Free Republic

During and after the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the white 18-year-old accused of murdering two white men and injuring another, one could hardly keep track of the insanity based on falsehoods recklessly peddled by media and politicians. In Chicago, the Rev. Jesse Jackson marched in the front line of a group of protesters where some chanted, "When black lives are under attack, what do we do?" Black lives under attack? Rittenhouse is white, as were the two men he shot dead and the man he injured. In September 2020, presidential candidate Joe Biden posted a video that included a picture...

The Kyle Rittenhouse trial is over. He’s been found not guilty of all charges. He’s a free man. He’s a patriot. He’s a hero. And if you believe in the rule of law and the right to self-defense, this is a win. The national nightmare for this young man is over. He was the subject of political persecution, being charged for shooting two men and wounding another during the 2020 Kenosha riots. Two men, Joe Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber were trying to kill him. he shot them in self-defense. The video evidence clearly shows that. Gaige Grosskreutz, who survived, admitted...

Look, when you threaten to douse the streets in blood for promoting the very same policy of allowing police officers to enforce the law, expect people to look at you sideways. Yes, there are still enough white liberals to buoy Black Lives Matter's approval ratings, but like Joe Biden—they're dipping. No doubt they had a chance to have a wide dialogue about policing. There are bad cops—no doubt. Instead, BLM went on an insane tangent of rioting, looting, wanton arson, and declaring policing as an instrument of white supremacy. Not even black Americans support this garbage narrative. Minneapolis had an...

Mayoral candidates across the country are closing out their campaigns pledging to restore law and order, a major setback for racial justice protesters who only a year ago thought they had permanently reshaped the debate on policing in American cities. As voters head to the polls Tuesday, local elections are dominated by discussions about safety and law enforcement amid a surge in violent crime. The tone of the debate, even in many liberal urban communities, highlights how major policing reforms have stalled. From Buffalo to Seattle, Democratic politicians who once championed significant reductions or reallocations of police department budgets are...

The outspoken North Carolina politician was attacked for saying that graphic gay and transgender material has no place in public schools. North Carolina’s Mark Robinson got launched in politics when he spoke his mind about our right to bear arms. Since then, he has continued to refuse to back down when he runs afoul of the ever-growing list of leftist shibboleths. Most recently, cancel culture came for him when he referred to graphic gay and transgender material in school libraries as “filth.” True to form, while defending every person’s right to equal treatment under the law, Robinson made it clear...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said on July 12 that police officers from around the United States are welcome to relocate to Florida for a better workplace “culture” if they feel disenchanted. “I do think you will see; I think you’ve already seen. But there are people in these police departments in various other parts of the country who, if they can get a job in Florida, they want to come to Florida to be able to do it,” he said, according to local media. “Because the culture is better, and they understand they’re going to be supported much more resolutely...

Over July Fourth weekend, according to CNN, at least 233 people were killed and 618 others were injured in more than 500 shootings across the country. Unbelievably, those tragic statistics actually represent a 26% decrease from July Fourth weekend in 2020. But overall, violent crime in 2021 across the nation -- and especially in major urban corridors -- has only increased over 2020's horrific baseline. Nationwide murder rates in 2021 to date show a roughly 25% annual increase over 2020, and that number spikes to roughly 30% in our large cities. In New York City, there has been a 32%...

On Tuesday, Brooklyn Borough President and former police captain Eric Adams took the lead in the New York mayoral race with 32% of the Democratic primary vote, 10 points more than progressive Maya Wiley, who had the endorsement of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. How did Adams beat the elite? Said The New York Times: Adams built "an old-school political coalition that united Black and Latino voters," and was "able to persuade working-class people, largely outside Manhattan, that he was the best candidate to make the city safe from crime." Adams' anti-crime and pro-cop campaign carried four of New York City's five...

Something strange is afoot in the party of Jefferson. With the Democrats still spinning after the collapse of their election bill — and progressives furious with the White House’s seeming lack of commitment to that effort — the president has already pivoted, announcing a plan to tackle the violent crime wave besetting American cities.And the vice president? She’s on her way to the border, 91 days, two countries, and countless laughs after it was first assigned by the boss.Some might notice that cracking down on rampant crime and tackling a crisis at the border were not topics of discussion when...

For a half-century, a small radical fringe has undermined our trust in institutions. A new AP-NORC poll shows 28 percent of Americans feel they have just one person they trust to help them navigate work challenges or connect with an employer. Meanwhile, leftist politics feed an angry mob of American so-called "peaceful protesters" or the reactive "insurrectionists." As a result, our American experiment is in great peril. Suddenly, the American landscape looks and feels like the world we freely allowed inside our open borders. A world filled with lawlessness, lack of self-restraint, and unparalleled agitprop. Like a Bunsen burner, a...

