A Tennessee Democrat pushed a state trooper and screamed in his face as tempers flared when lawmakers gathered to approve new Republican-backed congressional maps on Thursday.
Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson (D), known for his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/there-is-nothing-off-the-table-tennessee-dem-says-anything-goes-in-fight-against-fascist-gop">tirades</a> against the state&#8217;s conservative majority and his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fake-southern-preacher-videos-show-expelled-tennessee-lawmakers-oratorical-transformation">shapeshifting personality</a>, got into a confrontation with state troopers who were attempting to secure the state capitol as leftist protesters converged on the area. In a video captured by ABC&#8217;s Nashville affiliate WKRN, state troopers appeared to be attempting to detain a man when Pearson stepped in and shoved the trooper&#8217;s arm away.
&#8220;Move the f*ck back!&#8221; Pearson shouted as he stared down the law enforcement officer.
The state trooper backed away and held his arms in the air as Pearson continued to berate him and call him &#8220;boy.&#8221;
&#8220;What the f*ck is wrong with you?&#8221; Pearson screamed. &#8220;What the f*ck is wrong with you? You stupid motherf*cker!&#8221;
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Warning: explicit language
Rep. Pearson came to the gallery as troopers appeared to arrest a demonstrator. There’s a heated exchange. <a href="https://t.co/Dq76zVrTtW">pic.twitter.com/Dq76zVrTtW</a>
— Tori Gessner (@ToriGessnerTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/ToriGessnerTV/status/2052404638410735643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Pearson&#8217;s meltdown occurred just before Tennessee Republicans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brutal-blow-for-democrats-in-red-state-sparks-leftist-outrage?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Brutal+Blow+For+Democrats+In+Red+State+Sparks+Leftist+Outrage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> on Thursday to approve new congressional maps that will likely wipe out the Democrats&#8217; only U.S. House seat in the state. Republican Governor Bill Lee signed the bill into law shortly after the vote. The special session in Tennessee&#8217;s capital was quickly organized after the Supreme Court ruled that certain majority-black districts put in place by the Voting Rights Act amounted to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
During the special session, hundreds of protesters entered the state capitol and claimed that state Republicans were enacting &#8220;Jim Crow 2.0&#8221; and &#8220;Modern Apartheid.&#8221; Another video captured by WKRN showed leftist protesters refusing to leave the Capitol building after state troopers began clearing the gallery.
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Some protestors are now refusing to leave and chanting in the gallery. <a href="https://t.co/uYtLGiltOq">pic.twitter.com/uYtLGiltOq</a>
— Tori Gessner (@ToriGessnerTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/ToriGessnerTV/status/2052401991725306142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 7, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Rep. Steve Cohen, who currently serves the lone Democratic district in Tennessee that has been upended by the new map, <a href="https://x.com/RepCohen/status/2052481665080213523">accused</a> Republicans of &#8220;enforc[ing] a racial gerrymander of Memphis.&#8221;
&#8220;Trump knows he HAS TO rig the game to keep his majority in November. And the TN GOP was willing to go along with it. It’s shameful. Next stop is the courts,&#8221; Cohen added.
Republican state leaders celebrated the vote as the party will likely boast a 9-0 advantage in Tennessee&#8217;s Congressional delegation come November.
“It’s a great day for Tennessee! Thank you to President [Donald Trump] for leading the charge, Governor [Bill Lee], and to the legislators who worked quickly and diligently to make this possible,” Blackburn posted on X. “This is how we cement President Trump’s agenda and usher in America’s Golden Age here in Tennessee, and how we become America’s conservative leader.”
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.

Justin Pearson

WATCH: Democrat Shoves State Trooper, Screams In His Face As Redistricting Protest Turns Ugly

Democrats

Redistricting

Tennessee

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) told reporters on Wednesday that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was not &#8220;100% truthful&#8221; about his past relationship with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Lutnick arrived on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning for a closed-door deposition before the Oversight Committee to answer questions on his relationship with Epstein. Before the deposition began, Comer took questions from reporters and said the Commerce secretary has not been fully honest in some of his past statements on Epstein.
Lutnick claimed last year that he vowed never to go near Epstein after a strange encounter with the financier in 2005. Photos released by the Justice Department in its trove of Epstein documents, however, show Lutnick with the disgraced financier on his infamous private island in 2012 — four years after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting a minor for prostitution.
&#8220;We&#8217;ll let the American people judge whether the credibility was damaged,&#8221; Comer <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/2052041254582497381">said</a> before the Oversight Committee hearing began. &#8220;But at the end of the day, I haven&#8217;t seen wrongdoing in the email correspondence. But he wasn&#8217;t 100% truthful with whether or not he had been on the island.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1053025" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1053025" class="wp-image-1053025 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Untitled-design-2026-03-03T151929.602.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Justice Department</div>
Comer added that the Oversight Committee would ask Lutnick more questions about his visit to Little Saint James.
&#8220;We haven&#8217;t talked to too many people that have admitted they&#8217;ve been on the island,&#8221; he <a href="https://x.com/cspan/status/2052041606396563913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2052041606396563913%7Ctwgr%5Eaf21514ed8f52cc35fd510d98c61f2c482bcb7a4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mediaite.com%2Fmedia%2Fnews%2Fjames-comer-hits-lutnick-ahead-of-epstein-testimony-he-wasnt-100-truthful-about-island-visit%2F">said</a>. &#8220;It&#8217;s my understanding he wasn&#8217;t on the island very long. He was there with his wife and kids, but we&#8217;ll see what he says.&#8221;
The Oversight Committee chairman promised to release the full transcript of Lutnick&#8217;s deposition in the coming days.
During a Senate hearing in February, Lutnick <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-cabinet-secretary-confirms-he-visited-epsteins-island-with-wife-and-children-in-2012">confirmed</a> he visited Epstein&#8217;s Little Saint James Island and said he was accompanied by his wife and four children, as well as another couple and their children. Lutnick told senators that he had lunch with Epstein on his island for around an hour while he was on vacation with his family. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein&#8217;s sex crimes.
The Commerce secretary has been ripped by Democrats and some Republicans who expressed concern about his previous storyline.
“It’s now clear that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has been lying about his relationship with Epstein. He said he had no interactions with Epstein after 2005, yet we now know they were in business together. Lutnick must resign or be fired. And he must answer our questions,” Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the ranking Democratic member on the House Oversight Committee, said in February.
Lutnick is the first Trump administration official to be questioned under oath before the Oversight Committee on the Epstein investigation. The Commerce secretary went in for a closed-door deposition voluntarily.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve been on the Oversight Committee 10 years, and there&#8217;s never been a chairman [who has brought] in Cabinet secretaries of their own party,&#8221; Comer added.
Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi is also slated to appear before the committee for questioning on the Epstein case in the coming weeks. Bondi was fired as attorney general in early April as President Donald Trump was frustrated with the lack of criminal prosecutions of Democrats who committed lawfare against him. Bondi also faced scrutiny over how she handled the Epstein investigation.

