Free Republic

John Bolton, U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, said Sunday that North Korea’s denuclearization would entail the dismantling of its nuclear weapons and delivering them to an American nuclear research facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. “We want to see the denuclearization process so completely underway that it is irreversible,” said Bolton in an interview with ABC News Sunday, before Pyongyang will be able to reap any sort of benefits. “The implementation of the decision means getting rid of all the nuclear weapons, dismantling them, taking them to Oak Ridge, Tennessee,” said Bolton, as he revealed details of the process...

<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)-- Officials at Andrew Jackson's historic home in Tennessee say the seventh president's tomb has been vandalized and marred by profanities.</p> <p>Andrew Jackson Foundation President and CEO Howard Kittell said the vandalism was discovered early Friday at The Hermitage, the former president's home and museum in Nashville.</p>

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said on Monday that he will vote for CIA Director Mike Pompeo to be the next secretary of State, making him the second Democrat to support Pompeo's nomination. "After meeting with Mike Pompeo, discussing his foreign policy perspectives, & considering his distinguished time as CIA Director & his exemplary career in public service, I will vote to confirm Mike Pompeo to be our next Secretary of State," Manchin said in a tweet. Pompeo likely already had the votes to be confirmed by the full Senate. With Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expected to oppose him, Pompeo needed...

Twenty-nine-year-old James Shaw Jr. has been identified as the “hero” who wrestled a rifle away from alleged Waffle House gunman Travis Reinking. Reinking allegedly opened fire in an Antioch, Tennessee, Waffle House Sunday at 3:25 a.m. while wearing nothing but a green jacket. A number of people were injured in the attack and four persons were killed. The attack ended when Shaw Jr. took away the rifle Reinking was allegedly using in the attack. Daily Mail reports that Shaw Jr. “was grazed by a bullet and treated for a minor gunshot wound on his elbow.” He also “severely burned” his...

<p>An armed woman crashed her car into a barrier near the White House on Friday, briefly sending it into lockdown, authorities said.</p> <p>Jessica R. Ford, 35, of La Vergne, Tenn., — about 20 miles southeast of Nashville — barreled through a barrier at 17th and E Streets NW near the Old Executive Office Building while holding a pistol, police said.</p>

As more is becoming known about Travis Reinking, the suspect wanted for murdering four people in a Nashville area Waffle House this morning, we’re hearing a familiar refrain. Reinking was well known to both federal and state authorities. In July 2017, the U.S. Secret Service arrested Reinking for being in a “restricted area” near the White House, according to the Secret Service. After the arrest, his Illinois firearms authorization was revoked and local Illinois police seized four weapons. The firearms were given back to his family. “Among the weapons seized by those authorities was the AR-15 rifle used at the...

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker on Sunday dismissed criticism about Republicans “ramming” Mike Pompeo’s nomination as secretary of state through the chamber, saying Senate Democrats have blocked the “highly qualified” Pompeo from getting the post just to appease their anti-Trump base. “I don't think allowing people to vote is called ramming,” Corker, R-Tenn., said in response to the criticism on CNN. “This is a person who is highly qualified. He was first in his class at West Point, did The Harvard Law Review … knows more about what is happening in the world probably than anybody in America...

Earlier today, a madman with a gun opened fire on a Waffle House in Antioch, Tennessee. But one hero ran towards the bullets instead of away from them. Police say James Shaw Jr.’s actions saved many lives. From The Tennessean:"James Shaw Jr., 29, said after feeling cornered he saw an opportunity to tackle the man shooting into an Antioch Waffle House. He said he doesn’t feel like a hero.Police spokesman Don Aaron told reporters Sunday morning that the Waffle House hero rushed the suspected shooter, disarmed him and threw the assault rifle he was carrying over the counter.“I don’t really...

Four people are dead and at least seven others injured after a gunman opened fire at a Waffle House in Antioch early Sunday morning before a patron wrestled the gun away, according to Metro Nashville Police. The suspect opened fire at about 3:25 a.m. at the Waffle House at 3571 Murfreesboro Pike, which is just south of Mt. View Road, police said. Police said he used an assault rifle.

At least four people were killed and several others were injured early Sunday when a gunman opened fire at a Waffle House in Nashville, Tenn., police said. The alleged gunman, Travis Reinking, 29, began shooting at patrons around 3:25 a.m. Sunday at the Waffle House, located about 16 miles southeast of downtown Nashville, before fleeing the scene, Metro Nashville police said. Authorities had initially said Reinking was a person of interest, but later said he has been identified as a suspect. "If you see a nude guy walking around this morning call the police department," Don Aaron of the Metro...

