A judge has refused to dismiss a defamation case against President Donald Trump brought by the so-called Central Park Five, Newsweek reported. Trump repeated accusations about the men Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise, who had their 1989 conviction overturned decades later.

The group was convicted of brutally raping Central Park jogger Trisha Meili after offering their confessions to police. The initial crime made headlines for its brutality among those allegedly involved, as did their later dismissal.

Trump, a New Yorker, was incensed over the crime and urged the city to "bring back the death penalty" in a full-page New York Daily News ad at the time. Trump doubled down on them during his 2016 campaign, though by then, the courts had already overturned their conviction.

Trump said that "they admitted they were guilty" and "the police doing the original investigation say they were guilty." Trump made similar remarks again in the 2024 election during a debate with then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Case Against Trump

During the debate, Harris goaded Trump about the full-page ad to smear his tough-on-crime image. "They come up with things like what she just said going back many, many years when a lot of people, including Mayor Bloomberg, agreed with me on the Central Park Five," Trump pointed out.

He said the five men "admitted—they said, they pled guilty, and I said, well, if they pled guilty, they badly hurt a person, killed a person ultimately. And if they pled guilty—then they pled we're not guilty," Trump incorrectly recalled.

Based on these statements, Judge Wendy Beetlestone of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled that she would not dismiss the case on the grounds that he was sharing an opinion. Because Trump's statements "can be 'objectively determined' to be false," his claims "must be construed as one of fact, not opinion," the judge wrote in her decision.

"The Defendant, in his briefs, urges the Court to contextualize the statement as a response to Harris's statement sixty seconds before and to interpret the statement as his recollections of why he placed the 1989 ad. Before addressing that point, however, as an initial matter it is necessary to determine exactly on what portions of the statement Plaintiffs premise their claims," Beetlestone went on.

"Given that Defendant's communications were reasonably capable of conveying the particular meaning ascribed to them by the plaintiff, the next question is 'whether that meaning is defamatory in character,'" she later added. The only point Beetlestone gave to Trump was that the plaintiffs did not prove they endured "severe emotional distress and reputation damage" from his statements.

More Questions

Although the Central Park Five had their case dismissed, conservative commentator Ann Coulter believes there are more questions about their involvement. In her October 2024 substack post, Coulter contended that this lawsuit might actually be a net negative for them.

"I'm not sure the Central Park Five really want a civil trial on what happened the night of April 19, 1989, but by suing Donald Trump for defamation, that's what they're going to get," she wrote. Coulter pointed out that many troubling facts were never explained away despite the dismissal.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to prove the truth in a court of law! They asked for it," She added. Coulter made the case that the accused then-teenagers admitted to being in the park, and some even admitted they had a role in victimizing Meili.

Their confessions were videotaped, with some of the boys' parents present, before Meili had even awoken from a coma. "Weren't the detectives worried that if they bullied five innocent boys into making false confessions, the jogger might suddenly emerge from her coma and be able to identify her attackers? What if she woke up and blurted out, “My boyfriend did it!”?" Coulter pointed out.

The fact that this case will continue on may shed some light on what really happened that night. If nothing else, it's another chance for Trump to clear his name against people who have tried anything they can to get to him.

Chief Justice John Roberts ruled Wednesday that President Donald Trump could remove Democratic appointees from two federal agencies, Newsmax reported. The high court will have to decide whether Trump has the power to unilaterally dismiss them. 

A lower court had already decided that Trump could not dismiss Merit Systems Protection Board member Cathy Harris and National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox. The pair have been fired and reinstated several times over based on court rulings about Trump's ability to make these moves.

This latest stay from Roberts will allow the president's dismissal to stand until the matter has been litigated. However, that fact does not indicate whether the Supreme Court will side with Trump.

At Odds

According to Fox News, Trump dismissed Democrat holdovers Harris and Wilcox, but their jobs were protected under federal law that says they must not be dismissed without cause. On Monday, a 7-4 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reinstated them.

The justices said the precedent set in the Supreme Court's 1935 Humphrey’s Executor and Wiener v. United States decision supported the ruling. As officials serving on "multimember adjudicatory boards," their positions were secure even against the president's wishes.

"The Supreme Court has repeatedly told the courts of appeals to follow extant Supreme Court precedent unless and until that Court itself changes it or overturns it," the justices asserted in their opinion. Trump has been stopped several times on other issues by what he calls "activist judges."

