A North Carolina state probe into the horrific murder of Iryna Zarutska led to a stunning video displaying the ignorance of an embattled sheriff.

Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden was being questioned by Republican state Rep. Allen Chesser when he appeared confused about which branch of the government he serves. He also couldn’t answer how many branches of government there are.

‘This was not where I was anticipating getting stuck. … For the sake of debate, I will move on.’

Chesser was trying to establish some common points in his questioning when he asked McFadden to name the branch his job is associated with.

“What branch of government do you operate under?” Chesser asked.

“Mecklenburg County,” McFadden replied.

“What branch of government do you operate under, Sheriff?” Chesser asked again.

“Constitution of the United States,” the sheriff responded.

“Correct, that is what establishes the branches of government. I’m asking which branch you fall under,” Chesser asked a third time.

“Mecklenburg County, duly sworn Mecklenburg County sheriff. We answer to the people of Mecklenburg County,” McFadden responded.

“This was not where I was anticipating getting stuck. Are you aware of how many branches of government there are?” Chesser asked.

“No,” the sheriff admitted.

“OK. For the sake of debate, I will move on and say there are three branches of government: legislative, executive, judicial. Of those three, which do you believe you fall under?” Chesser asked a fourth time.

“I believe I fall under the last one,” McFadden said.

‘Would you say it to me?” Chesser asked.

“Judicial,” he replied.

“OK. You are incorrect, sir. You fall under the executive,” Chesser responded.

The sheriff previously criticized the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations of the Trump administration.

RELATED: Elon Musk pledges $1 million to honor the memory of Iryna Zarutska — and bring down the media blackout

The sheriff was “eviscerated” at the hearing, according to a description by Axios. Lawmakers criticized him for refusing to take responsibility for failures that included numerous deaths at county jails and accusations of incompetence, misconduct, and abuse.

Chesser posted video of the interaction about the three branches of government to his account.

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When 22-year-old Jabez Chakraborty was shot by NYPD officers in Queens for allegedly charging them with a large kitchen knife, the newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani, claimed that the suspect needs mental health treatment instead of criminal prosecution.

“I spoke with the Chakraborty family, and I visited Jabez in the hospital, and no family should have to endure this kind of pain. Jabez has lived with schizophrenia for many years, and this situation underscores just how urgently we need a different and more effective mental health response system that will be safer for New Yorkers who struggle with mental health concerns, for their families, and for police officers,” Mamdani said following the incident.

“Jabez needs mental health treatment, not criminal prosecution by a district attorney,” he added.

“Who would have thought that coming in and bringing a Muslim commie as your mayor in New York City would have its flaws?” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales jokes, before playing the bodycam footage from the incident.

In the footage, Chakraborty continues charging police officers with the knife after being asked several times to put the knife down. As he gets closer, an officer fires his weapon.

“I would say they gave him quite a bit of warning to put the shiny, very sharp object in his hands down while they were holding a firearm at him. I would say they gave him way more chances than I would have. They retreated. He continued engaging and moving forward,” Gonzales comments.

“Clear-cut case of attempted murder, which prosecutors are looking at potentially charging him with. I don’t know why potentially. It’s right there on camera,” she continues.

“They did everything right, and still, instead of Mamdani congratulating the NYPD, instead of using this as a moment where he’s like, ‘Our officers are very brave, and they are under attack right now; these guys were almost stabbed in the line of duty,’ this is how your new Muslim communist mayor of New York City reacts,” she adds.

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A law enforcement operation found that more than 50 fugitives with felony warrants were taking advantage of taxpayer-funded housing in Columbus, Ohio.

U.S. Marshals partnered with agents from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office on “Operation Clean House,” targeting suspects living in HUD housing.

The warrants issued in the operation included rape, drug trafficking, endangering children, strangulation, and failure to register as a sex offender.

U.S. Marshal Michael Black with the Southern District of Ohio said that HUD reached out to him to cooperate on the operation, which lasted six days.

