Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who rose up the ranks to become the second-ranked Democrat in the Senate during his more than four decades in Congress, announced on Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2026.
His move sets the stage for a potentially fierce primary fight among Democrats in a deep-blue state.
&#8220;The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy,&#8221; Durbin said in a video. &#8220;I truly love the job of being a United States Senator. But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch. So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term.&#8221;
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I have given more than half of my life to House and Senate Congressional service, and I’ve always tried to stand up to power on behalf of the people of Illinois and our country.
I am proud of what I have achieved and hope my record will speak for itself. <a href="https://t.co/oiY49IQCUF">pic.twitter.com/oiY49IQCUF</a>
&mdash; Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenatorDurbin/status/1915076692030169535?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Illinois voters elected Durbin to the House in 1982 and the Senate in 1996. Durbin served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and helped to confirm 235 judges, including Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. He became the second-ranking Democrat whip in 2005.
Durbin, 80, is the fourth Democrat in the upper chamber to rule out a re-election campaign in 2026. The others are Sens. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michigan-dem-senator-gary-peters-wont-run-for-re-election" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gary Peters</a> (D-MI), <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democratic-sen-jeanne-shaheen-wont-run-in-2026-opening-up-key-seat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeanne Shaheen</a> (D-NH), and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/another-dem-senator-announces-she-wont-run-for-re-election-in-2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tina Smith</a> (D-MN).
A number of Democrats are expected to announce campaigns for Durbin&#8217;s seat, including Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL), and Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL).
The GOP could also compete, but it will likely be a tough race for any Republican who decides to run. When Durbin secured his fifth term in 2020, he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-illinois-senate.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defeated</a> Republican candidate Mark Curran by more than 15 percentage points.
Currently, Republicans have a 53-seat <a href="https://www.senate.gov/history/partydiv.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">majority</a> in the Senate. There are also 45 Democrats and two independents who caucus with them.
Durbin&#8217;s office said he is the longest-serving whip for either party. His impending retirement also paves the way to a future contest for the role, which is used to <a href="https://www.senate.gov/about/parties-leadership/party-whips.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rally</a> members and secure votes.
Durbin’s career has not been without controversy, as reported by The Daily Wire.
One story covered how Durbin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dick-durbin-apologizes-to-tim-scott-after-calling-his-police-reform-bill-token" target="_blank" rel="noopener">apologized</a> to Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the sole black Republican in the Senate, for referring to his police reform legislation as a &#8220;token&#8221; solution. Another focused on Durbin <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dick-durbin-attacks-gop-governors-over-transporting-migrants-to-democrat-cities-broken-every-basic-standard-of-decency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accusing</a> Republican governors of violating “every basic standard of decency” by transporting migrants to sanctuary cities.
Mike Davis, who helped oversee the vetting of judicial appointments as a GOP Senate staffer and now runs the conservative Article III Project, was among those who responded to Durbin&#8217;s announcement.
&#8220;Dick Durbin is, by far, the smartest and most effective Democrat senator,&#8221; Davis <a href="https://x.com/mrddmia/status/1915073436784759273" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on X. &#8220;He is a political savage, who comes across as Midwest reasonable. Big loss for Senate Democrats, with unhinged partisan Sheldon Whitehouse taking over Senate Judiciary Democrats.&#8221;
Former President Barack Obama, who served as a U.S. senator from Illinois alongside Durbin before winning the White House, lauded his former colleague.
&#8220;As an Illinois voter, I couldn’t be prouder that our senator for the last 28 years has been one of the finest in the country. Dick Durbin has always fought the good fight on behalf of working families, and his integrity shines through in everything he does,&#8221; Obama <a href="https://x.com/BarackObama/status/1915080417876517007">said</a> on X.
&#8220;It’s also true that I would not have been a United States Senator – and certainly would not have been President – had it not been for Dick’s support,&#8221; Obama added. &#8220;He has been a great and loyal friend, and Michelle and I wish him and Loretta all the best in their next chapter.&#8221;

