Free Republic

Federal agents have arrested Utah oil magnate James Lael Jensen, his wife Kelly Anne Jensen, and two of their sons, Maxwell Sterling Jensen (aka “Max”) and Zachary Golden Jensen, in connection with a sprawling $300 MILLION smuggling and money laundering conspiracy tied to Mexican criminal organizations. Court records reveal that all four members of the Jensen family were arrested on Wednesday, April 23 — with sons Max and Zachary taken into custody in the Rio Grande Valley, while James and Kelly Jensen were apprehended at their 26,893-square-foot mansion in Sandy, Utah, reportedly worth over $9.1 million. The arrest was carried...

Salt Lake City, Utah, often referred to as the "Mormon capital of the world," has added transgender and progress pride flags to its new slate of city flags. The city formally adopted three new city flags on Tuesday in an attempt to skirt a state law prohibiting the flying of LGBT pride flags and other non-official banners at its City Hall. In addition to its traditional Sego Lily Flag, Salt Lake City adopted three new flags to celebrate what officials called “human rights”: the “Sego Celebration Flag,” marking Juneteenth; the Sego Belonging Flag,” representing the city’s LGBT-identified residents; and the...

On July 7, 1846, a contingent of Marines raised the American flag over Monterey, California, to mark a proclamation by U.S. consul Thomas Larkin that the territory was being annexed as a consequence of the war with Mexico. Much of the future state had already been taken from Mexico's nominal control by an uprising of American settlers under the Bear Flag. Victory in the Mexican War meant that the country gained Texas, California, and everything in between, comprising most of what is now New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. Next to the War of Independence and the Civil...

Leaders of Utah's capital city voted to add three new city flags, all incorporating designs not allowed through a new state flag law, to sidestep the measure hours before it goes into law. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall unveiled three new city flag designs to members of the Salt Lake City Council Tuesday evening, as she explained how the city plans to move forward in the wake of HB77 on the eve of the bill becoming law. The new flags would add the sego lily logo from Salt Lake City's city flag to the Juneteenth, Progress Pride and transgender...

On Tuesday, Attorney General Pamela Bondi held a press conference announcing a week-long, multi-agency and multi-law enforcement and tribal operation headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the New Mexico District Attorney’s Office. The operation resulted in huge drug busts and multiple arrests of high-level members of the Sinaloa cartel. According to Bondi, the agents garnered 11.5 kilos of fentanyl, including three million fentanyl pills — the largest seizure in the nation's history. The main head of the Sinaloa cartel, Alberto Salazar Amaya, was arrested along with five others, all in the country illegally. Amaya was arrested in Salem,...

The woman convicted of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart over two decades ago was arrested Thursday for violating her sex offender probation. Wanda Barzee, who abducted then-14-year-old Smart with her husband Brian David Mitchell in 2002, is accused of illegally ... In 2002, Barzee and Mitchell, who was a street preacher, went through an open window and abducted Smart from her Salt Lake City bedroom at knifepoint. The teen was raped on a near-daily basis, and lived with the couple in run-down homes and campsites in Utah and San Diego. Smart was found nine months later after a good Samaritan saw the...

Tourists Matthew Nannen, 45, and Bailee Crane, 58, were visiting Inspiration Point at Utah’s scenic Bryce Canyon National Park with their elderly tabby — now named Mirage — when the trio took a fateful plunge on Monday night or Tuesday morning, the Salt Lake Tribune reported, citing the sheriff’s office. Mirage, who is estimated to be 12 years old, was found by hikers on Tuesday night in a soft black pet carrier and in remarkably good condition... The fortunate feline only suffered two fractured canine teeth and a few fractured ribs — but miraculously “seemed to have weathered the fall...

A Utah mom woke up to the police knocking on her door Sunday morning, telling her that her 7-year-old son had taken his 5-year-old sister on a drive to a different city. According to the Ogden Police Department, they received calls about a reckless driver around 8 a.m. on April 27. Officers began to pursue the vehicle, but soon disengaged when they noticed the age of the driver and assessed the risk to the public. The vehicle later hit a parking strip, and police responded to the scene of the crash. The children were found unharmed, according to officers. The...

Every year for the last half-century, thousands of the poorest Utahns have turned to Planned Parenthood for free or discounted family planning health care, like birth control or testing for sexually transmitted infections. But under a directive from President Donald Trump’s administration to freeze the federal funds that helped pay for those services, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah was forced to raise its fees earlier this month. And now, it will close a quarter of its clinics in the state — the two furthest from Salt Lake City, and ones most accessible to some of Utah’s most rural residents. “When...

