating him for it.
Family bonds are important, no matter how fraught
Ferris lies to his parents, but there’s no contempt beneath his deception. He truly loves them as much as they love him.
Cameron is not so fortunate. His strict home life — ruled by an emotionally absent, domineering father — has paralyzed him with anxiety and fear. When Cameron finally confronts this truth, he resolves not to reject his dad so he can heal his “trauma” (as he might be encouraged to do today) but to stand up to him — a healthy sign that the father-son relationship is worth saving.
RELATED: Blaze News original: 5 more popular musicians who are unapologetically conservative
Kevin Winter/ACMA2014/Getty Images for ACM
Even Ferris and his seething, judgmental sister Jeanie repair their rift by the end of the film. Jeanie lets go of her resentment and helps her brother when he needs it most, while Ferris learns the humbling lesson that even he can’t always go it alone.
Authority deserves respect — but only when it’s earned
Vice Principal Rooney embodies overreaching authority — petty, ineffective, and consumed by the need for control. In the end, Rooney’s childish obsession with “beating” Ferris undoes him as much as any stunt his quarry pulls. Ironically, it’s Ferris who exhibits the leadership qualities Rooney lacks. With his natural charisma and willingness to take calculated, strategic, and effective action for himself and for others, Ferris can’t help but draw people to him.
We should be grateful for the present moment
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Ferris’ deceptively simple motto expresses deep, timeless wisdom.
All that he and friends gain by hoodwinking the adults are a few precious hours to appreciate the city of Chicago and each other’s company. And that’s enough.
They don’t waste their time while playing hooky; instead they spend it truly alive to the joy of existence. And while church isn’t one of their stops, the reverent gratitude they display brings to mind Psalm 118:24: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Entertainment, Movies, Ferris bueller, Conservative values, Traditional values, Comedy, T3, Faith, Align
Kennedy has Big Pharma ads in his sights — and he’s not the only one mulling a crackdown
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. noted in an op-ed last year that one of the ways President Donald Trump can make America healthy again is by reviewing direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ad guidelines.
“The U.S. and New Zealand are the only countries that allow pharmaceutical companies to advertise directly to the public,” wrote Kennedy. “News channels are filled with drug commercials, and reasonable viewers may question whether their dependence on these ads influences their coverage of health issues.”
The administration is now poised to tackle this issue with policies that might make it costlier and/or more difficult for pharmaceutical giants to push their products directly to patients.
Health and Human Services press secretary Emily Hilliard told Blaze News that “Secretary Kennedy has consistently emphasized direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising must prioritize accuracy, patient safety, and the public interest — not profit margins.”
“Consistent with Secretary Kennedy’s public health commitments, we are exploring ways to restore more rigorous oversight and improve the quality of information presented to American consumers, who deserve nothing less than radical transparency,” added Hilliard.
RELATED: How Big Pharma left its mark on woke CDC vax advisory panel — and what RFK Jr. did about it
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Bloomberg reported that the administration is considering two policies in particular.
The first would require drugmakers to to be more forthright in their ads about the side effects of their products.
Given that pharma products often have myriad side effects, this would likely increase the run time of TV ads, thereby making them far more costly. Since a total ban on pharma direct-to-customer ads would expose the administration to litigation, this potential disincentive could have a similar effect without the consequence.
Individuals said to be familiar with the plans told Bloomberg that the second policy would entail denying pharmaceutical companies the ability to write off DTC advertising as a business expense for tax purposes.
Recent analysis from the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing indicated that the average annual global spending on advertising and promotions in 2023 among the drugmakers AbbVie, Amgen, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Pfizer was $1.4 billion, with Pfizer spending the most.
The advertising data firm MediaRadar reportedly found that companies spent $10.8 billion last year on direct-to-consumer pharma advertising.
Drugmakers spent a combined $729.4 million to run TV commercials for the top 10 brands in just the first three months of 2025, reported Fierce Pharma.
