Free Republic

Fire and looting erupted across Los Angeles in the early morning hours Saturday as two unruly street takeovers spiraled into chaos just hours apart. The disturbing incidents unfolded in East Los Angeles and the Gramercy Park neighborhood. Both sprang from rowdy street takeovers, despite mounting public outrage and a steady infusion of city resources dedicated to stopping them. A car fire erupted after a street takeover in the southern part of the city. Los Angeles fire officials told The California Post that an engine responded to an auto fire around 4:52 a.m. and put out the massive blaze. Footage from...

As Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass oversees the number of rebuilding permits awarded to transgender people and drag performers, other, less critical decisions are falling through the cracks. Rats. Los Angeles has a rat problem. Not a rat problem like all big cities. Los Angeles rats are of a particular variety. In addition to some of them being the size of cats and chewing on everything in sight, the rats are literally flea-bitten. And the fleas that chew on the rats carry the medieval disease typhus. It's just a hop, skip, and a jump from a rat for the typhus-bearing...

The ex-con husband of a disgraced Westchester County police bigwig turned himself in to cops Thursday to face charges that the pair drove their gangbanger son to a botched hit in the Bronx. James Lackard, 47, the husband of recently fired Mount Vernon Deputy Police Commissioner Jennifer Lackard, walked into the 44th Precinct stationhouse in the Bronx around 8:30 a.m. to surrender after two days on the run, the sources said. He was arraigned hours later on the same attempted murder indictment lodged against his cop wife and 20-year-old son, reputed “Slutty Gang” thug Chase Lackard, earlier this week. The...

Los Angeles has any number of problems: crime, homelessness, and productive people are leaving due to the idiot policies of the city and the state of California. Now, we can again add that ancient curse of big cities: Disease. The other thing Los Angeles shares with so many other large cities throughout human history is rats. Rats have accompanied humans almost everywhere, and they bring disease with them. That, too, is happening right now in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles County (L.A.), rats abound. You may see only an occasional rat dart across an alley or root through a restaurant...

The gangbanging son of a Westchester County police bigwig had a Bronx court date just minutes before he allegedly opened fire on a rival – with his cop mom and ex-con dad as getaway drivers, prosecutors said Wednesday. Chase Lackard, 20, faced a judge on a 2024 gun rap just 20 minutes before the alleged June 29 drive-by gang shooting – with help from his mom, disgraced Mount Vernon Deputy Police Commissioner Jennifer Lackard, and drug-dealing dad James Lackard, according to prosecutors. “He’s captured on cameras running into this courthouse,” Bronx Assistant District Attorney Keturah Ladd told the judge. “He...

MADISON, Wis. — For the fourth day in a row, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway is calling for an end to the encampment on Williamson and Baldwin streets. The encampment follows the death of Corey Ruiz who was shot by a Madison police officer July 22. “For almost two weeks now, City of Madison staff and elected leaders have been on the ground and communicating to and through community leaders to peacefully resolve extremely complex, emotionally fraught circumstances that started with the police taking the life of Corey Ruiz," Rhodes-Conway said. "Countless efforts have been made to convince people that the...

Former Seattle police Chief Shon Barnes will receive roughly $700,000 for resigning from the Seattle Police Department, according to his resignation letter. Barnes, who was relieved of his duties on Friday, agreed not to sue the City of Seattle under the terms of his optional resignation agreement. By the numbers: Seattle will pay Barnes a lump sum of 18 months of his salary at his hourly rate of $179.54, along with 12 months of health insurance valued at $2,525.99 per month. The agreement also states Barnes does not have to repay his $50,000 recruitment bonus or his $60,000 relocation package...

It's been eight days since two gunmen opened fire at the Bite of Seattle food festival on July 26, killing two and injuring four others, including a toddler. In the immediate aftermath, serious questions were raised about the city's response to the attack, specifically about the fitness of its socialist mayor, Katie Wilson, and the whereabouts of its AWOL police chief, Shon Barnes. From RedState's coverage last week: As RedState has previously reported, crime is so bad under Wilson's watch that residents have begun putting up walls and other kinds of barriers to keep criminals out of their neighborhoods. And...

Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters have blockaded two trendy blocks in downtown Madison, Wisconsin a week after armed serial felon Corey Ruiz was shot and killed by police — erecting barricades similar to the infamous 2020 “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) in Seattle And the city of Madison — home to the state capitol and the University of Wisconsin — is helping them by providing portable toilets and other resources. Neighbors have had enough, telling WMTV 15 News they feel “trapped” by the rapidly expanding protest zone. “I feel the protest has turned into a very disrespectful occupation focused...

