A U.S. federal judge refused to dismiss the case against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Thursday after Maduro raised concerns about how he would pay for his powerhouse legal team.
Maduro appeared in court in Manhattan for the first time since his arraignment in early January. Outside of the federal courthouse, demonstrators waved Venezuelan flags and celebrated the arrest of the dictator. Meanwhile, in Caracas, the Venezuelan government organized demonstrations where people took to the streets to protest President Donald Trump&#8217;s capture of Maduro.
During Thursday&#8217;s court hearing, Maduro&#8217;s defense argued that the case brought against him by the U.S. government should be tossed since the Trump administration is not allowing the Venezuelan government to cover his and his wife&#8217;s legal fees. Maduro is being represented by Barry J. Pollack, one of the leading trial lawyers in the country, who previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Because of existing U.S. sanctions on Venezuela, Maduro&#8217;s attorneys would need special permission from the U.S. government to receive money from Venezuela for Maduro&#8217;s legal fees, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/live/nicolas-maduro-venezuela-court-03-26-2026#0000019d-2959-d29d-affd-efff551c0000">reported</a>. The Trump administration has so far refused to grant that permission. Lawyers representing the Maduros claim that the Trump administration is violating the Maduros&#8217; right to counsel, and Maduro said that he could not afford to hire his counsel with his own money.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein declined to dismiss the case and said the defense team&#8217;s argument was &#8220;based on hypotheticals,&#8221; CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/26/world/live-news/nicolas-maduro-new-york-court">reported</a>. Hellerstein, however, said he would revisit the funding issue at a later date and rule on whether the Trump administration must allow the Maduros to access funds from the Venezuelan government. The judge did not set a specific date for when he would rule on the issue.
In one exchange with Judge Hellerstein, a federal prosecutor argued that the law does not allow for a judge to order the U.S. government to allow funds from a foreign government to be used for legal defense. Prosecutor Kyle Wirshba said that if Hellerstein were to order the Trump administration to grant permission for the Maduros&#8217; lawyers to accept a check from the Venezuelan government, the judge would be stepping into U.S. national security and foreign policy issues.
“If the purpose of the sanctions is because the defendants are plundering the wealth of Venezuela, it would undermine the sanctions to allow them access the same funds now to pay for their defense,” Wirshba added.
Maduro is charged with narcoterrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and using military-grade weaponry in furtherance of drug trafficking, among other charges. The Venezuelan dictator is accused of using the power of the Venezuelan government to carry out these crimes for decades. Maduro faces life in prison in the United States.
President Donald Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday that the U.S. government would likely bring additional charges against Maduro.

