This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
It's a scenario that's being documented by U.S. authorities all too often: An illegal alien turns violent and attacks a girl or woman.
One high-profile case, among a multitude, is the murder of Lakin Riley on a college campus in Florida by a suspect who should not have been in the United States.
Now a case has erupted in Alabama in which an illegal alien is suspected of raping a "mentally incapacitated' teen.
The Post Millennial documented the details.
In Coffee County authorities say they have arrested Pablo Mendoza, 23 in the country illegally, for an alleged attack on the 14-year-old.
"Mendoza was taken into custody by the Enterprise Police on Monday and was charged with first-degree rape following the incident on February 20th. Authorities stated that the teenager could not consent to the sex because she was 'physically helpless or mentally incapacitated,' according to WDHN-TV," the report said.
Scott Byrd, the sheriff, said in the report the suspect will remain behind bars without bond as the case develops.
The expectation is that he then would be deported.
The Post Millennial explained, "This comes after the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant who came across the border under the Biden administration. Many have criticized the Biden administration's refusal to adequately enforce the nation's southern border, which has seen record-high numbers crossing into the US since Biden took office in 2021. Texas Representative Wesley Hunt responded to a post regarding the incident on X, stating 'Joe Biden did this.'"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The abortion drug mifepristone already takes the life of an unborn baby when it is used, and the chief of the National Right to Life says the least the Supreme Court can do is reinstate safety protocols that might provide the mothers some protection.
"We hope that the justices will reconsider the approval of this dangerous drug or at least reinstate the long-standing safety protocols," said Carol Tobias. "Tragically, every mifepristone abortion takes the life of an unborn baby and places her mother in harm’s way.
"Bowing to pressure from the abortion industry, the FDA loosened the safety requirements of mifepristone which still has a black box warning," she explained. "Drugs that come with black box warnings have the most dangerous side effects and safety concerns, yet the FDA is okay with mifepristone being prescribed and even mailed to women without an in-person exam."
The comments came just after the justices heard arguments in a court case that seeks to restore safety protocols that the Food and Drug Administration abandoned.
The consolidated cases the court heard are FDA, et al. v. Alliance Hippocratic Medicine, et al. and Danco Laboratories, L.L.C. v. Alliance Hippocratic Medicine, et al.
"Mifepristone abortions by telehealth and third-party online sites are like the Wild West with a network of suppliers who are willing to break the few rules that exist," Tobias explained, "The current Wild West of abortion drug distribution is the direct fault of the Biden administration and its allies who have pushed for fewer and fewer rules and safety precautions for the abortion drugs."
Dr. Randall K. O'Bannon, director of education and research for the national organization, said, "When hundreds of thousands of women take these pills, even a couple of percentage points of women hemorrhaging, dealing with infections, or ectopic pregnancy, means thousands of women desperately seeking emergency treatment, which may or may not be nearby. The FDA itself warns that these abortion drugs have the potential to send one out of every 25 women to the emergency room. In studies from other countries that track complications, unlike the FDA, the number of women who go to the emergency room after taking these drugs is estimated to be as many as one out of every 10."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Officials in the city of Milwaukee have decided to grab $1 million Zuckerbucks just as voters in the state of Wisconsin are considering whether to make that move a violation of the state constitution.
Zuckerbucks are a reference to the $400 million plus handed out by Mark Zuckerberg during the 2020 election. It was turned over to elections officials – outside of any election reporting system – and they often used it to recruit Democrat voters.
It is thought to be one of two significant vote influence operations that affected the 2020 results, the other being the FBI's interference when it told media corporations to suppress accurate reporting about Biden family scandals documented in a computer abandoned by Hunter Biden.
A report from Just the News said "the Milwaukee Election Commission and the Milwaukee Public Library received a $250,000 grant, while the commission received a separate $785,850 grant from the nonprofit Cities Forward for election administration.
Milwaukee also took and spent Zuckerbucks during the 2020 race and took the new money just as voters – in just weeks – will decide on a constitutional amendment that would ban such private money in elections.
Among the foreboding details of the grant projects is that the city took nearly $38,000 for a text messaging service that will let officials warn voters about "misinformation."
That, of course, is subject to a political slant because a Democrat official's perspective on "misinformation" might be based solely on political considerations, not facts.
"Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall told Urban Milwaukee earlier this month that the text messaging service is for the election commission 'to make sure any information anyone in the city is having about voting is accurate and broken down in a way that anyone can understand,' and that well-intentioned groups can still provide guidance that is inaccurate or difficult to understand," the report warned.
