Category: blaze media

A black liberal commentator revealed why he chose to quit the Washington Post editorial board, and it led to a wave of mockery and ridicule on social media.

Capehart left the board in 2023, but he had not said why he did so until he published a book of memoirs last week. He said that he left because of a disagreement about whether former President Joe Biden had exaggerated his criticism of new legislation.

‘Tumulty took an incident where I felt ignored and compounded the insult by robbing me of my humanity.’

Capehart said that the board disagreed with former President Joe Biden when he criticized a Georgia voting statute as “Jim Crow 2.0” and that he grew even angrier when the opinion editor, Karen Tumulty, did not apologize to him over the disagreement.

“Tumulty took an incident where I felt ignored and compounded the insult by robbing me of my humanity,” he wrote in his book. “She either couldn’t or wouldn’t see that I was black, that I came to the conversation with knowledge and history she could never have, that my worldview, albeit different from hers, was equally valid.”

Many thought it absurd that Capehart had been so incensed over a relatively minor description of Biden’s policies by the board.

“The idea that Karen Tumulty robbed Jonathan Capehart of his ‘humanity’ is one of the most absurd things ever written. Capehart is preening a drama queen,” said talk host Erick Erickson.

“Capeheart is a complete whiner. And Tumulty isn’t exactly moderate or right,” responded Pradheep Shanker of National Review.

“Hahahahahaha they had a mild disagreement over whether the Georgia voting law was extremely bad or REALLY extremely bad and so he said Karen Tumulty was genociding him and quit,” said a popular anonymous account.

“This is hilarious. I’m not sure if he was robbed of humanity but he definitely dropped his self-awareness along the way,” said another user. “WPost was even wrong in their milder criticism of the laws as it turns out the laws were not restrictive and nobody was disenfranchised.”

RELATED: NBC historian hyperventilates Trump will turn US into dictatorship if re-elected

Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Politicon

“White supremacy strikes again. You absolutely love to see it,” joked another account.

“Capeheart [sic] is the definition of a woke, entitled snowflake eagerly looking to be offended,” said another.

“What an idiot. His view was WAY OFF and the opposing view was correct. He WAS being hyperbolic (and that’s putting it mildly). Another example of why we don’t hate the legacy media nearly enough,” read another comment.

Capehart was previously mocked when he sobbed at the beginning of an interview about the Jan. 6 rioting at the U.S. Capitol.

Tumulty said she did not recognize the events as reported by Capehart but added that she could not comment to Semafor out of respect for “the long-standing principle that Washington Post editorial board deliberations are confidential.”

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​Jonathan capehart mocked, Capehart leaves wapo, Social media vs lib media, Capehart vs tumulty, Politics 

Wednesday marks the fifth anniversary of when Black Lives Matter rioters and Antifa militants, angry over the death of George Floyd, attacked Minneapolis’ 3rd Police Precinct and the officers defending it. What was different about that day in 2020 is how the vastly outnumbered officers were ordered to evacuate the precinct instead of being reinforced.

The rioters gained new energy at the sight of the retreating officers, many of whom had to run on foot because there were not enough vehicles to transport them out of the area. With the minimal police presence now gone, the mob broke into the police station, looted it, and set the building on fire.

It was a moment that had not been seen in recent U.S. history. The police station in Ferguson, Missouri, during the BLM riots was not evacuated or burned. There is no record of such drastic action taking place at any of the Los Angeles Police Department stations during the 1992 riots.

Three Minneapolis police officers who are still with the department have bravely stepped forward to speak with Blaze News and give their account of what happened that night and what they have seen in the five years since the riots. They agreed to be interviewed anonymously to avoid retaliation from the department or the city.

“That first three days, I mean even afterwards, there was little to no direction from our admin. and/or our command. We were self-deploying or making our own plans to do whatever we could to be effective and try to maintain some sort of semblance of order,” one of the officers recalled.

Watch the officers’ interview here:

The officers who were interviewed said they felt betrayed by the decision to evacuate the 3rd Precinct because they had spent days being attacked by the crowd. In their view, the precinct could have been held if they had been given reinforcements. Mayor Jacob Frey (D) has defended his decision to give the evacuation order because he did not believe holding the building was worth the risk of an officer or a rioter being killed.

“It was extremely frustrating,” another officer said about city leadership’s decisions. “I feel like a lot of people that were on the ground directly with us were making good calls, but it was the people higher up that were making really bad calls, which made [our response] difficult.”

The officer pointed to how leadership did not like the optics of police being on the roof of the 3rd Precinct with 40mm less-than-lethal launchers, which are used on rioters who are attacking officers, so leadership ordered them off the roof. As soon as they were off the roof, the crowd became more violent and got closer to the building, so the officers were ordered back up.

The Minneapolis officers retreating sent a message to rioters across the country that if they had the numbers and were violent enough, they could have a chance to burn police stations. Another such attempt was made on the 5th Precinct. In Seattle, then-Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) ordered her officers to leave the city’s East Precinct after days of rioters attacking officers there.

RELATED: FBI reassigns agents involved in kneeling PR stunt for George Floyd protests

Photo (left): © Ralf-Finn Hestoft/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images; Photo (right): ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

RELATED: DC mayor will remove Black Lives Matter mural and plaza over pressure from White House

Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images

The impact of the lawlessness five years ago is still being felt on the streets. The officers say it is getting increasingly harder to do their jobs effectively, which has led to mass exodus from the Minneapolis Police Department.

“I’ve had friends come up to me or family members come up to me that say, ‘We need more cops like you.’ My response, if I ever hear a comment like that, is always, ‘There are. The department is full of them. Certainly was full of them at that time.’ We lost an unacceptable number of great cops, of great sergeants, lieutenants, leaders,” one officer said.

It remains to be seen whether Minneapolis can fully recover from the devastation.

You can watch the full documentary on BlazeTV.

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​Politics 

An illegal alien allegedly composed a letter threatening to shoot and kill President Donald Trump over the deportations the president has ordered.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted on social media that the suspect had been detained, and she posted an image of the handwritten threat letter.

‘You have been deporting my family and I think it is time Donald J. Trump get what he has coming to him.’

“Thanks to our ICE officers, this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump is behind bars,” wrote Noem on social media.

The letter claimed that the president had deported some of the author’s family and that he would self-deport to Mexico after killing Trump.

“We are tired of this president messing with us Mexicans — we have done more for this country than you white people — you have been deporting my family and I think it is time Donald J. Trump get what he has coming to him,” the letter read.

“I will self deport myself back to Mexico but not before I use my 30 yard 6 [sic] to shoot your precious president in is [sic] head — I will see him at one of his big ralleys [sic],” it concluded.

The suspect was identified as 54-year-old Ramon Morales Reyes, who is accused of mailing the letter to ICE officials. He was apprehended on Thursday, and he remains in custody in Juneau, Wisconsin.

Noem connected the threat to the irresponsible rhetoric used by politicians.

“This threat comes not even a year after President Trump was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, and less than two weeks after former FBI Director Comey called for the President’s assassination,” she continued. “All politicians and members of the media should take notice of these repeated attempts on President Trump’s life and tone down their rhetoric.”

RELATED: Democrat mayor will be investigated for alleged aiding and abetting of illegal aliens, Tennessee congressman says

Image Source: Department of Homeland Security press release.

Officials said that Morales Reyes had entered the U.S. illegally nine times in the period from 1998 until 2005. He also had a criminal record with criminal damage to property, felony hit and run, and disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier, according to DHS.

“I will continue to take all measures necessary to ensure the protection of President Trump,” concluded Noem.

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Controversial boxer Imane Khelif will defend a 2024 Dutch boxing championship next month, returning to women’s boxing for the first time since winning Olympic gold last summer in Paris.

At the Olympics, one female opponent of Khelif’s forfeited, and another made a provocative gesture after it was revealed that Khelif was a male competing in the women’s category. The International Boxing Association, the World Boxing Organization, and endocrinological experts all independently determined that Khelif is a man.

‘Proud that Imane Khelif is there again to defend her title!’

The latter research group also revealed that Khelif had the “absence of a uterus” and the presence of “gonads in inguinal canals,” meaning testicles in the abdomen.

Still, Khelif persisted with claims that he was being attacked due to simple hate and made vows to return to women’s boxing. The athlete even dared President Donald Trump to try and bar him from the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

RELATED: Imane Khelif dares Trump administration to stop him from defending gold medal at 2028 Olympics: ‘I am not transgender’

Imane Khelif’s (left) opponent Angela Carini (right) hangs her head after forfeiting at the Olympics. Photo by Fabio Bozzani/Anadolu via Getty Images

Khelif has since been announced as a participant in the eighth Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands, where he will defend his 2024 women’s title. The organization announced the five-day boxing tournament on X and specifically celebrated Khelif’s return. While the aforementioned X post was taken down, you can still view it here: “In 2 weeks the biggest boxing event in Europe in Eindhoven! Proud that Imane Khelif is there again to defend her title!”

Results from 2024’s competition showed that Khelif defeated female boxers almost as easily as he did at the Olympics. Over three bouts, the Algerian dropped just one point out of a possible 15 — meaning a judge voted for an opponent of Khelif’s only once.

At the Olympics, Khelif won all four bouts by unanimous decisions.

The boxer’s return garnered disdain from NCAA championship swimmer and activist Riley Gaines, who called Khelif, “Still the same male who stole a women’s Olympic gold medal.”

RELATED: ‘A lot of people say it’s not happening!’: A definitive list of men who have dominated women’s sports

Imane Khelif of Team Algeria celebrates winning the Olympic gold medal in Women’s 66kg boxing. Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images

Khelif, 26, last made public comments in March and was sticking to the idea that he always has been, and still is, a “girl.”

“I see myself as a girl, just like any other girl. I was born a girl, raised as a girl, and have lived my entire life as one,” the boxer claimed.

The Eindhoven Box Cup runs from June 5 to June 10.

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After years of the Biden administration’s attempts to convince the American public that COVID vaccines were safe and effective for pregnant women and children, RFK Jr. has announced they’re no longer being recommended to society’s most vulnerable.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that as of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule,” RFK Jr. said alongside NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary.

“Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children. That ends today,” he continued, adding, “We’re now one step closer to realizing President Trump’s promise to Make America Healthy Again.”

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales is thrilled with the development but wishes it had come sooner.

“It should never have been recommended to children from the beginning. It should have never been recommended to pregnant women in the beginning. There were no reliable studies showing that this was not harmful to pregnant women,” Gonzales says on “Sara Gonzales Unfiltered.”

However, the left-leaning mainstream media are up in arms over the announcement out of fear that the move will end up harming women and children more than it helps.

“RFK Jr. announces vaccine bombshell as he restricts access for millions of Americans,” one Daily Mail headline reads.

“The idea that, I don’t know, RFK is now killing people because they’re removing it from the actual CDC recommended schedule is just complete and total hogwash. You are talking about children, pregnant women. I mean, these are the most vulnerable,” Gonzales says.

“You can’t just play guinea pig with these people,” she continues, adding, “They either are the next generation or carrying the next generation, and yet the prior administration was completely willing to not only do that but threaten your livelihood if you did not go along with this.”

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

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

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When the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx hosted the Connecticut Sun last week, Lynx forward Napheesa Collier decided to make a political statement in honor of the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s fentanyl-fueled death in Minneapolis.

“George was a father, a brother, and a son. And his life, like every life, held meaning,” Collier told the crowd. “His death exposed the holes that are still in our justice and criminal institutions today. His five-year anniversary reminds us that must continue the fight against criminal, racial, and social injustices. We can not stay silent.”

Collier, of course, failed to include the crimes committed, jail terms served, or the fentanyl and methamphetamine found in Floyd’s system via autopsy.

“She is celebrating and honoring St. George Floyd. Nine times arrested, armed robbery, using a gun on a pregnant woman, high on fentanyl, passing counterfeit $20 bills. The year before the death of St. George Floyd, he nearly died of a drug overdose while being arrested by police,” BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock says on “Fearless.”

“We all know on May 25, 2020, St. George Floyd went off to heaven and now is just a martyr and a symbol of black American excellence. No one black has ever died in a more spectacular, courageous fashion than St. George Floyd, when he couldn’t breathe because he had swallowed enough fentanyl to kill Secretariat and Seabiscuit,” Whitlock continues.

“You’re treating George Floyd, and honoring him, like he’s Jesus. Like his blood offers us salvation and grace,” he adds.

And Whitlock believes Caitlin Clark’s two-week absence from the WNBA has something to do with the over-the-top racial idolatry on display.

“Less people will be paying attention to the WNBA, so they can go back to complaining about their pay, complaining about the patriarchy, complaining about white people. They can go back to doing what they do without any pushback from us. They don’t hate Caitlin Clark; they hate her fans,” Whitlock says.

“They hate our values,” he continues, adding, “They want to live in a bubble where they can do all their insane things without any pushback.”

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

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Project Veritas released undercover footage Wednesday that appears to show Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg and Deterrian Jones, a former staffer in the Biden administration’s Office of Digital Strategy, spill the beans about who was really running the Biden White House.

Their answers might be of interest to congressional investigators on the House Oversight Committee and to Ed Martin, the incoming Department of Justice pardon attorney and director of the DOJ’s Weaponization Working Group, who are looking into who might have been using the autopen to sign documents in former President Joe Biden’s name in the geriatric Democrat’s mental and bodily absence.

‘I can’t stress to you how much power he had at the White House.’

Responding to a question concerning corruption at the DNC, Hogg — facing a potential ouster next month after party elites effectively declared his election null and void — noted the “bigger issue was, like, the inner circle that was around Biden.”

“Jill Biden’s chief of staff had an enormous amount of power,” Hogg allegedly told Project Veritas, referring to Anthony Bernal.

RELATED: Ed Martin floats names of ‘gatekeepers’ in Biden autopen controversy; Trump accuses exploiters of ‘TREASON’

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Deterrian Jones told one of Project Veritas’ undercover reporters that Bernal was a “shadowy, ‘Wizard of Oz’-type figure” who “wielded an enormous amount of power.”

“I can’t stress to you how much power he had at the White House,” added Jones.

Jake Tapper and Axios correspondent Alex Thompson’s new book, “Original Sin,” reportedly characterizes Bernal as one of the most influential people in the White House and a key member of Biden’s so-called politburo.

A source familiar with the inner workings of the Biden White House told the authors, “Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board,” reported the New York Post.

The book claims that “in practice, Bruce Reed was the real domestic policy adviser, Mike Donilon was the actual political director, Steve Ricchetti controlled Legislative Affairs, and Klain controlled a bit of everything.”

RELATED: Justice is coming for Biden’s ‘autopen’ pardons — and Trump’s DOJ just put everyone on notice

Photo by Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images

After hearing from a whistleblower involved with the 2020 Biden campaign at the highest levels, Ed Martin — who revealed on May 20 that his investigation into the use of the autopen has actually been under way for weeks — identified the “gatekeepers” who were “dominant characters in the White House.”

Martin’s list partially overlapped with the “politburo” members listed in Tapper’s book — Klain, Ricchetti, and Jill Biden were names common to both. However, Martin also named former Biden adviser Anita Dunn and Barack Obama’s former personal attorney Robert Bauer.

The admissions from Hogg and Jones, coupled with the revelations in Tapper’s book, appear to confirm President Donald Trump’s suspicion, which he expressed to Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck in October, namely that Biden was effectively a figurehead for a “committee” of unnamed bureaucrats.

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​David hogg, Hogg, Dnc, White house, Biden white house, Autopen, Usurpation, Politics 

President Donald Trump obtained a court victory Wednesday after an official in the copyright department filed a lawsuit against her firing.

Trump has been trying to cut down the size of government, as well as root out political opponents by firing various officials and employees, but Democrats have argued that he is acting unconstitutionally in some cases.

Perlmutter would not be irreparably harmed if she continued to be unemployed.

Shira Perlmutter, former director of the U.S. Copyright Office, filed an emergency bid to reinstate her employment, but U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled in favor of the government. Perlmutter had claimed that the firing was “unlawful and ineffective.”

Kelly ruled that Perlmutter would not be irreparably harmed if she continued to be unemployed as the case progressed.

Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle of New York had accused the administration of firing Perlmutter over a dispute about artificial models that would benefit tech billionaire Elon Musk.

“Donald Trump’s termination of Register of Copyrights, Shira Perlmutter, is a brazen, unprecedented power grab with no legal basis. It is surely no coincidence he acted less than a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Elon Musk’s efforts to mine troves of copyrighted works to train AI models,” wrote Morelle in part.

RELATED: Judge rules Trump administration must rescind ‘illegal’ order to fire probationary federal workers

Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

“This action once again tramples on Congress’s Article One authority and throws a trillion-dollar industry into chaos. When will my Republican colleagues decide enough is enough?” Morelle added.

Perlmutter is also arguing in her lawsuit that the firing threatens the separation of powers of the federal government insofar as the Copyright Office is intended to advise Congress, and the executive branch firing officers imperils that balance.

Kelly was nominated by Trump to the court in 2017.

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After a tumultuous week on Capitol Hill, several Republican lawmakers have expressed frustration with Congress for not yet codifying all of the DOGE cuts. In a quick turnaround, President Donald Trump’s administration is now aiming to codify $9.4 billion in DOGE cuts through Congress as early as next week, an Office of Management and Budget spokesperson confirmed to Blaze News on Wednesday.

The cuts will be presented to Congress in the form of a rescission package from OMB, cutting $1.1 billion in funds to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $8.3 billion in various foreign aid programs, according to an OMB spokesperson. This package comes just days after Trump ally Elon Musk expressed disappointment with Congress’ track record when it comes to codifying the cuts the DOGE has identified.

‘Losing Elon Musk and the DOGE wing of the Trump electoral coalition will be devastating to the GOP’s midterm prospects. But there’s still time.’

RELATED: Elon Musk takes jab at Trump’s ‘big, beautiful, bill’: ‘I was disappointed’

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“Elon Musk and the entire DOGE team have done INCREDIBLE work exposing waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government — from the insanity of USAID’s spending to finding over 12 million people on Social Security who were over 120 years old,” Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday.

“The House is eager and ready to act on DOGE’s findings so we can deliver even more cuts to big government that President Trump wants and the American people demand,” Johnson added.

Some of these programs include a $3 million grant to fund Iraqi “Sesame Street” through USAID, as well as another $3 million for circumcisions, vasectomies, and condoms in Zambia and $5.1 million toward the “resilience of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer global movements” through the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

NPR and PBS also become a target of OMB’s imminent rescission package because they have functionally served as left-wing outlets subsidized by taxpayers. NPR CEO Katherine Maher has previously referred to Trump as a “fascist” and a “deranged racist,” while PBS has featured multiple programs glamorizing transgenderism, including one show about a trans-identifying man who “comes out to her old-school Ohio bowling league.”

RELATED: Who is bankrolling the anti-MAHA movement?

Photo by Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images

The Trump administration’s latest push for Congress to get moving on DOGE cuts comes after Elon Musk himself expressed disappointment with the “big, beautiful bill.” Musk cited concerns over spending, saying it “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”

Republican lawmakers like Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky also seemed unimpressed by Congress so far. At the same time, BlazeTV host Matt Kibbe told Blaze News that there is still time to preserve the MAGA movement before the midterms.

“Losing Elon Musk and the DOGE wing of the Trump electoral coalition will be devastating to the GOP’s midterm prospects,” Kibbe said. “But there’s still time.”

“As Senator Rand Paul has been pointing out, all of the proposed DOGE cuts can be accomplished through expedited presidential rescission legislation, only requiring 51 votes in the Senate,” Kibbe added. “Why not show us what savings can be accomplished before attempting to pass the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ which includes a $5 trillion increase in the debt limit and $350 billion in new spending?”