‘The American people don’t want to see misleading and deceptive prescription drug ads on television.’
Bloomberg suggested that these potential policies could impact a key source of revenue for advertising, media, and pharmaceutical companies.
AbbVie chief commercial officer Jeff Stewart reportedly told analysts in May that if there were a crackdown on pharma ads, the company “would have to pivot,” potentially focusing its advertising online rather than on mass media.
RELATED: MAHA scores major victory as Kraft Heinz vows to stop using artificial food dyes
Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images
Alex Siciliano, a spokesperson for the National Association of Broadcasters, told Bloomberg, “Restricting pharmaceutical ads would have serious consequences for stations, particularly those in smaller markets, and could raise First Amendment concerns.”
Those concerned about HHS purging the airwaves of Big Pharma propaganda need not only fear initiatives from the Trump administration.
Independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine) introduced legislation last week that would ban drugmakers from using direct-to-consumer advertising outright, not only on TV and radio, but on social media, digital platforms, and in print as well.
“The American people are sick and tired of greedy pharmaceutical companies spending billions of dollars on absurd TV commercials pushing their outrageously expensive prescription drugs,” Sanders said in a statement.
“The American people don’t want to see misleading and deceptive prescription drug ads on television. They want us to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and ban these bogus ads.”
An Axios-Ipsos poll conducted last year found that 59% of Americans support banning TV pharma ads.
Unlike the Trump administration’s potential policies, the End Prescription Drug Ads Now Act might not survive a constitutional challenge, given that Congress is barred from making any law abridging the freedom of speech.
The independent lawmakers noted in their joint statement that HHS Secretary Kennedy is not the only relevant party who has expressed an interest in clearing the airwaves; the American Medical Association has similarly endorsed a ban.
“The widespread use of direct-to-consumer advertising by pharmaceutical companies drives up costs and doesn’t necessarily make patients healthier,” said King.
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A treacherous week for America First (and Israel, too)
President Donald Trump’s broad coalition faces the hardest test of his second administration this week, all depending on what the president commits the country’s armed forces to over the next few days.
On one side of the MAGA coalition, Iran hawks, military interventionists, and remaining neoconservatives are excitedly watching for their long-awaited collapse of the ayatollahs’ regime. On the other, America-firsters, skeptical non-interventionists, and the handful of the coalition’s actual isolationists watch with worried eyes.
Just consider the pros and cons. Foreign entanglements are rarely clean and simple, and a lot rides on the next few days.
From a certain point of view, it is the best of times to attack; from another, it is the worst of times — for both MAGA and the historically close American-Israeli relationship. So let’s examine the pros and cons.
Pro: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump are both credible wartime leaders. Israel’s longest-serving prime minister has a long history of successful hawkish intervention where he felt necessary, and Trump is no slouch either.
In Trump’s first term, the president proved the Washington blob wrong when he swiftly dealt with the Islamic State’s “caliphate,” bombing its forces into submission and hunting its leader down “like a dog.”
In Syria, too, Trump enforced the red lines he drew — but didn’t involve the United States any further than that. And in Afghanistan his famed MOAB strike helped bring the Taliban to the table.
Both men have repeatedly warned Iran for a decade that it was on the path to a war they’d gladly bring it, and here we are.
To the hawks, Trump and Netanyahu seem a match made in heaven for realizing their dreams of crippling Iran’s nuclear capabilities or even ousting the regime entirely. But wait just a minute and consider why Trump is back in office in the first place!
Con: Trump was elected first in 2016, then again overwhelmingly in 2024 on great big waves of discontent.
That anger, first rippling in the Tea Party movement and then apparent from Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’ first and only authentic campaign, stretches across tax policy, education policy, foreign policy, outsourcing, DEI, immigration, and the Democratic Party’s obsessions with social issues. It can all be boiled down to “the elites do whatever they want without any regard for what will actually help Americans.”
