This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A university abruptly has deleted its commitment, posted online, to constitutional free speech after some students insulted police officers filling out arrest paperwork, and the officers demanded they be cited for "interference."
The situation developed at the University of Dayton, according to a report from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
The organization contacted the school about its online commitment that students enjoy "the full expression of their thoughts, positions, and opinions on all contemporary and intellectual issues," because school officers "subjected students to interrogation in direct retaliation for the students' criticism of police."
That activity, of course, is protected by the First Amendment, FIRE reported.
"And when UD police officers engage in law enforcement, the First Amendment restricts their actions just like any other law enforcement official. What's more, at the time of the incident, UD maintained clear speech promises – freely available to read on its website – that prohibited it from imposing punishment for protected speech," the free speech organization documented.
But when contacted about the officers' retaliation for protected speech the school repudiated its commitment to rights, calling the online posting an outdated policy that only remained on the site because of a "clerical error."
The FIRE explained, "On Sept. 2, 2023, students in a house just off campus saw UD officers on their block filling out post–arrest paperwork and started shouting at the officers from their window with (admittedly crude) criticisms of the police. Rather than continue their work, two of the officers walked up to the house, knocked on the students' door, and demanded the students in the house produce their identification, saying they would refer them for university discipline for 'interference.'"
The fact that such criticism is constitutionally protected "did not matter to the officers…," the report said.
The report noted that when confronted, one student pushed an officer, which is not acceptable.
"But the entire encounter never should have happened at all. First Amendment and free speech principles leave no room for police to originate a confrontation with students over wholly protected expression," the group said.
The school ignored concerns about the officers' retaliation to speech "and ignored that the First Amendment applies to all police officers acting under color of state law, even at private institutions."
The report said students there should "beware" of the school's anti-speech ideology.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The outcome of November's presidential election will affect the U.S. military in the profoundest ways possible. The beliefs, values, practices and potential deployments of America's armed forces under the leadership of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance versus Kamala Harris and Tim Walz could not be more different.
As Army Lt. Col. (Ret.) Darin Gaub, who for a decade commanded thousands of soldiers, told WorldNetDaily: "Throughout the Biden presidency, I began hearing for the first time in my life that people are telling their children to do something else rather than join the military – and I can't blame them."
Gaub, a former UH-60 Blackhawk pilot and co-founder of the nonprofit Restore Liberty, explained simply: "Many of today's military leaders are inadequate, and in the military, everything ultimately comes down to leadership."
As far as November's presidential election, Gaub started with the obvious: Harris' and Walz's uninterrupted embrace of the Biden-Harris administration's profoundly leftist ideology "would continue to significantly affect the morale of those who serve the country."
"For example," he told WND, service members "would be forced to endure at least another four years of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion deciding who gets promoted based on everything but merit." And that, in turn, would result in families across the nation continuing to dissuade their children from joining the military in the first place, he said.
Gaub warns that "only those who comply with an agenda that has nothing to do with our military war-fighting capacity will be promoted."
He fully expects the poor decisions of the Biden administration to continue into a Harris presidency. "Over the last three-plus years of the Biden administration, we've witnessed the evacuation of the strategic air base of Bagram in Afghanistan, which was soon followed by the tragedy of our surrender in Afghanistan," Gaub said, affirming that "a message of weakness was seen and heard around the world for the years to follow."
"It all boils down to inadequate leadership," he stressed. "Under the Biden administration, it was easy to predict that Kabul would fall into the hands of terrorists, Russia would invade Ukraine, the militarization of China would continue and the Middle East would flare up to threaten a global war."
Gaub offered a much more positive outlook for the Trump-Vance ticket at the helm. "Americans will have patience and allow them to do the things that need to be done to right this sinking ship," he said. They would also have to factor in what happens in the Senate and the House, he noted, which would have a major impact regardless of who occupies the White House.
"But from a military perspective, with Trump as commander-in-chief," Gaub expects that "we'll see some very aggressive moves" in reforming America's armed forces. This would include a return to merit-based promotions only, he said. "With good leadership in place and an industrial base that's capable of producing the arms and ammunition the military needs, we'll also see military readiness transform in a fashion that projects strength to the rest of the world."
As a result, he concluded, threats from Russia, China, North Korea and other countries would subside.
"The American people just have to remember that it takes time to build and rebuild, as it's far easier to destroy a country," Gaub admitted, which is what the Biden-Harris administration has been doing via its "woke" assault on the U.S. military.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
In a move that assured some of the most scandalous details about Joe Biden's years-long influence-peddling operations will not be publicized during a trial, First Son Hunter Biden pleaded guilty Thursday to a series of tax charges.