CHEYENNE — Already facing serious federal charges for allegedly carrying 18,000 rounds of ammunition through Wyoming, Ricardo Paez-Quinones, 35, dug himself into an even deeper hole on Friday. Paez-Quinones was a no-show for his bond hearing on Friday morning in U.S. District Court, leading Judge Alan Johnson to put out a bench warrant for his arrest. Johnson suspected that the topic of his bond was what led Paez-Quinones to avoid coming to court, leading him to engage “in some form of self-help.” “We can receive an explanation for that at a later time,” Johnson remarked. Paez-Quinones is an illegal immigrant...

SANDY — A Utah couple is being accused of money laundering and smuggling oil into the U.S. alongside Mexican cartels, after they were arrested during a multi-state raid by U.S. Marshals, according to court documents. James Lael Jensen and his wife, Kelly Anne Jensen, were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Wednesday. The couple and two of his sons are being federally indicted for allegedly conspiring to smuggle 2,881 shipments of oil from Mexico that they knew were illegal. The family is accused of moving at least $300 million from Mexico to the U.S. The couple was arrested...

Two Mexican nationals were arrested in Colorado last month after authorities found them transporting 180,000 rounds of ammunition during a traffic stop, federal officials have announced. Caesar Ramon Martinez Solis, 41, and Humberto Ivan Amador Gavira, 24, were pulled over on March 26th in Cañon City, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado. Detectives from Fremont County stopped their white Chevrolet van after it failed to dim its headlights, didn’t signal a turn, and had a broken license plate light, according to an arrest affidavit.

A man in Utah has been arrested after police say that he tried to run a Tesla off the freeway while he was driving over 100 miles per hour. Oscar Fayani, 27, was arrested on Friday and then booked into Tooele County Jail after he allegedly ran into a Tesla driver on purpose in an attempt to drive the vehicle off the road, according to KSL News. Fayani faces charges of aggravated assault, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license, as well as drug possession. A little after 10 am on Friday, police were looking for a "reckless driver" on...

US government is set to return nearly $63,000 to infamous J6er John Sullivan, who also goes by Jayden X. Sullivan reportedly made the money from his filming of the protests and rioting that day. ... Antifa-BLM organizer John Sullivan was sentenced in April 2024 to six years in prison for his actions on January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol. Antifa-Insurgence leader John Earl Sullivan was arrested in Utah after the US Capitol riots. As reported previously, Antifa protester John Sullivan was caught on video posing as a Trump supporter during the rioting at the US Capitol on January 6th....

The cut and baled land and the untouched land in this photo represent where survey markers indicate property boundaries exist between Maude private property and USFS property. Charles Maude and Heather Maude were indicted separately for theft of federal property, and each must retain their own attorney — doubling their legal costs. Courtesy photo Screen Shot 2025-04-10 at 10.57.18 AM The Western South Dakota couple indicted for theft of federal property will not go to trial in April. A new court date of July 22, 2025, has been established for Charles and Heather Maude of Caputa, in federal district court...

Today, Congressman Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s, R-Colo., legislation to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species List and ensure that action is not subject to judicial review passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee. The Pet and Livestock Protection Act will restore authority back to state lawmakers and state wildlife officials to control the gray wolf population. H.R. 845 will now head to the full House of Representatives for a vote. “The damage to pets, livestock and wildlife from an unmanaged wolf population can no longer be ignored. The gray wolf has exceeded federal and...

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump signed four executive orders Tuesday promoting the deregulation and expansion of the “beautiful, clean coal” industry in the U.S. The first order White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf said might be “one of the most significant executive orders” the president has issued so far. “This directs all departments and agencies of the federal government to end all discriminatory policies against the coal industry. This ends the leasing moratorium that prevents new coal projects on federal land, and it’s going to accelerate all permitting and funding for new coal projects,” Scharf said. The other...

A Food and Drug Administration official involved in development of Covid-19 vaccines resigning... In Ukraine tonight a deadly... The message from Russian media...Ukraine is using women... Late tonight in Spain's Catalonia region the top court overturning a rape conviction involving Brazilian soccer player... Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox allowing a law regulating flags in public schools and... In Israel members of the medical corps refusing to return to combat duty... A federal appeals court ruling in favor of the dismantling of "USAID"... Elon Musk's xAI taking over his X social media platform... ...getting more details...operation to lift a sunken US...

Utah became the first state in the nation to restrict all but a few approved flags from being flown on government buildings and to prohibit fluoride from being added to public water systems. Gov. Spencer Cox allowed the flag bill to take effect without his signature as the deadline approached Thursday evening, while he signed the fluoride bill into law.

On March 24, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill laying groundwork for major higher education improvements after more than a century of U.S. universities undermining American moral and intellectual virtues. The law vaults Utah toward competing with Florida for the best higher education reforms that support American self-governance. Senate Bill 334 requires “every student at Utah State University to take a full year-and-a-half course in Western civilization and an additional one-semester course in American civics,” writes Stanley Kurtz, co-author of a model bill inspiring this law. These new core courses will be taught by professors employed by a new...