Free Republic

Racially motivated downtown attacks Denver Police announced today that they had made 32 arrests related to racially motivated robberies and assaults. From left, Allen Ford and Torrence McCall. Denver Police say they have arrested 32 people, part of a sweep to end a four-month spree of racially motivated assaults and robberies in downtown Denver. (Denver Police Department) The Denver Police Department arrested 32 men and juvenile boys after a months-long undercover investigation into what police said were racially motivated assaults and robberies in downtown Denver, including the LoDo entertainment district. A task force composed of Denver police, the FBI and...

"In the video, he takes off his jacket, he takes off his ID and puts it in his pocket and he stands there with his fists clenched waiting for the right moment. And he attacked her from behind. I don't mean he hit her once or twice, he hit her probably 30 or 40 times," explained Crystal. She added, "She had visible swelling and redness to her cheek, her ear, she had lumps all over her head, large lumps." Crystal wants the surveillance video released to the public. But the Hazelwood School District is refusing. School district spokesperson Diana Gulotta...

A St. Paul man who beat his 4-year-old son for wearing a rival gang's color was sentenced this week to the 86 days he has served in jail. Kenny Tamon Jackson, 30, pleaded guilty to malicious punishment of a child, a gross misdemeanor, in the Aug. 25 incident. Ramsey County District Judge Kathleen Gearin ordered Jackson on Tuesday to have no contact with the 4-year-old until he completes a parenting program. Gearin also sentenced him to two years' probation. According to the criminal complaint, police were called about 12:30 p.m. to Jackson's house in the 500 block of Sherburne Avenue....

Those of you. You know who you are. I don't care who you are or what your reasoning is. Your siding with the maistream media against Palin is doing nothing to help Republicans or Conservatism in general. You are hurting your own cause. Unless you are a DU troll. Or a liberal Republican who has no idea what the heck you are even talking about. Ani Palin comments (such as "shes not fit to be President") should be seen as trolling and should not be tolerated on Free Republic, any conservative web site or any conservative setting. While I am...

Of all the sins of the campus left, the worst is hypocrisy. Academic freedom is a spigot they turn on and off at their convenience. This evening, Ray Luc Levasseur, a convicted terrorist who served 18 years of a 45-year sentence, will participate in a "Colloquium on Social Change" at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, sponsored by a "progressive" faculty group called "Social Thought and Political Economy." Levasseur was the leader of the United Freedom Front, which worked for social change from 1976 to 1984 by bombing government buildings, robbing banks, murdering a New Jersey state trooper, and attempting...

Columnist Steve Chapman who bills himself as "solving the world's problems one post as at time", has written this truly ignorant article about the Islamic attack on Fort Hood. Islam and Fort Hood By Steve Chapman Conservatives have been quick to trumpet the fact that the alleged killer at Fort Hood, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, is a Muslim--the implication being that Muslims are inherently untrustworthy, hostile to America, at odds with civilized norms of behavior or something. But if that were the case, incidents like this would be common, not rare. It would be absurd and dangerous to anathematize...

Islam Remains Innocent thelastcrusade.org A conservative media watchdog organization says for the most part, the mainstream media networks have downplayed the Muslim connections with terrorism in the Fort Hood massacre.The Media Research Center (MRC) says that when authorities first announced the Fort Hood shooter was Major Nidal Malik Hasan, CBS and NBC purposefully avoided mentioning his name for fear of offending Muslims. The Center points out that ABC's Charles Gibson suggested Hasan was a "Muslim convert," which was not a correct statement, but adds at least Gibson was not trying to play "hide and seek" with the facts.The MRC...

A jury has convicted a man of capital murder in the death of an Arkansas television anchorwoman beaten so badly her face was shattered. The panel must now decide whether 29-year-old Curtis Lavelle Vance should be executed for the crime or should spend the rest of his life in prison. The jury also convicted him of rape and burglary charges. Prosecution witnesses said DNA evidence linked Vance to Anne Pressly's death and to a separate rape case in which he has pleaded not guilty. The defense had said police duped Vance into confessing and giving officers a DNA sample to...

Whoops, sorry -- this isn't backlash against the poor, innocent Muslims being terrorized and victimized by the thousands after the Fort Hood Nothing-To-Do-With-Islam attack. This is just the familiar Muslim backlash against non-Muslims, which will increasingly be a feature of American life in the coming years. Nothing to see here. Move along. "Man arrested for 'anti-Christian' mall disturbance: Kiosk employee allegedly tore a crucifix from someone's neck," by Emily West for the Danville Express, November 10 (thanks to Bob): Police arrested 22-year-old Abdul Walid Hamid of Hayward on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 4, after he reportedly tore a crucifix...

