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  1. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  2. <rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"><channel><title>Blaze Media</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/</link><description>Blaze Media</description><atom:link href="https://www.theblaze.com/feeds/feed.rss" rel="self"></atom:link><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:05:40 -0000</lastBuildDate><image><url>https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8zMDc1MjEwMC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTc5MTc4MDQxMn0.bI-17D_g6-542o9Bn12397WNLerDvEKiWDgwmQkkWaQ/image.png?width=210</url><link>https://www.theblaze.com/</link><title>Blaze Media</title></image><item><title>Horrific video: Philly hit-and-run driver slams into old lady who's using cane to walk — then pins her against wall</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/horrific-video-philly-hit-and-run-driver-slams-into-old-lady-using-cane-to-walk-then-pins-her-against-wall</link><description><![CDATA[
  3. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/horrific-video-philly-hit-and-run-driver-slams-into-old-lady-who-s-using-cane-to-walk-then-pins-her-against-wall.png?id=61138335&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C6%2C0%2C7"/><br/><br/><p>Philadelphia police said they're investigating an incident that took place last weekend which left a 69-year-old woman hospitalized, <a href="https://www.fox29.com/news/69-year-old-woman-struck-vehicle-corner-store-north-philly-police" target="_blank">WTXF-TV reported</a>.</p><p>Police told the station that a driver struck a woman in the 1300 block of West Somerset Street around 2:30 p.m. Saturday.</p><p class="pull-quote">Her condition is unknown, and no arrests have been made, WTXF said.</p><p>Steve Keeley of WTXF posted video of the assault on <a href="https://x.com/KeeleyFox29/status/1939873337569628290" target="_blank">X</a>, noting that the woman — who was using a cane to walk — was heading to a corner store and "got slammed against the store’s brick storefront."</p><p>Complicating matters is that, according to Keeley, police said the driver intentionally tried to run down a <em>different</em> woman following an altercation in a crosswalk.</p><p>Video shows the driver attempting to turn right, but the other woman in the crosswalk is close by the car, which plows past her instead of letting her cross. The angry second woman appears to make contact with the car, after which the driver backs up, turns, and drives at the second female — as well as the elderly woman with the cane, who is ahead and nearing the store's door.</p><p>In the end, the driver hit both women.</p><p>The woman who got angry in the crosswalk was sent off her feet and into the store's outer wall — but she quickly got up and began walking around.</p><p>The elderly woman with the cane wasn't as fortunate.</p><p>The driver hit her with the vehicle when she was inches from the store's entrance and then pinned her between the car and outer wall; when the driver reversed, the woman with the cane fell to the sidewalk.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/chunk-of-hair-allegedly-found-on-smashed-windshield-cops-say-it-resembles-dead-hit-and-run-victims-hair-and-case-turns" target="_blank"><strong>'Chunk of hair' allegedly found on smashed windshield; cops say it resembles fatal hit-and-run victim's hair — and case turns</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="169ba2585e9d7e4d600bfec24ccf4d3d" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/na31XivSpHY?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>                        </p><p>WTXF said the striking vehicle — a silver KIA sedan — fled the scene eastbound on Somerset Street. The injured woman was taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries, <a href="https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/north-philly-hit-and-run/4222944/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WCAU-TV reported</a>. Her condition is unknown, and no arrests have been made, WTXF said.</p><p>In a follow-up <a href="https://x.com/KeeleyFox29/status/1939874185897255218" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">post</a>, Keeley shared a second video from another angle, noting that the Kia has a smashed front end. The impact was so hard that the back end of the car shot upward.</p><p>Keeley also <a href="https://x.com/KeeleyFox29/status/1939876129411670518" target="_blank">posted</a> that pieces of the Kia were still all over the sidewalk Monday morning.</p><p><span></span>In another video, Keeley noted on <a href="https://x.com/KeeleyFox29/status/1939875013831577782" target="_blank">X</a> that the store owner told him a woman who said she's a relative of one of the victims entered the store after the hit-and-run and "began throwing items around, captured on the inside surveillance. She says the store may never reopen."</p><p><span></span>Law enforcement is hoping the video of the assault helps identify and catch the suspect, who remains at-large, WCAU reported.</p><p>The identities of the two women involved have not been released, WCAU added.</p><p>Tips can be submitted to the Philadelphia Police Department by calling 215-686-TIPS (8477) or by filling out a form <a href="https://www.phillypolice.com/forms/submit-a-tip/" target="_blank">online here</a>, the station said.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 23:30:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/horrific-video-philly-hit-and-run-driver-slams-into-old-lady-using-cane-to-walk-then-pins-her-against-wall</guid><category>Vehicular assault</category><category>Kia</category><category>Philadelphia</category><category>Elderly woman</category><category>Elderly victim</category><category>Hit and run</category><category>Hospitalization</category><category>Injury</category><category>Crime</category><dc:creator>Dave Urbanski</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/png" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/horrific-video-philly-hit-and-run-driver-slams-into-old-lady-who-s-using-cane-to-walk-then-pins-her-against-wall.png?id=61138335&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>21-year-old congressional intern killed in triple shooting in Washington, DC</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/intern-killed-shooting-dc-estes</link><description><![CDATA[
  4. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/21-year-old-congressional-intern-killed-in-triple-shooting-in-washington-dc.jpg?id=61139674&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C119%2C0%2C120"/><br/><br/><p>A 21-year-old man that was shot and killed in Washington, D.C., was <a href="https://rollcall.com/2025/07/02/intern-for-rep-ron-estes-killed-in-northwest-d-c-shooting/" target="_blank">identified</a> as a congressional intern that had just begun working for a Republican House representative.</p><p>D.C. Metropolitan Police said they responded to sounds of gunshots at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday evening on 7th Street near Mount Vernon Square.</p><p class="pull-quote">'I will remember his kind heart and how he always greeted anyone who entered our office with a cheerful smile.'</p><p>They found an unconscious man, an unconscious woman, and a 16-year-old boy with gunshot wounds. The man was transported to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries.</p><p>He was identified as Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, an intern who had recently joined the office of Republican Rep. Ron Estes of Kansas.</p><p>Police said they did not believe the intern was the intended victim in the shooting.</p><p>“I will remember his kind heart and how he always greeted anyone who entered our office with a cheerful smile,” reads a statement from Estes on Wednesday. “We are grateful to Eric for his service to Kansas’ 4th District and the country.”</p><p>Police said they had recovered a vehicle that was allegedly used in the shooting.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/severed-thumb-steal-money-app" target="_blank"><strong>Woman used severed thumb of 'sugar daddy' to steal his money after his murder, DC police say</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9ebf9a884fccc4822fd0c6acafc60f94" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sQrGbRL-Etc?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span> </p><p>“The preliminary investigation indicates that multiple suspects exited a vehicle at the intersection of 7th and M Street, Northwest, and began firing at a group," police said.</p><p>Tarpinian-Jachym was from Granby, Massachusetts, and had begun working in Estes' office in June.</p><p>The other victims in the shooting were also hospitalized. No arrests have been made in the incident, and police are investigating surveillance cameras in the area.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>! </em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 23:15:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/intern-killed-shooting-dc-estes</guid><category>Estes intern killed</category><category>Eric tarpinian-jachym death</category><category>Triple shooting washington dc</category><category>Intern killed dc shooting</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Carlos Garcia</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/21-year-old-congressional-intern-killed-in-triple-shooting-in-washington-dc.jpg?id=61139674&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Rogue anti-Trump judges obliterated by SCOTUS' landmark ruling</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/shows/blaze-news-tonight/rogue-anti-trump-judges-obliterated-by-scotus-landmark-ruling</link><description><![CDATA[
  5. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139433&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling limiting nationwide injunctions has been hailed as a massive win for common sense after 40 such orders — 62% against Donald Trump.</p><p>And no one’s happier about it than the president himself.</p><p>“It took the court system out of the presidency to a large extent. The courts were almost like being the president, and you can’t have it. It was such a big decision. This is one of the biggest decisions, where you would have a local federal judge who was radical left determining the policy for the whole nation,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News, adding, “And now they can’t do that.”</p><p>“There’s been a weird reading of what an injunction is able to do that we’ve been witness to for the first Trump administration and now the beginning of the second where a lawyer can represent all people, not just the plaintiff, not just the aggrieved,” Blaze Media D.C. correspondent Christopher Bedford tells Blaze TV hosts Jill Savage and Matthew Peterson on “Blaze News: The Mandate.”</p><h3></h3><br/><span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ba9e8089f0ee05cd31f0a1b1d1ac22ee" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bF6PZ7nLVxE?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span><p>“We had a judge in Hawaii who was deciding what federal immigration policy was,” he continues. “And that is, thankfully, over.”</p><p>“Of course, there will be more tactics that are used, but that is a really essential one,” he adds, noting that one of his favorite things about the ruling was Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s baseless dissent.</p><p>“Ketanji Brown Jackson — the judge who wrote the dissenting opinion for the Democrats, the one who wore a voodoo necklace to the State of the Union, just an interesting character all around — basically cited legal law that didn’t exist,” Bedford explains.</p><p>“[She] tried to say that this is a dictatorship. Just sounded much more like a Democratic activist who hadn’t actually done all of the necessary research or the readings,” he adds.</p><h2>Want more from 'Blaze News: The Mandate'?</h2><p>To enjoy more provocative opinions, expert analysis, and breaking stories you won’t see anywhere else, <a href="https://get.blazetv.com/blazenewstonight/?utm_source=theblaze&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=article_shortcode_blazenewstonight" target="_blank">subscribe to BlazeTV</a> — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.</p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 23:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/shows/blaze-news-tonight/rogue-anti-trump-judges-obliterated-by-scotus-landmark-ruling</guid><category>Camera phone</category><category>Video phone</category><category>Sharing</category><category>Upload</category><category>Free</category><category>Video</category><category>Youtube.com</category><category>Blaze news the mandate</category><category>Blaze news tonight</category><category>Blaze media</category><category>Blaze online</category><category>Blaze originals</category><category>Blazetv</category><category>Blaze podcasts</category><category>Blaze podcast network</category><category>Jill savage</category><category>Matthew peterson</category><category>Christopher bedford</category><category>President donald trump</category><category>The supreme court ruling</category><category>Ketanji brown jackson</category><category>Nationwide injunctions</category><dc:creator>BlazeTV Staff</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139433&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Gavin Newsom accused of taking California back to Jim Crow era — by his fellow Democrats</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/newsom-housing-dem-fighting-union</link><description><![CDATA[
  6. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/gavin-newsom-accused-of-taking-california-back-to-jim-crow-era-by-his-fellow-democrats.jpg?id=61139631&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C104%2C0%2C104"/><br/><br/><p>Furious infighting by Democrats has broken out in California, where the governor is being attacked by liberal members of his own party over laws meant to increase the supply of housing in the state.</p><p>Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom is getting assailed by state lawmakers after he forced the passage of a law to bolster the construction of low-income housing by allowing developers to pay nonunion wages to laborers. While Democrats have a supermajority in the legislature, opposition to the bill from pro-union lawmakers erupted in outrage against the governor.</p><p class="pull-quote">'I just cannot begin to explain how incredibly inappropriate and hurtful this is.'</p><p>"I just enacted the most game-changing housing reforms in recent California history," <a href="https://x.com/CAgovernor/status/1939889648744206429" target="_blank">said Newsom</a> on Monday. "We're urgently embracing an abundance agenda by tearing down the barriers that have delayed new affordable housing and infrastructure for decades. Let’s get building, California."</p><p>Newsom was also able to lower environmental standards for housing that have strangled construction for decades, according to critics.</p><p>Labor advocates angry over Newsom's laws filled a hearing with "mocking, yelling, and storming out" to show their opposition, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/25/california-democrats-stage-intraparty-war-over-last-minute-push-to-build-more-housing-00425196" target="_blank">according</a> to a Politico report.</p><p>“Anyone who believed this would not cause a giant explosion — they were living in la-la-land,” said San Francisco political consultant Todd David.</p><p>“To have legislation that is this large and this significant be forced through at the 11th hour … seems pretty absurd to me,” said state Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, a Democrat. “I just cannot begin to explain how incredibly inappropriate and hurtful this is.”</p><p>She went on to say that it was “incredibly insensitive” for Newsom to push for the labor law at a time when federal immigration raids were targeting “blue-collar workers who are Latino.”</p><p>Trade union lobbyist Scott Wetch accused Newsom of “contemplating a law to suppress wages" for the first time in California since the Jim Crow era.</p><p>Kevin Ferreira, a construction trades council executive director, said the bill would compel their workers to "be shackled and start singing chain gang songs.”</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/judge-newsom-emergency-national-guard" target="_blank"><strong>Judge DENIES Newsom emergency request to halt Trump order for military in Los Angeles</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="df8afa8026a36d7d5c93dea830a424f2" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FkpYqVAO_4o?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span> </p><p>Some said the actions by the governor brought into question how he could move on to national aspirations after betraying his base in California.</p><p>One union leader accused California Democrats of kowtowing to pressure from Newsom in the same way that Republicans are caving to demands from Trump.</p><p>“California Democrats are crying foul that legislators and senators are passing things that they don’t even know the effect of that aren’t in line with their constituents that are just being shoved down their throats by Donald Trump,” <a href="http://latimes.com/california/story/2025-06-30/newsom-pushes-major-housing-reform-through-california-legislature" target="_blank">said</a> California Labor Federation leader Lorena Gonzalez to the Los Angeles Times.</p><p>“And those same legislators in California are allowing that to happen to themselves," she added.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>! </em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 22:18:10 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/newsom-housing-dem-fighting-union</guid><category>Gavin newsom vs democrats</category><category>Democrats trash newsom</category><category>California housing reform</category><category>Unions vs newsom</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Carlos Garcia</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/gavin-newsom-accused-of-taking-california-back-to-jim-crow-era-by-his-fellow-democrats.jpg?id=61139631&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Deal with the devil': Killer Bryan Kohberger spared death penalty by taking plea deal. Family of one victim explodes.</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/deal-with-the-devil-killer-bryan-kohberger-spared-death-penalty-by-taking-plea-deal-family-of-one-victim-explodes</link><description><![CDATA[
  7. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/deal-with-the-devil-killer-bryan-kohberger-spared-death-penalty-by-taking-plea-deal-family-of-one-victim-explodes.jpg?id=61138048&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C52%2C0%2C53"/><br/><br/><p><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/tag/bryan-kohberger" target="_blank">Bryan Kohberger</a> — arrested for the gruesome murders of four University of Idaho students — avoided the death penalty by accepting a controversial plea deal Wednesday that angered a victim's family.</p><p>Kohberger, 30, is accused of murdering 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves, 21-year-old Madison Mogen, 20-year-old Ethan Chapin, and 20-year-old Xana Kernodle on Nov. 13, 2022, at an <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/university-idaho-murders-update-news" target="_self">off-campus house in the city of Moscow</a>.</p><p class="pull-quote">Judge Hippler asked Kohberger, 'Did you on Nov. 13, 2022, enter the residence at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, with the intent to commit the felony crime of murder?' 'Yes,' Kohberger answered.</p><p> Investigators believe Kohberger stabbed the students to death with a Ka-Bar-style hunting knife, which reportedly has never been found. But investigators <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/bryan-kohberger-pleads-guilty-to-murder-after-admitting-to-brutal-stabbing-deaths-of-4-idaho-students" target="_blank">reportedly</a> discovered a knife sheath near Mogen's body at the <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/tag/crime" target="_blank">crime scene</a>, which allegedly had Kohberger's DNA on it.</p><p>Kohberger was <a href="https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/poconos-coal/local-community-shocked-as-suspect-in-idaho-killings-ties-to-poconos-lehigh-valley-revealed/article_6f3005d2-8893-11ed-a423-7f29c07780e8.html" target="_blank">arrested</a> at his parents' home in Chestnuthill Township, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 30, 2022.</p><p>Kohberger was charged with <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/bryan-kohberger-pleads-guilty-idaho-murders" target="_blank">four counts</a> of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the killings of the college housemates. </p><p>However, Kohberger walked away from death row after agreeing to a plea deal Wednesday. </p><p>Judge Steven Hippler began the hearing in Boise by addressing the controversy regarding Kohberger being spared the death penalty by agreeing to a plea deal. </p><p>Hippler noted that he had "no inkling" of a possible plea deal until Monday and was preparing for the case to go to trial.</p><p>Kohberger’s quadruple-murder trial was scheduled to begin next month, beginning with jury selection on Aug. 4 and opening statements on Aug. 18, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/crime/2025/07/02/bryan-kohberger-plea-deal-hearing-idaho-murders/84430960007/" target="_blank">USA Today</a> reported.</p><p>"Once I learned of the defendant’s decision to change his plea in this case, it was important that I take the plea as soon as possible," the judge said. </p><p>Judge Hippler tackled the sensitive topic of Kohberger making a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, which has enraged at least one of the victims' families. </p><p>"This court cannot require the prosecutor to seek the death penalty, nor would it be appropriate for this court to do that," Hippler explained, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/live/brian-kohberger-idaho-killings-updates?version=1751477015293" target="_blank">Associated Press</a>. </p><p>“Court is not supposed to, and this court will never, take into account public sentiment in making an opinion regarding its judicial decisions in cases," Hippler declared. "I always will make decisions based on where the facts and the law lead me, period."</p><p>Loved ones of the murder victims cried as Judge Hippler read the names of the slain college students, the AP said.</p><p> Judge Hippler <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XveBQ8ip8Zo" target="_blank">asked</a> Kohberger, "Did you on Nov. 13, 2022, enter the residence at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, with the intent to commit the felony crime of murder?”</p><p>“Yes,” Kohberger answered.</p><p>An unemotional Kohberger calmly confessed to killing the four college students before pleading guilty. </p><p>Judge Hippler said Kohberger will be sentenced at 9 a.m. July 23.</p><p>In 2023, a judge <a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/crime/idaho-college-killings/live-qa-kohberger-trial-date-set-what-comes-next/" target="_blank">entered</a> a not-guilty plea on Kohberger's behalf after the suspect stood silent when asked to provide a plea.</p><p><strong><span></span>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/bryan-kohberger-dna-knife-phone-car" target="_self">Court docs say DNA of Idaho murder suspect found on knife sheath. College roommate frozen in shock coming face-to-face with killer. Expert profiler believes Bryan Kohberger is an incel.</a></strong></p>        <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="281ef49b07e310945f5843ed6f6c6a23" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XveBQ8ip8Zo?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>                        </p><p>Prosecutors notified the victims' families of the plea in a letter, according to <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/bryan-kohberger-plead-guilty-counts-idaho-college-murders/story?id=123356808" target="_blank">ABC News</a>. </p><p>“This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family,” prosecutors wrote in the letter. “This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction appeals.”</p><p>Prosecutors added, "Your viewpoints weighed heavily in our decision-making process, and we hope that you may come to appreciate why we believe this resolution is in the best interest of justice."</p><p>Steve Goncalves — the father of Kaylee Goncalves — said his family had "never even considered" a plea agreement. </p><p>"It was described to me as, like, due diligence," Goncalves told <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/idaho-victims-dad-slams-kohberger-plea-deal-pretend/story?id=123368198" target="_blank">ABC News</a> in a separate story. "We're going to, like, look at this option, see if it could fit."</p><p>The distraught dad added, "At the least, justice starts with an interview of the families to ask them what justice is. And we didn't get that."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/bryan-kohberger-case-update-idaho-college-murders-new-details" target="_self">Chilling details revealed in Idaho college murders case — including frantic texts from roommates and new DNA evidence</a></strong></p>        <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aef15d267774ef148ff35d75dcaa16a1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="eeac6" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139053&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by August Frank-Pool/Getty Images</small></p><p>The Goncalves family blasted the plea deal and the local prosecutor's office. </p><p>"The death penalty is merely an illusion in the criminal justice system," the family said in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GoncalvesFamilyTips/posts/710128008653865" target="_blank">statement</a> released Tuesday. "When available, it serves as a bargaining tool for the state, and when rarely applied, it’s never enforced due to a highly inefficient appellate process. The notion that someone can plead guilty to a crime and still face years of appellate delays reveals a systemic failure."</p><p>The family continued, "The <a target="_blank"></a>Latah County Prosecutor’s Office’s treatment of our family during this process is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone."</p><p>The family claimed that the prosecutor's office "branded" them as "adversaries."</p><p>"Four wonderful young people lost their lives, yet the victims’ families were treated as opponents from the outset," the family stated. </p><p>They added that the prosecutor's office "mishandled" the plea deal and argued that it was rushed. </p><p>The statement concluded, "Our family is frustrated right now, and that will subside, and we will come together as always and deal with the reality that we face moving forward. Once again, we thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers!"</p><p>Just hours before the hearing, the Goncalves family also slammed Moscow Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson for making a "deal with the devil." </p><p>"Right here, right now, we dig our heels into the earth and carve a line deep in the dirt," the family said in a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/GoncalvesFamilyTips/posts/710988285234504" target="_blank">statement</a> on Facebook. "This ain’t justice, no judge presided, no jury weighed the truth. Thompson robbed us of our day in court. No negotiations, no jury of our peers, not even the pretense of cooperation and fairness."</p><p>The statement continued, "Cowardly men, gutless men, they scatter like roaches when the battle closes in. And Thompson? He’s <span style="background-color: initial;"><a target="_blank"></a></span>retiring on this deal, his shadow slithering toward the exit, leaving only the stench of his betrayal. No spine, no shred of honor. He didn’t have the basic decency, the plain human courage, to face the families, to meet our eyes and ask, 'How do we make an offer that works?' Instead, Thompson cut his deal with the devil, his negotiations didn’t require anything other than a simple guilty plea."</p><p>The family accused Thompson of failing to "shield the innocent."</p><p>The father of Xana Kernodle also opposed the deal, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/02/us/idaho-murders-kohberger-plea-deal.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a> reported. </p><p>However, some of the families of the victims have been supportive of the plea deal to end this chapter of their nightmare. </p><p>Madison Mogen's family said they support the plea agreement “100%,” according to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/bryan-kohberger-guilty-plea-idaho-murders-live-updates-rcna216238" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. </p><p>The family's attorney read a prepared statement outside the courthouse after the hearing, "We lost our Maddie, our kind, loving, vivacious, and caring daughter, full of purpose and promise. We are grateful for the gift of her life, and we have grieved the loss of that life during each of these 962 days."</p><p>Stacy Chapin, the mother of Ethan Chapin, supported the plea agreement, according to <a href="https://www.kget.com/news/ap-the-latest-bryan-kohberger-to-plead-guilty-in-university-of-idaho-stabbings/" target="_blank">KGET-TV</a>. </p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. <a href="https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblaze.com%2Fnewsletters%2Ftheblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 21:45:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/deal-with-the-devil-killer-bryan-kohberger-spared-death-penalty-by-taking-plea-deal-family-of-one-victim-explodes</guid><category>Bryan kohberger</category><category>Bryan kohberger trial</category><category>Bryan kohberger verdict</category><category>Murder</category><category>Idaho</category><category>Idaho college students</category><category>Death penalty</category><category>Crime</category><dc:creator>Paul Sacca</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/deal-with-the-devil-killer-bryan-kohberger-spared-death-penalty-by-taking-plea-deal-family-of-one-victim-explodes.jpg?id=61138048&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Operation Take Back America: Patel’s FBI leads ‘largest’ takedown of Anti-Tren gang members</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/operation-take-back-america-patels-fbi-leads-largest-takedown-of-anti-tren-gang-members</link><description><![CDATA[
