Free Republic

Disney, which infamously sparred with Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., over what the company claimed was a "Don’t Say Gay" bill, now plans to build a new theme park in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a Middle Eastern country that criminalizes homosexuality. The entertainment company announced on Wednesday that it will open its seventh park on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the UAE. "This is a thrilling moment for our company as we announce plans to build an exciting Disney theme park resort in Abu Dhabi, whose culture is rich with an appreciation of the arts and...

... His ringtone plays the opening riffs of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.” He incurred $20,000 in roof damage from Hurricane Ian. And until recently, anyone could read his Facebook posts, which included vulgar potshots at Nancy Pelosi and her husband and a pronouncement that supporters of Joseph R. Biden Jr. suffered from a “mental affliction.” ...Among other things, he reposted an old video of Ms. Pelosi, under which the author of the original post referred to her with a vulgar sexist epithet. The original post also insinuated that Ms. Pelosi’s husband, Paul, was gay, ...By Monday, Mr. Prevost was a...

TAMPA, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis is stepping up immigration efforts with the announcement that more than 100 Florida Highway Patrol troopers have been sworn in as Special Deputy U.S. Marshals. This means troopers can now serve federal warrants and help remove dangerous, criminal illegal aliens without waiting for the federal government to get directly involved in the operation.

Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo, who announced last month that he was switching from Democrat to no party affiliation, has revealed that he plans a Sunshine State gubernatorial bid. "Yes I am," Pizzo said after CBS News Miami's Jim Defede asked the state senator whether he plans to run for governor.

The attorney general is asking an appellate court to lift the block on a new state immigration law. The law makes it a misdemeanor for adults who came to the U.S. illegally by eluding or avoiding examination or inspection by immigration officers to enter Florida. The governor and Uthmeier contend that the judge in the case has gone beyond her boundaries in calling on Florida law enforcement agencies to stop making immigration arrests. “She’s trying to exercise authority that she does not possess. Fine,” DeSantis said. “There’s parties to the case and she’s rendered a decision even though it’s a...

wo people are dead after a hit-and-run crash on Interstate 95 Friday morning, according to Florida Highway Patrol. FHP said a semi-truck hit a car on the shoulder of the highway and then drove away from the crash. The semi was eventually located on I-95 in Palm Beach County and the driver was taken into custody. Florida Highway Patrol traffic homicide investigators have arrested Hassan Abdirahman Sheikh Ali, 36, of Charlotte, North Carolina, on charges of hit and run involving death.

Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s “kowtowing” to President Donald Trump had been disappointing. Host Jake Tapper said, “Is Secretary Rubio able to do the two main jobs there?” Warner said, “I don’t know how anybody could do these two big jobs, and they’re frankly very different. One is actually trying to diplomatically work with friends and adversaries around the world. And unfortunately, the number of adversaries has gone up dramatically as Trump’s approach has been so awful to our allies. The other are our national security adviser...

An MS-13 gangbanger will spend the next 17 years behind bars for orchestrating a transnational fentanyl trafficking ring while incarcerated at a Florida prison, according to federal prosecutors. Mario Clifford Rivera, 32, whose alias is “Chuky,” was sentenced Wednesday for using the US Postal Service to smuggle more than three kilograms of the deadly drug across the border from Mexico into the Sunshine State, according to the the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Rivera’s legal status was not immediately clear. “Rivera’s 17-year federal prison sentence should serve as a warning to MS-13 and other terrorist gangs...

A six-day immigration sweep in Florida in April resulted in the arrests of more than 1,100 people, the Trump administration said on Thursday as it increasingly relies on local law enforcement to help speed deportations.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., who won a special election to replace national security adviser Mike Waltz in Florida's 6th Congressional District, ripped Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Wednesday for working with Democrats on a Senate resolution designed to rein in President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs.The Senate was poised Wednesday to vote on the resolution, which would end the national emergency Trump declared in an executive order to implement the tariffs on foreign imports. Paul and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who sponsored the resolution, used a special legislative procedure to force a vote. The resolution prompted House Republicans to add a...

