This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A Dominican national has pleaded guilty to U.S. charges of human smuggling that resulted in the death of a 3-year-old boy in Puerto Rico.
According to a statement from the Department of Justice, Alcibades De Paz, pleaded guilty to one count of bringing certain aliens into the U.S., and faces a possible term of life in prison if found guilty.
De Paz admitted he was a captain of a vessel illegally transporting individuals, which included the 3-year-old boy, from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico. While evading authorities with his co–conspirators, De Paz accelerated his vessel towards Puerto Rico, but capsized at the shoreline, which resulted in the death of the child.
The Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force program, which focuses on human smuggling networks that present national security concerns, headed the investigation alongside the DOJ's Criminal Division and the Department of Homeland Security.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said the tragic events show the callousness of human smugglers.
"While smuggling migrants by boat to the United States, Alcibades De Paz attempted to evade law enforcement and sped toward the beach – a decision that resulted in the death of a 3-year-old child after the vessel capsized. This tragedy demonstrates human smugglers' callous disregard for human life. The Criminal Division is committed to combating human smugglers who prey upon vulnerable migrants," Argentieri said.
A man who was attending a rally for former President Donald Trump in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on Friday now faces misdemeanor charges after he forced his way into the press area and was tased by police and then arrested.
The incident occurred while Trump was speaking to the crowd and just after he slammed the press as biased toward his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
The man somehow got by the barrier ringing the media area and climbed up a riser where reporters and cameras were located.
Other rallygoers began to pull him down off the riser and police then moved in to subdue him with a Taser.
He was arrested and later released. He will face misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and disrupting a public assembly.
After he was led away, Trump said, “Is there anywhere that’s more fun to be than a Trump rally?”
The man's identity will be released when the formal charges are filed next week.
It was not clear whether the man was a supporter of Trump or a critic who wanted to cause harm.
The Trump campaign seemed to want to distance themselves from the man.
“Witnesses, including some in the press corps, described a crazed individual shouting expletives at President Trump,” campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said. “His aggression was focused on the president and towards the stage as he entered the press area.”
Alvarez also said the campaign appreciated the quick action of police and the Secret Service.
Another man at the rally was also handcuffed and led out, but it was not clear whether this man was related to the other incident with the media area.
Security at Trump's rallies has been heightened since July 13 when he was shot in the ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Trump was also advised to consider not having more large outdoor rallies. The rally in Johnstown was held inside a large arena.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Citing the numbers of "knife crimes," authorities in one Western nation are vowing to crack down on the dangerous implements of destruction, much like political campaigns for years have blamed guns for crimes people commit with them.
It is Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, who has written at Gatestone Institute on the new scheming in Germany,
"There were 13,844 'knife crime' incidents in Germany in 2023, which the authorities are blaming on the existence of knives and not the perpetrators, who are reportedly mostly young Muslim men," he explained.
The dispute came to a climax when a Syrian Muslim refugee slashed the throats of several victims at the Festival of Diversity.
The immediate response was a government plan to ban more knives.
The column explained, "The ISIS terrorist was one of over a million migrants who had invaded Germany while claiming to be 'refugees.' The migrant was also one of the many scheduled to be deported, but was not. All that the Muslim terrorist had to do to evade deportation was leave government housing when the authorities came looking for him. And then when the military-age Arab Muslim migrant came back, the deportation order had expired and he couldn't be deported. Undeported Muslim refugees have been one of the largest sources of terrorism, crime and violence in Europe."
Three died and eight were wounded in the "Festival" attack, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised a response.
The column noted people in Germany now can carry knifes up to 4.7 inches long, and the proposal actually will limit blades to 2.4 inches.
"No one appears to have considered the possibility that Muslim terrorists on the way to killing as many infidels as possible might violate the law and carry a concealed knife of 4 inches or longer. Such thoughts are unthinkable," he noted.
Further, proposed are "knife-free" zones in certain locations.
The ideology parallels the arguments, and actions, that have been included in anti-gun campaigns, both in the U.S. and elsewhere in recent years.
And the move comes despite authorities admitting that "non-Germans" are "disproportionately represented" in knife crime statistics.
