Free Republic

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to bring forth gun control legislation following Saturday night's shooting in Odessa and Midland, Texas. Pelosi released the following statement about the tragic shooting: “America’s heart is broken by the senseless and horrific mass shooting tonight in Texas. The prayers of the nation are with the friends and families of the victims and the entire Midland and Odessa communities, and our deepest gratitude goes out to the first responders, who are bringing help and healing during this tragic time. “Enough...

Police in Odessa, Texas, report that eight people were killed and nearly 20 were injured in a shooting that began after a traffic stop on Saturday afternoon. Three officers are said to be among the wounded. Police shot and killed the suspect. The eighth person died Sunday morning in Midland, Texas. UPDATE 9:30 a.m.: What we know… Two Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers attempted to stop a gold Honda for a traffic violation on Interstate Highway 20 near mile marker 131 at about 3 p.m. on Saturday. Before stopping for the troopers, the driver reportedly pointed a rifle...

Local media outlets report multiple shooting victims in an active shooter situation in the Midland-Odessa region of West Texas. UPDATE 6:00 p.m.:  Press Conference with Odessa Police Department.  The situation began when a DPS trooper pulled over a vehicle. The driver reportedly shot the trooper and drove away firing oat multiple people. There were multiple scenes and multiple victims. The suspect then allegedly stole the mail truck and drove to The Cinergy movie theater complex. Police engaged the suspect and shot killed. At least 21 shooting victims and five people dead, the Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said.The suspect is...

After a gunman in west Texas killed five people and injured more than 20 in Midland and Odessa Saturday, White House hopeful and former Texas lawmaker Beto O’Rourke (D) said that, while the facts of the shooting have not been released by officials, “we do know this is f—ed up." “Not sure how many gunmen. Not sure how many people have been shot. Don’t know how many people have been killed. The condition of those who have survived. Don’t know what the motivation is, do not yet know the firearms that were used or how they acquired them,” O’Rourke told...

Authorities in Texas will hold a press conference Sunday at noon CST, or 1 p.m. EST. The press conference, which will be held in a parking lot at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, will provide updates on Saturday’s shooting that ended with seven dead and 19 injured. Officials are also expected to announce the identity of the shooter, who since the shooting has only been described as a white man in his mid-30s. The identities of the victims will also reportedly be released.

Why the delay in providing the public with information we have a right to know? The nation’s latest mass shooting — this time in Odessa, Texas — left at least five people dead and at least 21 others injured, including a police officer who was shot, on Saturday afternoon. In the ensuing hours after responding law enforcement said they killed the shooter, the demand to know the identity of the gunman grew louder across the internet.

ODESSA, Texas — UPDATE: ACTIVE SHOOTER REPORTED STAY INDOORS FOR BOTH cities Police confirm a second shooter is in the areas driving a stolen mail van. Officials are responding to an active shooter in Odessa. According to the Department of Public Safety, the shooter is in all Gold Passenger car armed with a rifle and headed from Odessa to Midland. Several people [now reporting 30 shot in Midland and Odessa] have been injured including police and civilians. Police Scanner

FULL TITLE: Mystery over identity of 'white male' shooter as Texas police withhold name before reported noon announcement Authorities in Texas have still not released the name of the gunman or type of firearm that was used after a rampage that left at least seven dead and 19 injured. The shooting occurred in and around the cities of Odessa and Midland, Texas. The only information that has been released about the shooter, who was killed by police, is that he is a white male in his mid-30s. The gunfire erupted in the late afternoon after the suspect shot an officer...

An active shooter in Saturday's deadly attack in Odessa has been killed, according to Midland police. Odessa Police Chief Michael Gerke said five people were killed and 21 shooting victims in the area of Midland and Odessa. At a news conference Saturday, Gerke also says that at least three law enforcement officers were among those shot. The suspect is described as a white male in his mid-30s. He spoke after a chaotic afternoon during which police reported that a suspect hijacked a U.S. Postal Service vehicle and began firing at random in the area of Odessa and Midland, hitting multiple...

Midland Police Department 18 mins · There are reports of an active shooter at the Home Depot in Odessa. For the safety of the public and law enforcement please stay away from the area and stay in your homes. We will update will more information as soon as possible.

Senator Ted Cruz speaks at the George H.W. Bush Commemorative Center in Midland, Texas for a campaign stop Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. (Mark Rogers/Odessa American via AP) On Sunday, noted left-wing Harvard Constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe ventured off into the fever swamps on the issue of abortion, positing what he thought was a solid reason why white supremacists “opposed” it: White Supremacists oppose abortion because they fear it’ll reduce the number of white infants and thus contribute to what they fear as non-white “replacement.” Never underestimate the way these issues and agendas are linked. This turns “intersectionality” on its...