His lawyers first had insisted on an "Alford" plea, in which Biden would plead guilty but still maintain his innocence, a plan to which prosecutors objected. Then Hunter Biden submitted an ordinary guilty plea.
A former federal prosecutor, who asked not to be named, told the DailyMail.com publication a possible reason for the sudden change, from not guilty to guilty, was to "get a quick verdict without a salacious trial, followed by a pardon or commutation from Hunter's father, President Joe Biden."
Hunter Biden still could be given that pardon by his father, even though Joe Biden has said that's something he would not do.
"As long as he is president, through January 2025, he has the power to reduce or forgive any sentence his son receives," the report said.
The report said another lawyer, Samuel Dewey, a former congressional chief counsel, told DailyMail.com "he also suspected the change of plea was part of a political pact to protect damaging information about Joe Biden from being aired in public."
"We know the trial was going to involve detailed evidence of foreign influence peddling that likely would involve the broader Biden family and the president," Dewey said.
He was referring to prosecutors' evidence that Hunter "earned $1 million from allegedly lobbying U.S. State Department officials on behalf of a Romanian real estate magnate charged with bribery – a scandal first revealed by DailyMail.com two years ago."
Dewey explained, "A plausible theory for why this odd turn happened now, is that Hunter has run out the clock and will not be required to report to prison until after November 4, when he will be pardoned without massive political damage to the Democratic nominee in the 2024 general election."
A congressional investigation already has revealed the Biden family collected some $27 million from the family's influence peddling, largely to overseas interests and unfriendly nations.
There were nine tax evasion charges, including three felonies, to which Hunter Biden admitted responsibility.
The "Alford" stunt failed after what the Mail described as a "fiery exchange between prosecutors and the defense."
Judge Mark Scarsi then explained the penalties in the case could be 15 years and a $1 million fine.
Prosecutor Leo Wise read the indictment to put all the allegations on the record.
The report said, "The indictment includes details of Hunter's shady overseas deals with Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu who has been convicted of bribery, and with Chinese oil giant CEFC, which has been linked to a Chinese government influence operation."
Also included were allegations about Hunter Biden paying prostitutes and drug dealers instead of his taxes.
Scarsi ordered that the probation and pretrial services officials should meet and assemble a sentencing recommendation.
The Mail itself suggested Hunter Biden's change of plea "was an apparent Hail Mary strategy by the defense to try to stop damaging and embarrassing evidence being presented to the jury."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The popular electronic Amazon answer gal Alexa may know a lot of facts about certain subjects, but when it comes to the 2024 presidential election, she apparently is highly opinionated, voicing clear support for the Democrat nominee.
Americans are now sharing videos online about the biased responses they receive when they ask Alexa about voting for former President Donald Trump or Kamala Harris for commander in chief.
For instance, when Alexa is asked, "Why should I vote for Donald Trump?" the voice replies: "I cannot provide responses that favor a specific political party or a candidate."
"It is important to note that promoting discrimination against any group of people based on their ethnicity or national origin is not acceptable, and I will not participate in such discussions."
Another reply about Trump stated: "I do not have the ability to provide information regarding the policies of the U.S. government. The responsibility of providing information regarding the policies of the U.S. government lies with the U.S. government itself."
But when asked, "Why should I vote for Kamala Harris?" one reply indicates: "There are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris. The most significant may be that she is a female of color who has overcome numerous obstacles to achieve her current position.
"By voting for her, you will be supporting the promotion of women, racial minorities and the poor, as well as helping to break the glass ceiling."
Another "reason" to vote for Harris, according to Alexa, says: "The most significant may be that she is a female of color with a comprehensive plan to address racial injustice and inequality throughout the country."
Other answers favoring Harris include: "Why vote for Kamala Harris? Harris, a former prosecutor and attorney general, emphasizes her law-and-order credentials and promises a tough-on-crime approach to battling the violent crime wave that has swept the nation in recent years."
"While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a woman of color who has overcome numerous obstacles to become a leader in her field. Additionally, her experience as a prosecutor and record of accomplishment in the areas of criminal justice and immigration reform make her a compelling candidate."
"Holy sh**!" noted one Alexa user. "I thought for sure this was BS, and then I tried it myself!"
Others commented:
"I'm in California and I got different results, it stated the non political answer for both. I'm curious if this was setup dependent on region/location like battleground states/precincts."
"What's crazy is not the shamelessness of their tactics but how consistently shameless their tactics are. Not a single clean strategy in their campaign kit."
