Free Republic

As we march inexorably toward Election Day, keep in mind the Democratic Party no longer has moderates. It's been hijacked by extremists. "2020 is showcasing the Democrats' accelerating descent into a mean-spirited, grudge-filled aggression toward traditional America," observes J. Robert Smith in American Thinker. Whether Trump wins or loses, we're getting disturbing hints about what the Democrats have in store for anyone who votes for Trump. Consider some examples: • "Letters threaten to burn down homes of Trump supporters." "Dear neighbor, You have been identified by our group as being a Trump supporter. Your address has been added to our...

A former NYPD officer has pleaded guilty to using his badge to help bandits rob cocaine dealers. Emmanuel Tavarez entered the plea Monday in federal court in Brooklyn. Federal prosecutors alleged that the eight-year veteran was part of crew that pulled more than 100 holdups. They said it made off with more than 250 kilos of cocaine and $1 million in cash.

This is the moment a white American police officer punches a teenage black girl in the face after a dispute about how she and her friend crossed the road. Video footage of Officer Ian Walsh lashing out at the 17-year-old in Seattle has shocked the U.S. The teenager reels backwards in shock from the blow before clutching her face while a bystander can be heard asking: ‘Are you serious?’ Police arrested the girl, Angel Rosenthal, and her friend, 19-year-old Marilyn Ellen Levias, both of whom have criminal records. Seattle Police chiefs have launched an investigation into the alleged assault after...

THE US Department of Homeland Security is downgrading the threat level for inbound flights from Britain to "code orange" from "code red". The change came as Britain downgraded its security threat level to "severe" from "critical" as it appeared that police had apprehended all of the main figures in an alleged terror plot. "The security measures already taken have allowed us to address an imminent threat of attack for flights between the United Kingdom and the United States," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. "Let me be clear: this does not mean the threat is over. The investigation continues to...

August 5, 2004 Terror Warning Is Said to Lead to New ArrestsBy RICHARD W. STEVENSON and DOUGLAS JEHL ASHINGTON, Aug. 4 - The Bush administration said Wednesday that the United States and its allies had begun a campaign to disrupt terrorist operations around the world, including the arrest of a suspected senior member of Al Qaeda in Britain.The suspected Qaeda operative was among 12 men being questioned by the British authorities after raids prompted in part by the same intelligence information that led the administration to elevate the terror threat level in the United States over the weekend, including detailed...

The Terror AlertsPublished: August 5, 2004 ur lives have changed so much since Sept. 11, 2001. We know that we may never again be free of the threat of terrorism. It's been a tough adjustment for everyone, and the burden on President Bush is especially heavy. Given the unprecedented circumstances and the costs of making a mistake, it's easy to understand why the administration has had so much trouble managing the way it informs the public about potential danger. But after 17 months in which alerts blinked from yellow to orange and back a half-dozen times, the White House should...

The federal government raised the terror alert level yesterday to orange for the financial services sectors in New York City, Washington and Newark, citing the discovery of remarkably detailed intelligence showing that al Qaeda operatives have been plotting for years to blow up specific buildings with car or truck bombs. ---Snip--- U.S. officials said the operatives noted that one of the buildings had three male security guards but that only one carried a weapon. "Getting up to the higher floors is not very difficult if you go there midweek, as I did," one operative added. ---Snip--- For one building, potential...

TRANSCRIPT: DETAILED BACKGROUND BRIEFING BY SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICIALS ON NEW TERROR THREATS Sun Aug 01 2004 20:58:13 ET SENIOR INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL: (already in progress) it's clear about al-Qaeda's intent, as well as their capability to carry out attacks both here and abroad, but the intelligence effort against al-Qaeda is a painstaking one, one that requires tremendous patience and tremendous effort on the part of many different government agencies and departments. And we had a briefing here several weeks ago regarding the information that we had about al-Qaeda's plans to carry an attack in the homeland this year. What we have...

RAMIFICATIONSA Few Larger Questions Past the Where and HowBy TODD S. PURDUMPublished: August 2, 2004 ASHINGTON, Aug. 1 - The extraordinary and alarming specificity of the latest terror alert - different in kind than all that have come before it since Sept. 11, 2001 - poses new and heightened challenges for a government in the midst of a contested national election, and for a public both inured to the probability of further attack and profoundly unsure of what to do about it."We're not going to let threats or this kind of information turn us into Fortress America," Tom Ridge, the...

