Iconic movie star Patrick Stewart has died at the age of 86, according to a spokesperson.

Stewart is beloved for his portrayals of Jean-Luc Picard in the “Star Trek” franchise as well as Charles Xavier in the “X-Men” series of movies.

‘Playing Jean-Luc for all those years had a real impact on me.’

“He has been held in the warm embrace of family and friends, surrounded by live music, prayer, tears, laughter, and the kind of profound emotion that only he could inspire after a lifetime of devotion to us all,” wrote Kelly Bush Novak, his spokesperson. “We will forever cherish the peaceful ease and reflection on his face, an enduring reminder of his invincible grace.”

Stewart was well known as a classical actor in his home country of Britain, but he skyrocketed to fame around the globe after being cast in 1987 as the lead in “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” which became a lasting hit.

After the award-winning series ended in 1994, Stewart feared being typecast in sci-fi roles but decided to take up the mantle of Professor X in the adaptation of the famed “X-Men” comic books.

RELATED: BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY: My dumb furnace boldly goes where smart appliances fail

The opportunity led to iconic scenes between Stewart and his longtime friend Ian McKellen, who portrayed the comic-book villain Magneto.

Stewart compared the two characters in an interview in 2017.

“Both of them … I immensely admired for their morality, for their kindness, for their sensitivity, for their compassion,” Stewart said. “Even for their intellectual capacities. Playing Jean-Luc for all those years had a real impact on me.”

Queen Elizabeth II knighted Stewart in 2010.

He passed away at his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday after a brief battle with Alzheimer’s Disease and Lewy body dementia.

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​Queen elizabeth ii, Alzheimers disease, Patrick stewart, Obituaries, Human interest 

Texas is at a crossroads, and with Democrats gaining ground in the upcoming election, Governor Greg Abbott (R) says the stakes have never been higher.

And Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck is well aware.

“We now have CAIR Action, whose parent group is a terrorist organization — designated a terrorist organization — listed your opponent now for governor as their preferred candidate,” Glenn Beck tells Governor Greg Abbott.

“That’s an endorsement I wouldn’t want,” he adds.

“This is just one of many extreme contrasts between myself and my opponent, Gina Hinojosa,” Abbott agrees.

“What most people don’t know is that my opponent is to the far radical left of Talarico. My opponent was the number-one leftist Democrat in the Texas House of Representatives, and her position with regard to CAIR, with regard to Sharia law, is just one of them,” he explains.

While Abbott signed a law that banned Sharia compounds in the state of Texas, Hinojosa “supports Sharia law in the state of Texas.”

“What voters need to know here in the state of Texas is that this election is a referendum. Are we going to ban Sharia law in the state of Texas, which is what we will be doing this next session if I am governor?” Abbott says. “Or are we going to allow Sharia law to expand in the state of Texas, which would happen if my opponent, Gina Hinojosa, is elected to the governor’s office?”

But it is not just Sharia law that is on the ballot.

“I’m concerned that, you know, Texas has always been on the forefront of the future. With oil and gas, we could be the strongest nation in the world, if it wasn’t for the United States. Texas could be, because of all the energy that we have and all of the development that we have here,” Glenn tells Abbott.

“And I worry about the left coming in and crushing us on energy again and then crushing us on data centers and things like Elon Musk, who is transforming the way we get to space here in Texas,” he adds.

“Your concern is so very real,” Abbott responds.

“When Hurricane Harvey hit in Texas in 2017, my opponent was a member of the Texas House of Representatives. She said the only way forward from a hurricane like that is with a Texas Green New Deal,” he explains.

“She then proposed taxes and regulations on the oil and gas sector. She proposed an environmental justice agency in the state of Texas that would be monitoring the oil and gas sector,” he says.

“Her radical, crazy oil and gas policies would send hundreds of thousands of Texans to the unemployment line. It would lead to a destruction of our oil and gas sector. Texas would become more like California, as opposed to Texas, with regard to what we’re doing on oil and gas, and it would lead to skyrocketing prices at the pump,” he continues.

“It would be devastating to our state, devastating to America,” he adds.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Glenn beck, Greg abbott, James talarico, Gina hinojosa, Texas, Midterms, Blazetv show 

A 65-year-old Florida male who uses a wheelchair is accused of knifing a woman on a bus while she was holding a child, WPLG-TV reported, citing police.

The Lauderhill Police Department arrested Willie Lester Benjamin shortly after the incident, which took place just before 7 a.m. Monday in the 2900 block of 56th Avenue, the station said, citing an arrest report.

The bus driver said Benjamin and the woman had previously argued aboard the bus over ‘seating arrangements,’ the station said, citing the arrest report.

Police said Benjamin and the woman argued over the designated wheelchair seating area on the bus, WPLG reported.

Benjamin was trying to maneuver his wheelchair into the area the woman occupied, police told the station; the police report said that when she refused to move, Benjamin ran over the woman’s feet.

The argument continued as the bus approached Benjamin’s intended stop, police told WPLG.

But as Benjamin moved toward the bus exit, he pulled out a black pocketknife with a blade measuring approximately four inches and lunged toward the seated woman, the station said, citing the arrest report.

