Free Republic

All told, seven people died in connection with the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6. But only Ashli Babbitt’s death was directly caused by violence that day. She was a rioter killed by a Capitol Police officer, who fired the only shot by any person during the 4½-hour siege. Yet the story of who he is and why he opened fire remains shrouded in mystery.More than six weeks after Babbitt succumbed to a single gunshot wound to the upper chest, authorities are keeping secret the identity of the officer who fired the fatal round. They won’t release his name, and...

In less than a month in office, the Biden administration has clearly defined itself and its party as a fascist vanguard, driven by a racist agenda, and unconstrained by constitutional principle. It chooses to rule by presidential diktat, even though it controls both Houses of Congress. It is an aggressive pursuer of political division behind a deceptive smokescreen of “healing” and “unity,” It is busily exploiting a fake “armed insurrection” to justify witch-hunts of the military, the capital police, members of Congress and the opposition media, at the moment Fox and Newsmax, whom they want to suppress. Its legislative radicals...

As the political extremes have taken center stage in American life, domestic violent extremism has become the greatest threat to national security. But what do you do when the enemy is part of America? And when does political extremism cross the line into domestic terrorism? "There is a fine line there," said Michael Paul, Special Agent in Charge of the Minneapolis FBI. "But it is a very hard line for us, in that we don’t police thought, we don’t police ideology." Paul came to the Minneapolis FBI in September with a long resume in fighting domestic terrorism and counterintelligence. He...

Mayor Svante Myrick will propose replacing the city’s current 63-officer, $12.5 million a year department with a “Department of Community Solutions and Public Safety” which would include armed “public safety workers” and unarmed “community solution workers,” all of whom will report to a civilian director of public safety instead of a police chief. Under the proposal, all current officers would have to re-apply for a position with the new department. If the proposal is approved, calls for service will be evaluated to determine whether an armed or unarmed respondent is necessary, or another public agency altogether would be best to...

A congressman who has been fighting conspiracy theories and disinformation believes that the Jan. 6 insurrection was a turning point, and that a critical mass of law enforcement and military institutions are now “playing offense” against right-wing extremism. “The experience that we all had in the Congress ... on Jan. 6 — that strengthened my determination, our determination,” said Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J. “I'm tired of playing defense. I'm tired of waiting for the next threat. We are now playing offense. We're going to go after these people. We're going to deal with this problem. I'm confident of that.”

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) said Monday on ABC’s “The View” that former President Donald Trump “remains a clear and present danger to the American people.” Raskin said, “I believe in Donald Trump’s mind he absolutely is the future, and he’s going to try to maintain that kind of authoritarian relationship with people in the Republican Party.”

Even though the sensational and endlessly recycled media reports of pro-Trump rioters murdering people on Jan. 6 – in particular, killing Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick by bashing him in the head with a fire extinguisher – have turned out to be utterly false, the Biden administration’s bold new “war on terror,” supposedly inspired by the Capitol riot, is gearing up big-time. Unlike the “war on terror” of yesteryear, which pursued groups like al-Qaida and ISIS, Biden’s new war is aimed at homegrown “violent extremists” within the U.S. Yet Team Biden has no interest in known ultra-violent anarchist/Marxist revolutionary groups...