Free Republic

Protesters block roads, hurl rocks at police after string of crackdowns on synagogues, educational institutions stokes tensions between Haredi factions and law enforcement; officer fires warning shot in the air after becoming surrounded by large crowds Hundreds of members of the extremist ultra-Orthodox Jerusalemite Faction blocked roads in the city of Bnei Brak on Sunday in protest against the government's coronavirus measures. Protest leaders defined it as an action against what they deemed as "the government's decision to restrict the movement of the ultra-Orthodox public in any way possible while using violent and tyrannical methods reserved for regimes we thought...

A Tacoma police officer whose SUV was surrounded by a crowd was seen on camera running over a pedestrian Saturday night. The incident was captured on camera and distributed on social media. Tacoma police officer Wendy Haddow said officers were called to Ninth South and Pacific where cars were blocking the intersection and doing burnouts and doughnuts. A crowd of about 100 people had gathered to watch. A Tacoma police officer who arrived soon found himself surrounded by people who were banging on the windows and SUV in a threatening way, Haddow said. Some of the SUV’s windows may have...

Pretty pathetic. Fortunately, he’s punished rather quickly, unlike the felons in Frisco.

<p>Officials say a naked Florida man has been arrested after stealing what news footage showed to be a marked Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office cruiser and crashing it.</p><p>The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says 22-year-old Joshua Shenker was arrested after Thursday’s crash and charged with theft of a motor vehicle, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and other counts.</p>

A Gwinnett County teenager was arrested after authorities said he managed to steal nearly $1 million from the grocery store where he worked. Tre Brown, 19, was taken into custody Jan. 14 after scamming the Kroger on Steve Reynolds Boulevard out of more than $980,000 over a two-week period, Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. Collin Flynn said. According to police, Brown created more than 40 returns for non-existent items in December and January. Those returns, which ranged in price from $75 to more than $87,000, were then placed on several credit cards, investigators said. Police said Brown used the stolen money...

A REALITY TV star and her husband are in custody for allegedly killing a three-year-old girl in their care. Ariel Robinson, 29, who won season 20 of "Worst Cooks in America", and her husband, Jerry Robinson, 34, have been charged with homicide by child abuse in South Carolina, according to police. They're accused of inflicting multiple blunt force injuries on Victoria Rose Smith, 3, resulting in her death on January 14. Her death was ruled a homicide. It is not yet known if the victim was one of the couple's biological or foster children but The Sun understands she was...

A U.S. Coast Guard crew from Station Key West have recovered a floating tiki hut bar that was reported stolen near in the Florida Keys Unsurprisingly, the person aboard showed signs of intoxication and he was taken into custody by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Officials said the vessel was located near Hawk’s Channel. Local reports say the man was found slumped over the wheel of the charter tiki hut at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, giving you an indication of how rough his night was. The boat is owned Cruisin’ Tiki Key West, which offers the boats up for...

Jason Nightengale was a 32-year-old Illinois man who went on a random shooting rampage in Chicago and Evanston on January 10, randomly wounding and murdering multiple people in an IHOP, convenience store, street, and apartment. Altogether seven people were shot, at least five fatally. According to Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown, who spoke in a news conference, Nightengale shot and killed an apartment security guard, a man sitting in a garage, and a man in a convenience store. He also shot a teenager in a car, a woman in an IHOP restaurant, and other people during the shooting spree. The...

On December 4, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) Build North Coast Corridor (NCC) crews performed the final concrete pour to complete the underground foundation for the new Interstate 5 (I-5) bridge at the San Elijo Lagoon in the City of Encinitas. The bridge reconstruction will help relieve traffic congestion, improve lagoon tidal flows, and create new bike and pedestrian paths when complete in late 2021. “Throughout the course of this regionally significant transportation project, the efforts to reestablish the health of the San Elijo Lagoon is an achievement with regional environmental benefits,” said...

A Black, transgender woman was found dead with a gun shot wound to the side of her head in Chicago, according to a local report and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). Courtney "Eshay" Key, 25, was found dead Friday around 8:35 p.m. with an "open wound to the left side" of her head near 900 E. 82nd Street on the South Side of Chicago, according to a report from CBS Chicago. Key's family told the local outlet she was the victim of a hate crime, according to the news source. According to her family, Key had also been misgendered when...

An anti-masker who believed the COVID-19 crisis was just a “political” stunt issued an emotional plea to skeptics from his hospital bed — after becoming seriously ill with the virus. In a Facebook video shared by a pal on Monday, Chuck Stacey gasps for breath as he admits he was wrong about the pandemic that’s killed 1.8 million globally. “I didn’t wear a mask. I should’ve. I didn’t,” Stacey says with oxygen tubes in his nose. “I believed this was just the flu, that it was all going to go away, that it was political. I didn’t think a mask...

