Free Republic

The Irish government has abandoned plans to implement controversial new hate speech laws following widespread backlash from free speech advocates. Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirmed on Saturday that Dublin will drop new hate speech provisions in the proposed Criminal Justice Bill, admitting that the “incitement to hatred” section of the legislation did “not have a consensus,” the Irish Times reports. Critics of the speech restrictions have noted that the government failed to actually define what constitutes “hate” and therefore the law would have given broad powers to the state to crush dissent. The scope of the draconian powers would have...

Canadian military officials wanted the Canadian Armed Forces’ hate crimes and extremism investigation unit to open a file on soldiers vandalizing feminine hygiene product dispensers placed in male washrooms following a Liberal government mandate. Ultimately both the National Investigation Service and the specialized Hate Crimes, Extremism, Drugs and Gang Enforcement unit turned down the requests due to a lack of evidence. The controversy began in December 2023, following a Liberal government directive requiring military bases to provide menstrual products in men’s washrooms as part of a broader inclusivity push. Department of National Defence access to information files obtained by True...

CLEVELAND — The suspect accused of fatally stabbing 3-year-old Julian Wood earlier this summer in a Giant Eagle parking lot has been ordered to an inpatient treatment facility after being deemed incompetent to stand trial for the time being. According to Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas records, Ellis was undergoing a 20-day evaluation when the doctor treating her stated: "that the defendant is incompetent to stand trial, but that there is a substantial probability of restoration to competency within the statutory time frame if provided with a course of treatment."

DALLAS - Dallas police are investigating what appears to be an unprovoked attack on a woman in Downtown Dallas. FOX 4 obtained surveillance video depicting the attack from Thursday afternoon. The video shows a woman waiting at an intersection when a man comes up from behind and hits her over the head with some object. The woman dropped to the ground. The attacker continued on his way to cross the street as if nothing happened.

Many people were shocked when over 1,000 protesters were arrested in the UK and jailed for various offenses including “violent disorder” and stirring up racial hatred. Most shocking were the cases of those arrested for posting social media comments on the riots, despite not being present at the scene and there being no evidence that anybody who joined in the riots had read any of their comments. In societies which uphold the value of individual liberty, the only purpose of the criminal law should be to restrain and punish those who commit acts of aggression against other people or their...

A former Biden administration appointee and aspiring Texas lawmaker has been accused of running four fake social media accounts that were harassing him and his campaign. Taral Patel, 30, was arrested in June and charged with online impersonation and a Class A misdemeanor after he allegedly staged racist attacks against himself in an attempt to gain sympathy. The Democratic candidate for Fort Bend County commissioner is now accused of running several fake accounts - including one where he impersonated a real district judge, as reported by ABC 13.

A 62-year-old Staten Island resident declared he wants to move after he was brutally attacked by a mob of teenagers during his daily evening stroll last month, according to reports. The man was walking near the intersection of Howard Avenue and Clove Road in the Sunnyside neighborhood just after 7 p.m. on July 15 when the group of delinquents began to harass him. Streetside surveillance cameras captured the moment when nine juveniles followed the man down the road, according to video obtained by silive.com. One of the delinquents rushed up behind the man who jumped into the middle of a...

A 22-year-old man has been arrested after a multiple stabbing incident in Manchester left a woman dead and two others seriously injured late Sunday evening. A 43-year-old woman died, and a 17-year-old girl and a 64-year-old man have been hospitalised with “life-threatening injuries” after they suffered “serious stab wounds” during an incident at a property in the Gorton area of Manchester, England. A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder shortly after the stabbings, which occurred around 11:20 pm on Sunday, Greater Manchester Police said. No further information about the suspect has been made public at the time of...

A father of two young girls was allegedly shot dead by a neighbor who angrily confronted him after his daughter “touched the mulch” in his yard while the family was on a walk in their suburban Michigan neighborhood. Nathan Morris, 35, was on a walk with his wife and daughters, ages 2 and 5, near their home in Canton just before noon Saturday when police say their neighbor Deveraux Christopher Johnson, 47, confronted him and the two got into an argument, Fox 2 Detroit reported. Johnson was reportedly upset that Morris’ daughter “touched the mulch” on his property, the Michigan...

