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Big Oil SUED for ‘climate homicide’

“Climate Homicide: Prosecuting Big Oil for Climate Deaths” is a study that was released by Harvard Environmental Law Review in 2023, and BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere calls it “the most influential piece of propaganda in this particular form.”

The article finds that in jurisdictions across the United States, fossil fuel companies could be prosecuted for every type of homicide, short of first-degree murder. It also concludes that prosecutions could offer highly effective remedies that prosecutors could be motivated to seek.

“Hey, we can find a way for climate deaths to be prosecuted as homicide, basically under every jurisdiction in America, as long as you don’t say it’s first-degree murder,” Stu mocks on “Stu Does America.” “And then in addition to that, you guys should note these will be good remedies for the policies that we want. Right.”

Now, a few years later, the term “climate homicide” is beginning to rear its head.

“The model is lawsuits against the cigarette companies, but individuals smoke cigarettes sold by particular companies. The theory here is that the fossil fuel companies have injured everyone in the entire world now and in the future by means of any business operations with any customers, with the chain of causation running through the atmosphere and climate of the entire planet,” Dan McLaughlin wrote in an article for the National Review.

“It is completely ridiculous,” Stu comments. “But those cases are now popping up.”

One oil company is being sued for the 2021 death of a woman, Juliana Leon, during a heatwave. Her daughter has sued seven oil and gas companies claiming wrongful death, with her suit alleging that “they failed to warn the public of the dangers of the planet-warming emissions produced by their products and that they funded decades-long campaigns to obscure the scientific consensus on global warming.”

“All of this just popped out there as if it’s a complete fact,” Stu says, noting that Leon began to go after the oil companies after being approached by a nonprofit group called the Center for Climate Integrity, which helps assemble and promote cases against large oil and gas companies.

“So this is just a left-wing typical operation here,” Stu says.

The supposed victim, Leon, was on her way back from a doctor’s appointment after having bariatric surgery two weeks prior, when the air conditioning in her car broke.

“So she had just gone through a very traumatic event with her body, she was quite vulnerable to heat stroke, and of course, the car’s AC broke,” Stu explains, adding, “Not only had she had the surgery, she hadn’t eaten any food in two weeks. Which, again, would probably make you very vulnerable.”

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Officer meets machete-wielding male running at her with a little more firepower, just-released bodycam video shows

The Houston Police Department last week released bodycam video showing officers pursuing and shooting a male armed with a machete on May 16.

Police received a call around 3:25 p.m. from a Family Dollar in the 5100 block of Almeda Road regarding a male who stole items from the store — and then threatened employees while brandishing a knife while on the way out, KPRC-TV reported.

‘Stop! Put your hands up!’

The suspect was identified as 33-year-old Earnest Duke Harrison, the station said.

Officers encountered Harrison at the Southmore Boulevard bridge over Highway 288, KPRC said.

The department’s video includes bodycam clips from three officers. The officers pursued the suspect from both ends of the bridge.

The officer closest to Harrison runs toward him while yelling, “Stop! Put your hands up!” But Harrison keeps running toward the officer while holding the machete aloft in his right hand.

RELATED: Trio of thugs wanted in beating death of lone victim at gas station. Video shows several people just watching attack happen.

Image source: Houston Police Department

The officer — whom police identified as Officer L. Jumonji — fired at Harrison and hit him, the station said.

RELATED: Crooks caught on video punching, pistol-whipping man in broad daylight near crowded park. Again, bystanders don’t do a thing.

Image source: Houston Police Department

Video shows Harrison immediately collapsing on the bridge, after which he’s disarmed and handcuffed.

RELATED: Home invasion victim fights armed burglar, then turns the tables on him — takes crook’s gun away, shoots him dead with it

Image source: Houston Police Department

The officer who opened fire as well as other officers are seen on the bridge rendering aid to the suspect. After they roll the suspect on his back, one officer notices the suspect suffered a “gunshot in the head.” By the end of the bodycam video, five officers are seen on the bridge.

Paramedics took Harrison to the hospital in critical condition, KPRC said, adding that the officer who shot the suspect was not hurt.

Doctors pronounced Harrison dead on May 20, the station said.

Police told KPRC that Officer Jumonji has been with the department since December 2021.

“As is customary in HPD officer-involved shooting incidents in the Houston city limits, this case is being investigated by the HPD Special Investigations Unit, the Internal Affairs Division, and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office,” police added to the station.

Blaze News on Monday asked an employee at the Family Dollar in question for comment about the robbery, but the employee said, “We’re not able to talk about any of that,” as the matter is “still under investigation.”

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Antifa mobilizes in the Pacific Northwest to attack DHS locations and agents

TUKWILA, Wash. — While most attention was on the No Kings march in Seattle on Saturday, a different crowd had gathered at a Department of Homeland Security building 15 minutes outside the city. The group of around 100, mostly dressed in black bloc, had spilt into two groups to physically block the north and south driveways to prevent government vehicles from leaving.

Not only were Antifa agitators using their bodies to block the driveway, they had created makeshift barricades out of traffic signs and random materials found nearby. At first, only three officers with the Federal Protective Service were outside keeping watch over the crowd on the south end of the building, with the Antifa crowd heckling them for hours.

Suddenly, members of the Tukwila Police Department arrived on scene to order the gathering to move from the driveway. The Antifa mob, who was facing the DHS building, turned around and refused to move. The Tukwila officers went into the crowd, firing crowd-control munitions to force the unruly throng off of the driveway.

While Los Angeles was the first city to experience prolonged riots after a federal operation earlier this month, it has inspired far-left radicals to get out into the streets once again.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents came out of the building to support the local police, moving in from behind to clear the road. At least one rioter was arrested by federal agents. Federal vehicles raced out once the driveway was clear.

The rioters did not completely scatter after being forced to the sidewalk. The Tukwila police officers were attacked as they withdrew from the scene, and the CBP agents went back inside the building. The Antifa participants rebuilt the barricade with the few pieces that were usable.

RELATED: Republicans clash with Democratic lawmakers defending violent anti-ICE rioters

— (@)

The scene that played out near Seattle is part of the growing violent response to the Trump administration’s massive illegal immigrant crackdown. While Los Angeles was the first city to experience prolonged riots after a federal operation earlier this month, it has inspired far-left radicals to get out into the streets once again.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Oregon, which was one of the many places targeted by Antifa in 2020, has been attacked on a near daily basis this past week. Videos from this weekend showed DHS agents having to confront the Antifa rioters.

RELATED: Trump orders ICE to ramp up deportations in Dem-controlled cities following MAGA backlash over selective pause on raids

Trump orders ICE to ramp up deportations in Dem-controlled cities following MAGA backlash over selective pause on raids Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

“Four officers were injured. Secretary Noem’s message to the rioters is clear: you will not stop us or slow us down. ICE and our federal law enforcement partners will continue to enforce the law. If you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” DHS said on X.

— (@)

The radicals in Portland have gone as far as to post flyers with the names, pictures, and addresses of federal agents around the far-left city.

It remains to be seen how long the far-left will keep up the momentum. With the continued deployment of U.S. Marines and National Guardsmen in Los Angeles, all eyes are now on how the populations will react to President Donald Trump making it clear that immigration enforcement operations will proceed at heightened levels.

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Trump orders ICE to ramp up deportations in Dem-controlled cities following MAGA backlash over selective pause on raids

Leftists were evidently unable to persuade President Donald Trump to reverse course on deporting illegal aliens with their recent rioting, demonstrations, and attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

The president announced Sunday evening in a post on Truth Social that he was ordering ICE officers to lean into their mass deportation campaign.

“Every day, the Brave Men and Women of ICE are subjected to violence, harassment, and even threats from Radical Democrat Politicians, but nothing will stop us from executing our mission, and fulfilling our Mandate to the American People,” wrote Trump. “ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this TRUTH, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest Mass Deportation Program in History.”

‘Large employers are more concerned than their counterparts about ICE/DHS enforcement.’

Trump indicated that success will depend upon an expansion of detention and deportation efforts in America’s largest cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, which he noted were not only temporarily home to millions of illegal aliens but “the core of the Democrat Power Center, where they use Illegal Aliens to expand their Voter Base, cheat in Elections, and grow the Welfare State, robbing good paying Jobs and Benefits from Hardworking American Citizens.”

“The American People want our Cities, Schools, and Communities to be SAFE and FREE from Illegal Alien Crime, Conflict, and Chaos,” continued Trump. “That’s why I have directed my entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort, and reverse the tide of Mass Destruction Migration that has turned once Idyllic Towns into scenes of Third World Dystopia. Our Federal Government will continue to be focused on the REMIGRATION of Aliens to the places from where they came, and preventing the admission of ANYONE who undermines the domestic tranquility of the United States.”

Trump’s Truth Social order comes just days after he sparked controversy among elements of his base with the suggestion that his administration might soften or suspend its crackdown on illegal aliens in the hotel, leisure, and agricultural sectors, which have apparently complained about losing “very good, long time workers.”

RELATED: It’s not a riot, it’s an invasion

BENJAMIN HANSON/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

During an event where he signed resolutions barring California electric vehicle rules, Trump told reporters, “They’re not citizens, but they’ve turned out to be, you know, great. And we’re going to have to do something about that.”