Senator Dick Durbin

No. 2 Senate Democrat Dick Durbin To Retire

Congress

Democrats

Dick Durbin

Election

Illinois

Politics

U.S. Senate

A woman who has served as the managing director for a radical transgender activist organization handles the same role for over two dozen mainstream major medical organizations, a watchdog group revealed Wednesday. 
Sue O’Sullivan of Veritas Association Management is the managing director of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and 26 other medical organizations across the United States, according to tax documents reviewed by the American Accountability Foundation. WPATH is a radical organization that has pushed for transgender medical procedures on children, including the removal of breasts for girls who identify as boys, and opposed laws to protect kids from such procedures. 
O’Sullivan is the <a href="https://veritasamc.com/team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">co-founder</a> and president of Veritas Association Management, an Illinois-based professional services company that manages operations for dozens of mainstream medical organizations like the American Pediatric Surgical Association and the American Society of Andrology. 
<a href="https://americanaccountabilityfoundation.com/news/">The American Accountability Foundation</a> told The Daily Wire that the ties between O’Sullivan and WPATH could jeopardize the medical integrity of other organizations managed by Veritas Association Management. In total, the watchdog group identified 51 medical organizations or symposia that have some ties to Veritas.  
“Veritas Association Management’s entanglement with WPATH represents a serious reputational and ethical concern for organizations that engage its services. The medical association community should scrutinize Veritas’ role in legitimizing WPATH’s radical practices and consider the consequences of these relationships,” the American Accountability Foundation said in a report shared with The Daily Wire on its findings. 
The ties between WPATH and Veritas are well-established on both social media and the association management company’s website. 
For example, a Facebook post shows O’Sullivan and a team from Veritas attending WPATH’s October 2024 symposium in Portugal. 
“The 2024 World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) 28th Scientific Symposium, held in beautiful Lisbon, Portugal, was an amazing event!” the company <a href="https://www.facebook.com/amcveritas/posts/pfbid02jyN9CGXd4fkPHZPE6aeYujR5F9pwa1vnF1NtbQjeNMs5JxQVfjLFLW8HiKHuvvwEl">posted</a>. “Proudly managed by Veritas since 2014, WPATH promotes evidence-based transgender health care, education, research, and public policy, plus justice and equality for people of all gender identities and gender expressions.”
<div id="attachment_897327" style="width: 2285px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-897327" class="size-full wp-image-897327" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.28.21-PM.png" alt="" width="2275" height="1399" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.28.21-PM.png 2275w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.28.21-PM-300x184.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.28.21-PM-937x576.png 937w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.28.21-PM-768x472.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.28.21-PM-1536x945.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.28.21-PM-2048x1259.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2275px) 100vw, 2275px" />Veritas Association Management Facebook.</div>
Veritas’ <a href="https://veritasamc.com/clients/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">client lists</a> include both WPATH and the United States Professional Association for Transgender Health, a regional affiliate of WPATH. Veritas is also currently <a href="https://veritasamc.com/careers/wpath-executive-director/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advertising</a> for an executive director role for WPATH, whose duties include “leveraging Veritas resources to plan, organize, direct, and coordinate the staff and administrative activities” and “advancing transgender health equity.” The position is listed as being based in East Dundee, Illinois, where Veritas Association Management is located. 
WPATH has opposed Republican-backed laws shielding kids from irreversible transgender medical procedures and put out a <a href="https://wpath.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/01.28.25-WPATH-Board-Statement-Regarding-Executive-Order.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> attacking President Donald Trump for his executive order directing all funding be cut off for entities that promote transgenderism for kids. 
O’Sullivan is listed on <a href="https://wpath.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/FINAL-Joint-WPATH-USPATH-Statement-On-Resumption-of-Medically-Necessary-Surgeries-During-COVID.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">multiple</a> WPATH documents pushing transgender procedures, including <a href="https://app.wpath.org/media/cms/Documents/Public%20Policies/2021/Joint%20WPATH%20USPATH%20Letter%20Dated%20Oct%2012%202021.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">putting</a> children on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. 
Tax documents analyzed by the American Accountability Foundation show that O’Sullivan spends eight times as much time working for WPATH than the other medical associations she manages or directs.  
WPATH’s IRS <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/942675140/202413039349301991/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">form 990</a> for the fiscal year ending December 2023 shows that O’Sullivan is the organization’s managing director and reports spending eight hours per week in that role, which is more than the four weekly hours reported by WPATH President Marci Bowers. She only spends one hour a week for each of the other 26 medical organizations where she serves as either the managing or executive director, according to an analysis of tax documents by the American Accountability Foundation.
For example, O’Sullivan only reports working one hour per week for organizations like the <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/237097289/202432409349301603/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">American Pediatric Surgical Association</a> or the <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/383845227/202423209349325737/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Society of Ob Gyn Hospitalists</a> where she is listed as the managing director. 
<div id="attachment_897331" style="width: 1362px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-897331" class="size-full wp-image-897331" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.50.52-PM.png" alt="" width="1352" height="1154" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.50.52-PM.png 1352w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.50.52-PM-300x256.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.50.52-PM-675x576.png 675w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/Screen-Shot-2025-03-24-at-2.50.52-PM-768x656.png 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1352px) 100vw, 1352px" />American Accountability Foundation report.</div>
“As many of the organizations that contract with Veritas operate on relatively lean budgets with no (or few) in-house staff, Veritas Association Management substantially runs all day-to-day operations for many of these organizations. In fact, many organizations that contract with Veritas disclose in their tax filings that their boards have delegated all management to Veritas,” the American Accountability Foundation reported. 
After reaching out for comment to the Indian American Urological Association, the group told The Daily Wire that it ended its affiliation with Veritas last year.
The same <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/942675140/202413039349301991/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">form 990</a> reveals that WPATH has handed over many organizational responsibilities to Veritas. Veritas has control of WPATH’s books and records in addition to having responsibility for “management duties.” 
In its report, the American Accountability Foundation identified 10 major medical organizations where O’Sullivan is either the managing director or the executive director who delegates management responsibilities to Veritas.
These groups included the American Association of Clinical Urologists, Society of Abdominal Radiology, Society for Vascular Medicine, Society of Thoracic Radiology, the North American Society for Cardiac Imaging, Society for Basic Urological Research, Ohio Urological Society, Society Of Genitourinary Reconstructive Surgeons, the International Skeletal Society, and the American Pediatric Surgical Association Foundation. 
Many of these organizations list their address at the corporate address of Veritas Association Management. 
In its <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/593243373/202410899349300416/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filing</a>, the American Pediatric Surgical Association Foundation noted that it “delegated control over management duties customarily performed by or under the direct supervision of officers, directors, trustees or key employees to Veritas Association Management, Inc.”
The Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, where O’Sullivan is listed as managing director, paid Veritas $<a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/223293645/202411379349301626/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">358,900</a> in 2023. Other Veritas clients where O’Sullivan is listed as managing or executive director include the American Venous Forum Foundation, which paid Veritas $<a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/363634626/202433209349324968/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">294,600;</a> the Society of OB/GYN Hospitalists, which paid $<a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/383845227/202423209349325737/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">167,200</a>; and the Society for Academic Specialists in General Obstetrics and Gynecology, which paid $<a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/461912833/202431389349301343/full" target="_blank" rel="noopener">131,800</a>.
Other groups that Veritas says it is associated with include the Big XII Team Physicians (which a spokesman said is not officially affiliated with the Big XII conference), the Pediatric Pharmacy Association, and the International Pediatric Endosurgery Group.
Apart from WPATH, multiple other groups linked to O’Sullivan and Veritas Association Management have issued statements in support of so-called “gender-affirming care” for children or backing transgender ideology. 
For example, the American Pediatric Pharmacy Association <a href="https://www.ppag.org/?pg=PositionStatements" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsed</a> as its own position a <a href="https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/25340/AAP-reaffirms-gender-affirming-care-policy?autologincheck=redirected" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from the American Academy of Pediatricians backing transgender medical procedures on kids. 
The American Pediatric Surgical Association also <a href="https://apsapedsurg.org/apsa-info/about-us/apsa-statements/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">points</a> visitors to its website to a letter from a number of Left-leaning medical organizations decrying proposals during the first Trump administration to define sex as only male and female. 
The American Accountability Foundation believes that these connections may lead to the radical transgender procedures advocated for by WPATH to be normalized in the medical mainstream. 
“Veritas’ client list includes mainstream medical associations, many of which may be unaware of the extent of Veritas’ involvement with WPATH,” the watchdog warned. “By managing these organizations alongside WPATH, Veritas risks mainstreaming and normalizing WPATH’s radical policies within the broader medical community.”

Doctor stethoscope and rainbow flag icon symbol of LGBT pride

Radical Trans Group’s Managing Director Linked To Dozens Of Medical Orgs, Watchdog Warns