The report noted this private funding is similar to what the Center for Tech and Civic Life did in 2020 across the nation.
A House investigation of the 2020 Zuckerbucks revealed not even 1% of the funds were spent on personal protective equipment, even though the idea was to make voting safer during COVID.
"Most of the funds were focused on get-out-the-vote efforts and registrations. Controversy ensued in part due to the disproportionate private funding 'Zuckerbucks' funneled to Democratic jurisdictions," the report said.
Since then, 27 states have restricted – or banned – the injection of private money into elections.
In 2020, out of the $10 million in Zuckerbucks given to Wisconsin cities, $8.5 million went to five Democrat cities.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Lots of free speech fights have erupted in recent years in America. There have been all of those people, and groups, censored by social media because the Biden administration disliked their opinions.
That's pending before the Supreme Court now.
Many other speech fights have developed on college campuses, where leftists show their absolute intolerance for others' ideas by disrupting meetings and events, even shutting them down.
But now a speech fight has erupted in the unlikely place of Evanston, Wyoming, where a man is facing a felony charge for posting signs criticizing his neighbor, who had filed a complaint about the condition of his property.
The charge comes because, a report in the Cowboy State Daily explains, the woman who filed the complaint is a "witness" against her neighbor, and she perceives his comments as "intimidating."
The report explains the case in Uinta County District Court is against Quinin Robert Groneman,
"Groneman’s neighbor, a woman who turns 65 this year, had reported Groneman to the city last June for the appearance of his property, says an evidentiary affidavit. Groneman had a court hearing about that citation scheduled for February," the report explained.
But then on January 19, the neighbor called police to complain that Groneman had posted "threatening signs" in his yard.
The messages included, "When did the opinion of one nosey neighbor become enough to violate the rights of others by the city?"
Also, "Mind your business," "Snoby opinion Don’t take …" "Those who matter don’t mind, those who mind don’t matter," and "You can go F*** Way off!"
The report said, "The neighbor felt the signs were directed at her and that she was scared, intimidated and harassed by them, she told Evanston Police Officer Ryan Nelsen."
She accused Groneman of being "crazy" and "gun-loving," according to a court filing.
The report noted, "The felony charge of influencing witnesses is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $5,000 in fines. It applies when someone 'by force or threats' tries to intimidate or impede a witness in a court case."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Members of the leftist state Supreme Court in Washington have ruled that the bar exam for prospective lawyers is racist, so candidates can do something else to qualify, like do an apprenticeship or an internship.
Fox News said the court decided the traditional test "disproportionately and unnecessarily blocks marginalized groups from entering the practice of law."
Further, they said, it is "at best minimally effective for ensuring competent lawyers."
The court's Bar Licensure Task Force was suggesting that the test, in the past, has not been effective in keeping out incompetents.
The report said the judges found, "In addition to the racism and classism written into the test itself the time and financial costs of the test reinforce historical inequities in our profession."
The court assigned the task force several years ago to study possible alternatives after COVID-19 pandemic-related changes triggered questions about the value of the test.
The report noted, "The goal was to improve trust in the legal profession, reduce barriers to entry into the legal field, and advance the cause of diversity equity, and inclusion."
Going forward, those who graduate from traditional law school, which presumably does not itself "disproportionately and unnecessarily block marginalized groups from entering the practice of law," can complete a six-month apprenticeship with a lawyer and do three "state-approved" courses.
Or they can take 12 qualifying "skills credits" and 500 hours of work as an intern.
Or for those who want to dispense with law school entirely, they can finish "standardized educational materials and tests under the guidance of a mentoring lawyer, in addition to 500 hours of work as a legal intern," the report said.
Raquel Montoya-Lewis, a member of the state court, said lawyers are "desperately needed" in Washington, and the Seattle Times confirmed the state's public defender system is in danger of "breaking down" from staffing shortages.
Wisconsin and New Hampshire already offer alternatives and Oregon earlier approved alternatives to the bar exam and the change is to take effect in a few weeks.
A Fox affiliate said the bar exam still will be available, but the changes also mean the score required for passing is being lowered.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A settlement has been reached that includes a $50,000 payment from the Smithsonian over the treatment delivered by the security team at the National Air and Space Museum to Christian students who were banned from wearing pro-life messages while visiting.
The American Center for Law and Justice has been involved for several months in the dispute involving students who were attending a pro-life rally in Washington and visited not just the Space Museum but also the National Archives, a division that reached an earlier settlement.
