This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Christopher Wray, the FBI chief who oversaw the weaponization of the federal agency against now President-elect Donald Trump, with the bureau's SWAT raid on Trump's home, its participation in the "Russia, Russia, Russia" collusion conspiracy and more, is leaving.
The move is voluntary, but inevitable, given that Trump already had expressed his desire for a different FBI chief, and in fact already had nominated Kash Patel.
Trump responded to the word delivered by Wray to FBI employees:
"The resignation of Christopher Wray is a great day for America as it will end the Weaponization of what has become known as the United States Department of Injustice. I just don't know what happened to him. We will now restore the Rule of Law for all Americans," he said.
"Under the leadership of Christopher Wray, the FBI illegally raided my home, without cause, worked diligently on illegally impeaching and indicting me, and has done everything else to interfere with the success and future of America. They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them."
His nominee, Patel, is different, Trump said.
"Kash Patel is the most qualified Nominee to lead the FBI in the Agency's History, and is committed to helping ensure that Law, Order, and Justice will be brought back to our Country again, and soon. As everyone knows, I have great respect for the rank-and-file of the FBI, and they have great respect for me. They want to see these changes every bit as much as I do but, more importantly, the American People are demanding a strong, but fair, System of Justice. We want our FBI back, and that will now happen. I look forward to Kash Patel's confirmation, so that the process of Making the FBI Great Again can begin."
Reports on Wray's decision described his announcement as "stunning," and confirmed he is "resigning within days."
He delivered the word to FBI workers in a statement.
He said, "After weeks of careful thought, I've decided the right thing for the Bureau is for me to serve until the end of the current Administration in January and then step down."
He said, "In my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the Bureau deeper into the fray, while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work. … When you look at where the threats are headed, it's clear that the importance of our work — keeping Americans safe and upholding the Constitution — will not change."
He took office in 2017, and FBI directors traditionally have a 10-year term although that's not required.
Before he took office, the FBI participated in the Democrat-created Russian collusion conspiracy of the 2016 election. Then while Wray held the post, the FBI interfered in the 2020 election, telling media outlets that accurate reports about Biden family scandals documented in Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop were Russian disinformation.
In fact, those details about scandals were accurate, and one survey after the election found that that outside influence alone – the FBI's intervention and interference in the election – likely cost Trump a second term that would have started in 2021.
Trump now is to start his second term in 2025, and already has nominated Patel to lead the FBI.
The candidate long has expressed concerns about the FBI and its connections to "Deep State" actors.
Trump several times has criticized the FBI's raid on his home in Mar-a-Lago, when the FBI claimed it found government documents in his possession.
Ironically, the same type of documents were found stashed in an unsecured garage at Joe Biden's home, too, but the special counsel in that case gave him a pass. In Trump's case, authorities filed charges, further offering foundation for Trump's charges of a two-tier justice system, one for Democrats and one for Republicans.
One report explained, "By announcing his resignation before Trump retakes office, Wray is acknowledging the political reality – while sparing Trump the need to fire him."
The FBI also has been accused in recent months of being biased against Catholics and of improperly pressuring social media companies to censor conservative Americans.
The new CEO of UnitedHealth Group said the insurance company will keep denying "unnecessary" treatment in a video leaked to a left-wing journalist.
The comments from Andrew Witty came after the shocking execution of former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in an apparent act of terrorism targeting the health care industry.
Some have embraced the suspected killer as a martyr against corporate greed, as the shooting fuels violent fury over denied insurance claims and the steep cost of treatment.
But UnitedHealthGroup, the parent company of UnitedHealthCare, has no plans to change its business model in response to public outrage. In a message to employees that was leaked to journalist Ken Klippenstein, CEO Andrew Witty said the company will continue to "guard against" what he called "unnecessary" and unsafe care.
“Our role is a critical role, and we make sure that care is safe, appropriate, and is delivered when people need it,” Witty said.
"We guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care to be delivered in a way which makes the whole system too complex and ultimately unsustainable,” he added.
The CEO also warned against interacting with the media as he blasted "aggressive, inappropriate and disrespectful” coverage of Thompson's murder.
“I’d like to give you a little bit of advice around the media,” Witty continued. “My strong advice and request to everybody is just don’t engage with the media. If you’re approached, I would recommend not responding and, if necessary, simply refer them to our own media organization.”
The man charged with assassinating Thompson, Luigi Mangione, was arrested Monday after he was recognized at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania.
