Free Republic

“LAPD officers have been working through the painstaking process of recovering and rendering approximately 500 firearms safe,” he said in an LAPD news release. “We recognize that these firearms may hold significant sentimental value to their owners, whether as family heirlooms, historical pieces or personal mementos, and we are doing our best to reunite them with their owners.” “Despite the condition of these recovered weapons, the department remains committed to ensuring that these items are properly processed, identified and when appropriate, returned to their rightful owners,” the LAPD media release states. All community members must be able to provide personal...

First Trump officials were trying to get Europe to accept chlorinated chickens and hormone-infused beef from the United States. Now, it seems they are trying to foist the toxicity of our social media platforms and a laissez-faire approach to harmful content onto Europe, as well. Evidence suggests the Trump administration is targeting content moderation laws in the United Kingdom designed to curb hate speech and misinformation as a part of trade negotiations. Last week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer acknowledged to Parliament that “a review of online safety rules [is] on the table in trade talks with the United States,”...

In 2022, Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell wrote a piece in Newsweek titled, “President Biden Does Not Want to Take Your Guns Away.” He accused Republicans of spreading fear. “No one is coming for your guns,” he wrote. “We respect the Second Amendment,” he added. He made it sound like the debate was over.But in 2025, a declassified document proved Swalwell was wrong—and possibly knew it.On April 16, 2025, then-Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified the Strategic Implementation Plan for Countering Domestic Terrorism. This multi-agency plan had been quietly signed and put into motion by the Biden administration back in...

With Valero announcing the pending closure of one of its two remaining California refineries, the state will lose at least 18% of its current refining capacity by the end of 2026. Because California is an “energy island,” meeting demand for California and the parts of Nevada and Arizona that rely on its refineries will require costly imports of volatile fuel by emissions-heavy tanker ships. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has long blamed rising gas prices on refiners’ “price gouging,” but even though his own administration has said that it has no found no evidence of such, he called a special legislative...

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has announced that effective May 7, 2025, all adult U.S. citizens must present a REAL ID-compliant form of identification or a valid passport to board domestic flights and access federal facilities. This enforcement marks the culmination of the REAL ID Act, originally passed in 2005 following the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations to enhance the integrity and security of state-issued identification documents. ​ On December 17, 2018, President Trump signed the REAL ID Act Modification for Freely Associated States Act, Public Law 115-323. “If you plan on traveling, we need your help to prevent delays...

Police officers on foot will patrol every busy neighbourhood at peak times as part of a set of community-focused measures to be unveiled by Keir Starmer. In an announcement billed as a return to an era of “bobbies on the beat”, the prime minister will also confirm that every neighbourhood in England and Wales will be given a named and contactable police officer. The plans are expected to be in place by July, and follow the government’s promises to restore confidence in community policing. Labour’s leadership is under pressure to offer new policies for party councillors in England to sell...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed three gun control bills on Thursday. The bills ban certain gun mods, make gun shops post clearer warnings, and change how gun sales are tracked. “New Yorkers are sick of weapons manufacturers ignoring their role in the gun violence epidemic,” said Democratic Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon, who sponsored the bill in the Assembly. “Glock has known that its pistols can be easily and cheaply converted into illegal fully-automatic machine guns. It’s time to put people over profit.” S745/A439 changes how credit cards categorize gun vendors, requiring the companies to use new merchant codes for...

A Canadian anti-gender ideology activist recently invited to the White House was involved in a stand-off with police during an incident in Brisbane this week. “Billboard Chris” – real name Chris Elston – has nearly 500,000 followers on X including the like of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. He was last month at the White House to witness Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order seeking to ban trans people from playing in women’s sport. On Tuesday he turned up at Brisbane’s Queen St mall wearing a sandwich board reading “Children Cannot Consent to Puberty Blockers”. On the other...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed new controls into law last week, including one that allows credit cards to track ammunition purchases. She described the ammunition control as one that “[refines] how credit card companies track purchases at gun dealerships.” Hochul noted, “This gives law enforcement the opportunity to find out exactly who may be stockpiling ammunition. And this is an indicator that something untoward could be happening, so it’s an important data point for us to have.”

Two police officers walked into a doughnut shop. It’s not the opening line of a joke; it’s what I saw as I was working on an early draft of this story in March at the Staunton Dunkin’, about a quarter mile from where my vehicle was captured on a Flock camera in January and February coming back from my trips to Cardinal’s Roanoke office. Their eyes may have strayed to the racks of Boston creme, lemon-filled and coconut-covered doughnuts as they strode to the counter with purpose, but they were here for something else. Surveillance footage. The research for State...