The settlement, besides the payment, will include a "private tour to be given by the director," personal apologies, public release of an "after action" report, and messages to all security officers at all Smithsonian museums regarding its policy regarding messages on clothing.
The ACLJ said the fight erupted when security officers kicked students out of the federal facilities because they were wearing pro-life hats.
The conflict happened last year on the 50th annual March for Life when students were targeted "because of their pro-life apparel while visiting several different government buildings."
"They were required to cover up their pro-life apparel, or leave the buildings, in violation of their free speech rights as protected by the First Amendment," the ACLJ said. "Not long ago, the ACLJ achieved its first major victory against the National Archives in one of the cases we filed in support of those pro-lifers. Now, we have achieved our second major victory, this time in the case against the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (Smithsonian)."
The ACLJ had explained earlier, "Students from a Catholic school in Greenville, South Carolina, traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the National March for Life. After the event, they went over to explore the nearby Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Once in the [federal] museum, they were accosted several times and told they would be forced to leave unless they removed their pro-life hats. The group all wore the same blue hat that simply said, 'Rosary PRO-LIFE.' Other individuals in the museum were wearing hats of all kinds without issue."
The government workers were accused of mocking the students, calling them expletives and making comments that the museum was a "neutral zone" where their beliefs were not allowed.
"The employee who ultimately forced the students to leave the museum was rubbing his hands together in glee as they exited the building," the legal team reported.
Earlier, the Smithsonian agreed to an injunction that halted future such incidents.
The ACLJ reported a federal court now has entered the consent decree in the case.
WND earlier reported when the Smithsonian said it "shall further reiterate to all security officers stationed at all Smithsonian museums open to the public and the National Zoological Park, that Smithsonian policy does not prohibit visitors from wearing hats or other types of clothing with messages, including religious and political speech."
The National Archives incident earlier resulted in a consent order and injunction.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Long have there been charges that there are two tiers of justice in America: One for leftists and liberals and one for those who are more conservative. For example, the government failure to charge Hillary Clinton after she posted national secrets on an unsecured web server in her home.
Others have gone to jail for far less.
Jonathan Turley, the J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University, historically has discounted the idea that the identity of the suspect would determine the attacks by the feds.
But in an online column, he explained, "It is becoming harder to deny the existence of a two-track system of justice in the country as commentators and even a few courts raise concerns over the role of politics in prosecutions.
"For years, conservatives have objected that there is a two-tier system of justice in this country. I have long resisted such claims, but it has become increasingly difficult to deny the obvious selective prosecution in a variety of recent cases and opinions."
The paramour, Nathan Wade, now has been removed from the case. But Willis remains.
Citing the "odor of mendacity" referenced by play author Tennessee Williams in "Cat on a Hot Tim Roof," Turley said, "That odor was particularly strong after the hearings indicated that Wade may have committed perjury in his earlier divorce case and that both Willis and Wade were credibly accused of lying on the stand about when their relationship began.
"They are prosecuting defendants in the Trump case accused of the same underlying conduct, including 19 individual counts of false statements, false filings or perjury."
But there's more, he said.
That "odor" is coming from multiple courtrooms around the country, and now is "becoming intolerable for many Americans as selective prosecution is being raised in a wide array of cases."
He cited the "strong" evidence against President Trump for having government documents at Mar-a-Lago.
"However, the recent decision of Special Counsel Robert Hur not to bring criminal charges against President Joe Biden has undermined even that case. Hur described four decades of Biden serially violating laws governing classified documents. The evidence included Biden telling a third party that he had classified material in his house and reading from a classified document to his non-cleared ghostwriter," he said. "There is evidence of an effort to destroy evidence and later an effort of the White House to change the report."
Hur recommended against charging Biden because of his "diminished" capacities.
But special counsel Jack Smith, running virtually the same charges against Trump, now "is absurdly in conflict with the treatment Biden is receiving."
And then, in New York, lawmakers changed their law to let Trump be sued over financial dealings in which no one lost any money, he said.
The AG there, Letitia James, essentially campaigned on a pledge of "selectively" prosecuting Trump.
Not to be left behind, "Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has also come up with an unprecedented way of using a state law to effectively prosecute Trump for a federal offense that the Justice Department has already rejected," Turley noted.
On the other side, the DOJ proposed a "ridiculous" plea bargain for Hunter Biden "that would have allowed for no jail time and a sweeping immunity agreement…"
And, Turley wrote, it's not just Trump.
"In California, U.S. District Court Judge Cormac J. Carney issued an opinion that found such evidence of selective prosecution against conservative groups. In considering a far-right group, Carney noted that the Justice Department has had sharply different approaches based on the political views of the defendants."