gender ideology

Medical

Transgender

transgender surgery

WPATH

A woman is suing an Illinois doctor after he allegedly botched her late-term abortion, landing her in the emergency room with baby parts left inside her, a potentially deadly complication.
Dr. Keith Reisinger-Kindle at Equity Clinic in Champaign, Illinois, performed the abortion on her 22-week unborn baby on April 2, 2023, the anonymous woman, who goes by &#8220;Jane Doe,&#8221; said in her lawsuit, filed on Friday.
The lawsuit alleges Kindle botched the &#8220;dilation and evacuation&#8221; procedure, perforating the woman&#8217;s uterus and leaving a significant part of the baby&#8217;s body inside her.
Kindle also allegedly did not administer any drugs to stop the baby&#8217;s heart, meaning he potentially dismembered the baby alive.
The woman, a mother of four living children, endured hours of pain before ending up in the emergency room, where a surgical team removed the rest of her baby and repaired her uterus, according to her lawsuit. She was left with significant physical damage and emotional distress, her suit claims.
Just three months earlier, Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, had <a href="https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.25906.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> a sweeping abortion and transgender bill that signaled the state&#8217;s support for Illinois abortionists, shielding them from prosecution in other states.
Illinois also has looser restrictions on abortion clinics than other states — it <a href="https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/state-indicator/regulations-on-facilities-and-clinicians-providing-abortions/?currentTimeframe=0&amp;selectedRows=%7B%22states%22:%7B%22illinois%22:%7B%7D%7D%7D&amp;sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">does not</a> require abortionists to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, and it does not require clinics to meet ambulatory surgical center standards.
Kindle recorded that the woman&#8217;s uterus had been emptied and that he had inspected the &#8220;products of conception&#8221; and determined they were &#8220;complete,&#8221; that is, all parts of the unborn baby had been removed, the lawsuit notes.
The next day, the woman experienced heavy cramping and called the abortion clinic several times over many hours, at one point telling them &#8220;her bottom has a lot of pressure and it is hard to breathe.&#8221;
The abortion clinic told her to take ibuprofen. When that did not relieve her cramping, Kindle told her to take a laxative, the suit says.
Two days after the abortion, the woman told the clinic she had taken a laxative, but her cramping had increased. The abortion clinic told her to take an enema and go to the emergency room, the suit says.
She went to the emergency room, where a surgical team found and removed &#8220;half of a deceased pre-born human being&#8221; in her pelvis, according to medical records cited in the suit. They removed pieces of the fetal skull, which had adhered to her intestine, and they repaired her perforated uterus.
Kindle &#8220;deviated from a reasonable standard of care&#8221; and &#8220;it should have been obvious&#8221; that fetal parts were left inside, said a board-certified OBGYN with 35 years of experience including performing hundreds of abortions, whose letter analyzing the medical records was included in the lawsuit.
The emergency room medical team found &#8220;evidence of severe and intentional trauma&#8221; and signs of infection in her abdomen, according to the operative notes from the emergency room surgery.
The unborn baby&#8217;s body was found mutilated, according to the operative notes.
&#8220;Stumps of both femurs extended from the soft tissue of the torso,&#8221; and the baby&#8217;s arms were missing from the elbow down, the notes state.
&#8220;The skull was crushed and no brain was present. The face was non-recognizable,&#8221; the notes say.
The general surgeon who assisted in the emergency room surgery called Kindle, but the abortionist refused to answer any questions, the lawsuit states.
The woman herself also called Kindle again and asked whether her unborn child had been a boy or a girl. Kindle allegedly told her he would &#8220;look again&#8221; even though he knew the fetal remains had already been discarded and determining the sex would be impossible, which the lawsuit says was &#8220;outrageous, exceeded all bounds of human decency, and is intolerable in a civilized society.&#8221;
The woman is demanding a trial by jury and monetary damages of $50,000 each for five counts of medical negligence and emotional distress.

Obstetrician examining pregnant woman in hospital, touching woman’s belly, examine position of baby, breach position, size of baby and movements. Woman in labour laying on hospital bed, talking with ob-gyn doctor in maternity ward.

Botched Late-Term Abortion Left Woman Hospitalized With Baby Parts Inside, Woman’s Lawsuit Says

Abortion

Crime

Health Care

Lawsuit

U.S.