Bombing Iran’s nuclear program into the Age of the Steam Engine might be the right thing to do for an ally in need. It might be smart foreign policy, when it comes to America’s red lines being taken seriously. It might even be just. But you really, truly have to stretch far and wide into the future and all the many paths it can take to divine how intervention helps Americans here at home.
That’s a problem. It’s a big reason you see such discontent and even rage bubbling up all over the America First and MAGA right, from Tucker Carlson to the Federalist’s Sean Davis to the anonymous X poster down the way.
Some of these types think war not only doesn’t serve American interests but actively threatens our safety by unleashing broader conflict. Others recognize the promises we heard in the lead-up to Afghanistan and Iraq: that this is different from Vietnam and we won’t get bogged down because we’re way smarter now.
The reality is that a large segment of voters never signed up for another Middle Eastern war. They want the government to focus on problems at home for a change.
This discontent doesn’t just jeopardize the MAGA coalition’s unity; it jeopardizes broader domestic support for our alliance with Israel, which is already under strain among the Democrats.
None of the latter MAGA camp are happy right now, but a very short war made up of successful strikes could change a lot of their minds. Trump is just the sort of man to deliver that possibility.
Pro: Trump’s done this before, in Afghanistan and Syria. The reason he has such credibility on the national stage is that unlike his two Democratic predecessors, he delivers overwhelming force exactly when he says he will.
Let’s say American bombs could reach Iran’s football-field-deep mountain uranium enrichment plant and we blast it and go home, leaving in place an Iranian regime still clinging to power but set back decades from developing nuclear weapons.
Is Trump the man to break the curse of the Middle East? A wise man once told me the number-one trick to never getting divorced is simple: Never get divorced, even — especially! — when times are tough. Maybe all it takes to not get entangled in nation-building is not to get entangled in nation-building — especially when times are tough.
Since right around the time he descended the golden escalator 10 years ago, the president has told the Iranians to stop enriching. The United States has made that demand for decades longer still.
Now the bill has come due. Unlike previous U.S. presidents, this one collects. Wasn’t one of the driving issues of both 2016 and ’24 the Democrats’ foreign policy weakness, from “pallets of cash” and “red lines” under Barack Obama to the sloppy retreat from Afghanistan under Joe Biden? What no American voted for, however, is another 20-year war in the Middle East.
Con: Reports suggest Israel wanted to take out Iran’s supreme ayatollah but that the United States blocked the operation. The president later posted on Truth Social that we know the ayatollah’s location and will kill him if he makes a wrong move.
But what happens if he’s killed and the Iranian regime doesn’t recover? What if the entire state collapses? The regime has endured for five decades, but tyrannies often seem invincible — right up until their leaders flee to exile through Moscow International Airport.
Iran has a sophisticated society, far more advanced than Iraq’s and nothing like the tribal chaos of Afghanistan. It’s also a much older civilization. But it’s not a unified Persian monolith. Between 35% and 40% of the population — including the ayatollah’s own late father — belongs to one of the country’s many ethnic minority groups.
Maybe that wouldn’t come to any violence, and maybe Iran’s oil could pay for reconstruction. Some Iranian dissidents and expats hope Reza Pahlavi, the 46-year-exiled crown prince of Iran and eldest son of its last shah, could return. He’s the current head of the National Council of Iran, a secular, United Nations-friendly group that claims to represent millions of Iranians.
The problem is we don’t know, do we? Sure, the crown prince’s father ruled Iran at the peak of its domestic freedoms, but he was ousted by a violent domestic revolt. Iran’s hard-line regime makes it more than a little challenging to gauge domestic opinion, and lots of exiled leaders have promised the West they’d be greeted with ticker-tape parades upon their triumphant returns.
But few have pulled off such a feat without the U.S. military marching behind them, and in Iraq and Afghanistan, both exiled governments ended in failure even with American GIs dying in the streets to maintain their power. And don’t forget that during the half-century they’ve spent in exile, the council backed Iraq in its disastrous war on Iran.
