Free Republic

A Washington gun shop is taking its case against the state’s ban on the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines to the U.S. Supreme Court.Gator’s Custom Guns in Kelso filed a petition this week, asking the high court to review the state Supreme Court’s decision in May upholding the controversial law. Supporters of the restriction see it as an important step for quelling gun violence.Walter Wentz, the Cowlitz County store’s owner, said Friday he hopes to convince the Supreme Court justices to “do their job and not accept all these lower courts waving their finger at them.”“I look forward to exercising...

Donald Trump has sent an unmistakable message—Barack Obama’s White House portrait has once again been moved. It’s been tucked away where visitors won’t see the grinning image of a president whose tenure was marked by scandal, deception, and failed policies. Advertisement Unfortunately, it’s not in the garbage. CNN reports the portrait now sits in an out-of-the-way corner, away from guests who don’t need a reminder of Obama’s disastrous legacy and his effort to frame Trump with collusion charges. This is more than redecorating — it’s a statement about accountability and honesty in presidential legacies. By moving the portrait, Trump delivers...

The BriefHundreds of people attended a vigil to remember Christopher "LeBron" Castleberry, a 28-year-old man who was shot and killed outside of Pursuit NW Church. The targeted shooting, which occurred while Castleberry was at a youth BBQ with his wife and son, has prompted the church to offer a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.SEATTLE - Hundreds turned out to remember "LeBron Givaun", also known as Christopher "LeBron" Castleberry on Sunday night during a vigil outside Pursuit NW Church in the University District. LeBron was shot and killed near the steps of his church on Thursday evening while...

LACEY, Wash. - A verdict has been reached in the trial of a Lacey father and mother accused in an attempted "honor killing" of their own teenage daughter. A jury found 44-year-old Ihsan Ali not guilty of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault. However, Ali was found guilty of second-degree and fourth-degree assault, and unlawful imprisonment. The backstory: Ali was captured on video appearing to choke his 17-year-old daughter on the ground outside Timberline High School in October 2024. The assault happened after the teen ran away from home, claiming her parents planned to forcefully send her to Iraq to...

Two Lacey parents have been found not guilty of attempted murder in connection with an assault on their teenage daughter. Ihsan and Zahraa Ali were accused of trying to kill their teen daughter outside Timberline High School last fall. After three days of deliberations, a jury found both parents not guilty of attempted murder. However, the girl’s father, Ihsan, was found guilty of assault and unlawful imprisonment. The mother, Zahraa, was only found guilty of violating a court order, but was determined to be not guilty of attempted murder, unlawful imprisonment or assault. Sentencing for both parents is set for...

Matson, a major U.S.-based cargo shipping company, has announced an immediate and indefinite halt to all shipments of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) across its entire maritime network, citing rising concerns over fire hazards linked to lithium-ion batteries. The decision affects routes between the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, Guam, and Alaska, creating massive logistical headaches for both automakers and private owners trying to move EVs across the Pacific. This unprecedented move follows a string of high-profile shipping fires—including the June 2025 loss of the Morning Midas, which sank after a suspected battery-related blaze aboard its vehicle deck. Matson confirmed...

Thieves cut through padlocks and latches to filch 12,000 rounds of ammunition from a decommissioned military base in southwest Washington now used as a shooting range by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, deputies said Monday. The rounds of 9 mm and rifle ammo were discovered stolen from a storage shed at Camp Bonneville on Jan. 15 — about two weeks since deputies had last visited the remote training facility, said Clark County Sheriff’s Sgt. Chris Skidmore.

I am testifying in Court today as a witness for Cloud (@Numerarch), the Portland resident who confronted Antifa and is suing the city over the illicit occupation at the ICE facility. The lawsuit claims that Portland has failed to quell the nightly noise disturbances at the ICE facility, causing local residents persisting harm. A couple of Antifa militants involved in the occupation are beginning to show as city witnesses. A judge should be issuing a decision today. Stay tuned for updates!

A Seattle woman has accused the US Navy's Blue Angels of 'terrorizing' her elderly cat before its death, then violating her rights after they blocked her on social media for complaining, according to a new lawsuit. Lauren Ann Lombardi's 14-year-old cat Layla died on August 11 after suffering from congestive heart disease, which the cat mom claims was worsened by noise from the Blue Angels. 'Layla's final days on Earth were marred by sadistic suffering - cowering in terror beneath furniture while her ailing heart struggled against the Blue Angels' relentless noise pollution,' her federal lawsuit said.

