Residents in a small Kansas town are divided over a new underground nuclear plant scheduled for installation by mid 2027.
<a href="https://www.parsonsks.com/">Parsons</a>, Kansas, a 10-square-mile railroad town established in 1871, is home to 9,600 residents. The farming town is divided over the underground nuclear plant created by a company called Deep Fission. Some believe it will revitalize their sleepy town, creating jobs and the promise of a data center and manufacturers; others are concerned about the environmental impacts an underground nuclear reactor poses, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/climate-environment/an-underground-nuclear-reactor-is-coming-to-this-kansas-townand-dividing-locals-7cd558a3?mod=us-news_lead_story">reported</a> on Tuesday.
If the plant is built, it would become the first borehole underground commercial reactor using a common pressurized water reactor design. <a href="https://www.deepfission.com/about-us">Deep Fission</a> was founded three years ago by professor emeritus of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Richard Muller, and his daughter, Liz Muller. 
With the help of an inventor, Deep Fission designed the Gravity Reactor, a <a href="https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/what-are-small-modular-reactors-smrs">small modular reactor</a> (SMR), which is an advanced nuclear fission plant noted for its small compact size and power capacity of up to 15 megawatts of electricity per unit. The SMR lies in a mile deep borehole and is designed to use “readily available low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel,” according to <a href="https://www.deepfission.com/technology">Deep Fission</a>. 
Unlike traditional nuclear power plants, the Gravity Reactor is geologically isolated with the depth of the borehole providing the “operational pressures” and enhanced safety that should protect the public, according to the company. 
Despite these assurances, not all Parsons residents are convinced. Some residents were shocked that the Great Plains Industrial Park, a decommissioned U.S. Army ammunition plant, approved the nuclear plant without public discussion.
“I put $125,000 into my house, and now a nuclear reactor is coming to town,” Jerel Johnson, an IT professional who planned to retire in Parsons, said. “I can’t think of a worse idea.”
Marjorie Reynolds, a pediatric nurse who is concerned about environmental oversight and “potential risks to water,” created a non-profit organization called the Prairie Dog Alliance. She questions how drillers perform under oil-and-gas regulations instead of nuclear ones.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t know how the oil and gas industry rules and regulations apply specifically to an experimental nuclear project that includes a borehole,” Reynolds said, per <a href="https://www.kcur.org/2026-07-23/the-one-mile-underground-kansas-reactor-didnt-meet-a-july-4-goal-but-is-still-on-track">KCUR News</a>. “So that&#8217;s one of our great concerns.&#8221; 
“Any time you’re putting a nuclear reactor in a hole, it’s kind of scary,” Verlyn Bolinger, an insurance agent sitting on the city’s commission, said. “It’s great that it’s here. It’s kind of bad that we’re the guinea pigs.”
However, other residents are excited about the potential economic boom the nuclear reactor can bring. With elected officials finding the addition of a Taco Bell or the saving of a furniture store a financial win, Deep Fission&#8217;s project could encourage people to move to the small town.
&#8220;Rural communities cannot build their futures by rejecting new technology before it’s evaluated,” Wayne Gilmore, an optometrist and owner of the local radio station that broadcasts the high-school football games, said.
The Parsons police chief, Robert Spinks, believes this could be just what the city needs to experience growth.
&#8220;It’s a proven technology, just in a new application,&#8221; Spinks said. &#8220;And if that is a trigger which draws in other manufacturing and brings in living-wage jobs, I think that’s a win.&#8221;
Liz Muller, the CEO of Deep Fission, released a statement, asserting that “transparency and working closely with the Parsons community has always been a top priority for us.” The company also hired someone to live in the Parsons community to create a “local presence.”
The company raised roughly $150 million in the past year, and broke ground last December in Parsons, Kansas, on 100 acres in what is “a mostly overgrown industrial park dotted with old munitions bunkers just outside town,” according to the Journal.
Currently, Deep Fission has dug a test hole and is planning to drill a second hole this year, sending a prototype reactor down. Finally, the company will place a steel canister containing nuclear fuel in a third hole to heat water and generate electricity by 2027 or 2028 — remarkably fast for the industry. 
Deep Fission&#8217;s potential investment in Parsons, Kansas, comes as the Trump administration seeks a “nuclear renaissance&#8221; as electricity demands rise and AI data centers experience explosive growth. The administration hopes to quadruple America’s nuclear-power generation by 2050, per The Wall Street Journal. 

Twelve Democratic attorneys general accused the Trump administration of moving too quickly and cutting corners. They <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/2026_03_04_FINAL_DOE.CatExCommentLetter.pdf">argue</a> that the Department of Energy has adopted a &#8220;categorical exclusion&#8221; that exempts developing advanced nuclear reactors from &#8220;environmental review.&#8221;

