Free Republic

A Muslim cleric walks into a food store in Houston owned by another Muslim and threatens the proprietor with harassment and protest demonstrations in front of his store if he does not stop selling pork, alcohol and lottery tickets within 30 days.

The Los Angeles Dodgers caved to community pressure and committed $1 million in financial aid to migrant families impacted by ICE raids in the city. The MLB franchise announced the donation Friday — just one day after the reigning World Series Champs crowed about turning ICE agents away from the stadium parking lot over bogus claims of an attempted gameday immigration bust. “What’s happening in Los Angeles has reverberated among thousands upon thousands of people, and we have heard the calls for us to take a leading role on behalf of those affected,” Stan Kasten, President and CEO of the...

Lawmakers from both parties have called for John Lausch to keep his job President Joe Biden is forcing Chicago's top federal prosecutor to resign amid ongoing criminal probes of powerful Illinois Democrats and their associates. U.S. attorney John Lausch is prosecuting close confidants of Democrat boss Mike Madigan, an ally of former president Barack Obama who resigned from the state legislature Thursday after a decades-long reign in Springfield. Lausch's office will also prosecute Chicago alderman Edward Burke (D.), an influential figure accused of strong-arming businesses into retaining his law firm. Lausch's abrupt removal has drawn bipartisan criticism from Illinois lawmakers...

The stunning downward spiral of Michael Madigan’s political career ended Friday with a 7 1/2-year prison sentence and a $2.5 million fine for the former Illinois House speaker and the longest-serving legislative leader in U.S. history after he was convicted of trading legislation for the enrichment of his friends and allies. U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey sentenced the 83-year-old in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Nicknamed the “Velvet Hammer” for his quiet but hard-nosed style, Madigan was convicted in February on 10 of 23 counts in a remarkable corruption trial that lasted four months. The case churned through 60...

Americans have been warned about the risks posed by dating apps after several kidnappings in Mexico. The U.S. Consulate General Guadalajara said it had confirmed reports of U.S. citizens "kidnapped by individuals the victims met on dating apps in recent months in the Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Nayarit areas," adding the violence is not limited to one geographic area. "Victims and their family members in the United States have at times been extorted for large sums of money to secure their release," the security alert said.

The most vulnerable nations on Earth are facing a “tidal wave” of debt repayments as a Chinese lending boom starts to be called in, a new report has warned. The analysis, published on Tuesday by Australian foreign policy thinktank the Lowy Institute, said that in 2025 the poorest 75 countries were on the hook for record high debt repayments US$22bn to China. The 75 nations’ debt formed the bulk of the total $35bn calculated by Lowy for 2025. “Now, and for the rest of this decade, China will be more debt collector than banker to the developing world,” the report...

A gang of wealthy 'crypto bros' have been arrested for luring their former business partner to a stunning New York City mansion before torturing him for weeks. The group are accused of kidnapping the 28-year-old Italian man before committing sickening acts on him in the $75,000-per-month rented brownstone in Soho. They alleged to have Tazed him, pistol-whipped him and threatened to carve him up with a chainsaw if he did not give up the millions of dollars in his crypto account. But their plot was foiled when the victim - who has not been named - escaped and flagged down...

Jack Smith’s days outside of jail may be numbered. In December 2023 it was reported that Jack Smith had a terrible record not only in the US but more recently overseas in Europe. Larry Johnson wrote in mid-December 2023 that a whistleblower complaint was filed with the Department of Justice Inspector General’s Office on November 28 alleging that Jack Smith, the Special Prosecutor pursuing Donald Trump, was engaged in an extortion scheme while he was working at the International Court of Justice. These serious accusations were reported at The Gateway Pundit but ignored by Big Media outlets. Patrick Byrnes reported...

The Washington Free Beacon has a story titled “Top Corporations Fund Former Obama Official Calling To ‘Wage War on Whiteness.” It reminds us that DEI won’t go down without a fight, but go down it will, eventually. It is very much like racism and extortion combined. “Play our racial game or we will wage war against your white business.” David Johns, who is running a group called the National Black Justice Coalition, has the blessing of Health and Human Services as a grantee. According to the article, HHS gave $279,000 to this group in 2024 and did not respond to...

