GOP Rep Introduces Resolution Labeling ‘Free Palestine’ Slogan as ‘Anti-Semitism’

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GOP Rep Introduces Resolution Labeling ‘Free Palestine’ Slogan as ‘Anti-Semitism’

(Connor Freeman, Antiwar.com) Colorado GOP Congressman Gabe Evans introduced a non-binding resolution on Friday that labels ‘Free Palestine’ as “an antisemitic slogan.” The bill seeks to limit immigration of people who oppose Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine and Tel Aviv’s genocidal onslaught in the besieged Gaza Strip. The bill is expected to be voted on some time next week.

The bill reads, “Whereas, while shouting ‘Free Palestine,’ an antisemitic slogan that calls for the destruction of the state of Israel and Jewish people, Mohammed Sabry Soliman attacked the peaceful demonstrators with homemade Molotov cocktails.”

The term “Free Palestine” refers to the desire to end the nearly 60 -years-long brutal Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, illegal per international law. It also implies support for ending Israel’s apartheid regime, replacing it with either a two-state solution or a single state with equal rights, including the right to vote, for all citizens currently living under the rule of the Israeli government.

The introduction of the bill follows a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado by 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national who was living in the United States on an expired nonimmigrant visa. He had applied for asylum subsequent to his visa’s expiration. Over a dozen people were injured after the assailant threw Molotov cocktails at attendees at a small pro-Israel demonstration.

The attendees were calling for the release of the hostages taken during the October 7th Hamas attack in southern Israel. Hamas has repeatedly offered to release all hostages in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza including the end to the blockade on the Strip which has pushed the population closer to full-scale famine amidst constant bombardment. Both Tel Aviv and Washington strongly oppose a ceasefire despite the fact that it is the only way to secure the hostages’ release and safety. Top Israeli officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are committed to continuing the war and finishing its ethnic cleansing campaign.

“Whereas the case of Mohammed Sabry Soliman highlights the need to aggressively vet aliens who apply for visas to determine whether they endorse, espouse, promote, or support antisemitic terrorism or engage in other antisemitic or anti-American activity,” the bill continues. Given the bill’s broadly applied definition of “antisemitism,” this would likely include people who oppose Israel’s illegal activities and US support for the mass slaughter in Gaza with billions of taxpayer dollars and at least 90,000 tons of weapons and other military equipment.

Evans’ bill also appears to raise support for overriding sanctuary states’ ability to constrain the federal government’s efforts to remove illegal immigrants living in the United States. However Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been unconstitutionally targeting legal citizens over the last several months for participating in antiwar activism including against people who have merely written op-eds critical of Israeli and US policy.

“Whereas Colorado is a sanctuary State that prohibits law enforcement and other government entities from sharing information about illegal aliens with Federal immigration authorities, prevents U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel from accessing certain public areas, and otherwise hinders immigration enforcement,” the bill reads. Concluding, “[this bill] affirms that free and open communication between State and local law enforcement and their Federal counterparts remains the bedrock of public safety and is necessary in preventing terrorist attacks.”

The language of Evans’ bill appears to leave no room for distinction between Jewish culture or the religion itself and the Israeli government’s crimes in Palestine, including the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

Some of the most prominent activist groups in the United States opposing Israel’s wars and treatment of the Palestinians are either Jewish in name, such as Jewish Voice For Peace, or led by Jews including If Not Now and Code Pink.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.

Connor Freeman is the assistant editor and a writer at the Libertarian Institute, primarily covering foreign policy. He is a co-host on the Conflicts of Interest podcast. His writing has been featured in media outlets such as Antiwar.com, Counterpunch, and the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. He has also appeared on Liberty Weekly, Around the Empire, and Parallax Views. You can follow him on Twitter @FreemansMind96

Trump Says Musk Could Face ‘Serious Consequences’ as Vance Rebukes Calls for Impeachment

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Trump Says Musk Could Face ‘Serious Consequences’ as Vance Rebukes Calls for Impeachment

President Donald Trump is not backing off his battle with Elon Musk, saying Saturday that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warning that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face “serious consequences” if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections.

Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he has no plans to make up with Musk. Asked specifically if he thought his relationship with the mega-billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is over, Trump responded, “I would assume so, yeah.”

“I’m too busy doing other things,” Trump continued. “You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him a lot of breaks, long before this happened, I gave him breaks in my first administration, and saved his life in my first administration, I have no intention of speaking to him.”

The president also issued a warning amid chatter that Musk could back Democratic lawmakers and candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.

