@The Blaze
I didn’t want to write this. I still don’t.The push notification lit up my phone while I was working out — campers swept away as the Guadalupe River surged dozens of feet in under an hour. I walked out of the gym and teared up in my truck.Now I’m stuffing sunscreen and swimsuits into two trunks. My older two kids head off to sleepaway camp next week. How do I tell them the adventure they’re so giddy about just turned fatal for other families? What can a keyboard jockey like me offer when other parents are living a nightmare? My first instinct was to close the laptop, whisper a prayer, and stay quiet.But silence isn’t always the faithful response.Entire campsites — from Kerr County to the back roads of Texas Hill Country — have been wiped away. Parents who expected mosquito bites and ghost stories are now scanning riverbanks for anything recognizable. They don’t need punditry. They need the rest of us to witness their grief without turning it into the next battleground in the culture war.That’s the part I dread most.Within hours of the first siren, the internet erupted in blame. Was it climate change? Outdated flood maps? Local negligence? Federal failure? Pick your camp, rack up your retweets, move the score marker. The bodies weren’t even identified before the hashtags started trending. It’s as if we’ve forgotten how to mourn without also trying to win.'Where was God?' feels like the only honest question when the water rises. But storms don’t mean vengeance, any more than sunsets are God’s apology.Then there’s that phrase believers lean on — “thoughts and prayers.” “Ts and Ps,” as Gen Z sneers. If I lost one of my kids, those words would feel like a whispered lullaby in a room suddenly emptied of breath — tender, well-meaning, and painfully inadequate.Not because prayer is pointless. Because the cliché is.When calamity struck, Job’s friends “sat with him on the ground seven days … and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.” No carbon emissions debate. No X threads. Just presence. Silence. Solidarity.Maybe that’s the posture we need now — especially along a river whose name, Guadalupe, traces back to “river of the wolf.” Creation still has teeth. Even waters we picnic beside can turn predator in a single thunderstorm. Wolves hunt in packs. They also protect their own. Maybe that’s the symbolism: The same river that devoured so many calls the rest of us to move as a pack — toward the survivors, not away.Real faith doesn’t show up as a hashtag. It comes in the form of casseroles and chain saws, spare bedrooms and Venmo links. It hauls soggy photo albums into the sun. It listens more than it lectures. When Jesus met Mary and Martha at the tomb, He wept before He preached. Maybe that’s the order we’ve lost.RELATED: Liberal women quickly learn what happens when you say vile things about little girls killed in the floods Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty ImagesSo what can we do from a distance?Give until it pinches — money, blood, bottled water, even unused PTO if your workplace allows donations. Relief crews will need support for months, not days.Go if you can. Student ministries, church groups, skilled contractors — this work doesn’t end when the cameras leave.Guard these families’ dignity. Share verified donation links, not drone footage of recovered bodies. If you wouldn’t show the image to your child, don’t post it.Grieve aloud. Let your kids see adults who don’t numb tragedy with mindless scrolling.And yes, pray — not as a substitute for action, but as its source. Prayer is oxygen for those on their feet. When the apostle James said, “Faith without works is dead,” he might as well have been looking out the window of a rescue chopper.I get the temptation to shake a fist at heaven. “Where was God?” feels like the only honest question when the water rises. But storms don’t mean vengeance, any more than sunsets are God’s apology. Scripture calls Him a refuge and redeemer, not a puppet master yanking strings to break hearts. Turning away from God now is like fleeing the only lighthouse in a gale.If grief makes prayer sound hollow, answer the hollowness with action — and with the stubborn belief that the Creator remains good, even when creation feels cruel.I still don’t want to write this. I’d rather tuck my kids in tonight and pretend rivers respect property lines and holiday weekends. But if this piece offers anything, let it give permission to mourn without politicizing. For one day — one hour even — let grief be grief. Let dads hold their kids tighter. Let moms remind us that safety doesn’t come with a zip code. Let the church prove it’s more than a Sunday address.With the sparklers of Independence Day barely cooled, maybe the most patriotic thing we can do is recover the lost art of compassionate presence. No monologue — including this one — can fill a bunk bed left empty. But through gifts, sweat, silence, and prayer, maybe we can shoulder a sliver of the weight.If you’re reading this in a dry living room, remember the families whose furniture is floating somewhere downriver.Before you post, pause.Before you debate, donate.If “thoughts and prayers” still feel hollow, add two more words: “Here’s how.”Then go do it.
