blaze media

Vance defends ‘righteous anger’ over white English teen’s death in police custody after Sikh murderer falsely cried racism

Vice President JD Vance and the U.S. State Department have weighed in on the British scandal surrounding the murder of English teen Henry Nowak and the systemic issues that Nowak’s mistreatment at the hands of police have illuminated.

Quick background

Nowak, 18, was fatally stabbed in an unprovoked attack on Dec. 3, 2025, by a knife-wielding Sikh named Vickrum Digwa. Adding grievous insult to injury, Digwa told police that he had acted defensively — that Nowak was a racist who had called him a “Paki” and attacked him.

The police officers from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary who arrived on the scene reflexively accepted the Sikh’s false claim that the dying teen was a racist aggressor, arrested and handcuffed Nowak based on those false accusations, and then dismissed his final pleas.

Digwa was convicted of murder last week and sentenced on Monday to a minimum of 21 years in prison.

Unlike Nowak’s killer, the scandal surrounding his death is not going away anytime soon.

Following the release of horrifying bodycam footage showing Nowak’s undignified death in the custody of members of Southampton police, multitudes of Britons took to the streets of southern England in protest, demanding the termination and/or prosecution of the officers involved, one of whom has resigned.

British politicians meanwhile sounded off about the discriminatory policies and practices that lay the groundwork for the teen’s mistreatment.

RELATED: Amnesty International frets about ‘racial justice’ again — just not for white people

JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images

The National Police Chiefs’ Council announced amid the protests that it is reviewing its anti-racism guidance, which, as currently worded, explicitly calls for treating people differently on the basis of race:

Our commitment to racial equity means producing equality of policing outcomes for people from different ethnic groups by responding to individuals and communities according to their specific needs, circumstances, and experiences, with understanding that these will be racialised and with the aim of reducing harm. It does not mean treating everyone “the same” or being “colour blind” (racial equality).

Criticism from the land of the free

The U.S. State Department chimed in on Thursday, writing on social media, “Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline. They must be rejected across the West.”

“The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time,” added the State Department.

‘He should still be alive today, and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred.’

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) stressed in response that “Henry Nowak deserved better,” and BlazeTV host Auron MacIntyre wrote that “it would be nice to see the State Department treat the UK as a totalitarian terrorist state oppressing its population because that’s obviously true.”

The chatter in America has evidently enraged some leftists in the United Kingdom.

Ed Davey, a British politician who serves as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons, responded to the State Department’s post with apoplexy, writing, “The Trump administration is attacking our democracy. Not in secret, but openly on social media. [U.K. Prime Minister Keir] Starmer needs to show some backbone and call this out today. We can’t turn a blind eye to this blatant interference any longer.”

U.S. Under Secretary of State Sarah Rogers calmly reminded Davey that Starmer and other British liberals previously opined on the death of career criminal George Floyd. She also highlighted the markedly different response between those who took to the streets after Floyd’s death and those who have done so to protest Nowak’s death.

“Protesters mourning Nowak have not ignited infrastructure, murdered anyone, or otherwise cut an antisocial swathe of destruction through the UK,” wrote Rogers. “To the extent any of them care what America thinks, we urge them to remain peaceful — and we expect they will. Just like Henry Nowak and just like Americans, ordinary Brits have been slandered as racist. Thus violent. They’re not.”

On Friday, Vance underscored in a scathing message that Nowak’s death was an indictment of Britain itself.

“Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit,” wrote the American vice president. “His murder is as tragic as it is enraging. He should still be alive today, and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it.”

In a message sure to prickle Starmer and others who have been clutching pearls over Reform U.K. party leader Nigel Farage’s recent call for “pure, cold rage” over the Nowak case, Vance noted further, “Henry was far from the first to so needlessly lose his life, and I fear he won’t be the last. Each time a life like his is lost, the proper response — the only response — is righteous anger.”