Howard Lutnick

House Oversight Chair Says Lutnick ‘Wasn’t 100% Truthful’ About Epstein Ahead Of Hearing

Department of Justice

House Oversight Committee

James Comer

Jeffrey Epstein

The suspect who attempted to storm the White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner with a plan to assassinate President Donald Trump and top administration officials was potentially motivated by anger about the war in Iran, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
A DHS intelligence report obtained by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/iran-conflict-may-have-motivated-trump-dinner-shooting-suspect-us-intelligence-2026-05-06/">Reuters</a> on Wednesday concluded that the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran &#8220;may have contributed&#8221; to Cole Allen&#8217;s &#8220;decision to conduct the attack.&#8221; Posts on a social media account linked to Allen raged against the U.S. government&#8217;s actions in Iran and recently called for Trump to be impeached over the president&#8217;s warning that &#8220;a whole civilization will die.&#8221;
A DHS spokesman told Reuters that the intelligence report was created to &#8220;notify our partners of the latest available information following significant incidents that have impacts to homeland security.&#8221;
Allen wrote out some of his motivations in a manifesto that he shared with family members minutes before he attempted to charge into the ballroom at the White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner, according to federal prosecutors. In a 1,000-word document, the suspected would-be assassin referred to Trump as a &#8220;pedophile, rapist, and traitor&#8221; and wrote that his goal was to murder Trump administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, targeting them from “highest-ranking to lowest.&#8221;
While Allen did not mention any frustrations about the Iran war in his manifesto, in a criticism of the security at the Washington Hilton, the suspect wrote, &#8220;If I was an Iranian agent, instead of an American citizen, I could have brought a damn Ma Deuce in here and no one would have noticed sh*t.&#8221; A Ma Deuce is a .50-caliber heavy machine gun used by many militaries.
In the manifesto, Allen condemned other U.S. military action, highlighting strikes on suspected drug runners in the Caribbean. Allen said the suspected drug runners were “fisherman executed without trial.”
In the manifesto, the suspect called himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and invoked his Christian faith, arguing that &#8220;Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes.&#8221;
Minutes after President Trump arrived at the Washington Hilton for the White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner on April 25, Allen ran through a security checkpoint and fired one shot from his Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun that struck a Secret Service agent, according to the Justice Department. A Secret Service agent returned fire, and Allen was detained shortly after he got past the security checkpoint when he fell to the ground. Allen was not hit by any of the agent&#8217;s shots, and the agent who was shot by Allen was protected by a bulletproof vest.
Allen was also carrying a fully-loaded Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber pistol and multiple knives when he attacked, the Justice Department said. Allen was initially charged with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors added an additional charge of assault on a federal officer. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said Sunday that the Secret Service agent was &#8220;definitively&#8221; shot by Allen.
“He had every intention to kill him and anyone who got in his way on his way to killing the president of the United States,&#8221; Pirro <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/03/trump-assassination-cole-allen-suicide-pirro.html#:~:text=%7C%20Getty%20Images-,U.S.%20Attorney%20for%20the%20District%20of%20Columbia%20Jeanine%20Pirro%20said,his%20bullet%2C%22%20Pirro%20said.">said</a>.
Earlier this week, the judge overseeing Allen&#8217;s case <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-issues-stunning-apology-to-accused-trump-assassin">apologized</a> to the suspect for the conditions he has faced in jail. Judge Zia Faruqui, who has a soft-on-crime <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woke-judge-who-apologized-to-wannabe-trump-assassin-has-a-radical-leftist-record">record</a>, grilled jail officials for placing Allen on a temporary suicide watch that required 24-hour isolation.

