This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Property owners in Tennessee have locked in a victory in a trespassing fight with a state agency when officials failed to appeal a state court ruling against them.
Officials from the Institute for Justice confirmed the final victory this week.
The fight erupted years ago when Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth both found hidden cameras on their properties. They had been placed there by operatives for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency who trespassed to do that.
The landowners sued the agency, and won in court.
The IJ explained "Tennessee, along with six other states, has rejected the century-old federal 'open fields' doctrine. This was the first such suit from the Institute for Justice, which defends property rights nationwide and is now litigating against open fields doctrines in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Louisiana."
Just weeks ago, a unanimous Court of Appeals ruling found that warrantless searches of private land that is put to "actual use" violate the Tennessee Constitution.
Judge Jeffrey Usman wrote, "TWRA's contention is a disturbing assertion of power on behalf of the government that stands contrary to the foundations of the search protections against arbitrary governmental intrusions in the American legal tradition…"
"Finding out you were under illegal surveillance on your private property for months is a hard pill to swallow," said Hollingworth. "Thanks to the countless hours of work from Jack Leonard, Josh Windham, and the Institute for Justice, Tennesseans don't have to swallow that pill anymore!"
The state agency claimed authority to trespass onto private property under the old "open fields" ideology. It was in 1924 the Supreme Court said the 4th Amendment doesn't protect land beyond a home and its immediate surroundings.
That later was affirmed in a decision impacting what the court called an "open field."
However, Tennessee's constitution provided more protection that that concept.
"Property isn't private if the government can watch you whenever it wants," said IJ President Scott Bullock. "We are confident that this victory is just the first in what will become a series of wins reinvigorating protections against warrantless searches."
WND had reported on a description of the state agency’s demands, from IJ attorney Joshua Windham: “TWRA claimed unfettered power to put on full camouflage, invade people’s land, roam around as it pleases, take photos, record videos, sift through ponds, spy on people from behind bushes—all without consent, a warrant, or any meaningful limits on their power. This decision confirms that granting state officials unfettered power to invade private land is anathema to Tennesseans’ most basic constitutional rights.”
The judge in the case said the state agency's claims could be compared to warrantless searches conducted by British authorities that motivated the American Revolution.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – The Israel Defense Forces' new report includes its findings from a military probe into some of the failings on Oct. 7, presenting them initially to residents of Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the worst-hit communities on that "Black Sabbath."
The specially convened presentation took place at a Dead Sea hotel, where internally displaced refugees have been staying since their homes were largely destroyed by Hamas terrorists. While providing some answers, the probe left significant questions hanging, and the report neither assuaged some of the community's pent-up fury amid its ongoing trauma, nor did it restore trust in the army. There are those who wonder aloud whether that sacred bond between the IDF – a largely conscript army – and the people, particularly those who felt bereft and abandoned on Oct. 7, will ever be fully repaired. It was more than just 1,200 people Hamas terrorists annihilated that day; they also damaged – perhaps irreparably – the "stickiness" that helps hold Israeli society together.
Maj. Gen. (res.) Mickey Edelstein, a former commander of the Gaza division, headed up the information gathering. The probe's findings did answer some important questions, and its thoroughness helped kibbutz members understand "the depth and complexity of the events that occurred" during the seemingly never-ending hours of Hamas' brutal onslaught.
The first wave of attackers arrived at around 6:45 on the morning of Oct 7, and at its peak, more than 300 terrorists drawn from Hamas' elite Nukhba force, additional Hamas operatives, 100-150 Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters, as well as other terrorist organizations joined the fray. At 11:30 a.m. that day, Palestinian civilians who had swarmed across the border came to the kibbutz to loot, riot and pillage.
Two additional companies of Hamas' Nuseirat Battalion arrived shortly after midday, following their massacre of young party-goers at the Nova Music Festival. Ultimately, the all-clear was not given until the morning of Monday, Oct. 9, when the final terrorists who had been roaming around both the kibbutz and the countryside were eliminated.
The investigators spent hundreds of hours sifting through residents' WhatsApp messages, reviewing both Israeli and Hamas radio communications, checking surveillance footage and aerial reconnaissance, as well as interviewing survivors and those who fought in the battle to save the kibbutz and its residents. Supplemental intelligence was also gathered from interrogating captured Hamas terrorists.
However, several critical questions – and ones that may not get resolved without a full commission of inquiry – were left unanswered.