The justices overseeing the separate cases were loathe to give such power to the president to dismiss Harris and Wilcox. The judge in Harris' case, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras, warned that to allow the president to "displace independent agency heads from their positions for the length of litigation such as this, those officials’ independence would shatter."

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who oversaw the Wilcox case, similarly warned against granting the president the ability to wield such control. "A President who touts an image of himself as a ‘king’ or a ‘dictator,’ perhaps as his vision of effective leadership, fundamentally misapprehends the role under Article II of the U.S. Constitution," Howell wrote in her opinion.

Power Struggle

The lower courts feel that the precedent is airtight. However, acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris of the Justice Department sent a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who is a ranking minority member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, to rethink this standard.

Harris contended "that certain for-cause removal provisions" are unconstitutional when applied to all agency members, including those represented by the plaintiffs. She stressed that the Department of Justice would "no longer defend their constitutionality."

Instead, Harris argued that they should look to Myers v. United States, which confirms the president's constitutional rights over the executive branch personnel. "The exception recognized in Humphrey's Executor thus does not fit the principal officers who head the regulatory commissions noted above," she noted of the litigants.

Harris said the Humphrey's Executor decision "prevents the President from adequately supervising principal officers in the Executive Branch who execute the laws on the President's behalf, and which has already been severely eroded by recent Supreme Court decisions." Durbin disagreed with this assessment, but many conservative legal scholars believe in the power of the executive branch through Myers.

Trump has been going to battle with judges who have attempted to stop his agenda. However, the president's power over personnel decisions shouldn't be challenged even if he's politically at odds with the judges making the decision.

Two ex-Major League Baseball players are among the more than 120 who lost their lives when a roof collapsed at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday, Fox News reported. Local authorities pulled bodies from the rubble as the cause remained unknown. 

Among the revelers in the ill-fated Jet Set nightclub was 43-year-old Tony Blanco, a Dominican baseball player who spent one season with the Washington Nationals. Also at the club was World Series champion pitcher Octavio Dotel, 51, who played for 13 teams in his career.

"Dotel was taken to one of the designated hospitals. On the way there, his condition worsened, and he died," police spokesman Diego Pesqueira said. The harrowing footage was shared on news outlets across X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.

Players remembered

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred released a statement honoring the two fallen players. Also among the dead was Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the province of Montecristi and sister of former Texas Ranger and MLB All-Star Nelson Cruz.

"Major League Baseball is deeply saddened by the passings of Octavio Dotel, Tony Blanco, Nelsy Cruz and all the victims of last night's tragedy in Santo Domingo. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of all those who have been affected and to our colleague Nelson and his entire family," Manfred wrote.

"The connection between baseball and the Dominican Republic runs deep, and we are thinking of all the Dominican players and fans across the game today," he added. The Houston Astros, where Dotel spent five seasons as the "top reliever," also shared the sad news.

Beverly Hills Sports Council President Dan Horwits, who was Dotel's agent, called him a "one of a kind" in a statement to Fox Digital News. "The BHSC Family is saddened to learn of the tragic passing of Octavio Dotel. OD was one of a kind. One of the true joys to be around both on and off the field," Horwits said.

"His energy, positivity and zest for life were infectious to all who had the pleasure of knowing him. During his Major League career, he set the MLB record for playing with the most organizations (13). He was genuinely proud of holding that record and would always crack a joke to anyone who asked. It was an honor to represent OD," the statement said, along with offering "condolences" to loved ones.

Climbing death toll

The Washington Post reported that the death toll climbed to 124 by Wednesday evening. Rescue crews continued to work and involved at least 300 emergency service personnel from the Dominican Republic, a dozen from Puerto Rico, and another nine from Israel.

"If we find people alive, we will communicate it immediately. We won’t ever lose hope," Center for Emergency Operations Director Juan Manuel Méndez said as rescuers continued to sift through the rubble.

So far, another 155 have been hurt after concrete and equipment fell onto the dance floor during a musical performance. Sadly, beloved Dominican singer Rubby Pérez, who was performing when the collapse occurred, also perished.

The 69-year-old, who was known for having "the highest voice in merengue," was initially thought to have been pulled from the debris and brought to an area hospital. However, Pérez's daughter Paulin said that was incorrect and that her father had died.