Nicolas Maduro Transported To Court Hearing

Maduro’s Bid To Dismiss Federal Charges Met With Brutal Reality Check

Judge Shoots Down Maduro's Request To Dismiss Narcoterrorism Case

Court

Donald Trump

Manhattan

Nicolas Maduro

Venezuela

The Manhattan District Attorney&#8217;s Office, led by leftist Alvin Bragg, said it would not pursue an assault charge for a 27-year-old man who is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nypd-nabs-27-year-old-after-mamdani-dismissed-mob-targeting-police-as-kids-at-a-snowball-fight?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=NYPD+Nabs+27-Year-Old+After+Mamdani+Dismissed+Mob+Targeting+Police+As+%E2%80%98Kids+At+A+Snowball+Fight%E2%80%99">accused</a> of hurling chunks of snow and ice at New York&#8217;s Finest earlier this week.
Gusmane Coulibaly, who NYPD officers arrested on Thursday, was initially charged with assaulting a police officer after a mob of people surrounded officers at Washington Square Park on Monday and launched snowballs at them. His other charges of obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct were also downgraded. The only charges prosecutors are willing to pursue are harassment and a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of governmental administration, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/02/26/us-news/manhattan-da-ditches-cop-assault-charge-in-case-against-washington-square-park-snowball-fight-miscreant/">reported</a>.
The New York City Police Benevolent Association, a union representing over 50,000 active and retired NYPD officers, blasted the district attorney&#8217;s office over its decision to drop the assault charge for Coulibaly. Patrick Hendry, the president of the union, accused Coulibaly and three other suspects who are still wanted of placing rocks in the snowballs before launching them at police officers.
“So why wasn’t assault charged? Why was harassment charged? Why do they feel that that didn’t cause an injury to a police officer, which he clearly, clearly has an injury below his eye?” Hendry asked.
Two NYPD officers were treated at the hospital for lacerations to their faces after they were hit with the snowballs.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Victoria Notaro told the court that prosecutors would have a difficult time proving that Coulibaly was responsible for the minor injuries to the officers, according to the Post.
Thursday&#8217;s arrest over the snowball ambush was Coulibaly&#8217;s second run-in with law enforcement this month. The NYPD said that the 27-year-old man was arrested &#8220;less than three weeks ago for attempted robbery in the transit system.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This morning, the NYPD arrested Gusmane Coulibaly, 27 years old, for assaulting our officers earlier this week in Washington Square Park.
Mr. Coulibaly was previously arrested less than three weeks ago for an attempted robbery in the transit system. <a href="https://t.co/IHO2zTC4tr">pic.twitter.com/IHO2zTC4tr</a>
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/NYPDnews/status/2027010078302462147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The decision from the district attorney&#8217;s office to drop the assault charge comes after New York City democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-was-a-snowball-fight-mamdani-downplays-unruly-mob-that-injured-nypd-officers">downplayed</a> the mob&#8217;s actions, saying earlier this week, “I can just tell you from the video I saw it looked like kids at a snowball fight.”
Mamdani&#8217;s office told The Daily Wire on Thursday that the mayor does not believe any action during Monday&#8217;s snowball ambush of police officers &#8220;rises to the level of criminal charges.&#8221;
&#8220;As the mayor has said, police officers deserve to be treated with respect. The videos he saw showed a snowball fight that got out of hand,&#8221; Mamdani spokeswoman Dora Pekec said.
The mayor&#8217;s stance on the incident is at odds with other New York officials, including the city&#8217;s Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul. Tisch called the mob&#8217;s actions &#8220;criminal,&#8221; while Hochul said it is “never acceptable to throw anything at a police officer.”

Gusmane Coulibaly/NYPD

Dem DA Hands Slap On Wrist To Man Accused Of Pelting NYPD With Ice Packed Snowballs

Manhattan DA Won't Pursue Assault Charge For 27-Year-Old Accused Of Pelting Police With Snowballs