When an obnoxious group of political activists suddenly goes silent, it&#8217;s usually a sign that they&#8217;re regrouping in some way. That&#8217;s especially true after the activists suffer a crushing defeat in a national election. It&#8217;s only natural to assume that, under those circumstances, the activists have gone underground for a bit in order to refine their messaging. They&#8217;re putting their best minds together to come up with a platform that might appeal to more people. Or at the very least, they&#8217;re taking steps to make sure that, when they emerge from hiding, they&#8217;re not seen as even crazier and less convincing than they were before. That&#8217;s the bare minimum you&#8217;d expect. Think about how the Indians realized they were on the losing side of the whole debate over &#8220;who gets the land,&#8221; so they came back and decided to settle for owning a bunch of casinos instead. There&#8217;s a strategic retreat, then an effective comeback.
This is the playbook that we&#8217;ve seen again and again. But after this week, it&#8217;s clear trans activists and the LGBT movement have thrown out the manual. Following their rejection at the ballot box in November, trans activists have decided against the idea of moderating their insanity. Instead, they have elected to double down on the most extreme and demented aspects of their ideology.
They have devolved to a degree that, if you weren&#8217;t paying attention, you might have thought was impossible. We are now at the point where trans activists are embracing cruelty that isn&#8217;t even cloaked with the usual lies about &#8220;scientific consensus&#8221; or anything like that. These people are now endorsing child abuse, without reservation, right out in the open. That&#8217;s always what they&#8217;ve stood for. Now they&#8217;re not even attempting to hide it.
In order to understand the depths of depravity, you need to watch the scene that unfolded at a school board meeting on Thursday in Deerfield, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. A woman named Nicole Georgas began by telling the school board that her daughter is a 13-year-old student at a local middle school. And recently, her 13-year-old was forced to share a bathroom with a male student. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="005 PARENT SPEAKS OUT 1" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5QB6E-Aqh9Y?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Before we play the rest of Nicole Georgas&#8217; statement, it&#8217;s worth pointing out that, strangely enough, no one on the Left is calling this situation a &#8220;constitutional crisis.&#8221; She&#8217;s pointing out, correctly, that the state of Illinois is defying Trump&#8217;s executive order on gender ideology. And in the process, they&#8217;re disregarding the civil rights of children at a systemic level. If you listened to the Left&#8217;s complaints about how outrageous it was that the Trump administration ignored a judge&#8217;s order when he deported Venezuelan terrorists the other day, you might think that they&#8217;d be equally upset about what the state of Illinois is doing in this case. But of course there&#8217;s no outrage, because these people are more than happy to ignore orders when they feel like it. And the state of Illinois should lose federal funding immediately as a result.
If you don&#8217;t agree with that, then you&#8217;ll change your mind after you hear the rest of Nicole Georgas&#8217; statement.
Listen as she explains what the adults at this middle school allegedly forced her child to do, against her will:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="006 PARENT SPEAKS OUT 2" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lqka-RRQ79M?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
To restate: This woman is saying that school officials forced her 13-year-old daughter — and several other young girls — to change in front of a male student in a locker room at a middle school. Those school officials, she said, include the district’s assistant superintendent for student services, the school’s assistant principal, and the director for student services.
If this claim is true — and as you&#8217;ll see in a moment, there&#8217;s no reason to doubt that it is — then the school officials who forced these girls to change in front of a boy are guilty of sexual assault. You could probably add kidnapping and child endangerment charges as well. The fact that this took place in a school should not provide any kind of cover for these people. If anything, it should make the charges even more serious. And whatever charges are brought, it&#8217;d still be too light of a punishment. Try to imagine what you&#8217;d do, as a parent, if you learned that an adult was forcing your daughter to get naked in front of a male, against her will. Criminal charges would probably be the least of that particular adult&#8217;s problems.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1557-the-matt-walsh-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
At a minimum, we need conservative DAs to start pressing those kinds of charges against the people pushing this madness. This goes beyond the realm of a political debate or a &#8220;constitutional crisis.&#8221; This is child abuse. And if there were any good-faith members of the trans activist community — if any of them were capable of some level of basic human decency — they would admit this. They would acknowledge that, indeed, it&#8217;s possible to go too far in the process of affirming gender ideology. And that point is reached when you&#8217;re forcing children to expose themselves to members of the opposite sex.
But because there are no good-faith trans activists, you can probably guess how this mother&#8217;s statement was received. As soon as she was finished, &#8220;boos&#8221; rang out in the room. One person asked her why she was &#8220;obsessed&#8221; with the genitals of children, which is one of those stock arguments these activists use all the time, even though it makes no sense whatsoever. They could be exposing themselves to you and your children in the park, and then when you object to it, they&#8217;ll accuse you of being &#8220;obsessed.&#8221; Then, a few other activists spoke at the school board meeting, and they continued to take cheap shots at the mother. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="007 ATTACKS ON PARENT" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-31ulVAg1do?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This is the dominant mode of thought, such as it is, among trans activists at the moment. If you&#8217;re a mother who doesn&#8217;t want your daughter to be forced to strip in front of males in middle school, then you&#8217;re a &#8220;bully.&#8221; You&#8217;re an extremist, as identified by Left-wing propaganda outfits. You&#8217;re &#8220;obsessed&#8221; with genitalia. And on and on.
One particularly threatening trans activist took things a step further, and railed against &#8220;white supremacy&#8221; and the &#8220;white God.&#8221; And this person did so while wearing a shirt that reads, &#8220;Protect trans kids,&#8221; with a picture of a knife. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="008 Wacko" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yj6PFKBJy0s?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The framing of course is that the male student is being &#8220;targeted.&#8221; So they can force a girl to undress in a place she doesn&#8217;t want to undress, in front of this male student. And the girl isn&#8217;t being targeted in that scenario, supposedly. Instead, the male is being targeted. He&#8217;s not getting to see the girls undress, so he&#8217;s the victim here. It doesn&#8217;t exactly take Freud to understand the psychology underlying this whole movement.
To the extent that any of these activists presented something approaching an argument, it was to suggest that actually, these girls did have the option of requesting private changing rooms. That came up a few times during the school board meeting. But I&#8217;m going to focus on this one clip, featuring a trans-identifying individual who uses the name &#8220;Charlie.&#8221; Charlie uses &#8220;they/he&#8221; pronouns, so we&#8217;re going to go ahead and use &#8220;she&#8221; to describe her, because it seems like it&#8217;s probably the most accurate option. Charlie says that she also has a trans middle-schooler, which of course is maybe the least surprising revelation imaginable. If trans activists are good at anything, it&#8217;s indoctrinating their own children. In any event, here&#8217;s Charlie&#8217;s big moment, where she reads from an Illinois law that&#8217;s supposedly about &#8220;human rights&#8221;:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="009 PRIVATE OPTION" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KH2sGW13jyU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
This is the extent of the concessions that these people were willing to offer. They&#8217;re saying that anyone who &#8220;wants more privacy,&#8221; under the law, can use a separate bathroom. They can request some other accommodation.
Put aside the fact that, in this case, that other accommodation apparently wasn&#8217;t provided. What they don&#8217;t address is the obvious question, which is: Why can&#8217;t the boy request the &#8220;other accommodation,&#8221; in this scenario? Why do all of these girls have to request their own accommodations, but the male doesn&#8217;t? The reason is apparently that it would make him feel bad if he isn&#8217;t included in the girl&#8217;s locker room. But the fact that his presence makes girls feel bad — feel unsafe and vulnerable — simply doesn&#8217;t register. As you heard from that trans activist, the girls&#8217; feelings of &#8220;discomfort&#8221; are simply considered invalid. The trans activist never explains why this discomfort is invalid. Neither does the Illinois law.
But we all know the explanation, which is that these activists, above all else, are sadists who crave power. They relish the prospect of forcing women and girls to take part in this charade. From their perspective, the more degrading the process is, the better. Everyone must be forced to participate. Whatever mental harm 10 or 20 middle-school girls might suffer as a result, they simply don&#8217;t care. Their only goal is to ensure that the male in the scenario gets his satisfaction.
The argument from these trans activists only got worse from there. Here&#8217;s a couple of them:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="010 LOT OF TRANS PEOPLE PASS, INSPECTIONS" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PmPJEy0c9Fc?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So the second woman just yells about pronouns. Nothing new there. And the first woman makes a familiar logistical argument, saying some trans-identifying children supposedly &#8220;pass.&#8221; And therefore, unless we want to inspect their bodies, we need to just accept whatever those kids say.
First of all, of course, it&#8217;s not true that any &#8220;trans-identifying&#8221; middle-schoolers actually &#8220;pass&#8221; for a member of the opposite gender. The child in this situation certainly didn&#8217;t come close to passing. And for that matter, none of the activists at this school board meeting came close to &#8220;passing,&#8221; either. Humans have evolved for a very long time to develop certain sex-specific traits, and to perceive those traits in others. A child who throws on a wig from Party City isn&#8217;t going to overcome that.
But even if we assume, for the sake of argument, that some child somehow manages to fool everyone at school into thinking he&#8217;s really a girl, it&#8217;s still completely insane to endorse the idea that he should then have access to girls&#8217; locker rooms. Just because he manages to fool people and sneak into those locker rooms doesn&#8217;t make his actions justified. It&#8217;s like saying a bank robber is justified if no one notices he pulled off the heist. Deception is still wrong, whether it&#8217;s detected or not.
This is a basic moral principle — one of many basic moral principles that trans activists have abandoned. If this school board meeting demonstrates anything, it&#8217;s that these people are never going to become more moderate or sensible, no matter how badly they lose national elections. As I&#8217;ve pointed out before, most of the adult trans activists who continue in the fight are either trans themselves or have trans kids — or in some cases, both (as we saw at this school board meeting). They will never let it go, because to let it go would be to admit that they&#8217;ve maimed and mutilated themselves or their children. That is a level of self-reflection and acceptance that trans activists, as the ultimate narcissists, are simply incapable of achieving.
What that means is that it&#8217;s now the responsibility of law enforcement officials, at both the state and federal levels, to prevent trans activists from continuing to abuse children. There are clearly no limits to their depravity at this point. If we want to end this sickness, executive orders and court cases simply aren&#8217;t enough. The school officials who embraced this perversion need to go to prison. The school districts that enforce these policies need to lose federal funding. Simply put, there is no legal penalty too excessive for child abusers. And if we want to protect children and prevent anything like this from happening again, it&#8217;s time that the people responsible started facing those penalties.

