Yikes: Leftist Justice ‘Cried’ after Conservative Rulings

Luis Cornelio
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Yikes: Leftist Justice ‘Cried’ after Conservative Rulings

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) In a revealing display of leftist partisanship at the Supreme Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor revealed that she has “cried” over several conservative-majority rulings at the Court, highlighting her deep frustration with the direction the Court has taken.  

“There are days that I’ve come to my office after an announcement of a case and closed my door and cried,” Sotomayor said during an event at Harvard University on Friday, according to The New York Times. “There have been those days. And there are likely to be more.” 

Elaborating on her emotional response, she added, “There are moments when I’m deeply, deeply sad. There are moments when, yes, even I feel desperation. We all do. But you have to own it, you have to accept it, you have to shed the tears and then you have to wipe them and get up.” 

This is not the first time Sotomayor, one of the Court’s most liberal justices, has openly expressed her distress over the conservative-majority rulings. 

“I live in frustration, and as you heard, every loss truly traumatizes me in my stomach and in my heart. But I have to get up the next morning and keep on fighting,” she said during a speech at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. 

“How can you look at those people and say that you’re entitled to despair? You’re not. I’m not,” she added. “Change never happens on its own. Change happens because people care about moving the arc of the universe toward justice, and it can take time and it can take frustration.”  

The current conservative dominance on the Court is largely due to former President Donald Trump, who appointed three conservative justices—Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett—during his four-year term. 

Sotomayor is now facing pressure to retire before the 2024 presidential election, in which Trump is seeking a second term against President Joe Biden. 

Should Trump win, he would have the opportunity to further cement the conservative majority by nominating additional justices if any vacancies arise. 

US Missionary Couple Killed and Burned by Haitian Gangs in Brutal Attack

Luis Cornelio
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US Missionary Couple Killed and Burned by Haitian Gangs in Brutal Attack

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A beloved missionary couple, Davy Lloyd and Natalie Baker Lloyd, were brutally killed by Haitian gangs, who then inhumanely burned their bodies.

This horrific incident underscores the precarious situation currently unfolding in the Caribbean country. 

The couple, associated with the American non-profit Missions In Hope, were attacked on Thursday. They were on the phone with David Lloyd, Davy’s father, when the assailants stormed their premises. 

“I was on the phone with my son when that was going down. He said, ‘Dad, we got a commotion again. I’ve got to go see what’s going on,” David Lloyd recounted, as reported by the Miami Herald. “They eventually got into the house and killed all three of them and set their bodies on fire.” 

Expressing his devastation, Lloyd continued, “I’m just at a total loss. … I’m just in total shock. I haven’t grieved. I haven’t done anything else. I haven’t eaten. I can’t think.”

David Lloyd described the attackers’ brutality: “They drove him into the house, tied him up and beat him. Then they proceeded to loot the whole house, everything they wanted and took my trucks and drove off with them.” 

The tragedy occurred as the couple was returning from church with children. The attackers were members of the Terre Nwa/Terre Noire (Black Land) gang, led by Cathel Jones, an ally of the notorious G9 gang leader, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizer. 

Jones is notably one of the criminals who escaped during a major prison break earlier this year. 

According to the Miami Herald, the couple’s involvement with the Missions In Hope non-profit was well-known, including feedng the those in need.

The non-profit’s director was also killed during the attack. David Lloyd and his other son had escaped Haiti just a day prior to the incident.

It’s Too Expensive to Even Eat at McDonald’s Under Biden

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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It’s Too Expensive to Even Eat at McDonald’s Under Biden

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) It was recently revealed that Americans now can’t even afford to eat fast food anymore, which is the result of the inflation that was caused by Joe Biden.

In 2019, a Big Mac burger at McDonald’s cost $3.99, the Daily Wire reported. Fast Food Menu Prices said that now it sells for a whopping $8.29. It was also revealed that a BLT Fooltlong at Subway that cost $5.50 in 2019 can now sell for as much as $8.49. Additionally, Chipotle’s chicken burrito in 2019 used to cost $6.50, but now it can cost $10.70.

Fast food prices, which have risen faster than inflation, have soared more quickly than the salaries of most employees at their restaurants, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

It was also pointed out by a recent survey conducted by LendingTree that 78% of consumers now consider fast food to be a “luxury” purchase because of how expensive the meals have become.

“Prices on basic items like McDonald’s cheeseburgers and Chick-fil-A nuggets have risen as much as 200% in less than five years with dire consequences for the lower- and middle-class families who make up much of the fast food customer base,” Dan O’Donnell of the MacIver Institute wrote on May 23, 2024.

He then debunked the “price gouging” propaganda by the Biden administration.

