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Police in North Carolina arrested and charged a 24-year-old over the alleged rape and murder of his teenage girlfriend, who was found stripped and bound in a Charlotte apartment — after suffering months of torture. The body of 19-year-old Isabella Stroupe was found almost naked and bound with a tow strap in east Charlotte on Friday, WSCOTV’s Hunter Sáenz reported, citing court records. Her boyfriend, Thomaz Hamilton, 24, initially claimed the couple was having sex when she suffered a suspected heart attack, according to court documents. But following an autopsy, the medical examiner ruled Stroupe’s death a homicide, Sáenz reported....

Long-serving Charlotte, North Carolina Mayor Vi Lyles, who faced calls to resign after urging compassion for the deranged vagrant accused of brutally stabbing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska aboard a city train last year, announced she will leave her post just six months after being re-elected. The five-term Democrat, 73, said in a press release that she would resign June 30 and would not be seeking another term next year when her term ends, but offered no concrete reason for her sudden and unexpected departure. “Serving as Charlotte’s mayor has been the honor of my life. I am proud of our...

🚨WHAT ON EARTH?!!! The Democratic Party is running the man DEFENDING Iryna Zarutska's mu*rderer... for office in South Carolina. Yes, you read that right. The de*th penalty attorney representing Decarlos Brown Jr., the man who m*rdered Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte NC light rail... ...is running for South Carolina State Representative, as a Democrat

[Catholic Caucus] Charlotte Bishop Martin refuses Communion to families at altar rail during Confirmation Mass: reportGREENSBORO, North Carolina (LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte reportedly refused to give Holy Communion to families who knelt at an altar rail during a recent Confirmation Mass.The two or three families who approached the rail were passed over for Holy Communion during the Mass at Our Lady of Grace parish in Greensboro, North Carolina, according to a report by AdVaticanum.One father who attended the Mass with his family told the outlet about Martin: “He was sitting in front of us when we went...

The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that a grand jury indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center for making fraudulent payments of millions of dollars to members of the Ku Klux Klan and other neo-Nazi organizations. One leader of the 2017 Unite the Right protest in Charlottesville, Va., received roughly $270,000 over an eight-year period. Others had affiliations with the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, Aryan Nations, the Nationalist Socialist Party of American Nazis and the Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club. Several of the informants were also being paid while simultaneously being featured in SPLC publications — including on its...

DETROIT -- Two men pleaded guilty Friday to charges of conspiracy to violate the "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act" (RICO), U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy announced today. Imad Majed Hamadeh, 51, of Dearborn Heights, and Theodore Schenk, 73, of Miami Beach, Fla., pleaded guilty here before U.S. District Judge Gerald E. Rosen to the following charges: operating a criminal enterprise to traffic in contraband cigarettes, counterfeit Zig Zag rolling papers and counterfeit Viagra; producing counterfeit cigarette tax stamps; transporting stolen property; and money laundering. Sixteen other defendants faced the same charges. Some of the profits derived from the illegal...

Easter is bringing a wave of new members into the Roman Catholic Church in Charlotte, continuing a growing trend across the region. Over the past two years, the number of people joining the Catholic Church in Charlotte has increased by more than 40% each year. Church leaders expect that figure to rise again this Easter weekend. At St. Matthew Catholic Church in Ballantyne alone, about 100 people are expected to be baptized — among them, Seth Miller. “I had to be a good example, a good leader in the household,” Miller said. “That’s what was originally kind of the catalyst...

Two Smoothie King stores in Charlotte, N.C., have been closed until further notice after racial slurs were allegedly added to customers’ receipts. The incidents reportedly took place at two different Smoothie King stores within hours of each other on Sunday. The first incident allegedly happened around 2:30 pm, according to a photo of the receipt that was shared on social media. In the photo, the N-word is written as the customer name. “I thought it was very disrespectful," Calvin Caldwell, the customer who received the receipt with the racial slur told WSOC-TV. "I thought it was very rude, especially since...

The Democrat Sheriff of Charlotte NC, Gary McFadden, was just completely unable to answer: a) What the 3 branches of government are. b) Which branch he serves under. This is genuinely painful to watch... completely shocking. Representative Chesser: What branch of government do you operate under? Sheriff McFadden: Mecklenburg County. Chesser: What branch of government do you operate under as sheriff? McFadden: Constitution of the United States. The elected Democrat sheriff of the county containing one of the largest cities in the southeast - the city where Iryna Zarutska was murdered - doesn't know what a branch of government even...

Exclusive: Diocese of Charlotte reacts to first Sunday after altar rail banIn the Diocese of Charlotte, Bishop Michael Martin’s pastoral letter of December 17, 2025 ordered that altar rails, kneelers and prie-dieux be removed from public Masses by Friday, January 16.As the first Sunday Masses without altar rails unfolded this weekend, reports from across the diocese indicated anything but uniform compliance. While some parishes removed temporary kneelers and adjusted Communion lines, others made no immediate changes, awaiting Vatican clarification on a dubia submitted by more than 30 priests. The result has been a patchwork of responses indicating deep frustration with...