“Every time we do this, we’re making our community safer, one arrest at a time,” Black said.

The warrants issued in the operation included rape, drug trafficking, endangering children, strangulation, and failure to register as a sex offender.

“One of the houses, we recovered an AK-47. There were some drugs recovered,” Black said. “You know, one individual that’s wanted for felony strangulation, sex offenders, child abandonment, and numerous other violations.”

WCMH-TV was present at two arrests. One was a woman with felony warrants for weapons charges, and the other was a woman with a warrant for probation violation for aggravated burglary, assault, and ID fraud.

RELATED: ‘This is where ICE has come to die’: Self-identified Antifa member arrested for threats against federal agents, DOJ says

Thirty HUD agents were involved, and all the arrests were conducted without any critical incidents.

“Criminals are on notice — we will not tolerate crime in HUD-funded housing,” HUD Sec. Scott Turner said on social media. “The Trump Administration will ensure public housing is safe housing and taxpayer funds do not support criminal activity.”

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The 2026 Grammy Awards were supposed to celebrate music, creativity, and artistic diversity, but instead they became a showcase for Hollywood elites pushing the same political narratives.

“The pack mentality is strong,” film critic Christian Toto tells BlazeTV host Stu Burguiere on “Stu Does America.”

“The rhetoric is pretty familiar. It’s often ugly. It’s often ill-informed. And you know, for a while there, these award shows were political. There were a lot of lectures, a lot of woke asides, and then it seemed like they tapped the breaks on that. They’ve been a little bit less so in recent years,” he continues.

However that’s changing, yet again.

“I think we’re veering back into it, it’s all full-steam ahead at this point. And I can’t imagine what the Oscars will be, because last night was ugly at times, and even Trevor Noah, you know, not only his crack against President Trump, which could be litigious, but basically calling out Nicki Minaj just because she supports Trump,” Toto says.

“Aren’t we allowed to do that?” he asks.

And of course, one of the most culturally important voices — at least to the left — was this year’s Super Bowl halftime performer Bad Bunny.

When Bad Bunny accepted his Grammy, the first thing he said was, “Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out.” He went on to say that immigrants are not “savages,” “aliens,” or “animals,” but rather “humans” and “Americans.”

“If you’re a citizen you are, but those aren’t the people we’re talking about removing. We’re talking about removing people that are not Americans. That is the difference. And they just have no concept of this,” Stu comments.

Sticking to the liberal talking points, Billie Eilish also decided to bash Immigration and Customs Enforcement in her acceptance speech at the Grammys, telling the wealthy audience that “no one is illegal on stolen land.”

“I have to credit Matt Walsh for a great point, which is like if there’s no one that’s illegal, then you can’t steal land,” Stu says.

“There’s a point where Sabrina Carpenter is out in the audience,” he continues, “she’s this little, you know, pop star, and she’s just looking up and clapping with these, like, just innocent, dullard eyes, just this, like, ‘Oh my gosh, what you’re saying is so important,’ just this moronic nonsense, and it just summarizes everything in Hollywood.”

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing calls from lawmakers and critics to resign over his appointment of Peter Mandelson, a known associate and possible informant of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as the United Kingdom’s ambassador to the United States.

While Starmer’s right-hand man, Morgan McSweeney, resigned on Sunday over his involvement with Mandelson’s appointment, the prime minister doesn’t appear keen to meaningfully accept any responsibility himself — a reluctance now supported by many of his liberal allies in the British government.

A short-lived appointment

Starmer appointed Mandelson — known in British political circles as the “Prince of Darkness” — as ambassador to the U.S. in December 2024, claiming he would “bring unrivaled experience to the role.”

Starmer’s choice was controversial at the time.

‘The game’s up, mate, and it’s time you recognized it.’

After all, Mandelson had not only publicly described the recently re-elected Donald Trump as a “danger to the world” and “little short of a white nationalist and racist,” but was an associate of Epstein long after Epstein pleaded to soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.