"Typical of this kind of violence was an altercation between two Arab Muslims, which ended with one of them stabbed in Magdeburg, migrants fighting with knives in a refugee center in Bavaria, and a litany of young foreign men confronting and stabbing each other all across Germany," the commentary said.
It's not even the only country pursuing such a political move, the report said.
"Creating 'knife-free' zones, limiting the length of knives that can be carried (except for newly purchased knives still in their plastic wrapping) and creating social media campaigns about the dangers of knives is the sort nonsense that the UK and other governments indulged in as a distraction from the reality of who is actually doing the stabbing (not to mention acid-throwing)," the report said.
He said the agenda is "much like the American liberal obsession with gun control."
The FBI has failed to investigate a significant number of child sex cases properly, according to a damning watchdog report.
An Officer of Inspector General investigation found that 13% of child sex cases were mishandled between October 2021 and February 2023.
For its review, the OIG looked at 300 out of 3,925 cases that allegedly involved a hands-on sex offense against a child or similar offense. 42 of the cases reviewed were flagged as requiring "immediate attention."
In one of those cases, the FBI's inaction led to a minor victim being assaulted by a registered sex offender for 15 months after the FBI first received a tip about the perpetrator.
"After we raised this incident to the FBI’s attention, the FBI took appropriate action, and the subject was indicted on federal charges," the OIG said.
The OIG found "substantial non-compliance" with requirements to promptly report child sex abuse to state and local law enforcement and social services.
"We also found that when FBI employees made a report, they followed FBI policy and reported the abuse within 24 hours of learning the facts
in only 43 percent of the reports and fully documented only 17 percent of the reports," the investigation found.
The internal review came after the FBI's failure to investigate sexual predator and former Team USA women’s gymnastics physician Larry Nassar. The Justice Department reached a $138.7 million settlement with Nassar's victims this year.
A lawyer for Nassar's victims, John Manly, said the OIG report proves the FBI hasn't kept its promises of reform.
"This report makes clear that the FBI is simply not doing its job when it comes to protecting our children from the monsters among us who stalk them,” said John Manly. “Despite years of promises and numerous congressional hearings it’s now clear that the Larry Nassar scandal could happen again today.”
The FBI often cites its role in combatting sex crimes to fend off criticism and threats of defunding from Republicans, who say the FBI has been weaponized against conservatives.
“Ensuring the safety and security of children is not just a priority for the FBI; it is a solemn duty that we are committed to fulfilling with the highest standards. The FBI’s efforts combating crimes against children are among the most critical and demanding undertakings we do,” the agency said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The problems stemming from the rampant, unlimited invasion of illegal aliens across America's southern border, a result of the Biden-Harris administration decision to trash President Donald Trump's border security efforts, make up a long list.
There are the hundreds of billions of dollars taxpayers are spending to provide food, housing, schooling and such. There are jobs for Americans lost to newcomers. There is the possibility that they could skew an election, as there are locations that register them as they get driver's licenses and such.
Then there's the death toll from drugs that are smuggled, the sex trafficking that has developed, and violent criminals, even terrorists, who have infiltrated.
One such ramification has developed in Aurora, Colorado, where several apartment buildings essentially have been taken over by members of Venezuelan gangs.
Mayor Mike Coffman recently was interviewed, and confirmed the problem is a "federal problem."
It's because of criminals at come across the border, then are released into the U.S.
"We can't afford to surrender any part of the city," he said.
Colorado's governor, a far-left Democrat, Jared Polis, however, had another perspective on the crime facing Aurora apartment building residents who are being evacuated because of the threat: The problem is just someone's "imagination."
Fox reported Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky responded to Polis after he said, in a statement from his office, "The governor has already let the mayor know that the state is ready to support the local police department with assistance from state troopers and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation if needed."
But, the statement said, "According to police intelligence this purported invasion is largely a feature of Danielle Jurinsky's imagination."
Jurinski responded with, "I am so disappointed."
Local reporting explains the gang members are part of Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan gang.
Jurinsky, in fact, has helped evacuate residents from apartment buildings where armed gangs have taken over, the report said.
