Category: blaze media

A Democratic prosecutor in Virginia is facing criticism after making a simple procedural mistake that allowed an illegal alien criminal to avoid charges.

Naim Arrak was facing up to 40 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 before Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano botched the case.

‘These injustices aren’t just theoretical. There are real victims who are denied justice, and there are new victims because these perpetrators get back on the streets.’

Descano appears to have missed a deadline set by the judge related to witness exclusions in the case.

Because the prosecutor’s office missed the deadline, the charges will have to be dropped against Arrak.

And it’s not the first time.

“There was one prominent case where the incompetence of this office cost justice to an 11-year-old boy who was being sexually assaulted by a man, and the result of aggravated sexual battery was reduced to assault and battery, a misdemeanor, and that man not only got out of prison, he went on to abduct a woman in Prince William County only a few months ago,” said Sean Kennedy with Virginians for Safe Communities to WJLA-TV.

“So these injustices aren’t just theoretical. There are real victims who are denied justice, and there are new victims because these perpetrators get back on the streets,” he added.

Arrak was facing decades of prison time over charges related to an incident in 2025 where he fled from police and hit a fire hydrant, but he had a long criminal arrest history.

He had been arrested more than 30 times for more than 90 felony and misdemeanor charges in five counties. Some of the charges involved violent crimes that include abduction, assault of a woman, strangling, and malicious wounding.

Arrak was charged in the latest incident with unlawful possession of a firearm by an illegal immigrant.

RELATED: Outrage erupts over video of illegal alien’s arrest in DC — then the horrific charges against him are revealed

Although some of the charges were dropped, Arrak is scheduled for trial in January 2027 and remains in jail.

Descano has been criticized for his lenient criminal justice policies that allegedly allowed potentially dangerous suspects back onto the streets.

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

​Charges dropped, Criminal justice, Illegal alien, Virginia, Crime 

A new study meant to reassure corporations about diversity, equity, and inclusion programs has delivered an awkward finding for DEI advocates: Keeping the programs produced no measurable financial advantage over abandoning them.

Researchers at the University of California in Berkeley compared S&P 500 companies that maintained DEI after President Trump’s January 2025 executive order with companies that scaled back their commitments. Firms that kept their programs performed about as well in stock returns and revenue as those that retreated.

Whether a company favors DEI or rejects it, executives cannot assume that a politically popular label will protect conduct that violates anti-discrimination law.

The authors and sympathetic news coverage emphasized the other half of that result: Companies could keep DEI without suffering a significant financial penalty. CBS News framed the finding that way, as did a subsequent Forbes analysis. But the conclusion cuts both ways. If companies paid no price for keeping DEI, they also paid no price for dropping it.

For investors, that raises a straightforward question: Where is the financial return from DEI?

The researchers found no statistically significant revenue or stock market advantage from maintaining the programs during the period they examined. Their paper reports an estimated effect on revenue close to zero. That does not prove every DEI initiative is worthless. It does mean this study offers no measurable payoff for the policies its authors defend.

DEI advocates have spent years insisting that diversity improves the bottom line. McKinsey’s influential reports linked leadership diversity with financial outperformance. But a 2024 reanalysis of its findings failed to reproduce statistically significant relationships using U.S. public-company data. A 2025 review found the broader empirical case considerably less certain than the confident corporate sales pitches suggest.

Companies that believe particular DEI practices improve performance should identify those practices and produce evidence that their gains are real and repeatable. The obligation to prove the promised return belongs to the people making the promise.

Even a demonstrated financial benefit would not settle whether a practice is ethical or lawful. The moral defense of DEI deserves scrutiny too. A corporate policy that uses race or sex to distribute opportunity may generate its own grievances, regardless of the language used to promote it.

Employment discrimination complaints have hardly disappeared. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 88,201 new charges in fiscal year 2025, roughly level with the previous year and substantially above 2021. Those figures alone cannot tell us how many complaints involved DEI. They do underscore why employers should examine the legal consequences of their hiring and promotion rules.

The Berkeley paper also reveals an unmistakable political perspective. It refers to the Trump administration as a “regime,” discusses what its authors regard as “democratic erosion,” and describes the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and George Floyd collectively as “murders.” It suggests that organized corporate resistance can hinder the consolidation of executive power.

RELATED: Nikole Hannah-Jones learned the hard way what ruins schools

Paras Griffin/Getty Images

Those judgments do not, by themselves, invalidate the statistical analysis. They do help explain the argument the authors want their findings to support: Corporations should feel free to maintain DEI as an expression of political and moral commitment, even without a measurable financial gain.

But companies face risks beyond the market response measured in the study. Public controversy can damage a brand, and legal enforcement can carry a steep price.

Consider Cracker Barrel’s 2025 rebranding backlash. Critics connected its logo redesign to broader complaints about the company’s “woke” direction. By mid-September, its shares had fallen nearly 16% since the August announcement, customer traffic had weakened, and the company had reversed course. A logo controversy is not a controlled test of DEI policy. It is a reminder that political and cultural backlash can have financial consequences.

The federal government has supplied a more direct warning. In April, IBM agreed to pay more than $17 million to resolve Justice Department allegations involving discriminatory employment practices and federal contracting. Deloitte settled for $21.5 million in August, and Accenture agreed to pay $25 million in September to resolve similar allegations. The settlements resolved government claims without findings of liability, but the costs were real.

The Justice Department also issued guidance outlining its view of unlawful discriminatory practices tied to federal funding. Whether a company favors DEI or rejects it, executives cannot assume that a politically popular label will protect conduct that violates anti-discrimination law.

The Berkeley study shows that companies maintaining DEI suffered no detectable financial penalty in the period examined. It also fails to establish a financial reward. Advocates who want shareholders, employees, and customers to support these programs still owe them a case grounded in performance, ethics, and law. That case cannot rest on assurances that DEI is harmless.

​California, Dei, Ethics, George floyd, Ibm, Justice department, Trump administration, University of california, Opinion & analysis, Berkeley 

From a young age, we ask kids what they want to be when they grow up. Firefighter, doctor, president, mechanic, astronaut, teacher, actor — the list goes on.

Dreams shift as children discover their gifts, what they enjoy, and where the two overlap. The kid who wanted to be a doctor might change his mind after finding out he can design spaceships and likes math better than anatomy.

What discoveries, studies, and breakthroughs are missing from academia simply because the men who would have made them were unfairly denied the opportunity?

Allowing people to follow their dreams has always been an American aspiration and part of what makes our country exceptional. Yet today, one group of Americans — young men — is at risk of being shut out from their dreams, largely through no fault of their own.

Mountains of evidence show that our education system and economy are increasingly leaving boys and men behind. This is a national crisis our political leaders must urgently acknowledge and address.

For Exhibit A, simply look at the last 50 years of wage trends. Although earnings for women have steadily increased, nearly doubling in the last half-century, men’s wages have remained largely stagnant. Indeed, while the inflation-adjusted median full-time wage for women has grown by $21,750 since 1976, it has increased for men by only $7,570.

But it gets worse. In August, 98% of U.S. job growth went to women according to government statistics. While female employment has grown by 870,000 since last year, male employment has contracted by 1.5 million. Roughly one-third of men are not participating in the labor force, including over half of young men ages 16-24.

The same trend is happening in college participation. In the mid-1990s, American men and women ages 25-34 were equally likely to have completed college, but the gap has ballooned since then. Today, about 47% of young women have a bachelor’s degree compared to 37% of young men. Women make up about 55% of U.S. undergraduate enrollment, while men account for 40% (with the remaining 5% being unknown or unreported).

Male education and workforce success directly impact family formation. Women are more likely to marry a man with a steady income, and men are more likely to want to work if they have something to work toward. But couples are told to wait until they have financial stability before having kids, a goal that is increasingly difficult to reach, leading them to have fewer children.