After emphasizing that the Trump administration has taken meaningful steps to stop the flow of mass migration and defend American sovereignty, Vance noted, “It is because we love the West that we want to preserve it. We love our civilization. We love our country. We love our children. And nobody — nobody — should ever die the way that Henry Nowak died. May God comfort those who loved him, and may God rest his soul.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Britain, England, Henry nowak, Jd vance, Keir starmer, Leftism, Migration, Murder, Nigel farage, Sikh, Uk, Vance, Politics 

blaze media

No black jurors selected for Karmelo Anthony trial — Jason Whitlock explains why he’s ‘overjoyed’

The case of Karmelo Anthony continues to gain national attention.

In April 2025, at track meet in Frisco, Texas, Anthony (then a 17-year-old Centennial High School student) allegedly fatally stabbed fellow high school student 17-year-old Austin Metcalf in the chest with a pocketknife during a confrontation. Anthony turned himself in shortly after the incident, but he pled not guilty to his charge of first-degree murder, claiming he acted in self-defense.

On June 3, a jury was seated. No black jurors were selected.

BlazeTV host Jason Whitlock admits he was thrilled by the news.

“I am overjoyed there are no black people on this jury,” he says unapologetically. “I don’t want anybody on this jury that’s sitting there thinking about, ‘I gotta do the black thing,’ or ‘I hear the facts different because I’m black.’”

He insists there is no need for “a black perspective” in this murder case — only “a justice perspective.”

“American black people,” Whitlock argues, “seem to struggle to take the racial lens off of how they see things.”

White people, he notes, can struggle with this too, but it is “more pronounced” in the black community.

“I think we have a much better shot at getting some justice here with an all white or a non-black participant on this jury,” he says, acknowledging that these are “uncomfortable truths.”

Guest Shemeka Michelle agrees.

“When I was reading some of the answers that some of the jurors gave, such as it would be hard for me to convict a brother … those aren’t the type of answers that you give if you really want to be considered,” she says, referring to the black male prospective juror who was struck after he said he would “have a hard time putting a brother in jail.”

“The fact that they actually went in there and let their biases be known just says either you have low IQ or you really just didn’t want to be a part and so you said what you knew would get you tossed out,” she continues.

Whitlock gives these struck jurors “the benefit of the doubt” and interprets their admitted biases as a good sign.

“I don’t think they wanted anything to do with the pressure to have to make a racial decision. … All of this self-defense deal, it makes no sense to anybody,” he says, “and I think that black people were wise enough — some of them — in this case to be like ‘man, I don’t want to be on this jury.”’

Admitting bias thus became the perfect off-ramp, he explains.

While he acknowledges the possibility of “woke white leftists” on the jury who will use the history of slavery to excuse Karmelo Anthony’s actions, Whitlock says the jury’s deliberation should be “three minutes.”

“I’m hoping that’s the way it goes down.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Jason Whitlock?

To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Jason whitlock harmony, Jason whitlock, Karmelo anthony, Austin metcalf 

blaze media

Trump DOJ opens multiple investigations into possible election fraud in California

As California officials continue to be mocked for the glacier-speed ballot-counting process, the U.S. Dept. of Justice announced several investigations into possible election fraud.

Without commenting on any specific allegations, acting U.S. Attorney for Central California Bill Essayli announced Friday that his office, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had opened “multiple election fraud investigations.”

‘We will investigate and prosecute. Every legal vote deserves to be counted. Every illegal vote cancels one out.’

“Protecting the integrity of California’s elections is a top priority for my office,” said Essayli in the post on social media. “California’s election system has serious structural vulnerabilities. Universal vote-by-mail with no voter ID requirements creates conditions where fraud can go undetected and unpunished, eroding public confidence.”

The highly anticipated results in two California elections are still in limbo as the ballot count continues. Critics accuse Democrats of stalling the process in order to allow for fraud, but others say the electoral system in California prioritizes ballot access at the expense of delayed results.

