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Days before a deadly shooting at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Dallas last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was spouting off virulently anti-ICE political propaganda and demonizing the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

“That’s happening in the United States of America. Masked men jumping out of unmarked cars, people disappearing, no due process, no oversight, zero accountability happening in the United States of America today,” Newsom said on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

“Bulls**t we’re being hyperbolic,” he continued. “If you’re a black and brown community, it’s here in this country. And so I’m deeply proud that I had the privilege of signing the nation’s first bill to address the issue of masking, also to require you have simple identification.”

“I mean, if some guy jumped out of an unmarked car in a van with a mask on, tried to grab me, I mean, by definition, you’re going to push back. And so these are not just authoritarian tendencies. These are authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government,” he added.

Newsom went on to fearmonger over the White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller calling the Democrat party an “extremist organization.”

“It’s very ironic that Newsom is signing a bill banning masks five years after he signed a bill to require masks,” Keith Malinak, executive producer of “Pat Gray Unleashed,” says, before pointing out that the guests late-night show hosts have on are always Democrats.

“Stephen Colbert, 176. Conservatives, 1. ‘Daily Show,’ 157 to 9. Seth Meyers, 68 to 0. Jimmy Kimmel, 58 to 2,” Malinak says. “I mean, it’s becoming a political talk show. Not a comedy show.”

“They’re just an extension of the political arm of these networks,” he adds.

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A Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback was allegedly mugged in Dublin before his team played in the NFL’s first ever game in Ireland.

The Steelers played the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park early Sunday as part of the NFL’s ongoing overseas showcases. The Steelers won 24-21, but neither their backup quarterback nor one of their dedicated fans were able to enjoy the game without experiencing all Dublin has to offer.

‘GET THIS GOVERNMENT OUT NOW!’

The crimes happened within a couple miles of the stadium, with the Steelers quarterback getting attacked in the Temple Bar and Dame Street area.

Skylar Thompson — a 6’2″, 219-pound veteran currently on injured reserve — was “jumped and robbed” late Friday night by what was described by the Irish Independent as “several men” who stole his phone.

Thompson suffered minor injuries and was allegedly brought to the hospital.

Irish police said they were on patrol on Dame Street in “the early hours of Saturday morning” when they “encountered a male who required medical assistance” at the scene.

Unfortunately for football fans, thugs were in the area after the game, as well, as a disabled elderly man was also robbed on Sunday night.

RELATED: Anti-Trump artist Bad Bunny named Super Bowl halftime performer — immediately makes it political

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According to another Irish report, a man named Gregory, who was in a wheelchair, stopped in the street to smoke a cigar in celebration of the Steelers’ win. At that point, Gregory was robbed of his phone by a woman who attempted a quick getaway

Fortunately, members of the public alerted nearby police who were able to chase down the woman and return Gregory’s phone. The woman was taken to a local police station and charged.

Gregory was reportedly robbed on O’Connell Street, which is even closer to the stadium than the area where Thompson was mugged.

These areas are known for crimes against foreigners and tourists, according to reports, particularly in the form of pickpocketing and robberies. Previous suspects have been described as young drug dealers and youth gangs.

Additionally, in 2024, a man named Mohamed Axmed was reportedly jailed for robbing two U.K. tourists in the same area.

RELATED: Gang of foreign nationals get away with jewelry store heist; a month later they try again — but this time cops are ready

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Former UFC champion Conor McGregor, who has aspirations of becoming the president of Ireland, quickly spoke out about Thompson’s mugging.

“Let the World know! Ireland is ran by traitors to its people!” McGregor wrote on X, quoting comments about the story. “GET THIS GOVERNMENT OUT NOW!”

While Irish police confirmed “no formal complaint” over Thompson’s situation was made, NFL reporter Tom Pelissero reported on comments from the Steelers’ organization that seemingly confirmed the ordeal.

“Thompson, who is on injured reserve, suffered minor injuries but is OK and with the team,” the reporter wrote on X. “Statement from Steelers Spokesman Burt Lauten: ‘We are aware of a situation involving Skylar Thompson on Friday night in Dublin. We will have no further comment at this time as we are working with NFL security to gather more information regarding the incident.'”

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The assassination of Charlie Kirk, connected to a suspect who is reportedly in a romantic relationship with a man who claims to identify as female, reignited concerns about increasing violence associated with transgender ideology. Kirk’s murder follows the Covenant School shooting in Nashville in 2023 and the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting in Minneapolis last month, both of which were carried out by individuals who claimed to identify as trans.

Among those accused in this surge of violence is a crew of young, trans-identifying radicals from the Bay Area known as the Zizians, who have drawn particular attention from the authorities for their alleged string of deadly attacks.

The Zizians, dubbed a cult-like group that has been likened to a modern-day Manson family, have been implicated in a chilling series of killings: a Vermont Border Patrol agent gunned down during a traffic stop, a Pennsylvania couple found shot in their home with no signs of forced entry, and the stabbing of a California landlord scheduled to testify against group members.

Beyond the ominous headlines, their story reveals not a well-organized underground network but rather a disjointed group of tech-savvy youth who were drawn into progressive movements and ensnared by a toxic mix of gender dysphoria, artificial intelligence doomsaying, radical veganism, and anarchism. These ideologies have directed their quest for logic and innovation down a path of isolation and increasing violence.

The birth of a fringe group

Before the group came to be known as the Zizians, its lead founding member, Jack “Ziz” LaSota, moved to San Francisco in 2016, with the aspiration of breaking into the Bay Area’s tech startup scene. LaSota, a male who identifies as a woman, became deeply involved with the local rationalist movement, a philosophy that emphasizes the use of reason, logic, and evidence to understand the world and make informed decisions. LaSota’s stated goal was to make a positive contribution to the tech industry by addressing the potential existential threat posed by artificial intelligence, a major concern for rationalists focused on “effective altruism,” which stresses prioritizing actions that promote good.

However, LaSota encountered several issues after relocating to the Bay Area, the first of which was the high rental prices. Determined to address this problem, LaSota formulated a plan with Gwen Danielson that involved dodging exorbitant rent costs by living on boats with other rationalists. LaSota dubbed the communal living initiative the “Rationalist Fleet.”

‘Ziz planned to drive across the entire continental United States to murder me.’

LaSota’s blog, Sinceriously — which has since been taken down, but mirrored and archived versions still exist — described Danielson as a “bigender” “trans woman.”

At the time, LaSota was actively attending in-person meetups hosted by users of LessWrong.com, an online discussion board for rationalists. During one of those events, LaSota met Jacob Pekarek, also a “trans woman,” who went by several names, including Jay Leo Winterford, Jane, and Fluttershy. Pekarek became involved in the boat venture, for a time living with LaSota and Danielson.

In 2017, the group invested in a tugboat, “The Caleb.” They lived on it while it was illegally docked in Pillar Point Harbor, according to a lawsuit.

While the Rationalist Fleet aimed to address the lack of affordability of the Bay Area, both internal and external pressures soon began to fracture the group.

RELATED: Zizians: The vegan trans cult behind a Border Patrol agent’s murder?

Jack “Ziz” LaSota. Image source: Allegany County Sheriff’s Office

Clashes with the rationalists

Things for LaSota and the crew started to take a strange turn around 2019 amid growing friction between the group and the area’s rationalist movement.

In November, LaSota staged a protest against the Center for Applied Rationality, a Berkeley-based nonprofit that hosts rationalist workshops. The organization was scheduled to host an alumni weekend retreat at the Westminster Woods camp along the Bohemian Highway in Sonoma County, but the gathering was interrupted by LaSota and several others — Danielson, Amir “Emma” Borhanian, and Alexander “Somni” Leatham — who showed up wearing Guy Fawkes masks and hooded black robes.

LaSota and the group claimed that CFAR had “betrayed us,” going so far as to accuse members of the nonprofit of sexual misconduct against children. CFAR’s leadership has repeatedly denied those claims. LaSota also argued that instead of forwarding the mission of protecting humanity from AI, CFAR was pushing its members to work on AI.

The protesters allegedly blockaded the entrance to the retreat with their vehicles, knowingly or unknowingly trapping inside a class of over two dozen elementary school children who had been attending a ropes course.

Law enforcement responded to the scene by deploying a SWAT team and a helicopter after receiving reports that one of the protesters may have had a gun. However, no firearm was found on the protesters. The group was arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment, false imprisonment, conspiracy, resisting arrest, wearing a mask while committing a crime, and trespassing.

They each were released from jail after posting bail, and prosecutors dropped felony charges to misdemeanors.

The group later filed a civil rights complaint against Sonoma County authorities, claiming that officers had subjected them to excessive force and “sexual assault and battery” by ignoring their requests to be searched by female officers instead of male officers. The complaint further alleged that, while incarcerated, their clothing was “forcibly stripped off their bodies” and officers “crowded around to look at the Claimants’ genitals and naked bodies.” They claimed they were “tortured” and “woken whenever they started to fall asleep … and were kept naked and cold for days.”

Court proceedings in the cases slowed to a crawl during COVID.

The protest not only led to legal battles but also deepened the group’s alienation from the rationalist community, pushing them toward more extreme ideologies.

Spiraling ideologies and isolation

Following the protest, the group was ultimately banned from LessWrong.com and CFAR meetups.

For the last several years, Danielson had also been experimenting with a sleep technique LaSota described as “partial sleep” or “unihemispheric sleep,” which supposedly lets “parts of your brain do REM sleep without the rest.”

LaSota built on Danielson’s sleep practices, creating the concept that people are made up of two hemispheres and each hemisphere can be either “good” or “nongood.” Those with two good hemispheres are considered “double good”; those with one, “single good”; and those with none, “nongood.” LaSota noted that “double good” is “far less common than single good.”

“This means that they cannot have fusion concerning good, only treaties, and will tend to take actions where the two sets of concerns seem to overlap, with infinitely recursive mutually-warped epistemics,” LaSota wrote, describing the concept of “single good.”

The group’s living situation also began to change.

Curtis Lind, an 82-year-old man who was living on his boat, reportedly befriended the group. In early 2020, Lind, who owned property in Vallejo, California, allowed some of the friends — including Borhanian and Leatham — to live in box trucks and RVs on his land.

The crew abandoned “The Caleb” in 2022, allowing it to sink in the harbor.