And while feminists may cheer the number of women in the 9-to-5 work world, it has not come without a cost. As many observers (including Elizabeth Warren before she entered politics) have pointed out, more mothers entering the workforce has made households increasingly reliant on both parents working to stay afloat, creating a “two-income trap.” It is financially unfeasible for many women to stay home with their children, even when they want to.

Many factors have led us to the current status quo. American industrial and trade policy over the last half-century has shipped many blue-collar jobs overseas while driving down wages for those who remain. Economic policy influenced by feminism has convinced many women to invest in careers rather than family. But we should not overlook another important driver of young men’s present disadvantage: the rapid proliferation of DEI across society.

RELATED: The global meritocracy myth sells Americans’ inheritance cheap

Blaze Media Illustration

Jacob Savage’s essay in Compact magazine last December highlighted the devastating impact of the DEI regime on young men. Fittingly titled “The Lost Generation,” Savage chronicled how Millennial and Gen Z men over the last 10 to 15 years have found themselves chained to the same job, or without one entirely, while less qualified but more “diverse” employees rise in the ranks. This practice has run rampant across numerous industries — entertainment, academia, the medical field — with untold casualties.

What film masterpieces did we miss by passing over a promising writer for a more diverse candidate? What medical breakthroughs did we forgo to reach a quota? What discoveries, studies, and breakthroughs are missing from academia simply because the men who would have made them were unfairly denied the opportunity?

Fortunately, DEI has been in retreat lately, thanks in large part to the Trump administration’s crackdown. DEI has also declined in popularity in the workforce, though it still boasts majority support amid widespread ignorance about its true consequences. Even so, DEI remains a powerful force that could regain greater influence if political conditions become more favorable.

Meanwhile, young men continue to suffer. A recent Institute for Family Studies survey found that about half of men ages 18-29 now see the American dream as out of reach. Many have retreated into destructive pastimes such as pornography and gambling, while suicide rates have risen to record highs. The statistics are grim in every direction.

So where does this leave us?

Our young men are still dreaming as they did when they were little boys, but they are being forced to acknowledge that hard work may not be enough to achieve those dreams. In America especially — the country founded on the ability to get ahead and create something spectacular — this is a reality we should not tolerate.

The situation young men face is an issue lawmakers can no longer afford to ignore. We need an economy where men’s skills and contributions are valued and appropriately compensated. We also need to make it possible for a family to raise children on one income. There is no easy fix for these problems. It will necessarily involve a myriad of approaches, from fully eliminating DEI to bringing back blue-collar work and stabilizing our broken dollar, whose debasement undergirds so much of Americans’ current struggles.

To save the American dream from today’s threats, we must tackle this challenge. We owe it to the next generation of boys who still dare to dream.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the American Mind.

​American dream, Boys, Dei, Economy, Education system, Gen z, Job growth, Marriage, Men, Millennials, Trump administration, Women, Wages, Opinion & analysis 

Social Security’s funding shortfall has started a serious debate among young workers and their elders, with younger workers frustrated that older Americans are asking them to pay higher taxes to protect the benefits they’ve been counting on.

A new poll highlights the divide — 89% of Americans over 65 support preserving current retirees’ benefits, even if it means raising taxes. Among adults ages 30 to 44, support falls to 57%.

“There’s a new poll about Social Security,” BlazeTV host Ron Simmons explains on “Relatable.” “U.S. Boomers, which I’m included, support tax hikes on young workers to keep current Social Security checks.”

“I can imagine that’s controversial because I know that when I was your age, if you’re younger listening to this, I would have been against increasing my taxes to take care of people that had already paid in,” he continues.

“But, you know, now that I’m a Boomer, let me tell you the way I look at it,” he adds.

“When I first started, you could get full benefits at age 65. Then they came along and changed it,” Simmons says.

“They increased the retirement age. And increasing the retirement age means that people my age and younger would pay more in for a longer period of time before we were able to get benefits,” he explains.

Simmons, who qualifies to get full benefits in the next couple of years, has paid up to $360,000 in Social Security.

“If that would have been invested at 5% interest, that would have been a value of about $900,000. So, my account, if it was like in a 401(k), would probably be sitting there with about $900,000 in it,” he explains.

“If I went out and bought an annuity, meaning an annuity is something that pays me every month until the day I die, then that annuity would be about $5,000 a month. Now, that’s less than what I’m going to get from Social Security based on the estimates that I’ve found on the website,” he continues.

“The problem is, that money wasn’t invested like it should be. What happens is, we all put money in Social Security, and then the government takes that money and does other things with it, and they leave an IOU that essentially is not earning us any interest,” he adds.

What Simmons believes should be done is give people the ability to “direct the investment of the amount that you put in there.”

“If it was invested in a balanced portfolio, a mixture of stocks and bonds, that’s going to grow at 8 or 9% a year,” he explains.

“And over your career, that’s going to create a huge account that, again, you could draw on, or they could even just buy you an annuity and pay you a certain amount every month,” he continues.

“That’s the issue,” he adds.

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Social security, Taxes, Ron simmons, Boomers, Blazetv show 

After nearly nine years of silence, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is finally speaking again on “The Simpsons.”

But before the Indian convenience store clerk could return to Springfield, the show’s writers apparently had some apologizing to do.

‘When my agent called me about a “Simpsons” audition, I knew exactly what role it was for, and the idea actually made my stomach sink.’

Thank you, come again

Sunday night’s episode, “The Revengening,” brought back the once-popular character with a new voice actor, Sunil Malhotra, and a storyline that doubles as an apology for the way the show handled the controversy that drove Apu off the air in 2017.

In the episode, Apu returns to Springfield seeking revenge on the townspeople who abandoned him. He tells them he has spent years on the “island of forgotten garbage,” where he encountered another discarded Springfield resident, Dr. Nick Riviera.

“I am the man you left for dead,” Apu declares. “I am the one you pretended never existed!”

In a clever bit of self-mockery, the writers have Springfield’s residents parrot what sounds like their own years of agonized internal debate over Apu.

Marge — “clearly serving as a mouthpiece for the show’s producers,” Variety notes — is first to respond: “Apu, we’re so sorry we left you for dead. Believe me, we wanted to do the right thing.”

Bart admits they were scared and didn’t know what to do. Lenny says there were “many internal conversations about it,” while Carl concedes that those conversations “kind of just didn’t go anywhere.”

Homer eventually joins the chorus of apologies, recalling Apu’s many contributions to Springfield and admitting that he took his old friend for granted.

RELATED: Kid Rock appears to cave to critics of Eminem collaboration — then hits ’em with the punch line

No ‘Kwik’ fix

Apu had been a fixture on “The Simpsons” since its first season, running the Kwik-E-Mart, shamelessly gouging customers, and occasionally enjoying adventures beyond the convenience store — including a stint in Homer’s Beatles-inspired barbershop quartet, the Be Sharps.

He was also at the center of a controversy that erupted following comedian Hari Kondabolu’s 2017 documentary, “The Problem with Apu.”

The film argued that Apu’s exaggerated Indian accent and stereotypical portrayal had helped perpetuate unflattering assumptions about Indian-Americans. Kondabolu was particularly critical of the fact that Apu was voiced by Hank Azaria, a white actor.

But not all Indian-Americans agreed that Apu was a problem. In a 2018 Washington Post essay, Indian-American writer Amar Shah explained that he saw his own father, who had operated convenience stores and gas stations, reflected in the character. Although Shah acknowledged being irritated by Apu jokes as a child, he eventually came to appreciate the similarities between Apu and his hardworking, entrepreneurial father.

“Does he offend me? No, because some part of him is real,” Shah wrote.

When Shah asked his father what he thought of Apu, the older man had a less philosophical response: “Who? I don’t know who that is. I have an inspection to worry about.”

