Category: blaze media

In addition to unlawfully declaring martial law to crush a peaceful protest, Canada’s Liberal government has in recent years overseen a historic growth of the federal deficit, numerous tax hikes, an unprecedented influx of immigrants, a spike in illegal immigration, rising crime, unanswered church burnings, a worsening housing crisis, coercive medicine, the rise of state-facilitated suicide as a leading cause of death nationally, and the alienation of the western provinces.

The socioeconomic situation is apparently so dire, a recent government report detailing the nation’s “downward social mobility” noted that some residents may soon have to turn to foraging and hunting to meet basic food needs.

Canadians — not so much those in the 18-to-34 age bracket who largely voted Conservative, but those over the age of 55 — decided in the federal election Monday to award the same Liberal government another four years. They may have done so at the risk of ultimately losing one or a couple of provinces.

‘Large numbers of Westerners simply will not stand for another four years of Liberal government.’

The success of the Liberals — now under the leadership of Mark Carney, the self-identified “European” World Economic Forum regular who all but guaranteed British economic decline while governor of the Bank of England — has breathed new life into the Alberta secessionist movement.

Preston Manning, former leader of the Reform Party of Canada and a former leader of the opposition in the House of Commons, noted ahead of the election, “On account of the mismanagement of national affairs for the past decade by the Liberal government, and its consistent failure to address those issues of greatest concern to Western Canadians, large numbers of Westerners simply will not stand for another four years of Liberal government, no matter who leads it.”

“The support for Western secession is therefore growing, unabated and even fueled by Liberal promises to reverse many of their previous positions. Such promises of expediency simply don’t ring true in the West,” continued Manning. “Who, except the most politically naive, would believe Mark Carney’s promises to reverse the Liberal positions on everything from east-west pipelines to identity politics and climate change, when standing behind him is a cabinet of 23 MPs who, just a month ago, were advocating for the very opposite and have done so for years?”

The former opposition leader noted further that while the bottom-up support for western secession is currently centered on the oil-rich prairie provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, “it has the potential to spread to most of B.C., Manitoba, and the adjacent territories depending on how it is organized and led.”

A day after the federal election, Alberta lawmakers introduced legislation that would make it easier to start a referendum, including one on separating from Canada, reported CityNews.

The bill lowers the threshold for a citizen-led referendum from 20% of eligible voters to 10% and affords campaigners 120 days rather than 90 days to secure signatures.

‘Now is the time to end the abusive and toxic relationship with Ottawa.’

“I believe in Alberta sovereignty within a united Canada,” said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. “However, there is a citizen referenda process that if citizens want to put a question on a ballot and get enough of their fellow citizens to sign that petition, then those questions will be put forward. Again, I don’t want to prejudge what a question might be.”

While Smith is apparently not a separatist, Alberta — home to the fourth-largest proven oil reserves in the world — has its fair share who might vote to leave.

When pollsters from the Angus Reid Institute asked Albertans whether they would vote to leave Canada if the Liberals were to form the next government, 30% of respondents said yes. Notably, even more Saskatchewan respondents — 33% — expressed interest in leaving the federation behind.

Cameron Davies, the leader of the Republican Party of Alberta, formerly the Buffalo Party of Alberta, is reportedly planning hundreds of town halls to seize upon this discontent and to promote secession.

“After decades of attempts at reconciliation with the rest of Canada, now is the time to end the abusive and toxic relationship with Ottawa and the east that we find ourselves in today,” Davies told CityNews.

Davies, a former organizer for Smith’s party who also spent five years in the U.S. Marine Corps, told Ricochet, “I am shocked, actually, by the number of people that I’ve had conversations with — at town halls, coffee meetings, dinner parties — that have said, ‘I’ve never thought myself a separatist, but I think that might be our only choice left.'”

“In the last couple dozen events that we’ve conducted — low-key organizing, having interesting meetings with diverse groups across the province — the party’s membership has exploded by an additional 8,000 in the last three and a half weeks. And that’s without a lot of effort,” added Davies.

While the future of Davies’ party is uncertain, it’s abundantly clear from Monday’s election results that there’s no love lost for the Carney Liberals in Alberta.

With 172 seats required for a majority, the Liberal Party came out on top with 169 seats and 49.3% of the vote. Conservatives, lead by Pierre Poilievre, lagged behind by nearly 480,000 votes, netting 144 seats and 42% of the total vote.

‘Threatening to leave the country because you don’t get your desired electoral outcome is counterproductive and unpatriotic.’

Urban hives and regions heavily reliant on the government for jobs or welfare apparently skewed Liberal. Rural, industrial, and younger areas of the country appear to have picked the Conservatives.

The Conservatives netted 91.9% of the vote in Alberta, the province with the youngest population. The Liberals alternatively brought in a measly 5.4%.

Premier Smith said in a statement Tuesday, “A large majority of Albertans are deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government.”

“In the weeks and months ahead, Albertans will have an opportunity to discuss our province’s future, assess various options for strengthening and protecting our province against future hostile acts from Ottawa, and to ultimately choose a path forward,” added Smith.

Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney recently blasted those considering the path forward that leads Alberta out of Canada, telling reporters, “Threatening to leave the country because you don’t get your desired electoral outcome is counterproductive and unpatriotic. And I don’t think it’s something that should be thrown around.”

“Nor should central Canadian political elites be dismissive of the very legitimate grievances that people in the West and Alberta have about the attacks on our energy industry,” added Kenney.

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​Canada, International, Secession, Secessionism, Separatism, Alberta, Mark carney, Danielle smith, Canadian, 51st state, Politics 

An Oregon middle school teacher was awarded a massive payout after she won a lawsuit alleging that her students sexually harassed her.

Susan Anglada Bartley, a 46-year-old teacher, sued the Portland Public Schools in 2023.

‘Girls in our school are being sexualized and harassed by boys.’

Bartley claimed that the abuse from the students began in the fall of 2021 and continued until the fall of 2024. The teacher’s lawyers allegedly provided more than 250 pages of emails, letters, declarations, and excerpts from depositions to show that Bartley was harassed.

The Oregonian reported that an eighth-grade boy allegedly demanded during a class in 2021 that Bartley refer to him by his new pronouns, which were reportedly a sexually explicit term.

Bartley allegedly confronted a student for using his cell phone during the class, and the boy reportedly stuffed the phone down the front of his pants. The student allegedly encouraged his teacher to “come grab it.”

The lawsuit alleged that a group of seventh-grade boys surrounded Bartley in 2022 outside the Kellogg Middle School after classes were dismissed. Bartley said the boys recorded video of her buttocks with a cell phone and allegedly exclaimed, “Sexy, sexy, sexy!”

Bartley claimed that when she turned her back to her class, boys repeatedly made grunting and guttural sounds that she later described as “somewhere between the bathroom and the bedroom.”

In another alleged incident in 2023, students reportedly moaned and whistled while Bartley was teaching.

Bartley alleged that she wasn’t the only victim of the harassment by students and claimed that female and LGBTQ students at Kellogg Middle School were victims of sexual comments and unwanted touching.

Bartley said female students at the Kellogg Middle School conducted a walkout in 2022 to address sexual harassment by male students.

“Girls in our school are being sexualized and harassed by boys,” the female protesters allegedly said at the time. “Teachers and other staff aren’t doing enough about it!”

Bartley told the Oregonian, “I continued to say we need to address this head-on. Children need to be taught boundaries.”

She continued, “When there was no consequence for the boys, boys started harassing girls more.”

Bartley claimed that the school district failed to adequately protect her from the sexual harassment that she had reported to school officials. Bartley said that she faced retaliation for blowing the whistle on the abuse.

Elizabeth Inayoshi, the lawyer who represented Bartley, said, “Kellogg and PPS ultimately instigated multiple unwarranted retaliatory investigations and discipline within a six-month period against a 20-year veteran teacher who had a spotless and award-winning record until then.”

Karen Vickers and Beth Plass, the attorneys for the school district, asserted that the “alleged sexual harassment … was isolated and sporadic and not sufficiently severe to form the basis of a hostile work environment claim.”

The lawyers argued that the district “took prompt corrective measures to remedy inappropriate student conduct.”

The lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial next week in Multnomah County Circuit Court, but the trial was canceled after Bartley reportedly agreed to settle her $550,000 lawsuit for the $301,000 that the school district offered.

As part of the legal settlement, Bartley agreed to resign from her position as eighth-grade language arts teacher.