It was around this time that things appeared to go off the rails completely for the group of friends.

Michelle “Jamie” Zajko, who was living in Vermont, claimed publicly in February 2022 that LaSota had made death threats against Zajko. LaSota allegedly demanded that Zajko kill Alice Monday, Zajko’s romantic partner, and provide photographic proof.

“And if I didn’t do it,” Zajko wrote in a blog post, “Ziz planned to drive across the entire continental United States to murder me.”

LaSota’s Sinceriously blog posts had become progressively more bitter and aggressive over the years, even calling for “airlock[ing],” a term used to mean killing, certain types of people. The friends’ comments on LaSota’s blog further revealed the extent of the group’s fractures and ongoing disagreements.

After Danielson failed to show up at a court hearing related to the protest incident, the defense attorney asked for a stay in the case in August 2022, stating that he believed Danielson had committed suicide.

That same month, reports surfaced that LaSota had also died. The Coast Guard received a call from a relative who claimed LaSota had fallen overboard while boating in San Francisco Bay. After the Coast Guard concluded an 18-hour search, LaSota was presumed dead.

At this point, it seemed that the group had largely fallen apart, with Danielson and LaSota both presumed dead and two other individuals tied to their clique — Chris “Maia” Pasek and Pekarek — having reportedly committed suicide in 2018 and 2021, respectively.

RELATED: Police nab suspected leader of trans murder cult linked to Border Patrol agent’s killing

Michelle “Jamie” Zajko. Image source: Allegany County Sheriff’s Office

Faked deaths and violent retaliation

Amid the COVID-19 lockdowns, California implemented an eviction moratorium that allowed those living on Lind’s property, including Borhanian and Leatham, to avoid paying rent. The state extended this moratorium for more than two years, with it officially coming to an end in late June 2022.

After they still failed to pay rent, Lind moved to evict the friends by scheduling a date with the sheriff’s office.

With the eviction date looming, Lind claimed one of the friends, Suri Dao, asked him on November 13 to inspect a leaky outdoor water tap. During the visit, Lind stated that he blacked out and woke up to find several individuals standing over him as he was covered in stab wounds.

Lind pulled out his gun to defend himself, and that is when Leatham stabbed him with a samurai sword, he claimed. Lind opened fire, killing Borhanian and wounding Leatham.

Lind, somehow, survived the alleged attack — this time.

When police arrived on the scene, they arrested Dao and transported Leatham and Lind to the hospital. A blonde friend who identified as “Julia Dawson” was taken to the station for questioning, then transferred to the hospital after appearing to suffer from a medical emergency. Dawson quietly left the hospital, evading further interaction with law enforcement.

Authorities later confirmed that “Dawson” was a false identity, and the individual who had been living with Borhanian and Leatham was, in fact, the previously thought deceased LaSota.

The alleged attack on Lind was only the beginning of a wave of violence that extended beyond California.

More senseless killings

In early January 2023, authorities discovered Zajko’s parents, Richard and Rita, dead from gunshot wounds in their Pennsylvania home.

Law enforcement noted no signs of a break-in, concluding that the killer must have been someone the couple knew.

‘We are seeing all across the country an increase in violence from the transgender community and those that are obsessed with breaking out of gender norms and sexual norms.’

Several days later, police detained Zajko, who was staying in a hotel room in Pennsylvania after attending a graveside ceremony. While being apprehended by authorities, Zajko requested that the hotel’s lobby attendants inform Daniel Blank, another friend of the group who was also staying in the hotel, of the arrest.

Police obtained a warrant to enter Blank’s hotel room, where they say they discovered him hiding in the bathroom with LaSota.

Zajko and Blank were already released by the time authorities allegedly recovered Zajko’s Smith & Wesson 9mm and five boxes of ammunition hidden in a cloth bag in Blank’s hotel room.

RELATED: If radical Islam was terror, why isn’t transgender extremism?

Daniel Blank. Image source: Allegany County Sheriff’s Office

The group of friends, now widely referred to as the Zizians, seemed to lie low for a couple of years amid ongoing investigations until January 2025, when Lind, who was scheduled to testify against the Zizians accused of attacking him a few years earlier, was found stabbed to death on his property in California.

Maximilian Snyder, another individual tied to the Zizians, was arrested and accused of the murder. Prosecutors alleged that Snyder had killed Lind to prevent him from testifying against Leatham and Dao.

Days later, two other Zizians were wrapped up in yet another tragic and senseless killing.

A Vermont Border Patrol agent, David “Chris” Maland, 44, was performing a vehicle stop on January 20 when vehicle occupants Teresa “Milo” Youngblut and Felix “Ophelia” Bauckholt opened fire. The exchange of gunfire resulted in the deaths of Maland and Bauckholt, a German national.

Authorities recovered multiple guns, ammunition, cell phones, laptops, and tactical gear inside the suspects’ vehicle. They noted that some of the cell phones were wrapped in foil. It is unclear why the suspects were in the area. However, when previously stopped by authorities, they claimed they were looking at real estate.

Zajko allegedly purchased the guns in Youngblut and Bauckholt’s possession. Further tying the incident to the Zizians, Youngblut and Snyder had previously applied for a marriage license.

Where are they now?

In February 2025, Danielson’s father told the New York Post that Danielson had not committed suicide and was still alive and in hiding from the “dangerous” Zizians.

“She checks in regularly and I heard from her very recently, but she’s not ready to come out of hiding just yet,” Brett Danielson stated.

He noted that the Zizians’ “political ideology was that killing animals is just as violent as killing people, and therefore everybody is guilty of violence.”

“And that probably led some of them to a self-justification for their own propensity for violence,” he concluded.

LaSota, Zajko, and Blank are currently being held without bond at the Allegany County Jail, facing trespassing, obstruction of justice, weapons violations, drug possession, and felony drug-trafficking charges. LaSota was also federally charged with possessing firearms and ammunition as a fugitive.

No charges have been filed in response to the killing of Zajko’s parents.

Youngblut is currently in federal custody, facing a four-count superseding indictment for the murder of Maland, the assault of two other Border Patrol agents with a deadly weapon, and firearms offenses.

Dao and Leatham are in custody, facing aggravated mayhem and murder charges. Leatham is also facing charges for allegedly trying to escape from jail.

Snyder is in custody, facing murder charges for the death of Lind.

An increase in violence

The killings allegedly linked to the Zizians appear to stem from personal disputes or impulsive actions taken in moments of panic, rather than organized efforts. However, the possibility of future shifts in their behavior remains, as the number of active Zizians and those influenced by their ideologies is unknown.

“We are seeing all across the country an increase in violence from the transgender community and those that are obsessed with breaking out of gender norms and sexual norms. It’s growing out of hand,” Terry Schilling with the American Principles Project told Blaze News. “The internet is fueling it at an incredible rate, and it’s one of the main reasons why American Principles Project has decided to focus so heavily on protecting children online from these dangerous social media sites that warp these kids’ brains and turn them into absolute monsters.”

The Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Blaze News, “DHS works diligently with law enforcement partners to keep our nation’s communities safe from ideologically driven violent extremists.”

The FBI declined to comment. Attorneys for LaSota and Zajko did not respond to a request for comment.

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The feud between the author of the mega-popular “Harry Potter” book series and the actors of the movie adaptation continued with a devastating admission from J.K. Rowling.

Rowling posted a statement on social media explaining that Emma Watson’s wealth has protected her from the consequences of the LGBTQ policies she supports.

‘Is she ever likely to need a state-run rape crisis centre that refuses to guarantee an all-female service? To find herself sharing a prison cell with a male rapist who’s identified into the women’s prison?’

The famed author acknowledged that the “Harry Potter” actors have a right to their opinions but that they have chosen to use their relationship with Rowling as a platform to criticize her statements on the transgender agenda.

“Years after they finished acting in Potter, they continue to assume the role of de facto spokespeople for the world I created,” she wrote.

Rowling explained how Watson had inflamed transgender supporters to attack her and then made a meaningless gesture of friendship.

“Emma had just publicly poured more petrol on the flames, yet thought a one line expression of concern from her would reassure me of her fundamental sympathy and kindness,” she wrote.

“Like other people who’ve never experienced adult life uncushioned by wealth and fame, Emma has so little experience of real life she’s ignorant of how ignorant she is,” Rowling added. “She’ll never need a homeless shelter. She’s never going to be placed on a mixed sex public hospital ward. I’d be astounded if she’s been in a high street changing room since childhood. Her ‘public bathroom’ is single occupancy and comes with a security man standing guard outside the door. Has she had to strip off in a newly mixed-sex changing room at a council-run swimming pool? Is she ever likely to need a state-run rape crisis centre that refuses to guarantee an all-female service? To find herself sharing a prison cell with a male rapist who’s identified into the women’s prison?”

RELATED: JK Rowling triggers backlash and hatred with one tweet about transgender misogyny

Rowling then explained that Watson’s recent switch in tone about the author led to Rowling’s admission.

“The greatest irony here is that, had Emma not decided in her most recent interview to declare that she loves and treasures me — a change of tack I suspect she’s adopted because she’s noticed full-throated condemnation of me is no longer quite as fashionable as it was — I might never have been this honest,” she wrote.

“Adults can’t expect to cosy up to an activist movement that regularly calls for a friend’s assassination, then assert their right to the former friend’s love, as though the friend was in fact their mother,” Rowling concluded. “Emma is rightly free to disagree with me and indeed to discuss her feelings about me in public — but I have the same right, and I’ve finally decided to exercise it.”

Rowling’s post quickly went viral with over 10 million views.

Blaze News has reached out to Watson for comment.

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If you stumble onto any delusional radical left winger’s social media today, you’re likely to find them celebrating violence they view as revolutionary — and Jay Greene of the Heritage Foundation knows where it all begins.

“College courses routinely romanticize political violence by featuring violent revolutionaries, terrorists who are blood-drenched murderers, and featuring their works in course assignments and presenting their actions in favorable terms,” Greene tells BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere on “Stu Does America.”

“And so it’s not surprising that young people might get the idea that it’s justifiable for the advancement of justice, or some other worthy cause to engage in political violence, because in their college courses, they read works by people who did precisely that,” he continues.

Greene pointed out Angela Davis, Bill Ayers, and Assata Shakur, “each of whom were involved in revolutionary movements in the ’60s and ’70s” and “each of whom was accused of murder.”

