Free Republic

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) weighed in on the murder conviction of Karmelo Anthony for stabbing Austin Metcalf to death at a high school track meet in April 2025, calling it "just another episode in the 400-year history of racial injustice in this country. Whites have enslaved Blacks since the 1600s. They chained us, whipped us, and lynched us. Now, one teen-aged boy trying to defend himself is being sent to prison for decades. It's just not fair." "I try to envision what I would do if I were in Karmelo's place," the Congresswoman speculated. "If some 300 lb football player...

Chicago police say a man sexually assaulted a woman as she walked through the Loop on Friday afternoon, but the attack took an unexpected turn when another woman allegedly stabbed the assailant in the eye before officers arrived. A second man who intervened in the confrontation was also cut during the chaos, according to police. Crime scene tape surrounded the entrance to theWit Hotel at 201 North State Street, where the attack unfolded shortly after 4 p.m., according to witnesses. Police said a 24-year-old woman was walking on the sidewalk when a 31-year-old man sexually assaulted her. The suspect then...

LONOKE COUNTY, Ark. — A judge on Thursday dismissed the murder case against candidate for Lonoke County Sheriff Aaron Spencer. Spencer had been charged in 2024 with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Michael Fosler. According to case filings, Spencer shot Fosler after spotting the man driving his daughter. Fosler, at the time, was released on bond after being accused of raping Spencer’s underage daughter in July of 2024. The case was presided over by Special Circuit Court Judge Ralph Wilson Jr. In the order dismissing the case for due process violation. Wilson cited filings by Spencer’s lawyers, the...

Karmelo Anthony, the Texas student athlete who was charged with stabbing a football star from a rival high school to death — and then raised $600,000 in donations — is set to face trial this week.

Karmelo Anthony, the Texas student athlete who was charged with stabbing a football star from a rival high school to death — and then raised $600,000 in donations — is set to face trial this week. The killing of Austin Metcalf — who died in his twin brother’s arms in Frisco, Texas, at a track meet in April 2025 — sparked an outpouring of grief. But what came next turned the case into a national sensation. The suspect, Anthony, retained a big-name Dallas lawyer, and the family started raising money from donation site GiveSendGo. A family spokesman said last year...

The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it has filed a lawsuit against the city of Denver, Colorado, "alleging that the City unconstitutionally bans certain constitutionally protected semi-automatic rifles." "These laws unconstitutionally infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms in common use for lawful purposes," according to the Justice Department. "The Constitution is not a suggestion and the Second Amendment is not a second-class right," Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. "Denver's ban on commonly owned semi-automatic rifles directly violates the right to bear arms. This Department of Justice will vigorously...

Wyoming lawmakers introduced a bill this year that would have given real protection to people dragged through the criminal justice system after using lawful self-defense. House Bill 14, titled Protecting self-defense-reimbursement and amendments, would have required counties to reimburse defendants who were found not guilty, had charges dismissed, or were otherwise released from prosecution because they reasonably used defensive force under Wyoming law.But the bill did not make it out of the House. HB0014 failed introduction on February 10, 2026, by a 29-32-1 vote.HB0014 was aimed at one of the most abusive realities of modern self-defense law: even when a...

“Not all enemies are foreign, nor are they all outside our borders,” Hegseth said. “Some are domestic. Confirming your God-given right to self-protection is what I’m signing into action today.” The Defense secretary cited the shootings at Fort Stewart Army Base, Holloman Air Force Base and Naval Air Station Pensacola, saying they indicate “that some threats are closer to home than we would like.” “In these instances, minutes are a lifetime,” Hegseth said. “And our service members have the courage and training to make those precious, short minutes count.” Hegseth said his memo directs installation commanders to permit requests from...

Oh, gosh. How they don't work an angle so hard to spin and bury an inconvenient story in Sir Keir Starmer's United Kingdom. Astonishing the levers a police state can pull. You'll all remember this horrifying scene this past August. (Watch video at link) David and I both wrote about it when it first happened, because the video was so shocking and so sad... "...What reportedly happened was that a fourteen-year-old and her younger sister were walking home. They were followed and harassed by one of the 'migrants' at the heart of all these complaints and clashes, which the government...

Police have ruled a Florida man’s actions self-defense after he shot a felon who allegedly attempted to abduct his wife. Deputies arrived at the shooting at 12:27 a.m. to find the suspect, who died at the scene despite life-saving efforts. An autopsy found that Palomo died at the scene from a single gunshot wound to the chest. Before the alleged abduction, Palomo reportedly caused a disturbance at a nearby Circle K while appearing to be under the influence of drugs. According to Fox News affiliate WTVT-TV, citing the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, Nicholas Palomo, a 36-year-old felon who had previously...