So let’s assume the worst: civil war, with Iranian refugees flooding into Europe. Who steps in?
Israel has neither the ability, the mandate, nor the care to do so. Nearby China certainly doesn’t care and would probably just profit and steal along Iran’s periphery. Russia remains bogged down in Ukraine, and Europe simply cannot afford to bring stability.
So it would fall to us. Nation-building once more, whether we like it or not.
It needn’t come to that. Trump won in 2016 and ’24 saying his predecessors started conflicts but that he would end them with strength. In that sense, his involvement in this conflict isn’t really a departure from what he ran on — so far.
Trump’s foreign policy only works when allies and adversaries believe he’s willing to respond with overwhelming force when challenged. Under his leadership, the United States regains the ability to tell the West how much to spend on defense — and the world how to trade with us. Foreign leaders know he won’t hesitate to use the big stick.
Maybe he can land this plane. Just consider the pros and cons. Foreign entanglements are rarely clean and simple, and a lot rides on the next few days — both foreign and domestic.
Daniel McCarthy in the Spectator: Trump won’t be dragged into a regime-change war
Blaze News: Israel’s strategy now rests on one bomb — and it’s American
Blaze News: Massie, Dems seek to limit presidential war-making authority amid talk of Iranian regime change
ABC News: Exiled Crown Prince Reza sees ‘best opportunity’ to get rid of regime
The Spectator: Has Trump sided with the hawks?
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The US is now ‘one of the worst countries’ because of Trump’s actions, says Ilhan Omar
Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota launched into a histrionic tirade against the U.S. and pointed to President Donald Trump’s order to send military troops into Los Angeles, California, as the reason why it is no longer a beacon of hope.
Omar made the comments while being interviewed on “Democracy Now!” from the U.S. Capitol. The interview was published on Friday.
‘Can you imagine that image that is going to be coming out of our country? I mean, I grew up in a dictatorship, and I don’t even remember ever witnessing anything like that.’
“We are in the midst of the creation of a police state where you have masked, armed men who are in plain clothes that are snatching people off the streets, unwilling to identify themselves. You have the military being deployed in our streets. My God, this is America. You have states’ rights being disregarded, so you know, a constitutional crisis that’s being created in front of our eyes!” Omar ranted.
“And the same week where we have a president who has deployed the military, who are trained to kill our enemies — not Americans, but our enemies — are in our streets!” she added.
RELATED: Hegseth orders battalion of US Marines to quell anti-ICE rioting in Los Angeles
Photo by BENJAMIN HANSON/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
She went on to excoriate the president for the military parade Saturday in Washington, D.C., on the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.
“Can you imagine that image that is going to be coming out of our country? I mean, I grew up in a dictatorship, and I don’t even remember ever witnessing anything like that,” Omar said.
“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 to people’s constitutional rights,” she added, “while our president is spending millions of dollars propping himself up like a failed dictator with a military parade, it is really shocking, and it should be a wake-up call for all Americans.”
The president is in a legal battle with California and its Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom over whether he was acting constitutionally when he ordered troops into Los Angeles without the cooperation of local state officials. Critics accuse the president of wanting to militarize the streets, but his defenders say the attacks on federal agents justify a federal troop response.
The full interview with “Democracy Now!” can be viewed on its YouTube channel.
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Iran is not the next Iraq War — unless we make the same mistake twice
Is Donald Trump a warmonger? It’s a simple question, and yet an increasingly popular accusation from corners of the political class and commentariat that once saw him as the clearest alternative to globalist foreign adventurism. But such an accusation also defies the record. Whatever else one might say about Trump, he has been — consistently and vocally — against needless foreign entanglements.
