"You are a stickler for the law. It reminds me of Les Mis and the famous person who wanted to get the person who had a sandwich," Khanna told whistleblower Gary Shapley, suggesting he is excessively committed to enforcing the law and self-righteous.

The comparison refers to the antagonist Inspector Javert, a central character in the novel Les Misérables and its musical adaptation. Javert pursues the protagonist, Jean Valjean, for breaking his parole after serving prison time for stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving child. Javert lacks empathy for criminals and is obsessively devoted to returning Valjean to prison for the minor offense.

IRS whistleblowers Shapley and Joseph Ziegler testified before Congress Wednesday surrounding the agency's investigation into first son Hunter Biden, which they say was sabotaged by the Justice Department.

The whistleblowers allege that the DOJ shielded Hunter Biden and his father President Joe Biden from scrutiny, preventing prosecutors from filing felony charges and undermining the tax investigation.

"There were certain investigative steps that we weren't allowed to take that could have led us to President Biden," Shapley said when he came forward. "We needed to take them."

Hunter Biden agreed in June to plead guilty to misdemeanor tax crimes, a move that will likely keep him out of prison. The plea deal ended a five-year probe into Biden's taxes.

The post WATCH: House Dem Compares IRS Whistleblower to Villain From 'Les Mis' appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

The assailant, identified by authorities as Sawyer Walden Allee, threw an unidentified liquid on the councilman, Phil Brock, and his girlfriend in an attack that was caught on video. Brock had approached the man, who was tearing down signs on a store, to request he throw away the refuse. The man then shoved Brock, shouted obscenities, stole his hat, and threw the liquid.

Allee was charged with battery and grand theft, marking his third felony arrest in less than three weeks. He had been released twice from Los Angeles County jail on felony charges days before the attack.

"I turned to walk away. He took a bottle of some sort of liquid and threw it on me," Brock told KTLA. "Made a second throw and doused Kathryn [Brock's girlfriend] as well. We called 911."

Brock, who advocates on his campaign website for more police and for the enforcement of misdemeanors, noted that Santa Monica—like other cities across the state— is struggling with a homelessness problem on its streets.

California also faces rising crime as Democratic state leaders push to ease sentencing and empty prisons.

"L.A. is finished," Rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson said earlier this month after Los Angeles county, in which Santa Monica is located, reinstated a zero-bail policy for people charged with nonviolent felonies. The city saw an 11 percent increase in its crime rate in 2022.

Homicides in San Francisco increased nearly 40 percent from 2020 to 2022 and deaths from fentanyl spiked. The city lost more than 50,000 residents last year—the highest population decrease for any major U.S. city.

The post WATCH: Homeless Man Attacks Santa Monica Councilman Who Asked Him To Stop Littering appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

The Court last month overturned Biden's order to give borrowers $10,000 to $20,000 in onetime student debt forgiveness. The Court said the president overstepped in his powers and circumvented Congress's power to make laws regarding spending.

The administration quickly moved to roll out an alternative plan to relieve student debt. Biden last month unveiled the Saving on Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan. Proposed by the Education Department, SAVE would bring down payments by thousands of dollars over the life of many people's loans.

A single person making less than $32,805 a year would see their monthly payment go to $0 under the policy.

That plan, which is set to take effect in July 2024, could cost an estimated $475 billion over the next decade, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a research initiative at the University of Pennsylvania.

The model shows that the cost could even be tens of billions of dollars higher, The Hill reported:

The model predicts $200 billion will go toward payment reductions from the $1.64 trillion in outstanding loans in 2023, while the other $275 billion would go toward the $1.03 trillion in outstanding loans expected over the next 10 years. 

It is predicted that around 6.57 percent of future borrowers wouldn’t have to pay any money back under this plan. 

On the conservative side, the model says the program could cost around $390 billion, while the maximum projection is more than $558 billion. 

The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision that overturned Biden's first attempt at student debt forgiveness spared the United States roughly $300 billion in spending. Biden's Education Department had estimated the debt relief would cost $30 billion a year for the next decade.