Golfech nuclear reactors remain offline amid heatwave in France

Small Town Plays Guinea Pig For First-Of-Its-Kind Underground Nuclear Reactor

Data Centers

Kansas

Nuclear

Trump Administration

One of the nation’s top medical schools runs a program for future doctors to learn how to remove healthy body parts and construct fake genitals for gender confused adults. 
The University of Kansas Medical Center <a href="https://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/academics/departments/plastic-burn-and-wound-surgery/academics/adult-comprehensive-gender-care-and-surgery-fellowship.html">offers</a> an “Adult Comprehensive Gender Care and Surgery” fellowship for medical professionals to obtain a “comprehensive experience in all clinical and academic aspects of adult gender care.” Through the program, fellows become members of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), a radical organization that has faced accusations of manipulating science for political purposes. 
The fellowship was flagged in a report shared with The Daily Wire by <a href="http://criticalrace.org/">CriticalRace.org</a>, an organization that monitors activist ideology in higher education. The report looked at how top medical schools and their medical wings promote transgender ideology through programs, initiatives, and medical care. 
“I think this report is a warning alarm being sounded that both the federal government and state governments need to pay attention to what&#8217;s actually happening,” William Jacobson, a professor at Cornell University and the founder of CriticalRace.org, told The Daily Wire. “While adults have broad power to consent to things, you cannot consent to unsound medical practices, or at least, that is not an excuse for the unsound practices.”
Fellows at the University of Kansas Medical Center, which receives millions in federal and state level funding, will be taught how to perform a vaginoplasty, a procedure where a pseudo-vagina is created on a male, oftentimes using skin from the penis. Another procedure is phalloplasty, when a fake penis is created using skin removed from other parts of the body. 
Additionally, the medical center will sponsor fellowship participants to become members of WPATH, an organization accused of twisting science to hide uncomfortable details about transgender procedures. Fellows will attend WPATH’s annual symposium. WPATH is one of the largest advocates of transgender procedures for kids. 
The fellowship at the University of Kansas Medical Center will also cover training in performing transgender chest and face surgeries, genital reconstruction surgery, “body contouring,” and other procedures like surgeries to remove a woman’s uterus. Non-surgical aspects of the fellowship involve learning about “voice/speech training,” and “social work/fertility preservation.”
In 2023, the University of Kansas Health System reported it had over 190 cases related to gender surgery. 
The University of Kansas Medical Center declined to comment.
Republicans in Kansas have moved to protect kids from transgender procedures, overriding a veto from Democratic Governor Laura Kelly. That cut off funding for any gender procedures on minors and banned doctors from doing the procedures on kids. 
The University of Kansas Medical Center was not the lone school scrutinized in CriticalRace.org’s report. Kemberlee Kaye, the managing editor of CriticalRace.org said that researchers found “a surprising number” of educational institutions that “were engaging in the sexual mutilation surgery.”
“I think the entire issue is egregious and troubling, quite frankly, and the fact that our medical schools are willingly engaging in this and promoting it,” Kaye told The Daily Wire. “These kinds of reports illuminate how deeply this pernicious ideology is entrenched in our institutions, whether it&#8217;s just the higher education programs or medical schools.”
The report found links to transgender ideology at other top institutions like the University of New Mexico and the Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. 
The Wexner Medical Center <a href="https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/gender-affirming-care">says</a> that it is “one of only a few academic health centers in the country to offer bottom gender-affirming surgery.” 
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1127445" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-01-at-12.36.23-PM.png" alt="" width="1800" height="370" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-01-at-12.36.23-PM.png 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-01-at-12.36.23-PM-300x62.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-01-at-12.36.23-PM-1024x210.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-01-at-12.36.23-PM-768x158.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-07-01-at-12.36.23-PM-1536x316.png 1536w" sizes=" (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px" /></div>
It details procedures such as carving up a person’s forehead or jaw to appear more masculine or feminine. 
“The forehead has been regarded as the most gender-defining region of the face. Cis-females tend to have lower hairlines, flat to smooth forehead contour with eyebrows that sit above the orbital rims, while cis-males are recognized by longer foreheads commonly combined with frequent hair-loss patterns,” the medical center says on its website. 
The University of New Mexico is another taxpayer-funded university that offers “gender affirming care” through its Student Health and Counseling office. The office boasts that it “offers gender affirming hormone therapy, referrals for gender affirming surgery and voice therapy, non-estrogen contraception (including LARC) for transmen/nonbinary people for pregnancy prevention if appropriate” and “routine screenings for cervical/breast/prostate cancer for people with these parts.”
The University of Arizona’s Campus Health department has a “LGBTQ+ Clinic” that <a href="https://health.arizona.edu/lgbtq-health">helps</a> gender-confused students obtain cross-sex hormones, makes transgender surgery referrals, and provides other “trans support.” 
Additionally, the university takes credit for ensuring that the student health insurance plan covers “access to medically necessary, gender-affirming health care.”
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1127447" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-1.27.54-PM.png" alt="" width="2278" height="716" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-1.27.54-PM.png 2278w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-1.27.54-PM-300x94.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-1.27.54-PM-1024x322.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-1.27.54-PM-768x241.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-1.27.54-PM-1536x483.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Screenshot-2026-06-30-at-1.27.54-PM-2048x644.png 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 2278px) 100vw, 2278px" /></div>
“This access to care is a crucial element to the health, academic success, and retention of transgender-identified students,” the university says. 
While many red states have advanced protections for kids from transgender procedures, some lawmakers at the state and national level have started to push for all funding and support for transgender procedures on adults to be cut off. Republicans in South Carolina recently moved to ban all public funding for transgender procedures. Shortly after, the Medical University of South Carolina ended its transgender program at all levels. 
In other states, entities like Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-boasting-about-40k-trans-surgeries-vanderbilt-reverses-course">shuttered</a> transgender programs. 
Kaye told The Daily Wire that federal and state lawmakers across the country need to take a closer look at what kinds of programs state funded medical institutions support and promote.

Low angle view of hands of doctor surgeon nurse passing medical equipment tool in surgery operating room hospital

