Free Republic

Twenty-three Democrat run states and the District of Columbia, the home of our nation’s capital, filed amicus briefs in support of government censorship and banning of free speech in the United States. These 23 states and the District of Columbia filed amicus briefs in support of the Biden administration in the SCOTUS case is Murthy, et al v. Missouri, et al, 23-411 (Missouri v. Biden) case. The states essentially argue that they have an interest in collaborating with tech companies to “encourage” the public to behave themselves and “discourage” the public from believing alleged “disinformation” or engaging in online predatory...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed a 10-knot speed limit for much of the Atlantic coast in a bid to protect the Whale population. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As the federal government nears final approval for a 10-knot maritime speed limit along the East Coast, the Southeastern legal Foundation is warning that such a move would adversely impact the economies of coastal communities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed a 10-knot speed limit for much of the Atlantic coast in a bid to protect the whale population. Violators could face up to $20,000 in fines and one...

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan revealed Monday that he was convinced to launch his Senate campaign after witnessing former President Donald Trump’s overt influence on the debate surrounding a bipartisan border bill last month. “It’s why I decided to run for Senate,” the Republican Maryland Senate candidate said during an appearance on MSNBC. Hogan, 67, announced his bid for the Senate seat currently occupied by retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) on Feb. 9. The former governor had previously dismissed having any interest in serving in the upper chamber, citing the quarrelsome nature of life in the Senate.

Two activists accused of throwing a red powder on the U.S. Constitution display case at the National Archives last month are now facing felony charges, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced Friday. Donald Zepeda, 35, of Maryland, and Jackson Green, 27, of Utah, were charged with felony destruction of government property for dumping the fine red powder all over the display case in an indictment that was unsealed in District Count on Thursday, per the DOJ. Conservationists worked to clean up the building’s rotunda after the protestors dumped the powder as part of a stunt intended to draw attention to climate...

Police officers are seen during a lockdown of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md. on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. The building was locked down for an undisclosed security threat. ANNAPOLIS —The Maryland State House was locked down late Thursday afternoon after an anonymous phone threat was made, officials said. Reporters with offices on the ground floor of the building were told to lock their doors shortly after 5 p.m. by an aide to Maryland House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones. About 30 minutes later, police escorted reporters out of the building. An Associated Press reporter saw an officer hurrying up...

An illegal Salvadoran immigrant has been arrested in connection to the murder of a toddler in Langley Park, Maryland, earlier this month, the Prince George's County Police Department announced Tuesday night. According to authorities, Nilson Trejo-Granados, 25, is now the fifth suspect arrested for the murder of 2-year-old Jeremy Poou Caceres. Trejo-Granados was charged with first and second degree murder, police said. He remains in police custody on a no-bond status. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Baltimore spokesperson James Covington confirmed to Fox News that Trejo-Granados is an unlawfully present Salvadoran national. On Nov. 7, 2022,...

Abraham Lincoln didn’t just free the slaves and preserve the Union. America’s 16th (and arguably greatest-ever) president also pardoned the current chief executive’s paternal great-great-grandfather after he was sentenced to hard labor at a military prison, newly unearthed documents show. President Biden’s ancestor, Moses Robinette, was put in the dock after he came to blows with one John Alexander, a fellow civilian employee of the Union Army, on March 21, 1864, according to records found by the Washington Post. Alexander, a brigade wagon master, was left bloodied by wounds that came from Robinette’s pocket knife and the presidential forebear was...

Documents discovered at the National Archives in Washington show that former President Abraham Lincoln pardoned the great-great-grandfather of President Joe Biden, a Union Army civilian employee named Moses Robinette, The Washington Post reported Monday. Joseph Robinette Biden's ancestral line has long been known and includes Moses Robinette among his paternal ancestors from western Maryland, but little has been chronicled about the man until his court-martial records were discovered. The story dates to March 21, 1864 during the Civil War, when a fight broke out in one of the mess tents near Beverly Ford, Virginia, between Robinette and Union Army civilian...

On Monday, Maryland Governor Wes Moore announced more funding to advance abortion in the state. Totaling $15.6 million, the funding includes a $10.6 million grant for Maryland’s Abortion Care Clinical Training Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and an additional $5 million budget proposal to increase Medicaid provider reimbursement for abortion. The Medicaid budget proposal will first need to be approved by both the House and Senate. According to Maryland Matters, the abortion training funding will be released by the Maryland Department of Health, which says it will be used to “initially conduct a statewide needs assessment to understand...