Police said Benjamin struck the woman with the knife, causing a superficial injury to her left forearm, WPLG reported. Police added that the woman sustained minor injuries and declined medical treatment from local fire rescue crews, the station said.

RELATED: Knife-wielding male stabs mother, daughter in random attack, cops say — but arriving deputy puts stop to threat with his gun

Image source: Broward County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office

Investigators spoke with the bus driver, who corroborated the circumstances surrounding the incident, WPLG reported. The bus driver said Benjamin and the woman had previously argued aboard the bus over “seating arrangements,” the station said, citing the arrest report.

Benjamin’s wife, who also was aboard the bus, confirmed that the two had experienced “prior negative interactions,” police told WPLG.

Police told the station the woman indicated to investigators that she wanted to pursue charges.

Benjamin was taken into custody and taken to the Broward County Main Jail, where records show he is facing one count of aggravated battery causing bodily harm or disability, WPLG said, adding that his bond amount had not been set.

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​Florida, Arrest, Knife attack, Wheelchair, Bus, Child, Woman, Aggravated battery, Elderly man, Crime 

“Operation Ghostbusters” is nabbing scammers stealing tens of millions of taxpayer cash — and sending it back to Kenya.

Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald explained the details of “Operation Ghostbusters” in a media briefing Thursday to reporters.

‘If you steal American identities, if you steal taxpayer dollars, if you exploit programs meant to help students build their future, we are resolved to find you and prosecute you.’

The operation targeted scammers in the Kenyan community who allegedly stole Americans’ identities in order to create “ghost” students and then fraudulently file for financial aid from the federal government.

To express the scale of the fraud involved, McDonald said that one-third of the applications to community colleges were tagged as possible fraud in the state of California.

“These are not isolated errors. This is organized fraud at scale,” said McDonald.

Heith Janke, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Division, said they have identified $32 million in losses but the total could top many tens of millions of dollars.

“This stops now,” said Janke. “The FBI, working hand-in-hand with our partners at the Department of Education and Department of Justice, will follow all evidence, track every dollar, and pursue each criminal who seeks to exploit our nation’s systems.”

There are over 40 open cases related to the investigation that includes 26 FBI field offices and more than 20 U.S. attorney’s offices.

The operation has led to indictments against five people in New Jersey, Nebraska, and other states. The feds also seized more than $750,000 worth of cryptocurrency with ties to networks in Kenya.

The scammers are using artificial intelligence in order to apply for the financial aid as well as complete school coursework to keep the aid flowing. Some scammers are even creating the “appearance” of fake students in online classrooms so that schools believe a real person is present.

RELATED: Feeding Our Future scammer CRIES in court at sentencing for bribing juror with $120K

The investigation linked more than 830,000 student financial aid accounts that were potentially a part of the fraud scam.

McDonald said the charges were “just the beginning” and others are expected.

“If you steal American identities, if you steal taxpayer dollars, if you exploit programs meant to help students build their future, we are resolved to find you and prosecute you,” he added.

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​Department of justice, Kenya, Fraud, Education, Politics 

President Donald Trump is in South Carolina with just a few days before the midterm election as polls show Republicans in a tough battle in the typically red state.

Trump is holding a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Thursday, his second trip to the state in less than two weeks. He hopes to spark added enthusiasm for Republicans, especially Michael Whatley, running for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina, and Sen. Darline Graham, who was appointed after her brother, longtime Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), passed away unexpectedly in July.

‘Republicans are taking nothing for granted.’

The city of Rock Hill is strategically located for Trump’s purposes. For one thing, Rock Hill is just a half-hour south of Charlotte, North Carolina, so the president’s appearance there is sure to draw crowds from all over the region.

Notably, it is also in the district represented by Rep. Ralph Norman, who unsuccessfully challenged Darline Graham in the Republican Senate primary runoff in August.

Some Norman supporters remain skeptical of Graham and have even launched a write-in campaign that could spoil Graham’s chances of winning the election against Democrat Annie Andrews.

According to Blaze News’ Poll Watch, Graham maintains a razor-thin lead of just 1.7 points, and a New York Times/Sienna poll has the race tied. Even if the Norman write-in campaign siphons just a few thousand Republican votes away from Graham, it could be enough to tilt the election to Andrews.

RELATED: Trump-backed Sen. Graham wins South Carolina runoff

“The president is coming to Ralph Norman territory to rally people around Darline Graham and to say that if you vote for Ralph Norman, you are actually voting for Annie Andrews,” said Brent Nelsen, a professor of politics and international affairs at Furman University, according to WCSC.

Before Sen. Lindsey Graham died, his re-election was considered all but assured. While some Republican insiders have reportedly expressed alarm about his sister’s chances, Trump and others remain optimistic.

“She’s doing well,” Trump said of Darline Graham Wednesday, according to Scripps News. “She’s up.”

An unnamed Republican National Committee official likewise characterized Darline Graham as a “commonsense conservative” running in a state “President Trump has carried three times.”