https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/sometimes-the-most-christian-thing-to-do-is-shut-up
I didn’t want to write this. I still don’t.The push notification lit up my phone while I was working out — campers swept away as the Guadalupe River surged dozens of feet in under an hour. I walked out of the gym and teared up in my truck.Now I’m stuffing sunscreen and swimsuits into two trunks. My older two kids head off to sleepaway camp next week. How do I tell them the adventure they’re so giddy about just turned fatal for other families? What can a keyboard jockey like me offer when other parents are living a nightmare? My first instinct was to close the laptop, whisper a prayer, and stay quiet.But silence isn’t always the faithful response.Entire campsites — from Kerr County to the back roads of Texas Hill Country — have been wiped away. Parents who expected mosquito bites and ghost stories are now scanning riverbanks for anything recognizable. They don’t need punditry. They need the rest of us to witness their grief without turning it into the next battleground in the culture war.That’s the part I dread most.Within hours of the first siren, the internet erupted in blame. Was it climate change? Outdated flood maps? Local negligence? Federal failure? Pick your camp, rack up your retweets, move the score marker. The bodies weren’t even identified before the hashtags started trending. It’s as if we’ve forgotten how to mourn without also trying to win.'Where was God?' feels like the only honest question when the water rises. But storms don’t mean vengeance, any more than sunsets are God’s apology.Then there’s that phrase believers lean on — “thoughts and prayers.” “Ts and Ps,” as Gen Z sneers. If I lost one of my kids, those words would feel like a whispered lullaby in a room suddenly emptied of breath — tender, well-meaning, and painfully inadequate.Not because prayer is pointless. Because the cliché is.When calamity struck, Job’s friends “sat with him on the ground seven days … and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.” No carbon emissions debate. No X threads. Just presence. Silence. Solidarity.Maybe that’s the posture we need now — especially along a river whose name, Guadalupe, traces back to “river of the wolf.” Creation still has teeth. Even waters we picnic beside can turn predator in a single thunderstorm. Wolves hunt in packs. They also protect their own. Maybe that’s the symbolism: The same river that devoured so many calls the rest of us to move as a pack — toward the survivors, not away.Real faith doesn’t show up as a hashtag. It comes in the form of casseroles and chain saws, spare bedrooms and Venmo links. It hauls soggy photo albums into the sun. It listens more than it lectures. When Jesus met Mary and Martha at the tomb, He wept before He preached. Maybe that’s the order we’ve lost.RELATED: Liberal women quickly learn what happens when you say vile things about little girls killed in the floods Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty ImagesSo what can we do from a distance?Give until it pinches — money, blood, bottled water, even unused PTO if your workplace allows donations. Relief crews will need support for months, not days.Go if you can. Student ministries, church groups, skilled contractors — this work doesn’t end when the cameras leave.Guard these families’ dignity. Share verified donation links, not drone footage of recovered bodies. If you wouldn’t show the image to your child, don’t post it.Grieve aloud. Let your kids see adults who don’t numb tragedy with mindless scrolling.And yes, pray — not as a substitute for action, but as its source. Prayer is oxygen for those on their feet. When the apostle James said, “Faith without works is dead,” he might as well have been looking out the window of a rescue chopper.I get the temptation to shake a fist at heaven. “Where was God?” feels like the only honest question when the water rises. But storms don’t mean vengeance, any more than sunsets are God’s apology. Scripture calls Him a refuge and redeemer, not a puppet master yanking strings to break hearts. Turning away from God now is like fleeing the only lighthouse in a gale.If grief makes prayer sound hollow, answer the hollowness with action — and with the stubborn belief that the Creator remains good, even when creation feels cruel.I still don’t want to write this. I’d rather tuck my kids in tonight and pretend rivers respect property lines and holiday weekends. But if this piece offers anything, let it give permission to mourn without politicizing. For one day — one hour even — let grief be grief. Let dads hold their kids tighter. Let moms remind us that safety doesn’t come with a zip code. Let the church prove it’s more than a Sunday address.With the sparklers of Independence Day barely cooled, maybe the most patriotic thing we can do is recover the lost art of compassionate presence. No monologue — including this one — can fill a bunk bed left empty. But through gifts, sweat, silence, and prayer, maybe we can shoulder a sliver of the weight.If you’re reading this in a dry living room, remember the families whose furniture is floating somewhere downriver.Before you post, pause.Before you debate, donate.If “thoughts and prayers” still feel hollow, add two more words: “Here’s how.”Then go do it.