MixCollage-18-Mar-2025-01-49-PM-3339

Trans Activists Hijack A School Board Meeting To Verbally Attack A Concerned Mother

Bathrooms

Gender

JB Pritzker

LGBTQ

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Parental Rights in Education

Public Schools

School Boards

school district

The mother of a girl attending an Illinois middle school said that after her daughter refused to change her clothes in front of a biological boy who identified as a transgender girl, school officials stepped in and forced her to do so.
Nicole Georgas told the story of what she said happened to her 13-year-old daughter and other girls at Shepard Middle School while speaking at a Deerfield School District 109 School Board <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tBoq19JZYU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">meeting</a> on Thursday, National Review <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/middle-school-staff-forced-girls-to-change-in-front-of-trans-identifying-boy-mom-says/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Deerfield is a suburb of Chicago. Georgas said her daughter came home upset on February 5, saying a boy was using the girl’s bathroom.
According to Georgas, the girl was then told by school administrators that the boy was allowed to use the girl’s locker room and bathroom because he identified as a girl, and the school’s “inclusive” bathroom policy allowed him to use whichever locker room he wanted. Georgas said she spoke to school administrators and told them they were violating President Donald Trump’s executive order that prohibited males from using female locker rooms and participating in girls’ sports. The school stood its ground, citing the district’s legal counsel.
After this exchange, Georgas said Thursday, “the situation went from bad to worse.”
“A few days later, the male student was present in the girl’s locker room. Feeling violated, the girls made the choice not to change into their PE clothes with the biological male student present,” Georgas said.
The mother said that school administrators then supervised the girls’ locker room to make sure that the girls changed their clothes in front of the transgender-identifying boy without protest. She identified the district’s assistant superintendent for student services, the school’s assistant principal, and the director for student services as the administrators who forced the girls to change in front of the boy, <a href="https://lakecountygazette.com/stories/670490969-deerfield-middle-school-administrators-force-teen-girls-to-change-in-front-of-boy-in-school-locker-room" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Lake County Gazette</a>.
“The girls just want their privacy and they want their locker room back,” she said. “There are gender neutral options. This is my daughter’s story, and the story of many other young girls who have been forced at the difficult age to do something they know and most adults know is wrong.”
Georgas’ story received boos from transgender activists in attendance at the school board meeting, including one transgender-identifying person who also happens to have a child identifying as transgender.
“The discomfort or privacy concerns of other students, teachers, or parents are not valid reasons to deny or limit the full and equal use of those facilities based on a student’s gender-related identity,” said the activist, who serves as the director of operations for Trans Up Front, an activist organization. “Instead, any student, teacher or other individuals seeking more privacy should be accommodated by providing that individual with a more private option.”
Georgas said she filed a civil rights complaint with the Justice Department.

Trans Protest

Illinois School Staff Watched To Ensure Girls Changed In Front Of Trans-Identifying Boy, Mom Says

bathroom

Education

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to restrictions that had been placed on pro-life speech and protest activity within 100 feet of an abortion-providing facility. 
The case arose after the pro-life group Coalition Life challenged a Carbondale, Illinois, <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/il/coc/Board.nsf/files/D73HT549FC54/$file/2023-03%20Ordinance%20Amending%20Title%20Fourteen%2C%20Chapter%20Four%2C%20Section%20Two%20of%20the%20Carbondale%20Revised%20Code%20as%20it%20Relates%20to%20Disorderly%20Conduct.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordinance</a> that restricted pro-life sidewalk counseling within 100 feet of an abortion facility. The policy, which was first implemented in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, was repealed by the city as Coalition Life prepared its appeal to the Supreme Court. 
Both Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said that they would have heard the challenge. 
In a <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24-57_21p3.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dissent</a>, Thomas wrote that he would have ruled to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2000 decision in Hill v. Colorado, which upheld a Colorado law that required a pro-life protester or counselor to obtain consent to approach within eight feet of a person in a 100-foot radius around an abortion facility. 
“Hill has been seriously undermined, if not completely eroded, and our refusal to provide clarity is an abdication of our judicial duty,” Thomas wrote in his dissent. “I would have taken this opportunity to explicitly overrule Hill.”
Thomas wrote that the majority in Hill minimized the restrictions it placed on free speech and said the majority erroneously decided that buffer zone laws were content-neutral. 
“Hill’s abortion exceptionalism turned the First Amendment upside down,” Thomas wrote, saying that “constitutional rights hang in the balance” while the Supreme Court doesn’t reevaluate the Hill decision. 
<a href="https://coalitionlife.com/?_sm_nck=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coalition Life</a>, which trains sidewalk counselors to urge women not to get abortions and provide them information about other options, was represented by lawyers with the Thomas More Society and former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement. 
Peter Breen, the head of litigation for the Thomas More Society, said that the only reason Carbondale repealed its ordinance was to escape Supreme Court scrutiny. 
“On the eve of our petition deadline, Carbondale quietly repealed its bubble zone ordinance in a shadowy, four-minute, weekend meeting, knowing full well their bubble zone would fail constitutional scrutiny if it came before the Supreme Court,” Breen <a href="https://www.thomasmoresociety.org/news/after-last-minute-gamesmanship-city-avoids-supreme-court-scrutiny-for-silencing-pro-life-advocates">said</a>. “While our clients are now able to sidewalk counsel freely in Carbondale, the city flagrantly violated their Free Speech rights for eighteen months, without penalty.”
Coalition Life Executive Director Brian Westbrook said that his group would continue its work despite the court&#8217;s decision. 
“Our appeal may have been denied but across this nation, at hundreds of abortion facilities, a different sort of tragic ‘denial’ continues,” he said. “Cities and states across America are denying sidewalk counselors and law-abiding citizens their rights to inform women about their options&#8230; Women are being denied true choice as they are bullied into the only option that is offered by the abortion advocates.”

Washington-DC-March-for-Life-2025

Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Law Restricting Pro-Life Speech Outside Abortion Facilities

First Amendment

Free Speech

Pro-Life Movement

Supreme Court

The Trump administration reportedly filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the city of Chicago, Cook County, and the state of Illinois over their sanctuary laws that shield illegal aliens from deportation, arguing that they interfere with federal law enforcement’s operations.
The <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/02/06/us-news/trump-administration-sues-chicago-state-of-illinois-over-sanctuary-laws-and-vows-more-lawsuits-to-come/">lawsuit</a> argues that the jurisdictions have adopted policies that inhibit the federal government’s ability to enforce federal immigration law.
“We’ve identified Illinois, the city of Chicago and Cook County as all having laws and ordinances on the books that impede federal immigration enforcement, in particular the Chicago Welcoming ordinance, the Illinois Trust Act,” one unnamed Department of Justice official told the New York Post.
President Donald Trump’s newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi explained the significance of the suit and accused the municipal, county, and state governments of prioritizing illegal aliens over Americans.
“For too long, leaders in Illinois and Chicago have abused their power by putting the comfort of illegal aliens over the safety and welfare of their own citizens. This ends today,” <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/02/06/us-news/trump-administration-sues-chicago-state-of-illinois-over-sanctuary-laws-and-vows-more-lawsuits-to-come/">she said</a>. “The Department of Justice will no longer stand by as state and local leaders obstruct federal law enforcement efforts, endangering their citizens and the brave men and women in uniform.”
One of the laws targeted by the suit, the Illinois Trust Act, which was signed into law in 2017, states: “State law does not currently grant State or local law enforcement the authority to enforce federal civil immigration laws.”
There’s also Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance, which prohibits city officials from detaining people on the basis of their status as illegal aliens. “No agency or agent shall: arrest, detain or continue to detain a person solely on the belief that the person is not present legally in the United States,” reads the ordinance.
The suit specified how these policies interfere with federal law enforcement agent’s ability to enforce immigration law, noting that the jurisdictions “refuse to cooperate with detainers” lodged by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “So instead of handing over people who are in prison or in jail to federal immigration authorities they will just let folks go,” the lawsuit states.
“This lawsuit will put the spotlight on obstruction by state and local officials and their refusal to support the administration and compliance with the law. The law says people who are here illegally are not allowed to stay here, they should be deported. So we want to make sure those impediments are taken away,” a DOJ official told the Post.
“These states and localities advertise themselves as sanctuary jurisdictions. They are inviting people here who are illegal, and they’re promising to protect them from federal law enforcement,” the official went on to say, noting that the case could go all the way to the Supreme Court.
The DOJ official charged that the laws currently “need to be struck from the books because they’re incentivizing illegal immigration into the country.”
The suit comes just one day after AG Bondi was sworn into office. Bondi addressed sanctuary cities in her day one directives, ordering the federal government to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/attorney-general-pam-bondi-directs-doj-to-halt-federal-funding-for-sanctuary-cities">halt funding</a> to sanctuary cities.
“She is right out of the gate sending a clear message to other sanctuary jurisdictions,” another unnamed DOJ official said.