Still, the official added, “Republicans are taking nothing for granted. We are getting out the vote every single day in every single state to make sure that the president is able to maintain the Republican majorities in the House and the Senate.”

Michael Whatley’s prospects in neighboring North Carolina are more sobering. Blaze News’ Poll Watch shows Democrat former Gov. Roy Cooper with a comfortable lead of over 10 points.

In addition to the rally, Trump has used social media to promote Whatley and to slam Cooper’s shaky record as governor, especially regarding crime and public safety.

“There has never been a Governor with such a bad record on Crime, and there never will be!” Trump posted about Cooper earlier this month.

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​Darline graham, Donald trump, Lindsey graham, Michael whatley, South carolina, Politics 

Earlier this week, a story out of Helena, Montana, gained national attention for its sensational headline: “Helena man charged with felony for shouting at man to ‘go back to his country.’”

Many assumed that the headlines were exaggerating the case, or that there was at least more to the story.

The felony charge comes with a maximum punishment of five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Blaze News obtained the court documents for the case, and the truth is almost as surprising as the headlines.

According to news reports, a man identified as Jaxton Collins was charged with a felony for allegedly shouting at an Indian man to “go back to his country.”

According to the documents, that detail is apparently not an exaggeration.

Helena police officers responded to a report of assault on the evening of August 7 at the walking mall in Lewis and Clark County, the affidavit said.

RELATED: Foreign-born congressman has a different celebration in mind for America’s most patriotic month

Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

The complainant claimed that he and his friends, at least one of whom was Indian and wearing a head covering, were walking around the mall when a male “in an orange shirt wearing a large cross necklace” approached them.

The suspect approached the Indian man, “shoved him with both hands,” and “told him to go back to his country,” the affidavit said.

Police soon after identified and questioned the suspect, who told them that he had been drinking at Gold Bar. He admitted to shouting the phrase “because he was angry” but denied shoving the Indian man at any time, the affidavit said.

The defendant, Jaxton Collins, faces two charges: a felony malicious intimidation charge and a misdemeanor assault charge.

Under Montana law, a person is guilty of malicious intimidation or harassment relating to civil or human rights when the person, “because of another person’s race, creed, religion, color, national origin, or involvement in civil rights or human rights activities, the person purposely or knowingly, with the intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy, or offend,” either causes bodily harm, the apprehension of bodily harm, or the damage of property.

The felony charge comes with a maximum punishment of five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Blaze News contacted the Lewis and Clark County attorney’s office for comment relating to the charges but did not immediately receive a response.

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​Civil rights, District attorney, Montana, Politics 

Flávio Bolsonaro has fled Brazil after losing a presidential election he entered as the favorite. He finished ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the first round, then — if the reporting is accurate — lost Sunday’s runoff by more than 4 million votes.

Within days, a Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered Flávio to surrender his passports in connection with a money-laundering investigation. He denies wrongdoing. He instead reached Miami, where the Trump administration has agreed to admit him and his family. His father, Jair Bolsonaro, is serving a 27-year sentence under house arrest. The Brazilian right has lost an election and watched its most prominent family come under the power of a judiciary it rightly regards as openly hostile.

Republicans should prepare to defend the constitutional order while they still have the power to do so. Nobody is coming to save us.

The election itself was hardly free of controversy. As voting was supposed to end, Supreme Court Justice Cristiano Zanin — who previously represented Lula — ordered polling times extended by two hours after complaints about “transportation problems.” Some polling places had already shut down. The order was then narrowed to those still open. Flávio challenged the result. The final margin was far larger than the number of votes cast after the ordinary closing time, so that extension alone cannot explain Lula’s victory. It does not follow that every concern about how Brazil conducted the election has been settled.

Jair Bolsonaro was a controversial president who openly rejected the fashionable positions of the global elite on abortion, affirmative action, drugs, and religion. He sought closer ties with America and Israel. After losing to Lula in 2022, he questioned the integrity of the electronic voting system, claiming voting machines had been hacked. Brazil’s Supreme Court subsequently convicted him of attempting a coup and sentenced him to 27 years and three months. Bolsonaro denies the charges. His supporters see the prosecution as political punishment; his opponents see it as the defense of constitutional order. The sentence carries the force of law. It does not oblige anyone to surrender his judgment about the court.

Without a thorough review of both elections by independent organizations, it is impossible to know whether the Brazilian races were fraudulent. Given the progressive political leanings of most of the organizations that conduct such reviews, it is unlikely they would declare the elections legitimate if blatant evidence was uncovered.

Even if an independent agency did claim that one or both Bolsonaros had been cheated out of a victory, it is unlikely that there is a government or international body willing to take action to pressure Brazil into removing Lula and installing Flávio. The results of the elections may appear highly suspect, but Lula remains in office and will be allowed to further consolidate power and punish his enemies. Without an outside authority to which they can appeal, Brazilian conservatives appear trapped in an increasingly dangerous political situation.

RELATED: Democracy may be dying. Conservatives can’t sit this one out.