Davis was a leader in the Black Panther movement who bought the guns used in the 1970 courtroom takeover in which the judge was killed, the DA was shot, and a member of the jury was seriously wounded.

“She managed to get off on the claim that she didn’t know what the guns were going to be used for,” Greene explains.

“She later became the vice presidential candidate for the Communist Party in the United States, and in Moscow, received the Lenin prize. That’s not the John Lennon prize, but the Vladimir Lenin prize, for her efforts to advance violent revolution in the United States,” he continues.

“Now, not only does she have books in over 2,000 syllabi in U.S. colleges, not only that, but she is regularly a distinguished speaker, gets paid between $30,000 and $50,000 per appearance at U.S. universities, and she herself is a professor out in the California public university system,” he adds.

Bill Ayers and Assata Shakur have similar stories, now “read in college and lauded in college despite their blood-drenched past.”

“It’s unbelievable how deep this goes,” Stu comments.

“If you think about it, if you go and shoot a health care CEO who’s a father in the back, as in, you know, in cold blood, you’re treated as a hero,” he continues while explaining there’s clear incentives for becoming a violent revolutionary on the left.

“We see lots of people celebrating Charlie Kirk’s murder. The incentives seem to be lined up to a certain type of leftist, particularly a young leftist who’s going to see this as something that maybe they just get praised for, if they do, and at the very least, they will be seen in the history books as this hero,” he says.

“That’s entirely true,” Greene agrees. “You know, the people that we lionize as heroes to our children throughout their entire educational development and personal development, including in their college courses, they’re going to want to imitate.”

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BROADVIEW, Ill. — U.S. Border Patrol agents, under Commander at Large Gregory Bovino, dispersed protesters who were blocking the road that leads to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building near Chicago on Saturday.

The processing facility in Broadview has been heavily targeted in recent weeks by anti-ICE protesters in response to President Donald Trump ordering Operation Midway Blitz for the Chicago area. Until this past week, crowds have been able to form directly outside the facility, blocking the road and driveway in an attempt to prevent federal vehicles from entering or leaving.

ICE installed temporary security fencing down the road from the building to prevent protesters and rioters from getting close. On Saturday, another anti-ICE crowd formed by the security fence and had to be ordered to clear the road multiple times by Border Patrol.

— (@)

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During a lull in the confrontations, one woman was seen passing out large and small Mexican flags to protesters. The woman told Blaze News that someone else had come by to drop off the flags.

RELATED: ‘Shoot the f**kers!’ Anti-ICE agitators caught on video apparently calling for violence in wake of deadly Dallas shooting

Photo by Blaze News

After it became clear the crowd was not going to disperse and stop their attempts to impede federal law enforcement, Bovino and his agents came out for one final time to clear the crowd from the road. Agents used multiple canisters of tear gas, shot pepper balls, and confiscated homemade shields from the anti-ICE agitators.

Border Patrol made multiple arrests as the formation moved down the road.

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President Trump shared Blaze News’ video of the confrontations on Truth Social and said, “Border Patrol will take no nonsense!”

There were no major confrontations between agents and protesters at the facility on Sunday, perhaps because of the show of strength by Border Patrol the previous night. Plus, the protests at the Broadview facility have typically occurred on Fridays, though the reason is unclear. It remains to be seen how anti-ICE groups will adapt to the reinforcements sent by the Department of Homeland Security as Operation Midway Blitz is still under way.

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Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny has been named as the next Super Bowl performer despite mocking the president just two months ago.

Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, is known not only for music but outlandish outfits that often include dresses and women’s clothing.

‘… f**king ICE could be outside.’

The 31-year-old was named by the NFL as the performer for the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, which will take place on February 8, 2026, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Bad Bunny immediately declared the performance would be dedicated to his “people” and their history.

“What I’m feeling goes beyond myself,” he said, per the NFL. “It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown … this is for my people, my culture, and our history.”

He finished by saying, in Spanish, “Go tell your grandma we’re going to be the SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW.”

The announcement comes after Bad Bunny mocked President Trump in July over his immigration policies.

RELATED: Radio host makes insane complaint about Charlie Kirk tributes at NFL games — but actual players disagree

Bad Bunny attending the 2023 Met Gala Celebrating ‘Karl Lagerfeld: A Line Of Beauty’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Photo by Jason Howard/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

In his music video for “NUEVAYoL,” released on July 4, Bad Bunny not only draped a Puerto Rican flag over the Statue of Liberty, but he inserted a break in the video in order to play a parody of the president’s voice.

“I made a mistake. I want to apologize to the immigrants in America,” the Trump parody says over the radio. “I mean the United States. I know America is the whole continent.”

The voice continues, “I want to say that this country is nothing without the immigrants. This country is nothing without Mexicans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Cubans.”

The men listening to the radio seemingly disregard the message and turn it off.

At the beginning of September, the musician said he excluded the United States from his upcoming world tour because he feared Immigration and Customs Enforcement would raid his concerts.

Although there were “many reasons” he did not “show up in the U.S.,” Bad Bunny explained, “there was the issue of — like, f**king ICE could be outside.”

“And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about,” he said, according to the Guardian.

RELATED: NFL icon sends handwritten letter to Pope Leo XIV — here’s what he asked for

In January, the artist revealed that he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election because he was offended by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s joke about Puerto Rico at a Trump rally. Hinchcliffe joked that Puerto Rico was a floating island of garbage, a play on the fact that the territory has an extreme waste management issue.

“I can understand that it’s a joke, but there’s people that doesn’t understand that it’s a joke. People who are going to agree with that joke,” Ocasio said at the time, per Yahoo.

Platinum recording artist Bruno Mars, who is part Puerto Rican, supported Bad Bunny with a post on X, quoting his words from the NFL press release while adding, “Go get em Bad Bunny!”

Rapper Jay-Z, who collaborates with the NFL for its halftime show through his company Roc Nation, called Bad Bunny “inspiring” for what he has done for Puerto Rico.

“We are honored to have him on the world’s biggest stage,” Jay-Z said.

Jon Barker, senior vice president of global event production for the NFL, added that Bad Bunny has a “unique ability to bridge genres, languages, and audiences,” which makes him a “natural choice to take the Super Bowl halftime stage.”

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A political party in Japan is turning to a non-human leader after failing to gain any seats in a recent election.

The Path to Rebirth party was launched in January after a former small-town mayor, Shinji Ishimaru, shocked Japan by coming in second in Tokyo’s 2024 gubernatorial race.

‘Legally, the representative must be a natural person.’

Despite not having any policies, platforms, or member guidelines, the party had hoped to gain traction in Japan’s House of Councillors election. However, the Path to Rebirth party failed to pick up any of the 124 seats that were up for grabs in the election.

Ishimaru quit following the massive defeat, the Japan Times reported, and now a new leader has been installed.

Doctoral student Koki Okumura won the party’s leadership race, but decided he is not fit for the job, and last week he tapped a new party leader.

RELATED: Female avatar appointed as Europe’s first AI government official

Shinji Ishimaru, former mayor of Akitakata City, speaks during the WebX2024 in Tokyo, Japan. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images

“The new leader will be AI,” the 25-year-old declared.

Describing himself as the assistant to the artificial intelligence, the Kyoto University student said the AI will be a penguin avatar, a nod to Japan’s love for animals.

Okumura said that while the party will “entrust decision-making to AI,” he will be the formal figurehead because party leaders in Japan must be human.

“Legally, the representative must be a natural person, so formally, a human serves as the representative,” he explained.

In an interview with CNN, Okumura said he believes AI will eventually take over all the decision-making for the Path to Rebirth party.

“I believe it has the potential to achieve things with greater precision than humans. This approach allows us to carefully consider voices that are often overlooked by humans, potentially creating a more inclusive and humane environment for political participation,” Okumura added.

Perhaps surprisingly, the AI penguin is not the first major appointment for a non-human entity this month.

RELATED: Can these new fake pets save humanity? Take a wild guess

Albania’s new AI-generated minister “Diella” “speaks” during a parliamentary session. Photo by ADNAN BECI/AFP via Getty Images

Just a week prior, Albania announced that public tenders — bids made by companies to supply goods or services to the government — will be handled by an AI minister.

The AI, named Diella, meaning “Sun,” was already in use as a virtual assistant for Albania’s online public services website that deals with digital documents. Prime Minister Edi Rama boldly claimed that the AI will be “100% free of corruption.”

As for the penguin leader, Okumura said there is no timeline for its formal implementation, and its appearance has not been revealed.

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​Return, Artificial intelligence, Ai, Ai leader, Japan, Albania, Penguin, Tech 

Marrying a first cousin is presently legal in Britain. Conservative Member of Parliament Richard Holden has, however, introduced legislation that would ban the practice, which has been linked to genetic disorders, higher infant mortality, and mental retardation.

“This is not about faith or race,” Holden noted earlier this year. “It’s about integration, fundamental liberty, and health.”

The proposed ban has caused a great deal of hand-wringing among liberals and Pakistani activists, who figure it is “prejudiced” against the Pakistani community, where cousin marriage is widespread.

The National Health Service’s Genomics Education Programme recently caused an uproar by adopting this framing and spinning incest as a possible social benefit.

In a Sept. 22 blog guidance that was recently deleted, the Genomics Education Programme noted that “marriage between first cousins, known as consanguineous marriage, has been practiced for centuries across many cultures — often seen as a way of preserving family wealth, strengthening social ties, and maintaining cultural traditions.”

The health authority acknowledged that because first cousins share around 12.5% of their genes, the linked likelihoods that they will both carry the same genetic variants and together have children born with a genetic disorder are greatly increased.

‘The NHS won’t say a word against cousin marriage.’

Congenital anomalies are a leading cause of infant death in the United Kingdom. In a 2013 study published in the Lancet, researchers investigated why rates of infant death were highest in children of Pakistani origin.

The researchers found that whereas less than 1% of babies of white British natives were born to first cousins, 38% of babies born of Pakistani residents were inbred. The researchers concluded that incest was associated with a doubling risk for congenital anomaly and that “31% of all anomalies in children of Pakistani origin could be attributed to consanguinity.”