“We will follow the evidence wherever it leads and prosecute any violations of federal election law to the fullest extent,” Essayli added.

Left in the lurch are the candidates awaiting the primary results for the Los Angeles mayoral election as well as the California governor’s race. Currently, Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton and mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt appear headed toward the general election, but as more tranches of votes are counted, the gap narrows for third-place Democratic competitors to steal their spot.

The top two vote-getters in each race will advance to the general election.

Essayli went on to say they were working to comprehensibly audit the voter rolls.

“The state has stonewalled every effort to verify that only eligible U.S. citizens are registered to vote. This case is now before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal,” he added.

Video from L.A. County’s central processing center, where the ballots are being counted, showed an official from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office reviewing and monitoring the effort.

RELATED: The man who propelled AOC into Congress fails SPECTACULARLY in race for Pelosi’s seat

“My office will not look the other way,” Essayli concluded. “We will investigate and prosecute. Every legal vote deserves to be counted. Every illegal vote cancels one out.”

On Thursday, Newsom’s press office said, “For the record: we wish the votes were counted faster, too.”

Democratic California Attorney General Rob Bonta offered only a brief statement about the announcement.

“My office has a presence on the ground right now, is monitoring the situation closely, and stands ready to protect voters and ensure California’s election laws are followed,” he wrote.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Election fraud, Politics, California, Bill essayli 

blaze media

Most new jobs are going to women — and 1 in 3 men have given up

President Donald Trump celebrated the jobs report published on Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which shows that American employers added jobs for the third consecutive month.

The report, which Trump called “great,” says the U.S. economy added 172,000 jobs last month; the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.3%; the number of unemployed people, 7.3 million, “changed little over the month”; and the labor force participation rate held at 61.8%.

‘Bodes ill for the country.’

Total employment growth for the months of March and April were revised up by 29,000 and 64,000, respectively.

“This is a labor market that is stronger than it was last year and is looking pretty darn solid, despite high energy prices and higher inflation generally,” Gus Faucher, chief economist at PNC, told CNBC. “There’s no indication that the labor market needs support.”

While the labor market is purportedly healthy, there are a pair of potentially destabilizing trends under way behind the scenes: the overwhelming majority of new payroll jobs are going to women, and a staggering number of men have given up on finding a job.

Jason Riley, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, recently highlighted that “the share of American men in the labor force has dipped to record lows.” Labor Department data revealed last month that one in three men were neither working nor looking for a job.

RELATED: Steelworkers need a future, not another merger war

Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images

The male labor-force participation rate has declined significantly in recent years, to say nothing of the precipitous decline that has taken place over the past century. The male LFP rate was 87% in 1948, 75% in 2000, and — according to the latest jobs report — 67.2% in May.

“The premature absence of millions of able-bodied men from our workforce, combined with the continuing retirement of the Baby Boomers and significant reductions in immigration, bodes ill for the country,” wrote Riley.

While there are multiple factors at play — Baby Boomers are, for instance, retiring en masse; young men are dropping off to study; there is diminished demand for non-college male labor; and prime-age men are falling to the wayside because of illness and disabilities — the Washington Post recently pointed out that:

the labor market has weakened since early 2025, with most job opportunities concentrated in areas typically dominated by women, including health care and private education. At the same time, several male-dominated industries, including manufacturing, transportation, and mining have shed jobs, leaving a mismatch between typical skill sets and job opportunities for men.

It’s evidently a new day for female labor.

Whereas in the mid-1970s, women held roughly 40% of jobs in the U.S. — not including agricultural work or self-employment — they now hold the majority of jobs in the country.

NPR’s “Morning Edition” reported that of the roughly 369,000 jobs created between the beginning of Trump’s second term and April, 348,000 jobs went to women and 21,000 jobs went to men. In other words, 94% of the jobs went to women and only 6% to men.

