Free Republic

This story took place over the past week or so but it’s just bubbling to the surface outside of the local news beat. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Mayor Danene Sorace (D) held an extremely short press conference on October 2nd to announce the retirement of their Chief of Police, Jarrad Berkihiser. After briefly thanking him for his service, the Mayor took no questions from the press and departed. The Police Chief did not attend the event and issued no comment. Lancaster’s police chief was forced to retire because his wife posted positive comments about President Trump on Facebook, according to the...

A career of the police chief in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, has been cut short after his wife supported President Trump in a comment to a Facebook post. 49-year-old Jarrad Berkihiser, faced an ultimatum from the mayor, Democrat Danene Sorace, to either retire or be fired, and eventually chose the former. The account of this controversy comes from until recently the head of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) for Lancaster, John Fiorill, who said Berkihiser had turned to the organization for advice once he was asked to step down on account of his wife’s opinion expressed online. On September 27, Kristy...

A Franklin & Marshall College Kappa Delta sorority sister is one of nine people charged with crimes connected to the riots in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, last weekend. The girl's father on Tuesday blasted a judge's decision to set her bail at $1 million as "obscene" and unconstitutional Kathryn Patterson, 20, faces felony and misdemeanor charges including arson, vandalism, riot, and disorderly conduct after her arrest early Monday. She was allegedly a participant in the protests over the fatal police shooting of Ricardo Munoz, who according to bodycam footage chased a police officer with a knife in a threatening manner. Patterson is a Black Lives Matter supporter, posting on...

Judges dramatically reduced bail amounts as high as $1 million Thursday that had been set this week for several people accused of crimes during unrest in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that included protests and vandalism to public buildings. Bail for nine of 13 defendants was lowered, in several cases so they will not have to put up any money to be released, LNP reported. Bail for two defendants was reduced from $1 million to $50,000 unsecured, clearing the way for their release pending trial.

The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office is trying to set the record straight after outrage erupted over the $1 million bail set for a number of people protesting in Lancaster Sunday night. Criminal justice advocates and politicians took issue with bail set for seven of the 13 protesters accused of rioting and vandalizing downtown Lancaster during protests over the police shooting death of 27-year-old Ricardo Munoz. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania — demanding answers from the courts and District Attorney Heather Adams — took particular issue, describing the $1 million bail in a Tuesday statement as “exorbitantly high.”...

She went from the sorority house to the big house. One of the accused rioters locked up on $1 million bail following violent protests in Lancaster, Pa., is a Kappa Delta sorority sister and “ally” of a black rights organization at the pricey private college she attends. Kathryn Patterson was among 13 people arrested early Monday on a slew of felony and misdemeanor charges including arson, riot, vandalism and criminal conspiracy. “My left fist, to symbolize black power,” the young activist commented on a photo she posted on Facebook on Aug. 1, showing her marching in all black with the...

LANCASTER, Pa. — Lancaster police Chief Jarrad Berkihiser said an officer who shot and killed a man armed with a knife was in imminent danger of losing his life and acted appropriately. The police shooting death of 27-year-old Ricardo Munoz on Sunday was captured on an officer's body cam. Looking at that body cam video, Berkihiser said his officer's actions were justified. "There's been some question about, you know, where was the officer's backup? And should the officer have waited for backup? And that's a good question, and we can't always wait for backup," he said. Berkihiser said the officer...

A Pennsylvania judge threw the book at several protesters — setting their bail at $1 million each — for allegedly rioting in wake of the police shooting of a knife-wielding Lancaster man. Lancaster police nabbed a dozen people and one juvenile for staging the riots around 3 a.m. Monday in clashes that culminated in police deploying tear gas at the crowd. The overnight violence came on the heels of the death of Ricardo Munoz, the mentally ill 27-year-old who was seen on body cam footage charging at a cop with a knife in hand. The officer shot and killed Munoz...

The blade-wielding Pennsylvania man shot dead by police — triggering destructive protests demanding justice — was previously busted in 2019 for knifing four people in the city, according to his lawyer and officials. Before Ricardo Munoz, 27, made the fatal decision to rush a cop while waving a knife on Sunday, he was charged with stabbing or slashing two men, a woman and a 16-year-old boy in and near a Lancaster home in March of last year. “He is the individual who was shot yesterday,” confirmed public defender Elizabeth Low, who represented Munoz in the aggravated assault case.

Protesters poured onto the streets of Lancaster, Pennsylvania Sunday night calling for “justice” — for a man shot dead by police while charging at an officer with a knife. Body camera footage showed Ricardo Munoz, 27, brandishing a knife and wielding it over an officer’s head as cops responded to a domestic disturbance around 4:15 p.m. The blade-wielding Lancaster, Pennsylvania, man shot dead by police was previously busted in 2019 for knifing four people in the city, according to his lawyer and officials. It was not the first time he’s been accused of a knife attack. Protesters marched from the...

VIDEO What is it about Joe Biden and live streaming? Is he surrounded by some sort of force field that plays havoc with the electrons used in broadcasting signals? As you can see, there is almost no difference in the "active" Joe Biden and the freeze frame Joe Biden. After over a half hour of existing in the freeze frame Phantom Zone, Biden stirs back to life, barely, at an indoor rally with a tremendous crowd of enthusiastic supporters. In fact, are there any crowd control experts out there who can estimate to the closest thousand just how large...

A good Samaritan was an unwitting getaway driver in a bank robbery after offering a ride home to a man he met in a Columbia tavern Monday. Greg Kreiser said he was just trying to help out the man when he expressed hesitation about driving after having a few drinks, and didn’t mind as the man asked if they could make a few stops on the way.

In Lancaster County, PA, an alert and armed woman stopped a crime spree. One of the things that destroys the sense of security in a neighborhood is the proliferation of burglaries and thefts of personal property from vehicles. That is what the pair of suspects were involved in when an alert woman stopped Robert LaFleur from breaking into her car at 2:30 am and held him at gunpoint until the police arrived. It seems unlikely that LaFleur would have obeyed the woman's commands if she had not been armed. The police report that he resisted arrest when they arrived, and...

Boggs, a McCaskey freshman who lives in Gable Park Woods, had been hanging out with a friend at nearby Lancaster Arms apartments and helping move a couch when a man came by asking if they'd seen a missing girl. They hadn't, Boggs said, so they went to watch TV. A short time later, his friend went outside and saw lots of police officers and people from the neighborhood looking for the girl. Police said that the girl had been taken that afternoon from the 100 block of Jennings Drive. Boggs and about six friends joined the search. That’s when, Boggs...

He’s the Tony Soprano of the horse-and-buggy set. His name is Lebanon Levi, and he’s the chief enforcer and focal point of “Amish Mafia,” a new docu-series premiering next month on Discovery. The series, which follows on the heels of sister network TLC’s top-rated (and extremely controversial) “Breaking Amish,” centers around tough-guy Levi and his henchmen Alvin, Jolin and John — who quietly enforce justice and protect the Amish community in Lancaster, Pa., while church elders look the other way and no one asks questions.

The first half of the program has ended. Dinner is now being served to attendees. Stay tuned for more coming up around 8:15, with Newt Gingrich taking the stage around 8:30.