Cole Allen/Police

Feds Uncover Critical Link In Radicalization Of Wannabe Trump Assassin

assassination attempt

Department of Homeland Security

Donald Trump

White House Correspondents’ Dinner

A rare strain of hantavirus that has a 40% mortality rate and spreads through human-to-human contact could be responsible for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mystery-illness-eyed-in-deaths-aboard-luxury-cruise">three deaths</a> on board a luxury cruise ship, health officials believe.
The outbreak on the MV Hondius, which was sailing from Argentina to Cape Verde, has resulted in at least seven other infections and has trapped other passengers on the ship as government and health officials try to figure out how to get sick passengers off the cruise ship. Most hantavirus strains only spread to humans from rodent droppings, urine, or saliva, but one rare and extremely dangerous strain can spread from human-to-human and “can’t be ruled out,” the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
“We do believe that there may be some human-to-human transmission that is happening among the really close contacts,” World Health Organization official Maria Van Kerkhove <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/05/world-news/cruise-ship-infected-with-terrifying-hantavirus-strain-that-has-40-mortality-rate-who-believes-heres-what-happens-next/">said</a>.
“We do know that some of the cases had very close contact with each other and certainly human-to-human transmission can’t be ruled out,” Van Kerkhove <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/world/africa/cruise-ship-hantavirus-cape-verde-hondius.html">added</a>.
The deadly strain suspected of spreading on the cruise ship is known as the &#8220;Andes virus&#8221; and is most commonly found in the Andes Mountains of Argentina and Chile. Van Kerkhove assured the media that the risk posed to the public from the hantavirus outbreak on the ship &#8220;is low.&#8221;
The cruise ship, along with its nearly 150 passengers and crew members, is being held off Cape Verde, an archipelago off the coast of West Africa. Van Kerkhove said on Tuesday that the ship would soon move around 1,000 miles northeast to the Canary Islands, a Spanish territory. The Spanish government said it was still trying to figure out &#8220;which port of call is most appropriate&#8221; for the ship to dock.
Health officials in hazmat suits checked out the cruise ship on Monday, and the World Health Organization said that no rodents were found on board, giving more credence to the human-to-human transmission theory. Medical teams also went aboard the ship to look into suspected infections of two crew members, The New York Post reported.
Jake Rosmarin, an American travel blogger who&#8217;s stuck on the ship, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/trapped-cruise-ship-passenger-shares-update-cleanliness-ship-amid-deadly-hantavirus-outbreak">said</a> in a video recording on Tuesday that all the healthy passengers &#8220;are doing well&#8221; and are in &#8220;good spirits.&#8221; He said that healthy passengers &#8220;have the option to have meals delivered directly to their cabins,&#8221; but &#8220;gathering in indoor common areas such as the lounge is currently restricted.&#8221;
Two of the people who died after contracting hantavirus were a Dutch couple who had been traveling in South America before boarding the MV Hondius, which left from Argentina on March 20 for a weeks-long voyage. The World Health Organization believes the couple contracted the disease before boarding the ship.
The first person, a 70-year-old Dutch man, died on board the ship on April 11. His wife, a 69-year-old woman, died 15 days later in South Africa while she was attempting to fly home to the Netherlands, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/world/africa/cruise-ship-hantavirus-cape-verde-hondius.html">reported</a>. A German national died on the ship on Saturday.
Hantavirus typically begins with flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, and body aches, before potentially progressing to breathing problems and possible lung or heart failure.

FRANCE-ILLUSTRATION-HANTAVIRUS

Deadly Rare Virus Prime Suspect In Cruise Ship Nightmare

Disease

World Health Organization

The Daily Wire&#8217;s &#8220;Morning Wire&#8221; podcast received the coveted &#8220;Outstanding Podcast&#8221; award, and Daily Wire immigration reporter Jennie Taer won the title of &#8220;Outstanding Reporter,&#8221; the Media Research Center announced on Tuesday.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/morning-wire">Morning Wire</a> was praised for its &#8220;concise, professionally produced alternative to legacy media&#8221; as the daily podcast has remained consistent with its promise to deliver &#8220;15 minutes of what matters, nothing that doesn&#8217;t.&#8221;
&#8220;Featuring reporting from on-the-ground journalists and interviews with expert guests, hosts Georgia Howe and John Bickley guide listeners through the day’s most important stories without the ideological filter common in traditional outlets,&#8221; MRC said.
Since 2021, Morning Wire has covered the biggest stories around the world in a common-sense approach to news. Since then, Morning Wire has expanded into providing evening updates, weekend interviews, and deep dives.
Daily Wire reporter <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/author/jennie-taer">Jennie Taer</a>, who has extensively covered illegal immigrant crime and President Donald Trump&#8217;s deportation operation, was recognized &#8220;as a leading voice in immigration reporting.&#8221; MRC awarded Taer for her coverage of the migrant gang crisis in Aurora, Colorado, which she also <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/09/12/us-news/inside-the-migrant-gang-warzone-of-aurora-colorado/">covered</a> for The New York Post before joining The Daily Wire. Taer was also recognized for her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-day-in-the-life-of-minneapolis-ice-agents">reporting</a> at the frontlines of Trump&#8217;s deportation effort in Minneapolis, where she <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=4PZjZYETyKI&amp;source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&amp;embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailywire.com%2Fnews%2Fa-day-in-the-life-of-minneapolis-ice-agents">spent a day</a> with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents during the height of the administration&#8217;s operation in the Twin Cities.
“This year’s Media Research Center Bulldog Award winners stand in stark contrast to the elitist media’s herd mentality,” said MRC President David Bozell. “These courageous journalists refuse to follow the pack, choosing instead to deliver truth over narrative, facts over favoritism, and accountability over activism. They represent the best of American journalism — independent, fearless, and committed to informing the public rather than manipulating it.”
The Media Research Center presents awards to conservative journalists, columnists, and podcast hosts each year. The Daily Wire is the only organization that has won in each of the five years that MRC has handed out MRC Bulldog Awards, NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck <a href="https://x.com/curtishouck/status/2051671557307572530?s=46">pointed out</a>.
In 2025, former Daily Wire investigative reporter Spencer Lindquist won MRC&#8217;s &#8220;Outstanding Blogger&#8221; award for his reporting on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daily-wire-investigative-reporter-spencer-lindquist-honored-for-colony-ridge-reporting">Colony Ridge</a> in Texas. In 2024, Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro and journalist Kassy Akiva were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-daily-wires-ben-shapiro-and-kassy-akiva-win-conservative-media-awards">named</a> the winners of the &#8220;Outstanding Podcast&#8221; and &#8220;Outstanding Blogger&#8221; awards, respectively. Daily Wire host Matt Walsh was awarded &#8220;Outstanding Podcast&#8221; in 2023, and Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak won the &#8220;Outstanding Investigative Journalism&#8221; award in 2022.
Other winners for this year&#8217;s MRC Bulldog Awards include Dana Loesch for &#8220;Outstanding Radio Talk Show Host,&#8221; Douglas Murray for &#8220;Outstanding Columnist,&#8221; and Washington, D.C., local news reporter Nick Minock for &#8220;Outstanding Investigative Journalist.&#8221;