The post Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness 2.0 Could Cost an Estimated $475 Billion appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"Israel is an apartheid state. To assert otherwise, Mr. Speaker, in the face of this body of evidence, is an attempt to deny the reality and to normalize violence of apartheid," Tlaib said on Tuesday. The resolution supporting the U.S. ally passed overwhelmingly, with only nine members voting against it, all members of the Progressive Caucus.

The resolution stated that "Israel not a racist or apartheid state." It also said the United States will "always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel."

The comments came one day before a joint session address to Congress by Israeli president Isaac Herzog, who will commemorate the 75th anniversary of Israel's founding.

Tlaib and several other progressive House members, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.) have announced they plan to boycott Herzog's Wednesday speech.

"There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied @RashidaTlaib the ability to see her grandma," Omar said last week.

Fellow progressive Pramila Jayapal (Wash.) has been under fire since the weekend, when she dragged Israel during a speech in Chicago.

"Can I say something as somebody who's been in the streets and participated in a lot of demonstrations?" Jayapal told the crowd. "I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy."

House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) on Monday called out House Democrats for making anti-Semitic comments and blamed the Democratic Party for not holding them accountable.

The post WATCH: Congresswoman Shouts Israel Is ‘Apartheid State’ Before 9 Dems Vote in Agreement appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s Army Command East, said Russia has around 900 tanks and 555 artillery systems accompanying the troops. The Russian Army is attacking the region while Ukrainian forces focus on the southern front in their ongoing counteroffensive. The Russian forces have reportedly been unsuccessful in breaking through thus far.

"They are concentrating everything in order to break through our defense," Cherevatyi said. "Our soldiers are firmly on the defensive. They do not allow the enemy to seize the initiative."

Russia has also recently reinforced its positions around Bakhmut with additional forces ... and Moscow is seeking to break through in the Kharkiv region as President Vladimir Putin wants a big win.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar supported that view, saying: "As soon as we seize the operational initiative and begin to advance, the enemy immediately activates in additional directions to distract and draw our forces there."

The post Russia Is Massing 100,000 Troops for Offensive, Ukraine Says appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"It would be a very slow process even if you had the money and the facilities were all in good shape," John Shages, who used to oversee the oil reserves for the Energy Department, told Bloomberg. "It could take decades."

"In the meantime, with the reserve at its lowest level in 40 years, the U.S. could be vulnerable to oil price shocks. It also means that during domestic supply crunches, the nation will be left to the mercy of global exporters like Saudi Arabia, Russia and the rest of the OPEC+ cartel," Bloomberg reported.

Over about six months ahead last year's midterm elections, the Biden administration sold off 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to lower gas prices, marking the fastest withdrawal in history. In December, Biden announced an effort to replenish the supplies, which are intended to prevent the United States from running out of oil in the case of disruptions or crises.

But as the Washington Free Beacon reported in May, at the pace set by the Biden administration, it would take 40 years to reach the previous oil supply levels. The DOE announced in June that it purchased 3 million barrels and plans to buy 3 million more.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in March the administration "will begin that process this year, but to refill the full amount is impossible." Granholm admitted that it would take years to return oil reserve levels to where they were before Biden entered office.

In an interview this week with CNN, Granholm said it is "definitely possible" her agency will pick up the pace but the job won't be done before the end of Biden's term.

The reserves are intended to prevent the United States from running out of oil in the case of disruptions or crises.

Among the recipients of Biden's selloff of the oil reserves was a Chinese state-controlled gas company. The Energy Department announced it sold 950,000 barrels to Unipec, the trading entity of the government-owned China Petrochemical Corporation.

Republicans have criticized the White House's failure to fill the reserves faster.

"DOE’s mismanagement of the SPR has undermined America’s energy security, leaving the nation more vulnerable to energy supply disruptions, and increasing the ability for OPEC and Russia to use energy as a geopolitical weapon," Republicans lawmakers in a May letter to the Government Accountability Office. They requested an audit of the reserves.