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​Doge, Doge cuts, Codify doge cuts, Congress, House republicans, Senate republicans, Donald trump, Omb, Office of management and budget, Npr, Pbs, Cbp, Elon musk, Usaid, Trump administration, Big beautiful bill, Reconciliation, Rescissions, Dei, Trans, Katherine maher, Rand paul, Thomas massie, Matt kibbe, Maga mandate, Politics 

The war over the direction of the Democratic Party has broken out into a skirmish between coronavirus truthers and a presidential hopeful who made a concession to pandemic critics.

Pete Buttigieg admitted that one of the biggest failures of Democrats before the 2024 election was the reticence to reopen schools sooner during the shutdown response to the coronavirus pandemic. Former Washington Post writer Taylor Lorenz responded by accusing him of “embracing far right eugenics” policies.

‘Taylor Lorenz is every negative stereotype of professional class female millennials …’

The former transportation secretary was asked what he would have done differently if he were able to go back to 2020.

“One, for the love of God, figure out a way to get the schools open sooner,” Buttigieg responded on “The Bulwark Podcast.”

“We got very knee-jerk about this, and the costs were — not just politically, but in a profound way, I think, for a generation, the costs were profound,” he continued, “and I think anybody who’s involved, who was, by the way, obviously doing their best to deal with a crisis that killed a million Americans, but I think most people involved would like to be able to have found a way to safely get more schools open more quickly.”

Lorenz called him “disgusting” and said opening schools would have led to far more coronavirus deaths.

“Pete saying he would have ‘opened the schools sooner’ in 2020 aka killing MORE vulnerable ppl faster, sacrificing teachers and educators (and kids!) lives [sic] to force them back into unventilated buildings w no protections. Disgusting how Dems have fully embraced far right eugenics,” she wrote.

Many of her followers agreed and piled on with criticism.

“He’s giving this interview from the luxury of his own home, but he wants our kids packed into unventilated schools, subjecting them to repeat covid infections. What a hypocrite,” responded one user.

“It’s unforgivable, & these attitudes appear to be widespread,” replied another. “As public officials quietly ensure their kids are protected, the rest of the kids are left behind.”

But others responded with mockery and ridicule against Lorenz for the absurd exaggeration.

“LOL it’s crazy how she sounds mostly reasonable in interviews and podcasts and then goes legitimate crazytown in tweets,” read one response.

“There is absolutely nobody more emblematic of the left’s obliviousness and self-indulgence than @TaylorLorenz stay losing hag,” said another detractor.

“It’s morbidly fascinating how Taylor Lorenz is every negative stereotype of professional class female millennials rolled into one woman,” said another.

RELATED: Should Taylor Lorenz and BLM leader be silenced for celebrating violence?

Photo by Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

Lorenz had a similarly hysterical response to one outlet covering her meltdown.

“Mediaite is the latest outlet that’s hired a far right writer (Isaac Schorr) who is absolutely obsessed with me to stalk my socials and write outrage stories about me,” she wrote. “He takes every tweet I post and cuts all context to make a headline that will incite maximum hate toward me.”

She was most recently lambasted for expressing “joy” and apparent approval for the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson allegedly by Luigi Mangione.

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​Taylor lorenz vs buttigieg, Dems hate buttigieg, Buttigieg on pandemic, Democrat infighting, Politics 

President Donald Trump was working around the clock with House Republican leadership to secure enough votes for his “big, beautiful bill.” After several overnight sessions and closed-door meetings, the bill passed the House last week with just one vote to spare.

Although many Trump allies championed the achievement, DOGE head Elon Musk expressed disappointment with the landmark legislation.

‘I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful. But I don’t know if it could be both.’

RELATED: Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ narrowly passes the House, notching another win for Johnson

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images

In the days leading up to the vote, the fate of the bill was still unclear. Apart from spending hawks demanding deeper cuts and significant Medicaid reform, the SALT Caucus Republicans kept demanding a higher and higher cap for state and local tax deductions.

With several roadblocks in the way of the bill, Trump met with House Republicans multiple times both on the Hill and in the White House in an attempt to shepherd any defectors. The bill later passed in a 215-214 vote, with two Republicans voting against the bill, one voting present, and two not voting at all.

While most Republicans and Trump allies took a victory lap, Musk said he was “disappointed” by the bill.

“I was disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly, which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,” Musk said.

“I think a bill can be big, or it could be beautiful,” Musk added. “But I don’t know if it could be both.”

‘Hopefully, the Senate will succeed with the big, beautiful bill where the House missed the moment.’

RELATED: Who is bankrolling the anti-MAHA movement?

Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Musk is not alone in his disappointment. Several House Republicans, like House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris (R-Md.), said the bill does not do enough to address federal spending. Notably, Harris was one of the conservative holdouts leading up to the vote and was the only Republican who voted present on the bill.

“I share Mr. Musk’s concerns about the short-term adverse effect on the federal deficit of the limited spending reductions in the BBB,” Harris told Blaze News. “Debt markets remained concerned about U.S. total debt and annual deficits. Hopefully the Senate will take those concerns into consideration as the legislative process moves forward.”

Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio echoed Musk’s concerns about spending, urging the Senate to deepen spending cuts. Davidson and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky were the only two GOP members to vote against the bill.

“Hopefully, the Senate will succeed with the big, beautiful bill where the House missed the moment,” Davidson said.

The bill is now on its way to the Senate, where lawmakers will inevitably rewrite major portions of the bill before punting it back over to the House before the proposed July 4 deadline.

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Girls in public school sports will have a greater chance to compete despite the presence of a transgender athlete, thanks to a change in the rules from the California Interscholastic Federation.

The CIF said that biological female students who lost a spot to compete because of a transgender athlete would be allowed to compete anyway. They announced the rule change after a threat from President Donald Trump but claimed they had made the decision before he made his ultimatum.

‘Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to.’

“The CIF values all of our student-athletes and we will continue to uphold our mission of providing students with the opportunity to belong, connect, and compete while complying with California law and Education Code,” read the statement from the CIF. “With this in mind, the CIF will be implementing a pilot entry process for the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships.”

Trump said Tuesday that California’s federal funding would be cut if the state didn’t comply with his executive order against allowing transgender athletes to compete against biological females in sports.

“Under this pilot entry process, any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section’s automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet, was extended an opportunity to participate in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships,” the CIF explained.

The rule change would allow two female athletes to compete in the state championships in track and field on Friday. They had been previously locked out after Ab Hernandez, a biological male, competed in the girls’ events. Hernandez took first place in the triple jump, third in the long jump, and eighth in the high jump.

“California, under the leadership of Radical Left Democrat Gavin Newscum, continues to ILLEGALLY allow ‘MEN TO PLAY IN WOMEN’S SPORTS.’ This week a transitioned Male athlete, at a major event, won ‘everything,’ and is now qualified to compete in the ‘State Finals’ next weekend,” wrote the president in response.

“Please be hereby advised that large scale Federal Funding will be held back, maybe permanently, if the Executive Order on this subject matter is not adhered to,” he added.

“I am ordering local authorities, if necessary, to not allow the transitioned person to compete in the State Finals. This is a totally ridiculous situation!!!” Trump concluded.

RELATED: Trans student athlete demands school board protect ‘queer’ students from ‘hateful’ intimidation after locker room controversy

Photo by Kirby Lee/Getty Images

Hernandez has claimed that the other athletes on the team support his presence on the girls’ team.

“My team is very special, very diverse. We have probably one of the strongest bonds known. We’re probably unbreakable,” Hernandez said to Capital & Main. “Everyone tells me, ‘Well, you gotta win now. You got to win. You got to let the haters talk about something new.’”

Some have pointed out that California is a net contributor to federal funds, so the threat to pull its funding would not significantly hurt if the state were also to pull the funds it sends to Washington, D.C.

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The State Department raised some eyebrows when it
launched a Substack last month. Its latest Substack essay highlighting both the importance of renewing Western civilization and the failure of global liberalism might be enough to give liberal establishmentarians ulcers and national conservatives butterflies.

Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford said of the recent essay, “To put it simply, the Department of State has been ground zero for undermining Western values and putting American interests last. This turnaround is just incredible to see, and it’s not getting the attention it deserves.”

President Donald Trump has set about bringing the
“golden age of America” into existence. While Trump’s is a U.S.-focused endeavor, his administration appears to be simultaneously working on the renewal and strengthening of Western civilization, broadly understood.

‘Our transatlantic partnership is underpinned by a rich Western tradition of natural law, virtue ethics, and national sovereignty.’

Vice President JD Vance, for instance, made abundantly clear in his controversial
February speech to America’s allies at the Munich Security Conference in Europe that it is high time to “change course and take our shared civilization in a new direction.”

While prioritizing the interests of America at home and abroad, the State Department has similarly been thinking in civilizational terms, as evidenced by a
recent post titled “The Need for Civilizational Allies in Europe” on the agency’s new Substack. The essay has already upset the usual suspects and wowed conservatives long accustomed to seeing liberal bromides and platitudes from their government.

— (@)

Samuel Samson, a senior adviser for the State Department’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, noted in the essay that the relationship between America and Europe “transcends geographic proximity and transactional politics,” representing a “unique bond forged in common culture, faith, familial ties, mutual assistance in times of strife, and above all, a shared Western civilizational heritage.”

Samson noted further that:

Our transatlantic partnership is underpinned by a rich Western tradition of natural law, virtue ethics, and national sovereignty. This tradition flows from Athens and Rome, through medieval Christianity, to English common law, and ultimately into America’s founding documents. The Declaration’s revolutionary assertion that men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights” echoes the thought of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and other European heavyweights who recognized that all men possess natural rights that no government can arbitrate or deny. America remains indebted to Europe for this intellectual and cultural legacy.

Samson stressed that the deep, unique, and historic relationship between the U.S. and Europe warrants protection, which can take the form of constructive criticism, much like Vance’s comments in Munich.

RELATED: Thin-skinned German minister melts down over Vance’s speech: ‘Not acceptable’

Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images

The vice president
angered European elites with the suggestion in his speech that the more concerning threat posed to Europe is not China, Russia, or any other external actor but rather “the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values — values shared with the United States of America.”

