Whether you send texts through iMessage on iPhone, RCS on Android, or a third-party app like Signal, all of them boast end-to-end encryption, which is designed to keep your chats safe, secure, and private. No one can read them but you, right? Not so fast. Thanks to a little flaw in the way your phone delivers notifications, the FBI may be able to read your conversations and even use them against you in a criminal trial.

The case

On July 4, 2025, a group of “violent assailants equipped with tactical gear and weapons” descended on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, Texas. One source claims that they set off fireworks and vandalized the facility. A police officer was even shot in the neck during the event. Luckily, the officer survived, and 10 perpetrators were apprehended four days later. Eight of the defendants were found guilty of multiple charges in their trial last month, and part of the evidence used to convict them came from an unlikely source: text messages procured by the FBI that were sent via Signal, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app.

This bombshell revelation comes with a few hard facts to keep in mind.

The question on everyone’s minds is, “How?” Signal’s powerful E2EE technology — dubbed the Signal Protocol — is lauded by technology enthusiasts and privacy proponents as one of the best open source encryption solutions available, yet somehow it was bypassed entirely. Even more concerning, the Signal app was already deleted from the suspect’s phone by the time the FBI gathered the incriminating messages, meaning that at least some chat data was both left behind and accessible.

So if Signal is exceptionally safe, secure, and private, how did the FBI easily gather these incriminating text messages for trial?

As it turns out, the flaw that handed this data to the FBI had nothing special to do with Signal. The feds could have gathered messages from any app, thanks to the way smartphones manage one of their most popular features.

The flaw

When you receive a push notification on your device, it comes across as a glanceable snippet of information complete with the app’s name, the app’s icon, and the details of the notification. These are known as notification previews.

Push notifications work for nearly every app — messages, social media, email, everything. And to make sure you get the most useful information from push notifications, they’re set to show snippets by default, letting you know exactly why you were pinged in the first place.

Unfortunately, while the apps that send push notifications can be encrypted, the information displayed in push notifications is stored as plain text within the device and openly available with the right tools.

RELATED: RED FLAG: FBI says these apps let China suck up your personal data

Dragos Condrea/Getty Images

That means the FBI can easily access and read this information for any push notification from any app on your device, assuming it has your phone in its possession. This includes private chats.

Notification previews on (left) and off (right)Zach Laidlaw/iOS 26 on iPhone 17 Pro Max

Cold hard facts

This bombshell revelation comes with a few hard facts to keep in mind:

This flaw only records incoming messages through the notifications system. It cannot save or replicate outgoing messages from the target device, since these are never displayed as notifications for the main user.The FBI can’t remote-connect to a targeted device to access this information. It must physically have the phone in its possession, which requires a warrant or subpoena.Although this particular case involved an iPhone, the flaw works on both iPhone and Android.

The worst part is that this isn’t the first time this particular exploit has popped up. In late 2023, Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.) warned that governments could spy on iPhone and Android users through push notifications using a similar method. This vulnerability has been known and exploited for years with no solutions from Apple or Google.

How to hide your notifications from government spying

The good news is that there is something you can do to fix the problem right now, but it will make your phone a little less glanceable. Apple’s iOS offers a way to hide app previews from the notification system. When previews are disabled, you will still see when you receive a notification, but the information inside will be hidden from the notification shade, ensuring it isn’t recorded or saved for later access.

To disable notification previews on iPhone, open the “Settings” app and tap “Notifications.” In the first section of text, you’ll find “Shows Previews.” Tap there and change the preview option to “Never.” If you don’t want to disable all previews, you can also disable these on an app-by-app basis by clicking on the app you want to hide and adjusting its settings.

Zach Laidlaw/iOS 26 on iPhone 17 Pro Max

As for Android, the only way to hide notification previews is to disable notifications entirely, either for the whole system or for individual apps.

This isn’t advised, of course, since you may miss important notifications, but if you’d like to add an extra layer of protection between you and the government, open the “Settings” app and hop into the “Notifications” section. Then select “App Notifications” and uncheck every potentially problematic app on the list. For even more insurance, disable notification history as well.

Zach Laidlaw/Android 16 on Google Pixel 10 Pro XL

Given that this flaw has existed for years without a solution makes it unlikely that Apple or Google will patch their operating systems anytime soon. Unfortunately, this appears to be more of a feature than a bug, prompting users to take their notification settings into their own hands to prevent unwanted data leaks.

​Tech, Fbi, Encrypted data, Privacy, Smartphone 

A longtime Democrat congressman from Georgia has passed away.

