Free Republic

For many public colleges and universities in California, keeping their campuses safe includes owning military-grade weaponry: AR-15s, stun grenades designed to cause temporary blindness and sonic weapons that resonate so loudly they are known in the armed forces as the voice of God. According to California state law, campus police can only own military equipment if the college believes there is no other way to uphold civilian safety. That law, which passed in 2021, also requires police to make all their equipment dealings exceedingly clear to the public. However, not every college follows every part of the law, according to...

A bitter battle is brewing along California’s Central Coast as an Indigenous tribe pushes to create a protected ocean zone that could sharply limit fishing — sparking fears among local fishermen that their livelihoods are on the line. The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians has filed a proposal to create a new Marine Protected Area (MPA) stretching from Morro Rock to the local dog beach near Morro Bay

Californians will have to pay for two new taxes next year after Gov. Gavin Newsom approved the state budget in June in what the California Taxpayers Association described as “the largest tax increase in state history.” Newsom and Democratic lawmakers agreed on proposals that would raise health insurance premiums and slap a new charge on software downloads in an effort to make up federal revenue loss from an antagonistic Trump administration, Democrats said. Republicans blasted the new taxes. “Record spending does not equate to better quality of life, and anyone living in California for the last decade would likely agree....

University of California, Riverside associate professor Brandon Robinson argued that a sexual identity label like "gay" or "lesbian" "harms trans people" and called for abolishing sexual identities altogether. While promoting the book "Trans Pleasure: On Gender Liberation and Sexual Freedom," Robinson, a member of the Gender & Sexuality Studies Department, spoke with UC Riverside about gender identities on Friday. Robinson, who uses they/them pronouns, explained the importance of moving beyond "gender essentialism" from sexual identities, which the professor claims can be built around gender "stereotypes." "If being 'gay' means being a man attracted to men, it assumes 'man' is a...

Why are DSA members allowed to run as Democrats? “A Republic If You Can Keep It!” These words of Benjamin Franklin, in response to the question, “what kind of government was the United States to have, a republic or a democracy?” are exceedingly prescient today, for we are surrounded, infected, and infested by enemies within and without. The four enemies I will focus on today (there are many more than four) are progressivism, the democratic socialists of America, radical Islam, and America’s four horsemen of the apocalypse (hedonism, nihilism, materialism, and narcissism). First, progressivism. Just in time for our 250th...

The California DMV has warned about 11,000 drivers that “testing anomalies” could void their written exams.Those notified must retake the test within 30 days or risk losing their licenses. Thousands of Californians have received letters from the Department of Motor Vehicles informing them that irregularities were found in their written test results and that they will lose their licenses unless they retake the exam within 30 days. The letters have left many Californians scratching their heads as to what went wrong and scrambling to reschedule their tests to ensure they don’t lose the ability to drive. “It’s a major headache...

The U.S. Air Force used its largest aircraft to move $5 billion worth of illegal drugs from a storage facility in California to eventually be destroyed in the Midwest.

Federal agents crushed the California arm of a vicious transnational organized crime syndicate in series of stunning raids Tuesday that saw the arrest of at least 11 accused criminals in the Golden State — and over a dozen more in the US, Canada and Europe. Los Angeles federal agents led the global takedown of the India-based Bishnoi Gang, a fearsome global mob blamed for extortion, drug dealing and the assassination of political figures, industrialists, actors and musicians in North America and India.

California lawmakers are advancing a new bill that would establish two Muslim holy days as state holidays while authorizing the state to develop a new model curriculum for students to "acknowledge and celebrate" these religious observances in the classroom. The bill, AB 2017, passed the State Assembly with a 64-1 vote and advanced to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. Authored by Assemblyman Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, the bill establishes Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha — two major holidays celebrated by Muslims around the world — as official state holidays and allows local public school boards and community colleges the...

Fourth of July descended into mayhem across Southern California as unruly crowds overwhelmed packed-out fireworks displays, looted stores, ignited fires and saw cops charge on horseback. The worst unrest erupted in Newport Beach, where Independence Day revelers poured into Orange County, choking traffic and triggering a police response as disorder spread near the pier. Authorities ultimately shut down businesses from the Newport Pier to Pacific Coast Highway as officers moved in to restore order. Officers were swarmed by hundreds of people who hurled bottles and other debris at them before the crowd turned on one another and began fighting. Mounted...

A Gavin Newsom-run commission has handed over a spectacular 136-acre California beach back to three Indigenous tribes. Blues Beach and the Mendocino County bluffs will be handed over to a tribal nonprofit group, Kai Poma, which represents the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes and Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians. The historic June 26 move is the first time the California Department of Transportation has returned land back to the Indigenous people, The Los Angeles Times reported. 'This is beyond huge,' J Carlos Rivera, the Sherwood Valley tribal chairman, told The LA Times. 'It's enormous...

Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, is facing hit-and-run charges after allegedly smashing his convertible into a parked car in Napa County before driving off. Napa County Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of a hit-and-run on the 6700 block of Yount Street in Yountville, on July 3 around 2:30 p.m., according to a press release. A witness who called 911 pointed officials in the direction of a northbound vehicle seen colliding with the rear of a parked car on the shoulder, causing major damage. The collision also pushed the parked car’s right tire up onto the curb. The witness said the vehicle...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued on Saturday his July Fourth address that he teased a day earlier —and nearly all eight minutes of it was spent talking about US President Donald Trump. Newsom’s office had shared some excerpts of the speech ahead of time he tries to grow his national brand in advance of a likely bid for the White House. The speech at that point seemed to focus on election policy to combat narratives from Trump that California’s elections were rigged. Instead, the governor also went on multiple asides personally attacking the president.

Paul Pelosi, 86, the husband of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is under investigation for allegedly being involved in a hit-and-run crash in Yountville, according to the Napa County sheriff's office. Authorities said Pelosi was driving a brown convertible when he crashed into an unoccupied parked car in Yountville at about 2;30 p.m. Friday. The parked car sustained major rear-end damage. Witness says driver took off after hitting parked car What they're saying: A witness told deputies the driver who caused the crash briefly stopped and then drove away. Deputies soon saw a CHP patrol vehicle parked behind a brown convertible...

A Los Angeles-area man pleaded guilty to felony harassment charges in ​federal court on Thursday for sending fake ransom notes posing as a kidnapper of "Today" show co-host Savannah ‌Guthrie's missing elderly mother. Derrick Callella, 42, pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment by telecommunications device, marking the only criminal conviction to date stemming from the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie from her home in Tucson, Arizona, five months ago. The charges carry a maximum penalty of ​two years in prison and a $250,000 fine. But the plea agreement with prosecutors calls for Callella, a resident ​of Hawthorne, California, to...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Seven pro-Palestinian protesters who shut down traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge in 2024 to denounce U.S. aid to Israel in the Israel-Hamas war were all found guilty of false imprisonment by a jury in San Francisco on Thursday. One by one, the court clerk first read out guilty verdicts for each of the counts for each defendant. Supporters of the protesters were stunned after each verdict was read out as "guilty," with some people crying quietly. All seven protesters were found guilty of false imprisonment, obstruction of a thoroughfare, and unlawful assembly. As the verdicts were...

The FBI had a mole inside Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political orbit before the agency’s corruption probe expanded into the governor and his wife, The Post has learned. Democrat insider Alexis Podesta, 45, secretly recorded conversations during the criminal probe into Newsom’s then-chief of staff, Dana Williamson, 53, who pleaded guilty to federal fraud and tax charges in May, according to Williamson’s attorney. The revelation she was wearing a wire as far back as June 2024 explains why a swath of Sacramento political insiders and lobbyists were stunned to receive FBI letters last fall informing them that their phone calls had...

A new California law bans the sale of Glock-style handguns, citing concerns over their ability to be converted into fully automatic weapons, while a federal lawsuit challenges the ban.California has enacted a ban on Glock-style handguns, citing concerns over their mechanics that allow them to be easily converted into fully automatic weapons. "The whole purpose of the ban is this plate is removed and another plate goes on it with a sliding switch," said Ray Parga, owner of Valley Armory and Gunsmithing. Law enforcement demonstrated how quickly the conversion can be made, showing that a tiny device can turn a...

California’s homicide rate fell to a record low in 2025 as every major statewide crime category declined from the previous year, according to new data released Wednesday by the California Department of Justice. The newly released statistics show California recorded its lowest homicide rate since statewide crime reporting began in 1966. Officials also reported year-over-year declines in robbery, violent crime, property crime and motor vehicle theft.

Alnaji, one of the leaders of a pro-Hamas contingent protesting against Israel in Thousand Oaks, California, on November 5, 2023, crossed two major thoroughfares to confront Kessler, who'd had the audacity to stand on a corner opposite Alnaji's group and wave an Israeli flag. As words were exchanged, Kessler took out his phone to video Alnaji, at which time Alnaji "decked" Kessler, according to an eyewitness. Ron Bamieh, Alnaji's attorney, claims his client acted in self-defense and is “not a violent man. He was at a rally exercising his right to protest, a tragic chain of events followed.” He says,...