Free Republic

Freedom for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) president Greg Lukianoff “Freedom From Speech,” a 61-page broadside written by Freedom for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) president Greg Lukianoff, deftly illustrates the evolving assault on free speech. “The public’s appetite for punishing attempts at candor gone wrong, drunken rants, or even private statements made in anger or frustration seems to be growing at an alarming rate,” Lukianoff warns. The author cites a range of incidents to make his initial point, covering a large and diverse cast of characters. They include former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson,...

Wilton Manors is a thriving town thanks in large part because of the vibrant gay community. That’s why a hate crime against a gay man has reverberated strongly through the city. The crime happened early Tuesday morning on the 2200 block of Wilton Drive. The victim said a man approached him and began calling him a gay slur. The suspect then started throwing rocks at the victim, one of which hit him in the stomach.

TRENTON, N.J. -- The pretrial intervention program offered to Ray Rice in the assault case involving his wife was granted in less than 1 percent of all domestic violence assault cases from 2010-13 that were resolved, according to New Jersey Judiciary data obtained Friday by "Outside the Lines." Rice and his then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, were arrested on Feb. 15 and charged with simple assault after an incident at an Atlantic City casino. Janay's charges were later dropped, but on March 27, an Atlantic City grand jury increased Rice's assault charge to aggravated assault-bodily injury in the third degree causing bodily...

As long as players don't get caught knocking out women on camera for the world to see, they're cleared to play football in the NFL Ray Rice has become “Peck’s Bad Boy” for a deteriorating National Football League. When the first video of him dragging his unconscious fianc√©e out of an elevator appeared in July, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell slapped Rice’s wrist with a two-game suspension. Goodell went on to revise the league’s disciplinary policy regarding domestic violence to include a minimum six-game suspension or more for the first infraction and up to a lifetime ban for the second, with...

Oregon woman arrested for 'zombie game' assault SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An Oregon woman was arrested for breaking into a home and attacking a woman resident, while claiming she was playing a "zombie game," police said on Monday. Sheriff's officers arrested Jessica Rocha, 27, at a home in the coastal town of Lakeside, said Sergeant Kelley Andrews of Coos County, adding that she was charged with criminal mischief, assault, unlawful entry, harassment and attempted burglary. "She was making comments about playing a zombie game,'" Andrews said, "I've never heard of that." The Coos Bay World newspaper reported that Rocha pushed...

(CNN) -- Police have identified those involved in an incident in which the ice bucket challenge trend was used to trick an autistic teenager into being drenched with a bucket of urine, feces and spit. Authorities are not yet releasing the names, and are not discussing potential charges as the investigation is not yet complete, said Bay Village, Ohio, Police Chief Mark Spaetzel.

"This fight happened on September 6, 2014 at the Kroger at Poplar and Highland in Memphis, Tennessee. According to witnesses, a mob of teens attacked store employees at the front entrance to the store."

<p>A disturbing video released to the public in Springfield, Mo., this week shows a young couple being assaulted by a group of men who attacked them from behind in an alley.</p> <p>Springfield Police posted the video on YouTube. They are asking for help in identifying the suspects and witnesses.</p>

The Republican candidates for U.S. Senate in New Hampshire discuss whether a ban on assault weapons should exist.

Police are investigating after a group of teens in Bay Village, Ohio, allegedly tricked an autistic 15-year-old into creating an ice bucket challenge video, then dousing him with urine, feces, spit, and cigarette butts. The video was filmed on the boy's cell phone and posted to Instagram, according to his mother, Diane. (Local news outlet WJW withheld the family's last name to protect the boy's identity.) The victim's brother, Jacob, told WJW: I mean, the first thing that popped into my mind was like, why could someone – how could someone do this? How could someone really be this cruel...