“If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump told NBC, though he declined to share what those consequences would be. Musk’s businesses have many lucrative federal contracts.

The president’s latest comments suggest Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies. As a major government contractor, Musk’s businesses could be particularly vulnerable to retribution. Trump has already threatened to cut Musk’s contracts, calling it an easy way to save money.

The dramatic rupture between the president and the world’s richest man began this week with Musk’s public criticism of Trump’s “big beautiful bill” pending on Capitol Hill. Musk has warned that the bill will increase the federal deficit and called it a “disgusting abomination.”

Trump criticized Musk in the Oval Office, and before long, he and Musk began trading bitterly personal attacks on social media, sending the White House and GOP congressional leaders scrambling to assess the fallout.

As the back-and-forth intensified, Musk suggested Trump should be impeached and claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president’s association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk appeared by Saturday morning to have deleted his posts about Epstein.

Vice President JD Vance in an interview tried to downplay the feud. He said Musk was making a “huge mistake” going after Trump, but called him an “emotional guy” getting frustrated.

“I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear,” Vance said.

Vance called Musk an “incredible entrepreneur,” and said that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which sought to cut government spending and laid off or pushed out thousands of workers, was “really good.”

Vance made the comments in an interview with “ manosphere” comedian Theo Von.

The Vance interview was taped Thursday as Musk’s posts were unfurling on X, the social media network the billionaire owns.

During the interview, Von showed the vice president Musk’s claim that Trump’s administration hasn’t released all the records related to Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them.

Vance responded to that, saying, “Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.”

“This stuff is just not helpful,” Vance said in response to another post shared by Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance.

“It’s totally insane. The president is doing a good job.”

Vance also defended the bill that has drawn Musk’s ire, and said its central goal was not to cut spending but to extend the 2017 tax cuts approved in Trump’s first term.

The bill would slash spending and taxes but also leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance and spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

“It’s a good bill,” Vance said. “It’s not a perfect bill.”

The interview was taped in Nashville at a restaurant owned by musician Kid Rock, a Trump ally.

House GOP Has a Sikh Lead Morning Prayer

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House GOP Has a Sikh Lead Morning Prayer

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The supposedly conservative Republicans allowed a Sikh to lead the House of Representatives in prayer Friday morning. Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., initially criticized the move, but backtracked after she incorrectly identified the Sikh, Giani Singh from southern New Jersey, as a “Muslim.” 

“It’s deeply troubling that a Muslim was allowed to lead a prayer in the House of Representatives this morning,” Miller wrote on X. “This should have never been allowed to happen.” 

She added that America was founded as a Christian nation and said the “government should reflect that truth, not drift further from it.” 

“May God have mercy,” she continued.  

The Illinois Republican quickly deleted the post, then reposted it with a correction, changing “Muslim” to “Sikh.” That newer version was also deleted shortly after. 

Both Democrats and RINOs quickly pounced on Miller’s remarks. 

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who invited Singh to deliver the prayer, stood by the move, affirming that being American also meant “respecting other people’s faiths too.” Van Drew is the same congressman who floated the crackpot theory that the New Jersey drone sightings earlier this year were coming from an Iranian ship off the coast.

“I was proud to invite a Sikh chaplain to open the House with prayer this morning,” Van Drew told Axios. “The Sikh community is peaceful, generous, and deeply rooted in family and service, values we should all appreciate, no matter our religion.” 

He added: “What makes America special is that we can honor different these [sic] traditions while staying true to our own. I’ll always stand for that kind of mutual respect.” 

Harmeet K. Dhillon, the associate attorney general for the Civil Rights Division and herself a Sikh, also hit back at critics. 

Responding to a conservative commentator sharing the video of Singh praying, Dhillon wrote: “This is a Sikh. Please try to educate yourself. There are over half a million Sikhs in America.” 

However, numerous American conservatives sided with Rep. Miller.

“Half a million is nothing, this is a Christian nation,” conservative commentator Sarah Stock responded.

“This is a foreigner who proves assimilation is a myth. There are over 40 million people just like him in America,” added right-wing Twitter account, The Prudentialist.

Dhillon also faced criticism after she delivered a Sikh prayer to the “one true God” at the Republican National Convention, following an assassination attempt he narrowly survived.