A source told the BBC that when Starmer made the decision, “The Epstein stuff in broad terms was definitely known and discussed in detail before his appointment.”

RELATED: Why are so many people all of a sudden saying Epstein is alive?

Peter Mandelson. Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Emails released last year revealed that the Starmer pick was not only chummy with Epstein, but had grown close enough with the sex offender to apparently regard him as his “best pal.”

The Foreign Office announced on Sept. 11 that Mandelson had been withdrawn as ambassador, noting that the “emails show that the depth and extent of Peter Mandelson’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein is materially different from that known at the time of his appointment.”

“In particular Peter Mandelson’s suggestion that Jeffrey Epstein’s first conviction was wrongful and should be challenged is new information,” added the Foreign Office.

It gets worse

Any hopes that Starmer’s office may have had of putting the Mandelson appointment in the rearview mirror were dashed by the Department of Justice’s latest release of the Epstein files, which contains emails showing that Mandelson was not only tight with Epstein but possibly furnished him with confidential government information.

The New York Times noted, for instance, that newly released emails appear to reveal that Mandelson provided Epstein with a confidential economic memorandum that had been sent to former Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The documents also reportedly indicate that Epstein paid Mandelson $75,000 across three separate transactions in the early 2000s.

Mandelson announced earlier this month that he was leaving Starmer’s Labour Party to spare it from “further embarrassment.”

In a Feb. 1 letter to the party’s general secretary, Mandelson claimed that he had no record or recollection of financial payments from Epstein; he regretted “ever having known Epstein”; and had dedicated his “life to the values and success of the Labour Party.”

Mandelson is presently under investigation for possible misconduct in public office.

Starmer digs in heels

Days after his appointee left the Labour Party, Starmer gave a speech, stating, “Sorry that so many people with power failed you. Sorry for having believed Mandelson’s lies and appointed him.”

After insinuating that he was deceived by Mandelson, Starmer suggested that he will remain in the role of prime minister to “ensure accountability is delivered.”

Apparently, accountability for Starmer meant letting Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney fall on his sword.

In a statement obtained by the Spectator concerning his resignation on Sunday, McSweeney wrote, “The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country, and trust in politics itself.”

McSweeney, an apparent protégé of Mandelson, claimed that he advised Starmer to make the appointment and that the “only honorable course is to step aside.”

On Monday, Starmer’s director of communications, Tim Allan, also quit “to allow a new No. 10 team to be built.”

Neither resignation appears to have placated those in the British Parliament keen to see Starmer shoulder some blame.

Calls to resign

Anas Sarwar, the leader of the Scottish Labour Party, said on Monday, “The leadership from Downing Street has to change,” reported ITVX.

“We cannot allow the failures at the heart of Downing Street to mean the failures continue here in Scotland,” continued Sarwar. “They promised they were going to be different, but too much has happened. It cannot continue.”

Clive Lewis, a member of Starmer’s party, suggested that upon reflection, it’s clear the Labour Party is “ruined” and needs to be rebuilt without its current leadership.

Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK Party, told GB News, “It’s over; it’s done. The game’s up, mate, and it’s time you recognized it.”

“He’s lost legitimacy, he’s lost authority, events have moved way beyond his control, and I’m afraid it’s all down to his own grievous misjudgment,” continued Farage. “But remember, even before the Peter Mandelson case, he was already the most unpopular prime minister in living memory.”

On Monday, Starmer stated, “After having fought so hard for the chance to change our country, I’m not prepared to walk away from my mandate and my responsibility to my country, or to plunge us into chaos, as others have done,” reported the Guardian.

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The Department of Justice’s publication last month of over 3 million additional pages, 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images from the Jeffrey Epstein files provided the public with new insights into the child sex offender, his degeneracy, his business dealings, and his international network of affluent friends.

The files, which are replete with odd and in many cases damning communications — already triggering at least one criminal investigation in the United Kingdom — have prompted renewed interest in a number of theories about Epstein.

