Red State Gov. Declares State of Emergency Over Police Officer Shortage

Dmytro "Henry" Aleksandrov
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Red State Gov. Declares State of Emergency Over Police Officer Shortage

(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) On Feb. 15, 2024, Gov. Jeff Landry, R–La., declared a state of emergency over a shortage of law enforcement officers in the state.

The announcement was made in an executive order that came just days before the legislature will meet for a special session on crime, which will focus on strengthening the criminal justice system and repealing soft-on-crime policies, Landry said.

The Louisiana Sheriffs Association reported that there is a shortage of 1,800 deputies as of July 2023, according to the Daily Wire.

“As a former police officer and sheriff’s deputy, I understand the vital role our law enforcement officers play in our communities. Currently, our state is facing a shortage of officers, resulting in increased crime and less public safety. Today’s executive order and the upcoming crime special session will ensure our law enforcement officers are supported and we can begin to bring law and order back to our state,” Landry stated.

BLM and Defund the Police movements that resulted in the national police officer shortage affected the state of Louisiana with “departments experiencing record-low employment and an increase in police officer response times resulting in an increased threat to the lives, property and safety of persons within the state of Louisiana,” the executive order said.

The Louisiana Sheriff’s Association praised the executive order and highlighted “the importance of the law enforcement profession and our state’s desperate need to fill valuable front-line deputy positions.”

Landry told the legislature during the special session to look at restricting parole eligibility, expanding the criteria to revoke parole and probation, increasing penalties for carjackings, upgrading illegal use of weapons to the violent crime category, granting immunity under certain conditions to peace officers, and creating a criminal offense for the marketing of fentanyl to minors.

“This special session begins to fulfill the campaign promises we made to the people of Louisiana to make our State Safe Again. No one, regardless of their neighborhood or zip code, should feel unsafe. We all want safer communities. We will defend and uplift our law enforcement officials and deliver true justice to crime victims who have been overlooked for far too long,” he said.

Fani Willis’s Dad Invokes Menendez’s Defense for Hiding Cash at Home 

Luis Cornelio
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Fani Willis’s Dad Invokes Menendez’s Defense for Hiding Cash at Home 

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The father of embattled Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis invoked an unusual defense to explain why his daughter may have allegedly reimbursed her former lover entirely in cash, without providing any receipts.

Retired defense criminal attorney John Floyd told Judge Scott McAfee that Willis always had cash because she was black, and therefore could not provide evidence that she reimbursed Wade for the lavish trips allegedly funded by his taxpayer-funded salary.

“Maybe, and excuse me, Your Honor, I’m not trying to be racist but—it’s a Black thing,” Floyd claimed, explaining why Willis had cash at home. “I was trained, and most Black folks hide cash or they keep cash. You always keep some cash because I’ve been places and just because of the color of my skin.”

Such a defense was previously raised by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., who is currently facing multiple federal indictments over corruption accusations, including bribery and acting as a foreign agent. Menendez asserted that he kept thousands of alleged bribed funds at home due to being born in Cuba. 

“For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies, and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” Menendez claimed at a New Jersey press conference.

Willis presented a similar defense Thursday, aiming to rebut allegations that she benefited from Wade’s taxpayer-funded contract—granted by her—because she repaid him in cash. However, Willis could not provide bank withdrawal receipts or checks, as the cash was stored in her home.

“I took out a large amount of money on my first campaign, I kept some of the cash of that,” Willis explained regarding why she would store several thousand dollars in cash at her residence. “I just have cash in my house,” she added.

Recalling her father’s alleged teachings, Willis stated, “‘You should always at least have six months in cash at your house at all times.’ Now, I don’t know why this old black man feels like that, but he does. When we were growing up my daddy had three safes in the house. So my father’s bought me a lockbox and I always keep cash in the house.”

The hearings come after Trump co-defendant Michael Roman claimed that Willis and Wade are financially benefiting from the Georgia prosecution against former President Donald Trump. Roman is seeking to disqualify Willis and Wade while trying to have the judge dismiss the case.