The post Emergency Oil Reserves Drained by Biden Could Take Decades To Refill, Experts Say appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"If the Democrats want to believe that they do not have a conference that continues to make anti-Semitic remarks, they need to do something about it," McCarthy said Monday, responding to a question about Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), who called Israel a "racist state" over the weekend.

Jayapal made the comment at a Chicago event this weekend after being disrupted by a pro-Palestinian protester.

"Can I say something as somebody who's been in the streets and participated in a lot of demonstrations?" Jayapal told the crowd. "I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy."

McCarthy called on party leadership to condemn the comments.

"Do they think Israel is an evil state?" he asked. "If they believe differently they should take action against their own for the comments coming from their leadership from within their own Democratic Party."

McCarthy referenced anti-Semitic comments made by several House Democrats, including Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), and Betty McCollum (Minn.), as evidence of pervasive anti-Semitism in the House Democratic caucus.

"These are just multiple Democrats on multiple times consistently saying anti-Semitic remarks, and it has got to stop," McCarthy said.

Jayapal's comments came ahead of a visit by Israeli president Isaac Herzog, who will deliver a joint session address to Congress to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Israel's founding.

Several progressive members of Congress have announced they will boycott the remarks, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Omar.

"There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied @RashidaTlaib the ability to see her grandma," Omar said last week.

Omar added that because Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu "barred the first two Muslim women elected to congress from visiting the country," Herzog should not be invited. Netanyahu issued the ban in 2019. Tzipi Hotovely, the then-deputy foreign minister, said at the time that the country bars entry to "those who reject our right to exist in the world."

The post WATCH: Kevin McCarthy Calls Out Democrats’ Anti-Semitic Comments appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"The D.A.'s role has really no impact on crime. To create a safe community, we need to invest in alternatives to incarceration," Alameda County district attorney Pamela Price, who is facing a recall effort after just six months in office, told a local CBS outlet.

Despite claiming her position has no impact on crime, Price blamed her predecessor for "exploding crime" in the Northern California county.

"I was elected because the people in this community didn't feel safe, unfortunately," Price said. "We know that crime under my predecessor was pretty much exploding."

The CBS interviewer asked Price about families of victims who have accused her of being "unfair" in giving "excessively" lenient sentences for violent crimes. Several of Price's prosecutorial decisions have attracted controversy, including her move to give a plea deal to a teen linked to three murders that will give him just seven years in juvenile hall.

In that case, Price ignored the advice of the sheriff's office in Alameda County, which urged her to charge Sergio Morales-Jacquez, now 18 years old, as an adult because of his "extensive and violent criminal history in multiple jurisdictions."

Price was elected in November and campaigned as an "unapologetic progressive" who wants to "upend" conventions like prison sentencing. She promised to "stop over-criminalizing our youth."

A group called "Save Alameda for Everyone" recently launched to raise money and gather signatures to get Price out of office.

During the interview, Price's public relations assistant stopped the interview to press the reporter to ask about Price's achievements. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I don't think you asked about the achievements of the first six months," Price's PR head Patti Lee said.

The reporter then asked what metrics Price is using to measure her achievements, and Price admitted her office has yet to establish them.

"I think the metrics are that we're beginning to create a baseline for the data that we have," Price said. "Unfortunately, we got here and the technology is pretty much outdated and underutilized."

Price took hundreds of thousands of dollars from progressive billionaire Soros during her campaign. Soros funds prosecutors across the country who promise to push progressive ideals, including eliminating cash bail.

The post WATCH: Soros-Funded DA Says Her Job Has 'No Impact on Crime' appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

The U.S. military uses the email domain name ".MIL," which is sometimes misspelled as ".ML," the registered domain for the nation of Mali in West Africa. Emails intended to reach Pentagon officials, some containing diplomatic documents, tax returns, travel information, and other sensitive details, have mistakenly reached email accounts in Mali when the domain is misspelled, according to a report from the Financial Times.

The issue was first discovered a decade ago by a Dutch internet entrepreneur, Johannes Zuurbier, who has a contract to manage Mali's domain. Zuurbier has warned the U.S. government of the issue and recently increased his efforts as his contract ends this week, after which the information will go back to the Malian government, a close ally of the Kremlin.