Proud Boys Sue Over ‘Medieval’ Treatment in Biden’s DOJ

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Proud Boys Sue Over ‘Medieval’ Treatment in Biden’s DOJ

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Five members of the Proud Boys filed a $100 million lawsuit against the federal government after the Biden administration aggressively prosecuted them over the U.S. Capitol protests on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Leading the lawsuit is activist Enrique Tarrio—sentenced to 22 years in prison despite never setting foot inside the Capitol—and fellow members Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs and Dominic Pezzola. 

They were freed after President Donald Trump issued sweeping pardons to all J6 defendants on Jan. 20, 2025. Trump called them victims and political prisoners of a weaponized DOJ that targeted Republicans and conservatives.  

The federal lawsuit is being led by attorney Thomas Ranieri, a partner at Ranieri & Associates, a firm based in Virginia. 

At a press conference outside the White House, Tarrio described the harrowing ordeal he and colleagues endured while facing federal charges. 

“For four years, we were persecuted, paraded across the country like trophies, confined in concrete coffins, and subjected to medieval torture devices,” Tarrio said. 

“The Biden administration sought to crush us, to silence us, to strip us of our God given rights for the rest of our lives,” he continued. 

Tarrio also affirmed that the DOJ knew he was innocent of the charges.  

“They knew we were innocent of their baseless charges, yet their hatred for President Trump and his supporters fueled their weaponization of the justice system against us,” he continued. 

Tarrio’s 22-year sentence, the longest of all J6-related cases, was met with praise from former Attorney General Merrick Garland and then-FBI Director Chris Wray. 

“Today, the leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, learned that the consequence of conspiring to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power is 22 years in federal prison,” Garland wrote in a press statement in 2023, shortly after Tarrio’s sentencing. 

Wray echoed this sentiment, claiming he “will never condone the actions of those who break our laws.” 

DOJ to Pay Nearly $5 Million to Jan. 6 Protestor Killed by Capitol Police

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DOJ to Pay Nearly $5 Million to Jan. 6 Protestor Killed by Capitol Police

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) The Trump-led DOJ has agreed to pay Ashli Babbitt’s estate nearly $5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit, Judicial Watch announced Friday. 

The government will specifically pay $4.975 million after entering a settlement with Judicial Watch, the nonprofit representing Babbitt’s family, over Babbitt’s death at the hands of a D.C. police officer inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.  

Despite initially seeking $30 million, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton called the outcome a “fair” and “necessary step” toward justice. 

“Ashli should never have been killed, and this settlement destroys the evil, partisan narrative that justified her outrageous killing and protected her killer,” Fitton added. “Judicial Watch’s team spent years investigating, litigating, and exposing the truth about Ashli’s homicide.” 

Judicial Watch filed the lawsuit on Jan. 5, 2024—three years after Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd fatally shot Babbitt as she attempted to climb through a broken door leading to the Speaker’s Lobby. 

She was the only person killed inside the Capitol that day. The Biden administration cleared Byrd of wrongdoing and defended the use of deadly force. 

Babbit, a beloved veteran and outspoken MAGA Republican, was at the Capitol to protest the certification of the 2020 presidential election. She served 12 years in the Air Force, with deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and later co-owned a pool business with her husband, Aaron. 

Throughout the 2024 election, President Donald Trump repeatedly honored Babbitt’s memory and vowed to look into her death. 

“They shot Ashli Babbitt, that officer—bad things should happen to him. He shot her, and she was totally defenseless. She was like an American patriot!” Trump said in an interview with Newsmax. 

Protestors Turn Violent as ICE Arrests Dozens of Illegals in LA

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Protestors Turn Violent as ICE Arrests Dozens of Illegals in LA

(Headline USA) After federal immigration authorities arrested more than 40 people Friday across Los Angeles, protesters attacked a federal detention center and demanded their release. Police in riot gear tossed tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd, but not before some of the protestors turned violent.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers executed search warrants at multiple locations, including outside a clothing warehouse where a tense scene unfolded as a crowd tried to block agents from driving away. Sirens blared as protesters surrounded black SUVs and tactical vehicles. Officers threw flash bangs into the street to disperse people as they shouted and filmed the scene with their cell phones. One demonstrator tried to physically stop a vehicle from leaving.

Forty-four people were arrested on immigration violations across multiple locations, said Yasmeen Pitts O’Keefe, a spokesperson for Homeland Security Investigations. The president of SEIU California, a major labor union, was arrested and charged for impeding a federal agent while protesting, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Federal immigration authorities have been ramping up arrests across the country to fulfill President Donald Trump’s promise of mass deportations. Todd Lyons, the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, defended his tactics earlier this week against criticism that authorities are being too heavy-handed. He has said ICE is averaging about 1,600 arrests per day and that the agency has arrested “dangerous criminals.”

