Free Republic

A pro-life activist whose 2022 arrest by the FBI under the Biden administration drew national headlines has reached a seven-figure settlement after suing the Justice Department over his arrest and prosecution. Mark Houck filed a lawsuit against the department in 2023 seeking restitution for what he called "a faulty investigation" and "excessive force" after a SWAT team of around 25 people arrested him in front of his children at his home on Sept. 23, 2022, allegedly with guns drawn.

How conspiracies spread has changed immensely over the history of the United States, as technology and media have evolved. But the nature of conspiracies has not. I teach communications courses at Villanova University, 12 miles from Philadelphia, on how conspiracy theories are created and disseminated. As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, I have been thinking about the early history of Philadelphia and the controversial people, stories and ideas, including conspiracies, that permeated the city during the second half of the 1700s. Conspiracy theories describe alternative versions of events – such as the collapse of the...

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito became ill during an event in Philadelphia on the evening of March 20, a spokesperson for the high court said Friday. “Out of an abundance of caution, he agreed with his security detail’s recommendation to see a physician before the three-hour drive home,” the spokesperson said. Alito, 76, underwent an examination and received fluids for dehydration, the spokesperson said, adding he returned home that night, which was previously planned. “Justice Alito was thoroughly checked by his own physician, and he returned to work the following Monday for oral argument,” the spokesperson added. Alito has attended...

Officials in Philadelphia have dismantled a massive drug ring operating out of a sham coffee shop, run largely by longtime, senior figures in the criminal world, Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced Sunday. The sweeping takedown, dubbed "Operation Cocaine and Coffee," was launched and primarily targeted a storefront known as Cumberland Coffee and Snacks, where authorities say the second floor was used to cook and package crack cocaine for street-level distribution. At least 17 suspected members of the operation were arrested, many described by officials as well past middle age and deeply entrenched in the drug trade. Authorities said the...

Philadelphia, April 1781. A boy of about eight is shifting in his seat. His voice, clear and steady, rises inside the quiet room. Mah nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol haleilot? “Why is this night different from all other nights?” For those participating in the Passover seder, all crowding a small rented room just blocks from where Congregation Mikveh Israel holds its services, this is a loaded question. In a land with barely 2,500 Jews from one end of the 13 colonies to the other,1 fewer than one in every 10,000 souls,2 and almost everyone around the table is a refugee displaced...

The Secret Service continues to make headlines, though not always for the right reasons. In 2024, the agency’s actions, particularly its failure to protect Donald Trump during the July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, fueled calls for its dissolution. Moreover, there were serious security breaches involving Biden officials. In 2023, a drunk individual entered the home of then-National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, managing to bypass his Secret Service detail. And now, an agent on Jill Biden’s detail shot himself in the butt while escorting the former first lady through Philadelphia International Airport on Friday. Susan Crabtree of RealClearPolitics had the backstory:...

🚨SECRET SERVICE SCOOP: New details about the agent who shot himself earlier today while accompanying Jill Biden to the Philly airport. The agent was apparently rushing and fumbling around after forgetting his cell phone in the SUV, sources told @RCPolitics . The agent was only one week on the job with the Jill Biden detail. He was in the SUV behind the one Biden was traveling in. He left to accompany Jill Biden through the airport, but soon realized he forgot his cell phone. The agent rushed back to get it, and his pistol fell out of the holster and...

A US Secret Service agent, working on security detail for the former first lady Jill Biden, shot themself (sic) in the leg at the Philadelphia international airport on Friday morning, an agency spokesperson said. The Secret Service special agent suffered a “non-life-threatening injury” after they (sic) discharged their (sic) weapon at around 8:30 am. Biden was not near the agent at the time and no one else was injured. …

A member of former first lady Jill Biden's Secret Service detail reportedly shot himself in the leg on Friday. The agent shot himself while accompanying Biden through the Philadelphia airport, according to the Daily Mail. A medical unit responded to the scene, but has since left, followed by a police car, per the outlet. The agent's medical condition remains unknown, and it is unclear what led to the shooting.

A Secret Service agent accidentally shot himself while accompanying former First Lady Jill Biden through Philadelphia International Airport Friday morning, according to reports. KYW Newsradio reported that the agent shot himself in the leg. There was no word on the agent’s condition or the circumstances surrounding the shooting. “We are gathering the facts and will have a statement shortly,” a Secret Service spokesperson told the New York Post. The radio station reported that there was a “heavy police presence” at the American Airlines ticket counter at the airport. Also, the trunk and front passenger door of a black Chevy Suburban...