  8. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/operation-take-back-america-patels-fbi-leads-largest-takedown-of-anti-tren-gang-members.jpg?id=61139476&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C50%2C0%2C57"/><br/><br/><p>The FBI, under Kash Patel's leadership, arrested over a dozen members of the "Anti-Tren" gang, a splinter faction of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua, on charges of drug and weapons trafficking.</p><p>The Anti-Tren gang members were in the country illegally when they were picked up by FBI Houston, according to a June 30 press release from the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/16-anti-tren-members-and-associates-charged-cocaine-and-firearms-trafficking" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Department of Justice</a>.</p><p class="pull-quote">'Operation Take Back America means going on the offensive against transnational criminal organizations to ensure that they cannot take root in our community and endanger public safety.'</p><p>"Two criminal complaints charge 14 Anti-Tren members and associates with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine," the DOJ stated. "According to the allegations, two groups of individuals agreed to transport kilogram quantities of cocaine in exchange for $15,000 for each load with each group accepting half as payment in advance."</p><p>The 14 suspects are facing up to life in prison and up to a $10 million fine.</p><p>Five individuals could face an additional 15 years in prison for alleged possession and sale of firearms. </p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-s-doj-devastates-tren-de-aragua-empire-with-first-rico-charges-against-27-gang-linked-thugs" target="_blank"><strong>Trump's DOJ 'devastates' Tren de Aragua empire with first RICO charges against 27 gang-linked thugs</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c9647f063be98596aa627d192c09cdbb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="ff0df" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139473&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images</small></p><p>According to the criminal complaint, Jose Miguel Briceno, a 25-year-old Venezuelan national, was previously involved in a mass shooting at a Houston bar that resulted in injuries to six people. Briceno is facing separate charges for alleged unlawful possession of ammunition by an alien, which could result in up to 15 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. </p><p>The Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Houston Police Department, and the Harris County Sheriff's Office assisted the FBI with its investigation. </p><p>The agency's arrests were part of a nationwide initiative, dubbed Operation Take Back America, to "repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime."</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/kristi-noem-enrages-liberals-with-two-word-response-to-dismissal-of-deportation-case" target="_blank"><strong>Kristi Noem enrages liberals with 2-word response to dismissal of deportation case</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3b125d51f5ac4b712f68f50787fda549" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="d6c6b" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139482&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images</small></p><p>U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei stated, "The Southern District's twin priorities are securing our border and the eradication of violent crime. This case implicates both."</p><p>"Operation Take Back America means going on the offensive against transnational criminal organizations to ensure that they cannot take root in our community and endanger public safety," Ganjei continued. "SDTX is going to be unapologetic in carrying out that mission."</p><p>Douglas Williams, the special agent in charge of the FBI Houston Field Office, referred to the arrests as "the largest takedown of suspected Anti-Tren members and associates by the FBI."</p><p>"These individuals are accused of engaging in a turf war with TDA members and carrying out numerous violent crimes throughout our city, including a mass shooting at a local sports bar that left six people wounded. Fortunately, for the good and safety of our community, these individuals are now in federal custody facing U.S. justice," Williams said.</p><p><em><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em></em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self"><em><em>Sign up here</em></em></a><em><em>!</em></em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 21:30:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/operation-take-back-america-patels-fbi-leads-largest-takedown-of-anti-tren-gang-members</guid><category>News</category><category>Immigration</category><category>Illegal immigration crisis</category><category>Illegal immigration</category><category>Immigration crisis</category><category>Immigration and customs enforcement</category><category>Ice</category><category>Fbi</category><category>Kash patel</category><category>Texas</category><category>Houston</category><category>Houston texas</category><category>Tren de aragua</category><category>Tda</category><category>Anti-tren</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Candace Hathaway</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/operation-take-back-america-patels-fbi-leads-largest-takedown-of-anti-tren-gang-members.jpg?id=61139476&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Pentagon spox responds to Blaze News reporter on Ukraine saying aid reduction will embolden Russia</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/pentagon-zeljko-ukraine-russia-aid</link><description><![CDATA[
  9. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/pentagon-spox-responds-to-blaze-news-reporter-on-ukraine-saying-aid-reduction-will-embolden-russia.jpg?id=61139388&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C103%2C0%2C104"/><br/><br/><p>On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Pentagon explained the president's rationale to end some military contributions to Ukraine in the Russian war. </p><p>Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell opened the media briefing with a statement about the decision to stop some military aid to Ukraine as part of a "capability review" that sought to maintain U.S. military readiness.</p><p class="pull-quote">'The president's strategic outset with respect to Ukraine and Russia has been one of peace. He campaigned on this.'</p><p>"Let it be known that our military has everything that it needs to conduct any mission anywhere, anytime, all around the world. We have the most lethal fighting force in the world," said Parnell at the end of his statement about Ukraine.</p><p>When Parnell went to accept questions from reporters, Blaze News politics reporter Rebeka Zeljko went first.</p><p>"With respect to Ukrainian aid, the United States announced that they're going to be withholding certain aspects of aid," said Zeljko. "Ukraine responded by saying that this is going to embolden Russia. What is the department's response to that argument?"</p><p>"Well, the president's strategic outset with respect to Ukraine and Russia has been one of peace. He campaigned on this. When he was asked on a town hall with CNN about that war, he said he wanted to just stop people from dying," Parnell responded.</p><p>"And so peace has been the president's highest aspiration, and we here at the department support those goals and those missions," he added. "But it's important to remember that the stuff that I mentioned in my topper, what we've done here at the Department of Defense is create a framework to analyze what munitions we're sending where, to help the president and the secretary of defense make decisions."</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/russia-drone-attack-peace-talks" target="_blank"><strong>'Audacious' Ukrainian drone attack on Russian bombers stuns ahead of peace talks in Istanbul</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b4d6a113039fa5d085a7059cddc3bfef" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/skGPskzRTOQ?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span> </p><p>"And so ultimately our job here at the Department of Defense is to pursue the president's America First agenda and make sure that we keep peace through strength throughout the world," Parnell concluded. </p><p>The U.S. <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/us-military-aid-halt-will-only-stimulate-russia-continue-war-ukrainian-foreign-ministry/" target="_blank">announced</a> a pause in munitions and air defense missiles being sent to Ukraine over concerns that the U.S. stockpile had grown low. The announcement was praised by Russia, but a Ukrainian official warned that the decision would lead to more "war and terror" from the "aggressor," rather than peace. </p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>! </em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 21:15:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/pentagon-zeljko-ukraine-russia-aid</guid><category>Pentagon spox sean parnell</category><category>Rebeka zeljko questions</category><category>Trump on ukraine aid</category><category>Ukraine vs russia</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Carlos Garcia</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/pentagon-spox-responds-to-blaze-news-reporter-on-ukraine-saying-aid-reduction-will-embolden-russia.jpg?id=61139388&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Right-wing investor to challenge traditional banking with national crypto bank</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/return/right-wing-banking-crypto-bank</link><description><![CDATA[
  10. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/right-wing-investor-to-challenge-traditional-banking-with-national-crypto-bank.png?id=61139042&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C1%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>A challenger to traditional banking has finally emerged, and it is coming from the right wing.</p><p>After billionaire Palmer Luckey was reported to be <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/return/palmer-luckey-crypto-banking-venture" target="_blank">starting a cryptocurrency</a> venture, it was unclear how big the scope would be and if it would work only in digital currencies.</p><p>Now that public filings have emerged, the new project was revealed to have major conservative backing while literally giving traditional banks a run for their money.</p><p class="pull-quote">'The bank will be a national bank ... providing traditional banking products.'</p><p>Blaze News <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/return/palmer-luckey-crypto-banking-venture" target="_blank">reported</a> last week that Luckey had teamed up with Joe Lonsdale to start the new company; Lonsdale co-founded Palantir Technologies with Luckey and has his own software companies, as well. At the same time, Lonsdale's venture firm 8VC led a $225 million fundraising round for the new company to meet federal regulatory requirements.</p><p>The tech entrepreneurs were first thought to be starting a bank that would work primarily on maximizing returns for tech startups, but recent filings revealed much more is in store. According to the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/8c903f2e-42a6-496b-b098-ca733f340ffc" target="_blank">Financial Times</a>, the new company has applied for a national bank charter, which would it give license to operate as a typical banking institution.</p><p>The Times also revealed a new right-wing mega-donor has joined the mix.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/return/palmer-luckey-crypto-banking-venture" target="_blank"><strong>Palmer Luckey-led crypto bank promises startups a capital hoard safe from scheming feds</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2a30b8684f58bda3faa2bb2a65ead69d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="4690d" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139052&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, during an interview on 'The Circuit with Emily Chang' at Anduril's headquarters in Costa Mesa, California, US, on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023. Anduril recently beat several legacy defense players in a contest for a major contract to develop an unmanned fighter jet for the US Air Force and is now valued at $8.5 billion. Photographer: Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg via Getty Images</small></p>            <p>None other than Peter Thiel and his venture capital fund, the Founders Fund, will also be backing the startup, according to two of the Times' sources.</p><p>Thiel is, of course, known for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/technology/republican-trump-peter-thiel.html" target="_blank">giving millions to Republican campaigns</a> over the years, including over a million dollars to President Donald Trump for his 2016 campaign.</p><p>This new undertaking, dubbed Erebor, is yet another one of Luckey's companies named after themes found in J.R.R. Tolkien books. This one refers to the mountain in "The Hobbit," where the dragon Smaug hoards his gold. His other companies, Anduril and Palantir, are references to a character's sword and a magical seeing stone, respectively.</p><p>Filings revealed, "The bank will be a national bank ... providing traditional banking products, as well as virtual currency-related products and services, for businesses and individuals."</p><p>Adding to previous speculation, the target market was listed as businesses that are part of the American "innovation economy," including tech companies focused on virtual currencies, artificial intelligence, or defense manufacturing.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-hides-a-big-ugly-ai-betrayal" target="_blank">The One Big Beautiful Bill Act hides a big, ugly AI betrayal</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fcf58d29570f7356cedc28f1d973b2c3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="d76d6" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139059&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">A Bitcoin Teller Machine in San Francisco, California, US, on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024. The Bitcoin rally sparked by US President-elect Donald Trump's election victory in early November is stalling as 2024 draws to a close. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images</small></p>            <p>Erebor will work with stablecoins, cryptocurrency tied to relatively stable assets like the U.S. dollar or gold. This is done to limit the volatility of a coin without sacrificing its benefits, creating investment opportunities far in excess of simply purchasing and holding, say, Bitcoin.</p><p>For example, President Trump works with the stablecoin <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-crypto-world-liberty-truth-social-etf-f11c47a99ea618aa06df4dd47b150800" target="_blank">USD1</a>, which is attached to the U.S. dollar.</p><p>"Longtime crypto people know it's a fine line between being targeted by government and being co-opted by government," explained Blaze Media's <a href="https://get.blazetv.com/zerohour/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=theblaze-smartlink" target="_blank">James Poulos</a>. "But it's hard to strike the right balance without risking the worst of both worlds — a crypto economy that regulators tolerate but can destroy or manipulate with the wave of a hand."</p><p>Poulos added that the most stable compromise naturally involves figures that Washington relies on in other high-tech industries, "however much freedom-loving 'maxis' wish that weren't the case."</p><p>"Regardless, it doesn't matter how perfect a balance the kingpins of crypto and banking might strike if Bitcoin (to take the biggest example) falls short of its potential as a peer-to-peer currency and becomes just another place for established wealth to accrue value," Poulos concluded.<br/></p><p>Erebor's filing said it plans on working with non-U.S. companies that are "seeking access to the U.S. banking system," according to the filing, and said it would "differentiate itself" by working with customers who are not well served by "traditional or disruptive financial institutions."</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em><em><br/></em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 21:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/return/right-wing-banking-crypto-bank</guid><category>Return</category><category>Bitcoin</category><category>Banking</category><category>Stablecoin</category><category>Crypto</category><category>Cryptocurrency</category><category>Bank</category><category>Tech</category><dc:creator>Andrew Chapados</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/png" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/right-wing-investor-to-challenge-traditional-banking-with-national-crypto-bank.png?id=61139042&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Federal housing director calls for investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell — and for his removal</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/fhfa-pulte-jerome-powell-resign</link><description><![CDATA[
  11. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/federal-housing-director-calls-for-investigation-into-fed-chair-jerome-powell-and-for-his-removal.jpg?id=61139289&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C104%2C0%2C104"/><br/><br/><p> U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte <a href="https://www.mpamag.com/us/news/general/fhfas-pulte-calls-for-investigation-and-removal-of-fed-chair-powell/541264" target="_blank">called</a> for a congressional investigation into Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and for his removal from the position.</p><p>President Donald Trump has been rhetorically <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/stock-market-crash-trump-powell" target="_blank">attacking</a> Powell for many months over his refusal to lower interest rates, despite inflation nearing the limit that Powell had set for lowering rates. Powell has <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-powell-fed-not-resign" target="_blank">previously said</a> that he will not step down as chair if the president asks. </p><p class="pull-quote">'All inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs. We didn’t overreact; in fact, we didn’t react at all.'</p><p>Pulte pointed to reports of the $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed's headquarters in Washington, D.C., to demand the investigation.</p><p>“I am asking Congress to investigate Chairman Jerome Powell, his political bias, and his deceptive Senate testimony, which is enough to be removed ‘for cause,’” Pulte said on social media.</p><p>“Jerome Powell’s $2.5B Building Renovation Scandal stinks to high heaven, and he lied when asked about the specifics before Congress. This is nothing short of malfeasance and is worthy of ‘for cause.’”</p><p>Pulte also accused Powell of lying when he denied some of the allegations about the renovation.</p><p>“All of the inflammatory things the media carried are not in the current plan,” Powell said. “There is no VIP dining room, no new marble, no special elevators. No new water features, no beehives and no roof terrace gardens.”</p><p>Powell has signaled that a rate drop might be in the future but asserted that the uncertainty surrounding the president's tariffs policies have led to reticence from the Federal Reserve from acting too quickly.</p><p>“All inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs. We didn’t overreact; in fact, we didn’t react at all," said Powell. "We’re simply taking some time. As long as the U.S. economy is in solid shape, we think the prudent thing to do is to wait and learn more, and see what those effects might be. They haven’t really shown up, so, for now, we’re waiting.”</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-fed-chair-powell-fire" target="_blank"><strong>Trump rips into Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates and suggests he'll be fired soon</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0e5db6de1a83b5748705387a011c1048" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ohXFXSQybr0?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span> </p><p>Critics of the president say that the Federal Reserve was instituted as an independent entity in order to prevent political considerations from biasing monetary policies. Supporters of the president say Powell and other Fed bank presidents are already politically biased.</p><p>The Fed is composed of 12 regional banks, each with their own president, and sets monetary policy. Its mission is to guide interest rates in order to avoid major job losses on one hand while also preventing high inflation on the other. </p><p>Powell was appointed as Fed chairman by Trump in his first term. </p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>! </em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:15:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/fhfa-pulte-jerome-powell-resign</guid><category>Bill pulte vs jerome powell</category><category>Trump vs jerome powell</category><category>Investigation in fed chair</category><category>Fed chair jerome powell</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Carlos Garcia</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/federal-housing-director-calls-for-investigation-into-fed-chair-jerome-powell-and-for-his-removal.jpg?id=61139289&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Canada bows to Donald Trump — tariff negotiations are back on</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/shows/sara-gonzales-unfiltered/canada</link><description><![CDATA[
  12. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61138635&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>In the trade war with the rest of the world, Canada threatened to tax Big Tech companies in America. However, just a few comments from President Donald Trump caused Canada to back down, and tariff negotiations are back on the table.</p><p>“So Canada put a charge on some of our companies, and Canada’s been a very difficult country to deal with over the years, and we have all the cards,” Trump said in a press conference last week.</p><p>“Economically, we have such power over Canada, I’d rather not use it, but they did something with our tech companies today trying to copy Europe. You know, they copied Europe. It’s not going to work out well for Europe, either, and it’s not going to work out well for Canada. They were foolish to do it,” he continued.</p><p>Trump went on to explain that while America does a “little” business with Canada, they do “most of their businesses with us.”</p><h3></h3><br/><span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="48fe0518d65bdf18e8c21e9293077337" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o2-VuhXLJzo?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span><p>“They’ve had farmers that are getting like 300, 400, 200% in tariffs. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. We have cases, you don’t read this, and the people don’t report it, but they charge us 400% on some dairy products,” he said, adding, “And it’s not fair to our farmers, and we’ve got to protect our farmers.”</p><p>“Now, Canada is the second largest United States trading partner after Mexico, also, the largest buyer of United States exports, which is kind of to President Trump’s point, they stand a lot to lose here,” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales comments.</p><p>“This tax plan would have put a 3% tax on companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Uber, Airbnb, and it also would be retroactive going all the way back to January of 2022. So for some of these companies, I mean, that’s quite a bit of money,” she says.</p><p>Now, Canada caved and dropped the digital tax plan in order to give themselves more time to reach a deal with President Trump by July 21.</p><p>Gonzales isn’t surprised by Canada’s move, adding, “It’s the art of the deal man.”</p><h2>Want more from Sara Gonzales?</h2><p>To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, <a href="https://get.blazetv.com/?utm_source=theblaze&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=article_shortcode_saragonzalesunfiltered" target="_blank">subscribe to BlazeTV</a> — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.</p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/shows/sara-gonzales-unfiltered/canada</guid><category>Camera phone</category><category>Video phone</category><category>Sharing</category><category>Upload</category><category>Free</category><category>Video</category><category>Youtube.com</category><category>Sara gonzales unfiltered</category><category>Sara gonzales</category><category>The blaze</category><category>Blazetv</category><category>Blaze news</category><category>Blaze podcasts</category><category>Blaze podcast network</category><category>Blaze media</category><category>Blaze online</category><category>Blaze originals</category><category>Tariffs</category><category>Trump tariffs</category><category>Tariff negotiations</category><category>Canada tariff</category><category>Canada tariffs</category><category>Big tech tax</category><category>Big tech</category><category>Farmers</category><category>President trump</category><category>Donald trump</category><dc:creator>BlazeTV Staff</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61138635&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>California cities cancel 4th of July events to shield illegal aliens amid anti-ICE madness</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/california-cities-cancel-4th-of-july-events-to-shield-illegal-aliens-amid-anti-ice-madness</link><description><![CDATA[