Indian comedian Kunaal Roy Kapur was similarly untroubled by the character’s exaggerated accent. In a 2016 NPR discussion, he described Apu’s voice as entertaining and funny, saying he had no issue with it.

Azaria eventually agreed with the criticism of his portrayal. In 2020, he announced that he would no longer voice Apu, and the show’s producers subsequently declared that white performers would no longer voice nonwhite characters.

The bizarre decision led to the recasting of other characters, including Dr. Hibbert and Carl Carlson. But Apu was effectively sidelined. Although he occasionally appeared in the background, he hadn’t spoken a word since October 2017.

Until Sunday.

RELATED: ‘Everyone is so soft’: Former UFC star ‘Mayhem’ Miller has some tough love for young men

L-R: Hank Azaria. Alexandra Wyman/WireImage; Sunil Malhotra. Brian To/FilmMagic

‘I am Apu!’

Apu’s new voice belongs to Indian-American actor Sunil Malhotra, who told Variety that his initial reaction to being offered the role was hardly enthusiastic.

“When my agent called me about a ‘Simpsons’ audition, I knew exactly what role it was for, and the idea actually made my stomach sink,” he said.

Malhotra wondered whether the writers had learned from the controversy, whether Apu could be reinvented, and whether the character’s return could acknowledge past mistakes without disappointing longtime fans.

His reservations were personal. The actor said he had turned down his first professional acting offer 28 years earlier because it required him to play a stereotypical “Hindu guy.”

“To be the butt of the joke wasn’t something I was willing to do, and I’ve turned down similar work multiple times since,” he explained.

Before accepting the Apu role, Malhotra insisted on meeting with showrunner Matt Selman and co-executive producer Cesar Mazariegos. He ultimately described the experience of working with the producers as collaborative and said bringing Apu back felt like a reclamation.

The actor was particularly pleased with the episode’s climactic moment, when Apu removes his disguise and loudly announces his identity.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that the sweetest part of all was unleashing that righteously rage-fueled ‘I am Apu!’ — on behalf of so many of us — over and over in the studio until we got it just right,” Malhotra said.

He added that he hoped the episode was “equally satisfying for longtime fans” as it was for “other South Asian kids who, like me, stopped watching at some point along the way.”

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

​The simpsons, Dei, Woke, Hank azaria, Entertainment 

The U.S. Dept. of Justice escalated its feud with California officials on Monday when it filed for a temporary restraining order over 20,000 likely noncitizen voters.

The DOJ is demanding that officials set aside the ballots from the list of people registered to vote but tagged by the Trump administration as possible noncitizens.

‘Once illegally cast ballots are counted and commingled with lawful votes, the resulting harm may be impossible to remedy.’

California previously refused the request from the Trump administration to either confirm the voters’ eligibility or set aside the 20,000 voters.

The DOJ filed for the temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

“California not just refused to act; it made clear that it is committed to treating ballots from those likely noncitizens equal to ballots from American citizens, prompting this suit and motion that seeks commonplace election relief when ballots are called into question,” reads the filing from the DOJ.

“Once illegally cast ballots are counted and commingled with lawful votes, the resulting harm may be impossible to remedy,” the DOJ argued. “The urgency is heightened because of the fundamental right to vote and to have one’s lawful vote counted without dilution.”

California officials accused the administration of trying to meddle with the state’s election after the DOJ filed a lawsuit on Thursday to stop the ballots from being counted.

“This is a sad, desperate attempt by Trump to use his politicized Justice Department to try to suppress California voters just three weeks before Election Day,” Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom responded.

“Courts have made clear the federal government has no role in running state elections,” he added. “We will defend free and fair elections in the Golden State and call out every authoritarian attempt to undermine our democracy.”

The state’s secretary of state said the the allegations were “vague and unsubstantiated” and accused the administration of refusing to provide its evidence that the registered voters were noncitizens.

RELATED: Newsom is OUTRAGED over Justice Department lawsuit to block votes from 20,000 ‘likely noncitizens’

Noncitizens can be illegal aliens but also includes those who are permanent legal residents who have not obtained citizenship.

“The Trump Admin’s last-minute demands are meritless, and we look forward to making our case in court,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said on social media about the lawsuit.

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

​Trump administration, California, Immigration, Election fraud, Politics 

A man allegedly shot a National Guard member trying to bust up a late-night fight in Washington, D.C., according to the Metropolitan Police Department of D.C.

Seven or eight National Guard members were in a parked van monitoring the fight in the Eastern Market neighborhood at about 11:10 p.m. on Sunday.

Jackson was previously convicted of 2 counts of assaulting a police officer and 1 count of carrying a pistol without a license.

“They exited their vehicle to try to intervene to try to stop the fight from occurring when they heard gunshots,” interim Chief Jeffery Carroll said to reporters.

“An individual that had been involved in the fight had pulled out a firearm and began shooting,” he added.

That individual ran into an alley, according to Carroll, and the National Guard members ordered him to drop the gun.

“The individual then pointed the weapon toward National Guard members, who returned fire,” Carroll said.

The suspect was shot in the abdomen, and one National Guard member was shot in the leg. Both were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at hospitals.

The suspect was arrested, and three of the National Guard members discharged their weapons during the altercation, Carroll said.

Police later identified the suspect as 41-year-old Jerrell Jackson.

He was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault on a police officer and emergency personnel, carrying a pistol without a license, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The suspect’s gun was recovered from the scene, according to police. At least 14 shell casings were recovered from the incident, according to the U.S. Marshal’s Service.

The police department’s Internal Affairs Bureau’s Force Investigations Team is investigating the officer-involved shooting.

Jackson was previously convicted of two counts of assaulting a police officer and one count of carrying a pistol without a license.

RELATED: MS NOW reporter gets obliterated online for unbelievable comment about shooting of National Guard troops

“We are praying this National Guard member has a quick and speedy recovery. The suspect in the shooting has a lengthy rap sheet including two counts of assault of a police officer, illegally carrying a pistol, and multiple parole violations,” a spokesperson for the White House said.

“Thanks to the president’s Safe and Beautiful Task Force, violent crime in the city has drastically decreased. D.C. residents and visitors are thankful for all the Task Force has done to drive down crime and make our nation’s capital safe again,” the spokesperson added.

The owner of a smoke shop near the incident told KTVU-TV that the shooting had been captured on their security video and they were turning it over to police.

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

​Washington dc, National guard, Shooting, White house, Politics 

Over the weekend, France saw some of its worst urban riots in years — the exact kind of unrest BlazeTV host Nick Freitas warned about in his recent documentary, “The Immigration Crisis That Will Destroy the West.”

The documentary — which you can watch on BlazeTV.com (with a seven-day free trial) — premiered on September 17, the same day France began its downward spiral into protests and riots that culminated in this past weekend’s destruction.

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands marched nationwide in the latest escalation of what the media has framed as a month-long student-led protest movement over poor school conditions. It began in mid-September and has continued with ongoing school blockades, multiple national days of action, and thousands of arrests.

Blaze News’ reporting points to a sharper picture. The unrest that began in migrant-heavy suburbs quickly became an alliance between far-left organizers and immigrant communities, turning demonstrations into ethnic riots marked by assaults on police, widespread looting, and the deliberate destruction of historic sites.

In many cities, including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Limoges, Bordeaux, and Rennes, among others, groups of masked, often black-clad protesters clashed with police, set fires, and ransacked businesses.

In Limoges, the historic 143-year-old town hall — a 19th-century neo-Renaissance building — was set on fire and largely destroyed, with its roof and clock tower collapsing in flames. Lyon’s tourist office was torched; Marseille’s city hall was stormed and graffitied; and in Bordeaux, a masked mob invaded and ransacked the prefect’s residence.

Although 60,000 police and security personnel were mobilized across the country, they proved unable to restore order in multiple cities.

