Fox News

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who is accused of improperly using political campaign funds to reimburse her alleged lover for travel expenses, doesn’t need to worry for now about a complaint filed against her with the Federal Election Commission. Vacancies on the FEC make it impossible for the commission to take any action.

The FEC, where I served as a commissioner over a decade ago, is supposed to act as a government watchdog against election law violations. But unless it has four members, the watchdog is effectively muzzled and chained, helpless to act. Right now there are three members and three vacancies on the commission. Continue reading “Ilhan Omar protected – for now – against accusations of campaign finance law violations”

Yahoo News

CHICAGO (AP) — A U.S. appeals court Thursday upheld an assault weapons ban that covers Chicago and the rest of Cook County, Illinois, saying guns rights advocates provided no compelling reason why it should diverge from a previous ruling upholding a similar ban in a Chicago suburb.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from gun rights lawyers that the ban passed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners should be assessed differently than the ban in the suburb of Highland Park because crime is worse in Cook County, where residents might conclude they required more firepower to defend themselves. Continue reading “Federal appeals court upholds assault weapons ban in Chicago”

Baltimore Sun

Baltimore Police say the man suspected of trying to run over an officer and shooting at another this week is dead after he was shot by police around 11 p.m. Wednesday during an exchange that left an officer and a woman injured.

Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said in a media briefing at 1:30 a.m. Thursday that the suspect was pronounced dead at the hospital after he was struck by gunfire by responding officers.

Continue reading “Man suspected of shooting at officer is fatally shot by Baltimore police; officer, woman injured”

Fox News

An illegal immigrant in Maryland is alleged to have crawled into the bed of a teenage girl while she was taking a nap and placed a knife against her throat before proceeding to rape her, according to authorities.

Federal officials have requested to keep the man in custody.  Continue reading “Illegal immigrant raped Maryland girl, 16, at knifepoint in her bedroom, police say”

Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist

Chino, CA — Li Xi Wang, 49, was shot and killed by Chino police officers last month as he stood in his home, unarmed, hiding behind a door. Video released this week shows how unnecessary his death was as the officer shot him immediately. Not a single weapon was found inside the home to justify such a level of force. And, the entire raid was carried out over growing weed in a state with legal weed.  Continue reading “‘Show Me Your Hands’ BOOM! Cop Instantly Kills Unarmed Man Over Growing Weed in California”

AP

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A new U.S. government management plan unveiled Friday clears the way for coal mining and oil and gas drilling on land that used to be off limits as part of a sprawling national monument in Utah before President Donald Trump downsized the protected area two years ago.

The plan released by the Bureau of Land Management would also open more lands to cattle grazing and recreation and acknowledges there could be “adverse effects” on land and resources in the monument.  Continue reading “Plan allows drilling, grazing near national monument in Utah”

Yahoo News

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois State Police trooper died from wounds suffered early Friday while executing a search warrant in East St. Louis.

Trooper Nicholas Hopkins, 33, of Waterloo, a 10-year veteran of the force, was wounded during an exchange of gunfire while serving the warrant at an East St. Louis home, said State Police Acting Director Brendan Kelly. He later died at a hospital.  Continue reading “Illinois trooper serving warrant dies from gunshot wounds”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

As widely expected, and as he himself previewed earlier in the day, Trump was set to unveil a major development in the US-China trade war this afternoon. That happened moments ago, when the president, in a series of 4 tweets, confirmed that he indeed was hiking tariffs on both existing and future China tariffs.  Continue reading “Trump Hikes Tariffs On Chinese Goods In Retaliation To Trade War Escalation”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Anyone who was hoping for a quiet end to the week is currently having a panic attack, as first China announced new tariffs on the US, then Powell’s J-Hole speech came and went, and then, as we expected, Trump responded to China’s trade war escalation when in a barrage of 4 tweets he lashed out at Beijing, saying “We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off without them“, and ordered “Our great American companies… to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing your companies HOME and making your products in the USA.”  Continue reading “Stocks Plunge After Trump Vows To Retaliate To China “This Afternoon”, Orders US Companies To Find “An Alternative To China””

ABC News

A sniper located in an apartment building in Los Angeles County opened fire on a sheriff’s deputy just outside his station house on Wednesday afternoon.