Plans for Interstate 14 have been expanded, and the Texas Department of Transportation will have a say in how a portion of the project is executed. Rep. Brian Babin of Beaumont, who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, recently submitted a bill that would extend I-14 to Mississippi and effectively would bring two brand new interstates to West Texas. Under the already-approved plan known as Ports to Forts, I-14’s western terminus would be at I-10 and U.S. Route 190, near Iraan. US 190 would be converted to I-14 to Brady, and the project would continue eastward. The Midland-Odessa...

After nearly two years of litigation, a Michigan court ruled against plaintiff Yvette Cormier, who filed a complaint regarding a transgender woman — biological man — utilizing the women’s locker room at Planet Fitness, the Daily Wire reports. Shorty after joining her local Planet Fitness in Midland, Michigan, Mrs. Cormier encountered a man in the women’s locker room. Feeling uncomfortable, she notified the front desk at Planet Fitness that a man was in the women’s locker room. In the name of its “no judgment policy,” Cormier was told that whatever sex an individual self-identifies as allows that person to have...

Talks have been bubbling in recent months about making major route changes to Interstate 14, but the primary organization behind the push says it’s facing resistance from a West Texas representative and the state’s senior senator. Regional transportation lobby group Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance (MOTRAN) has pushed to change the congressionally approved western route of I-14, also known as the Forts to Ports Highway and the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway System. Forts to Ports aims to connect Fort Bliss in El Paso with Fort Hood in Central Texas and Fort Polk in Louisiana. The plan also connects to military deployment ports...

A Michigan woman's gym membership was revoked because she refused to stop complaining about a transgender patron. According to Michigan Live, the incident started when a Planet Fitness member named Yvette Cormier went to use the women's gym's locker room at the Midland location. "I was blocked, because a man was standing there," Cormier told Michigan Live. "It freaked me out because why is a man in here?" Cormier sought out a gym employee to complain, but was told that members are allowed to use whatever locker room they want to, based on the gender they identify themselves as, ABC...

In a lecture event titled “Groundbreakers, Mavericks, and TrailBlazers: How Women are showing 21st Century Leadership,” John Ben Shepperd Public Leadership Institute guest Sarah Palin spent her opening speech time on hitting all the key points a conservative Midland-Odessa wants to hear: American exceptionalism, attacks on President Barack Obama and foreign countries, praise of President Ronald Reagan, cleaning up the “good ol’ boys” system in Washington, D.C., and saying “screw political correctness.” Palin was the center of attention at the Wagner-Noël Performing Arts Center on Thursday evening. She spent the first half of the roughly 90-minute event speaking freely on...

Midland, TX — Rosendo Gino Rodriquez, 49, was shot dead in an altercation Monday while Midland Police were conducting a routine welfare check. The Midland County mental health unit was conducting a regular welfare check at a home on the 2700 block of Washington Street, when things went sour. According to the Midland police, Rodriquez became “aggressive” during the welfare check. The term aggressive is used loosely by the MPD, as they claim he acted out said “aggression” by running away from them, back into his house, and barricading himself in a room. The Free Thought Project would like to...

"At this point we are considering it not to be Ebola but we never want to rule anything completely out. It's highly unlikely that it is Ebola," Bustilloz said. The female passenger travelled from Istanbul Turkey through London to Dallas Fort Worth where 2791 departed to Midland. The 69 passengers are all being tracked and were told to look out for symptoms although they were released.

A government money grab that's been operating under the guise of public safety might soon be ended. Legislation to scrap Michigan's "driver responsibility fees" has overwhelming support in the Legislature. In 2003, state lawmakers passed a bill that assessed "driver responsibility fees" in an effort to bring in additional revenue. The move was thinly veiled as a measure to ensure drivers were operating vehicles safely. However, the fees often go beyond simply assigning stiffer penalties for unsafe driving practices. In many instances they pile on costs that individuals don't have the ability to pay. What's more, under certain circumstances they...

MIDLAND, MI — Less than 24 hours after U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, announced he will not seek re-election in November, Midland's state senator announced he will run for Camp's seat. State Sen. John Moolenaar, R-Midland, issued a press release Tuesday afternoon, April 1, stating he will seek election to represent Michigan's 4th Congressional District. "I will be a strong conservative voice for the hard working families of mid and northern Michigan," Moolenaar said. "In Michigan I have fought against overreaching government policies that are killing jobs and overburdening individuals." Camp announced late in the day Monday, March 31, that...