Free Republic

Acting Columbia University President Claire Shipman on Wednesday bizarrely chose to stoke the flames by acknowledging arrested ex-grad student Mahmoud Khalil at the Ivy League school’s chaotic graduation. Hordes of graduating students in the riled-up audience began chanting Khalil’s name and nearly booed Shipman off the stage throughout her remarks at the embattled university’s commencement. “We firmly believe that our international students have the same rights to freedom of speech as everyone else, and they should not be targeted by the government for exercising their right,” Shipman told the crowd of nearly 37,000. “I know many in our community are...

In a Friday night hearing, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said he was “sympathetic” to activists’ concerns over the Trump administration’s deportation of illegal aliens under the Alien Enemies Act, but he doesn't “think I have the power” to stop them.It was surely frustrating to the activist judge who always seemed to rule harshly against J6ers but has come across as extremely sympathetic to the non-citizen criminals that Trump was trying to send out of our country. A recent Supreme Court ruling tied his hands, however:US District Judge James Boasberg denied an emergency request from lawyers for alleged Venezuelan gang...

Libertarian National Committee Chair Steven Nekhaila issued a statement this week condemning the recent arrest and potential deportation of Mahmoud Khalil, labeling it a politically motivated attack on free speech and an abuse of immigration law. Last Saturday, Mahmoud Khalil, a legal U.S. permanent resident and Columbia University graduate student, was arrested by federal agents. The Department of Homeland Security alleges that Khalil led activities aligned with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization, citing his involvement in pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Columbia University last year. Khalil’s attorney contends that he has no proven ties to Hamas and has committed no crimes. As...

Pope Francis plans major inter-faith event for ‘fraternity’ between Catholics and MuslimsPope Francis has reportedly tasked the Vatican to organize a high-level inter-religious event with Muslims, following a request from the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, who cited Francis’ ‘Fratelli Tutti’ as inspiration for the event.Upon the suggestion of the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Pope Francis has reportedly tasked the Vatican to organize a high-level inter-religious dialogue event between Muslims and Catholics this year.As the outcome of a February 10 private audience with Chems-Eddine Hafiz, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, Pope Francis...

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, did not have to be rushed through the confirmation process despite the recent terror attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas. According to the Minnesota Democrat, the FBI is “very functional.” Host Jake Tapper said, “In light of the New Orleans terrorist attack, Trump allies are urging you and your colleagues in the Senate to move quickly on confirming the president elect’s national security team. You have signaled some opposition to Kash Patel serving as leader of the...

The Biden-Harris White House has wished Americans a “Happy Kwanzaa” — a holiday invented in 1966 by a racist extremist who served prison time for torturing a woman. Vice President Kamala Harris — who was born just two years before the holiday’s inception — claimed in 2020 that she and her family used to gather around, “across multiple generations,” and discuss Kwanzaa’s “seven principles” — which are identical to the principles of left-wing terrorist organization Symbionese Liberation Army. Harris wrote on X in 2020 that her family’s “Kwanzaa celebrations are one of my favorite childhood memories,” garnering thousands of critical...

ROME — Pope Francis called for a global ceasefire this weekend while again decrying Israel’s “cruelty” in dealing with Palestinians in Gaza. “Let us pray for a ceasefire on all war fronts, in Ukraine, the Holy Land, in all the Middle East and the entire world, at Christmas,” the pontiff said in his weekly Angelus address Sunday. “And with sorrow I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty; of the children machine-gunned, the bombing of schools and hospitals… So much cruelty!”

Attendees at a dance party in Boston cheered when pictures of Luigi Mangione, the man accused in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO, appeared on screen, according to videos posted on social media. Bop to the Top Tours' Jingle Bop was being held at Big Night Live, a venue in Boston, on Friday night. During the show, a DJ played Miley Cyrus' "He Could Be The One" as several pictures of Mangione appeared on a big screen. The crowd can be heard cheering as photos of Mangione taken from his social media accounts appear on screen. The cheers appear to get...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren outrageously sympathized with the killer of former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — and others who cheered the murderer on — claiming “people can only be pushed so far,” before condemning the violence. “The visceral response from people across the country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system,” Warren (D-Mass.) told the Huffington Post in an interview. “Violence is never the answer, but people can only be pushed so far.” In a subsequent statement, the Massachusetts senator added: “Violence is...