While much remains unclear about the suspected killer, police recovered a handwritten manifesto in which Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League Graduate from a prominent Baltimore family, expressed anger with the healthcare system.
"I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming," he wrote in the alleged note.
Thompson was brazenly gunned down in broad daylight outside of a hotel in midtown Manhattan on December 4. Shell casings were found with the words "deny," "defend," and "depose," sparking early speculation that the shooter was motivated by revenge against health insurance companies.
The shooting led some to celebrate the killer as other health insurance companies scrubbed information from their websites.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
There are leftists whose consideration and respect for the law of the nation and the states is negligible.
They are the Black Lives Matter types who did billions of dollars in damages to dozens of American cities when George Floyd died. They've also the type that inflict "swatting" situations on police departments and mostly Republicans when they are unhappy with election results.
In swatting situations, some offender calls in to police and describes a threat, a bomb, or a hostage situation and then gives the address of an innocent person.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., has been targeted multiple times. So have those nominated for federal posts by President-elect Donald Trump.
Previously, the situations mostly been defused with sharp police response and quick discovery that there's no real threat.
But not this time.
A swatting incident that targeted Greene has cost the life of an innocent women who died in a car crash also involving a Rome, Ga., police officer responding to the swatting.
It happened because police got a "bomb threat" against the member of Congress.
Greene explained, "I'm heartsick right now. I was just informed that an innocent woman died today in an auto accident involving a member of the Rome Police bomb squad who was responding to the threat at my home. My prayers are with Tammie Pickelsimer, her family, the officer who was injured, and the entire Rome Police Department.
"These violent political threats have fatal consequences. It's an undue strain on our law enforcement who must treat them seriously. The officer was responding to protect my life. And now, a woman has lost her life because of this despicable act.
"The perpetrator of this crime has committed murder in our small community of Rome, Georgia. The police shouldn't have to respond to these threats and there should not be deaths caused at their hands. I'm so thankful for everything the Rome Police Department does to protect our city and for putting their lives on the line to do it. I'm sick to my stomach, but I'm also angry. This should have never happened and I pray it never happens again."
The Gateway Pundit explained, "Several prominent figures within Republican circles and President-elect Donald Trump's transition team have faced similar attacks, including bomb threats and 'swatting' incidents."
Trump campaign official Karoline Leavitt said, "Several of President Trump's Cabinet nominees and Administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them. These attacks ranged from bomb threats to 'swatting.' In response, law enforcement and other authorities acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action."
Among the targets have been Rep. Elise Stefanik, nominated for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations; Howard Lutnick, selected as Secretary of Commerce; and former Rep. Lee Zeldin, nominated to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The open borders policies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are suspected of pushing women and children into prostitution, according to a new report from the Washington Stand.
It was Pawel Styrna, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, who explained, "This tragic reality underscores why the new administration's promises to secure our borders, end the incentives for foreign nationals to put their lives at the mercy of ruthless criminals, and begin the process of removing Tren de Aragua and other brutal gangs from our soil are fully justified.
"Those genuinely concerned about the welfare and safety of women and children should support secure borders and the rule of law, rather than misguided open-borders policies that empower and enrich cartels and gangs that force women, and even children, into prostitution."
The Washington Stand explained, "Human sex traffickers may have used a Biden administration program that imported tens of thousands of illegal immigrants a month into the United States 'to exploit women and girls,'" according to a new congressional report.
The review, from the House Judiciary Committee, cited the tens of thousands of illegal aliens the Biden administration moved into the United States – some 30,000 a month – from just Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela alone, under Biden's CHNV program.
"To mask the border crisis and artificially decrease historically high border encounters, President Biden and Vice President Harris implemented programs and policies that allowed aliens to bypass the southwest border so they would not be included as encounters in Border Patrol data," the report charged.
"Sex traffickers have potentially used CHNV to exploit women and girls. A fraud analysis of CHNV applications revealed that some applications that were sent from the same IP addresses were submitted on behalf of a high proportion of female CHNV aliens … raising concerns about potential sex trafficking. In one such case, 21 supporter applications were submitted from the same IP address on behalf of 18 females and only three males. At least six of the females were under the age of 18. Another concern surrounded the use of the same physical address by many supporters. According to the DHS analysis, 100 physical addresses were used at least 124 times each on behalf of 19,062 CHNV aliens," the report said.
The facts are, the report said, that Biden and Harris now are unable to account for some 320,000 children whom it placed with U.S. sponsors.