Daily Wire Snags Two Awards For ‘Outstanding’ Podcast And News Reporting

Awards

Daily Wire

Journalism

Media Research Center

An 18-year-old man is accused of fatally shooting two U.S. Bank employees in Berea, Kentucky, before rifling through the teller drawers for cash and speeding off in his car.
Brailen Weaver of Covington, Kentucky, entered the bank at around 2:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, wearing a black mask and gloves, according to the <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/1033646042/BrailenWeaverAffidavit-Redacted?secret_password=6Pd48N8xJJIAk7EFw5t7#download&amp;from_embed">arrest affidavit</a>. Weaver shot and killed a male U.S. Bank employee right after walking into the branch and then gunned down a female teller before he searched through multiple drawers, the affidavit states.
The suspect fled the bank in a silver BMW sedan, which authorities tracked down after finding the same car listed for sale on Facebook by Weaver. Investigators then reviewed Weaver&#8217;s social media and found photos of him that matched the description of the suspect seen on the bank&#8217;s security cameras.
Weaver also posted a meme on Instagram just hours after he allegedly robbed the bank and killed two employees, according to the FBI. The meme depicts an alien holding a stash of $100 bills with the caption, &#8220;I pledge allegiance to da bag.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1088381" style="width: 483px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1088381" class="wp-image-1088381 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-01T152737.527-473x576.jpg" alt="" width="473" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-01T152737.527-473x576.jpg 473w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-01T152737.527-246x300.jpg 246w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-01T152737.527.jpg 657w" sizes=" (max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px" />FBI</div>
On Thursday evening, authorities tracked Weaver to Somerset, Kentucky, which is about 40 miles southwest of Berea. A short time later, the FBI spotted Weaver&#8217;s vehicle on Interstate 75, and federal, state, and local law enforcement pursued the suspect in a high-speed chase.
The affidavit states that Weaver reached speeds of nearly 130 mph and dodged spike strips laid out in the road by law enforcement. The suspect eventually crashed as he was driving toward downtown Lexington, but escaped on foot. Authorities found a firearm in the suspect&#8217;s abandoned BMW. Weaver was finally arrested in downtown Lexington and faces federal charges of armed bank robbery and using/discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
&#8220;The perpetrator&#8217;s heinous actions were not only indefensible but cowardly,&#8221; <a href="https://www.wlwt.com/article/2-employees-killed-bank-robbery-berea-kentucky-suspect/71180865">said</a> Olivia Olson, the special agent in charge at the FBI&#8217;s Louisville field office. &#8220;While there is no longer imminent danger, we understand that the tragedy is far from over for the community. The only solace that we can offer is that this individual who valued a stolen dollar more than two human lives will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.&#8221;
The killings appear to be the first deadly shooting in a bank robbery in the United States since 2021, when a man <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndin/pr/gary-man-sentenced-2-consecutive-terms-life-prison">fatally shot</a> a security guard at a bank in Gary, Indiana, during an attempted robbery. In 2019, a 21-year-old man <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/former-prison-guard-trainee-is-sentenced-to-death-for-killing-5-women-at-a-florida-bank/">executed</a> five women at a SunTrust bank in Sebring, Florida. In that shooting, there was no indication that the gunman intended to rob the bank.
Bank robberies in the United States are becoming increasingly uncommon as banks improve security and hold less cash at any given time, reflecting society&#8217;s shift to digital payments.