ATLANTA (AP) — The pastor of a Georgia megachurch who led a nationwide 40-day “fast” boycott of Target stores over the retail chain's commitment to diversity initiatives is now calling for that effort to continue as a “full Target boycott.” The Rev. Jamal Bryant said this week that the Minneapolis-based retailer has not met all of the boycott effort's demands. Among them: Restoring its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion principles and pledging money to Black-owned banks and businesses. Target announced in January that it would phase out a handful of DEI initiatives, including a program designed to help Black...

The first RICO racketeering charges against members and associates of the migrant terrorist group Tren de Aragua were filed this week in New York. A statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said that the case is part of "Operation Take Back America," which it said is a "nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Justice Department to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime." According to the statement, the charges filed...

*PepsiCo has come under scrutiny after scaling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, a move that reflects a broader trend among major U.S. companies. Earlier this year, the company announced it would eliminate DEI workforce representation goals and phase out its five-year DEI plan, replacing it with a new “Inclusion for Growth” strategy, The Street reports. PepsiCo said it would broaden its supplier base to support all small businesses, stop conducting surveys focused on single demographic categories, and evaluate sponsorships based on their impact on overall business growth. This change follows President Donald Trump’s executive order banning federal...

KEY POINTS * Target CEO Brian Cornell will meet with civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton to discuss the company’s decision to roll back DEI programs. * The discussion comes as the big box retailer faces calls for a boycott and a slump in foot traffic that began soon after it announced plans to walk away from some DEI initiatives. * Sharpton has not called for a boycott of Target, but said he’ll consider it if the company doesn’t reaffirm its commitment to Black businesses, employees and consumers.

A notorious Venezuelan gang is extending its tentacles into the U.S. on the back of the Biden-Harris administration’s border crisis, and experts say that immigration authorities have no way of identifying the criminal group’s members before they hit American soil. The gang, known as Tren de Aragua, has made headlines in recent weeks with its criminal activities in multiple states, according to multiple reports. Yet, border authorities have virtually zero tools to detect Venezuelan migrants’ affiliations with the gang, as the U.S.’ diplomatic relationship with the beleaguered country is effectively on ice, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We...

EXCLUSIVE: I've obtained the leaked security briefing that's been provided to Trump national security officials in recent months regarding the criminal group Tren de Aragua and the Venezuela government. President Trump designated Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on January 20th by Executive order because it's “conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions” inside the United States. According to the order: “TdA operates in conjunction with Cártel de los Soles, the Nicolas Maduro regime-sponsored, narco-terrorism enterprise based in Venezuela, and commits brutal crimes, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and human, drug, and weapons trafficking.” It's not a street...

President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to invoke a rarely used 18th-century law to accelerate mass deportation. The move would be part of his broader immigration crackdown, a centerpiece of his 2024 campaign. Sources told CNN that Trump’s team is considering using the Alien Enemies Act, a law from 1798 that grants the president sweeping powers to detain and deport noncitizens from countries deemed hostile. The law, originally passed during a period of tension with France, has rarely been applied in modern history. Trump has already vowed to launch “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history,” targeting millions of...

The housing market is still utterly insane right now. So it's doubtlessly a relief when a prospective homeowner finds and buys their dream home. Unless, of course, they're told that they, uhh, can't live in it: The nightmare started last fall when [Meghan] McIntyre and her boyfriend decided to move back to Plymouth and purchase their own home. Months later, instead of moving into the house they bought, they are forced to rent an apartment while also paying the mortgage on a home they aren't allowed to live in. Instead, someone else is living in the house. Finding out someone...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson Jesse Waters: "The CIA is telling CNN if their funding gets cut then they will sell state secrets to Russia" From Derrick Evans 8:52 AM · Feb 27, 2025

Ohio must try to get back around a billion dollars in pandemic unemployment benefits from the federal government and distribute it to Ohioans who have been waiting since June 2021. A Franklin County judge has ordered Gov. Mike DeWine to obtain those funds, which Ohio didn’t get because he ended Ohio’s participation before the federal program closed. “There were right around 300,000 people who were denied $300 a week for 10 weeks, so $3000 each. That's $900 million. This is almost a billion dollars," said Marc Dann, who filed the lawsuit in July 2021. Dann, a Democratic former state attorney...

Victoria Nuland funded the Ukrainian coup with USAID money. USAID is at the heart of the war between Ukraine and Russia.