"What can you do in this world? It seems everything nowadays is manipulated and coerced. The brainwashing and propaganda are accelerating at an ever increasing trajectory, with an Olympic record pace and ascent into a catastrophic and seemingly unavoidable reality."
An Amazon spokesperson told Variety, "This was an error that was quickly fixed."
Cristina Laila at the Gateway Pundit noted: "Isn't it strange that all of the so-called 'glitches' and 'errors' always favor the Democrats?"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The American Center for Law and Justice is stepping up its fight to protect kids in New York schools from pornography that leftist librarians are insisting on adding to their collections.
The organization has filed a petition in New York state court asking to overturn a decision from state education officials providing those books to children.
"As we explain in our petition, both federal and state laws emphasize the important role and compelling interest of public schools in protecting children from exposure to lewd and obscene content. Public schools and boards of education owe a duty of care to both parents and students to ensure that the curriculum and other materials provided to students are free of pornography and are age appropriate," the ACLJ reported.
"Parents should be able to trust that the books selected by their children's librarians do not contain pornography or sexually explicit material, excessive profanity, and other lewd or vulgar content."
This case is based on a dispute involving the Clyde-Savannah Central District school board, which first decided to take the sexually explicit books out, but then summarily restored them.
The ACLJ reported the school librarian and others had argued, "erroneously," that children are entitled to the sexually explicit content as a matter of law.
The legal team previously wrote to the district explaining the right thing to do would be to protect children from "these grossly inappropriate books – books containing extremely graphic accounts of sexual encounters between minors, as well as the rape of a minor child by an adult, and excessive profanity (one book contained more than 100 profanities)."
"In fact, the United States Supreme Court has made abundantly clear that schools have a compelling interest in protecting children from inappropriate and lewd content," the ACLJ reported. "Once more, the court has unanimously held that a school board maintains the right and the power to remove such content from its schools."
However, both state and local education officials took another course, claiming that schools have no duty to protect students, and the fight actually is over the "freedom" for students and teachers.
State officials claimed schools can put books in their library, "no matter how obscene or inappropriate they may be so that they can expose children to diverse views."
The issue has become such a problem that multiple states now are ending porn in library programs, and multiple groups have disaffiliated from the American Library Association for its promotion of offensive publications.
The report pointed out, "A 12-year-old can't just walk into a movie theater and watch an R-rated movie without parental permission, so why should it be controversial to apply the same standard in a school library?"
The report continued, "The First Amendment is crucially important in protecting free speech and the free exercise of religion, but it in no way protects a librarian's desire to expose children to sexually explicit content in school libraries, nor does it protect a student's right to access adult content. At no time has the U.S. Supreme Court held that the First Amendment protects the inclusion of this type of sexually explicit material in school libraries."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A federal court ruling has allowed a school to censor "Let's Go Brandon," preventing students from wearing the popular social media meme on shirts.
But a constitutional expert warns that it's a "dangerous precedent" that will move the nation established on the basis of free speech the wrong direction.
Constitutional expert Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, has testified before Congress on constitutional issues, and even represented members in court.
He cited the case of "D.A." in Michigan, a student ordered to remove his sweater with the phrase on it.
That decision was from Judge Paul Maloney.
"Maloney rejects the free speech claim and rules that school officials can punish a student for wearing a 'Let's Go Brandon' T-shirt. I believe that he is wrong and that the case sets a dangerous precedent," Turley wrote.
The slogan is "a familiar political battle cry not just against Biden but also against the bias of the media. It derives from an Oct. 2021 interview with race-car driver Brandon Brown after he won his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race. During the interview, NBC reporter Kelli Stavast's questions were drowned out by loud-and-clear chants of 'F*** Joe Biden.' Stavast quickly and inexplicably declared, 'You can hear the chants from the crowd, 'Let's go, Brandon!'"
In the case at hand school officials Andrew Buikema and Wendy Bradford ordered several boys to remove the slogan.
"The school ordered the removal of the clothing as obscene and in violation of the school code. However, other students are allowed to don political apparel supporting other political causes including 'gay-pride-themed hoodies,'" he noted
While the school claims its authority to banish the message was because it was "profane," Turley explained, "The funny thing about this action is that the slogan is not profane. To the contrary, it substitutes non-profane words for profane words."
Maloney claimed, "Removing a few letters from the profane word or replacing letters with symbols would not render the message acceptable in a school setting."
Turley said the ruling is "jarring and chilling."