Courtney Parella, a spokeswoman for the Labor Department, stressed to “Morning Edition” that raw job counts provided a “misleading snapshot” of the labor market, adding that “both men and women are benefiting from a strong economy.”

Women have picked up the supermajority of net new payroll jobs in part because of the growth in female-dominated sectors, namely health care — where women hold roughly 80% of the jobs — and social assistance.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Department of labor, Labor, Work, Men, Women, Unemployment, Donald trump, Economy, Politics 

blaze media

Senate Republicans defeat standoff to pass BILLIONS in ICE funding — Democrats implode with outrage

The bitter feud over federal immigration enforcement funding is finally over after Republicans in the U.S. Senate were able to pass a funding bill Friday morning.

The bill secures $70 billion that will fund President Donald Trump’s directive for mass deportations by supercharging operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection.

‘No more slush funds for corruption. We must dismantle DHS and abolish ICE!’

The Senate voted 52 to 47 to pass the bill with one lone Republican joining the Democrats, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. It now goes to the U.S. House of Representatives for approval.

Democrats opposed the increased funding based on their criticism of operations under the Trump administration. Some pointed to the deaths of anti-ICE protesters Alex Pretti and Renee Good, while others accused Trump of being motivated by racism.

Democrats were also pushing to include a provision in the bill outlawing the proposal for a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund to compensate Trump supporters persecuted by the federal government.

Republicans defeated that provision and passed the bill.

Democrats, as expected, were outraged.

“Early this morning, the Senate passed a $70 billion reconciliation bill to give ICE and CBP more funding to terrorize our communities, and violate our rights,” said Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). “To avoid all transparency and accountability, they voted down EVERY amendment to protect our communities and rein in Trump’s corruption while Americans slept. We must hold the line as it moves to the House next week. NO more money to ICE and CBP. No more slush funds for corruption. We must dismantle DHS and abolish ICE!”

“While you were sleeping, Senate Republicans jammed through a $70 BILLION blank check for ICE,” responded Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.). “In the middle of a cost-of-living CRISIS, instead of focusing on how to lower your grocery bills, your gas bills, your health care bills, your housing bills, and the millions of other bills you are dealing with, they are focused squarely on passing more and more funding for an out-of-control agency for the remainder of Trump’s term.”

RELATED: ICE accuses LA of giving ‘a middle finger to the law’ after new funding for illegal aliens

Senate Republican Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) acknowledged that the anti-weaponization fund is no longer an option based on the testimony of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche before Congress, but Democrats are still not satisfied.

“Republicans refused to permanently outlaw Trump’s $2 billion slush fund, leaving taxpayers to rely on nothing more than a promise from Donald Trump’s personal fixer,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Trump later said of the fund, “I love it. I think it’s so important.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Anti-weaponization fund, Customs and border protection, Immigration and customs enforcement, Senate republicans, Politics 

blaze media

Dr. Jill forgets she’s ‘Dr. Jill’: Biden’s media tour takes a tragic turn on ‘The View’

Former first lady Jill Biden has been making the media rounds, with one of her latest stops being with the women of “The View” — and ending in disaster.

“For some reason, Jill Biden really just still wants to be the it girl. And so, she’s still doing this media tour. And it didn’t start well. It’s not going well. It’s not going to end well,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales says.

In a clip from her appearance, Jill explained that she was terrified that Joe was having a stroke during one of the debates.

Co-host Sara Gaines responded, saying, “He’s given so much of himself and to see you even saying like, ‘I thought he was having a medical episode, I was concerned.’ Was there any part of you that went into protection mode of like, ‘Joe you can’t keep doing this?’”

“But the doctors told me he was fine. I’m not a doctor,” Biden responded, correcting herself, “I mean, I am a doctor.”

“Excuse me,” Gonzales comments. “I was informed if you don’t call her Dr. Jill Biden every single time you refer to her that you are rude and have no manners and now here she is accidentally admitting that she doesn’t even consider herself to be a doctor.”

