Free Republic

Authorities are investigating the events that led up to the ships crash into the bridge, causing the collapse. ... The FBI has opened up a criminal investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland after a boat crashed into it last month. ... The boat reportedly lost power briefly before veering one of the bridge's support, sending the bridge cascading into the water below. Six lives were lost. On Monday, federal agents boarded the crashed boat to conduct a search. Agents wore yellow and orange life jackets as they boarded the Dali, standing where it...

The Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police, Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 and the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association have officially come out in opposition to Judge Adeel Mangi's nomination to sit on the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals -- making them the latest in a long list of law enforcement organizations to oppose the nomination. “It’s an affront to all Pennsylvania law enforcement officers, active and retired, that Mr. Mangi would serve on an organization that describes a person who murdered a police officer as a ‘freedom fighter,'" the groups wrote in a letter to Senate Leadership...

If you pay for car insurance, you’ve probably noticed that rates are really high lately. You’re not alone. Last week’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report — the government’s method for tracking what people are paying for goods and services and how that’s changing over time — noted that the price of car insurance was up more than 20 percent over the same time last year. What’s particularly painful is that rates were already rising: CPI reports have shown that, overall, car insurance rates are up more than 38 percent since January 2020. What’s going on? The big insurance companies have...

Law enforcement called the anti-police Pennsylvania Indivisible’s endorsement of Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) “alarming and extremely dangerous” on Wednesday. Indivisible Pennsylvania hosted a campaign event with Casey on Tuesday, and the anti-police organization endorsed Casey in a statement on Wednesday. Christine Adams of Indivisible Outcry in Clarion County said, “In his [Casey’s] nearly two decades in office, he has demonstrated his commitment to the values that guide the membership of Pennsylvania Indivisible — justice, inclusion, compassion, and equity. Senator Casey is deeply committed to defending our rights and our freedoms.”

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a city charter amendment that will allow voters to choose whether they want to pay for new police officers, Bay City News reported. If voters approve the amendment, a tax will be added to create a police staffing fund. The fund would reach $16.8 million within the first year, according to the report. The fund would allow the city to set a minimum staffing number of 1,700 officers in the first year. The minimum staffing number would increase every year until the city reaches a maximum of 2,074 officers, according...

Aug. 19—STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Staten Island resident Brett Roses was confused and concerned when he saw mysterious E-ZPass charges for his green 2002 Acura, a vehicle that has never left Staten Island. According to Streets Blog NYC, after a seemingly endless cycle of disputing E-ZPass charges and getting billed all over again, Roses noticed on a New Jersey Turnpike Authority ticket that the car pinning him with all of these false charges wasn't his at all. It was a white BMW. Roses went to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to clear up any confusion, but found that this...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

A man who died after police officers in North Carolina's capital city repeatedly used stun guns on him died from "sudden cardiac arrest" related to cocaine intoxication and the police confrontation, according to the state's autopsy report released Wednesday. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner also labeled the Jan. 17 death of 32-year-old Darryl Tyree Williams a homicide. The autopsy report listed the cause of Williams’ death "as sudden cardiac arrest in the setting of cocaine intoxication, physical exertion, conducted energy weapon use, and physical restraint." A toxicology analysis in part detected cocaine and a chemical that's contained in...

VIDEOAround the country, and especially in California, there has been a liberal movement to replace armed law enforcement officers with unarmed "Safety Ambassadors" on the streets and in transit systems. So how has that been working out?

Here’s a roundup of the DOJ deploying federal resources to do Democrats’ bidding.Amid calls from former President Donald Trump to “defund” the partisan Department of Justice and FBI, which treats its friends above the law and its enemies below it, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer defended the agencies. But a review of the agencies’ track records shows them to be indefensible. Here are 19 times Democrats and DOJ politicized the rule of law, deploying federal resources to do Democrats’ bidding.1. Infiltration of Catholic Parishes House Republican Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenaed FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday after a whistleblower...