— (@)

The employment law firm Littler published the results of a survey of 349 executives, in-house lawyers, and senior human resource professionals across various industries last month, revealing that the Trump administration’s clampdown on illegal immigration was apparently top of mind.

“Large employers are more concerned than their counterparts about ICE/DHS enforcement (84% expect a significant or moderate impact on their workplaces) and workforce staffing challenges (69% expressed concern, versus 58% overall),” said the report.

‘We will follow the president’s direction.’

Where retail/hospitality employers were concerned, 89% of respondents indicated ICE and Department of Homeland Security enforcement would have a significant or moderate impact on their workplaces.

Immigration enforcement raids would similarly be disruptive in the agricultural sector. After all, 42% of hired crop farm workers in the U.S. were not legally authorized to work in the country as of 2022, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

Numerous commentators on the right suggested that such a course of action, which some categorized as amnesty for illegal aliens, would negatively impact Trump’s legacy and undermine the agenda he campaigned on.

RELATED: Majority of US employers polled say immigration enforcement will impact their workplaces, cause staffing shortages

Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images

This backlash apparently prompted Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins to assure the MAGA coalition on Sunday that the administration is keen on transitioning to a “stable and LEGAL agricultural workforce,” although she hinted that the process would be drawn out so as to avoid “severe disruptions to our food supply.”

On the basis of an internal email and the say-so of three U.S. officials with knowledge of the guidance, the New York Times reported Monday that the Trump administration has directed ICE to largely pause raids on farms, hotels, restaurants, and meatpacking plants.

“We will follow the president’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” stated Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the DHS, which reportedly confirmed the guidance.

Blaze News reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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Over 98% of Americans ignore No Kings’ tired tantrum

Backed by nearly 200 groups with billions of dollars in collective resources, the No Kings protests on June 14 aimed to reignite defeated Democrats by mobilizing them against President Donald Trump. Yet, the rallies fell flat, with over 98% of Americans staying home, revealing a discouraged progressive base struggling to find footing.

No Kings’ organizers touted the nationwide rallies as a triumph, celebrating a turnout of about five million, according to the unconfirmed best estimates of the American Civil Liberties Union.

‘Today’s protests are a resounding message that people across the nation will not be intimidated by President Trump’s fear tactics.’

However, against the backdrop of such immense investments, the attendance revealed the left’s widespread protest fatigue and lack of direction, with most Americans paying little attention to the gatherings.

No Kings aims to mobilize 3.5% of the U.S. population. However, its well-funded and meticulously organized Saturday protests reached just under 1.5% by its own estimates.

RELATED: Soros-tied No Kings protesters plot to sabotage US Army’s 250th anniversary parade

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

“We’re inspired by the 3.5% principle: It only takes 3.5% of the population engaging in sustained, strategic protest against authoritarianism to achieve significant political change. Everything we do from here on out is grounded in three core commitments: staying in the fight, taking concrete action today, and investing in the long-term,” the No Kings website reads.

The ACLU, one of the No Kings’ many sponsors, hailed the rallies as a success, noting that it was the “largest mass mobilization since President Trump’s return to office,” with 2,100 rallies held across the nation.

ACLU Chief Political & Advocacy Officer Deirdre Schifeling stated, “Today’s protests are a resounding message that people across the nation will not be intimidated by President Trump’s fear tactics.”

RELATED: Leftist No Kings event in Arizona draws older crowd with patriotic symbols

Photo by Jay L Clendenin/Getty Images

Ahead of the scheduled protests on Saturday, Blaze News senior politics editor Christopher Bedford highlighted the No Kings’ broader effort to once again inspire and mobilize the rudderless Democratic Party.

“Everything you’re seeing now — from the senator from California lunging through agents at the Secretary of Homeland Security, the rioting in Los Angeles, or the congresswoman allegedly assaulting a police officer in New Jersey — all of these things are intentional provocations in the hopes of setting something off and triggering an overreaction because they can’t get their own grassroots motivated,” Bedford stated.

No Kings plans to host a virtual meeting Monday evening to discuss the next steps for “building a movement” as it seeks to create sustained, nationwide momentum.

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​News, No kings, No kings protest, American civil liberties union, Aclu, Protests, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Politics 

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The Democrats’ key to success

The Democratic Party is lost at sea. Locked into an increasingly radical ideology, it barrels toward the abyss like Captain Ahab — mad, obsessive, and unwilling to turn back. In this voyage, changing course would mean betrayal. And the loudest voices aboard are still cheering the captain on.

That leaves Democrats with one strategy: Provoke confrontation and bait Republicans into overreaction. They want the fight — and they plan to weaponize it.

Democrats can’t lift themselves up, so they need to drag the other side down.

You can see it every single week. In the streets of Los Angeles. In Capitol Hill hearings. At detention centers in New Jersey. And in the press rooms of California.

Democrat California Sen. Alex Padilla’s meltdown and detainment at a Kristi Noem press event on Thursday was just the latest in intentional provocations where consequences are the goal.

This wasn’t some Jim Acosta act or some heckler’s fun. And in any event, why would the senior senator from the Golden State need to heckle when he’s one of the most powerful people in the country? He didn’t. He needed to get arrested on camera, preferably roughed up a bit.

The same is true of LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), the grown woman and member of the U.S. House of Representatives who allegedly rushed a Department of Homeland Security detainment center for dangerous deportees and got into a shoving match with cops. The goal wasn’t to yell at the working men and women in badges. She needed to get arrested on camera, preferably roughed up a bit.

Even Stacey Plaskett, the adult congresswoman from the U.S. Virgin Islands, got in on the fun, posting: “This t**t, c**t, pum pum [sic] whatever you want to call it represents an organ that gives LIFE and is resilienr [sic] so thanks for the compliment. I can take one interruption but [Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent was out of control. And…. I know I look good for my age but baby I’m post menopausal [sic] and it still works,” followed by cherry emojis.

She sent that, presumably sober, in the middle of the afternoon in response to an anonymous X user with a few hundred followers who had rudely suggested that the women of Congress were experiencing the emotional symptoms associated with menstrual cycles. What could she possibly have been doing but attempting to provoke an offensive reaction from online Republicans?

Or the city of Los Angeles, where wealthy Democratic businessmen and nonprofits worked to equip and back fiery and violent rioting by party activists and Mexican-flag-waving illegal migrants. Their goal wasn’t to protect the communities they ravaged — it was to trigger an overuse of force from the police or National Guard that could be caught on camera and played on repeat.

Now they are doxxing the names and addresses of ICE agents and officials, in the hopes of sparking violent reprisals against law enforcement. Do they think they’ll win against the federal government? Of course not — they need an overreaction to scream about fascism and dictatorships and whatnot.

It’s a common strategy in the age of mass media, employed by losing and outnumbered sides in political battles and in wars the world over. Martyrdom, both real and symbolic, is attractive; it gains sympathy. The trick for the side in power is not to fall for the trap.

Remember the Tea Party days? Those rallies drew hundreds of thousands of people who moved about more peacefully and respectfully than any major protest movement in modern D.C. history. They even picked up their own trash. It was so safe that the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) led a group of his colleagues from the Congressional Black Caucus through the midst of one large protest.

They were hoping to be attacked or insulted, and Democratic Party staffers had their cameras at the ready. No one attacked them, so Lewis claimed they’d been called the “N-word.” The late conservative provocateur and publisher Andrew Breitbart offered $10,000 to anyone who could produce video evidence of this occurring. He kept his money. That didn’t stop the claim from being repeated by news outlets all over the world, of course. It was just like Lewis’ Bloody Sunday march in Selma, Alabama!

Today, the corporate media’s power to spin up Jussie Smollett-style hoaxes is the lowest it’s been in modern history. More, the discipline and restraint of frontline officers and President Donald Trump’s administration have been admirable.

Padilla, who didn’t identify himself as a U.S. senator until he was already being confronted by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s security, was initially blocked, turned away, then only temporarily detained when he turned aggressively back toward to the secretary. Even a security expert CNN featured agreed this was well within protocol, to the host’s chagrin. After the incident, Noem met with him.

Officers showed similar restraint in dealing with LaMonica McIver’s alleged physical attack. She was later charged by the Department of Justice after the proper procedures were followed.

Stacey Plaskett’s foul-mouthed and extremely graphic online meltdown was met with awkward silence.

While National Guard and Marines were deployed to defend federal agents and buildings in Los Angeles, they were not deputized by a president who was well within his rights to declare an insurrection.

So far, no one has taken the bait, but Democrats will keep on trying. They need this confrontation. If the Democrats remain unwilling to change course on a politically unpopular stance, they need to make the other side’s actually popular stance less popular. They need to change the opinions of a kindhearted public, and they need violent overreactions to do so. They can’t lift themselves up, so they need to drag the other side down.

They’re literally playing with fire this time. When they commit assault and back the burning of neighborhoods or target federal officers for street retaliation, they’re engaging in a far more dangerous game than making up a racial slur in Washington.

Remember: Ahab eventually found the whale he was looking for.