‘Hot Mess’ Fani Willis Had Her Dress on Backwards During Uppity Testimony

Molly Bruns
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‘Hot Mess’ Fani Willis Had Her Dress on Backwards During Uppity Testimony

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Thursday’s testimony by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in an ethics hearing to determine whether she and her lover, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, would be allowed to continue prosecuting former President Donald Trump drew a range of reactions.

But the eagle-eyed observers at Twitchy may have offered the best hot take of all, pointing out that the partisan prosecutor appeared to have her dress on backwards—or perhaps her head.

When Willis took the stand in an ethics investigation, it went so poorly even MSNBC could not find a way to spin the situation.

Both she and Wade attempted to defend themselves against the allegations of impropriety lodged by Mike Roman, a co-defendant in the racketeering case against Trump and 14 others.

Willis had trouble staying on topic while on the stand, despite Roman’s attorney, Ashleigh Merchant, asking clear and direct questions using Willis’s own language.

At one point, Merchant asked Willis if Wade ever visited her “where she laid her head”—Willis’s own terminology—to which she responded by losing her composure and accusing Merchant of being a liar.

Merchant also questioned Willis about the many vacations she and Wade went on together, which Wade claimed she paid him back for in cash in previous testimony.

When asked where the money came from, Willis said she’s always kept anywhere between $500 to $15,000 cash in her house. She also let slip that “[she] took out a large amount of money on [her] first campaign, [she] kept some cash from that.”

Merchant asked again where the money came from, attempting to return to the point, to which Willis responded with “I’m sure the source of the money was always the work, sweat and tears of me,” and then discussed her 2005 divorce.

At one point she also claimed that Merchant’s “interests [were] contrary to democracy.”

In addition to the loud outburst, accusations towards Merchant and ramblings about “fungible cash,” Willis also wore her dress backwards in the courtroom.

 

Twitter user Taylor Day listed the designer, year, color, retailer and price of the dress confirmed this to be the case.

“Adrianna Papell knit crepe tied knee length sheath dress, color ‘camilla’ or ‘caramilla,’ circa Nordstrom 2016ish, $129 with no discount, a tailor took in her shoulders and yes, she is wearing it backwards,” she said.

Another user found a listing of the same dress in a different color on clothing resale website Poshmark with pictures from the original listing on Nordstrom, verifying Day’s claims.

In addition to Willis’s several mishaps, revelations that their illicit relationship may stretch back to 2019 and shaky testimony from Wade himself will likely put the two lawyers in an absolutely unjustifiable ethical quagmire, perhaps resulting in disbarment and felony charges.

Testimony on Friday from Willis’s father, former Black Panther John Floyd, did little to help matters. His invocation of race to explain why his daughter purportedly kept large amounts of untraceable cash around her house drew comparisons to the explanations proffered by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who is currently under federal indictment for bribery and other serious financial crimes.

Seattle English Class Taught That Reading, Writing Are ‘White Supremacy’

Jacob Bruns
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Seattle English Class Taught That Reading, Writing Are ‘White Supremacy’

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) As part of a weeklong Black Lives Matter celebration, sophomore English students at a Seattle high school were taught that their love of reading and writing was a reflection of white supremacy, KTTH reported.

The incident took place at Lincoln High School in a World Literature and Composition course.

“This class concentrates on how the human experience is expressed in literature from around the world,” said the course description. “Students learn to read analytically and write clearly and purposefully.”

However, the description did go on to note that like most public school English classes in woke, deep-blue sanctuary cities, students could also expect a hearty dose of identity politics and political indoctrination interspersed throughout.

“Course topics and texts are aligned to the ‘Power and Oppression’ domain of the [Seattle Public Schools] Ethnic Studies Framework,” it noted.