Vance also put Germany, the United Kingdom, and other European nations on blast for their
suppression of political movements and ideas unfavorable to their respective ruling classes; for their dismissal of citizens’ concerns and common sense; for their routine attacks on religious liberties; and for their disastrous mass migration policies.

‘The global liberal project is not enabling the flourishing of democracy.’

Samson echoed a critique now popular among
national conservatives and thinkers in the president’s orbit, suggesting that the globalist liberal campaign to “usher in an era of unprecedented peace” in the wake of World War II “by overcoming the anchors of nationhood, culture, and tradition” has proven to be a colossal failure.

“This promise lies in tatters,” wrote Samson. “What endures instead is an aggressive campaign against Western civilization itself.”

RELATED: Erase the Bible, lose the West — and that’s the point

Blaze Media Illustration

After recycling a number of Vance’s complaints — hammering again on
Britain for arresting Christians over silent prayer; on the German government for its clampdown on critics and on the country’s ascendant right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany; and on the European Union over its latest censorship scheme — Samson conceded that similar tactics were brought to bear in America against President Donald Trump and his supporters in recent years.

“What this reveals is that the global liberal project is not enabling the flourishing of democracy,” wrote the State Department adviser. “Rather, it is trampling democracy, and Western heritage along with it, in the name of a decadent governing class afraid of its own people.”

By committing to its Western heritage and by reversing the liberal project of deracination, disenchantment, and disorientation, Samson indicated that Europe will be better equipped to stand “firm against external threats and internal decay” and to cooperate with America on “shared foreign policy goals.”

‘We finally have political leaders who are brave enough to face the crisis head on.’

“Our relationship is too important, our history too valuable, and the international stakes too high to allow this partnership to be undermined,” wrote Samson. “Therefore, on both sides of the Atlantic, we must preserve the goods of our common culture, ensuring that Western civilization remains a source of virtue, freedom, and human flourishing for generations to come.”

One of Samson’s professors at Hillsdale College in Washington, D.C., Dr. Matthew Mehan, associate dean and associate professor of government for the Van Andel Graduate School of Government, told Blaze News, “It is heartening to see from our government a seriously candid psychological operation, one that seeks not to gaslight our allies but to remind them who they truly are and what we have deeply in common, in our shared Western history and our principles of natural right and law.”

“This is exactly right,” Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt (R)
said in response to excerpts of Samson’s post shared on X by Blaze Media digital strategist Logan Hall. “Globalism, liberalism, censorship, mass migration — for decades, the West has been war with itself. We finally have political leaders who are brave enough to face the crisis head on.”

RELATED: Former ‘disinfo’ czar Nina Jankowicz tells Europeans to take a stand against the US, double down on social media regulation

Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo by John McDonnell/Getty Images

Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.)
noted, “The West has spent the last 30 years governed by people who were ashamed of their past and hate Western civilization. President Trump is embracing our heritage, which built the greatest nation on the face of the Earth.”

Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, similarly suggested it was remarkable to see this essay from the State Department,
calling it “eloquent and true.”

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A couple of weeks ago during President Donald Trump’s visit to Riyadh, a $142 billion U.S.-Saudi Arabia defense deal was announced. It’s the largest defense sales agreement in U.S. history, as it involves the sale of state-of-the-art military equipment and training services to Saudi Arabia, spanning air force and space capabilities, missile defense, maritime security, land forces modernization, and communication systems. The deal was part of a broader $600 billion strategic economic partnership, with Saudi Arabia committing to investments in U.S. industries, including $20 billion in artificial intelligence.

Should we be excited about America’s deepening ties with Saudi Arabia?

Mark Levin isn’t sold on the plan.

The partnership will undoubtedly “bring a lot of money into the United States,” but “the Saudis haven’t had to do anything in return, like join the Abraham Accords or even recognize the existence of Israel,” he says.

And perhaps most importantly, Levin wonders, “Why didn’t we ask the Saudi crown prince to at least apologize to the 9/11 families?”

“The evidence now is indisputable that the Saudis helped push the radical ideology, that the Saudis helped directly and indirectly some of the terrorists, that Saudi Arabia effectively had a role in the attack on our country on 9/11,” he explains. “I don’t allow bygones to be bygones when it comes to life and death. … Can you imagine what the 9/11 families are thinking?”

The United States’ growing relationship with Qatar is another matter that troubles him.

People are focusing on Qatar’s contributions to the U.S. via funding a military base, providing a plane, donating $5 million to the Medal of Honor Museum, and investing in U.S. sports clubs and events like tennis and golf. But what about the terrorism they’ve funded?

“These bastards are the biggest supporters of terrorism in the United States, in the Middle East, and throughout Europe,” Levin condemns, noting how Qatar “supported the Taliban fighting our soldiers,” “gave $1.8 billion dollars … to Hamas,” and permitted “Hamas billionaire bigwigs safe haven in Qatar” until Donald Trump became president.

It’s a shame, he says, that so few are calling out the obvious: Qatar “spreads billions and tens of billions of dollars in the West in order to destroy the West.”

To hear more of Levin’s analysis, watch the clip above.

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Two illegal immigrants have been arrested in a deadly jet ski hit-and-run crash in Texas over Memorial Day weekend that took the life of a teen Air Force recruit. The governor of Texas has called for the suspect to face the death penalty in the tragic case.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced in a press release on Tuesday that an illegal alien was involved in the jet ski accident that killed the teenage woman.

‘Ava Moore’s senseless death was caused by an illegal alien who should have never been in our country in the first place.’

“On Sunday, Daikerlyn Alejandra Gonzalez Gonzalez — an illegal alien from Venezuela — struck and killed an 18-year-old woman, Ava Moore, on Lake Grapevine with a jet ski,” Paxton stated in the news release.

According to authorities, the 21-year-old Gonzalez was riding a jet ski when she mowed over Moore while she was kayaking on Lake Grapevine.

KDFW-TV obtained the arrest affidavit, which claimed that the jet ski was “traveling at a high rate of speed and dangerously close to other people in the water,” according to a summary from the outlet. Witnesses allegedly told investigators that the victim attempted to paddle away from the speeding jet ski before she was violently struck from behind by the speeding personal watercraft.

The news outlet reported that Gonzalez fled the crime scene with fellow illegal alien — 21-year-old Maikel Coello Perozo. Meanwhile, the female passenger who was on the jet ski with Gonzalez remained at the scene and was interviewed by first responders, according to a statement from the Texas Game Wardens.

The pair drove away in a vehicle, then Perozo committed a hit-and-run after striking another car while attempting to leave the area, the Grapevine Police Department stated.

RELATED: Texas police arrest illegal immigrant in teen cheerleader’s murder, mother ‘praying for justice’ for her slain child

Gonzalez and Perozo — who are both reportedly in the U.S. illegally — were reportedly tracked down by Attorney General Paxton’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit and arrested around 11 a.m. on Tuesday at a Dallas-area home. The residence was allegedly surrounded by officers and agents with the Grapevine Police Department, the Dallas Police Department, the Texas Game Wardens, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Homeland Security.

The New York Post reported that Moore suffered severe head trauma after being struck by the jet ski, and later died at a local hospital.

Gonzalez has been charged with second-degree felony manslaughter, and her bond is set at $500,000, according to KDFW.

Texas Game Warden Captain Joseph Quintero stated that Gonzalez could face more charges as the investigation continues.

The Texas Game Wardens are handling the investigation into the jet ski accident fatality, while the Grapevine Police Department is investigating the related automotive hit-and-run incident.

Joshua Johnson — the acting field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Dallas — confirmed that Gonzalez and Perozo are Venezuelan nationals in the United States illegally, according to MySanAntonio.com.

Johnson noted that both illegal aliens crossed the U.S. southern border in 2023 or 2024. He added that the duo were arrested at the time of illegal entry, processed for a notice to appear in immigration court, and then released.

Johnson also said that Gonzalez and Perozo will have to appear in front of an immigration judge to determine whether they will be deported back to Venezuela.

RELATED: Illegal immigrant charged in brutal rape and murder of Rachel Morin, 10 months after Maryland mother of 5 was murdered

Paxton stated, “Ava Moore’s senseless death was caused by an illegal alien who should have never been in our country in the first place. My heart breaks for Ava’s family and friends, and my prayers are with them as they face this tragedy.”

Paxton stressed, “My office will continue to work with local, state, and national law enforcement partners to secure justice for Ava.”

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott shared a news video clip of the jet ski hit-and-run incident on the X social media platform with the caption: “Welcome to Texas. Here’s your Death Penalty.”

Moore’s family emphasized that “forgiveness” will be paramount in moving forward following the tragedy.

“This is a difficult time for all involved, but also an opportunity for our beautiful girl to continue to impact our community,” Moore’s family said in a statement that was shared during a press conference on Wednesday, according to NewsNation.

“Out of this tragedy, God will make good — and that only can be accomplished through forgiveness,” the family added.

According to a GoFundMe campaign launched to financially assist Moore’s family with her funeral, the teen graduated from Timber Creek High School in 2024, where she was an “outstanding student and athlete.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, the GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $35,000.

Moore reportedly had just returned to Texas from Colorado to visit her parents after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy Preparatory School just over a week before the tragic accident.

Moore was purportedly just weeks away from starting basic training before she was killed on Sunday.

Moore’s former basketball coach, Ke’Sha Blanton, said she was “a four-star general in the making.”

“Ava was everything this country would want to represent it,” Blanton told KRDO-TV.

The U.S. Air Force Academy said in a statement that Moore had “accepted an appointment to join the Academy as a member of the Class of 2029.”

Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind said, “We lost an exemplary teammate this weekend — cadet candidate Ava Moore, whose passion for leadership and service left an impact on everyone she met.”

“Ava’s constant happiness and attitude helped her squadron get through the challenges of the prep school, and her drive to excel was on display as she sought out leadership positions to improve herself and her team,” Bauernfeind continued. “Our team is focused on providing support to Ava’s family, her prep school squadron, the prep school women’s basketball team, and the entire academy family.”