A prominent Columbia architecture professor punched a female university employee in the face at a Harlem bar during a heated argument about race relations, cops said yesterday. Police busted Lionel McIntyre, 59, for assault yesterday after his bruised victim, Camille Davis, filed charges. McIntyre and Davis, who works as a production manager in the school's theater department, are both regulars at Toast, a popular university bar on Broadway and 125th Street, sources said. The professor, who is black, had been engaged in a fiery discussion about "white privilege" with Davis, who is white, and another male regular, who is also...

Prosecutors rested their capital murder case against Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, after testimony from the state's deputy medical examiner, who spoke about Pressly's final moments of consciousness. Vance, of Marianna, has pleaded not guilty to murder, rape and burglary. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Dr. Stephen Erickson said an examination of Pressly's body after her death revealed that her face shattered "like an egg" during the attack. "I could feel crunchiness" while examining Pressly's face, he said. A photo he used showed her nose pushed to one side. Erickson said some type of object likely was used...

TAMPA, Florida - A Marine reservist accused of attacking a Greek Orthodox priest with a tire iron after apparently calling him a terrorist and a robber now says he was sexually attacked by the cleric, his defense attorney said Tuesday. Jeff Brown said Lance Cpl. Jasen Bruce, 28, had been followed into the parking garage of his Tampa apartment building about 6:30 p.m. Monday by the Rev. Alexios Marakis, who then made sexual comments and grabbed the reservist's genitals. Brown denounced the Tampa Police Department's account of the incident as "one-sided" and "tainted." "We are confident that the surveillance videos,...

TAMPA - A U.S. Marine reservist attacked a visiting Greek Orthodox priest he believed to be a terrorist, Tampa police say. When the priest tried seeking directions from Jasen D. Bruce, 28, of Tampa, on Monday, Bruce struck the priest with a tire iron and chased him. Police say he attacked the Rev. Alexios Marakis, 29, of Crete, Greece, who was visiting St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Tarpon Springs and wound up lost in Tampa. Marakis had performed a blessing of another retired Greek priest in the West Shore area and then accidentally exited Interstate 275 north into downtown...

The President signed a bill into law just before Halloween, an appropriate date for this law. The expanded federal hate crimes law, hailed by supporters as the first major federal gay rights legislation, was added to a $680 billion defense authorization bill because if offered up on its own merits the bill would have never made it past the Senate.

The FBI is investigating terrorism threats posted on a homosexual blog that appear to be aimed at Christians. Pro-family activists have drawn attention to a disturbing exchange on a homosexual blog run by Joe Jervis of New York. The exchange takes place between individuals named Fritz and Tex in the comment section of a blog discussing the Maine homosexual marriage defeat and pro-family activists Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel and Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth about Homosexuality. LaBarbera says the two commentators discussed carrying out acts of terrorism against Christians. "One guy [Fritz] sort of raises [the concept] and...

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block Tuesday's scheduled execution of sniper mastermind John Allen Muhammad. The Court did not comment Monday on why it refused to consider his appeal. Muhammad is scheduled to die by injection at a Virginia prison for the slaying of Dean Harold Meyers at a gas station during a three-week spree in October 2002 across Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Fox News can confirm that Fort Hood suspect Army Major Nidal Hasan is awake and speaking to medical staff at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.Hospital spokesperson Maria Gallegos says he's in critical but stable condition. A U.S. Army spokesman says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the suspected Fort Hood gunman, is in critical but stable condition three days after he allegedly opened fire on the military base that killed 13 and left 29 wounded. Hasan, 39, was shot during an exchange of gunfire during Thursday's attack. The military moved him on Friday to Brooke Medical Center, where he...

2 killed, 4 wounded; some were to go to Afghanistan with assailantBy Don Walker At least six soldiers from Wisconsin were among the 43 people killed or injured by an Army psychiatrist at Fort Hood, and an Army major said Friday night that the shooter was scheduled to deploy with a Madison-based unit. The man identified as the shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, was to be sent to Afghanistan. Madison's 467th Medical Detachment, also known as a combat-stress unit, was also in the process of being deployed with him, according to Maj. Claudia Jefferson, an Army spokeswoman. "Hasan was supposed...

As Larry Johnson nears the Kansas City Chiefs' all-time rushing record, more than 10,000 fans have signed an online petition pleading for team officials to deactivate the running back after he posted homosexual slurs on his Twitter account. The petition — which has garnered 10,716 signatures as of early Thursday — calls on general manager Scott Pioli to act before Johnson, 29, surpasses running back Priest Holmes for the team rushing record. "We are asking you, as fans of this team, this organization, and of the pride that this city has in the Chiefs, please deactivate Larry Johnson," the petition...