Bartley hasn’t taught at the school since October 2024, when she claimed that a district-led attack campaign against her caused her to take medical leave.

Portland Public Schools declined to provide a comment regarding the settlement to the Oregonian.

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​Teachers, Sexual harassment, Sexual abuse, Portland, Portland crime, News 

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it took down the alleged ringleaders of “a violent online network that seeks to destroy civilized society through the corruption and exploitation of vulnerable populations, which often include minors.”

The DOJ charged Leonidas Varagiannis, 21, and Prasan Nepal, 20, for operating a child exploitation subgroup within 764, an online transnational extremist network.

‘One of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered.’

Varagiannis, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in Greece on Monday. Nepal was nabbed on April 22 in North Carolina.

The defendants are accused of producing and distributing sadistic child sexual abuse material in the subgroup 764 Inferno. The men allegedly groomed, manipulated, and extorted minors into producing sexual and self-harm content.

The DOJ reported, “The affidavit alleges that the group targeted vulnerable children online, coercing them into producing degrading and explicit content under threat and manipulation. This content includes ‘cut signs’ and ‘blood signs’ through which young minors would cut symbols into their bodies.”

It noted that the defendants and their co-conspirators used the violent and sexual content to “create digital ‘Lorebooks,’ which [nihilistic violent extremists] used as digital currency within the 764 network — traded, archived in encrypted ‘vaults,’ and used as a means to recruit new members or maintain status within the network.”

“In multiple instances, the defendants threatened and caused their victims to engage in self-mutilation, online and in-person sexual acts, harm to animals, sexual exploitation of siblings and others, acts of violence, threats of violence, suicide, and murder,” the DOJ stated.

The department identified at least eight minor victims. The youngest victim was 13 years old.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the case “one of the most heinous online child exploitation enterprises we have ever encountered.”

“We will find those who exploit and abuse children, prosecute them, and dismantle every part of their operation,” she stated.

FBI Director Kash Patel explained that the defendants allegedly recruited and trained other users on how to “exploit children.”

“Let me be very clear about our efforts,” Patel said. “The FBI and our partners are determined to protect juveniles from predators, and we will track down and hold accountable those who engage in these criminal activities. We will continue to work closely with our partners at the Department of Justice to bring justice to the victims of such cruel abuse.”

Varagiannis has reportedly denied the DOJ’s allegations and formally opposed his extradition.

Xanthippi Moysidou, Varagiannis’ lawyer, told the Associated Press, “Throughout the period during which the alleged offenses took place, he was residing in Greece.”

“Therefore, Greek law and courts have jurisdiction over the case, and his extradition is explicitly prohibited,” Moysidou remarked.

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​News, Trump administration, Trump admin, Pam bondi, Kash patel, Department of justice, Doj, Fbi, Federal bureau of investigation, 764, Crime, Child sexual abuse material, Csam, Politics 

A confrontational interview by Terry Moran of ABC News is getting criticized by supporters of President Donald Trump as he celebrates the 100th day of his second term in office.

The president observed the milestone with a rally at the Macomb County Community College Sports and Expo Center in Michigan and ended the day punching at Moran in the interview.

‘By the way, ABC is one of the worst. I have to be honest with you.’

The interview touched on many subjects, but it grew contentious when Moran contradicted the president on whether the man he deported to El Salvador had the name of an infamous criminal gang tattooed on his knuckles. The president later ripped into ABC News for its role in covering up former President Joe Biden’s mental decline.

“We had a president who couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs, couldn’t walk down a flight of stairs, couldn’t walk across the stage without falling. We had a president who was grossly incompetent. You knew it, I knew it, and everybody knew it, but you guys didn’t wanna write it because you’re fake news,” said Trump.

“All right. Thank you,” Moran responded.

“By the way, ABC is one of the worst. I have to be honest with you,” he added.

Many on social media criticized Moran for not being respectful enough to Trump.

“The interview in the Oval Office with President Trump by Terry Moran is a disgrace to our country and to our President. ABC and Moran should be ashamed! They want nothing but to argue with the President. He’s not conducting an interview, he’s trying to embarrass the President,” said one critic.

“Watching Trump torch ABC News on their own turf is like watching a lion maul a pack of sick hyenas,” replied advocate Jane Adams. “These people humiliated the country for years propping up a dementia patient, and now they’re being publicly gutted by a president who actually knows what he’s doing.”

“ABC once again proves that it is nothing more than a Marxist propaganda outlet controlled by the Democrats,” said a Second Amendment rights account.

“His bias was blatant, disrespectful and rude,” read another message.

At least one viewer accused ABC of using trick photo angles to make Moran appear taller than Trump.

Many on the left praised Moran for challenging the president, while some said he didn’t challenge him enough. The entire interview can be viewed on the YouTube channel for ABC News.

For a decidedly different interview, the president also spoke to Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck, which can be viewed here.

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​Trump vs abc news, Abc news vs online critics, Terry moran vs trump, 100 days in office, Politics 

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has taken it upon himself to shut down the National Environmental Museum and Education Center — a multimillion dollar Biden administration project built to showcase EPA achievements.

The museum, which also cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual maintenance costs, featured “historical and scientific artifacts, along with interactive displays that highlight environmental history events and EPA milestones.”

“I think we all knew this was going to be a catastrophe when it started,” Stu Burguiere of “Stu Does America” comments. “Basically, it is a super cheap-looking museum. It’s kind of colorful, I guess, but it’s got a bunch of pictures of water and trees on the walls.”

“Then you have this next area, which is like a little seating area around three tiny monitors, where you can sit down and watch videos that likely repeat over and over again,” he continues, adding, “My understanding, too, is that they’re using energy here, which, of course, is killing the planet.”

Zeldin decided to shut down the museum after realizing it was “scarcely visited” and “cost a whopping $4 million taxpayer dollars to build in accordance with Smithsonian standards and more than $600,000 annually to operate.”

“Do your tax dollars really need to be going to museums?” Stu asks. “I kind of argue no, frankly, on that one. Maybe take some donations.”

“$600,000 is not a lot of money in government standards, but a lot of money coming from everyday people to go to a museum,” he continues, noting that the size of the museum was atrociously small for that kind of cost to the taxpayers.

“The museum itself is about the size of an apartment, barely 1,600 square feet, tucked inside the ground floor of EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. It had less than 2,000 external visitors between May 2024 and February 2025. That’s like nine months, 2,000 visitors,” he explains.

“To put that in perspective, even the lowest visited Smithsonian Museum has eight times the visitors in one year,” he adds, “So we’re spending $600,000 a year. We spent $4 million to build a one-room apartment.”

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An off-duty New Jersey cop was arrested after she allegedly broke into a residence and assaulted two victims, according to police.

Rebecca Sayegh — a 32-year-old officer with the Toms River Police Department — was arrested and charged with two counts each of assault, two counts of criminal mischief, one count of terroristic threats, one count of home invasion burglary, and one count of resisting arrest, according to jail records.

‘Sayegh previously was commended and presented an award for her “bravery” as part of rescuing a woman and her pets from a January 2021 Toms River house fire.’

Sayegh used a baton to smash the front door glass of a home in the Bayville neighborhood around 11:20 p.m. Friday, according to the criminal complaint.

Citing court documents, NJ.com reported that Sayegh began arguing with her former boyfriend and a woman at the house.

The verbal altercation quickly escalated into a physical confrontation when Sayegh allegedly began pushing and shoving the man and woman.

One of the alleged victims suffered swelling to the eye, the complaint stated.

The man and woman reportedly restrained Sayegh in the living room before she “broke free” and smashed items in the house and knocked pictures off the wall, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said Sayegh scratched one of the alleged victim’s vehicles on the hood.

Once police responded to the crime scene, Sayegh allegedly attempted to fight with officers and needed to be physically restrained.

The complaint noted that Sayegh made a threat to burn down the house as cops escorted her down the property’s driveway.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office stated: “Sayegh was taken into custody at the scene — after having resisted efforts to peacefully place her under arrest.”

“Prosecutor Billhimer commends the Berkeley Township Police Department for their efforts in connection with this investigation,” the prosecutor’s office noted.

Sayegh reportedly was suspended with pay.

Sayegh’s attorney, Terrance Turnbach, told NJ.com: “Officer Sayegh understands the significance of the charges filed against her. She has been a member of the Toms River Police Department and proudly served her community for almost nine years. She is taking all of the appropriate steps to properly address the matter at hand and will remain cooperative throughout the pending legal proceedings.”