Rep. David Scott died on Wednesday at the age of 80, his office confirmed, according to the New York Post. The South Carolina native was first elected to the Georgia Assembly in 1974, to the state Senate in 1982, and then to Congress in 2002.

Scott is the fifth member of the 119th Congress to die since they took office in January 2025.

During his re-election campaign in 2024, some Democrats called on Scott to step aside and make way for younger candidates.

“David Scott is Exhibit A for term limits,” said an unnamed Democrat lawmaker who spoke with Politico at the time. “He was a respected, talented member who has become diminished. And it’s painful for people to watch.”

Despite the naysayers, Scott won re-election that year and was running for re-election this year as well. A cause of death has not been released.

“Congressman Scott’s passing is deeply sad,” said Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), NBC News reported.

“David Scott was a trailblazer who served the district that he represented admirably, rose up from humble beginnings to become the first African American ever to chair the House [Agriculture] Committee. He cared about the people that he represented. He was fiercely committed to getting things done for the people of the great state of Georgia, and he’ll be deeply missed.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also honored Scott in a statement: “We are all deeply saddened by the news of Rep. David Scott’s passing. For more than two decades, David faithfully served the people of Georgia’s [13th] Congressional District and spent the majority of his life in service to others. We are lifting up David’s wife Alfredia, his two daughters, and his grandchildren in prayer as they mourn.”

RELATED: California Republican suddenly dies at age 65

Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) died suddenly in January. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc/Getty Images

Of note, Scott is the fifth member of the 119th Congress to die since they took office in January 2025. Reps. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) died in March 2025, Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) died in May, and Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) died suddenly in January.

Then, just in the last few weeks, Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.), Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) resigned from the House in disgrace.

For now, Republicans maintain a 217-212 majority, plus independent Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, who caucuses with them.

Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp now has 10 days to declare a special election, though six other Democrats were already challenging Scott in the primary race scheduled for May 19. Politico characterized the district as “deep blue.”

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President Donald Trump’s pick to overhaul the Federal Reserve has enjoyed support from the commander in chief’s allies in the Senate, but one lawmaker just might shut down the nominee’s confirmation.

Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to chair the Federal Reserve back in January after publicly feuding with current Chair Jerome Powell for failing to cut interest rates and for his multibillion-dollar renovation of the Fed building. Since then, Warsh took the first step of the confirmation process by going to Capitol Hill to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.

‘Political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable.’

Warsh received glowing reviews from the seven Senate Republicans after his hearing, including from GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who has butted heads with Trump in the past. Despite Tillis’ endorsement of Warsh, the retiring senator drew a bold red line for the administration that could cost the confirmation.

“Kevin Warsh is a great nominee to be chairman of the Federal Reserve, and I look forward to supporting him out of committee once the DOJ drops their bogus investigation into Chairman Powell that threatens the independence of the Fed,” Tillis said in a statement.

RELATED: Federal Reserve makes key decision on interest rates — and Trump won’t like it

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

Tillis has repeatedly demanded that the administration suspend its investigation into Powell, even threatening to block nominees he supports, like Warsh. Notably, the Senate Banking Committee is composed of seven Republicans and six Democrats, meaning Tillis’ vote is necessary to advance Warsh’s nomination assuming the vote falls along party lines.

“The Department of Justice continues to pursue a criminal investigation into Chairman Jerome Powell based on committee testimony that no reasonable person could construe as possessing criminal intent,” Tillis said following Warsh’s nomination in January. “Protecting the independence of the Federal Reserve from political interference or legal intimidation is non-negotiable.”

“My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ’s inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved.”

One viable “off-ramp” that has been floated by Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who chairs the committee, is to create a subcommittee to investigate and oversee the Federal Reserve’s over-budget construction. This would, in effect, replace the Department of Justice’s criminal probe into Powell but still allow the administration and its allies to investigate the Fed.

It’s unclear whether the DOJ would drop the investigation, but Tillis expressed enthusiasm about the potential resolution.

“I not only think it’s a good off-ramp, but I also think it’s good governance,” Tillis said.

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​Criminal probe, Department of justice, Doj, Doj investigation, Donald trump, Interest rates, Jerome powell, Kevin warsh, Senate banking committee, Senate confirmation, Thom tillis, Tim scott, Trump nominee, Politics 

Charlottesville, Virginia, became a flash point as tensions grew in August 2017 over the fate of American monuments that liberals deemed too racist to leave standing in public spaces.

