Free Republic

In the wake of a Florida school shooting that took the lives of 17 people, the New York State Sheriffs’ Association is calling for armed officers in every school in New York. With more 6,700 public and private schools in the state, the Sheriffs’ Association estimates that the cost would roughly be equal to adding a teacher to each of those schools. The association is calling on the State Legislature to incorporate the cost into the 2018 state budget. “This will be an expensive undertaking, but we owe it to our children, and their parents, to provide a safe place...

On Wednesday, Jake Tapper hosted a CNN town hall special episode with survivors and relatives of the victims of the Florida school shooting titled “Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action.” As one might suspect, this was not exactly a fair and balanced forum for debating gun control. Pro-gun control student activists, teachers, and parents of murdered students dominated the discussion and posed most of the questions to the town hall’s five guest speakers.Florida Senator Marco Rubio and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch were among those five who went up on stage to answer questions, but they did not...

Colton Haab, a student who survived last week’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, refused to participate in a CNN Town Hall on Wednesday night after he was told to ask a “scripted” question. Haab, a junior at the high school, told Fort Lauderdale ABC affiliate WPLG that CNN invited him to speak at the televised town hall in nearby Sunrise, Florida, and that he and his parents had dressed up for the occasion. But CNN then told Haab he would have to read a question that CNN had prepared for him:

Walla news site CEO Ilan Yeshua recorded Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch pressing him to tilt the site's coverage in favor of the prime minister and his family, report says The police reportedly have a tape of Israeli telecom mogul Shaul Elovitch pushing for positive coverage of Benjamin Netanyahu on his company's news site, the latest thorn in the prime minister's side as he tried to deflect claims that he offered a quid pro quo for positive news coverage. According to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth Thursday, the CEO of the Walla news site has given the police recordings in which Elovitch,...

As expected – buried deep inside a Miami Herald article about the Parkland school shooter, Nikolas Cruz, and a school board questioning their progressive policies, we find the following: […] Absent Cruz’s school records, it is hard to say precisely when Cruz’s behavior became an acute problem for teachers and administrators. Disciplinary reports obtained by the Herald show that at Westglades Middle School, which he attended in 2013, he’d been cited numerous times for disrupting class, unruly behavior, insulting or profane language, profanity toward staff, disobedience and other rules violations. Records show the behaviors continued at Marjory Stoneman Douglas [High...

After appearing as the No. 1 trending video for hours, YouTube finally removed a video that suggested one of the high school students who survived the Parkland, Fl. shooting last week was an actor. In a statement to Fox News, a YouTube spokesperson said: "This video should never have appeared in Trending. Because the video contained footage from an authoritative news source, our system misclassified it. As soon as we became aware of the video, we removed it from Trending and from YouTube for violating our policies. We are working to improve our systems moving forward.” The title of the...

If Nikolas Cruz had been arrested for his prior criminal behavior he would not have passed a background check for a firearm purchase. The issue was/is not the background check; the issue was/is the lack of a prior arrest. Hence, the Broward County school and law enforcement policy is ultimately what failed. I don’t say this lightly, but the lawyers have the easiest case for ‘wrongful death’ lawsuits in the history of this type of litigation. The county policy constructed by public officials (School Board and Superintendent), and the county law enforcement policy that was specifically and intentionally designed to...

When an evil assailant opened fire on students attending Parkland High School last week in Florida, JROTC enlistees jumped into action to protect their peers. Grabbing Kevlar mats, they shielded students from a barrage of bullets and saved lives. JROTC Cadet Peter Wang made the ultimate sacrifice and gave his life while holding the door open for people to escape.Wang had dreams of attending West Point Academy after high school and planned to have a career serving his country in the United States Army. He was posthumously admitted to the institution this week. One of USMA's priorities is to develop leaders...

CALEXICO, Calif. – Construction for a border wall replacement near downtown Calexico began today. The area of the border wall replacement will be an approximately 2.25-mile section replaced with 30-foot high bollard style wall. The project covers an area from approximately the Calexico West Port of Entry extending westward beyond the Gran Plaza Outlets. The project also includes around 2.25 miles of all-weather roads. The El Centro Sector wall replacement is one of Border Patrol’s highest priority projects

The vicious MS-13 gang, stifled under former President George W. Bush, exploded during the Obama era fueled by 300,000 illegals, including those given amnesty under the DACA program, and has now been linked to crimes in 22 states, according to a new report. Since 2012, 207 murders have been tied to the gang called “Mara Salvatrucha,” and there are over 500 cases nationwide of MS-13 members being charged in major crimes, according to the report from the Center for Immigration Studies.

