Free Republic

President Donald Trump fired Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, on Thursday. Hayden was informed of the president’s decision through an email from Trent Morse, the deputy director of presidential personnel. “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately,” the email said. Hayden was appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2016 to serve a 10-year term, which was set to expire next year.

A Wisconsin woman who disappeared more than 60 years ago has been found alive by authorities. Audrey Backeberg left her Reedsburg home in July 1962 when she was 20 years old, a press release from the Sauk County Sheriff's Office said. During a review of cold cases earlier this year, a detective reassessed the initial evidence and re-interviewed several witnesses, Sheriff Chip Meister said in the release. Law enforcement departments across the country have been reviewing cold cases with the aid of new DNA technology, including the self-submit websites such as Ancestry.com. As such sites have expanded, so have the...

MADISON, Wis. -- A Florida man who was found to have communicated with the Abundant Life Christian School shooter was arrested for allegedly planning a mass shooting at a law enforcement facility. According to the arrest affidavit Damien Blade Allen and the 15-year-old girl who police say opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in December, killing two and injuring six, exchanged messages for months over TikTok. A joint investigation between FBI and US revealed Damien Blade Allen allegedly conspired with other individuals online to commit mass violence. Allen was also arrested for impersonating a law enforcement officer. He allegedly...

MADISON, Wis. -- As President Trump addressed Congress Tuesday night, the Wisconsin State Capitol rotunda was empty. But just hours earlier, hundreds of protesters filled the building. "We need Trump out of there," said one protester. The group rallied against the Trump administration at large while also singling out issues like reproductive rights, the war between Russia and Ukraine and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency efforts. "Now they're coming after Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP. We work for a food pantry and it's going to hurt us so bad." Democratic state leaders urged attendees to take their federal...

It’s an old story: When people are allowed to get their way for too long, when they’re never told “No!” they may get too big for their britches. They may develop a sense of entitlement and even become narcissistic. And proving that judges are no exception are a number of recent court “opinions” designed to scuttle President Trump’s agenda. One disallows DOGE from scrutinizing Treasury Department data.

The Dane County Sheriff's Office is withdrawing from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program that relies on information about undocumented immigrants in jail. In an exclusive one-on-one, News 3’s Meryl Hubbard spoke with Sheriff Kalvin Barrette to learn more about what this change means for the county. “At this point, we will no longer be taking part in the SCAAP grant program, and it is due to the recent change in administration and our understanding, listening, and hearing our community here in Dane County,” said Sheriff Kalvin Barrett. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the SCAAP program provides federal...

Exposing the “Hamas Loyalists” who are teaching terror on our campuses.. A paid social media ad campaign launched this week by the David Horowitz Freedom Center is targeting pro-terror “Hamas Loyalist” professors at ten prestigious American universities who choose to promote the ideology of the genocidal terrorist cult, often in direct violation of university policy. The professors targeted in the campaign not only defend Hamas’s brutality—the slaughter of over a thousand Jews, the rape and mutilation of women, the beheading of children—but outright celebrate it as a form of liberation that should be emulated across the globe. Consider San Francisco...

Wisconsin Senate member-elect Dora Drake (D) is pushing for a red flag law in the wake of the December 16, 2024, Madison Christian school shooting. Drake has not explained how a red flag law would prevent a 15-year-old girl–the age and gender of the alleged Madison shooter–from carrying out an attack since such an individual is already too young to legally buy a firearm. Moreover, Drake did not address the fact that California has a red-flag law yet the Golden State led the nation in “active shooter incidents” in 2021 and 2023. Instead, Drake focused on Republicans’ opposition to red...

We all know the old saying "actions speak louder than words." A Madison man is living by that message by taking action to destroy firearms. It's all in an effort to prevent gun violence. Madison's Midvale Community Lutheran Church was the site of Jeff Wild's symbolic action Monday. Wild along with several others, brought a pair of chop saws to the church's entrance to cut up six handguns, one rifle and one shotgun. The action comes just a week after a student at Abundant Life Christian School brought two guns inside, killing a teacher and a fellow student. Wild says...

The gun used by the 15-year-old girl who allegedly opened fire in Madison’s Abundant Life Christian School was purchased legally. Breitbart News reported that the 15-year-old had two handguns with her and WISN noted that Madison Chief of Police Shon Barnes indicated both were legally acquired. Barnes seemed to indicate that police, with the help of the ATF, have learned who purchased them but will not identify said person at this time for the sake of preserving the integrity of the investigation. He made clear investigators are seeking “anyone who may have been involved, who may have had some effort...

