Free Republic

(RNS) — At least 100 rabbis and other Jewish leaders are expected to join the growing coalition of clergy, union leaders and community activists gathering in Minneapolis on Thursday (Jan. 22) and Friday to protest the massive show of force by federal immigration agencies in Minnesota in recent weeks. The local Jewish community has already taken a key role in the resistance to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, but last week’s killing of Renee Good, an American citizen fatally shot by an ICE agent, has mobilized rabbis across the country. Two progressive Jewish activist organizations, T’ruah: The Rabbinic...

A GiveSendGo fundraiser is swiftly raising money to help Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, after the Southern Baptist congregation made headlines Sunday for having their worship service disrupted by a mob of left-wing protesters and former CNN host Don Lemon. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fundraiser was already approaching $20,000 of its $100,000 goal, just hours after being started by conservative influencer and podcast host Benny Johnson. Johnson claimed the Rev. Jonathan Parnell, lead pastor of Cities Church, had "authorized this GiveSendGo personally so that Cities Church in Minnesota can defend Christians." "100% of all proceeds go to the...

Rather than teach the three R’s, public schools are more likely to instruct students to believe the liberal narrative rather than their lying eyes regarding the timely demise of Renee Good. Forty-seven miles from Minneapolis, via the New York Post… Becker High School social studies teacher Dr. Heather Abrahamson grew increasingly agitated as she insisted that ICE agent Jonathan Ross used unnecessary deadly force against Good, 37, according to Libs of TikTok, which posted the clip and identified Abrahamson in a Tuesday X post. In addition to informing students that Ross had a duty to let a leftist maniac run...

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has insisted that the FACE Act only applies to abortion clinics, coming as the Department of Justice is probing possible violations of the law in relation to the storming of a St Paul church by anti-ICE agitators. Speaking on former CNN host Don Lemon’s podcast, Ellison said, "Yeah, I'm familiar with the FACE Act. You know, in Minnesota, we have—we uphold the right of a woman to choose, and some of the activists, you know, will, you know, sort of—you know, they, so it’s…" He continued, "The law has to do with the, you know,...

SEATTLE — A 12-year-old boy accused of attacking a woman with a screwdriver and attempting to steal her purse in Seattle’s Central District appeared in juvenile court for the first time Tuesday afternoon. The boy was arrested Jan. 17 after police said he assaulted a 43-year-old woman outside an Amazon Fresh store near 23rd Avenue South and South Jackson Street. Officers were called to the scene around 6:50 p.m. following reports of a robbery and found the woman injured. According to a Seattle police report, the boy, who was wearing a hot pink ski mask, struck the woman multiple times...

The New York City Police Department is increasing patrols at churches and other houses of worship across Staten Island following a series of recent criminal incidents at Catholic parishes, according to a Jan. 15 report from Staten Island Advance. The announcement came at a Jan. 15 press conference held outside St. Ann’s Catholic Church, where law enforcement officials and elected leaders addressed residents amid a series of incidents at four Catholic churches, including burglaries, vandalism, and disruptions at Catholic churches that have occurred since late November 2025. Those attending the briefing included Richmond County District Attorney Michael McMahon; Borough President...

Leftist activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, who helped organize a disruptive protest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday, received more than $1 million in total compensation over a six-year period while leading a nonprofit focused on anti-poverty efforts. According to tax filings reported by Fox News, Armstrong served as executive director of the Wayfinder Foundation, a Minneapolis-based organization dedicated to community activism from 2019 to 2024. During that period, the foundation reported approximately $5.24 million in total revenue. Armstrong's compensation included about $936,395 in salary, plus $201,313 in additional benefits such as health coverage, plan contributions, and deferred...

A bill introduced in the Washington State Senate would establish a funding stream for abortions by imposing a new assessment on certain health insurance carriers. The proposed measure drew swift criticism from a conservative group that is urging Washingtonians to oppose it. SB Bill 6182, introduced Jan. 16 during the 69th Legislature’s 2026 regular session, would create an “abortion savings program” run by the Washington Department of Health. The program would distribute grants to “eligible organizations” that employ “health care providers authorized to terminate a pregnancy.” Under the bill, health insurance carriers that offer plans through Washington’s health exchange would...

New York state has abandoned its nearly decade-long push to require Christian organizations, including nuns and churches, to fund abortions. The radically pro-abortion state has tried to make Christians pay for killing babies through employee health insurance plans. But it’s decision to finally give up marks a significant victory for religious freedom advocates after repeated interventions by the U.S. Supreme Court. The state ended its effort to apply the abortion mandate to Catholic and Anglican nuns, Catholic dioceses, Christian churches, and faith-based social ministries, according to a settlement announced by Becket, the religious liberty law firm representing the groups. The...

Barron Trump, the president’s very tall son, doesn’t spend a lot of time in the limelight, but it’s shining on him Wednesday as court testimony in London revealed that he helped a woman in desperate need and may have even saved her life by calling authorities on an abusive boyfriend who was beating her up.He reportedly was on a FaceTime call with the unnamed woman when he heard clear sounds that she was being attacked. He didn’t call 911, because the woman was in England — so he figured out a way to contact their emergency number, 999.It all happened...