Sayegh is being detained without bail at the Ocean County Jail ahead of her court appearance scheduled for Friday morning to determine if she will be granted bail.

Complicating issues, Sayegh has a lawsuit pending against the Toms River Police Department that was launched last year.

In November 2024, Sayegh filed a lawsuit against the township, former Police Chief Mitch Little, former Capt. Shaun O’Keefe, former Deputy Chief Patrick Dellane, and Sgt. Matthew Broderick.

The lawyers for the defendants have called the lawsuit ‘frivolous and without legal basis’ and ‘baseless and/or meritless.’

According to the Asbury Park Press, Sayegh claims there was a “boys club” culture in the department that led to her “being sexually harassed, passed over for promotions, and written up for supposed offenses that were ignored when committed by male officers.”

Sayegh, who joined the department in 2017, claims O’Keefe “shamelessly” pursued a sexual relationship with her. She alleges that during a Toms River Police Foundation event at the Bey Lea Golf Course in June 2022, O’Keefe purportedly followed her into the women’s restroom, took out his penis, and told her to perform oral sex on him.

O’Keefe retired from the department in 2021.

In April 2025, Superior Court Judge Robert E. Brenner dismissed the claims against O’Keefe without prejudice because the lawsuit was filed after the two-year statute of limitations had passed.

The lawyers for the defendants have called the lawsuit “frivolous and without legal basis” and “baseless and/or meritless.”

Sayegh previously was commended and presented an award for her “bravery” as part of rescuing a woman and her pets from a January 2021 Toms River house fire.

“Officer Sayegh went to the front door and made entry, locating Ms. Nicolo and her pets. Officer Sayegh was able to escort Ms. Nicolo and her pets across the street to safety. Officer Sayegh is commended for her swift action, bravery, and lifesaving actions,” the department stated.

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​New jersey, New jersey crime, Home invasion, Love triangle, Crime, Boys club culture, Sexual harassment allegations, Police officer, Police officer arrested, Toms river 

The wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the illegal immigrant alleged to be wrongfully removed from the United States, was accused by a former lover of dating a gang member, newly unearthed documents show.

Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, has argued that he is not a member of MS-13, a gang from El Salvador, despite previous indications by law enforcement.

As reported by New York Post’s Jennie Taer, new documents have been uncovered that showed the father of two of Vasquez Sura’s children accused her of dating a gang member in a court petition in 2018.

The ex-lover, named Edwin Trejo Ramos, filed a motion and affidavit for an emergency hearing for custody in Prince George’s County Circuit Court in Maryland.

The motion was against Vasquez Sura and alleged in broken English that she “try to kill herself” and left their kids with an 11-year-old babysitter.

In more broken English, Ramos said that his kids’ lives were in danger because Vasquez Sura was “dating a gang member.”

Underneath that claim, Ramos said he knew the facts to be true because he “was there, and the police was there too.”

Abrego Garcia and Vasquez Sura reportedly met in 2016 and moved in together in 2018. While the timeline of the relationship suggests the petition could have referred to Abrego Garcia, that fact has not be confirmed.

According to the New York Post, Ramos is currently incarcerated in Maryland.

Democrats have argued that Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported, partially on the basis that he was not and is not a member of MS-13.

Police reports from 2019 dispute this, as that March, Abrego Garcia was detained with three other men in a Home Depot parking lot while looking for day labor work. As reported by Fox Baltimore, the men were arrested and questioned about gang ties.

A Hyattsville City police officer recognized one of the men as a known member of MS-13, and the local gang unit said they had “reasonable suspicion” that the men were involved in gang activity.

“Detectives had reasonable suspicion, based upon their training and experience, three of the four men, including Kilmar Abrego Garcia, displayed traits associated with MS-13 gang culture,” a statement from the Prince George’s County Police Department read.

The report also stated that Abrego Garcia was wearing gang clothing that “represents that they are a member in good standing with MS-13.”

A “reliable source of information” said Abrego Garcia was a member of the “Westerns” clique of the gang from upstate New York.

Abrego Garcia has denied the allegations, and he and his wife married while he was in custody in June 2019.

Despite Abrego Garcia being in the United States illegally, his supporters point to a stay order that kept him in the country in 2019.

Per Lawfare Media, immigration Judge David Jones ruled in October 2019 that Abrego Garcia should not be sent back to El Salvador due to a credible fear of persecution, as Abrego Garcia claimed a violent Salvadoran gang, Barrio 18, was extorting money from his family.

A long series of claims exists about Abrego Garcia’s alleged persecution from the other gang, but the Trump administration has claimed that Barrio 18 is no longer a threat in El Salvador due to the crackdown on gang culture in the country. The administration has also affirmed that Abrego Garcia is an illegal immigrant and has no right to stay in the country, either.

At the same time, the administration has pointed out that the tattoos on Abrego Garcia’s knuckles are alleged to be MS-13 code.

‘After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution …’

In 2021, Vasquez Sura filed a temporary protective order against Abrego Garcia that claimed he punched and scratched her, which left her bleeding. She alleged that her husband later ripped her shorts and shirt, gave her a “purple eye” in August 2020, and hit her with his work boot in November 2020.

“After surviving domestic violence in a previous relationship, I acted out of caution after a disagreement with Kilmar by seeking a civil protective order in case things escalated,” Vasquez Sura said in a statement. “We were able to work through this situation privately as a family, including by going to counseling.”

She added, “Our marriage only grew stronger in the years that followed. No one is perfect, and no marriage is perfect.”

During a recent interview, Vasquez Sura refused to answer a question about the protective order.

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​Illegal immigration, Immigration, Ms-13, El salvador, Trump, Deportations, Politics 

The birth rate has dropped significantly in America, and in order to combat what he sees as a looming depopulation crisis, President Trump has proposed giving a $5,000 “baby bonus” to new moms.

Another proposal calls on the government to fund programs that educate women on their menstrual cycles in order for them to understand when they are able to conceive.

“I don’t know if I want the government to get their grubby hands on that,” Allie Beth Stuckey of “Relatable” says. “Should the government fund some kind of program to educate women about their cycles? I’m not sure. But women do need to know more about their cycles and how and when to get pregnant.”

Stuckey’s skepticism doesn’t stop at funding menstrual cycle education for women, but extends to the “baby bonus.”

“The biggest issue is not the depopulation crisis. I believe the biggest issue is the dissolution of the family, and a much deeper issue is the lack of desire to have children. And that is something that is spiritual, that is cultural, that is moral. It is not economic,” Stuckey explains.

“People say, ‘Oh well, people can’t afford housing today; people feel like they’re stretched thin with their budget,’ and all of that may be true. I’m not discounting that. And of course, financial problems can weigh heavily on a person and should to some degree determine the decisions we make,” she continues.

“However, there have been much more difficult economic times where families have said, ‘You know what, we are going to trust the Lord, and we feel that it is our obligation, and we desire to have children and we are going to figure it out,’ in much more turbulent times than today,” she adds.

Another issue with the proposal is that it appears to reward people for having kids — regardless of their marital status.

“I actually don’t think that we should be rewarding that. I think that actually could incentivize very bad and destructive behavior,” Stuckey says, before reading an excerpt from an article by Bethany Mandel in the New York Post.

“A one-time payout of $5,000 — an amount that wouldn’t even cover the cost of one of my births — isn’t a life raft, but a pat on the head as families struggle to stay afloat amid rising costs, child care shortages and a culture that undervalues parenting,” Mandel wrote.

“The problem isn’t just a drop in babies; it’s a drop in marriages. Since 1970, the U.S. marriage rate has fallen by 60%. While married couples (especially religious ones) still do have children — and statistically more sex than singletons do — there are simply far fewer of them today. So maybe instead of a $5,000 baby bonus, Trump should consider a one-time tax break for newlyweds,” she continued.

“I think that that’s a good idea,” Stuckey comments. “I’m not saying that the $5,000 proposal has absolutely no place, but indiscriminately giving that out to anyone who has a baby — again, I actually just don’t think that that would be a net positive.”

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A study published Monday in the American Geophysical Union’s peer-reviewed journal Earth’s Future suggested, largely on the basis of different aerosol injection simulations, that it might be worthwhile using existing commercial jetliners to pollute the skies with toxic sulfur dioxide particles in order to dim the sun and thereby cool the planet.

Researchers from University College London indicated that weaponizing jets like the Boeing 777F — roughly 36 of which are produced a year — against the sun would would mean “lower technical barriers,” a potential increase in “the number of actors able to produce a substantial global cooling using SAI [stratospheric aerosol injection],” and an earlier potential start date for this master plan.