These include why military forces did not enter the kibbutz for several hours – despite the desperate pleas of those trapped behind its yellow sliding electric gate. This issue seemed to be partly explained by the fact that although defenders did arrive in numbers, nobody took overall command of the kibbutz's defense. And certainly nobody decided to go in at once and attempt to take out the Hamas fighters. This was not expressly said, but the general chaos of hundreds of terrorists swarming around – with dead bodies liberally scattered across roads and fields – added to the confusion. More than 100 civilians and 31 security personnel were slain at the kibbutz, which had a pre-invasion population of about 1,000, while 30 other residents and two additional civilians were kidnapped to Gaza. Eleven of them remain in captivity. At one point, the attackers outnumbered the defenders by 340 to 26.
The probe also dealt with the vexing issue of the hostage incident at Pessi Cohen's house, where the IDF was alleged to have shelled the dwelling in which an at-the-time unknown number of attackers held some 13 or 14 hostages. The inquiry revealed that "under complex and difficult circumstances," in which negotiation efforts were fully exhausted, an order was given to fire a tank shell at "the area near the house" – an attempt to put pressure on the terrorists holed up inside. None of the civilians in the building was harmed by the tank shell, although shrapnel from the shell did wound two civilians outside the house. Gunfire was subsequently heard from the house following the shell being fired, and the terrorists communicated their desire to commit suicide, having killed their hostages.
"The team determined most of the hostages were likely murdered by the terrorists, and further inquiries and reviews of additional findings are necessary," the report stated.
Other questions the kibbutz's residents had centered around the intelligence failures – both on the day of the attack, and the 24 to 48 hours preceding it. The legitimate query of what caused the intelligence failure, especially as previous leaks have shown at least certain parts of the IDF were aware of Hamas' attack plans, also remained unanswered. The probe's concerns did not cover how the terrorists were able to either bypass, or simply dismantle with bulldozers, an extremely expensive fence with highly reactive sensors. This crucial question will also have to wait for the official commission of inquiry Kibbutz Be’eri’s residents have insisted the government set up.
"[The IDF] must provide us with answers that will allow us to begin to heal and draw practical conclusions for the future, so the unimaginable loss we experienced will never be experienced again by any other citizen, so we can rebuild our trust in the security forces, and so we can return to live in Be’eri with a sense of security," their statement said.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi accepted the probe's findings and drew the following conclusions: Principally, the IDF failed in its mission to defend the residents of the country "in the most grave manner." It clearly illustrates the "magnitude of the failure and the dimensions of the disaster that befell the residents of the south who protected their families with their bodies for many hours, and the IDF was not there to protect them." One of the kibbutz residents told Israel's Channel 12, "People were slaughtered in their homes. The top command should draw conclusions and those who failed should resign."
Halevi acknowledged individual and collective acts of heroism among the kibbutz's residents and the security forces who did try to defend it, but he cited "severe mistakes and errors," with a need to quickly learn from them and strengthen the response in the future. He also said the army was unprepared for the scale of the invasion that took place, having trained for "single intrusions" rather than a wide-scale assault on multiple points along the fence.
There are some 40 additional military probes in various stages of completion. The army hopes to have them all published by August. One of these investigations is reviewing the IDF's conduct and conception of operational procedure stretching back to the March 2018 Hamas-led border riots. Its findings are considered key.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Treasury Department are forcing Jan. 6 political prisoner Zachary Rehl, who was convicted of "seditious conspiracy," to pay back every dollar of military benefits he received after the Capitol riot.
Zach's wife Amanda thought she had endured the worst of the government's abuse and humiliation of her husband and family.
But Zach, a Marine Corps veteran, was stripped of his military benefits after he and his co-defendants were found guilty of "seditious conspiracy" on May 4 by an overwhelmingly left-wing, pro-Biden, Washington, D.C. jury.
On Jan. 6, 2021, after Rehl was hit with rubber bullets, tear gas and flash grenades that police indiscriminately fired into the crowd, he walked through the Capitol building for approximately 12 minutes and took a few selfies.
A few weeks later, on March 17, 2021, Rehl was apprehended by the FBI in a predawn raid, when his wife was six months pregnant with her first child.
He and his co-defendants Ethan Nordean, Enrique Tarrio, Joseph Biggs and Dominic Pezzola were practically starved for the 17 months they were detained in a 6-by-8-foot, windowless, freezing-cold jail cell in solitary confinement.
Zach's brief stroll through "The People's House" resulted in U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly handing him a stunning 15-year prison sentence for his role in the Capitol riot. Government prosecutors had sought a 30-year sentence.
