Free Republic

An accomplished Republican professional who served as chief operating officer of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) during the Donald Trump administration was among those shot in a vicious carjacking spree in Washington, D.C., on Monday night, one that ended in police killing the perpetrator in Maryland early Tuesday morning. Mike Gill is in a hospital in critical condition after being shot while picking up his wife, an education lawyer, blocks from the White House on K Street in downtown D.C. at 5:45pm. “We can confirm that Mike Gill was the victim of the shooting at the 900 block of...

President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an initiative on Friday to curb the soaring crime rates in the Democrat-controlled city of Washington, DC, just as the 2024 presidential election cycle swings into focus. The timing of the initiative suggests the Biden administration recognizes soaring crime as a political vulnerability for the Democrat party. Crime in the Democrat-controlled city spiked in 2023, according to police department data: Homicides: Up 35 percent Robberies: Up 67 percent Violent Crime: Up 39 percent Motor Vehicle Theft: Up 82 percent

A Maryland suburb of the nation’s capital this week extended voting rights to 16-year-olds for local elections—expanding on a national push endorsed by Democrat politicians and donors such as billionaire George Soros. The Town Council of Cheverly—about 15 minutes outside Washington, D.C.—voted unanimously Thursday to amend the town charter to allow younger teens to participate in town elections. Cheverly, with a population of just over 6,100, joins the Maryland suburbs of Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Riverdale Park, and Takoma Park in allowing teens to vote at the same age they get their driver’s license. Another Maryland jurisdiction, Glenarden, lowered the voting age...

Earlier Saturday evening, RedState’s Nick Arama reported on the violent protests outside the White House as the pro-Hamas, anti-Israel crowd conducted a "March on Washington for Gaza." They climbed statues and waved Palestinian flags – along with ISIS ones – and set off smoke bombs and spread "dead" baby dolls outside the WH fence. WATCH: Pro-Hamas Crew Attempts to Storm WH Grounds; DC Police in Riot Gear, Secret Service EngagingNow it turns out the protests were so serious that a number of White House staffers had to be relocated for their own safety. I don’t know whether President Biden or...

Last week, Capitol Police reported arresting a man on Capitol grounds whose behavior drew suspicions from officers. The man turned out to be armed with a machete, a butcher knife and a brick. Today, Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the arrested man is a 23-year-old illegal alien from Venezuela who had been arrested by Border Patrol agents near El Paso in 2022 and released because there was no room to hold him. The man is now facing “removal proceedings”, ICE said. Also on Tuesday it was reported the Democrat mayor of Edison, New Jersey announced he would send illegal alien...

USCP Officer Brian Sicknick’ 44. Died of a stroke on Jan. 7. Brian is a Trump supporter, USCP officer, Howard Liebengood, 51, It seems self terminated Jan.9, MPD Officer Jeffrey Smith, It seems self terminated Jan.15, Of the 850 working security that day one lost a finger during a fight, while another, shot to death an un-armed female on the other side of a window she had broken. Lawmakers fain memorial Wednesday, for Brian in the Rotunda; where he has been lying in limbo. There will be a send-off milking before his remains are transported for burial. Pelosi delivers remarks...

Joe and Jill Biden on Friday visited Children’s National Hospital in Washington DC. Jill Biden read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ to a group of patients at the hospital while clueless Joe Biden stared at the kids. At one point Joe Biden invited one of the children to come over and sit on his lap.

Members of the anti-Israel lobby have staged yet another insurrection at the United States Capitol building. Pro-Hamas activists flooded the rotunda led by Linda Sarsour, a far-leftist agitator, to call for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza. The incident was reminiscent of an earlier insurrection held by anti-Israel elements in October.Police arrested “roughly 60” anti-Israel protesters inside the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday after a group led by controversial activist Linda Sarsour staged an illegal rally in the iconic venue.“Not another nickel! Not another dime! No more money for Israel’s crimes!” chanted members of the group, holding “Stop Arming Israel” signs.It...

Former President Donald Trump has several viable avenues to have the Supreme Court throw out federal charges he’s facing for his efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election, several lawyers and Constitution experts told The Epoch Times.His best case is that the charges encroach on his First Amendment rights, but he might also successfully assert presidential immunity or argue the law was impermissibly stretched by prosecutors, the experts said.President Trump was charged by Special Counsel Jack Smith on Aug. 1 with obstructing electoral vote counting by Congress on Jan. 6 and conspiring to do so in order to...