You can watch a local newscast from KDFW regarding the jet ski hit-and-run incident here.

RELATED: ‘Disgusting’: AP torn to shreds for dismissing illegal immigrant murder suspect in Laken Riley killing, blaming toxic masculinity

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Mark Griffin was trying to caution police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 against firing more rubber pellets and explosive munitions into the massive crowd when a police sergeant shouldered a munition launcher and shot Griffin in the left leg with 40mm hard-rubber baton rounds.

The point-blank blast likely from Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Frank Edwards came seconds after Griffin explained he hadn’t touched the bicycle-rack barrier on the West Plaza as Edwards claimed. “Calm down,” Griffin said.

‘You’ve got a video that shows him deliberately, from three feet away, “Bang!”‘

The officer lowered the weapon slightly, video showed, and shot Griffin. “What are you doing?” the officer spouted. He popped the smoking empty shell out of the barrel and hustled off to reload.

Griffin was in blinding pain. As he bent over in shock, video showed, Griffin was blasted in the face with pepper spray by an MPD officer who reached over the barricade to deliver insult to injury.

Griffin hobbled away with what he later discovered was a massive break of his left femur. The injury cost him nearly a year in recovery.

Griffin long suspected that Sgt. Edwards was the one who shot him. A Blaze News investigation of video appeared to confirm this in late 2024.

Bodycam evidence strongly suggested that Sgt. Edwards fired the shot, but no publicly available video was conclusive. A U.S. Department of Justice trial exhibit — overhead video shot by a journalist — later showed clearly that Edwards most likely was the trigger man.

Just seconds earlier, MPD Inspector Robert Glover — armed with the same type of munition launcher — most likely shot another protester some two feet away from Griffin. The protester had his back to the police line when he was shot. His legs buckled to near collapse as he staggered away.

Video evidence uncovered by Blaze News shows Edwards fired
hard-rubber baton rounds from a 40mm shell at Griffin at 1:57 p.m., splitting his left femur — an injury requiring multiple surgeries to repair.

Metropolitan Police Department/Mark Griffin, graphic by Blaze News

The new video “made the whole thing a slam dunk,” Griffin told Blaze News. “I assume that would be the only thing that they’re going to throw anything out on [in a lawsuit] is like, ‘Oh, you can’t prove who did it.’

“So it could have been some cop that was shooting at somebody else and you got in the way or something,” Griffin said. “But no, you’ve got a video that shows him deliberately, from three feet away, ‘Bang,’ completely in violation of the specifications for using that weapon as a non-lethal weapon.”

As Griffin limped for blocks to the tour bus his group rode from Pennsylvania, he didn’t know his leg was broken. The leg swelled so much that it essentially created its own splint. He used his wooden cane for support on the long walk. When he was nearly there, he collapsed. Bystanders helped him to his feet. Once he planted himself on a seat in the bus, the pain became intense, he said.

‘If they hit someone in the face or chest with that, it would have killed them.’

Griffin, 66, a self-employed dump truck operator from Canadensis, Pennsylvania, has a foot-long scar on his leg as a painful remembrance of Jan. 6. He said his medical bills topped $200,000, much of it covered by insurance.

More than four years after Jan. 6, Griffin said he is looking for justice for what he believes was a reckless and unlawful use of force against him.

Griffin filed a $3 million
civil rights lawsuit against the District of Columbia and its police chief and several unnamed officers in January 2024. The U.S. district judge overseeing the case in 2025 ruled that the lawsuit cannot include Sgt. Edwards due to the statute of limitations. The judge removed Edwards from the suit.

When Griffin first
came forward in mid-2022 with his story of being badly injured on the Capitol’s West Plaza, there was no public video footage that showed the shooting.

Most MPD bodycam and Capitol Police CCTV
security footage was buried under strict court protective orders. Metropolitan Police refused to release any bodycam footage, citing “privacy.” Jan. 6 defendants could not share video evidence in their cases without violating court orders.

A careful search of bodycam video, DOJ case evidence, and third-party footage by Blaze News uncovered aerial video appearing to clearly showing Edwards firing a munition shell at Griffin from just feet away.

‘It’s just not right to let them get away with that.’

“You have to wonder about the mentality of shooting someone with some ‘less lethal’ weapon from three feet away,” Griffin said in a 2022 interview. “If they hit someone in the face or chest with that, it would have killed them for certain.”

Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Frank Edwards fires a 40mm munition launcher into the dense crowd on the U.S. Capitol’s West Plaza on Jan. 6, 2021.Metropolitan Police Department

Griffin’s lawsuit complaint initially included several unknown officers listed as John Does. Edwards’ name was later added to the suit to replace one of the John Does after Edwards’ identity became clear.

In January 2025, Senior U.S. District Judge
Beryl Howell ruled that Griffin could not sue Edwards because his name was added to the suit after the three-year statute of limitations expired.

The lawsuit was filed a day before the statute of limitations expiration for civil rights charges, but the judge ruled that Edwards could not be added in an amended complaint months later even if his identity was not known at time of filing. She referred to Griffin’s well-documented injury as “alleged.”

‘”They’re all going to panic.” That was what I told them.’

“Sgt. Edwards seeks dismissal of plaintiff’s claims as untimely because the applicable three-year statute of limitations started to run from the date of plaintiff’s alleged injury and the
amended complaint, substituting Sgt. Edwards for a John Doe defendant, does not relate back to the original complaint,” the judge wrote. “Plaintiff counters that the statute of limitations did not start running on the date of his alleged injury on January 6, 2021, but rather when he learned the identity of the person who shot him.

“Plaintiff’s arguments do not overcome the chorus of authority to the contrary,” Howell wrote. “As such, plaintiff’s claims against Sgt. Edwards are time-barred, requiring grant of the pending motion to dismiss.”

Griffin is considering an appeal.

“It seemed like a real stretch, what the judge came up with there,” Griffin said. “She was really just trying to find a reason to make this go away.”

Griffin said he hopes publicity from his case prompts others to come forward who were injured by the concussion grenades, hard plastic pellets, beanbag rounds, tear-gas canisters, multiple-projectile Skat shells, rubber bullets, tasers, or other crowd-control weapons wielded by police at the Capitol.

“The reason that I really wanted to pursue this is because there’s got to be a dozen other people just like me that got hurt,” Griffin said.

From peacemaker to victim

Griffin was filmed by Blaze News’ Steve Baker standing at the police line on the West Plaza close to 1:30 p.m.

Griffin said he explained to officers that protesters had concerns about election fraud but were not there to attack or harm anyone. He showed one officer his driver’s license and a copy of the U.S. Constitution printed on his cap.

“Here is my bill of sale to this country — you know, my birth certificate,” he told the officer. “I said, ‘It’s your bill of sale, too. It’s our country. It’s not their country. And what they’re trying to do inside that building in there is just not right. And everybody knows it’s not right.’

“And he just said to me, ‘Well, you voted. Go home.’ And I told him, ‘You know I’m from Pennsylvania. I can’t go home, because we have all kinds of questions about the election. Our legislature sent the House of Representatives a letter asking that they not recognize the electors that were sent. That’s why I’m here.’”

Bodycam footage and third-party video showed Griffin tried to keep the peace at the bicycle racks that separated police from angry protesters. When the police line pushed protesters back, Griffin returned and urged calm. He chastised protesters who tried to shake or steal the bike racks. He asked police for calm.

‘Oh s**t, I think we’re going to lose.’

The first use of so-called “less lethal” force was ordered on the West Plaza at 1:05 p.m. by Capitol Police Deputy Chief Eric Waldow, who broadcast over police radio,
“Launch, launch, launch!” At 1:06 p.m., protester Joshua Black was shot in the cheek by police with an impact projectile, leaving a gaping hole that bled all over the concrete.

Five minutes after a large cadre of MPD officers arrived on the West Plaza, a Capitol Police officer ordered an escalation of munitions. “We need the munitions,” he broadcast over police radio. “Unload! Unload it all. Take ’em out!” A short time later, the same officer urged, “Less-than-lethal needs to keep deploying! Keep deploying!”

By the time Griffin came face-to-face with Sgt. Edwards, police had been bombarding the crowd with flash-bang grenades, rubber-ball grenades that released tear gas, pepper balls, beanbag rounds, multiple-canister chemical-infused projectile shells, and other munitions for a half-hour.

The crowd grew increasingly angry, but Griffin said he did his best to de-escalate things before violence spread.

Video shows that at 1:56 p.m., Sgt. Edwards loaded his orange munition launcher with a 40mm shell containing several
rubber baton rounds. The rounds are about 1.6 inches in diameter. They are designed for “pain compliance,” to force protesters to flee.

But they are not designed to be fired at point-blank range due to the risk of serious injury or death, according to peer-reviewed research studies in the United States.

Edwards pushed through the crowd of police officers, shouting, “Fold!” as he approached the bicycle racks. He responded to a man heckling him from a few rows back.

“You come here, you’re going to get it!” Edwards shouted.

Sgt. Frank Edwards aims his 40mm munition launcher at protesters along the police line on the West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.U.S. Department of Justice

Griffin told him, “We’re not going to hurt anyone,” and Edwards replied, “Then don’t push the fence! Stop pushing the fence!”

Griffin had not touched the bike racks, much less pushed them, video showed.

“I’m just standing there talking to the cops,” Griffin said.

Shortly before Edwards appeared, Griffin said he was struck in the foot by a .60-caliber plastic pellet fired from another officer’s munition launcher. He picked up the projectile and showed it to the officers.

“I said, ‘Officer, officer, please don’t do that,’” Griffin said. “‘They’re all going to panic.’ That was what I told them.”

‘We have all kinds of questions about the election.’

After Edwards began shouting at the crowd, Griffin held up the plastic pellet that struck his foot and tried to talk to Edwards. The officer was not interested. “Stop pushing the fence!” Edwards repeated, followed by a near scream, “Stop [unintelligible] the fence!”