Charles "Lefty" Driesell, the Hall of Fame coach whose folksy drawl belied a fiery on-court demeanor that put Maryland on the college basketball map and enabled him to rebuild several struggling programs, died Saturday. He was 92. Maryland announced Driesell's death. His grandson, Ty Anderson, an assistant coach at Wofford, told The Washington Post that Driesell died at his home in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Driesell finished with 786 victories over parts of five decades and was the first coach to win more than 100 games at four NCAA Division I schools. He started at Davidson in 1960 before bringing Maryland...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A federal grand jury returned an indictment yesterday charging two Maryland residents with the burglary of a federal firearms licensee (FFL), conspiracy to steal firearms from FFLs, and interstate transportation of stolen firearms and stolen vehicles. According to allegations in the indictment, Cedric Minger, 21, and Victor Jones, 22, stole more than 50 firearms—including pistols, rifles, short-barreled rifles, and silencers—from Dominion Defense, an FFL in Springfield, Virginia, on April 29, 2023. According to the indictment, Minger, Jones, and two co-conspirators traveled from Washington, D.C. to Dominion Defense in a stolen Acura ILX. After breaking the business’s exterior...

I am sending best wishes to my good friend and former Governor Larry Hogan. I endorsed @GovLarryHogan today and pledged the maximum amount of $10,000 from my PAC. I look forward to helping Larry in any way I can. https://t.co/0lKzmjPtX2 https://t.co/k9WsQSQ2Zi— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) February 9, 2024

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) argued that Robert Hur, the Special Counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee the classified documents probe of President Joe Biden is a Republican who “intended” to raise concerns about Biden’s age with the “kind of age-discriminatory and age-insulting remarks” about President Biden in the report. Raskin said, “[T]his Republican special counsel said that Joe Biden had been completely forthcoming and cooperative and they’re not bringing any criminal charges against him. He did take some gratuitous slaps at Joe Biden because of his age, and a lot...

The parents of a young tech CEO murdered in Baltimore last year urged Maryland lawmakers Tuesday to end good behavior credits for imprisoned rapists, which is how the man accused of killing their daughter ended up out on the streets. EcoMap Technologies CEO Pava Marie LaPere, 26, died in September 2023 from strangulation and blunt force trauma allegedly at the hands of 32-year-old convicted felon Jason Billingsley. He is charged with first-degree murder in her death and had only been out of prison for about a year after serving a shortened sentence for a 2013 rape because of his good...

If you thought that the resignation of Superintendent Monifa McKnight meant an end to MCPS’s leadership issues, you thought wrong! That’s because the person the school board plans to appoint as interim superintendent has problems of her own, some of them documented in a local government investigation as well as in Maryland courthouses... Monique Felder, who the school board has announced it is planning to appoint as interim superintendent tomorrow... During her tenure in Nashville, the public schools were the subject of many articles in local media. The story most directly tied to Felder was her acceptance of payments from...

A Muslim school teacher in Maryland said that she is a victim of racism after she was suspended for using 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' as her email signature. Hajur El-Haggan, a math teacher at Argyle Middle School, was placed on administrative leave in November after she was told that her chosen signature was not allowed. The Muslim and Arab-American teacher has since gone on to file a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Maryland Commission on Human Rights against Montgomery County Public Schools.

Multinational energy developer Orsted unexpectedly withdrew from agreements with the State of Maryland to develop two offshore wind projects, citing worsening economic conditions. Orsted announced that it had pulled out of orders which the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) issued years ago greenlighting the so-called Skipjack Wind 1 and Skipjack Wind 2 projects, and selecting the projects for a 20-year Offshore Renewable Energy Credit (OREC). Maryland Democrats repeatedly pointed to the Skipjack Wind development as a key part of the state's aggressive decarbonization agenda. "Today’s announcement affirms our commitment to developing value creating projects and represents an opportunity to reposition...

First came a tangle and then came the tempers before two players were ejected Wednesday night in an NCAA women’s basketball game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Michigan Wolverines. Maryland, which held a 15-point halftime lead, ended up on the short end of a 79-77 score in a game that went into overtime, according to The Washington Post. Maryland’s lead was in the process of unraveling with about three minutes left in the third quarter, when the incident took place, as noted by the New York Post. Video of the incident shows Michigan’s Lauren Hansen and Maryland’s Bri McDaniel...

On Friday, Democrat Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger (MD) announced that he will not seek re-election for the seat he has held since 2003. Ruppersberger called the decision "difficult" but acknowledged that it's time to "pass the torch" to the younger generation. "This was an incredibly difficult decision for me because, now more than ever, Congress needs thoughtful, end-game representatives like me — members who care more about constituents and our country and less about cable news hits," Ruppersberger said in a statement, according to Politico. "But it is time to pass the torch to a younger generation of leaders and I...

Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Monifa McKnight said in a statement Monday she was asked by school board members last week to “step away” from her post. McKnight said the board didn’t give a justification for its request and hadn’t communicated concern about her performance — and she said she would fight the attempt to oust her. (See backstory below) “For these reasons, I’m concerned that its actions are based on something other than my performance, which would constitute a violation of my contract,” McKnight said. “I will defend my reputation and my decades-long commitment to the students and families...