SAN JOSE -- Three teenagers and a Milpitas man have been arrested in the Halloween shooting and stabbing of two trick-or-treaters in San Jose whom they mistook for rival gang members, police said. The victims, boys ages 12 and 13, were attacked while trick-or-treating. The younger boy was shot in the head and remains in critical condition. The older boy was stabbed and has been released from a hospital.

Last night, by a comfortable margin of 53-47%, the citizens of Maine became the 31st state to vote down gay marriage (as has every single state that has given its citizens a chance to vote on the issue). Not surprisingly, the mainstream liberal press is beside itself with frustration, especially because it drives yet another nail in the "inevitability" and "wrong side of history" arguments we are often fed. As I wrote on National Review this morning, Maine voted for traditional marriage "despite it being a liberal state, despite a 2-1 funding disadvantage, despite aggressive legal action against traditional-marriage...

WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Joined by an unlikely ally, Terrell Yarbrough's lawyer fought for his client's life on Wednesday, one day after the Pittsburgh man was found guilty of killing Franciscan University students Aaron Land and Brian Muha. The Washington County jury that convicted Yarbrough of first-degree murder and conspiracy is trying to decide if the 29-year-old East Liberty man should be put to death or spend the rest of his life in prison. Dr. David Hammer testified on Wednesday that Yarbrough was born to a drug-addicted mother who was high while pregnant. As a result, Yarbrough's I.Q., social behavior and...

Abstract: Supporters of Proposition 8 in California have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, vandalism, racial scapegoating, blacklisting, loss of employment, economic hardships, angry protests, violence, at least one death threat, and gross expressions of anti-religious bigotry. Arguments for same-sex marriage are based fundamentally on the idea that limiting marriage to the union of husband and wife is a form of bigotry, irrational prejudice, and even hatred against homosexual persons. As this ideology seeps into the culture more generally, individuals and institutions that support marriage as the union of husband and wife risk paying a price for that belief in many...

A think tank has compiled and analyzed reports of the harassment, intimidation, and “gross expressions of anti-religious bigotry” shown in reaction to the successful passage of Proposition 8. If partisans of marriage redefinition continue to increase in power, the analysis warns, those who seek the preservation of marriage as a union of man and wife may risk paying a price legally, socially and economically. The Heritage Foundation’s Oct. 22 report “The Price of Prop 8,” authored by researcher Thomas M. Messner, said that many individuals and institutions who defend the nature of marriage as a union between a man and...

Over the past year, he has turned 18, earned his GED and dreamed about moving to California and going to college. All from the confines of a Suffolk County Jail cell. Jose Pacheco is one of seven defendants charged with participating in the hate killing of Marcelo Lucero, and the only minority among the group. He and five others have been held in jail for nearly a year awaiting trial in the closely watched case. PHOTOS: 7 teens accused in Patchogue slaying In prison greens, behind Plexiglas, the 18-year-old repeatedly glanced at his mother and attorney during an interview last...

KNOXVILLE - For the first time in Knox County judicial history, a judge will instruct the jury in the trial of convicted torture-slaying ringleader Lemaricus Davidson that it is more expensive to execute someone than to sentence them to spend the rest of their life in prison. At the request of defense attorney Doug Trant, Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner said this morning that he will tell jurors that a 2004 study by the state Comptroller's Office concluded that execution is a more expensive form of punishment than life without parole

LOS ANGELES — DEVELOPING: Los Angeles police have detained a man near the North Hollywood synagogue where two Jewish people were shot in the legs. Officer Rosario Herrera says she was unsure if the arrest was connected with the shooting Thursday at the Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic synagogue.

How the jury voted in each of the charges in the torture-slaying trial of Lemaricus Davidson.Count 1: First degree felony murder of Hugh Christopher Newsom during the perpetration of robbery of Hugh Christopher NewsomA. Guilty of First Degree Felony Murder of Hugh Christopher Newsom, during the perpetration of Robbery of Hugh Christopher Newsom.[Guilty on all 46 counts including rape and torture of both victims, male and female]Count 29: Aggravated rape of Hugh Christopher Newsom by coercive anal penetration, while aided and abetted by one or more personsB. Guilty of Facilitation of Aggravated Rape of Hugh Christopher Newsom, by coercive anal...