French President Emmanuel Macron blamed the chaos on the “French people.” In a national address on Sunday, he asked, “How can French people do this to France?”

President Trump, however, rejected this framing. On Sunday, he wrote on Truth Social: “France is burning! The immigration of people from an entirely different world, people with hatred in their hearts, has shattered that once great country. Close your Borders and take control, before it is too late!”

Freitas had a similar warning in his documentary: “The question before us is, will we do what is necessary? Because the hour is late, and for some parts of the West, it may be too late.”

After this weekend, it seems France may be one of those parts.

In “The Immigration Crisis That Will Destroy the West,” Freitas examines how decades of mass migration have utterly hollowed out Britain’s centuries of rich history and culture — and why that trajectory is a warning for the rest of the West. Watch it now on BlazeTV.com with a seven-day free trial.

​France, Immigration crisis, Mass migration, Nick freitas, Riots, Blazetv show 

“Digger” — the satirical black comedy starring Tom Cruise — was a major box-office flop, grossing just $8 million domestically on opening night despite an estimated $160-$180 million production budget.

Critics complain the movie is unfunny, features over-the-top, abrasive performances, and has a preachy climate message.

Comedian and BlazeTV host Dave Landau, however, disagrees and says he very much “enjoyed” the film.

“I was laughing out loud through most of the movie,” he tells co-host of “Stu and Dave Do America” Stu Burguiere.

Contrary to critic and audience complaints, Dave says Cruise’s character — a wealthy oil tycoon named Digger Rockwell — is “great.”

A common complaint is that the Digger in the film is very different from what people expected based on the marketing of the film, but Dave says to be forthcoming about his character in advertising would have “[ruined] the film.”

“Like if the ‘Sixth Sense’ came out, like ‘he sees dead people.’ … That would be a bad part of the trailer,” Stu analogizes.

“[Digger] is an oil baron, kind of out of control, gregarious sort of character is how I pictured it from the marketing, which was very limited,” he continues. “My understanding, and tell me if this is true, is that … half an hour in or so, the whole movie kind of changes.”

Dave confirms that this is true — but unlike critics, he enjoyed this surprise element of the film.

“I don’t want to give away too much, but one part is obviously lampooning the right, and one part is obviously lampooning the left,” he tells Stu, equating watching the movie to “wearing your team colors,” but “you’re not able to see the jokes being made at the other side.”

The character of President Compson, played by John Goodman, is “definitely Trump-esque,” says Dave, but it’s “not what you think it is.”

“The way that [the movie] twists, I think, is brilliant … Tom Cruise when he plays these characters is really entertaining,” he says. “Like, I know Tom Cruise is a lunatic and a Scientologist, but my God, he’s so good at acting.”

“I think you should see it. I enjoyed it. I laughed so much during it.”

To hear more of Dave’s review, watch the episode above.

Want more from Stu and Dave?

To enjoy more of Stu and Dave’s lethal blend of wit, humor, and insightful commentary subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Dave landau, Digger, Stu burguiere, Tom cruise, Blazetv show 

Chick-fil-A still closes on Sundays, still puts its Christian mission at the center of its corporate purpose, and still welcomes all customers through its doors.

But apparently, the company’s faith-based identity is also still a mainstream headline more than a decade after its widely publicized controversy over same-sex marriage.

In a recent interview on “The Today Show,” CEO Andrew Cathy was pressed about the backlash that followed his father Dan Cathy’s 2012 comments on gay marriage and their donations to conservative Christian organizations.

“It’s a company that was sort of built on God, if you will. And that still also seems to be very much a part of the DNA of Chick-fil-A,” NBC’s Craig Melvin said to Cathy, who responded that it’s their “anchor.”

“It is our anchor in the sense of what our corporate purpose states, that we’re in business to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that’s entrusted to us, have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A,” Cathy said.

“There were folks who were protesting, they were boycotting Chick-fil-A, that Chick-fil-A, they don’t stand with the LGBTQ plus community,” Melvin said, asking, “What would you say to those folks?”

“Well, for anybody that hasn’t tried us, we’d love for you to come try and have our great-tasting food and the hospitality that we’re known for. I think that everybody that will be willing to walk in the door, they’ll see that they’re welcome to come eat with us. We’d love to give them a great-tasting sandwich and give them great hospitality,” Cathy replied.

“You don’t want to talk about that chapter in Chick-fil-A’s history,” Melvin pressed.

“We’re focused on serving everybody that comes in and eats with us,” Cathy said with finality.

“LGBTQ, we don’t care,” BlazeTV host Pat Gray says, joking that milkshakes are loved by both homosexuals and heterosexuals.

“You know, it would be nice though if the Cathy family or anybody could just tell them, ‘Look, we have different beliefs than you, it’s OK,’” he says.

“Am I going to ever say that I agree with the lifestyle? No, but you know what? I don’t have to,” he adds.

Want more from Pat Gray?

To enjoy more of Pat’s biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Chickfila, Gay marriage, God, Andrew cathy, The today show, Blazetv show 

A male allegedly broke into a home in Mesquite, Texas, in the middle of the night over the weekend — and quickly discovered why that was an ill-advised move.

Mesquite Police responded to a report of a shooting around 4:15 a.m. Saturday in the 2600 block of Brushwood Lane, KDFW-TV reported, adding that arriving officers found a man outside the home with a gunshot wound and rendered first aid.

‘Why in the world would you break into a house in Texas of all places?’

Investigators told the station that residents inside the home woke up to the sound of loud banging, and one resident who investigated saw an individual breaking into the home — and fired a weapon, striking the suspect.

The suspect was taken into custody on a charge of burglary of a habitation and taken by paramedics to a local hospital for treatment, KDFW said.

Mesquite Police told Blaze News that the suspect — identified as Arthur Alonzo — was released from the hospital and transferred to the Dallas County Jail.

RELATED: Male on parole accused of breaking into home in broad daylight. But gun-toting homeowner isn’t having a bit of it.

Commenters under KDFW’s Facebook post about the incident had some strong reactions to it:

“Why in the world would you break into a house in Texas of all places?” one commenter wondered.”Thats right!!” another user responded. “More people need to remember that.””Homeowner deserves an upgraded weapon as an award,” another commenter wrote.”Don’t break into my house, you won’t get shot,” another user promised.”Good job … we must protect our home and loved ones … if they would have called the police first, they might have been killed … it takes too long to get there … the homeowner did [exactly] what they should have,” another commenter noted.

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

​2nd amendment, Gun rights, Guns, Home invasion, Homeowner shoots intruder, Self-defense, Shooting, Texas, Crime 

Polling expert and political strategist Frank Luntz explains why the polls showing a comfortable lead for Democrats are not dependable.

Luntz explained during an appearance on CNN Thursday why many may now be making the same polling mistake he made in 2016 and claimed polling just isn’t capturing an accurate picture of the electorate.

‘I’m still skeptical. In the end, Republicans are less likely persons to believe the polls.’

“What do you think the polls may be missing? Do you think they’re under-sampling the kind of voter that Trump usually brings out, that sort of non-engaged voter that may not respond to a phone call from a pollster?” asked anchor Boris Sanchez.

“We know that they don’t respond to phone calls. We know that in the exit polling back in 2016, and I say this publicly because I want people to hear this,” Luntz said.

“You know, I teach at West Point. I cannot lie, cheat, or steal. The cadets can’t. I can’t. I got 2016 wrong. I believed in the exit polls. Trump voters walked away, refused to participate, because they thought that it was against them,” he added.

“They thought that the polls were all biased,” Luntz said. “And that’s what Republicans are being told right now: ‘Don’t believe the polls. They’re not accurate.’ Well they may be, we’re about to find out.”