August 2, 2004INTELLIGENCECaptured Qaeda Figure Led Way to Information Behind WarningBy DOUGLAS JEHL and DAVID ROHDE ASHINGTON, Aug. 1 - The unannounced capture of a figure from Al Qaeda in Pakistan several weeks ago led the Central Intelligence Agency to the rich lode of information that prompted the terror alert on Sunday, according to senior American officials.The figure, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, was described by a Pakistani intelligence official as a 25-year-old computer engineer, arrested July 13, who had used and helped to operate a secret Qaeda communications system where information was transferred via coded messages.A senior United States official...

August 2, 2004THE OVERVIEWU.S. Warns of Qaeda Attack in 'Near Term'By ERIC LICHTBLAU ASHINGTON, Aug. 1 - The Bush administration on Sunday declared a high risk of terrorist attacks against financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas after receiving what it described as alarming information that operatives of Al Qaeda had conducted detailed reconnaissance missions at certain sites.Intelligence information gathered and analyzed since Friday, intelligence officials said, indicate that Al Qaeda has moved ahead with plans to use car bombs or other modes of attack against prominent financial institutions, including the New York Stock Exchange and the...

17 minutes ago (at time of posting) The intelligence does not include a time, place or method of attack but is among the most disturbing received by the government since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a senior federal counterterrorism official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday. Of most concern, the official said, is that terrorists may possess and use a chemical, biological or radiological weapon that could cause much more damage and casualties than a conventional bomb. "There is clearly a steady drumbeat of information that they are going to attack and hit...

WASHINGTON - U.S. investigators are searching for a small number of people who failed to show up at the Paris airport to board flights to Los Angeles that fell under close scrutiny in a possible terrorist plot, a U.S. official said Friday. One of those people was receiving pilot training, but was not yet certified, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Investigators remain interested in talking with those people to ease concerns some passengers aboard those flights might have intended to use them to launch terror attacks against the United States, the official said. Discussions between U.S. and...

How Al-Qaeda Justifies Terrorism and Genocide By Joel Leyden Tel Aviv-----December 26.....As the US enters into a heightened Code Orange security alert, as thousands of police and military personnel test the air of major cities for traces of biological and radioactive subtances, search bridges for wires and ground incoming Air France flights one has to wonder - why does al-Qaeda want to murder millions of innocent people? According to Israeli researcher Lt. Col. Jonathan D. Halevi the answer is simple - al-Qaeda believes that both Jews and Christians want to destroy the Islamic religion and it is far better for...

PARIS (Reuters) - France said Wednesday that national carrier Air France had canceled three U.S.-bound flights from Paris due to security concerns. The French interior ministry said the flights were canceled at the request of the U.S. embassy in Paris. The United States is on a heightened state of alert ahead of Christmas and the Washington Post reported that foreign airlines were under particular scrutiny. An Air France spokeswoman confirmed that a flight due to leave Paris at 1235 GMT for Los Angeles had been grounded "for security reasons." The French prime minister's office said the cancellations had been prompted...

ANKARA, Turkey - New evidence emerged that terrorists may be planning attacks at Western targets in Turkey during the holidays, according to a police document, while Americans living abroad were warned to keep a low profile. The threats Tuesday of new attacks followed Sunday's decision by the Bush administration to raise the terror alert level to orange on new fears that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror group could stage a major attack soon at home or abroad. Based partly on information from British and Israeli intelligence, the Bush administration suspects terrorists are eyeing Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Bahrain, Yemen and...

The national Code Orange alert didn't deter city shoppers from spending the green on Christmas and Chanukah presents yesterday. Big flagship stores up and down Manhattan were packed, which meant long lines and crowded sidewalks for customers to battle. "I just healed from an aneurysm, so nothing is going to stop me," said Brenda Austin, 40, a bookkeeper from Manhattan who carried a full Macy's bag. "I'm not going to live in fear. Our time is our time." Retailers cheered that kind of spirit, hoping the third-to-last day before Christmas could help get the lackluster holiday shopping season back on...

Is al Qaeda Threatening a Nuclear Attack? December 23, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- by Jeremy Reynalds -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A letter to the Bush Administration containing a list of demands from an alleged representative of the Islamic Jihad Brigade Black Death Squad says failure to fulfil those orders will have deadly consequences. The document reads in part (sic), "We will give you a prior few minutes notice before our blessed attack so that you will be able to watch your destruction with your own satellite, as we would be by then have passed the skies of the seventh sky to heaven and your nation...

Americans Mostly Shrug Off Terror Warnings As Security Tightens at Nation's Airports, Bridges Dec. 22 — Travelers encountered tighter security at the nation's airports, train stations, bridges and highways Monday morning, a day after the government raised the national threat level and said attacks were possible during the holidays. On Sunday, the federal government raised the national terror-attack warning to "Code Orange," its second-highest level, following warnings that al-Qaida may be plotting attacks against the United States during the holidays. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said threat indicators are "perhaps greater now than at any point" since Sept. 11.