An Aurus limousine believed to be part of Vladimir Putin’s official car fleet exploded and caught fire in Moscow. Footage appears to show the £275,000 Aurus Senat ablaze on a street just north of Moscow’s FSB secret service Lubyanka headquarters. The car is believed to be part of fleet of vehicles beloinging to the Kremlin's Presidential Property Management Department. Images show the engine fire spreading to the the interior of the limousine. It was not clear who was in the vehicle at the time of the incident.

The federal government planned to build a new FBI headquarters complex on three 58, 61, and 80-acre sites in Virginia. That is twice the size of the Pentagon building, which accounts for 29 acres plus a five-acre courtyard. The new FBI headquarters would have surpassed the Russian Kremlin, which contains government offices, the presidential residence, auditoriums, an arsenal, a museum, and several churches, all in slightly more than 66 acres.

Let’s revisit the tumultuous second half of 2021. Dementia-addled President Joe Biden executed a disastrous retreat from Afghanistan in August that resulted in the killing of thirteen servicemembers. Having spectacularly failed America’s warfighters, he transitioned quickly to the ongoing “fight against COVID.” No cost was too great or burden too onerous in the federal government’s war against microscopic organisms. Billions were funneled to pharmaceutical companies (aka Democrat Party donors) to pay for witch doctors’ experimental elixirs. Billions more were funneled to “news” platforms and “non-governmental” organizations (all on the USAID dole) to push the White House’s preferred COVID narratives and...

Elon Musk just dropped a bombshell on the Joe Rogan Experience, confirming what many Americans have long suspected—Washington, D.C. is a cesspool of corruption, and the Democrats are the primary beneficiaries. “I think maybe three-quarters of the graft is Democratic. I think there’s maybe 20–25% that’s Republican,” Musk revealed, exposing how the system is rigged for political elites. “Most of the graft is going to the Democrats, but they throw some bones to the Republicans too, so then they’re in on it.” In a shocking but unsurprising exchange, Musk and Rogan discussed the absurd wealth accumulation of members of Congress,...

Praying at home could be a criminal offence “depending on who passes by the window”, according to the Scottish Greens MSP behind legislation restricting protests near abortion clinics. Gillian Mackay suggested that “performative” prayer within a 200-metre radius of an abortion facility might contravene the law even if it occurred inside someone’s home. The law, which was overwhelmingly approved by Holyrood last year, was designed to curb demonstrations by anti-abortion groups outside clinics. Mackay’s comments come after remarks by JD Vance, the US vice-president, who criticised the policy this month. Vance claimed in a speech at the Munich Security Conference...

While J.D. Vance was speaking in Munich, the U.K. was demanding encrypted data from Apple. For the first time in nine years, America may fight back. Last Friday, while leaders around the Western world were up in arms about J.D. Vance’s confrontational address to the Munich Security Council, the Washington Post published a good old-fashioned piece of journalism. From “U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts”: Security officials in the United Kingdom have demanded that Apple create a back door allowing them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud,...

Apple is taking the unprecedented step of removing its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK, after the government demanded access to user data. Advanced Data Protection (ADP) means only account holders can view items such as photos or documents they have stored online through a process known as end-to-end encryption. But earlier this month the UK government asked for the right to see the data, which currently not even Apple can access. Apple did not comment at the time but has consistently opposed creating a "backdoor" in its encryption service, arguing that if it did so,...

Today, we learn that the veteran’s name is David Willoughby, the son of Naples, Florida Tea Party founder Barry Willoughby. Early this evening, he released an email statement concerning his arrest and detainment which was sent by his father to Jan Morgan, an Associated Press Award winning veteran television journalist. In relating his experience, he said, “My name is Dave Willoughby. I am the one in the video.” “Without being told what I had done, I was handcuffed and escorted off premise. Placed in a squad car and taken to a police station. I asked if I should have my...

The UK government has demanded that Apple creates a backdoor in its encrypted cloud service, in a confrontation that challenges the US tech firm's avowed stance on protecting user privacy.The Washington Post reported on Friday that the Home Office had issued a "technical capability notice" under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), which requires companies to assist law enforcement in providing evidence.The demand, issued last month, relates to Apple's Advanced Data Protection (ADP) service, which heavily encrypts personal data uploaded and stored remotely in Apple's cloud servers, according to the Post, which said this was a "blanket" request that applied to...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) plans to ban the use of plants within five feet of residential homes in what are designated as “fire-prone” areas — which could include much of the state of California, given the recent wildfires. ..... Snip..... The San Francisco Chronicle reported: Gov. Gavin Newsom is ordering the state to speed up its rulemaking for wildfire safety around homes in fire-prone areas that would ban most plants and combustible materials like mulch and wood fencing. The rules would require people to clear an area within 5 feet of homes — dubbed zone zero, or an ember...