Free Republic

A University of Texas freshman took his own life after months of 'demeaning and cruel hazing' which saw him burned with cigarettes and beaten, a lawsuit claims. Sawyer Lee Updike was allegedly 'speared with a fishhook' during an alcohol-fueled event and had his hip pierced with a staple gun, according to the filing from his parents. The lawsuit also alleges that he was forced to take cocaine. Updike, 18, died alone in a convenience-store parking lot just months after joining UT Austin's Sigma Chi's Alpha Nu.

The video was clandestinely captured by another family member who has given us permission to show it to you. It appears to be a parent attempting to physically discipline her child. The sheriff's office now confirms the woman is the mother of the 12-year-old child that is about to be struck with a strap or belt 22 times... the beating lasting about 15 seconds. It is difficult to watch. The woman then pulls the child up from the sofa by his hair, then unleashes a torrent of profanity. This video has also been viewed by investigators with the Mobile County...

Julie Benson has had to "fight" to have a DNR order removed from her sister, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy but enjoys a "good life".Families have slammed the NHS for putting "do not resuscitate" orders on disabled patients without their consent. An investigation by ITV News found that multiple UK hospitals have put blanket 'Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation' (DNR) orders on at least 12 patients with learning disabilities after being ordered to stop the practice five years ago. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the blanket imposition of DNRs on disabled people had caused potentially avoidable deaths in...

Despite Mr. Trump’s urging to move on from discussing the Epstein List, Americans still are demanding accountability for what happened, and who participated in it… As Christians, we understand that many times wicked deeds go unpunished in this present evil age. The Psalms testify repeatedly that evildoers seem to prosper because of their wealth and power, while those who are seeking the Lord suffer injustice and persecution.. Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 10:26, “Therefore, do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known” People engage in...

Atlantic City’s Mayor Marty Small Sr. is expected to cruise to reelection — but will go on trial for allegedly abusing his teenage daughter next month, which could prevent him from taking office. The beleaguered Dem is facing a challenge from Republican Naeem Khan, a Garden State native and businessman who is seeking office because of “how badly [Atlantic City] is being managed,” according to his campaign website. If he wins as expected Tuesday, Small, 51, will be sworn into court on Dec. 1 — facing a slew of abuse charges — before he takes office in January. He will...

Federal and local authorities rescued more than 30 missing children and uncovered multiple trafficking operations targeting vulnerable youth during a coordinated crackdown across Texas. The effort, centered in San Antonio, led to arrests, felony warrants and several new investigations under a joint mission known as "Operation Lightning Bug." Teams from the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) out of San Antonio, Del Rio, Midland, and Pecos joined forces with San Antonio Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit, Special Victims Unit, Street Crimes Unit and covert operatives. Together, they combed through Texas and national crime databases to identify at-risk juveniles and coordinate recovery efforts....

Katie Porter was exposed for berating a staffer and throwing a tantrum during an interview in two video clips this week. And the California governor candidate is even worse when cameras aren’t rolling, one ex-staffer told The Post Friday. One of the lawyer and politician’s cruelest tactics is dehumanizing her young underlings by referring to them in the third person — while in their presence. “It was easier for her to do these things to the quieter ones, the more soft-spoken ones, who wouldn’t be like, ‘hey, that’s not okay,’ ” Sasha Georgiades, a former Wounded Warrior Fellow and Navy...

(Sep. 6, 2025) — In a striking opinion issued last month, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s opinion that now 75-year-old Roberto Moncada, though born in the United States, should not have been considered a “birthright” citizen. The decision was first flagged to this writer by CDR. Charles F. Kerchner, Jr. (Ret), who on August 30 posted to his blog a video from attorney and broadcaster Robert Goveia providing an analysis of the panel’s 25-page opinion. Born in New York City in 1950 to a Nicaraguan diplomat, Moncada worked in the United...

When FBI agents arrived outside William Spearman's home in the quiet suburb of Madison, Alabama, in November 2022, they were prepared for danger. Their search warrant was so important to the bureau that it was approved by the FBI director himself. When the agents breached Spearman's door with tactical explosives, Spearman fought back, tussling with the agents as three of his handguns remained barely out of reach. The FBI managed to handcuff and arrest Spearman, a high-value arrest, in what a top Justice Department official called "one of the most successful" prosecutions of its kind.

Insiders have exposed the “conveyor belt” of rape and abuse of vulnerable migrant children in the US under President Joe Biden’s border free-for-all to The Post, now being cleared up by President Trump. Following federal “border czar” Tom Homan’s recent revelation on Miranda Divine’s “Pod Force One” podcast that children had been trafficked across the country with little oversight before Trump took office, whistleblowers have exposed how the terrifying scheme works. Between 2019 and 2023, 448,000 unaccompanied minors were encountered by the Department of Homeland Security, according to its figures, who were then transferred into the US. Many of the...