Blaze News: Florida sheriff makes clear to radicals that riots won’t go their way: ‘We will kill you’

Blaze News: Soros-tied No Kings protesters plot to sabotage US Army’s 250th anniversary parade

Blaze News: Appeals court ends Newsom’s gloating, returns control of National Guard to Trump only hours after first ruling

Blaze News: Manhunt under way after illegal aliens riot, escape from Newark ICE facility where Democrat allegedly assaulted federal agent

Blaze News: Anti-ICE protester exposed as serial left-wing activist since 1980s

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‘They were part of our family’: Illegal worker accused of pulling box cutters on ICE agents during raid on meatpacking plant

A raid on a meatpacking facility in Nebraska led to nearly half of the workforce being apprehended by immigration agents.

Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha saw 107 of its employees targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agentsl; 70 eventually were detained by ICE regarding their immigration status.

Some of the illegal workers took extreme measures in an attempt to evade the sweep. One allegedly threatened federal agents.

‘These are good, good people. They really truly are, and they’re part of our family.’

Some of the meatpacking employees hid in rafters of the building, which is located in an industrial area. Other workers hid in walk-in freezers and required emergency medical assistance to check for any immediate safety concerns, NewsNation reported.

One man took it upon himself to allegedly threaten federal agents with box cutters when they attempted to remove him from a wall compartment into which he had apparently barricaded himself.

The man is now facing charges for assaulting a federal officer.

RELATED: President Trump has constitutional and statutory authority to use the National Guard domestically

An ICE agent told NewsNation that the civil search warrant was executed due to “fake IDs, fraudulent IDs, or some type of combination of IDs that weren’t real” among workers at the facility.

However, Glenn Valley Foods President Chad Hartmann mourned the exodus of his illegal workers, saying some had worked there for more than 15 years.

“There’s no playbook” on how to move forward, Hartmann told NBC News. The company president then compared hiring new employees to replace the illegal workers to replacing a family member.

“They were part of our family, and they were taken away,” Hartmann said.

RELATED: ‘Don’t believe what you see,’ says the Democrats’ queen of denial

— (@)

According to NewsNation, Glenn Valley Foods owner Gary Rohwer said he used the government’s E-Verify system to check the status of his employees, but claimed he was deceived by those who used stolen identities.

“I don’t understand why in the hell they were using false ID when they can get a visa,” Rohwer said, according to NewsNation. “I was dumbfounded. These are good, good people. They really truly are, and they’re part of our family.”

A federal agent told the outlet that Rohwer was indeed a “victim” of workers presenting fraudulent documents and that the government hoped to teach the company how to better process potential hires.

The business owner is not facing charges.

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Democratic Party’s collapse continues: Teachers’ union boss Randi Weingarten ditches DNC after 23 years

The Democratic Party is deeply unpopular, at odds with most of the electorate on several key issues, estranged from the working class, and roiled by infighting. It’s becoming increasingly clear from recent personnel changes that hatred for President Donald Trump is not enough to hold the party together.

American Federation of Teachers boss Randi Weingarten, the childless leftist who helped undermine the mental and physical health of a generation of kids by fighting to keep them out of the classroom during the pandemic, has announced that she is leaving the Democratic National Committee.

Like David Hogg — the gun-grab activist who announced Wednesday that he was not running again for the DNC vice chair position seemingly stolen from him by Democratic election deniers — Weingarten appears to have an issue with DNC Chairman Ken Martin and the current state of play within the party.

Weeks before her hysterical speech at the No Kings rally in Philadelphia, Weingarten noted in a June 5 letter to Martin obtained by Politico that she is honored to have served as an at-large member of the DNC since 2002, on its rules and bylaws committee for the past 15 years, and as a delegate to each of the Democratic conventions for the past three decades.

‘It’s flabbergasting to me that a senior DNC member, much less one as supposedly committed as Randi, would take the moment to make it all about her.’

“While I am proud to be a Democrat, I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more and more of our communities,” wrote the lesbian union boss, who collects an annual salary of well over $450,000.

She concluded her letter by emphasizing that the AFT will be “especially engaged in the 2025-26 elections.”

RELATED: Democrats are just noticing a long, deep-running problem

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Blaze News reached out to Weingarten for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Martin, the longest-serving chairman in the history of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, campaigned on disabusing Americans of the understanding that “the Republican Party best represents the interests of the working class and the poor, and the Democratic Party is the party of the wealthy and the elites” and uniting “families across, age, background and class.”

Weingarten, under whose leadership the AFT has championed divisive race-obsessive initiatives and narratives, backed one of the losers in Martin’s DNC chairmanship race, Ben Wikler. The AFT boss lauded Wikler in a joint statement for his “inclusive leadership” and for his “ability to unite the party during a tumultuous time.”

RELATED: American kids’ worsening reading skills signal continued fallout from school closures

Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images

The union boss’ issue with Martin may be a lot more personal than his victory over Wikler. After becoming DNC chair, Martin kicked Weingarten out of her position on the DNC’s rules and bylaws committee.

A longtime Democratic strategist complained to The Hill about the timing of Weingarten’s resignation ahead of the No Kings demonstrations held across the country on Saturday.

“Especially when the country just showed up by the millions across all demographic and geographic boundaries to take on Trump grassroots-style, it’s flabbergasting to me that a senior DNC member, much less one as supposedly committed as Randi, would take the moment to make it all about her,” said the strategist.

Lee Saunders, the leftist president of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, also declined his nomination to remain on the DNC, telling the New York Times in a statement that the decision “comes after deep reflection and deliberate conversation about the path forward for our union and the working people we represent.”

The news of Weingarten and Saunders’ departures comes on the heels of David Hogg’s unceremonious removal as DNC vice chair.

Hogg, who enjoyed backing from Weingarten, was elected the Democratic Party’s youngest vice chairman on Feb. 1. Since the immutable characteristics of the winners of the February election were apparently undesirable, party elites declared Hogg’s election null and void, then removed him last week through a virtual vote of 294 to 99.

In a long-winded thread explaining why he would not run again for the position just stolen from him, Hogg bashed the Democratic Party, claiming that Democratic leaders suffer a “serious lack of vision” and are “asleep at the wheel,” and said that if Democrats “don’t show our country how we are dramatically changing and provide an alternative vision for the future as a party, we will continue to lose.”

He also alluded to his “fundamental disagreement about the role” of vice chair with Martin, who reportedly subjected the 25-year-old leftist to a tongue-lashing ahead of his removal.

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Christian LA Dodgers pitcher defies Pride Night with subtle in-game protest

Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher Clayton Kershaw continued his disagreement with the team’s celebration of gay pride with his own religious protest Friday night.

Kershaw has taken issue with the Dodgers’ support of LGBT activists for years, especially in 2023, when the franchise invited anti-Christian activist group the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to celebrate Pride Night at Dodger Stadium. The activist group consists of drag queens who dress as caricatures of Catholic nuns.

The pitcher said he felt the group was making fun of his faith and called for the Dodgers to host a day in support of Christian families. During Dodgers’ Pride Night on Friday, Kershaw’s battle continued as cameras caught him in the dugout performing a subtle yet obvious protest.

‘I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions.’

Kershaw was indeed wearing the Dodgers’ Pride hat but wrote a Bible passage right next to the rainbow-colored team logo.

“Gen 9:12-16,” Kershaw’s hat read.

In the King James Bible, the passage states the following:

And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

RELATED: ‘It’s a blatant anti-Catholic message’: Nationals pitcher blasts Dodgers organization ahead of LA team’s Pride Night

The Dodgers lost Friday’s game against the San Francisco Giants 6-2, but Kershaw did not pitch that night. On Saturday, however, Kershaw got the nod and threw seven scoreless innings, giving up just three hits with five strikeouts; the Dodgers won 11-5.

The 37-year-old has not spoken out this year in the same manner he did in 2023, when he provided vocal opposition to what the Dodgers were promoting.

“I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions,” Kershaw told the L.A. Times that year. “It has nothing to do with anything other than that. I just don’t think that, no matter what religion you are, you should make fun of somebody else’s religion. So that’s something that I definitely don’t agree with.”

At the same time, Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen said in 2023 that the activist group was “mocking the religious habits of nuns” and “mocking what we hold most deeply.”

RELATED: Blake Treinen denounces Dodgers’ endorsement of anti-Christian bigotry: ‘My convictions in Jesus Christ will always come first’

The 12th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night at Dodger Stadium on June 13, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Sarah Morris/Getty Images

While the Dodgers agreed to host a Christian Faith and Family Day in July 2023, it does not appear to be scheduled on the team’s calendar again for 2025.

The team will, however, celebrate Law Enforcement Night on August 17.

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​Fearless, Dodgers, Clayton kershaw, Pride night, Lgbt, California, Christianity, Christians, Sports 

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Leftist No Kings event in Arizona draws older crowd with patriotic symbols

Scottsdale, Ariz. — Saturday morning, progressive activists across the nation protested against President Donald Trump and the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary parade in Washington, D.C.

Blaze News was on the ground in Scottsdale, Arizona, where one of the roughly 2,000 No Kings demonstrations occurred.

‘Stop the coup.’

Rally-goers were set to meet at the southwest corner of Scottsdale Road and Camelback Road, directly across the street from Scottsdale Fashion Square, a shopping center. In May 2020, this mall endured millions of dollars in damages during the Black Lives Matter riots, leading to dozens of arrests for looting and criminal damage. Those events left lingering fears among some locals that Saturday’s protest could spark similar destruction.