ICE agents

Trump Admin Sues Chicago, State Of Illinois Over Illegal Alien Sanctuary Laws

Border

Chicago

Courts

Department of Justice

deportation

Illegal Immigration

Pam Bondi

TV personality <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/dr-phil-mcgraw">Dr. Phil</a> defended the actions of Border Czar Tom Homan while going along for a raid with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/immigration-and-customs-enforcement-ice">ICE</a>) on Sunday.
The 74-year-old talk show host <a href="https://x.com/DrPhil/status/1883669382242644069">posted</a> a clip from his Merit TV network on X, saying that one of the men detained in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chicago">Chicago</a>, who was later identified as Sam Seda from Thailand, was discovered to be convicted of sex crimes involving children.
Dr. Phil, whose real name is Phil McGraw, asked Seda if he had ever been charged with sex crimes involving children.
“Not really,” Seda replied.
“Not really?!” McGraw said incredulously. “And never been deported?” he continued.
“Nope,” Seda confirmed.
When McGraw asked if he was a citizen, the illegal alien said, “My mom’s a citizen.”
“Again, the downfall, the problem with a sanctuary city is that people like this [are] walking the street rather than having law enforcement working with federal agents,” Homan said. “This is what we’re dealing with.”
Homan next told his agents, &#8216;Let&#8217;s take him in, process him, and lock him up.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
JUST IN: The first arrest in Chicago with <a href="https://twitter.com/RealTomHoman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RealTomHoman</a> was a convicted sex offender and internet predator from Thailand.
For full live coverage of the operation, download the MeritTV app. <a href="https://t.co/KEcphUWDDJ">pic.twitter.com/KEcphUWDDJ</a>
&mdash; Dr. Phil (@DrPhil) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrPhil/status/1883669382242644069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“This is an example of sanctuary cities, right,” Homan told McGraw, saying the man they detained was one of 270 “high-value targets” they were looking for under President Donald Trump’s new mass deportation policy.
“We’ve got an illegal alien convicted of sex crimes involving children and he’s walking the streets of Chicago,” the border czar added.
McGraw had previously posted about his plans to accompany ICE during raids, saying, “It’s a pretty high-risk mission we’re going on. This truly is a targeted ICE mission, because they’re not sweeping neighborhoods like people are trying to imply.”
In another clip <a href="https://x.com/DrPhil/status/1883616999575851514">shared</a> on X, McGraw spoke with Homan about arresting Seda. Homan called the allegations that the deportation strategy was racist, calling such claims “hogwash” while denying that federal agents were rounding up children.
“He shouldn’t even be here, but he’s doing this,” Homan said. He also expressed frustration that community members were refusing to report illegal immigrants like Seda, who were “preying on our children.”
Homan told McGraw that prominent Illinois Democrats like Governor JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson “want to vilify the men of ICE.”
ICE made 956 arrests nationwide on Sunday, the agency <a href="https://x.com/ICEgov/status/1883680858453705153">announced</a> on X. Agents have been targeting migrant criminals every day since President Donald Trump took office last week.

Dr. Phil

Dr. Phil Joins Tom Homan For Chicago ICE Raid, Convicted Sex Offender Nabbed

Dr. Phil Joins Tom Homan For Chicago ICE Raid, Detains Convicted Child Offender

Deportations

Dr. Phil McGraw

illegal immigrants

Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Tom Homan

With President Donald Trump following through on his campaign promise to deport illegal immigrants, the media and left-wing politicians have begun a campaign to turn the American people against the administration.
The latest example comes from Chicago Public Schools (CPS), which falsely claimed on Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents had shown up at Hamline Elementary School but were denied entrance, ABC 7 <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/post/us-immigration-customs-enforcement-agents-denied-entry-hamline-elementary-school-back-yards-cps-officials/15833738/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The federal officials were actually from the U.S. Secret Service and investigating a threat.
Before the truth came out – and even after – Democrats accused the Trump administration of conducting “raids” on elementary schools. Hamline Elementary School principal Natasha Ortega released a statement saying, &#8220;We will not open our doors for ICE, and we are here to protect our children and make sure they have access to an excellent education.”
Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker repeated the false accusation on X, calling the situation “cruel” even though it never happened.
“After a week of Republicans sowing fear and chaos, the first reports of raids in Chicago are at an elementary school,” Pritzker <a href="https://x.com/GovPritzker/status/1882900706132402318" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a>. “Targeting children and separating families is cruel and un-American.”
Alderman Raymond Lopez justified the false information after it was revealed ICE wasn’t involved <a href="https://x.com/RaymondALopez/status/1882910558162501943" target="_blank" rel="noopener">by saying,</a> “This scenario is precisely what I was fighting so hard to avoid with my colleagues on the City Council this past month: giving immigration officials an excuse to come into our communities.”
Fox News’ Bill Melugin noted that it appeared no one spreading the false information had reached out to the Department of Homeland Security or ICE, saying that both denied that ICE agents came to the school or were even in the area.
In an updated announcement issued after the initial false claims spread, CPS admitted that it was Secret Service agents who had come to the school. School officials said they assumed the agents were from ICE because their identification showed they were part of the Department of Homeland Security – which also oversees the Secret Service.
“While this was a misunderstanding in terms of the specific branch of DHS, the school&#8217;s response demonstrates that our system, in partnership with community organizations, is prepared and ready to keep our students and staff safe,&#8221; CPS said in a statement published by ABC 7.
Secret Service told the outlet they were investigating a threat and had gone to a house, where they were told the person they were looking for was at the elementary school.
Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson noted after the truth came out that it is &#8220;imperative that individuals not spread unverified information that sparks fear across the city.&#8221;
Trump has barely been in office for a week, but the Left has already attempted to manufacture disapproval of the policies that got him elected. On the day of his inauguration, media outlets shared a video of a woman at the border supposedly crying because she could not gain asylum by illegally crossing the border.
So far, ICE <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/homan-ice-has-made-1300-arrests-including-pedophiles-gang-members-and-at-least-1-terrorist" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has arrested 1,300 illegal immigrants</a>, Border Czar Tom Homan <a href="https://twitter.com/i/status/1882600909710168202" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> NewsNation host Chris Cuomo.
“Over a thousand of them are criminals. Who are the other ones? They’re either fugitives who’ve been through immigration court, have been ordered to be removed but didn’t, became a fugitive, or collaterals,” Homan told the host. “Look, I said from day one, no one’s off the table. If you’re in the United States illegally, you’ve got a problem. But we are concentrating on public safety threats first. That just makes sense.”