The CHNV program was halted briefly during the summer, but then restarted. At that time FAIR obtained evidence of the use of "666666666" as a Social Security number, over and over, 2,839 forms including non-existent zip codes. 1,908 forms with fictitious phone numbers and more than 1,800 applications with the same, 184-word answer to a question.
Thousands had the same email address.
Critics charge the program itself, besides being used illegally, violates the law itself, as Congress adopted a law years ago that allows the attorney general to parole illegal immigrants into the U.S. "on a case-by-case bases," not en masse.
"Year-end numbers showed 2024 was the second-worst year for illegal immigration in U.S. history, with 2,901,142 illegal border crossings during the fiscal year, which began in October 2023.," the report said.
The congressional report concluded that Biden and Harris are willing "to cast aside the best interests of Americans" and that willingness "has enabled fraud, undermined national security, and endangered public safety, all in favor of ensuring that hundreds of thousands of otherwise illegal aliens can come to the U.S. through CHNV,"
The Biden administration arrested somebody for alleged "climate" offenses, another dubious first in the president's legacy of politicized justice.
Michael Hart, 58, became the first person to ever be charged with a climate change-related crime when he pled guilty in September to "smuggling greenhouse gases" across the Mexican border.
The Biden regime gloated over Hart's unprecedented arrest in its Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report.
The San Diego man allegedly used tarp to conceal refrigerants, known as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HFCs), as he crossed the Mexican border.
The gases were outlawed by the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act of 2020, which was signed into law by President Trump in a spending package at the end of his first term.
"To achieve the AIM Act’s goal of an 85% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2036, EPA is acting in a number of ways, including by implementing an initiative to disrupt the illegal smuggling of HFCs through United States borders and ports," the agency said.
The Biden-appointed federal prosecutor who brought the case, Tara McGrath, gloated that it "will not be the last."
"We are using every means possible to protect our planet from the harm caused by toxic pollutants, including bringing criminal charges,” she said.
According to the EPA, there were 121 climate arrests in 2024, a Biden record, and $1.7 billion in criminal penalties brought against environmental offenders.
The report emphasized its role to protect "underserved communities," an allusion to the concept of "climate justice."
"In FY 2024, the criminal enforcement program opened 200 new cases, with 61% in overburdened and underserved communities, and charged 121 defendants. In terms of overall relief, the program secured total fines and restitution exceeding $26 million; $750,000 in court ordered environmental projects; 19.3 years of incarceration; and forfeiture of $322,706 in illegal proceeds," the EPA's report said.
Of course, the Biden administration hardly showed the same level of concern about the importation of fentanyl, to say nothing of the violent illegal aliens who crossed the border and went on to kill American citizens like Laken Riley.
By the way, how much damage did Biden cause to the environment with his open border policy? How many millions of immigrants left trash in their wake while crossing the border?
While the Biden regime may have been given legal authority to pursue this case, the regime's failure to stop years of chaos at the border speaks volumes about the regime's priorities - and proves that this case has nothing to do with the "rule of law."
Mark this down as another egregious example of the Biden regime's weaponization of government.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A report from Open the Books has revealed that under the anti-free speech agenda of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the government has handed out some $267 million to look at "misinformation" and how to convince Americans "it would be better if your voice were silenced in favor of the 'expert' class."
The report notes that Biden and Harris have delivered those funds to research grants "with the term 'misinformation' in the proposal."
"Of course, the COVID pandemic was the driving force behind so much of the misinformation debate. Sure enough, the feds have spent at least $127 million in grants specifically targeted to study the spread of 'misinformation' – or to help people 'overcome' it, so to speak — by persuading them to go along with COVID-related public health recommendations and mandates," the report confirmed.
Of course, the evidence now reveals that many of those campaigns, the experimental COVID shots, the masks, the distancing, simply were made up by various officials as they spoke, and did essentially nothing to help Americans.
"In one particularly brazen instance, $200,000 was spent slandering President-elect Trump himself. The grant resulted in a paper suggesting populist leaders and movements in various countries kept people from coming together in 'solidarity' and public officials need to have the 'main say' on health guidance next time," the report said.
Another instance of the truth being slapped with the "misinformation" label happened when the scandal erupted over FEMA workers "avoiding homes with Trump signs."
That was, until "FEMA itself admitted it had happened."
One of the pushers behind the anti-free speech agenda was Anthony Fauci, who is a former government health official who delivered to the public many of his mandates about COVID.