He went on to say that turnout is the key to the election, and the polling may not be accurately reflecting which group of people actually shows up at the ballot box.

“I’m still skeptical. In the end, Republicans are less likely to participate. They’re less likely to believe the polls are happening. I’m most interested in turnout,” he continued.

“They’re polling how the electorate overall feels and not polling the people [that] are actually going to participate. But in the end, who the hell cares?”

RELATED: Pollster Frank Luntz says CNN town hall exposed why Kamala Harris was losing to Trump

Despite the warning about the polling, Luntz also said the president’s historically low approval rating would affect Republicans’ chances to win the midterm elections.

“That’s not good at all, and he’s as recently as three weeks ago called affordability a hoax. It’s not a hoax if you can’t afford eggs. It’s not a hoax if you can’t afford steak,” said Luntz.

“I don’t know if they understand how people actually feel, that they are anxious, nervous, angry because their lives are tougher today than they used to be,” he added.

He warned that if the polls were indeed correct, Democrats would have a big night on November 3.

2026 midterm polling map: Where the polls stand

pollwatch.theblaze.com

Every Senate, governor, and House race with public polling on one map, state by state, with the Blaze polling average. From Blaze News.

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

​Democrats, Frank luntz, Midterm elections, Polling, Politics, Republicans, Donald trump 

As rioters have left a trail of destruction all across France, one shopkeeper channeled his inner hero to defend his business’ doors.

A man known only as Pierre has become an online hero for his recent defense of a video game store, and his image will likely live on forever as a meme.

‘I can’t intellectualize what happened. Maybe it will come a little after the battle.’

Pierre is a salesman at the Micromania store in Nice, France, a chain owned by GameStop. During the seemingly unending violence that gripped the country over the weekend, Pierre stood up to rioters who were attempting to break into the shop, which already had its security doors down and its front door broken.

In a video seen by over 4 million viewers, Pierre marched down one rioter who taunted him, but as he walked back to his entrance, he was blindsided from behind with a kick.

However, Pierre got right back up and was later seen calmly adjusting his glasses as he remained steadfast at the entrance. To make his story even more iconic, he was pictured in the doorway alongside a life-sized photo of popular anime character Goku from the show “Dragonball Z.”

A photo of his stance has already reached tens of millions worldwide, with Pierre humbly telling French outlet ICI that he likely shouldn’t have engaged with the rioters.

“I can’t intellectualize what happened. Maybe it will come a little after the battle,” he remarked.

“I think it shouldn’t have been done anyway,” he said of his actions. “It’s stupidity. But in the moment, that’s what I did.”

RELATED: Europe is burning. Does anyone still care enough to save it?

“Thank you so much. My team and I are deeply touched,” Pierre reportedly said in response to the support he’s received.

After allegedly suffering some wounds during his attack — likely from shattered glass — a fundraiser was set up to support him and the store.

“Donations are made to support Pierre,” the fundraisers wrote, while also noting to be aware of scams as Pierre did not ask for anything to be promoted on his behalf.

At the time of this writing, the donation page had reached over $11,000.

Pierre’s image already seems like it will withstand the test of time with supporters creating memes like this AI video of him performing a powered attack on rioters akin to the anime character he stood beside.

Another page has animated him into being his own hero, and it doesn’t appear such posts will cease anytime soon.

RELATED: Macron watched France burn — then blamed the ‘French people.’ Trump: ‘The migrants have taken over.’

Photo by Valery HACHE / AFP via Getty Images

There will be an asterisk on Pierre’s record though, at least for some of his supporters. The salesman said that while it was very nice to see gamers stand up and support one another, he made sure to qualify that the rioters did not represent the true ideology of the left-wing protests.

“We must not forget that it remains in the minority in terms of attitude,” Pierre explained. “For the rest of the procession, things went rather well. There are a few bad apples, but that’s not the majority,” he claimed.

The riots in Europe are a warning sign of unchecked immigration policy, according to Nick Freitas.

In his latest documentary, the former Green Beret said that mass migration will eventually lead to the downfall of the West, through ever-growing resistance and a refusal to assimilate.

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

​Gamestop, Video games, France, Tech 

A former University of Kentucky cheerleader who admitted to killing her newborn son has been sentenced — and the family of the deceased infant is wondering what the future could have held for the baby.

On Friday, 22-year-old Laken Snelling was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the death of her infant, according to Fox News.

‘Instead of celebrating his milestones, we’re left mourning the milestones that never were passed.’

According to Court TV, Fayette County Circuit Court Judge Diane Minnifield ruled that Snelling is not eligible for probation because she committed a “crime of violence.”

“Based on the nature of this charge, you’re not even probation eligible to be considered,” Minnifield said during Snelling’s sentencing. “You know, this is a crime of violence. This is a crime that took the life of an innocent baby that did nothing, you know, did nothing but come out and breathe, and that’s it.”

Minnifield added, “You’re going to have a lot of time. You’re young, you’re 22 years old. You’re going to have a lot of life.”

Minnifield said the father and his family are “going to have a lot of life ahead of them, but this hole will never go away.”

“This loneliness, this just now in the pit of your stomach, it’s never going to go away,” Minnifield continued. “You’re going to have to find ways to live with it, and all of that’s only going to come by God.”

Snelling received 415 days of credit toward her sentence for time spent under house arrest.

According to a statement released by the city of Lexington, police officers were dispatched on a report of an unresponsive infant around 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2025.

“When officers arrived, they located an infant that was pronounced deceased at the scene,” authorities stated.

Police arrested Snelling days later and charged her with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.

As Blaze News previously reported, Snelling was indicted in March and then pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant in August.

During an August court hearing, Snelling admitted to killing her newborn son.

“I was under a lot of emotional stress, and my baby came unexpectedly,” a tearful Snelling told Judge Minnifield. “And instead of helping him, I ended his life. And afterwards, I cleaned up and didn’t tell anyone.”

“I ended his life,” Snelling admitted to the judge.

When asked by Judge Minnifield how she ended his life, Snelling confessed: “I deprived him of oxygen.”

Snelling admitted to tampering with physical evidence by placing towels in a plastic bag.

Snelling conceded that she concealed the birth of the baby by stating: “I didn’t tell anyone after.”

RELATED: Mom kills 3-year-old son, husband at popular family resort, cops say. Then she makes chilling 911 call.

WLEX-TV reported that Minnifield told Snelling on Friday: “Sometimes we make choices and decisions, and there’s a consequence for each of those. And, you know, sometimes those choices and consequences affect our future for the rest of our lives.”

Snelling did not address the court during sentencing, but one of her attorneys explained why the defense submitted no letters of support.

One of Snelling’s attorneys said during the hearing:

We chose not to submit any statements from her or from the large number of people who want to send letters in support of her. One of the concerns we had, this case has had some media attention, and we just didn’t want to fuel that fire anymore by letters in support of her. So the fact that we did not submit anything, don’t take that as a reason she doesn’t care about what happened. She is incredibly, deeply saddened by what happened. She’s taking complete responsibility for it.

The baby’s father, Izaiah Hall, noted in court that he had named their son McCoy Cade Hall, according to Court TV.

“I don’t wish the worst on Laken. What happened is, it is what it is. I can’t change it,” Hall stated.

Hall’s mother said her deceased grandson was “a perfectly healthy, beautiful baby boy.”

“A baby who had barely begun its life,” she continued. “A baby that deserved a chance to grow to be loved. … Instead of celebrating his milestones, we’re left mourning the milestones that never were passed. Instead of watching him grow, I’m left wondering who he would have been.”

WKYT-TV reported that Hall’s sister added, “He was not garbage. He was the most beautiful, perfect, innocent, full-term baby boy.”

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

​Cheerleader, Manslaughter, Murder, University of kentucky, Mother kills children, Crime 

Comedian Shane Gillis has observed a new phenomenon: Women are wearing increasingly revealing clothing to work out at the gym. But apparently, joking about something that everyone has noticed is enough to send women all over the world into a defensive frenzy.