As states enact bans on abortion following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood is expanding its vasectomy sales, citing a surge in demand for permanent birth control options nationwide. Planned Parenthood of Michigan has resumed offering vasectomies at its Irwin/Martin health center in Grand Rapids, with plans to expand to other locations this year. The move comes after the pro-abortion organization halted the service about a decade ago, but officials say renewed interest spiked after the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which shifted abortion to the states. “The demand is real and present,”...

Collecting snow for water at home; sleeping in gloves, coats and hats; heating bricks on gas stoves for warmth; erecting tents indoors - Kyiv residents are doing everything they can to survive the coldest, darkest winter of the war. "When there is no electricity, there is no heating: it means the apartment freezes," said ​Anton Rybikov, father of three-year-old David and two-year-old Matvii, speaking to Reuters in their home, where he and his wife Marina have stocked up on backup batteries and sleeping bags. The 39-year-old military ‌chaplain said one of his sons recently contracted pneumonia after temperatures in the...

Somali colonists have stolen as much as $9 billion from US taxpayers in Minnesota alone. That is only the tip of the iceberg. Combining open borders with the welfare state has predictably produced the largest looting spree the world has ever seen. Consider Afghans. Via Breitbart: Census data shows that almost all Afghan households with children are on publicly funded welfare — similar to that of Somali immigrant households with children in Minnesota, where 81 percent of such households are on at least one form of welfare. Eighty-five percent of Afghan households with children are on welfare. The more offspring...

"For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you, and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers" (Eph. 1:15-16). Your love for other Christians is as much a mark of true faith as your love for God. The Ephesian Christians demonstrated two important characteristics of genuine Christian faith: faith in the Lord Jesus and love for fellow believers. "Faith in the Lord Jesus" implies both an affirmation of Christ's deity and submission to His sovereignty. Because He is...

The headline from Trump’s Davos speech is clear: I won’t use military force to take Greenland. That’s what the President told the world’s leading politicians and business executives at the World Economic Forum. That declaration was very good news for all of them and for US investors, who immediately started buying stocks, erasing about half the losses suffered Tuesday, when the threat of force seemed possible. They all knew that carrying out that military threat would shatter the institutional foundation of Western security: NATO and US-European relations. Instead of military threats, Trump emphasized America’s disproportionate contributions to European defense since...

San Francisco's beloved mall will finally shut its doors after years of harrowing decline and fears of crime and homelessness. San Francisco Centre, formerly known as the Westfield Mall, will permanently close on January 26, an employee for the disgraced shopping center's lone remaining store told the San Francisco Chronicle. The iconic mall began spiraling downward with the rest of the Democrat run city after the COVID-19 pandemic. Rumors of the closure have circulated for months as sprawling homeless encampments deterred tourists and locals alike. As downtown foot traffic decreased, the mall saw fewer and fewer customers. Its flagship Nordstrom...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday spoke for more than an hour at the 2026 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While his meandering remarks touched on multiple familiar topics, including windmills—a longtime personal pet peeve—the state of the U.S. economy, and his long-running 2020 U.S. presidential election denialism, Trump spoke at length about his desire to acquire Greenland from Denmark. He also strongly criticized NATO and said other members of the Western military alliance have taken advantage of U.S. generosity over the years. The following is an excerpt from his remarks focusing on Greenland, Denmark, NATO, and U.S. military...

(RNS) — Leaders of Cities Church, the Minneapolis congregation whose worship service was disrupted by anti-ICE protesters, are considering legal action against the activists, saying the group that invaded the church on Sunday (Jan. 18) “jarringly disrupted our worship gathering.” In a statement issued Tuesday, the church leaders said the protesters “accosted members of our congregation, frightened children, and created a scene marked by intimidation and threat. Such conduct is shameful, unlawful, and will not be tolerated. Invading a church service to disrupt the worship of Jesus — or any other act of worship — is protected by neither the...

A federal agent opened fire after an illegal alien from El Salvador tried to run him over with a vehicle during an immigration operation in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday morning. The illegal alien was not struck with gunfire and tried taking off on foot. Federal law enforcement agents eventually apprehended the illegal. A Border Patrol agent was injured. Per the DHS: At 7:05AM PST, DHS law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Compton, California, to arrest a violent criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, William Eduardo Moran Carballo, who is involved in a human smuggling operation and...

A New York state judge ruled that New York City’s only Republican-held congressional district was drawn unconstitutionally, ordering a new map. Judge Jeffrey Pearlman concluded that the Staten Island-based 11th District, which is represented by GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, diluted Black and Latino voting power. Pearlman said New York’s independent redistricting commission must redraw the state’s congressional map by Feb. 6. His decision is likely to be appealed. In the Democratic-led lawsuit, the petitioners argued that a new map should pair Staten Island with part of southern Manhattan, instead of southern Brooklyn, and move the southern Brooklyn area in question...