A 2022 study published in the peer-reviewed journal BMC Women’s Health noted that “presently, consanguinity is widely popular and respected in many communities, particularly in Muslims. Pakistan ranks amongst those countries, where the highest prevalence of consanguinity is still in vogue.”

RELATED: UK government makes digital ID mandatory to get a job: ‘Safer, fairer and more secure’

Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

The study noted that over 63% of marriages in Pakistan were between blood relatives as of 2018 and that “the popularity of consanguineous unions is not declining in the country, because of social, cultural, religious, and economic advantages, which outweigh the disadvantages given the population.”

Pakistan is rife with genetic disorders largely as a consequence of inbreeding — a problem that appears to have been exported to the United Kingdom.

‘Incestuous arranged marriages apparently now represent the leading edge of progressivism.’

Professor Sam Oddie, a consultant neonatologist and researcher at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, told the BBC earlier this year that severe genetic disorders, in many cases fatal, were happening more often in Bradford, England — where over 25% of the population is Pakistani — than elsewhere.

Despite the health risks for the children of first cousins, the NHS’ Genomics Education Programme suggested in its deleted blog guidance both that the increased risk “is a small one” — an increase from a likelihood of 2%-3% to a likelihood of 4%-6% — and that first-cousin marriage has “various potential benefits, including stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages.”

In addition to painting a silver lining on incestuous marriages, the health agency concern-mongered about “stigmatizing certain communities and cultural traditions.”

Conservative Member of Parliament Claire Coutinho responded to the guidance, “The NHS tells you (a lot) not to smoke or drink during pregnancy. But the NHS won’t say a word against cousin marriage.”

Dr. Richard H. Ebright of Rutgers University wrote, “Incestuous arranged marriages apparently now represent the leading edge of progressivism. Almost as progressive as transvestite marriages.”

A spokesman for NHS England told the Telegraph in a statement, “The article published on the website of the Genomics Education Programme is a summary of existing scientific research and the public policy debate. It is not expressing an NHS view.”

“Some critics say a ban would infringe upon people’s freedom — but what freedom are we protecting? The reality for so many is a life predetermined by bloodline and birth order. We are not protecting a freedom; we are perpetuating oppression,” Holden said during a June debate in parliament. “Let us not forget that most cousin marriages are not one-offs. In some cases, they are multi-generational. With each generation, the chance to choose diminishes further. The net tightens and lives are lost in the gaps.”

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​England, Britain, United kingdom, Incest, Inbreeding, First-cousin, Cousin, Cosanguination, Nhs, National health services, Starmer, Pakistan, Pakistani, Politics 

Drone technology has been one of the most game-changing developments in the last 50 years of warfare. From US MQ-9 Reaper strikes in the Middle East to Russian Geran-3 attacks in Ukraine, drones have taken on a larger and larger role in modern warfare.

One of the more recent developments in drone warfare is the advent of small, first-person-view drones used in a hunter-killer capacity. These small drones, which can be equipped to drop small munitions, or simply detonate themselves like a 21st-century kamikaze, are one of the most terrifying forces on the modern battlefield.

One only has to watch a few of the videos coming out of the Ukraine war (I don’t recommend this; they are often disturbing) to understand the psychological toll that drone warfare takes on the human combatants. In such an environment, soldiers are desperate for any advantage they can get.

Thermal-cloaking materials provide one such advantage. Although the technology is still in its infancy, it could prove to be a crucial step in countering the dominance of small drones on today’s battlefields.

More advanced thermal cameras are strong enough to track a person by the heat of his footprints, under the right conditions.

Many drones use thermal cameras to locate the enemy. Thermal has obvious advantages over regular imaging. For example, a soldier hidden in thick brush might be invisible to a regular camera, but such a cover won’t hide him from a thermal camera. To combat this new threat, there is a rush to develop camouflage technology that can conceal its wearer from thermal as well as regular cameras.

Thermal cameras are very simple in principle. They detect heat, so a warm-blooded human stands out like a sore thumb amid his cooler, inanimate surroundings. Heat signatures from vehicles make them vulnerable as well. More advanced thermal cameras are strong enough to track a person by the heat of his footprints, under the right conditions.

Thermal-shielding camouflage already exists to some extent. Relv Camo sells products (only available to NATO militaries or U.S. citizens) that include some thermal-shielding elements. Their Eclipse camo line uses lightweight fabric, non-reflective materials, and other technology not publicly available to provide “a lightweight solution for signature management on the battlefield.”

These camo fabrics, which can be used as a sort of loose poncho to conceal a soldier on the battlefield, remain effective for stretches of about 13 minutes, according to Relv. The issue is when the fabric comes in contact with the human body underneath and heat is transferred. They are most effective when draped loosely for short periods of time or suspended from branches or posts so that air can flow between the fabric and the person underneath.

Solutions like those provided by Relv have obvious shortcomings. While they can be effective for hiding a sniper position or a radio transmitter, they are less helpful for soldiers trying to evade FPV drones while on the move. Companies on both sides of the Ukraine war are working on practical applications of thermal-cloaking technology for infantry.

RELATED: The world’s new cyborg weapons are less than half human

Photo by VCG / Contributor via Getty Images

Brave1, a Ukrainian defense conglomerate, has been fielding a thermal-shielding cloak since 2023. The PNM-1 insulates the natural heat of a person and reduces his thermal footprint. According to a Brave1 spokesman, “The cloak’s masking properties are preserved indefinitely as long as the person in the cloak moves very slowly.” Since the cloak works by insulating body heat, excessive heat caused by rapid or prolonged movement is problematic. The cloak is mostly useful for snipers, slow-moving recon units, and soldiers manning observation posts.

The Russian Federation is also working on thermal-shielding products. HiderX, a Russian defense contractor, announced last year that its thermal-shielding suit was in use on the frontlines in Ukraine: “About 600 of our camouflage ‘invisible suits’ that blur a human silhouette are employed in the special operation area.” The Russian tech currently has the same shortcomings as the Ukrainian version. It is mostly useful for stationary of very slow-moving soldiers.

Other countries are also jumping into the thermal-shielding arms race. The Swedish company Saab AB has developed the Barracuda Camouflage System. The system, which has some thermal-shielding elements, is used on vehicles as well as personnel. It has seen some use in Ukraine starting last year, largely with donated Swedish CV90 Infantry Fighting Vehicles.

The American company Fibrotex USA (a subsidiary of the Israeli company Fibrotex Technologies) has been working on its Nightwalker camo system since 2016. The system includes thermal-shielding elements and has contracts with both the U.S. military and the Israeli Defense Force.

All of these thermal-shielding systems share similar shortcomings. There is currently no ideal solution for soldiers when it comes to avoiding detection — particularly from FPV drones. The prevalence of drones on the modern battlefield and their use of thermal cameras to bypass traditional camo systems mean that a country that pulls ahead in the thermal-shielding arms race would gain a significant advantage in future conflicts.

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​Tech, Thermal shielding, Drones 

New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) dropped out of his re-election race over the weekend, potentially boosting Andrew Cuomo’s chances of defeating Zohran Mamdani.

“Despite all we’ve achieved, I cannot continue my re-election campaign,” Adams announced on Sunday. “The constant media speculation about my future and the Campaign Finance Board’s decision to withhold millions of dollars have undermined my ability to raise the funds needed for a serious campaign.”

‘We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them.’

Adams warned New Yorkers about growing “extremism” in politics, seemingly referring to Democratic front-runner Mamdani.

“Our children are being radicalized to hate our city and our country. Political anger has turned into political violence,” Adams continued.

“Major change is welcome and necessary, but beware of those who claim the answer [is] to destroy the very system we built together over generations. That is not change; that is chaos.”

Adams has not endorsed any of the remaining candidates.

Mamdani is facing off against former New York Gov. Cuomo (D), who is running a third-party bid, and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.

RELATED: Trump slams Hochul’s endorsement of ‘communist’ Mamdani: ‘No reason to be sending good money’

New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

While Adams’ decision to drop out of the race has likely boosted Cuomo’s chances, it may not be enough.

In a July poll, Mamdani held a 23-point lead over Adams. While Cuomo had better odds than either Adams or Sliwa, the results still showed Mamdani winning by three points.

“Cuomo is the strongest candidate against Mamdani, but for him to have any chance of winning, he’ll need (a) Sliwa and Adams to drop out AND (b) to turn out moderate and conservative lower-propensity voters (who may have sat out previous mayoral general elections) at very high rates,” the poll stated.

Three other polls also showed Mamdani winning by a margin of four to 10 points. However, polls by Wick and HarrisX showed Cuomo securing a one- to 15-point victory.

RELATED: Is Trump meddling with Mamdani’s candidacy?

NYC mayoral candidate former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Cuomo reacted to Adams leaving the race, noting that it was “not an easy” decision.

“We face destructive extremist forces that would devastate our city through incompetence or ignorance, but it is not too late to stop them,” Cuomo wrote in a post on X, also presumably referring to Democratic socialist Mamdani.

Mamdani stated that Adams’ decision would have little impact.

“I think it’s very much the same race,” he said, noting that he beat Cuomo by 13 points in the Democrat primary.

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​News, Andrew cuomo, Cuomo, Zohran mamdani, Mamdani, Eric adams, New york city, Nyc, New york, New york city mayoral race, Curtis sliwa, Politics 

President Donald Trump’s threats of new tariffs continued this week. Among his targets was one that he has set his sights on before: the movie industry.

On Monday, the president took to Truth Social to threaten tariffs on the movie industry, saying that movie-making has been “stolen” by foreign producers.

‘California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit!’

“Our movie making business has been stolen from the United States of America, by other Countries, just like stealing ‘candy from a baby.'”

President Trump singled out California and its governor, Gavin Newsom (D), in his post.

RELATED: Read it and weep: Tariffs work, and the numbers prove it

Photo by XNY/Star Max/GC Images

“California, with its weak and incompetent Governor, has been particularly hard hit! Therefore, in order to solve this long time, never ending problem, I will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any and all movies that are made outside of the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

Trump did not specify when these tariffs will take effect or how the tariff would be levied. Critics have pointed out that this is essentially the first time the Trump administration is attempting to impose a tariff on a service rather than a good.

This announcement is a renewal of a tariff threat on the industry that Trump made in May.

“On first blush, it’s shocking and would represent a virtually complete halt of production,” one industry insider told CNN in May. “But in reality, he has no jurisdiction to do this, and it’s too complex to enforce.”

