Free Republic

Do we really want a nationwide federal police force accountable solely to a small number of legislators, not subject to FOIA and other citizen protections applicable to the executive branch? The Acting Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police has recently announced the expansion of their federal force into Florida and California. Two new field offices will be opening in Tampa and San Francisco, due to claims from Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman that the number of threats against sitting Congressmen has doubled in the last year. A Capitol police officer with an automatic weapon Photographed July 28, 2011 by Edward Kimmel...

The Capitol Police couldn’t even defend their own building, nor could they defend Pelosi’s San Francisco home from an illegal alien hammer man, but somehow, they have now established national offices to monitor U.S. citizens outside their jurisdiction? Now they want more money and authority. Are you kidding me? This week, House Republicans crafted the annual appropriations bill funding the legislative branch of government, typically the smallest and least controversial of the 12 annual spending bills. However, in that bill they plan to provide $780.9 million to the U.S. Capitol police, which is $46.3 million more than enacted fiscal year...

Officers from the U.S. Capitol Police have live video surveillance outside the Pelosi's San Francisco residence, but weren't watching it when David DePape, 42, allegedly attacked Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, sources tell Fox News. The officers were monitoring a live-feed of many cameras, which include surveillance of the capitol complex, but also monitor some points away from the capitol, which include the Pelosi residence.

The U.S. Capitol Police on Tuesday announced that the agency was opening regional field offices in California and Florida to investigate threats to members of Congress in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Threats against members of Congress have increased in recent years. As of Tuesday, total threats so far in 2021 were double what they were at this point a year ago, according to Capitol Police. Home to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and other prominent members of Congress, California gives the law enforcement agency a Western base...

On August 3, 2025, just after 10:00 PM, Tampa Police arrested two drivers who were racing westbound on the Selmon Expressway, with no regard for the safety of themselves or other drivers. At around 10:06 p.m., as a Tampa Police Officer was entering the expressway from Willow St., two vehicles, a 2021 Honda Accord and a 2019 Dodge Challenger, passed the officer’s vehicle at speeds exceeding 100 MPH, in a 55 MPH zone. As the officer followed, both drivers continued to engage in reckless speeding and cut through vehicles without regard for others on the roadway. The officer was able...

After years of sellers calling the shots, some of the hottest pandemic-era housing markets are now grappling with a surplus of listings — and not enough willing buyers. According to real estate brokerage Redfin, April saw nearly half a million more homes listed than buyers in the market, the largest gap since at least 2013. But this supply surge hasn’t translated into a wave of closings. Instead, home sales have stalled in many areas, particularly across the Southeast and Southwest, where inventory has ballooned past pre-pandemic norms. In Miami, for example, there were almost three times as many sellers as...

A Florida man ran down and pinned an 11-year-old girl he suspected of egging his home in a "reprehensible" confrontation that was caught on video, authorities said Monday. The girl was screaming for help and insisting she had done nothing wrong after Marius Mutu, 43, put her on the ground Saturday afternoon, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said. Mutu told deputies that his apartment had been egged in recent days and that when "it happened again that day, he assumed the girl walking nearby was responsible," the sheriff's office said in a statement. He "chased her, forced her to the...

ampa, FL – Newly released dash cam footage from an August 29, 2024, traffic stop in Tampa, Florida, has reignited controversy surrounding Pastor Carl Soto, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Restoration Inc., who is now suing the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) for $5.5 million. Soto claims Deputy Alex Almaguer used excessive force and racial bias during the stop, but conservatives on X are calling his reaction a textbook case of playing the victim—a narrative they say aligns perfectly with the left’s playbook. The incident began when Almaguer pulled Soto over for an illegal license plate decal featuring the Joker,...

After years of Russiagate conspiracy theories about how the Russians had somehow rigged the 2016 presidential election using Facebook ads, the Senate Intelligence report awkwardly revealed that the Russian operation had focused most of its attention on black nationalists. The Senate report revealed that "most of the videos" put out by the Russian IRA troll factory on YouTube "pertained to police brutality and the activist efforts of the Black Lives Matter organization" and found that "no single group of Americans was targeted... more than African-Americans" around "race and related issues". But that was an understatement. The Russians had created their...