"This risk is real and could be exploited by adversaries of the US," Zuurbier said in a letter to the United States, according to the Financial Times.

Zuurbier said he has collected more than 100,000 emails since January to show the United States the magnitude of the problem. He collected almost 1,000 emails in just one day last week. He said there are millions in the system from over the years.

The Pentagon confirmed the problem, saying it implemented controls to stop the misdirected emails from being sent.

"The Department of Defense is aware of this issue and takes all unauthorized disclosures of Controlled National Security Information or Controlled Unclassified Information seriously,"
the Pentagon told Fox News. "DoD has implemented policy, training, and technical controls to ensure that emails from the '.mil' domain are not delivered to incorrect domains. Such emails are blocked before they leave the .mil domain and the sender is notified that they must validate the email addresses of the intended recipients."

The Pentagon added that it is, however, not possible to "implement technical controls preventing the use of personal email accounts for government business."

Mali's connections with U.S. adversaries could prove problematic when the African officials get their hands on the U.S. data. Fighters from Russia's paramilitary Wagner Group have operated in Mali for more than a year to help the country combat insurgent groups. The United States has accused Russia of using Mali as a transit hub to get weapons to Ukraine.

The post Pentagon Typo Puts Military Communications in Hands of Russian Ally appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

The train, operated by CSX and on tracks owned by Norfolk Southern, had 40 cars and derailed just before 5 a.m. in Whitemarsh Township. Officers evacuated businesses and houses in the area as a precaution but said there wasn't a known threat and later lifted the order.

"While preliminary reports indicate that one car transporting hazardous material was involved in the incident, there is no indication of any leaks or spills of hazardous materials and there are no injuries to the crew of the train," a statement from CSX said.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg retweeted a message from the Federal Railroad Administration that it was sending officials to the site.

"FRA safety personnel are en route to the scene of a derailment in Montgomery County, PA, to gather information. FRA will work with local officials on the ground, and encourages residents to follow their guidance," the tweet said.

The incident comes five months after a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, causing a toxic spill. The slow federal response to the disaster led to widespread criticism of the Biden administration, particularly Buttigieg.

Buttigieg took nearly two weeks to issue his first statement on the disaster, opting instead to lecture on construction workers' whiteness. He visited East Palestine nearly three weeks after the crash and spent the visit blaming rail lobbyists, the Trump administration, and Norfolk Southern for the incident.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fell ill after a visit to the site in March, raising questions about the ongoing health effects from the derailment.

Buttigieg has also faced criticism for going on paternity leave in 2021 during supply chain bottlenecks and negotiations over the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. He went on vacation to Portugal in 2022 while rail workers neared a strike.

His administration also was accused of mishandling the Southwest Airlines meltdown over the holidays that led to thousands of canceled flights and stranded travelers.

The post Paging Mayor Pete: Train Carrying Hazardous Materials Derails in Pennsylvania appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent a letter last week to the school's president regarding the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, which brings together the California university with China's Tsinghua University and the city of Shenzhen in southeast China. The letter called out the institute's development of "dual-use technologies" that could benefit the Chinese military and requested information on the institute's research and funding.

"Berkeley’s P.R.C.-backed collaboration with Tsinghua University raises many red flags," the letter, signed by committee chairman Mike Gallagher (R., Wis.) and Rep. Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.), read.

Berkeley told the New York Times that it takes national security "very seriously."

"The campus is reviewing past agreements and actions involving or connected to Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute" and would "fully and transparently cooperate with any federal inquiries," the university said.

Funding the school received from Chinese entities also was called into question, the New York Times reported:

The committee also questioned whether Berkeley had properly disclosed Chinese funding for the institute, and cited its collaborations with Chinese universities and companies that have been the subjects of sanctions by the United States in recent years, like the National University of Defense Technology, the telecom firm Huawei and the Chinese drone maker DJI.

It also said that Berkeley faculty serving at the institute had received funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and other U.S. funding for the development of military applications, raising concerns about Chinese access to those experts.