While many sleuths poring over the files have zeroed in on references to cannibalism and accusations of Epstein and his inner circle allegedly engaging in “ritualistic sacrifice,” others appear more focused on what the files have to say about the sex offender’s reported death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City.

Citing discrepancies in the official narrative, admissions about falsified records, and viral claims on social media, skeptics have long theorized that Epstein did not kill himself but was murdered or possibly even secreted away in August 2019.

Despite the newly available autopsy photos and details, these theories are enjoying a second life due in part to certain details in the new files, a viral image of a bearded look-alike, and signs of activity on a video game account name associated with the sex offender.

Epstein in Tel Aviv

An image went viral earlier this month purportedly showing a bearded Jeffrey Epstein alive and well in Israel. On closer examination, however, the image — which was popularized in part by a self-described “unapologetic Muslim Palestinian” and by a Middle Eastern-based news account — showed signs of AI manipulation and/or generation.

For starters, the wording on the street signs is reportedly “gibberish,” providing not only incorrect Hebrew and Arabic lettering but in one case referencing a road that doesn’t appear to exist.

RELATED: Bill Clinton accuses GOP of setting up ‘kangaroo court’ over Epstein testimony — and demands public hearing

The Metropolitan Correctional Center. Photo by Don Emmert / AFP via Getty Images.

The supposed photograph of Epstein in Tel Aviv also appears to be a cropped version of an image that appeared days earlier bearing a Gemini AI watermark on the subreddit r/hardaiimages — a destination for AI-generated images designed to give viewers pause.

The pre-emptive death notice

In line with the official narrative, the newly released FBI New York Field Office report regarding Epstein’s death — which includes images of paramedics apparently attempting to revive the sex offender, an image of his corpse without his arm tattoo visible, images of his broken hyoid bone and breaks in his thyroid cartilage, and images of his apparent scene of death — asserts that Epstein was found unresponsive and died as the result of an apparent suicide on the morning of Aug. 10, 2019.

However, one of the other newly released files suggested that Epstein died a day earlier.

In the document, which is dated Aug. 9, 2019, then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Geoffrey Berman stated, “Earlier this morning, the Manhattan Correctional Center confirmed that Jeffrey Epstein, who faced charges brought by this Office of engaging in the sex trafficking of minors, had been found unresponsive in his cell and pronounced dead shortly thereafter.”

‘Someone’s been having fun renaming their Fortnite account.’

“Today’s events are disturbing, and we are deeply aware of their potential to present yet another hurdle to giving Epstein’s many victims their day in Court,” Berman added.

The date on the release as it appears now with an “updated” note on the Justice Department website is Aug. 10, 2019.

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

While the incorrect date might simply be a typo in a draft release, many online have speculated it is an indication of foreknowledge of Epstein’s real or faked death.

Gaming from beyond the grave

Some sleuths who dug into the new trove of Epstein files found mention of the child sex offender’s YouTube username, “littlestjeff1.” They also found possible evidence that Epstein was active in the video gaming ecosystem after his permanent ban from Xbox live in the form of a May 7, 2019, email highlighting a $25.95 charge for the virtual currency in the game Fortnite.

Justice Department.

In a massively viral and widely shared tweet, the X user @Truthpole noted that some individuals “matched this exact username to a Fortnite profile on Fortnite Tracker … which showed stats like Silver 1 rank in Chapter 5 Season 1 (post-2019), wins into 2025, and past activity flagged in Israel.”

The suggestion that Epstein may have been active on Fortnite after his supposed death was not only advanced in viral posts by other accounts on X but on other social media platforms, including Instagram.

The claim was all the more provocative after littlestjeff1’s stats were set to private earlier this month, according to archived page captures highlighted by Snopes.

Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Fornite’s developer and publisher Epic Games, weighed in on Feb. 6 to pour cold water on this particular theory, writing, “Someone’s been having fun renaming their Fortnite account, but it’s recent and not connected to the email addresses in the archive.”