“Calm down,” Griffin said, then pitched the pellet forward to the ground near the police line. Almost immediately, Edwards appeared to aim his weapon at Griffin’s legs and fired. “What are you doing?” Edwards shouted, according to his bodycam video. Edwards quickly turned and left the police line, while Griffin nearly collapsed in pain. Video shows him hobbling away from the bike racks and nearly falling. A bystander helped to steady him.

Griffin said he is frustrated at how security video, bodycam footage, and even protester-created video seized by the FBI were covered up for years. It was only after Congress began publicly posting
Capitol Police CCTV and media outlets had obtained a critical mass of bodycam video that a visual investigation started filling in the blanks.

“The whole thing with all this stuff, which nobody talks about, is they suppressed the evidence for three years. They didn’t release anything. You couldn’t get any information. And even if I had been hot to go sue somebody the day after this happened, who was I going to sue? I had no way of finding out who even did it.”

Griffin’s case raises a long-simmering issue about police use of force at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Bodycam video shows officers numerous times shooting munitions at protesters who stood mere feet away.

Protesters reported being burned in the legs, face, and hair by exploding flash-bang grenades.

The firing of 40mm munitions likely by Edwards and Glover from point-blank range was “improper and excessive,” according to Karen Laser-Garrett, a former police SWAT commander in Oceanside, Calif., who runs a consultancy specializing in law-enforcement practices.

Metropolitan Police Department Officer Tara Tindall fills a shoulder bag with crowd-control munitions at the U.S. Capitol at 1:18 p.m. Jan. 6, 2021.Metropolitan Police Department

“Kinetic energy projectiles (40mm) are to be used with the frequency, intensity, and in a manner that is proportional to the threat and objectively reasonable,” Laser-Garrett told Blaze News. “Mr. Griffin was not a threat. Not only were the tools utilized improperly, but also against the manufacturer’s recommendations and the officer’s training.

“Indiscriminate firing of the 40mm into the air, as displayed by Sgt. Edwards, is dangerous, as it may strike the head of a subject, causing severe injury or death,” Laser-Garrett said.

Griffin posed no obvious threat to police, since he is seen on bodycam video trying to de-escalate things, said Laser-Garrett, who has worked in law enforcement for 35 years.

“Mr. Griffin was attempting to communicate and de-escalate the situation with the officers. He was not verbally threatening or carrying any visible weapons,” she said. “Mr. Griffin was not resisting any attempt to take him into custody when he was struck with the 40mm. He then collapsed and was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant. To what end?”

Stan Kephart, a policing and use-of-force expert who has testified in court more than 350 times during his 40-plus year career, said what happened to Griffin is “clear and convincing evidence” that fails a four-prong test on use of force.

The weapon discharge was not needed because the line was not being breached at the time, he said. The force used was “grossly disparate and excessive.” The injury inflicted was potentially life-threatening, he said. Lastly, the force used was “malicious and sadistic, not used in good faith,” Kephart said.

‘We’ve deployed about 500 already.’

Edwards told a colleague as of about 4 p.m. on Jan. 6, MPD went through 500 munition rounds at the Capitol. Many of those salvos were fired into the massive crowd on the West Plaza beneath the inauguration stage.

Some of the munitions exploded at head and chest level, creating a risk of serious injuries or fatalities. Each explosion that sprayed 0.60-caliber pellets across the crowd or released clouds of tear gas only enraged protesters.

These “less lethal” weapons not only did not cause the crowd to disperse, they played a significant role in the eventual collapse of the police line, video showed.

The tear gas swirled in the 30-mph winds and often blew back into the faces of police officers, who were left gasping for air. Heavy use of high-velocity pepper-spray tanks often had a similar result, with over-spray blown back that coated the faces of officers, most of whom did not have gas masks. This was made worse by rioters and agitators at the police line who fired potent bear spray at police.

“We’ve deployed about 500 already,” Sgt. Edwards told a fellow officer. “The wind f**ked us.” He warned another officer, “Watch the wind if you’re throwing munitions ’cause we all got gassed like a motherf**ker.”

According to his bodycam video, minutes later Edwards told another police grenadier, “We got the s**t kicked out of us. We deployed everything. … We ran out. Two trucks ran out.”

Civil rights concerns

Civil rights groups says these types of munitions are often indiscriminate when they explode in a crowd. Groups have called for tighter regulations and state laws to force investigations of every use of crowd-control force that results in injury or death.

“Stun grenades are — as explosive devices — by nature indiscriminate,” according to
“Lethal in Disguise,” a report of the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations and Physicians for Human Rights. “When they are used either as distraction devices to facilitate entry or as a means of crowd dispersal, the limited control users have over their placement may expose unintended targets to the risk of serious injury.

“When used indoors or in dense crowds, these risks are amplified, and stun grenades can also create hazards through fires, as well as the psychological panic they may provoke,” the report said.

Crowd-control weapons don’t tend to achieve the goals of dispersing crowds, the report said.

MPD Sgt. Frank Edwards fires crowd-control munitions into the packed West Plaza crowd at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.U.S. Department of Justice / Metropolitan Police Department

“Upon detonation, distraction devices may — unintentionally or by design — disperse dozens of metal or plastic shards as shrapnel in a spherical radius without any control over what is hit,” the report said. “These weapons are therefore fundamentally indiscriminate impact weapons when used in the context of crowd control.”

A study in BMJ Open (formerly the British Medical Journal) said in the cohort research studies reviewed, 15% of those injured by kinetic impact projectiles had
permanent disabilities.

“We find that these projectiles have caused significant morbidity and mortality during the past 27 years, much of it from penetrative injuries and head, neck, and torso trauma,” wrote Rohini J. Haar, M.D., of the University of California-Berkeley and four co-authors. “Given their inherent inaccuracy, potential for misuse and associated health consequences of severe injury, disability, and death, KIPs do not appear to be appropriate weapons for use in crowd-control settings.”

Haar and her associates reviewed research literature from 3,228 sources, eventually settling on 26 that met the study criteria. Those articles gathered injury data on 1,984 people harmed by KIPs between 1990 and 2017.

Fifty-three of the injured died from their wounds, and 300 people suffered permanent disability, the study said. Deaths and disability “often resulted from strikes to the head and neck.” Penetrating injuries caused 56% of the deaths.

Above: Joshua Black bleeds after being shot in the left cheek with a police projectile. Below: As word of Black’s injury spread, fighting broke out at the police line. Capitol Police responded by firing pepper balls.Special to Blaze News

Of the 2,135 injuries reported from the 1,984 victims, 71% were severe. Injuries to skin and the extremities were most common. Almost all — 91.5% — of head and neck, ocular, nervous, cardiovascular, pulmonary and thoracic, abdominal, and urogenital injuries were severe, the study said.

While manufacturers provide guidelines on safe distances from which to fire munitions, the study said many of the injured were fired on from much closer.

‘You come here, you’re going to get it!’

“Exact distance was impossible to assess in most cases, but forensics and case data suggested that the firing distances were less than those recommended by manufacturers,” the study said.

The authors concluded that crowd-control weapons were ineffective at dispersing protest crowds or groups of rioters.

“To prevent severe injury, most protocols for the use of KIPs instruct law enforcement to use the weapons from a ‘safe distance’ and to aim at soft musculature of the lower limbs,” the study said. “Safe shooting distances are not well validated, however, and are highly variable among weapons, countries, and manufacturers. In practice, deployment of KIPs may occur from distances much closer than deemed safe.”

A study from the University of Texas at Austin said the lower
muzzle velocity of crowd-control weapons compared to firearms does not necessarily equate to safe usage.

Metropolitan Police Department

“While KIPs have a significantly lower muzzle velocity and thereby may be expected to decrease risk of serious injury, recent reports of injuries from KIPs include neurosurgical emergencies, blunt trauma to the chest, penetrating ocular trauma, and testicular rupture,” reported Sanjana Ravi from Dell Medical School at the University of Texas and four study co-authors.

The muzzle velocity of a rubber bullet ranges from 394 to 459 feet per second, the study said. A beanbag round has a muzzle velocity of 295 fps. By comparison, a 9mm bullet has a velocity of 1,155 fps, while a Remington 0.30-30 rifle’s velocity is 2,390 fps.

‘Mr. Griffin was not a threat.’

One of the victims in the study came to the emergency room with a beanbag round embedded in her cheek. Removal of the beanbag left a gaping hole in her right cheek. The injury caused facial nerve damage that healed after eight months.

Another patient cited in the study was struck below the left eye by a rubber bullet, causing nasal and jaw fractures. He required surgery to graft bone to the area with a titanium-reinforced implant to reconstruct the orbital floor, the study said.

Police chiefs release guidance

The International Association of Chiefs of Police, a 34,000-member organization based in Alexandria, Va., warned police grenadiers in
a 2023 paper, “Impact projectiles cannot be used against a crowd indiscriminately and can be used only in response to an identified act of violence.”

The IACP developed a
model policy on crowd control in 2019 to “establish guidelines for managing crowds, protecting individual rights, and preserving the peace during demonstrations and civil disturbances.”

Police should consider alternatives to impact projectiles for those who are only passively resisting, pregnant, elderly, frail, or children, the IACP said.

Only officers who are trained in the use of crowd-control weapons should use them — with each officer required to re-qualify every two years, the paper said. Supervisors should receive advanced training.

Officers need to lend aid if the weapon discharge causes injury to the crowd member, the report said.

Metropolitan Police Department Inspector Robert Glover lobs a grenade (left) while protesters react to a fiery explosion in the massive crowd on the West Plaza at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.Metropolitan Police Department/Steve Baker, Blaze News

“Although impact projectiles are designed to reduce the potential for death or serious physical injuries, protective measures are still necessary,” the paper said. “Thus, as soon as the subject has been satisfactorily subdued, the officer must take immediate steps to care for the subject and account for the force used. When applicable, appropriate medical personnel should be summoned for treatment and/or evaluation.”

Each discharge of an impact projectile must be reported as a use of force, the IACP said.