To suggest that he has suddenly pivoted toward militarism is to misunderstand either the man himself or the moment we are in. Trump is not easily swayed from his core convictions. Trade protectionism and anti-interventionism have always been part of his political DNA. On tariffs, he is unbending. And when it comes to war, he has long argued that America must stop serving as the world’s policeman.
Is Iran another Iraq, or is it more like Poland in 1980?
So when people today accuse Trump of abandoning his anti-interventionist principles, we must ask: What evidence do we have that he has changed? And if he has, does that mean he was misleading us all along — or is something else happening?
If you’ve lost your trust in him, fine. Fair enough. But then the question becomes: Who do you trust? Who else has stood on stage, risked his life, and remained — at least in conviction — largely unchanged?
I’m not arguing for blind trust. In fact, I strongly advise against it. Reagan had it right when he quoted a Russian proverb during nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union: “Trust, but verify.” Trust must be earned daily — and verified constantly. But trust, or the absence of it, is central to what we’re facing.
Beyond pro- and antiwar
The West is being pulled in two directions: one toward chaos, the other toward renewal. Trust is essential to renewal. Chaos thrives when people lose confidence — in leaders, in systems, in one another.
We are in a moment when clarity is difficult but necessary. And clarity requires asking harder questions than whether someone is “for or against war.”
Too many Americans today fall into four broad categories when it comes to foreign conflict.
First are the trolls — those who aren’t arguing in good faith, but revel in provocation, division, and distrust. Their goal isn’t clarity. It’s chaos.
Second are those who, understandably, want to avoid war but won’t acknowledge the dangers posed by radical Islamist ideology. Out of fear or fatigue, they have chosen willful blindness. This has been a costly mistake in the past.
Third are those who, like me, do not want war but understand that certain ideologies — particularly those of Iran’s theocratic rulers — cannot be ignored or wished away. We study history. We remember 1979. We understand what the “Twelvers” believe.
Twelvers are a sect of Shia Islam whose clerics believe the return of the 12th Imam, their messianic figure, can only be ushered in by global conflict and bloodshed. Iran is the only nation in the world to make Twelver Shia its official state religion. The 12th Imam is not a metaphor. It’s doctrine, and it matters.
Finally, there are the hawks. They cheer for conflict. They seek to project American power, often reflexively. And they carry the swagger of certainty, even as history offers them little vindication.
The last few decades have offered sobering lessons. Regime change in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria — none produced flourishing democracies or stable allies. While America is capable of toppling regimes, we’re not so good at manufacturing civil societies. Real liberty requires real leadership on the ground. It requires heroes — people willing to suffer and die not for power, but for principle.
That’s what was missing in Kabul, Baghdad, and Tripoli. We never saw a Washington or a Jefferson emerge. Brave individuals assisted us, but no figures rose to power with whom nations could coalesce.
Is Iran 1980s Poland?
That is why I ask whether Iran is simply the next chapter in a tired and tragic book — or something altogether different.
Is Iran another Iraq? Or is it more like Poland in 1980? It’s not an easy question, but it’s one we must ask.
During the Cold War, we saw what it looked like when people yearned for freedom. In Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, dissidents risked everything for a chance to escape tyranny. There was a moral clarity. You could hear it in their music, see it in their marches, feel it in the energy that eventually tore down the Berlin Wall.
Is that spirit alive in Iran?
RELATED: Mark Levin sounds alarm: Stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions before it’s too late
Alex Wong/Getty Images
We know that millions of Iranians have protested. We know many have disappeared for it. The Persian people are among the best educated in the region. They are culturally rich, historically sophisticated, and far more inclined toward Western ideals than the mullahs who rule them.
But we know Iran’s mullahs are not rational actors.
So again, we must ask: If the people of Iran are capable of throwing off their theocratic oppressors, should the United States support them? If so, how — and what would it cost us?
Ask tougher questions
I am not calling for war. I do not support U.S. military intervention in Iran. But I do support asking better questions. Is it in our national interest to act? Is there a moral imperative we cannot ignore? And do we trust the institutions advising us?