https://www.theblaze.com/columns/opinion/sometimes-the-most-christian-thing-to-do-is-shut-up
The top leaders of the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed in a recent interview that the evidence in the suspicious death of sex offender billionaire Jeffrey Epstein pointed to a definitive conclusion. While the circumstances of Epstein's death have led many to suspect that he was killed in order to protect those who were complicit in his alleged underage trafficking ring, FBI Director Kash Patel said the evidence supported the official explanation of suicide. 'You know a suicide when you see one, and that's what that was.' Patel made the admission while he and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino were being interviewed by Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business. Video of the interview aired on Sunday. "You said Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide," said Bartiromo. "People don't believe it." "They have a right to their opinion," Patel replied, "but as someone who has worked as a public defender, as a prosecutor who's been in that prison system, who's been in the metropolitan detention center, who's been in segregated housing, you know a suicide when you see one, and that's what that was." "He killed himself," Bongino agreed. "Again, I've seen the whole file. He killed himself."Video of the interaction between Bartiromo, Patel, and Bongino was widely circulated on the internet, where it garnered millions of views. Some members of the Trump administration had been criticized for promising to release Epstein files and apparently stalling on the issue. RELATED: Federal judge orders dozens of names of Jeffrey Epstein associates be unsealed Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck responded to the admission from the FBI on social media. "FBI Director @Kash_Patel and @dbongino now claim they believe Epstein's death WAS a suicide," wrote Beck. "They didn't used to believe that. I STILL don't believe that. However, I know Dan Bongino. I think he's a credible guy. He loves his country. I know Kash Patel. I think he's an honorable guy. He loves his country." Beck listed the evidence that the FBI must release in order to alleviate the suspicions of many who doubt the official story of Epstein's death. "I tend to believe Patel and Bongino. I don't believe there's some sort of conspiracy inside MAGA," Beck added. "But I also believe that Epstein didn't kill himself with a PAPER SHEET. So, show us the facts. We must restore trust."One of the Epstein accusers, Virginia Giuffre, died in April from suicide, according to a statement from her family, which sparked even more speculation. The 41-year-old had been in a bus accident and accused her husband of abuse prior to her death. Authorities have initially said the suicide was not suspicious. RELATED: Pam Bondi says Epstein client list is sitting on her desk 'right now' and being reviewed for release Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
If you’re an American woman, there’s a high likelihood you grew up playing with the classic American Girl dolls — where each doll came with a story depicting a historical, pure Americana tale. But if you’re a young girl in today’s America, that’s all changing. The classic American Girl doll has taken a turn for the politically correct, with its latest Instagram post featuring an American Girl doll celebrating the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr as a part of its “Cultural Celebrations” outfit line. Allie Beth Stuckey of “Relatable” grew up playing with the dolls and devouring their stories, so she's more than a little disappointed that her daughters won’t experience the same magic that once was. “I’m a girl mom who has three little girls who love dolls and would love American Girl. I would love to take them to the American Girl store. I grew up reading the American Girl books. They were some of my favorite books. I remember their lives; I remember their stories and all of their different personality traits,” Stuckey recalls. “They always championed basic virtues and also just showing appropriate confidence as a girl and the value and the uniqueness of being a girl,” she continues. “But we’ve started seeing some sketchy things over the years, because as we know, as a principle, if an institution is not explicitly biblical, not just explicitly conservative, but explicitly biblical, it will end up veering into degeneracy.” “It will end up veering to the left, questioning basic realities like gender, breaking down the moral values that we have agreed upon at least as culturally Christian Americans for a very long time,” she adds. Stuckey’s concern is that Islam is now being seen as a formidable part of American society. “When I look at Muslim-majority countries everywhere, most of them are completely rot with archaic violence and chaos and oppression of the most vulnerable. When we look at all of the major terrorist groups around the world,” she says, “all of these terrorist groups, save a couple, are Islamic in nature.” “When we look at the religious affiliations of the groups most violently persecuting both Jews and Christians around the world, it’s all Islam,” she continues. “That is not to say that every person who is Muslim is violent; that is not to say every person who is Muslim is going to be a terrorist or is going to be a radical extremist, but obviously we see the common denominator there.” Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