The post House Investigates UC Berkeley’s China Ties appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"This is my territory," Chief Rick O’Bomsawin, who leads Quebec's Abenaki Bank Council of Odanak, told the New York Post about Ben & Jerry's land in Vermont.

"The territory that they’re speaking of is actually my people’s territory," O'Bomsawin said. "That territory is our homeland."

On July 4, Ben & Jerry’s tweeted that "it's high time we recognize that the US exists on stolen Indigenous land and commit to returning it."

The famously progressive and Israel-critical company explained on its website that traditional Independence Day celebrations can "distract from an essential truth about this nation’s birth: The US was founded on stolen Indigenous land."

Ben & Jerry’s called for the United States to begin restoring justice by ceding Mount Rushmore and surrounding National Park land in South Dakota to tribal communities.

But the Indigenous tribes turned their focus instead to the $1 billion company, whose Vermont headquarters sits on former Abenaki territory. Both tribes trace their lineage to the former inhabitants of the land, though the Canadian group does not recognize its Vermont counterpart.

Don Stevens, the chief of the Nulhegan Band of the Vermont-based Coosuk Abenaki Nation, told Newsweek that his tribe was "always interested in reclaiming the stewardship of our lands" but that Ben & Jerry's had yet to reach out.

Countered O'Bomsawin to the Post: "They can prove no link to the Abenaki nation. The Abenaki people left the state of Vermont and New Hampshire [some three centuries ago] and moved to Canada."

Ben & Jerry's has yet to publicly comment on the competing claims.

The post Ben & Jerry's Called for Return of 'Stolen Indigenous Land.' Now Tribes Are Telling the Company To Put Its Money Where Its Mouth Is. appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Biden approached the child as he boarded Air Force One to leave the country's capital, Helsinki. In video capturing the encounter, Biden is seen placing his mouth on her shoulder and nibbling as the child squirms and the mother looks on confused.

The audience for Biden's departure was made up of embassy staff members and their families.

Unusual behavior is nothing new for Biden, the oldest president in U.S. history. Reports this week revealed he frequently erupts in anger at staff, and the president often stumbles on stairs and stages.

The majority of voters worry about Biden's mental and physical health. An NBC poll last month found 68 percent of all voters worry about his condition and 55 percent said they have "major" concerns.

Biden faces the lowest support from his own party for a reelection bid in modern history. Just 38 percent of Democrats said the party should nominate Biden for reelection, compared with 57 percent who want to find someone else, according to a polling average published earlier this year.

The post WATCH: Biden Bites Child appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Biological males who "transitioned after [male] puberty" will not be allowed to participate in events, Union Cycliste Internationale, the governing body for sports cycling, said Friday. The rules go into effect on July 17.

"From now on, female transgender athletes who have transitioned after [male] puberty will be prohibited from participating in women's events on the UCI International Calendar—in all categories—in the various disciplines," the statement read.

The organization decided earlier this month that the current "state of scientific knowledge" does not prove transgender hormone treatments would reduce the biological advantage males have.

"Given the current state of scientific knowledge does not guarantee such equality of opportunity between transgender female athletes and cisgender female participants, it was not possible, as a precautionary measure, to authorize the former to race in the female categories," UCI president David Lappartient said.

The decision comes after a transgender biological male in South Korea, Na Hwa-rin, made headlines by participating in a cycling race to prove males have a biological advantage.

"I am not honored. I am not proud of myself at all," Na Hwa-rin said. "I believe other transgender athletes would feel the same way. They may not want to admit it, but they’re being selfish. There is no honor as an athlete in that."

Na said the point of competing in the race was to "stir controversy" and "get my story heard by competing."

Last month in North Carolina, biological male Austin Killips won a women's cycling competition five minutes ahead of the runner-up.

The post World Cycling Body Bans Trans Athletes From Women's Events appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Thirty-five migrants reportedly arrived by bus Thursday afternoon from Texas, where Republican governor Greg Abbott continues to bus migrants to blue states to ease the strain on his state's resources.

"The City has continued to work with City Departments, the County, and a coalition of nonprofit organizations, in addition to our faith partners, to execute a plan set in place earlier this year," Democratic Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. "As we have before, when we became aware of the bus yesterday, we activated our plan."