They acknowledged, however, that the use of existing aircraft for the purposes of SAI would be less efficient than having specialized aircraft flying at altitudes of over 12 miles to conduct dumps and more likely to generate undesirable side effects.

‘Dousing our citizens, our waterways and landscapes with toxins.’

According to the study, “Low-altitude SAI with high-latitude and seasonal injection, could achieve a substantial global cooling effect using existing large jetliners with a service ceiling of 13 km.”

The researchers estimated “a global cooling of 0.6°C for an injection of 12 Tg at 13 km altitude at 60° North and South, in the local spring and summer.” In other words, climate meddlers might be able to cool the planet down just over half a degree with a seasonal dumping of over 13.2 million tons of sulfur at the latitudes of Anchorage, Alaska, and the southern tip of South America.

In effect, they would be emulating the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, which injected 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere and caused a rapid half-degree drop in global temperatures. According to NASA, this drop lasted for two years until the sulfate dropped out of the atmosphere.

“We find this strategy would have only 35% of the forcing efficiency of a conventional high-altitude-subtropical injection, which would lead to a proportionate increase in the side-effects of SAI per unit cooling, such as human exposure to descending particulate matter,” wrote the researchers.

In addition to “dousing our citizens, our waterways and landscapes with toxins,” as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put it last month, the embrace of this strategy might increase the “risk of unilateral or poorly planned deployment,” said the researchers.

Dozens of U.S. states have taken steps to ban geoengineering and weather modification activities. Earlier this month, the Florida Senate passed legislation that would protect the Sunshine State’s skies from climate alarmists’ shadowy designs. The United Kingdom has gone in the other direction.

Blaze News recently reported that the U.K. is throwing its approval and weight behind solar geoengineering experiments to be conducted by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency.

‘That means that we would need to use three times the amount of aerosol to have the same effect on global temperature.’

Even with America’s geoengineering bans, the homeland could potentially be impacted by foreign SAI experiments should the U.K. or another national entity decide to unilaterally execute SAI operations ahead of schedule, thanks to the embrace of modified jetliners.

A 2017 study published in Nature Communications indicated that SAI only in the northern hemisphere might increase droughts, hurricanes, and storms elsewhere, and concluded that “the impacts of SG would not be entirely confined to the perturbed region.”

Lead author Alistair Duffey on the new study in Earth’s Future told Phys.org, “Solar geoengineering comes with serious risks and much more research is needed to understand its impacts. However, our study suggests that it is easier to cool the planet with this particular intervention than we thought. This has implications for how quickly stratospheric aerosol injection could be started and by who.”

“There are downsides to this polar low-altitude strategy,” continued Duffey. “At this lower altitude, stratospheric aerosol injection is about one-third as effective. That means that we would need to use three times the amount of aerosol to have the same effect on global temperature, increasing side effects such as acid rain. The strategy would also be less effective at cooling the tropics, where the direct vulnerability to warming is highest.”

Duffey added that “climate change is a serious problem,” intimating that policymakers might weight the perceived threat of changing weather patterns as more concerning than the threats posed dumping chemicals overhead and generating acidic precipitation.

Columbia University’s Climate School noted last April, “Studies show that stratospheric aerosol injection could weaken the stratospheric ozone layer, alter precipitation patterns, and affect agriculture, ecosystem services, marine life, and air quality. Moreover, the impacts and risks would vary by how and where it is deployed, the climate, ecosystems, and the population.”

Matthew Henry of the University of Exeter, one of Duffey’s co-authors, made clear to Phys.org that even with solar geoengineering, climate alarmists will still want to continue with their project of social engineering: “Stratospheric aerosol injection is certainly not a replacement for greenhouse gas emission reductions as any potential negative side effects increase with the amount of cooling: we can only achieve long-term climate stability with net zero.”

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The Maine Wire is calling out what it says is a Waterville teacher’s social media post, which contains some disturbing content in reference to President Donald Trump.

The outlet posted a screenshot on X of the social media post in question. It indicates the teacher is JoAnna St. Germain. A Tuesday Facebook post from St. Germain mirrors the wording of the screenshot from the Maine Wire. It reads:

The Secret Service has the perfect opportunity, if they choose to step up and take it.

You are the ones with power.

Coordinate. Take out every single person who supports Trump’s illegal, immoral, unconstitutional acts. Look at the sycophants and give them what they’re asking for.

Every other country sees what’s happening and they are taking stands.

If you step up, we can avoid a civil war.

I’m not talking about assassinating a president.

A president is a person duly elected by the American people.

Tr*mp has shamelessly bragged openly about stealing the election. He is making plans to give himself a third term.

I’m talking about Americans recognizing a fascist dictatorship and standing against it.

Secret Service, you are Americans.

My beloved military, you are Americans.

We, the people, are counting on you.

If I had the skill set required, I would take them out myself.

I’m making this post public for a reason, I promise you.

Don’t waste time wondering if I’m okay. I’m not. If you’re okay, you’re lying to yourself.

On Wednesday morning, St. Germain posted a follow-up message:

My friends.

I am so sorry you took that post to mean that all Republicans should die.

I have no beef with Republicans. I have no beef with MAGA.

I meant that those in the room with Trump, who are permitting and approving his egregious actions, need to be held accountable.

I’ve been teaching history for so long, and it’s very difficult to watch things repeat in rhymes.

I love each and every one of you, and I understand why you’re angry with me.

I love your children. I love the disabled. I love the LGBTQ+ community. I love black and brown people. I love autistic people.

My love holds no quarter for people in power actively harming those I love.

St. Germain added other posts Wednesday morning. One reads, “I’m not backtracking, I am clarifying. Trump is an immoral dictator wannabe. He needs to have a conversation with Jesus.” Another post actually goes beyond the scope of her initial post and says Trump himself “needs to die”:

You illiterate bums, oh my gosh.

I posted knowing I’d likely lose my job and benefits.

I have zero shame about what I’ve said.

I’m not backtracking a single thing.

I believe Trump and every sycophant he has surrounded himself with (this is not you — if you’re reading this, this doesn’t apply to you. You are beneath his notice and mine) needs to die.

I believe this with the same forceful belief that Hitler and his sycophants needed to die, before they murdered 6 million innocent Jewish persons.

Waterville Senior High School lists St. Germain as part of the English department.

Blaze News asked Waterville Public Schools on Wednesday to comment on St. Germain’s social media posts, but Blaze News didn’t immediately hear back from the school district.

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​Education, Maine, Public school teacher, Joanna st. germain, Secret service, Assassinations, Donald trump, Donald trump cabinet, Inner circle, Waterville senior high school, Politics 

President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security Investigations rescued two migrant sisters from sex slavery, according to a Tuesday report.

Sources told the New York Post that the Honduran nationals, 16 and 18 years old, crossed the border into the U.S. as unaccompanied minors.

‘Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families.’

On Saturday, HSI special agents rescued the sisters from a hotel in West Covina, California. The two were reportedly held in captivity and forced into prostitution.

According to sources, Christopher Ramirez was accused of “pimping” the sisters and arrested on local charges. Ramirez will also reportedly face federal charges.

Federal agents are still searching for co-conspirators who assisted with trafficking the sisters from Texas to California, the Post reported.

The outlet stated that the younger sister was transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services, which is the agency responsible for placing unaccompanied minors with U.S.-based sponsors. The older sister was released after refusing federal services.

The sisters’ rescue is tied to a broader effort by the Trump administration to locate migrant children the federal government lost track of after they crossed the border alone and were placed with sponsors in the U.S. Trump has prioritized reuniting the children with their relatives.

Under the former Biden administration, the federal government lost contact with more than 320,000 unaccompanied migrant minors, leaving the children vulnerable to sex and labor trafficking.

From fiscal years 2019 to 2023, Immigration and Customs Enforcement transferred custody of 448,000 unaccompanied minors to the HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. In theory, the ORR was to prioritize placing children with thoroughly vetted, related sponsors. However, the agency was overwhelmed by the exploding border crisis and pressured to make placements quickly.

An inspector general report found that 32,000 unaccompanied minors did not appear for their immigration court dates, and ICE failed to serve Notice to Appear documents to 291,000.

“By not issuing NTAs to all UCs, ICE limits its chances of having contact with UCs when they are released from HHS’ custody, which reduces opportunities to verify their safety,” the report read.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin previously stated that within Trump’s first 70 days, the administration had already reunited approximately 5,000 children with family or a “safe guardian.”

“Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families,” McLaughlin said.

ICE told Blaze News that it cannot comment on ongoing investigations.

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​News, Donald trump, Trump, Department of homeland security, Dhs, Kristi noem, Department of health and human services, Hhs, Office of refugee resettlement, Orr, Immigration and customs enforcement, Ice, Immigration, Illegal immigration crisis, Illegal immigration, Immigration crisis, Biden administration, Biden, Biden admin, Trump administration, Trump admin, Sex trafficking, Politics 

A California federal judge on Tuesday threw up major roadblocks for Border Patrol agents seeking to deport illegal aliens.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Customs and Border Protection officers from arresting suspected illegal aliens without a warrant unless agents have reason to believe the suspect might flee before a warrant can be issued.

‘Not on our watch.’

The judge also ruled that officers cannot stop suspected illegal immigrants without reasonable suspicion. Additionally, Border Patrol is barred from deporting an individual via “voluntary departure” unless the suspect is first informed of his or her rights and agrees to leave the country.

Thurston’s orders apply only to federal agents in the Eastern District of California.

She wrote that the Border Patrol officers “engaged in conduct that violated well-established constitutional rights.”

Thurston demanded that the agency provide reports detailing who has been detained or arrested without warrants and why. Under her direction, the Border Patrol is required to submit these reports every 60 days until the lawsuit concludes.

The judge’s ruling follows the Border Patrol’s January “Operation Return to Sender,” which resulted in the arrest of dozens of suspected illegal aliens. The operation aimed to target individuals with serious criminal records.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in response to the operation, arguing that federal immigration agents violated individuals’ constitutional rights with its “stop-and-arrest practices.”

According to the nonprofit, federal immigration agents rounded up day laborers and farm workers, regardless of their immigration status.

The ACLU issued a press release Tuesday celebrating the preliminary injunction victory.

Bree Bernwanger, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, stated, “Today’s order affirms the dignity and constitutional rights of all people.”

“Border Patrol must end their illegal stop and arrest practices now,” Bernwanger added.

Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers, said, “This order rightfully upholds the law. Border Patrol can’t just wade into communities snatching up hardworking people without due process, just for being brown and working class.”

“We will continue to fight together for the civil rights of every farm worker and every immigrant community,” Romero continued. “This agency and this administration will not keep terrorizing our union members, our coworkers or our neighbors unchecked. Not on our watch.”

Meanwhile, the Border Patrol claims that Thurston lacks the jurisdiction to oversee the case. Additionally, the agency stated that it has already issued new guidance and training “detailing exactly when people may be stopped or arrested without warrants, and what rights detainees have after their arrest.”

The Department of Homeland Security and CBP did not respond to the New York Times‘ request for comment.

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A new video by Judicial Watch Inc. on the Jan. 6 shooting of Ashli Babbitt compiles and synchronizes much of the video evidence showing the final 19 minutes of the Air Force veteran’s life.

More than three months into the second administration of President Donald J. Trump, the body of evidence in the killing of Babbitt has ballooned, based in part on Judicial Watch’s $30 million wrongful-death lawsuit against the U.S. government on behalf of Babbitt’s husband and her estate.

Still, the list of unanswered questions in the case continues to grow.

‘I can’t imagine President Trump is going to want anything other than to resolve this litigation.’

Babbitt, 35, a U.S. Air Force veteran and former military police officer, walked into the U.S. Capitol after watching President Trump’s speech at the Ellipse. She ended up in a hallway outside the Speaker’s Lobby, where rioting broke out. At the apex of the violence, Babbitt punched the main vandal in the face and climbed through a broken side window, where she was immediately shot by Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd.

A cloud hangs over the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2021 decision not to charge Byrd in the fatal shooting, as new questions swirl about Byrd’s long disciplinary history. The District of Columbia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide. She was one of four Trump supporters to die at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The Judicial Watch video uses footage from at least a dozen sources, about half of whom were witnesses who shot cellphone video. The rest came from Capitol Police CCTV cameras, Blaze News’ Steve Baker, and at least one unnamed FBI informant or “confidential human source.”

“That was pretty awful, huh?” Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said at the end of the new video. “It was disturbing. Ashli Babbitt shouldn’t have been killed. You can see frankly they could have moved her a little more quickly than they did. It’s going to be resolved in our lawsuit. The lawsuit is ongoing.”

“We are seeking to — and both parties are operating in good faith — to partially or completely resolve the litigation. So I’m quite hopeful that that does happen. I can’t imagine President Trump is going to want anything other than to resolve this litigation.”

One of the most striking things in the video is how Byrd crept out of a hidden position inside the Speaker’s Lobby in order to take the shot. Two protesters filming in one corner of the hallway spotted Byrd’s Glock 22 service weapon through the glass side window. They shouted, “He’s got a gun!” but their cries were not heard by Babbitt, feet away, as she jumped up into a broken window — only to be shot.

Although Babbitt had barely begun to emerge from the other side of the window entry, Byrd opened fire, striking Babbitt in the left anterior shoulder. In a 2021 interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt, Byrd said he could not tell if the person in the window frame was male or female or if the person had a weapon, but he still believed his life was in danger when he fired his sidearm. Byrd said he believes his actions saved lives that day.

Flawed DOJ shooting report

Among the biggest issues in the Babbitt case, the U.S. Department of Justice’s use-of-force report has long drawn criticism from Judicial Watch and a prominent use-of-force expert consulted by Blaze News.

Released by Judicial Watch in June 2022 as part of a lawsuit against the DOJ, the report said there was “insufficient evidence” to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Byrd “willfully” used more force than necessary. The report said the DOJ conducted a “thorough review of the facts and circumstances in this case,” yet the document has close to a dozen major factual errors.

The report also did not rely on what use-of-force experts call the “gold standard” for judging police use of deadly force.

‘She was behind the bad actors the whole time.’

“In order for lethal force to be authorized, the officer has to be able to articulate that he or she was in fear of losing his life, was about to be killed or grievously injured,” said Stan Kephart, an Arizona-based policing expert who analyzed the shooting for “The Real Story of Jan. 6,” a 2022 documentary by the Epoch Times. “There is nothing I saw in that [Speaker’s Lobby] film that would indicate that was possible or probable from what unfolded.”

Kephart said the shooting should have been evaluated using a litmus test from the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court case Graham v. Connor to determine whether force was ever needed and appropriate in the situation, the extent of the injury, and “whether the force was applied in a good-faith manner to maintain and restore discipline, or maliciously and sadistically.”

Kephart told Blaze News that a new investigation of Byrd’s use of force should be a high priority for the Trump DOJ.

Use-of-force expert Stan Kephart said Lt. Michael Byrd should have used a two-handed “Weaver stance” when approaching the Speaker’s Lobby doors with his weapon drawn. Instead, Byrd is seen on video “pushing the shot with his right hand forward.”Jayden X

It was “a total miscarriage of justice” to use the wrong legal framework for judging whether Byrd used excessive force in the shooting, Kephart said. The term “willfully” is not part of the standard. Because that legal analysis underpins the conclusions in the DOJ report, Kephart said, “It’s the first thing that should be re-examined.”

Aaron Babbitt, Ashli’s widower, has criticized the DOJ report for bias and errors, including the assertion that his wife was “an active participant in a ‘mob’ that had just illegally entered the Capitol building and then broke out the glass doors and removed barricades to forcefully gain entry into the Speaker’s Lobby.”

Video showed that Babbitt tried to stop the rioting that broke out in the hallway, shouting at three Capitol Police officers, “Call f**king help!” She put a stop to the violence when she grabbed rioter Zachary Alam and punched him in the nose.

An officer of the House Sergeant at Arms wrongfully claimed in the report that Babbitt took part in breaking the glass at the Speaker’s Lobby entrance.

“There’s zero evidence from three different angles that Ashli broke any glass,” Aaron Babbitt said in 2022. “She was behind the bad actors the whole time.”

In addition to apparent factual errors in the DOJ report, there are also issues of crime-scene contamination that complicate the case.

Capitol Police SWAT Officer Michael Brown broke out glass and climbed through the window into the Speaker’s Lobby after the shooting, video shows. Crime scene photos clearly indicate that the makeshift barrier of furniture piled up inside the entrance was altered after the shooting, with more furniture stacked on it to make the barricade higher than it was when Byrd fired his shot.