President Trump endorsed Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., in the race for the U.S. Senate and vowed to campaign alongside her. “.@MarshaBlackburn is a wonderful woman who has always been there when we have needed her. Great on the Military, Border Security and Crime. Loves and works hard for the people of Tennessee. She has my full endorsement and I will be there to campaign with her!” Trump tweeted Thursday. Blackburn is running for the seat currently held by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a critic of Trump who is retiring at the end of his term, against former Democratic Gov. Phil...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., isn't running for re-election but he had many words of praise Wednesday for the Democratic candidate who is trying to replace him. Phil Bredesen, the former Democratic governor, is running in a tight race against Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn for the open Tennessee senate seat. Corker has donated money to Blackburn but said he won't campaign against Bredesen. "I worked very closely with him for years, and he was a very good mayor, very good governor, very good businessperson and look, I'm not going to campaign against someone who, you know, I've been a...

A Tennessee Air National Guard colonel was demoted and promptly retired after a video that shows him leading a re-enlistment ceremony where one member recites her oath using a dinosaur puppet garnered millions of views online. In the video, which was posted Saturday to an unofficial Air Force Facebook group, an unidentified colonel can be seen leading the re-enlistment ceremony for Master Sgt. Robin Brown, who delivers her oath while wearing a dinosaur puppet on her hand and has the puppet mouth the words as she reads them aloud. According to a statement from Army Maj. Gen. Terry Haston, posted...

Any health care facility providing abortions in Tennessee will no longer receive any government funding, thanks to a new state law. The amount of state-funded health care will not be cut, just transferred to health care organizations that do not kill the unborn, Live Action reports: “Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill this week that will soon strip Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities of state funding. The state will now request a federal waiver which allows them to bar TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program, from giving money to any abortion facility.” “Instead of directing funding towards abortionists, TennCare money...

A one-sided Wednesday report at CBS News tried to convince readers that University of Tennessee-Chattanooga student Brenna Spencer's "I don't take normal graduation photos" tweet picturing her with a firearm generated significant "backlash." To create a false impression, the network cited critical tweets from two users with a combined eight Twitter followers, ignoring far more significant support Spencer received, including two Second Amendment-supporting women with a combined 160,000 followers. CBS's unbylined April 11 story only headlined "backlash": Woman's gun-toting "graduation photo" sparks backlash online A University of Tennessee-Chattanooga senior's graduation photo has generated controversy on social media. In the photo,...

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed two new laws this week to ensure that no state tax dollars go to Planned Parenthood and other groups that do abortions. One of the new laws (HB 2251) directs the state to request a federal government waiver to completely defund abortion facilities from the taxpayer-funded TennCare, the state Medicaid program. The legislature passed the bill in March. The second law (SB 2494 / HB 2262) codifies existing policy established in 2011 by the Haslam administration, which prioritizes health departments to receive Title X family planning funds rather than Planned Parenthood abortion facilities in the...

Famous civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has set his sights on Kroger after stores closed in a predominantly black neighborhood. He came to Cincinnati, where Kroger is headquartered, to call for a boycott. Jackson is calling for a boycott after three of Kroger's stores recently closed in Tennessee. About 100 people gathered to listen to Jackson at the shuttered Walnut Hills store. Dailey also said Kroger is providing a free shuttle service for Walnut Hills senior citizens to another Kroger store about a mile away. Kroger is also building a new store downtown which can serve many inner city residents.

ABC News called Chattanooga police about a pro-Trump college woman who posted a photo of herself with a handgun.The woman, 22 years-old Brenna Spencer, a senior at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, is shown in the photo with her pink Women for Trump shirt lifted to reveal a handgun tucked in the waistband of her white jeans. Spencer captioned the photo, “I don’t take normal college graduation photos…”

A Tennessee man accused of harassing two teenage Muslim girls and then swinging a knife and attacking their father is a facing a federal hate crime charge, the Justice Department said Monday. A federal grand jury in Nashville has indicted Christopher Beckham and charged him with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and lying to the FBI. Beckham, who is 32 and lives in Nashville, is also facing state charges for the alleged incident that took place in October. He is accused of confronting two sisters in hijabs after they got off a...

DICKSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) - Over the last 25 years, Hector Palma Zapien has been deported twice, but has returned to the United States illegally. The U.S. Marshals Service said Zapien was first charged with illegal entry into the country in 1995 and was deported. Six years later, in 2001, he was charged again for illegal re-entry and was removed from the country. Zapien faced the same charge of illegal re-entry in 2014. That time, federal investigators said he was also charged with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business and currency...