Being a shooting victim doesn’t make you an expert on ending gun violence. But you wouldn’t know that from watching CNN. It’s been a week since a monster killed 17 people at a Florida high school. The calls for gun control have been reflexive and ambiguous, but the media have found a new mouthpiece — shooting survivors. “Students seize control of gun debate” blared a MSNBC caption. An organization portraying itself as being made up of students announced a March 24 rally in D.C. and other cities called “March For Our Lives.” Some students say they won’t return to class...

Overnight Twitter exploded with rage, sending #TwitterLockOut to the top of the trending list. People like Ben Garrison, the famous cartoon artist, are reporting they have lost thousands of followers in an instant and more are dropping out by the minute. It appears that only conservative accounts are included in the follower purge. #TwitterLockout - just saw 2k followers go poof~ What's up Twitter? — BenGarrison Cartoons (@GrrrGraphics) February 21, 2018 RED ALERT! Twitter is Banning Hundreds of THOUSANDS of Conservative Accounts Tonight.. I literally just lost 5,000 Followers within the last 10 minutes. All hands on Deck America, #TwitterLockOut...

President Donald Trump paid tribute to iconic Christian evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, who passed away Wednesday at age 99 at his home in Montreat, N.C. Trump took to Twitter to call Graham a great and very special man who will be missed by people of all faiths. The GREAT Billy Graham is dead. There was nobody like him! He will be missed by Christians and all religions. A very special man. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2018 Graham, whose worldwide crusades and role as adviser to decades of U.S. presidents made him one of the best known religious...

Prominent evangelical leader and pastor Billy Graham has died at the age of 99. He passed away from natural causes at his home in Montreat, N.C, Fox News confirmed Wednesday. BREAKING NEWS: Billy Graham has died at age 99. pic.twitter.com/oZbmCUwOU5— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 21, 2018 Graham, one of "the most admired men in the world," according to polls, held over 400 "Christian crusades," or evangelistic campaigns, between 1947 and 2005.His influence was vast. He preached to an estimated 250 million people and offered spiritual guidance to several U.S. presidents. During his life-long ministry, Reverend Billy Graham preached in person...

Another Mass Shooting, Another Psychiatric Drug—27 Drug Warnings and 1,531 Cases of Drug-Induced Homicidal Ideation Back Need for Federal Investigation: Twenty-seven drug regulatory agency warnings cite psychiatric drug side effects of mania, psychosis, violence and homicidal ideation; 1,531 cases of psychiatric drug induced homicide/homicidal ideation have been reported to the US FDA; 65 high profile cases of mass shootings/murder have been committed by individuals under the influence of these drugs, yet there has never been a federal investigation into the link between seemingly senseless acts of violence and the use of mind-altering psychotropic drugs. The fact is psychiatric drugs are...

The U.S. Army is awarding its Medal of Heroism to three Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) cadets killed in last week's school shooting in Parkland, Florida, an Army spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. Alaina Petty, Peter Wang and Martin Duque were all students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where the deadly attack unfolded. The Army awards the Medal of Heroism to JROTC cadets who perform "acts of heroism." "The achievement must be an accomplishment so exceptional and outstanding that it clearly sets the individual apart from fellow students or from other persons in similar circumstances," the Army said in a...

A busload of surviving students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School traveled to the Florida state capital Tuesday to lobby on behalf of gun control legislation. Despite their efforts, the Florida House has voted down a motion take up a ban on the AR-15, tabling the measure. The vote was 36-71.Seventeen people were killed and over a dozen injured when a former student opened fire on the school last week. The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, used an AR-15.Soon after the carnage, lawmakers renewed their calls for a ban on the rifle. It got support from even Republican governors like John Kasich,...

Observers are buzzing about a series of events in the last 60 days in the case of Michael Flynn, the Trump national security adviser who on Dec. 1 pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI in the Trump-Russia investigation... ....On Dec. 12, after just a few days on the Flynn case, Sullivan, acting on his own, ordered the office of special counsel Robert Mueller "to produce to [Flynn] in a timely manner — including during plea negotiations — any evidence in its possession that is favorable to defendant and material either to defendant's guilt or punishment." Sullivan...

Mitt’s back. The former governor of Massachusetts and occasional native son of Michigan has a new persona: Mr. Utah. He’s going to bring Utah conservatism to the whole Republican party and to the country at large. Wholesome, efficient, industrious, faithful. “Utah has a lot to teach the politicians in Washington,” he says in announcing his Senate campaign. Maybe.

[snip] The aim of the factory’s work was either to influence voters or to undermine their faith in the U.S. political system, the 37-page indictment states. Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that while the indictment focuses on “Russian nationals,” it gives “no indication that the Russian government was involved in this in any way.” Peskov reasserted that Moscow did not interfere in the U.S. election. Mindiyarov, who failed the language exam needed to get a job on the Internet Research Agency’s Facebook desk, where the pay was double than the domestic side of the factory. The sleek operation...