Free Republic

NEW YORK - A Pakistani man can use statements from al-Qaida prisoners to defend himself against charges alleging he agreed to help terrorists sneak into the United States, but he won't be allowed to call Khalid Sheik Mohammed or two other al-Qaida operatives as witnesses, a judge ruled Monday. Uzair Paracha's lawyer said it would be the first time al-Qaida prisoners' statements would be used before a jury since the 2001 terrorist attacks. "The statements completely contradict the government's theory of the case," said the attorney, Anthony Ricco. Opening statements in Paracha's trial are expected as early as Wednesday. U.S....

William Barr’s big adventure took two huge steps on Saturday. First, Attorney General Barr went out of his way to call out the domestic terrorist and Democrat support group Antifa as one of the main organizers behind the nationwide set of riots happening in Democrat-controlled big cities this weekend. He also took great pains to note that the crossing of state lines to organize or participate in riots is a federal crime Here’s an outtake from his speech: “Groups of outside radicals and agitators are exploiting the situation to pursue their own separate and violent agenda. In many places, it...

PHOENIX — The state of Arizona is the new owner of a clubhouse that belonged to the Hells Angels. The state will pay a member of the biker group $102,500 for the Phoenix clubhouse, money that comes from anti-racketeering funds forfeited to the state. "We've eliminated the home base of a criminal enterprise," said Chuck Johnson, an assistant attorney general. "This was a very useful and even laudatory use of $102,500." The state outbid the Hells Angels for ownership of the clubhouse that's been used for twice-weekly meetings of the biker gang since 1999. Some of the options for the...

Critics of vulgar, violent, gangster-style rap music make a mistake when they write off rap stars as stupid, immoral and self-destructive. They may be immoral and self-destructive, but they're not stupid. As one of my readers observed in a thoughtful e-mail, they're making a rational economic choice. The reader wrote: "I had to stop and ask this question to myself: 'Would I call my mother a 'ho' or my sister a 'bitch' if I could make a couple of million dollars and get out of poverty and live a pretty good life?" In a line of work that dangles riches...

Most honor veterans on Memorial Day weekend. One man decided to rob them. Alfred Ricco was outside a Wal-Mart west of Boca Raton about 10 a.m. Saturday, selling plastic red poppies to raise money for disabled veterans. The World War II veteran had been there for two hours when a man of about 20 approached him to ask about the fundraiser .

A top Al Qaeda operative plotted to smuggle weapons into New York Harbor in the shipping containers of a Garment District firm, the Daily News has learned. Days before he was captured in Pakistan in March, suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed met in Karachi with the owner of a W. 35th St. clothing importing company and his son, law enforcement sources said. Al Qaeda's No. 3 man offered to invest $200,000 in International Management Group in exchange, federal authorities now believe, for access to IMG's Port Newark-bound shipping containers, sources say. Mohammed "is obsessed with attacking the United States,...