Top State University Pushes Doctors To Join Radical Trans Organization

Transgender

transgender surgery

Kansas will enact legislation banning males who identify as female from using women’s bathrooms after Republican lawmakers overrode Democrat Governor Laura Kelly&#8217;s veto. 
The Kansas House <a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/sb244/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">voted</a> 87-37 on Wednesday to overturn Kelly’s veto of a <a href="https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/documents/sb244_enrolled.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill,</a> which requires that multi-occupancy private spaces in public buildings be separate by sex. The state Senate previously voted 31-9 on Tuesday to do the same. 
“Today, Speaker Hawkins and I signed the veto override for SB 244. Common sense has prevailed against Laura Kelly and the radical left, and now women and girl&#8217;s (sic) private spaces will be protected from biological men,” Senate President Ty Masterson wrote on social media on Wednesday, sharing a photo alongside House Speaker Dan Hawkins. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Today, Speaker Hawkins and I signed the veto override for SB 244. Common sense has prevailed against Laura Kelly and the radical left, and now women and girl’s private spaces will be protected from biological men. <a href="https://t.co/8UCu7tUzzK">pic.twitter.com/8UCu7tUzzK</a>
— Ty Masterson (@TyMastersonKS) <a href="https://twitter.com/TyMastersonKS/status/2024248789918196154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 18, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The law applies to multi-occupancy restrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, and shower facilities designated for use by males or females.
The legislation also defines “gender” for purposes of state law as a person&#8217;s biological sex and requires driver’s licenses to reflect a person&#8217;s sex rather than gender identity. Birth certificates must also list a person’s sex. 
Responding to the override, Kelly <a href="https://www.governor.ks.gov/Home/Components/News/News/926/56">said</a> the bill was “poorly drafted” and would have “far-reaching consequences.” 
She claimed it would prohibit “brothers from visiting sisters’ dorms and husbands from wives’ shared hospital rooms.”
The bill&#8217;s passage was condemned by leftist groups such as the ACLU of Kansas. 
“This discriminatory bill undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution,” said Micah Kubic, executive director of the ACLU of Kansas. 
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) praised the state legislature for overriding the veto. 
“Congratulations to the Kansas Legislature on this important win for our state. Grateful for the strong leadership of Senate President Ty Masterson, Speaker Dan Hawkins, and the entire Legislature for standing up to radical left gender ideology, and delivering commonsense protections for Kansas girls,” <a href="https://x.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/2024276721168765012">said</a> Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) on Wednesday. 
The veto override was also praised by American Principles Project President Terry Schilling.
“Gov. Laura Kelly tried to smuggle boys into your daughters’ locker room. And when Kansans blocked her, she pretended it was about hospital visitation,” he told The Daily Wire. “What Laura Kelly and Democrats lack in common sense, they make up for with bald-faced lies and indifference to the safety of children.”
Last year, Kansas&#8217;s GOP supermajority <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-republicans-override-dem-governors-veto-to-ban-trans-procedures-on-kids">overrode</a> Kelly&#8217;s veto to enact a law banning transgender medical procedures for children.

Friends applying make-up while looking at mirror

Battle Over Women’s Bathrooms Delivers A Biological Reality Check

Bathrooms

Politics

Social Issues

Federal immigration agents will descend upon two new states as part of a continued operation to nab Somali illegal immigrants, sources familiar with the operation told The Daily Wire.
Over 200 Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers will deploy from across the country to Kansas and Ohio to make arrests, according to a federal law enforcement source.
The latest deployment comes as the Trump administration continues to target Somali illegal immigrants following reports of a massive fraud scheme in Minnesota. The fraudsters, many of whom were Somali, stole billions from state welfare programs, funneling the cash through fake nonprofits and shell companies back to Somalia — and even Somali terrorist group Al-Shabaab, City Journal <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/minnesota-welfare-fraud-somalia-al-shabaab" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> last month.
The Trump administration responded by deploying more than 100 ICE officers to Minneapolis with orders to scoop up hundreds of illegal immigrants from Somalia who already have deportation orders.
ICE was soon met with condemnation from local leaders in Minnesota, including Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who pledged to support the Somali community in his city and to not cooperate with federal immigration agents.
The operation yielded more than 400 arrests, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
DHS didn&#8217;t confirm or deny the latest plans.
&#8220;Every day, ICE enforces the laws of the nation across the country. What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally. We do not discuss future or potential operations,&#8221; Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Trump didn&#8217;t hold back yesterday 🔥<a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a> <a href="https://t.co/aIkHAoSr9s">pic.twitter.com/aIkHAoSr9s</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1996785816534655010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
President Donald Trump fired back at Frey, calling him &#8220;a fool&#8221; for championing his city&#8217;s massive Somali community.
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&#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t be proud to have the largest Somalian [population]. Look at their nation &#8230; it&#8217;s not even a nation, it&#8217;s just people walking around killing each other,&#8221; Trump recently said.
&#8220;These Somalians have taken billions of dollars out of our country,&#8221; Trump said, adding that &#8220;the Somalians should be out of here.&#8221;
Unlike Minneapolis, both Kansas and Ohio aren&#8217;t considered sanctuary states. In 2022, Kansas enacted legislation to ban sanctuary cities in the state.
Ohio is home to the second largest Somali community in the United States.

Federal Agents Detain Immigrants Outside Connecticut Courthouse

ICE Plans Operation To Target Somali Illegal Immigrants In Two New States

Donald Trump

illegal immigrants

Illegal Immigration

Minneapolis

Ohio

Somalia

U.S.

American car manufacturing giant General Motors is set to invest $4 billion in the United States, moving production of three vehicles from Mexico.
GM plans to move production of full-size SUVs and light-duty pickups from Mexico to its Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan, a plant that had recently been repurposed to focus on electric trucks until demand for EVs dropped, The Detroit News <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/general-motors/2025/06/10/gm-plans-4-billion-push-to-move-production-from-mexico-to-u-s/84135790007/">reported</a> on Tuesday. GM&#8217;s gas-powered Equinox will be made in Fairfax, Kansas, and the gas-powered Blazer will be made in Spring Hill, Tennessee. The auto company&#8217;s major shift back is set to take place through 2027 and will move the assembly of more than two million vehicles to the United States, GM said, according to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/10/gm-to-invest-4-billion-in-us-manufacturing-plants-amid-tariffs.html">CNBC</a>.
“We believe the future of transportation will be driven by American innovation and manufacturing expertise,” GM CEO Mary Barra said. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our ongoing commitment to build vehicles in the U.S. and to support American jobs. We&#8217;re focused on giving customers choice and offering a broad range of vehicles they love.”
The announcement, which comes after President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on foreign auto imports, was celebrated by the Trump administration.
“No president has taken a stronger interest in reviving America’s once-great auto industry than President Trump, and GM’s investment announcement builds on trillions of dollars in other historic investment commitments to Make in America,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said, according to The Detroit News.
Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also praised GM&#8217;s decision, saying it would bring &#8220;more auto manufacturing back home to Michigan, protecting thousands of good-paying, union auto jobs.&#8221;
The future of the Ramos Arizpe plant in Mexico, which currently produces the Equinox and the Blazer, remains uncertain. The production of the Blazer is set to fully move to the United States, while some Equinoxes will still be made at the Mexico plant for other markets, CNBC reported.
Last month, GM said it was also cutting back on production at a truck plant in Ontario, Canada, due to Trump&#8217;s auto tariff, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/general-motors-to-cut-back-on-manufacturing-at-canada-plant-over-trump-tariff?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=General+Motors+To+Cut+Back+On+Manufacturing+At+Canada+Plant+Over+Trump+Tariff">reported</a>. The auto giant <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/general-motors-to-cut-back-on-manufacturing-at-canada-plant-over-trump-tariff?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=General+Motors+To+Cut+Back+On+Manufacturing+At+Canada+Plant+Over+Trump+Tariff">said</a> in April that it planned to ramp up production of light-duty trucks at its assembly plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana, which promises to add more temporary jobs and increase overtime opportunities for employees.

