Free Republic

Just down the road from my house, a pastor was crucified in his bed — crown of thorns and all. That’s not the start of a horror movie. It’s the real story of Pastor William Schonemann of New River Bible Chapel in Arizona. His murder in May received almost no media coverage until last week, when the suspect not only confessed to the killing but admitted he had plans to assassinate four more pastors in Arizona — and others across the country. As a pastor who lives not far from where this happened, I couldn’t help but wonder: Was I...

The Department of Justice on Monday unveiled a record-shattering crackdown on the corrupt underbelly of America’s health care system. A jaw-dropping 324 defendants — including 96 medical professionals — have been charged in 50 federal districts and 12 states for orchestrating over $14.6 billion in intended fraud, largely targeting Medicare, Medicaid, and federal health programs meant to serve the elderly, disabled, and the poor. The takedown, spearheaded by the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Unit in coordination with HHS-OIG, the FBI, the DEA, and over a dozen state attorney general offices, marks the largest health care fraud bust in U.S. history....

An Iranian illegal immigrant’s wife allegedly threatened to shoot ICE agents in the head when they came to the couple’s Arizona home trying to arrest her husband after he ignored a removal order for more than a decade. Linet Vartanians, 37, is accused of telling the feds she had a loaded gun and would shoot anyone who tried to enter the couple’s home in Tempe, according to the US Attorney’s Office. She also allegedly threatened to shoot ICE officers in the head who were outside the home on Saturday.

Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed two budget proposals Wednesday, calling them partisan and reckless, as legislators near a deadline to reach a deal and avoid a state government shutdown. Her action comes after House Republicans indicated last week that a budget negotiated by the state Senate and Hobbs’ office lacked the needed votes in its chamber. The House instead introduced a budget to keep state operations running beyond June 30 and buy more time for negotiations. The chamber passed a separate budget earlier this month. “It cuts tuition, raises pay for law enforcement, fixes critical roads, and reins in...

COCONINO COUNTY, Ariz. — The suspect accused a murdering the pastor of a church in New River admitted to the crime in a jailhouse interview with 12News. Before reading further, 12News wants to warn readers that the content of this story may be disturbing. The suspect, Adam Sheafe, said he planned to "execute" and "crucify" a total of 14 priests in 10 states across the country before being caught by police after the murder of his first victim, Pastor William "Bill" Schonemann of New River. Sheafe is currently in custody in Coconino County and 12News spoke to him from his...

A Mesa mom is back in Mexico just days after she was detained by federal immigration agents while on the job at a Valley restaurant. She admits she was living in the U.S. without documentation but claims she is far from being the “dangerous criminals” the Trump administration said they are targeting. Friday was like any other day for Karime Diaz, who was working her shift at Oregano’s in Mesa. That is until federal agents walked in. “As I got in there after like half an hour maybe, FBI and ICE showed up to my work place,” she said. Karime...

Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ) sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday, asking the DOJ to investigate “credible claims” of election security violations involving the Arizona-based ballot printing firm, Runbeck Election Services. Runbeck provides ballot printing and mail-in ballot services in 31 states and 54% of the nation’s voters, according to its website. The Gateway Pundit has reported extensively on this shady private entity, which was founded by leftists and transports and scans Maricopa County mail-in ballots with no oversight or chain of custody before they are processed and counted by the County. As revealed in Trump-Endorsed former...

We are looking into filing a lawsuit against the hospital that my wife was just in for a month. Let me give you her story and see if anybody has some advice for us. On Friday May 9th at 9am, I took my wife to the ER because she was having abdominal pain that we suspected was a bad appendix. By 11:30am it was confirmed that indeed her appendix was inflamed and needed to come out. My wife said well happy Mother’s Day to me and the PA responded, don’t worry this is no big deal, 3 little incisions, and...

They should have put this protest on ice. A massive raid on a suspected cartel member found in Arizona with a huge stockpile of drugs and guns was interrupted by “idiots” who thought it was “an ICE raid,” according to a sheriff. Investigators had spent around six months investigating the unidentified cartel member, who had crept back into the country despite previously being deported, according to Pinal County Sheriff Ross Teeple [snip] “Even when it was explained to them [protesters] that this was a criminal case, where we were taking a criminal drug smuggler, a known felon off the street...

"No Kings" rallies will be held in cities across the country to protest President Donald Trump and his policies on his birthday, June 14. Why It Matters The 50501 Movement (50 protests, 50 states, one movement) and other groups are protesting a military parade scheduled to take place in the nation's capital on June 14, coinciding with Trump's 79th birthday, the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, and Flag Day. 'No Kings' Anti-Trump Protest Locations on June 14 Multiple protests are being held in various cities in each state, but no events are being planned for Washington, D.C. Organizers say that a...