On Saturday morning, a few hundred protesters gathered in the area, spreading across all sides of the intersection and occasionally spilling into nearby blocks. Concrete barriers kept the crowd, which mostly included adults in their 50s and older, from blocking traffic.

RELATED: Soros-tied No Kings protesters plot to sabotage US Army’s 250th anniversary parade

Image Source: Blaze News

A strong law enforcement presence monitored the area, with local police patrolling the perimeter and periodically moving through the crowd, maintaining order without incident.

Protesters attending the No Kings rallies, which were reportedly backed by 198 groups with $2.1 billion in annual revenue, were encouraged to show up at the events with American flags to “reclaim” national symbols.

In Arizona, protesters lined the sidewalks with stars and stripes and signs criticizing Trump and Elon Musk. Several flags and signs featured “1776” and other patriotic imagery and rhetoric typically seen at conservative rallies.

At one point, protesters played Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” while one demonstrator held a sign reading, “No one is illegal.”

Other signs declared, “Oppression is the mask of fear,” “Hands off our NPR,” and “Stop the coup.”

One protester’s sign, reading “American made guillotines ‘fit for a king,'” stood out as the most provocative.

RELATED: ‘Vulgar display of weakness’: Patriots celebrate US Army parade as Democrats seethe

Image Source: Blaze News

Many passing vehicles honked their horns in support of the gathering.

While there did not appear to be any significant presence of counter-protesters, several individuals with pro-Trump decals and flags drove by to show their support for the president.

The protest, which remained peaceful, largely fizzled out by the early afternoon.

Several other No Kings demonstrations occurred across the Phoenix metropolitan area. Local news estimated that “thousands” participated.

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​News, Arizona, Scottsdale arizona, No kings, No kings protest, Donald trump, Trump, Us army, U.s. army, Politics 

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‘Don’t believe what you see,’ says the Democrats’ queen of denial

Don’t trust your lying eyes — trust Maxine Waters. She talked to some people.

Lady Macbeth understood politics. Her advice was chillingly simple: “Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under’t.” Appear harmless. Conceal the dagger. Say one thing, mean another. Democrat politicians in Los Angeles have followed that script — not to serve truth, but to manage appearances. Their goal is not persuasion but manipulation: Craft a narrative, distract the public, appeal to empathy, and most of all, get you to surrender your ability to think for yourself. Once that’s done, they can do as they please — with your property, your freedom, and your country.

A radical leftist party that tells us not to think for ourselves or believe what we see, but instead blindly accept its cultural Marxist narrative about how the United States is evil.

But every so often, one of them slips. Not on purpose, of course. Truth is a dangerous thing for such people, and when it leaks out, it’s an accident. Still, when it happens, it’s a gift — an unfiltered glimpse into the worldview and strategy they typically hide behind layers of euphemism and doublespeak.

Such a moment happened with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) when she uttered the now-immortal words: “Don’t believe what you see.” She meant it. And it tells you everything you need to know about the mind of the modern social justice politician.

Let’s set the scene. Fires rage across Los Angeles. A man stands triumphantly on a car, waving a Mexican flag, while other cars burn around him. The air is thick with smoke and shattered glass. You don’t need a Ph.D. in criminal justice to conclude that this isn’t a peaceful gathering of concerned citizens asking to debate policy.

And yet, speaking in the midst of smoldering chaos, Waters and her fellow Democrat officials — Governor Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — chant the same refrain: There’s nothing to see here.

Waters, attempting to rewrite reality in real time, gave us this gem:

Even those who were out of step with what we are advocating — peaceful protest — did not create any violence. Nobody was shot. Nobody was killed. … I was on the street, I know … talking to people about what happened. … Don’t just rely on what you’ve been told or the few incidents that you saw.

In a single breath, she accomplishes several feats of logical acrobatics. First, she insists there was no violence — while conceding at the very outset that some number of demonstrators were “out of step.” That means, by definition, violent people were doing violent things. Second, she defines “non-violent” as “no one got shot or killed.” By that standard, you can flip police cars, punch officers, loot stores, and set city blocks ablaze — and it’s all perfectly peaceful. As long as no bullets fly and no one dies, the left gives it a moral stamp of non-violent approval.

But here’s the true heart of the message: Don’t believe your eyes.

She admits there were “a few incidents,” and yes, you may have seen video evidence. But don’t trust it. Trust her. Forget your senses. Forget what you saw, what your neighbors saw, what your newsfeed overflowed with for hours. Instead, cling to the narrative. Believe her and the people she talked to.

And this is not an isolated slip. It is the modus operandi of the modern left. Doublespeak is the official dialect of the progressive ruling class. Every statement is a contradiction wrapped in a euphemism, dipped in good intentions, and served with moral superiority.

Yes, that’s a man in a dress with poorly applied lipstick, but he’s a woman. Don’t believe your eyes or what biology says.

Yes, Democrat-run cities are poorer, filled with homeless encampments, and more dangerous — but that’s called standing with the oppressed, not a failure of governance.

Yes, working hard, being on time, studying math, and avoiding vice used to be good advice, but now it’s structural racism.

Yes, universities are teaching young adults to hate their neighbors and live in a permanent state of envy, but it’s all in the name of social justice.

Yes, they committed crimes, but it is the policeman’s fault for showing up and catching them.

Again and again, the left presents a world turned upside down and demands that you call it progress.

RELATED: It’s not a riot, it’s an invasion

Blaze Media Illustration

We should not be surprised. Scripture warns us of those who call good evil and evil good. The leftist narrative demands this kind of reversal — because it cannot survive reality. If you believe your eyes, the spell is broken. If you see the results of their policies, the revolution begins to look like a disaster.

And here’s the part they never account for: the darkness in their own hearts. They promise to build a better society, a just society, but their foundation is not virtue or repentance — it is envy, resentment, and the lust for control. They want to help others, but they can’t even help themselves. They promise Marxist utopias but live in a darkened heart.

Where conservatives ask the government to fulfill its constitutional duty — especially to “ensure domestic tranquility” and “provide for the common defense” — leftists ask the government to make their lives feel better. All of their anger at life and frustration over unfulfilled hopes gets externalized as someone else’s fault. It’s projected onto the United States as the oppressor, the colonizing empire. That Mexico sold California to the United States — after briefly owning it for about 20 years, and all over 150 years ago — is somehow the explanation for why life in Southern California isn’t what they hoped for in 2025. And if it isn’t the United States, then it’s “whiteness” or “heteronormativity.”

They read Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” not as satire, but as a policy guide.

The riots play this out right in front of us: people lashing out at the system, not because they’ve thought carefully about justice, but because they’ve never learned to take responsibility for their lives. Their suffering must always be someone else’s fault — usually a neighbor who worked harder, obeyed the law, or believed in God. Democrat officials appeal to pity for people who are facing hardships and blame the United States, while not once mentioning the life choices made by people.

Meanwhile, Karen Bass tells us, “Everything is fine” — right before instituting an 8 p.m. curfew downtown. Maxine Waters tells us, “Don’t believe what you see,” even as she stands amid the wreckage.

So no, I don’t believe what they say. I believe what I see. And what I see is this: a radical leftist party that tells us not to think for ourselves or believe what we see, but instead blindly accept its cultural Marxist narrative about how the United States is evil. I refuse.

​Opinion & analysis, Illegal immigration, Los angeles, Maxine waters, Riots, Mass deportations, Karen bass, Donald trump, Curfew, Ice, Immigration and customs enforcement, Gavin newsom, National guard, Marines, Cultural marxism, Mexican flag 

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Meet Dr. Ann Burgess: The nurse who profiled serial killers for the FBI

Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess — American forensic and psychiatric nurse, researcher, and professor at Boston College — is renowned for pioneering criminal profiling with the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit. Her interviews with notorious killers like Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and Ed Kemper — specifically her focus on analyzing victim selection and psychopathic patterns — revolutionized investigative approaches.

In the 1970s and ’80s, Dr. Burgess worked with the FBI to develop profiling techniques that aided in the eventual apprehensions of several serial killers, including Dennis Rader, the “BTK Strangler,” and Gary Ridgway, the “Green River Killer.”

Recently, American stand-up comedian Yoshi Obayashi visited Dr. Burgess to discuss her incredible career. On the latest episode of “Normal World,” Yoshi joined Dave Landau and the panel to share his experience visiting the woman who inspired the highly popular Netflix series “Mindhunter.”

Yoshi calls Dr. Burgess “the most remarkable person” he’s ever met — “equal if not greater” than the agents who established the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit.

He shares the hilarious anecdote of reading Dr. Burgess’ book “Rape, Crisis and Recovery,” which displays the word “Rape” in much larger print than the rest of the title, on a late-night train in New York City. His choice of material earned him some hostile glances from fellow passengers.

“I’m just kind of talking to myself,” saying things like, “Oh my god, that’s true,” and, “This is great,” but “I didn’t realize the whole time I was saying that, people were seeing me reading a book called ‘Rape,’” Yoshi laughs. “It just looked like I was learning how to rape.”