A motley crew of leftists descended on the nation's capital on Saturday. Blaze Media national correspondent Julio Rosas was on the scene, capturing some of the less inhibited among the activists resort to their apparent default: dehumanizing rhetoric. As part of a nationwide "Hands Off!" protest, some radicals ambled to the National Mall to express their displeasure with President Donald Trump and his popular agenda. While uniformly anti-Trump, there was a variety of grievances expressed by the cacophonic mob even though the organizers made clear that they had three reasons for mobilization. The reasons were: to stop Trump and Elon Musk's imagined "illegal power grab"; to condemn the administration and congressional Republicans for supposedly "gutting services, raising prices, and racing towards slashing Medicaid, Social Security, and more"; and to clutch pearls about the administration's supposed pursuit of "destruction for the benefit of their billionaire allies." Of course, numerous protesters veered off message, dusted off the slogans of yesteryear, and championed the causes of Black Lives Matter, gender ideology, and an unaccountable federal bureaucracy. Other radicals farther afield donned keffiyehs and swarmed the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Potomac Center Plaza as part of the separate "April 5 March on Washington." Those in this second camp, which Rosas tracked over the course of the day, protested the Trump administration's foreign policy as well as its enforcement of federal immigration law; demonized ICE agents; condemned the deportation of pro-Hamas radicals, including Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk; criticized Israel; and reaffirmed their "commitment to the liberation of Palestine." The groups that ultimately swarmed the ICE headquarters included the Palestinian Feminist Collective, the climate alarmist group Planet Over Profit, and the local chapters of the George Soros-funded Students for Justice in Palestine — a group endorsed last year by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Gaza-based terrorist group that combines Marxist-Leninist ideology with Arab nationalism. Outside the ICE offices, protesters demanded the release of Mahmoud Khalil and other pro-Hamas international students facing deportation. Khalil, a Syrian-born activist leader who previously attended Columbia University, allegedly hid his former employment with a Hamas-tied UN agency when filing his green card application. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in reference to Khalil's arrest last month, "We will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported." — (@) Activists also called for a moratorium on ICE removal operations. Prior to raging impotently outside the ICE offices, various activists made speeches. 'There is only one solution: antifada, revolution.' Linda Sarsour — the Palestinian-American activist whose radicalism proved too much even for the Biden administration which disavowed her — told the mob standing near an "abolish Israel" sign that "we are all adversaries to U.S. foreign policy" and that the radical mob was "the moral consistency of America." One speaker honored Palestinian "martyrs" killed during the Hamas-Israeli war without distinguishing between civilians and terrorists. Another tethered Palestinian activism to the broader socialist cause, indicating that capitalism is at fault. Muna Qadan of the Palestinian Feminist Collective threatened a "new world order" and the "vengeance of the oppressed" and stated that "there is only one solution: antifada, revolution." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