The man suspected of shooting an off-duty NYPD cop in a robbery gone awry was nabbed hiding out at an upstate hotel Monday, law enforcement sources said. The 38-year-old suspect, identified by sources as Randy Jones, was with his girlfriend and her kids when he was arrested in Rockland County, sources said. Jones was hauled off in handcuffs belonging to the critically wounded cop and taken back to Brooklyn, where he arrived at the 75th Precinct ... His suspected shooter has a lengthy criminal record ...His rap sheet lists 22 busts...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal jury has found that a white Ohio police officer did not violate a Black teenager’s civil rights when he shot and killed the boy while responding to a reported armed robbery. Jurors reached their verdict Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by Tyre King’s grandmother. It challenged the police account of the shooting, alleging that the 13-year-old’s death resulted from excessive force, racial discrimination and a failure by the police department to properly investigate... ...Columbus officer Bryan Mason shot King in the head and torso on Sept. 14, 2016, as the teen ran from police...

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A police K-9 in Michigan recently had himself a “ruff” day after he was accused of stealing his owner’s lunch. The Wyandotte Police Department shared a mugshot of K-9 Ice, who was accused of eating an officer’s half-eaten lunch in the breakroom during a call to assist with an emergency. When the officer returned to the breakroom, they found Ice “leisurely strolling out of the room licking his chops,” the department said in a social media post.... ...“Dozens of attorneys have offered to defend Ofc. Ice ‘pro-bone-o!'” the department said. “Plus the overall public just doesn’t...

This is the horrific moment police shoot an unarmed disabled man seven times after suspecting he had a hostage in his trailer. Jason Harley Kloepfer, 41, from North Carolina, US, was shot in the chest and arm after Cherokee County police responded to reports of a gunfire on December 12 at around 11pm. Cops believed Kloepfer, who identifies as disabled, was the alleged gunman and holding a hostage inside his trailer - despite being inside with his wife. In the shocking footage, Kloepfer is seen inside the trailer opening the door to police. Kloepfer, and his wife Alison Mahler, both...

Police returned fire after a protester shot a Georgia State Patrol trooper, wearing a bulletproof vest, on Wednesday, GBI said Protesters in Atlanta, are calling for violence against police officers and law enforcement entities following a police-involved shooting on Wednesday that left a state trooper wounded and one man dead. The Twitter account Scenes from the Atlanta Forest calls for a "Night of Rage" on Friday to enact "reciprocal violence to be done to the police and their allies," according to the Scenes from the Atlanta Forest Twitter account..... ...The upcoming event comes after a Georgia State Patrol trooper, wearing...

A Minnesota police chief was forced to apologize for posting an image of a 'thin blue line' flag to his department's Facebook page last week, after community members aired complaints labeling the symbol a representation of 'extremist views.' The flag, a black and white rendition of the American flag with a blue stripe running just under the stars, represents men and women in blue standing as a line between law and order. However, more recently, the symbol has been deemed divisive by some, as its meaning has shifted from one of nonpartisan support to one synonymous with the far-right

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the Senate should defund law enforcement refusing to enforce gun laws. Anchor Dana Bash said, “Five months, it’s been that long since the president signed a bipartisan bill. You helped negotiate it. It incentivized states to implement red flag laws. Virginia and Colorado, where these mass shootings took place over the last ten days or so, they already have red flag laws in place, and it did not prevent those mass shootings.”

Los Angeles Sheriff Alex Villanueva has taken aim at liberals in his county after being ousted from office in last week's election. Villanueva, who won office in 2018 on the back of a tough-on-crime platform, was beaten by former Long Beach police chief Robert Luna, whom he accused of being a "puppet" of the liberal movement.... ...Villanueva, also a Democrat, says Luna was elected by the far left who wanted a defund-the-police puppet in office who will end up destroying law and order....

Republican gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin said Saturday that he’s gotten an earful from NYPD cops who are furious that their union donated $25,000 to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s campaign — while not giving the tough-on-crime candidate a cent in the tight race. “We have heard from a lot of NYPD officers who are pissed off [after] learning that their money went to Kathy Hochul, who is pandering to these pro-criminal allies in the state Legislature,” the Long Island congressman told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto. Zeldin had been questioned about a Post report on the controversial donation made by the New...

Years ago I was writing about blacks and Democrats and looked at the impact Rudy Giuliani made in New York City. Over the course of his tenure from 1994 – 2002 there were 3,440 fewer black murder victims in the city than there might have been had New York simply experienced the average nationwide crime decline between 1994 & 2002. “That’s 3,440 families that did not lose a son, a father, a breadwinner, or a role model. 3,440 black men still alive to take care of and support their families…” Saving 3,400 black lives and keeping 3,400 families intact didn’t...