A hodgepodge of protesters and counterprotesters — which included radical leftists, those opposed to removing Confederate statues, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists — descended on the city ahead of the so-called Unite the Right rally on Aug. 12.

Agitators helped ensure that the event went sideways.

‘Trigger the violence because you can’t stop the legitimate speech.’

Following a series of skirmishes between various factions, one demonstrator drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, injuring over 30 and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

According to the grand jury indictment filed against the Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday, this bloody and tragic event — which the American left politically exploited for years and former President Joe Biden cited as his reason for running in 2020 — was the product, in part, of liberal machinations.

The indictment accuses the SPLC — a liberal outfit whose bread and butter is smearing law-abiding conservatives as “extremists” — of funneling millions of dollars to the very extremist groups it claimed to be fighting.

RELATED: Oath Keepers, Proud Boys feel hopeful and skeptical after Trump DOJ’s moves to end Biden-era witch hunt

Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto/Getty Images

In addition to allegedly bankrolling leaders and organizers in the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, the National Socialist Party of America, and the National Alliance, the SPLC allegedly “had a field source who was a member of the online leadership chat group that planned the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ event,” according to the indictment.

This field source, who is not named in the indictment, allegedly made “racist postings under the supervision of the SPLC and helped coordinate transportation to the event for several attendees.”

For their contributions to the cause, this field source was allegedly paid over $270,000 by the SPLC in secret between 2015 and 2023.

The SPLC did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment.

While its insider was allegedly setting the stage for the rally, the SPLC worked feverishly to emphasize the importance of the planned event, noting in an Aug. 7, 2017, Hatewatch post, for example, that “the event may well become a seminal point for the Alt-Right and the extremist hate fringe: It’s a bold move beyond the anonymity of web sites, message boards, pseudonyms and social media — a move to take the hardcore, racist, white nationalist message to the public square.”

In the same post, the SPLC hyped the possibility of violence at the “‘summer of hate’ gathering of racist extremists from all corners of the country,” noting that “the looming social chemistry on a hot summer weekend … seems to point to the clear possibility of violence.”

The bloodletting in Charlottesville proved to be a windfall for the SPLC.

Days after the event, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that “hate is a cancer and left unchecked it destroys everything in its path.” Seeking to “help organizations who work to rid our country of hate,” Cook announced that his company was making a $1 million contribution to the SPLC.

Soon thereafter, JP Morgan Chase & Co. pledged half a million to the SPLC, and George and Amal Clooney announced that they were dumping $1 million into SPLC to help it highlight the imagined dangers of white-supremacist ideology.

The Clooneys said in a statement at the time, “What happened in Charlottesville, and what is happening in communities across our country, demands our collective engagement to stand up to hate.”

According to the indictment against the SPLC announced by the Justice Department on Tuesday, such donations collected from deep-pocketed liberals “under the auspices that the funds would be used to ‘dismantle’ violent extremist groups … was, instead, being used, in part, by the SPLC to pay leaders and others within these same violent extremist groups.”

The SPLC allegedly poured over $3 million in such funds to field sources associated with violent extremist groups between 2014 and 2023. These money transfers were allegedly made through a series of bank accounts created in the name of fictional entities, including the Center Investigative Agency, Fox Photography, North West Technologies, and Rare Books Warehouse.

The revelation that an SPLC plant might have been involved in the Unite the Right rally would help explain why the organization was so desperate to attack the notion that the event was a “false flag” from the start.

In the immediate aftermath of the violent rally, Alex Jones reportedly accused the SPLC of hiring actors to dress up like racists and prompt a crackdown by police on the rally’s legitimate attendees.

“That’s the plan,” Jones said. “Trigger the violence because you can’t stop the legitimate speech.”

Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar (R) was among the others who similarly suspected something was fishy, telling Vice News in October 2017 that the rally was likely “created by the left.”

The SPLC insisted that claims that the event was a “false flag” operation or that leftist infiltrators were among its organizers — Jason Kessler, the event’s primary organizer, was previously an Obama-supporting Occupy protester — were ludicrous “conspiracy theories” that served only to demonstrate “the strength of the link between the conspiratorial extreme right (Jones, Infowars, Gateway Pundit, etc) and the racist ‘alt-right.'”

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​2017, Alex jones, Altright, Conspiracy theories, Extremist groups, False flag, Fraud, George clooney, Heather heyer, Infiltratration, Jason kessler, Justice department, Ku klux klan, Leftism, National socialist party, Nazi, Paul gosar, Racism, Scam, Southern poverty law center, Splc, Unite the right, Unite the right rally, Virginia, White supremacist, White supremacy, Politics 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney clearly misses the campaign trail.