In this case, a defensive frenzy means posting themselves wearing those revealing outfits in rebellion of Gillis’ viral observation.

And while BlazeTV host John Doyle has noticed the same thing Gillis has, he believes the response to the comedian’s joke goes far beyond gym etiquette.

“Shane Gillis is under fire for accurately describing female behavior, which is of course the highest blasphemy one can commit in 2026 America. And women are just proving his point by advertising themselves and their bodies all across social media,” Doyle begins, before breaking down “the metaphysics of the thirst trap.”

“I think there’s a much deeper kind of phenomenon going on that actually speaks pretty heavily to the nature of women,” he says.

“When you call them a w***e, they’re not taking insult the same way that a woman 100 years ago would be insulted if you called her a prostitute pretty much. It’s actually different. It signals something different about the dynamics that we’re all experiencing,” he continues.

“A woman’s agency generally is through her sexuality, their beauty, their attractiveness, you know, whatever it may be. This has been their way of making it throughout the world forever. This has not changed. This is never going to change,” he adds.

However, what has changed is the idea that “if you give it up easy, you’re empowered.”

“You are rebelling against the patriarchy and the previous social order that had governed basically forever, right? Because all shame for any premarital conduct was going to be pretty much eroded completely,” he explains.

“Now, when women are shamed, it’s because they give it up to men at all, which does not actually mean just sex. This means doing literally anything at all to appeal to men even a little bit,” he says.

Now, it’s become “low status” to try to appeal to men or be nice to them, which is why Doyle says they have to “maintain a level of plausible deniability.”

“This is why it’s about the thirst traps at the gym. You know, if a woman posts a thirst trap at the gym, ‘No, I’m just posting a picture on Instagram,’” he says.

“So nothing has changed on a fundamental level. Pre- and post-sexual revolution were all the same, but now it can’t be acknowledged. So women are still working to make themselves desirable to men,” he continues.

“Pretty much everything they do literally ever is about signaling that they are desirable,” he adds.

Want more from John Doyle?

To enjoy more of the truth about America and join the fight to restore a country that has been betrayed by its own leaders, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​John doyle, Sexual revolution, Shane gillis, Womens gym outfits, Blazetv show 

A 34-year-old mother has been released from custody after a pickup truck she was driving hit multiple people on a soccer field in Wichita, Kansas, killing a 6-year-old boy and a 35-year-old man and injuring 10 others Saturday afternoon, police said.

Sedgwick County 911 received multiple calls reporting that a vehicle had driven onto soccer fields at Stryker Sports Complex, striking several people, police said.

‘What should have been a day of children playing soccer and families spending time together ended in tragedy.’

“The preliminary investigation indicates a Chevrolet pickup driven by a 34-year-old woman was parked in a parking space near the soccer fields before it drove onto one of the fields, striking multiple children and adults,” police said.

Two juveniles — both children of the driver — were inside the pickup at the time of the crash, police said, adding that another child of the driver was playing soccer on another field at the complex.

Despite lifesaving efforts by emergency personnel, two people died at the scene, police said, adding that they have been identified as 6-year-old Cole Adrian and 35-year-old Nicholas Schafer, both of McPherson, Kansas. Police said the two victims were not related.

The 10 people injured in the crash were taken to hospitals with injuries described as noncritical, police said, adding that a 61-year-old woman was hospitalized after experiencing medical complications unrelated to traumatic injuries, which brought the total number of people taken to hospitals to 11.

Police said the 10 people injured in the crash are described as:

A 5-year-old girlA 5-year-old boyTwo 8-year-old boysA 9-year-old girlA 28-year-old womanA 32-year-old manA 59-year-old womanA 65-year-old womanA 68-year-old man

Investigators interviewed more than 30 witnesses, including the two juveniles inside the pickup at the time of the crash, before interviewing the driver, police said.

Following the interviews, investigators consulted with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, police said, adding that the 34-year-old driver was subsequently released pending the results of toxicology testing and a mechanical examination of the vehicle.

Police said no charges have been filed, and investigators are continuing to work toward determining the circumstances that led to the crash.

RELATED: ‘Devastating’ skydiving outing leaves 12 dead

Wichita Police Capt. Aaron Moses at Saturday’s news conference said the driver has a valid license, no outstanding arrest warrants, and was cooperating with investigators, Fox News reported.

Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan expressed his condolences to the families and everyone affected by the tragedy: “Our hearts are with the families of Adrian and Nicholas as they face an unimaginable loss. What should have been a day of children playing soccer and families spending time together ended in tragedy. We are also thinking about those who were injured, their loved ones, and everyone who witnessed what happened. We know this tragedy has affected many people throughout our community, and we want those families to know they are not alone. Our officers and investigators will continue working to understand exactly what happened.”

Police said they encourage all those who may be struggling with the tragedy to reach out for support; mental health services are available through Sedgwick County COMCARE. Anyone needing emotional support also can call or text 988 — the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — to speak with trained crisis counselors and receive information about available resources, police said.

All those with information about the crash are encouraged to contact police investigators at 316-268-4407, police said, adding that anonymous tips can also be provided through Crime Stoppers at 316-267-2111.

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

​Mother, Child killed, Soccer, Kansas, Truck crash, No charges, Injuries, Crime 

France is seeing some of the worst violence in its streets in decades as demonstrations have turned into property damage and looting.

As hundreds of thousands have blocked roads in different cities over the weekend, French outlets are claiming that the protests are in response to ever-rising energy costs and students who are upset with their school conditions.

‘We are proud to announce that we are blocking the largest museum in the world.’

However, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has described some of the worst protesters as far-left and “ultra-left” politically, and there have been many viral moments in the European country that scream of progressive ideology, mirroring protests that have happened worldwide in the last decade.

1. Burning down the state

Public buildings, luxury boutiques, and supermarkets were targets of rioters, who attacked police cars as well as officers, according to Reuters.

The city of Limoges had its city hall set on fire, while in Marseille protesters busted their way into city hall and tagged it with anarchist graffiti. The city tourism office in Lyon was also seen engulfed in flames.

RELATED: Macron watched France burn — then blamed the ‘French people.’ Trump: ‘The migrants have taken over.’

2. Louvre protest backlash

Students led a blockade at the entrance of the Louvre and denounced “police repression,” Newsweek reported. The incident involved blocking the front doors of the historic museum while performing music.

In a video seen by millions of viewers, tourists are outraged that their time and money has been wasted as the pseudo-buskers block the entrance. The tourists chant at the protesters and give them the middle finger.

“The tourists who are waiting are aggressive with us because they’ve paid for their tickets,” one of the protesters reportedly said. However, the group also allegedly distributed leaflets that read, “We are proud to announce that we are blocking the largest museum in the world.”

RELATED: Illegal alien and 15 others charged with election crimes, DOJ says

3. The unfazed jogger

“Those who destroyed must pay,” French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday. “Those who looted must pay back. Those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable.”

As the destruction and dismay was evident through burned property, masked rioters, and smoke in the air, one Paris resident went viral for her apparent composure through the ordeal.

A woman wearing a sports bra, shorts, and a jacket tied around her waist has been the subject of several videos where she is seen casually jogging through the chaos and past a pile of burning bikes.

The camera then pans to show the woman running passed dozens of masked protesters and toward a sea of demonstrators, all dressed in black. Another burning fire with thick, black smoke is seemingly her next destination.

4. Your city tomorrow?

Millions have already watched at least four French police vehicles get violently attacked by rioters in Paris in another viral video.

As the cop cars drive by with sirens blaring, about a dozen rioters dressed in black attempt to smash the vehicles with rocks, debris, and other objects.