609.066 AUTHORIZED USE OF DEADLY FORCE BY PEACE OFFICERS. Subdivision 1.Deadly force defined. For the purposes of this section, "deadly force" means force which the actor uses with the purpose of causing, or which the actor should reasonably know creates a substantial risk of causing, death or great bodily harm. The intentional discharge of a firearm, other than a firearm loaded with less lethal munitions and used by a peace officer within the scope of official duties, in the direction of another person, or at a vehicle in which another person is believed to be, constitutes deadly force. "Less lethal...

BA Texas teenager was rescued by her father after she was forced into a truck at knifepoint on Christmas Day, police said. Patrol deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office were called to an area home at about 4:50 p.m. on Thursday, the agency said on social media. The officers were told that the teenager, 15, had taken her dog out for a walk but had not returned. Her father then used parental controls to track her phone's location and find it in a "secluded, partially wooded area" about two miles away. The sheriff's office said the father, who has...

One of the most dangerous illusions Americans are living under today is the belief that safety is ambient, existing automatically, everywhere, and at all times, by virtue of laws, norms, or declarations. For decades, we have been trained to assume that public spaces are fundamentally benign and that vigilance itself is somehow antisocial or unnecessary. That assumption is no longer valid. A steady stream of viral videos now documents what many quietly sense: sudden assaults in stores, flash-mob robberies, random attacks on public transport, group intimidation in ordinary places. These are not war zones or failed states. They are malls,...

A woman fatally shot a man who broke into her home According to WLOX, 29-year-old Dangelo Murphy was fatally shot by a woman after he reportedly broke into a home while armed with a hammer and a knife. The report states that law enforcement responded to a home in Gulfport, Mississippi at around 7 a.m. for reports of a man breaking into a home. After reportedly entering the home, the suspect encountered two women, who both had an active protection order out against him, per WLOX. Authorities said one of the women suffered a knife injury, although women managed to...

On January 14, Charles Foehner will begin serving a four-year prison sentence. Yes, New Yorkers, we can finally rest easy. We got him. And by him, I mean a 67-year-old man who poses no danger to society.Foehner is a retired doorman with the gift of gab, a devoted wife, and a habit of saying “groovy.” He spends his time watching naval history videos on YouTube.While there are many violent criminals with rap sheets the length of a CVS receipt walking our streets, Queens DA Melinda Katz decided to throw the book at this senior citizen, after he pleaded guilty to...

A burglar shot and killed by a mother as she hid her baby in a closet during a home invasion was a serial criminal who'd only recently been freed from jail.

Individuals and communities must take responsibility for their own safety.At Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, a father-son team of ISIS-inspired terrorists murdered attendees at a celebration of the first day of Hanukkah. One of the attackers was disarmed by a heroic civilian who was shot in the process, while others lost their lives trying to help. You are reading The Rattler from J.D. Tuccille and Reason. Get more of J.D.'s commentary on government overreach and threats to everyday liberty. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded to the shooting with promises to further tighten gun laws in the already restrictive country—a...

A male entered a 7-Eleven in Oklahoma City just before midnight Thursday and tried to buy burritos, beef sticks, and ice cream with a counterfeit $100 bill, according to a KOKH-TV news video. But the female clerk wasn't buying the con. What's more, the clerk said she was calling police, KWTV-DT reported — and she refused the male's demand that she give him back the counterfeit bill, Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department added to the station. Then the thug reportedly got violent. “He came around the counter, got behind the counter where she was, and grabbed her...

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Huntsville Police say the Madison County District Attorney’s Office determined no charges will be filed after an investigation into a shooting on Brahan Avenue on Tuesday night. Madison County Coroner Tyler Berryhill said one of the two people injured in the shooting on Brahan died at Huntsville Hospital. Berryhill identified the man who died as 34-year-old Demetrius Paige. HEMSI Spokesperson Don Webster said the call for the shooting came in at about 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday from the 2200 block of Brahan Ave SW. The department said one person was in custody on Tuesday night, but...

A Michigan man fatally shot a teen who broke into his garage and is now facing a manslaughter rap — sparking controversy over the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law. Sivan Wilson, 17, was with six other mainly teenagers when the group broke into Dayton Knapton’s garage in White Lake shortly after 1 a.m. July 8, authorities said. Knapton, 24, got an alert from his home security system, grabbed a .9mm gun, ran outside and fired two shots into the garage through a windowless door, striking Wilson, according to prosecutors and cops. As the group fled, Knapton fired five more shots...