Free Republic

A Virginia man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for obstructing justice and making false statements involving international terrorism. Twenty-eight-year-old Michael Queen of Woodbridge was sentenced Friday in federal court in Alexandria.

Former President Barack Obama will stump in Virginia next week for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam, the Northam campaign announced Wednesday. The rally — Obama's first public campaign event since leaving office — will take place in Richmond on October 19. The event is one of only two public campaign appearances on the books for Obama this year. The former president is also expected to campaign for New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Phil Murphy, although a date has not yet been set. And the announcement comes a day after the Northam camp said that former Vice President Joe Biden will appear...

RSVP now, Friend President Obama is coming to Virginia because he knows the importance of electing Democrats like Ralph this year—leaders who are ready to fight for equality, opportunity, and progress for ALL Americans. The President will be in town next week, and we’d love for you to join us! Can you make it? WHEN: Evening of Thursday, October 19, 2017 WHERE: Richmond, Virginia I'LL BE THERE The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required and space is limited, so make sure to RSVP early! As President Obama always says, there’s nothing more important than...

The Virginia gubernatorial race concludes in just under four weeks. Democratic candidate and Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam has a lead of 6.8 percent over Republican Ed Gillespie in the RealClearPolitics polling averages. The last time Gillespie led in a public poll was in March. So what’s up with all the “panic” and “worry” and premonitions of “disaster” for Democrats in Virginia, given all the positive objective indicators of the state of the race? Democrats may be suffering from their own version of PTSD — Post-Trump Stress Disorder — in which pessimism operates as a natural defense mechanism to prevent the...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fezp8TRPBlM

A man seen being beaten on video inside the east Market Street Parking Garage on August 12 is now facing a felony charge. He's being charged with one count of malicious wounding. The magistrate had a Charlottesville detective verify the facts in the warrant. Alex Micheal Ramos and Daniel Borden are both being charged with malicious wounding for attacking Harris.

Last Thursday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan unveiled a $9 billion project to widen three of the state’s most heavily trafficked highways: I-270, I-495—also known as the Capital Beltway—and MD-295, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. What the governor’s office dubbed the Traffic Relief Plan involves constructing two express toll lanes each way—or four total toll lanes—to all three highways. Widening the Capital Beltway and the section of I-270 connecting the growing commuter-city of Frederick to Washington, D.C., would cost an estimated $7.6 billion, which the state expects to be financed via public-private partnerships: Private companies would build and maintain the new toll lanes,...

http://www.postandcourier.com/politics/south-carolina-s-sen-lindsey-graham-golfs-with-president-trump/article_1dca9382-ad11-11e7-880e-b76710b4956e.html

WISE, Va. (AP) — The two major party candidates in Virginia’s closely watched race for governor are set for their third and final debate. Republican Ed Gillespie and Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam will debate Monday evening at the University of Virginia at Wise. Gillespie was a senior White House adviser to former President George W. Bush. The southwest Virginia debate comes a month before Election Day in a year when only two states are electing new governors. Virginia’s swing state status has led to intense national interest, with President Donald Trump recently weighing in on Twitter to attack Northam...

Neocon and fake Republican Bill Kristol’s wife Susan donated to far-left Democrat gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam this past August, a GotNews review of Virginia public donation records reveals. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Susan S. Kristol of McLean, Virginia donated $200 to Northam for Governor on August 24th, 2017, her only donation to any candidate running in the state this year. Mrs. Kristol is listed as a non-wage earner, but apparently has enough cash lying around to bankroll left-wing candidates.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt told coal miners in Kentucky on Monday that he will move to repeal a rule limiting greenhouse-gas emissions from existing power plants, assuring them, “The war against coal is over.” Speaking at an event in Hazard, Ky., with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Pruitt said his agency will publish the new proposed rule Tuesday. “Tomorrow, in Washington, D.C., I’ll be a signing a proposed rule to withdraw the so-called Clean Power Plan of the past administration, and thus begin the effort to withdraw that rule,” Pruitt said.