While he demanded "vaccines for children, masking and double masking, and six feet for social distancing," the report said, many requirements "have since been found to have dubious scientific basis."
"There is robust documentation by now proving that the Biden-Harris administration worked closely with social media companies to censor content deemed 'misinformation,' which often included cases where people simply questioned or disagreed with the administration's COVID policies," the report said.
Other reports have confirmed that what the Biden-Harris regime called "misinformation" or "disinformation" was nothing more than their political party's chosen opinion on an issue.
"In February the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government issued a scathing report against the National Science Foundation (NSF) for funding grants supporting tools and processes that censor online speech," the new revelations found.
That report said, "The purpose of these taxpayer-funded projects is to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-powered censorship and propaganda tools that can be used by governments and Big Tech to shape public opinion by restricting certain viewpoints or promoting others."
That scheme actually involved spending $13 million in tax money on "censorious technologies."
"Federal spending records show at least $127 million tax dollars funding anti-misinformation efforts directly related to COVID-19 for a variety of activities, from on-the-ground advocacy working to dispel vaccine misinformation, to scientific studies on how supposed misinformation is spread online," the report explained.
"The result of all this was a record loss of trust in science and government and compounding economic and social disasters that may never be able to be fully quantified."
The report notes that when Biden and Harris took office, the spending on such censorship plans exploded from $2.2 million in 2020 to $126 million in 2021.
The report notes the federal government calls misinformation that which "has led people to decline vaccines, reject public health measures, and use unproven treatments."
"These definitions leave a lot of room for interpretation and abuse—who decides what the 'best available evidence' is at any given time? And who decides which experts should be considered authoritative or not?" the report charged.
"Famously, then-National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease director Anthony Fauci promoted the notion that people should stand six feet apart from each other to achieve 'social distancing' to reduce COVID transmission."
But Fauci himself later admitted to Congress that was simply made up and lacked any "scientific basis."
But that factor triggered the closure of schools, business and more, costing children massive learning losses and triggering business collapses.
In one instance, the report said, the Department of Health and Human Services spent more than $80 million "to build a network of nonprofits through which to disperse materials about COVID and flu vaccines."
"One notable research grant awarded to George Washington University in FY 2022 targeted former president Donald Trump. The study, called 'Pandemic Communication in Time of Populism: Building Resilient Media and Ensuring Effective Pandemic Communication in Divided Societies' received a $199,516 grant from the National Science Foundation," the report said.
"Researchers on this Biden-era grant examined how so-called 'populist' leaders supposedly prevented society from coming together in 'solidarity' during the COVID pandemic. Trump's presidency was a focus of the research, along with the leaders of three other countries," the report said, with one researcher claiming, "What went wrong in different ways in all these countries and in a lot of countries around the world that had populist governments…there was just this very high level of polarization and politicization of the pandemic response…and it really interfered with the ability of society to pull together in a consistent way and to get through the pandemic."
That conclusion was that "experts" should have the "main say" on such issues, even though those "experts" repeatedly were completely wrong during COVID.
The report cited the conclusions of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which said the Biden-Harris administration's response to the pandemic "resulted in a collapse of the public's trust in public health messaging."
That's because "the administration most concerned with 'misinformation' itself trafficked in misinformation: on masks, on risks to children, on social distancing, and on the need to vaccinate even infants."
In a commentary at Fox News, writer Justin Haskins said, "The federal government shouldn't be involved, directly or indirectly, in the fact-checking industry. Nor should it engage in efforts designed to limit the speech of citizens, particularly when taxpayers are the ones footing the bill."
He said, "What we found is clear evidence that the Biden-Harris White House used funds to support or develop Orwellian surveillance and propaganda strategies, create methods and tools to restrict speech online, and even to finance highly politicized reports critical of Trump."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The author of "Laptop from Hell," the book documenting alleged crimes by Biden family members, is now predicting the next pardons coming from Joe now that the president has excused his son Hunter, and says the listing of names likely to receive "preemptive pardons" demonstrates their guilt.
"All the people that are listed as going to get pardons, there's sort of diplomatic immunity or Democratic immunity for crimes not even charged by Joe Biden," author and New York Post columnist Miranda Devine told Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures" on the Fox News Channel, "they're obviously guilty of something because otherwise why would they be wanting pardons."
Among those whose names have been floated for preemptive pardons are Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; former NIH Director Dr. Anthony Fauci, former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.; and Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for "making secret phone calls to China during President-elect Trump's first term in office, unbeknownst to the commander in chief," Bartiromo noted.