A pack of coyotes have moved into an abandoned West Hollywood condo complex, forcing locals to live in fear while demanding the city steps in. The complex at Romaine Street and North Spaulding Avenue. which has been under construction and empty for years, was first taken over by homeless squatters that have now been replaced by the wild animals. “It’s kind of interesting to walk out of your apartment and look up and there’s a coyote looking at you,” Cindy Sorley told CBS LA. Shocking videos and pictures appear to show six coyotes roaming the empty building, with each one...

ringleader in Minnesota’s massive Feeding Our Future scandal has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for attempting to purchase a not-guilty verdict with a staggering $120,000 cash bribe. Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, 37, was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Eric Tostrud for his role in the brazen plot to bribe a federal juror during his 2024 fraud trial, the Justice Department announced Friday. Farah had already been sentenced to 28 years in prison for helping steal tens of millions of dollars from a taxpayer-funded program intended to feed needy children during the COVID pandemic. But stealing from hungry...

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) said Monday that fresh produce, meat, seafood and other staples will be sold at a 30 percent discount in the city-run grocery stores he wants to open in every borough. Mamdani, who made city-run grocery stores and affordability key components of his campaign last year, said the stores would save the average shopper about $1,000 annually. “For many, that 30 percent discount is the difference between an evening spent around the dinner table with family or working another double shift to make ends meet,” said Mamdani, adding that the discount roughly equates to the...

The California State Fair kicked off the second weekend of its 17-day run this Saturday, with a stacked lineup of events for fair goers of all types. Indoor and outdoor events alike welcomed people from all corners of California, despite temperatures hovering in the mid-90s throughout the afternoon.

A Sacramento County prosecutor has a difficult job: a duty to administer justice and not simply be an advocate for the politics and political pressures that exist in Sacramento. If mistakes are made by the prosecution, if a case is presented in haste to a judge, the scientific laboratory of the criminal courtroom can reject it. That appears to have happened on Tuesday when a Sacramento Superior Court judge declared a mistrial in the K Street mass shooting case focusing on the two surviving suspects of the 2022 incident in the urban core of California’s capital that killed six people,...

At least since New York passed its Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) back in 2019, it has been clear that trouble has been coming for New York’s electrical grid. The CLCPA effectively prohibits construction of new fossil fuel power plants, even natural gas plants; and the old ones are aging and are forbidden to be replaced or upgraded. Supposedly, lots of wind and solar generators were going to be added to the system. But those have been slow to come and, more importantly, can’t be counted on to generate anything when you need them. In addition, new construction...

A California county that faced a $91 million budget gap this year has approved a sweeping reparations plan for black residents that calls for major changes to housing, education, healthcare and criminal justice — while leaving the door open to cash payments. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on June 30 to accept the comprehensive plan following more than two years of research and community engagement. The plan largely centers on institutional and policy changes rather than immediately handing out direct payments, though officials have not ruled out eventually putting cash in the hands of eligible residents. The...

Multiple street takeovers occurred overnight across in and around Los Angeles, according to video obtained by KTLA. Not many details surrounding the takeovers were available from law enforcement officials. At least four were captured on camera at the following locations: Carson: Main Street and Albertoni StreetWilmington/Carson: Lomita Boulevard and Figueroa Street Broadway-Manchester/Florence: Manchester Avenue and San Pedro StreetManhattan Beach/El Segundo: Sepulveda Boulevard and Rosecrans AvenueAt Main and Albertoni, dozens of cars were seen near the intersection as motorists not participating in the takeover maneuvered around the situation. Further video shows fireworks exploding and a fire being set on the street...

Vice President JD Vance spoke to podcaster Joe Rogan on Wednesday about how California has declined under Gov. Gavin Newsom to the point that it gave him flashbacks to visiting a "third-world country." Vance recalled driving through a rough neighborhood in Los Angeles on his way to an elite Christmas party and was struck by the contrast between the two settings. "And I realized when I was there, you know what this reminds me of? This reminds me of going to the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti," he said, as Rogan chuckled. "Like super security, crazy wealth and privilege and...

And just like that… lefty actress Cynthia Nixon will get to screen and recommend candidates to serve on the state’s highest court, The Post has learned. Nixon — who isn’t a lawyer but played one on the hit HBO show “Sex and the City” — was just appointed to serve on the Commission on Judicial Nomination by New York Chief Judge Rowan Wilson. The commission suggests and vets potential judges to the Court of Appeals. Nixon’s appointment runs through April 30, 2030. Most of the other dozen members of the panel are practicing lawyers or have law degrees. “The Commission’s...

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra has opened up a commanding lead over Republican Steve Hilton just weeks after the pair advanced from California’s primary, according to a new poll. The survey from the Public Policy Institute of California found Becerra leading Hilton by 25 percentage points, with 61% of likely voters backing the former health secretary compared to 36% for the ex-Fox News host turned Republican candidate. The results mark a dramatic shift from California’s June 2 blanket primary, when Becerra finished first with about 28.1% of the vote and Hilton followed closely behind with roughly 24.7% Support remained overwhelmingly...