Ironically, the course’s BLM unit seems to have ignored black students altogether in favor of fixating on the defining qualities of whiteness. Students received a handout titled “9 characteristics of white supremacy.”

Among those characteristics was the “Worship of the Written Word,” which the handout said acts as “an erasure of the wide range of ways we communicate with each other.”

This novel form of racism—language—is also a form of “honoring only what is written and even then only what is written to a narrow standard, full of misinformation and lies.”

The father of one student, who wished to remain anonymous out of fear for punishment from the school district, told conservative radio host Jason Rantz that he pitied students who take such inane lessons seriously.

“I feel bad for any students who actually internalize stuff like this as it is setting them up for failure,” the father explained.

To his point, another sign of “white supremacy” is defending oneself from accusations of being a white supremacist.

“How is a 15-year-old kid supposed to object in class when ‘denial and defensiveness’ is itself a characteristic of white supremacy?” said the father. “This is truly educational malpractice.”

Also making the list as symptoms of racism were “fear,” “paternalism” and “individualism.”

The students were also forced to watch a propaganda video titled, “Getting Called Out: How to Apologize,” teaching them how to apologize to “oppressed” people for their underlying assumptions.

The worksheet echoed other left-wing propaganda.

For example, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History & Culture claimed in a 2020 “whiteness” display that such things as holidays, time, justice and beautiful aesthetics were all “aspects and assumptions of whiteness.”

However, it was forced to remove the materials after conservative media caught wind and they were widely ridiculed by public figures including Donald Trump Jr.

Engoron Issues Ludicrous Verdict to Cap off Farcical N.Y. Fishing Expedition

Editor 1
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Engoron Issues Ludicrous Verdict to Cap off Farcical N.Y. Fishing Expedition

(Tom Gantert, The Center Square) A New York judge fined Donald Trump more than $350 million in the civil business fraud trial and barred the former president from serving as an officer on any New York corporation or applying for a loan within New York for three years.

Far-left judge Arthur Engoron made his decision Friday after a trial that began Oct. 2 and ended Dec. 13. More than 40 witnesses testified at trial.

The ruling also stipulates that the former president’s sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., can’t serve as an officer or director of any New York corporation for two years. The judge also fined each of Trump’s sons $4 million.

The New York Attorney General’s office claimed that Trump and his top managers fraudulently misrepresented the financial condition of some of his companies from 2011 through 2021.

Trump inflated his personal net worth by billions of dollars and Trump and his companies used the inflated net worth to get banks to lend him money on better terms than he should have been given, the AG claimed.

In one instance, the AG claimed a bank appraised a Trump property at 40 Wall Street at $220 million in 2012 but Trump’s team listed that property’s worth at $527 million.

In September, Engoron found the Trump and his companies had engaged in years of financial fraud.

“Even in the world of high finance, this Court cannot endorse a proposition that finds a misstatement of at least $812 million dollars to be ‘immaterial,” the judge wrote in September. “Defendants have failed to identify any authority for the notion that discrepancies of the magnitude demonstrated here could be considered immaterial.”

The New York Times reported that Trump will appeal the financial penalty.

Attorney General Letitia James long campaigned on the promise to “get Trump” and spent years in a fishing expedition, eventually shopping judges before landing on Engoron, who proved throughout the course of the trial that he was more preoccupied with his own vanity and ego than with the due process of justice.

Anti-Trump Head-Chopper Hit w/ Terrorism Charges

Ken Silva
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Anti-Trump Head-Chopper Hit w/ Terrorism Charges

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A Pennsylvania district attorney announced Thursday that it’s pressing terrorism charges against Justin Mohn—the self-purported militia leader who murdered his father and displayed his decapitated head on YouTube last month.

Along with charges or murder and defiling a corpse, Mohn now faces three counts of terrorism, two additional counts of possession of an instrument of crime and a slew of lesser charges.

According to law enforcement’s criminal complaint, investigators executed a search warrant at Mohn’s house on Feb. 6, finding a flash drive with a folder labeled, “fucked up shit.” That folder included several pictures of federal buildings along with instructions showing the steps needed to make an explosive device.

