Free Republic

TRINIDAD, Texas - A Facebook post about problems with the city of Trinidad's water quality led to the arrest of a resident, who now says she's filed a lawsuit against the city for what she calls a "political retaliation" arrest. What we know: Police in the City of Trinidad, located in Henderson County around an hour south-east of Dallas, arrested Jennifer Combs on May 8 and charged her with felony false alarm or report. Her arrest stems from a Facebook post she made on her ‘Southern Belle Watch' account, where she claimed that the city's water issues had led to...

Two police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6 filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block rioters from receiving money from a new federal settlement fund. Officers Daniel Hodges and Harry Dunn filed the suit against the Trump administration's $1.77 billion anti-weaponization fund, calling it an illegal slush fund and a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. Hodges is known for being caught on video nearly crushed in a doorway during the Capitol attack — widely regarded as one of the most violent moments of that day. Dunn has been vocal since the January 6 insurrection, testifying before Congress...

The federal judge in the Luigi Mangione murder trial ruled Monday that a gun and notebook allegedly linking him to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson can be shown to the jury. The ruling is a blow to the defense, who argued the items were seized illegally because police had not obtained the required search warrant. CNN’s Kara Scannell reported from the New York City courthouse: “This was a key ruling in this case. And it came after the suppression hearings occurred in December,” Scannell said, continuing: The judge saying that the search of Mangione’s backpack at the McDonald’s...

A court granted qualified immunity to all 11 deputies accused of violating John Griswold’s 14th Amendment rights.Imagine you're a sheriff's deputy and a detainee arrives, unresponsive and moving slowly after ingesting a large quantity of unknown pills. After a doctor clears him for jail, with a warning that any "deterioration" will require immediate medical care, the detainee is sent into a cell where he vomits profusely and remains unresponsive in the same position all night. Should you, as the deputy, call for help? And should you be legally held responsible if your inaction leads to the detainee's death? Earlier this...

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office for allegedly failing to comply with a new state law regarding Immigration and Customs Enforcement cooperation. Dallas County ICE Agreement What we know: Senate Bill 8, which went into effect at the beginning of the year, requires local sheriff’s offices to cooperate with ICE operations in their counties. More specifically, sheriffs must request partnerships with ICE, known as 287(g) agreements. The agreements allow ICE to authorize local authorities to perform certain types of immigration enforcement in local jails, including allowing officers to question inmates about their immigration status...

The Alameda County board of supervisors will pay $36 million to surviving family members of a murdered couple in Dublin, the county counsel announced Tuesday night, after a suit alleged the deaths were preventable because the former sheriff's deputy who killed them failed a psychological test but was hired anyway.

Usually, having an armed officer at school sort of helps deter the whole school shooting thing. I'm not sure if that's the case here. They still haven't found the gun! Here's what happened. This happened just before school let out on Monday, so at least there wasn't much left of the day (I guess?). The police are calling this "unfortunate and embarrassing," but that's not even the half of it. It's a lost gun on school property. More from that story above: Authorities say hallway surveillance images indicate that a limited number of people entered the restroom, but authorities have...

John Andrew Spillman, 33, is a Uniformed Division officer with the federal agency, and had just provided security to President Donald Trump at the weekend PGA tour at Trump’s golf course in Doral, Florida. He was arrested shortly after midnight Monday for allegedly masturbating naked on the sixth floor of the DoubleTree hotel near Miami International Airport. “Police allegedly caught him literally with his pants down in the act, according to the arresting affidavit,” reported Susan Crabtree of RealClearPolitics, as deputies with the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Officer responded.

At least some of the proposed terminations are related to an investigation the department conducted into the manipulation of crime data, officials said. Multiple high-ranking D.C. police officials have been served papers saying the department intends to fire them, according to three officials familiar with the situation. At least some of the proposed terminations are related to an investigation the department conducted into the manipulation of crime data following Republican-led probes into the matter, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive internal process. The terminations portend a potentially sweeping shake-up among top...

-Napa Valley man Thomas O’Donnell found guilty of murder-for-hire in Kentucky court. -Prosecutors say former California Highway Patrol captain Julie Harding hired O’Donnell to kill her estranged husband, Michael Harding, luring him to a secluded Kentucky home for an HVAC repair. -Harding died by suicide months after the killing; O’Donnell, 64, faces 20 years to life in prison. A Napa Valley man hired by a former California Highway Patrol captain to kill her husband has been found guilty as text messages revealed details of the murder-for-hire plot.