As Blaze News reported last week, a Los Angeles County deputy with a stellar record is staring down hard time in federal prison after a suspect accused him of using excessive force during a 2023 arrest. Evidence now indicates that L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna may have prompted a federal investigation into the incident, leaving deputies and other personnel feeling betrayed. Blaze News caught up with the deputy's attorney, Tom Yu, as well as a spokesman for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Professional Association, Nick Wilson, to better understand the prevailing sentiment among L.A. County deputies about this case and to learn why they hope Deputy Trevor Kirk may yet avoid time behind bars. 'Safely handcuff the suspect': Deputy Kirk and a fateful detainment On June 24, 2023, Deputy Trevor Kirk and another deputy drove to the WinCo supermarket in Lancaster, California, in response to a report of a possible robbery in progress involving a man and a woman. A source affiliated with LASPA told Blaze News that the woman had been "caught in the act." When loss prevention officers confronted the suspects in the case — Damon Barnes and Jacy Houseton — the suspects allegedly assaulted the officers. According to reports, Houseton even pulled down her face mask and spat on one of security guards. Kirk and the other deputy encountered Barnes and Houseton in the parking lot outside the store, identifying them as individuals who matched the suspects' description. Though Barnes ran his mouth a bit, he was otherwise detained without incident. Houseton was a different story. 'She took a swing at him, backed off, and then continued to actively resist arrest.' While deputies placed Barnes in handcuffs, Houseton stood nearby filming with her cell phone. Having already identified her as the other suspect in the alleged robbery and possible assault, Kirk then reached for her cell phone. After a brief scuffle, Kirk brought Houseton to the ground, at which point she began accusing him of "manhandling" her. She also repeatedly threatened to sue Kirk and hollered phrases often associated with George Floyd and Eric Garner, who both died during encounters with law enforcement: "Get your neck [sic] off my … off my … I can’t breathe." Houseton continued to yell and flail about. She also appeared to disobey orders to put her hands behind her back, so Kirk pepper-sprayed her in the face on two separate occasions. Houseton later received treatment for injuries. Bodycam video of the incident can be seen below: — (@) A summary of the incident from the Department of Justice painted a grim picture of Kirk's actions. "Kirk grabbed J.H. by her arm, hooked his left hand behind her neck, and violently threw her face-first to the ground," it said. It also accused him of pressing his knee into Houseton's neck and failing to issue her the proper commands. In February, Kirk, a 32-year-old Army veteran and father of two, was convicted by a federal jury of one felony count of deprivation of rights under color of law, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. According to court records, it took jurors just two hours to render their verdict. In reporting on Kirk's conviction, KCAL described the incident as a "vicious assault" involving a "disgraced deputy." Attorney Tom Yu and LASPA representative Nick Wilson are frustrated with the way the incident has been framed by federal investigators and critics. For one thing, by all accounts, Kirk has an "outstanding" record, Yu said. Kirk is well liked in the department and has no other allegations of misconduct against him or any poor performance reviews. With regard to the incident with Houseton, Wilson told Blaze News that Kirk used only "minimal force" that qualified as a low-level, "category 1" use of force, as listed in the policies of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. Wilson also claimed that Houseton had been "resistive" and "violent" during the encounter with Kirk. "She took a swing at Trevor Kirk when he first went to detain her and put hands on," he said. "She took a swing at him, backed off, and then continued to actively resist arrest." "Deputies are trained to take suspects who resist to the ground in order to gain compliance and to safely handcuff the suspect," Yu said in a statement in the days following the incident. What's more, both Barnes and Houseton have a criminal history. Barnes has a string of arrests dating back to 1987, including convictions for arson, weapons and drug offenses, and resisting an officer. He was also accused of robbery in 1995. Houseton was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon in 2005 but had that conviction effectively dismissed from her record three years later, presumably after satisfying the terms of her probation. To be fair, Yu noted, Kirk did not know about those prior convictions when he met the pair in the parking lot that day. However, Kirk also did not know whether they were armed, though it turns out they were not. Neither Barnes nor Houseton was ever charged in connection with the alleged robbery of the WinCo store, which KCAL-TV later downplayed as merely a possible "shoplifting," or the alleged assault on the loss prevention officers. Houseton did follow through on her promise to sue the department and was reportedly awarded $1 million. At a press conference about the lawsuit, Houseton claimed Kirk "tried to kill" her and implied that the excessive force was racially motivated. Her attorney, Caree Harper, added, "It doesn't happen to white folks like this, and we're not gonna have it happening to black folks like this." WinCo did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News. 