  13. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/california-cities-cancel-4th-of-july-events-to-shield-illegal-aliens-amid-anti-ice-madness.jpg?id=61139142&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54"/><br/><br/><p>Several California cities canceled their Fourth of July celebrations, <a href="https://www.sfgate.com/la/article/ice-raid-california-fear-july-4-cancellation-20397692.php" target="_blank">reportedly</a> citing Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities as the reason for the last-minute decision.</p><p>With President Donald Trump's vow to execute the biggest deportation effort in the nation's history, ICE has increased its efforts to find and detain illegal aliens. </p><p class="pull-quote">'This disdain for the average citizen is typical of California's Democrat leadership.'</p><p>California, the state with the largest illegal immigrant population, has been a prime target of the administration's immigration enforcement activities, sparking mass protests and even destructive rioting last month.</p><p>Now, several California cities are reportedly faulting ICE for their decision to cancel Independence Day celebrations.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/police-resign-cudahy-vice-mayor-gangs" target="_blank"><strong>Police union calls on Cudahy vice mayor to resign over video taunting violent street gangs to defend LA from ICE agents</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b00e7495c03625e8583c8b036c79d442" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="8b8fc" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139134&width=980"/>                <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">            Photo by GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images        </small>        </p><p>The city of Cudahy, located in southeastern Los Angeles, <a href="https://x.com/CityOfCudahyCA/status/1938031898472649049" target="_blank">announced</a> last Wednesday that it was "postponing" an Independence Day celebration scheduled for July 3 "due to recent events and concerns regarding the safety of our residents." </p><p>The post did not directly cite ICE activities as the reason for the postponement. As of <a href="https://x.com/CityOfCudahyCA/status/1940221435139567820" target="_blank">Tuesday</a>, the event had not been rescheduled.</p><p>Cudahy Vice Mayor Cynthia Gonzalez faced calls to <a href="https://ktla.com/news/local-news/l-a-police-union-calls-for-resignation-of-cudahy-vice-mayor-after-shameful-post/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">resign</a>, including from the L.A. police union, after she appeared to call on the city's street gangs to stop ICE's operations.</p><p>In a now-deleted June <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/1937686165886206093" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">video</a>, Gonzalez said, "I want to know where all the cholos are at in Los Angeles: 18th Street, Florencia. Where's the leadership at? Because you guys are all about territory and 'This is 18th Street,' and, 'This is Florencia.' You guys tag everything up, claiming hood and now that your hood's being invaded by the biggest gang there is, there ain't a peep out of you."</p><p>"Whoever's the leadership over there, just f**king get your members in order," Gonzalez added.</p><p>Matt Himes, a California resident and the managing editor for Blaze Media's Align, stated, "Last week L.A. County official Cynthia Gonzalez allegedly went on TikTok to encourage local gang members to fight back against ICE. She didn't ask how her law-abiding constituents felt about the prospect of open warfare in their neighborhood. This disdain for the average citizen is typical of California's Democrat leadership."<br/></p><p>Bell Gardens, a city located just east of Cudahy, also canceled its Fourth of July events, directly citing concerns about immigration enforcement.</p><p>"Out of an abundance of caution regarding concerns for resident safety over federal immigration enforcement activities, the City of Bell Gardens will be canceling the scheduled events between June 24, 2025, and July 10, 2025, including the Movie Nights on June 26 and July 10 as well as the Independence Day Celebration," the city <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DLTSPbfPYD2/?img_index=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">wrote</a>.</p><p>Since the notice of cancellation, the city has repeatedly used its social media account to promote "immigration workshops." </p><p>One pinned <a href="https://www.instagram.com/cityofbellgardens/p/DKqUyZ6PkcF/?hl=en&img_index=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">post</a> reads, "Know your rights! Regardless of your immigration status, you have guaranteed constitutional rights." The post instructs immigrants on how to respond to ICE agents arriving at their home, advising them not to open the door for officers unless they have a warrant signed by a judge.</p><p>"Remain silent and [do] not answer questions from immigration agents," it reads.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/rent-moratorium-illegals-los-angeles" target="_blank"><strong>Fear of deportation is crippling Los Angeles businesses so badly, unions are demanding moratorium on rent</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c909b62029e7662a997189ddd2bae4e8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="8763e" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139152&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</small></p><p>Huntington Park, a city northwest of Cudahy, similarly postponed its Independence Day celebrations, though it did not provide a reason. </p><p>"The Celebration of Independence scheduled for Thursday, July 3rd has been postponed. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Thank you for your understanding and support," the city <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CityofHPParksandRec/posts/pfbid0xavWsgD1Qoe36H36pVRv85a73Kg6vQy5cUQM1EdjWMRh9T2b7PcJ1iufsmd4VVZol" target="_blank">wrote</a>. </p><p><a href="https://www.foxla.com/news/4th-july-events-canceled-2025-list-los-angeles-california-fireworks" target="_blank">Boyle Heights</a>, located east of the Los Angeles River, postponed its July 4 events, citing ICE activities, according to Alejandra Alarcon, a spokesperson for the office of city council member Ysabel Jurado.</p><p>Alarcon told the <a href="https://boyleheightsbeat.com/fourth-of-july-eastside-cancellations/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Boyle Heights Beat</a>, "We're responding to the crisis with the presence of federal agents in the community."</p><p>The outlet reported that celebrations for Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Lincoln Heights, and Northeast Los Angeles will be postponed until sometime in August.</p><p>Jurado’s deputy for economic innovation and community growth, <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/daughters-los-angeles-politician-arrested-assaulting-ice-riots" target="_blank">Lucia Aguilar</a>, was arrested, along with her twin sister, for allegedly assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon during the anti-ICE riots in June. The twin sisters are the daughters of Rick Cole, a Democratic Pasadena City council member</p><p>As some California cities prioritize shielding illegal immigrants over celebrating Independence Day, critics argue these actions betray the core values of America. </p><p>Himes stated, "Legal immigrants love July 4 — just like people who've been here for generations. But too bad: What really matters is 'protecting' the people with no respect for our country's laws. Even my neighborhood of the Pacific Palisades (which burned to the ground on the watch of that same Democratic leadership) is having a <a href="https://palisades4th.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">big July 4 party</a> — my condolences to all my fellow Californians being denied one."</p><p>Gloria Romero, a former Democratic majority leader in the California State Senate, told <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6375157155112" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Fox News</a>, "They're basically canceling America; they're canceling patriotism."</p><p><span></span>"We are basically led by a far-left, ultra-woke, [Trump derangement syndrome]-suffering fools," she said.</p><p><em><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em></em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self"><em><em>Sign up here</em></em></a><em><em>!</em></em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 20:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/california-cities-cancel-4th-of-july-events-to-shield-illegal-aliens-amid-anti-ice-madness</guid><category>News</category><category>Immigration and customs enforcement</category><category>Ice</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Trump</category><category>Trump administration</category><category>Trump admin</category><category>Immigration enforcement</category><category>California</category><category>Los angeles</category><category>La</category><category>Illegal immigration crisis</category><category>Illegal immigration</category><category>Immigration crisis</category><category>Immigration</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Candace Hathaway</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/california-cities-cancel-4th-of-july-events-to-shield-illegal-aliens-amid-anti-ice-madness.jpg?id=61139142&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'MS-13 clique': ABC News blasted for downplaying violent gang</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/ms-13-clique-abc-news-blasted-for-downplaying-violent-gang</link><description><![CDATA[
  14. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/ms-13-clique-abc-news-blasted-for-downplaying-violent-gang.jpg?id=61139207&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54"/><br/><br/><p>A mainstream media outlet is once again blasted with online outrage after reducing a vicious transnational gang to a mere "clique," perhaps to distance itself from the tough rhetoric from President Donald Trump regarding illegal immigration.</p><p>On Tuesday, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ms-13-leader-sentenced-racketeering-case-involving-8-123398863?cid=social_twitter_abcn" target="_blank">ABC News</a> published a report about the upcoming sentencing hearing for Alexi Saenz, the 30-year-old leader of Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside, a Long Island offshoot of the notorious transnational criminal organization Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13.</p><p class="pull-quote">'In my high school, we had the jocks, the nerds, the MS-13ers.'</p><p>The story prompted a barrage of outrage for repeatedly referring to Sailors Locos as a "clique."</p><p>"The leader of an MS-13 clique in the suburbs of New York City faces sentencing Wednesday in a federal racketeering case involving eight murders, including the 2016 killings of two high school girls that focused the nation’s attention on the violent gang," read a <a href="https://x.com/ABC/status/1940333054515368447" target="_blank">social media post</a> from ABC News.</p><p>The response was swift and fierce:</p><ul>  <li>"Of all the propaganda you’ve pushed over the years, describing a gang that murders children as a fun 'clique' is a new low," commented <a href="https://x.com/MZHemingway/status/1940381917905625351" target="_blank">Mollie Hemingway</a>, editor in chief of the Federalist.<span></span></li><li>"In my high school, we had the jocks, the nerds, the MS-13ers …," joked Blaze Media contributor <a href="https://x.com/caroljsroth/status/1940412884259086814" target="_blank">Carol Roth</a>.</li><li>"'Clique.' MS-13 is nothing more than a mean girls club now?" added another <a href="https://x.com/WadeMiller_USMC/status/1940433515662950456" target="_blank">commenter</a>.</li></ul><p>Only Regina George and the other Plastics in the iconic 2004 Lindsay Lohan film "Mean Girls" have nothing on Alexi Saenz.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/lawmaker-who-visited-el-salvador-to-spring-ms-13-gang-member-attacks-ashli-babbitt-as-a-domestic-terrorist" target="_self"><strong>Lawmaker who visited El Salvador to spring MS-13 gang member attacks Ashli Babbitt as a ‘domestic terrorist’</strong></a></p><div data-lastpass-icon-root="" style="position: relative !important; height: 0px !important; width: 0px !important; float: left !important;"></div><span class="alt-updating loader hidden"></span>        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aaf0bbbb8364ffff688aa61616f06dcc" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="627bf" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139220&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images</small><p>Last year, as part of a guilty plea to federal racketeering charges, Saenz admitted to ordering hits on rivals and others he believed were disrespectful, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ms13-killings-long-island-guilty-plea-649ec397315a27cd1f9c83aa21f93d75" target="_blank">the AP</a> reported at the time, likewise referring to Saenz's gang division as a "clique." His orders resulted in eight murders and three attempted murders.</p><p>Among those killed were <a href="https://apnews.com/general-news-7f055f3abdea456188d42f68d9d06351" target="_blank">Kayla Cuevas, 16, and Nisa Mickens, 15</a>, high school friends who were stalked and then beaten and slashed to death with a baseball bat and a machete in 2016. The girls' parents attended Trump's 2018 State of the Union address.</p><p>"These two precious girls were brutally murdered while walking together in their hometown," <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/state-of-the-union-trump-parents-ms-13-gang-victim-everyone-in-america-is-grieving-for-you/" target="_blank">Trump said</a> at the time. "Six members of the savage gang MS-13 have been charged with Kayla and Nisa's murders. Many of these gang members took advantage of glaring loopholes in our laws to enter the country as unaccompanied alien minors and wound up in Kayla and Nisa's high school."</p><p>Trump also called for the death penalty for those responsible.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/goldman-kilmar-garcia-gang-member" target="_self"><strong> VIDEO: Democrat melts down during hearing over evidence that Kilmar Garcia is an MS-13 gang member</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0fafb51b7d737baea1960be8156b8b84" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="218b2" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61139216&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call</small></p><p>Saenz did not end up facing the death penalty, but he is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars. He was sentenced to <a href="https://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/ms-13-killings-sentencing-alexi-saenz-victims-nisa-mickens-kayla-cuevas-l9qisbf2" target="_blank">68 years in prison</a>, a decision that likely pleased prosecutors, who pushed for 70.</p><p>His attorneys pushed for a sentence of 45 years, claiming he is "profoundly sorry" and "on a journey of redemption." They also insisted he is intellectually disabled and had a difficult childhood in El Salvador. Whether Saenz immigrated to the U.S. legally is unclear.</p><p>Prosecutors dismissed those arguments, claiming that Saenz — aka Blasty, aka Big Homie — has continued to affiliate with the Sailors Locos and commit violence while incarcerated.</p><p>"Indeed, the same pattern of violence and mayhem that has marked his life on the street has not waned with the passage of time," they wrote.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 19:35:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/ms-13-clique-abc-news-blasted-for-downplaying-violent-gang</guid><category>Ms-13</category><category>Sailors locos</category><category>Alexi saenz</category><category>Clique</category><category>Mean girls</category><category>Lindsay lohan</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Kayla cuevas</category><category>Nisa mickens</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Cortney Weil</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/ms-13-clique-abc-news-blasted-for-downplaying-violent-gang.jpg?id=61139207&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Another white flag! Child sex-change regime continues to collapse under weight of Trump enforcement</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/another-white-flag-child-sex-change-regime-continues-to-collapse-under-weight-of-trump-enforcement</link><description><![CDATA[
  15. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/another-white-flag-child-sex-change-regime-continues-to-collapse-under-weight-of-trump-enforcement.webp?id=61137839&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>President Donald Trump declared war on gender ideology and the corresponding child sex-change regime upon retaking office. Despite the best efforts of <a href="https://lambdalegal.org/newsroom/pflag_us_20250204_families-advocates-sue-trump-over-eo-restricting-gender-affirming-care/" target="_blank">non-straight activists</a> and <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/breaking-scotus-punts-on-birthright-citizenship-question-delivers-bad-news-to-meddlesome-courts" target="_blank">overreaching</a> <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/judge-prisons-transgender-gender-affirming-care-trump-rcna210700" target="_blank">federal judges</a>, the campaign is off to an excellent start — as recently evidenced by Stanford Medicine's partial surrender.</p><p>Trump signed an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/protecting-children-from-chemical-and-surgical-mutilation/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">executive order</a> on Jan. 28 directing all federal agencies to ensure that medical institutions receiving federal funding "end the chemical and surgical mutilation of children" — an initiative that accords with popular opinion, which is <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/democrats-meltdown-over-scotus-child-sex-change-ruling-reveals-they-learned-nothing-about-2024-blowout" target="_blank">majoritively against</a> sex-change drugs and surgeries for children.</p><p>"Across the country today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child's sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions," wrote Trump. "This dangerous trend will be a stain on our Nation's history, and it must end."</p><p>It's clear that the president meant business — which in practice, has meant putting the sex-change regime <em>out of business</em>.</p><p>Children's Hospital Los Angeles — which <a href="https://stoptheharmdatabase.com/hospital/childrens-hospital-los-angeles/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reportedly</a> had patients as young as 3 and billed millions of dollars for hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and sex-change mutilations for minors — <a href="https://www.chla.org/adolescent-and-young-adult-medicine/center-transyouth-health-and-development" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">announced</a> last month that it was shuttering its child sex-change center after assessing the "severe impacts" of the Trump administration's actions and proposed policies.</p><p>Stanford Medicine revealed last week that it too was shuttering one of its youth sex-change practices.</p><p class="pull-quote">'Her testes are nonfunctional, and in medicine, don't we often recommend the removal of nonfunctional organs like an appendix?'</p><p>The Stanford Pediatric and Adolescent Gender Clinic was founded in 2015 by pediatric endocrinologist Tandy Aye.</p><p>During a 2019 TED Talk, Aye <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L240CPOJ6FM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">suggested</a> age should not determine when kids can have their genitals surgically removed and/or distorted.</p><p>"Doctors usually allow those who are 18 to make decisions about their procedures and consent so that you can weigh the risks and benefits," said Aye, a member of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health. "Well then, the transgender patient may be one of the most well-informed patients. Who else has had years of psychological evaluation, months of medical therapy, and has thought of this one procedure for so long?"</p><p>Aye suggested that in the case of a little boy sterilized after being pumped full of puberty blockers, conventional medical wisdom would dictate that his testicles should be removed.</p><p>"Her testes are nonfunctional, and in medicine, don't we often recommend the removal of nonfunctional organs like an appendix?" asked Aye. "So therefore, does it make sense for Avery to wait until she's 18?"</p><p>Some of Aye's colleagues at WPATH <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/democrats-meltdown-over-scotus-child-sex-change-ruling-reveals-they-learned-nothing-about-2024-blowout" target="_self">admitted</a> behind closed doors that informed consent by minors was all but impossible.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/return/sacrificing-body-parts-and-informed-consent-to-the-sex-change-regime" target="_self">Sacrificing body parts and informed consent to the sex-change regime</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dec76b1ae72d9d0d207edb06b15ace84" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="55975" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61138559&width=980"/><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images</small></p><p>It's clear that the Stanford clinic shares Aye's eagerness for putting children on the path to sterility and permanent discomfort, <a href="https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/services/gender/faq.html" target="_blank">stating</a> in its FAQ that it treats "transgender and gender diverse children, adolescents, and young adults" and "will see younger children before puberty starts for education, social support, and referral to mental health and community resources."</p><p>The clinic is, however, pausing the surgical side of its deformative practice.</p><p>Stanford <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/health/article/stanford-gender-surgery-policy-20392102.php" target="_blank">told</a> the San Francisco Chronicle in a June 24 statement, "After careful review of the latest actions and directives from the federal government and following consultations with clinical leadership, including our multidisciplinary LGBTQ+ program and its providers, Stanford Medicine paused providing gender-related surgical procedures as part of our comprehensive range of medical services for LGBTQ+ patients under the age of 19, effective June 2, 2025."</p><p>"We took this step to protect both our providers and patients," said Stanford. "This was not a decision we made lightly, especially knowing how deeply this impacts the individuals and families who depend on our essential care and support."</p><p class="pull-quote">'Children deserve evidence-based care, not irreversible harm backed by political activists.'</p><p>The decision to pause genital mutilation at the clinic, which will reportedly continue to provide other forms of sex-change "care," was supposedly made before the U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-477_2cp3.pdf" target="_blank">upheld</a> Tennessee Republicans' ban on sex-change genital mutilations and sterilizing puberty blockers for minors on June 18.</p><p>Similar laws are on the books in 23 other red states.</p><p>Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, chairman at the medical advocacy group Do No Harm, told Blaze News in a statement, "It is encouraging that Stanford Medicine has joined the ranks of medical systems ending experimental sex-change surgeries on children. However, Stanford Medicine should remain under scrutiny for its history of performing these procedures and its continued use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones on children."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/democrats-meltdown-over-scotus-child-sex-change-ruling-reveals-they-learned-nothing-about-2024-blowout" target="_blank">Democrats' meltdown over SCOTUS child sex-change ruling reveals they learned nothing about 2024 blowout </a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a9c750626b077ec4749e3b237d317fd0" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="21c60" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61138553&width=980"/><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images</small></p><p>"As the administration continues to investigate and take regulatory action against hospitals that harm gender confused kids, it should by no means give Stanford Medicine a pass until it complies with HHS' recommendations for treating gender dysphoria," continued Goldfarb. "Children deserve evidence-based care, not irreversible harm backed by political activists."</p><p>As Goldfarb alluded, the Trump administration is bringing the full weight of the law down on those who would mutilate children on the basis of pseudoscience and false, ideologically driven narratives.</p><p>Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href="https://www.justice.gov/ag/media/1402396/dl" target="_blank">noted</a> in an April 22 memo that pursuant to Trump's executive order, she was directing all Department of Justice employees "to enforce rigorous protections and hold accountable those who prey on vulnerable children and their parents."</p><p>Just last week, <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/fbi-reportedly-launches-criminal-probes-into-3-childrens-hospitals-over-child-sex-changes" target="_blank">the FBI launched criminal probes</a> into Boston Children's Hospital, Children's Hospital Colorado, and Children's Hospital Los Angeles — all three listed on medical advocacy group Do No Harm's list of the 12 worst offending institutions that promote sex changes for minors.</p><p>Time will tell whether the administration will take a similar approach to Stanford.</p><p>Blaze News has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 19:15:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/another-white-flag-child-sex-change-regime-continues-to-collapse-under-weight-of-trump-enforcement</guid><category>Sex-change</category><category>Sex change regime</category><category>Child sex change</category><category>Sex changes</category><category>Transgender</category><category>Trans</category><category>Transition</category><category>Medical</category><category>Health</category><category>Wpath</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Stanford</category><category>Pam bondi</category><category>Do no harm</category><category>Goldfarb</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Joseph MacKinnon</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/another-white-flag-child-sex-change-regime-continues-to-collapse-under-weight-of-trump-enforcement.webp?id=61137839&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Major California county had the chance to flip board of supervisors — instead it elected anti-Trump liberal</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/board-of-supervisors-dem-paloma</link><description><![CDATA[