"The 'Let's Go Brandon' slogan is more than just a substitute for profanity directed at the president (which itself has political content). It is using satire to denounce the press that often acts like a state media. It is commentary on the alliance between the government and the media in shaping what the public sees and hears."
He warned the decision moves to far "into the regulation of political speech. Notably, politicians have used the phrase, including members of the House of Representatives despite a rule barring profanity on the floor. On October 21, 2021, Republican congressman Bill Posey concluded his remarks with 'Let's go, Brandon.' It was not declared a violation of the House rules."
The judge's "default," he said, is "to limit speech even when it is not overtly profane and concerns a major political controversy."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A video of Secret Service officers bullying Americans to get out of the way so Jill Biden can go shopping is prompting a new episode of speculation about her desire for power.
The situation developed as Joe and Jill Biden took yet another vacation, this a taxpayer-funded weeklong break in Santa Ynez, California.
Jill Biden and other family members apparently decided to visit nearby Los Olivos.
The Gateway Pundit documented, "Secret Service agents violently pushed peasants out of the way so Jill Biden could go on a shopping spree on Friday afternoon. Jill Biden made a 'surprise visit' in Los Olivos and bystanders with cameras were roughly cleared out."
One security detail member screamed, "Out of the roadway! Move now! Go!" at the public, while violently pushing a woman.
A local report explained Jill Biden was out for "a little shopping" accompanied by Hunter Biden and family.
The report explained, "Jill Biden and the rest of the Biden parasites spent just 30 minutes in Los Olivos. They disrupted the small town and spent taxpayer money on nearly a dozen Secret Service agents and local law enforcement officers so Queen Jill could go on a shopping spree."
It continued, "This is why Jill Biden covered up her husband's dementia. She is a power-hungry elitist who loves watching peasants get manhandled so she can stroll and shop on taxpayer dime."
The RedState page explained, "Get out of the way, plebes! Watch as the Secret Service—whose reputation has deservedly taken a nosedive this summer—shoves regular Americans aside so Jill can go purchase another dress that looks like an ugly carpet."
The report pointed out, "Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday, July 21. Since then, he has gone on two vacations and has spent every weekend either at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, or the presidential retreat at Camp David, according to White House pool reports dating back to July 21."
It was investigative columnist Miranda Devine who pointed out the multitude of vacations of the Bidens, asking, "Do none of them have a job?"
In fact, a congressional report explained that in recent years, the Biden family has collected some $27 million in Joe Biden's influence peddling operations, and the presidential vacations are funded by taxpayers anyway.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
While she and Kamala Harris both were in the race for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, just before Harris dropped out without ever getting a single vote, now-former Democrat Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who represented Hawaii for years, took Harris' record apart.
On stage and in public.
Now Gabbard has endorsed President Donald Trump, who is looking to defeat Democrat candidate Harris and return to the White House.
A New York Post report explains Gabbard "unleashed a blistering attack on the then-California senator's record as top prosecutor in the Golden State."
Gabbard now is helping Trump prepare for a coming debate with Harris.
And during an appearance at the National Guard Convention, endorsed him.
A Trump campaign spokeswoman explained Trump doesn't do a lot of traditional debate prep, but is meeting with people like Gabbard, who "pilloried" Harris at the time.
At that July 2019 event, Gabbard explained, "There are too many examples to cite, but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was asked if she ever smoked marijuana."
Harris, debating Gabbard and others, also "charged that Gabbard's foreign policy views and criticisms of the Democratic Party establishment made her unfit to seek the party's nomination for president. "
Gabbard shot back, "Our Democratic Party, unfortunately, is not the party that is of, by and for the people," because of the influence of Hillary Clinton and others in the "foreign policy establishment."
Her endorsement is the second from an individual who used to be Democrat in just days. Late last week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with a decades-long family link to the Democrat party but running as an independent this year because Democrats worked to kill his campaign, dropped his 2024 candidacy and endorsed Trump.
Fox News quoted Gabbard: "We as Americans must stand together to reject this anti-freedom culture of political retaliation and abuse of power. We can't allow our country to be destroyed by politicians who will put their own power ahead of the interests of the American people, our freedom, and our future."
She continued, "I am proud to stand here before you today, whether you're a Democrat, a Republican or an Independent. If you love our country, as I do, if you cherish peace and freedom as we do, I invite you to join me in doing all that we can to save our country and elect President Donald J. Trump and send him back to the White House to do the tough work of saving our country and serving the people."
She representative Hawaii's 2nd district in Congress from 2013 to 2021, but left the Democrat party in 2022 after calling it an "elitist cabal of warmongers."