This was a tragic event that cut too many lives too short. Unfortunately, the death toll may climb if those trapped underneath are not rescued and those in the hospital succumb to their injuries.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to New York's concealed carry ban for certain "sensitive locations," Breitbart reported. Monday's decision comes on the heels of another favorable ruling for gun control advocates last month.

The ban was enacted following the landmark 2022 Bruen decision that broadened Second Amendment protections for New Yorkers. The Concealed Carry Improvement Act outlaws guns in places like parks, entertainment establishments, churches, health care facilities, and others.

New York Attorney General Letitia James touted the ruling in a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. "We will always stand up for commonsense gun safety laws that protect New Yorkers and keep our communities safe," she wrote.

The original law

The law was another route for the deep-blue states to restrict Second Amendment rights. With the Bruen decision, there was a danger that people in the Empire State could exercise their Constitutional rights, which made politicians uncomfortable.

According to the Associated Press, the law restricted not only where gun owners could carry weapons but also required proof that they were of "good moral character" to have a gun. The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law with certain provisions struck down.

Gun rights advocates are rightly outraged that any part of the law was upheld. "While we are disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision not to take this case, we will never stop fighting to defend the rights of gun owners across the country," said Erich Pratt, Gun Owners of America senior vice president.

At least the Supreme Court's decision not to hear the case means the parts struck down are out for good, including requiring permission to carry on private property from the owner. "At least as to private property open to the public (the subject of this motion), New York's restriction is unconstitutional," U.S. District Court John Sinatra, Jr., a Trump appointee, wrote, according to Fox News.

"Regulation in this area is permissible only if the government demonstrates that the new enactment is consistent with the Nation's historical tradition of sufficiently analogous regulations. New York fails that test here," Sinatra wrote at the time.

Troubling trend

The latest decision from the Supreme Court is perhaps part of a troubling trend. As The Hill reported, the high court recently upheld a law outlawing so-called "ghost guns."

In a 7-2 decision on March 26, the high court shockingly decided that these do-it-yourself gun kits would remain banned. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives enacted the regulation during President Joe Biden's administration.

"Future cases may present other and more difficult questions about ATF’s regulations. But we take cases as they come and today resolve only the question posed to us," Justice Neil Gorsuch said in his majority opinion.

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented, explaining they would have struck down the regulation entirely. "Congress could have authorized ATF to regulate any part of a firearm or any object readily convertible into one. But, it did not. I would adhere to the words Congress enacted," Thomas said in his dissenting opinion.

The court is heavily conservative, but these recent decisions are leaning towards gun control, typically favored by the leftists. At least parts of New York's law remain struck down by the lower court's decision.

The Department of Government Efficiency arrived at the headquarters of the Peace Corps on Saturday, ready to make more cuts wherever it finds waste, fraud and abuse, NBC News reported.

“Staff from the Department of Government Efficiency are currently working at Peace Corps headquarters and the agency is supporting their requests," the Peace Corps' press office said.

While no information is yet available about areas or programs for cuts, the organization reportedly supports DOGE's efforts.

"These visits at other federal agencies have led to major funding cuts," the association said in a post to Facebook. "We don’t yet know the full impact, but we’re watching closely."

The struggle

The Corps has struggled in recent years to get enough volunteers, with its "fill rate" only at 63% in 2023.

The Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees oversee the Corps's activities, which have a $430 million yearly budget.

It's a large number, but it represents only one-tenth of 1% of the federal budget.

There have been attempts to increase the budget by another $40 million or so, but the legislation has not been passed.

The organization's 3,300 volunteers work to develop and assist foreign nations in the areas of education, health, youth development, community economic development, environment and agriculture.

The volunteers do get paid something when they complete their 27 months of volunteering, typically a readjustment allowance of just over $10,000 and student loan forgiveness, among other benefits.

Cuts needed

There has traditionally been bipartisan support for its activities, but the cuts have to come from somewhere.

No doubt DOGE and the federal government will be weighing whether the benefits of the Corps outweigh the cost.

It may be something that DOGE determines is not as important as working on balancing the budget and tackling the giant pile of debt that the last few presidents have racked up.

Even if DOGE only identifies some useless cogs in the machine, it will help reach the goal of a balanced budget.

Few criminal offenses are more jarring than those committed against minors, a scenario made all the more appalling when the person accused of committing them has been a prominent member of the legal and political communities.

