Free Republic

Mayor Muriel Bowser has a go-to strategy when President Trump fires off a surprise D.C. takeover threat: sealed lips. Why it matters: After the alleged assault of an ex-DOGE staffer, Washingtonians might reasonably wonder if the city is one high-profile crime away from forfeiting its local democracy. What I'm hearing: Trump's missives to "FEDERALIZE" the District sound doomy, but Bowser isn't acting like the sky is falling. Bowser stuck to it after Trump said on Truth Social on Tuesday that "we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City" if D.C. "doesn't get its act together."...

A Florida pastor and his alleged accomplice were busted Thursday for running a phony immigration racket out of a church, duping desperate migrants out of thousands, police said. Nelson David Ochoa-Vasquez, 46, a pastor at La Iglesia de Dios Jireh, and Ismer Gonzalez, 45, were arrested by the sheriff’s Organized Crimes Bureau for what officials called an “organized scheme to defraud” in a press release. The pair allegedly posed as legal helpers while targeting at least 16 immigrants between April 2024 and January 2025, ... Ochoa-Vasquez used his pulpit to gain victims’ trust before allegedly referring them to Gonzalez under...

Cameras captured the wild moment when dozens of people on minibikes blocked an intersection in Downtown Los Angeles on Sunday afternoon. The video posted on Citizen.com showed the riders blocking traffic while performing stunts at the intersection of Francisco Street and West 8th Street, not far from the 110 Freeway. Witnesses reported seeing the group riding throughout the Downtown L.A. area the rest of the day. It was unclear whether any arrests were made or if the police ever intervened.

A growing culture of Third Worldism—the belief that you’re entitled to use public spaces without any responsibility to care for them—is corroding civic life in cities. Immigrants from poor countries like my own, Venezuela, often joke that Americans complain too much about “First World problems.” Back home, we don’t worry about microaggressions; we’re too busy figuring out how to put food on the table or stay safe from crime and government censorship. But here’s the irony: increasingly, Americans aren’t complaining enough about Third World problems. Trash-strewn streets, loud music in public, brazen shoplifting, rising disorder, and a general decline in...

RNS) — The United Church of Christ passed a resolution at its General Synod this week denouncing what it called “domestic terrorism” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and accusing the Trump administration of weaponizing the Constitution. The denomination’s criticism focused on immigration raids “carried out by ICE agents working without uniforms, wearing masks or refusing to identify themselves.” The resolution of witness, titled “Responding to the federal government’s attack on immigrants, migrants, and refugees,” also officially calls for the UCC to divest from “for-profit private detention businesses,” naming three such businesses — CoreCivic, GEO Group, and Management and Training...

Credit: WBFF FOX45 Baltimore YouTube screenshot A Maryland woman got violent with a local reporter outside a Frederick courthouse earlier this week for daring to ask about her alleged activities involving homes occupied by squatters. As WBFF reported, Kaniya Washington has used an Instagram account called nayomisavage to feature several advertisements for weeks, including a video tour of homes that are allegedly occupied by squatters. And she allegedly collects money for helping squatters take over other people’s homes. “She’s advertising squatter homes,” one female, who said she was connected to a Northwest Baltimore City home by Washington, told WBFF. “She...

State Attorney General Letitia James is conducting a misconduct probe of a New York local law enforcement agency helping the Trump administration crack down on illegal immigration, The Post has learned. The AG’s office asked Oswego County Sheriff Don Hilton for documents outlining any cooperation between local law enforcement officials and federal agencies, including Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security. A letter from the office asked Oswego County Sheriff Don Hilton to turn over any agreements between the office and any federal agency “concerning the enforcement of federal immigration law” – and it also asks...

WASHINGTON - On Thursday, the United States filed a complaint against the State of New York, challenging state policies that blocked immigration officials from arresting individuals at or near New York courthouses. Specifically, the complaint challenges a law, called the Protect Our Courts Act, that purposefully shields dangerous aliens from being lawfully detained at or on their way to or from a courthouse and imposes criminal liability for violations of the shield. This law and accompanying polices violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution because they obstruct the execution of federal immigration authorities.“Lawless sanctuary city policies are the root...

Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass and over 30 other mayors of nearby cities on Wednesday called for an end to federal immigration enforcement raids amid protests. Protests in Los Angeles turned violent over the weekend after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted raids last week, resulting in detentions and deportations of illegal immigrants. The violent protests led to President Trump sending the National Guard and Marines to the city over California Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) objection. "A week ago, everything was peaceful in the city of Los Angeles, and in all of the representatives behind me, in their cities,...