“A use of force review shall be conducted in any situation involving the discharge of an impact projectile,” the paper said. “The depth of any investigation shall be determined by designated departmental authorities based on the extent of suspect injuries and a review of the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

Blaze News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with MPD for a record of all Jan. 6 use-of-force complaints. The department returned a spreadsheet listing a single complaint having to do with “shoving.” Jacqueline Hazzan, legal counsel for the MPD Office of Police Complaints, said the details of that complaint would not be released because they would “reveal information about the agency’s internal deliberative process before it was completed” and “cause an unwarranted invasion of others’ personal privacy.”

‘You’re on camera the whole time! Lie again on camera!’

The department’s 2001 report on use of force has more detail about Jan. 6. According to that report, issued in mid-2022, the Use of Force Review Board made 38 decisions on five use-of-force incidents from Jan. 6. Thirty-six of those were deemed justified and two were not justified. Both non-justified incidents involved use of riot batons.

The review board made 29 determinations regarding the Civil Disturbance Unit’s uses of force on Jan. 6. All were deemed justified. Five of those involved use of oleoresin capsicum (pepper spray), one was a “tactical takedown,” and the rest were for a combination of mechanical force, physical force, and OC spray. Two uses of a taser were deemed justified, the report said.

No mention is made in the report of crowd-control munitions being fired directly at protesters.

On May 11, 2025, Blaze News filed a FOIA request for all officer-produced Use of Force Incident Reports for Jan. 6. The request was assigned to a FOIA officer, but the department has not yet responded with documents responsive to the request.

Blaze News asked MPD multiple times over weeks to comment on Sgt. Edwards’ use of force against Griffin and whether it comports to the department’s force policy, but did not receive a reply.

Issue is complex for police

An MPD officer who was among the hundreds stationed along the police line on the West Plaza told Blaze News there was a lot more to the crowd dynamics than is evident on bodycam footage. He was not involved in or aware of the Griffin use-of-force incident. Officers were worried about what would happen if the huge crowd plowed through the police line, he said.

“If they broke through the middle, my other fear is we’re going to get the f**k beat out of us because this crowd we’ve been fighting that’s just getting worked up has now gotten the upper hand, and we’re done,” said the officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“I mean, I hate to be an alarmist, but there was some fear for my life on some points of that, where I’m like, ‘I don’t think this is going to work out well, guys.’ I’m not saying I’m going to die, but this could be the end.”

The officer said he never before came upon a protest or riot scene where defeat seemed assured.

“From before I even went down the steps, when I went onto the upper platform of the Upper West Terrace, I said, ‘Oh s**t, I think we’re going to lose.’”

Police on the West Plaza were shellacked by rioters with projectiles — from a fire extinguisher to metal tines from a decorative fence, one of which drew blood from the officer at right.Metropolitan Police Department

It’s too easy to misread situations based on someone’s video analysis, he suggested.

“Everyone’s blinded by the bulls**t,” he said. “Dissecting body-camera footage and finding a street cop saying something stupid isn’t going to change the narrative of January 6. Great, you embarrassed somebody. That doesn’t change it.

“Even if he said some really heinous stuff or one guy’s actions, that didn’t start this,” the officer said. “What we need to think about is how did we get here with such lax security, and what brought that angry element to the front? That’s what needs to be discussed.”

While there is no evidence Griffin did anything more than talk to police, plenty of others in the massive crowd turned to rioting.

One man whipped an iron tine from the West Plaza decorative fence that was torn down by rioters. The three- to four-foot hollow metal rod sailed into the crowd of police like a javelin, striking an MPD officer directly between the eyes. He collapsed, bleeding profusely on the concrete before fellow officers hurried him away.

Rioters threw water bottles, megaphones, pieces of fence, pieces of furniture, smoke bombs, a fire extinguisher — different from the false report that Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick had been “bludgeoned” with a fire extinguisher — pieces of lumber, garbage cans, and flagpoles. Numerous rioters sneaked from hidden positions in the crowd to blast police officers in the face with potent, orange-color bear spray.

Focusing on bodycam footage too much or finding video that shows an officer uttering off-color remarks does not make for an accurate report of Jan. 6, the officer said.

‘It isn’t right.’

One example of that on Edwards’ bodycam was a remark he made about a protester on the Upper West Terrace at 4:50 p.m. Officer Tara Tindall pointed at someone off camera. “That man,” she said, to which Edwards replied, “I want to spray him so bad.” Tindall’s rejoinder: “Tase him.”

About 20 minutes later, Edwards bellowed at a protester who had fallen down the concrete steps below the Lower West Terrace Tunnel. Another officer grabbed hard on the woman’s elbow, then pulled her toward him, video showed. She tripped and tumbled. When she blamed the officer for pushing her, Edwards let her have it.

“Somebody help me!” the woman said, lying in an awkward position and visibly in pain.

“Don’t worry about it,” Edwards said. “Stay there, and we’ll get you medical.”

The other officer “pushed me down the steps,” she said, in tears. “I can’t move my back.”

A woman who was grabbed roughly by a Metropolitan Police Department officer tumbled down the stairs and injured her back. When she accused the officer of pushing her, MPD Sgt. Frank Edwards called her a liar.Metropolitan Police Department

“You’re on body-worn camera right here,” Edwards shouted. “Nothing happened like that. The camera’s right here. Say it again! … Say it!

“Say it! You’re on camera the whole time! Lie again on camera. Then say what you just said!”

“You didn’t see it,” the woman told Edwards.

“It’s on camera! You’re on camera from when you broke into the [Capitol] office. You might get charged with a felony!”

“I don’t care,” the woman cried, prompting Edwards to reply, “OK, good!”

Edwards walked away toward the tunnel entrance. When he saw Virginia State Police tactical officers stop to help the woman at 5:13 p.m., Edwards shouted, “We’ve got medical coming for her.”

The Virginia police medics were still tending to the woman at 5:16 p.m. when Edwards’ bodycam cut off.

Griffin hopes for justice

Griffin said he suspects most people who were injured by police force on Jan. 6 stayed quiet for fear of being arrested by the FBI and subjected to heavy-handed prosecution by the Biden DOJ. He hopes they will come forward now that the Jan. 6 indictment machine has been shut down.

Judge Howell criticized Griffin and his attorney for not more quickly moving to use the legal discovery process to identify the officers listed in the suit as John Does. Griffin’s attorney withdrew from the case in March, so Griffin is looking for new legal help to appeal Howell’s order and continue his suit.

“I just don’t know if I could get another lawyer that would appeal this thing pro bono,” Griffin said. “I mean, because I don’t have a hundred thousand dollars in the bank to throw at this.”

Griffin hopes he hasn’t run out of options. He worries there will be no accountability for the shooting.

As for justice?

“I’d like to see it happen,” Griffin said. “It’s just not right to let them get away with that. It isn’t right.”

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​Politics 

President Donald Trump has attempted to deny special privileges to elite law firms directly or peripherally involved in the lawfare waged against him and his allies in recent years. Federal judges have sided with the law firms on every occasion, including on Tuesday in the case of a firm that long employed former special counsel and FBI Director Robert Mueller.

District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the president’s order to deny security clearances and government contracts to WilmerHale was “unconstitutional” and “must be struck down in its entirety.”

White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said in a statement to Blaze News, “The decision to grant any individual access to this nation’s secrets is a sensitive judgment call entrusted to the president.”

‘My Administration is committed to addressing the significant risks associated with law firms.’

“Weighing these factors and implementing such decisions are core executive powers, and reviewing the president’s clearance decisions falls well outside the judiciary’s authority,” added Harrison.

Trump has taken aim in recent months at a number of law firms he reckons cannot be trusted with security clearances and whose “egregious conduct” disqualifies them from receiving taxpayer funds or contracts from the federal government.

After targeting Perkins Coie and the law firm Covington & Burling, Trump issued an executive order on March 27 directing Attorney General Pam Bondi, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and other relevant agency heads to take all lawful measures to suspend active security clearances held by individuals at WilmerHale.

RELATED: Libs previously silent on Dem lawfare decry Trump terminating ‘dishonest’ law firms’ security clearances

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Image

In addition to directing the Office of Management and Budget to ensure WilmerHale was not leeching off government resources, Trump ordered federal agency heads to terminate any contracts with the firm “to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.”

“My Administration is committed to addressing the significant risks associated with law firms, particularly so-called ‘Big Law’ firms, that engage in conduct detrimental to critical American interests,” wrote Trump. “Many firms take actions that threaten public safety and national security, limit constitutional freedoms, degrade the quality of American elections, or undermine bedrock American principles.”

‘It likely violates multiple foundational safeguards enshrined in the Bill of Rights.’

Trump suggested that WilmerHale, specifically, “engages in obvious partisan representations to achieve political ends, supports efforts to discriminate on the basis of race, backs the obstruction of efforts to prevent illegal aliens from committing horrific crimes and trafficking deadly drugs within our borders, and furthers the degradation of the quality of American elections, including by supporting efforts designed to enable noncitizens to vote.”

The president hinted that there was a personal aspect to his animus toward WilmerHale, noting that the firm “rewarded” and welcomed Robert Mueller to the firm after he “wielded the power of the Federal Government to lead one of the most partisan investigations in American history.”

The firm, represented by former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, sued the Trump administration on March 28, calling the executive order both an “unprecedented assault” on the right to counsel and an “undisguised form of retaliation for representing clients and causes he disfavors or employing lawyers he dislikes.”

“These ‘personal vendetta[s]’ are so facially improper that the first court to address the merits of one of these orders concluded that it likely violates multiple foundational safeguards enshrined in the Bill of Rights,” said the firm’s complaint.

Clement stated at the time of filing, “This litigation is not political. It is about protecting the fundamental independence of the bar.”

RELATED: Obama judge permanently blocks Trump order against Perkins Coie law firm in scathing ruling that quotes Shakespeare

Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Judge Leon, who made liberal use of exclamation marks throughout his ruling, claimed that the provisions in Trump’s order “constitute a staggering punishment for the firm’s protected speech!”

“The Order shouts through a bullhorn: If you take on causes disfavored by President Trump, you will be punished!” wrote Leon.

“This is the President, in essence, wielding the investigative and prosecutorial powers of the State to punish and suppress WilmerHale’s advocacy,” he continued.