A year ago he won the election on the promise that he alone could handle Donald Trump and deliver a stronger trade deal under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The irony, of course, is that in 1812, Canada did not exist as an independent country.

But talk is cheap. When Carney went to Washington, he struck a flattering tone — calling Trump “transformative” — and came away empty-handed.

Now he’s back to his familiar “elbows up” rhetoric, declaring the age of America over. What better way to shift the focus from his utter lack of progress than a little political theater?

So on Sunday, Carney gave himself the biggest stage he could find: a carefully produced video, packaged and presented as a national address.

This is something Canadian prime ministers almost never do outside real national emergencies. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Justin Trudeau reserved major televised appeals for announcing concrete measures — lockdowns, restrictions, and public health directives.

Familiar message

There was nothing urgent about Carney’s speech. It was less an address than a political ad, polished and prepackaged and paid for by taxpayers.

The message was a familiar one: America is a lost cause, and Canada must move on:

The world … is more dangerous and divided. The U.S. has fundamentally changed its approach to trade, raising its tariffs to levels last seen during the Great Depression. Many of our former strengths, based on our close ties to America, have become our weaknesses — weaknesses that we must correct.

The correction? Carney’s “Canada Strong” plan, which calls for “attract[ing] new investment,” “striking new partnerships abroad,” and “taking back control of our security, our borders, and our future.”

It’s the same argument Carney made in Davos and the same one he repeated at the Liberal Party convention in Montreal. What made it different was a bizarre digression about Canadian history — complete with visual aids and celebrity name-dropping.

RELATED: NA-NUKE OF THE NORTH: Former top general says Canada needs nuclear weapons

Jung Yeon-Je/Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images

Model diplomacy

Brandishing a tiny figurine of General Isaac Brock — the British officer killed defending what would become Canada during the War of 1812 — Carney praised him for his resistance to the “threat of an American invasion.” Noting that the figurine was a recent gift from “Austin Powers” star — and fellow Canadian — Mike Myers, Carney said he keeps it on his desk as a reminder that “when we are united as Canadians, we can withstand anything.”

Even the self-inflicted wound of turning our back on our closest neighbor?

The irony, of course, is that in 1812, Canada did not exist as an independent country. It was a British colony, defended as part of an empire that spanned the globe. Today, Canada is economically, militarily, and geographically bound to the United States in ways that make the comparison absurd.

Empty bluster

The two countries are each other’s largest trading partners. Their industries are integrated, and their defense arrangements are intertwined. Whatever Carney may suggest, Canada is not pivoting across the Atlantic any time soon.

And if it tried, the costs would be immediate.

Carney warns against “nostalgia” while offering nothing but slogans. No major housing breakthrough. No completed energy corridor to global markets. No visible shift that would justify the sweeping language of national reinvention.

In short, Carney has yet to reveal a coherent strategy to replace the relationship he is so eager to downplay. Until then, his anti-American bluster is like the toy soldier on his desk — just for show.

​Canadian prime minister, Donald trump, Justin trudeau, Mark carney, Trade deal, Usmca, War of 1812, Letter from canada, Culture 

For years, video games have largely neglected to feature families, and if they did, they were either background elements or marked by tragedy, like deceased or missing parents.

But apparently that trend is beginning to shift.

“They are making video games that are, for the first time in probably decades, depicting parenthood in a positive and endearing light,” says BlazeTV host John Doyle, “and the situation on the ground is suggesting that this could single-handedly psyop an entire generation of women into having children.”

On this episode of “The John Doyle Show,” Doyle delves into a new video game that’s gaining attention for being so pro-family, it’s awakening the motherly instincts of female gamers everywhere.

The game is called Pragmata. It’s Capcom’s new 2026 sci-fi action-adventure game in which the gamer plays as astronaut Hugh and his young android companion Diana, working together to fight a rogue AI and escape a hostile lunar research station.

“Essentially, what people are taking from this, aside from the gameplay, is there is, I guess, a recurring kind of environment throughout the game where it depicts … raising children, fatherhood, being a girl dad in a very positive and endearing way rather than what is typically the case in all forms of media,” says Doyle.

He then plays a clip from Pragmata depicting a sweet moment between Hugh and Diana, where Hugh protectively watches Diana play with a globe on a kid’s table scattered with crayons and ABC blocks. It’s one of many drawn-out scenes that focuses on building their relationship rather than advancing the plot.