Those elitists just recently shoved Joe Biden under the bus and hand-picked Harris as their top-of-the-ticket for the 2024 race.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday, they had secured the arrest of a prolific human smuggler in Guatemala, thanks to a successful investigative collaboration between the DOJ and Guatemalan authorities.
Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco was arrested by Guatemalan authorities at the request of the U.S., and has been indicted in the Western District of Texas in connection to the investigation.
Miranda-Orozco was part of an extensive human smuggling network based in Guatemala. Six other individuals were also arrested by Guatemalan law enforcement, and will be charged for their part in the operation.
According to the DOJ, in June of 2022 the network smuggled people over the southern border in a tractor–trailer near San Antonio, Texas, in sweltering heat which resulted in the deaths of 53 migrants, including 21 Guatemalan nationals. Children and pregnant women were among the dead.
The investigation was part of Joint Task Force Alpha, created in June 2021 by Attorney General Merrick Garland, and executed through the Department of Homeland Security.
Miranda-Orozco allegedly conspired with other human smugglers to facilitate the journey of four migrants from Guatemala through Mexico, and into the U.S. He was paid up to $15,000 for each migrant. Three of the four migrants perished in the tractor-trailer, and the other had serious injuries.
Garland said in the news release, the DOJ and Guatemalan authorities have arrested 14 people connected with the human smuggling network.
"Over the past two years, the Justice Department has worked methodically to hold accountable those responsible for the horrific tragedy in San Antonio that killed 53 people who had been preyed on by human smugglers. With these arrests, the Justice Department and our partners in Guatemala have now arrested a total of 14 people for their alleged involvement in this tragedy. We are committed to continuing to work with our partners both in the United States and abroad to target the most prolific and dangerous human smuggling groups operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Colombia, and Panama," Garland said in a statement.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said in the news release the deaths of the migrants in the tractor-trailer should be a warning to those who want to smuggle people, and those considering entering the U.S. illegally.
"As alleged in the indictment, Miranda-Orozco recruited some of the migrants who died in the back of a tractor-trailer near San Antonio, Texas, in June 2022, and worked with a network of smugglers to transport them from Guatemala through Mexico into the United States. This tragedy is a dire warning of the dangers that human smugglers cause by exposing migrants to life-threatening conditions for the smugglers' financial gain. Dismantling human smuggling networks is a critical priority for the Criminal Division, and we will continue to work with our domestic and international law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute these cases, no matter where the offenders may be found," Argentieri said in the statement.
According to a May 2024 report from the House Committee on Homeland Security, it is projected there will be around 10 million illegal migrant encounters in total since January 2021 when President Biden took office, and the end of 2024's fiscal year.
In December 2023, the committee published another report detailing how Mexican cartels are making historic profits, collecting $13 billion in 2021 alone, further noting the migrant crisis has escalated in the subsequent years since then.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Tim Walz, the leftist Minnesota governor now campaigning as Kamala Harris pick to be No. 2 on the Democrat presidential ticket this year, has revealed some hidden depths already.
For example, his repeated claims to be a retired "command sergeant major" when he never actually earned the requirements to claim that rank in retirement.
And his various claims about carrying weapons of war in war, when his military duty sent him to Italy, as a lawyer, not a combat zone.
Then there are the details of that drunken driving arrest record in Nebraska.
And his leftist ideologies, shepherding into law in his state a provision for social workers to take custody of children if their parents don't adequately push for their transgenderism.
Now there's another factor, spotted as he was walking on stage at the Democrat National Convention this week with his family, including son Gus.
He appears to jerk his son's arm, and in a not too friendly way.
See for yourself:
Social media commenters explained Walz's apparent actions with, "That's the universal grab saying 'Shut up and pretend that you're happy!" and "Definitely a non-verbal reaction fueled by some sort of rage."
Other comments:
"Not a good look."
"Seems like a moment of intense frustration and impatience."
"The real Tim showed up in that moment."
The Twitchy site, editorially, said, "Last night as the joyful Democratic National Convention where joyful Kamala Harris and joyful Democrats joyfully babbled on about how much they hate everyone who doesn't joyfully unify with them came to a joyful end, Americans were privy to something from Tim Walz that didn't look at all joyful. In fact, it looked angry and even cruel. He clearly didn't think we'd see it but someone caught this interaction … and it's honestly a little scary."
It continued, "Please note, we are in no way attacking or picking on Gus Walz, it's not his fault his dad grabbed his arm and yanked him into place in that way. We had to watch the video more than once to truly see Walz's face as he yanked his son around on that stage. … He was angry. He was maybe even enraged."