While You Were Watching the War, The Satanic Scandal in Israel That the Media Buried From Epstein to Israel: Ritual abuse is not a conspiracy, it’s how the elites keep control, and we’ve seen this playbook beforeWhile the world’s eyes were glued to the skies over Israel and Iran—watching bombs drop, maps flash red, and pundits scream “World War 3”, another story was quietly buried beneath the rubble. One that didn’t get banner headlines. One that didn’t make the front page.Several brave women stood before the Israeli Knesset and testified to years of satanic ritual abuse. Not in back alleys....

There are two subjects on which I am extremely well versed: Barack Obama’s phony Connecticut Social Security number and anchor babies. I was schooled in both while working as a licensed private investigator, which I have done for more than thirty years. One of my long-time clients is a company in Taiwan. For four years, I collected, with written permission, the medical records of more than eighty Chinese women who arrived in California to give birth. Most of these women hired companies in China for $30,000, which arranged for help in getting tourist visas, arranging for living accommodations, and a...

President Donald Trump celebrated after the Supreme Court moved to block lower courts from issuing universal injunctions, something that had impacted his executive orders. The president held a news conference just over an hour after the ruling was issued and said the Supreme Court had stopped a "colossal abuse of power." "I was elected on a historic mandate, but in recent months, we've seen a handful of radical left judges effectively try to overrule the rightful powers of the president to stop the American people from getting the policies that they voted for in record numbers," Trump said on Friday....

Federal workers frequently violated work-from-home policies under the Biden administration, a government watchdog revealed in a report released Friday. The “rampant telework abuse” was the result of “compliance failures and weak internal oversight” at former President Joe Biden’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM), according to the agency’s inspector general, which sampled the badging data, timesheets and remote-work agreements of dozens of federal employees. “Under the previous administration, OPMʼs telework and remote work policies were mismanaged and oversight was virtually nonexistent,” OPM Acting Director Chuck Ezell said in a statement. “That era of telework abuse is over,” Ezell declared. “At President...

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A former Waco elementary school teacher was arrested Tuesday on allegations she used an electronic dog whistle to force compliance by a 6-year-old autistic student. Amber Escamilla, 46, a former teacher at Bell’s Hill Elementary School, 2100 Ross Ave., remained jailed Wednesday in lieu of $3,000 bond after her arrest on an injury to a child or disabled person charge, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. According to arrest records, Waco Independent School District police detectives received a referral from Child Protective Service workers about possible abuse of an autistic student...

At the General Congregations, the so-called pre-conclave, the cardinals gathered in the Vatican are currently discussing the state of the Church and the profile of the next pope. What "skills" will the next head of the 1.4 billion Catholics need? And what issues will the cardinals be particularly concerned with when they soon retreat to the Sistine Chapel for the Papal election, the Conclave? "I believe that the issue of abuse will already play a role in the preliminary discussions, the so-called pre-conclave," German child protection expert Hans Zollner told the news agency Kathpress in Rome based on conversations with...

Virginia Giuffre, one of the most prominent survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse, has died by suicide, her family said Friday. Giuffre, 41, died in Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years. Giuffre was one of the earliest and loudest voices calling for criminal charges against Epstein and his enablers. Other Epstein abuse survivors later credited her with giving them the courage to speak out.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, newly sworn in as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has exposed billions of dollars in fraud, waste, and abuse plaguing America’s healthcare safety nets. Appearing on America’s Newsroom with Bill Hemmer, Dr. Oz laid out a clear and urgent mission: protect the most vulnerable — not enrich bureaucrats, fraudsters, and corrupt insiders. “Right now, my main focus, without any question, is to wage a war on fraud, waste, and abuse — because that’s what’s required. All hands-on deck,” Dr. Oz said.

California will soon reopen its e-bike voucher program, offering eligible residents up to $2,000 toward the purchase of an electric bicycle. The state-funded program is designed to help lower- and middle-income Californians replace car trips, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut commuting costs. Incentive funds can be applied as a discount at the time of purchase toward the cost of an eligible e-bike and related accessories. To be eligible, applicants must be at least 18 years old and have a current and valid California driver’s license, AB 60 license, or state ID. Additionally, participants must meet income requirements, with household...

EU funding of non-governmental organisations is "too opaque", auditors found on Monday in a report set to further fan a heated political tussle over the financing of environmental groups. The European Union awarded about 7.4 billion euros ($8 billion) to a plethora of NGOs between 2021 and 2023, but public information about who got the money and how it was used is patchy, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said. "EU funding for NGOs is too opaque and suffers from a lack of transparency," said Laima Andrikiene, the report's lead auditor. "We are not talking about peanuts here," she added,...