"My question back to the governor is, is this also a figment of the Romeros' imagination? And the other resident that I helped to get out of there, and the other residents that I am going to continue to get out of there?" Jurinsky said.
The report cited reports that more than 40,000 migrants have arrived in the Denver area since December 2022. Denver is a so-called "sanctuary" city; Aurora is not. But they share a boundary.
"The situation is real but it also needs to be put into context so that the reputation of an entire city of over 400,000 residents is not adversely impacted by what has occurred in several isolated apartment buildings owned by the same out-of-state slum lord," Coffman told Fox News Digital.
Jurinsky added, "There are people behind this that are solely, playing politics. That is so sad to me because they're real human beings, just like the Romeros suffering on the other side of those doors, living behind four deadbolt locks and a door brace and living in fear every day in these complexes."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Legacy video has been uncovered of Kamala Harris' insistence that police officers be removed from schools to reach her goal of having the institutions "demilitarized."
And families of school shooting victims are not reacting favorably.
"My brother was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting because of liberal policies like the one Kamala is pushing here," JT Lewis posted on social media. "I wish there had been a police officer there to protect him."
Lewis, whose six-year-old brother Jesse Lewis died in the 2012 massacre in Connecticut that also cost 25 other lives, said, "Students need more protection, not less!"
The details from a Fox News report were posted on the internet by the campaign of President Donald Trump, and it explained that Lewis was responding to unearthed footage of Harris from 2019 when, as a senator, she demanded police officers be removed from schools.
She said, "What we need to do about … demilitarizing our schools and taking police officers out of schools. We need to deal with the reality and speak the truth about the inequities around school discipline. Where in particular, black and brown boys are being expelled and or suspended as young as, I've seen, as young as in elementary school."
The Fox report said loved ones of those killed "slammed" Harris for her position.
Her comments were made during the 2019 presidential justice forum in South Carolina, shortly before she dropped out of the race without getting support from a single Democrat convention delegate.
It was the same this year, only she was hand-picked by the party's elite to replace an aging and mentally failing Joe Biden in a process, again, in which she got not a single vote.
She said, responding to a question about cleaning up criminal records for juveniles, "That's a great question and a great point, because when we talk about reform of the criminal justice system, we've got to understand that the juvenile justice system is in dire need of reform, and I know that. And I've seen it."
She said, "I will end solitary confinement of juveniles, which includes what we need to do to talk about and have a commitment for less incarceration of juveniles. And have guidelines in terms of exactly what those, those numbers should be, because right now, in so many states, children are being incarcerated for … a child being incarcerated for a couple of days is traumatic, much less the weeks, months, and years that we're seeing that happen.
Lewis was joined in his condemnation by family members of other victims of school violence.
Ryan Petty, a father who lost their daughter in the Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, said, "[W]reckless, Radical. Kamala wants to make schools less safe. Your kids aren't safe with Kamala Harris in office."
The report said another father, who also lost a daughter, said, "This is sickening. My daughter was killed because Parkland didn't have enough security. We need more school resource officers — not fewer!"
The publication noted researchers said at least 50 school districts at that time removed police officers from campuses or slashed their budgets.
NHL start Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, are dead after being struck by a suspected drunk driver Thursday, USA Today reported. The 31-year-old Columbus Blue Jackets forward and his 29-year-old brother were struck and killed while bicycling on a rural road on the eve of their sister's wedding.
The accident occurred around 8:20 p.m. in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, which is not far from the town where the brothers grew up. New Jersey State Police say that the driver, Sean Higgins, 43, was driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
The brothers were groomsmen in their sister's wedding that was happening the following day. Meanwhile, Gaudreau was poised for a promising season after spending his off-season training and playing for the United States team in the world championship against Czechia. He walked away from the tournament with three goals and eight assists.
During the regular season, Gaudreau led his team in scoring for the second year, finishing 81 games last season with a 12-48-60 record for the Blue Jackets. However, a series of bad decisions cut his life short.