Carney ruled, "Such selective prosecution leaves the troubling impression that the government believes speech on the left more deserving of protection than speech on the right," something the Constitution forbids.
He said, "FBI Director James Comey received similar gentle treatment after removing FBI material and arranging for information to be leaked to the media. Meanwhile, defendants such as Trump’s National Security Adviser Michael Flynn were pursued relentlessly for making false statements to investigators under Comey’s watch."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Startling images captured by a videographer on the outskirts of the Chinese city of Hangzhou document what's being called a "graveyard of sorts."
Photographer Wu Guoyong "filmed aerial footage of thousands of electric cars in empty lots around Hangzhou and Nanjing, the capital of China's eastern Jiangsu province," Bloomberg reported. Similar clusters of abandoned EVs have "sprouted up in at least half a dozen cities across China."
Visiting Hangzhou, the report noted "several sites filled with abandoned EVs." One field had more than 200 cars. Another site near a river along a deserted tram track had "around 1,000 EVs gathering dust." These fields, now called “EV graveyards," are full of "unwanted" cars made in 2017 or newer.
How did all this happen? Although China is officially termed a developing nation – receiving preferential treatment "under the World Trade Organization, the U.N. Climate framework and other international arrangements" – it is, in reality, far from being a "developing nation," as a Defense Department report noted that "China has the biggest maritime force on the globe." And President Xi Jinping “has pledged to build a 'fully modern' force rivaling the U.S. military by 2027." That's far beyond a mere "developing country.":
In comparison, a December 2023 report stated that there are only about "3 million electric cars on the road in the U.S." March 2023 USA Facts reports that there were about 56,000 EV charging stations across the U.S., and President Joe Biden allocated $7.5 billion for EV chargers in his 2021 "Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act." However, while his administration planned to build 500,000 EV chargers, not a single charger has been built.
After doing nothing for three years, in January 2024 Biden vetoed a bipartisan bill designed to protect American EV industries from China, including a provision ensuring that the electric vehicle chargers have "Buy American Requirements." Some speculate that Biden may eventually spend the $7.5 billion to help "developing nations" – like China.
A decade ago, hundreds of automakers across China were encouraged to begin making electric cars because the government subsidized the venture. The Chinese government also subsidized the purchase of these EVs through rebates, and "restricted the ownership of gasoline cars in several major cities." Yet the EVs are termed "unwanted." Now, due to a lack of demand, "there are only around 100 Chinese electric-car makers, down from roughly 500 in 2019." One report stated, "Getting rid of EVs so quickly reduces their climate benefit, considering they're more emission-intensive to build and only produce an advantage over combustion cars after a few years."
EVs are more emission-intensive to build, because to make the battery for an EV, rare earth elements, or REEs, are used. At the REE mine in Bayan Obo, China, the diesel dirt movers work in three holes the size of 307, 267, and 900 football fields respectively. They use toxic chemicals. Bayan Obo's sludge lake containing 70,000 tons of radioactive thorium is moving at a pace of 20-30 meters per year, heading for a major source of drinking water, China's Yellow River. Mining REEs generate sludge ponds with a waste-to-yield ratio of 2,000:1, which is 13 times more than mining copper. For one EV auto battery, 500,000 pounds of the earth's crust are mined for REEs, concentrating radioactive thorium as well.
The Chinese REE mine in Africa employs 40,000 children – for one dollar per day – who suffer from chemical-induced health issues.
On top of all that, according to a Manhattan Institute report, while it is propagandized that EVs will reduce CO2, this is "not supported by the facts." Indeed, the amounts of emissions from EVs over their lifetime, says the report, will produce 67 tons of "EV CO2," 15% more CO2 than the 59-ton baseline for a gasoline-fueled SUV.
Why are EVs unwanted? Maybe it's because they need recharging every 3.5 hours with charging taking a minimum of 45 minutes. Maybe it’s because the runtime is decreased in cold weather. Maybe it's because they're prone to experiencing "Thermal runaway," bursting into 5,0000F flames that firefighters cannot extinguish. Perhaps it's because they also burst into flames if they hit something, or are in wet environments, like heavy rain. Or perhaps it’s because they're typically 30% heavier than gasoline vehicles, meaning more road wear, faster tire wear, and higher road noise. And they might well collapse parking garages, according to Government Tech and Global National articles.
Maybe they are not a good idea, and nobody wants them.