A Secret Service agent guarding former first lady Jill Biden shot and injured himself in the leg at Philadelphia International Airport on Friday, according to a report. Sources told KYW that the incident took place as the Secret Service agent was escorting former President Joe Biden’s wife at the busy travel hub. Philadelphia police and other agencies were on scene Friday morning, according to a radio report from the local CBS affiliate. A medic was also on the scene before leaving, the report said. The agent’s condition was not immediately clear. A Secret Service spokesperson told The Post: “We are...

The parents of Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm used limited liability companies to funnel millions of dollars out of his financial accounts for their own use, according to a lawsuit obtained by the Daily Mail. 'Though Alec's investigation into the status of his assets remains on-going and is far from complete, an initial investigation leads Alec to believe and, therefore, aver that [his parents] Daniel and Lisa misappropriated a very large sum of money from Alec,' read the complaint. In total, Alec claims his parents tried to 'freeze' him out of four LLCs as they 'converted a sizeable amount'...

😳Applause line at protest in Philly: "For every US soldier who comes back in casket, we cheer!" Video at link.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner went to Philadelphia International Airport and threatened to jail federal immigration agents who are currently deployed there and across the country as part of an ongoing federal response. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were deployed to Philadelphia and at least a dozen other airports as part of a federal response to a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staffing shortage during the Department of Homeland Security shutdown. Nearly 20 percent of TSA officers in Philadelphia called out of shifts, forcing checkpoint closures. The deployment remains active, with ICE agents continuing to support airport operations nationwide. Federal...

Philadelphia County District Attorney Lawrence Krasner was slammed by the White House Wednesday after he brazenly threatened to arrest and jail ICE agents at airports — warning that even a pardon from President Trump wouldn’t protect them. The George Soros-backed Democrat unleashed the wild threat at Philadelphia International Airport days after Trump deployed ICE officers to at least 14 airports nationwide to assist TSA agents and help reduce the grueling lines that have plagued travelers amid the partial government shutdown. “The president cannot pardon you and yes I will put you in handcuffs, and I will put you in a...

Today we learned of the death of Kermit Gosnell, the Philadelphia abortion provider whose actions led to the deaths of babies born alive and of women entrusted to his care. As the CEO of The Abortion Survivors Network, and as a woman who survived an abortion procedure myself, I cannot ignore the profound human cost behind his name. For many, Gosnell’s clinic has long symbolized a house of horrors, but for us, it is more than a symbol. It represents real children whose lives were ended after first surviving the trauma of an abortion procedure, women who were impacted, and...

It’s tough to be a robot on the mean streets of Philadelphia. Infamous for brutally destroying an experimental hitchhiking robot in 2015, residents in the city of brotherly love are now sharing their sidewalks with a new kind of pedestrian: delivery robots. A video recorded by Philadelphia street photographer Hugh Dillon late Saturday night shows that the city’s reputation as a haven for robophobia hasn’t improved much over the years. In the 30 second clip, the little bot is kicked, sat on, laughed at, and even humped by a crowd of onlookers as it prattles along to its destination. ----SNIP----...

Multiple white male police officers in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are suing the Philadelphia Police Department over alleged discriminatory hiring and promotion practices. The lawsuit — filed by America First Legal on behalf of five white police officers — contended that the law enforcement professionals were “passed over for promotions and denied advancement because of their race and sex,” according to a Feb. 26 release from the group. Philadelphia allegedly tried to conform the racial demographics of the police force to the population of the overall city, causing them to pass over white officers for promotions.

Philadelphia police say an 11-year-old boy fatally shot his mother's boyfriend during an altercation between the couple. The 911 call came in around 11:40 p.m. on Thursday, when police were called to the 1100 block of Peach Street in Southwest Philadelphia. Arriving officers and medics say they found the 30-year-old boyfriend lying on the bedroom floor with a gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead a short time later. Police have identified him as Jaimeer Jones-Walker of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. Investigators say Jones-Walker showed up at the house where his girlfriend lives with her children and began assaulting her...

PHILADELPHIA -- There is an unique and historic way America's 250th birthday will be marked in Philadelphia. "America's Time Capsule" will be buried on July 4 at Independence National Historical Park near Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. It will remain sealed for 250 years, until 2276. The America250 Commission, who is behind the project, describes it as a bell jar designed to create an air pocket and help prevent water intrusion underground. It is expected to include items from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and five U.S. territories, as well as contributions from Congress, the Supreme Court and the...