  16. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/major-california-county-had-the-chance-to-flip-board-of-supervisors-instead-it-elected-anti-trump-liberal.jpg?id=61138428&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C104%2C0%2C104"/><br/><br/><p>Voters in San Diego County, California, overwhelmingly elected to <a href="https://www.kpbs.org/news/politics/2025/07/02/imperial-beach-mayor-paloma-aguirre-wins-board-of-supervisors-seat" target="_blank">endorse</a> far-left policies on Tuesday when they went to the ballot box.</p><p>The five-member San Diego Board of Supervisors is split with two Republicans and two Democrats, but the last seat was won by Paloma Aguirre, a far-left Democrat, over the Republican challenger, Chula Vista Mayor John McCann.</p><p class="pull-quote">She referred to herself as a 'fighter at the county Board of Supervisors who will hold the line against the Trump administration.'</p><p>Aguirre made it clear that she would use the seat to oppose the federal policies of President Donald Trump.</p><p>"Voters spoke loud and clear: Clean up the sewage crisis, lower costs, and stand up to the chaos, cuts, and intimidation coming out of Trump's Washington," she said in a statement on election evening.</p><p>She also referred to herself as a "fighter at the county Board of Supervisors who will hold the line against the Trump administration."</p><p>While it is estimated that 9,500 ballots have yet to be counted, Aguirre has garnered 53.22% to McCann's 46.78% with a lead of nearly 5,000 votes. She claimed victory Wednesday morning, and McCann conceded the election.</p><p>Aguirre also denied that the area had a homeless crisis, and when asked about her solution to safety issues caused by transients' tents, she <a href="https://x.com/amyforsandiego/status/1937304057665978423" target="_blank">said</a> she was more concerned with realtors' signs blocking sidewalks.</p><p>Some hoped that the homeless crisis as well as the <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/san-diego-street-vendor-lawsuit" target="_blank">large population</a> of illegal aliens in the county might have pushed enough voters to choose the Republican alternative, but it appears that Democratic policies will continue to dominate San Diego.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/analysis/how-californias-crisis-could-lead-to-a-big-political-shift" target="_blank"><strong>How California’s crisis could lead to a big political shift</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="351f2b46e468aee8c6faef733054210a" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-L2jJ5M6Jiw?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span> </p><p>In December, the board of supervisors voted to <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/san-diego-county-becomes-super-sanctuary-but-sheriff-s-office-rejects-policy" target="_blank">strengthen</a> anti-ICE policies and make the county a "super" sanctuary county in anticipation of future deportation policies ordered by Trump.</p><p>The special election filled the seat that was vacated by Nora Vargas, who abruptly <a href="https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/supervisor-chair-nora-vargas-step-down-san-diego-county-board-supervisors/3706025/" target="_blank">announced</a> in December that she could no longer serve on the board due to <a href="https://www.10news.com/news/team-10/emails-show-backlash-nora-vargas-received-before-stepping-down" target="_blank">safety</a> and security issues. She was the first Hispanic woman to serve on the board and also the first immigrant to serve as well.</p><p>Vargas' victory in 2020 had flipped the county from red to blue. </p><p>The county includes about 3.3 million residents, which makes it the second-most populous county in California and the fifth-most populous county in the U.S.</p><p>On her social media profile, Aguirre listed her pronouns as she/her/ella.</p><p><em><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em></em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self"><u><em>Sign up here</em></u></a><em><em>! </em></em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 19:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/board-of-supervisors-dem-paloma</guid><category>San diego county board supervisors</category><category>California voters</category><category>San diego goes left</category><category>Mayor us counties</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Carlos Garcia</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/major-california-county-had-the-chance-to-flip-board-of-supervisors-instead-it-elected-anti-trump-liberal.jpg?id=61138428&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'As a woman': Duke Law quietly pushes insane diversity statements for law journal applicants</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/duke-law-journal-application-packet</link><description><![CDATA[
  17. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/as-a-woman-duke-law-quietly-pushes-insane-diversity-statements-for-law-journal-applicants.png?id=61137847&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C1%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>Duke Law at Duke University distributed an information packet that puts bizarre diversity sentiments front and center for possible applicants.</p><p>More than two years after the Supreme Court <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/06/supreme-court-strikes-down-affirmative-action-programs-in-college-admissions/" target="_blank">struck down</a> affirmative action in college admissions, some major schools are still in the weeds regarding preferential treatment of candidates based on skin color or ethnicity.</p><p>This week, Duke Law's very own publication meant to produce "scholarship by premier legal thinkers" was exposed for heavily encouraging students to include diversity statements in their applications to work for the journal.</p><p class="pull-quote">'To combat the lack of diversity in legal academia, I plan to use my voice ...'</p><p><a href="https://dlj.law.duke.edu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Duke Law Journal</a> has been around since 1951, but likely did not advise students to write about their Asian-American "privilege" or experience as a "Middle Eastern Jewish woman" in order to work for the publication more than 70 years ago.</p><p>As reported by the <a href="https://freebeacon.com/campus/duke-law-journal-sent-a-secret-memo-to-minority-applicants-telling-them-theyd-get-extra-points-for-writing-about-their-race/" target="_blank">Washington Free Beacon</a>, those types of topics are precisely what Duke Law Journal suggests second-year students write about in their application to become staff editors.</p><p>The Free Beacon acquired a <a href="https://freebeacon.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/DLJ_AffinityGroupApplicationPacket-Final-Redacted-.pdf" target="_blank">2024 information packet</a> sent to Duke Law's affinity groups, in which the journal gave advice on, and provided examples of, personal statements that could help students land a position. The packet was distributed only to the affinity groups, according to the outlet's sources.</p><p>Under possible topics, the first suggestion given in the packet is "your upbringing or personal identity and how it has shaped your perspectives and experiences."</p><p>Then, when describing how the personal statements are graded, the first point asks students how a person's perspective could contribute to Duke Law Journal's goals of "promoting diverse perspectives in legal academia."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/exposed-harvards-elite-law-journal-accused-of-discriminating-against-white-men" target="_blank">Exposed: Harvard's elite law journal accused of discriminating against white men</a></strong></p>        <blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1939699884233511220">
  18.        <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  19.        <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronsibarium/status/1939699884233511220"></a>
  20.    </blockquote>
  21.        <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>The notes specifically mention being a member of an "underrepresented or marginalized group" or a "non-traditional student" as being worth mentioning.</p><p>The packet then suggests students write about ways in which they have "meaningfully advanced the interests of diverse communities."</p><p>These suggestions are immediately followed by personal statement examples, which journalist Aaron Sibarium included in a series of <a href="https://x.com/aaronsibarium/status/1939699884233511220" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">posts on X</a>. The samples included redacted portions, signaling that they were from real applicants.</p><p>The first example began, "To combat the lack of diversity in legal academia, I plan to use my voice at Duke Law Journals, through article selection, critiques, and writing my note on pertinent legal issues that affect the Asian-American community."</p><p>The statement sample continued, saying that the student wanted to ensure diversity in the legal academic profession, while advocating for "institutional and issue-area diversity."</p><p>The second sample personal statement explained how the student's experience could "be useful in promoting diversity," adding that "Asian-Americans" need to have community leaders who "understand and reflect our experiences."</p><p>Yet another Asian applicant wrote, "As an Asian-American woman and a daughter of immigrants, I am afforded with different perspectives, experiences, and privileges."</p><p>Another applicant broke the trend, though, and instead claimed that her "unique perspective as a Middle Eastern Jewish woman" could "prove useful" as she explores her "intersectional identity in both academic and professional settings."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/gotta-keep-it-quiet-dean-of-students-who-kept-dei-alive-at-unc-reaps-the-whirlwind" target="_blank">'Gotta keep it quiet': Dean of students who kept DEI alive at UNC reaps the whirlwind</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6f18ff4cadc278ffed4ca54c2351c8cb" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Az4x9J83lk0?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span></p><p>Duke Law Journal's application process appears to reflect a current, disturbing trend of circumventing bans against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at once-prestigious institutions.</p><p>Harvard's law journal was also exposed recently for allegedly picking articles "on the basis of race," in such a way that the race of the legal scholar is "as, if not more, important than the merit of the submission," the Civil Rights Office <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/exposed-harvards-elite-law-journal-accused-of-discriminating-against-white-men" target="_blank">wrote</a>.</p><p>Duke Law Journal applicants, if they can make it through the process, can look forward to writing on an array of progressive topics. Under "articles you might work on," the journal included sample titles like, "Abortion Disorientation," "Reparations for Project One Hundred Thousand," and "Lutie Lytle Black Women's Scholarship Workshop."</p><p>Neither Duke's general counsel nor Duke University's media relations team responded to Blaze News' request for comment.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em><em></em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 18:42:01 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/duke-law-journal-application-packet</guid><category>News</category><category>Diversity</category><category>Dei</category><category>Duke law</category><category>University</category><category>Woke</category><category>Affirmative action</category><category>Law school</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Andrew Chapados</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/png" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/as-a-woman-duke-law-quietly-pushes-insane-diversity-statements-for-law-journal-applicants.png?id=61137847&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Lawfare strikes again: Rogue judge ignores SCOTUS, shields 500,000 from Trump's immigration crackdown</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/lawfare-strikes-again-rogue-judge-ignores-scotus-shields-500000-from-trump-s-immigration-crackdown</link><description><![CDATA[
  22. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/lawfare-strikes-again-rogue-judge-ignores-scotus-shields-500000-from-trump-s-immigration-crackdown.jpg?id=61137730&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C38%2C0%2C69"/><br/><br/><p>Another district judge sought to block the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts by preventing the Department of Homeland Security from stripping Temporary Protected Status from over 500,000 immigrants, despite the administration's recent Supreme Court victory.</p><p>DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced Friday that the agency would end TPS for Haiti on September 2, requiring more than half a million Haitian nationals in the U.S. to return to their home country. TPS was initially provided to Haitian nationals in 2010, and the federal government executed numerous redesignations extending the program through the Biden administration.</p><p class="pull-quote">'Universal injunctions likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has given to federal courts.'</p><p>Noem's DHS argued that "Haiti no longer continues to meet the conditions for designation for TPS," claiming that the Haitian government's lack of control has resulted in "direct consequences for U.S. public safety."</p><p>"Haitian gang members have already been identified among those who have entered the United States and, in some cases, have been apprehended by law enforcement for committing serious and violent crimes," the DHS stated.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/noem-ends-deportation-protections-for-500000-immigrants-from-one-controversial-island" target="_blank"><strong>Noem prepares to deport 500,000 immigrants from one long-troubled island</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a397a7bf1c352111d3c91d61d1239db9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="a0ef6" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61137738&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images</small></p><p>Ira Mehlman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform told Blaze News, “TPS is designed to protect people from extraordinary and temporary conditions preventing the return of a country's nationals, provided that those foreign nationals remaining in the United States is not contrary to our national interest. Unfortunately, political instability in Haiti is neither extraordinary nor temporary. Moreover, Secretary Noem has made the determination that Haitian nationals remaining in the country is not in the national interest of the United States.”</p><p>The agency encouraged Haitian nationals to use the CBP Home app to return to their country of origin. The Trump administration has offered to provide immigrants a $1,000 exit bonus and to cover the cost of their return tickets.</p><p>On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-judge-blocks-trumps-immigration-policy-shocking-decision-haitian-protections" target="_blank">attempted</a> to block the Trump administration's termination of TPS for Haitian nationals. He claimed that Noem "cannot reconsider Haiti's TPS designation in a way that takes effect before February 3, 2026, the expiration of the most recent previous extension."</p><p>"Plaintiffs are likely to (and, indeed, do) succeed on the merits. Secretary Noem's partial vacatur was in excess of her authority and was thus unlawful," Cogan wrote.</p><p>In response to Cogan's ruling, police analyst and Townhall columnist Phil Holloway <a href="https://x.com/PhilHollowayEsq/status/1940395798635667595" target="_blank">noted</a> that the "lawfare continues" against the Trump administration, which has faced numerous roadblocks from district judges. </p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/massive-trump-win-scotus-clears-path-to-remove-500000-foreign-nationals" target="_blank"><strong>Massive Trump win! SCOTUS clears path to remove 500,000+ foreign nationals</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="89202924ecb90df8fbfbf713e09459d3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="3ec78" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61137795&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images</small></p><p>Cogan's ruling followed President Donald Trump's Supreme Court <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/supreme-court-trump-migrants-origin" target="_blank">victory</a> last week, in which justices <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/06/27/nx-s1-5448821/universal-injunction-supreme-court-executive-order-birthright" target="_blank">limited</a> the scope of district courts' universal injunctions on executive action.</p><p>The Supreme Court wrote, "Universal injunctions likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress has given to federal courts."</p><p>Additionally, the high court in May granted the administration's emergency appeal to terminate the TPS designation for Venezuelan nationals. </p><p>DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/19/trump-supreme-court-tps-venezuela-00357143" target="_blank">responded</a> to the ruling, stating, "Today's SCOTUS decision is [a] win for the American people and the safety of our communities."</p><p>"The Trump administration is reinstituting integrity into our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe," she added.</p><p>The Supreme Court also cleared a path for the administration to revoke deportation protections for foreign nationals enrolled in the CHNV program, which, under former President Joe Biden's leadership, allowed 30,000 individuals per month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to immigrate to the U.S.</p><p>Mehlman stated, "SCOTUS has ruled the administration may proceed with revocation of TPS for Venezuelans, another country where there is political instability. And, just last week, SCOTUS ruled that universal injunctions from district court judges likely exceed their authority.”</p><p>Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, told Blaze News, "It's interesting to see lower-court judges continue to try to block the Trump administration's rollback of inappropriate policies that were implemented by Biden, even after the Supreme Court threw out a similar lawsuit involving Venezuelan TPS and even after the Supreme Court has tried to quash these injunctions, which often are abuses of judicial authority.</p><p>"It looks like the predatory lawfare will continue and Trump will continue to flood the zone with new policies to address the problems created by his predecessor — because it's necessary to restore the integrity of our laws and because this is what Americans voted for," Vaughan continued. "Regardless of the lawsuits, Trump is right to cancel TPS for Haitians. Most of those who were given TPS under Biden had already been living in other countries with residency and work permits, so they had no need for protection in the United States. They can go back to those countries. Others can go back to Haiti and contribute to the future of their country with the skills and education they have been allowed to obtain here, often with subsidies from U.S. taxpayers."</p><p><em>Editor's note: This article has been edited after publication to add a statement from Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies.</em></p><p><em><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em></em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self"><em><em>Sign up here</em></em></a><em><em>!</em></em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 17:25:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/lawfare-strikes-again-rogue-judge-ignores-scotus-shields-500000-from-trump-s-immigration-crackdown</guid><category>News</category><category>Illegal immigration crisis</category><category>Illegal immigration</category><category>Immigration crisis</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Trump</category><category>Trump administration</category><category>Trump admin</category><category>Deportations</category><category>Haiti</category><category>Haitian nationals</category><category>Temporary protected status</category><category>Tps</category><category>Supreme court</category><category>Scotus</category><category>Lawfare</category><category>Rogue judges</category><category>District judges</category><category>Kristi noem</category><category>Department of homeland security</category><category>Dhs</category><category>Brian cogan</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Candace Hathaway</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/lawfare-strikes-again-rogue-judge-ignores-scotus-shields-500000-from-trump-s-immigration-crackdown.jpg?id=61137730&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Florida AG to bring the hammer down on Key West after city votes to end ICE agreement</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/florida-ag-to-bring-the-hammer-down-on-key-west-after-city-votes-to-end-ice-agreement</link><description><![CDATA[
  23. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/florida-ag-to-bring-the-hammer-down-on-key-west-after-city-votes-to-end-ice-agreement.jpg?id=60688343&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C53"/><br/><br/><p>Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) is putting the city of Key West on notice after commissioners recently voted to end their partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, through the 287(g) program, despite legal requirements in place under state law.</p><p>In a letter sent to Key West Commissioners on Wednesday, Uthmeier reminded the leaders it is against the law for any level of government to provide sanctuary to illegal aliens and that by "declaring the [police] Department's existing 287(g) agreement void, Key West made itself a sanctuary city."</p><p class="pull-quote">'Failure to take corrective action will result in enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including removal from office.'</p><p>The 287(g) program allows state and local police departments and sheriff offices to carry out certain federal immigration duties. Florida law requires cities to do proactive work to aid the federal government in enforcing immigration law.</p><p>"In this instance, however, it's worse," Uthmeier continued. "The Commission didn't merely prevent the Police Department from entering a 287(g) agreement; it affirmatively voided an existing 287(g) agreement under which the Police Department was actively operating. Bad policy and illegal."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/fort-myers-city-council-passes-enhanced-ice-agreement-after-pressure-from-desantis" target="_blank">Fort Myers City Council passes enhanced ICE agreement after pressure from DeSantis</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="Fort Myers City Council passes enhanced ICE agreement after pressure from DeSantis" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="83774386c72c098a9533398c946b462a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="4a7eb" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/fort-myers-city-council-passes-enhanced-ice-agreement-after-pressure-from-desantis.jpg?id=58401257&width=980"/>        <small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Fort Myers City Council passes enhanced ICE agreement after pressure from DeSantis</small>        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">            Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images        </small>        </p><p>Uthmeier pointed to the illegal alien arrests in the Florida Keys during March where all 10 arrestees were convicted sex offenders. A month later, Border Patrol arrested two illegal aliens, one of whom had a history of violent crime and the other of whom had a history of animal abuse.</p><p>"Florida law unequivocally forbids sanctuary policies. And it requires local governments to use 'best efforts' to assist with federal immigration law. Your recent action violated both laws. ... Failure to take corrective action will result in enforcement of all applicable civil and criminal penalties, including removal from office,"  Uthmeier warned.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/alligator-alcatraz-is-a-warning-to-illegal-immigrants-in-the-us" target="_self"><strong>Alligator Alcatraz is a warning to illegal immigrants in the US: Leave now or end up here</strong></a></p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1940413296554717425">
  24.        <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  25.        <a href="https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/1940413296554717425"></a>
  26.    </blockquote>
  27.        <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>                    <p>In March, the Fort Myers City Council did not initially vote to approve having its police department participate in the 287(g) program. While they had <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/fort-myers-councilwoman-defends-vote-that-prevented-enhanced-partnership-with-ice" target="_blank">support from some</a> of their constituents, the city council members later approved the agreement after similar warnings from Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Uthmeier.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 17:10:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/florida-ag-to-bring-the-hammer-down-on-key-west-after-city-votes-to-end-ice-agreement</guid><category>Politics</category><category>Florida</category><category>Ag</category><category>Key west</category><category>Ice</category><dc:creator>Julio Rosas</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/florida-ag-to-bring-the-hammer-down-on-key-west-after-city-votes-to-end-ice-agreement.jpg?id=60688343&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Firemen shooter Wess Roley’s deranged history EXPOSED: My Little Pony fetishes, hate symbols, and a deadly plot</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-liz-wheeler-show/firemen-shooter-wess-roleys-deranged-history-exposed-my-little-pony-mania-hate-symbols-and-a-deadly-plot</link><description><![CDATA[
