Free Republic

Philadelphia police clashed with people protesting the Trump administration’s accelerating deportation efforts Tuesday night in Center City. A clip circulating on social media shows an officer pushing demonstrators before tackling to ground a masked protester dressed in black. The Inquirer posted a video that appears to show a PPD officer kneeling on an individual’s head and neck to subdue them. Both pieces of footage were taken on East Market Street. Law enforcement said two demonstrators and two bicycle officers were treated for minor injuries. Fifteen adults were arrested, with the most serious allegations against a man set to be charged...

"Senator Betterman strikes again," radio host Tony Kinnett quipped. Hey, there are worse nicknames, and this one applies well.John Fetterman had remained silent during the unfolding chaos in Los Angeles, which still represented something of an improvement over his fellow Democrats. We'll get to those examples shortly, but Fetterman had finally seen enough by last night. He warned his party about their precarious position in endorsing violence in place of speech, and flying Mexican flags while assaulting American law enforcement:I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that.This is anarchy and true chaos.My party loses...

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman was spotted Monday night chatting with Steve Bannon, according to Politico Playbook. Fetterman, who has displayed his own dramatic rightward shift, was reportedly dining at a top MAGA hangout near Capitol Hill with Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle, when the conservative news site’s old director wandered up and spoke to the pair for roughly 20 minutes. Bannon took over Breitbart in 2012, and directed the site to publish patently pugnacious rhetoric and conspiracy theories cooked up by far-right activists and white supremacists. In 2016, Bannon stepped down to join Trump’s presidential campaign as its CEO, and went on...

Democrat Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman took to social media Monday to criticize his fellow Democrats for not denouncing the violent riots that broke out in Los Angeles after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid. In a post on X, Fetterman said he was disappointed in his party’s failure to take a firm stand against the destruction, calling the situation “anarchy and true chaos.” He said that the Democratic Party risks losing its moral high ground when it fails to unequivocally condemn such actions. “I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that. This is...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) broke with the Democratic Party and condemned the anti-ICE riots that broke out in Los Angeles, pointing out that it is “anarchy and true chaos.” In a post on X, Fetterman explained that he “unapologetically” stands for “free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration.” Sen. Fetterman Breaks with Democrats, Condemns L.A. Riots: ‘Anarchy and True Chaos’ 277 A protester throws a scooter at a police vehical near the metropolitan detention center ofAP Photo/Jae C. Hong Elizabeth Weibel9 Jun 2025310 2:34 Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) broke with the Democratic Party and condemned the anti-ICE riots that broke out...

After a huge fire broke out at SEPTA’s largest bus depot in Nicetown on Thursday, officials have determined a cause for the fire. What we know: A spokesperson for SEPTA stated that the Philadelphia Fire Department said a battery in one of the electric buses set off the massive fire Thursday at their largest bus depot, in Philly’s Nicetown neighborhood.

Official White House photos by Emily HigginsWEST MIFFLIN, Pennsylvania -- Flanked by a sea of steelworkers dressed in their orange safety jackets and hard hats, President Donald Trump was given a hero's welcome at the Mon Valley Irvin Works to mark the signing of the U.S. Steel-Nippon Steel deal, the largest investment in state history. "With the help from patriots like you, we are going to produce our own metal, make our own energy, secure our own future, build our country, control our own destiny, and we are once again going to put Pennsylvania steel into the backbone of America,"...

Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran is facing legal action for his partnership with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Harran applied to take part in a federal program known as 287(g), which would give officers the authority to detain illegal immigrants while performing routine police duties. But, the American Civil Liberties Union and Community Justice Project says what he's doing is illegal in Pennsylvania. Steve Loney, the lead attorney representing the ACLU, said, "The sheriff is breaking the law by unilaterally and illegally over the objection of his county commissioners entered into an agreement with federal immigration enforcement to essentially appoint...

In ancient times, communities would offer their weakest livestock to appease angry gods, hoping the sacrifice might spare them from greater calamity. Modern political parties operate under surprisingly similar logic, sometimes burning through expendable candidates when they sense inevitable defeat looming on the horizon.Trump Skewers ‘Sick Puppy’ Tim WalzThe Democratic Party’s 2024 vice presidential selection process unfolded under extraordinary pressure. With Joe Biden’s abrupt July exit from the race amid mounting concerns about his mental acuity, Kamala Harris inherited a campaign with barely 100 days until Election Day. The rushed timeline meant critical decisions had to be made quickly, often...

Investigators are working to uncover what caused a fleet of decommissioned SEPTA buses to catch fire at a Philadelphia bus depot on Thursday morning. SEPTA GM Scott Sauer said over a dozen of the torched buses were Protera-manufactured electric buses that he said have not been used in several years. A total of 40 buses were damaged in the fire, sparking air quality concerns that the city's health department says are still unhealthy for nearby residents. No one was injured in the fire at SEPTA's largest bus depot that runs 24-hours a day.