Trump’s ability to levy tariffs has recently been challenged. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments challenging Trump’s tariffs on November 5.

In a separate post, Trump also announced that his administration plans to impose “substantial tariffs” on the furniture-making industry, pointing to the devastation of North Carolina’s industry by foreign manufacturers.

Blaze News reached out to the White House but did not receive a response by publishing time.

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​Politics, Tariffs, Hollywood, 100% tariff, Film industry, California, Trump, President trump, Supreme court, Truth social 

The disclosure of 274 FBI special agents at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has set off a firestorm of controversy, with FBI Director Kash Patel insisting that the agents only did “crowd control” and President Donald J. Trump saying he wants to identify all of the agents, who he said were “probably acting as Agitators and Insurrectionists.”

After 56 months of not disclosing the scope of the FBI’s presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, a Sept. 25 leaked report from the House Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Remaining Questions Surrounding January 6 has turned into an online free-for-all — trying to assign blame and determine what the disclosure really means.

‘This was a mass entrapment scheme that was run and operated by the government.’

“It was just revealed that the FBI had secretly placed, against all Rules, Regulations, Protocols, and Standards, 274 FBI Agents into the Crowd just prior to, and during, the January 6th Hoax,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “… I want to know who each and every one of these so-called ‘Agents’ are, and what they were up to on that now ‘Historic’ Day.”

More than 360 FBI special agents and other staff from the Washington Field Office responded to the rapidly developing events at the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, including 274 special agents and 89 intelligence analysts and support staff, the leaked report says. The professional staff did not deploy to the Capitol. A report issued in December 2024 reported 26 FBI informants at the Capitol on Jan. 6, including four who went into the building.

After that news garnered millions of views on social media, Patel went to Fox News to “clarify” that the 274 agents were only there for “crowd control.”

Crowd control?

“Agents were sent into a crowd-control mission after the riot was declared by Metro Police – something that goes against FBI standards,” Patel told Fox News. “This was the failure of a corrupt leadership that lied to Congress and to the American people about what really happened.”

Metropolitan Police broadcast declaration of a riot over police radio at 2:22 p.m.

Patel’s attempt to tamp down the online furor from former Jan. 6 defendants who tried to get this information in their criminal cases didn’t work, with many saying they don’t believe Patel’s explanation.

“Where is the film of one agent doing crowd control? Where is one affidavit in court?” asked former Jan. 6 defendant Larry Brock Jr. “This story doesn’t fly. You definitely need a better PR team. There are cameras everywhere in D.C. Show us the videos of the Hoover building emptying.”

While there is ample video evidence of SWAT teams from the FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshals, Park Police, and other agencies sweeping the Capitol after 3 p.m. and escorting lawmakers to the subways, that is not the case with plainclothes FBI personnel. Their presence was most noticeable after 6 p.m., when no protesters were left in the Capitol Building.

The Department of Justice Office of Inspector General said there were no FBI undercover agents in the crowds on Jan. 6. That category is distinct from agents who are described as plainclothes. In the field, plainclothes agents would normally wear their badges on a lanyard or their belts. Some wear blue FBI windbreaker jackets with “FBI” stamped in yellow on the back. Agents who patrolled hallways of the Capitol office buildings before Congress reconvened late on Jan. 6 wore body armor with FBI patches.

Patel’s answer seemed a far cry from the expectations he set up in a May 18 interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox News.

RELATED: Judge allows Jan. 6 lawsuit alleging excessive force in DC jail to proceed

FBI Director Kash Patel promised a “trove of information” about Jan. 6 on May 18, but no report has been forthcoming since.Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

“We’ve got answers coming. We just found a trove of information, and it’s on its way to Capitol Hill right now,” Patel said. “And they’ve asked, and they’re getting them, and you’re getting answers on January 6.

“You’re getting answers on what sourcing was utilized, what money was utilized, how many assets were utilized, who made those decisions — you’re getting it,” he said. “We can only control the FBI. But you’re getting it from the FBI.”

When Bartiromo asked, “Were there FBI agents under cover egging people on?” Patel replied, “Like I said, that answer is coming, and it’s on its way to Congress.”

Assistant FBI Director Dan Bongino cautioned that people should make the distinction between FBI agents and “assets.”

“I just hope when people put that information out there, they make the distinction,” Bongino said. “Not that it’s better or worse, but there’s a distinction there.”

No “trove of information” has been released since Patel’s interview May 18.

‘FBI provocateurs in the crowd. Peaceful Americans framed. Lives destroyed.’

FBI tactical teams flowed into the Capitol through the Hall of Columns south entrance after the 2:44 p.m. shooting of Ashli Babbitt by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd.

Security video shows FBI SWAT medics entered the Capitol at 2:49 p.m., turned right, and met a Capitol Police SWAT team that was carrying the mortally wounded Babbitt. The FBI medics set Babbitt on the floor and began lifesaving aid at 2:50 p.m. Babbitt was declared dead at a hospital at 3:15 p.m.

According to Capitol Police CCTV video, an armored vehicle of ATF agents arrived through the Capitol’s south barricade at 2:46 p.m. That ATF tactical team entered the Capitol through the South Doors at 2:48 p.m.

FBI medics, SWAT

An FBI tactical team rolled into the House Plaza parking lot at 2:32 p.m. Off-duty FBI Special Agent Baker Doughty appeared to be waiting for the armored vehicle, as he approached and talked with tactical team agents for about five minutes, according to a court filing by former Jan. 6 defendant William Pope.

Doughty was with two other off-duty agents and former FBI Agent John Guandolo watching the protests from a crowd seated and standing on the House Egg. One of the active-duty FBI agents is seen on video clapping and cheering, “This is huge,” as protesters swarmed up the east steps to the Columbus Doors just after 2 p.m.

Guandolo, former FBI liaison to U.S. Capitol Police, said Doughty and the other FBI agents introduced him to several other off-duty FBI agents at the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to an affidavit Guandolo provided in a 2023 Oath Keepers case in Alaska.

Former Jan. 6 defendant William Pope disclosed the presence of several off-duty FBI agents with former FBI agent John Guandolo. They are shown here at 2:57 p.m.U.S. Capitol Police, U.S. District Court/Graphic by Blaze News

Pope said the FBI must have considered Doughty to be on duty that day, since he, Guandolo, and other other agents entered the government-defined “restricted zone.” Doing so off duty would have precluded him from participating in the FBI raid of the home of former Jan. 6 defendant Fi Duong and any other Jan. 6 cases, Pope contends.

The FBI SWAT team left the armored vehicle and headed for the South Doors at 2:53 p.m. That team, led by a plainclothes FBI agent wearing a blue FBI windbreaker, entered the Hall of Columns at 2:53 p.m.

The official U.S. Capitol Police Jan. 6 timeline makes no reference to FBI agents being requested or deployed to the Capitol.

In contrast, then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund asked for backup from then-Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee at 12:58 p.m. A large group of MPD officers rushed onto the West Plaza at 1:12 p.m., began hosing the crowd with pepper spray, and set up new police lines.

Chief Sund asked for help from the U.S. Secret Service at 1:01 p.m., the timeline said. At 1:40 p.m., Sund asked for and received confirmation of help from ATF.

While the presence of non-uniformed FBI agents is scarce on security video, large numbers of plainclothes agents wearing body armor are seen on video securing hallways and buildings in preparation for the return of a joint session of Congress after 8 p.m. This happened only after the Capitol had been cleared of protesters.

RELATED: Bobby Powell gave his last breath working to expose Jan. 6 corruption

An FBI SWAT agent patrols the Longworth House Office Building on Jan. 6, 2021.Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

Former Jan. 6 defendants and attorneys found the 274-agent disclosure especially troubling because the DOJ and FBI refused to provide that information as part of case discovery in the nearly 1,600 criminal cases brought by the DOJ.

“I personally made over a dozen requests … for this stuff,” defense attorney Bradford Geyer, who represented Oath Keeper Kenneth Harrelson at his September 2022 trial, told Blaze News. “Many times, many times.”

Geyer said the failure of the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice to disclose this information during hundreds of cases taints the entire massive prosecution effort. It is more evidence that many or most cases should have been dismissed for withheld exculpatory evidence, he said.

“I’ve always thought that these cases should have just been dismissed en masse because of government conduct and Brady failures,” Geyer said, referring to the duty of prosecutors to produce exculpatory evidence as dictated in the landmark 1963 Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland.

“This was a mass entrapment scheme that was run and operated by the government,” Geyer said. “We know that that’s what happened, but we’re not quite there yet. If we established that that happened, I bet most people would agree that all cases should be dismissed.

“You could dismiss it on this failure,” Geyer said. “I asked for drone footage; I asked for logs from the U.S. Capitol Police control room; I asked for the video of people going and entering the control room. I asked for all the stuff about the [Columbus] Doors, about the electronic signaling systems to the doors. I never got any of that stuff.”

RELATED: Restoration of military honors for Ashli Babbitt strikes back against a tide of Jan. 6 lies

An armored ATF tactical vehicle arrives through the U.S. Capitol south barricade at 2:46 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021.U.S. Capitol Police CCTV

After Blaze News disclosed the number of special agents at the Capitol in an article late Sept. 25, battles erupted on social media on the significance of the information.

Some viewed the disclosure as validation of long-held suspicions that Jan. 6 was a “fedsurrection,” while others dismissed the report as nothing more than a standard response to violence and rioting at the Capitol.

“Christopher Wray concealed this from us for four years,” U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), wrote on X. “This is a big deal.”

“J6ers need some reparations,” wrote the Hodgetwins comedians, responding to a Blaze News post on X Thursday night

“If the FBI were smart, they would start selectively releasing some documents to reveal the other agencies that were involved in January 6,” said Pope, who exposed the presence of several off-duty FBI agents at the Capitol Jan. 6. “Why take all the heat yourself?”

John Strand, who went to prison on Jan. 6 charges after his trial in Washington, D.C., said the disclosures need to spark action.

“Today’s revelations prove it: Jan 6 wasn’t justice, it was entrapment,” Strand said on the “The Benny Show.” “FBI provocateurs in the crowd. Peaceful Americans framed. Lives destroyed. The real criminals are those who weaponized our government. They must be investigated, prosecuted, and held accountable.”