As the Daily Caller reports, it was revealed this week that Robert LeBlanc of Methuen, Massachusetts, a longtime attorney, public official, and now-resigned member of the Democratic State Committee, has been charged with multiple sex offenses after years of rumors regarding inappropriate conduct.

Charges announced

The charges leveled against LeBlanc, 80, were announced on Wednesday by the Essex County Office of the District Attorney.

According to a prosecution press release, LeBlanc was arraigned in Salem's Superior Court on multiple counts related to “child rape and indecent assault.”

LeBlanc has been charged with “rape of a child, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, two counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older and attempt to commit crime -- indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older.”

For his part, LeBlanc pleaded not guilty to the aforementioned charges.

As NBC 10 in Boston noted, prosecutors did not ask that monetary terms of bail be imposed, though they did ask for a series of conditions related to LeBlanc's status to which his defense attorney agreed.

Complex past emerges

According to the Eagle-Tribune, LeBlanc has a lengthy history of public-facing roles, including his work as an attorney.

LeBlanc was the Methuen town manager from 1976-1981, served two terms as an at-large city councilor in the 1980s, and he also worked as a lawyer for the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

Though he sought an at-large councilor spot again in 2013, LeBlanc was defeated as sexual misconduct allegations began to surface.

Allegations against LeBlanc included claims that he “stalked” and propositioned a student at Greater Lawrence Technical School, resulting in a ban on his return to campus property.

In 2002, LeBlanc was sent a letter informing him of a similar ban at a Barnes & Noble bookstore stemming from an incident in which a customer said he was followed into a restroom by the former public official, who was alleged to have stationed himself near a urinal and touched himself inappropriately.

Next steps awaited

After the aforementioned charges were issued, LeBlanc was ordered to report to the Methuen Police Department for booking, and he was also instructed not to have any contact with victims or witnesses in the case or any unsupervised contact with individuals under the age of 18.

A pretrial hearing for LeBlanc is now scheduled for May 20, when additional details of the accusations against him are likely to emerge.

Conservative attorney Harmeet Dhillon was confirmed as the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division on Thursday, Daily Wire reported. Dhillon will fill the Department of Justice role after receiving a 52-45 Senate vote.

Dhillion has made a name for herself by representing conservatives and their causes, including representing The Daily Wire against then-President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The company successfully beat back the mandate in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.

She has fought for religious liberty and free speech and is a pro-life advocate. Dhillon also defended President Donald Trump, who nominated her to the position, against a coordinated effort to throw him off the Colorado ballot ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Mutual Admiration

As Fox News reported, Trump nominated Dhillon in December. He posted to Truth Social that she had "stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties, including taking on Big Tech for censoring our Free Speech, representing Christians who were prevented from praying together during COVID and suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers," he wrote.

"Harmeet is one of the top Election lawyers in the Country, fighting to ensure that all, and ONLY, legal votes are counted. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia Law School and clerked in the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals," Trump went on.

"Harmeet is a respected member of the Sikh religious community. In her new role at the DOJ, Harmeet will be a tireless defender of our Constitutional Rights, and will enforce our Civil Rights and Election Laws FAIRLY and FIRMLY. Congratulations, Harmeet!" Trump said.

Dhillon was unwavering in her support for Trump and said she was "honored" to receive his nod. "It has been my dream to be able to serve our great country, and I am so excited to be part of an incredible team of lawyers led by [Attorney General Pam Bondi]," she said at the time in a post to X, formerly Twitter.

"I cannot wait to get to work! I would not be here today without my amazing mother and brother’s support, and my beloved father Tejpal and husband Sarv, who did not live to see this day. I hope I will honor their memories with God’s grace," she added.

The Opposition

Because Dhillon has been so strong in her conservative values, the left is predictably apoplectic about her confirmation. However, Dhillon also received pushback from one lone Republican after Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against her confirmation.

Trump said Murkowski is suffering from "Trump Derangement Syndrome," a term widely used on leftists who are disproportionately angry at everything Trump does. However, Murkowski and other establishment Republicans are equally triggered by Trump.

Notably, Breitbart revealed that Murkowski recently praised Democrat Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) after his marathon diatribe against Trump. In his own demonstration of TDS, Booker spent more than 25 hours this week trashing Trump from the Senate floor as a political stunt.

"Whether you agree with him or not, the past 24+ hours was what most people think a filibuster actually looks like. Congratulations to @SenBooker for his historic feat (while staying on his feet!)" Murkowski gushed.