DC Circuit largely vacates Chutkan's restraining order

Mayor Eric Adams will travel to Washington DC Thursday for a series of meetings to discuss additional federal aid for New York City and other cities bearing the brunt of the migrant crisis — after his last trip was cut short by an FBI raid on his chief fundraiser’s home. It was not immediately clear whether Adams will meet with President Biden or any other senior White House officials during his visit. The mayor’s full schedule will be made public Wednesday. Deputy Mayor for Communication Fabien Levy wrote on X that the main topic of discussions in DC will be...

Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, a professor of Classics Emeritus at California State University, Fresno, and a nationally syndicated columnist for Tribune Media Services. He is also the Wayne & Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History, Hillsdale College, where he teaches each fall semester courses in military history and classical culture. Victor discusses current political and social events and ideas, and current and past cultural trends. (video in link below) https://youtu.be/2V6jH-6F6K0

The three individuals charged with running brothels in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., that allegedly hosted high-profile clientele, including political and military leaders, brought in over a million dollars running the operation, a top federal investigator on the case said Wednesday. According to an affidavit submitted to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts by the Department of Homeland Security, the alleged ringleaders of the operation, James Lee of California, along with Han Lee and Junmyung Lee of Massachusetts, made the chunk of change while running the service out of high-end apartments in Massachusetts and the Washington, D.C., suburbs...

The rule of law and due process apply to everyone, even people with long criminal histories. Even people who have bad reputations in dangerous, gang-infested, drug-dealing dystopias. In 2016, Saeve Evans was involved in a gunfight. A 16-year-old girl was killed. Saeve Evans’s legal defense was self-defense.Saeve Evans has had many interactions with DC police. There was the D.C. kidnapping and murder case. Saeve has prior felony convictions.Below is a DC Police Department post on X, formerly Twitter, of the recent incident in which Saeve Evans was involved. Saeve must have been released pending the appeal of the 2016 case...

The number of Washington, DC, homicides reached 2003’s record high (248) under President Joe Biden’s prosecutor, police said Monday. The District’s soaring crime impacts local taxpayers and business owners. In recent months, several restaurants closed due to cost and crime. Whole parts of the city are impacted, such as H Street, where many shelves are bare. Below are six key D.C. crime statistics: U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, who is responsible for prosecuting those D.C. police arrests, prosecuted only 56 percent of those arrested in 2023 Homicide rose 33 percent in 2023 Robbery spiked 67 percent...

This is an ongoing thread – meaning come back to chat, post information, or ask questions any time. Hopefully the thread won’t stagnate and I’ll do better at posting weekly (or bi-weekly) topics than I have in the past. (anyone willing to post a topic now and then we'll be highly praised and appreciated). We are in for some bumpy rides, and prepping can only help. If for peace of mind, if nothing else. We have a wonderful gardening thread and a current-events survival/prepping thread, and hopefully this one can piggyback off of those, maybe having a longer discussion about...

Washington, DC, Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser declared a public emergency in the nation’s capital this week after the opioid fatalities spiked and juvenile crime soared ten percent from 2022’s alarming rate. The order will enhance the activation, implementation, and coordination of aid agreements between the District, federal, and local authorities to allegedly reduce crime.

Police in Washington, D.C., are searching for the armed suspects who allegedly stole three French bulldogs out for a walk with their owner. According to a police report, around 4 p.m. Tuesday, the victim reported he was walking in an alley in the 5200 block of East Capitol Street, when three suspects jumped out of a blue minivan and approached him, all armed with handguns and rifles. The victim stated that he assumed the suspects were going after his wallet or cellphone.

This is the shocking moment a 17-year-old shot a 14-year-old dead on the streets of DC while his mother stood by and did nothing - before he was caught bragging about the shooting online. Surveillance footage shows the teen, believed to be Lorenzo Thompson, 17, in a black hoodie and balaclava raising a gun outside the Crown gas station at 14th and Euclid streets NW in Columbia Heights at about 11:30pm on November 3. The woman with red braids and wearing a white coat, believed to be Thompson's mother, watches on but does nothing to diffuse the situation.

The Homeland Security Department designated the march a “level 1” security event, the highest classification in its system and one usually used for the Super Bowl and other major events, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. The designation means the event required substantial law enforcement assistance from federal agencies, the officials said.A succession of speakers took the stage, overlooking a sea of Israeli and U.S. flags, to denounce Hamas' bloody incursion Oct. 7 and what the speakers said was a virulent spread of antisemitism internationally, “an embarrassment to all civilized people and nations,” in the words of Israeli...