Free Republic

Two dim-witted wannabe influencers are being investigated after going wildly viral for filming themselves stroking alligators in Florida — just days after a swimmer was killed by one. “Come with us to pet alligators,” TikTokker Kileigh Rose wrote of the death-defying foolishness her and a friend reckoned would be part of a fun “Steve Irwin summer.” One clip shows the young women paddling on Silver Springs State Park in a small, clear canoe when one of them puts her hand in the water, rubbing her hand along the alligator’s back, the Orlando Sentinel reported of the footage that was deleted...

A federal judge on Monday nullified an agreement the government reached with Donald Trump and his sons over the leak of his tax returns. The judge lambasted the government and president’s lawyers for using the judicial process to try to concoct a beneficial arrangement for the president. The ruling from US district judge Kathleen Williams in the southern district of Florida blocks a widely criticized arrangement the government and the president’s attorneys reached earlier this year to resolve a $10bn lawsuit by Trump and his sons over the leak of the president’s tax returns. The government never responded to the...

A criminal who hijacked a plane from Cuba to Florida in 2003 and served 20 years in prison had been in ICE custody awaiting deportation — till a Dem-appointed judge dumped him back on the street last week. Cuban national Miakel Guerra Morales — who assaulted crew members during his terrifying midair hijacking — was detained by ICE in December, then ordered freed July 8 by Florida Judge John E. Steele, who said he’d been in custody too long. The Department of Homeland Security on Monday railed against the Bill Clinton-nominated federal judge’s decision to release Guerra Morales. “This activist...

Polk County deputies arrested a 62-year-old man who they say exposed himself to a 5-year-old child inside a Mulberry Walmart after a Crime Stoppers tip ended a two-day search. Walmart incident What we know: According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, a mother and her 5-year-old daughter were grocery shopping during the day at a Walmart in Mulberry when a man followed them. Sheriff Grady Judd stated, "This is a sick guy and he's dangerous." Judd noted that surveillance footage captured the man tracking the family through the business. "On Monday afternoon, past, he is a sexual predator in a...

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) said a Lakeland middle school assistant director is accused of striking a deputy on the hand and resisting arrest at a traffic stop. PCSO said Lasahy DeVeaux, 36, of Lakeland, was stopped by a deputy at about 1:09 p.m. on July 11 going westbound on I-4 near Polk City. DeVeaux’s license was revoked on Nov. 26, 2024 for five years for being a habitual traffic offender, PCSO said. Her license has been suspended three times since then, in March 2025, June 2025, and August 2025, for failure to pay traffic tickets....

England captain Harry Kane has confirmed he once played golf with U.S. President Donald Trump, describing ​the experience as "surreal" and praising the president's game. Trump ‌told reporters earlier this week that he had played golf with Kane, calling the England, opens new tab striker a great player and a ​good golfer. Speaking on Friday on the eve of ​their World Cupquarter-final match against Norway, Kane confirmed the ⁠round took place in Palm Beach, Florida, about 18 ​months ago. "I played all right, to be honest," Kane ​told reporters in Miami. "He invited me to play when I was down...

University of South Florida College Republicans and Pinellas County Young Republicans filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Census Bureau’s statistical methods used for the 2020 Census. Plaintiffs assert the Bureau improperly estimated populations in group housing and systematically distorted data by adding statistical errors to protect confidentiality. The lawsuit alleges the Bureau’s statistical methods were inaccurate and resulted in the dilution of representative power of lawful citizens. Plaintiffs argue violations of the U.S. Constitution and federal law, and seek to block the same statistical methods from being used in the 2030 Census.

Florida millionaire wooed bestselling author before allegedly forcing her into cuckolding fantasy with black men who he paid 'reparations': Litany of claims detail degrading sexual abuse It was supposed to be the dating app where the rich met their equals. Millionaire Match promises to connect wealthy, successful singles looking for partners who share their ambition, lifestyle and bank balance – a kind of Tinder for the one percent. For Australian bestselling author Hacia Atherton, 38, it appeared to deliver exactly that. Her match with millionaire Florida businessman and retired pilot Paul Vitale, 69, quickly blossomed into a glamorous long-distance romance...

POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WBAY) - A 32-year-old Green Bay woman is in custody in Polk County, Fla., where she’s accused of intentionally hitting a security guard with a car at a rented condominium. Polk County deputies say Tayquanna Butler, 32, was arrested at the Orlando Airport, where she was getting a flight back to Wisconsin. Deputies say the incident happened on the night of July 4. A security guard at Windsor Island Resort said a woman drove past the entry after she was warned that she needed to be on a list of approved visitors or provide identification. The guard...

The international airport just minutes away from Donald Trump's Florida home has been officially renamed. Palm Beach International Airport has, as of Thursday, become the President Donald J Trump International Airport. 'The 3-letter location identifier for PBI is changing during the overnight to DJT,' read a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alert sent out on Wednesday evening. The change comes after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law in March to rename Trump's hometown airport after the 45th and 47th President. Though the FAA three-letter code has changed to DJT, passengers may have to wait to see the President's initials on...

PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida on Tuesday ordered the Department of Homeland Security to restore key features of its Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, including SSN-search and bulk-upload capabilities that states use to verify citizenship and immigration status for voter rolls. U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell II ruled that DHS breached a court-approved settlement agreement with Florida and other states by disabling the features following a conflicting decision from a judge in Washington, D.C. Wetherell expressly disagreed with that ruling, concluding the features do not violate federal law. In June, U.S. District Judge Sparkle L....

The pups have been named Hazel and Toffee by their caregiversDiscovery Cove has welcomed two baby Asian small-clawed otter pups. The two female pups were born May 16 at the Orlando attraction, marking the first litter for their parents, Butternut and Bing, Discovery Cove said. The pups have been named Hazel and Toffee by their caregivers. Animal care specialists said both pups are doing well and are being cared for by their parents and the zoological team. Discovery Cove said Bing, the pups’ father, has been especially involved. Before the pups were born, animal care specialists said he brought food...

Disgraced former politician Andrew Gillum, a one-time Democratic Party rising star and CNN political commentator, has been arrested in Alabama for allegedly having drugs, according to records. Gillum – who narrowly lost to Ron DeSantis in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election – was arrested Thursday in Daphne before being booked for possession of dangerous drugs, marijuana and drug paraphernalia, according to Baldwin County jail records.

DAPHNE, Ala. — Andrew Gillum, who lost to Ron DeSantis by an extremely slim margin in the 2018 Florida governor’s race and served as Tallahassee’s mayor from 2014-2018, was arrested last week in Alabama on drug charges, Local 10 News learned Tuesday. According to online jail records, the former politician was arrested Thursday night in Daphne, Alabama on charges of possession of dangerous drugs, drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana. He has since been released from jail. Further details surrounding the 46-year-old’s arrest were not immediately released. Local 10 News has requested a copy of his arrest report from the...

From Judge Steven Merryday (M.D. Fla.) today in Trump v. N.Y. Times Co. (for the Complaint in the underlying case, which involves various statements about Trump's early life and business career, "A public figure, perhaps the world's most prominent public figure, whose actions and remarks routinely generate immediate global news coverage, sues a newspaper, perhaps the world's most prominent English-language newspaper, along with the world's largest trade book publisher and three authors. The plaintiff initiates in the Middle District of Florida an action for defamation arising from two articles and a book, researched, written, and edited in New York but...

Two large Saharan dust clouds are headed west from Africa towards the United States. It’s Saharan dust season in the Atlantic, the time of year when massive clouds of dust from Africa’s Sahara Desert are carried westward by winds, sometimes traveling thousands of miles to the United States. Where is the dust now? Satellite photos from Sunday showed one primary dust plume in the western Caribbean Sea, over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and across the southern Gulf of America. Unhealthy air quality was observed across Belize and across the Yucatan Peninsula, where dust concentrations are highest. When will the dust hit...

OKALOOSA COUNTY, Fla. -- Okaloosa County is reapplying for permits required to sink the SS United States.The county said they are reapplying for the permitting area where the SS United States will be deployed. This results in the original permit being modified.The historic ocean liner is set to become the world's largest artificial reef. The only thing standing in the way now is final approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers."There's people that want to come from all over Europe, Australia, Asia all different locations wanting to hit it," says Mason Ousley, the manager at Dive Pros.>>>The ocean liner...

Newly released bodycam footage captures a Florida deputy’s desperate attempt to save the 31-year-old woman fatally mauled by a 12-foot alligator last weekend. The harrowing clip shows the officer running through the brush on Sunday and emerging at the sandy bank of the Econlockhatchee River, where moments earlier Brittany Clark was viciously attacked by a gator while swimming with her boyfriend. Clark and another individual, presumably her boyfriend Chance Allison, are seen under a tarp next to the shoreline.

NAPLES, Fla. — A Naples woman was arrested on grand theft and fraud charges after she was accused of using checks from closed accounts to pay for an $8,500 breast augmentation surgery, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. The arrest report says Nicole Valliere reportedly attempted to pay for the procedure at Peña Plastic Surgery, located off Pine Ridge Road and Napa Boulevard near I-75, in February using a check from a closed bank account. Advertisement Investigators said Valliere tried again in March with a cashier’s check from another closed account, but the bank notified the business too...

Donalds was elected to Congress in 2020. A man who missed 161 congressional votes? A congressman with virtually no meaningful legislative footprint? A politician whose public image appears exponentially larger than his measurable achievements? Then there are growing controversies and scrutiny surrounding entities tied to his wife’s business and political ecosystem, issues that critics argue directly contradict the polished “law and order” image being sold to voters.