Protests recently broke out after an immigration action at a restaurant in San Diego and in Minneapolis, when federal officials in tactical gear showed up in a Latino neighborhood for an operation they said was about a criminal case, not immigration.

Protesters Turn Violent

In Los Angeles, federal agents executed search warrants at three locations, O’Keefe said. But Angelica Salas, executive director for the Coalition of Humane Immigrant Rights, or CHIRLA, said advocates were aware of activity at seven locations, including several Home Depot parking lots and a doughnut shop.

At the warehouse in the fashion district, agents had a search warrant after they and a judge found there was probable cause the employer was using fictitious documents for some of its workers, U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesperson Ciaran McEvoy confirmed.

Dozens of protesters gathered Friday evening outside a federal detention center in Los Angeles where lawyers said those arrested had been taken, chanting “set them free, let them stay!”

Other protesters held signs that said “ICE out of LA!” while others led chants and shouted from megaphones. Some scrawled graffiti on the building facade, while others took hammers to pillars, allegedly so rioters could use the chunks of concrete as weapons.

Officers holding protective shields stood shoulder to shoulder to block an entrance. Some tossed tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. Officers wearing helmets and holding batons then forced the protesters away from the building by forming a line and walking slowly down the street.

One Sent to Mexico

Yliana Johansen-Mendez, chief program officer for the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said her organization was aware of one man who was already deported back to Mexico after being picked up at a Home Depot on Friday morning. The man’s family contacted her organization and one of their attorneys was waiting for hours to speak to him inside the detention center, she said. Authorities later said he had already been removed, and the man later contacted his family to say he was back in Mexico.

Videos from bystanders and television news crews captured people being walked across a Home Depot parking lot by federal agents as well as clashes that broke out at other detention sites. Outside the warehouse, KTLA showed aerial footage of agents leading detainees out of a building and toward two large white vans waiting in a parking lot.

The hands of the detained people were tied behind their backs. The agents patted them down before loading them into the vans. The agents wore vests with the agency acronyms FBI, ICE and HSI. Armed agents used yellow police tape to keep crowds on the street and sidewalk away from the operations.

Immigrant-rights advocates used megaphones to speak to the workers, reminding them of their constitutional rights and instructing them not to sign anything or say anything to federal agents, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

 

‘Devil in the Ozarks’ Captured Just 2 Miles from Prison He Escaped from 10 Days Ago

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‘Devil in the Ozarks’ Captured Just 2 Miles from Prison He Escaped from 10 Days Ago

(Headline USA) A former police chief and convicted killer known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” was captured by law enforcement 1.5 miles northwest of the prison he escaped from following a massive, nearly two-week-long manhunt in the rugged mountains of northern Arkansas, authorities announced Friday.

Grant Hardin, a former police chief in the small town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, was serving lengthy sentences for murder and rape. Eventually, his notoriety led to a TV documentary, “Devil in the Ozarks.”

Hardin briefly attempted to run from officers when he saw them approach Friday afternoon, but he was quickly tackled to the ground, said Rand Champion, a spokesperson for the Arkansas prison system.

“He’d been on the run for a week and a half and probably didn’t have any energy left in him,” he added.

Hardin’s identity was confirmed through fingerprinting, the Izard County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

There’s no indication that Hardin was injured, though he will be checked for dehydration and other medical problems.

Now, investigators are “chomping at the bit and really ready to talk to him,” said Champion, who used his cellphone to capture an image of Hardin being led away by officers. Hardin said nothing during those moments.

The escape, search and eventual capture

Hardin had been held at the Calico Rock prison since 2017 after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in a fatal shooting. In order to escape, he impersonated a corrections officer “in dress and manner,” according to a court document. A prison officer in one of the guard towers opened a secure gate, allowing him to walk out of the facility.

Champion said that someone should have checked Hardin’s identity before he was allowed to leave, describing the lack of verification as a “lapse” that’s being investigated.

Searchers had been using bloodhounds, officers on horseback, drones and helicopters in their hunt for Hardin since he escaped on May 25.

Shortly after the escape, a bloodhound found — then quickly lost — Hardin’s scent when heavy rains blew through the area, Champion said. The bloodhound tracked Hardin’s path for less than a quarter of a mile, after which could have gone in any direction.

“That was one of the most frustrating things, that they were able to track him but then they lost him because of the rain,” Champion said.