  28. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61137576&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>On June 29, a 20-year-old man named Wess Roley allegedly set a brush fire on Canfield Mountain near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, with the suspected intention of luring in firefighters to ambush them. He killed two firemen and injured one other. Roley, who reportedly wanted to be a firefighter, was found dead at the scene, likely from a self-inflicted gunshot.</p><p>Investigations are reportedly ongoing, but Liz Wheeler, BlazeTV host of “The Liz Wheeler Show,” fears that law enforcement’s probing will be insufficient. “What law enforcement and politicians alike are not interested in investigating is why these mass shootings happen in our country,” she says.</p><p>In a prior <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7rPV6vIVMc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>episode</u></a>, Liz listed the factors that are nearly always present in the backgrounds of individuals who seek to commit mass atrocities but are often ignored by investigators. Those factors, she said, are: They come from “a broken family,” are “victims of abuse,” and subscribe to “revolutionary ideologies” like “trans ideology, critical race theory, communism, socialism, [and/or] Marxism.” They also usually have a history of “marijuana use,” “mental health [issues] and treatment by the modern medical model,” and “violent video game playing.” Lastly, their lives and beliefs are nearly always marked by “godlessness.”</p><p>In her most recent episode, Liz conducted her own “dynamic investigation” into Roley’s past. What she found was deeply disturbing and proof that her list is merited.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="551a9ce0e04207e561d6623d7364d86a" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ir7A_yhsr4I?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span></p><h3>Broken family, victim of abuse</h3><p>“[Roley] came from a broken family. His parents were divorced, and they divorced during his formative years when Wess was ten years old,” says Liz, adding that the split was “particularly contentious.”</p><p>“His father, in fact, threatened to commit a very similar crime to the crime that Wess committed” when “during the divorce proceedings … his father threatened to burn down [their] home and shoot the family with a sniper rifle,” according to Wess’ mother’s testimony, Liz notes. A “protection order” was enacted, and his mother was given temporary custody of Wess. The violence he witnessed by his father, which also included “[punching] holes in the wall,” made young Wess a “victim of abuse.”</p><h3>Prior 'run-ins' with law enforcement</h3><p>While numerous <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/us/wess-roley-idaho-shooting-suspect.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>reports</u></a> have indicated that Roley “had no criminal history,” law enforcement in Kootenai County, Idaho, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/30/us/idaho-fire-shooter-wess-roley" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>reported</u></a> they had minor interactions with him on five different occasions.</p><p>“Now, I actually don't believe in categorizing run-ins with police as minor,” says Liz. “These quote-unquote minor run-ins with law enforcement often precede a major run-in with law enforcement, so when you let a young person who is committing a so-called minor act off the hook for that minor act, well, it just allows them or enables them to commit a major act.”</p><h3>Mental health issues</h3><p>Currently, no reports indicate that Roley was being treated for psychiatric disorders or had been formally evaluated for his mental health; however, “anecdotally, people around Wess Roley reported indicators of mental health disturbance,” says Liz.</p><p>“His grandfather, a man named Dale Roley, described Wess as quote-unquote ‘nervous and high-strung,’” and as a “'kind of a loner,'" although “he dismissed these as quote ‘normal issues for kids these days,'” she says.</p><p>“I agree that they are common issues for kids these days, but they're not normal,” Liz counters. “A 20-year-old young man should not be nervous and high-strung and kind of a loner. That is a result of our unhealthy culture.”</p><p>Further, Roley’s former roommate, T.J. Franks Jr., <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/know-wess-roley-man-suspected-killing-2-firefighters-ambush-blaze-rcna216188" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>reported</u></a> that Roley made what Franks described as "gang signs" at an interior security camera in their shared apartment in Sandpoint, Idaho, prompting him to call the police. Roley moved out after the incident with no further issues.</p><p>“Two former classmates at a school [Roley] attended in Phoenix, Arizona … said that he occasionally lashed out in anger and did isolate himself,” says Liz. “One of his classmates described a journal that Wess Roley kept that contained what he called ‘concerning images of weapons and hate symbols.”’</p><h3>Social media history</h3><p>This is the “really damning part about Wess Roley’s background,” says Liz. “His social media history reveals disturbing radical ideology that he was taking part in that clearly impacted the formation of his mind and the perception of humanity.”</p><p>While Roley’s social media accounts, particularly his Instagram, have been disabled or wiped by unknown entities, enough content surfaced prior to the scrubbing to paint a dark picture of his strange proclivities.</p><p>“The TikTok that we believe belonged to Wess Roley showed a disturbing footprint of the types of things Wess Roley was interested in,” says Liz.</p><p>One of those things was “anime,” which “is rife with woke themes” like “gender fluidity [and] gender ideology” and employs a lot of “pornified imagery,” she says.</p><p>Another interest of his was “the ‘Brony’ movement,” which translates to “bros [men] who are interested in My Little Ponies” — the media franchise for young girls centered around colorful, magical ponies in the imaginary land of Equestria. “By all indications from his social media, [Roley] was deep into the Brony movement,” says Liz, noting that “bronies are known to pretend to be the horses themselves, not just play with these toys.”</p><p>“You wonder, is this disordered? Is this perverted? Is there a sexual element to this? And the answer to that is, in the case of Wess Roley, yes,” she says, playing a TikTok video of Roley, who is wearing makeup or using a filter that digitally applies makeup, sharing a snapshot of a My Little Pony character with the caption “my life revolves around her.” One of the hashtags on the video reads “#furry,” likely referring to the “furry movement” where adults “dress up in animal costumes as a sexual fetish.”</p><p>Other hashtags on the video include “#isellorgans” and “isellorgansontheblackmarket.”</p><p>“Whether it's the pornified images in anime, whether it's bronies and their cosplaying as the ponies themselves as they play with little girls' toys, whether it's furries … there's no sidestepping the fact that that is a disordered sexual fetish. This is all part of the transgressive gender ideology,” says Liz.</p><p>Liz suspects that “as more information about him comes out … we'll find even more information to substantiate the fact that these factors played into his motivation to commit the hideous murders in Idaho.”</p><p>To hear more of Liz’s analysis and more details from her personal investigation, watch the episode above.</p><h2>Want more from Liz Wheeler?</h2><p>To enjoy more of Liz’s based commentary, <a href="https://get.blazetv.com/wheeler/?utm_source=theblaze&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=article_shortcode_lizwheeler" target="_blank">subscribe to BlazeTV</a> — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.</p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 17:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/shows/the-liz-wheeler-show/firemen-shooter-wess-roleys-deranged-history-exposed-my-little-pony-mania-hate-symbols-and-a-deadly-plot</guid><category>The liz wheeler show</category><category>Liz wheeler</category><category>Blazetv</category><category>Blaze media</category><category>Wess roley</category><category>Idaho shooter</category><category>Firemen shooter</category><category>Bronie movement</category><category>Bronies</category><category>My little pony</category><category>Furry</category><category>Furries</category><category>Mass shooters</category><dc:creator>BlazeTV Staff</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61137576&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>FDA slaps damning warnings on COVID-19 vaccines; highlights Biden administration's safety-risk gloss</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/fda-slaps-damning-warnings-on-covid-19-vaccines-highlights-biden-admins-safety-risk-gloss</link><description><![CDATA[
  29. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/fda-slaps-damning-warnings-on-covid-19-vaccines-highlights-biden-administration-s-safety-risk-gloss.jpg?id=61137809&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>Federal health authorities <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/feds-reject-florida-surgeon-generals-warnings-about-dangers-of-mrna-vaccinations" target="_blank">rebuked</a> Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo for suggesting in 2022 that the benefit of COVID-19 vaccination among healthy young men was outweighed by the risk of heart conditions, myocarditis in particular.</p><p>Ladapo issued guidance that <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/ladapo-florida-mrna-covid-vaccines" target="_blank">stated</a>, "Based on currently available data, patients should be informed of the possible cardiac complications that can arise after receiving a mRNA COVID-19 vaccine."</p><p>“Our goal is not to get into like a fight or a tiff, because public health isn’t served well by this,” said Dr. Peter Marks, then-director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. "Our goal is to help get to … an acceptance that there are overall benefits of these vaccines, despite the fact that yes, it is true that there could be some side effects."</p><p class="pull-quote">'Most of these patients had received a two-dose primary series of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine prior to their diagnosis.'</p><p>Marks' former agency has since acknowledged that there is a greater risk of post-vaccination myocarditis than the so-called experts were first willing to publicly admit.</p><p>Months after telling <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/186581/download?attachment" target="_blank">both</a> <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/186580/download?attachment" target="_blank">vaccine manufacturers</a> to include new safety information regarding their respective drugs in the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/health/fda-covid-vaccine-warning-heart-inflammation" target="_blank">stated interest</a> of "radical transparency," the FDA <a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/medical-product-safety-information/mrna-covid-19-vaccines-fda-safety-communication-fda-approves-required-updated-warning-labeling" target="_blank">indicated</a> on June 25 that it required Pfizer and Moderna to note the estimated unadjusted incidence of heart conditions following administration of the 2023-2024 formula of the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/151707/download?attachment" target="_blank">Comirnaty</a> and <a href="https://www.fda.gov/media/155675/download?attachment" target="_blank">Spikevax</a> vaccines, as well as the longitudinal results of a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(24)00388-2/fulltext" target="_blank">2024 study</a> concerning cardiac manifestations and outcomes of vaccine-associated myocarditis in American youths.</p><p>The FDA also required Pfizer and Moderna to describe the new safety information in the adverse reactions section of their vaccine information inserts.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/how-big-pharma-left-its-mark-on-woke-cdc-vax-advisory-panel-and-what-rfk-jr-did-about-it" target="_blank">How Big Pharma left its mark on woke CDC vax advisory panel — and what RFK Jr. did about it</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a214a3896950a7e800aa2d62d80c1953" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="f7d12" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61137818&width=980"/><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo illustration by Joe Raedle/Getty Images</small></p><p><a href="https://archive.ph/TnmEC" target="_blank">For years</a>, the fact sheets for the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines <a href="https://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=14471&format=pdf" target="_blank">noted</a> <a href="https://labeling.pfizer.com/ShowLabeling.aspx?id=17227&format=pdf" target="_blank">that</a> reports of adverse events demonstrated increased risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, particularly following the second dose, and that the "observed risk is highest in males 12 through 17 years of age."</p><p>Now, the package inserts state that "the observed risk has been highest in males 12 years through 24 years of age" and:</p><blockquote>Based on analyses of commercial health insurance claims data from inpatient and outpatient settings, the estimated unadjusted incidence of myocarditis and/or pericarditis during the period 1 through 7 days following administration of the 2023-2024 Formula of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines was approximately 8 cases per million doses in individuals 6 months through 64 years of age and approximately 27 cases per million doses in males 12 through 24 years of age.</blockquote><p>The package inserts for both drugs also now state:</p><blockquote>Follow-up information on cardiovascular outcomes in hospitalized patients who had been diagnosed with COVID-19 vaccine-associated myocarditis is available from a longitudinal retrospective observational study. Most of these patients had received a two-dose primary series of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine prior to their diagnosis. In this study, at a median follow-up of approximately 5 months post-vaccination, persistence of abnormal cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) findings that are a marker for myocardial injury was common. The clinical and prognostic significance of these CMR findings is not known. Information is not yet available about potential long-term sequelae of myocarditis or pericarditis following administration of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines.</blockquote><p>When discussing the updates, Dr. Vinay Prasad, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, provided a refresher about the effort by the previous administration to downplay the risk of myocarditis.</p><p>Prasad, referring to congressional testimony <a href="https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025.05.21-Chair-Johnson-Opening-Statement.pdf" target="_blank">given</a> by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in May, noted that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the FDA officials were aware in early 2021 of a safety signal for the heart condition on the basis of Pentagon and Israeli data.</p><p class="pull-quote">'The FDA's new Covid-19 philosophy represents a balance of regulatory flexibility and a commitment to gold-standard science.'</p><p>A day after health officials at the agencies acknowledged a safety signal, and after the CDC discussed whether to issue a Health Alert Network message on myocarditis, the Biden White House distributed talking points to top U.S. health officials de-emphasizing the risk.</p><p>On May 26, 2021, then-acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock told then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky that the "FDA does not concur with the issuance of the myocarditis HAN as written."</p><p>That day, both agencies reportedly decided to "nix the HAN" alert.</p><p>"The risk of myocarditis and pericarditis appears to be very low given the number of vaccine doses that have been administered," Woodcock <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/26/fda-adds-warning-of-rare-heart-inflammation-to-pfizer-moderna-vaccines.html" target="_blank">stated</a> the following month. "The benefits of COVID-19 vaccination continue to outweigh the risks, given the risk of COVID-19 diseases and related, potentially severe, complications."</p><p>The nixed alert could have made a difference.</p><p>After all, Prasad noted that "in August of 2021, in an FDA regulatory action, we document that based on the health insurance claims Optum dataset, the rate of post-vaccination myocarditis from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approaching 200 cases per million or approximately 1 in 5,000" among 16- and 17-year-old males.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/democrats-who-locked-down-america-during-covid-now-cry-dictator-over-trump-s-deportations" target="_self"><strong>Democrats who locked down America during COVID now cry dictator over Trump's deportations</strong></a></p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1940111214497210425">
  30.        <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  31.        <a href="https://twitter.com/US_FDA/status/1940111214497210425"></a>
  32.    </blockquote>
  33.        <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>FDA Commissioner Martin Makary and Prasad <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsb2506929" target="_blank">noted</a> in a May article in the New England Journal of Medicine that "the FDA’s new Covid-19 philosophy represents a balance of regulatory flexibility and a commitment to gold-standard science. The FDA will approve vaccines for high-risk persons and, at the same time, demand robust, gold-standard data on persons at low risk."</p><p>Blaze News reached out to the FDA but did not immediately receive a response.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 16:55:02 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/fda-slaps-damning-warnings-on-covid-19-vaccines-highlights-biden-admins-safety-risk-gloss</guid><category>Martin makary</category><category>Prasad</category><category>Fda</category><category>Food and drug administration</category><category>Covid-19</category><category>Myocarditis</category><category>Pericarditis</category><category>Inflammation</category><category>Jab</category><category>Vaccination</category><category>Vax</category><category>Vaccine</category><category>Pfizer</category><category>Moderna</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Joseph MacKinnon</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/fda-slaps-damning-warnings-on-covid-19-vaccines-highlights-biden-administration-s-safety-risk-gloss.jpg?id=61137809&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Diddy verdict brings tears: Sean Combs acquitted on most serious charges in explosive trial — but he's not off the hook yet</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/sean-diddy-combs-trial-verdict-update</link><description><![CDATA[
  34. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/diddy-verdict-brings-tears-sean-combs-acquitted-on-most-serious-charges-in-explosive-trial-but-he-s-not-off-the-hook-yet.jpg?id=61137635&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C57%2C0%2C57"/><br/><br/><p>Hip-hop mogul <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/tag/diddy" target="_blank">Sean “Diddy” Combs</a> avoided spending the rest of his life in prison after he was acquitted Wednesday on the most serious charges he was facing in his explosive trial. However, Combs still faces the possibility of going to prison after he was convicted on two charges. </p><p>Combs was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering charges in connection with accusations that he operated a criminal enterprise that coerced women into sex-fueled "<a href="https://www.theblaze.com/tag/freak-offs" target="_blank">freak-offs</a>" that often included prostitutes. </p><p class="pull-quote">'Mr. Combs has been given his life by the jury.'</p><p>However, a jury of eight men and four women convicted Diddy on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He now faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if he is sentenced to consecutive maximum prison terms, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/entertainment/live-news/sean-diddy-combs-trial-07-02-25" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sean-combs-diddy-trial-jury-deliberations-a9358ff8917e96874f027872e07cd9a5" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> reported that Combs wiped his face, knelt at his chair, and bowed his head in prayer following the verdict in the high-profile court case. </p><p>Combs stood up and faced the gallery and clapped. He also pumped his right fist subtly, CNN reported. </p><p>Combs' family applauded back, and some family members reportedly wiped tears rolling down their faces. </p><p>“I’ll be home soon,” Combs said. “I love you, baby.”</p><p>He added, "I love you, Mom." </p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/diddy-trial-update-sean-combs-sex-trafficking-cassie" target="_self">'He would bash me on my head': Cassie Ventura testifies Diddy beat her, details 'freak-offs' with 'dozens' of prostitutes</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1d03e0d20f283dc52d05f10330fe4c76" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I0lYvJG_V-A?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>                        </p><p>Combs reportedly hugged defense lawyer Teny Geragos.</p><p>After marshals escorted Combs out of the courtroom, his family started to chant “dream team” in a show of appreciation for the lawyers who helped him avoid the two most serious charges. </p><p>Geragos hugged members of Combs’ family as well.</p><p> Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo told Judge Arun Subramanian, "Mr. Combs has been given his life by the jury."</p><p>Agnifilo also <a href="https://www.cnn.com/entertainment/live-news/sean-diddy-combs-trial-07-02-25" target="_blank">urged</a> Judge Subramanian to release the 55-year-old rapper before his sentencing, stressing that Combs would be "nothing short of a fool" if he jeopardized his future by violating the conditions set by the court if he was released. </p><p>“He treasures, I assure you, the opportunity that he has been given, and he will not run afoul of anything this court imposes on him,” Agnifilo explained. </p><p>Assistant U.S. Attorney Maurene Comey said the government opposes setting Diddy free before sentencing.</p><p>Comey argued that Combs "continued to commit a litany of crimes” after he knew authorities were investigating him.</p><p>Comey also said the government would seek a prison sentence for the two charges for which he was convicted. </p><p>Judge Subramanian instructed the defense attorneys and prosecutors to submit letters regarding the possible release of Diddy before sentencing, and the letters reportedly are due by 1 p.m. ET Wednesday. </p><p>Diddy has been behind bars since his arrest in September. </p><p>Doug Wigdor, the attorney representing Diddy's former girlfriend Casandra "Cassie" Ventura, told reporters Wednesday that he's pleased with the two convictions. </p><p>"Of course, we would have liked to have seen a conviction on the sex crimes and RICO, but we understand that ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’ is a high standard," Wigdor <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/sean-combs-diddy-trial-case-verdict-live-updates-rcna216289" target="_blank">stated</a>. "We’re just pleased he still faces substantial jail time."</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. <a href="https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblaze.com%2Fnewsletters%2Ftheblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 16:40:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/sean-diddy-combs-trial-verdict-update</guid><category>Diddy trial</category><category>Diddy verdict</category><category>Sean combs</category><category>Sean diddy combs</category><category>Sex trafficking</category><category>Sex crimes</category><category>Entertainment</category><category>Crime</category><dc:creator>Paul Sacca</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/diddy-verdict-brings-tears-sean-combs-acquitted-on-most-serious-charges-in-explosive-trial-but-he-s-not-off-the-hook-yet.jpg?id=61137635&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>'Doing her best': ICE agents mass-arrest illegal employees at 'family-owned' manufacturer in North Carolina</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/north-carolina-family-owned-iceraid</link><description><![CDATA[