No national security event

Former FBI Special Agent Kyle Seraphin told Blaze News he was allowed to take leave on Jan. 6, since the events at the Ellipse and Capitol that day were not designated a National Security Special Event by the Department of Homeland Security. Otherwise, he said, he would likely have been doing countersurveillance at the U.S. Capitol. Instead, he was doing training with Maryland State Police that day.

Seraphin said a report on total federal law enforcement assets at the Capitol Jan. 6 is needed to better understand the full Jan. 6 picture. Federal agencies use a system called the Android Team Awareness Kit to track personnel and give real-time data on movements of agents and other employees.

Seraphin recalled an instance in summer 2020 when his team was ordered to the White House.

“Everybody showed up wearing overt body-armor markings and belts showing a badge. That’s how you show up,” Seraphin said. “You show up as a team, and then you get sent somewhere by some sort of central command unit. … You don’t just show up randomly and then flash a badge and join a skirmish line.”

Pope disclosed in his criminal case that nearly 50 agents from the FBI and various agencies attached to it were working on Jan. 6 and later wrote affidavits of probable cause to support arrest warrants in Jan. 6 cases.

Pope developed a spreadsheet of FBI special agents and other officers from the bureau’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, including a U.S. Army counterintelligence agent from Colorado; an NCIS special agent; FBI special agents from New York, Nashville, Memphis, Newark, Philadelphia, and Albany, New York; and an agent from the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Protective Service, Pope’s motion stated.

‘The real criminals are those who weaponized our government.’

“There is now ample evidence that the FBI had a heavy presence at the Capitol on January 6, which is even more alarming considering the fact that we now know they had intelligence that was not shared with other agencies,” Pope wrote in a 2024 court filing. “This constitutes outrageous government conduct.”

RELATED: The New York Times rewrites history while Jan. 6 families pay the price

Two undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers watch the crowds on the west side of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.William Pope via U.S. District Court

Pope also disclosed the presence and activities of undercover Metropolitan Police Department officers, some of whom are on camera inciting protesters and helping them climb over barricades to get to the Capitol. There were dozens of MPD officers on Capitol grounds as part of the Electronic Surveillance Unit. Only a small percentage of the video they shot Jan. 6 has been made public.

Geyer said even if FBI agents did nothing nefarious on Jan. 6, their presence gave protesters a false sense of security.

“If you take the FBI agents and the Homeland Security agents — and there was a DEA agent who was badged that Will Pope found walking down Pennsylvania Avenue — and all the federal employees in plain clothes and looked very respectable, that had a psychological effect and influenced the crowd,” Geyer said.

“It gave people a false sense of assurance that the areas that they were in, it was okay to be there because intermixing with the crowd were these very respectable-looking people. So even if none of them got out of hand and they were there for good-faith reasons, it still influenced the crowd.”

The FBI did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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​January 6, William pope, Ashli babbitt, Steven sund, Politics 

President Donald Trump announced on Saturday — just days after a radical opened fire on an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas — that per Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s request, he was directing War Secretary Pete Hegseth “to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists.”

Trump, who on Sept. 17 designated Antifa as a “MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION,” noted further that he was “authorizing Full Force, if necessary.”

The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon indicated that as of Sept. 8, a total of 26 defendants had been charged with federal offenses allegedly committed at the ICE facility in Portland since June 13.

Hegseth took action on Sunday, federalizing 200 members of the Oregon National Guard for a period of 60 days.

Democrats, enraged by the prospect that the Trump administration will swoop in to protect federal agents and assets from “domestic terrorists” in the City of Roses — as it has in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. — are desperately attempting to gloss over anti-ICE violence in the city and to portray federal action as unnecessary.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson (D) said in a statement, “President Trump has directed ‘all necessary Troops’ to Portland, Oregon. The number of necessary troops is zero, in Portland and any other American city.”

Within hours of state Attorney General Dan Rayfield filing a lawsuit on Sunday aimed at preventing the U.S. government from federalizing and deploying the Oregon National Guard, Governor Tina Kotek (D) said in a video statement that “Portland is not war-ravaged, there’s no insurrection, there’s no threat to national security, and there’s no need for military troops.”

The governor shared footage showing her walking in the city with her lesbian partner, Aimee Wilson, early in the day — footage that managed to leave out visual evidence of the radicals teeming in the streets near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building and chasing law enforcement officers, as well as the multitudes of homeless persons occupying the sidewalks and other signs of late-stage societal decay.

— (@)

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden (D) took a page out of California Democrats’ playbook and characterized the federal intervention as an “attempt to incite violence” in the supposedly “peaceful city.” He proceeded to share a carefully curated montage of nonviolent scenes in Portland, stating, “Every single one of these clips was taken today in downtown Portland. Portland doesn’t want or need a federal takeover.”

Those responsible for Kotek’s and Wyden’s videos were gambling with their safety.

Portland has a rating of 1 on Neighborhood Scout’s crime index, where 100 is safest. The likelihood of becoming a victim of a violent crime is 1 in 138, and the likelihood of becoming the victim of a property crime is 1 in 17.

According to Portland Police Bureau statistics, the city of 640,000 people had 68 homicides last year; 3,059 reported aggravated assaults and 6,025 simple/intimidation assaults; 70 kidnappings or abductions; 560 sex offenses; and 46,635 property offenses. Already this year, there have been 25 homicides, a 50% year-over-year increase in kidnappings; an increase in all types of assault; a 25% spike in arson; and a 226% increase in drug offenses.

While the city has a general crime problem, the Trump administration is responding specifically to the violence outside the ICE facility and to leftists’ attacks on federal agents following the Sept. 24 sniper attack on the ICE field office in Dallas.

RELATED: ‘Shoot the f**kers!’ Anti-ICE agitators caught on video apparently calling for violence in wake of deadly Dallas shooting

Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek. Photo by Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon indicated that as of Sept. 8, a total of 26 defendants had been charged with federal offenses allegedly committed at the ICE facility in Portland since June 13. The charges include assaulting federal officers, arson, possession of a destructive device, and depredation of government property.

— (@)

The attorney’s office noted that one radical, Julie Winters of Portland, allegedly attempted to place an incendiary device next to the guard shack at the ICE office on June 24. When confronted by Federal Protective Service officers, Winters allegedly pulled a large knife from her backpack, threatened officers, then threw the knife at an officer.

The Department of Homeland Security highlighted how on June 24, a rioter also allegedly pelted a federal officer with a smoke grenade. Days later, another rioter who had been caught allegedly attempting to damage equipment at the ICE facility “resisted arrest, grabbed an officer in the genitals, and kicked officers in the groin and legs,” said the DHS.

In addition to Antifa-linked individuals sending death threats to ICE agents in the city, Rose City Antifa has reportedly doxxed ICE officers, publishing their personal information and home addresses.

A White House official told Blaze News that “despite the crime and neighborhood pushback caused by the months-long protest, Oregon Democrats still refuse to do anything about it, with state and local law enforcement rendered unable to intervene due to sanctuary laws and Gov. Tina Kotek calling President Trump’s offer to deploy National Guard troops in Portland ‘absurd, unlawful and un-American.'”

“President Trump is using his lawful authority to direct the National Guard to protect federal assets and personnel in Portland following months of violent riots where officers have been assaulted and doxxed by left-wing rioters,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement to Blaze News. “The president’s lawful actions will make Portland safer.”

Blaze News has reached out to the DHS for comment.

Oregon’s lawsuit against the Trump administration, which seeks to block the deployment of the National Guard to Portland, claims that the planned intervention is “provocative and arbitrary” and threatens “to undermine public safety by inciting a public outcry.”

The complaint, which makes no mention of anti-ICE radicals apparently rolling out a guillotine at a Sept. 1 riot, downplays the attacks on the ICE facility and federal agents, suggesting that the rioting outside the facility has “been small in recent weeks” and “less energetic” than earlier in the summer.

Liberal media outfits appear keen to help Democrats gaslight about the continued threat posed by the anti-ICE radicals in Portland.

CNN, for instance, characterized the mob actions outside the ICE facility as mostly “peaceful.” While Politico acknowledged “the sporadic violence between protesters and federal law enforcement,” it reassured readers that “there have been no fatalities at protests this year.”

Editor’s note: This article has been edited after publication to include comment from the White House.

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After Jimmy Kimmel was fired for his comments regarding Charlie Kirk in the wake of his assassination, the talk show host was promptly reinstated by Disney — despite the show’s lack of viewership before his firing.

“Everyone at ABC and Disney knows who’s watching. They know the numbers better than we do. And all the advertisers know, too, that the phones aren’t ringing — ‘buy advertising on Jimmy Kimmel.’ They know this,” BlazeTV host Steve Deace explains on the “Steve Deace Show.”

“So why is making $20, $30, $40 million a year, whatever it is? Why? Because it’s not about the money. It’s about sending a message. He’s there to be a vessel of propaganda. That’s why. There’s no marketplace of ideas for that. There’s no one to bang on for that. It really would not matter if we all stopped watching,” he continues.

The real audience, Deace explains, is the alternative media on the right, who have been playing Kimmel’s clips in order to expose the left.

“Same thing with ‘The View.’ ‘The View’ will generate way more engagements and reactions from us than they can on their own. And that’s pretty much true of all of their media outlets and all of their content,” he says.

“That’s what Jimmy Kimmel is. … His god is making sure that his message gets out there, ratings and numbers be damned, because it’s a shibboleth of the damned. That’s the point,” he continues.

Which is why Disney continues to produce “all these flops.”

“They’re not dumb. Like we keep saying, they are well aware of what they are doing. They’re nihilists. They’re deconstructionists. They’re iconoclasts. They’re here to smash the stained-glass windows. They’re doing this on purpose,” he says. “They want to inject what we call ‘rotgut’ into the culture because it’s doctrine to them.”

But Deace has solutions, like using the FCC to pull shows like Kimmel’s.

“We will either do that, or new voices will emerge, and they’re already emerging,” he says, “who will demand we start playing by the left’s more nihilistic rules now.”

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A cellphone video began going viral about a week ago showing a young male knocking down an elderly worker at a Kansas City concert venue and delivering well over a dozen blows to the worker’s face and head.