'Hanging deputies out to dry': Sheriff Luna gets involved An internal affairs investigation was initiated almost immediately following the detainment at WinCo, and the fallout might have been kept in house but for one problem: Video of the encounter between Kirk and Houseton had already been made public. Activist groups — including Cancel the Contract Antelope Valley, a far-left "social justice" organization — quickly planned demonstrations denouncing what they viewed as another racially charged instance of police brutality. "As black residents of this community, we are tired of living in fear of the police," said group co-founder Waunette Cullors. 'The sheriff buckled under political pressure.' About a week after the incident, Sheriff Robert Luna addressed the controversy publicly, describing the video footage as "disturbing." "It's disturbing. There's no ifs, ands, buts about it," he said at a press conference. Wilson believes that in the summer of 2023 — a time when BLM riots and "defund the police" movements continued to reverberate three years after George Floyd's death — Luna was sensitive to external pressure. "After this use of force, the civil rights community, the activist movements raised hell within the sheriff's department," Wilson told Blaze News. Even though Kirk was reportedly "cleared at a station level," Luna decided to invite federal agencies to investigate Kirk's actions as well, Wilson claimed. "The sheriff buckled under political pressure and made sure that this case was handed over to the DOJ for prosecution," Wilson continued, thereby "hanging deputies out to dry." Both Wilson and Yu told Blaze News they were "certain" that Luna's office initiated federal involvement, though Luna denies it. In a statement to Blaze News, Deputy Miesha McClendon of the Sheriff's Information Bureau claimed, "Despite allegations to the contrary, this case was not referred to the FBI nor the U.S Attorney’s Office by anyone within the Department as indicated in the official court transcript." McClendon also added: The Department recognizes that having one of our employees convicted by a federal jury is a significant matter, and we understand the frustration it has caused among our personnel. ... The Department will be conducting a thorough review of the case to identify any specific issues to determine if modifications to training are needed. Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images L.A. deputies were so outraged at the treatment of one of their own — a colleague some believe was "politically" persecuted after simply following department protocol — that upon Kirk's conviction in February, Luna held a private meeting with personnel from the Lancaster sheriff's station. During that two-hour meeting, which was secretly recorded, Luna expressed regret for characterizing the footage as "disturbing." He also suggested that he had nothing to do with contacting the feds about the incident. "I can tell you this with confidence that what I said that day," Luna appeared to say, referring to his "disturbing" remark, "did not have anything to do with the FBI. "The FBI received this case from the plaintiff's attorney," Luna explained. The "plaintiff" in this case was presumably Houseton, who filed a lawsuit. During the clips of the conversation reviewed by Blaze News, the voice identified as Luna's admits to having "failed" his team members. He also indicates that he had not personally reviewed the incident footage, which others in the room characterize as "innocuous" and not too "grievous." Deputies also repeatedly ask Luna to use the power of his office to stand with Kirk and publicly oppose his conviction. Luna promised he would consider it. Luna's history with law enforcement in general is rather mixed, even though he has spent his entire career as a cop, first with the Long Beach Police Department and now as the head of the largest sheriff's department in America. Though Luna wanted to be a police officer from the time he was little, he indicated to the L.A. Times that he grew up in a community that was generally distrustful of law enforcement. Luna also recalled to the Times an incident in which he was apparently the victim of unnecessary police aggression. "At age 13, he said, he was slammed face-first against the hood of a sheriff’s deputy’s car for crossing against a red light on his bicycle," the outlet summarized for a profile piece in October 2022, shortly before Luna was elected sheriff. Luna also campaigned for sheriff on the promise of breaking up so-called "deputy gangs." While he has since managed to ban such gangs, he has yet to name a single deputy gang member, Wilson told Blaze News. Additionally, Luna has a track record of handling possible instances of excessive force within his department. During one of the occasionally violent demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd's death, an officer with the Long Beach Police Department shot a journalist with a "foam projectile," the LAist reported in 2020. LBPD — then helmed by Police Chief Luna — ultimately determined that the shooting "was within policy," the outlet said. 