“Now, obviously, she meant a medical doctor,” she added, recalling Whoopi Goldberg once using her platform on “The View” to champion making Jill Biden the surgeon general.

“Dr. Jill becomes a surgeon general. His wife. Joe Biden’s wife,” Whoopi once said on “The View,” before calling Jill a “hell of a doctor.”

“She’s a teacher but, you know,” Sunny Hostin chimed in, correcting a very confused Whoopi.

“Whoopi’s final look before that clip ended,” Gonzales says, laughing.

“Oh my gosh, like inject that into my veins. So confused. This poor bird is so confused,” she continues.

“The same woman who literally just said she’s a hell of a doctor. As if she knew. As if she’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ve watched her operate on someone before. She is one hell of a doctor.’ No, it’s just an education doctorate, by the way,” she adds.

Want more from Sara Gonzales?

To enjoy more of Sara’s no-holds-barred takes on news and culture, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Jill biden, The view, Whoopi goldberg, Sunny hostin, Sara gonzales, Joe biden, Sara gonzales unfiltered 

blaze media

America’s most powerful AI superchips may be in China’s hands

The U.S. built an entire export control system to keep its most powerful AI chips out of enemy hands, but a loophole may have made the system vulnerable to infiltration by China and other countries.

America’s chip export rules target where a company is headquartered, not who ultimately owns it — meaning a Chinese tech giant could set up a subsidiary in Singapore or Malaysia and buy chips the parent company never could.

‘The new Blackwell that just came out, it’s 10 years ahead of every other chip. But no, we don’t give that chip to other people.’

The Bureau of Industry and Security in the Commerce Department released new guidance Sunday, clarifying that a subsidiary of any company headquartered in a U.S. arms-embargoed nation — including China — still requires an export license to purchase advanced chips, regardless of where the subsidiary operates.

The requirement had technically been on the books since November 2023 — but the BIS acknowledged it had been receiving questions about whether it was still being enforced.

In May 2025, the bureau scrapped the Biden administration’s strict AI Diffusion Rule export framework. The Trump administration called it “overly complex, overly bureaucratic,” and warned that it would “stifle American innovation” and damage diplomatic relations with dozens of allied nations.

Pulling the Biden framework without a replacement in place, however, left the rules that govern who can buy these chips effectively unenforced. Furthermore, chips purchased during the loophole window do not have to be returned.

Former State Department official Chris McGuire, who helped build America’s chip export framework under Biden, sounded the alarm on X Sunday, writing that “Chinese companies have been buying these chips, very likely at scale.”

While the new guidance requires export licenses for subsidiaries of companies linked to U.S. arms-embargoed nations, it does not reinstate a separate safeguard: the requirement for offshore chip manufacturers to verify who is ultimately behind a purchase — a vulnerability that McGuire warned remains unaddressed.

Trump struck a deal on December 8, 2025, allowing China to purchase the H200 — a less powerful Nvidia data center chip and the company’s second-best — with Nvidia paying 25% of those sales back to the U.S. government. Trump announced the deal on Truth Social, writing that Chinese President Xi Jinping “responded positively.”

However, it appears China “chose not to” approve the purchases.

RELATED: Trump goes to China with THIS surprise guest and an entourage of business leaders

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

While China was passing on the H200, a scaled-down export variant, Nvidia’s Blackwell chips — which defense analysts warn could serve as the foundation for next-generation autonomous weapons systems — may have been flowing freely through the back door.

The Blackwell chip was never supposed to reach any entities linked to U.S. arms-embargoed countries. Trump made that explicit while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One in November 2025: “The new Blackwell that just came out, it’s 10 years ahead of every other chip. But no, we don’t give that chip to other people.”