Blaze Media Illustration

American conservatives should recognize the danger. Donald Trump lost a bitterly contested election in 2020, fought the result in court, faced criminal prosecutions connected to efforts to overturn it, and eventually returned to the White House. The parallels are hard to miss. When judges and prosecutors become participants in an all-or-nothing political struggle, appeals to their neutrality will satisfy fewer and fewer Americans.

Meanwhile, American progressives are making plans for a new institutional crisis of their own.

Recordings released by DataRepublican show figures associated with the United Democracy Alliance discussing “red lines” for treating the federal government as illegitimate, an options memo for governors, and the possibility of a constitutional “refounding moment” — i.e., replacing the Constitution. One participant described the crisis as “a real window of opportunity”; another spoke of an “extra constitutional process.”

Contingency planning is one thing. Treating a breakdown as the opportunity to replace the constitutional order is quite another. Why are these people developing criteria for when elected national institutions may be discarded, and who authorized them to decide?

RELATED: The GOP still has a loser mentality

Blaze Media Illustration

Republicans respond as if the next constitutional crisis can be resolved with speeches. They have failed to turn much of Trump’s agenda into durable law. The House passed the SAVE America Act, but Republicans have failed to get it through the Senate. Party leaders who warn of election disorder have been unable to enact one of their own signature election bills.

To call congressional Republicans a total failure may be too generous. Failure assumes they were trying. Too many seem content to run out the clock on Trump and wait for MAGA to loosen its hold on the party. They would rather preserve their place in a failing political arrangement and throw the country into chaos than confront the possibility that the establishment itself needs to be replaced.

Conservatives had better understand what time it is. A stern lecture about civic responsibility will not stop a riot. Brilliant arguments about separation of powers will not restrain officials determined to bend the rules. A court’s seal does not make every political judgment impartial. If a constitutional crisis arrives, the right will need more than faith that its opponents will play fair.

The Bolsonaros can come to America. Americans have nowhere else to go. There will be no neutral power waiting offshore to repair our institutions, no foreign president to return the country to us. Republicans should prepare to defend the constitutional order while they still have the power to do so. Nobody is coming to save us.

​Donald trump, Jair bolsonaro, Money laundering, Presidential election, Save america act, Voting machines, Election integrity, Brazil, Luiz inacio lula da silva, Republicans, Opinion & analysis 

War Department Secretary Pete Hegseth has added to the pile of terminations at the Pentagon with the firing of the military’s top planner, according to sources to CBS News.

A Pentagon official told CBS News that Army Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia had failed three polygraph tests about providing information to the press. Sylvia spent 11 months as the director for strategy, plans, and policy of the Pentagon Joint Staff.

‘Our commitment was not an empty promise. We vowed to find you, and we meant it.’

The official, who spoke to CBS on the condition of anonymity, claimed Sylvia leaked classified information related to the Iran conflict as well as the Russia-Ukraine War.

Sylvia’s firing was first reported by the Atlantic.

CBS said two other Pentagon sources confirmed that Sylvia’s firing was related to the polygraph tests, but both said the accusations against Sylvia were untrue.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell referred to the action in a post on social media without naming Sylvia.

“The Department of War has zero tolerance for the intentional, unauthorized disclosure of classified information. Anyone who compromises sensitive national security information puts the lives of our Warriors at risk and undermines every military operation that keeps our country safe,” Parnell wrote.

He said the agency took “necessary personnel action” to protect sensitive information after an “extensive” investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

“To protect the integrity of the investigation, no further comment will be made regarding the individual or the circumstances of this action. This matter, along with others, have been referred to the Justice Department for potential further legal action,” he added.

A spokesperson for the Joint Staff had initially released a statement praising Sylvia for his 32 years of service in the military, but the spokesperson later retracted that statement.

“Upon further review, we determined that the statement did not appropriately reflect the full circumstances,” the spokesperson said. “Out of respect for the servicemember and the ongoing personnel process, we will not comment further.”

RELATED: MS Now host implodes over Hegseth saying, ‘We leave no man behind,’ after pilot rescue

President Donald Trump responded to the development by telling reporters Sylvia has “big” problems.

“We’re very much looking for leakers,” he added.

“Classified information is not personal property,” Parnell continued. “Leaking it for personal, political, or professional gain is a betrayal of the trust placed in those responsible for keeping it. Our commitment was not an empty promise. We vowed to find you, and we meant it.”

Sylvia did not respond to the AP’s requests for comment. Blaze News’ attempts to contact Sylvia were unsuccessful.

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​Iran, Pete hegseth, Politics, Us military, War department 

In 2007, British-Canadian historian Rafe Heydel-Mankoo — whose parents immigrated to the U.K. in the 1960s — warned that the English were suffering the “greatest identity crisis” in all of Europe.

BlazeTV host Nick Freitas tells Heydel-Mankoo that the state of Britain today — with all its sectarian “demonstrations” — proves that he was “correct.”

“What did you see in 2007 that so many people failed to see?” he asks the New Culture Forum senior fellow.