The brutal attack took place two Sundays ago during a rap concert featuring NBA YoungBoy at the T-Mobile Center. Police confirmed to Blaze News that the suspect is under the age of 16.

‘I was raised with morals and values. You can’t act like that, especially to our elders.’

The victim of the attack caught on video — 66-year-old Thomas Schlange — is seen on the clip trying to push away the teenager who towers over him, but Schlange has no chance. The teen begins delivering a flurry of lefts and rights as Schlange is flat on his back and trapped on the floor between two rows of seats.

RELATED: Viral video: High schooler physically attacks teacher in front of other students — then cop gives kid brutal wake-up call

Finally a man is seen on the clip pulling the teen off the victim, who appears dazed, and blood is seen around his mouth as others try to help him up.

That man — the only person who stepped up and stopped the brutal beating — is Antonio Clayter, and he told WDAF-TV what he saw in that moment and why he intervened.

Clayter told the the station that Schlange was “just doing his job” when “the kid just pushed him; he just spazzed out, and he pushed him.”

Before long, the teen suspect was hovering over Schlange and pummeling him in the head with his fists. Then suddenly Clayter appears in the camera frame and pulls the attacker off Schlange.

“I had to,” Clayter recalled to WDAF. “It wasn’t even a feeling; it was something that had to be done. Like, I have family members that are that age. This isn’t right. … I was raised with morals and values. You can’t act like that, especially to our elders.”

Clayter also offered a warning to the teen, the station said: “You can’t grow up with that type of mentality, because you’re not gonna get far in life at all. … I’ve been in trouble, and I know what road that you can go down. … You’re not gonna get anywhere good besides prison or dead that way, bro.”

RELATED: Male, 19, accused of hitting girlfriend’s baby in head so hard that little girl had to go on ventilator. Now she’s dead.

WDAF in a previous story said the suspect also assaulted a security guard who ejected him from the venue.

A T-Mobile Center spokesperson told Blaze News that the staff members “sustained serious injuries. After receiving prompt care from on-site first aid personnel, they were later treated at a local hospital for their injuries.”

Officer Alayna Gonzalez of the Kansas City Police Department told Blaze News that the “juvenile male was detained and subsequently released to his guardian pending further investigation.”

Police also told Blaze News that detectives on Friday submitted a case file to juvenile court “for consideration of applicable charges” against the teen suspect. The station also said police were expected to meet Friday with Schlange — who is at home and recovering — as part of their investigation.

As for Schlange, he told WDAF in a follow-up story that “I went down and had blows to my head” and that his priority in those moments was “just getting him off, getting him off of me … because he was so enraged, so we were just, in essence, trying to protect the fans.”

So what allegedly set off the suspect?

Witness and local pastor Robert McDaniel told the station the attack commenced after the suspect was told his ticket didn’t match the seat he was in.

“He was asked to move to another place because his ticket wasn’t where he was sitting, and immediately he just completely lost it,” McDaniel recounted to WDAF.

McDaniel also remarked to the station that the disturbing video underscores the inability of some teens these days to control their emotions.

“But there is something going on in his heart that needs to be fixed, and what that is is his emotions,” McDaniel added to WDAF. “He needs to learn how to operate and work through and process those emotions.”

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​Physical attack, Brutal beating, Teenager, Elderly man, Kansas city, Rap concert, Viral video, T-mobile center, Crime 

If you’ve spent any time in politics, you know progressives contradict themselves so often that exposing their double-talk could keep conservative commentators busy for several lifetimes.

At first, young conservatives may find it thrilling to point out those blunders and imagine that the liberal across from them will be persuaded. But here’s the hard lesson: Only people with integrity change their minds when they find contradictions in their own thinking.

The goal isn’t to win the argument but lose your integrity. It’s to speak truth with courage and charity.

Progressives don’t stumble into incoherence by accident. They wield it like a smokescreen. The confusion keeps conscientious conservatives chasing their own tails. Conservatives, by temperament, want coherence, so they expect others to want it, too. But the record shows otherwise.

Take Hillary Clinton. Last week on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” she urged Americans to stop finger-pointing — before immediately blaming Republicans for the country’s problems. A Yale degree didn’t inoculate her against incoherence. As Charlie Kirk once observed at Cambridge, high IQ is no guarantee of wisdom. Clinton didn’t notice the contradiction, and even if she did, it wouldn’t matter. She is paid handsomely to talk, and truth never slows her down.

Moments later in the same appearance, she called for a return to “truth-based reality,” insisting that facts and evidence must matter again. This from the same woman who affirms that a man can become a woman. Truth wasn’t invited to that party. Now, she tells us it must rule the day.

The effect is dizzying, and that is the point.

What should concern us isn’t simply the logic game. It’s the condition of her soul. What happens to a soul shaped for decades by falsehood and injustice?

Clinton also revealed her deepest fear. She does not fear God. She fears the people of God — especially white, male Christians. She said so on national television just weeks after Kirk was assassinated by a trans-supporting terrorist who bought into rhetoric spewed by politicians like her. And yet, here she is again, pouring fuel on the fire.

The irony didn’t stop there. She wondered aloud how today’s politics could be “so contrary to the founding principles and values this country was built on.” This from the same politician who treats the Constitution as a “living document” to be reshaped whenever it confounds her political prejudices. She wasn’t concerned with founding principles when Donald Trump was banned from Twitter or prosecuted by the Biden Justice Department.

But pointing out contradictions only goes so far. The deeper warning is this: Hillary Clinton is what happens when you spend a lifetime saying whatever advances your career. She is willing to contradict herself publicly — and attack Christians — for money and applause. My own university, Arizona State, paid her $500,000 to host the Clinton Global Initiative.

Socrates put it best: The true philosopher, the lover of the good, doesn’t chase political power, money, or fame. He wants only this — that when he leaves this life, his soul is not defiled by injustice.

RELATED: Charlie Kirk thrived on truth and virtue over grievance-mongering

Photo by Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images

That’s the lesson for young conservatives. Exposing contradictions is fine. It can even be fun. But don’t forget what matters more: Never let your soul become like Hillary Clinton’s.

G.K. Chesterton once wrote that the modern mind cuts down the signposts and then complains no one knows the way home. That is the progressive project in our time: Deny first principles, denounce those who keep them, and demand the comforts those principles once secured.

So take this counsel seriously:

Guard your soul more than your timeline. Social media glory is cheap; a clean conscience is priceless.Pursue coherence because it is true, not because it is clever. Wit is garnish; truth is the meal.Fear God more than fashion. Today’s trends are tomorrow’s embarrassments; the fear of the Lord endures.

The goal isn’t to win the argument but lose your integrity. It’s to speak truth with courage and charity, to resist compromise with evil for the sake of applause, and to leave this world with a soul unstained by injustice.

That victory is higher than anything Hillary Clinton will ever claim — and it is the only victory that lasts.

​Opinion & analysis, Hillary clinton, Morning joe, Conservatives, Truth, Msnbc, Liberals, Arguments, Courage, Charity, Charlie kirk, Facts, American founding, Principles, God, Soul, Christians, Arizona state university, Clinton global initiative, G.k. chesterton 

While leftists accuse the Trump administration of censorship after comedian Jimmy Kimmel was fired, and then promptly reinstated, for his vile commentary regarding Charlie Kirk in the wake of his assassination — the real censorship bully has been revealed.

Google has finally disclosed that the Biden administration pressured the company into widespread censorship and will reportedly be reinstating YouTube accounts that were censored years ago for voicing the wrong opinions.

According to the House Judiciary Committee, the company admitted that “the Biden administration pressured Google to censor Americans and remove content that did not violate YouTube’s policies.”

Those opinions ran counter to the Biden administration’s official narrative surrounding COVID and election integrity.

“Wow, you mean to tell me that it wasn’t just YouTube who decided to find all of these accounts of these creators, these doctors in some cases, these scientists, these experts who lost their YouTube accounts, lost their livelihoods due to COVID quote ‘misinformation’ that turned out to be true?” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says.

“They admitted the Biden administration’s pressure to censor Americans was ‘unacceptable and wrong’ after the fact. … Thanks for the news flash in 2025,” she continues.

“Now all of a sudden they’re like, ‘Oh, actually, government pressuring a private company to censor Americans’ voices is actually, as it turns out, unacceptable.’ Now, it took us five years to get there. It took us five years to formulate that opinion. It took us Donald Trump’s election,” she says. “Because remember, things didn’t really start changing until they realized there was going to be a new sheriff in town.”

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The U.S. Department of State is too bureaucratic, insular, and disconnected from the American people to meet today’s global challenges. For those reasons, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a “reduction in force” and a broader reorganization of the department in July.

These reforms should inspire hope in those wishing to enter a career in diplomacy and international relations. Above all, they need to be worthy of the American people’s trust and confidence. One hopes this is just the beginning of reforms that will create a State Department that is prepared for conflict around the world, agile in crisis, deliberate in strategy, and effective in delivering results for the American people.

The world isn’t waiting for the State Department to get its act together. Foreign adversaries are watching — and exploiting — our division.

Rubio’s reforms reflect the spirit of President Harry S. Truman, namesake of the State Department’s headquarters. The last U.S. president without a college degree, Truman was born in the rural Missouri Ozarks in the small town of Lamar and raised outside Kansas City, Missouri. From humble beginnings, he learned the value of grit, service, and earning one’s keep — a reflection of Midwestern values.

Truman is remembered for the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, recognizing Israel, and helping to found the United Nations — policies and actions that helped shape the Cold War order that is now giving way to a new era.

Like many from his background, he harbored a deep dislike for Washington, D.C., often feeling unwelcome despite years of service, professional success, and lasting friendships. I maintain a similar love-hate relationship with our nation’s capital.

The irony is unmistakable: The State Department’s headquarters bears the name of a man whose kind it has long resisted serving, defending, or hiring. Today, however, we face a rare moment — driven by global urgency — that offers an opportunity to finally change this paradigm.

It’s critical that Rubio’s reforms expand across the entire department. By embracing PEACE — professionalism, excellence, accountability, community, and empowerment — and elevating the builders within the State Department, internal resistance can be overcome, credibility can be restored, and America’s ability to lead in an era of global conflict can be strengthened.

