Free Republic

Santa Monica is putting more cops on the streets after a summer of violence hit the tourist hotspot — including two shootings in just two days. **SNIP** Saturday, a knife-wielding man was shot and killed near the Santa Monica Pier after he allegedly charged toward officers. The following day, a person was shot in the leg during an attempted robbery. The violence comes after a string of deadly incidents that has put the normally tourist-packed city on edge. In mid-July, a man was fatally shot in a parking lot near the Pier. Police responding around midnight found an adult male...

Radical pro-abortion California is continuing its tirade against the lives of preborn and born children alike with three new bills that horrify the average American voter. As California reaches the end of its legislative session, abortion extremists are going to push these bills through as quickly as possible — but Students for Life Action (SFLAction) won’t let them do it without a fight. Here are the deadly bills California state legislators introduced: AB 1930 — “Abortion or gender-affirming health care services: investigations, subpoenas, or summons” Introduced by Democrat Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, along with Democrat Assemblymembers John Harabedian, Nick Schultz,...

While the future of reparations in California remains uncertain, state lawmakers are continuing to push forward with related legislation despite a lack of clear consensus on broad direct cash payouts. Most recently, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, D-Ladera Heights, introduced Assembly Bill 2599, known as the Truth in Disclosure Act. The bill would require major corporations doing business in California with annual worldwide gross receipts over $100 million to review their historical records and submit sworn affidavits disclosing any past ties to chattel slavery.

Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing scrutiny after an online ad revealed that campaign contributions from supporters of her re-election bid would be matched by taxpayer dollars. "Your donation to our campaign right now is more critical than ever before," said Bass, speaking into a lapel microphone with upbeat music playing in the background of the ad, which was posted to her campaign's X account. "Let me explain," she continued. "Thanks to LA's super match program, every qualified donation from Los Angeles residents is matched 6-to-1 by the city. But after the primary, we had to start over...

One of New Yorks’ most notorious pimps was finally caged at the end of July, sentenced to 50 years on charges of human trafficking and ordering the murder of a rival. The trial of Omari “Prince” Scott, 45, opened a window into the seedy world of the “Penn Track” in East New York, Brooklyn, where he ran multiple women. Despite Scott’s conviction, sex workers tell The Post business around Pennsylvania Avenue — also known as “the Blade” — continues as brazenly as usual, with tens of women on the streets selling sex for as little as $85 a time and...

Gavin Newsom’s official calendars show the lefty governor listing zero government business on a staggering 18 taxpayer-funded workdays in the first four months of the year, The California Post has learned. The uber-secretive Newsom — who only finally released his calendars after a monthslong delay that required legal intervention by The Post’s lawyers — marked the 18 non-holiday weekdays as “no official business,” or about one in every four days. The governor’s calendar also includes 53 murky entries only described as “work time,” blocking off the large chunks to tinker on unknown tasks. On Feb. 6, for example, Newsom’s sole...

The ex-con husband of a disgraced Westchester County police bigwig turned himself in to cops Thursday to face charges that the pair drove their gangbanger son to a botched hit in the Bronx. James Lackard, 47, the husband of recently fired Mount Vernon Deputy Police Commissioner Jennifer Lackard, walked into the 44th Precinct stationhouse in the Bronx around 8:30 a.m. to surrender after two days on the run, the sources said. He was arraigned hours later on the same attempted murder indictment lodged against his cop wife and 20-year-old son, reputed “Slutty Gang” thug Chase Lackard, earlier this week. The...

The gangbanging son of a Westchester County police bigwig had a Bronx court date just minutes before he allegedly opened fire on a rival – with his cop mom and ex-con dad as getaway drivers, prosecutors said Wednesday. Chase Lackard, 20, faced a judge on a 2024 gun rap just 20 minutes before the alleged June 29 drive-by gang shooting – with help from his mom, disgraced Mount Vernon Deputy Police Commissioner Jennifer Lackard, and drug-dealing dad James Lackard, according to prosecutors. “He’s captured on cameras running into this courthouse,” Bronx Assistant District Attorney Keturah Ladd told the judge. “He...

Democrats blocked Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman from speaking during the Bronx Dominican Day parade on Sunday — with one state pol admitting she snubbed him over ties to President Trump. Blakeman wasn’t given the chance to address the crowd during part of the celebration on the Grand Concourse that involved comments from Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. The Republican, who is currently serving as the elected Nassau County executive, was told by lefty Assemblywoman Amanda Septimo he couldn’t speak even though some in the crowd called out to “let him speak.” “This is exactly what life...