'To show unity': Deputies make their voices heard The deputies of L.A. County have not taken the conviction of Kirk or Luna's alleged capitulation to leftist pressure lying down. For example, a handful, including a sergeant, have reportedly refused to accept medals and other accolades awarded by the department. They even "refused to actually go to the awards ceremony," Wilson insisted. 'The magnitude of this boycott ... makes Luna look terrible in the law enforcement community nationwide.' In a more widespread show of solidarity with Kirk, hundreds of L.A. deputies and other staff members have decided to boycott one of their favorite annual events: the Baker to Vegas relay. While the L.A. Sheriff's Department regularly fields two dozen or so relay teams, this year, at least 20 sheriff's stations — including Santa Clarita, West Hollywood, two detention centers, the Training Bureau, and, of course, Kirk's home station in Lancaster — are refusing to participate. Protesting the Baker to Vegas relay is no minor demonstration. Billed as "the world’s most prestigious and unique law enforcement foot race," the event draws teams from across the country and across the globe. "There's folks flying in from Brazil. There's folks from Australia, from Germany," Yu told Blaze News. "This is a big thing." Yu would know. Now an attorney, Yu spent 15 years as a deputy with the LASD. The deputies who race are very "competitive," he said, often averaging five and a half minutes per mile. "I tried out for a county-wide team," Yu recalled. "I ran a six-minute mile, and I did not make the team." "It's to show unity," Yu explained. "It's to run for your fallen brothers and sisters, for mental health. There's a lot of suicides in law enforcement, so it's a huge race." Wilson confirmed to Blaze News that Sheriff Luna has participated in the event and understands its importance to department staff. "The magnitude of this boycott ... makes Luna look terrible in the law enforcement community nationwide," Wilson said. "To have the deputies not show up, it makes Luna look terrible." This year, the Baker to Vegas race is scheduled for April 5 and 6. Instead, many L.A. deputies are opting to participate in a 5K race to raise money for Kirk and his family. While Yu and Wilson are expecting a good turnout for the alternative race, they claimed that Luna may be trying to spoil or otherwise interfere with the event by attempting to ascertain the individuals orchestrating it. Wilson shared with Blaze News a screenshot of one such message, allegedly from a Luna ally: Screenshot shared with Blaze News. Used with permission. Yu and Wilson believe the purpose behind these probing questions is to intimidate would-be participants and convince them not to join the Kirk race. "We've had multiple deputies tell us and send us screenshots of friend requests and questions from Luna's staff asking who's boycotting, who is drumming this up, and applying pressure to deputies ... as a form of retaliation," Wilson said. In the statement given to Blaze News, Officer McClendon of the information bureau addressed the accusations of intimidation: The Department issued an internal global email on March 5, 2025, to personnel after it had received several reports from personnel who have stated they have been targeted with actions of harassment, threats of retaliation, and bullying related to participating in the Baker to Vegas race. We want to emphasize that whether or not personnel choose to participate, any form of harassment, retaliation, or misconduct will not be tolerated under any circumstances. 'No-brainer': Trump, Dhillon, and righting a wrong Despite what Wilson calls the "cloud" hanging over the department, he, Yu, and others hold out hope that Kirk can still avoid prison time. The clearest way for him to do so would be for the judge, a long-serving Reagan appointee, to vacate the verdict. While such an outcome may sound like a long shot, there are encouraging signs. For example, following the guilty verdict, the judge did not remand Kirk to custody, a decision which Yu described as "very rare." 