ICE Agents

Latest Anti-Trump Hoax: Chicago School District Falsely Claims ICE Came To Elementary Campus

Latest Anti-Trump Hoax: Chicago Claims ICE Came To School, Was Actually Secret Service

Donald Trump

Fake News

Secret Service

Calvin Zastrow thought he was in trouble when a prison guard banged on his cell door late Thursday night, interrupting his sleep. Zastrow, who was in prison over a peaceful pro-life protest, found out moments later that he was going free thanks to a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/they-should-not-have-been-prosecuted-trump-pardons-23-pro-lifers-targeted-by-biden-doj" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pardon issued</a> by President Donald Trump. 
While Trump announced Thursday afternoon that he was <a href="https://www.justice.gov/pardon/media/1386366/dl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pardoning 23 pro-life protesters</a> who had been targeted by the Biden administration, Zastrow did not immediately find out because he had been stuck in his prison cell for six days due to a prison lockdown. He only heard the news when he was woken up by prison guards at 10:00 p.m. By 11:30 he had been processed out of Federal Correctional Institute, Thomson in Illinois, where he had spent the last three months. 
“They came and banged on my door loud and woke me up and that’s never a good sign when a guard comes and bangs on your door,” he told The Daily Wire Friday morning. “But they said, ‘hey, you got pardoned, you’re out.” 
After he was told the news, Zastrow, 64, gathered up his Bible, the letters people had written to him, some books, and his hat and coat. He was freed at the same time as Jonathan Darnel, another pro-lifer who had been serving 34 months in Thomson.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW: Cal Zastrow, one of the pro-lifers who was just pardoned and freed by Trump, poses with his wife outside the federal prison where he spent the last three months thanks to Biden&#8217;s DOJ. <a href="https://t.co/WMEX5Q5MTr">pic.twitter.com/WMEX5Q5MTr</a>
— Leif Le Mahieu (@leif_lemahieu) <a href="https://twitter.com/leif_lemahieu/status/1882856762489061472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Zastrow’s pardon comes nearly a year after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-life-demonstrators-found-guilty-face-up-to-11-years-in-federal-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he was convicted</a> in Nashville of violating the FACE Act and civil rights conspiracy over a peaceful protest at an abortion facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee in March 2021. During that protest, Zastrow and others sang, prayed, and urged women not to get abortions.  
As Zastrow and Darnel walked out of prison together they sang the Christian hymn “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” a song that has been a staple at many of the pro-life trials that happened across the country last year. 
He said he would like to thank Trump in person for issuing the pardon. “When can we come see you and thank you?” he told The Daily Wire of what he would say to the president. When he issued the pardons, Trump said that it was an “honor” for him to sign, calling their prosecutions &#8220;ridiculous.&#8221; 
“Well, I’m humbled by that,” Zastrow said. “I am just another guy serving the Lord and that would be an honor if my family and I could come and shake his hand and look him in the eyeball and say thanks.” 
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?_gl=1*1nbe5j6*_gcl_au*MTkzOTk4NzA0Mi4xNzM2MTgxNjQyLjIxMTUyMTE0NjEuMTczNzA0NjQwMC4xNzM3MDQ2ODMz*_ga*Nzc2OTM1MzIwLjE3MzYxODE2Mzk.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNzc0MDMyOC43OS4xLjE3Mzc3NDAzNDIuNDYuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT</a>
Trish Zastrow, who has been married to Cal for over 40 years, spoke to The Daily Wire on Thursday, saying she was “really excited to have my husband home,” and that “God has been so good.” She said that her “insides are just jumping for joy and praising God.” 
“The love and the support from family and friends from all over the country has just been overwhelming,” she said. “Nice to have people rejoice with you and it&#8217;s nice to have people stand with you in the midst of trials. Being a part of the family of God is an amazing thing.” 
<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-862665" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-1024x391.png" alt="" width="1024" height="391" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-1024x391.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-300x115.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-768x293.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-1536x587.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/01/INAUG_MERCHBANNER-6-2-2048x782.png 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Trish and two of her daughters and son-in-law drove through the night from their home in Michigan to meet Zastrow at the hotel in Fulton, Illinois, the prison had booked for him. They were reunited shortly after 4:00 a.m. The reunion is not done yet, as Zastrow still has a new grandson back in Michigan waiting to meet him. 
“I haven’t slept a wink,” Zastrow told The Daily Wire. &#8220;I’m still on adrenaline and the Holy Ghost.” 
He said that a couple of January 6 prisoners had been released a few days earlier, and he was starting to wonder if a pardon would come his way. Zastrow said he was resolved to continue to share his faith with his fellow prisoners if he was not pardoned.  
“How cruel, how vicious, how selfish would it be if I got pardoned and the prison didn’t come and tell me,” he said. “The Father pardons our sin because of what Jesus did. Well, how cruel and selfish is it of us not to go tell everybody in the world about God’s love and pardon.” 
Both he and his wife also want to keep the focus on why they were imprisoned in the first place, the thousands of babies aborted every day in the United States. 
“I’m glad it&#8217;s being brought to the forefront for people to realize that these babies that are aborted are living human beings made in God’s image,” Trish said. 
Other pro-lifers imprisoned by the Biden administration have already been freed as well, including Joan Bell and Bevelyn Williams, a young mother who had been sentenced to 41 months in prison for a protest at a Manhattan abortion facility. Williams posted an emotional video showing her being reunited with her young child and husband. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Im HOME! <a href="https://t.co/lEWr5AyrEf">pic.twitter.com/lEWr5AyrEf</a>
— Bevelyn Williams (@MrsBevelynW) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrsBevelynW/status/1882663531549688206?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Others freed included Lauren Handy, who had been sentenced to 57 months in prison over a protest at a late-term abortion facility in Washington, D.C., and Heather Idoni, a 60-year-old grandmother who has been in prison for over a year. 
“It was disgraceful what happened to them. That was a persecution,” Trump said Friday morning as he spoke to reporters. 
The Thomas More Society, which requested the pardons for 21 of the defendants, thanked Trump for his order. 
“What happened to them can never be erased, but today’s pardons are a huge step towards restoring justice,” Steve Crampton said. “Thank you to President Trump and his team for righting these grievous wrongs of the previous administration.&#8221;
Crampton told The Daily Wire that he and his team still planned to pursue legal challenges against the FACE Act despite the pardons. Nearly all prosecutions of the FACE Act since its passage in 1994 have been against pro-lifers, even though it is supposed to protect church and crisis pregnancy centers as well. 
Legislation to repeal the FACE Act was introduced this week by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Senator Mike Lee (R-UT)

signal-2025-01-24-04-57-08-318

Pardoned Pro-Life Activist Says He’s Running ‘On Adrenaline And The Holy Ghost’ After Trump Pardon

