Free Republic

Authorities in California charged a 29-year-old man with "malicious destruction' for allegedly starting a deadly fire that erupted into the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles history and destroyed much of the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighborhood, officials announced Wednesday. Federal law enforcement officials accused 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht of lighting a fire on New Year’s Day that was initially extinguished by fire crews, but continued to smolder underground before reigniting during high winds, acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said during a news conference. Rinderknecht was arrested Tuesday in Florida, where he moved after the fire, and is due to appear in...

Sarah Hartsfield, the Texas woman accused of killing her most recent husband with a fatal dose of insulin two years ago, was convicted of murder Wednesday. The verdict came after about an hour of deliberations and seven days of testimony in a trial that focused almost as much on allegations from Hartsfield’s past as it did on the death of Joseph Hartsfield — her fifth husband — on Jan. 15, 2023. In her closing argument Wednesday, Chambers County Assistant District Attorney Mallory Vargas said Sarah Hartsfield believed she’d get away with her husband’s murder “because it’s what she’s always done.”

A Florida man booked for alleged drug possession was also carrying much larger contraband — a thermos that he apparently shoved up his rectum before he was captured, authorities said. Walter Frymire, 51, was arrested for the 26th time Saturday evening after someone called in reports of a naked man in a restroom at a public park. An X-ray of Frymire clearly depicted a foreign object lodged in his body and poking from his hip up to his rib. The foreign object was a thermos that Frymire said he “didn’t swallow.” “You might have thought Walter was bringing drugs into...

So Game Wardens in Texas have arrested this guy, 39 year old Ethan McNeely from Oregon. He was crouched in the woods attempting to hunt squirrels with nothing but his hands and teeth near Lake Tawakoni Dam Ethan insists that “I’m a primal predator, not a sportsman” and argued with the officers that “God-given claws and fangs” exempt him requiring a hunting license. Ethan goes on saying “If I catch it with my molars, that’s between me and Mother Nature” while reportedly spitting out a mouth full of tree bark. Game wardens have stated that while his hunting techniques are...

Authorities have arrested a 29-year-old Uber driver in connection to the investigation into the deadly January Palisades Fire. Jonathan Rinderknecht, of Melbourne, Florida, was arrested Tuesday near his home on suspicion of destruction of property by means of fire. If convicted as charged, Rinderknecht faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in federal prison. "He is charged with starting a fire on Jan. 1," Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said. "It did take a week to reignite, but he is charged with starting the Palisades Fire." The criminal complaint covers the damages and death...

A mass shooting in downtown Montgomery on Saturday night left two people - including a teen - dead and a dozen others injured during what should have been a weekend of celebration in Alabama’s capital city. The gunfire erupted shortly after 11:30 p.m. Saturday near Bibb Street and Commerce Street. A total of 12 people were injured. Two people were killed - 17-year-old Jeremiah Morris and 43-year-old Shalonda Williams. Two juveniles are among those wounded. One has life-threatening injuries, police said, and the other suffered non-life-threatening injuries. In all, five victims remain in life-threatening condition, and seven sustained non-life-threatening...

President Donald Trump has labeled drug cartels operating in the Caribbean as “unlawful combatants” and said the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict,” multiple outlets reported Thursday, following recent strikes targeting alleged drug smuggling boats in the region. The Trump administration said in a confidential notice the U.S. was engaged in an “non-international armed conflict” against the drug cartels, the Associated Press and New York Times reported, citing a person familiar with the matter and a copy of the notice, respectively.

A Florida truck driver has been charged in connection with a deadly crash that killed three people and injured five others in Ellington Township, Michigan, last week. The two-vehicle crash happened at around 9 p.m. on Sept. 26 on Deckerville Road near Hurds Corner Road. Authorities said Pavel Shchukin, 55, was driving a semi-truck on Hurds Corner Road when he failed to stop at a stop sign and collided with a Jeep traveling eastbound on Deckerville Road. Eight Cass City residents were in the Jeep at the time of the crash. Investigators said three people died at the scene, and...

What was meant to be a simple hop from London Luton to Alicante turned into a mid-air episode of Lads Behaving Badly, when a stag party went a little too far with their in-flight celebrations. The Ryanair flight was forced to make an unscheduled stop in Toulouse after the group’s antics escalated from “rowdy but amusing” to “someone call the police, please”. According to fellow passenger Tania Nichols, the fun started long before the wheels left the runway. “They were already swapping seats, making noise and ignoring the safety rules. It was like herding cats in the cabin,” she told...