An elite and highly trained U.S. Border Patrol team had recently joined the search, federal authorities announced this week. The Border Patrol Tactical Team provided “advanced search capabilities and operational support,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

Its members are experienced in navigating complex terrain, the agency said earlier this week. The team tracked Hardin through the region known for its rocky and rugged landscape, thick forests and an extensive cave network.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol shared photos on Facebook of Hardin shirtless and covered in mud, laying face down with his hands tied behind his back on Friday. The post said that Hardin was “turned over to Arkansas State Police unharmed” by the federal agency.

A spokesperson for the agency didn’t respond to a phone call and emailed request for comment regarding the post on Friday night.

Hardin’s criminal convictions

Hardin pleaded guilty in 2017 to first-degree murder for the killing of James Appleton, 59. Appleton worked for the Gateway water department when he was shot in the head Feb. 23, 2017, near Garfield. Police found Appleton’s body inside a car. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Hardin’s DNA was also matched to the 1997 rape of a teacher at an elementary school in Rogers, north of Fayetteville. He was sentenced to 50 years for that crime.

Cheryl Tillman, Appleton’s sister, was with her mother and sister at a flea market in Ozark, Missouri, when law enforcement called to tell her Hardin had been captured. Tillman is also the mayor of Gateway, the 450-person town where Hardin was briefly police chief.

Tillman told The Associated Press that Hardin’s capture was a “big sigh of relief” for her whole family.

“We don’t have to walk around, turning around all the time, thinking somebody’s on our back,” Tillman said, emphasizing her appreciation for the officers who helped capture Hardin.

A problematic past in law enforcement

Though Hardin was police chief in Gateway for just four months, he had served as an officer in multiple communities around northwest Arkansas, his police records show.

In his first job as a police officer 35 years ago in Fayetteville, Hardin struggled almost immediately, his supervisors said. He was dismissed by Fayetteville police, but kept getting hired for other law enforcement jobs in northwest Arkansas over the years.

Hardin worked about six months at the Huntsville Police Department before resigning, but records do not give a reason for his resignation.

He later worked at the Eureka Springs Police Department from 1993 to 1996. Former Chief Earl Hyatt said Hardin resigned because Hyatt was going to fire him over incidents that included the use of excessive force.

“He did not need to be a police officer at all,” Hyatt told television station KNWA.

By the time he was the police chief in Gateway in 2016, “he was out chasing cars for no reason,” Tillman recalled in the documentary “Devil in the Ozarks.”

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

413% Increase in Assaults on ICE Agents

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413% Increase in Assaults on ICE Agents

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials face surging threats of violence from members of the public as they arrest violent foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally for removal.

Some threats have come from congressional Democrats.

Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons has a message for them: “stop putting my people in danger.”

House Minority Leader Hakeen Jeffries vowed this week to reveal the identities of ICE agents because they are wearing face masks or facial coverings when making arrests. The primary reason they are wearing them is to protect their identity, per ICE policy.

“Every single ICE agent who’s engaged in this aggressive overreach and are trying to hide their identities from the American people will be unsuccessful in doing that,” Jeffries said. “This is America, not the Soviet Union. … Every single one of them, no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes will of course be identified.”

This is after U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-NJ, was arrested for assaulting an ICE officer when she and other Democrats trespassed at a federal detention facility in New Jersey. It also comes as protestors and members of the public are attacking ICE agents performing their duties carrying out removal orders from federal immigration judges.

In response to Jeffries’ pledge to dox federal law enforcement officials, Lyons said, “while it’s easy to be an armchair quarterback and make up talking points that get activists riled up, the bottom line is my officers and agents are out there protecting the same people who are threatening their safety. Law enforcement is common sense. Politicians need to stop putting my people in danger.

“I’m not asking them to stop. I’m demanding that they stop.” To Jeffries and “anyone else stirring up the outrage about what ICE does, these are real people with real families you’re hurting with your ridiculous rhetoric and inflammatory comments and it’s time to remember that,” he said.

Doxxing is the publicizing of names and addresses of individuals with the intent to cause them harm.

As publicity has increased over ICE arrests, “ICE officers are facing a 413% increase in assaults while carrying out arrests,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.

Lyons said the reason why ICE agents are wearing masks is because California residents were threatening them and their family members.

During a major operation in Los Angeles, “ICE officers were doxed. People were out there taking photos of the names [of the agents], their faces and posting them online,” Lyons said. California residents were also making death threats against ICE agents’ family members, he said.