The official Fortnite Status account similarly piped up, stating, “This was a ruse by a Fortnite player.”

“A few days ago, an existing Fortnite account owner changed their username from something totally unrelated to littlestjeff1, following the revelation of littlestjeff1 as a name on YouTube,” the official Fortnite account said. “These Fortnite trackers only display your current name, not any prior changes to it.”

The Fortnite Status account noted further, “We have no record of the subject’s email addresses referenced in the public document existing in the Epic account system. Since the public document releases, people have created Fortnite accounts with similar-looking email addresses and user names.”

When challenged on this explanation and prompted to account for why the apparent Epstein handle appeared to be associated with the game user in a third-party, year-end recap detailing player results in 2025, Fornite Status noted, “Fortnite gg Wrapped shows the account’s current name with stats from 2025.”

Skepticism still abounds about the explanation from Epic Games, given the mention of the digital Fortnite currency purchase in the Epstein emails; however, in that email, both the sender and the recipient’s addresses were redacted. Snopes suggested that other correspondences in the files indicate the game currency purchase pertained to a mother and her child.

Besides eyebrow-raising video game activity, fake sightings, and a questionable DOJ memo, skeptics have also raised questions about other findings in the files, including the mention in an FBI memorandum of a “flash of orange” spotted on surveillance footage heading toward the isolated prison tier where Epstein was housed the night before his body was reportedly found.

A 2023 report on Epstein’s death released by the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General identified the “orange shape” as a corrections officer carrying linen or inmate clothing.

Video forensic experts expressed to CBS News in August that they were “skeptical about that interpretation and suggested that the shape could be a person dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit climbing the stairs.”

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While many are debating the meaning of the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, at least one left-wing influencer was caught trying to peddle misinformation to rile up both sides.

Ed Krassenstein posted that a little boy included in the show was Liam Ramos, the 5-year-old who was abandoned by his father during an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation and became a left-wing cause célèbre.

‘Holy racism you dumb f**k. … Nice self-own.’

“Many of you may have missed this, but the little boy who Bad Bunny handed his Grammy to at the Super Bowl was Liam Ramos! Amazing!” Krassenstein wrote.

The claim was immediately contradicted online, and Krassenstein was mocked and ridiculed for what many saw as a racist suggestion.

“It’s not Liam Ramos. This is a child actor named Lincoln Fox,” read a community note attached to the post on the X platform. The note linked to an Instagram account for the child actor confirming his presence at the game.

“Leftist thinks all Hispanic kids look the same,” podcaster Brittany Hughes joked.

“Pretty racist … to assume that all brown people are the same and that one kid is the same as another without even checking,” one critic said.

“Not only is this wrong, but it’s racist. And instead of deleting and posting an update, you’re keeping it up because you’re desperate for a few bucks,” another user said.

“Pretty racist of you to see a little Hispanic boy and assume it’s the one little Hispanic boy whose name you know,” another popular response reads.

“Holy racism you dumb f**k. All Hispanic kids look the same to you? They’re not even the same age or complexion you dips**t. Nice self-own. … Don’t ever preach from your pulpit again, d**khead,” another detractor responded.

“It’s not the same kid you absolute buffoon. Kid is about 4 inches taller than you though,” one user joked.

Krassenstein added a second message saying there were conflicting reports about the child. He eventually admitted the child was an actor but did not delete the first post, which got over 11 million impressions.

RELATED: ‘State-of-the-art’: GOP congressman pre-empts Crockett’s ‘grandstanding’ with glimpse inside ICE facility in Texas

A publicist for Bad Bunny rejected the claim to NPR Music and confirmed the boy was an actor.

The halftime show was also criticized by many who were angered that the music artist rapped almost entirely in Spanish, and one brief shot showed two men dancing suggestively with each other.

Turning Point USA’s alternative halftime show starring Kid Rock had more than 6.1 million viewers tune in on its YouTube livestream, according to the New York Times.