The criminal complaint also revealed that Mohn travelled to a National Guard base after murdering his father. There, he was taken into custody, the complaint said. Mohn’s father was in the Army Corps of Engineers.

“Justin Mohn fled to Fort Indian Town Gap, Pennsylvania in [his father’s] stolen 2009 Toyota … Fort Indiantown Gap is an Army National Guard base and is secured by a fence with barbed wire and armed guards at a front gate,” the complaint said.

“Justin Mohn was located on the base by Fort Indiantown Gap Police and taken into custody. Sgt. Bending advised your affiants that Justin Mohn made a statement about the barbed wire not being sharp enough to keep him out.”

Liberal media outlets have politicized Mohn’s crimes by pointing to his interest in militias and his anti-government YouTube rant.

CNN, for example, focused on Mohn’s “anti-Biden rant” while the New York Post referenced Q-Anon in its headline.

However, internet sleuths were quick to note that Mohn was anti-Trump.

Mohn, of course, displayed signals of severe mental illness. In his YouTube rant, which was pulled offline, he declared himself the rightful President. He also said multiple donors and politicians sought to have him be a presidential candidate ahead of the 2020 elections, but those efforts were thwarted because the U.S. government knew he was looked at as a potential “Mosiah.”

There is no publicly available evidence for any of his claims, and it appears that he was the only member of his own militia.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Bullish Industry Silver Forecast on Soaring 2024 Demand

Money Metals News Service
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Bullish Industry Silver Forecast on Soaring 2024 Demand

(Mike Gleason, Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) As speculative fervor fuels price spikes in technology stocks and cryptocurrencies, gold continues to quietly hold its major support level.

The monetary metal tested the critical $2,000 level again this week. After dipping early in the week, prices bounced modestly on Thursday.

The metals space remains unloved and under-owned by the investing public. And the mainstream financial media is wholly uninterested in it.

Hardly anyone is paying attention to the sector at all.  But some of the few who are paying attention are spotting compelling opportunities.

Even though retail investors are shunning anything related to precious metals, physical demand from industry, central banks, and consumers in the Far East is growing.

The physical silver market is especially at risk of becoming stressed. The Silver Institute’s latest forecast is for total silver demand to reach 1.2 billion ounces in 2024. That would be the second highest on record. The industry-backed nonprofit expects a structural supply deficit to persist in the silver market for the fourth consecutive year.

Silver Institute executive director Michael DiRienzo sees the silver price soaring to $30 per ounce later this year. A move above $30 per ounce would represent a massive technical breakout. The metal hasn’t been able to climb above $30 since prices broke down in 2013.

Of course, gold is much closer than silver to making new highs. The yellow metal is in what could be described as a stealth bull market. Prices are holding firm just below all-time highs despite the fact that gold isn’t even on the radar of the investing public.

Disinterest among the public is evidenced by the fact that exchange-traded products linked to gold prices have seen massive outflows.  Meanwhile, gold mining companies have been trashed, sending valuations toward historic lows.

Sentiment in the precious metals space is at the polar opposite of the hyped up high-tech sector.

Artificial intelligence stocks and the so-called “magnificent 7” big tech behemoths are all the rage. Microsoft alone recently attained a market capitalization of $3 trillion. Bitcoin has come roaring back over $50,000. Day trading of high-volatility options has exploded.

Investors have become speculators, and speculators have become gamblers. They don’t know or care whether their holdings represent good long-term value anymore. All they care about is whether they might go up the next day or the next hour or even the next minute.

Financial recklessness is showing up throughout the economy. Consumers are burning through savings and running up credit card debt. Americans lost record amounts at Las Vegas casinos last month and wagered record amounts on the Super Bowl this month.

Congress and the Biden administration, meanwhile, are gambling with America’s finances and the standing of its currency by running up record budget deficits.

