Free Republic

James T. Hodgkinson, the man identified as shooting a Republican member of congress and four others on Wednesday morning, was a small business owner in Illinois who defined himself publicly by his firm support of Bernie Sanders' progressive politics -- and his hatred of conservatives and President Donald Trump. This is based on CNN's review of Hodgkinson's Facebook profiles, public records, and three years of impassioned letters to his local newspaper. "Trump is a Traitor. Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy. It's Time to Destroy Trump & Co." he posted on his personal Facebook page on March 22. "Republicans are the...

GERMANTOWN, Md. - A county executive in Maryland has banned a police station from displaying a wooden “thin blue line” flag that was a gift from a local resident. "The flag provides a symbol of support to some but it is a symbol of dismissiveness to others,” Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said in a note. “Because it is divisive, the flag will not be posted at the 5th District nor in any public space within the Police Department."

In Howard County, people pride themselves on making everyone feel welcome. Bumper stickers say “Choose Civility.” The county’s pioneering newtown, Columbia, was founded on the premise that people of different races and economic status should live side by side. Now, those convictions are being tested by a proposal that seeks to redistribute some 7,400 of the school system’s 58,000 children to different schools — in part to address socioeconomic segregation that leaves children from poor families concentrated in certain schools. Signs like “No Forced Busing" and “Don’t Dismantle Communities” are appearing in protests in front of River Hill High School,...

FREDERICK COUNTY, Md. — The Frederick County Sheriff's Office has charged two teens for the random, unprovoked physical attack of a 59-year-old man at the Great Frederick Fair. The victim was found near the midway area of the fairgrounds around 5:36 p.m. Friday, lying unconscious. Police interviewed multiple witnesses who told them the victim had been minding his own business. Maryland State Police airlifted the victim to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore where he died from his injuries Saturday. An autopsy is now scheduled at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine an exact cause...

Five boats thought to be Iranian tried to stop a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, according to US officials. The boats withdrew after a warning from a British warship operating in the area. The incident comes as a Royal Navy warship was said to be offering extra protection to a second tanker in the Gulf following a threat from Iran to seize a British vessel. Sky News understands HMS Montrose, a Type 23 frigate, has been travelling with a tanker, British Heritage, according to a ship tracking website and a defence source. Tensions have been rising since...

Ok. Has anybody spoken with lifelong Democrats about the state of their Party today? I've been contemplating asking my 80s-something aunt and uncle who are staunch Maryland Democrats how they can POSSIBLY support the Party with its current platform (post-birth abortion, open borders, free everything, etc) but have been hesitant in doing so.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Friday requiring ex-felons to pay court-ordered financial penalties to get their voting rights restored, a move that brought immediate legal action from activists seeking to stop the new law. The Legislature passed the bill this past spring in response to Amendment 4, which was approved by the voters in November to restore voting rights for ex-felons other than murderers and sex offenders. The amendment won 64.5% of the vote.

I don't vote early because I'm afraid that the polls, OBVIOUSLY controlled by liberals, will find a way to dispose of my vote. I ONLY vote on election day. Does anyone else not vote early for similar reasons?

Ok. I'm tired of John McCain lackies, i.e. Meghan McCain, trashing conservatives for trashing her father. She seems to think Daddy was the end-all/be-all for the last hundred something years. However, I seem to remember the McCain rule as something more sinister. What I remember J. McCain for is trashing Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin rescued is moribund candidacy from the grave. She infused the Republican Party with energy! But, alas, McCain couldn't follow-through. He wouldn't trash Barack Hussein Obama and he wouldn't talk bad about his politics. In the end, he wasted ALL of our time and energy for a...

When Patricia Nazzal videotaped a congressional motorcade passing her car on Interstate 70, she ended up documenting a fatal crash just ahead of her. Maryland State Police said one person was killed Wednesday morning in a four-vehicle crash as other motorists stopped for the motorcade on westbound I-70 at the ramp from northbound Interstate 270. Police had not released the identity of the person who died as of late Wednesday night. The motorcade was part of a trip by U.S. Senate Democrats to Shepherdstown, West Virginia, where they gathered Wednesday for a retreat. Authorities did not say who was in...