Police say Higgins was driving in his Jeep Grand Cherokee in the northbound lanes when he attempted to pass a sedan and SUV in front of him in the lane. Higgins crossed into the southbound lanes to get around the slower-moving vehicles.
State troopers believe as Higgins tried to reenter the northbound lane, the SUV moved over to the left to accommodate the bicyclists. It was then that Higgins attempted to pass the SUV on the right and hit the brothers.
Their injuries were fatal to both men, whom CNN reported were supposed to be groomsmen in their sister's wedding the following day in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, their family is now planning for their burials.
"Through further investigation, Higgins was suspected of being under the influence of alcohol," a statement from State Police Sgt. Jeffrey Lebron revealed. In an affidavit filed Friday, Higgins admitted to having as many as six beers before getting behind the wheel that day.
"Mr. Higgins explicitly stated to the effect that his consumption of alcoholic beverages contributed to his impatience and reckless driving, which resulted in the motor vehicle accident," the legal filing said. Higgins was charged with two second-degree vehicular homicide counts and will remain in jail without bond until his hearing Thursday.
Those closest to the brothers are feeling the loss most acutely. "Last night we lost two husbands, two fathers, two sons, two brothers, two sons and brothers in law, two nephews, two cousins, two family members two teammates, two friends but truly two amazing humans," their uncle Jim Gaudreau posted to Facebook Friday on behalf of the family.
"We want to let everyone know we are receiving your messages of love and support, and we appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers," he added. The Blue Jackets also shared news of the loss of the beloved "Johnny Hockey" in a statement.
"Johnny played the game with great joy, which was felt by everyone that saw him on the ice. He brought a genuine love for hockey with him everywhere he played from Boston College to the Calgary Flames to Team USA to the Blue Jackets," the statement went on.
"He thrilled fans in a way only Johnny Hockey could. The impact he had on our organization and our sport was profound, but pales in comparison to the indelible impression he made on everyone who knew him."
The circumstances of this family's loss are especially tragic as this was supposed to be a time of joy for the family. Instead, they're mourning the loss of beloved wo family members because of the alleged recklessness of another.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A new report from a watchdog says the FBI must improve its performance when it handles child sexual abuse investigations.
A report at Just the News said the warning comes some three years after it was learned the FBI knew that U.S. gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was molesting female athletes, but "did not act quick enough."
The new report is from the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Justice.
A summary explains, "The DOJ OIG found that further improvements are needed to build upon the FBI's recent changes to its crimes against children and human trafficking (CAC/HT) program to ensure it appropriately addresses child sexual abuse allegations."
The watchdog found that there were suspected child abuse cases for which the FBI "lacked any recent investigative activity or case updates, logical investigative steps, or referrals to appropriate agencies."
The report said not only did agents not appropriately review leads about cases, but there were "instances of substantial non-compliance with FBI policy."
According to Courthouse News, while the FBI tried to correct its operations after the Nassar case, "some agency staff have been slow to respond to active child sexual abuse allegations."
The report noted that lawmakers will put the agency "back under the microscope this fall" because of the report.
The criticism comes from FBI Inspector General Michael Horowitz.
"It was also partly a response to bipartisan oversight from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who grilled FBI Director Christopher Wray on the Nassar case in 2021 and demanded that the agency review its practices for responding to such reports," CN reported.
In fact, the IG found "dozens of instances" where FBI employees sat on allegations of child sexual abuse or failed to report those allegations properly.
Horowitz listed almost a dozen recommendations to better address the FBI's failings than the adjustments it already had made in procedures.
Lawmakers say they are ready to act.
"The FBI must answer for the inspector general's grave findings," charged Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat. "In 2021, Director Wray testified to the Committee that what happened with Nassar was 'inexcusable … and we're doing everything in our power to make sure it never happens again.' But it's still happening."
The report noted just months ago, the DOJ agreed to a settlement of some $139 million for more than 130 claims the FBI failed to properly investigate allegations of sexual abuse crimes by Hassar.
Nasser, convicted on charges several years ago, is serving three consecutive 20-year terms.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday an arrest was made after an American soldier was found to be in the possession of thousands of child pornography images he generated using artificial intelligence.