Al Jazeera reported that Nvidia said the company had been operating according to the clarified rules, claiming its “sales and vetting process is correct.” Nvidia also claimed China “has more than enough domestic chips for all of its military applications,” raising questions about the Chinese military actively seeking Nvidia chips in the first place.

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

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Adversary nations, Ai chips, Air force one, Autonomous weapons, China, Commerce, Oversight, Donald trump, Politics 

blaze media

Zach Lahn just changed the Iowa GOP playbook

In the biggest upset of this primary cycle so far, businessman and farmer Zach Lahn defeated four other candidates in the Iowa Republican gubernatorial primary, including U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who received President Trump’s late endorsement.

Lahn won by less than one percentage point and fewer than 1,700 votes out of nearly 215,000 cast. He fused together evangelicals, MAHA voters, a Turning Point USA endorsement, and late encouragement from yours truly for Iowa Republicans to vote strategically against Feenstra, who ran the most cynical campaign I have ever seen.

Even when Trump endorsed against him, Lahn was still the candidate saying the most Trumpian things to the base. That was all that mattered.

Back in February, Brent Buchanan, one of the best pollsters of the 2024 cycle, published research arguing that Republicans’ secret weapon for the 2026 midterms could be a fusion of MAHA messaging with traditional conservative themes. He added that “most Republican candidates are too cautious to grab it.”

Enter Lahn.

His issue-driven success may signal that the personality-driven retail politics that long defined Iowa, thanks to its first-in-the-nation presidential caucus status, is fading.

When I endorsed Adam Steen early in this gubernatorial primary, I had never met Lahn. I had never even heard of him. I chose Steen because he fit the kind of candidate Iowa Republicans have traditionally rewarded: high integrity, strong character, serious faith, and real governing experience.

Steen had essentially been the chief operating officer of Iowa for the past five years. He seemed like one of us during Republican Kim Reynolds’ popular and successful governorship. That level of trust and connectivity is what Iowa conservatives have long craved, and it helps explain why Pat Robertson, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum found success here over the years.

In almost any earlier political era, Steen probably would have been where Lahn is now.

But the electorate has changed. Many evangelicals overlooked Trump’s past because they liked where he stood on the issues. They cared less about the résumé of the salesman than the sales pitch in front of them. In the final month of the primary, more Iowa voters answered the question “Do you know what time it is?” with one name: Zach Lahn.

Even when Trump endorsed against him, Lahn was still the candidate saying the most Trumpian things to the base. That was all that mattered.

Issues, not background.

That is likely where Republican politics will stay as the Fox News generation fades and the GOP gets younger. Younger Republicans include more people from broken homes, more people who have gone through divorce, more people who came to faith later in life, and more voters carrying baggage that no longer fits the old Pleasant Valley Sunday model.

RELATED: Iowa primary: One Trump-backed candidate secures landslide victory, while another is narrowly defeated

Scott Olson/Getty Images

They are not looking for perfect biographies. They want results.

That hunger for results was strong enough to overcome Trump’s 11th-hour endorsement of Feenstra.

And yes, Trump’s endorsement helped. The president took a candidate whose negatives had climbed 20 points in the final three months and, in less than four days, gave him at least a 10-point bump without major media assistance. That should have finished Lahn.

But Iowa Republicans decided, with some irony, that the candidate Trump endorsed could not be trusted on Trump’s own issues as much as the candidate Trump opposed.

To be honest, the risk I took by supporting Lahn in the campaign’s final days had nothing to do with confidence in how that dynamic would play out. But here we are. For the sake of the state where my children are raising my grandchildren, I am grateful it ended this way.

Lahn had enough independent wealth to make himself visible and viable, no matter when or how Trump weighed in. With the right message on the right issues, he found the secret sauce.

So to Iowa Democrats and their Trojan horse candidate Rob Sand, here is our message: Now we fight.

All aboard the Lahn train.