With literal sparks flying, one rioter even turns to the camera and is seen smiling as they record the dirty work on their phone.

“Paris today. Your city tomorrow?” the post on X asked, followed by, “Where are you, President Emmanuel Macron?”

5. The warning

Western nations are in grave danger of being overrun by people who have “no love or appreciation for it,” warns Nick Freitas in the documentary “The Immigration Crisis That Will Destroy the West.”

Freitas talks about the betrayal of politicians and the ever-growing demographic changes in the West, stemming from poor policy that includes mass asylum claims from countries like Pakistan, while immigration systems let in countless economic migrants from the third world.

– YouTube

6. Posing for the camera

A group of rioters are happy in another video to relish in their spoils and pose for the camera in front of trashed streets and raging fires. As some give the camera the middle finger, rioters in the background of the group grunt in unison. One even waves what appears to be a mannequin’s leg.

The post from Visegrad 24, a news curator in Central Europe, described the scene as “young 2nd and 3rd-generation migrant rioters” who had gathered to celebrate setting Paris on fire.

It is unclear who the rioters are, but the post noted that they “proudly give the French people the finger in the picture.”

7. Cordial monsters

In another viral video, a woman who appears to support the protests attempts to disavow looters at a grocery mart but fails as they calmly work around her efforts.

“But why are you doing this?” the woman asks the looters, according to a translation. “Arretez!” she yells, meaning “stop.”

The woman then tries to block the entrance to the store while saying, “That’s not the cause.”

Unperturbed, the looters gently remove her from the entrance and then cheer as they help each other inside to continue stealing. One male grabs the woman and takes her aside, saying, “You are going to hurt yourself.”

“They won’t be able to listen to reason!” the man adds.

“What’s the point of doing that?!” the woman screams back.

Nearly in tears, she turns to the camera in distress before walking away. The camera then pans to the looters inside as a helpless shopkeeper stands in the store.

Woman, shopkeepers plead with looters as French protests turn violent

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

​France, Riots, Paris, Louvre, Immigration, Politics 

Democratic U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan has revealed a nefarious plot to dissuade young people from joining the Republican Party.

Slotkin was speaking at the University of Chicago on Tuesday when she said Democrats are gearing up to prosecute Republicans and scare young people from being more active in the Republican Party.

‘She is exactly the fascist she’s been lecturing the rest of us about.’

“I want to look at these signature cases and not just focus on the president but on the people who enabled him,” said Slotkin.

“I want young people coming out of school to say, ‘Should I go work for the Trump administration? Like, that sounds fun. I might get an opportunity.’ I want them to be like, ‘Lord, that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don’t want, and so let me avoid participating in that,'” she continued.

“I want that deterrence message,” Slotkin concluded.

Video of her plan was posted to social media, where she was criticized heavily. It went viral with millions of views, including by her colleagues in the Senate.

“It is absolutely disgraceful to threaten young Americans for participating in politics and serving their country,” responded Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

“Spare me the pearl-clutching — especially from Republican Members of Congress and online MAGA grifters who have cheered President Trump’s weaponization of the government against those he doesn’t like, as recently as last week,” Slotkin responded, apparently referring to the raid on the D.C.-area home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

Slotkin also cited the Trump administration investigating her participation in a video calling on U.S. military members to “refuse illegal orders.”

“President Trump has turned the government against people, with raucous support from you and virtually all D.C. Republicans. So spare us the manufactured outrage,” she added to Lee.

Others on social media lambasted Slotkin for the comments.

“She intends to unleash a slew of investigations to deter young people from even considering supporting the Administration … if they know what is good for them,” replied legal expert Jonathan Turley.

“Incredibly unAmerican. She is exactly the fascist she’s been lecturing the rest of us about,” read one response.

“What amazes me most is that they don’t even try to hide the fraud and contempt,” replied another critic. “They feel so secure in their DC jobs and immune to consequences they don’t put much effort into masking it.”

RELATED: Sen. Slotkin says FBI is investigating 6 Democrats Trump called ‘traitors’ for ‘seditious’ video

“Are we living in a Soviet Commie world? She is threatening people who want to be part of MAGA — that she is hoping to arrest us. Who the @#$# does she think she is!?” said one detractor.

“Dead party. No message whatsoever. Just destroy or deny opposition. She’s so perverse. So insane. She has no business in government whatsoever,” said another.

The raid at Omar’s home was part of an investigation into the circumstances of her immigration from Somalia to the U.S. She is also under investigation for possible financial crimes related to her disclosures.

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

​Elissa slotkin, Social media, Democrats, Online backlash, Politics 

We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of Europe.

It’s October 18, 2026, as I write; who knows what more will have happened in European cities by the time you read this? Since yesterday, rioters have burned down much of the 143-year-old town hall in Limoges, France. In Milan, masked mobs have looted stores, set fires, and battled police in the square outside the magnificent Duomo cathedral.

It’s like watching your cousins’ house burn while the arsonists laugh and your cousins argue over whether to call the firefighters.

In Paris, cars burn and shops are ransacked. In some of the most chaotic footage, badly outnumbered police appear to be in retreat, their vehicles speeding through smoke-filled streets as masked rioters chase them and hurl objects at the cars.

Even Joan of Arc wasn’t spared. In Paris, masked demonstrators climbed the statue of France’s patron saint and plastered it with political stickers. In Toulouse, rioters draped another statue of Joan in a yellow vest and hung a Palestinian flag from it.

Nearly 2,400 people were arrested across France. Historic buildings have been torched, businesses looted, and hundreds of police officers injured. The authorities themselves have acknowledged that radical far-left groups and criminals are exploiting the unrest.

‘C’est pas la cause!’

And what does the mainstream media call this spectacle? A “protest against the rising cost of living,” or a show of frustration with educational inequality. The Guardian explains that the movement began with complaints about teacher shortages and deteriorating schools before expanding into nationwide demonstrations against inequality and falling living standards.

Perhaps that’s how the protests began. But what does a shortage of teachers have to do with burning down a 19th-century town hall? How does smashing the windows of a luxury boutique improve conditions in a classroom?

Take a look at the footage of looters helping themselves to luxury goods. Whatever grievances brought people into the streets, there is nothing remotely political or principled about this. It’s theft, vandalism, and destruction, committed by people who apparently believe that anything they can seize or smash is theirs for the taking.

One particularly miserable video from Paris shows a woman desperately trying to stop a group of looters from destroying a shop. “C’est pas la cause!” she cries repeatedly — roughly, “That’s not what this cause is about!” The men ignore her, laughing as they continue ransacking the place. She seems genuinely bewildered that anyone claiming to protest injustice would behave this way.

Against civilization

The rioters aren’t merely destroying property. They’re attacking the physical inheritance of a civilization. In Limoges, the town hall survived two world wars before a mob set it ablaze. In Paris, monuments and public spaces that have belonged to generations of French citizens become stages for intimidation and disorder.

And France is hardly alone. This weekend, violent clashes have also erupted in Belgium and Italy, while student riots in Albania earlier in the week left government buildings in flames. The grievances vary, but the scenes have become disturbingly familiar: burning barricades, ransacked businesses, and police struggling to contain mobs that seem to regard every public grievance as an invitation to destruction.

As in the Black Lives Matter riots in America in 2020, “protest” has become an all-purpose excuse for criminality. We are expected to regard the wreckage as an unfortunate side effect of people demanding justice, rather than evidence of a society losing its ability to enforce the most basic rules of civilized life.

And what of Europe’s leaders? French President Emmanuel Macron has condemned the rioters, promised arrests and punishment, and authorized additional security measures. Fine. But why were mobs able to overwhelm police, loot businesses, and burn public buildings in the first place? How is it possible that a historic town hall, with people still inside, could be invaded and deliberately set on fire?