Unsound fiscal policy, unsound financial markets, and unsound personal finances are all related to the absence of sound money. When the supply of fiat currency is unlimited and its value is perpetually declining, people feel incentivized to borrow, spend, and speculate — often to excess.

It’s fun while the good times are rolling. But there is no free lunch.

Artificial booms eventually go bust. And prudent investors who buy assets that have real value and solid fundamental prospects eventually do get rewarded.

Report: Army Spent Billions on Helicopter That Won’t Fly

Ken Silva
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Report: Army Spent Billions on Helicopter That Won’t Fly

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Defense News has reported that the U.S. Army is abandoning its multibillion-dollar effort to build a new armed scout helicopter, known as the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft.

Citing budget documents, Defense News reported last week that the Army already spend $2 billion on the project and requested another $5 billion over the next five years.

“The helicopter program arrived in 2018 with lofty expectations. Army leaders hoped it would serve as a model for new acquisition approaches for its most complex and most expensive weapon systems … And, perhaps most importantly, the aircraft was slated to provide a long-needed armed scout solution after decades of starts and stops,” Defense News reported.

“But Thursday, the Army’s top acquisition officials described a new vision and major aviation overhaul. In addition to ending FARA, the Army plans to get rid of its entire Shadow and Raven unmanned aircraft fleets.”

According to Defense News, the Army is instead planning to spend its newly available funds on Black Hawks, the latest variant of the CH-47F Block II Chinook cargo helicopter, the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft and “research and development efforts to accelerate its unmanned aerial reconnaissance capability.”

Despite billions being spent on a helicopter that won’t fly, Gen. James Rainey, an acquisition leader overseeing the program, reportedly said that he doesn’t view the cancellation “as a failure.”

According to Defense News, the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft was intended to buttress the Army’s armed reconnaissance missions.

“Following the retirement of the Vietnam-era OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter, which long performed that mission, the service has relied on the more expensive AH-64E Apache attack helicopter paired with the Shadow unmanned aircraft system,” the publication reported.

The cancelling of the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft follows other high-profile project failures, including the defunct $9 billion Comanche program, which was terminated in 2004.

The Army also canceled the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter in 2008, according to Defense News.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

House GOP Grills IRS Head over Partisan Leaks, Nonprofit Favortism

Editor 1
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House GOP Grills IRS Head over Partisan Leaks, Nonprofit Favortism

(Casey Harper, The Center Square) Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Werfel responded to a range of concerns from lawmakers Thursday from the controversial $600 reporting rule to leaks at the agency.

The questions came during the House Ways and Means Committee hearing, where a key topic was a controversial IRS rule that would subject Americans who send more than $600 on apps like Venmo to IRS scrutiny.

“Last time you were before this Committee, the IRS had chosen to delay a provision of a law crafted by the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats that would send tax forms to 44 million Americans just for engaging in transactions over $600 in a year,” House Ways and Means Chair Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in his opening remarks.

“This includes transactions like simply selling a used couch or concert ticket through a third-party payment platform,” he added. “Once again, the IRS unilaterally chose to delay implementing the law or sending these forms—this time in an election year.”

In his testimony, Werfel said the $600 rule was because of a 2021 law passed by Congress.

“Reporting requirements do not apply to personal transactions such as giving birthday or holiday gifts, sharing the cost of a car ride or meal, or paying a family member or another for a household bill,” Werfel said in his testimony.

“The IRS delayed the effective date for the new threshold in November 2023, for a second time, in response to continuing concerns from taxpayers, tax professionals and payments processors,” he continued. “IRS plans for a threshold of $5,000 as part of a phased-in implementation of the $600 reporting requirement.”

Another issue at the hearing was an IRS contractor who leaked confidential taxpayer records—including those of then-President Donald Trump–to the media and was sentenced to five years in prison.

“I think the Department of Justice woefully undercharged this individual, but I’m pleased the judge applied the maximum sentence available to her,” Smith said.