The deputy, identified as 21-year-old Angel Reinosa, was shot in his bulletproof vest in the parking lot of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lancaster station by someone in the apartment building across the street, which is a government-subsidized facility.  Continue reading “Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy shot by sniper from apartment building; still on the loose”

Fox News

A top government watchdog on Wednesday alerted President Trump and Congress that Customs and Border Protection (CBP), through a “disturbing” pattern of misconduct, has endangered the public for nearly a decade by failing to comply with a federal law requiring that the agency collect DNA samples from detained migrants.

In a scathing letter to Trump, exclusively obtained by Fox News, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) said CBP’s “noncompliance with the law has allowed subjects subsequently accused of violent crimes, including homicide and sexual assault, to elude detection even when detained multiple times by CBP or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”  Continue reading “Watchdog alerts Trump that border agency violated DNA collection law for years, letting violent criminals walk free”

Fox News

Is it a bird? Or is it a bunny?

That’s the question sparked by a video that’s gone viral. The clip shows a bird, with its beak in the air, and a human stroking its head. But looked at from a different angle, the beak appears similar to bunny ears.  Continue reading “Bunny or bird: What do you see in this viral optical illusion video?”

Bloomberg – by Jennifer A Dlouhy

After protesters disrupted construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota by chaining themselves to construction equipment and pitching tents along the route, oil and chemical companies found a way to keep it from happening again.

They made it a crime. Continue reading “Oil Companies Persuade States to Make Pipeline Protests a Felony”

The Daily Beast – by Pilar Melendez

“Five years after Eric Garner’s dying plea “I can’t breathe” became the rallying cry against police brutality across the nation, the police officer who killed him has been fired.

New York City Police Commissioner James O’Neill announced on Monday that NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo has been fired. O’Neill terminated Pantaleo, 34, after it was determined he violated department policy by restraining Garner with a prohibited chokehold in 2014. Continue reading “Five Years After Killing Eric Garner, NYPD Fires Officer Daniel Pantaleo”

Fox News

New York City‘s chief medical examiner has ruled that disgraced financier and accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide by hanging in his prison cell last week.

In a brief statement Friday, Dr. Barbara Sampson said her ruling came following a “careful review of all investigative information, including complete autopsy findings.”  Continue reading “New York medical examiner: Jeffrey Epstein’s death was a suicide by hanging”

Yahoo News

Peter Fonda, whose counterculture classic Easy Rider helped usher in the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s that paved the way for filmmakers from Martin Scorsese to Quentin Tarantino, has died after suffering respiratory failure due to lung cancer. Fonda, the son of screen legend Henry Fonda, younger brother of Jane Fonda and father of actress Bridget Fonda, was 79.  Continue reading “‘Easy Rider’ Peter Fonda dead at 79: ‘Please raise a glass to freedom’”

New York Post

A pair of suspicious pressure cookers shut down a subway station in lower Manhattan on Friday morning, according to sources and police.

Authorities urged straphangers to avoid the Fulton Street subway station because of  the suspicious packages, which were reported by a 911 caller.  Continue reading “Pair of pressure cookers shut down Lower Manhattan subway station”

Office of the Texas Governor

Governor Greg Abbott today, under Article 4, Sections 1, 7, and 10 of the Texas Constitution, formed a Domestic Terrorism Task Force in the wake of the El Paso shooting to combat these hateful acts and extremism in Texas. The group of experts will analyze and provide advice on strategies to maximize law enforcement’s ability to protect against acts of domestic terrorism. The task force will hold its first roundtable meeting with Governor Abbott on Friday, August 30th.  Continue reading “Governor Abbott Forms Domestic Terrorism Task Force In The Wake Of El Paso Shooting”

Fox News

Onlookers were seen taunting and throwing things at Philadelphia police Wednesday night amid a wild shootout and subsequent standoff that saw six cops wounded, and video posted online shows one woman shoving a police officer making his way to the scene.

Philadelphia’s KYW-TV reporter Alexandria Hoff described on Twitter Wednesday night how a crowd of people bordering the blocked off active shooter scene allegedly harassed officers.  Continue reading “Philadelphia police pelted with objects, taunted during harrowing shootout, standoff: reports”