“I saw obviously the beginning of identity politics, and of course, within the United Kingdom, we have the Scots, the Welsh, the Northern Irish, and the English. And it seemed as if when the Scots and the Welsh waved their flags, it was called progressive nationalism, but when the English did it, it was somehow racist,” says Heydel-Mankoo.

He notes the deep irony of this dynamic.

“England made the modern world with the Industrial Revolution, the creation of America, Canada, Australia, the English language, common law, parliamentary democracy — and yet, despite having given the world so much, it seemed to be the one nation that wasn’t able to celebrate its identity,” he tells Freitas.

At the same time, Heydel-Mankoo explains, “multiculturalism” exploded.

“Everybody was supposed to celebrate the fact that they were from a Muslim community or they were African or they were trans or gay. Every identity possible could be celebrated apart from what should be the one overarching identity that unites all of those other identities, and that is your national identity,” he says.

“And since then, of course, we’ve had this long march through the institutions by the left. All of our institutions have been captured, and our institutions shape our worldview, and it’s got to the point now where I say that Britain, England, but also the United Kingdom is now a postrevolutionary society,” he adds.

According to Heydel-Mankoo, this “long, quiet revolution” was “instigated by Tony Blair” — who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007.

“It’s a 25-year project, and it’s basically complete now,” he says.

“All of our institutions look the same; the buildings are the same, but the people that built those institutions bear no comparison to the people who run them today, who are cuckoos in the nest,” he continues, “and these are the people who are essentially promulgating the idea that Britain’s past is evil, that Britain was born into the state of original sin, which is racism.”

With Britain’s history and ancestors vilified and its culture and institutions broken down, the left has ushered the nation into a “zero year,” says Heydel-Mankoo, allowing it to “create new foundational myths” — like “diversity built Britain.”

He calls this “absolute nonsense.”

“There’s never been a great immigrant population in Britain. The Saxons were the last people to arrive there in the year 600. We have a 2,000-year history,” he tells Freitas.

“When I was born, Britain was 97% white British. Today, it’s only 74% white British. It’s declined 13% in the space of just 20 years.”

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

“Making the Argument with Nick Freitas” is available on BlazeTV+, YouTube, and major podcast platforms. Start watching Nick Freitas NOW at blazetv.com and use the promo code NICK for $20 off your BlazeTV+ subscription.

​Nick freitas, National identity, England, Blazetv show 

A female wearing a Muslim burqa stood in front of a microphone during the public comment period at a county commissioners’ meeting Tuesday in Florida during which some residents spoke against the potential expansion of a local mosque amid concerns over language on zoning and agenda materials, WTVT-TV reported.

The station said the female was “covered head-to-toe in black, with only her left eye visible.” She did not speak.

‘We ask you to come here and make comments, and that was not a comment. That’s why she was asked to step out.’

Instead, the female played a recording of the Islamic call to prayer, the station said. It appeared on video of the incident that she was holding an audio device under her burqa.

The Islamic call to prayer played for nearly a minute before Dave Eggers — chair of the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners — said over his microphone that county rules require public speakers to deliver verbal comments rather than play recordings, WTVT reported.

“Ma’am, you’re going to have to stop. Stop the music, stop the tape,” Eggers said. “Ma’am, stop the tape.”

After the female refused to comply, a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputy approached the podium and escorted her out of the meeting room and the building, the station said.

WTVT said it’s wasn’t immediately clear if the gesture was a protest or a prank.

The station said the woman’s removal sparked friction in the room, as several onlookers shouted and argued with Eggers over the decision.

“Please. Just please exercise some decorum and kindness of your own,” Eggers told the crowd. “We’re all people living together here.”

He further clarified the board’s rules to those assembled: “We don’t allow taped things. You can record the meeting, but we don’t allow taped activity like that. We ask you to come here and make comments, and that was not a comment. That’s why she was asked to step out.”

Below is a clip showing most of the incident. You can view the full video here beginning at the 1:02:00 mark.

RELATED: The case for banning the burqa

WTVT said multiple residents during the public comment period blasted an Oct. 13 vote in which the board voted 4-3 to approve a land-use amendment for the expansion of the Masjid Al Rahman mosque, which was referred to in presentations and documents as a “community assembly facility.”

More from the station:

The vote changed the property’s land use from residential rural to public and semi-public, which would allow the facility’s owner to replace the building with a newer structure 1,000 feet larger.

During Tuesday’s meeting, public speakers spoke out against the facility, some citing the treatment of women in Muslim-majority countries.

“It is about the big picture and the long term,” one woman told the commission. “By allowing this mosque to expand in our area, you are participating in the expansion of a totalitarian ideology which is fundamentally opposed to Western American values. Expansion of the ideology of Islam is not good for women’s rights.”

However, WTVT said another woman supported the mosque: “They want to turn it to face Mecca, and they want it to look a little more like a mosque instead of a house. We have no problems with them. We’ve been their neighbors for many years.”

According to Florida’s Voice, the burqa-wearing female was listed under public comment speakers as Selene Al Jamal.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the woman was escorted from the building without further incident and won’t face any criminal charges, WTVT said.

