Free Republic

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) declined to back the prosecutor in the case involving the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Mo. that has touched off nationwide unrest. African-American leaders in Missouri have criticized St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch’s handling of the case, arguing that he is inclined to side with law enforcement officials because he has received campaign contributions from police groups and has said publicly that his father was a cop who was killed in the line of duty. Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Nixon declined to directly support McCulloch for the...

Boca Raton-based Office Depot said Tuesday it would close 165 stores during 2014 — up from the 150 estimated earlier this year — but stuck with a total count of 400 store closures through 2016, the company said. The office-supply retailer, which merged with OfficeMax last year in a $1.2 billion transaction, said it has completed its analysis of which stores will be closed across the U.S. and Canada. Locally, the retailer has closed two OfficeMax stores, in Coral Springs and Deerfield Beach. The company also announced on a conference call following its second-quarter earnings announcement that it has settled...

ILION — Herkimer County officials vowed to help affected Remington Arms employees Monday afternoon as news spread the gun manufacturer will layoff more than 100 of its employees by the end of the week. Herkimer County Legislature Chairman Vincent Bono said he learned about the 105 layoffs through county Administrator James Wallace and then from Karin Zipko of Herkimer County Working Solutions. “We're gearing up our programs that are offered, including retraining and job searches,” said Bono, R-Schuyler, during a telephone interview Monday. “It's unclear whether some will be called back. That's unknown.” “It's unfortunate,” added Bono about the layoffs,...

This not a hard one to answer. Once again we have lost another young, black man at the hands of a police officer. I really tried to find the best way to write this without seeming so over-the-top, emotional or making it an issue of race. Well as you can see that was not possible. Yes it’s probably over-the-top, but so are the numbers of our black men dying at the hands of police officers. Yes I am emotional because when I see the Michael Brown and the Trayvon Martin I also see my own 14 year old son. I...

MILLS, Wyo. A Wyoming police officer has pleaded not guilty to an animal-cruelty charge that alleges a police dog died after he left it in a hot patrol car for several hours. According to an investigator's statement filed in Natrona County Circuit Court, Mills police officer Zachary Miller left the dog, a 10-year-old female black lab named Nyx, in his patrol car for over six hours July 9. "It's a tragedy," Mills Mayor Marrolyce Wilson said. The car was running, but the air conditioning was off and outside temperatures reached 86 degrees, KCWY News 13 reported (http://bit.ly/1tAzzhs). Miller, a four-year...

Aug 22, 2014 7:22PM ET Non-Profit Run by a Missouri Police Union Is Now Handling Fundraising for Darren Wilson Arit John The GoFundMe crowdsourcing fundraiser for the Ferguson police officer who killed Michael Brown has been taken over by Shield of Hope, a charity run by the local police union. Since Shield of Hope is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, all donations from here on out will now be tax deductible. The original fundraiser had raised over $235,000 before passing on the torch to Shield of Hope. The new Shield of Hope-run page has raised over $11,000 on its own. Originally...

Jeffrey C. Barton The man who fired a shotgun in the air to scare off car burglars, following Vice President Joe Biden's advice, has had the charge involved with the shooting dropped, according to the Columbian: A person, even in a no-shooting zone, still has the right to defend their person or their property,” Golik said. “In this case, based on the facts, there is a reasonable argument that Mr. Barton may have been defending his person and property when he fired in the air. Jeffrey C. Barton has an NRA supplied attorney, and says that a threat of...

Building site of the first ever 3D printed estate in Gardiner, New York. New York City architect/contractor Adam Kushner begins construction of the first ever 3D printed estate, which features a 3D printed swimming pool, 4-bedroom, 2400 square foot home, and more. The 3D printer which will be a modified version of Enrico DiniÂ’s D-shape printer, will, if all goes as planned, eventually be able to automatically place rebar within the 3D printed house, as it prints. We have covered a lot of news concerning the 3D printing of houses, over the course of the last year or so. Whether...

I had been on the ground helping Al Jazeera America** cover the protests and unrest in Ferguson, Mo., since this all started last week. After what I saw last night, I will not be returning. The behavior and number of journalists there is so appalling, that I cannot in good conscience continue to be a part of the spectacle. **A clarification edit: I am not a full-time employee of any Al Jazeera branch or network. I am a freelance journalist who contributes to several media platforms. Things I’ve seen: -Cameramen yelling at residents in public meetings for standing in way...

As morality wanes in modern America, so too does clear thinking on the sensational issues of the day that distract us from what is truly important in the lives of a free people. I'm seriously concerned for my country when my fellow conservatives begin to jump the tracks whenever the police clash with evil individuals or the rampaging hordes that often follow. We should all be concerned about the loss of our freedoms, our liberties, the disregard for our Constitution by the elected, the rise of the police state, the lack of due process of citizens and the favoritism of...