It's the third bus to arrive from Texas in the last month. The first bus arrived on June 14.

"Texas just dropped off the 1st bus of migrants in Los Angeles," Abbott tweeted on June 14. "Small Texas border towns remain overrun & overwhelmed because Biden refuses to secure the border."

Abbott further pointed to the Democrat-led city's "self-declared sanctuary status" as justification for the move.

"LA is a city migrants seek to go to," Abbott said in June, "particularly now its leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary status."

California governor Gavin Newsom (D.) has advertised that his state welcomes migrants. "Let me be clear, @realDonaldTrump: California is a sanctuary state," he tweeted in 2018. "We believe in the power of diversity. We have defied and resisted the xenophobic, hateful policies of your administration at every turn. We will do it again."

Florida governor Ron DeSantis (R.) has also overseen the transport of migrants to California.

His administration sent flights of migrants in June from New Mexico to Sacramento. Newsom later threatened to charge DeSantis with kidnapping.

"@RonDeSantis you small, pathetic man," Newsom tweeted at the time. "This isn't Martha's Vineyard. Kidnapping charges?"

The post Another Busload of Migrants Reaches Los Angeles appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Toyota and Stellantis described the White House's goals, which includes a target of two-thirds of light-duty vehicle sales being electric by 2023, as "overly optimistic."

The plan "underestimates key challenges, including the scarcity of minerals to make batteries, the fact that these minerals are not mined or refined in the US, the inadequate infrastructure, and the high cost of battery-electric vehicles," the automakers said in comments submitted to the federal government.

Plug-in hybrids, which the automakers said are discriminated against in the proposal, and battery electric cars currently make up less than 10 percent of the market.

The proposal would increase American dependence on China, which dominates production of the rare minerals necessary to produce the batteries. Toyota said the Environmental Protection Agency relied on a "cursory assessment" of the availability of rare minerals when it crafted its objectives.

The companies said they agree with "the objective of reducing carbon as much as possible, as soon as possible" but that the administration's goals are untenable.

President Joe Biden's Environmental Protection Agency announced in April a proposal to limit tailpipe emissions, making the restrictions so strict that automakers will have to mainly sell fully electric vehicles.

Experts say such a rule will also lead to layoffs for autoworkers in states such as Michigan and Ohio.

"We've dealt with the loss of jobs before through technology," local United Auto Workers official Mark DePaoli told the New York Times, "but when you talk about the speed of this, it's hard to fathom that we won't lose jobs."

Despite the White House push, less than one in five Americans say they're very likely to make an electric car their next vehicle purchase.

The post Top Automakers Blast 'Unrealistic' Biden Plan To Force EV Transition appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Khalid Kamau, a vocal Democratic Socialist and cofounder of the Atlanta chapter of Black Lives Matter, is charged with first-degree trespass and burglary after a homeowner caught him entering his home on Saturday.

"We have never backed down from courageous conversations, but now is not the time for those discussions," Kamau said upon his return Tuesday during a city council session. "We have city business to get to."

He noted that "a lot has happened in the past few days" and he will "announce a time and place for those conversations to happen."

Homeowner Jack Lecroy confronted Kamau on July 8 with his gun after he saw a security alert that someone was on his property. Kamau began to walk away from the house and Lecroy shouted for him to stop and wait for police.

"I don’t have to listen to you, and you can’t give me orders," the socialist mayor yelled in response, according to police reports. He then screamed profanities at the homeowner. He later said that he wanted to see the home because he'd like to live there and was aware that he was criminally trespassing.

Fellow Democrat Roger Bruce, a state representative, said, "If he's sincere about that, he would resign."

"He would resign and allow the city to do the work that needs to be done," Bruce said.

Kamau has served as the leader of the Atlanta chapter of Democratic Socialists of America and advocates for socialism.

"Democratic Socialists believe our country should be run by real, working people—not big corporations & billionaires," Kamau says on his website. He further calls for defunding police and cutting military spending.