The judge ultimately issued a permanent injunction barring enforcement of the order, claiming that “to rule otherwise would be unfaithful to the judgment and vision of the Founding Fathers!”

Leon’s decision is the latest in an unbroken series of similar rulings in favor of law firms that Trump has accused of engaging in “egregious conduct” of a disqualifying nature.

Anjan Sahni, the firm’s managing partner, said in a message to alumni, “This is a significant victory — not only for our firm and our clients, but also for the rule of law.”

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​Wilmerhale, Perkins coie, Law firm, Law, Lawfare, Donald trump, Trump, Judge richard leon, District court, Court, Judicial, Politics 

With public trust in elections teetering on the brink, President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice targeted North Carolina’s voter roll failures over a long-ignored alleged discrepancy.

In March, the president signed an executive order to preserve and protect America’s elections. In that action, he noted that states must maintain accurate voter rolls under the Help America Vote Act.

‘We are still reviewing the complaint, but the failure to collect the information required by HAVA has been well documented.’

On Tuesday, the DOJ moved to carry out Trump’s commitment by filing a lawsuit against the state and the North Carolina State Board of Elections, claiming that the parties had violated HAVA.

The lawsuit argued that North Carolina failed to require voter applicants to provide their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number on the state’s voter registration form. The state is mandated to assign a unique number for individuals who do not provide either. However, that allegedly did not always happen.

RELATED: Republican asks NC Supreme Court to toss 60,000 questionable ballots in judicial race still too close to call

Photo by Ben Sklar/Getty Images

“Voters were then added to the State’s voter registration roll without the required information, and many of these voters remain on the registration rolls without it,” the DOJ stated in Tuesday’s press release.

A previous state elections board with a Democratic majority admitted the issue in 2023 and revised the form. However, the board failed to reach out to voters registered since 2004 to correct missing identification numbers before the 2024 elections.

The DOJ’s lawsuit claimed that the missing information was instead collected as voters appeared at polling locations. It is unclear how many records still have not been updated.

The Trump administration has requested that the judge allow North Carolina a 30-day deadline to form a plan to update the missing information.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division stated, “Accurate voter registration rolls are critical to ensure that elections in North Carolina are conducted fairly, accurately, and without fraud.”

“The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that maintain inaccurate voter registration rolls in violation of federal voting laws,” he added.

RELATED: Arizona to purge up to 50,000 noncitizens from voter rolls in election integrity win

Photo by RYAN COLLERD/AFP via Getty Images

This month, Republicans took control of the elections board.

North Carolina State Board Executive Director Sam Hayes responded to the DOJ’s lawsuit, stating that he was “only recently notified of this action.”

“We are still reviewing the complaint, but the failure to collect the information required by HAVA has been well documented. Rest assured that I am committed to bringing North Carolina into compliance with federal law,” Hayes said.

He added that the board updated the state’s voter registration form in January 2024.

Hayes stated, “The State Board and county boards of elections will work diligently to ensure all voters are properly registered and have provided the necessary personal information to comply with state and federal laws.”

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​News, Election integrity, Elections, Donald trump, Trump, Trump administration, Trump admin, Department of justice, Doj, North carolina, North carolina state board of elections, Harmeet dhillon, Sam hayes, Politics 

Wild video shows a Miami police officer clinging to the hood of a moving car and firing though the windshield — and it all took place on a busy downtown street in broad daylight Sunday.

RELATED: Police bodycam video shows Florida man offering cops alcohol during car chase that ends with suspect getting tased

Miami Police said a 21-year-old driver hit an officer who was directing traffic, after which the officer shot the driver who was soon hospitalized with multiple gunshot wounds, the Miami Herald reported.

‘I feel he was wrongfully shot multiple times in his vehicle with no weapon.’

Police said the incident took place along Biscayne Boulevard near Bayfront Park where a Caribbean music festival was taking place, WPLG-TV said.

“We know that a vehicle made physical contact with the officer,” Assistant Chief Armando Aguilar of the Miami Police Department told WFOR-TV. “As a result of that incident, shots were fired immediately.”

Cellphone video of the incident shows the officer on his stomach atop the BMW’s hood and firing three shots as the driver turns left. The driver then exits the car and begins to walk across a crosswalk with his hands up. Another video shows officers ordering the driver to roll over, WPLG reported, adding that blood stains are visible on his back before police handcuff him.

The driver has been identified as Menelek Emmanuel Clarke, the Herald said. He was taken to Ryder Trauma Center and was listed in stable condition, WFOR said.

A police spokesperson on Monday said “no further details will be provided as this remains an ongoing investigation” by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the paper reported, adding that it’s unclear if Clarke will face any charges.

RELATED: Violent suspect actually bites K-9’s ear amid arrest, Florida sheriff says: ‘You can’t make this stuff up’

Incidentally, Clarke in October 2023 was charged with aggravated assault on an officer, resisting an officer with violence, and armed trespassing after Broward deputies said he brandished a gun when a deputy told him to leave a Lauderhill park, the Herald said. Clarke has pleaded not guilty, the paper added.

Sherylann Clarke — the driver’s sister who was sitting in the car’s back seat at the time of the incident — told WFOR, “I feel he was wrongfully shot multiple times in his vehicle with no weapon.”

She added to WFOR that “the patrol officer, we were all stopped, we were in the middle lane. He told everyone else to go with his hand — hand signaling that we can go. And then he stood in front of my brother’s car and shot him.”

She also told WPLG that they were looking for parking, and “it wasn’t intentional to hit him — no. The man moved with the car as he was going around him.”

WFOR said authorities are reviewing the officer’s body camera video and surveillance video from the area and that the officer involved was treated for minor injuries at a hospital and released.

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​Driver hits cop, Miami police department, Florida, Hospitalization, Police involved shooting, Viral video, Cop shoots motorist, Crime 

Screen vigilantes walk a fine line between morality and justice.

Sure, we cheered when Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry took out the trash in 1971, but he broke a few rules along the way. More than a few, according to film critic Roger Ebert, who dubbed “Dirty Harry” “fascist.” Ebert wasn’t alone.

‘I really believe that audiences want to see this. It’s almost like we forgot that part of film history, the ’80s and the ’90s. … Suddenly, it just got washed out.’

Now, a new vigilante thriller finds its hero working within a very specific law to take out the trash.

Castle doctrine

“Stand Your Ground,” available May 27 on VOD platforms, follows a grieving widower named Jack Johnson (Daniel Stisen) who is desperate to avenge his pregnant wife’s murder. He’s already served time in jail for dispatching one of the guilty thugs.

Now, the former Special Forces operative embraces his state’s “stand your ground” law to take out his wife’s killers. Spoiler alert: Step onto his property at your peril.

It’s ironic that the law in question was once referred to as the “make my day” dictum, based on Eastwood’s iconic character. The law drew fresh scrutiny following the 2012 death of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman.

Director Fansu Njie tells Align that his uniquely American action film doesn’t take sides on a law found in 28 states across the country.

“My approach was neutral. I didn’t want to make a political film. It’s just showing one situation somewhere. That’s why we’re not talking about where it’s taking place,” Njie said of the story’s vague setting. “It becomes acceptable to watch the film anywhere in the world.”

Epic Pictures

All-American roots

The story’s all-American roots are still hard to miss. The film’s official poster poses Stisen in front of a billowing U.S. flag with the tagline “Give me liberty or give me death.”

That’s smart marketing, but the director was more interested in his perspective on a deeply American genre, once the property of Eastwood and Charles Bronson (the “Death Wish” franchise).

“As a Swedish filmmaker, it interested me to try something new that isn’t found in Europe,” Njie said. “I wanted to make an American film from my perspective … that made it more intriguing and a little spicy so it doesn’t become a so-called normal action film in the U.S.”

‘Lots of weapons’

“Stand Your Ground” doesn’t have any horses galloping across the screen, and neither the hero nor his targets sport cowboy hats. The director’s love for Westerns still bleeds into the narrative.

“I had [famed Western director] Sergio Leone in the back of my head when I made the film,” Njie said. “I wanted to explore, as a foreigner in the U.S., the same way he did as an Italian in the U.S. I liked the style. … It’s almost made as an old Western. Lots of weapons … that was my approach.”

Stisen lacks the name recognition of a Stallone or Schwarzenegger, but Njie hoped to capture that Reagan-era vibe throughout “Stand Your Ground.” There’s no hand-wringing while meting out justice, for example, and Stisen’s bodybuilding background came through with his burly but athletic frame.

“What I realized is that even though it’s serious action, [’80s action films] have bits and pieces of humor as well … at least smile sometimes here and there. I tried to use the same formula,” he said.

RELATED: ‘Reagan’ actor Robert Davi on Hollywood left: ‘They want DEI except for thought’

Arnold Jerocki: Getty Images

Veteran character actor Peter Stormare (“Fargo”), cast as the colorful villain, supplies some darkly comic moments. So does Oscar nominee Eric Roberts, an actor who increasingly lends his talents to indie films. Roberts’ 2025 IMDb page features a whopping 27 film credits for 2025 … and counting. The films mostly hail from indie filmmakers who could use the boost Roberts provides.

“He’s very easy, professional, and fast,” Njie said of working with Roberts.

Dark humor

The dark humor in “Stand Your Ground” extends to an unlikely homage to 1990’s “Home Alone.” Jack attempts to keep some home intruders at bay with his diabolical, and deadly, traps.

That no-nonsense approach appealed to Njie.

“I really believe that audiences want to see this. It’s almost like we forgot that part of film history, the ’80s and the ’90s. … Suddenly, it just got washed out. I’m trying to make these kind of films that are more straight-on action. It’s a classic revenge story,” he said.

“Stand Your Ground” doesn’t hail from a major studio, but Njie embraced the indie production’s roots.

“With limitations, you become more creative,” he said, adding that the action genre offers its own unique challenges. “Working with explosions, you never know how it goes.”

​Stand your ground, Culture, Movies, Entertainment, Eric roberts, Peter stormare, Daniel stisen, Align interview, Fansu njie