The Rev. Al Sharpton is the White House’s man on the ground in Ferguson. The 59-year-old Sharpton has become a key adviser to President Obama on race issues, according to Politico, and is acting as his liaison in the racially charged St. Louis suburb, where the police shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown led to days of riots. Sharpton arrived at the protest site in Ferguson three days after the shooting and quickly began briefing the White House. “There’s a trust factor with The Rev from the Oval Office on down,” a White House official told Politico. “He gets it,...

Jim Hoft and Fox News say he did, CNN says he didn’t, and now here’s WaPo saying yep, he did. Your move, New York Times. The signs of easing tensions came as a family friend of the officer who fatally shot Brown came forward to offer a version of the incident with new details, saying that the officer suffered a fracture to his eye socket in a scuffle with the unarmed teenager before opening fire. Hospital X-rays of the injury have been taken and will be shared with a grand jury that is weighing evidence to determine whether Officer Darren...

GLEN BURNIE, Md. (WJZ) — The Anne Arundel County Fraternal Order of Police is raising some eyebrows after making a substantial donation to the defense fund of Ferguson, Missouri officer Darren Wilson. Mike Hellgren explains why the union decided to make the donation. Anne Arundel County’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 70 has donated $1,070 to a defense fund for Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson, whose shooting of African-American teenager Michael Brown has led to protests nationwide. Carl Snowden, head of the Caucus of African-American leaders, condemned the donation. “It smacks of racial insensitivity. It smacks of destroying the...

ABOUT RED BULL SOAPBOX RACE Not to be confused with the youth soapbox derby, Red Bull Soapbox Race is a national race for amateur drivers, which is fueled by creativity and competitive fun – not to mention the need for speed. This unique non-motorized racing event challenges both experienced racers and amateurs alike to design and build outrageous, human-powered soapbox dream machines and compete against the clock in a downhill race. Teams are judged on three criteria: speed, creativity and showmanship. This criteria has inspired a piano, a baby carriage, a rodeo clown, a massive cob of corn, a jail...

DES MOINES, Iowa —Police and protesters have clashed for more than a week in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, Missouri. Local filmmaker Justin Norman captured dozens of images and video of the conflict to document the tense situation. Norman said it didn’t take long to witness a physical dispute on a street corner. “Before a half-hour of being there, I saw this woman forced to the ground, handcuffed and put in the back of a police car, arrested for standing and holding a sign,” Norman said. The distance between Des Moines and Ferguson is about 340 miles, but Norman...

An online fund created to raise money for the Ferguson, Mo., police officer who killed Michael Brown has amassed more than $150,000, outpacing a similar account for the slain man's family.. The GoFundMe.com account for Officer Darren Wilson reached that total in just three days, according to the website. About 3,900 people had donated $156,276 as of about 5 p.m. Central time on Thursday. The Brown fund, also on GoFundMe.com, has raised $133,783 in eight days from more than 4,900 people. The Wilson page's mission statement says: "We stand behind Officer Darren Wilson and his family during this trying time...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Protesters against the police actions in Ferguson, Mo. as well as police killings of other suspects in California and other states gathered in Oakland on Wednesday. A couple of hundred demonstrators gathered at Oakland Police headquarters on 7th and Broadway and faced off with officers in riot gear. Some protesters unveiled a new tactic, by holding up mirrors in the faces of officers. “I was holding up the mirror because I wanted the police to just look at themselves. Especially if they were about to take some kind of action just so they had to acknowledge what they were doing,”...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Grammy-winning rapper Nelly told Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday that law enforcement in Ferguson, Missouri, had lost the trust of the community and needed to change, the star's publicist told NBC News. The artist spoke on the phone to Holder, who visited the St Louis suburb in a bid to end violence over the fatal shooting by police of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. Nelly, a Ferguson native who created a scholarship fund in honor of Brown’s family, said in a statement that he was “thankful” that Holder had taken the time to speak. “[Holder] understood that the trust and...

A gunfight erupted in Detroit as a neighbor interrupted the theft of the catalytic converter from a minivan.   The neighbor came out with a long gun, which appeared to be a Mossberg single shot bolt action shotgun, based on the shape of the trigger guard and bolt.  The underside of the long gun showed the lack of a magazine.     From clickondetroit.com: A man spotted two crooks stealing the catalytic converter from his neighbor's Chevrolet Venture. He came out armed with a gun, hoping to scare them away. Police say the men took off toward their car, fired shots...

Former "Hercules" star, political conservative and outspoken Christian Kevin Sorbo unleashed a Facebook rant about the protestors in Ferguson, Missouri, labeling them "animals" and "losers." Sorbo took to Facebook Wednesday, Aug. 20, to discuss the Ferguson protestors who have been calling for justice since the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9. The actor criticized those who have been gathering in the St. Louis suburb for having what he said are ulterior motives. "Ferguson riots have very little to do with the shooting of the young man," Sorbo wrote. "It is an...