“This is not, as the White House has repeatedly insisted, the result of price gouging, but rather the shockingly high cost of wages and food production for restaurants like McDonald’s and Taco Bell.  Since their business model is entirely predicated on providing quick, convenient meals at low prices, they can ill afford to price their menu items out of the reach of their bargain-conscious customer base,” he wrote.

O’Donnell continued by saying that lower-income earners are the people who generally eat fast food because they “rely on a quick, affordable meal before soccer practice or a band concert” and that it is a bad sign for the American economy if these people simply can’t afford to eat at fast food chains anymore.

“When prices at these restaurants spike from $35-$40 for a family meal to $65-$70 in just a few years, those families either have to sacrifice a night out or extend themselves just a little further to afford it… When even fast food is slipping out of reach, it’s clear that America’s inflation problem is now a full-blown crisis,” he wrote.

Major Airline Claims ‘Error’ After Blaming 9-Year-Old Girl for Not Noticing Hidden Bathroom Camera

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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Major Airline Claims ‘Error’ After Blaming 9-Year-Old Girl for Not Noticing Hidden Bathroom Camera

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) One of the major American airlines backed away from its court filing, in which it blamed a nine-year-old girl for not noticing the hidden camera a flight attendant planted in the aircraft’s bathroom.

A former American Airlines flight attendant was accused of taping his iPhone to the toilet seat and then luring young girls to use the airplane bathroom, the Daily Wire reported.

Initially, the airline’s attorneys blamed the child, saying in a court filing that any injuries the girl suffered were due to her “own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by [her] use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”

However, on May 23, 2024, the airline distanced itself from the accusation, with an American Airlines spokesperson saying that external attorneys working for the airline had “made an error in this filing.”

“The included defense is not representative of our airline and we have directed it be amended this morning. We do not believe this child is at fault and we take the allegations involving a former team member very seriously. Our core mission is to care for people — and the foundation of that is the safety and security of our customers and team,” the spokesperson said.

The family of the 9-year-old child sued American Airlines after the FBI informed them that videos of their daughter were found on the former flight attendant’s phone.

The court filing was amended on May 22, 2024, with the new filing not including the accusation that the girl’s injuries were her fault.

“To blame a 9-year-old for being filmed while using the airplane bathroom is both shocking and outrageous. In my opinion, this is a depraved legal strategy that sinks to a new low. American Airlines should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves,” the attorney representing the girl, Paul Llewellyn, said.

The mother of the girl also criticized the airline.

“How in good conscience could they even make such a suggestion?” she said in a statement through her attorney.

CNN Has Lowest Primetime Ratings Since 1991

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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CNN Has Lowest Primetime Ratings Since 1991

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) One of the most infamous propaganda sources suffered its worst ratings among primetime viewers in the most coveted demographic by advertisers.

CNN, which calls itself “the most trusted name in news,” drew just 83,000 viewers aged 25 to 54 during the week of May 13-19, 2024, from 8 to 11 p.m. — its lowest-rated week since 1991, the New York Post reported.

On the other hand, Fox News, which couldn’t be considered a conservative news source either, garnered more than twice the audience in the key demo, with 186,000 viewers, simply because the network hasn’t been openly spreading the far-left propaganda for a while. The data also showed that another leftist network, MSNBC, was a distant second with 111,000 viewers.

“[New CNN boss Mark Thompson] better get his act together before he completely destroys CNN. It seems like he’s thrown in the towel regarding cable,” a top TV news producer said.

During the week, CNN’s three-hour primetime block featured the network’s highest-paid anchor, Anderson Cooper, with his show “AC360” at 8 p.m., “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” at 9 p.m. and “CNN NewsNight” with Abby Phillip at 10 p.m., the news source reported.

CNN’s total viewership for the week was 494,000, compared with 2 million for Fox News.  MSNBC pulled in 1.1 million viewers.

“CNN’s new name is Cancelled Network Now. Young people are as interested in Anderson Cooper as they are in Liza Minnelli,” a media insider said, according to the news source.

A spokesperson for CNN, however, informed the Post that CNN’s primetime ratings are “all growing year over year” among viewers aged 25-54, adding that the network’s primetime lineup, starting from “Erin Burnett Outfront” at 7 p.m. to its rebroadcast of “Anderson Cooper 360” at midnight, is “registering double-digit, year-over-year growth” in total viewers.

“I know it’s cliché to say but Thompson is rearranging the deck chairs on The Titanic. He has no new ideas yet. But maybe his old media playbook will work,” another media insider said.