  35. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/doing-her-best-ice-agents-mass-arrest-illegal-employees-at-family-owned-manufacturer-in-north-carolina.png?id=61137600&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C1%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>The Donald Trump administration has clamped down on illegal employment, and it seems the simple enforcement of existing law has been enough to cripple businesses relying on undocumented labor.</p><p>It was only for a brief moment that the administration showed leniency to employers in the farming, hospitality, and restaurant industries, with a Department of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/us/politics/trump-ice-raids-farms-hotels.html" target="_blank">Homeland Security memo</a> telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in June to put raids on those industries on the back burner. However, the White House quickly ended any such leniency and <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/trumps-ice-shields-farmers-from-raids-then-reverses-course-to-deliver-on-mass-deportation-promise" target="_blank">reversed the policy</a> just days later.</p><p>The result has been a steady flow of employers getting a lesson in hiring practices and the consequences of illegal labor.</p><p class="pull-quote">'She's just at work doing her best at what she can do.'</p><p>Homeland Security Investigations and ICE executed a search warrant last week and found dozens of illegal workers employed at what is likely considered a reputable business in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, population 11,142 as of 2020.</p><p>Buckeye Fire Equipment Company was the target, a fire extinguisher and fire-protection product manufacturer that boasts itself as "family-owned and operated" and "made in the U.S.A. since 1968."</p><p>It turned out many of Buckeye's employees were not family members after federal authorities arrested 30 people on site as a result of their initial investigation.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/rent-moratorium-illegals-los-angeles" target="_blank">Fear of deportation is crippling Los Angeles businesses so badly, unions are demanding moratorium on rent</a></strong></p>        <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e336ab519f406329fd0b8b9790d5c333" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WknLxZLnU7U?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>                        </p>            <p>According to an ICE <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-executes-federal-search-warrant-buckeye-fire-equipment-company" target="_blank">press release</a>, the operation specifically focused on allegations of aggravated identity theft and "potential federal crimes."</p><p>Employee Eric Pinion shared video from inside the raid to local outlet <a href="https://youtu.be/mEDnfiX9_bE?t=34" target="_blank">Queen City News</a> and told the news station the facility was "half empty" and "dead silent" when he went in for his shift after the raid.</p><p>Pinion also said he was afraid, despite being a citizen, because he had heard that citizens had been apprehended by ICE previously; he did not get arrested.</p><p>Family members of those who were arrested were reportedly spotted picking up cars from the Buckeye parking lot, with one employee's daughter saying her parent is a "single mother, [who is] trying to raise two kids on her own."</p><p>"She's just at work doing her best at what she can do," the young woman told Queen City News. Her mother was later released after a few hours of being detained.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/job-applications-flooding-in-ne" target="_blank">After ICE removes illegal workers, job applicants flood meatpacking plant to replace them</a></strong></p>        <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c2e1263e484dd8dc40e1541412a74af6" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mEDnfiX9_bE?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>                        </p>            <p>HSI said it will continue to pursue those who exploit financial and identification systems for their personal gain, which it says "fuels a range of criminal activity."</p><p>Blaze News reached out to Buckeye Fire Equipment Company for comment on the story as well as how the company plans on replacing its staff.</p><p>The company's <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/buckeye-fire-equipment" target="_blank">LinkedIn page</a> lists it as having between 201 and 500 employees, with <a href="https://www.zoominfo.com/c/buckeye-fire-equipment-co/7816194" target="_blank">ZoomInfo</a> stating there are 278 employees. If the latter is correct, Buckeye will have to replace about 11% of its staff with legal workers.</p><p>Recently, a Nebraska company <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/job-applications-flooding-in-ne" target="_blank">lost upwards of 76 employees</a> to a federal raid but immediately had its waiting room filled with potential employees, putting a dent in the long-fabled claim that American workers do not want to take on certain jobs.</p><p> Buckeye Fire Equipment Company did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em><br/></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 16:25:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/north-carolina-family-owned-iceraid</guid><category>News</category><category>Ice raid</category><category>Dhs</category><category>North carolina</category><category>Illegal aliens</category><category>Deportation</category><category>Illegal immigration</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Andrew Chapados</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/png" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/doing-her-best-ice-agents-mass-arrest-illegal-employees-at-family-owned-manufacturer-in-north-carolina.png?id=61137600&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>NYC last: Alleged scheme gave driver's licenses to Chinese illegal aliens — even if they can't drive</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/nyc-last-alleged-scheme-gave-driver-s-licenses-to-chinese-illegal-aliens-even-if-they-can-t-drive</link><description><![CDATA[
  36. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/nyc-last-alleged-scheme-gave-driver-s-licenses-to-chinese-illegal-aliens-even-if-they-can-t-drive.jpg?id=61137561&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54"/><br/><br/><p>As if the streets of New York City were not already dangerous and crowded enough, illegal Chinese immigrants with few English-speaking or driving skills may be cruising about with a valid license, thanks to a potentially massive scheme allegedly involving a driving school and some corrupt DMV personnel.</p><p>On Tuesday, District Attorney Michael McMahon of Richmond County; George Ioannidis, assistant special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations; and a host of other state and federal officials held a press conference to announce some arrests made in connection with an investigation dubbed <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/01/us-news/nyc-driving-school-rigged-drivers-licenses-for-illegal-immigrants-even-if-they-couldnt-drive-da/" target="_blank">Operation Road Test</a>.</p><p class="pull-quote">'Regardless of immigration status, language, and even their ability to actually operate a vehicle.'</p><p>According to authorities, T&E Driving School in Queens took to social media to identify residents who speak <a href="https://www.silive.com/crime-safety/2025/07/da-dmv-fraud-scheme-on-staten-island-issued-fake-drivers-licenses-officials-say.html" target="_blank">Fujianese</a> for marketing purposes. Its clients, most of whom are Chinese noncitizens, would then pay anywhere from $1,600 to $2,000 for a driver's license and/or learner's permit.</p><p>Staff at the driving school would then allegedly take the required driver's test on behalf of the client. The school also allegedly paid off DMV employees to issue documents and fudge the database.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/nyc-comptroller-arrest-nyc-immigration" target="_self"><strong>NYC comptroller locks arms with man to prevent ICE arrest: 'Show me your warrant!'</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e419f7de12899ff0e5ab03f3c5cccd6b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="c0f5c" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61137537&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images</small></p><p>"As alleged, the defendants utilized deceptive social media practices and strategic advertising that targeted and exploited members of the Chinese community and guaranteed individuals driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status, language, and even their ability to actually operate a vehicle," said Homeland Security Investigations New York Special Agent in Charge Ricky Patel, according to SILive.com.</p><p>"Our investigation found that T&E Driving School blatantly flouted the laws and procedures that are necessary to ensure the public safety on the road," Ioannidis added.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/illegal-alien-child-rapist-remains-at-large-thanks-to-anti-ice-group-dhs" target="_self"><strong>Illegal alien child-rapist remains at large thanks to anti-ICE group: DHS</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="df6e36443839756c44a525dc2d064df9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="d646d" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61137527&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images</small></p><p>Thus far, two dozen suspects associated with Operation Road Test are in custody, and T&E owner Weixan Tan, 38; T&E secretary Weiwan Tan, 40; and another T&E employee, Winnie Yang, 36, have all been charged.</p><p>Others named in the indictment include: Wenfeng Yang, 38, who allegedly took driving tests on behalf of T&E clients; and Edward Tarik Queen, 40; Aji Idicula, 43; and Tianna Rose Andolina, 30, all from the DMV.</p><p>"The state employees indicted here sold out not just the safety of their fellow New Yorkers, but they sold out their oaths of office," claimed New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang.</p><p>The scandal was apparently uncovered after NYPD received a tip, prompting a sting operation involving an undercover officer who speaks Fujianese. After working with T&E, the officer reportedly received a New York driver's license without ever having taken a scheduled road test.</p><p>Officials fear the corrupt scheme — and others like it — may spread far and wide.</p><p>"The numbers, as we go through this investigation, as we go through the materials that have been seized, we think that we are going to find hundreds if not thousands of people that have been part of this scam," McMahon said, according to the New York Post.</p><p>In addition to the obvious peril posed by untrained drivers who don't speak English, issuing unearned licenses threatens the American public in other ways. Bogus driver's licenses compromise the safety of airports and other high-security buildings that require state-issued IDs to enter, as well as the <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-paxton-voting-fraud-texas" target="_blank">integrity of U.S. elections</a>.</p><p>"We think this is just the tip of the iceberg, to put it simply," <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/staten-island/staten-island-dmv-driving-school-drivers-license-fraud/6322984/" target="_blank">McMahon</a> added.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 15:57:25 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/nyc-last-alleged-scheme-gave-driver-s-licenses-to-chinese-illegal-aliens-even-if-they-can-t-drive</guid><category>New york city</category><category>Operation road test</category><category>Driver's license</category><category>Illegal aliens</category><category>Illegal immigrants</category><category>China</category><category>Chinese immigrants</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Cortney Weil</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/nyc-last-alleged-scheme-gave-driver-s-licenses-to-chinese-illegal-aliens-even-if-they-can-t-drive.jpg?id=61137561&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Man with death wish gives chilling jailhouse confession of murdering and crucifying pastor, planned to kill over a dozen more</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/pastor-murder-crucified-arizona</link><description><![CDATA[
  37. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/man-with-death-wish-gives-chilling-jailhouse-confession-of-murdering-and-crucifying-pastor-planned-to-kill-over-a-dozen-more.png?id=61114065&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C54%2C0%2C55"/><br/><br/><p>A man accused of the <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/tag/murder" target="_blank">brutal murder</a> of a <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/tag/faith" target="_blank">beloved pastor</a> confessed to the grisly killing, according to a chilling jailhouse interview. The suspect claimed he had a death wish and planned to kill over a dozen more pastors around the country.</p><p>As <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/abide/pastor-william-schonemann-murder" target="_self">Blaze News previously reported</a>, Maricopa County sheriff deputies discovered the dead body of  William Schonemann — a 76-year-old beloved pastor — on April 28. Schonemann — affectionately known as "Pastor Bill" — reportedly was found covered in blood at his home in New River.</p><p class="pull-quote">'I want the death sentence.'</p><p>Multiple sources informed <a href="https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/disturbing-details-revealed-new-river-pastors-homicide-case" target="_blank">KSAZ-TV</a> that Schonemann appeared to have suffered from significant injuries and that his arms were spread out and his hands were pinned to a wall.</p><p>Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MCSOaz/videos/693319766995465" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">described</a> Schonemann's death as the most "tragic and bizarre" he's ever seen.</p><p>Police arrested 51-year-old Adam Christopher Sheafe in Sedona on April 30 after he allegedly burglarized a home.</p><p><a href="https://www.redrocknews.com/2025/06/12/sedona-burglary-suspect-adam-sheafe-linked-to-new-river-homicide-of-pastor-bill-schonemann/" target="_blank">Sedona Red Rock News</a> reported that Sheafe was charged with second-degree burglary, unlawful flight from a pursuing law enforcement vehicle, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, leaving the scene of an accident with an injury, criminal damage, theft or control of stolen property, first-degree trespassing, possession of a stolen vehicle, and resisting arrest.</p><p>Authorities noted that Sheafe has a lengthy criminal history across several states.</p><p>Sheafe allegedly told authorities that he broke into houses to steal needed "supplies."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/father-murder-suicide-family-mental-illness" target="_self">'Haunt me the rest of my life': Father reportedly kills family and himself in murder-suicide on same day as son's graduation</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="30e9504f7cdcb9ccd2b4cc86c121f5b6" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/al1nb74ueBE?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span> </p><p>Then in a shocking jailhouse confession, Sheafe admitted to murdering Schonemann and "<a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/pastor-crucified-in-bed" target="_blank">crucifying</a>" the beloved man of God.</p><p>Sheafe explained the gruesome details in a startling interview with <a href="https://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/suspect-confesses-to-killing-pastor-bill-planned-to-murder-over-a-dozen-others" target="_blank">KNXV-TV</a>, during which he also declared that he wants the death penalty.</p><p>Sheafe said he drove to Schonemann's house at "like two in the morning, maybe, and parked. And then I just went in there and did it."</p><p>In an eyebrow-raising jailhouse interview with <a href="https://www.azfamily.com/2025/06/24/suspect-admits-crucifying-pastor-new-river-home-had-others-hit-list/" target="_blank">KTVK-TV</a>, Sheafe admitted that he planned to go on a priest-killing spree across the country. After Schonemann's death, he traveled to Sedona where he intended to kill two others, KTVK said, but he was arrested for burglary and other charges. Then came his confession.</p><p>Sheafe stated that he planned to "execute" 14 pastors across 10 states. Schonemann was the first.</p><p>“I was going to start in Phoenix and end in Phoenix and circle the nation," he said. "Starting in Arizona, where I was born. Where it starts is where it ends, like the Garden of Eden."</p><p>“From there, it was Las Vegas, Nevada; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Billings, Montana; Detroit, Michigan; New York, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; Mobile, Alabama; Beaumont, Texas; and El Paso, Texas," Sheafe explained. "So four of them were going to get hit in Arizona."</p><p>Sheafe continued, "I'm not interested in executing anyone other than the pastors or the shepherds leading the flock astray."</p><p>Sheafe was asked if he was "feeling satisfied," to which he responded, "Look, it’s not my heart to go around killing people."</p><p>When asked how he would feel if someone attempted to crucify him, Sheafe replied, "Good luck trying."</p><p>Sheafe reportedly told the FBI that he wanted the death sentence.</p><p>“I told the FBI agent, 'Look, I want the death sentence,'" Sheafe told KNXV. "I'll plead guilty right now, on the spot ... I want the death sentence, and I want the execution date right now."</p><p>Sheafe told KTVK, "Well, I want to be executed quickly so we can get this show on the road and show exactly what I’m trying to do. ... All you gotta do is worship Jesus and you go to heaven; your sins are forgiven. That’s not what God said."</p><p>Sheafe argued that God will "absolutely" forgive him of his sins.</p><p>"He is a forgiving God and loving God," he said.</p><p>Sheafe declared, "It’s a commandment to rid Israel of evil."</p><p>Sheafe's father told <a href="https://www.azfamily.com/2025/06/13/father-new-river-pastor-murder-suspect-says-son-is-obsessed-with-old-testament/" target="_blank">KTVK</a> in a separate story that his son changed after he became "extremely interested" in the Old Testament.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/florida-man-murder-girl-severed-spine" target="_self">'Monster' learns his fate for killing 2-year-old girl; officials say he 'completely severed' toddler's spine</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">        <span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c024f265a2766abb205cee2f3c50886a" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QOUSZvPUuHs?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span></p><p>The family of Schonemann — who served in the Navy, including a tour in Vietnam — told <a href="https://www.kold.com/2025/04/30/foul-play-suspected-pastors-death-new-river-home/" target="_blank">KOLD-TV</a> in April, "Our dad had such a positive impact on people everywhere he went. We will miss the loving guidance and patience. The happiness he showed just getting to walk around an airport, getting his steps in."</p><p>The family added, "There are never enough words to say it all or to say it as well as a person would like. Simply, he is missed."</p><p>Those who knew Pastor Bill said his grisly death is "unfathomable."</p><p>"Who would do that? Why would anyone hurt Bill? I don't understand how someone could do something like that. It’s still unfathomable," neighbor Eric Asher told the <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2025/05/03/residents-want-answers-new-river-pastor-killing/83410613007/" target="_blank">Arizona Republic</a> in May.</p><p>Mike Anders, another neighbor, said their community remains shocked over Schonemann's murder.</p><p>"I mean, we locked our doors last night. It’s just something that we are just not used to doing," Anders told KSAZ. "Everybody is just, until we know what’s going on, we don’t know if it was a family member, or, we don’t know what, who could do this to him."</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. <a href="https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theblaze.com%2Fnewsletters%2Ftheblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 15:30:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/pastor-murder-crucified-arizona</guid><category>Faith</category><category>Religion</category><category>Religious hate</category><category>Murder</category><category>Arizona</category><category>Arizona crime</category><category>Crucifixion</category><category>Crucify</category><category>Crime</category><category>Pastor</category><dc:creator>Paul Sacca</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/png" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/man-with-death-wish-gives-chilling-jailhouse-confession-of-murdering-and-crucifying-pastor-planned-to-kill-over-a-dozen-more.png?id=61114065&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Texas parents FIGHT BACK against school's secret gender transition</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/shows/come-take-it-with-sara-gonzales/gender-transition</link><description><![CDATA[
  38. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61137198&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0"/><br/><br/><p>Parents in Houston, Texas, are suing in federal court after their daughter’s high school socially transitioned her in secret and against their explicit wishes.</p><p>The lawsuit names several individuals, including Superintendent Mike Miles, Bellaire High School Principal Michael Niggli, school counselor Sarah Ray, and several teachers — who all referred to the girl using a masculine name and pronouns for a whopping two years.</p><p>This began in ninth grade, when the girl’s theater teacher passed out a worksheet asking for students’ “names and pronouns.”</p><p>“If you have been out of the school system for longer than, let’s just say a decade, did you ever see a worksheet that people, that a student, or parents, whomever, had to fill out that gave ‘What is your child’s name, and what is your child’s pronouns?’” BlazeTV host Sara Gonzales asks on “Come and Take It.”</p><h3></h3><br/><span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="468d02716e9a1f98924eefec6d651c58" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qfDuer-Pn3M?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span><p>“That didn’t exist up until five minutes ago when society decided that they were going to let this alphabet mafia take over the entire world, regardless of common sense, regardless of decency,” she continues.</p><p>The mother of the secretly transitioned student specifically requested that the teacher use her daughter’s legal name and female pronouns; she was ignored not only by her daughter but by the authority figures at her school.</p><p>“Which goes to the point, these teachers, they’re asking for it. They are asking for this information, they are asking for this type of situation to happen. They are lying in wait to prey upon vulnerable, confused children who are going through a rebellious phase,” Gonzales says.</p><p>“These teachers are so evil, they are just lying in wait to just get one, one to a handful of children who are confused,” she continues. “Again, what child while going through puberty, going through adolescence, hasn’t felt uncomfortable in their own body?”</p><p>“It was a right of passage up until we had all of these weirdos in school just ready to sic upon these young, confused children. We used to have adults who were focused on helping the child through it,” she adds.</p><h2>Want more from Sara Gonzales?</h2><p>To enjoy more of Sara's no-holds-barred take to news and culture, <a href="https://get.blazetv.com/?utm_source=theblaze&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=article_shortcode_saragonzalesunfiltered" target="_blank">subscribe to BlazeTV</a> — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.</p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 15:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/shows/come-take-it-with-sara-gonzales/gender-transition</guid><category>Upload</category><category>Video</category><category>Free</category><category>Sharing</category><category>Video phone</category><category>Camera phone</category><category>Youtube.com</category><category>Sara gonzales unfiltered</category><category>The blaze</category><category>Blazetv</category><category>Blaze news</category><category>Blaze podcasts</category><category>Blaze podcast network</category><category>Blaze media</category><category>Blaze online</category><category>Blaze originals</category><category>Come and take it</category><category>Texas</category><category>Secretly transitioned</category><category>Lgbtqia agenda</category><category>Transgender tyranny</category><category>Transgender agenda</category><category>Transgender agenda losing</category><dc:creator>BlazeTV Staff</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61137198&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>The results are in: Tallying up Biden’s immigration damage</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/the-results-are-in-tallying-up-bidens-immigration-damage</link><description><![CDATA[
  39. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/the-results-are-in-tallying-up-bidens-immigration-damage.jpg?id=61129853&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C66%2C0%2C66"/><br/><br/><p>Most mainstream press accounts have largely ignored one obvious source of the Los Angeles riots — namely, that the Biden administration released <a href="https://homeland.house.gov/2024/10/24/startling-stats-factsheet-fiscal-year-2024-ends-with-nearly-3-million-inadmissible-encounters-10-8-million-total-encounters-since-fy2021/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">more than enough illegal aliens</a> into this country to populate a wholly new Los Angeles. In the aftermath of those riots, it’s an appropriate time to ask this question: How many illegal aliens did the Biden administration actually let into the United States?</p><p>According to the <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60875" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Congressional Budget Office</a>, from 2021 through 2024, a net 10.3 million people immigrated to the United States. That figure reflects the number of (legal or illegal) immigrants who entered the U.S., minus the number who left. As a result of this huge immigration influx, the portion of the <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59899" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">U.S. population that is foreign-born hit 16.2%</a>, per the Congressional Budget Office, surpassing the all-time record of <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/news/statistics-us-immigration-2025" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">14.8% set in 1890</a>. That mark lasted for more than 130 years, but it couldn’t survive the Biden administration.</p><p class="pull-quote">One can only wonder how many potential terrorists got across Biden’s porous border without being encountered.</p><p>In fact, the percentage of the population that is foreign-born is probably even higher than 16.2%, as that figure was for 2023 (<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59697" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">up from 15.6% in 2022</a>). Since a net 2.7 million people immigrated to the U.S. in 2024, <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61164" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to the CBO</a>, and about 500,000 foreign-born residents die annually (based on the CBO’s estimate for 2023), the <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-01/60875-demographic-outlook.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">foreign-born population</a> rose by an estimated 2.2 million in 2024 — from 55.1 million to about <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59697" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">57.3 million</a>. So the percentage of the population that is foreign-born likely hit about 16.8% last year (57.3 million out of <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59697" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">342 million</a>). In comparison, in 1970, the portion of the U.S. population that was foreign-born was 4.7%, which is just over a quarter of the current rate.</p><p>Put another way, on the cusp of next year’s <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/all-aboard-trump-should-greenlight-the-freedom-train" target="_self">quarter-millennial anniversary</a> of American independence, about one out of every six people now living in the U.S. is foreign-born, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/US-Census-Bureau-Foreign-Born-Population-and-Percentage-of-Total-Population-for-the_fig1_348250513" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">versus</a> one out of every 21 on the eve of the bicentennial. That’s a massive population transformation — one unlike anything our country has ever experienced.</p><h2>Record-breaking numbers</h2><p>Most of those who were added to the foreign-born population during the Biden years were added illegally. From 2021 through 2024 — a period that coincides almost perfectly with Biden’s presidential term (having 97% overlap) — the net increase in the number of illegal aliens in the U.S., based on CBO estimates, was <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60875" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">7.1 million people</a>. In comparison, the entire <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/losangelescitycalifornia/PST045224" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">population of Los Angeles is 3.9 million</a>.