LIMERICK TWP., Pa. - Three high school students were among three people killed in a crash that investigators say happened after a theft at a Target in Limerick Township. Owen J. Roberts School District Superintendent Will Stout delivered the tragic news about the students' deaths in a letter to families on Wednesday. A fourth person who was involved in the crash was taken to the hospital and their condition remains unknown at this time. What we know: Police responded to reports of a theft at a Target on Ridge Pike in Royerford around 9 p.m. Tuesday. The suspected vehicle fled,...

Sen. John Fetterman acknowledged Monday that “parts” of the Democratic Party’s base have turned their backs on Israel, an issue he described as one of “moral clarity” for him. Fetterman (D-Pa.) argued during a bipartisan “The Senate Project” event with Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) that those who lament the “tragedy in Gaza” should blame Hamas and its benefactor, Iran. “The Jewish community must feel constantly under assault,” said Fetterman, 55, during the event, which was streamed on Fox Nation and moderated by “Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream. “I visited Penn, and I said hello with 300 [Jewish] students, and...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) criticized his own party for failing to “handle the border appropriately” and said that thousands of illegal aliens allowed in under the Biden administration was “unacceptable.” During a discussion with Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) at the Senate Project, which was co-hosted by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute and the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation, Fetterman cast support behind President Donald Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill and the “roughly $150 billion” that would be go towards securing the United States southern border, focusing on illegal immigration, the Hill reported. “If I had to find something in that, the...

The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered another power plant, this time an oil and gas plant in Pennsylvania, to keep its turbines running through the hottest summer months as a precaution against electricity shortfalls in the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid. The department’s order to the grid operator, PJM Interconnection, regarding the Eddystone power plant just south of Philadelphia on the Delaware River, is the department’s second use of federal power under President Donald Trump to require a power plant to keep operating on the mainland United States. Constellation Energy had planned to shut down Eddystone’s units 3 and 4 on...

Former Acting US Secret Service Director Ron Rowe has finally resigned from the agency. Earlier this year President Trump announced Sean Curran, one of the agents who surrounded him following the Butler assassination attempt, as the new Secret Service Director. Ron Rowe who served as the acting Secret Service Director after Kim Cheatle resigned last summer remained on payroll as a “senior advisor” for several months. Rowe is a typical Washington bureaucrat who led the bureau before the second assassination attempt on Trump’s life during the 2024 Campaign. Director Rowe also was caught in a blatant lie after President Trump...

The “stick to sports” door swings both ways. While the term rose to significance as a catchphrase for conservative voices who hoped to shout down athletes and media with conflicting beliefs (athletes and media who agreed were and are exempt from being told to shut up), fans who have concerns about the current state of the union are objecting to those athletes who are aligning with the person who’s running the show.

Disturbing surveillance video obtained by The Post shows a city-funded babysitter repeatedly walloping three little kids with a belt and donning a creepy Santa Claus costume to scare them — and the horrified family is now demanding answers. La’keysha Jackson, 24, began working for Bronx mother Geraldine Jaramillo a year ago via a contractor paid for by the city’s Administration for Children’s Services that provides struggling families with babysitters to help with caretaking. The single mom said she discovered the violent treatment last month when the kids’ Pennsylvania-based grandma checked a home surveillance camera in the bedroom — and was...

America’s eighth-largest school district handed taxpayer cash to Planned Parenthood to train teachers that biological sex is a “myth,” according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Philadelphia School District (PSD), which oversees almost 200,000 students, paid Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania (PPSP) nearly $40,000 in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) HIV grant funds to provide up to 70 trainings which decry biological sex as a “myth,” support medical child sex-changes and normalize men in women’s sports, according to documents obtained by the DCNF through a public records request. Planned Parenthood delivered Comprehensive Sexual Education to more...

Hundreds of billions of screaming insects are emerging from the ground throughout the US in a jarring sight that hasn't taken place in 17 years. The long-awaited cicada invasion is here, and the bugs have already been spotted hatching in at least three states: Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Scientists are also expecting billions more to emerge at any moment in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. This startling awakening of cicadas is referred to as Brood XIV. The insects last appeared in 2008, and now the next window in their synchronized...

When gun control activists with Everytown for Gun Safety and Students Demand Action held a rally at the Kentucky state capitol in February to push for new restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms, one of the speakers captivated the small crowd of anti-gunners with his moving story about surviving a mass shooting at his Pennsylvania high school. As it turns out, however, what Calvin Polachek told the crowd was an outright lie. He invented the school shooting and his self-proclaimed trauma, and now Everytown is scrambling to distance themselves from the man they put in front of...