Pragmata, Doyle explains, captures “the beauty of a young life interacting with the world, exploring it” and the fulfillment parents/caretakers receive when they become “responsible for” another life.

This is a huge divergence from the majority of media that tends to focus on the “less desirable” aspects of parenting — “sleepless nights and screaming children in public and changing diapers and things getting broken and your furniture that you care about having apple juice spilled on it,” says Doyle.

But can Pragmata really make a dent in the fertility crisis?

“While I don’t think that this kind of media is going to, I don’t know, wake up the masses and make them realize the virtue of parenthood and everything like that, I do think that this kind of media uniquely affects the fertility rates of people who you would want to be having kids,” says Doyle.

Those people, he argues, are the ones who can “carry the torch of their civilization.”

“Civilization is sustained by having people who are intelligent, people who are stable, people who possess a certain temperament for governing, for making the trains run on time. Those are the kinds of people you want to be having kids specifically,” says Doyle.

While this game likely won’t be the catalyst that causes someone to have a child, it does feed the broader pronatalism movement.

“You’re not going to cute baby video your way into a higher total fertility rate,” says Doyle. “However, it is symptomatic of, like, an overall vibe that people are experiencing.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from John Doyle?

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​Blaze media, Blazetv, Capcom, Families, Fertility crisis, John doyle, Parenthood, Pragmata, Pronatalism, Scifi, The john doyle show, Total fertility rate, Video game, Video games 

Foreign-made electronics are posing increased threats to the consumer, especially as the technology becomes more widely available.

In fact, other electronics are seemingly becoming part of a network with built-in back doors that, at best, are a complex network dedicated to stealing user data for profit. At worst, they are a massive national security concern.

‘Not just surveillance, but real-time analysis.’

In late March, the Federal Communications Commission announced it would begin following a federal directive that bans all foreign-made internet routers.

The executive branch determined that foreign routers “pose unacceptable risks to the national security of the United States or the safety and security of United States persons,” the FCC wrote.

The FCC added that foreign routers represent a “supply chain vulnerability” that could pose a “severe cybersecurity risk.”

This was followed by an updated list of banned router manufacturers, which includes a plethora of Chinese companies, the U.S.-registered company ComNet (which is owned by a Chinese company), and the Russian-owned Kaspersky Lab.

What are they stealing?

Connecting to every device in a home, internet routers are “one of the most valuable targets for foreign hackers,” says Aiden Buzzetti, president of the Bull Moose Project.

He told Return, “If an adversary can compromise the router, they can surveil your traffic, reach into your connected devices, or rope the whole thing into a botnet.”

Tyler Saltsman, CEO and founder of Department of War-partnered EdgeRunner AI, explained that “even a subtle vulnerability in hardware or firmware can enable not just surveillance, but real-time analysis” of consumer data.

This allows for automated exploitation at scale that can quite literally give adversaries the ability to monitor patterns and trends about the U.S. population.

RELATED: The world cut the cord. Government won’t.

Joan Cros/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Buzzetti recently sat down with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who explained that the government found routers to be a sector that was particularly vulnerable to foreign cyber attacks.

As a priority, Carr said that the No. 1 thing the United States needs to make sure of is that it is eliminating dependence on electronics and technologies from foreign adversary nations.

How else are they spying?

The FCC took earlier action against foreign drones out of fears of foreign surveillance as well.

In December, the FCC noted a federal directive on banning foreign-made unmanned aircraft systems/drones, as well as those that use critical components produced in foreign countries.

“Drones was another one where there was a determination made that all foreign-produced drones present an unacceptable national security threat,” Carr told the Bull Moose Project last week.

Another threat addressed by members of Congress recently has been the spying apparatus revealed through foreign robots.

Recent research showed that Chinese robot manufacturer Unitree Robotics had a pre-installed back door into its G01 robot dogs that allowed for the surveillance of customers around the world.

Axios reported on research that showed the spyware was public-facing, meaning anyone with the proper information could view customers’ live camera feeds without login credentials.

Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chair of the House China Select Committee, told Axios that there was a “direct national security threat” that was being actively investigated by the government on this topic.

RELATED: I called out the CIA on X — and then my account disappeared

These foreign entities could embed AI models in tech used by American consumers, Saltsman remarked in comments to Return. Adding that consumer products like routers, drones, and soon-to-be robots can therefore be morphed from “passive data conduits” into “active interpreters of sensitive information.”

“This amplifies the value of any data they collect and the risk if they’re compromised,” Saltsman explained.

The federal government has allowed for an approval process for companies to apply to regarding the sale of drone systems or routers in the United States.