Bank robbery

FBI Reveals Robber Posted Chilling Instagram Meme After Killing Two Bank Employees

Banks

Crime

Kentucky

Robbery

Shooting

A police K9 followed would-be Trump assassin Cole Allen into a side room just seconds before he charged through a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner last weekend, newly released Justice Department footage shows.
The <a href="https://x.com/USAttyPirro/status/2049975353976688653">video</a>, posted Thursday by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, captures the Secret Service dog trailing Allen into the room, where investigators say the gunman removed a large black jacket concealing his shotgun. The K9 briefly entered the doorway before the handler paused, looked inside for roughly 10 seconds, and appeared to speak to someone in the room.  It remains unclear whether the handler was a Secret Service agent or with another law enforcement agency.
Immediately after the officer and K9 walked away, Allen charged through the security checkpoint armed with his fully loaded Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun.  <iframe style="aspect-ratio: 9/16; max-width: 220px; display: flex; justify-content: center; width: 100%; margin: 20px auto 5px; border: 0;" src="https://player.mux.com/Fe025Ts8W96EnwZO5YcmvdFQqUrErVL52?metadata-video-content-type=short&amp;metadata-video-id=b8207dd7-b178-4c04-90ec-321eb07961cd&amp;metadata-video-stream-type=on-demand&amp;metadata-video-title=Police%20K9%20zeroes%20in%20on%20gunman%20seconds%20before%20attack&amp;poster=https%3A%2F%2Fdailywireplus-v2.imgix.net%2Fimages%2Fshorts%2Fa23fdf61-a7c8-4917-8aad-c9f8da47926f.jpg&amp;autoplay=false&amp;accent-color=%23DB3D3B&amp;primary-color=%23ffffff&amp;secondary-color=%23000000" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
The Daily Wire reached out to the Secret Service seeking clarification on the interaction captured in the footage.
Allen sprinted down the hallway at approximately 8:36 p.m. ET, just as agents began dismantling one of the metal detectors at the checkpoint. Minutes before he made his way downstairs from his hotel room, Allen had been monitoring news updates on the White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner and President Donald Trump&#8217;s travel to the event at the Washington Hilton, according to court documents. The dinner began at 8:00 p.m., and Trump arrived at the hotel at 8:27 p.m.
Authorities say Allen fired one round from his shotgun as he attempted to storm the ballroom, striking one Secret Service agent who was protected by a bulletproof vest.
An agent returned fire, discharging rounds, though none struck Allen. He was ultimately subdued after falling shortly after breaching the security checkpoint.
The Secret Service has faced criticism in the aftermath, though President Trump and administration officials have praised agents for stopping Allen before he reached the ballroom.
Retired Secret Service agent Scot Bryan told The Daily Wire that the response appeared consistent with training based on the footage released.
&#8220;When you consider the point of possibility perception and the cognitive recognition of what was occurring, the officer’s reaction time was elite,&#8221; Bryan added. &#8220;The response inside the ballroom, from what video I had access to see, was excellent.&#8221;
Bryan also pushed back on claims that the agency should have secured the entire 10-floor hotel.
&#8220;In the after-action evaluation, will the service discuss policy protocols for off-site venues? I expect they will,&#8221; Bryan said. &#8220;But completely controlling a private business (a hotel or any other venue location) where a protectee visits has broad consequences that have to be examined and are not likely accepted. Critics speak of things they know very little about and espouse ideas without considering context or consequences.&#8221;
Additional footage released by the Justice Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-brand-new-video-shows-trump-would-be-assassin-shooting-secret-service-agent?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=6&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=WATCH%3A+Brand+New+Video+Shows+Trump+Would-Be+Assassin+Shooting+Secret+Service+Agent">shows</a> Allen scouting the hotel the day before the dinner. He traveled from California to Washington, D.C., by train, arriving around 1:00 p.m. ET last Friday, according to the Justice Department.
A manifesto posted minutes before the attack said Allen intended to target top Trump administration officials and was prepared to shoot any of the attendees or law enforcement officers who stood in his way.

Cole Allen/WHCD

WATCH: Police Dog Appeared To Flag Wannabe Trump Assassin Seconds Before Attack

Secret Service

A Christian school in Vermont is set to receive more than half a million dollars in damages and attorneys&#8217; fees from the Vermont Principals&#8217; Association, partially settling a lawsuit after the school was punished when its girls&#8217; basketball team refused to play against a team with a transgender-identifying boy.
Mid Vermont Christian School will receive $566,000 under the agreement, more than three years after it was removed from the state athletic association for forfeiting the game.
The settlement follows a federal appeals court ruling that the school must be allowed to compete in games as the case proceeds.
“The government cannot punish religious schools — and the families they serve — by permanently kicking them out of state-sponsored sports simply because the state disagrees with their religious beliefs,” said David Cortman, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the Christian school.
“For more than two years, state officials denied Mid Vermont Christian School a public benefit available to all other schools in Vermont just because it stood by the widely held, biblical belief that boys and girls are different,&#8221; he added. &#8220;There’s a price to pay for violating constitutional rights for Christian schools and students.”
In February of 2023, the Mid Vermont Christian School girls&#8217; basketball team forfeited their state tournament game against a team that allowed a boy who identified as a girl to play on the team, saying that playing against a male &#8220;jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.&#8221;
Following the forfeiture, the Vermont Principals’ Association retaliated against the Christian school by banning it from athletic tournaments, CBS News affiliate WCAX <a href="https://www.wcax.com/2026/04/29/vermont-principals-association-pay-566000-christian-school-transgender-athlete-dispute/">reported</a>.
Chris Goodwin, the team&#8217;s coach, said he will &#8220;always&#8221; fight for his players to compete in &#8220;fair and safe competitions.&#8221;
“I never thought I would be in court for simply adhering to my Christian and commonsense belief that boys and girls are different,” Goodwin said. “At Mid Vermont Christian School, we strive to exemplify biblical truth in and through everything we do.&#8221;
Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom continue to litigate the case, which also seeks to hold Vermont officials accountable for denying students at Christian schools access to the state&#8217;s tuition programs.
Multiple transgender-identifying male high school athletes have injured opposing female players in recent years. In 2022, North Carolina high schooler Payton McNabb was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/i-was-injured-by-a-trans-athlete-state-legislatures-need-to-do-more-to-protect-womens-sports">injured</a> when a trans-identifying boy spiked a volleyball in her face. McNabb suffered a concussion and a neck injury, which she said left her partially paralyzed on the right side of her body.
In 2024, a boy who identified as a girl <a href="https://www.boston.com/news/high-school-sports/2024/03/01/injuries-involving-trans-basketball-player-at-mass-school-spark-controversy/">injured</a> two girls&#8217; basketball players on the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell&#8217;s team during a game in Massachusetts. <a href="https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-13105605/Trans-basketball-high-school-game-injury-forfeit-Massachusetts.html?ns_mchannel=rss&amp;ns_campaign=1490&amp;ito=social-twitter_mailonline">Video</a> of one of the injuries shows the boy hurling a girl to the floor as they fight for the ball. The Collegiate Charter School of Lowell forfeited the game after the injuries.