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​Muslim, Burqa, Florida, Call to prayer, Pinellas county, Politics 

A New Jersey middle school teacher was arrested for allegedly helping to rob a man during a prostitution-related encounter at an Atlantic City casino hotel.

NJ.com reported that 35-year-old Amanda R. Crafts of Wildwood was arrested Oct. 9 and charged with robbery and conspiracy.

‘I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

NJ.com added that Crafts at the time of her arrest was still listed as a computer teacher at Middle Township Middle School in Cape May County on the district website.

Middle Township Public Schools Superintendent Stephanie DeRose said in a letter to families and staff on Oct. 15 that an employee had been arrested.

“Based on the information available to us, the charges are unrelated to the individual’s performance or responsibilities as an employee of Middle Township School District, and the event occurred outside of Cape May County,” the letter read.

DeRose stressed that the charges “do not involve any alleged threat, inappropriate behavior, or misconduct occurring within our schools or involving our students.”

Atlantic City Police accused Crafts of conspiring with 23-year-old Veda J. Engel of Cape May to rob a man.

Breaking AC obtained the affidavits of probable cause that said a man met Crafts and Engel at a bar at Caesars Atlantic City hotel and casino.

The man told police that he exchanged phone numbers with Engel, who later called him to meet up with the women in their hotel room at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City around 1:30 a.m., according to the affidavit.

The affidavit said Engel performed sex acts on the man.

The criminal complaint claims Crafts held down the alleged victim as Engel used facial recognition on his cell phone to make four transactions totaling $1,250 through Apple Pay to her account.

“That’s what you get for $1,250,” Engel told the man, according to the affidavit.

The alleged victim said the transactions were “made without his consent in exchange for sexual acts,” a detective wrote in the affidavit.

Engel was arrested and charged with robbery, conspiracy, and engaging in prostitution.

Fox News reported that last year Engel allegedly offered sex in exchange for $1,000 to an undercover New Jersey State Police detective at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa.

Engel and Crafts were both released from jail but are required to check in with the court every other week, according to Breaking AC.

Both defendants are barred from having contact with each other or the alleged victim.

Breaking AC reported that Crafts during her detention hearing told Judge Christine Smith, “I’m a teacher.”

The judge replied, “You’re a teacher?”

Crafts, a mother of four children, nodded and responded, “I’m a teacher.”

Judge Smith asked, “Do you know if you can go back to work?”

Crafts said, “I don’t know. I have to make union contact tomorrow when I get released.”

Middle Township School District announced Oct. 19 that a teacher “is no longer employed by the district.”

RELATED: Female Christian school teacher accused of grooming teen softball player — mom intervened, but contact continued, cops say

Image source: Middle Township (N.J.) Public Schools

“While we recognize the importance of transparency, employee privacy laws and district policies limit the personnel information we can share,” the school district said in a letter to parents. “We also cannot comment on the details of an ongoing criminal case or its legal outcome.”

During an Oct. 10 video hearing, Crafts told the judge: “I’ve never been to jail. I’ve never been arrested before. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” according to Breaking AC.

Crafts’ attorney, Charles Peruto Jr., told the New York Post that his client is “highly intelligent and wouldn’t participate in anything like that. She was in the room and wanted to leave and didn’t even realize it was a prostitution thing. She is mortified.”

The attorney added, “Maybe the prostitute took advantage of him, but my client had nothing to do with it.”

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​New jersey, Teacher arrested, Prostitution, Atlantic city, Crime 

Chinese criminal syndicates are turning parts of rural America into enormous illegal marijuana operations. And one California congressman has had enough.

On October 19, California Republican Rep. James Gallagher called on FBI Director Kash Patel to investigate the criminal networks operating in Siskiyou and Shasta counties. His concerns extend well beyond marijuana. Foreign financing, organized crime, illegal pesticides, and overwhelmed local law enforcement are all part of the problem.

American suburban real estate had become the foundation of an international drug operation.

In 2025 alone, Siskiyou County authorities reported eradicating 332,871 marijuana plants, seizing more than 54,000 pounds of processed cannabis, and making 118 arrests.

And those are just the operations authorities managed to uncover.

Water torture

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s 2025 National Drug Threat Assessment, Chinese transnational criminal organizations have become dominant players in illegal marijuana cultivation and distribution across the United States.

These criminal enterprises are buying American property, establishing cultivation operations, and exploiting underground financial networks that make tracing the money a nightmare for local investigators.

Meanwhile, the communities caught in the middle are left to deal with the consequences.

In rural Northern California, residents have found themselves fighting over something more fundamental than marijuana: water.

In Siskiyou County, illegal cultivation has placed enormous demands on groundwater supplies. County officials have previously estimated that cannabis operations consumed millions of gallons daily, although those historical estimates do not establish how much water is being extracted today.

Residents have reported falling water levels and deteriorating well conditions amid heavy cultivation activity. Drought and other agricultural demands complicate the picture, but the conflict itself is real.

Imagine spending decades building a livelihood in rural California, only to find yourself competing for groundwater with illegal marijuana plantations. Apparently, even the water beneath your property is now part of the black-market economy.