So far, the approved list consists of just five drone systems and two router companies. One drone company appears to be based in the U.K., while another is seemingly from Norway. The rest are American.

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​Return, Drones, Ai, Routers, Robots, Artificial intelligence, Spying, Chinese, China, Ccp, Tech 

A female shot a Maryland gas station store clerk amid an “incredibly brazen” attempted robbery Friday — and then strangely left the store empty-handed, police said.

Howard County Police said officers were called to the Shell gas station in the 7200 block of Cradlerock Way in Columbia around 7:43 p.m. for a report of a shooting.

‘We don’t see incidents like this very often. We have robberies and some thefts in gas stations where somebody may imply a weapon or show a weapon but not use it, and they usually leave with something.’

An adult male gas station employee was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center with serious injuries, police said, adding that the victim was listed in serious condition.

Police released surveillance video Monday and offered a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to the suspect.

Police on Tuesday said Shantay Lashay O’Donnell, 46, of Virginia, was identified as the shooter in the attempted robbery.

Police said she was in custody in another state on unrelated charges.

O’Donnell will be served with multiple Howard County charges in the coming days, police said.

RELATED: Thug pulls gun in convenience store, but clerk also is armed — and isn’t having one bit of it

“What we know is that this woman walked into the Shell store, walked around a little bit, and then as soon as she approached the counter, that’s when she took out the gun and fired,” Howard County police spokesman Seth Hoffman told WBAL-TV. “We know that she demanded the clerk to open the cash register, but as you can see, it all unfolded so quickly.”

Hoffman added to the station that the barely 20-second surveillance video shows nearly the entire incident.

Police told WBAL they’re investigating the incident as an attempted robbery and noted that the female in the clip didn’t steal anything.

“We don’t even think that [the clerk] had time [to open the register]. We don’t believe he did,” Hoffman also told the station. “She started shooting and then left without anything.”

Hoffman added to WBAL that “this is incredibly brazen; we don’t see incidents like this very often. We have robberies and some thefts in gas stations where somebody may imply a weapon or show a weapon but not use it, and they usually leave with something. Here, we have somebody who just shot and left with nothing.”

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​Attempted robbery, Maryland, Columbia, Gas station store, Female shoots clerk, Suspect arrested, Crime 

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican candidate in California’s gubernatorial race, invests in a new seven-figure television ad set to drop Wednesday, urging voters to cast their ballots for a strong leader.

‘I’m running for governor because California needs a leader tough enough to stand up for us.’

“Typical politicians don’t have the guts to tackle our big problems,” Bianco said.

– YouTube

He pointed to his time as a sheriff, stating, “I’ve deported drug traffickers. I’ve locked up murderers and those who prey on our children and our seniors.”

Bianco pledged to eliminate California’s income tax, protect girls’ sports, and put child sexual predators behind bars for life without parole.

“I’m Chad Bianco, and I’m running for governor because California needs a leader tough enough to stand up for us,” he stated.

Bianco’s top priorities for securing a safer, stronger California include addressing public safety, affordability, education, immigration, homelessness, and housing, among other issues.

“Chad Bianco is committed to restoring trust, protecting our communities, and creating opportunity for every Californian. From public safety to economic growth, his priorities put families first and focus on building a future where we can all thrive,” Bianco’s campaign website reads.

RELATED: Democrats narrow field in California’s crowded gubernatorial race to avoid primary disaster

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

The latest polling from the California Democratic Party showed Republicans Bianco and former Fox News host and small-business owner Steve Hilton beating their Democratic opponents in the race.

Fourteen percent of those surveyed indicated they would vote for Bianco, while 16% said they would cast their ballot for Hilton.

RELATED: Republicans shine in first poll since Eric Swalwell stumbled out of California governor’s race

Chad Bianco. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

Despite the withdrawal of two prominent candidates, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell and former State Controller Betty Yee, the Democratic Party still lacks a clear front-runner in the crowded race. However, former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) has shown improvement in the polls. He secured only 4% of the vote in an April 5 poll but increased his support to 13% in the latest poll on April 17. Becerra appears to be tied with climate advocate and businessman Tom Steyer (D).

Many of those surveyed remain undecided.

California’s primary election will be held on June 2, with the first mail-in ballots being sent out on May 4. The top two vote-earners, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the general election in November.

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​California democratic party, Chad bianco, News, Tom steyer, Xavier becerra, California gubernatorial race, California governor, Steve hilton, Eric swalwell, Betty yee, California, Politics