Free Republic

After being unable to come to a verdict on the 1st charge of manslaughter on Friday, the jury returned this morning after a long weekend and delivered a unanimous "not guilty" on the second charge of negligent homicide. The charge carried a jail sentence of up to four years.

Lame duck President Biden and first lady Jill Biden ignored a beaming Vice President Kamala Harris — who was applauding enthusiastically for the couple — as they entered the Kennedy Center Honors to a standing ovation, awkward video shows. The Bidens didn’t greet or acknowledge Harris as they entered the 47th Kennedy Center Honors, even as they took a spot standing right next to the vice president her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff. Clips of the awkward snub quickly began circulating on X, with social media users remarking how the couple even avoided eye contact with Harris and Emhoff. “Jill...

For the first time in history, the White House displayed the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the South Lawn on Sunday, December 1 — marking an extraordinary and emotional World AIDS Day ceremony. The event, led by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, was both a celebration of progress in the fight against HIV and AIDS and a sobering reminder of the epidemic’s human toll. For some in attendance, it was also a moment of grief as the specter of President-elect Donald Trump’s impending administration loomed large, threatening to undo years of progress in LGBTQ+ equality and public health...

A Manhattan jury has cleared Daniel Penny of criminal wrongdoing in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a crowded subway — a caught-on-video killing that sparked fierce debate over the city’s mental health system and crime underground. The panelists acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide — which could have put him behind bars for up to four years — in Neely’s chokehold death aboard a crowded uptown F train in May 2023.

This comes after the second-degree manslaughter count was dismissed. 26-year-old Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny has been found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide issued in the subway chokehold case. On Friday, the count of manslaughter was dismissed. ...more

A person of interest has been nabbed in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was coldly executed in a targeted attack in front of a Manhattan hotel this week, The Post has learned. The man was picked up in Altoona, Pa., using a fake ID, sources said. The bust came amid a massive manhunt for the masked shooter who laid in wait outside the Hilton on Sixth Avenue where Thompson, 50, was set to speak at an investor’s conference Wednesday morning. The chillingly efficient gunman snuck behind Thompson on the sidewalk, pulled out what appeared to be...

The Washington GOP establishment’s opposition to Pete Hegseth serving as President Trump’s secretary of defense has nothing to do with the unsubstantiated allegations against Hegseth and everything to do with resistance to Trump’s plans to reform the Department of Defense and end America’s involvement in endless foreign wars that are so beloved by the establishment. That’s why Hegseth’s nomination is a hill Trump should die on. If a handful of Senate Republicans can sink Hegseth, they will spend the next four years undermining and obstructing Trump’s entire agenda. Trump needs to send them a message that such obstruction won’t be...

The Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday in a case that could reduce the scope of one of the nation’s bedrock environmental laws. The case deals with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which mandates that the government consider the environmental impacts of its actions before moving ahead with them.

Daily Readings from the USCCBThe angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:26–28What does it mean to be “full of grace?” This is a question at the heart of our solemn celebration today. Today we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Savior of the World, under the unique title of “The Immaculate Conception.” This title...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that he’s open to the potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine to guarantee the country´s security as part of a broad effort to end the almost three-year war with Russia. The deployment would be a step toward Ukraine joining NATO, Zelenskyy said in a post on his Telegram channel. “But before that, we must have a clear understanding of when Ukraine will be in the European Union and when Ukraine will be in NATO,” Zelenskyy said. His proposals tread a delicate diplomatic path amid international efforts to find a...