The latest state to criminalize actions based on the feelings of the protected class ... Coeur d'Alene? The Idaho Coeur d'Alene? [See link for video]

The 4 "teens" in Las Vegas charged over fatally beating classmate Jonathan Lewis receive SWEETHEART sentencing plea deal.

Chilling video footage shows the moment a woman shot a seven-month-old infant in Philadelphia — heartlessly shouting “&*&* your baby!” as the child’s mother screamed in horror. The unidentified boy was sitting in a stroller in the northeast section of the city when the attacker opened fire on his parents — striking the tot in the leg Thursday evening, according to police who are searching for the suspect. The assailant is shown strolling past the mom and child then casually turning and firing at them from point-blank range, according to footage released by the Philadelphia Police Department.

My Capitol office was vandalized yesterday in a vile act of hate in which the posters of the more than 100 people still held hostage in Gaza (including 8 Americans) were ripped from the wall, shredded and tossed across the hallway. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL) said on Friday that posters outside his Capitol Hill office that featured pictures of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza were vandalized a day earlier in what he called a “vile act of hate.” “My Capitol office was vandalized yesterday in a vile act of hate in which the posters of the more than...

The writer is a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Middle East Initiative and is an expert on Israel-US relations, the Middle East, and world Jewry. The Hamas attack on October 7 could’ve been another 9/11 moment for Arabs and Muslims in America, which brought a rise in Islamophobia with death threats and harassment towards Muslims following the attacks. But contrary to intuition, one of the worst-ever attacks executed by an extreme Islamist terrorist group has not brought an extreme rise in Islamophobia but rather a surge in pride, acceptance, and public visibility for one of the fastest-growing demographics...

Angel Reese vs. Caitlin Clark remains spicy. The Chicago Sky rookie forward was called for a flagrant 1 foul after hitting Clark in the head during their matchup on Sunday.

Caitlin Clark was smacked on the head by Angel Reese and subjected to more rough treatment by her Chicago Sky rivals on Sunday, causing Dave Portnoy to lead the outrage. Clark and the Indiana Fever played Chicago on Sunday for the first time since the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft was brutally bodychecked by Chennedy Carter earlier this month. The Fever won that first meeting 71-70 on June 1 but the game was overshadowed by Sky guard Carter's hip-check foul on Clark before an inbounds play. It was ruled a common foul, only to be upgraded to...

An unhinged man armed with a hammer targeted a Brooklyn church’s beloved statues of Mother Teresa and a Catholic pope, smashing their faces in, police said Tuesday. Randy Maldonado-Avila is accused of bashing a statue of Pope John XXIII, who led the Catholic church from 1958 till his death in 1963, with a hammer, as well as lopping of one of its hands. He also allegedly smashed a statue of St. Teresa of Calcutta, denting her face. Maldonado-Avila, 30, also used the hammer to smash the glass front doors of St. Dominic’s Catholic Church on Bay Ridge Parkway near 20th...

And so . . . 16-year-old Thomas Perotto was stabbed in the heart and the throat, and died Young French farmers from the villages of Saint-Marcellin and Pont-en-Royans organized a “farmers’ ball” on Saturday evening, May 24, held at the Murinais ballroom. It was to have been a night of innocent fun. They had not counted on Muslim immigrants from Saint-Marcellin showing up with mayhem on their minds. Six Muslims came to the hall, and waited outside. When two farmers left the ball, the Muslims attacked them and. began to beat them up. At that point, other farmers streamed out...

After only three months in the WNBA, the white heterosexual Caitlin Clark has already become the star of the league and has racked up a growing number of records, not the least of which is some of the highest viewership that the WNBA has ever had. But despite the fact that her stats are better than any other player this season, the majority black committee tasked with picking players for Team USA ignored her and excluded her from the team. Why? Because she is white and not a lesbian.

A homeless woman is charged with aggravated assault after police said she attacked a woman in Downtown Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon, breaking her nose. Shurontaya Festa, 27, is being held in the Allegheny County Jail pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Thursday. According to the criminal complaint, Festa walked up behind a woman in the 600 block of Smithfield Street just after 3 p.m. Wednesday and struck her in the back of the head.