</p><p>Note that this represents the net increase. The gross increase in the number of illegal aliens under Biden was likely close to 10 million. The CBO only estimates the gross increase for a portion of Biden’s term, but its partial tallies can yield a reasonable estimate for the whole four-year span.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/exclusive-top-immigration-official-reflects-on-biden-s-failed-border-policies-an-invasion-unlike-we-ve-seen-before" target="_self"><strong>Exclusive: Top immigration official reflects on Biden's failed border policies: ‘An invasion unlike we've seen before’</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e2c9e1e503ed9ad37318ecd3dcbd0eb8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="a33db" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61129852&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images</small></p><p>Citing numbers obtained from the Department of Homeland Security, the CBO estimates that in <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59697" target="_blank">2023</a> and <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60875" target="_blank">2024</a>, the gross increase in the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. was 5.9 million, while the net increase was 4.3 million. That’s about four new illegal aliens added (by being released into the country, evading capture, or overstaying a legal authorization) for every one that was subtracted (by leaving or being legalized).</p><p>So the ratio between the gross increase and the net increase was about 4 to 3. Assuming the same ratio in 2021 and 2022 — when the <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60875" target="_blank">CBO estimates</a> that the net increase in the number of illegal aliens was 2.9 million — suggests the gross increase over that span was about 3.9 million. Adding the 5.9 million cited above reveals a gross increase of about 9.8 million illegal aliens across Biden’s four years. That’s more than the population of New York City — or <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NJ,newyorkcitynewyork/PST045224" target="_blank">all of New Jersey</a>.</p><p>The CBO switched from using fiscal-year figures for 2023 to using calendar-year figures for 2024 in estimating the gross increase in the number of illegal aliens (and the releases, evasions, and overstays that compose that gross increase). But the <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">number of encounters</a> along the southwest border was very similar in FY 2023 as in CY 2023 (being 3% higher in CY 2023), so this switch likely had little effect on the CBO estimates. Indeed, for the net increase in the number of illegal aliens, the <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59697" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CBO provides</a> both FY 2023 and CY 2023 numbers, and they differ by just 0.1 million.</p><p>The vast majority of these roughly 10 million illegal aliens didn’t overstay their visas, per the CBO. Rather, they either evaded capture and escaped across the border or were released by the Biden administration into the country’s interior.</p><h2>Released with no accountability</h2><p>By far the biggest cohort was deliberately released. As <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flnd.405819/gov.uscourts.flnd.405819.157.0_1.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell wrote</a> during a Biden-era case, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz “testified that the current surge differs from prior surges that he [has] seen over his lengthy career in that most of the aliens now being encountered at the Southwest Border are turning themselves in to USBP officers rather than trying to escape the officers.”</p><p><a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flnd.405819/gov.uscourts.flnd.405819.157.0_1.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ortiz</a>, whom the Biden administration selected as Border Patrol chief, said at the time that aliens are likely “turning themselves in because they think they’re going to be released.”</p><p>They were generally right. The CBO estimates that <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60875" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">in 2024</a>, Biden’s DHS released more than 1.5 million aliens into the U.S. — 570,000 were encountered along the open border and released, and another 960,000 were encountered at ports of entry along the border and released — while another estimated 800,000 escaped across the border.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/street-riots-cant-set-us-immigration-policy" target="_blank">Street riots can’t set US immigration policy</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="50beb7295d3ea7db5d5b094e3d979e0f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="7a8dc" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61129859&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by Jon Putman/Anadolu via Getty Images</small></p><p><a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59697" target="_blank">In FY 2023</a>, DHS released about 2 million aliens into the U.S. — 1.1 million of whom crossed the open border and were released, 900,000 of whom were released at ports of entry — while another estimated 860,000 escaped across the border. That’s a total of 5.2 million evasions or releases over two years (specifically over FY 2023 and CY 2024, the periods for which the Congressional Budget Office provides figures). During the same 24 months, 715,000 people overstayed their legal authorizations to be in the country, per CBO estimates.</p><p>In other words, about seven-eighths (5.2 million out of 5.9 million) of those who joined the ranks of illegal aliens over those two years either evaded capture or were released into the country, rather than overstaying their visas. Applying that same seven-eighths figure to 2021 and 2022 — when the gross increase in the number of illegal aliens was about 3.9 million — suggests that about 3.4 million illegal aliens evaded capture or were released over those two years. That brings the estimated four-year tally to about 8.6 million releases or evasions under Biden (5.2 million plus 3.4 million) — a number larger than the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/largest-U-S-state-by-population" target="_blank">populations of 38 individual states</a>.</p><h2>A president-approved invasion</h2><p>To sum up, about 10 million illegal aliens were added to the U.S. population during the Biden administration. Of those, about 8.6 million came across the southern border — usually being released but sometimes evading capture — rather than overstaying their visas. After accounting for illegal aliens who either left the country or became legalized, the result was a net increase of 7.1 million illegal aliens during the Biden years, per the CBO.</p><p>That net increase of 7.1 million illegal aliens equals about two-thirds of the overall net increase of 10.3 million (legal or illegal) immigrants during Joe Biden’s tenure. After four years of Biden, the foreign-born population now makes up a higher percentage of the overall U.S. population than at any time on record, including during the great waves of immigration in the 19th century.</p><p>But it’s not just how many but who came into the country that matters. During the three full fiscal years (FY 2018-2020) immediately preceding the Biden administration, there were a <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics" target="_blank">total of nine encounters</a> along the open border between Border Patrol officials and noncitizens on the terrorist watch list. During the three full fiscal years (FY 2022-2024) that took place entirely during Biden’s term, there were <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics" target="_blank">370 such encounters</a> — a 41-fold increase. Across all four years of the Biden presidency, the number of such encounters was approximately 400. One can only wonder how many potential terrorists got across Biden’s porous border without being encountered.</p><p>On his first day in office, <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/01/25/2021-01753/advancing-racial-equity-and-support-for-underserved-communities-through-the-federal-government" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Biden issued an executive order</a> prioritizing “equity.” His DHS soon <a href="https://www.americanmainstreet.org/immigration-under-biden" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">quoted that order</a>, made clear it would apply it “in the immigration and enforcement context,” and thereafter refused to enforce federal immigration law requiring the detention of asylum-seekers. Such “equity”-driven actions were, in the words of <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flnd.405819/gov.uscourts.flnd.405819.157.0_1.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Judge Wetherell</a>, “akin to posting a flashing ‘Come In, We’re Open’ sign on the southern border.”</p><p>As a result of that neon invitation, 7.1 million more illegal aliens entered the U.S. or overstayed their visas than left the U.S. or became legalized while Biden was in office — more than the combined populations of Los Angeles, D.C., Boston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Atlanta, and Miami. This was a deliberate result of Biden’s “equity” agenda, and Americans are paying the price.</p><p><em><em>Editor’s note: </em></em><a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/06/28/tallying_up_bidens_immigration_damage_152965.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em><em>This article</em></em></a><em><em> was originally published by RealClearPolitics.</em></em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/the-results-are-in-tallying-up-bidens-immigration-damage</guid><category>Opinion &amp; analysis</category><category>Joe biden</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Border crisis</category><category>Border invasion</category><category>Southern border</category><category>Foreign-born population</category><category>Illegal immigration</category><category>Illegal aliens</category><category>Visa overstays</category><category>Terrorists crossing us border</category><category>Terrorist</category><category>Congressional budget office</category><category>Cbo</category><category>Department of homeland security</category><category>Immigration and customs enforcement</category><category>Border patrol</category><category>Records</category><category>Open borders</category><dc:creator>Jeffrey H. Anderson</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/the-results-are-in-tallying-up-bidens-immigration-damage.jpg?id=61129853&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>The One Big Beautiful Bill Act hides a big, ugly AI betrayal</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-hides-a-big-ugly-ai-betrayal</link><description><![CDATA[
  40. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-hides-a-big-ugly-ai-betrayal.jpg?id=61135701&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C110%2C0%2C111"/><br/><br/><p>Picture your local leaders — the ones you elect to defend your rights and reflect your values — stripped of the power to regulate the most powerful technology ever invented. Not in some dystopian future. In Congress. Right now.</p><p>Buried in the House version of Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act is <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/republican-megabill-ai-state-law-ban-b26bc0ee?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=ASWzDAiYpkkYR-k62QCIjtWcH4Ajpel9iqDjTHxu_mljCkAAI1p8cd9z0bSud3aVfuo%3D&gaa_ts=68644e02&gaa_sig=AHtdAwWtYRWMxdZtiuZLc1azz21UdC6LaSihv22UCuETc7QFEg5S_bw4-y31RSCzd3Hptx_X7sKdXmbKdM-AVA%3D%3D" target="_blank">a provision</a> that would block every state in the country from passing any AI regulations for the next 10 years.</p><p class="pull-quote">The idea that Washington can prevent states from acting to protect their citizens from a rapidly advancing and poorly understood technology is as unconstitutional as it is unwise.</p><p>An earlier Senate draft took <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whats-in-trump-big-beautiful-bill-senate-version/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a different route</a>, using federal funding as a weapon: States that tried to pass their own AI laws would lose access to key resources. But the version the Senate passed on July 1 <a href="https://time.com/7299044/senators-reject-10-year-ban-on-state-level-ai-regulation-in-blow-to-big-tech/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dropped that language entirely</a>.</p><p>Now House and Senate Republicans face a choice — negotiate a compromise or let the "big, beautiful bill" die.</p><p>The Trump administration has supported efforts to bar states from imposing their own AI regulations. But with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act already facing a rocky path through Congress, President Trump is likely to sign it regardless of how lawmakers resolve the question.</p><p>Supporters of a federal ban on state-level AI laws have made thoughtful and at times persuasive arguments. But handing Washington that much control would be a serious error.</p><p>A ban would concentrate power in the hands of unelected federal bureaucrats and weaken the constitutional framework that protects individual liberty. It would ignore the clear limits the Constitution places on federal authority.</p><h2>Federalism isn’t a suggestion</h2><p>The <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-10/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">10th Amendment</a> reserves all powers not explicitly granted to the federal government to the states or the people. That includes the power to regulate emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.</p><p>For more than 200 years, federalism has safeguarded American freedom by allowing states to address the specific needs and values of their citizens. It lets states experiment — whether that means California mandating electric vehicles or Texas fostering energy freedom.</p><p>If states can regulate oil rigs and wind farms, surely they can regulate server farms and machine learning models.</p><h2>A federal case for caution</h2><p>David Sacks — tech entrepreneur and now the White House’s AI and crypto czar — has made a thoughtful case on X for a centralized federal approach to <a href="https://x.com/DavidSacks/status/1930049764080452038" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">AI regulation</a>. He warns that letting 50 states write their own rules could create a chaotic patchwork, stifle innovation, and weaken America’s position in the global AI race.</p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1930049764080452038">
  41.        <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  42.        <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidSacks/status/1930049764080452038"></a>
  43.    </blockquote>
  44.        <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>Those concerns aren’t without merit. Sacks underscores the speed and scale of AI development and the need for a strategic, national response.</p><p>But the answer isn’t to strip states of their constitutional authority.</p><p>America’s founders built a system designed to resist such centralization. They understood that when power moves farther from the people, government becomes less accountable. The American answer to complexity isn’t uniformity imposed from above — it’s responsive governance closest to the people.</p><p>Besides, complexity isn’t new. States already handle it without descending into chaos. The Uniform Commercial Code offers a clear example: It governs business law across all 50 states with remarkable consistency — without federal coercion.</p><p>States also have interstate compacts (official agreements between states) on several issues, including driver’s licenses and emergency aid.</p><p>AI regulation can follow a similar path. Uniformity doesn’t require surrendering state sovereignty.</p><h2>State regulation is necessary</h2><p>The threats posed by artificial intelligence aren’t theoretical. Mass surveillance, cultural manipulation, and weaponized censorship are already at the doorstep.</p><p>In the wrong hands, AI becomes a tool of digital tyranny. And if federal leaders won’t act — or worse, block oversight entirely — then states have a duty to defend liberty while they still can.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/ai-crossed-line-never-undo" target="_self"><strong>Your job, your future, your humanity: AI just crossed the line we can never undo</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="59eb17c912d9a9a494fe0c8e5e1b9662" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="8570e" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61135697&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">BlackJack3D via iStock/Getty Images</small></p><p>From banning AI systems that impersonate government officials to regulating the collection and use of personal data, local governments are often better positioned to protect their communities. They’re closer to the people. They hear the concerns firsthand.</p><p>These decisions shouldn’t be handed over to unelected federal agencies, no matter how well intentioned the bureaucracy claims to be.</p><h2>The real danger: Doing nothing</h2><p>This is not a question of partisanship. It’s a question of sovereignty. The idea that Washington, D.C., can or should prevent states from acting to protect their citizens from a rapidly advancing and poorly understood technology is as unconstitutional as it is unwise.</p><p>If Republicans in Congress are serious about defending liberty, they should reject any proposal that strips states of their constitutional right to govern themselves. Let California be California. Let Texas be Texas. That’s how America was designed to work.</p><p>Artificial intelligence may change the world, but it should never be allowed to change who we are as a people. We are free citizens in a self-governing republic, not subjects of a central authority.</p><p>It’s time for states to reclaim their rightful role and for Congress to remember what the Constitution actually says.</p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 13:30:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-hides-a-big-ugly-ai-betrayal</guid><category>Opinion &amp; analysis</category><category>One big beautiful bill</category><category>Big beautiful bill</category><category>Big tech</category><category>Artificial intelligence</category><category>Ai</category><category>Regulation</category><category>States rights</category><category>Federalism</category><category>10th amendment</category><category>Privacy</category><category>Security</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>David sacks</category><category>House republicans</category><category>Senate</category><category>Budget</category><category>California</category><category>Texas</category><category>Machine learning</category><category>Large language models</category><category>Constitution</category><dc:creator>Justin Haskins</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/the-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-hides-a-big-ugly-ai-betrayal.jpg?id=61135701&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Trump triumphs: Paramount, CBS settle over Kamala Harris' '60 Minutes' interview</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-triumphs-paramount-cbs-settle-over-kamala-harris-60-minutes-interview</link><description><![CDATA[
  45. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/trump-triumphs-paramount-cbs-settle-over-kamala-harris-60-minutes-interview.jpg?id=61136265&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C14%2C0%2C14"/><br/><br/><p>Ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the liberal media pulled out all the stops to portray President Donald Trump in a negative light and to present his Democratic opponent as <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/word-salad-city-media-liberals-recognize-that-harris-cnn-town-hall-was-a-total-disaster" target="_blank">halfway intelligible</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/rich-noyes/2024/10/28/tv-hits-trump-85-negative-news-vs-78-positive-press-harris" target="_blank">According</a> to an October report from the Media Research Center, the broadcast evening news coverage of the race was the most lopsided in history, with ABC, CBS, and NBC treating Kamala Harris to 78% positive coverage and Trump to 85% negative coverage.</p><p>Late in the media's partisan persuasion campaign, Harris sat down for an interview with CBS News' "60 Minutes." The heavily edited version of the interview that aired on Oct. 7 proved to be a <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-says-raw-footage-of-kamala-harris-60-minutes-interview-proves-election-interference" target="_blank">complete disaster</a> not only for the Democratic candidate but for the liberal network and its parent company, which now has to pay a steep price to the <a href="https://x.com/ChrisCillizza/status/1940292057840669122" target="_blank">great displeasure</a> of liberal media personalities.</p><p>Trump <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-billion-lawsuit-cbs-editing" target="_blank">sued</a> CBS News over the interview on Oct. 31, 2024, accusing the network of "partisan and unlawful acts of election and voter interference through malicious, deceptive, and substantial news distortion calculated to (a) confuse, deceive, and mislead the public, and (b) attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election — which President Trump is leading — approaches its conclusion."</p><p>Trump initially sued for $10 billion but then increased his claim in a <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69332852/36/trump-v-cbs-broadcasting-inc/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">subsequent filing</a> to $20 billion.</p><p class="pull-quote">'CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle.'</p><p>Paramount, CBS News' parent company, announced late Tuesday that it will settle the action, which CBS <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69332852/66/trump-v-cbs-broadcasting-inc/" target="_blank">said</a> in a court filing just days earlier was a "meritless lawsuit" that takes aim at a news organization "for editorial decisions Plaintiffs dislike."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/cnn-s-fake-news-fumble-shaky-anonymous-sources-backfire-as-trump-s-iran-strike-proves-devastating" target="_blank">CNN's fake news fumble: Shaky anonymous sources backfire as Trump's Iran strike proves devastating</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="62d592aa019ca33159b45b755f43fea9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="8bd9e" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.webp?id=61137159&width=980"/><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images</small></p><p>Under the agreement — which the Freedom of the Press Foundation pre-emptively <a href="https://freedom.press/issues/paramount-should-abandon-mediation-with-trump-so-should-the-mediator/" target="_blank">threatened</a> to sue Paramount over — $16 million will be allocated to Trump's future presidential library and to the president's fees and costs, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paramount-trump-60-minutes-lawsuit-settlement/" target="_blank">reported</a> CBS News.</p><p>Blaze News has reached out to the White House for comment.</p><p>"With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit," a spokesperson for Trump's legal team <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/07/02/media/paramount-cbs-agree-to-pay-trump-30-million-in-harris-60-minutes-election-interference-lawsuit/" target="_blank">told</a> Fox News Digital. "CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle. President Trump will always ensure that no one gets away with lying to the American People as he continues on his singular mission to Make America Great Again."</p><p>This outcome greatly resembles Trump's settlement with ABC.</p><p>Trump <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/msnbc-talking-head-was-giddy-over-fox-defamation-settlement-but-now-abcs-fate-has-her-singing-a-different-tune" target="_self">sued</a> ABC and George Stephanopoulos last year over a <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/nancy-mace-defends-support-trump-after-found-liable/story?id=107964612" target="_blank">March 10, 2024, interview</a> wherein the ABC News host falsely stated that the Republican had been found liable by multiple juries for the rape of E. Jean Carroll.</p><p>To the <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/msnbc-talking-head-was-giddy-over-fox-defamation-settlement-but-now-abcs-fate-has-her-singing-a-different-tune" target="_self">great chagrin</a> of liberal talking heads, ABC settled the action in December, agreeing to pay both $15 million to Trump's future presidential library and $1 million in legal fees to Trump's attorneys.</p><p>The big difference between the two settlements appears to be that CBS will not apologize for its <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/emmy-nomination-for-outstanding-edited-interview-goes-to-60-minutes-for-kamala-episode-yes-you-read-that-right" target="_blank">Emmy-nominated interview</a>, whereas ABC appended an editor's note to the bottom of the article corresponding with its offending interview that expressed regret for the false statements.</p><p>Paramount did, however, agree that moving forward, "60 Minutes" will release transcripts of interviews with presidential candidates in the future, "subject to redactions as required for legal or national security concerns."</p><p class="pull-quote">'CBS and 60 Minutes defrauded the public by doing something which has never, to this extent, been seen before.'</p><p>CBS initially refused to release the unedited transcript of its Harris' "60 Minutes" interview, prompting complaints and finally an intervention by the Federal Communications Commission.</p><p>The FCC, which received a formal complaint on Oct. 16 from the Center for American Rights requesting an investigation into possible <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/broadcast-news-distortion" target="_blank">news distortion</a>, released the <a href="https://youtu.be/vEu8hSGDKJA" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">raw footage</a> and <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/Transcript-Transcribed-Unedited-Interview-Footage-6-of-14.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">full transcript</a> on Feb. 5.</p><p>The footage confirmed critics' suspicions and demonstrated the great lengths taken by the network to make Harris appear intelligible and concise.</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/blaze-news-original-when-the-mainstream-medias-left-wing-bias-costs-them-credibility" target="_blank">When the mainstream media's left-wing bias costs them credibility</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1567721190fac79e8e80e9e9980f43c7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="31cb4" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61137166&width=980"/><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images</small></p><p>For instance, Bill Whitaker of CBS News' "60 Minutes" asked Harris at one stage in the interview whether America lacked influence over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his strategic decisions in the Middle East. Whitaker then stated, "It seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening" to the Biden-Harris administration.</p><p>Blaze News previously reported that the version of the interview that went to air and was <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-2024-election-interview-60-minutes-transcript/" target="_blank">reflected in CBS News' official transcript</a> was edited so that Harris appears to say in response, "We're not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end."</p><p>It's clear from the raw footage that Harris actually responded with one of her signature word salads:</p><blockquote>Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted, or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region. And we're not going to stop doing that. We're not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.</blockquote><p>There were multiple cases of similar edits made with the apparent intention of making Harris appear more coherent.</p><p>After the FCC released the full interview in February, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113956631326391344" target="_blank">stated</a>, "CBS and 60 Minutes defrauded the public by doing something which has never, to this extent, been seen before. They 100% removed Kamala's horrible election changing answers to questions, and replaced them with completely different, and far better, answers, taken from another part of the interview. This was Election changing 'stuff,' Election Interference and, quite simply, Election Fraud at a level never seen before."</p><p>The settlement is not the only cause for demoralization at CBS.</p><p>Wendy McMahon <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/cbs-chief-resigns-trump-lawsuit" target="_blank">stepped down</a> as president of CBS News in May, noting in a statement, "It's become clear the company and I do not agree on the path forward."</p><p>The previous month, longtime "60 Minutes" executive producer Bill Owens <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/60-minutes-executive-producer-resigns-months-after-alleged-edits-of-kamala-interview" target="_blank">resigned</a>, stating in a memo, "Over the past months, it has become clear that I would not be allowed to run the show as I have always run it, to make independent decisions based on what was right for '60 Minutes,' right for the audience."</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 13:15:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-triumphs-paramount-cbs-settle-over-kamala-harris-60-minutes-interview</guid><category>Cbs news</category><category>60 minutes</category><category>Paramount</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Trump</category><category>White house</category><category>Fake news</category><category>Kamala harris</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Joseph MacKinnon</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/trump-triumphs-paramount-cbs-settle-over-kamala-harris-60-minutes-interview.jpg?id=61136265&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>The real land-grab isn’t Mike Lee’s — it’s Biden’s ‘30 by 30’</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/the-real-land-grab-isnt-mike-lees-its-bidens-30-by-30</link><description><![CDATA[