General Motors

‘Support American Jobs’: GM Plans $4 Billion Production Move From Mexico To U.S.

Auto Companies

Economy

Jobs

Mexico

Michigan

Tariffs

Tennessee

Both the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals made their homes in Missouri in the 1960s. The teams won a combined six titles in the decades that followed, making Kansas City one of the most successful “<a href="https://sports.betmgm.com/en/blog/mlb/smallest-cities-with-mlb-team-bm23/">small</a>” sports cities in the United States.
But there’s an economic fight brewing over the teams, a fight between two cities of the same name: Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas. 
The historic Kansas City sports franchises currently play in two of the oldest stadiums still used by professional sports teams. The Chiefs’ famed Arrowhead Stadium <a href="https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/oldest-nfl-stadiums">opened</a> in 1972, and the Royals’ Kauffman Stadium <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2025/05/31/oldest-stadiums-mlb-active-baseball/83964425007/">opened</a> a year later. But decades of the Chiefs and Royals playing at Arrowhead and Kauffman and calling Missouri home are at risk of coming to an end as plans have been drawn up for the teams to move just across the Missouri River to Kansas City, Kansas — and Kansas lawmakers are actively seeking to bring the teams across state lines. 
On Monday, what promises to be a heated special session began in the Missouri State Legislature. The special session will, in part, address ways to keep the teams in the state, such as funding for improvements to the Chiefs’ stadium and a potential new ballpark on the Missouri side of the border for the Royals. 
Missouri&#8217;s Republican Governor, Mike Kehoe, is fighting to keep both teams in Missouri, as their neighbors in Kansas have offered big stadium incentives for the Chiefs and Royals to move across the Missouri River.
But the Chiefs and Royals — and the stadiums that they call home — come with an eye-popping cost, a cost that requires help from government handouts. According to the <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article307476771.html">Kansas City Star</a>, a new stadium for the Royals could cost over $1 billion, while renovations for Arrowhead could come with a pricetag of $800 million. 
The cost is worth it to the governor. According to Kehoe’s office, the Chiefs “contribute $575 million annually in economic value and over 4,500 jobs in Jackson County alone, bringing the State of Missouri nearly $30 million in annual tax revenue,” while a “new Royals ballpark district is expected to support 8,400 jobs and generate $1.2 billion in economic output annually.”  
In a statement to The Daily Wire, a Kehoe spokeswoman said that the governor “has been working for months to develop a competitive package to keep both the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs in Missouri where they belong.”
Conservative Republicans in the Missouri Freedom Caucus, however, don’t buy the governor’s economic estimations and don’t want to use taxpayer dollars for the benefit of billionaire owners. Instead, the Freedom Caucus Republicans argue that the state should focus on helping average Missourians with tax cuts. 
“I hate the thought of billions of taxpayer dollars going to fund bread and circuses, to be honest with you,” Republican State Senator Rick Brattin told The Daily Wire. “And that’s exactly what this is, especially when you see the Royals posting the ‘Pride’ stuff and totally disconnected from reality.” 
Brattin added that the Royals can “move to Kansas for all I care,” saying that the team’s games are “sparsely attended.”  
The state senator said his colleagues are prepared to negotiate with the governor to come to an agreement on tax cuts for all Missourians in exchange for stadium funding. He argued that incentives offered to the billionaire sports owners should be matched with tax cuts for average citizens. 
Some Democrats are also questioning the stadium funding, arguing that more money should be allotted for disaster relief after a major <a href="https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/wx/afos/p.php?pil=PNSLSX&amp;e=202505190006">tornado</a> struck St. Louis in May, killing five people and injuring dozens more. 
Paying for major stadium upgrades — or a new stadium — is a major cost for even the billionaire owners of sports franchises. In most cases, cities and states will chip in by offering government subsidies and tax incentives. The return on such a massive investment, however, is minimal for state and city governments, according to John C. Mozena, the president of the Center for Economic Accountability. 
Mozena told The Daily Wire in a phone interview that the economic projections on the stadiums touted by Kehoe’s office are “incredibly flawed.” 
“There is virtually nothing that economists agree on more than the idea that stadiums are terrible investments for governments and terrible economic development tools,” Mozena said. “The reason for that is really simple, it’s that stadiums spend almost their entire lives dark, empty, and silent. Most of the time, there’s nothing going on there.” 
Mozena added that a baseball stadium might draw up to three million people in a good season, which is “about what a single good-sized Walmart Supercenter might do.” 
“These are big facilities with a lot of infrastructure around them that barely ever get used and end up being economic black holes,” said Mozena.  
The stadium funding battle reignites a familiar fight, one that Missouri and Kansas once fought over Applebee&#8217;s. From the 1980s through the early 2000s, Applebee&#8217;s moved its headquarters from Missouri to Kansas and back to Missouri, lured by competing tax incentives. The economic “<a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/668790306">border war</a>” over Applebee&#8217;s ended when the restaurant chain moved to Southern California in 2023. 
The governor is positioning the war over the Chiefs and the Royals as another battle to keep jobs in the state. 
“Governor Kehoe views these efforts as important economic development retention projects, and believes Missouri’s proposal must be competitive to keep these major economic engines in the state, while also being a good deal for taxpayers,” his spokeswoman told The Daily Wire. 
Andy Roth, the president of the State Freedom Caucus Network, said the economic argument doesn’t add up.
“What’s particularly nuts about this whole thing is, by the governor’s own admission, they’re worried the Chiefs and the Royals are going to move 10 miles to the west,” Roth told The Daily Wire. “It’s not like they’re going to Seattle or Florida or New York. They’re literally just going across the road.”  
The economic border war over the two franchises likely won&#8217;t come to an end until at least the end of June as Missouri lawmakers seek to work out a deal with the governor. Kansas’ offer for the Chiefs and Royals is also coming off the table at the end of June, according to Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, the Kansas City Star <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article307452161.html">reported</a>. 
“If one of them wants to — or both — wants to come to Kansas, we’d love to have them,” Hawkins said. “We have the tools.”