Sacramento, CA- The shocking sight of a noose hanging at a house on a busy street drew media attention and protestors last week, but now the NAACP is calling for a criminal investigation against the homeowner. The Watt Avenue home drew criticism almost immediately after displaying a noose in the same display as a Confederate flag, and members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People are looking into legal action that will force the display to the ground and put the home's owner behind bars. "Immediately I thought this could not be happening in 2009," said Betty...

A "hate crimes" bill opponents claim will be used to crack down on Christian speech, even the reading of the Bible, was signed into law today by President Obama. The Senate approved the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act by a vote of 68-29 on Oct. 22 after Democrats strategically attached it to a "must-pass" $680 billion defense appropriations plan. Most Republicans, although normally strong supporters of the U.S. military, opposed the bill because it hands out federal money to states and local governments in pursuit of "preventing" hate crimes. The bill creates federal protections and...

The "hate crimes" bill approved recently by Congress could be a problem for broadcasters -- most importantly, Christian broadcasters -- now that it has been signed into law. President Barack Obama has signed into law a measure that adds to the list of federal hate crimes attacks on people based on their sexual orientation. Congress approved the legislation last week as part of the $680-billion FY 2010 Defense Authorization bill. Appended to the hate crimes amendment was a statement ensuring that a religious leader or any other person cannot be prosecuted on the bases if his or her speech, beliefs,...

KNOXVILLE - A jury this afternoon convicted Lemaricus Davidson of first-degree murder in the January 2007 torture slayings of a Knox County couple. Davidson, 26, faces a potential death sentence for the deaths of University of Tennessee student Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend Christopher Newsom, 23. Jurors will consider his punishment in a separate proceeding that will begin Thursday. The jurors also could choose life without parole or life in prison, a mandatory 51-year sentence.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad will die by lethal injection when he is executed next month, Virginia officials said Tuesday. Muhammad declined to choose between lethal injection and electrocution, so under state law the method defaults to lethal injection, Virginia Department of Corrections spokesman Larry Traylor said. Muhammad is scheduled to be executed Nov. 10 for the October 2002 slaying of Dean Harold Meyers at a Manassas gas station during a string of shootings.

A caretaker has been charged with the murder of a priest whose body was found in the rectory of his US church. Jose Feliciano, 64, stabbed and slashed Rev Ed Hinds 32 times with a kitchen knife after the pair had an argument, according to prosecutors. The 61-year-old pastor had been in his clerical robes when he was killed and Feliciano was one of two people who said they found the body, it is claimed. The body was discovered at about 8am on Friday after Rev Hinds failed to attend Mass at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Chatham, New...

Iowa City police are investigating an early morning assault in which a man accused another of being a zombie, then punched him twice. Police said the assault occurred at 1:17 a.m. Sunday at an Iowa City restaurant south of the University of Iowa campus. A man was ordering food when he was approached by another man who called him a zombie, then hit him in the eye. When the victim tried to call police on his cell phone, the man punched him again, breaking his nose. The man then ran out a back door. The victim was taken by ambulance...

The U.S. Senate has passed the homosexual hate-crimes bill and will now send it to President Obama to sign it into law. This bill is a trojan horse to legitimize the creation of more laws that will completely obliterate the 1st amendment of the United States. Many homosexual organizations say this is a victory, however they are just being used to further infringe on Americans rights to free speech. In a 68-29 vote, senators passed 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes the hate crimes measure that adds “sexual orientation� and “gender identity,� as well as disability, to the current...

An attorney for a black woman who claimed torture by a white group in West Virginia says his client fabricated the story to get back at a boyfriend who had beaten her up.

Your Concerns From: Senator Roland Burris Dear [Forgiven Sinner]: Thank you for contacting me regarding the Senator Leahy Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1390) regarding hate crime legislation. Current law defines hate crime as any crime against either person or property in which the offender intentionally selects the victim because of the victim's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, or disability. Currently, hate crimes are not distinct offenses under federal law; rather, they are crimes that are committed by individuals who are motivated by one or more biases that are considered to be...

This argument by author David Waters sidesteps two key points. Unlike race, color, or national origin, homosexuality is specifically and harshly condemned within theology, scripture, and religious teaching. So the likelihood of a “hate crime” against a homosexual being linked in some way to a sermon is far more than any other variety of “hate crime.” More pressing than that, however, is the fact the entire concept of “hate crime” is a criminalization of thought, making this and existing hate crime laws unconstitutional. The freedoms of speech, religion, and press, preserved in the First Amendment, may rightly be considered together...