The book, however, is no laughing matter. Dr. Burgess was inspired to write it from her days serving as a nurse at Boston City Hospital in the early 1970s, when she noticed a high number of rape victims seeking care. The issue, she observed, was poorly understood by both the public and professionals, leading to the blame often being placed on the victims.

She, along with fellow nurse Lynda Lytle Holmstrom, co-founded one of the first hospital-based rape crisis counseling programs and conducted groundbreaking research, during which they interviewed hundreds of victims.

Impressed by her work, Robert Hazelwood, a supervisory special agent with the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, asked Burgess to present her findings on victimology and the psychological impacts of sexual violence to FBI agents in training.

Yoshi says that the room full of male agents initially dismissed Burgess.

“They were just kind of smirking and not paying any sort of respect to her,” but once it became “clear that she [knew] what she was talking about,” when she “started showing pictures” of women who had been severely beaten and raped, the agents “got really serious,” says Yoshi. “They didn’t realize how serious a problem this was.”

Dr. Burgess’ work helped agents better understand the “sexual violence” that often accompanies serial murders.

“It has a lot to do with fantasy and things like that,” says Yoshi.

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more ‘Normal World’?

To enjoy more whimsical satire, topical sketches, and comedic discussions from comedians Dave Landau and 1/4 Black Garrett, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Normal world, Blazetv, Blaze media, Ed kemper, Ted bundy, Dr. ann burgess, Ann burgess, Fbi, Criminal profiling, Fbi behavioral sciences unit, John wayne gacy, Serial killers, Mindhunter, Dennis rader 

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Task forces won’t cut it. Trump needs a truth commission.

No one’s cheering the pace of accountability since the Biden administration ended. Not even those who promised it. Bureaucratic obstacles, legacy systems built to resist scrutiny, and a federal culture allergic to transparency have slowed progress — sometimes to a crawl.

The reality is worse than expected. Even those with the best intentions have found it nearly impossible to extract and expose the truth. That failure isn’t just frustrating. It’s unacceptable.

A commission on political persecution would offer Americans what they’ve long been denied: justice, reconciliation, and a full accounting of the truth.

One of President Trump’s key promises for his second term was accountability — real, lasting de-weaponization of the federal government. His success will be judged by whether he delivers on that pledge.

Several months in, it’s clear the current approach may not be enough. What’s needed isn’t more subcommittees or working groups. What’s needed is a Trump-style solution: a big, beautiful operation designed to supersede the siloed efforts now underway.

Every new administration faces the same dilemma: clean up the last one’s messes while managing the day-to-day chaos of federal governance. Cabinet secretaries and agency heads walk into jobs already on fire. Few have the time, staff, or political will to launch sweeping internal investigations — especially when they’re tasked with running the agencies they’d be probing.

And time is the enemy. As months pass, political momentum cools. Distance sets in. Memories fade. I saw this firsthand during Trump’s first term. Having worked on the House Oversight Committee during the Obama years, I believed we would finally get answers about Benghazi, Operation Fast and Furious, and Hillary Clinton’s emails. We didn’t. Too many in Washington shrugged and said it was time to “move on.”

That can’t happen again.

The Biden administration oversaw one of the most sweeping and coordinated campaigns of federal abuse in modern U.S. history. Nearly every major department played a role.

The Department of Justice targeted pro-life activists and traditional Catholics. The FBI chased down January 6 defendants over misdemeanor charges and shattered lives in the process. Federal health agencies turned Orwellian, assuming censorship powers once considered unthinkable. Immigration authorities weaponized the law against citizens while rewarding illegal entry.

Meanwhile, intelligence agencies manipulated information, partnered with tech companies to censor dissent, and colluded with legacy media to shape a false public narrative. All of this operated with one shared goal: crush political opposition, and above all, destroy Donald Trump.

This wasn’t rogue behavior. It was systemic. And systemic abuse demands a systemic response.

A few scattered task forces won’t cut it. Today, we have the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group, a task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias, and another to combat anti-Semitism. Fine. But these efforts lack coordination, power, and focus.

They should be consolidated — or at least centralized — under a larger, empowered investigative body.

RELATED: Democrats smear, stall, and spin to stop Trump’s DC cleanup

francescoch via iStock/Getty Images

This new entity must have one mission: hold the weaponizers accountable. It must have real teeth — subpoena power, prosecutorial authority, the ability to grant immunity for witness testimony, and the mandate to provide restitution for the Americans harmed by the Biden administration’s abuses.

We’ve seen this before. The United States has convened truth-seeking bodies to investigate civil rights violations. Other democratic nations have formed “truth commissions” to heal from periods of state overreach.

A commission on political persecution wouldn’t just fulfill one of Trump’s key promises. It would offer Americans what they’ve long been denied: justice, reconciliation, and a full accounting of the truth.

If Trump wants to succeed where others failed, he must go big. Not with more bureaucracy — but with a focused, powerful effort to make the permanent government answer to the people again.

​Opinion & analysis, Truth commission, Donald trump, Weaponization of the federal government, Fbi, Cia, Oversight project, Investigations, Accountability, Congress, Department of justice, Anti-christian bias, Anti-semitism, Joe biden 

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Minnesota ‘assassination’ suspect captured

The man wanted in connection with what Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (DFL) has described as a “politically motivated assassination” is now in police custody, according to Alpha News.

Vance Boelter, the suspect in the deadly shootings of state Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL) and her husband and the non-fatal shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman (DFL) and his wife early Saturday morning, was found in a woody area of Sibley County, Minnesota, Sunday evening.

‘He was tucked in the fetal position and then began to army crawl until he eventually stood up to surrender.’

Police tracked Boelter to Green Isle, where he owns a home, Blaze News previously reported.

Sources told Alpha News that Boelter was spotted wearing all black and a backpack and running down a driveway into some woods in Green Isle. When a drone flew overhead, he came out and walked toward officers with his hands up, Alpha News reported.

RELATED: Police detain suspected assassin’s wife with cash, passports, weapon, ammunition

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

“At one point he was tucked in the fetal position and then began to army crawl until he eventually stood up to surrender,” Liz Collins of Alpha News posted to X at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time Sunday.

Boelter is now in police custody.

This is a developing story.

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Florida male points gun at 4 in Mexican eatery amid bill dispute — including worker’s son, 16. Technology assists in arrest.

Police in Ormond Beach, Florida, said a party of four had been dining at the Fresh Guacamole Tequila & Bar Mexican Grill on West Granada Boulevard on May 6 and were displeased with the bill, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.

Soon an argument erupted with the restaurant staff, the paper said, adding that an arrest report states that one of the employees actually tried to de-escalate the tense situation by telling the customers they could leave without paying the bill.

The suspect ‘brandished a firearm toward restaurant staff, including a juvenile, during an altercation.’

Apparently, that wasn’t good enough.

Amid the dustup, a woman with the dissatisfied group started banging on the plexiglass that protects the cashier, the News-Journal said.

What’s more, she managed to get past the plexiglass and pushed toward four employees — one of them being the 16-year-old son of one of the workers, police told the paper.

Soon, the irate female started yelling in the face of one of the employees, and the 16-year-old boy stepped up to defend his dad, police told the News-Journal.

It was at that moment that a male was seen on surveillance video reaching into a bag, pulling out a silver handgun, and pointing it at the four employees — including the 16-year-old boy — police added to the paper.

With that, the woman pushed the male who pointed the gun out of the restaurant, and they departed, police told the News-Journal.

Then, cops got to work over the next month, the paper said, and police said they verified through photo lineups and facial recognition technology from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office that 25-year-old Anthony Rodriguez of Daytona Beach was the male seen pulling the gun on the restaurant’s employees.

Police on June 3 posted a wanted notice on Facebook asking for the public’s help in locating Rodriguez.

RELATED: Good guy with a gun isn’t about to let accused carjacker get away with stealing 74-year-old’s vehicle

Image source: Ormond Beach (Fla.) Police Department

Police said in its public notice that an investigation determined Rodriguez “brandished a firearm toward restaurant staff, including a juvenile, during an altercation. No injuries were reported.” Police asked for help and tips in order to locate Rodriguez, who had a felony arrest warrant for four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Police told Blaze News that in their above notice, the right-hand photo is a surveillance image while the left-hand photo is a previous mug shot of Rodriquez.

By the afternoon of June 5, police issued an update saying Rodriguez turned himself in and was taken into custody. Jail records indicate Rodriguez was booked on the evening of June 5 and released the next day. Jail records showed his cash bond amount for each count was $7,500 — or $30,000 total.

Anything else?

Just last weekend, Blaze News reported about another Florida restaurant dispute that turned into a dangerous encounter.

Police in Orlando said a male standing 6’2” and weighing 280 pounds choked a cop after refusing to pay a $50.50 restaurant tab.

RELATED: It’s easy to see why a photo of a store employee’s act of kindness toward an elderly man has gone viral

Image source: Orange County (Fla.) Jail

After being asked to pay up, 22-year-old Daniel Robinson allegedly shoved the female owner of the pizza joint and departed, WOFL-TV reported. Officers tracked down Robinson and tried to arrest him — and then one officer stared hollering, “He’s choking me,” WFTV-TV reported.

Another officer said he punched Robinson in the face until the choking stopped, WFTV said, adding that police also maced the suspect. Police said when medical personnel arrived, Robinson spat in an officer’s face amid an attempt to restrain him on a stretcher, WOFL reported. Robinson was booked into jail and was facing multiple charges, including attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer, WOFL said.