Venezuelan Gang Members Arrested Thousands of Miles from Border

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Venezuelan Gang Members Arrested Thousands of Miles from Border

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) – Venezuelan Tren de Aragua prison gang members are being arrested thousands of miles from the border after having illegally entered the U.S. in Texas.

The Venezuelan prison gang is well-known for orchestrating murders, bribery schemes and money laundering, drug and arms trafficking, and kidnappings for ransom money. In March, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Maria Elvira Salazar, both Florida Republicans, called on the president to officially designate Tren de Aragua as a Transnational Criminal Organization.

“Tren de Aragua is an invading criminal army from a prison in Venezuela that has spread their brutality and chaos to U.S. cities and small towns,” they said. “If left unchecked, they will unleash an unprecedented reign of terror, mirroring the devastation it has already inflicted in communities throughout Central and South America, most prominently in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. The breadth of Tren de Aragua’s operations encompasses murder, drug and human trafficking, sex crimes, extortion, and kidnapping, among other brutalities.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations agents (ICE-ERO) recently arrested Venezuelan Tren de Aragua members in New York City and Chicago, but deportation efforts were foiled by federal or local policies.

On May 10, ICE-ERO-New York City agents arrested Johan Jose Cardenas Silva who was wanted by Peruvian authorities for conspiracy, assault and aggravated theft. This was two months after New York City Police Department officers arrested him in March and charged him on various firearm and drug charges.

“This international fugitive mistakenly thought he could waltz into the United States to not only evade justice in other countries, but to continue his criminality with impunity,” ICE-ERO New York City Field Office Director Kenneth Genalo said. “His history of lawless behavior and membership in a violent international criminal organization clearly demonstrate that he is a serious threat to the public safety.”

Despite Genalo’s claims, Cardenas was released from an ICE detention center in October 2023.

After illegally entering the U.S. in Del Rio, Texas, Border Patrol agents apprehended him on Oct. 4, 2022, determined he unlawfully entered the U.S. and issued him a notice and order of expedited removal.

On Jan. 19, 2023, ICE-ERO-San Antonio agents served him with a notice to appear before an immigration judge and in March 2023, an immigration judge ordered that he be removed from the United States.

He was not removed. Instead, on Oct. 5, 2023, he was released from ICE’s Stewart County Detention Center “on an order of supervision to report to New York City; however, he never reported as directed,” according to ICE.

He did travel to New York City but was arrested on March 27 by NYPD officers and charged with “criminal possession of a weapon-second degree: loaded firearm; criminal possession weapon-second degree: loaded firearm on school grounds; criminal possession-controlled substance-5th: intent to sell; and act in manner injure child less than 17.”

On the same day, the Bronx Criminal Court arraigned and released him on his own recognizance despite his criminal history and before ICE-ERO could place another immigration detainer. “Due to the New York state’s Protect Our Courts Act, ERO New York City was precluded from arresting Cardenas upon his release,” ICE said.

Cardenas went on to reportedly commit additional crimes and was again arrested. On April 1, the Nassau County Police Department arrested and charged him with “grand larceny in the fourth degree: value property greater than $1,000 and petit larceny.” Within a month, a district court convicted him and sentenced him to 60 days of jail.

He was being detained in a county correctional facility until he was arrested and removed by ICE and is currently in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. ICE agents also received notification that Cardenas was an international fugitive wanted by Peruvian authorities with an arrest warrant from October 2018.

In Chicago, ICE-ERO-Chicago agents arrested another Venezuelan Tren de Aragua member in March who was a subject of a Chicago Police Department investigation for a drive-by shooting in Chicago’s Little Italy neighborhood.

This was after he was first arrested for illegally entering the country near Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2022.

Border Patrol agents first arrested Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona near Eagle Pass on July 7, 2022, and placed him into removal proceedings. He was then released into the country on his own recognizance and ordered to appear before an immigration judge, which he failed to do. One year later, on July 7, 2023, an immigration judge issued a final order for his removal in absentia.

By Feb. 24, 2024, he was arrested by Cicero Police Department officers in Illinois for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, not having a firearms identification card, driving without a license or insurance, and possession of adult use cannabis in a motor vehicle. He was later released.

Just a few weeks later, on March 11, ICE-ERO officers arrested him without incident. He is currently detained in ICE’s Dodge County Detention Facility in Juneau, Wisconsin, pending immigration removal proceedings.

“This Venezuelan noncitizen represented a significant threat to the residents of our communities,” ICE-ERO Chicago Assistant Field Office Director Raymond Hernandez said. “Not only is he a validated member of a transnational street gang, but he also displayed a willingness to unlawfully discharge a firearm in public. ERO Chicago will continue to prioritize public safety by removing such threats from our streets.”