Basketball

Christian School Scores Big Legal Win After Forfeiting Game Over Trans-Identifying Boy

Christians

High School

Vermont

The suspected wannabe assassin who opened fire at the White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner last weekend is &#8220;not a danger to anybody,&#8221; his lawyer argued in court on Wednesday.
In a court filing, Cole Allen&#8217;s defense team argued that the gunman should be allowed to roam free as he awaits his trial, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/04/30/us-news/whcd-shooting-suspect-cole-allen-makes-absurd-argument-for-why-he-should-walk-free/">reported</a>. Allen&#8217;s lawyer also claimed that the suspect had no intention of carrying out a mass shooting since he was not carrying an automatic or semi-automatic weapon.
&#8220;Mr. Allen has no criminal history — not even prior arrests, which alone would rebut the presumption of detention,&#8221; his defense team wrote, adding, &#8220;The government’s rhetoric about a ‘mass shooting’ is also unsupported by its own proffered facts. Mr. Allen was not alleged to be holding an automatic or even semi-automatic weapon that are the hallmarks of the modern-day mass shooting.&#8221;
During a court hearing on Thursday, defense attorney Tezira Abe said Allen&#8217;s defense team was changing course and dropping its request to keep him out of detention &#8220;at this time.&#8221; Abe then asked the judge for Allen to be removed from his &#8220;safe cell,&#8221; where he&#8217;s remained isolated around the clock since being taken into custody. Allen, wearing an orange jump suit, was present for the hearing in the D.C. federal court on Thursday.
Allen ran through a security checkpoint inside the Washington Hilton last Saturday and fired one shot from his Mossberg 12-gauge pump-action shotgun before he fell to the ground and was detained by Secret Service and law enforcement agents, according to federal prosecutors. The gunman was also carrying a fully-loaded Rock Island Armory 1911 .38 caliber pistol and multiple knives.
Shotguns have been used in some of the darkest mass shootings in U.S. history, including by the gunmen at Columbine, the Aurora theater, and Washington Navy Yard.
In a manifesto that Allen sent to family members just before the attack, the gunman said he was targeting top Trump administration officials at the White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner and added that he would shoot any of the attendees or law enforcement officers who got in his way.
“I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that,” he wrote in the manifesto.
Three law enforcement sources told NBC News on Wednesday that Allen <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bullet-that-struck-secret-service-agents-vest-now-traced-to-would-be-assassin?author=Jacob+Wheeler&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Bullet+That+Struck+Secret+Service+Agent%E2%80%99s+Vest+Now+Traced+To+Would-Be+Assassin">fired</a> the shot that struck a Secret Service agent after early reports suggested the agent might have been hit by friendly fire. The agent was protected by his bulletproof vest.
A Secret Service agent fired five times at Allen as he charged through the security checkpoint, but Allen was not hit, according to federal prosecutors. The gunman fell down and suffered a minor knee injury immediately after he breached the security checkpoint, the Justice Department stated.
Allen is charged with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States, transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.

Cole Allen/White House Correspondents’ Dinner

Lawyer Says WHCD Shooter ‘Not A Danger’ Because He Had The Wrong Gun

Courts

shooter

U.S.