When our first president under the Constitution was sworn in on April 30, 1789, it was in New York City. Back then it was our capital city. Today it is often called the cultural capital of the country. George Washington took the oath of office in the common way it was done in his Anglican Church, by saying, “So help me, God.” He took the oath with his hand on an open Bible. Also in keeping with an Anglican tradition, Washington leaned over and kissed the Bible. Last time I checked (in 2014), that Bible is still on display (near...

In recent days, CNN has put a major emphasis on "new" videos of the dreadful Jan. 6 Capitol riot, expressing outrage in heavy rotation over Republicans who would try to dismiss what happened as resembling a routine day of tourism. You can't say the people there were "mostly peaceful." CNN even aired an hourlong anti-Republican prime-time special on Sunday, May 16, titled "A Radical Rebellion: The Transformation of the GOP." Host Fareed Zakaria began by lamenting how "An American president incited an angry mob to attack the U.S. Capitol." He concluded by decrying the GOP as "a band of ideological...

An old adage goes like this. “Better is the silent man who may prove himself foolish, than the one who opens his mouth and removes all doubt.”No one can ever say they’ve ever had any doubts about the current President of the United States.He is patently dishonest. But people explain that away as just being the old uncle at the family gathering who can’t help but exaggerate the good ole’ days.He frequently relays abjectly false information. But supporters just blame his age, obvious stage of being diminished, or point to his past when a far more moderate man served in...

A federal grand jury just indicted the other three officers present at George Floyd’s arrest. Why is the Justice Department involving itself in this local police matter?Last month, when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of second- and third-degree murder, most Americans believed his sentencing would end a year-long national ordeal. Footage of Chauvin restraining George Floyd as he died was widely publicized last summer, with a predictable—and memorable—result. Although Chauvin was convicted by a jury, that decision was pre-empted by the constant menace of burning cities, gruesome threats of violence, massive corporate marketing campaigns, public statements by members...

Within hours of Saturday's shooting in Times Square where three bystanders, including a 4-year-old girl, were wounded, the two leading candidates to replace Mayor Bill de Blasio were on-site. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a retired captain of the NYPD, and Andrew Yang, who declared: "My fellow New Yorkers ... Nothing works in our city without public safety, and for public safety, we need the police. ... My message to the NYPD is this: New York needs you. Your city needs you." "New York cannot afford to defund the police." The rush of Adams and Yang to the scene of...

My town’s not getting burned down because the rich coastal liberals with “Hate Has No Home Here” signs on their exquisitely landscaped front yards will never put up with that nonsense here in Shangri-Lib. In a very real way, the chaos that the liberals are creating by handcuffing other people’s cops – do you think my cops will ever get the order to stand down? – is not my problem. And, unless you are still living in some Democrat hellhole, it’s probably not your problem either. So, why again when some big blue city that hasn’t had a Republican mayor...

Source: Screenshot“To Serve and Protect” is more than a mere police slogan – it is a police duty. And in the case of the shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, Officer Nicholas Reardon was clearly carrying out his duty to protect the life of another.Most of us know we have a right to self-defense. That means that if someone is trying to harm us, we can legally respond by using whatever force is necessary to meet and repel that force. But when it comes to using force against someone else – including deadly force – there is another closely-related legal right...

I don’t pretend to know if Derek Chauvin is guilty in the objective sense – Judge Mom, a conservative who sent a lot of people to jail as a prosecutor before doing it from the bench, made a convincing argument to me for a murder conviction soon after the incident – but I do know one thing. This trial was a travesty, a kangaroo court, and as a country, we should be ashamed of ourselves. This is not to argue whether he is innocent or guilty. I don’t know. There were arguments both ways, and compelling evidence for both points...

I spent an entire talk show Tuesday morning telling the audience why I found reasonable doubt dripping from multiple layers of the case against Derek Chauvin. A unanimous jury verdict to the contrary does not change my mind in the least. However, I am now tasked with how to process this result as relief and celebration spread across the land, amid talk of healing and renewed faith in our system among those who had grown distrustful. Who wants to ruin that vibe? So I’ll pivot to a position I have often instructed others to follow, showing respect to jurors who...

Mass shooting survivors: 'Everybody just kind of moves on' 03:50 (CNN)Two weeks have passed since the three Atlanta-area spa shootings claimed the lives of eight people, and in that time at least 20 other mass shootings have taken place. The incidents have stretched from California to Washington, DC, and many have left multiple victims dead.