Hundreds of students at Madison High School marched to the state Capitol on Friday to demand an “assault weapons” ban after the December 16, 2024, Abundant Life Christian School handgun attack. The Cap Times reported the students chanted “books, not bullets” and “no more silence, end gun violence.” The Wisconsin Examiner quoted the high schoolers saying, “Graduations not funerals.” Once at the Capitol, the students called for an “assault weapons” ban and enhanced background checks. The students did not mention that the alleged 15-year-old shooter did not use a firearm categorized as an “assault weapon” nor did she buy her...

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes is leaving the department after being selected to lead the Seattle Police Department, the Seattle Mayor’s Office announced. Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said Barnes was chosen after a nationwide search. Chief Barnes has been with the Madison Police Department since 2021. Communities nationwide heard from Barnes this week after a 15-year-old student opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School, in Madison, killing two people and wounding several others. “Earlier this week, under tragic circumstances, the nation received its introduction to Chief Shon Barnes,” said Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. “We all saw firsthand what our team...

Alexander Paffendorf, 20, of Carlsbad, was detained by FBI agents on suspicion of 'plotting' to coordinate a mass shooting at government buildings in conjunction with Rupnow, according to an emergency gun violence restraining order reviewed by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It notes that FBI agents 'saw the messages from Paffendorf to Rupnow.' It was not immediately clear how Paffendorf knew Rupnow, and Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Journal Sentinel he did not have any information about the arrest in California, and referred questions to the FBI.

According to investigative journalist Andy Ngo, she posted a purported "sneak peek" of the manifesto to her Discord account, "@brainedout." In the earlier version, Rupnow allegedly discussed a desire to "exterminate" all males, including infants and the elderly, in a rant apparently inspired by extremist culture among fringe social media circles.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin police did not plan any public updates Wednesday on the extremely rare religious school shooting that killed a teacher and a student and wounded six others, a day after the city’s mayor chastised reporters and urged them to leave victims alone. Police have been tight-lipped about why a 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian Christian School shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday, before shooting herself. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday. Tension over police not releasing additional information spilled over into a news conference on...

After ducking questions for much of the day, Madison, Wisc. Police Chief Shon Barnes finally revealed the identity of the suspected shooter found dead inside a private Christian school on Monday. While there is currently no evidence suggesting that the suspect is transgender, Chief Barnes said that he won’t even consider whether gender status or ideology was a factor. In earlier press briefings, Barnes first denied knowing if the body found was either “male or female,” then later said he would not reveal the students “gender.” Chief Barnes’ obfuscations and the terminology he used throughout much of the day fueled...

Failed presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris called for an “assault weapons” ban Monday night, hours after a 15-year-old allegedly killed two people with a handgun. Breitbart News noted the shooting occurred at Madison, Wisconsin’s, Abundant Life Christian School (ALCS), where a 15-year-old girl allegedly opened fire just before 11:00 a.m., killing a teacher and another student. The 15-year-old then apparently took her own life. Harris responded to the incident by posting a statement to X from herself and her husband, which said, in part, “Congress and state legislatures must make background checks universal, pass red flag and...

It was senseless. It was evil, and now the media and the police are about to make some of these tragedies even more of a circus. Yesterday, in Madison, Wisconsin, a teenage shooter shot and killed two people at Abundant Life Christian School. She injured six others before committing suicide. And yet, the gender of the shooter was not revealed until an unnecessary game of “Guess Who” was launched after Police Chief Shon Barnes refused to disclose that detail. We’re going to see this more often, aren’t we? These types of shootings don’t fit the liberal narrative. It was already...

The female school shooter, who gunned down students and teachers before turning the gun on herself in Wisconsin, was named by officials on Monday night. Natalie 'Samantha' Rupnow, 15, killed a student, a teacher, and then herself at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shortly before 11am on Monday. Rupnow's alleged manifesto has been circulating on social media. Police said they have not confirmed the document's validity. Two people are currently fighting for their lives in hospital after the rampage. Rupnow - who died from a self-inflicted gun wound on the way to hospital after the school shooting - opened...

I will give the president this much: He can’t stay quiet about this story, being that he’s a Democrat, but Joe also placed himself in a position where he and his party can no longer comment on gun violence forever. There was a horrific shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, today. Two people are dead, with another six wounded. The shooter is dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It’s not right, but this story isn’t going to last a week. The suspect wasn’t a white male, and the firearm used in this crime was a 9mm handgun....