Judge Kelly also added so-called "terror enhancements" to Rehl's sentence, prompting Rehl to compare his trial and sentencing to something that would happen in communist China.
The government then appealed the sentences Rehl and the other Proud Boy J6 prisoners had received, asking the judge for still more prison time.
Nevertheless, Joe Biden's Justice Department is not done making an example out of the Proud Boys leaders. Days after Zach was sentenced, his wife Amanda received a notice from the V.A. warning that he must immediately repay approximately $70,000 of military benefits he had received since Jan. 6, 2021.
The Rehls had already, understandably, spent their life savings and tens of thousands of dollars in donations provided by the American public on Zach's criminal case, and simply do not have $70,000 to pay back.
Concerned that the government may retaliate against Zach with even more cruel and unusual treatment, or hefty fines they can't afford for speaking out, Amanda initially avoided divulging to media the government's attempt to further ruin their lives.
She retained another attorney to fight back.
But then she received a letter from the U.S. Treasury Department and decided enough was enough. The notice from Treasury demanded that Zach repay an additional $20,000 to the V.A. following the "seditious conspiracy" conviction.
Thus, according to the U.S. Treasury, Zach now owes $100,0000 to the V.A for his "sedition."
"They want all of the benefits he received from Jan. 6, 2021 until they cut him off in September of 2022, when they denied me for hardship when I was unable to pay it back," Amanda Rehl told WND in an exclusive interview. "They've since sent it to another collection agency, the U.S. Treasury, and they've added their own amount on. We have no idea why."
The amount the Treasury Department is demanding exceeds the amount in benefits Zach received following the Capitol riot.
"They are asking for about $90,000, which is about $20,000 more than we were informed the V.A. wanted us to give back," Amanda told WND. "They've added on an amount of money that doesn't even add up. They never gave us that much. Even the amount they initially asked for was too high. They never gave us that amount of money and the fact that they are asking for it is crazy.
"This is just another big ‘F you.' They are basically just trying to do whatever they can to screw him," said Amanda Rehl. "Zach doesn't have another $100,000 to throw away to the federal government for crimes he did not commit."
Yet the government is demanding payment be made – in full, and immediately.
"They want it all back in one lump sum. They keep sending me letters saying, ‘Can you write a check' for this," Amanda continued. "I'm sorry. I don't believe I have that to just give immediately give it you."
"Instead of cutting off his benefits from the time of his conviction on May 4, they're cutting them off from the time the crime was committed, which is unheard of. I have no idea what they are going to do next. They said they would garnish wages and taxes, but obviously they wouldn't be able to do that for me."
When Amanda initially received notice demanding the payments, her attorney applied for hardship, demonstrating neither she nor Zach has the funds.
"I showed them all of our assets," she explained to WND. "I showed them the money I don't have, the job I don't have, and they still denied it."
Zach and Amanda are grateful to still have their sanity, a roof over their head for their family, and a healthy three-year-old daughter after the trauma they have been subjected to by the federal government over the past three-and-a-half years.
But finding a job has been impossible. Employers who catch wind that she is married to a "domestic terrorist" who is guilty of "sedition" toss her resume aside.
"It's been a struggle to get a job," Amanda stressed. "I can't even get an interview. I don't know if they're not seeing experience that they want, or if they're Googling my name and seeing my husband. I have been pinching pennies. I don't do anything or go anywhere when it's impossible to find a job with a daycare-aged child. I can't afford to put her in daycare, it costs about $30,000 a year.
"We had an entire future planned out that we were working toward. We were putting our house up for sale. We were having a baby. We were buying a bigger house. We had so much planned, and with his arrest and everything that's happened, I had to give up that future. I've become a single mom. My little girl just turned three. She has only been held by her dad three times in her entire life.
"It's so crazy to think that this has happened to us when we've lived our lives to never be put in this situation. My husband's not a criminal. He's never gotten in trouble with the law to any capacity … to [now] be incarcerated for 15 years! He's a good person."
Regarding prison life, Amanda told WND: "They really don't keep edible food in there, so you must purchase commissary. They also have to have basics, deodorant, toothpaste, clothes."
Maintaining commissary for inmates in an understaffed prison costs at least $5,000 a year.
As the government demands Zach pay back every red cent of the military benefits he earned, Congress has dramatically cut funding for the Bureau of Prisons, causing the cost of living to increase for inmates.
