Free Republic

An effort by Tyler Robinson's defense team to keep evidence against their client under wraps failed this week. The judge handling the case refused to restrict cameras from an upcoming hearing. Why does this particular hearing, currently scheduled for next month, matter? Because prosecutors are expected to release a bunch of new evidence against Robinson.Mr. Robinson’s defense has sought to close other hearings in the Utah trial, keep motions and evidence under seal and restrict news coverage of the case, arguing that the intense media attention will lead to negative publicity, prejudicing potential jurors and denying Mr. Robinson’s right to...

Governor Bill Lee has signed Tennessee Bill SB1847 into law on May 22, 2026. The bill reforms the law on restrictions of the use of deadly force, allowing some uses of deadly force to protect property in certain circumstances.Tennessee Bill SB1847 started out as a significant expansion of the legal use of deadly force in Tennessee. The bill would have made the use of deadly force in defense of property legal for a broad swath of issues, including trespass. In the Legislative process the bill was amended to specify the use of deadly force would be legally acceptable in fewer...

As tensions with Iran once again push the US toward the possibility of further involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts, a novel brand of anti-interventionism has swept American politics. After two decades of costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, both the populist right and progressive left have grown more willing to question the assumptions underpinning American military engagement abroad. Politicians as ideologically diverse as Thomas Massie and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez now openly criticize interventionist foreign policy, while public fatigue with the post-9/11 wars has become increasingly visible across the political spectrum. Yet even as Americans tire of foreign interventions, cuts to the...

President Trump posted several mock-up images of the “drone port” he hopes to build at the top of the proposed White House ballroom over the weekend — while taking a jab at the judge who is trying to delay construction. “The DronePort at the White House Ballroom will be, perhaps, the most sophisticated anywhere in the World!” Trump boasted on Truth Social. “It will safeguard our Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C., long into the future. “Judge Richard Leon should stop playing games with America’s Security! If anything happens, he will be held responsible for the Death and Destruction caused to our...

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A man was shot and killed at a Royal Farms convenience store in Frankford Sunday night. Philadelphia police said the shooting may have been an act of self-defense. It happened around 7:50 p.m. at the store on Church Street, off Aramingo Avenue, not far from the I-95 exit. Officials said the 22-year-old victim walked into the store and approached the shooter. Surveillance footage shows them getting into a face-to-face altercation. Then, the 22-year-old pulls out a gun and points it at the man. “This other individual, who we now know to be a 21-year-old Hispanic male,...

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WOWK) – A late-night road rage incident ended in a deadly shooting along Greenbrier Street in Charleston. According to a press release from the Charleston Police Department, a call came in at 10:45 p.m. of a reported shooting near the intersection of Greenbrier Street and Deitrick Boulevard. During the preliminary investigation, police say that William Ray Hinerman, 63, of Charleston, was driving aggressively before the incident. Investigators believe the driver of a second vehicle pulled over in an attempt to avoid confrontation. According to statements and evidence gathered at the scene, Hinerman allegedly made a U-turn, returned...

The recent fatal bear attack where 33-Year-Old Anthony Pollio was killed by a bear, about May 3, 2026, on the Mount Brown trail in Glacier National Park, is not the first bear attack on the trail. Some online sources are saying an empty can of bear spray was found at the attack site. If so, the attack is another case where bear spray was used in defense against a bear, and people died.There have been at least nine deaths associated with the use of bear spray in defense against a bear. There have not been any recorded deaths when a...

A surge in missile and rocket production tied to rising global conflicts is transforming smaller U.S. manufacturing hubs into critical parts of the American defense supply chain, as weapons makers race to expand capacity and hire thousands of workers, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. Defense contractors including Lockheed Martin (LMT), L3Harris (LHX) and RTX (RTX) have significantly expanded operations in Camden, Arkansas, following increased Pentagon demand for missile systems, rocket launchers and artillery ammunition after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The investment wave has fueled rapid hiring and factory expansion across the region. Aerospace and defense employment in...

In the continuing study of how effective handguns are when used as a defense against bears, I posted two articles on Ammoland showing the distribution of the number of cases vs the number of shots fired. The first article was for the statistics for all cases, which included brown bears, black bears and polar bears. The second article separated out the statistics for brown bears. Unsurprisingly, ursus arctos (brown bears, grizzly bears and Kodiak bears) showed more shots being fired per case than black bears and polar bears. This article shows the statistics for black bears and polar bears. There...