KC-Stadiums

A Tale Of Two Kansas Cities: Chiefs And Royals Spark Political Battle With Potential Stadium Moves

Kansas City

Kansas City Chiefs

Missouri

Republicans

A group of abortionists suing to overturn a Kansas pro-life law were recently compelled to unseal hidden court records. The documents, released to the public earlier this month, include one of the plaintiff&#8217;s descriptions of her own harrowing abortion.
Dr. Traci Lynn Nauser recalled in a deposition how she came to be pregnant with quadruplets, attempted to abort two of the babies, and wound up killing all four.
&#8220;I felt like I was being punished by God — and I&#8217;m not even a religious person — for doing abortions,&#8221; Nauser said. &#8220;But I know it was the right thing.&#8221;
&#8220;I chose to have labor induction,&#8221; Nauser said. &#8220;Medically, to me, they&#8217;re fetuses. To me, as Traci Nauser, as the person that was pregnant, they were babies. They had names. Jordan was a girl. Drew was the boy. Jordan delivered, had a heartbeat, and I held her till she died in my arms. Drew, thank God, did not when he was born. So I didn&#8217;t have to have that trauma twice.&#8221;
&#8220;I have since grieved, been able to move on, never forgotten. Every Christmas I put up specific ornaments for them,&#8221; she said.
Nauser, who works at the Center for Women’s Health near Kansas City, is one of several abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, <a href="https://adflegal.org/press-release/kansas-law-informs-women-protects-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suing</a> Kansas over state rules designed to make sure a woman is informed before she has an abortion. In April, the Kansas City Star intervened in the abortionists’ lawsuit, demanding they reveal hidden court records, including Nauser&#8217;s deposition. The abortion providers had filed certain court records as “confidential” or “attorneys’ eyes only.”
Kansas mandates that doctors meet with a woman 24 hours before her abortion, tell her the abortion pill is reversible, listen to the baby’s heartbeat 30 minutes before performing an abortion, post information about the risks of abortion in the abortion clinic, among other steps.
During her deposition, Nauser explained she struggled with infertility while trying to conceive with her husband, and how she turned to medications that stimulated her ovaries to release multiple eggs. At one point, her ovaries released four eggs.
&#8220;I said, we all know the chances of multiples is really low even in this situation. I just want to be pregnant. Let&#8217;s go for it. Oh, I got pregnant with quads,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;So now I&#8217;m pregnant with quads,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;And I know, as a doctor, the risks of a quadruple pregnancy and the successful outcome rates of that are extremely low. So I had to make the decision — or I made the decision with my husband to reduce it down to twins, which would be a much more successful likelihood pregnancy.&#8221;
Nauser said she had to fly to Detroit for the &#8220;reduction&#8221; procedure.
Everything went well after two of the quadruplets were aborted, until the day of her 20-week ultrasound when she felt &#8220;massive pressure&#8221; in her vagina. Nauser was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and brought to the operating room for a procedure to try to save her remaining two babies.
&#8220;I knew I was screwed before I even went to the OR because I saw my own ultrasound — my water broke,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I wake up in recovery. I remember saying something to the effect of, did they save them? And the answer&#8217;s, no.&#8221;
The risk of a dangerous infection to both mother and baby is extremely high when a pregnant woman&#8217;s water breaks too early.
Nauser went on to do in vitro fertilization and have two kids.
&#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t have them had I not been through everything that I&#8217;ve been through,&#8221; she said.
Nauser added that she explained abortion to her kids when they were 8 and 9 years old because she worried their classmates might say something after she <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43609782" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared</a> on The Rachel Maddow Show to discuss abortion in 2011.
&#8220;They were studying government at that age, and one said, I&#8217;m so confused, why are women talking to [Kansas] Governor [Sam] Brownback about their medical situations and not their doctors?&#8221; Nauser said. &#8220;If a freaking eight- and nine-year-old can figure this stuff out, so should adults.&#8221;
Nauser&#8217;s father is also an abortionist, and the pair <a href="https://www.hodesnauser.com/about-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">practiced</a> together at her father&#8217;s clinic until he retired. Despite the feelings she describes in her deposition, she seems to view her quadruple abortion as a net positive.
&#8220;I am a better doctor, I think, because of all of this. I get it,&#8221; she said.