Regardless of what her detractors say, Dhillon is the best person for the job and will expertly represent conservatives and the Trump agenda. Trump and his supporters have much to cheer about in this confirmation, which marks another big win.

Christine Grady, wife of Anthony Fauci, was fired from her job as bioethics department head at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Centers, Breitbart reported. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also "reassigned" several of Fauci's former staffers.

Fauci is best known for his role as the top adviser during the coronavirus pandemic. He had served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and later as the White House chief medical adviser under then-President Joe Biden.

Some believe Kennedy was compelled to fire Grady and the others because of a vendetta against the COVID-19 vaccines. Fauci was also notoriously in favor of draconian lockdowns, as well as vaccine and mask mandates.

With the elimination of these jobs, Kennedy's office has greatly reduced the infectious disease division as well as sections of the Food and Drug Administration. Perhaps it signals a philosophical change with Kennedy now at the helm as some cry foul.

Kennedy Responds

Kennedy's critics at Politico were apoplectic about the change, but Kennedy explained his reasoning in a lengthy post to X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. "This is a difficult moment for all of us at HHS," Kennedy wrote.

"Our hearts go out to those who have lost their jobs. But the reality is clear: what we've been doing isn't working. Despite spending $1.9 trillion in annual costs, Americans are getting sicker every year," Kennedy continued.

"In the past four years alone, the agency’s budget has grown by 38% — yet outcomes continue to decline. We must shift course HHS needs to be recalibrated to emphasize prevention, not just sick care," Kennedy added.

He added that the "changes will not affect Medicare, Medicaid, or other essential health services," Kennedy wrote. "This overhaul is about realigning HHS with its core mission: to stop the chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again. It’s a win-win for taxpayers and for every American we serve," Kennedy concluded. 

Overhaul or Retribution?

While Kennedy's rationale makes complete sense, Politico insinuates that Kennedy is interested only in retribution. "As an anti-vaccine activist, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent years attacking Anthony Fauci and sowing doubts about the successful effort he led to develop a Covid vaccine," the news outlet claimed.

"As HHS secretary, he’s exacting his revenge," authors Adam Cancryn and Erin Schumaker added. The article explained that Grady was fired, and three others who were "Fauci’s longtime colleagues" at the NIH could choose reassignment to Alaska or leave employment.

"It’s like a Fauci fixation," claimed Scripps Research Translational Institute head and public health expert Dr. Eric Topol. "So many of these people are just dedicated; they really want to do good, and now they’re losing their jobs senselessly," he added.

Even if Kennedy's motives are not pure, there's no doubt that the public health officials flubbed the pandemic response. The lying and obfuscation, the measures that didn't work, and the coercion are all reason enough to dismiss these people, including Grady.

The people who were supposed to guard public health did a lousy job when they were needed most. Unless Kennedy thoroughly cleans house, there's no way to get rid of the rot that caused the debacle in the first place.

Three House committees launched probes against ActBlue over its questionable donor verification practices, Just the News reported. They found that the progressive fundraising platform changed its rules on verifying donors to make them "more lenient."

Last year, Congress began investigating Act Blue over allegations that its rules, changed at least twice, allowed foreign donors and other unverified contributions. The committees released their report with the findings on Wednesday.

The report states that the platform showed "a lack of commitment to stopping fraud and paint a picture of complacency on ActBlue’s fraud-prevention team," including fraud prevention vendor Sift. "Put simply, the documents reflect a fundamentally unserious approach to fraud prevention at ActBlue—one that has left the door open for large-scale fraud campaigns on Democrats’ top fundraising platform."

During President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign that turned into then-Vice President Kamala Harris' bid, Act Blue directed staff to "look for reasons to accept contributions." This was on top of its previous practice of not collecting the CVV codes for credit card transactions.

Questionable Transactions

According to the New York Post, the GOP-led House committees found that standards changed twice during key times in the 2024 campaign season. The changes, which came in April and again in September, resulted in as many as 28 additional fraudulent contributions each month.

Moreover, they resulted in up to 6.4% of questionable donations that were missed. An internal memo showed that the company was already keyed into foreign sources, including "Brazil, Colombia, India, Iraq, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia, and other countries," the news outlet noted.

"Look out for these donations: Giving to Center for American Progress Action Fund. Mostly from Brazilian donors (unlikely to give to this organization)," the memo said.