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Hollywood celebrities love nothing more than lecturing everyday Americans on morality, politics, and how we should live — but of course, their hypocrisy is hard to ignore.

“We’ve got all the hypocrisy in the world coming from Hollywood. These are not our moral exemplars, and they really don’t have as much influence over our elections as they think they do,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says.

“Thank the Lord. Otherwise, Donald Trump wouldn’t have won in 2016. He wouldn’t have won in 2024. So, we can continue to highlight their hypocrisy just as a good reminder that we shouldn’t be looking to them in any way,” she continues, noting that there are some exceptions — like Jelly Roll’s recent Grammys speech about Jesus Christ.

“There was a time in my life, y’all, that I was broken. That’s why I wrote this album. I didn’t think I had a chance, y’all. There was days that I thought the darkest things. I was a horrible human. There was a moment in my life that all I had was a Bible this big and a radio the same size in a 6-by-8-foot cell,” he said at the Grammys.

“And I believed that those two things could change my life. I believed that music had the power to change my life, and God had the power to change my life. And I want to tell y’all right now, Jesus is for everybody. Jesus is not owned by one political party. Jesus is not owned by no music label. Jesus is Jesus, and anybody can have a relationship with him. I love you, Lord,” he continued.

“Yes and amen,” Stuckey responds. “That is absolutely true. Love people giving glory to God in moments like that instead of saying stupid things about politics.”

“There’s no better news than the news that Jelly Roll just told us of the gospel,” she adds.

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Despite overwhelming support from the American electorate, over the past month Democrats have ratcheted up attacks on Republican-led nationwide voter ID legislation. On Sunday, Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.) slammed the attacks from his party in an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”

During the wide-ranging interview, the conversation turned toward the SAVE Act, a bill that would require voters to show government-issued identification to register to vote in federal elections. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 36 states currently have voter identification laws.

‘As a Democrat, I do not believe it’s radical or extreme to just produce ID to vote.’

Host Maria Bartiromo asked Fetterman, “Why it is so difficult to get the SAVE Act into the portfolio and onto the floor? What’s wrong with having an ID to vote?”

The senator responded, “As a Democrat, I do not believe that it’s unreasonable to show ID just to vote. And I remind everybody that less than a year ago in Wisconsin, they added that to the constitution by a 63%, you know, passing to put that in the constitution, that you have to show ID to vote.”

Fetterman’s statement stands in stark contrast to his fellow Democratic senators, such as Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), who went on ABC News’ “This Week” to fearmonger about voter ID laws by saying people “don’t have the proper Real ID, driver’s license, don’t have the ID necessary to vote, even though they are citizens. This is another way to simply try to suppress the vote.”

RELATED: ‘Vast majority’ of Americans of all races agree with Nicki Minaj about voter ID, says CNN analyst

Fetterman responded to those sorts of attacks from members of his party by highlighting the results of a recent Wisconsin election. He said, “They also elected a very, very liberal justice into their supreme court. So it’s not a radical idea for regular Americans to show your ID to vote.”

On February 2, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) labeled the SAVE Act “Jim Crow 2.0” in a Senate floor speech. The minority leader said, “Now as for the SAVE Act itself: It has nothing to do with protecting our elections and everything to do with federalizing voter suppression. The SAVE Act is nothing more than Jim Crow 2.0.”

Fetterman is not buying that characterization: “Those things are not Jim Crow or anything.”

The senator from Pennsylvania’s position is in line with a large majority of American voters. CNN polling analyst Harry Enten recently told his audience, “A photo ID to vote is not controversial in this country. It is not controversial by party — and it is not controversial by race. The vast majority of Americans agree with Nicki Minaj.”

Minaj has also expressed support for voter ID laws.

Enten’s data showed that over 75% of Americans favor a photo ID to vote, including the highest support on record in 2025 at 83%.

In closing, Fetterman said, “As a Democrat, I do not believe it’s radical or extreme to just produce ID to vote.”

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