  46. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/the-real-land-grab-isnt-mike-lees-its-bidens-30-by-30.jpg?id=61135626&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C53%2C0%2C54"/><br/><br/><p>Something ugly is unfolding on social media, and most people aren’t seeing it clearly. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — one of the most constitutionally grounded conservatives in Washington — is under fire for a housing provision he first proposed in 2022.</p><p>You wouldn’t know that from scrolling through X. According to the latest online frenzy, Lee wants to sell off national parks, bulldoze public lands, gut hunting and fishing rights, and hand America’s wilderness to Amazon, BlackRock, and the Chinese Communist Party. None of that is true.</p><p class="pull-quote">Lee’s bill would have protected against the massive land-grab that’s already under way — courtesy of the Biden administration.</p><p>I covered this <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/no-mike-lee-isnt-paving-over-yellowstone-for-condos" target="_self">last month</a>. Since then, the backlash has grown into something like a political witch hunt — not just from the left but from the right. Even Donald Trump Jr., someone I typically agree with, has <a href="https://x.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1939302375828643939" target="_blank">attacked Lee’s proposal</a>. He’s not alone.</p><p>Time to look at the facts the media refuses to cover about Lee’s federal land plan.</p><h2>What Lee actually proposed</h2><p>Over the weekend, <a href="https://www.deseret.com/politics/2025/06/28/mike-lee-pulls-public-lands-sale-from-trump-big-beautiful-bill/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lee announced that he would withdraw</a> the federal land sale provision from his housing bill. He <a href="https://x.com/SenMikeLee/status/1939132778605388207" target="_blank">said</a> the decision was in response to “a tremendous amount of misinformation — and in some cases, outright lies,” but also acknowledged that many Americans brought forward sincere, thoughtful concerns.</p><p>Because of the strict rules surrounding the budget reconciliation process, Lee couldn’t secure legally enforceable protections to ensure that the land would be made available “only to American families — not to China, not to BlackRock, and not to any foreign interests.” Without those safeguards, he chose to walk it back.</p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1937340623213985907">
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  48.        <a href="https://twitter.com/SenMikeLee/status/1937340623213985907"></a>
  49.    </blockquote>
  50.        <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>That’s not selling out. That’s leadership.</p><p>It's what the legislative process is supposed to look like: A senator proposes a bill, the people respond, and the lawmaker listens. That was once known as representative democracy. These days, it gets you labeled a globalist sellout.</p><h2>The Biden land-grab</h2><p>To many Americans, “public land” brings to mind open spaces for hunting, fishing, hiking, and recreation. But that’s not what Sen. Mike Lee’s bill targeted.</p><p>His proposal would have protected against the real land-grab already under way — the one pushed by the Biden administration.</p><p>In 2021, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/bio/helen-oshea/biden-administration-lays-out-30x30-vision-conserve-nature" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Biden launched a plan</a> to “conserve” 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030. This effort follows the United Nations-backed “30 by 30” initiative, which seeks to place one-third of all land and water under government control.</p><p>Ask yourself: Is the U.N. focused on preserving your right to hunt and fish? Or are radical environmentalists exploiting climate fears to restrict your access to American land?</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/no-mike-lee-isnt-paving-over-yellowstone-for-condos" target="_self"><strong>No, Mike Lee isn’t paving over Yellowstone for condos</strong></a></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f2b9251f32e72642f0228e56941d8b14" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="3ecf0" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=61135585&width=980"/>                        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">JohnnyGreig via iStock/Getty Images </small></p><p>As it stands, the federal government already owns <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R42346" target="_blank">640 million acres</a> — nearly one-third of the entire country. At this rate, the government will hit that 30% benchmark with ease. But it doesn’t end there. The next phase is already in play: the “50 by 50” agenda.</p><p>That brings me to a piece of legislation most Americans haven’t even heard of: <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/news/usda-requests-public-input-on-implementation-of-sustains-act#:~:text=The%20SUSTAINS%20Act%2C%20signed%20into,additional%20guidelines%20for%20those%20contributions." target="_blank">the Sustains Act</a>.</p><p>Passed in 2023, the law allows the federal government to accept private funding from organizations, such as BlackRock or the Bill Gates Foundation, to support “conservation programs.” In practice, the law enables wealthy elites to buy influence over how American land is used and managed.</p><p>Moreover, the government doesn’t even need the landowner’s permission to declare that your property contributes to “pollination,” or “photosynthesis,” or “air quality” — and then regulate it accordingly. You could wake up one morning and find out that the land you own no longer belongs to you in any meaningful sense.</p><p>Where was the outrage then? Where were the online crusaders when private capital and federal bureaucrats teamed up to quietly erode private property rights across America?</p><h2>American families pay the price</h2><p>The real danger isn’t in Mike Lee’s attempt to offer more housing near population centers — land that would be limited, clarified, and safeguarded in the final bill. The real threat is the creeping partnership between unelected global elites and our own government, a partnership designed to consolidate land, control rural development, and keep Americans penned in so-called “15-minute cities.”</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blackrock-wall-street-investors-buy-homes-neighborhoods-single-family-rental-2021-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BlackRock buying entire neighborhoods</a> and pricing out regular families isn’t by accident. It’s part of a larger strategy to centralize populations into manageable zones, where cars are unnecessary, rural living is unaffordable, and every facet of life is tracked, regulated, and optimized.</p><p>That’s the real agenda. And it’s already happening , and Mike Lee’s bill would have been an effort to ensure that you — not BlackRock, not China — get first dibs.</p><p>I live in a town of 451 people. Even here, in the middle of nowhere, housing is unaffordable. The American dream of owning a patch of land is slipping away, not because of one proposal from a constitutional conservative, but because global powers and their political allies are already devouring it.</p><h2>Divide and conquer</h2><p>This controversy isn’t really about Mike Lee. It’s about whether we, as a nation, are still capable of having honest debates about public policy — or whether the online mob now controls the narrative. It’s about whether conservatives will focus on facts or fall into the trap of friendly fire and circular firing squads.</p><p>More importantly, it’s about whether we’ll recognize the <em><em>real</em></em> land-grab happening in our country — and have the courage to fight back before it’s too late.</p><p><em><em>Want more from </em></em><a href="https://get.blazetv.com/glenn/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=theblaze-smartlink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em><em>Glenn Beck</em></em></a><em><em>? Get Glenn's </em></em><a href="https://links.glennbeck.com/join/51r/signup-theblaze" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em><em>FREE email newsletter</em></em></a><em><em> with his latest insights, top stories, show prep, and more delivered to your inbox.</em></em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/the-real-land-grab-isnt-mike-lees-its-bidens-30-by-30</guid><category>Opinion &amp; analysis</category><category>Mike lee</category><category>Senate</category><category>Public land</category><category>Federal land grab</category><category>30 by 30</category><category>50 by 50</category><category>United nations</category><category>Conservation</category><category>Sustains act</category><category>15 minute cities</category><category>Constitution</category><category>Conservative</category><category>Land ownership</category><category>Housing</category><category>Prices</category><category>Rent</category><category>Rental housing only</category><category>Property</category><category>Blackrock</category><category>China</category><category>American dream</category><dc:creator>Glenn Beck</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/the-real-land-grab-isnt-mike-lees-its-bidens-30-by-30.jpg?id=61135626&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Alligator Alcatraz is a warning to illegal immigrants in the US: Leave now or end up here</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/news/alligator-alcatraz-is-a-warning-to-illegal-immigrants-in-the-us</link><description><![CDATA[
  51. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/alligator-alcatraz-is-a-warning-to-illegal-immigrants-in-the-us-leave-now-or-end-up-here.jpg?id=61135660&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0"/><br/><br/><p><strong>OCHOPEE, Fla.</strong> — The mosquitoes were out in full force just before the sun rose on Tuesday in the Everglades. The shoulders of the two-lane road were packed with cars of media members doing live shots outside the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport, now known as Alligator Alcatraz.</p><p> Alligator Alcatraz has made waves in Florida and across the nation because within eight days, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis' administration worked with the Department of Homeland Security to build a temporary holding facility at the remote airport. While the site has many advantages, a primary deterrent from escape attempts or interference from open-border radicals are the state's famous swamps and the wildlife that resides in them.</p><p class="pull-quote">'Voters in those states will go to their elected officials, "Hey, why aren't you helping the president like Florida's doing?"'</p><p>In attendance at Tuesday's grand opening of the facility were President Donald Trump, DeSantis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, and numerous state and federal officials. They presented a unified front to say: This holding site is operational, and if illegal aliens do not want to be held there, they can self-deport.</p><p>"They don’t have to come here. If they self-deport and go home, they can come back legally," Noem explained. "But if you wait and we bring you to this facility, you don’t ever get to come back to America. You don’t get the chance to come back and be an American again."</p><p><strong>RELATED: <a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/trump-arrest-mayorkas-julio-rosas" target="_blank">'It's beyond incompetence': Trump responds to Blaze reporter asking why Mayorkas and others have not been arrested</a></strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">        <img alt="'It's beyond incompetence': Trump responds to Blaze reporter asking why Mayorkas and others have not been arrested" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9369c5ecaad56a2fe81d4d68f7f0de81" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="29a0e" loading="lazy" src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/it-s-beyond-incompetence-trump-responds-to-blaze-reporter-asking-why-mayorkas-and-others-have-not-been-arrested.jpg?id=61133978&width=980"/>        <small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">            Photo (left): Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Photo (right): Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images         </small></p><p>Alligator Alcatraz is expected to hold up to 3,000 detainees, with first arrivals expected this week. Another state-run site near Jacksonville at Camp Blanding will hold 2,000 detainees. Most of those held in the sites are projected to be illegal immigrants who were arrested in Florida. The hardened tents are equipped with air conditioning, medical and legal staff are on hand, and detainees have access to showers and bathrooms. None of the wastewater will flow into the Everglades, being trucked out instead.</p><p>Trump praised DeSantis' Florida for setting the pace of cooperating with the federal government to help with mass deportations.</p><p><strong>RELATED: </strong><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/news/nowhere-to-go-nowhere-to-hide-florida-will-have-alligator-alcatraz-for-illegal-aliens-up-and-running-in-days" target="_self"><strong>'Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide': Florida will have 'Alligator Alcatraz' for illegal aliens up and running in days</strong></a></p><blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1940078647165022436">
  52.        <div style="margin:1em 0"></div> —  (@)
  53.        <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1940078647165022436"></a>
  54.    </blockquote>
  55.        <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><p>DeSantis is calling on Alligator Alcatraz to be a one-stop shop for the removal process of illegal aliens. Not only can they be processed out of the country there, the airstrip is also able to accommodate federal deportation flights.</p><p>When asked by Blaze Media whether other Republican-run states have reached out to his administration to learn how to set up something similar in their jurisdictions, DeSantis said not yet, as of Tuesday, but Trump's attendance at the grand opening will surely push the issue forward around the nation.</p><p>"When [Trump's] here saying this is going to be mission-critical, saying this is a force multiplier, then what will happen is voters in those states will go to their elected officials, 'Hey, why aren't you helping the president like Florida's doing?' ... Maybe they can't do as much as Florida, but if they even did a little bit, it makes a difference, and this stuff adds up," DeSantis said.</p><p>Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, whose office led the creation of Alligator Alcatraz, told Blaze Media he wished people who were baselessly calling the detention site a "concentration camp" had more sympathy for the victims of illegal aliens.</p><p>"A couple weeks ago, we announced a lifetime sentence for an illegal immigrant that had grossly sexually abused a minor, a young girl, and trafficked her out to other people. These are the crimes we're seeing. At the end of the day, we believe in law and order. We're going to enforce immigration law," Uthmeier said.</p><p><em>Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. </em><em><a href="https://www.theblaze.com/newsletters/theblaze-articlelink" target="_self">Sign up here</a></em><em>!</em></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 12:15:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/news/alligator-alcatraz-is-a-warning-to-illegal-immigrants-in-the-us</guid><category>Alligator alcatraz</category><category>Florida</category><category>Ron desantis</category><category>Donald trump</category><category>Kristi noem</category><category>Stephen miller</category><category>Illegal immigration</category><category>Illegal alien</category><category>Alligators</category><category>Everglades</category><category>Politics</category><dc:creator>Julio Rosas</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/alligator-alcatraz-is-a-warning-to-illegal-immigrants-in-the-us-leave-now-or-end-up-here.jpg?id=61135660&amp;width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>The most memorable epocha in the history of America</title><link>https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/the-most-memorable-epocha-in-the-history-of-america</link><description><![CDATA[
  56. <img src="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/the-most-memorable-epocha-in-the-history-of-america.jpg?id=52521209&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C103"/><br/><br/><p><em>On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia after a lengthy debate adopted a resolution in favor of declaring independence from Great Britain. The language of the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, which Americans have celebrated ever since as Independence Day.</em></p><p><em>But John Adams, who sat on the committee appointed to draft the document and encouraged Thomas Jefferson to be the principal author, had a somewhat different idea about which day his countrymen would remember. In two letters dated July 3 to his beloved wife, Abigail, Adams explained why he believed July 2 would be celebrated as “the most memorable epocha in the history of America.”</em></p><p class="pull-quote">The second day of July 1776 … ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.</p><p><em>They’re well worth reading today, with the benefit of hindsight, if for no other reason than to marvel at the man’s prescience. It isn’t difficult to feel in the final paragraphs Adams’ excitement and trepidation at what was to come.</em></p><p><em>Enjoy the following excerpts, read them aloud with your family on the holiday, and God bless America.</em></p><p>Morning, July 3, 1776</p><p>Yesterday the greatest question was decided, which ever was debated in America, and a greater perhaps, never was or will be decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony “that these United Colonies, are, and of right ought to be free and independent States, and as such, they have, and of right ought to have full power to make war, conclude peace, establish commerce, and to do all the other acts and things, which other states may rightfully do.” You will see in a few days a Declaration setting forth the causes, which have impelled us to this mighty revolution, and the reasons which will justify it, in the sight of God and man. A plan of confederation will be taken up in a few days.</p><p>When I look back to the Year 1761, and recollect the argument concerning writs of assistance, in the Superior Court, which I have hitherto considered as the Commencement of the Controversy, between Great Britain and America, and run through the whole period from that time to this, and recollect the series of political events, the chain of causes and effects, I am surprised at the suddenness, as well as greatness of this revolution. Britain has been filled with folly, and America with wisdom, at least this is my judgment.</p><p>Time must determine. It is the will of Heaven, that the two countries should be sundered forever. It may be the will of Heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more wasting and distresses yet more dreadful. If this is to be the case, it will have this good effect, at least: it will inspire us with many virtues, which we have not, and correct many errors, follies, and vices, which threaten to disturb, dishonor, and destroy us.</p><p>The furnace of affliction produces refinement, in states as well as individuals. And the new governments we are assuming, in every part, will require a purification from our vices, and an augmentation of our virtues or they will be no blessings. The people will have unbounded power. And the people are extremely addicted to corruption and venality, as well as the great. I am not without apprehensions from this quarter.</p><p>But I must submit all my hopes and fears, to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as the faith may be, I firmly believe.</p><p>Evening, July 3, 1776</p><p>Had a Declaration of Independency been made seven months ago, it would have been attended with many great and glorious effects. We might, before this hour, have formed alliance with foreign states. We should have mastered Quebec and been in possession of Canada.</p><p>You will, perhaps, wonder how such a declaration would have influenced our affairs in Canada; but, if I could write with freedom, I could easily convince you that it would, and explain to you the manner how. Many gentlemen in high stations, and of great influence, have been duped, by the ministerial bubble of commissioners, to treat; and, in real, sincere expectation of this event, which they so fondly wished, they have been slow and languid in promoting measures for the reduction of that province. Others there are in the colonies, who really wished that our enterprise in Canada would be defeated; that the colonies might be brought into danger and distress between two fires, and be thus induced to submit. Others really wished to defeat the expedition to Canada, lest the conquest of it should elevate the minds of the people too much to hearken to those terms of reconciliation which they believed would be offered to us. These jarring views, wishes, and designs, occasioned an opposition to many salutary measures which were proposed for the support of that expedition, and caused obstructions, embarrassments, and studied delays, which have finally lost us the province.</p><p>All causes, however, in conjunction, would not have disappointed us, if it had not been for a misfortune which could not have been foreseen, and perhaps could not have been prevented — I mean the prevalence of the smallpox among our troops. This fatal pestilence completed our destruction. It is a frown of Providence upon us, which we ought to lay to heart.</p><p>But, on the other hand, the delay of this declaration to this time has many great advantages attending it. The hopes of reconciliation which were fondly entertained by multitudes of honest and well meaning, though short-sighted and mistaken people, have been gradually, and at last totally, extinguished. Time has been given for the whole people maturely to consider the great question of independence, and to ripen their judgment, dissipate their fears, and allure their hopes, by discussing it in newspapers and pamphlets — by debating it in assemblies, conventions, committees of safety and inspection — in town and country meetings, as well as in private conversations; so that the whole people, in every colony, have now adopted it as their own act. This will cement the union, and avoid those heats, and perhaps convulsions, which might have been occasioned by such a declaration six months ago.</p><p>But the day is past. The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shews, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever.</p><p>You will think me transported with enthusiasm; but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain this declaration, and support and defend these states. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of light and glory; I can see that the end is more than worth all the means, and that posterity will triumph, although you and I may rue, which I hope we shall not.</p><p><em>Editor's note: This article was originally published on July 2, 2024.</em><br/></p>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2025 12:00:09 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/the-most-memorable-epocha-in-the-history-of-america</guid><category>Opinion &amp; analysis</category><dc:creator>John Adams</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/the-most-memorable-epocha-in-the-history-of-america.jpg?id=52521209&amp;width=980"></media:content></item></channel></rss>

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