Blaze News reached out to the new U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Edward R. Martin Jr., but did not receive a reply by publication time. The FBI and U.S. Capitol Police have repeatedly declined to comment on Byrd.

Focus on Byrd’s history

Byrd’s history across three decades of Capitol Police work came under congressional scrutiny in late 2024 in a report from U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.) to Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger. Records uncovered by the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight said in 2004, Byrd was accused of firing his service weapon into a fleeing vehicle in his Maryland neighborhood, with his neighbor in the line of fire.

“The Subcommittee is aware that the USCP recently promoted Michael Byrd from lieutenant to captain,” Loudermilk wrote. “I have concerns about this decision given Byrd’s lengthy disciplinary history and the apparent political influence of internal operational decisions related to Byrd following January 6, 2021.”

U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd appears to have his finger on the trigger of his service weapon while walking on the U.S. House floor as rioters broke windows at the House entrance on Jan. 6, 2021. Those in the line of fire of Byrd’s handgun included U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), wearing the blue shirt.
Photo by Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Graphic overlay by Blaze News

Loudermilk said Byrd has received favorable treatment compared to other Capitol Police officers who worked on Jan. 6. He was awarded an unrestricted $36,000 retention bonus in August 2021. At around the same time, other officers — including those injured on Jan. 6 — were given $3,000 retention bonuses. In June 2022, officers were offered an $8,000 retention bonus. The Loudermilk letter said it was not clear whether Byrd also received the two other bonuses.

Byrd was also given $21,000 in security upgrades at his Maryland home. House Democrats worked with Capitol Police general counsel Tad DiBiase to find ways to help Byrd financially in the months after he shot and killed Babbitt, Loudermilk wrote. Capitol Police helped to establish a GoFundMe campaign that raised more than $164,000 for Byrd.

Congressional investigators uncovered a 2001 incident in which Byrd was accused of abandoning his post in the Speaker’s Office for a card game in a nearby cloakroom, then lying about it to Internal Affairs Division investigators.

Capitol Police instructed Byrd not to sit for a fitness-for-duty evaluation following Jan. 6, “concerned that Byrd may fail” and if he did, “he would not be permitted to carry his service weapon,” the Loudermilk letter said.

Shortly after shooting Babbitt at 2:44 p.m. on Jan. 6, Byrd made a false broadcast on Capitol Police radio claiming that he was taking gunfire and was preparing to return fire. The false assertion was never corrected on the air, leaving SWAT officers streaming into the Capitol to wonder if the scene was secure or if a shooter was on the loose in the Capitol.

Loudermilk said records were missing for three other Byrd disciplinary incidents. “This is disappointing, as the inability to locate these documents hinders the subcommittee from fulfilling its responsibility to conduct comprehensive oversight over the USCP,” Loudermilk wrote.

FBI investigates Babbitt

Just eight days after Babbitt’s death, the FBI took the extraordinary step of opening an investigation into Babbitt and suggesting what federal charges she would have faced had she survived Byrd’s bullet. The FBI case file was opened on Babbitt by the FBI’s San Diego Field Office.

Documents released by the FBI in response to a 2021 Judicial Watch lawsuit show agents believed Babbitt could have been charged under 18 U.S.C §2101 for inciting a riot. That felony statute — which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison — was not used against any of the approximately 1,600 Jan. 6 defendants.

This form shows the FBI received information on Ashli Babbitt from a confidential human source, commonly known as an informant.Judicial Watch

Other “potential violations” listed by the FBI included felony civil disorder (18 U.S.C §231), misdemeanor charges of unlawful entry (18 U.S.C §1752a), and disorderly conduct/injuries to property (40 U.S.C §5104).

In February 2023, Judicial Watch filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the FBI for records on Ashli and Aaron Babbitt. Those requests were denied a month later.

Judicial Watch appealed the denials, and when the FBI failed to act on the appeals, the group filed a federal Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI and DOJ on Jan. 17, 2024, seeking all records possessed by the FBI on Babbitt and her husband, Aaron.

Under an agreement between the DOJ and Judicial Watch, the FBI was to release “rolling productions” of documents. Given the change in presidential administration, the DOJ in February 2025 asked for a delay in releasing the next tranche of records. The DOJ faces an April 30 deadline for the next release and a May 16 deadline to issue a joint status report on the suit with Judicial Watch.

Doctor forced away from Babbitt

Another unanswered question is why California physician Dr. Austin Brendlen Harris was wrestled away as he provided medical assistance to Babbitt.

It’s unclear why Capitol Police would roughly remove a doctor carrying a large medical backpack who knelt down to help Babbitt. Video shows that a bicycle-patrol officer grabbed Dr. Harris, pulled him away from Babbitt, and rushed him down the hallway. The altercation nearly came to blows, video showed.

The question remains why Dr. Harris was manhandled while police failed to secure the crime scene and remove agitators who were doing nothing but obstructing rescue efforts. Video shows Capitol Police also forced riot medic Young Kim to stop lending medical aid after he had knelt down and looked for the bullet wound.

Dr. Austin Harris (in green), a physician from California, was wrestled away from Ashli Babbitt as he was about to start CPR in the hallway outside the Speaker’s Lobby on Jan. 6, 2021.Photos by Judicial Watch (inset) and Jayden X

In January 2023, Dr. Harris was charged by federal prosecutors with four misdemeanor counts: entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building. He pleaded guilty to the parading charge and was sentenced to three years of probation. He was pardoned under President Trump’s Jan. 20 declaration.

“If Dr. Harris had not been in one specific location within the building, he would not have had the opportunity to render aid to Ms. Ashli Babbitt after she was shot,” read Harris’ sentencing memo. “He was not involved in that area or situation before he heard the shot, but when he saw her fall, he did not hesitate. He ran toward her without thinking.

“As a physician who has worked in many significant trauma situations, this was second nature to him,” the sentencing memo read. “He wanted to help, to try to save her life. Unfortunately, as her pulse faded, and he was about to start CPR, he was prevented from acting further as law enforcement had to control the crowd and move protestors away from the situation; understandably so.”

Half of witnesses not identified

There were at least 55 people in the Speaker’s Lobby hallway directly before and after the shooting who should be considered material witnesses. However, even 52 months later, nearly half of them have not been publicly identified, including a number caught on video vandalizing the Capitol and inciting violence.

Perhaps the most notorious is #RedOnRedGlasses (middle of top row below), at whose feet Babbitt landed after being shot. He was found on video from all over Capitol grounds committing acts of vandalism. One viral video shows him launching a long two-by-four like a javelin through the window next to the Senate Wing Door at 2:12 p.m. He was on the FBI Jan. 6 most-wanted page from early in the Jan. 6 investigation, but was never identified, arrested, or tried.

Nearly 52 months after Jan. 6, these material witnesses present in the Speaker’s Lobby hallway when Ashli Babbitt was shot have not been publicly identified.Photos by U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. District Court, Sam Montoya

It seems inconceivable that the FBI does not know who these men are, but their identities remain a mystery, one that could eventually be solved as part of Babbitt’s wrongful-death lawsuit.

Two of the most suspicious persons in the area of the shooting were “Frick and Frack,” nicknamed such by a YouTube satirist in 2021. Frack and Frick (upper left in the graphic) were in the midst of the hallway crowd before Babbitt was shot. They were allowed to go behind the police line and stand down the stairs on a balcony — even as the Capitol Police SWAT team came up from the first floor.

Even after the crowd was cleared from the hallway, the men stayed behind and met with a top Capitol Police commander, who sent them with an escort to meet with detectives in an unmarked squad car at the edge of Capitol property.

After meeting with police for nearly 40 minutes, the men walked away from the Capitol. A 2024 Blaze News video investigation tracked the men from near the Capitol West Plaza as they helped protesters climb makeshift ladders to ascend the Northwest Steps. The investigation also disclosed the clandestine meeting of Capitol Police with Frick and Frack.

Frack, the heavier-set of the duo, provided a short video clip to Capitol Police from the shooting scene. Despite his offer to supply more of the video, there is no public indication that he did so. Nor have the identities of Frick and Frack been revealed by police. In many Jan. 6 cases, the FBI seized Jan. 6 video evidence along with personal cell phones, yet Frack walked away with his phone after meeting with police.

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​Politics 

The Department of Commerce released the first GDP report of President Donald Trump’s second term on Wednesday, sending critics into a frenzy.

The legacy media’s coverage of the report reiterates the same claim: The economy “shrank.” But between the lines, the report paints a different, more promising picture.