Chem trails

Another danger is the chemicals these operations add to the ecosystem. In July 2025, Siskiyou County declared a local emergency over dangerous pesticides discovered at illegal cultivation sites. Investigators identified more than 27 pesticides, including highly toxic compounds such as carbofuran and methamidophos.

These are not harmless gardening supplies. Carbofuran can interfere with the nervous system and, at sufficiently high exposures, cause fatal respiratory paralysis. Methamidophos is another dangerous pesticide whose U.S. registrations were canceled years ago.

County officials have reported investigators suffering symptoms following exposure at illegal grow sites.

The danger does not necessarily end at the property line. Federal research has detected pesticide contamination downstream of illegal marijuana grows in California’s national forests.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced an investigation into Siskiyou County’s illegal pesticide problem in July 2025. Gallagher now wants federal investigators to examine the supply chains bringing these chemicals into the country.

Local sheriffs are dealing with toxic chemicals, enormous plantations, and criminal organizations whose financial operations extend far beyond their jurisdictions. Hardly the sort of problem a rural county department can solve with a few more patrol cars.

The legalization racket

There is another uncomfortable element to this story: America’s experiment with marijuana legalization.

Voters were promised that legal cannabis would weaken the black market by replacing criminal dealers with regulated, taxpaying businesses.

How is that working out?

According to a California Department of Cannabis Control market analysis, licensed supply accounted for an estimated 38% of marijuana consumed in the state in 2024.

An enormous share of consumption remains outside the licensed market.

California’s legal operators face a 15% state cannabis excise tax, applicable sales and local taxes, and substantial licensing and compliance expenses. A medium indoor cultivation license alone carries an annual fee of $77,905.

Illegal operators have no particular interest in paying licensing fees, collecting cannabis taxes, or following environmental regulations. Legitimate businesses shoulder the costs of operating legally while competing against criminals who ignore the rules.

California has somehow managed to create a regulated industry in which following the law can be a serious competitive disadvantage. But the real money lies farther up the criminal food chain.

Finding the masterminds behind these operations is considerably harder than arresting the workers tending the plants. Property purchases, financial intermediaries, and concealed ownership arrangements can make identifying the people controlling an operation a lengthy investigation.

Some workers are themselves victims. Federal prosecutors have charged members of a Chinese-linked network operating in Massachusetts and Maine with offenses arising from an alleged scheme involving labor exploitation, retained passports, marijuana trafficking, and money laundering.

The people trimming the plants are not necessarily the people collecting the profits.

Follow the money

Back in April 2018, federal investigators targeted an international marijuana cultivation operation in the Sacramento area. Agents searched approximately 74 houses and two business offices, while prosecutors initiated forfeiture proceedings involving more than 100 residential properties.

Authorities described a scheme in which money wired from China helped finance the purchase of suburban homes that were converted into indoor marijuana factories. The operation involved straw buyers, real estate intermediaries, and marijuana distributed beyond California.

One participant, Heidi Phong, subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money-laundering.

American suburban real estate had become the foundation of an international drug operation. Whether the same financiers are involved in today’s Siskiyou plantations remains an open question, one Gallagher wants federal investigators to examine.

The financial machinery behind Chinese organized crime deserves a closer look. China maintains strict controls on foreign-currency transactions, including a general annual individual purchase quota of $50,000. Those restrictions create demand for underground financial services capable of moving value between China and the United States.

Criminal money-laundering networks are more than happy to oblige.

Under one common arrangement, a broker receives dollars in America while arranging for an equivalent payment in Chinese currency overseas. The transactions can be settled through multiple accounts or commercial dealings without physically transporting the same cash across international borders.

These networks also provide services to some of the most dangerous drug traffickers on the planet.

In June 2024, the Justice Department announced charges arising from an alleged alliance between Sinaloa cartel associates and Chinese underground banking networks involving more than $50 million in drug proceeds.

Chinese money-laundering organizations have become valuable partners for Mexican cartels seeking to convert their American drug profits into usable funds.

And marijuana is part of the business. A 2025 Treasury Department advisory identified Chinese money-laundering networks handling proceeds from illegal marijuana grow houses alongside proceeds from other drug-trafficking activities.

Countrywide crisis

That does not establish that Mexican cartel money is financing the particular plantations in Siskiyou County. But it gives investigators good reason to look beyond the marijuana plants and examine the financial networks behind them.

The scale of the criminal activity is becoming difficult to ignore.

In Oklahoma, two Chinese nationals, Jeff Weng and Tong Lin, were sentenced to 10 years each for their roles in an illegal marijuana distribution operation. Investigators uncovered nearly 20,000 plants at one cultivation site, while trial evidence described elaborate interstate distribution methods, including vans disguised as commercial delivery vehicles.

In April 2026, federal prosecutors announced a separate 51-defendant indictment involving an alleged Oklahoma-based marijuana trafficking network. At least 29 defendants were identified as being from China.

Maine has encountered similar problems. During a May 2026 congressional hearing, federal officials discussed dozens of search warrants and hundreds of potential illegal cultivation locations.