SEATTLE — A “No to Blue Angels” billboard just went up in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. The Blue Angels have been a fixture of Seafair for more than 50 year-- their thunderous roar could is the soundtrack to summer’s in Seattle. “I miss it more now because I don’t live on this side of town anymore,” said Carolyn Finney. She says she enjoyed the acrobatic show before moving to SeaTac. “Just seeing them fly around just close to the house down on, by the beach, that kind of stuff,” Finney said. “Yeah, it was exciting to see that.” However, a group...

On June 11, a former president of the Spokane City Council sent out an alert over social media. Two men had reported for an appearance in immigration court there... The former council member, Ben Stuckart, urged followers to disrupt that enforcement. Among those responding to the call that day was Bajun Mavalwalla II, a Petaluma native and military veteran who had relocated to Washington. The resulting demonstration became confrontational. Protesters blocked an ICE bus as the agency attempted to transport the two detainees to Tacoma for immigration hearings, deflating the vehicle’s tires. Several people were arrested. … Prosecutors paint a...

The Seattle area is experiencing the highest inflationary pressure of any major US metropolitan area, according to a new report from WalletHub. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the study compared inflation over the past two months and year-to-year across 23 major metro areas, and Seattle topped the list. Prices in the Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma area have jumped 1.4 percent in just the last two months and 2.7 percent over the past year. WalletHub found that the region’s food prices rose 4.8 percent over the last year, both for groceries and dining out, while energy costs surged by 5 percent. Washingtonians are...

Though she has claimed the DIGNITY Act is not amnesty legislation, her own words undercut that defense.Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., admitted in a recent interview that her DIGNITY Act could serve as a launchpad for eventually granting citizenship to hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals currently in the United States.The DIGNITY Act, according to a press release from Salazar’s office, “allows certain long-term undocumented immigrants to earn legal status, without amnesty or a path to citizenship” so that illegal aliens who broke the law can have an “opportunity.” The bill would create a “7-year earned legal status program allowing”...

A federal judge on Friday blocked a Washington state law requiring Catholic priests to report suspected child abuse or neglect, including any information they learn from sacramental confession, raising concerns about religious liberty. The law, Senate Bill 5375, was slated to go into effect on July 27, but was blocked Friday after Judge David Estudillo of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington granted a preliminary injunction.

People coming of political age in the last decade or so were no doubt shocked to learn of the Biden administration’s insane plan for saving the northern spotted owl from purported extinction. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency responsible for implementing the Endangered Species Act, preserving the owl requires slaughtering nearly half a million barred owls at a cost, opponents say, of $1.3 billion over the next 30 years. That is so, the FWS maintains, because the larger, aggressive barred owl is killing its cousin at a prodigious rate. Perhaps more stunning to these political newcomers is...

The Trump administration is launching a new visa program for migrant workers as farmers and hotel owners express concerns that their labor force is being threatened by the president’s mass deportation raids. The Department of Labor’s newly-created Office of Immigration Policy will help fast track visas for foreign laborers — but the administration has made it clear that the initiative is “not amnesty” for illegal migrant workers, a senior administration official told Axios. “This is not amnesty. It’s not amnesty lite,” the official told the publication. “No one who is illegally here is being given a pathway to citizenship or...

The Washington State Office of the Attorney General has launched a taxpayer-funded hotline in three counties that would allow residents, including foreign nationals and illegal immigrants, to report U.S. citizens for engaging in legally protected speech and activity, in addition to hate crimes. The launch of the hate crimes and bias incidents hotline in King, Clark and Spokane counties occurred almost exactly a year after The Center Square reported that Oregon’s hate crime and bias incident hotline mostly tracks legal activities. Referring to both legal crimes and protected speech, the hotline’s website says “these incidents have a devastating and long-lasting...

The Department of Justice on Monday unveiled a record-shattering crackdown on the corrupt underbelly of America’s health care system. A jaw-dropping 324 defendants — including 96 medical professionals — have been charged in 50 federal districts and 12 states for orchestrating over $14.6 billion in intended fraud, largely targeting Medicare, Medicaid, and federal health programs meant to serve the elderly, disabled, and the poor. The takedown, spearheaded by the DOJ’s Health Care Fraud Unit in coordination with HHS-OIG, the FBI, the DEA, and over a dozen state attorney general offices, marks the largest health care fraud bust in U.S. history....

The state of Washington is being sued by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division for violating the First Amendment right of priests to maintain confidentiality in the Confessional. The law, which was signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson on May 2, is due to go into effect July 27. The Catholic League was the first lay Catholic organization in the nation to write to Washington legislators about this issue. On February 10, I raised the following question to the lawmakers, “What broke?” I specifically asked, “where is the evidence that child molesters—in any state—report their crimes to priests in...

"I think President Trump was wrong. He went against the Constitution." Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, joined Chris Jansing on MSNBC Reports to discuss the legality of President Trump’s move to launch military strikes on Iran.