Benjamin Faulkner, 26, and Patrick Falte, 27. Two men who sexually abused a child and uploaded photographs to their child pornography website were each sentenced Friday to life in prison. Benjamin Faulkner, 26, and Patrick Falte, 27, pleaded guilty in federal court in Richmond earlier this year to the aggravated sexual abuse of a minor. They were taken into custody after Faulkner, of Canada, and Falte, whose address is unavailable but is from out of state, traveled to an undisclosed address in Hanover County — which had no apparent connection to the offenses — and then to Northern Virginia...

Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter today released his review of the June 14 shooting at Simpson Field in which he finds the use of deadly force by U.S. Capitol police officers and Alexandria police officers to be justified. The report entitled “Use of Force Investigation and Analysis” outlines the steps Porter took in reviewing the incident and his conclusion. Three sections of Porter’s report are below.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced Friday that he’ll seek new gun-control legislation in Virginia in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Las Vegas, including bans on bump stock devices, high-capacity magazines and “military-style assault rifles.” McAuliffe, who will leave office early next year under Virginia’s term limit, has already pushed unsuccessfully for universal background checks and restoring the state’s scrapped one-handgun-a-month law, but the Republican-controlled General Assembly has routinely blocked new gun restrictions. The legislation McAuliffe called for Friday would also face steep odds, but the announcement might put Republican lawmakers on the defensive with all 100 seats in the...

The left-wing Bernie Sanders supporter who opened fire on a crowd of Republican congressmen in June intentionally committed an “act of terrorism” that was “fueled by rage against Republican legislators,” according to a new report released by the state’s attorney on Friday. The suspect, 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson, picked the baseball field in Alexandria, Virginia as his target months in advance of the shooting, according to the report. Hodgkinson was also seen watching the Republicans practice for the congressional baseball game the day before the shooting, where he shot and wounded four people, including Louisiana Republican Rep. Steve Scalise. “The...

WASHINGTON — Alexandria’s top prosecutor says police were legally justified in using deadly force against the man who opened fire on a congressional baseball practice in June, injuring House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, of Louisiana, and four other people. In a 41-page report released Friday, the commonwealth’s attorney for Alexandria, Bryan Porter, said police were justified in fatally shooting 66-year-old James T. Hogkinson who shot at Republican lawmakers practicing at a baseball field in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria for an upcoming charity baseball game. This is a developing story. Stay with WTOP.com for updates.

Democrat Tim Kaine, who -- and people forget this -- is a member of the United States Senate who ran on Hillary Clinton's ticket last in fall's election (look it up!), weighed in on the gun control debate that is raging the aftermath of Sunday night's horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas.  In a very special attempt to link his opposition to a Republican proposal to ease federal restrictions on gun suppressors to the massacre, Kaine explained how he believes local authorities were able to put an end to the shooter's reign of terror.  Just so we're clear, this person...

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) claims the attacker who opened fire on Las Vegas concert goers was only stopped “because he didn’t have a silencer on his weapon.” According to the Washington Post, Kaine asked, “Can you imagine what this would have been if he had silencers on those weapons?” His use of the word “silencer” is an echo of other leftists like Rosanne Cash and Gabby Giffords, both of whom use the word “silencer” to describe suppressors.

A statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson was discovered vandalized Wednesday at a Civil War battlefield in Virginia on the morning after officials in Prince William County debated renaming roads and buildings honoring Southern leaders. A large quantity of white paint was poured on three sides of the statue’s polished granite base, the National Park Service said in a statement, and the word “Dead!” was written on the statue in gold spray paint. ... The vandalism happened the morning after a raucous Board of Supervisors meeting in Prince William County — where the statue is located — in which protesters...

The tree-trimming company Asplundh Tree Expert has been hit with a $95 million fine for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and for bringing on some under different names who used documents it knew were fraudulent. It is the largest fine ever in an immigration case in the U.S. Asplundh pleaded guilty to criminal charges in federal court in Pennsylvania, where it is headquartered, admitting that its managers restructured the company's hiring specifically to evade normal human resources processes and hire illegal aliens, many by word-of-mouth, while giving top-level managers deniability. The $95 million fine includes forfeiture of up to $80 million...