Baby Twins Feet in parents hands

‘Punished By God:’ Abortionist Fighting Kansas Pro-Life Law Details Harrowing Quadruplets Abortion

Abortionist Suing Kansas Over Pro-Life Law Details Her Own Harrowing Quadruplets Abortion

Abortion

Senator Roger Marshall on Thursday will introduce a measure to keep taxpayer dollars from going toward transgender medical procedures on both children and adults.
The Kansas Republican&#8217;s bill, the &#8220;No Subsidies for Gender Transition Procedures Act,&#8221; would ensure that transgender medical procedures  — such as removing the breasts of girls who identify boys — would not be considered healthcare under IRS code. The Kansas Republican told The Daily Wire that he designed the bill specifically with an eye towards including it in the &#8220;one, big, beautiful&#8221; bill backed by President Donald Trump working its way through Congress.
“Americans overwhelmingly agree that hard-earned taxpayer dollars should not go toward paying for harmful gender transition procedures,” Marshall said.
“This legislation delivers on President Trump’s promise, puts a halt to the misuse of federal funds for gender transition procedures on both minors and adults, and defends our nation’s values. As the reconciliation process continues, I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense legislation and ensure it is included in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill.”
Marshall pointed to the proposal&#8217;s focus on amending the tax code and mandatory spending as reasons why it should fall under Trump&#8217;s &#8220;beautiful bill proposal.&#8221;
One major component of the bill would be to prohibit transgender procedures being funded with dollars from Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This would mean no more taxpayer funding for procedures like removing the breasts of women identifying as men or surgeries to create pseudo-male and female genitalia.
Marshall&#8217;s proposal would also end tax deductions for transgender medical procedures by changing the definition of health care used by the IRS.
From 2016 to 2021, the Defense Department spent around $15 million on transgender procedures for military members, according to Marshall&#8217;s office. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia also include the procedures in their Medicaid policies.
Fellow Republican Senators Bill Cassidy (LA), Pete Ricketts (NE), and Mike Lee (UT) are backing the bill while Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) introduced a companion bill in the House.
“Taxpayers should never be forced to fund dangerous and irreversible gender transition surgeries. The No Subsidies for Gender Transition Procedures Act sets a sweeping precedent by applying to both adults and minors and applying to as many federal funding streams as possible,” Tenney said.
“This will ensure that regardless of the age of the individual looking to mutilate themselves, the American taxpayer will not be forced to subsidize it. We are working to ensure that not a dime of federal funds can be used to pay for gender transition procedures.”
Trump has already taken aim at the funding of transgender procedures for children, signing an executive order blocking funding from hospitals that facilitate the &#8220;mutilation&#8221; of kids.

US-CONGRESS-ECONOMY-CREDIT

EXCLUSIVE: GOP Senator Sets Out To Codify Trump Order On Transgender Surgery Funding

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

Senate

The Kansas City Star has intervened in abortionists&#8217; lawsuit against the state, demanding the abortion providers reveal hidden court records.
The abortion providers are suing over new state abortion requirements that are currently suspended as the lawsuit makes its way through the courts, including that a woman must wait 24 hours before getting an abortion and that doctors must tell women the abortion pill is reversible.
The Star objected to an agreement between the abortion providers and Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach to allow certain exhibits to be filed under seal.
&#8220;The public has a right to know what is happening in judicial proceedings,&#8221; the Kansas City Star&#8217;s executive editor Greg Farmer <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-kc-star-moves-to-intervene-in-kansas-abortion-lawsuit-over-hidden-court-records/ar-AA1CLQTW?ocid=BingNewsSerp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;The efforts in this case to hide records from public view are an attack on long-established democratic principles.&#8221;
&#8220;Our goal with this motion is to fight for our readers and all Kansans and to ensure and advocate for transparency on their behalf,&#8221; Farmer said.
In a court filing, the newspaper asked a Johnson County District Court judge to unseal the exhibits filed under seal, with redactions for patients&#8217; names and personal information.
The abortion providers had filed certain court records as &#8220;confidential&#8221; or &#8220;attorneys&#8217; eyes only.&#8221;
The suit was <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article276149576.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filed</a> back in 2023 against several state officials by three Kansas abortion providers, Planned Parenthood Great Plains, Hodes and Nauser Women’s Health, and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
The abortion providers are suing over a group of new state restrictions around abortions.
The new rules <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-kc-star-moves-to-intervene-in-kansas-abortion-lawsuit-over-hidden-court-records/ar-AA1CLQTW?ocid=BingNewsSerp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">require</a> doctors to meet with a woman 24 hours before her abortion and provide her with detailed information about her pregnancy. The rules also require that abortion providers survey women and ask their most important reason for choosing abortion with options like financial stress, rape, fetal disability, or health of the mother.
The doctor <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article276149576.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">must</a> also listen to the baby&#8217;s heartbeat 30 minutes before performing an abortion and post information in the abortion clinic and on its website that abortion could increase the risk of breast cancer and premature birth in future pregnancies. The rules also require that women be told the abortion pill is &#8220;reversible&#8221; if they have only taken the first pill of the two-dose regimen.
“This legislation ensures that women in this situation are provided with all medical information and it’s appalling that Planned Parenthood would attempt to block this information to satisfy their donor base,” Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Republican, <a href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article276149576.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Kansas currently <a href="https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/kansas/abortion-policies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allows</a> abortions up to 22 weeks.