New York City

NYPD

Police

Zohran Mamdani

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) faced an unprecedented surge in violence and hostility over the past year, a trend that culminated in a volatile demonstration at Foley Square in Manhattan on Thursday night, where leftist activists <a href="https://x.com/ScooterCasterNY/status/2009407822925103267">chanted</a> slogans such as “Save a life, kill an ICE,” and “Kristi Noem will hang.”
Following the shooting death of anti-ICE protester Renee Good in Minneapolis, leftists have protested against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in various cities. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has directly linked this environment of animosity to the rhetoric of “sanctuary politicians” and certain media narratives.
According to <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/01/08/radical-rhetoric-sanctuary-politicians-leads-unprecedented-1300-increase-assaults">DHS data</a>, assaults against ICE agents skyrocketed by more than 1,300% during the first year of the second Trump administration. Between January 20 and December 31, 2025, physical assaults rose from 19 in the previous year to 275.
The violence has taken many forms, including a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks, with 66 recorded incidents of suspects using cars as weapons. Death threats against agents saw a staggering 8,000% increase. Specific acts of violence reported by DHS include a sniper opening fire on a Dallas ICE facility — killing two detainees — and a gang member ramming a law enforcement vehicle into a tree. In other instances, agents were hammered in the face, bitten, or targeted with Molotov cocktails.
“This unprecedented increase in violence against law enforcement is a direct result of sanctuary politicians and the media creating an environment that demonizes our law enforcement and encourages rampant assaults against them. Dangerous criminals – whether they be illegal aliens or U.S. citizens – are assaulting law enforcement and turning their vehicles into weapons to attack law enforcement,” Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin stated. “Still, the brave men and women of DHS will not be deterred and will continue arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. Anyone who attacks law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Some examples of incendiary rhetoric have included Minnesota Democratic Governor <a href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fgcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl=https%253A%252F%252Fx.com%252FDHSgov%252Fstatus%252F1924208050904195564%26data=05%257C02%257CERIC.LENDRUM%2540hq.dhs.gov%257C4aedc75228f24232900908de4eeb1743%257C3ccde76c946d4a12bb7afc9d0842354a%257C0%257C0%257C639034968986789567%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%253D%253D%257C0%257C%257C%257C%26sdata=4063yWiLIaKbdCBMp8600kL14qjfgKzxQm2tYlLvaH4%253D%26reserved=0/1/0100019b9f5fe01b-a27cd180-1a88-4fa0-8dfe-48ef8beacbc4-000000/EelGuiF_ugGp7C5uhSldpkqQ7uwKePqGzq5y_8EPjHk=439">Tim Walz calling ICE law enforcement the “modern-day Gestapo,</a>” Minneapolis Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey <a href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fgcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl=https%253A%252F%252Fx.com%252FMayorFrey%252Fstatus%252F2009010043778437322%26data=05%257C02%257CERIC.LENDRUM%2540hq.dhs.gov%257C4aedc75228f24232900908de4eeb1743%257C3ccde76c946d4a12bb7afc9d0842354a%257C0%257C0%257C639034968986816777%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%253D%253D%257C0%257C%257C%257C%26sdata=%252FAC5uXS2nWvZrclZIvX3MRtWHtiXeA8y06Su9e7oG%252FI%253D%26reserved=0/1/0100019b9f5fe01b-a27cd180-1a88-4fa0-8dfe-48ef8beacbc4-000000/t3aJEcBhsMvZkzZlj7g-TzIFAEG9l3_6B5wNfr56CFc=439">calling</a> for ICE to “get the f*** out of Minneapolis,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) calling for people to <a href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fgcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl=https%253A%252F%252Fx.com%252FRapidResponse47%252Fstatus%252F1885351963140739386%26data=05%257C02%257CERIC.LENDRUM%2540hq.dhs.gov%257C4aedc75228f24232900908de4eeb1743%257C3ccde76c946d4a12bb7afc9d0842354a%257C0%257C0%257C639034968986975813%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%253D%253D%257C0%257C%257C%257C%26sdata=eUlJdxj8KDOKrvoc4hqzDie3%252Fbp0r9yE4hW%252F65UApBk%253D%26reserved=0/1/0100019b9f5fe01b-a27cd180-1a88-4fa0-8dfe-48ef8beacbc4-000000/-ZbekleLcEAmEN5ceRjar-jWoVmo_yXUnsuKunHokfc=439">“fight” President Trump’s agenda</a> “in the streets,” Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker claiming the United States is &#8220;essentially&#8221; <a href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fgcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl=https%253A%252F%252Fx.com%252FRapidResponse47%252Fstatus%252F1965787324404621629%26data=05%257C02%257CERIC.LENDRUM%2540hq.dhs.gov%257C4aedc75228f24232900908de4eeb1743%257C3ccde76c946d4a12bb7afc9d0842354a%257C0%257C0%257C639034968986993980%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%253D%253D%257C0%257C%257C%257C%26sdata=pQCRwTF7kegzCqE6AEXSS2ewlAp37D9ZHLIH75mb8CU%253D%26reserved=0/1/0100019b9f5fe01b-a27cd180-1a88-4fa0-8dfe-48ef8beacbc4-000000/5pGpQ0UGUXkXbymNXqHb-jl899yRbFTROHKCjrCTJCE=439">becoming Nazi Germany</a>, and Boston Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu compared mask-wearing ICE agents to a <a href="https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fgcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com%2F%3Furl=https%253A%252F%252Fx.com%252Fbillmelugin_%252Fstatus%252F1930687220500791485%253Fs%253D42%26data=05%257C02%257CERIC.LENDRUM%2540hq.dhs.gov%257C4aedc75228f24232900908de4eeb1743%257C3ccde76c946d4a12bb7afc9d0842354a%257C0%257C0%257C639034968987010751%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%253D%253D%257C0%257C%257C%257C%26sdata=6N%252Fi0ylWxc8310mL0RifVyADErxnBxDys7i72A4qA6M%253D%26reserved=0/1/0100019b9f5fe01b-a27cd180-1a88-4fa0-8dfe-48ef8beacbc4-000000/RjvTNj7Eg9NLWOlqhv6B23MqkNOA5fr8Q6U6nrWgDqg=439">Neo-Nazi group</a>.