Diversity’s downside

The media does not like to mention this, but it’s obvious to anyone with eyes: Watch these videos and you’ll see crowds made up predominantly of young men who appear to be of sub-Saharan African, North African, or Middle Eastern descent. Which raises another question: To what extent is this failure of public order the result of years of unchecked mass immigration from third-world Muslim countries?

France’s leaders have spent decades celebrating diversity and invoking the supposedly universal values of the French Republic. Macron has likened French culture to a river fed by many tributaries. But a river can only absorb so much before it changes course. French soil has no magical properties that automatically instill centuries of traditions and values in anyone who sets foot on it.

And the numbers are hardly trivial. France had 9.3 million foreign-born residents in 2024, up 21% from a decade earlier. A French Senate investigation this July identified nearly €2 billion (about $2.2 billion) in asylum-related spending last year, without counting certain health, education, and welfare expenses. The same report complained that failed asylum-seekers frequently remain in the country despite orders to leave. This is an enormous undertaking for a state already struggling to provide the services its citizens expect.

RELATED: Queers for Palestine: The woke left’s unholy alliance with Islamism

NurPhoto/Getty Images

‘New’ France

And why is it that so many of those who are supposed to be assimilating into French society seem instead to be embracing the politics of the global far left, with its loyalties and grievances extending far beyond France?

Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s radical-left France Unbowed party has discovered a powerful constituency in the immigrant-heavy suburbs. In the 2024 European elections, the party made the Palestinian cause a centerpiece of its campaign, and 62% of Muslim voters backed its list. Mélenchon celebrated the emergence of what he called a “new France”. But what holds this new France together? What shared loyalties, traditions, or obligations bind it to the old one? Those questions deserve more than another sermon about the virtues of diversity.

Time will tell, but it looks increasingly as though Europe’s political leadership has lost the will to defend what it governs. Most of us have watched an elderly relative lose the will to live. When that happens, the person usually dies in short order. Something similar seems to have overtaken Europe’s governing class.

Maybe it’s too early to deliver a eulogy. But what is “too soon” today may be too late tomorrow.

Death in the family

How else but with rage and grief is one supposed to react to watching the world he knew being destroyed?

Europe and the United Kingdom are, in a sense, part of an American’s patrimony and of any Westerner’s. America is a descendant, now a cousin, of England. France lent us help in the American Revolution. Enlightenment ideas that built the modern West flowed between us.

To see the destruction in Europe is not like watching a distant star go supernova. It’s like watching your cousins’ house burn while the arsonists laugh and your cousins argue over whether to call the firefighters.

Are we witnessing the end of what the 20th century left us? That was an era in which we at least tried to preserve the best of our physical and political heritage, building on top of it as times progressed. We understood that civilization required active stewardship. Borders needed policing, laws needed enforcing, and the inheritance of previous generations needed protecting.

Now the police are struggling to hold the streets, and the guardians of Europe’s cultural treasures appear powerless to stop their destruction.

I’m from the 20th century. No one in my cohort or above could ever have imagined we would live to see such times. We were foolish to believe that our first-world West would tick along without active stewardship, and now we’re experiencing the sorrow of our folly.

Think of the final scene in the original “Planet of the Apes.” Charlton Heston’s character, believing himself stranded on an alien planet, comes upon the ruins of the Statue of Liberty, half-buried in the sand. He realizes he has been on Earth all along. Everything that made it home has been destroyed — by his own people.

“We finally really did it,” he says, before collapsing to his knees and cursing those responsible.

Watching Europe today feels like living through that scene. Except this isn’t a movie. And it’s terrible.

​European destruction, Europes burning, Europes end, French diversity, Limoges france, Milan mobs, Paris chaos, Planet of the apes, Rioters in europe, Western heritage, Mainstream media, Immigration, Mass immigration, Emmanuel macron, France, Islam, Lifestyle, Culture, Intervention 

Although they cannot bring themselves to endorse Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers outright, a pair of big names in Michigan Democratic circles have issued a plea to fellow travelers: Do not vote for Rogers’ leftist opponent, Abdul El-Sayed.

Lon Johnson, the former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, and David Kramer, a longtime Democratic strategist who worked on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s gubernatorial campaign and Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s Senate campaign, made their case in an op-ed published on Friday in the Detroit News — an anti-Trump paper that officially endorsed Rogers last month.

‘A vote is never owed.’

At the outset, the duo noted that El-Sayed has failed to earn the trust of “loyal Democrats,” assuage their fears, and “unite a party whose nomination he won with less than 50% of the vote.”

“As a result, we will not vote for Abdul El-Sayed,” wrote the duo. “Some may then conclude we, or other loyal Democrats, need to vote for a different party, but for many of us, leaving the ballot blank is an act of dignity.”

Johnson and Kramer stated that their “gravest concerns involve El-Sayed’s associations with figures who have excused or minimized terrorism, his reluctance to unequivocally condemn dangerous rhetoric, and his support of extreme policies.”

El-Sayed is a Muslim Democrat who:

served on former President Joe Biden’s Unity Task Force for Healthcare,defended sex-rejection mutilations for children,advocated in June 2020 for defunding the police, andstill advocates today for a tax-raising “Medicare for All” scheme.

Johnson and Kramer took issue with El-Sayed’s refusal during his Oct. 8 debate with Rogers to identify “whether Iran or Israel posed the greater threat to America, dismissing the comparison as hypothetical.”

El-Sayed said during the debate that “both of them have proven dangerous in their own way.”

RELATED: Ocasio-Cortez dumps BIG MONEY into El-Sayed campaign

Sarah Rice/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Johnson and Kramer also expressed concern about whether El-Sayed shares the radicalism exhibited by others in his orbit.

For starters, El-Sayed is the son of Fatten Fathy Elkomy, an Egyptian immigrant who reportedly worked for an Islamic organization that the U.S. Treasury Department labeled a specially designated global terrorist organization in 2004.

The Treasury Department noted at the time of the terror designation that the group, the Islamic African Relief Agency, may have “provided direct financial support” to Osama bin Laden and, by extension, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Elkomy’s daughter and El-Sayed’s half-sister, Eman Abdelhadi, is a professor at the University of Chicago who was arrested last year for allegedly spitting on an Illinois state trooper outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility.

Abdelhadi not only delivered an “October 7 blessing” on the first anniversary of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel but has signaled a familial link to the Muslim Brotherhood, though El-Sayed has denied that he and his family have ties to it.

While a man cannot choose the family he is born into, he certainly can choose his friends.

El-Sayed brought Hasan Piker to Michigan to campaign with him on multiple occasions, including on Aug. 3.

Piker is the multimillionaire son of Muslim immigrants from Turkey who:

stated that “America deserved 9/11” and called for another attack; said that he has no patriotism in his heart for America;identified the colors of Hezbollah terrorists as his “favorite flag”; shrugged off sexual violence by Hamas terrorists; andtold viewers who care about Medicaid fraud to “kill” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

“Leadership is measured not only by what you say, but by what you are willing to confront,” wrote Johnson and Kramer, who expressed concern about El-Sayed’s relationship with Piker as well as their party’s takeover by the Democratic Socialists of America.

The Democratic duo concluded that “legitimate frustration with the political establishment cannot justify surrendering our party to ideological extremism. Winning elections means little if we lose the principles and broad coalition that make governing possible.”

“Supporting a candidate is a choice, not an obligation. Party loyalty is not blind obedience. Support must be earned, and a vote is never owed,” they added.

El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

The race for the open Michigan U.S. Senate seat remains neck and neck, according to Blaze News’ Poll Watch. El-Sayed has just a 2.7 point advantage over Rogers.

Michigan Senate polls 2026: El-Sayed vs. Rogerspollwatch.theblaze.com

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

​Hasan piker, Muslim brotherhood, Mike rogers, Abdul el-sayed, Democratic party, Michigan, Senate, Politics