'They were laughing, smiling, high-fiving each other, giving each other hugs.' Moreover, the federal investigation into Kirk and his federal prosecution began under the Biden administration. During the trial, Wilson and Yu claimed that in a show of force, federal agencies packed the courtroom with young agency newcomers who enthusiastically supported the prosecution. After the guilty verdict was announced, these agency supporters cheered loudly, Wilson claimed. "They were laughing, smiling, high-fiving each other, giving each other hugs," he said. "It was shocking." With President Trump now in office, the DOJ has new leadership who may view the prosecution of Kirk in a different light. One individual with some influence in the Trump administration with strong ties to California is Harmeet Dhillon, now the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ. Wilson, Yu, and others are hoping she will intervene on Kirk's behalf. Dhillon's office and the DOJ did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images While Dhillon is aware of Kirk's case, she likely does not know "the extent of the miscarriage of justice," Yu said. Wilson believes that if the right people in the administration get wind of Kirk's situation, they will act. "If they understood the extent of this, this would be a no-brainer," he said. "It's just getting the information to them." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
WNBA star Caitlin Clark may be known for her incredible skills on the basketball court, but sportscasters don’t seem to care about that. Rather, they choose to focus on something else: her race. “When given a chance to talk about Caitlin Clark, they’re always going to racialize it and try to demonize Caitlin Clark’s fanbase,” Jason Whitlock of “Fearless” comments. “Covering the WNBA this past season, Caitlin Clark’s rookie year, for all of the conversation that surrounded her, some which was fair, and some which wasn’t, the one thing that I cannot deny is the amount of little girls that were showing up to follow her,” ESPN analyst Monica McNutt said in a recent interview on BBC. “She was a white girl from the middle of America, and so she represented a whole lot to a lot of people,” McNutt continued, adding, “We attach our fandom to these icons for all types of reasons, and sometimes they may not be based in all truth.” Whitlock believes the interviewer, BBC journalist Katty Kay, spurred on the race baiting. “Did you see the strategy of the white liberal woman that was there to spur on the race baiting?” he asks. “She’s trying to lob up a softball, ‘play the race card Monica McNutt,’ and this is where I’m going to defend Monica McNutt.” “There’s that kernel and element of truth that Caitlin Clark and all the little suburban white girls that have hopped on board with the WNBA have hopped on board because Caitlin Clark resonates with them more so than the, and I’m just generalizing here, than the angry black lesbians who dominate the WNBA.” “There’s a high percentage of them, and they all like to get in front of a microphone and express their anger and demonize whiteness. The entire league went head over heels for Black Lives Matter,” he continues, adding, “So yes, have parents in suburbia and little girls in suburbia said, ‘Hey, I can relate to Caitlin Clark, look at her nuclear family, look at her Catholic nuclear family, she’s like us, she has a boyfriend.’” “Yes, people find that relatable,” he adds. Want more from Jason Whitlock?To enjoy more fearless conversations at the crossroads of culture, faith, sports, and comedy with Jason Whitlock, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
A licensed embalmer was arrested after she allegedly cut off a dead man's genitals and stuffed them into his mouth. The horrific incident was reported to Houston police by an embalming student at the Memorial Mortuary and Crematory in Texas. The trainee claimed to have seen 34-year-old Amber Paige Laudermilk commit the act after finding out the man had been a registered sex offender. 'No matter what one thinks of his life, the law requires that he be treated with dignity in death.' Police said that Laudermilk used a scalpel to stab at the genitals of Charles Roy Rodriguez in February. Rodriguez had been charged with sexual assault in 2001 and received 10 years of deferred adjudication before he died at the age of 58 of natural causes. Rodriguez was cremated after the alleged desecration of his corpse. “This case is about two troubled people: the victim who was a registered sex offender and the defendant, who is accused of viciously attacking his dead body,” said Precinct One Constable Alan Rosen in a post on Facebook. “No matter what one thinks of his life, the law requires that he be treated with dignity in death.” After Laudermilk allegedly committed the abuse, one of the witnesses said Laudermilk remarked, "You didn't see anything," in a manner that was perceived as a threat. “I don’t know the suspect’s past, but we have the utmost empathy for anyone who has been the victim of a sexual assault or is the family or friend of someone who has been the victim of a sexual assault,” Rosen concluded. “The facts clearly indicate she was angry and I hope after this is resolved in the courts, she gets the help she needs.”Rosen posted an update that Laudermilk had turned herself in and was being held at the Harris County Jail with a bond of $5,000. Video from the mortuary can be viewed on the news report from KPRC-TV on YouTube. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!