The death of Charlie Kirk has left a generation of young Black conservatives grieving not only the loss of an influential figure but also the man they say built a community where they felt they belonged, a half a dozen Black conservatives tell ABC News... To be a Black conservative in America often means carrying a dual burden that is as social as it is political. Pew Research found that 83% of Black voters identify with or lean Democratic, while 12% align with the Republican Party. Faced with such a stark divide, families can fracture, friendships may fade and communities...

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On Sunday night, per President Trump's orders, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth mobilized National Guardsmen to Portland, Oregon, to defend federal agents involved in the arrest and deportation of illegal criminals. 200 members of the Oregon National Guard will be called into Federal service effective immediately for a period of 60 days. If you've followed the news over, well, the last decade, you know Portland is a hotbed for transgender communist violence. We have an entire category dedicated to its weird brand of lawlessness on our site. Anticipating the order, or just desiring some more "mostly peaceful" fun, a group...

Democracy Dies in Darkness with DemocratsNew data shows historic gains made by the president among this racial demographic.After the presidential election in November, exit polls suggested that Donald Trump could credit his victory to support from young adults, voters lacking a college degree, and Hispanic and Black men. His improvement among Black voters was noteworthy at the time, but new data — based on voters whose participation is confirmed in state election records — confirms that his share was historic. Trump is the first Republican presidential nominee in nearly half a century to win at least 15 percent of this...

The deranged madman who killed at least two people and injured nine others at a Michigan Latter-day Saints church, torching the building and opening fire on fleeing congregants and their families, has been identified as 40-year-old Thomas Jacob Sanford, The Post can confirm

America needs more people like this lady. Let's welcome them.

WICHITA COUNTY (KFDX/KJTL) — Six women who were arraigned on federal charges related to the shooting of an Alvarado police officer at an ICE detention center on July 4, 2025, were being held in the Wichita County Jail on Tuesday. Jail records show that the following inmates were booked into the Wichita County Law Enforcement Center on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, all of whom are currently in custody on a federal hold: Savanna Batten, of Joshua Joy Gibson, of Dallas Maricela Rueda, of Fort Worth Elizabeth Soto, of Fort Worth Lynette Sharp, of Watauga Rebecca Morgan, of Dallas Federal...

A pro-Palestinian activist has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison after pleading guilty to 'firebombing' a police car on a college campus. Casey Robert Goonan, 35, committed a series of attacks at UC Berkley as part of an anti-Israel protest in June 2024. Goonan, who uses they/them pronouns and is bipolar, lit a bag of six explosives under a University of California Police Department patrol car, causing the car to be engulfed in flames. 'After spending over a year incarcerated, I've had time to reflect on the reality of my actions and the reality of my bipolar...

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Houston and you're at your kid's baseball game. The coach is leading the players in prayer before the first inning. Then you hear the shots. Houston Warriors founder Andy Baize said the injured coach was saying a pregame prayer with their team. 'He literally took the bullet for a child that was to his left, and so thankfully we avoided a major disaster. Still very, very emotional over it,' Baize told KHOU 11. The three suspects, Mahmood Abdelsalam Rababah, Ahmad Mawed, and Mustafa Mohammad Matalgah did not appear to be targeting the game. They...

A Houston youth baseball coach was nearly gunned down earlier this week while kneeling before God with his young players in a senseless crime. As Fox News reported, a coach for the Texas Colts was in a pregame prayer with his players on Sunday when three people fired gunshots in their direction from a nearby pasture. Video of the incident obtained by local news outlets shows the 12-year-old players running to safety while the bullets fly. One adult is struck and collapses to the ground next to home plate.

SAN ANTONIO - A first responder with the Comal County ESD 3 has been let go after posting a statement against the late conservative personality Charlie Kirk. According to Comal County ESD No. 3, the emergency services district completed an investigation into Canyon Lake Fire/EMS Employee Danielle Meyers related to "inappropriate social media activity." "As of [Monday,] Ms. Meyers is no longer employed with the department," ESD No.3 said in a statement. "While we are not responsible for an employee's private posts and protected speech by the employee's First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution, we still deem this...