“But this story doesn’t end with that case,” he added. “The IRS must be accountable for allowing this theft to happen and must ensure that it fixes security vulnerabilities at the agency.”

A recent Inspector General report outlined in shocking detail the agency’s current security flaws,” Smith noted, underscoring that the problem hadn’t yet been addressed.

“I hope that you will commit today to address their findings quickly, for the sake of millions of taxpayers,” he said.

The hearing comes the same week that the House Oversight Committee opened an investigation into the IRS for alleged selective enforcement of its tax-exempt rules.

The committee’s chair, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter to Werfel this week raising concerns that the IRS was not enforcing its tax-exempt rules against left-wing nonprofits that were illegally engaged in political lobbying when it has a history of being tough on conservative groups for the same offense.

As the Center Square previously reported, former IRS head Lois Lerner was the center of her own scandal during the Obama administration for using the IRS to target the Tea Party and similar conservative groups.

A House Oversight Committee review of the IRS’s conduct found the agency “systematically scrutinized and delayed conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.”

Comer’s letter gave the example of a group called, One Fair Wage, which advocates to raise the minimum wage.

“According to a statement of work on their website, the organization is “currently leading the 25 by 250 Campaign, through which One Fair Wage is moving legislation and ballot measures in 25 states…,” the letter said. “In civil litigation initiated by One Fair Wage, Inc., last year, the entity represented on multiple occasions that a significant activity of the organization, if not its primary purpose, includes lobbying.”

Comer’s inquiry is just the latest development in the ongoing questions and concerns from lawmakers for the agency, which just received about $80 billion from legislation passed earlier in President Joe Biden’s term.

Biden pushed for the cash infusion for the tax-collecting agency to ramp up auditing of Americans. He argued the increased audits would more than pay for the $80 billion.

Many Republicans have been pushing to repeal that funding, point to the IRS’ range of issues.

Why is the FBI Still Communicating w/ Wuhan COVID Collaborator?

Ken Silva
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Why is the FBI Still Communicating w/ Wuhan COVID Collaborator?

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic wrote to FBI Director Chris Wray on Friday, asking why one of his special agents is in touch with Ralph Baric, the epidemiology professor at the University of North Carolina, who has been described in legal disputes as a “close collaborator with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”

The Select Committee told Wray that it requested unclassified documents about the bureau’s investigation into the origins of COVID-19.

The FBI is one of the few agencies to determine that the disease leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China. However, the FBI apparently doesn’t want to share details of its investigation with Congress.

“We have yet to receive unclassified documents responsive to this request,” the Select Committee said to Wray in its letter.

The committee further questioned why the FBI is in contact with Baric, who’s known for vigorously arguing that COVID was a natural disease and not man-made.

“Since the Select Subcommittee’s first letter, we have gathered new facts and information. Based on documents in possession of the Select Subcommittee, it has come to our attention that Special Agent [REDACTED] was in direct and ongoing communication with Dr. Ralph Baric, a professor at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and renowned corona-virologist,” the Select Committee said.

“This communication was not just regarding threats Dr. Baric was receiving but also the substance of the origin debate and how UNC was responding to numerous North Carolina Freedom of Information Act requests.”

The FOIA requests mentioned by the Select Committee refer to an ongoing lawsuit U.S. Right To Know has against UNC over its COVID-related records. The group’s lawsuit, which is ongoing, has already revealed that Baric and other U.S. scientists downplayed their connections to the Wuhan Institute of Virology when they sought funding from the Pentagon.

Reacting to the Select Committee’s disclosures, U.S. Right To Know President Gary Ruskin also expressed alarm at the communication between Baric and the feds.

“U.S. Right to Know has filed 15 North Carolina Public Records Law requests with the University of North Carolina about the work of Ralph Baric possibly related to the origins of Covid-19,” Ruskin said. “Why was the FBI interested in how UNC was responding to public records requests on this topic?”

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

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