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​Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges, Florida, Restaurant, Bill, Juvenile, Dispute, Gun brandished, Arrest, Facial recognition, Ormond beach, Volusia county sheriff’s office, Crime 

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Pride flies a flag — why don’t the other deadly sins get one?

The first sign of spring is said to be the appearance of a robin. That sign is followed by the first sign that June has arrived: a Pride flag, festooned with what seems to be an ever-increasing number of colors and symbols, hoisted up the flagpole, right under (or alongside) Old Glory.

For as long as most folks living in a civil society can remember, pride and lust have been counted among the infamous list known as the seven deadly sins. The list varies slightly in order and phrasing, but they are: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride.

To my knowledge, only “pride” has a flag designed specifically to celebrate its practice. However, the Pride flag doesn’t just encompass pride — it glorifies lust too — even though you can attach the spirit of pride to any of the other bad behaviors found on the infamous list.

Of course, the Ten Commandments outline the evil of all of these sins, warning of the danger of being controlled by them. Pride, along with the other deadly sins, is spiritually dangerous — and it often carries psychological and physical consequences too.

Flags, of course, are symbolic and used to unite those of similar viewpoint and allegiance. But we are aware that they can also rally people to lethal ends.

What started out decades ago as the statement, “What we do in our bedrooms is our own business,” has now morphed into, “Celebrate the many ways we transform your children into our own image and indoctrinate them into our devious lifestyle.”

Simply put, evil has become good, and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).

This distortion of God and nature would be comedy to the max if it weren’t so pathetic and dangerous.

A bit of lampooning

At the risk of making light of this very serious practice of our downward-sliding nation, might I suggest decadent flags for several of the remaining sins?

The flag for greed would be filled with dollar signs; for sloth, well, that’s easy — a giant sloth! We could pick any of the remaining 11 months that don’t have “official” flags and send one of these beauties up the flagpole.

I had a couple of ideas for gluttony, which I would like to suggest could fly through the entire month of November. Why November? Well, for one thing, we all know what happens on Thanksgiving Day.

RELATED: Pride Month is on the run. Here’s how to finish the job.

Johnrob via iStock/Getty Images

And the official flag for gluttony? Might I offer a colorful, eye-catching beauty that displays a giant glazed donut with sprinkles? Or perhaps even a tempting array of hot dogs? Or better still — both!

The official gluttony flag could flap in the breeze with (dare I say) pride all November long. (Heck, you might even want to keep it flying all through the Christmas holiday season and into Super Bowl Sunday, for that matter!)

Meanwhile, back in reality

As a nation, we need to turn from our dangerous obsession with coddling a variety of evil ways. “Speaking the truth in love,” at a minimum, is suggested by St. Paul (Ephesians 4:15). It’s obvious, though, that we must keep in mind that certain bad habits and practices have become ingrained in our culture, and pushing back against them, even gently, could have unintended consequences.

However, we need not, simply by our silence, encourage an ever-expanding drift into decadence. After all, if it is indeed true that “pride goes before the fall,” we are very near the precipice. We must begin — and continue — to pull back.

Certainly, that serious effort begins with prayer to see where the spirit of our loving God leads.

And, hey, there’s even a flag for that! George Washington and America’s founders flew “An Appeal to Heaven” banner — which, by the way, I suggest you display every month of the year.

Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared originally at American Thinker.

​Opinion & analysis, Pride month, Pride flag, Seven deadly sins, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Greed, Evil, Wrath, Envy, Pride 

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Don’t be fooled: Why the Pride Month ‘surrender’ is another corporate lie

Something fascinating is happening in corporate America.

According to data from Gravity Research, 39% of corporations are scaling back external Pride Month engagements in 2025, a sharp increase from last year, when only 9% backed off. Only four NFL teams changed their logos to mark Pride this June, with most remaining silent.

Corporations didn’t back away from Pride because of conviction but calculation.

But here’s what makes this particularly interesting: Corporate Pride Month activism isn’t some long-standing American tradition. It’s a very recent phenomenon that represents a dramatic departure from how businesses operated for most of our nation’s history.

Corporate America’s enthusiastic embrace of Pride Month only became widespread in the last decade.

Before 2010, you’d be hard-pressed to find Fortune 500 companies plastering rainbow logos across social media, celebrating drag queens, or embracing “queerness.” This wasn’t because companies opposed LGBTQ individuals — but rather because they understood something fundamental: Corporations exist to provide goods and services, not to take positions on deeply personal matters of sexuality and identity.

The data: Americans want corporate neutrality

Recent polling reveals that corporate Pride Month activism was never as popular as media coverage suggested.

According to the consulting firm Weber Shandwick, 72% of consumers and 71% of employees expect political neutrality in the workplace. In a Pew Research Center survey, 48% said it was either “not too important” or “not at all important” for companies to make public statements on social issues, compared to 41% who thought it was important.

These numbers reveal a fundamental disconnect between corporate behavior and consumer preferences. While companies competed to demonstrate progressive credentials, nearly half of American consumers preferred businesses stay out of social and political issues entirely.

The traditional understanding: Sexuality is a private matter

For most of American history, corporations and society operated under a simple principle: Sexuality is a private matter.

This was based on practical wisdom about what makes for a functioning society and a successful business.

Successful companies in the past focused on product quality, customer service, and employee performance. They didn’t make customers’ private lives part of their brand identity. A bakery sold bread, a bank managed money, and a sports team played games. Personal relationships and sexual behavior weren’t part of the public conversation.

This approach served everyone well. Employees could focus on work without having private lives become matters of public scrutiny. Customers could purchase goods without navigating their provider’s stance on intimate matters.

When sexuality remained private, it retained dignity and personal meaning that gets lost when it becomes part of public performance and corporate branding.

When corporations became activists

The transformation of corporate America into an activist force regarding sexuality represents a fundamental shift. Historically, Fortune 500 companies practiced strategic framing and calculated positioning rather than deep ideological convictions.

By 2020, it seemed almost impossible to find a major corporation that wasn’t actively promoting Pride Month or taking public positions on transgender issues. The pressure for conformity was intense. Companies that didn’t participate risked being labeled discriminatory and being attacked, either online or physically.

But this represented something unprecedented in American business history. Never before had companies so systematically promoted particular views about sexuality, marriage, and gender identity.

This wasn’t about equal treatment under company policy; it was about the active promotion and celebration of specific sexual behaviors and identities.

The hidden costs of corporate activism

Unfortunately, business leaders failed to anticipate the substantial hidden costs of sexual activism. DEI initiatives often grew outside central compliance functions, creating legal risks.

According to employment attorney Michael Elkins, companies face “a catch-22”: uncertainty between “the fear of getting sued for having a program or the fear of getting taken to task by eliminating the program.”

Research shows diversity training programs — a cornerstone of corporate activism — often fail spectacularly.

“The positive effects of diversity training rarely last beyond a day or two, and a number of studies suggest that it can activate bias or spark a backlash,” explains the Harvard Business Review.

Yet, companies spend millions on these ineffective programs.

Additional costs include compliance expenses; legal review; employee relations issues when activism conflicts with worker values; management time diverted from core business; and reputational risks.

By contrast, those companies that maintain appropriate boundaries can avoid these costs and focus these and other resources on their mission.

The market backlash

The corporate retreat is also the result of the market finally imposing discipline on misguided activism.

Anheuser-Busch InBev lost a total of $1.4 billion in sales due to the backlash it received over its partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer. In addition, AB InBev’s stock fell 20% and the Mexican-brewed Modelo Especial dethroned Bud Light as America’s top-selling beer, a title that Bud Light had held for over two decades.

Target faced similar financial and reputational consequences and this year has either moved Pride Month products to a less-trafficked area of the store or removed them altogether, citing worker safety concerns.

These weren’t just minor market adjustments — they represented massive consumer rejection of corporate sexual activism.

Why ‘but companies have always taken stands’ misses the point

Critics argue that companies have always taken social positions, but this misunderstands what’s different about this “celebration.” Historical corporate social engagement focused on broadly supported community issues: education, disaster relief, economic development, and patriotism.

What’s unprecedented here is the systematic promotion of specific views about sexuality and gender identity.

The argument that this retreat is a temporary political positioning misses the deeper dynamics taking place. As Forbes contributor Alicia Gonzalez noted, “The corporate retreat in DEI issues is coming from the same companies that swore five years ago that diversity and inclusion were deeply held values. As soon as the political winds changed, they backtracked.”

This reveals that corporate activism was based on perceived social pressure — not genuine conviction.

Building long-term change

If approached strategically, the corporate retreat creates an opportunity for decency to be restored to civil society.

Consumer action works. Boycotts against Bud Light and Target led eight other companies to abandon DEI policies, including Tractor Supply Co., which lost $2 billion in less than a month.

Consumers should actively support businesses that maintain an appropriate focus on their core mission. In addition, consumers must research companies’ positions before purchasing and choose only those that avoid divisive positions. Customers should extend this action beyond boycotts by providing positive support for businesses operating according to traditional principles.

Business leaders must return to serving customers effectively, rather than advancing social causes. Companies maintaining institutional focus avoid legal, financial, and reputational risks.