The operations may be scattered across the country, but the methods are familiar: acquire property, establish marijuana grows, distribute the product, and conceal the proceeds.

RELATED: Fake ultra-luxury watches from China seized — and they would have been worth millions if real, CBP claims

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Chinese checkers

And what does Beijing know about all this? China’s government exercises extraordinary control over its domestic financial system, yet criminal networks continue moving money across borders. Whether corrupt Chinese officials are facilitating these operations remains an open question. Chinese authorities have cooperated with American investigators in some cases, and no evidence has established that Beijing directs the marijuana trade. But the possibility of official complicity deserves investigation.

So do the people financing these operations.

Local sheriffs face an overwhelming resource mismatch when tackling well-funded crime rings. A small-town department might clear a plantation and arrest several workers, but tracing international financial transactions and identifying distant organizers requires specialized federal capabilities.

Federal agencies have conducted substantial investigations, and the EPA has already become involved in Siskiyou County. Yet these operations persist.

Gallagher is asking the FBI to work with county sheriffs, Homeland Security investigators, and environmental authorities to identify the people financing and organizing them.

His request deserves a serious response. Destroying marijuana plants may temporarily disrupt an illegal operation. But as long as the money, property networks, and organizers remain untouched, another crop can take its place.

American law enforcement has already demonstrated that these criminal enterprises can be investigated, prosecuted, and dismantled. Washington needs to bring that same determination to the operations still flourishing in rural America.

Rural Americans should not have to surrender their water, their land, or their peace of mind to international drug syndicates simply because the criminals have discovered that operating in America is profitable.

​California, Cannabis, China, Chinese criminal syndicates, Drugs, Fbi, Fbi investigation, Grow houses, Illegal pesticides, Legalization, Legalized marijuana, Lifestyle, Maine, Marijuana cultivation, Northern california, Organized crime, Pesticides, Rural america, Siskiyou county, Water, Drug enforcement administration, Dea, Crime 

The Minnesota Democrat who goes by the name “Ilhan Omar” looks to be in serious trouble.

After all, it’s not just the president and Republicans who suspect her of marrying her brother in order to commit immigration fraud. Liberal America’s paper of record, the New York Times, published a damning report on Thursday reinforcing suspicions about the marriage.

‘The Dumocrat Party has just conceded her seat.’

In 2009, the Democratic congresswoman married Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, an effeminate British-Somali national. Yet numerous Somalis have reportedly identified Elmi as the Democrat’s alleged brother.

According to the Times report, the Obama FBI and Justice Department investigated that marriage to Elmi all the way back in 2016, just before she secured a seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

The Times, citing six former and current officials familiar with the case, reported that the Obama-era federal investigators “found evidence suggesting that Mr. Elmi and Ms. Omar were siblings.” Since prosecutors didn’t bother pressing the issue, investigators were left with their hands effectively tied.

Two former officials indicated that on the basis of his marriage to the Muslim congresswoman, Elmi — now an academic focused on LGBT matters — had secured a provisional two-year green card.

RELATED: Trump calls on Ilhan ‘Omar’ to resign — and the reason is damning

Jim WATSON/AFP/Getty Images; Joe Raedle/Getty Images

When Elmi sought permanent residency, immigration officials reportedly pressed him for evidence to show that the marriage was legitimate. Officials told the Times that rather than provide the requested evidence, Elmi fled the country.

At the time, the congresswoman denied that she married her brother, calling the allegations “absolutely false and ridiculous.” She was less emphatic when Chris Hayes of MS NOW asked her last week about whether she is related to Elmi, replying with a smile, “Not to my knowledge.”

Blaze News has reached out to the congresswoman’s office, Elmi, the FBI, and the Justice Department for comment.

The Times’ report and admission that “several aspects of the marriage to Mr. Elmi have long been murky” comes a week after news broke that “Omar” may not even be her real name.

A court filing dated October 21 from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro indicated that “Ilhan Abdullahi Omar” is an alias and that the congresswoman’s real name is actually “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi.”

Screenshot of court filing

President Donald Trump then took to Truth Social and claimed that “her last name is, incredibly, also the exact name of her brother, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, the person they said she married.”

“Because she used a fake name to be sworn in, I assume she must IMMEDIATELY resign from Congress,” Trump continued.

“The Dumocrat Party has just conceded her seat.”

The name itself is not necessarily damning. After all, Elmi may have been the congresswoman’s married name at one point.

However, the New York Post has obtained a marriage certificate for Leila Nur Said — a Somali woman believed to be the congresswoman’s sister — that lists “Nur Said Elmi” as her father.

The congresswoman’s office previously said in a statement to Blaze News that “the congresswoman’s name has always been Ilhan Omar. Any claim suggesting otherwise is categorically false and has no basis in fact.”

Homeland Security Investigations agents searched the congresswoman’s D.C.-area residence on Oct. 12 as part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Pirro has also stated that the congresswoman is the subject of a separate investigation into her finances.

The Somali-born radical is seeking re-election to Congress in next week’s midterm election.

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​Ilhan omar, Somalia, Congress, Fraud, Immigration, Illegal alien, Politics