Status quo by design

For decades, the State Department has been experiencing bureaucratic resistance, which takes many forms. As outlined by organizations like DemocracyAID, tactics include “quiet quitting,” withholding or limiting information sharing, excluding certain personnel from key meetings, stonewalling paper clearances, and conflict avoidance, including brushing off individuals who are perceived to be unaligned with specific political imperatives. These are not simply ideological acts of opposition — though politics plays a role — but are symptoms of a much deeper problem: decades of poor management, a lack of accountability, and a culture that prioritizes equal outcomes over equal opportunity and merit-based advancement.

Long before the Biden-Harris administration’s short-sighted, politicized approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the department had already grown insular, disconnected, and unrepresentative of the citizens it serves. Persistent derogatory attitudes toward Republicans, working-class Americans, people of faith (including Christians), rural communities, and those without a college degree have harmed employees from these backgrounds and eroded the department’s ability to represent the broader American public and our national interests.

This includes Main Street’s interests — not just those of Hollywood, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and the ivory tower. Many colleagues, peers, and even mentors from these groups came to believe this hostility was meant to drive them out. They were likely right.

This culture has taken a heavy toll on morale and execution. Even under the previous administration, senior Biden officials quietly questioned whether the State Department was truly capable of conducting modern diplomacy. It was not uncommon for colleagues at the White House to ask without irony, “Does State do diplomacy?”

RELATED: State Department cuts ties with Armed Queers-affiliated NGO

Photo by Adam Glanzman/Washington Post via Getty Images

The department was viewed as bloated, unresponsive, and incapable of fulfilling its core constitutional responsibilities. While officials may deny this publicly — federal employees remain a core political constituency — many would privately acknowledge deep dysfunction and a need for reform.

The challenge now is whether political leadership on both sides of the aisle is willing to act. Rubio has signaled his intent to make the difficult decisions necessary to modernize the department. That task will be far more effective — and more lasting — if it is met with bipartisan support. Fixing the State Department should not be a partisan issue. It is a national security imperative.

One place to start is returning to Missouri-inspired values like the ones Truman brought to the White House. The State Department should look to model its reforms on the College of the Ozarks, a federally recognized work college that grounds its mission in five core areas: academics, religion, culture, vocation, and patriotic growth.

These values reflect the beliefs of a broad swath of Americans — many of whom have too often been dismissed or ignored by the national security establishment. They have served the Ozarks well and could serve the nation well in a time of need.

Ensuring that the State Department effectively and objectively serves the American people while moving at the “speed of relevance” requires creating a new code and new core values. This is our moment to forge a department guided by the character of the American statesman.

Professionalism

U.S. diplomats should be patriots who conduct themselves with competence and respect while faithfully advancing U.S. national interests and exemplifying the highest standards of public service at home and abroad.

State Department leaders must model integrity, discipline, and openness to differing viewpoints; evaluate and communicate their teams’ perspectives objectively and without bias; and foster a culture of candor. By encouraging constructive conflict and providing space for grievances to be aired, leaders create an environment where people feel heard — one that ultimately strengthens the team’s effectiveness and finds the best solutions.

Excellence

The builders and doers who are delivering every day (and not just on non-mental health days) for the secretary and the president should be the model for all personnel. I firmly believe these individuals represent the majority of my colleagues serving at home and abroad.

These are the innovators and patriots, and they deserve internal and public recognition. Restarting the internal awards process while partnering with the Ben Franklin Fellowship to launch privately funded recognitions, as the State Department has done for other groups, would be a powerful way to reignite excellence.

Accountability

Leadership at the top — especially from the seventh floor — needs to direct senior career officials to hold underperformers accountable. This may require overcoming reluctance from officials who are waiting for future career opportunities or avoiding their core responsibilities.

Meanwhile, reform-minded employees — the silent majority — remain under scrutiny, and little accountability is exercised for those who leak, underperform, or resist implementing the policies of the president. The seventh floor must not only authorize reform but also drive it forward with urgency.

Community

It is time to rebuild a culture that is anchored in the renewed core values that can sustain the department’s authority as the premier foreign affairs agency, one that is worthy of the trust and confidence of our diplomats and their families serving abroad. Equally important is restoring the State Department’s credibility by confronting its insular, ineffective, and often disconnected approach to domestic concerns and the interests of the citizens we serve.

One way to develop our community is a limited relaunch of employee organizations aligned with administration priorities. When managed well, these groups boost morale, encourage dialogue with leadership, and showcase the department’s commitment to all Americans, including working-class families, Christians, and veterans.

My experience founding FirstGens@State in 2022 — which has grown to 700 members and has advanced recruitment, mentorship, and retention — proves the value of such employee organizations. Unlike identity-based models, FirstGens@State members bring unique American experiences, grit, and patriotism that better inform discussions around U.S. national interests and strengthen the understanding of the global majority.

Empowerment

Great leadership means giving your team the freedom to act without offloading responsibilities. Therefore, power should be delegated to subordinates to make decisions, and they — as well as leadership — should be held accountable for outcomes.

The seventh floor should actively promote a culture that rewards courage, leadership, hard work, teamwork, innovation, and calculated risk-taking. That includes expanding access to professional development, senior responsibilities, and face time with department and White House leadership. The seventh floor must become comfortable providing the authority to act, but never shed the responsibility for the mission’s success or failure — otherwise, the status quo will return.

The way forward

External stakeholders play a significant role, should they choose diplomacy and collaboration around shared interests. Together, the American Foreign Service Association, the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Ben Franklin Fellowship, and other similar organizations can speak with a unified voice to drive change at the department. But division prevents these ideas from reaching fruition.

So far, public statements from some of these groups’ members have reflected vitriol and incivility. Academy member and former American Foreign Service Association President Eric Rubin said the following about the Ben Franklin Fellowship on Trailing House’s Facebook community page: “Foreign Service friends and colleagues: know thy enemy. ‘All enemies, foreign and domestic.’” (This post appears to have been taken down since it was posted earlier this year.)

RELATED: America First foreign policy gets an Office of Natural Rights

Photo by J. David Ake/Getty Images

How can U.S. Foreign Service members take your organization seriously if you do not set a tone for constructive dialogue and demonstrate a willingness to engage in good faith? The silent majority within the department needs establishment senior diplomats and civil servants to step up and perform far better. It’s time to grow up.

Long-term reform

In our present environment, high-performing State Department professionals — and ultimately the American people — bear the heaviest burden. They compensate for obstructionists while navigating subtle relational aggression and peer surveillance. This includes staff who increasingly face reputational attacks, doxxing, and tactics that are more typical of civil conflict than a workplace.

The world isn’t waiting for the State Department to get its act together. Foreign adversaries are watching — and exploiting — our division. Reform cannot be parked on the runway. We have to fly the plane, fix it in mid-air, and be ready for the long-haul journey ahead.

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

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, State department, State department reform, Marco rubio 

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump released a letter to be given to new citizens upon their naturalization. The message was lofty and inspiring: “America has always welcomed those who embrace our values, assimilate into our society, and pledge allegiance to our country. By taking this oath, you have forged a sacred bond with our Nation, her traditions, her history, her culture, and her values.”

The letter should be applauded for setting an aspirational standard for what citizenship should mean. But it is not an accurate reflection of today’s reality. The United States faces a deep assimilation crisis.

Tougher tests, stricter reviews, and heightened scrutiny must replace the laughably weak process we have today.

To its credit, the Trump administration — through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow — has tried to address the problem by revamping the path to naturalization. The changes include restoring a more rigorous version of the citizenship test. Today, the English portion can be passed simply by writing one memorized sentence, such as: “The president lives in the White House.”

Other reforms include social media screening and neighborhood checks to determine whether applicants are civic-minded, engage in anti-American behavior, or have a history of trouble with the law. These commonsense steps move naturalization closer to what it should be: a process that ensures new citizens merit the honor of joining the American republic.

Numbers that tell the story

America’s foreign-born population has topped 50 million, driven by mass immigration policies that have prioritized large inflows from countries with steep barriers to assimilation, including Mexico, India, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, and Vietnam. Legal immigration at this scale has created far more strain on assimilation than even the inflow of illegal aliens.

One of the clearest measures is English proficiency. According to Pew Research, only about half of immigrants ages 5 and older speak English well. Rates vary widely by country of origin; among Central American immigrants, only one in three is proficient.

Worse, proficiency has declined over time. Immigrants who arrived before 2000 had about a 10-point advantage over those who arrived later. Census data shows that 22% of Americans older than 5 speak a language other than English at home — and a third of them admit they speak English “less than very well.”

Split allegiances compound the problem. A 2012 Pew Research poll found that only 21% of Hispanics primarily identified as “American.” Meanwhile, naturalized U.S. citizens from Mexico can still vote in Mexican elections, an arrangement that blurs civic loyalty.

The money tells a similar story. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates that $200 billion leaves the United States annually in remittances to immigrants’ home countries, including Mexico, India, Guatemala, the Philippines, and China. These untaxed transfers amount to a substantial portion of the GDP of many Central American nations — and a permanent drain on American wealth.

Cultural decay in plain sight

The cultural effects of weak assimilation are obvious. Earlier this summer, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) told a foreign audience, in Spanish: “I’m a proud Guatemalan before I’m an American.”

She is not alone. Last year, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) declared in Somali: “We are an organized society, brothers and sisters, people of the same blood, people who know they are Somalis first, Muslims second.”

A Gallup poll from June reflects the larger trend: 92% of Republicans say they are extremely or very proud to be American, compared to just 36% of Democrats. As Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies recently observed, much of the blame lies with America itself. When national culture, language, and tradition are purposely eroded, what is left for newcomers to assimilate into?

RELATED: Patriotic assimilation is the cure for America’s identity crisis

Photo by SimpleImages via Getty Images

Acknowledge the problem

The assimilation crisis has no quick fix. With more than 800,000 people naturalized last year, the math guarantees that tens of thousands of new citizens each year will have only weak attachment to American identity. Unless naturalization standards change, the problem will compound.

Short of drastically reducing legal immigration, the least America can do is raise the bar. Clearer tests, more rigorous reviews, and tighter scrutiny must replace today’s lax process.

But first comes honesty. President Trump’s letter should be read for what it is — not a reflection of our current affairs, but a call to restore the meaning of citizenship. It points toward the America we ought to be.

​Opinion & analysis, Opinion, Assimilation, Naturalization, Immigration crisis, Immigration