Finally, investors should question whether investing according to Environmental, Social, and Governance scores measured by how much divisive social activism the company embraces actually serves shareholder interests. Financial losses at companies like Anheuser-Busch demonstrate that catering to social activist demands will destroy shareholder value rather than create it.

Restoring institutional focus

What’s at stake isn’t just corporate messaging but the nature of the social contract.

The traditional American approach favored institutional focus and neutrality. Schools educated children, businesses provided goods and services, sports leagues entertained fans. These institutions were able to serve everyone, no matter their background or political stance, because their mission and business model didn’t require agreement on controversial personal matters.

When every institution promotes particular views about sexuality and gender, people with traditional values can’t fully participate in public life.

Restoring institutional focus benefits everyone, with LGBTQ individuals judged on performance rather than sexual identity, people with traditional values not forced to choose between convictions and participation, and institutions focused on their core functions.

The opportunity before us

Pride organizations nationwide now face sponsorship challenges. San Francisco Pride has a $200,000 budget gap, Kansas City’s KC Pride lost $200,000 (half its budget), and New York’s Heritage of Pride needs $750,000 after corporate withdrawals.

This suggests that corporate Pride Month activism was never sustainable. Market forces have provided a correction that political pressure couldn’t achieve.

Now, the goal must be to rebuild a culture where institutions serve proper functions — and personal matters remain private.

Success requires market discipline, which means consistently rewarding appropriate focus while imposing costs on divisive activism. Recent conservative boycotts have worked. As Suzanne Bowdey notes, “For once, Americans are making companies think twice about their extreme politics.”

Combined with legal frameworks protecting institutional neutrality, this moment could restore proper relationships between public institutions and private life.

The data suggests that most Americans are ready for change. The question is whether we’ll build something lasting or celebrate temporary victories while ignoring underlying problems. Corporations didn’t back away from Pride because of conviction but calculation. They never had principles, just profits. When the pressure lifts, they’ll go right back to what they did before as if nothing has changed.

If we want lasting change, it has to be built on truth — not trends.

This article is adapted from an essay originally published at Liberty University’s Standing for Freedom Center.

​Lgbtq agenda, Pride, Lgbtq ideology, Sexuality, Pride month 

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Calculated chaos: The legacy of MKUltra

Tom O’Neill is the author of “Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties,” which pulls the curtain back on the mysterious government-funded MKUltra experiments that left their human guinea pigs insane and ultimately ruined lives.

And O’Neill, who investigated the mind-numbing experiments for 20 years, found that many of them were on children.

“Here’s what I know the CIA did do with children in the 50s and at least through the early to mid-60s, although I don’t think you would be a candidate for this — they looked for kids who were completely orphaned or had parents that were disinterested,” O’Neill tells BlazeTV host Nicole Shanahan on “Back to the People.”

“If the kids got in trouble, they were taken into juvenile detention centers. This is exactly what happened to Manson,” he continues, “and they were doing research using drugs and hypnosis.”

According to O’Neill, the CIA’s goal was to learn “which kids were more suggestible to persuasion, which kids could be convinced of something, which kids were more resistant to that,” and if it was genetic.

But it wasn’t just the low-income families whose children ended up as government experiments.

“Allen Dulles put his daughter into MKUltra research laboratories because she was a difficult child, and he wanted to see if they could change her behavior using drugs — you know, completely rewire her brain,” O’Neill explains. “It was shocking how inhumane he was.”

“In the way that you and I, I think, are obsessed about trying to figure out the truth,” Shanahan responds, “they’re obsessed with the power to use these techniques and substances, in some cases, to influence behavior, to influence society.”

“It’s scary that they even had these objectives,” O’Neill agrees. “They had mass conversion projects where they wanted to learn how to convert audiences, crowds, and, you know, other people have done studies of that suggestibility with music and lyrics and concerts.”

“And of course, that’s what Manson learned how to do, was to control groups of people and get them to act uniformly, obediently, and do whatever he said — including, by the end of it all, killing strangers without questioning who they are or why,” he continues.

Some of those brainwashed by the technique to act out in ways they wouldn’t otherwise have also been reported to have no memory of what they’ve done.

“There’s accounts in your book of individuals who do these horrific things and then have no memory of it,” Shanahan states.

According to O’Neill, there was a technique to “remove true memories in human beings without their knowledge and replace them with false memories, which would be permanent.”

This involved LSD and hypnosis, which O’Neill explains worked well on those who were more susceptible to hypnosis — just like how some people have life-changing experiences on LSD, while others don’t.

“Some people had a psychedelic experience during their first LSD trip that changed them permanently, where other people would just do LSD and have a wild, intense experience but then be the person they were before,” he tells Shanahan.

“That was the whole reason MKUltra was created. I mean, a person’s memory is among the most precious things we have, and if someone can put a false memory in our head without us knowing, that takes away your whole life prior,” he adds.

Want more from Nicole Shanahan?

To enjoy more of Nicole’s compelling blend of empathy, curiosity, and enlightenment, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Video, Video phone, Camera phone, Free, Upload, Sharing, Youtube.com, Back to the people with nicole shanahan, Nicole shanahan, Back to the people, Tom o’neill, Mk ultra, Chaos, Charles manson, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Government conspiracy, The cia, Cia mkultra, Mk ultra experiments, Hypnosis, Lsd 

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Police detain suspected assassin’s wife with cash, passports, weapon, ammunition

The wife of the man suspected of assassinating the former speaker of the Minnesota House and her husband was detained by police about 85 miles north of the Twin Cities riding in a vehicle containing cash, passports, a weapon, and ammunition.

Jennifer Boelter, 51, of Green Isle, Minn., was detained after police stopped the vehicle near Onamia, Minn. Police had been tracking the vehicle, television station KSTP reported. Three relatives of Boelter were also in the vehicle, the station said but did not elaborate.

‘I’m going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly.’

Meanwhile, a massive manhunt continues for Vance Leroy Boelter, 57, a security company co-owner who police said shot and killed Democrat Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their Brooklyn Park, Minn., home about 3:30 a.m. June 14.

Police said they believe Boelter shot Democrat state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife about 90 minutes earlier in their home in Champlin, Minn., about five miles from the Hortman home. The Hoffmans survived the assassination attempt.

On June 15, police said they found Boelter’s abandoned vehicle and some of his belongings near Belle Plaine, Minn., in Sibley County — about 15 miles from Boelter’s home in Green Isle. The belongings included a cowboy hat similar to what he was wearing on security video around 6 a.m. June 14.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz described the shootings as acts of targeted political violence.

During the shootings, Boelter was dressed as a police officer and wearing a latex mask disguise that made him appear bald, according to a photo released by the FBI. He drove a black Ford SUV painted like a police cruiser with emergency lights.

Minnesota television stations showed the front door of the Hoffman residence riddled with bullet holes.

After the Hoffman shooting, police in Brooklyn Park went to Hortman’s residence and spotted a man they now say was Boelter coming out the front door. He immediately fired at the officers before retreating into the home and escaping through the rear entrance, police said. He left his police-style SUV in the driveway with emergency lights on.

RELATED: Suspect tied to Walz? Democrat governor may have appointed alleged Minnesota shooter to state board

Brooklyn Park police officers search a vehicle entering a neighborhood on June 14, 2025 in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. They were searching for the man suspected of assassinating former Minnesota House speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman.Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Boelter’s SUV, left sitting in the Hortmans’ driveway, contained fliers with the message “No Kings” on them. That was an apparent reference to protests staged across the country June 14 in opposition to President Donald J. Trump.

A hit list was also in the vehicle containing the names of up to 70 people, including Gov. Tim Walz, Hortman, and Hoffman. The hit list contained references to Planned Parenthood and a number of pro-abortion lawmakers, the New York Post and other media outlets reported. It included 11 lawmakers from Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

During her term as House speaker during the 2023 legislative session, Hortman was the “driving force” behind legislation to “codify abortion rights,” according to a June 15 Minnesota Star Tribune article.

Hortman, a Catholic who once taught Sunday school at the Church of St. Timothy in Blaine, Minn., was inspired to run for office in 1998 to oppose an incumbent who wanted to ban so-called gay marriage in Minnesota.

Walz had appointed Boelter to a four-year term on the Governor’s Workforce Development Board in December 2019. Boelter was appointed to a two-year term on the Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Council by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton in June 2016. Senator Hoffman was also a member of the board during Boelter’s tenure. Boelter was listed as the general manager of a 7-Eleven store on the board’s website.

RELATED: ‘Politically motivated assassination’: Minnesota Democrat rep and husband gunned down — state senator, wife wounded

David Carlson, a childhood friend who rented a room to suspected assassin Vance Boelter, reads a text message Boelter allegedly sent him hours after Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot to death.Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

David Carlson, a childhood friend of Boelter who rented him a room in his North Minneapolis home, said Boelter was a strong supporter of President Trump, according to KARE-TV.

Carlson sat on the front porch of his home June 14 and read texts that he said he received from Boelter that said, “I made some choices and you guys don’t know anything about this, but I’m going to be gone for a while. May be dead shortly.”