In fiscal year 2024, Congress sharply cut infrastructure funding for the federal prison system. An Office of Inspector General audit found that the BOP's budget requests have been significantly below its own estimates of resource needs. For instance, in FY 2022, the Bureau of Prisons requested about $200 million for infrastructure needs, but Congress appropriated only $59 million. These funding limitations impact the BOP's ability to address deteriorating infrastructure and adequately staff dangerous correctional facilities.
Democrats' spending cuts to the Bureau of Prisons has made prison life even more miserable for J6ers, Zach Rehl explained in an email to WND from FCI Petersburg.
"The Democrats have been since 2020 reducing the funding for the BOP. Basically, the moment they started planning for the scam-demic, they started planning for J6 and the outcome of it," he wrote. "They are reducing funding in the BOP while simultaneously increasing arrests, so they are doing it to make us more miserable in here.
"The right always wants to reduce funding for things, but now they [the left] are doing it, right under our noses, to antagonize all the J6 hostages. Unreal! While blue cities release criminals without bail to just go prey on people repeatedly. It's a sick joke. They are taunting us."
"Is there any lawyers trying to actually get us out of prison? Because the end of the tunnel looks black, and I don't see any light! Help me!"
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
An expert on Parkinson's disease says he could have diagnosed Joe Biden with the neurodegenerative ailment from "across the mall."
The comment came from Dr. Tom Pitts, a Democrat and board-certified neurologist, who said in an interview with NBC News that Biden is showing obvious symptoms.
Calls for Biden to step away from the 2024 presidential race, even the White House, are surging following his recent catastrophically poor showing during a presidential debate with President Donald Trump.
Pitts explained it's easy to diagnose Biden with a neurological-degeneration just from his recent public appearances.
Pitts explained, "It's ironic because he has the classic features of neurodegeneration, word-finding difficulties, and that’s not, oh, I couldn’t find the word, that’s from degeneration of the word retrieval area."
Those symptoms are the "hallmarks" of Parkinson's, he said.
"I could have diagnosed him from across the mall," he said.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to answer questions on the topic directly, claiming only Biden is not being treated for Parkinson's.
Pitts described Biden as a "wreck in slow motion."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A youth ministry operating in Oregon has filed a notice of appeal with the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals asking the judges to reverse a plan that discriminates based on the organization's religious faith.
Officials with the ADF are representing Youth 71Five Ministries, which works to serve at-risk youth.
The organization was approved earlier for state funding, but it abruptly was stripped away because the organization asks employees and volunteers to sign a statement of faith.
The lawsuit over the fight was filed a few months ago, and a lower court declined to give it a responsive hearing.
"71Five provides vital support and care to anyone who needs it, but Oregon state officials are punishing it because it's a Christian ministry that simply and reasonably asks volunteers and staff to agree to Christian beliefs," explained lawyer Jeremiah Galus. "By stripping 71Five of its funding, Oregon is putting religious ministries to an impossible choice: hire those who reject your beliefs to receive funding that everyone else can access or go without the funding. We will be urging the 9th Circuit to follow U.S. Supreme Court precedent that upholds the First Amendment freedom of faith-based organizations to hire like-minded individuals."
The organization reported from 2017 to 2023, 71Five Ministries applied for—and was granted—funds from Oregon’s biennial Youth Community Investment Grants program.
When it applied for the next cycle, the ministry was first approved and then denied funding due to a new rule that requires that applicants "do not discriminate" based on religion "in [their] employment practices"
The scheme is one of the ways that leftists in power, including those in the Joe Biden administration, have used to attack Christian organizations.
The strategy is simple, and involves forcing Christian organizations, in order to participate fully in their communities, to hire LGBT individuals and thus give the minority special interest group a greater influence.
A lower court had dismissed the case by the organization that serves at-risk youth.
"71Five Ministries welcomes everyone to participate in its programs, and it serves young people in Oregon of all faiths and backgrounds, including at-risk youth, young people in detention centers and correctional facilities, and expectant and parenting teens. The ministry’s mission statement says it 'exists to share God's Story of Hope with young people through trusting relationships in any relevant way.' It achieves its goal through employees and volunteers who share its mission and beliefs, as outlined by its statement of faith," the ADF reported.
The report noted that the state continues to fund other programs with blatantly discriminatory requirements, including one that serves girls but not boys.
"In 2021, 71Five had the top-rated application for the Youth Violence and Gang Prevention grant. After applying for several grants during the 2023-2025 grant cycle, the state first accepted the applications, and 71Five was set to receive more than $400,000 in grant funding. But three months later, an Oregon state official contacted the ministry’s executive director and informed him the ministry had been disqualified because of the statement of faith that employees and volunteers sign," the ADF reported.