The first commercial flight from the United States to Venezuela since 2019 took off from Miami International Airport on Thursday morning, a win for the Trump administration as the president reshapes Washington&#8217;s relationship with Caracas.
The American Airlines plane destined for Caracas was given a water salute by fire engines on the tarmac before it took off from Miami at around 10:00 a.m. ET. Flight AA3599 was operated by Envoy Air, a subsidiary of American Airlines. The plane was one of the airline&#8217;s America 250 commemorative aircraft.
&#8220;For nearly 7 years there have been no direct commercial flights between the U.S. and Venezuela,&#8221; the State Department said. &#8220;Under President Trump we&#8217;re changing that today. Flights between Miami and Caracas restored.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
For nearly 7 years there have been no direct commercial flights between the U.S. and Venezuela.
Under President Trump we&#8217;re changing that today. Flights between Miami and Caracas restored. <a href="https://t.co/3fsLVwWHQQ">pic.twitter.com/3fsLVwWHQQ</a>
— Department of State (@StateDept) <a href="https://twitter.com/StateDept/status/2049870663138083123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Flight AA3599 is expected to arrive in Caracas just after 1:20 p.m. local time. The plane will return to Florida later Thursday afternoon, the Associated Press <a href="https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/flights-resume-from-miami-to-caracas-venezuela-for-the-first-time-in-7-years/3803307/">reported</a>. Miami resident Lennart Ochoa said he was excited for the reopening of commercial air travel between the two countries.
“I’m very excited to go and see the family and I’m looking forward to see the country,” Ochoa said, according to the AP.
Thursday&#8217;s flight from the United States to Venezuela comes less than five months after U.S. forces captured dictator Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. In March, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article314795646.html">praised</a> acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez and said his administration&#8217;s relationship with Venezuela had greatly improved after the operation to capture Maduro.
The Department of Homeland Security <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/15/politics/dhs-suspends-venezuela-flights">suspended</a> air travel between the United States and Venezuela in 2019 during Trump&#8217;s first term &#8220;based on the ongoing political instability and increased tensions in Venezuela.&#8221; Just a few months earlier, the Trump administration sanctioned Venezuela&#8217;s state-run oil company, citing Maduro&#8217;s corruption.
“As a result of the Maduro regime’s inability to govern and perpetuation of lawlessness, it is no longer possible to certify that Venezuela is meeting baseline standards of security,&#8221; a U.S. official told CNN at the time.
The flight to Caracas on Thursday is just the first of many commercial flights to come between the two countries. In the coming months, American Airlines will also offer <a href="https://www.aa.com/en-us/flights-to-venezuela">flights</a> to Caracas from Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, and Washington, D.C.

American Airlines

Trump Officially Opens Flights To His Favorite South American Country

Air Travel

Global Politics

Trump Administration

Venezuela

World

One of the leading Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate in Michigan is playing defense after a CNN report revealed that she purged thousands of tweets, including posts in which she disparaged Middle America after President Donald Trump&#8217;s 2016 election victory.
McMorrow, who currently serves in the Michigan Senate, deleted around 6,000 social media posts, including tweets in which she said she missed living in California and fantasized about the coasts breaking off from Middle America. The New York Post was the first to <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/04/04/us-news/senate-dem-candidate-mallory-mcmorrow-defended-coastal-elites-dreamed-of-national-divorce-from-middle-america/">report</a> on some of McMorrow&#8217;s ramblings last year.
Two days after Trump shocked Democrats and defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democrat urged her followers to read a thread posted by journalist Patrick Thornton, who wrote, “All of this talk about coastal elites needing to understand more of America has it backwards.”
“It is much of white working class America that needs to reach outside its comfort zone and meet people not like them,” Thornton wrote at the time. “Many rural Americans have isolated themselves from the rest of the country. They live in very unrepresentative areas.” McMorrow said the thread “rings 100%.”
A month later, McMorrow fantasized about coastal states divorcing Middle America.
“I had a dream that the U.S. amicably broke off into The Ring (coasts + Can + Mex + parts Mich/Tex) and Middle America. Oh and The Ring nominated Obama as Prime Minister and everyone was given $1,000 and six months to pick a side,&#8221; she posted.
The Daily Wire reached out to McMorrow&#8217;s campaign, requesting comment.
The CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/29/politics/kfile-mallory-mcmorrow-deleted-tweets">report</a> also raises questions about McMorrow&#8217;s claim that she moved to Michigan from California in 2014, as social media posts suggest she was still living in Los Angeles and voting in California elections as late as 2016. In her autobiography, McMorrow wrote that she “relocated permanently” to Michigan in 2014.
In January 2017 — the month that Trump was sworn in for his first term — a social media user posted, &#8220;California should have its own diplomats [to] make sure we don’t get nuked because of morons from the other side of the country.&#8221; McMorrow responded to the post, writing, “There are days like these that make me miss California even more.”
Just a few months later, McMorrow launched her state Senate bid and said, &#8220;Choosing to put roots down right here in Michigan is the best decision I’ve ever made.&#8221;
In another tweet, McMorrow quipped that she was &#8220;pushing for [a] future where we don’t own cars,&#8221; adding, &#8220;Cars are dead.&#8221; McMorrow is now running to represent the largest car-manufacturing state in the country. A spokeswoman for McMorrow told CNN that &#8220;Mallory started her career as a car designer and doesn’t want to ban cars. She’s been repeatedly endorsed by auto unions.&#8221;
McMorrow&#8217;s communications director, Hannah Lindow, said that her state Senate campaign team deleted her tweets prior to 2020, arguing that it&#8217;s &#8220;pretty standard for candidates.&#8221; Lindow also defended the posts, saying they &#8220;are normal tweets by a normal person.&#8221;
McMorrow was blasted by her Democrat opponents following the CNN report. Democratic Senate candidate and current Rep. Haley Stevens shared the report on McMorrow&#8217;s past comments, <a href="https://x.com/HaleyforMI/status/2049523901655376317">writing</a>, &#8220;So what actually ticks me off? Someone who wants that job—representing Michiganders—talking crap about us and our state.&#8221;
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, another Michigan Democratic Senate candidate, <a href="https://x.com/AbdulElSayed/status/2049535379775115678">wrote</a> on Wednesday, &#8220;Born in Michigan, hallelujah. Raised in Michigan, hallelujah. Believe cars should exist, hallelujah.&#8221;
The Democratic Senate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-senate-race-democrats-have-controlled-for-decades-now-its-wide-open">primary</a> in Michigan remains a close contest, with McMorrow, Stevens, and El-Sayed running neck-and-neck, according to the latest <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/polls/michigan-us-senate-election-polls-2026.html">polls</a>. Each of the top three Democratic candidates in the race has faced controversies since launching their Senate campaigns.
In December, a video posted by Townhall <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dem-senate-hopeful-says-shed-throw-beer-at-conservative-justices-lacks-self-control">showed</a> McMorrow suggesting that she would throw beer in the faces of conservative Supreme Court justices if she saw them in public.
El-Sayed has also faced scrutiny during the heated 2026 campaign after he deleted numerous social media posts, including some in which he called to &#8220;defund the police&#8221; and referred to police as &#8220;standing armies.&#8221; El-Sayed has also campaigned with Marxist streamer Hasan Piker, who once said that &#8220;America deserved 9/11.&#8221;
Stevens, meanwhile, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-dem-files-articles-of-impeachment-against-rfk-jr-and-even-her-own-party-is-trashing-her">rebuked</a> by Democratic leadership after she filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a move some of her Democratic colleagues viewed as a political stunt.
The winner of the Democratic primary, which will be held on August 4, will likely face Republican Mike Rogers, who has all but secured the GOP nomination. Michigan has not elected a Republican senator since 1994.