The post Socialist Mayor Charged With Burglary Returns to Office Days After Arrest appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"There is no way in hell I am attending the joint session address from a President whose country has banned me and denied @RashidaTlaib the ability to see her grandma," Omar said on Wednesday, referring to the scheduled July 19 address by Israeli president Isaac Herzog.

She added that because Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu "barred the first two Muslim women elected to congress from visiting the country," Herzog should not be invited. Netanyahu issued the ban in 2019. Tzipi Hotovely, the then-deputy foreign minister, said at the time that the country bars entry to "those who reject our right to exist in the world."

Herzog is making the trip to Washington to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Israel's founding.

Omar has a history of making anti-Semitic statements. In 2012, she invoked an anti-Semitic trope, tweeting, "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel." In 2019, she suggested pro-Israel politicians were paid off, saying, "It's all about the Benjamins, baby."

The announcement comes a month after the far-left "Squad" Democrats Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.) boycotted an address by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

"A joint address is among the most prestigious invitations and honors the United States Congress can extend," Ocasio-Cortez said ahead of Modi's June remarks. "We should not do so for individuals with deeply troubling human rights records."

Omar and Tlaib cited human rights and the treatment of Muslims in the majority-Hindu country.

"It's shameful that Modi has been given a platform at our nation's capital—his long history of human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions, targeting Muslims & religious minorities, and censoring journalists is unacceptable," Tlaib tweeted.

The post 'No Way in Hell': Ilhan Omar Announces Boycott of Israeli President's Address to Congress appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

Anchor Brewing Company, which calls itself America's first craft brewery, is closing its doors in the city after first opening them in 1896. Its owners cited inflation and lingering pandemic impacts.

"The inflationary impact of product costs in San Francisco is one factor," spokesman Sam Singer said. "The impacts of the pandemic, inflation, especially in San Francisco, and a highly competitive market left the company with no option but to make this sad decision to cease operations."

Fleeing businesses is not a new phenomenon in the California city. Office vacancies in San Francisco hit a record high rate in the second quarter this year. Among the companies trying to ditch their office space in the struggling city this quarter were Uber, Airbnb, and Salesforce.

The vacancy rate hit 31.8 percent in the second quarter, which continues a three-year trend of the market's downturn. In just three months this year, 1.9 million square feet of office space was added to the market, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Many businesses have cited crime and homelessness in their decision to close up shop. Homicides in San Francisco have increased nearly 40 percent from 2020 to 2022 and deaths from fentanyl have spiked.

Old Navy announced in May it will close its flagship store. Whole Foods and Nordstrom have shuttered businesses in the city over safety concerns. The latter's exit is costing the city 380 jobs. The downtown area of the city has lost half of its businesses since the start of the pandemic.

Hotels across the city are also closing as they fail to recover like others have in comparable markets. Revenue per available room was 23 percent lower in April than during the same time in 2019, while hotels in New York City and Los Angeles are exceeding their 2019 metrics, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The post 127-Year-Old Brewery Is Latest Business To Ditch San Francisco appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.

"They start their day picking up the news, the morning papers … and they see some of the most horrific events that may happen throughout the previous day," Adams told Fox 5 New York on Wednesday. He added that the coverage "plays on your psyche."

Adams was responding to a Siena College poll that found 41 percent of New York State residents have never felt as concerned about their safety as they do now. The vast majority, 87 percent, said crime is a very or somewhat serious problem in the city and state.

"We know it’s going to take time," Adams said. "But if you lead off every day with some of the horrific incidents that take place in the city with 8.5 million people, there’s a feeling that you have."

Even Alvin Bragg, the city's progressive district attorney, admitted this week he is fearful of crime on the subway. "I know the statistics that transit crime is down, but when one of my family members gets on the train, I, too, get a knot in my stomach," he said.

Amid the crime worries, the New York Police Department is struggling. A report from March showed New York City police officers are resigning in record numbers. The NYPD at the same time lowered its fitness requirements to bring more women on the force.

The post Eric Adams Blames Media for New Yorkers' Worries About Crime appeared first on Washington Free Beacon.