[Catholic Caucus] Doctrinal Confusion & the Magisterium: a Concise Guide for Catholics“And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it”— John 1:5Amidst this dead of night within the Church — wherein all seems obscured by a disorienting darkness; by mists and shadows; by strange and unfamiliar shapes and sounds that unsettle our senses, challenge our confidence and shake the very foundations of our faith — I want to affirm that the Church’s Magisterium, nevertheless, remains a stalwart and immovable guide. The Magisterium of the Church is and always will be a light in the darkness. It...

and executed for looking at guards - as illustrations reveal cruel punishments Prisoners held inside Assad's notorious Syrian torture chamber prison were forced to suck their own blood off the floor and rape fellow inmates. Sednaya Prison, nicknamed the 'Human Slaughterhouse', is where huge numbers of detainees were tortured, subjected to all manner of inhumane treatments and executed. Survivors of the Syrian hellhole have provided chilling testimonies about life behind Sednaya's bars, describing a world 'carefully designed to humiliate, degrade, sicken, starve and ultimately kill those trapped inside'. It comes amid the downfall of Assad's government, with rebels freeing thousands...

Democratic Reps. Andy Kim, D-N.J., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., are scheduled to be sworn-in as U.S. senators on Monday after their placeholders George Helmy and Laphonza Butler resigned last week. Schiff won the seat of longtime Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who died last year. Kim won the seat that was vacated by former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. He resigned after he was convicted on federal bribery charges. Their first formal vote in the Senate is expected to be on the confirmation of four district judges, according to Politico. The new Congress convenes on Jan. 3.

The propaganda press exploits the lack of legal clarity about the issue to malign Trump as willing to stomp on the Constitution. NBC’s Kristen Welker asked President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday if he still planned to end birthright citizenship. Trump affirmed his plans. But the way Welker deliberately misrepresented the amendment reveals not only a glaring need for clarification from Congress or the Supreme Court about whether children born to illegal aliens are citizens but the dangers of a press who are willing to craft law by word of mouth. “You promised to end birthright citizenship on day one,” Welker...

“Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker pressed President-elect Donald Trump on whether he will fire FBI Director Christopher Wray during a Friday interview which aired Sunday. Trump nominated Kash Patel to serve as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Nov. 30, despite the fact that Wray, who the president-elect appointed during his first term, has yet to end his appointment. Noting that, the NBC News host asked Trump whether he plans to fire Wray. “Well, I can’t say I’m thrilled with him. He invaded my home — I’m suing the country over it,” Trump responded. “He invaded...

"Donald Trump's interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" lasted approximately 75 minutes. This extended format allowed for a comprehensive discussion on various topics, including his policy plans for his upcoming term as president" President-elect Donald Trump versus Kristen Welker Also appearing -- Carol Lee, Eugene Daniels, Jen Psaki and Marc Short COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT IS AT THE SOURCE https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-december-8-2024-n1311184

For the past year, Israel’s allies and enemies have pressed the Israeli military to limit its attacks on Iran and its partners in Lebanon and Syria, hoping to avoid a regional escalation. The fall of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, a longtime ally of Iran, is seen in Israel as the crowning consequence of that yearlong campaign against Iran and its interests, even if it is also tinged with uncertainty about what comes next. Without Israel’s blows against Hezbollah and Iran, Israeli analysts and leaders say, Syria’s rebels might not have dared revive their rebellion against Mr. al-Assad. And Iran...

The University of Southern California has reportedly spent $158 million more than what the university earned in its 2023-2024 fiscal year, amidst pre-existing financial troubles at the school. The university placed some of the rising costs on inflation and said it plans to set initiatives to drive down the deficit, according to USC Annenberg Media. The University’s Office of the Provost stated to Annenberg Media in a statement that the budget deficit over the past six years has ranged from anywhere between $586 million as a result of complications the University grappled with during the COVID-19 pandemic, to $36 million....

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New York City is often referred to as the greatest city in the world. I love the city, but the inmates have taken over the asylum there. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg taken selective prosecution to new heights and NYC has become a legal sh*thole. Bragg, who campaigned on getting Trump, ran roughshod over the law to do so. He circumvented the statute of limitations and managed to warp his case against Trump into a Federal felony over which he had no jurisdiction. He filed separate charges for each check written instead of collectively in order to elevate his chances of...