MADISON, Wis. -- A Florida man who was found to have communicated with the Abundant Life Christian School shooter was arrested for allegedly planning a mass shooting at a law enforcement facility. According to the arrest affidavit Damien Blade Allen and the 15-year-old girl who police say opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in December, killing two and injuring six, exchanged messages for months over TikTok. A joint investigation between FBI and US revealed Damien Blade Allen allegedly conspired with other individuals online to commit mass violence. Allen was also arrested for impersonating a law enforcement officer. He allegedly...

Tens of thousands of New York City residents have fled the Northeast for warmer climes in a five-year period — taking nearly $14 billion worth of income out of the Empire State. A new report by the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission found around 30,000 Big Apple dwellers moved to Florida between 2017 and 2022, many of them ending up in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. The report chalked up the mass migration to factors including lingering effects of the pandemic, as well as general affordability, quality-of-life concerns and safety. The city has seen a reduction in its adjusted gross income...

April 29 (Reuters) - A Haitian woman died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in Florida last week, the agency said on Tuesday. The death of Marie Ange Blaise, 44, who was pronounced dead by medical professionals at the Broward Transitional Center in Pompano Beach, Florida, on Friday, is under investigation, according to ICE. The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here. ICE said it has notified the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other agencies of Blaise's death. It said it also provided email notification to...

Two Ukrainian women in South Florida on temporary visas were hit with federal charges after being accused of illegally voting in the last 2024 U.S. presidential election, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Svitlana Demydenko, 53, and her daughter, Yelyzaveta Demydenko, 22, purportedly handed in their 2024 presidential votes in Palm Beach, Florida, on October 31, 2024. “Svitlana and Yelyzaveta entered the United States in April 2021 on nonimmigrant visas. In August 2024, while living in Florida, Svitlana and Yelyzaveta registered to vote in federal elections using a system that requires certification of United States citizenship, which neither of...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A boat crash involving the Clearwater Ferry has been declared a "mass casualty incident," public safety officials said Sunday night. They say the ferry was struck by another boat near the Memorial Causeway bridge, and that the other boat fled the scene. Police say the ferry had more than 40 people on board at the time of the crash. Six people were declared as trauma alerts, with two of those being taken by helicopter. Officials say the boat came to a rest on a sandbar and all passengers were removed. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨BREAKING: ‘Mass casualty event’ after a ferry strikes sandbar in Clearwater, Florida. From AZ Intel 8:37 PM · Apr 27, 2025

The US Air Force is urgently searching for a Florida-based airman accused of possessing and distributing disturbing child sexual abuse materials. Airman First Class Branden Cecil Standifer, 27, was due in court on April 18 for a hearing related to the charges but failed to appear, prompting officials to believe he is evading prosecution, according to KTTC. Standifer is wanted for military desertion, as he is believed to have gone into hiding to avoid facing the charges. According to a warning from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), Standifer fled Hulburt Field in Florida and was last seen...

For Tampa FL's residents who do NOT speak or read Spanish, Walmart's corporate overlords have just declared you to be an official minority. As of yesterday morning, Walmart's corporate (not sponsored) website comes up entirely in Spanish, with no obvious "Press 2 for English" option showing anywhere. Are they for real? A search online resulted in dozens of so-called "explanations" as to why this kind of thing might be happening to you on your computer. One explanation given was that a "business" might switch to Spanish as its default language in corporate communications if/when the demographic in a locality it...

An illegal alien from Mexico released into the interior of the United States by Joe Biden was arrested for raping a 13-year-old boy. The Charlotte County, Florida, Sheriff on Thursday announced 20-year-old Samuel Cobos-Carmona was arrested and charged with committing sexual battery on a child. Sheriff Bill Prummell said Cobos-Carmona illegally entered the US for the first time in 2021 on Joe Biden’s open borders invitation. He was deported but made his way back over the US border in 2022. Cobos-Carmona fled from Texas authorities and ended up in Florida. He was caught by law enforcement in Sarasota in the...

WASHINGTON -- Four House Democratic lawmakers have traveled to El Salvador to call attention to the plight of a man the Trump administration deported to a Salvadoran prison and has refused to help return — even after the Supreme Court ruled that it was the government's duty to do so. Reps. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, Maxwell Frost of Florida and Robert Garcia of California arrived in the Central American nation on Sunday to investigate the condition of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had lived in the United States for more than a decade. The Trump administration deported...