A Minnesota man was arrested after he allegedly pulled out a gun in a gym because members were not wearing masks while they worked out. Michael Florhaug, 64, reportedly went to an LA Fitness on Dec. 31 in Maplewood to monitor whether gym members were wearing face masks. He is not a member of the gym. He reportedly spoke to an employee at the front desk to alert them that members were not complying with mask mandates and spoke in an "aggressive and angry" tone. A manager then spoke with the man and said the gym does not employ enough...

This undated photo provided by the Lake County Sheriff's Office, in Illinois, shows Lynell P. Glover. Glover is charged with aggravated battery in the fatal shooting of a teenager and the wounding of another in a dispute over a stolen vehicle, authorities said Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. VOLO, Ill. (AP) — A northern Illinois man was charged Monday with two counts of aggravated battery in the fatal shooting of a teenager and the wounding of another in a dispute over a stolen vehicle. Lake County prosecutors say Lynell Glover on Sunday allegedly ordered two teens he observed riding in his...

Six years after being arrested for having sex with a minor, a former New Mexico youth volleyball coach has been arrested again. This time, he is accused of raping several young girls. Ryan Kapuscinski, 28, has been charged with 52 felonies including 44 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor. He stands accused of having sex with three girls between the ages of 11 and 15. The crimes reportedly happened between 2015 and 2018. Kapuscinski was previously arrested in 2014 for having sex with a minor. He pleaded no contest and was released on probation with a conditional discharge.

Portland police identified five armed suspects arrested Friday for robbing a northeast Portland dispensary, then leading police on a high-speed chase and hiding for several hours. Police tweeted Friday afternoon that the suspects were hiding in the neighborhood of Northeast Halsey and Broadway, between Northeast 41st and 47th Avenues. Police said SERT had been activated. We’re here at NE Halsey & 42nd where @PortlandPolice are searching for multiple people who they say are armed. The road is closed here. @fox12oregon pic.twitter.com/cCz3mrEcOS — Bridget Chavez (@BridgetChavezTV) January 1, 2021 Police said the suspects they were looking for were described as young...

Lawyer-Turned-Citizen Journalist Zhang Zhan Hit Out at Judge During Trial: Lawyer Jailed citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, who was sentenced to four years' imprisonment for posting reports from Wuhan during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the city, spoke up in court and challenged the judge during her trial earlier this week, RFA has learned. Zhang, 37, appeared in the Pudong New District People's Court in a wheelchair on Tuesday after being force-fed during a hunger strike in the Pudong New District Detention Center. She was found guilty of "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble," a charge frequently used...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An Ohio death row inmate who survived an attempt to execute him by lethal injection in 2009 died Monday of possible complications of COVID-19, the state prisons system said. At the time of the 2009 procedure, condemned prisoner Romell Broom was only the second inmate nationally to survive an execution after they began in modern times. Broom, 64, has been placed on the "COVID probable list" maintained by the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, spokesperson Sara French said Tuesday. Inmates on that list are suspected to have died of COVID-19, pending a death certificate, she said.

<p>PETRINJA, Croatia (AP) — A strong earthquake hit central Croatia on Tuesday, destroying buildings and sending panicked people fleeing into rubble-covered streets in a town southeast of the capital. Authorities said at least seven people were killed and dozens were injured.</p>

The Democrat governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, has implemented rules for sports that apparently would force children as young as five in hockey leagues to wear masks while playing. The Minnesota Department of Health, in its “COVID-19 Sports Practice Guidance for Youth and Adults,” writes: Starting Jan. 4, 2021, practices for organized youth and adult sports may resume. Practices cannot exceed pod sizes of more than 25. Spectators are not allowed; however, this does not prevent a parent, guardian, or support person from being present if necessary due to a participant’s age, disability, or medical condition. … Face coverings must...

Measure is virtually unenforceable.. Authorities in Victoria, Australia have banned kissing and hugging on New Year’s Eve despite the fact that there have been no new cases of COVID-19 in two months. State Premier Dan Andrews said hugging and kissing should not take place during celebrations between anyone but immediate family members. “Just as Christmas was a little different this year, New Year’s Eve will be too,” the Victorian Government said. “Take some hand sanitiser with you, don’t share drinks with others and [new year] kisses and hugs should [only] be shared with those in your immediate family.” Quite how...