Girlfriend wanted to watch the Macy's Day Parade.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals held up a statute that defines BB guns as firearms when it comes to prohibited persons. The decision comes as bad news for defendant David Lee Haywood, 37, who was found guilty of possessing a firearm and now faces a five-year sentence. Police searched Haywoods car after discovering that he was in violation of a no-contact order with a passenger during a 2013 traffic stop. A compact air pistol was found in his glove compartment. Haywood was previously convicted of felony drug possession and was therefore not allowed to own any firearms or airguns in...

The Batmobile pulled into a gas station Sunday night and, as usual, the children who spotted it gawked. Lenny B. Robinson was used to that. The Maryland man, better known as the Route 29 Batman, had for years dressed as the Caped Crusader and driven his custom-made car to deliver moments of happiness and distraction to hundreds of sick children at area hospitals. His costume stored in the Batmobile but his alter ego never entirely switched off, Robinson gave the kids at the gas station some superhero paraphernalia before driving off. Minutes later, Robinson pulled over with engine trouble on...

The six Baltimore police officers involved in the arrest of Freddie Gray – who died last month after being injured in police custody – have been charged criminally, State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced Friday. Mosby's announcement on the steps of the War Memorial Building was greeted with cheers and applause. Mosby said she told Gray's family that "no one is above the law and I would pursue justice upon their behalf." Desmond Taylor, 29, shouted in jubilee in front of the War Memorial Building. Mosby: Freddie Gray's death a homicide, officers charged Investigation and medical examiner reports say Freddie Gray's...

WINTER HAVEN (FOX 13) - A man breaking into a Winter Haven home Monday morning was shot and killed by the family living there, Police Chief Gary Hester said. It happened at a little before 7 a.m. on Lake Marriana Road Drive. A mother, father, and son woke up to the sound of someone, identified by police as 40-year-old Mitchell Large, trying to get in through a porch door. Chief Hester said one of the family members fired a warning shot. "[A resident] fired a warning shot above the door. That warning shot did not deter the intruder. The intruder...

A Palm Bay homeowner says he shot and killed two men in self-defense during an altercation inside his house, according to police. Dispatchers received a 911 call around 1 a.m. from someone at a home on Thuringer Street NW. The caller said shots had been fired, and officers found two men dead inside the home. According to Palm Bay police, two men who had a mutual friend with the homeowner were loitering

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) ripped Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) on the floor Thursday for his hypocritical role in bringing about the “nuclear option,” quoting directly from a Washington Free Beacon article during his impassioned speech. Reid said in a 2008 interview that, so long as he was the party leader, there would not be a nuclear option effectively stripping the Republicans of their ability to block President Obama’s judicial and executive branch nominees. However, on a near party-line vote Thursday, the Senate voted to approve the measure, 52-48. Reid previously called such attempts at a nuclear...

The Disney/ABC Television Group, which includes the ABC network, local TV stations and the Disney Channel and ABC Family cable networks, is restructuring its operations, which will result in layoffs across the unit.

Police testing new sonar equipment during a training exercise at Foss Lake in Oklahoma discovered five skeletons inside a blue 1969 Chevy Camaro and a 1950s-era vehicle perhaps linked to the early 1960's disappearance of a couple.

Four people have been arrested in connection with two recent fatal shootings in Osceola County and 12 more random shootings, police said. Police officers are still looking for answers Thursday after a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed in Kissimmee. Detectives now say a suspicious Fourth of July death is a homicide. According to police, Konrad Schafer, 15, said he used his father's high-powered rifle and killed 17-year-old David Guerrero because it would be "fun and cool." He said David Damus, 20, drove him around as he randomly picked out targets, police said. "To think about the loss of a...