Seth Herrera, a U.S. Army soldier stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, was arrested and charged with allegedly transporting and possessing child sexual abuse images. Herrera had also used AI to generate child pornography images using pictures of children he knew.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the DOJ will be prosecuting AI-enabled criminal activity and will seek increased penalties if warranted.
"The misuse of cutting-edge generative AI is accelerating the proliferation of dangerous content, including child sexual abuse material – so the Department of Justice is accelerating its enforcement efforts. As alleged, the defendant used AI tools to morph images of real kids into horrific child sexual abuse material. Criminals considering the use of AI to perpetuate their crimes should stop and think twice – because the Department of Justice is prosecuting AI-enabled criminal conduct to the fullest extent of the law and will seek increased sentences wherever warranted," Monaco said.
Herrera has been charged with one count of transportation of child pornography, once count of receipt of child pornography, one count of possession of child pornography, and will be appearing in court Tuesday. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted.
U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska, said AI-generated sexual abuse images are still child pornography, and perpetrators will be held accountable.
"Technology may change, but our commitment to protecting children will not. We will aggressively pursue those who produce and traffic in child sexual abuse material (CSAM), no matter how that material was created. Put simply, CSAM generated by AI is still CSAM, and those who sexually exploit children, through whatever technological means, will be held accountable by our office in conjunction with our law enforcement partners, for justice and the safety of our children," Tucker said.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said the arrest of Herrera should serve as a warning to criminals who engage in these types of acts.
"As alleged, Seth Herrera possessed thousands of images depicting the violent sexual abuse of children, including infants. He also allegedly used AI to create images depicting the sexual exploitation of children he knew. Today's announcement should serve as yet another warning that the Criminal Division will aggressively pursue those who possess or produce child sexual abuse material, including where the images were generated through AI," Argentieri said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A redacted portion of a federal report on the problems that developed when some protesters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, got violent, trespassing and vandalizing, reveals that then-Vice President Mike Pence's limo driver left the area and his security detail members weren't aware of where he'd gone.
A report from Just the News explains there were multiple incidents that gave the Secret Service "clear warning signs it was slipping on its zero-failure mission" long before its actions allowed a failed would-be assassin to take sniper shots at President Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally July 13.
The report cited as among the many failures the simplest of issues: failures in radio communications.
"Delays in radio communications were cited as a reason the Secret Service driver of Pence's vehicle left the Capitol for nearby loading docks without the detail guarding Pence immediately knowing the vehicle had departed or where he went, redacted portions of the reported stated," according to Just the News.
"Another passage revealed that the transportation agent moved the motorcade without explicit permission from the detail leader because of delays in communication and a rapidly developing situation in front of the Capitol. As the motorcade began relocating, protesters stormed through the plaza, breaching the barricades at 1:59 p.m. The transportation agent said some protesters moved toward the motorcade and attempted to block some of the vehicles, the unredacted report said."
There apparently had been no plans considered for any such development.
The details were in an "after-action report" regarding the Jan. 6 events, when protesters who had concerns about the legitimacy of the 2020 vote count protested the installation of Joe Biden as president. The facts, confirmed later, showed that there were at least two major vote-influence schemes in play during that vote: Mark Zuckerberg's handouts of $400 million plus to local election officials who often used it to recruit voters in Democrat districts, and the interference by the FBI which falsely claimed the Biden family scandals detailed in Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop were Russian disinformation, when agents knew otherwise.
Just the News said it got a copy of a recently released Homeland Security inspector general report that detailed how Pence's escape vehicle left its post without permission and "left him stranded at an increasingly violent scene."
Also, it revealed Secret Service agents couldn't contact each other because radios and cell phones dropped signals.
It even documented how a "required explosives detection team wasn't deployed when Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris was mistakenly whisked past a live pipe bomb just before the Capitol riot started."
And it confirmed that even though the Secret Service had been warned of the possibility of "unrest," the agency didn't change its security plans, leaving a five-person detail inside the Capitol.
Just the News noted that the evidence shows, "Despite a full-scale two-year House Democrat probe into Jan. 6 many revelations about security and intelligence failures remain unresolved."