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra has opened up a commanding lead over Republican Steve Hilton just weeks after the pair advanced from California’s primary, according to a new poll. The survey from the Public Policy Institute of California found Becerra leading Hilton by 25 percentage points, with 61% of likely voters backing the former health secretary compared to 36% for the ex-Fox News host turned Republican candidate. The results mark a dramatic shift from California’s June 2 blanket primary, when Becerra finished first with about 28.1% of the vote and Hilton followed closely behind with roughly 24.7% Support remained overwhelmingly...

China’s leader draws from autocrats’ playbook to expand power, oust potential rivals and lay groundwork to rule indefinitely Chinese leader Xi Jinping is employing the sort of autocratic tactics once wielded by Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong to stamp out opposition and stack the leadership with acolytes as he prepares to extend his reign. In a throwback to the most powerful Communist leaders of the 20th century, Xi has purged dozens of senior officials—even his own protégés—overseen the growth of a cult of personality and demanded absolute loyalty. His goal: dictate China’s destiny for years to come in order to...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Wednesday taking aim at California’s ban on Glock pistols the day it was slated to take effect.Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB1127 into law in October 2025, making California the first state to ban the popular pistol. The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California,

The right to vote is among our most cherished liberties, but equally important is the public’s confidence that every lawful vote -- and only lawful votes -- determines the outcome. Election integrity is not simply about preventing fraud; it is about preserving trust. An election that half the country believes was unfairly manipulated is an election that erodes trust in the republic and confidence in the system, regardless of who wins. Such elections have become standard practice in California -- not by accident, but by intent. The state has embraced a philosophy that treats virtually every security measure as an...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the Department of Justice is investigating him, claiming that President Donald Trump is targeting a “political enemy” despite no evidence the Democratic potential 2028 presidential contender has committed a crime. Newsom said in a video posted to social media that Trump’s administration is also targeting his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.

Well done, California Democrats. We weren’t sure you could do it, but you came through. In just one primary election you managed to pull off a rare trifecta of political infamy for the Golden State: the embarrassment of a vote-counting system that takes so long it would have looked obsolete in colonial Virginia; the shame of an election process that invites deep suspicion about the integrity of the democratic order at a time of historically low public trust; and the misery of an outcome that just about guarantees the same misrule by the same people responsible for the dysfunction and...

Karen Bass will escape being asked under oath about her actions leading up to The Palisades Fire at the trial of the man accused of starting the blaze which destroyed the beachfront enclave and killed 12. The trial against Uber driver Jonathan Rinderknecht started Monday with jury deliberations, where Judge Anne Hwang read out the witness list including dozens of names. But the embattled Los Angeles mayor, who it currently in a tight reelection fight, was not mentioned. Prosecutors claim Rinderknecht ignited the most expensive wildfire in US history, killing 12 people, torching thousands of homes and causing $150 billion...

A Los Angeles mayoral debate has collapsed at the last minute after Nithya Raman joined Karen Bass and Spencer Pratt in pulling out. Raman revealed early Monday she was not going, following Bass pulling out last week and Pratt earlier saying he had a scheduling conflict. It left just businessman Adam Miller and activist Rae Huang. A spokesman for the Pat Brown Institute and the League of Women Voters said: “With only two candidates remaining, the event partners have agreed not to proceed.” Raman’s campaign told The Post: “We’re disappointed that Mayor Bass cancelled her participation in the debate. We...

Critics of California’s long-overdue high-speed rail project are aghast after statehouse Democrats pushed through legislation that would give the rail auditor the power to shield its reports from the public. The bill, which passed the California Assembly on Monday and sits at the state Senate, lets the Inspector General do so if publication “would pose a substantial and articulable risk to the project or to state operations if publicly disclosed.” The role of the Inspector General has gained even more prominence in light of new estimates that the total cost of the train has ballooned to $231 billion. The fantasy...

California’s High-Speed Rail boondoggle is now estimated to cost taxpayers $231 billion, up from its original $33.5 billion price tag in 2008 when voters passed Proposition 1A. “Our country has never seen a fiscal disaster of this magnitude,” California Rep. Kevin Kiley said on X Monday. Voters were deceived by the original ballot summary and language in Proposition 1A from 2008, but the state’s lawmakers seem to find that fact inconvenient. And, the entire project is lacking in private, public and debt funding to complete even the most minor operating segment – nearly 20 years later. “If it is built,...

Fifteen years ago, I helped make the case for what became California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission. It was a first-of-its-kind body of 14 ordinary Californians, neither politicians nor their appointees. It was balanced with equal Democratic and Republican representation, charged with drawing fair districts after the 2010 Census. The argument was simple, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put it: “Gerrymandering has created an absurd reality, where politicians now pick their voters instead of the voters picking their politicians.” In this effort I often partnered with a type of Democrat one rarely sees these days: the reform-minded Democrat.