I no longer trust the intelligence agencies. I no longer trust the think tanks that sold us the Iraq War. I certainly don’t trust the foreign policy establishment in Washington that has consistently failed upward.
But I do trust the American people to engage these questions honestly — if they’re willing to think.
I believe we may be entering the first chapter of a final, spiritual conflict — what Scripture calls the last battle. It may take decades to unfold, but the ideological lines are being drawn.
And whether you are for Trump or against him, whether you see Iran as a threat or a distraction, whether you want peace or fear it’s no longer possible — ask the tougher questions.
Because what comes next won’t be determined by slogans. It will be determined by what we truly believe.
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Trump’s warning: What it will take for America to join Israel’s war with Iran
This past Saturday, Israel continued its Operation Rising Lion with attacks on Iranian gas and oil facilities, Iranian Ministry of Defense buildings in Tehran, and missile launch sites in Tehran.
President Donald Trump responded to the attacks on Truth Social, writing, “The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran, tonight. If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before.”
“However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!” he continued.
The U.S. does have many assets currently in or near Israel, including military troops, U.S. diplomats, the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, patriot missile batteries, fighter jets, and U.S. Navy destroyers.
“Trump hints that the United States might get involved if Iran hits our assets,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says. “That was a pretty strong statement that President Trump said, right? If we are attacked in any way, shape, or form by Iran, the full strength and might is going to come down on you at levels never seen before.”
“He hints that the United States might get involved. But we’re using our assets to already protect Israel, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone if Iran attacks our Patriot missiles, our THAAD system, any of those assets,” she continues.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, also said in response to the attacks that there is “well-documented and solid evidence of the support provided by American forces in the region.”
“Therefore, the U.S., in our opinion, is a partner in these attacks and must accept its responsibility,” Araghchi said.
Gonzales notes that it would be hard for the U.S. to dispute this accusation, as President Trump had just spoken about Israel’s use of American weapons before the attacks.
“It’s just like if a gun manufacturer makes a gun, and then eventually someone gets sold a gun and they go on to do a school shooting or murder people or whatever. Is it the gun manufacturer’s fault? Of course not,” Gonzales says.
“This is Iran just begging, begging for the United States to get involved,” she adds.
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Explosive devices found at home of man arrested near No Kings protest allegedly carrying a gun and ammunition
Police said they found a pipe bomb and other improvised explosive devices at the home of a man who was arrested near a No Kings protest in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Law enforcement searched the home of 31-year-old Kevin Krebs on Conestoga Road in East Whiteland Township on Monday evening and disabled all of the explosives, according to a spokesperson for the West Chester Police Department.
‘I always tell him, you are safe always. You’re always being protected. You’re never in any harm’s way.’
Officials had initially said that seven explosives had been found at the home but later said the total number came to 13 explosive devices.
Krebs had a fully loaded Sig Sauer P320 handgun under a long yellow raincoat when he was spotted at the protest Saturday, according to police. He also was found with ammunition, an M9 bayonet, a pocketknife, pepper spray, a ski mask, and gloves.
Police said they found an AR-15 style rifle on the floor of his SUV.
Photo by: Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Investigators said they also found sketches of explosive devices in the home, as well as tactical vests and other items.
Krebs was initially released on a $250,000 bond, but he was rearrested and denied bail. He is being held at the Chester County Prison and faces a slew of charges, including 13 counts of weapons of mass destruction.
Krebs’ younger brother told WPVI-TV that the suspect carried the weapons for his protection.
“In his brain, he’s scared,” said Alex Krebs. “I always tell him, you are safe always. You’re always being protected. You’re never in any harm’s way.”
In a separate incident from the protest in Riverside, California, an SUV driver barreled into protesters after they surrounded the vehicle and one damaged a rear brake lamp. Police are trying to identify the driver, and one woman suffered critical injuries from the incident.
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