Rubio and Salazar warned, “Tren de Aragua has plunged communities into chaos” in Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and Peru. “They have sown fear and instability, undermining the credibility of government institutions, as well as the safety and security of innocent civilians. … We cannot permit our cities to become battlegrounds for such organizations, nor can we allow our citizens to suffer at their hands.”

Feds Knew Biden Met w/ Son’s Chinese Partners

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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Feds Knew Biden Met w/ Son’s Chinese Partners

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) A massive cache of documents recently turned over to Congress revealed that federal agents gathered evidence during the 2016 election that Hunter Biden had used access to his father on an official government trip to China aboard Air Force Two to connect prospective business partners in the country with then-Vice President Joe Biden.

The federal agents didn’t do anything with this information, Just the News reported.

“They got to meet Dad. All very good. Talk later,” Hunter wrote in a December 2013 email.

In this email, Hunter confirmed how he connected his Chinese associates with his father in a Beijing hotel after Joe had met with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Additionally, Hunter bragged in his emails about how his father was so enamored with China’s communist leader, suggesting that “they are in love with each other.”

“They [almost] kissed on departure,” Hunter wrote in one of the emails seized by federal agents.

In 2015 and 2016, the FBI, IRS and Securities and Exchange Commission agents collected the previously nonpublic communications that were among 3.3 million pages of emails, bank records and corporate memos, as well as subpoenas during a criminal investigation into a fraudulent bond scheme involving an American Indian tribe.

Even though several of his business partners were charged in that case, Hunter wasn’t charged. Despite that, agents in that probe gained extensive access to Hunter’s bank files, corporate records and communications, including some that were not located on his now infamous laptop.

In 2019, the FBI seized the laptop and it became a subject of political controversy a year later, despite any mention of the laptop being removed from every Big Tech social media platform and major news publications and channels refusing to talk about it.

“The only reason Joe Biden wanted to kiss President Xi was that state-affiliated companies were about to line his family’s pockets with foreign wires and lucrative business opportunities,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, who is leading the current impeachment inquiry, said.

California Senate Passes Ban on Parental Notification for TK-12 Gender Changes

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California Senate Passes Ban on Parental Notification for TK-12 Gender Changes

(Kenneth Schrupp, The Center Square) – The California Senate passed a bill that would ban parental notification for gender changes in public TK-12 and provide more resources to increase parental support of LGBTQ pupils. While parents broadly support disclosure rules and have approved them in many school districts, state leaders, including the attorney general — who has supported lawsuits against districts with disclosure rules — say these efforts harm transgender children.

In the past year, school districts across California have adopted measures requiring parents to be notified if their children request to officially change their pronouns, go by a different name, or use facilities or school programs for children of the opposite gender.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has responded by supporting lawsuits against these school districts, with California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond supporting Assembly Bill 1955, a bill just passed by the California Senate and heading to the Assembly that would ban these parental notification requirements.

“AB 1955 protects our LGBTQ+ youth from increased risk of bullying and harassment, and it affirms families’ ability to handle family matters at home without school employees being forced to intervene,” said Thurmond in a statement. “The SAFETY Act will allow our teachers to focus on teaching academic skills – not on policing gender identity.”

Parental rights advocates maintain that this bill would likely be found unconstitutional and undermines children’s health and the trust between schools and parents.

“Notifying and involving parents for something as paramount as socially transitioning a child at school is critical for the well-being of children and for maintaining trust between schools and parents,” Jonathan Zachreson, whose Protect Kids California organization is collecting signatures for a statewide ballot initiative requiring parental notification, told to The Center Square.

Liberty Justice Center, a legal nonprofit representing two California school districts and Protect Kids California in various cases against the state, reiterated their support for parental rights and said it would fight AB 1955 in court when it likely passes.

“Parents have a right to know what their own minor children are doing at school – and school officials have no right to keep secrets from parents,” said Liberty Justice Center President Jacob Huebert in a statement. “We will continue to stand with parents and the school districts that want to respect their rights – and we’ll continue to represent them free of charge, at no cost to taxpayers.”

While parental rights advocates focus on the trust between parents and the schools, LGBTQ advocates focus on trust between students and schools.

“Teachers should not be the gender police and violate the trust and safety of the students in their classrooms,” Assemblymember Christopher Ward, D-San Diego, who authored the bill, said. “Parents should be talking to their children, and the decision for a student to come out to their family members should be on their own terms. The SAFETY Act simply ensures that conversations about gender identity and sexuality happen at home without interference from others outside of the family unit.”