The Tennessee Legislature has sent Gov. Bill Lee a narrow but important reform to the state’s deadly-force law, and the fight over SB1847/HB1802 shows how much can change between a bill’s introduction and the final version that reaches a governor’s desk.The Tennessee Legislature passed SB1847 on April 23, the last day of the legislative session. SB1847 includes the legal justification to use deadly force to protect property under certain limited circumstances. In this correspondent’s reading of the law, the legal ability to use deadly force under the bill is not very wide or broad. In the previous law, residents could...

“Golden Dome” could cost taxpayers $1.2 trillion over 20 years, according to a government report issued on Tuesday. ...Even if the system is built, the report concluded, an adversary like Russia or China that has a large arsenal of nuclear weapons could overwhelm it and some missiles would hit their targets. The budget office report found that the “space-based interceptors” the president envisions — satellites armed with missiles orbiting the planet — would consume about 60 percent of the cost.

Sources: books, articles, papers, interviews, FOIA requests In the ongoing study of how effective handguns are when used as a defense against bears, this correspondent posted an article on AmmoLand showing the distribution of the number of shots fired vs the number of cases. The most common case was one shot fired, with the least common cases having the most shots fired. On examining the data, there is a significant difference noted among bear species.In cases involving brown bears, grizzly bears, Kodiak bears, (ursus arctos) more shots are fired per case.There are 109 total handgun-only cases involving Ursus arctos, of...

ARLINGTON— The Navy took a major step forward in delivering game-changing hypersonic strike power to carrier pilots when it awarded California startup Castelion a contract nearing $105 million to fully integrate the Blackbeard hypersonic weapon onto the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The deal puts U.S. forces on a fast track to field its first operational air-launched hypersonic strike weapon from carrier decks by 2027. Unlike land-based ballistic missiles, Blackbeard is made for Navy aircraft carriers and can be launched from an F/A-18 fighter jet operating hundreds of miles from shore, giving the U.S. enhanced capabilities to strike an adversary’s missile batteries...

Wyoming lawmakers introduced a bill this year that would have given real protection to people dragged through the criminal justice system after using lawful self-defense. House Bill 14, titled Protecting self-defense-reimbursement and amendments, would have required counties to reimburse defendants who were found not guilty, had charges dismissed, or were otherwise released from prosecution because they reasonably used defensive force under Wyoming law.But the bill did not make it out of the House. HB0014 failed introduction on February 10, 2026, by a 29-32-1 vote.HB0014 was aimed at one of the most abusive realities of modern self-defense law: even when a...

Tyler Robinson was back in court today where his defense team argued that they needed an additional six months just to read and view all of the evidence against their client which prosecutors have turned over to them.Prosecutor Ryan McBride laid out a massive "mountain of proof" against the suspected assassin, arguing that a six-month delay requested by the defense is unnecessary because the state’s evidence already far exceeds the legal bar for trial...[Defense attorney Richard] Novak characterized the state's production as "gigantic and voluminous," telling the court that his lawyers haven't finished reading the thousands of pages of discovery...

RIGA, Latvia — Sindija Brakovska is 18 years old and dreams of becoming a hairstylist or a dance teacher. She studies at the Riga Technical School of Tourism and Creative Industry, a vocational school centered on hospitality, tourism and fashion. “I love girly stuff,” the tall Latvian tells me. On this March morning, roughly two dozen girls between 16 and 18 are sitting in the classroom with Brakovska. Some of the girls look shy. Others sprawl with the studied boredom of teenagers everywhere. Top: A soldier walks in a classroom with students on both sides Bottom left: Close up a...

The Trump Administration has been clear that its national defense strategy is to defend the homeland and deter China. To achieve these goals, the new funding made available in the FY 2027 defense budget should be focused on expanding capacity across the services—especially in sea power and airpower with large procurement orders for existing programs and investments in next-generation capabilities like the B-21 and F-47. America’s long-neglected strategic deterrent needs funding to defend the homeland, to include necessary support for programs like the Sentinel missile and Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine. New spending needs to prioritize the Indo-Pacific and the Western...

OH CANADA: Canada just met its NATO 2% defense obligation for the first time since the 1980s. Carney celebrated. He did not mention that Canada's GDP shrank in Q4 2025 and that is the only reason they hit the target. Canada did not build up its military. It contracted its economy.

@Acyn Boebert: I am so tired of spending money elsewhere. I am tired of the industrial war complex getting all of our hard earned tax dollars. I have folks in Colorado who can't afford to live. We need America first policies right now.

The IDF sources noted that tackling Iran's ballistic missile threat was among the military's primary goals in the war.