“I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line and their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is. They’re wearing those masks because we ran an operation with the Secret Service [and they made the arrest] someone was going online taking their photos, posting their families, their kids’ Instagram, their kids’ Facebook [pages] and targeting them,” he said.

One reason why ICE agents are in this situation is because “it’s a different situation today after 15 million illegal aliens illegally entered our country under the Biden administration and were released through catch and release and local jurisdictions aren’t participating in ICE’s 287(g) program,” Luisa Deason, former public affairs officer at ICE, told The Center Square. Deason worked under the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations.

The reason why it’s imperative for local officials to participate in ICE’s 287(g) program is “because it improves public safety,” she told The Center Square.

“Law enforcement agencies often work together on joint operations. Working with ICE means when criminal aliens are arrested and ICE is able to place a detainer on them they enter ICE custody and aren’t released into the community. It creates a controlled environment. Nobody’s going to get hurt. Those who don’t honor the detainer and release criminal aliens are putting the lives of the agents and everybody else in danger. What’s happening in our communities with people protesting and attacking ICE agents isn’t a secure situation for anybody.

“It’s ludicrous to think that law enforcement officers anywhere in this country won’t cooperate with ICE. They need all the help they can get.”

Law enforcement agencies in 40 states are participating in ICE 287(g) nationwide, with the greatest number participating in Florida, The Center Square reported.

WATCH: Russia Launches ‘Massive’ Drone, Missile Attack on Ukraine

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WATCH: Russia Launches ‘Massive’ Drone, Missile Attack on Ukraine

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) The Russian military hammered several Ukrainian cities with a large-scale missile and drone attack on Friday, claiming to have targeted the country’s arms industry. The move comes just days after Kiev’s forces carried out a major operation which crippled dozens of Russian warplanes.

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced the overnight strikes in a statement on Friday afternoon, saying they were “retaliation to the Kiev regime’s terrorist attacks.”

“The Russian Armed Forces delivered a massive strike by air-launched, seaborne and ground-based long-range precision weapons,” the ministry said, adding that the targets included “enterprises producing and repairing Ukraine’s armament and military hardware.”

Writing on Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the attack left at least four people dead and some 80 injured, condemning the operation as a “cynical Russian strike on ordinary cities.” He added that Kiev, Ternopil, Lutsk and several other regions were targeted with “more than 400 drones” and at least 40 missiles, but claimed Ukrainian forces had shot down “a significant part” of them.

Friday’s strikes came on the heels of other major escalations in recent days. In addition to Ukraine’s ambitious drone attack on Russian airfields last Sunday – which reportedly destroyed up to 41 aircraft, including strategic bombers – Kiev’s intelligence service said it had targeted Russia’s Kerch Bridge earlier this week. The span links Crimea to the Russian mainland.

In the last week, Moscow has also accused Kiev of “terrorist” sabotage against railroad overpasses in the Russian regions of Bryansk and Kursk, which left seven people dead, while Ukraine’s military has reported multiple missile strikes on training sites for its troops.

Despite the surge in violence, the two warring states are continuing to meet in Turkey for direct peace talks, sitting down on Monday for their second round of negotiations since May 16. So far, the dialogue has made little progress toward ending the conflict, though both meetings resulted in prisoner swap deals that have freed thousands of wounded POWs.

Will Porter is assistant news editor and book editor at the Libertarian Institute, and a regular contributor at Antiwar.com. Find more of his work at Consortium News and ZeroHedge.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.

Newsom Tells His State’s Citizens to Not Pay Their Taxes

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Newsom Tells His State’s Citizens to Not Pay Their Taxes

(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) California Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested on Friday that his state may refuse to pay federal taxes in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s threats to slash funding for the Golden State. 

“Californians pay the bills for the federal government. We pay over $80 BILLION more in taxes than we get back. Maybe it’s time to cut that off,” Newsom wrote on X, without explaining what power, if any, he has to take such action. Tax evasion is a federal crime, and Newsom has no legal authority power to protect Californians from prosecution. 

The governor was responding to a CNN report that Trump may yank grants to the University of California and California State University systems.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai defended the potential cuts, stating that “no taxpayer should be forced to fund the demise of our country.” 

He added, “No final decisions, however, on any potential future action by the Administration have been made, and any discussion suggesting otherwise should be considered pure speculation.” 

Trump’s threatened education cuts would follow the administration’s $126.4 million reduction in California flood-prevention projects. 

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