On its face, the report shows that the economy contracted at a 0.3% rate in the first quarter as a result of the ongoing trade war and tariff uncertainty. Despite this, former Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Richard Clarida argued that this figure was “distorted” and predicted it would be revised upward.

‘It’s no surprise the leftovers of Biden’s economic disaster have been a drag on economic growth, but the underlying numbers tell the real story of the strong momentum President Trump is delivering.’

“Not really much of a surprise,” Clarida said. “I do think the Q1 numbers were probably distorted by that huge surge in imports to front-run the tariffs, and I think could be revised up slightly. So the final number may be closer to zero.”

“I do think probably that the Fed will probably try to look through this number because of those distortions. … Maybe the headline number is a bit misleading this time,” Clarida added.

As Clarida pointed out, these distortions are overshadowing key indicators that would suggest the economy is actually building momentum.

For example, consumer spending outpaced government spending by 3.2 percentage points, which has been the strongest figure since the Q2 report back in 2022. Consumer spending is a strong indicator of economic health that can lead to several positive outcomes like GDP growth, increasing demand, and job creation.

The report found that inflation has also halted, with the PCE price index showing zero increase in costs from February to March. This is a promising figure compared to the 0.3% increase in costs in January.

“It’s no surprise the leftovers of Biden’s economic disaster have been a drag on economic growth, but the underlying numbers tell the real story of the strong momentum President Trump is delivering,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Wednesday.

While the GDP has contracted overall, the core GDP grew a robust 3%, which the administration said “signals strong underlying economic momentum.” Gross domestic investment also soared 22% in the first quarter, which was the highest in four years.

“Robust core GDP, the highest gross domestic investment in four years, job growth, and trillions of dollars in new investments secured by President Trump are fueling an economic boom and setting the stage for unprecedented growth as President Trump ushers in the new golden age,” Leavitt said.

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​Donald trump, Tariffs, Trade war, Scott bessent, Karoline leavitt, Department of commerce, Department of treasury, Gdp report, Gdp growth, Federal reserve, Trump administration, Biden administration, Joe biden, Inflation, Consumer spending, Government spending, Economic momentum, Gross domestic product, Politics 

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the immediate release of Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian who was recently arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of a crackdown by the State Department on foreign nationals who organize or are part of protests on college campuses.

Mahdawi was arrested when he showed up to an appointment for his process to become a U.S. citizen. He is currently a green card holder.

“I am saying it clear and loud, to President Trump and his Cabinet: I am not afraid of you,” Mahdawi said outside a federal courthouse shortly after U.S. District Judge William Sessions III ordered his release, according to Politico.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made it clear that foreign students who want to go to American universities and cause disruptions will have their visa applications denied.

“Me standing here in front of you sends a clear message: We the people will hold the Constitution accountable for the principles that we believe in,” Mahdawi continued.

Mahdawi’s release does not mean the efforts to deport him are over. He is simply allowed to be free from custody as the case makes its way through the court system. Sessions determined that Mahdawi is not a public safety or flight risk.

Sessions, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, showed sympathy for Mahdawi because he experienced “great harm” while in detention.

“Even another day of detention is not to be tolerated,” Sessions said, going on to add that the Trump administration’s crackdown on disruptive foreign students is similar to McCarthyism during the 1950s.

“The wheel has come around again,” he said.

In response to Mahdawi’s release and his statements, Homeland Security’s Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said, “When you advocate for violence, glorify and support terrorists that relish the killing of Americans and harass Jews, that privilege should be revoked and you should not be in this country. We have the law, facts and commonsense on our side.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made it clear that foreign students who want to go to American universities and cause disruptions will have their visa applications denied.

“If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa,” Rubio previously said about the issue.

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​Politics 

Predators in California who solicit sex from certain minors will not face felony charges now that state Democrats have eliminated that portion of a new bill.

Under current California law, anyone who solicits sex from someone at least 16 years old can be charged with a misdemeanor. Those who solicit sex from a child under 16 or a trafficking victim under 18 can be charged with a misdemeanor or a felony at the discretion of local prosecutors.

The law, amended last year to include the felony option, was considered a compromise after Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove proposed making any solicitation of a minor under 18 a felony.

Back in February, Democratic Assemblywoman Maggy Krell introduced AB 379, the Survivor Support and Demand Reduction Act, which, among other things, would have given prosecutors the option of slapping felony charges on any creep who solicits sex from a child under 18.

Krell spent decades prosecuting trafficking cases with the California Department of Justice and claimed she wants solicitors to be held accountable as well as prostitutes.

‘Solicitation statutes … have been used disproportionately against people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those experiencing poverty.’

She didn’t get her way.

Democrats on the Assembly Public Safety Committee refused to send the bill along for full consideration unless the felony option was eliminated from it. “I was told that [AB 379] was pulled and the only way I could get it back on the agenda is if parts of the bill would be blocked,” Krell claimed.

Krell called the decision “a disgrace.”

Grove went a step further. “It’s completely evil,” she declared.

Assemblyman Nick Shultz, the Democratic committee chairman, responded to questions about the decision mostly with vague political platitudes.

“My perspective as chair, there was a carefully crafted deal last year,” Schultz said. “We’re not saying no, but what we’re saying is if we’re going to be thoughtful policymakers, we really need to dive deep into this issue.”

Schultz also suggested that the felony option would be little more than “knee-jerk policy.” “It’s my job to make sure … we’re having good, substantive conversation and landing on a good spot,” he added to KCRA-TV.

Other opponents, including the ACLU of Southern California, claimed that the bill would land too many racial and sexual minorities behind bars.

“Anti-loitering and solicitation statutes, like the one at issue in AB 379, have been used disproportionately against people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and those experiencing poverty, under the pretext of public safety,” the ACLU SoCal wrote in a letter late last month.

Notorious far-left state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco made a similar argument in 2021 when he proposed the Safer Streets for All Act, which decriminalized loitering for prostitution and which some lawmakers hope to countermand with AB 379.

“Sex workers are workers, and they deserve respect and safety,” Weiner said at the time. “We must work toward a future where people — especially the most marginalized — aren’t criminalized because of who they are and what they look like.”

In his interview with KCRA-TV, Schultz likewise hinted that he opposed AB 379’s felony option on DEI-related grounds as well, claiming that any “solution” lawmakers find “needs to be equitable.”

Krell and other supporters of AB 379 were not nearly so careful about using politically correct terms regarding sexuality and gender when speaking about the issues the bill addresses.

“AB 379 creates a law that allows law enforcement to intervene when men are out on the prowl to buy victims for sex,” Krell asserted.

Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper, a Democrat former assemblyman and member of the California Black Caucus, slammed Wiener’s law as emboldening criminals and vice behaviors.

“With that, we’ve seen a statewide, dramatic explosion of juvenile prostitution. The buyers don’t care. So, to me, change the narrative. Make people afraid to go out and buy these young girls,” Cooper said.

Though the felony option has been nixed for now, Krell says she isn’t giving up. “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and I’m not going to quit now.” She pledged to bring this part of this bill back every year until it passes.

“That’s what I’m going to do.”

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​California, Solicitation of a minor, Solicitation, Underage, Minor, Underage prostitution, Juvenile prostitution, Maggy krell, Scott weiner, Sheriff jim cooper, Democrats, Nick shultz, Politics 

The U.S. housing market has been a rollercoaster since the pandemic. First, lockdowns and economic uncertainty slowed the market to a crawl, followed by record-low mortgage rates that spurred a buying frenzy. Limited inventory worsened by construction delays and supply chain issues then spiked prices, creating a fierce seller’s market with frequent bidding wars.

In 2021, Biden’s economic policies, later called “Bidenomics,” drove inflation through the roof and prompted the Federal Reserve to spike interest rates, which doubled monthly mortgage payments for a median-priced home and made home ownership impossible for a huge percentage of American families.

Although the market has cooled slightly, affordability issues, elevated prices, and limited inventory continue to put homeownership out of reach for many Americans.

But thankfully, President Trump, as he always does, has a plan to fix what’s been broken.

Matthew Peterson, Blaze News editor in chief and co-host of “Blaze News Tonight,” recently sat down with Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to discuss President Trump’s plans to restore the American dream of homeownership.

The FHFA is in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – two government-sponsored enterprises that keep the housing market running smoothly by making sure banks have money to lend.

“My view on [FHFA] is that we are here to restore the American dream,” says Pulte. “For the last four years under President Biden, there was a significant amount of inflation, and nobody could afford a home, and so what we’re really focused on is restoring the American dream of home ownership.”