Graham Linehan has demanded that the police stop acting as a “goon squad” for trans activists. The Father Ted co-creator, 57, claimed police were being used as “useful idiots” after accusing them of failing to “properly and fairly investigate” allegations made against him by trans activist Sophia Brooks. Mr Linehan was cleared of harassing Ms Brooks on social media but convicted of criminal damage after snatching the complainant’s mobile phone and throwing it to the ground outside the Battle of Ideas conference on Oct 19, 2024. The Irish comedy writer has now had his criminal damage conviction overturned after Mrs...

James Giovansanti lives and works on Staten Island. Since 2022, traffic cameras have caught his pickup truck blasting through school zones or running red lights more than 547 times in that one borough. He received 187 camera-issued tickets in 2025 alone — an average of one every other day. That record makes Giovansanti the second-most-reckless driver in the city. Because he pilots a 4,800-pound RAM 1500 truck at more than 41 mph across the island, he poses a unique danger to himself and his neighbors. Ticket data show a pattern of dangerous driving in a wide arc from Pleasant Plains...

Tommy Robinson 🇬🇧@TRobinsonNewEra·6h110 invaders dumped into the Netherlands town of Loosdrecht.Undercover police known locally as "romeos" smash batons across heads and set dogs onto people.But of course it's locals being attacked for daring to oppose invaders being dumped in their community!

“The sheriff leading the investigation into the unsolved disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has a checkered past in law enforcement, including allegedly beating a handcuffed suspect and threatening witnesses, records allege. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, 70, was suspended eight times when he worked for the El Paso Police Department in Texas early in his career, reports Arizona Republic. The outlet obtained records from Nanos' past through a public records request, which detailed a litany of alleged violations from Nanos when he was a young police officer.”

Two years ago, dozens of FBI agents with guns drawn descended on the home of pro-life Christian activist Mark Houck in a terrifying early-morning raid. The 52-year-old father of seven was arrested in front of his horrified wife and children. Houck was charged and tried for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act) after he shoved a pro-abortion volunteer escort who was harassing his young son outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia. While the Biden administration sought up to 11 years in prison and a $350,000 fine, Houck was acquitted by a federal jury in less...

Houston Police Officers’ Union: “In no way does the HPOU or its leadership condone or tolerate racist behavior from any of our officers.”A Houston police officer has been relieved of duty after a video circulating on social media allegedly shows her making offensive, racist remarks, according to the Houston Police Department. Officer Ashley Gonzalez was sworn in in January 2024 and assigned to the South Gessner Patrol Division. She has been relieved of duty pending an investigation, an HPD source confirmed Tuesday morning. Gonzalez was identified as the speaker in a video of a racist rant that has gone viral...

On June 14, 2023, the United States Marshals Service listed Joshua Smiley on the “15 Most Wanted” list. He was the 26 year-old male suspect in an August 2021 shooting death of a man in Mobile, Alabama. On June 20, 2023, about a week after Joshua Smiley was put on the most wanted list, he was peacefully apprehended in Avon, Indiana - a suburb of Indianapolis. It was no big deal. They found him in just a couple of days, called him out, he came out and was arrested with no issues. It was a success. So why did the...

A former Yolo County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant is one of five people charged with murder following a fireworks warehouse explosion that killed seven workers in the rural Northern California community of Esparto last summer, authorities said. Samuel Machado is accused of illegally having 1 million pounds of fireworks on his property at the time of the blast and using his law enforcement position to shield the illicit operation from scrutiny for years, according to the Yolo County district attorney’s office. Machado was placed on administrative leave following the violent July 1 explosion, which was felt by residents up to 20...

The Bronx judge who sent an ex-NYPD sergeant to prison Thursday for fatally flinging a picnic cooler at a fleeing drug suspect claimed the punishment would serve as a “general deterrent” for other police officers. Judge Guy Mitchell justified the sentence of 3-to-9 years behind bars for former Sgt. Erik Duran, 38, by arguing, in part, that the decision would send a message — even as police and legal experts ripped it as “extreme and damaging” for law enforcement. The judge also rejected Duran’s testimony that throwing the cooler at scooter-riding Eric Duprey, 30, during the August 2023 undercover drug...

Susan Crabtree, a national correspondent for RealClear Politics, reporting the details of a Secret Service agent who shot himself in the tush. Last week, the agency reported that the agent shot himself in the leg while on Jill Biden's protective detail, but it look like they might have been trying to save what's left of his dignity.