Alpha News obtained security video said to be of Boelter outside the home in the 4800 block of Fremont Avenue North at about 6 a.m. June 14. Wearing a light cowboy hat, Boelter used what appeared to be a hammer to smash the front passenger window in a black police-style SUV before walking away down an alley.

Owned security company

Boelter and his wife operated Praetorian Guard Security Services LLC. The company was first registered with the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office in September 2018. Although the business registration for the company lapsed twice, it is currently in good standing through December 2026, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State.

A Ford police SUV decked out with decals that read “PRAETORIAN” on the doors was parked in the driveway of a home in Gaylord, Minn., that the Boelters were apparently renting in April 2023, according to Google Maps. The address matches that of the principal executive office address listed on the LLC business registration with the secretary of state. Jenny Boelter is listed as the manager.

The mailing address for Praetorian Guard Security Services is in Green Isle, Minn., a rural area along 341st Avenue, about 15 miles from the Gaylord address and 50 miles southwest of Minneapolis. According to public credit records, the Boelters are the owners of the Green Isle property, which has an assessed value of $376,000 and a market value estimated at $545,000.

The Praetorian Security Services website is somewhat bare bones. Jennifer Boelter is listed as president and CEO. Vance Boelter is listed as the director of security patrols.

“Praetorian Guard Security Services is residential armed home security for your family, home and property,” the website states. “We are a licensed service in Minnesota helping to keep your home, property and those you love safe. We are proud to offer a team of security officers who are well trained, diligent and extremely detailed.”

According to Vance Boelter’s biography on the 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 company offers only armed security services, the website says. “We drive the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use in the U.S. Currently we drive Ford Explorer Utility Vehicles.”

Boelter’s LinkedIn page does not include any information on Praetorian Guard Security Services. It lists Boelter’s current job as CEO of Red Lion Group, based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The LinkedIn page also says Boelter is “actively applying” for full-time jobs with titles such as director of operations, vice president, general manager, and president.

Minnesota House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park was shot and killed in her home on June 14, 2025. State Sen. John Hoffman of Champlin was shot and seriously wounded in his home 90 minutes earlier.Minnesota Legislature

Boelter was part of a business group that met with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s ambassador to the United States on Nov. 30, 2018, in Worthington, Minn.

According to an article in The Globe newspaper, Boelter spoke at the meeting, suggesting to the ambassador that 20 businesses in Minnesota team up to train Congolese workers in a variety of occupations in America. The article said Boelter was “representing the oil refinery chain Marathon Petroleum Corp.”

In an undated video posted on social media that appeared to be part of an online course in the funeral industry, Boelter said he was working six days a week for Wulff Funeral Homes and Metro First Call, primarily doing body removals. He said the jobs include removing bodies from active crime scenes and delivering them to the medical examiner’s office in Hennepin County, Minn.

Boelter said his Red Lion Group’s work in Congo includes farming and fishing projects to help increase the food supply for the country’s more than 100 million people. He said he took the funeral home jobs to help “pay the bills” while working on his ventures for the central African nation.

Videos circulated on X appear to show Boelter doing Christian preaching in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2022 and 2023.

Boelter’s LinkedIn page lists employment with companies including 7-Eleven, Greencore, Del Monte, and Johnsonville, a Wisconsin-based sausage company.

Vance and Jennifer Boelter are the parents of five grown children. They have been married since October 1997.

A possible angle to the tragedy that was discussed widely on social media but largely ignored by legacy outlets was that Hortman bucked her party and joined House Republicans to strip subsidized MinnesotaCare health coverage from some 17,000 adult illegal aliens in the Gopher State.

Some Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party lawmakers said the move to strip the coverage from illegal aliens would leave them “out to die,” according to the Minnesota Star Tribune’s June 9 edition.

“What I worry about is that people will lose their health insurance,” Hortman said after the vote. “I know people will be hurt by that vote.” For a moment, Hortman choked up with emotion before the television cameras before continuing. “We worked very hard to try to get a budget deal that wouldn’t include that provision.”

Minnesota Republicans had threatened to shut down state government if the measure failed to pass. They estimated removing illegal alien adults from MinnesotaCare would save tens of millions of dollars per year. The change will take effect at the end of 2025.

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​Politics 

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When the soul flatlines, call a ‘Code Grace’

Gracie, her mobility tech, and I moved slowly through the hospital hallway — our usual recovery route. She had just had her 92nd operation — yes, 92 — and she’s had six more since.

She walked on prosthetic legs with semi-quiet grit and more than a little sweat. An IV tree clanked beside her — wound vacs, oxygen, pain meds — a parade of endurance wrapped in machinery.

When the soul flatlines, don’t step back. Step in. Call the code. Be the grace.

Then came the yelling. Two doors down — profanity, chaos, pain.

We couldn’t move fast — not with all the gear and lines. The screaming was piercing. And no, nurses don’t get paid nearly enough.

“Code Gray,” someone said, the hospital code for a combative patient. Within seconds, nurses and security swarmed the room. As best we could, we steered Gracie and her gear down another hallway away from the noise. But the echoes followed — the anger, the struggle, the desperation.

Outside the chaos stood a woman — mid-50s, hollow-eyed, worn to the threads.

I knew the look. I’ve worn it. So will every caregiver sooner or later.

While her loved one raged, she stood helpless, desperate, hoping someone — anyone — might bring peace.

She was also in crisis. But hospitals have no code for her.

Hospitals have codes for medical emergencies:

Code Blue: A patient stops breathing. I’ve lived through that. Years ago, Gracie flatlined. I watched the team rush in and bring her back.Code Red: Fire.Code Pink: Infant abduction.Code Gray: Aggression.

All are designed to alert, mobilize, and respond.

But what code do you call for when the soul collapses?

‘Code Grace’

We need a “Code Grace” — recognized by caregivers, hospital staff, churches, funeral homes, rehab centers, law enforcement, maybe even a nation — a code that triggers presence instead of procedures, compassion over containment, tenderness before triage.

Because sometimes the real damage isn’t limited to the patient’s bed. It’s standing just outside the door, trying not to fall apart.

The morning after that Code Gray, I walked into the lobby of the extended-stay hotel across from the hospital. Most guests there were tethered to the same world we were: the renowned children’s and teaching hospital nearby.

Then, I saw them again.

A mother, two children, and a woman I assumed was the grandmother. Weeks earlier, I’d seen the boy — screaming, flailing in a stroller — his mother and grandmother scrambling to contain the storm. Sensory overload. Fear. Pain in public. They rushed out before I could speak.

But now they were back and calm.

The mother looked tired — because she was. But steady. Present. Her mother stood beside her. Her son was quiet. Her daughter bounced nearby, unaware of the weight her mom carried.

I walked over and said, “I remember you from a couple weeks ago.”

That’s all it took. A door opened. Not pity. Not awkwardness. Just respect.

She shared her story: single mom, two kids — one with autism. Studying for a special education certification. The father? Gone. Domestic violence. But she didn’t quit. She just kept going.

She asked about me. I gave her the short version — my wife’s journey, my four decades as a caregiver. Then I looked her in the eye and said: “From one caregiver to another — you’re amazing.”

Tears welled up. Not from weakness. From being seen. Heard. Understood. For one moment, grace was louder than exhaustion.

Before I left, I shook her hand. “I’m proud to know you.” I also shared a quote I’d once heard — origin debated, but worth repeating:

You’ll never be criticized by someone doing more than you. Only by someone doing less. Remember that.

She nodded. She already knew.

What our nation needs now

But Code Grace isn’t just for hospitals and their periphery. We see soul flatlines everywhere — newsfeeds, comment sections, family dinners.

I’ve watched people unravel over political figures, convinced one man will either save or doom the nation. For some, it’s full allegiance to Trump (or Elon). For others, it’s Trump derangement syndrome — the belief that he’s the Antichrist with a social media account. But press in closer, and you’ll see: It’s not really about policy. It’s about meaning.

When faith erodes and identity frays, people grasp for something — anything — to hold on to. They hitch it to a personality, a movement, or a fight. That’s not politics; that’s a spiritual crisis. And yes, they need a Code Grace, too. Not to validate hysteria but to look behind it.

As many therapists say, “If it’s hysterical, it’s historical.” Beneath the rage is often someone terrified of being forgotten or irrelevant.

Jesus didn’t flinch at that kind of mess. He didn’t come to preserve an empire. He came to raise the dead. He didn’t wait for calm. He walked straight into the noise — and told it to be still.

He saw the bleeding woman, the man in the tree, the leper, the blind, the demon-possessed, the grieving sisters. He saw what others missed — or avoided. And he moved toward them with healing, with power, with grace.

Move toward the pain

The theologian Henri Nouwen once wrote, “Compassion asks us to go where it hurts … to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. … Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”

That’s the Code Grace response — and it’s not optional. It’s the calling of anyone who wears His name.

If we listen closely, we can hear the silent code.

Not in the ER but in the eyes of a caregiver who hasn’t slept; the tremble of a mother navigating autism in public; the woman in the hallway, trying not to scream; the colleagues gripped by headlines — because they’ve pinned their peace to politics instead of promises that don’t change.

When the soul flatlines, don’t step back.

Step in. Call the code. Be the grace.

​Opinion & analysis, Hospitals, Caregivers, Disabilities, Autism, Family, Faith, Code grace, Children, Compassion