Midsection of Pregnant Woman Holding Her Belly

Media Outlet Steps In To Demand Planned Parenthood Reveal Hidden Court Records

Courts

Media

Planned Parenthood

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly asked the federal government to let her state prohibit food stamps from being spent on soda and candy — then reversed course and vetoed a bill passed by the legislature to cut back on taxpayer-subsidized junk food.
The Democrat&#8217;s abrupt flip-flop is the latest example of strange behavior following a lobbying campaign by the soda and candy industries aimed at countering bipartisan support for reforming food stamps to reduce obesity-related health issues among the poor.
In March, the Kansas <a href="https://kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/vote_view/je_20250219114953_198904/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislature</a> <a href="https://kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/vote_view/je_20250319154637_587964/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed</a> a bill <a href="https://kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/documents/sb79_enrolled.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">instructing</a> “The secretary for children and families&#8221; to &#8220;request a waiver from the United States Department of Agriculture to exclude candy and soft drinks from the definition of eligible foods &#8230;&#8221;
On April 2 — before the bill had been signed, and, therefore, before she was required to — Kelly requested such a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25893168-snap-waiver/#document/p1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">waiver</a>, a copy of which was obtained by The Daily Wire. The waiver asked the federal government for permission to “exclude all candy and soda beverages (also known as soft drinks) from the definition of eligible foods under 7 CFR 271.2 for purchase with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.” 
The waiver argued that Kansas has an epidemic of ailments associated with obesity, like diabetes and heart disease.
“Current estimates rank Kansas 12th in the nation for obesity prevalence, with 34.4% of adults,” it said. “The primary goals of the SNAP program are to alleviate hunger and improve the nutrition and health of low-income individuals… Allowing the purchase of sugar sweetened soda beverages and candy with minimal nutritional value with federal dollars is harmful for low-income families, and it enables unhealthy nutritional habits. It also creates irresponsible spending of federal tax dollars and increased healthcare costs.”
The waiver, signed by Economic and Employment Services Director Carla Whiteside-Hicks, said that an Agriculture Department report found that in 2011, nearly $360 million in food stamp dollars were spent on soda, making it the second-most popular item, as well as $138 million on candy. 
But a day later, Kelly vetoed the bill, contradicting her own waiver’s arguments while echoing arguments from industry lobbyists that businesses would lose money if they can’t accept welfare dollars for soda and candy.
“This bill is simply wrong,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.governor.ks.gov/Home/Components/News/News/598/56#:~:text=The%20following%20veto%20message%20is%20from%20Governor%20Kelly%20regarding%20her%20veto%20of%20Senate%20Bill%2079%3A%C2%A0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. &#8220;Not only would it make it more difficult for Kansans to access the food they need to feed their families, it would also harm Kansas businesses.&#8221;
“The waiver required by this bill is confusing and will cause problems for our grocers and small businesses. Under the definition in that waiver, Kansas businesses would be mandated to stop accepting food assistance benefits for protein bars, trail mix, and other food products many would consider ‘healthy.’ Meanwhile, items like Twix, Kit Kat, and Twizzlers would still be eligible for purchase using food assistance benefits. It’s nonsensical,” the veto justification said.
The bill defined candy and soda using their existing definitions in Kansas state code, saying “candy is defined as a preparation of sugar, honey or other natural or artificial sweeteners in combination with chocolate, fruits, nuts or other ingredients or flavorings in the form of bars, drops or pieces. Candy does not include any preparation containing flour and shall require no refrigeration. Soft drink beverages are defined as nonalcoholic beverages that contain natural or artificial sweeteners. Soft drinks do not include beverages that contain milk or milk products, soy, rice or similar milk substitutes or beverages that are greater than 50% vegetable or fruit juice.”
Kelly left the door open to supporting policy changes that would go further, such as banning soda and candy across the entire nation.
“I support the idea that Kansans should eat healthier. However, changes to the SNAP food assistance program should be made at the federal level, not on a patchwork, state-by-state basis,” she said.
The vagaries and loopholes in defining what counts as soda and candy could also be alleviated with a stricter approach that lays out what can be bought with food stamps, rather than what can&#8217;t. SNAP could be limited to specifically-approved staples by mirroring or merging with another federal poverty program called Women, Infant, and Children (WIC). Or it could return to its roots and distribute <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/why-can-food-stamps-buy-junk-food-how-doge-could-save-billions-and-maha" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bulk commodities directly to families</a>, instead of giving them coupons to spend at corner stores. 
The Foundation for Government Accountability, a watchdog group, has suggested that donations and lobbying from interests that profit off of creating and treating obesity may have played a role in a series of reversals and uncharacteristic positions taken in the debate about soda and food stamps.
The American Heart Association (AHA) shocked Texas legislators last month by testifying against a similar bill there, even though its research shows that soda and candy are bad for the heart, and even though the Texas Medical Association testified in support of the bill. The AHA has taken money from PepsiCo and more than a million dollars each from Walmart, Pfizer, and Novo Nordisk, the maker of the obesity drug Ozempic. The AHA later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/american-heart-association-retracts-food-stamp-soda-opposition?row=0&amp;elementPosition=6&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;author=Luke+Rosiak&amp;title=American+Heart+Association+Retracts+Opposition+To+Barring+Soda%2C+Candy+From+Food+Stamps&amp;category=News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retracted</a> its testimony and said it does not oppose such bills.
“First, the American Heart Association flip-flopped and backed away from Big Soda in Texas; now it seems like Kansas’s Democratic Governor Laura Kelly is flip-flopping the other direction to support junk food on food stamps,&#8221; Foundation for Government Accountability spokesman Adam Gibbs told The Daily Wire. &#8220;There’s something about this taxpayer-funded soda ban that has certain people spinning in circles.&#8221;
&#8220;The Governor can’t decide who to back — her constituents or Big Soda,&#8221; he added.
Some conservative influencers said they were offered money to make social media posts spinning welfare for soda as conservative. The soda lobby is also <a href="https://yourcartyourchoice.com/oppose-restrictions-on-snap-benefits/?utm_source=x&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=social_x_social_20250312_E_no_1_" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promoting unusual op-eds in conservative media</a> that try to convince free-market conservatives to rally around taxpayer-funded junk food. Newsmax published one such piece, “Keep Bureaucrats’ Hands Out of American’s [sic] Grocery Carts – Please.” It was authored by Tom Giovanetti of the Institute for Policy Innovation, which, according to <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?page=3&amp;q=%22Institute+for+Policy+Innovation%22" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tax records</a>, is funded by PhRMA, whose members profit from treating the unhealthy.
“Lawmakers must override the governor’s veto to ensure that the will of Kansans is delivered,&#8221; Gibbs said. &#8220;They can either stand with the MAHA moms who voted for President Trump in November—or they can fall in line with whatever political game Governor Kelly is playing this week.”
Kansas requires a two-thirds vote to override a veto. The Senate already has the votes, but the House would need about 18 members to switch positions.
Colorado and Arizona, two other states with Democrat governors, have received similar bills passed by their legislatures.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/food-stamps-accepted-at-thousands-of-liquor-and-tobacco-stores-contributing-to-healthcare-fiasco">Food Stamps Accepted At Thousands Of Liquor And Tobacco Stores, Contributing To Healthcare Fiasco</a>

spilled soda Stock photo

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly Flip-Flops On SNAP Soda Ban, Vetoes Bill