However, what’s standing in the way of that goal is rampant fraud, waste, and abuse.

“There was a lot of fraud and a lot of waste and abuse that went on in 2008, and as a result, the government had to take over Fannie and Freddie, and so what we’re focused on is getting rid of the fraud, getting rid of the waste, getting rid of the abuse to make sure that these entities are stronger than ever before,” says Pulte.

To further these efforts, FHFA has instituted a “tip line” where anyone can report fraud and has terminated employees for “fraudulent or misleading activity.”

Another issue that’s been standing in the way of restoring the American dream of homeownership is DEI. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have “affordable housing mandates” that encourage lenders to provide more loans to low-income borrowers, minority groups, and underserved communities above others.

“Everybody should be treated equally and our policies need to do that, and so we terminated the DEI executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” says Pulte.

While it’s a long and complicated road to rooting out corruption and making homeownership more accessible again, Pulte is confident President Trump is the person to see it done.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be great American icons once again,” he says.

To hear more of the conversation, watch the episode above.

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​Blaze news tonight, Matthew peterson, Jill savage, Bill pulte, Bidenomics, Housing crisis, Housing market, Blazetv, Blaze media, Federal housing finance agency, Fannie mae and freddie mac, American dream, Homeownership, Dei, Waste fraud and abuse 

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been facing backlash for weeks over his comments regarding the lack of agency many autistic children face, because parents of children who are “on the spectrum” believed he was talking about their own experience.

“Autism destroys families, and most importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this,” RFK Jr. said. “These are kids who will never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.”

While those on the left have seen this as an opportunity to criticize the Trump administration, Matt McClowry, 1/4 Black Garrett, and Angela Boggs of “Normal World” are thrilled that RFK Jr. is taking action as promised.

“This is one of the most exciting things for me, the whole Donald Trump second term, putting all these great people in, ‘cause he was going to run for president, right, and people wanted him to get in,” Garrett says.

“I think this is a better position for him to be in because now he’s not distracted by all the other foreign policy and other things that the president has to do. He can do what he’s passionate about and what really needs to be done,” he continues, noting that RFK’s ban on food coloring was a huge step in the right direction as well.

“Get all that stuff out of here because we do have an autism problem,” he says. “Even if we find that it doesn’t have anything to do with causing autism, it’s just not healthy to add all these preservatives and food colorings and the stuff that we don’t need.”

McClowry finds it a little odd that the left, long the party of hippies and environmentalists, wants nothing to do with RFK’s cause unless it’s tearing it apart.

“It’s just strange for me to see Democrats coming out de facto on the side of all that stuff,” McClowry says, before referencing a post on X from Elizabeth Warren.

“I won’t share RFK Jr.’s lies about autism. It’s disgusting and dangerous. If he had a shred of decency, he would apologize and resign. Autistic people contribute every day to our nation’s greatness. To every kid with autism, I’m in this fight with you all the way,” Warren wrote.

“By this fight, she means kickbacks for drug companies,” McClowry comments, adding, “Speaking as a person with autism, I hold a job, I have a family, and I would erase my autism in a second if it were an option.”

Want more ‘Normal World’?

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

​Camera phone, Free, Sharing, Upload, Video, Video phone, Youtube.com, Normal world, Normal world with dave landau, Dave landau, 1/4 black garrett, Matt mcclowry, Conservative comedy, The blaze, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze news, Rfk jr, Food dye ban, Robert f kennedy jr, Autism debate, Autism, The autism spectrum, The autism industrial complex, Big pharma, Big pharma corruption, Elizabeth warren 

Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg is now facing a serious challenge for his position as many within the party are looking for ways to get rid of the gun control activist.

Semafor reports a candidate who failed to win a DNC leadership role earlier this year is now saying the DNC violated its own bylaws by not electing enough people with diverse backgrounds to be in top positions. The complaint was filed by Kalyn Free, a Native American attorney. The DNC’s credentials committee will meet virtually on May 12 to consider the challenge.

“By aggregating votes across ballots and failing to distinguish between gender categories in a meaningful way, the DNC’s process violated its own Charter and Bylaws, undermining both fairness and gender diversity,” said Free.

Hogg’s lawyers said the election “was conducted in compliance with the rules in place at the time,” and it is “inappropriate to try to revise those rules or decisions after the fact through a credentials challenge.”

That’s right: The DNC’s near-suicidal commitment to DEI might end up costing Hogg his job at the DNC.

A DNC spokesperson told Semafor, “While we are confident that the DNC Officer election was conducted fairly, transparently, and in alignment with the rules that were approved by the DNC Membership in advance of the election, the Party provides an opportunity for any other candidate or member to raise concerns for further discussion.”

It remains to be seen who will win out in the end, the establishment or the grassroots activists.

Hogg has been fighting for his position and attacking establishment Democrats ever since his organization, Leaders We Deserve, announced it will be spending $20 million to challenge House Democrats in deep-blue districts who the organization says are not doing enough to stand up to President Donald Trump. Hogg has said he will not primary Democrats in swing districts since he does want Democrats to take back the House, but that the party needs to do more to stop Trump’s actions.

During its summer meeting, the DNC will consider a rule change that would prohibit DNC leadership from explicitly meddling in primaries. It has been reported that Hogg is willing to lose his vice chairmanship over his primary plan.

After posting a lengthy thread on X, Hogg has reposted many supporting messages from progressives who say he is doing the right thing.

— (@)

— (@)

It remains to be seen who will win out in the end, the establishment or the grassroots activists.

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​Politics 

A group of high school girls in Oregon took a knee in protest of a male athlete who is consistently winning competitions as a female.

Sophia Carpenter said she and three other females forfeited a competition after learning they would be competing against a boy at the Therapeutic Associates Chehalem Classic.

The male, named “Liaa” Rose, won that competition with a jump of 4’10” that was enough to beat out the 18 girls he competed with.

However, Carpenter, who is ranked No. 5 in the state at her level, decided on the day of the competition that she knew what was transpiring was not right.

‘If we take a knee every time we compete against a boy, we won’t have many more chances left to compete.’

“I heard that a couple of girls were dropping out in protest. And I thought, oh, that’s interesting. I’m not the only one that thinks this way and knows this isn’t right,” the teen told OutKick. “And so my intention was still to take my first jump, and then I would consider dropping out. But I went and I talked to the first girl who had initially dropped out, and she told me that she had thought about it and knew that she had done the right thing that day.”

The sad reality soon kicked in for the girls, though, knowing that even if they forfeited the event, if they wanted to pursue the sport in college, they would not be able to sit out every competition.

“She said, ‘We’re gonna be competing with this individual at districts and at state and for a while yet. … So today, I know I can drop out, but in the future, I won’t be able to because we want to compete in college, and recruiters are looking at us in our marks.'”

Carpenter explained that she went through with the forfeit anyway.

“If we take a knee every time we compete against a boy, we won’t have many more chances left to compete and, like, put out marks. And so, I was really struck by her confidence, and I thought there’s power in numbers. And so I knew I wanted to join her. So I told my coach, and I ended up taking a knee also. And four of us ended up dropping out of the competition, and then the male athlete won.”

Blaze News previously reported on the athlete allegedly posing as a female, Zachary Rose, who now goes by “Liaa” (or sometimes “Lia”). The boy is a student from Ida B. Wells High School in Portland, Oregon.

Earlier in April, Rose won varsity high jump at the Portland Interscholastic League Varsity Relays with a personal record. The second-place height was achieved by three different girls, two of whom were from Rose’s high school.

Rose, while competing against boys in the junior varsity category in 2023, finished in last place in a competition of 11 boys. Rose appeared to have begun competing against girls in 2024.

Federal involvement

Carpenter’s mother noted that she wanted to “draw the U.S. [Department of Justice’s] attention to this issue so that they’ll come after Oregon the way that they’re going after Maine.”

The mother explained, “Because our governor, the Oregon Department of Education, the Oregon School Activities Association, are set on allowing this to happen. They aren’t going to change. And so we need national intervention.”

The federal department has already sent a letter to the Portland Public Schools District in reference to a different incident in the state, where a male athlete won a girls’ 400-meter varsity race.

“We will not allow the Portland Public Schools District or any other educational entity that receives federal funds to trample on the antidiscrimination protections that women and girls are guaranteed under law,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a press release.

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​Fearless, High jump, Oregon, Portland, Girls sports, Transgenderism, High school, Sports