Mallory McMorrow

Top Dem Candidate Scrubs Social Media After Trashing Rural Americans

2026 Midterms

Michigan

Vice President JD Vance compared Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz to an &#8220;arsonist trying to claim credit for the work of the fire department&#8221; after Walz praised his administration&#8217;s role in a series of anti-fraud raids on daycares around Minneapolis earlier this week.
Vance told Fox News host Will Cain on Wednesday that the Trump administration &#8220;really did not get much help at all from the Governor&#8217;s office&#8221; despite Walz&#8217;s <a href="https://x.com/GovTimWalz/status/2049153096358481927">claims</a> that state agencies helped initiate the investigation.
Walz said Tuesday that raids at nearly two dozen daycares and learning centers were conducted &#8220;by state and federal law enforcement &#8230; because our state agencies caught irregular behavior and reported it.&#8221;
Vance <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2049540492795240765">pushed back</a> sharply.
&#8220;This is like the arsonist trying to claim credit for the work of the fire department because Tim Walz let this fraud happen under his watch, whether he was complicit in it directly himself or just turned a blind eye towards it.&#8221;
&#8220;Where we did actually get some help was from some state and local law enforcement officers who we assigned to the federal task force because the state government wasn&#8217;t doing anything,&#8221; Vance added. &#8220;All credit goes to people on the ground: the state officers, the federal officers who are working to uncover this fraud.&#8221;
Vance, who was tapped by President Donald Trump in February to lead the administration&#8217;s crackdown on state-level fraud, <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2049586471967830054">said</a> that the White House&#8217;s anti-fraud task force has moved quickly to investigate suspected abuses, especially in Minnesota.
The probe gained national attention after independent journalist Nick Shirley posted videos in December raising questions about fraud tied to several Somali-run daycare and learning centers in the Twin Cities area.
&#8220;These investigations take a long time, so I was asking myself, &#8216;How quickly can we start getting into some real investigatory work, court-issued warrants, actually going door-to-door and finding out what&#8217;s going on?&#8217; People told me it would take at least six months,&#8221; Vance said. &#8220;We&#8217;ve gone from Nick Shirley&#8217;s video about the Minneapolis fraud schemes to &#8230; judges issuing warrants for this investigation in a matter of three months.&#8221;
Vance added that the federal government&#8217;s anti-fraud task force includes 280 law enforcement officers looking into the issue.
&#8220;We really have the most accelerated, aggressive anti-fraud operation that we&#8217;ve ever seen from the federal government,&#8221; the vice president said, adding, &#8220;This is far from done, but we&#8217;re making a lot of good progress.&#8221;
Federal agents with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security executed search warrants Tuesday at 22 sites, primarily daycare and learning centers, many of which are Somali-owned. No arrests were made during the raids, though dozens of individuals have been charged with fraud in recent months as federal prosecutors uncovered a massive fraud scheme targeting numerous Minnesota state programs.
&#8220;The President&#8217;s War on Fraud is working, as the task force and the entire Trump administration continue to work tirelessly to expose Fraudsters who have scammed the American people out of billions of dollars,&#8221; a Vance spokesperson told The Daily Wire on background.
Walz, who ended his bid for a third term as governor in January amid scrutiny over the scandal, has defended his administration&#8217;s response, arguing that state officials properly flagged fraudulent activity.
In his final State of the State address on Tuesday night, Walz claimed that he has done more than Republican-led states to crack down on fraud.
&#8220;We’ve created additional checks and balances. We have brought on more investigators, more auditors, and more law enforcement agencies, as well as an outside firm to take a look at high-risk programs,&#8221; he said. &#8220;People who have ripped us off are getting caught, and they are going to jail.&#8221;
&nbsp;

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Zach Jewell