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

USDA

Welfare

A Catholic priest who had served the Catholic Archdiocese in Kansas City for more than 20 years was shot and killed on Thursday afternoon.
Officers with the Seneca Police Department and Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to 911 calls of shots fired at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church rectory in Seneca, Kansas, where they found Fr. Arul Carasala, 57, outside the residence suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, KWCH 12 News <a href="https://www.kwch.com/2025/04/03/arrest-made-connection-catholic-priests-death/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Carasala was transported to a local hospital, where he later died.
Police arrested 66-year-old Gary L. Hermesch of Tulsa, Oklahoma, in connection with the shooting. Hermesch has yet to be formally charged, according to KWCH 12 News. The circumstances and motive behind the shooting remain unclear as authorities continue their investigation.
Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann <a href="https://www.facebook.com/archbishopnaumann/posts/1220557656742684?ref=embed_post" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on social media, &#8220;This senseless act of violence has left us grieving the loss of a beloved priest, leader, and friend,&#8221; adding, &#8220;There is no ongoing threat to the community, but I recognize the pain and shock that such an event brings.&#8221;
&#8220;Fr. Carasala was a devoted and zealous pastor who faithfully served our Archdiocese for over twenty years, including as dean of the Nemaha-Marshall region,&#8221; Naumann continued. &#8220;His love for Christ and His Church was evident in how he ministered to his people with great generosity and care. His parishioners, friends, and brother priests will deeply miss him.&#8221;
Carasala was ordained a priest in India in March 1994, according to Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church&#8217;s <a href="https://www.saintspeterandpaul-seneca.com/meet-our-pastor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>. He had served as pastor of Saints Peter and Paul Parish since July of 2011, being made pastor shortly after becoming an American citizen.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) <a href="https://x.com/RogerMarshallMD/status/1907958033877184680" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he is &#8220;heartbroken by the tragic loss of Father Arul Carasala due to a senseless act of violence.&#8221;
&#8220;I am praying for Father Carasala’s family, friends, and parishioners as they grieve,&#8221; Marshall added. &#8220;We must find who did this, and justice must be served.&#8221;

Crime scene

Catholic Priest Shot And Killed Outside Kansas Church

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The leader of the Satanic Grotto was led away in handcuffs at the Kansas Statehouse Friday morning after he scuffled with a protester who objected to his &#8220;black mass&#8221; ceremony there.
Michael Stewart, president of the Satanic Grotto, was tackled to the ground by police officers in the rotunda of the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka as he attempted to hold the &#8220;black mass&#8221; ceremony.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨BREAKING: The leader of the Satanic Grotto gets arrested at Kansas State Capitol for assaulting a Catholic during a &quot;Black Mass&quot; attempt. <a href="https://t.co/oo55sxO0SN">pic.twitter.com/oo55sxO0SN</a>
&mdash; CatholicVote (@CatholicVote) <a href="https://twitter.com/CatholicVote/status/1905673783416934437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Just before his arrest, Stewart appeared to repeatedly punch a protester who came up to him and tried to grab something out of his hand that he was holding above his head as he called out to Satan.
He told officers he was not resisting arrest as he was handcuffed.
“Hail Satan! I dedicate this building to Satan!” Stewart could be heard shouting as he was led away.
Onlookers could be heard praying a &#8220;Hail Mary&#8221; as Stewart was led away.
The Satanic Grotto previously said Friday&#8217;s “black mass” event would “dedicate the grounds and our legislature to the glory of Satan.”
“God will fall and Kansas will be embraced by the black flame of Lucifer,” the group <a href="https://www.kwch.com/2025/03/12/gov-kelly-responds-plans-black-mass-event-kansas-statehouse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
“I will be performing that black mass in our State Capitol,” Satanic Grotto President Michael Stewart previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kansas-gov-not-doing-enough-to-stop-satanists-from-performing-black-mass-at-capitol-critics-say">told</a> The Daily Wire. “If they have to arrest me, then they have to arrest me.”
A “black mass” is an explicit parody of the Catholic Mass that may use consecrated hosts, which Catholics believe to be the physical body, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.
“We have wafers,” Stewart said previously. “I don’t want to comment on whether they’re consecrated or not because that would ruin the mystery.”
Alarmed critics warned the controversial event is wildly offensive to Catholics and could be disruptive.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly had warned the Satanic Grotto president to move his event outside, saying “no protests will be allowed inside the Statehouse” on that day.
As Stewart entered the statehouse building, an officer <a href="https://www.ksnt.com/capitol-bureau/satanic-grotto-leader-take-away-in-handcuffs-at-the-kansas-statehouse/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> him he was welcome to be inside, but that he would be arrested if he tried to hold an event or cause a disruption.
Earlier in the morning, police also apprehended a man who <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/government/2025/03/28/christians-and-satanists-hold-competing-rallies-at-kansas-statehouse/82704649007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tackled</a> Stewart and grabbed a communion wafer from him as he held the &#8220;black mass&#8221; on the steps of the Capitol building. Later, Stewart ventured inside.
The hundreds of Catholic and Christian protesters who showed up Friday morning to rally outside the Kansas Statehouse far <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/government/2025/03/28/christians-and-satanists-hold-competing-rallies-at-kansas-statehouse/82704649007/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outnumbered</a> the few dozen Satanists who held their own rally. Many officers with the Kansas Highway Patrol and Capitol Police were present as well.
Catholics also held masses at two nearby churches, one across the street and another a few blocks away.
It is not yet clear what, if any, charges Stewart will face.
The Satanic Grotto president has previously shown up outside Planned Parenthood and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thesatanicgrotto/reel/ChNz3tYJNSL/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">performed</a> lewd gestures to pro-life protesters outside.

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