Democrat Senator Chris Murphy called for nationwide street protests following the massive destruction and violence by leftist, pro-Palestinian, and illegal alien riots in Los Angeles over the weekend. Senator Murphy was on with Morning Joe this AM when he called for street protests in every US city. These people are lawless. Choose your side wisely. There are two visions for America. Choose wisely. pic.twitter.com/vtxG0Xr89T — Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) June 8, 2025 Senator Chris Murphy: my first message is to keep it peaceful. I mean, obviously, this is a moment where we have to be on the streets all over the...

A fame-seeking teenager died attempting an alarming social-media challenge called “dusting,” according to her heartbroken parents. Renna O’Rourke, 19, of Arizona, passed away Sunday after trying the viral trend, also called “chroming,” in which netizens film themselves inhaling keyboard cleaning spray to get high for views online. “She always said, ‘I’m gonna be famous, Dad. Just you watch. I’m gonna be famous,’ and unfortunately, this is not under the most optimal of circumstances,” her grieving father, Aaron O’Rourke, told AZ Family. The Tempe teen went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to the hospital. She remained unconscious in the intensive...

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on June 2 vetoed a bill that would have prohibited the Chinese communist regime and state-owned enterprises from acquiring property in Arizona, according to her office.Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs speaks at the state Capitol in Phoenix on May 2, 2024. Matt York/AP PhotoSenate Bill 1109, sponsored by Arizona Senate Majority leader Janae Shamp (R-Ariz.), seeks to prevent China from buying or holding a substantial interest—a 30 percent stake or more—in property within Arizona.The proposed measure was designed to safeguard the state’s “military, commercial and agricultural assets” from the risks of “foreign espionage and sabotage,” which could...

Katie Hobbs is living proof that stolen elections have consequences. ... And still the DOJ won't investigate her or her AG!

An Arizona college professor allegedly made his students to strip in front of him and their classmates, flirted with several coeds and forced them to watch orgy porn, all during class, according to a shocking investigative report. Mace Archer, 56, a drama teacher at Mesa Community College, is currently under investigation for the allegations by school officials, according to the damning report written by the Arizona Republic. But students accused the college of ignoring their complaints of inappropriate behavior by the professor for months before the probe was opened

A 47-year-old man is going to prison after he was accused of fatally shooting a man in Arizona, federal officials said. Sixteen days after Clifton Nez Hamalowa was released from prison in 2020 after serving time connected to a murder charge, he shot Richard Olds to death, accoridng to a sentencing memorandum filed May 22 in district court.

The Department of Education has retracted a $37.7 million fine against Grand Canyon University after accusations of misleading tuition practices were challenged. The fine was reportedly the largest of its kind ever imposed by the Biden administration’s Education Department on any university. ... The U.S. Department of Education has retracted a $37.7 million dollar fine levied against Grand Canyon University (GCU) in Arizona following wrongful accusations that the school had misled students regarding the cost of tuition. GCU President Brian Mueller, celebrating the department’s May 16 reversal of its earlier decision, described the school as “a leader in innovation, transparency...

In the last two and a half years, eight sitting members of the House or Senate have died in office. Every time, it's been a Democrat. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, died on Wednesday at 75, after a battle with esophageal cancer. He's the third House Democrat to die in the last three months. If Democrats had gained a narrow 1 or 2-seat majority in 2024, they would have lost it by now.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge sentenced an Arizona woman on Thursday to six years in prison for using a cutting torch to damage the Dakota Access pipeline in Iowa and setting fire to pipeline equipment in three counties in 2016 and 2017. The judge also ordered Ruby Katherine Montoya, 32, to pay nearly $3.2 million in restitution together with Jessica Reznicek, a woman who helped her. Montoya pleaded guilty to conspiracy to damage an energy facility. She admitted to helping Reznicek and others damage the pipeline in several locations in Iowa. “The sentence imposed today demonstrates that...

Christopher Pelkey was killed in a road rage incident in Chandler in 2021, but last month, artificial intelligence brought him back to life during his killer’s sentencing hearing. It was the first time in Arizona judicial history — and possibly nationwide — that AI has been used to create a deceased victim’s own impact statement. The video player is currently playing an ad. Pelkey’s sister and brother-in-law used the technology to recreate his image and voice likeness to “talk” to the courtroom about his life and the day he met Gabriel Paul Horcasitas, who shot him during a confrontation near...