President-elect Donald Trump used a “forceful hand” to get his Drug Enforcement Agency pick to drop out on Tuesday after hearing “concerns” about the Floridian’s record, sources familiar told The Post — leading outgoing Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) to make a bid for the position. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister issued a lengthy statement indicating he was withdrawing his name for the DEA slot — but did not reveal the specific reason he was dropping out of the confirmation process after just three days. “Everyone knows President Trump calls the shots,” a well-placed source spilled. “The president heard the concerns...

During a 30-minute call with a conservative activist that was recorded before he became a candidate, William Braddock repeatedly warned the activist to not support GOP candidate Anna Paulina Luna in the Republican primary for a Tampa Bay-area congressional seat because he had access to assassins... Source URL: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/17/secret-recording-florida-republican-threat-hit-squad-494976

This is in Tampa, Florida. I just came back from the superstore in my neighborhood. Making hay while the sun shines. The grocery markets are going to take pricing through the stratosphere and fleece everyone until Trump gets in on January 20. So what else could possibly motivate such a rise in prices at this particular moment, to this extreme extent? This is an absolute disgrace.

Kamala Harris’ campaign is so panicked that I was kicked out just for recording the tiny crowd for her event with Hillary

With less than two weeks until Election Day, law enforcement officials are confronting a rising wave of threats to election workers and political activists in a presidential contest hurtling toward a bitterly contentious coda and a potentially unsettled aftermath. On Monday, the Justice Department unsealed a complaint against a man in Philadelphia who had vowed to skin alive and kill a party official recruiting volunteer poll watchers. On Tuesday, the police in Tempe, Ariz., arrested a man in connection with shootings at a Democratic campaign office, which resulted in no injuries, and other acts of political vandalism. On Wednesday, prosecutors...

Joseph Malinowski, who gained internet fame because of his risky decisions to ride out Hurricane Helene and Milton on his 20-foot sailboat, was arrested Friday on multiple charges including failing to appear in court, Tampa police said. Malinowski, 54, known as "Lieutenant Dan," was arrested on two outstanding warrants for failure to appear in court and a misdemeanor charge of trespassing in a city park after warning, police said in a statement. Officers warned Malinowski on Thursday that he was creating a health hazard because he did not have an “accessible marine sanitation device aboard his unregistered vessel and did...

The mayor of Tampa, a city that’s in the crosshairs of Hurricane Milton, issued a grave warning to Florida residents who don’t heed calls to evacuate ahead of the monster storm. “If you choose to stay … you are going to die,” Mayor Jane Castor bluntly said on CNN while talking about the dangers of Milton, a “literally catastrophic” Category 5 hurricane that’s barreling toward the Sunshine State. The powerful storm could hit Florida as early as Wednesday and may be more destructive than deadly Hurricane Helene, which ripped through parts of the Sunshine State just last week

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor on Friday speculated that a home in the city’s upscale Davis Islands neighborhood likely burned down because an electric vehicle inside a garage caught fire. "Water and ion batteries do not mix. They literally explode. So if that was the case of this particular fire, I saw that home from the helicopter and there’s one wall left," she said. "It’s very, very tragic. Fortunately nobody was hurt."

Terrifying doorbell video has captured the moment a Florida couple was ambushed, shot and robbed just outside their home after hitting a slot machine jackpot at a casino. Kim Chambliss and her boyfriend Val Delacruz were targeted by two masked assailants soon after they cashed their $3,300 winnings at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa on Aug. 2, Fox 13 reported. The two alleged perps — later identified as Marcus Jenkins, 34, and Tristin Wright, 36 — had watched the couple gamble and play the slots for roughly two hours before tailing them home just before 5 a.m.,...

On the occasion of his 100th birthday, United States Marine Corps and World War 2 veteran Carl Dekle reflected on his long life and the blessings he’s enjoyed in an interview with Tampa’s Fox 13. The Silver Star recipient recalled the Battle of Guadalcanal and his gratitude that the Lord brought him home and says that he would do it again if he had to — and if he were the right age. In full uniform for the interview, Dekle said: “Most important thing in my life was serving my country. I don’t think I could take away from that…It...

Jacksonville, Florida, rapper Foolio, whose real name is Charles Jones, was shot and killed Sunday morning in Tampa, his lawyer confirmed. Police were called to a hotel in uptown Tampa a few hours before sunrise, having received reports of a shooting at the address. Upon arriving at the scene, they found two vehicles that had been shot at in the parking lot. One person, now identified as Jones, was pronounced dead, according to the Tampa Police Department. Three additional victims are in stable condition and being treated at the hospital. Police said officers are still investigating the motive for the...