[Catholic Caucus] Open Letter to the Priests and Pastors of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, USAJanuary 15th, 2026Feast of Our Lady of Prompt SuccorTo my dear Brothers in the Vineyard of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,Grace and peace to you in this holy Season of the Nativity of Our Lord.With pastoral concern and fraternal affection, I write to you at a moment of genuine trial for the Church, to recall to your hearts the true nature of that obedience which must ever animate the soul of the priest. You are called, above all, to obedience to Christ Himself,...

FBI Charlotte Special Agent in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr., and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) Chief Estella D. Patterson announce the capture of Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Alejandro “Alex” Rosales Castillo. Castillo was seen on surveillance video crossing the border from Nogales, Arizona, into Mexico, on August 16, 2016. For nearly ten years, special agents and CMPD task force officers in Charlotte have worked countless hours to develop leads to locate Castillo, ultimately uncovering where he has been hiding the past several years. Castillo was captured in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico, on January 16, 2026. The FBI’s Law Enforcement Attache Office...

Customs and Border Protection agents began an immigration enforcement operation Saturday in Charlotte. Leaders of North Carolina's largest city have said the federal operation is causing fear and uncertainty. Charlotte real estate agent Tabatha Andonian has been tracking federal agent sightings and sharing information with the city's Latino community. “Right now, I’m just driving around to see if I spot any vehicles that are ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), seeing if they have out-of-state plates,” she said.

[Catholic Caucus] Charlotte priests submit dubia to Vatican over liturgical changesMore than 30 priests in the Diocese of Charlotte have submitted a set of questions to the Vatican related to recent liturgical changes announced by the local bishop, including a decision to ban the use of altar rails and kneelers for communion.Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv. Credit: Diocese of Charlotte.The dubia were sent in a letter to the Dicastery for Legislative Texts on Jan. 5.The letter, obtained by The Pillar, requested formal guidance and clarification about whether a diocesan bishop has the authority to make liturgical changes announced and proposed...

The incoherence of the Charlotte diocese’s ban on altar railsBishop Michael Martin has issued new diocesan guidance banning the use of altar rails during Holy Communion in the Diocese of Charlotte.In a pastoral letter dated 17 December, Bishop Michael Martin affirmed that the “normative posture” for receiving Holy Communion in the United States is standing, following a bow of the head as a sign of reverence. The letter instructs parishes that currently use altar rails, kneelers, or prie-dieus for the distribution of Communion to discontinue the practice, with any temporary or movable fixtures to be removed by 16 January 2026.“The...

[Catholic Caucus] Diocese of Charlotte will require seminarians to spend extra ‘pastoral year’ teaching, living as laityCHARLOTTE, North Carolina (LifeSiteNews) — The Diocese of Charlotte under Bishop Michael Martin, OFM, plans to add an extra “pastoral year” to its seminary formation that will require seminarians to work in Catholic schools full-time while largely living as ordinary laymen, beginning the next academic year.The changes to priestly formation, announced in a December 15 email memo obtained by The Pillar, will require seminarians to spend an additional “pastoral year” in between their required philosophy and theological studies, teaching full-time at local middle or...

[Catholic Caucus] The Number One Priority of the Catholic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina: NO ALTAR RAILSThankfully, the Church in western North Carolina has a liturgical heavyweight to guide it, a true giant of the faith.From his episcopal letter, "on the reception of holy communion":The episcopal conference norms logically do not envision the use of altar rails, kneelers, or prie-dieus for the reception of communion. Doing so is a visible contradiction to the normative posture of Holy Communion established by our episcopal conference. Instead, the instruction emphasizes that receiving Holy Communion is to be done as the members of the...

Sharing a meme against President Trump in response to a memorial for assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk cost a Tennessee man his liberty for 37 days, which in turn got him fired. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which is representing Larry Bushart, told Just the News on Tuesday it's still prepping a lawsuit on his behalf. The Alliance Defending Freedom beat FIRE to court in response to another alleged criminal investigation of speech related to Kirk in neighboring North Carolina, alleging a school district known for a Supreme Court precedent on school busing sanctioned an unidentified high school...

The Charlotte City Council is being slammed for approving $3.4 million to hire a PR company to clean up the reputation of their public transportation after a string of recent stabbings. The city’s latest action comes after two widely-publicized stabbings, including one that ended fatally on Charlotte’s train system and sparked a national conversation on rising crime and lax prosecution in urban areas of the country. On Tuesday, Republican North Carolina Rep. Mark Harris called out the “pro-crime Democrats in Charlotte” for spending the cash on “misleading ads” rather than choosing to “invest in REAL safety to prevent another tragedy...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Leo XIV Extends Apostolic Blessing to SSPX Chapel in North Carolina for Its 25th AnniversaryThe document reads:The Holy Father Leo XIV cordially imparts the requested Apostolic Blessing to Reverend Father John Bourbeau, FSSPX and Faithful of the Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X of Saint Anthony of Padua Chapel on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Chapel invoking through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary an abundance of divine graces. Mount Holly, North Carolina, 22nd August 2025, Jubilaeum A.D. MMXXV. (Dated at the Vatican, November 18, 2025, and signed by Card. Konrad...