Earlier this year, the United Kingdom’s National Health Service stopped administering puberty blocking hormones to transgender minors, saying there is “not enough evidence to support the safety or clinical effectiveness” of such procedures. The United States Supreme Court has recently supported the constitutionality of state laws banning gender hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery for transgender minors, suggesting parental rights advocates may have the upper hand if AB 1955 passes and a legal challenge goes to trial.

Calif. Democrats Cut Proposed Penalties for Child Prostitution Buyers

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Calif. Democrats Cut Proposed Penalties for Child Prostitution Buyers

(Kenneth Schrupp, The Center Square) – The California Senate passed a bill strengthening penalties for child sex trafficking after Democrats added a clause making purchasing sex from 16- and 17-year-olds a misdemeanor and making buying sex from children 15 years or younger a “wobbler” that cannot include prison time.

A “wobbler” is a crime that can be punished as either a felony or a misdemeanor in California.

Under existing California law, many crimes regarding purchasing sex from children are misdemeanors, with felony charges only available for cases involving minors 14 or under, or use of force. SB 1414, authored by state Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, originally would have made attempted or successful solicitation of sex with a minor for money a felony with a prison sentence ranging from 2 to 4 years, a fine not exceeding $25,000, and registration as a sex offender. The bill would punish all those who solicit from a child, regardless of whether or not the person knew or reasonably should have known that the person solicited was a minor.

In the California Senate Public Safety Committee, the Democratic majority added a series of amendments to SB 1414 against Grove’s objections. These amendments made buying sex from 16- and 17-year-olds only punishable as a misdemeanor, and from 15 years and younger a “wobbler” — with two days of jail and/or a fine as punishment for a misdemeanor, and jail time but no prison time as a felony. The amendments also give judges the option to eliminate the minimum mandatory two days of jail, remove punishment for those who did not know and could not reasonably have known the solicited child was a minor, makes the felony charge only punishable with jail, not prison time, and no longer require first-time offenders to register as sex offenders.

The bill, which passed unanimously on the Senate floor, now goes to the State Assembly.

“The crime of purchasing a child, of any age, for sex in the state of California should be a prison felony,” said Grove in a news release. “We must restore this bill in the Assembly to protect every child in the state of California from the horrific crime of sex trafficking.”

The bill is opposed by the ACLU and the California Public Defenders Association, which registered formal opposition to the most recent version of the bill. The ACLU also opposed Grove’s SB 14 from the prior legislative year, a bill signed into law that made trafficking children a serious crime eligible for the state’s three-strikes law.

In testimony against the unamended version of the bill, Caldwell Houston of the CPDA said, “Youth brain development is critical in part here because of the focus on such young people, and we know that through the science that a youth brain is not even really developed by 25. It would be unfortunate and wrong to force those young people to prison and to sex registry,” which suggests that younger adults should not be held to the same criminal standard as older adults.

This argument was reflected in one of the adopted amendments, under which only perpetrators with a previous conviction from purchasing sex from a child 15 or younger and with over a 10-year age gap to the victim must register as a sex offender, meaning a 25-year-old could purchase sex from 15-year-olds without registering as a sex offender.

Farm Bill Ignites Debate on Food Stamp Spending Amid $30 Billion Cut

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Farm Bill Ignites Debate on Food Stamp Spending Amid $30 Billion Cut

(Tom Gantert, The Center Square) – A $1.5 trillion Farm Bill supported by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representative has sparked criticism among Democrats for cutting $30 billion from the former food stamps program.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit costs, formerly known as food stamps, have increased from $55.6 billion in fiscal year 2019 to $107.04 billion in fiscal year 2023.

The average monthly benefit has increased from $129.83 in fiscal year 2019 to $211.57 in fiscal year 2023. That’s a 36% increase in the cost of benefits over that four-year period when adjusted for inflation.

The House Committee on Agriculture on Friday approved the Farm, Food, And National Security Act of 2024, better known as the Farm Bill that has a tremendous impact on food and food subsidies in the U.S.

The bill totaled $1.5 trillion and was the first Farm Bill to break a trillion dollars, according to ABA Banking Journal.

The U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Committee passed the bill 33-21 with just four Democratic votes as the Republicans have majority control. The Democrats control the U.S. Senate and that House bill would have to be reconciled with the Senate bill.

U.S. Congresswoman Shontel Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, criticized the House bill, saying it would cut $30 billion over the next 10 years from future SNAP benefits.

“This partisan Farm Bill punishes the poor, picks winners and losers in commodities, undermines climate and conservation programs, and fails to properly support Black farmers, farmers from underserved communities, and new and family farmers,” Brown said in a media release.

The House Agriculture Committee Democrats said the bill would be the largest cut to SNAP in nearly 30 years.

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