Devine added: "I think this shows with Liz Cheney there is a lot of allegations around about her untoward behavior during the J6 committee that she was vice chair of.
"And there's a lawyer Stefan Passantino who has made a bar complaint in the D.C. Bar against her for communicating with his client Cassidy Hutchinson without him when she was on the J6 committee and asking her to testify."
"Wow, this is just incredible," Bartiromo reacted.
When asked specifically to predict who would receive a pardon next, Devine said it would likely be the president's brother Jim.
"I think probably Jim Biden is the priority for Joe Biden because, remember, Jim was involved in a lot of the China grift with Hunter Biden and participated in the money. Also signed those checks, or his wife did, to Joe Biden, the $200,000 checks that came pretty much 10% of the Chinese money that came in a couple of times," Devine explained.
"And that money was very strangely moved around between bank accounts, taken out in cash, put back into another account and then a check was signed by, basically, Joe Biden's sister-in-law.
"But written on the check was loan repayment. And the White House maintained that line that it was a loan repayment and, therefore, the Republicans in the House that uncovered those checks accepted that that was, you know, we couldn't go any further than that, they said.
"They couldn't find any evidence to refute the idea that Joe Biden had very generously lent his brother, his ailing brother some money, and then his brother paid it back when he came into money.
"But it was interesting that it was 10% for the Big Guy exactly of the money that Jim Biden had received. And Jim Biden's been under investigation anyway."
Watch Miranda Devine's full interview with Maria Bartiromo:
Police arrested a man with a knife, handcuffs, tape, and a prop gun outside the Swedish Royal Family's residence on Wednesday.
Fox News reported that the man was arrested outside of the official residence of Crown Princess Victoria, her husband Prince Daniel, and their two children, Princess Estelle, and Prince Oscar.
The man was first spotted by castle guards early in the evening who then reported the suspicious man to the Swedish police.
Per Fahlström, a spokesperson for Stockholm Police issued a statement on the arrest saying, "It is a man who has been in the area and behaved strangely and who was then checked. A knife was found."
That statement is frustratingly lacking any details and for many, it appears that police are being deliberately short with information about what appears to be a highly concerning situation.
Violence and rising crime are serious concerns in Sweden which has become increasingly unstable and beset by gang violence.
Over the past decade, Sweden has gone from an idyllic and quiet northern European country to an increasingly violent and unsafe country. Things are becoming so bad that even the Royal Family is being affected by suspicious characters carrying weapons.
The Guardian reported that since 2013, fatal shootings in the country have more than doubled, and drug and gun crimes have steadily increased since the beginning of the 2000s.
Fatal shootings are steadily rising despite Sweden's robust gun control laws which are often cited by American leftists as evidence that gun control prevents crime. The opposite is true as Sweden is learning that criminals have nothing to fear from disarmed citizens.
Sweden's largest cities of Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Uppsala have all been beset by rising crime largely due to a massive influx of migrants who have created ethnic enclaves creating social unrest and disruption.
The Royal Family's residence is located in Stockholm which has been particularly hard hit by the rise in crime. The Royal Family may have to invest in increased security as the situation continues to deteriorate.
Sweden has some of the most lax asylum systems in Europe which has led to many immigrants coming to Sweden to take advantage of the Scandinavian country's extensive social safety nets.
This massive amount of immigration has been aided by leftist political groups that have allowed thousands of immigrants into the country with little to no vetting and little to no restrictions. This has led to ghettos forming in Sweden's cities and the emergence of no-go zones for police.
Those no-go zones have been the subject of much political misinformation as leftist politicians have outright denied their existence despite extensive evidence.
While it remains to be seen if the man arrested outside of the Royal Family's residences was targeting the family, this incident has cast the spotlight on Sweden's rising crime and social dysfunction that should serve as a warning to other western countries.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
One of the most intimidating talking points in recent years used by transgender activists against parents who object to chemical and body mutilation procedures on their children is that they have a choice:
A transgender daughter or a dead son, through suicide.
But now even one of the main promoters of the transgender agenda is admitting that's just wrong.
It is the Post Millennial that reported on the comments that came during this week's Supreme Court arguments on the issue.
The ACLU and Biden administration are in a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee over its common-sense new law that forbids those procedures on children, as a way of protecting them.
During the hearing Justice Samuel Alito spoke to ACLU trans attorney Chase Strangio and the concerns about suicide.