FACE Act

Nashville

Pardon

Tom Homan, President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s incoming border czar, blasted Illinois Democratic leaders during a speech in Chicago this week as Trump draws up plans for mass deportations.
Homan discussed the incoming Trump administration&#8217;s plans during a GOP holiday party in the Windy City on Monday and urged Democrats Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to work with the president-elect, Fox 32 <a href="https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-deportations-tom-homan-border" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Both Pritzker and Johnson have vowed to fight Trump&#8217;s mass deportation policy.
&#8220;Chicago is in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks,&#8221; Homan said.
Homan said of Johnson, &#8220;If he doesn’t want to help, get the hell out of the way,&#8221; according to the <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/donald-trump/2024/12/09/border-czar-tom-homan-donald-trump-chicago-pritzker-brandon-johnson-immigration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chicago Sun-Times</a>. Johnson has <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2024/11/12/chicago-will-remain-sanctuary-city-despite-trump-s-threats-mayor-brandon-johnson-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promised</a> to stand in the way of federal agents apprehending illegal immigrants in Chicago. After the election, the Democratic mayor <a href="https://news.wttw.com/2024/11/12/chicago-will-remain-sanctuary-city-despite-trump-s-threats-mayor-brandon-johnson-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> Trump a &#8220;tyrant&#8221; and said his plans to clamp down on illegal immigrants are &#8220;unconscionable and dangerous.&#8221;
Pritzker has similarly vowed to stand between the federal government and illegal immigrants. The governor shot back following Homan&#8217;s comments and said that Trump&#8217;s border czar &#8220;does not have the authority to do the things that he’s talked about,&#8221; NBC 5 Chicago <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/pritzker-pushes-back-on-trump-border-czars-promises-of-mass-deportations/3622500/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“Being a border czar is not an official position in the government,” the governor said. Pritzker added that he&#8217;s &#8220;open to dialogue&#8221; with Homan.
Following Trump&#8217;s election victory last month, Pritzker said that the federal government would have to go through him to deport illegal immigrants in Illinois.
“To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,” he said. “You come for my people. You come through me.”
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Multiple Chicago residents slammed Mayor Johnson and other Chicago officials over the sanctuary city policies during a recent city council meeting, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/chicago-residents-slam-stupidity-mayor-brandon-johnsons-liberal-policies-during-city-council-meeting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
&#8220;Mayor Brandon Johnson, you took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Or when you took an oath, was it only intended to fight for the 10th and 14th amendments regarding illegal aliens?&#8221; asked Zoe Leigh.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t want illegals in our community. We don&#8217;t want migrants terrorizing our own people and to have y&#8217;all sit up here and say we have to accept 7 million dollars being given to them when you have black people already struggling and need help,&#8221; added Chicago resident O. King. &#8220;It is a disgrace.&#8221;
Earlier this week, Homan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-homan-explains-how-democrats-protecting-illegal-aliens-in-sanctuary-cities-states-will-backfire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warned</a> sanctuary cities like Chicago about releasing illegal immigrants back onto the street after they commit a crime.
&#8220;If you let us in the jail, we can arrest the bad guy in the jail, in the safety and security of the jail. One officer could do that. But when you release the public safety threat back in the community, you put the community at risk,” he said. &#8220;You put my officers at risk. You put the alien at risk, because here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to release that guy in the community, I’m going to send an entire team to go look for the guy in your community.&#8221;

Tom Homan Says ‘Chicago Is In Trouble’: ‘Your Mayor Sucks And Your Governor Sucks’

Tom Homan Says 'Chicago Is In Trouble': 'Your Mayor Sucks And Your Governor Sucks'

Brandon Johnson

For only the second time in their 41-year marriage, Calvin and Trish Zastrow will be spending Thanksgiving apart. The first time was due to travel — this time it&#8217;s because Cal is serving a six-month prison sentence over a peaceful protest at a Tennessee abortion facility in 2021.
Zastrow was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-lifer-targeted-by-biden-admin-sentenced-to-prison" target="_blank" rel="noopener">convicted</a> earlier this year on FACE Act-related charges brought by the Biden administration after he prayed, sang hymns, and sat in front of the door to the entrance of an abortion facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Calling from the Federal Correctional Institute Thomson in Illinois this week, Zastrow told The Daily Wire he was doing “absolutely fantastic.”
“I’m all on fire for Jesus,” he said. “I’m doing absolutely great, I’m on a big mission trip here.”
Over one month into his prison sentence, Zastrow said he has kept busy praying, reading his Bible, and teaching his fellow inmates about Christianity.
“There’s a whole lot of prodigals who are wallowing in pig mud, but they want to come back to Jesus, and so I’m here as a missionary to pull them out of that and help them get back on the Jesus road,” he said.
He said his friends and family have sent him over 50 books, mostly about Christian missionaries, and he has turned his cell into a sort of library. Zastrow said he’s been giving away a lot of copies in English and Spanish of the book &#8220;Tortured for Christ,&#8221; which is about Richard Wurmbrand, a pastor who spent years in a communist prison in Romania.
In a low-security section of the prison, Zastrow said he has seen few fights but has met a broad diversity of prisoners — from men convicted over January 6 to recruiters for ISIS and the Taliban.
He said that many of the January 6 prisoners are optimistic that they will get pardoned once President-elect Donald Trump takes office. He also referenced the discussion that Trump may pardon him, as the president-elect previously indicated that he would look at the cases of pro-lifers targeted by the Biden administration.
“I’m not getting my hopes up too high,” he said. “Plus I’m busy here. I’m busy. This prison holds almost 2,300 men and their need to hear about Jesus, their need for that is greater than my need for liberty. And so I’m here on a DOJ-sponsored mission trip.”
He said that most of the guards in the prison were unpleasant and would frequently “bark” and “scream” at the prisoners. “They can’t touch my joy, they can’t touch my soul, they can’t touch my attitude,” he said.
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Meanwhile, he said he has been able to call his wife pretty much every day so far.
“We are very proud of our Cal,” Trish told The Daily Wire on Wednesday. “He’s in there ministering every day. He’s doing well. He isn’t backing down from things.”
Trish was able to visit her husband earlier this month, saying she was able to spend about four hours talking to him. Still, she said it has been tough to be away from him.
“We miss him around here,” she said, noting that they had a new grandson born on November 1. “I didn’t get to share it with Cal, he’s such a great grandpa.”
Zastrow gets 500 minutes a month to call people in 15-minute increments. Trish said her daughter put a special ringtone on her phone so she knows whenever he calls.
“One of the hardest things is I can’t just call and talk to him whenever I want,” she said. “I don’t want to ever miss a call.”
Zastrow is scheduled to be released from prison on April 8, but may be able to qualify for a few days of early release if he takes some classes. His family is eager to see him back, but say they are grateful for the opportunity he’s been given to share his faith.
“I feel very privileged to be his wife and I’m very proud of him for standing,” she said. “I’m excited to see what God does with all this.”

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Pro-Lifer Spending Thanksgiving In Prison Grateful For Opportunity: ‘A DOJ-Sponsored Mission Trip’

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