Sure enough, a December 2024 audit of "known instances of fraud" revealed hundreds of donations were collected from those countries. In addition, prepaid U.S. gift and debit cards used on another 237 donations were traced to IP addresses outside the U.S. between September and October 2024, when ActBlue shut down the option.

ActBlue has also acknowledged that it received 1,900 phony donations between September 2022 and November 2024. However, House Republicans are convinced these shady donations are more "widespread" than the company is letting on.

Report Findings

The report from the House Oversight and Administration Committees stated that "ActBlue acknowledges that serious gaps in its fraud prevention systems remain," the 478-page report said. "Internal communications explain that 'if someone could coordinate a big attack where each individual donation fell below the [fraud review] threshold, they would go through,'" the report went on.

It conclude that "despite repeated instances of fraudulent donations to Democrat campaigns and causes from domestic and foreign sources, ActBlue is not demonstrating a serious effort to deter fraud on its platform." The lawmakers asserted that it impacted the Biden and Harris' presidential bid.

These levels are significant as Democrats and their pet causes received almost $2 billion from donations gathered through ActBlue for the 2024 campaign. In the hours after Biden turned his bid over to Harris, she received a whopping $46.7 million went to her campaign.

"At best, ActBlue’s conduct displays a profound disrespect for the principle that only Americans should decide American elections. At worst, it may violate the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA), which states that persons who 'knowingly accept a contribution made by one person in the name of another person' may face criminal liability," the report said.

The investigations seem to suggest that untold sums of dirty money may have made it into Democrats' coffers. If it's true, that amounts to election interference of the worst kind.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday that Cooper Jo Frederick had been federally charged after allegedly firebombing a Colorado Tesla dealership, Breitbart reported.

The 24-year-old Colorado man was charged as an accomplice to a gender-confused man called "Lucy Gray Nelson," who was already charged in the incident.

"I've made it clear: If you take part in the wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, we will find you, arrest you, and put you behind bars," Bondi said in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, Monday. The incident took place on March 7 in Loveland, Colorado.

"All of these cases are a serious threat to public safety. Therefore, there will be no negotiationing. We are seeking 20 years in prison," Bondi added.

Facing justice

Nelson was federally charged earlier this month for firebombing the dealership using Molotov cocktails. He was hit with attempted malicious destruction of property and possession of an unregistered firearm in addition to state charges.

Frederick was allegedly part of the attack that also included graffiti and throwing rocks at the dealership's vehicles and building.  He was arrested in Colorado on March 14 and charged with using an incendiary device in a felony, one count of manufacturing an incendiary device, two counts of possessing an incendiary device, and criminal mischief causing $5,000 to $20,000 in damage.

After an FBI investigation, Frederick was picked up again in Plano, Texas, for the federal charges. The alleged attack is just one of several coordinated incidents that have taken place at Tesla dealerships as part of a protest movement against Elon Musk.

The Tesla CEO is part of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has been rooting out fraud and abuse in the government. According to CNN, more than 200 protests occurred throughout the U.S. in a Global Day of Action against Musk.

Musk's detractors have made all sorts of vague claims about his involvement in the endeavor and his possible motives. "It’s unfortunate that Musk has decided to use his power and riches for negative efforts," protest promoter Austin Naughton claimed.

Misdirected ire

While some touted these peaceful protests, it became clear that the movement also spawned attacks. According to a Fox News report, there have been at least 50 incidents of violence against Tesla dealerships, vehicles, and charging stations in the U.S., plus another 17 internationally.

The attacks are sometimes carried out by individuals, with an opportunistic attacker keying a vehicle or otherwise vandalizing it. One common occurrence is for them to mark vehicles with swastikas or the word "Nazi" as a misguided affront to Musk.

Others are more severe, such as people shooting at vehicles or lighting them on fire. One man was caught ramming his four-wheeler into a stranger's Tesla vehicle and damaging two others.

Of all the violence and mayhem leftists have encouraged, these attacks are the most confounding. Musk hasn't been doing anything remotely controversial to anyone sane, yet they are being mobilized on a faulty premise to express their misdirected ire.

It's perfectly reasonable for Bondi to treat these people like the terrorists they are. This kind of conduct cannot continue in a civilized nation, and certainly not when it is encouraged based on lies and falsehoods specifically for the purpose of eliciting such a response.

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