[Catholic Caucus] Kentucky prelate calls lack of election response from American Church ‘disappointing’In the month or so since former President Donald Trump was elected to occupy the White House for a second term, the majority of American bishops have either not commented on the election publicly, or issued a generic statement about the importance of civility, unity, and democracy.That extends to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, where – outside of responses to Trump’s stated plan for mass deportations – not much has been said. Bishop John Stowe, in a recent conversation with Crux, said that reality isn’t surprising...

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said Sunday that President-elect Trump’s picks for his next administration have “got to get their background checks together.” Earlier in an interview, Klobuchar told ABC News’s Jonathan Karl that as a Senate Judiciary Committee member, she and her colleagues on the panel have a role “to look at the FBI background check and is to ask them questions to make sure they’re fulfilling the mission of the department” for Cabinet picks.

ROME — Pope Francis has condemned what he described as the “massacre” of 153 women and children in Gaza, insisting the victims were “innocent.” Following his Angelus prayer on the Feast of All Saints, the pontiff remembered “all the peoples who are suffering because of war,” adding that “war is always a defeat, always!” War is “ignoble,” he continued, “because it is the triumph of the lie, of falsehood: one seeks the greatest interest for oneself and the greatest damage for the adversary, trampling on human lives, the environment, the infrastructure, everything; and all disguised with lies.”

ROME — Pope Francis has called out Israel for what he sees as its “domineering tendency” in Lebanon and Gaza, insisting its response to attacks has been “disproportionate.” Over the weekend the pontiff returned to Rome from Belgium and aboard the flight was asked whether he thinks Israel “has perhaps gone too far” in its dealings with Lebanon and Gaza, specifically mentioning the force used in the targeted assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah. “The defense must always be proportionate to the attack,” he continued. “When there is something disproportionate, a dominating tendency that goes beyond morality is...

On Friday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “First Move,” CNN Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond stated that “the escalations we’ve seen over the course of the last week and a half have prompted Hezbollah to go further than they have before,” and the strike against Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is “the latest in a series of escalations that we have seen the Israeli military and its government carry out over the course of the last week and a half.” Diamond said that the Nasrallah strike “marks just the latest in a series of escalations that we have seen the Israeli military and...

On Saturday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Velshi,” NBC News Chief International Correspondent Keir Simmons reacted to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan praising the death of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil in a recent Israeli strike as a positive outcome because it means that Aqil was brought to justice for his involvement in the Beirut barracks bombing in 1983 that killed 241 American military personnel by stating that “Of course, this, what is an assassination is not bringing somebody to justice.” While discussing recent Israeli strikes, Simmons said, “The Israeli Defense Forces saying that the strike killed 16 Hezbollah members, including 12 senior...

CHICAGO — He walked down a side street, eyes darting here and there, wondering how it would unfold. “What kind of fences will the police have? Will they bring dogs?” Hatem Abudayyeh asked. He stopped in the shadow of the United Center, home of the NBA’s Bulls and the NHL’s Blackhawks and a draw for tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who are expected to protest against U.S. support for Israel at the Democratic National Convention this month. “I hope they don’t militarize it,” he said. “The first statement the police made was about mass arrests. They’ve backed off a...

In a recently released video of Kamala Harris speaking at the Islamic Center of Southern California, the vice president declared that, “We must have the courage to object when they use that term, ‘radical Islamic terrorism.’”

Eric Clapton has expressed support for Roger Waters' to voice his outspoken political views. Waters has been accused multiple times over years of making alleged antisemitic remarks and actions at his concerts. In 2023, he drew criticism for wearing a Nazi-like costume during his performance in Berlin, which prompted an investigation by the German police. Additionally, his concert in Frankfurt, Germany, was nearly canceled, but he was ultimately permitted to perform. Also in 2023, Waters was condemned by the U.S. State Department, which said that the artist has "a long track record of using antisemitic tropes." Waters has been a...

Television host Piers Morgan backed a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war Monday morning, saying in a string of social media posts that a recent Israeli strike in a Rafah “safe zone” that killed more than 40 people was too far. “The scenes from Rafah overnight are horrific,” Morgan wrote on the social platform X. “I’ve defended Israel’s right to defend itself after Oct 7, but slaughtering so many innocent people as they cower in a refugee camp is indefensible.”

The president of Evergreen State College has announced he will comply with the demands of students who protested professor Bret Weinstein, who refused to participate in a campus event where white students and staff were asked to leave school grounds. Although Evergreen President George Bridges announced that progressive professor Bret Weinstein wouldn’t be suspended, Bridges announced that he would comply with the long list of demands that the students brought before him. “I’m George Bridges, I use he/him pronouns,” he began, before stating that he would comply with most of the student protester’s demands. Bridges went as far to say that...