"A subsidy-fueled boom helped build China into an electric-car giant," reported Bloomberg, “but left weed-infested lots across the nation brimming with unwanted battery-powered vehicles."
"Shenzhen-based photographer, Wu Guoyong, was one of the first people in China to document the waste that results from frenetic development. The shared bikes and EV graveyards are a result of unconstrained capitalism," he stated, according to the report. "The waste of resources, the damage to the environment, the vanishing wealth, it’s a natural consequence."
Wu is correct that this EV push is a waste of resources, damages the environment, and steals wealth, but his conclusion is wrong: This did not happen in China because of "unconstrained capitalism." It happened because climate fanatics became coupled with massive wasteful government infusion of taxpayer’s money and regulations into a free market economy. The problem is too much government control and mandates over a capitalistic system. A true capitalistic system will correct itself with supply and demand if left alone.
China's government's infusion of money and mandates to force the populace in a direction that they do not want to go to sounds more like a dictatorship. Even Biden recently called Chairman Xi a dictator – twice.
If Americans are paying attention, maybe they will learn from a "developing nation." Some will of course ask: Do Biden’s mandates and forced infusion of tax dollars make him, like Xi, a dictator?
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A labor union representing school workers has agreed to stop taking dues from an employee who dropped out of the labor organization but still was being forced to pay the organization.
Liberty Justice Center says it's a victory for workers' rights.
The organization filed a lawsuit last month against the Ohio Association of Public School Employees on behalf of Denise Cogar, a school district employee who quit the union in 2022 and stopped having dues deducted from her paychecks.
Then, however, the union claimed it made a mistake and announced it would begin confiscating dues from her pay again.
"Because the union had confirmed that Ms. Cogar was a non-member and informed the school district to stop withholding dues from her paychecks, the union had a legal obligation to secure, and the district had a legal obligation to confirm, her 'affirmative consent' before taking dues from her again," the legal team said.
By taking dues without her consent, the district and the union violated her First Amendment rights under the 2018 Supreme Court decision Janus v. AFSCME, the team explained.
The union also said it would refund the dues that it had taken improperly.
"Taking money from my paycheck—when I wasn’t a union member and hadn’t paid dues for four months—was unfair and unconstitutional,” said Cogar. “But because the Liberty Justice Center stepped in to defend me, I got my back my money, and my rights."
WND had reported when the case was launched that the Supreme Court had ruled it unconstitutional to use "the coercion of government to take money from a government employee and give it to a union without the employee’s consent."
Cogar, an associate at Perry High School in Perry Village (35 miles northeast of Cleveland), had been a member of the union, Ohio Association of Public School Employees Local 367, since 2001.
However, she informed the union she was dropping out in 2022.
She got a confirmation of that decision, but then the union cited a paragraph of fine print in the contract to demand she resume paying.
The lawsuit cited the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, which states that “neither an agency fee nor any other payment to the union may be deducted from a nonmember’s wages, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A police officer in one major city has advised residents, amid an explosion in the number of car thefts, to leave their car keys where thieves can easily grab them.
The apparent goal is to avoid a "confrontation" with thieves who would break into a home to steal car keys, in order then to steal that car.
The advice comes from Toronto, Canada, police constable Marco Ricciardi who was at a town meeting recently in the municipality of Etobicoke.
"To prevent the possibility of being attacked in your home, leave your FOBs at your front door. Because they’re breaking into your home to steal your car. They don’t want anything else," he said. "A lot of them that they’re arresting have guns on them. And they’re not toy guns, they’re real guns. They’re loaded."
A report from Fox News notes that car thefts have spiked in the area. Toronto auto thefts were 5,000 in 2019 but exploded to more than 12,000 last year.
And, police pointed out, those thieves now have been breaking into homes to steal keys to steal cars.
Police explained, just days ago regarding, "Home Invasion Prevention Tips," "An officer at a recent community meeting suggested that people leave the keys to their vehicle ... by the front door. While well-meaning, there are also other ways to prevent auto theft motivated home invasions."
Police continued, "For additional context, in Toronto, home invasions and break and enters for auto theft occurrences rose 400 percent in 2023. Police are concerned about an escalation in violence, where all sorts of weapons and firearms are being used to steal vehicles, and that includes during home invasions."
Then authorities suggested parking vehicles in garages, lighting a driveway, having a home security system, and avoiding social media postings that tell people residents will be away.
Fox News Digital was told by Toronto police that Ricciardi's recommendation was "well-meaning."
And, police told the network, it was in response to the "increasing number of violent home invasions" that are related to vehicle thefts.