Justin Bieber had a run-in with the law near his hometown of Stratford, Ontario, Friday when he was charged with dangerous driving and assault after an altercation on the road. MTV News reached out to the Ontario Provincial Police headquarters Tuesday (September 2), who directed us to news articles that relay scant details about the incident. CTV News London reports that Perth County OPP responded to a collision in which a minivan and ATV were involved Friday afternoon. Bieber, reportedly, got into a fight with the driver of the minivan. He was released and scheduled to appear in court on...

Notorious anti-Israel British MP George Galloway was hospitalized on Saturday after being assaulted in London. Galloway, who leads the far-left Respect Party, was posing for pictures in the UK capital when he was punched repeatedly by an attacker, who apparently "made reference to the Holocaust", a spokesperson told the media. The precise motive is not yet clear but police say they arrested a suspect, named as 39-year-old Neil Masterson of London, for religiously-aggravated assault, as well as common assault against a man who attempted to defend the radical MP. The suspect is due to appear at Hammersmith Magistrates' Court on...

"A West Point man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after he and a friend were attacked by a group of around 20 people in a Huddle House parking lot, police said, potentially as retaliation for Michael Brown's killing. Ralph Weems IV, who is white, was injured early Saturday but is now in fair condition at North Mississippi Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Genie Causey said. A relative, Bradley Barnes of Madison, told The Associated Press by telephone on Sunday that his brother-in-law was in a medically induced coma following brain surgery. 'They're going to try and wake him up...

A gang of anti-Semitic thugs roughed up a Jewish man and his wife on the Upper East Side on Monday evening before fleeing in cars flying Palestinian flags, police sources told The Post. Two cars and multiple motorcycles pulled up to the couple on East 63rd Street near Third Avenue just after 8 p.m., and the assailants began yelling “anti-Jewish statements,” the sources said. …

A Temple University student was assaulted at a student activities fair apparently during a heated exchange over the conflict between Israel and Palestine. University officials say the disagreement also reportedly included an exchange of anti-Semitic remarks. […] Temple Students for Justice in Palestine said the assault took place at their table after a student made disparaging remarks and refused to leave. In a statement, the group said the assaulted student approached the table and allegedly called the members terrorists and reportedly made other racist and anti-Semitic remarks. The man was apparently asked to walk away several times, but refused. A...

Hackensack Police have warned residents to be alert as they hunt for a man who randomly approached and punched three others in what may be the first local incidents of the so-called “knockout game” that has resulted in one North Jersey death and plagued urban areas nationwide. The three separate sudden assaults took place Monday night within a span of less than 15 minutes and involved the same man, who appeared to be acting alone, police said.

A man and his wife see a neighbor drive up to her house.   The neighbor is in her 60's.   As they watch, a strange man approaches her, speaks to her, then grabs her, drags her from the SUV, throws her to the ground, and jumps in the vehicle.  The wife opens the passenger side door, but is struck by the vehicle and knocked down.   The husband fires several shots from a handgun.   A short while later, the vehicle crashes.   From azfamily.com: The responding officers discovered it was the stolen vehicle and that the driver was the...

“Josie,” a friend of Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson, called into The Dana Loesch Radio Show today. Josie gave Officer Wilson’s side of the story. Here’s the transcript: “He pulled up ahead of them. And then he got a call-in that there was a strong-arm robbery. And, they gave a description. And, he’s looking at them and they got something in their hands and it looks like it could be what, you know those cigars or whatever. So he goes in reverse back to them. Tries to get out of his car. They slam his door shut violently. I think he...

The police officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown did not know that he was a suspect in a convenience store robbery, Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said Friday.Jackson said the officer, previously identified as 28-year-old Darren Wilson, initially stopped Brown and a friend ”because they were walking down the middle of the street blocking traffic.” Police earlier Friday released security footage they said showed Brown grabbing a box of cigars from a convenience store and then shoving the clerk away to leave.Daryl Parks, an attorney for the Brown family, confirmed that the security footage “appears to look like” the teenager,...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to continue waging war on Hamas Saturday afternoon, saying Israeli operations would continue “at full scale” in order ”to bring back the quiet, peace and calm to citizens of Israel and severely harm terrorist projects.”