LAKEVILLE, Mass -- Police along with the Secret Service are investigating after a local country club discovered a swastika carved into the green. Lakeville County Club workers discovered the vandalism early Monday morning. Carved into the green on the 18th hole was a swastika next to President Barack Obama's name. The vandals snuck in at night and carved their message of hate, according to the owner of the country club. "We don't know if they did it with some type of cleated shoe, or they had some type of tool and this time of year to have that happen, it's...

NEW YORK — New York City police say a 49-year-old gay man leaving a corner deli near his home was beaten by two men in an apparent hate crime. Jack Price remains in a medically induced coma. He is in serious but stable condition. Police say the two suspects taunted Price and yelled anti-gay slurs while he was in the store early Friday. They attacked him outside, not far from his home in the middle-class Queens neighborhood of College Point. Twenty-six-year-old Daniel Aleman was arrested Sunday and charged with assault and aggravated assault as a hate crime. The name of...

Jamie Foxx signs on for ‘Zebra Murders’November 14th, 2007 - 2:48 am ICT by admin The pic is based on Prentice Earl Sanders and Bennett Cohen’s 2006 book by the same name. Matt Carnahan writing the screenplay for the bigscreen. The plot revolves around a series of racially motivated serial killings — black on white — that took place in San Francisco in 1973 and 1974. Foxx will be playing the role of real-life cop Sanders, who was one of two black police detectives who led the team that cracked the case, reports Variety. The movie will also tell how...

A murder victim in a home invasion had just gotten out of the hospital when she was dragged by her hair, at gunpoint, through the house to wake up family members and show the robbers where the family's treasures were hidden, her uncle told the Post-Dispatch today. Whitrock says he thinks he knows why the family was targeted. "They have a very nice home and I think they are one of the only white families on that block," he said. Whitrock said there had been other problems with criminals at the Hickory Street family home. He said his brother, Stallis'...

When a poll was posted to the popular social networking site Facebook asking if President Obama should be killed, the Secret Service launched an investigation. Today they announced the results: Turns out a kid was behind the poll. And no criminal charges will be filed against him or his parents, according to the Associated Press, citing a Secret Service spokesman. The poll, posted to the site over the weekend, asked, "should obama be killed?" The possible answers were "yes," "maybe," "if he cuts my health care" and "no." At least 730 people took the user-generated poll before it was removed...

DALLAS — A student was taken into a custody when a teacher known for his love of music died after being stabbed Wednesday at a Texas high school. Todd R. Henry, 50, was a music therapist at John Tyler High School, according to his brother, Jody Henry.

BELLEVILLE -- Two Belleville West High School students were charged under the juvenile code today with felony counts of aggravated battery stemming from the violent beating of a 17-year-old student on a school bus earlier this week. VIDEO OF BEATING The incident grabbed national headlines and incited a heated debate about race when police said the incident, involving a white victim and black assailants, may have been racially motivated. They later recanted that claim. The two teenagers—who are 14 and 15 years-old—were charged as juveniles because they are under the age of 17. Illinois law shields the disclosure of their...

(CNN) -- The FBI is investigating as a possible hate crime an incident in which a woman was beaten to the ground in front of her child at the entrance to a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Morrow, Georgia, south of Atlanta. Troy Dale West Jr., of Poulan, Georgia, is facing charges including misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct after allegedly beating Army reservist Tashawnea Hill, 35, after the two had words at the entrance of the Morrow, Georgia, restaurant the evening of September 9. Hill, an African-American, told police that West, 47, yelled racial epithets at her as the attack took...

<p>Police are calling the Monday morning attack of a Belleville West High School student on a school bus racially motivated.</p> <p>Two black juvenile suspects are in custody after they allegedly beat a white student on a bus heading to Belleville West, police and school officials said.</p>

BELLEVILLE -- A Belleville police spokesman now says an incident where a white student was beaten by teen black assailants on a bus “may not be racially motivated.” “It was premature on my part,” said Belleville Police Capt. Don Sax. “It was my personal and emotional comment after only seeing the video briefly.” Sax said police interviewed the 17-year-old Belleville West High student. However, he said he was unaware of what the student told police. Some of the students on the bus yesterday during the incident cheered the beating, the video shows. Sax said a formal statement would be made...

BELLEVILLE — A Belleville West High School student was beaten aboard a bus on the way to school Monday, and a police spokesman said the beating could be racially motivated. The 17-year-old victim was white and the teen assailants were black. Police released a video of the beating, which shows the victim being punched repeatedly while other students on the bus gather to watch, some cheering. It doesn't appear that the victim did anything to provoke an attack and tried only to defend himself. Police said it all unfolded in a five-minute span. The victim was trying to find a...