Officers had to form a skirmish line to clear a large mob that vandalized a Metro train, a police car and several businesses in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The anti-Trump demonstrations we now see in the streets are not just examples of the immaturity of many modern secular liberals, who seem to think that everyone else is somehow obligated to agree with them. They’re also a symptom of the distorted influence politics now exercises over our culture. But in addition to being a symptom of our culture, the dominance of politics in every aspect of life is also a consequence of liberalism itself. The tendency of liberalism has always been to politicize everything. Thanks to liberalism, we have a politicized media that has abandoned journalistic standards in a...

In an embarrassing public meltdown where she practically started shouting, far left Democrat mayor Sheng Thao blamed conservatives for the corruption scandal that ended her political career and led to her being recalled in the deep blue city of Oakland. She was kicked out of office in November 2024, with around 60% of voters supporting her removal due to rising crime, murder, and homelessness in Oakland. For context, in January of 2025, Thao and several co-conspirators were indicted on eight counts of conspiracy and bribery in a federal operation, and she faces almost 100 years of possible prison time for...

Well, it went around... and now here it comes. Democrat leaders like Senator Chuck Schumer message thinly veiled threats of violence to their (increasingly small) number of followers. They are responding in counterproductive ways like torching and defacing Tesla cars and trucks, vehicles most likely owned by Democrats who believe in the climate change fairy tale and want to reduce CO2 emissions. The logical response of Democrat owners is to blame and leave the party that provokes this nonsensical criminal behavior. Even if you are brainwashed enough to think Elon Musk, who opened up the internet for free speech, rescued...

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) claimed Thursday on MSNBC’s “All In” that President Donald Trump’s “lawlessness through executive orders” was an attempt to replace the American republic. Warnock said, “Yeah. let me be very clear on what we’re dealing. This is the administrative expression of January 6th. On January 6th, it was clear that in a violent way, they were coming after the republic, coming after the nonviolent transfer of power, including. a kind of brutality visited upon police officers, the effort to disenfranchise the votes of millions of Americans, and that that spirit of January 6th continues. Which is why,...

Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Tuesday warned that judges nationwide are under increasing threat from violence, intimidation, disinformation and officials threatening to defy lawful court decisions. Roberts said that robust criticism of judicial rulings is part of American civic life, but that some recent attacks had gone too far in threatening to undermine the independence necessary for judges to rule impartially. “Violence, intimidation, and defiance directed at judges because of their work undermine our Republic, and are wholly unacceptable,” Roberts wrote in his annual report on the state of the nation’s judiciary. The justice’s message follows...

Denver has built a reputation as a city where new immigrants can find legal help and maybe even a job without constant fear of authorities. But the United States will soon have a new president. Donald Trump promises mass deportations. And he says he will defund sanctuary cities that resist him, a move that could deprive Denver of millions of dollars for programs residents depend on. Will pressure from the president change how Denver treats immigrants? “The short answer is, we won't change that, because those are one of our core values,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said in an interview...

On Wednesday, the Bucks County commissioners' meeting was packed with citizens who were fed up with Democratic officials' alleged attempts to count illegal ballots in the recount of the Senate race between incumbent Bob Casey (D) and Dave McCormick (R). ---SNIP--- The first speaker revealed a bombshell announcement, stating that she planned to file a criminal complaint against Ellis-Marseglia and Vice Chair Robert Harvie Jr. "Diane's actually right, though: The law doesn't matter anymore in this country because people like you violate it all the time, and all we the people do is sit here and complain," the resident said....

Before the Nov. 5 election, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court ruled that provisional ballots must be signed in two required places and that mail-in votes must be dated. Yet elected Democratic officials in Philadelphia and three other counties — Bucks, Centre and Montgomery — voted this week to defy these and other court decisions at the request of lawyers for Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, who trails GOP challenger Dave McCormick by about 24,000 votes, with almost all of the roughly 7 million ballots cast having been counted. These Democrats’ decisions will almost certainly be overturned on appeal, but the mere attempt to...

Bucks County commissioners voted to count ballots lacking proper signatures, violating a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling earlier this year. The three-member board voted two to one to count these illegal ballots in the Senate race recount. “I think we all know that precedent by a court doesn't matter anymore in this country, and people violate laws anytime they want,” Diane Marseglia said. “So for me, if I violate this law, it's because I want a court to pay attention to it.” Board chairman Robert Harviie, Jr., joined Marseglia in voting to accept the ballots that voters signed in one section...

Dolton “Dictator” Mayor Tiffany Henyard inferred she would seek the arrests of her opponents in a rambling social media rant as her fed-up landlord described dealing with the under-fire pol who is facing eviction. Henyard, of the Illinois suburb, went on a nearly 90-minute tirade in a Facebook live video Tuesday after a meeting of the Thornton Township, which she also leads, was canceled because not enough board members showed up. In the endless address, the scandal-ridden mayor defended herself against non-stop criticism over her handling of municipal business and finances while calling dissenting officials corrupt. “I will be seeking...