​Kim reynolds, President trump, Zach lahn, Pat robertson, Trump endorsement, Iowa primary, Randy feenstra, Opinion & analysis 

blaze media

Brazil sends off its World Cup team in the most Catholic way possible

Brazil has very interesting ways of honoring its soccer team.

The South American country is often credited as being the most Catholic country in the world, and its people seemingly showed it as their team took off for the World Cup, hosted in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.

‘The event represents the collective hope of the entire nation.’

Brazilians on the runway at Rio de Janeiro’s Galeão International Airport celebrated their team’s departure by conducting what has been described as both a gigantic blessing and a customary baptism-like ritual.

ESPN reported that the team’s Boeing jet was “blessed” by two airport fire trucks before departing Rio, with their water cannons blasting arches of water as the plane slowly moved through.

Catholicism and soccer are quite the big deal in Brazil; the country is often credited as having the largest Catholic population in the world, with approximately 182 million practicing worshippers, representing about 13% of the world’s total Catholics, according Premier Christian News.

Some Brazilian stars were baptized in 2025, including Liverpool star Alisson Becker and his former teammate Roberto Firmino.

RELATED: NFL players defend NY Giants QB Jaxson Dart after he introduces Trump: ‘Fake Trump hate’

– YouTube

The Sun noted that the airport staff sought and received permission from the Brazilian Football Confederation to authorize the plane’s blessing before spraying the water on the Boeing 767-300ER.

International outlets have emphasized the importance of the world tournament to Brazil and its people, with Marca describing the “baptism” of sorts as customary for Brazilian aircraft before important takeoffs. It also said the event represents the collective hope of the entire nation that wants to bring home another World Cup title.

Brazil has the most World Cup wins of any country, with five. Germany and Italy both have four. Brazil is also the only country to have been in every single tournament since the World Cup began in 1930.

RELATED: My 1990 World Cup sticker book — and a glimpse of football’s simpler past

VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP/Getty Images

This isn’t the first time Brazilians have given an airplane the royal treatment before the big tournament. In 2022, fans covered a different Boeing jet at a shopping mall with stickers and murals commemorating the team.

Branded with the Brazilian soccer logo, the 2026 team jet is priced at $170 million and was previously used by the Rolling Stones for their 60th anniversary tour in 2022.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Fearless, Brazil, World cup 2026, Catholicism, Baptism, Sports 

blaze media

‘Jumanji’ actor James Handy stabbed to death outside home in LA — and the suspect is someone Handy knew

An actor known for his roles in “Jumanji” and “Top Gun: Maverick” was lethally stabbed in the chest outside a home in Los Angeles, and the main suspect is his girlfriend’s son.

81-year-old James Handy was found by Los Angeles Police Department officers in the front yard of a home in Tarzana in the San Fernando Valley.

‘I just killed the man of sin.’

An individual called 911 at about 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. “I am the son of man. I just killed the man of sin,” the caller told the 911 dispatcher, according to police.

When cops arrived, 44-year-old Michael Gledhill flagged them down and told officers that “he was the one they were looking for,” the police statement claimed.

Handy was found unconscious with a stab wound to the chest and was rushed to a hospital by paramedics, where he was pronounced dead.

Gledhill was booked on murder charges and held on a $2 million bail at the Van Nuys Jail. Police say he had been living with his mother, Handy’s girlfriend, at the Tarzana residence on Erwin Street.

The LAPD said there was no longer a threat to the public.

Police are asking for anyone with information related to the investigation to contact them.

RELATED: Obamas were to meet Rob Reiner and his wife on the day they were killed, Michelle says

The “son of man” is a biblical phrase used in the New Testament as one of the descriptions of Jesus Christ. Others have used the phrase to refer to themselves as the second coming of Christ, most notably Charles Manson.

Handy had starred in about 150 movies and television shows going back to the 1970s. He is also known for his roles in the “Logan” movie as well as “Arachnophobia.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Los angeles, Actor, Murder, Biblical reference, Crime