That issue was addressed in a United Kingdom document called the Cass Report, an investigation into that nation's treatment of gender dysphoric minors.
That showed "there was evidence that sex changes to treat gender dysphoria does not reduce incidents of suicide."
The report noted, "That so-called trans youth are more likely to commit suicide should they not be given medical sex change treatment has been a persistent argument by trans activists who insist that drugs and surgeries must be available to children and teens who claim to be the opposite sex."
Alito asked, "A lot of categorical statements have been made this morning in argument and in the briefs about medical questions that seem to me to be hotly disputed, and that's a bit distressing. One of them has to do with the risk of suicide. Do you maintain that the procedures and medications in question reduce the risk of suicide?" Alito asked.
Strangio said yes, explaining, "I do Justice Alito, maintain that the medications in question reduce the risk of depression, anxiety and suicidality, which are all indicators of potential suicide."
Is that clearly established? Alito asked. Can there be disagreement?
Again, Strangio said yes. "I think, as with all underlying questions of looking at evidence, there can be disagreement. I don't dispute that, but here and sort of going back to questions about the Cass Review, for example, the Cass Review only looked at studies up until 2022."
Alito pointed out, "I don't regard the case review as necessarily as a Bible or as something that's true in every respect. But on page 195 of the Cass Report, it says there is no evidence that gender affirmative treatments reduce suicide."
Strangio explained that as being "no evidence in the studies."
He said that's because there are few "completed suicides" but claimed studies show there is a "reduction in suicidality."
The report itself states, "Tragically deaths by suicide in trans people of all ages continue to be above the national average, but there is no evidence that gender-affirmative treatments reduce this. Such evidence as is available suggests that these deaths are related to a range of other complex psychosocial factors and to mental illness."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A sheriff whose department several years ago implemented a program to predict crime, a move that resulted in the harassment of individuals in the county, has conceded its failure, its violation of the Constitution, and promised it will never return.
The decisions are the result of a lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice over the schemes by the sheriff in Pasco County, Florida.
According to a report from the IJ, "For more than three years, the Pasco County, Fla., sheriff vigorously resisted a federal lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice (IJ) challenging a controversial policing program that resulted in repeated harassment of children and their families. Today, on the eve of trial, the sheriff capitulated—admitting that the program resulted in repeated constitutional violations and pledging that it will never resume. "
The legal team explained the challenged program "has been compared to a real-life version of 'Minority Report.' Using a crude computer algorithm, designed to predict who would commit future crimes, the Pasco sheriff's office identified a list of 'prolific offenders.'"
Without evidence, people, many under 18, were placed on the list and their families "were subjected to 'prolific offender checks,' during which deputies looked to cite them for issues like having grass that was too long, missing house numbers, unvaccinated pets, and excessive window tint on parked cars."
It's now gone, the IJ confirmed.
"For years, the Pasco sheriff ran an unconstitutional program, harassing kids and their parents because a glorified Excel spreadsheet predicted they would commit future crimes," charged IJ lawyer Rob Johnson, "Today the sheriff acknowledged that dystopian program violated the Constitution and agreed never to bring it back."
In the agreement settling the dispute, the sheriff confirmed his program violated the Fourth Amendment because while law enforcement has an "implied license" to knock on any resident's door, the scheme involved officers who "exceeded" that by repeatedly confronting their targets.
"Second, the sheriff admitted that the program violated the First Amendment, which protects people from being punished for their 'intimate associations,' like with their family members," the IJ said.
Finally, the program violated the due process requirements of the 14th Amendment because the program interfered with the targets' "liberty interests."
The agreement also includes a "six-figure settlement for the plaintiffs," the IJ reported.
"For years, the Pasco sheriff's office treated me like it could do anything it wanted," Darlene Deegan said. "But today proves that when ordinary people stand up for themselves, the Constitution still means what it says."
Evidence uncovered during the development of the case found that one deputy stated as his agenda against one target, "The goal is to get them to move away or go to prison."
Another deputy bragged about getting his targets evicted from their homes.
The institute also confirmed it found "hundreds of hours of body camera footage, vividly depicting the harassment of plaintiffs and their families. In one video, deputies walk around the back of a plaintiff's house late at night and knock on his window, telling him to come out of the house so they can write him a code citation. In another video, a deputy expressly tells a plaintiff that they are writing her citations because her son was on their offender list. In another, one deputy tells another they are going to 'keep on harassing them, every single day.'"