UNITED-STATES-PROTEST-AGAINST-ICE-IN-NYC-FOLLOWING-MINNEAPOLIS-S

‘Kill An ICE, Save A Life’: Violent Chants Erupt At Manhattan Protest

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Kristi Noem

Leftists

Minneapolis

New York Officials Make Public Safety Announcement

The Case For Stripping Mamdani’s Citizenship

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Real estate

Renters

Does more government involvement in the socioeconomic sphere make the life of an average New Yorker better? Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani thinks so, with big-government policies prioritizing economic redistribution, a fundamental aspect of socialist ideology.
Mamdani’s platform includes city-owned grocery stores, free buses, no-cost childcare, rent freezes, a $30 minimum wage, and small business reforms.
While the latter proposal is commendable and bipartisan, Mamdani’s solutions are, unfortunately, not. He has promised small businesses, which account for <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/assets/smallbizfirst/downloads/pdf/small-business-first-report.pdf">98%</a> of firms in the city and employ over half of the private sector workforce, a regulatory reform package focused on improving compliance.
Mamdani alleges to be a <a href="https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform">champion for the little guy</a>, claiming he will “cut small business fines in half, speed up permitting and make online applications easier, and increase funding for 1:1 small business support by 500%.” While his message resonates and it correctly identifies that the city’s systems can be punishingly slow, his agenda does not target root concerns for businesses.
Rather than removing any of the <a href="https://nyc-business.nyc.gov/nycbusiness/index">6,000 regulations</a> that cost small businesses time, money, and resources, Mamdani proposes that minimally <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2022/05/mayor-adams-reduces-burdens-nyc-small-businesses-jumpstarts-city-s-economic-recovery-by">reducing compliance expenses</a> is the best strategy for making business operations faster, easier, and cheaper.
Violations such as labor non-compliance, sanitation issues, or building code infractions can cost owners <a href="https://cei.org/blog/american-small-businesses-are-paying-through-the-roof-for-regulations/">thousands of dollars annually</a>. The right solution is deregulation — to remove needless and onerous regulations and to ensure compliance with essential safeguards.
Instead, he has proposed more government bureaucracy, namely the <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wuZ-s8VnnAHqHhqtHESwgzINiN7D95vy/view">“Mom and Pop Czar” Office</a>. This entity, allegedly designed to promote small business interests, will work to halve fines and eliminate fees. Leaving thousands of bad regulations on the books and simply arbitrarily reducing fees is more likely to lead to confusion, harmful non-compliance, and situations that can be easily gamed — in short, a profit for lawyers and accountants but not for workers and customers.
This is more likely to undermine local trust in regulatory fairness. Firms that have invested in compliance in the past may feel penalized, creating an environment of social decohesion. This is a politically motivated and poor substitution for deregulation.
Speeding up permitting and making online applications easier should quicken the timeline for which small businesses can begin operations. New York City’s permitting process is complex and slow, taking several months and costing owners time, money, and resources. However, the mayor-elect’s plan lacks any detail on how to achieve a simpler <a href="https://www.permitflow.com/blog/nyc-building-permits">permitting process</a> and is more likely to be a false campaign promise than a serious effort to ease the burdens of New York City’s businesses.
Increasing funding for small businesses by 500% is intended to offer personalized support for owners in the form of grants, loans, and technical assistance. Mamdani will finance and expand the <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/site/sbs/about/pr20220907-nycbest.page">Business Express Service Teams (BEST)</a>, which offer one-to-one support and assist small businesses with bureaucratic hurdles.
Over-reliance on government assistance may harm entrepreneurial independence as it fosters governmental dependence and crowds out numerous private sector entities that provide the same kind of support to businesses. Scaling up BEST requires hiring and training more staff, risking inefficiencies and mismanagement of funds.
Instead of <a href="https://comptroller.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/RedTapeReport.pdf">eliminating useless or obsolete regulations</a>, he offers <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/14-aM9DKG337SDMilmfQtLRR-pDwyWSTc/view">crushing tax increases</a> and false promises mired in government bureaucracy. Mamdani’s policies do not address leading concerns for small businesses, those being the over 6,000 regulations that impede operations. He targets operational burdens and small fees, completely ignoring the primary costs for entrepreneurs — regulations.
Making compliance requirements less restrictive can best be achieved by eliminating the compliance requirement altogether. Removing the regulatory burdens that plague small business owners best fosters free market competition and economic growth.
Mamdani should recognize a simple truth: prudent deregulation is the only viable long-term solution, not government intervention.
* * *
Nicole Huyer is a Senior Research Associate in The Heritage Foundation’s Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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This piece is a part of <a href="https://www.heritage.org/wealth-and-innovation">The Heritage Foundation’s Wealth and Innovation project.</a>

US-POLITICS

Mamdani’s ‘Mom-and-Pop’ Plan Doesn’t Cut Red Tape

Mamdani’s 'Mom-and-Pop' Plan Doesn’t Cut Red Tape

bureaucracy

Democratic Socialism

Heritage Foundation

Small Businesses

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon stated that the Department of Justice will not tolerate mob intimidation or obstruction targeting houses of worship, following an incident in Manhattan in which a pro-Palestinian crowd surrounded Park East Synagogue. In a Friday post on X, Dhillon emphasized that blocking access to a house of worship is a federal crime, adding that the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, was gathering information about the event.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It’s a federal crime to block access to a house of worship in the US. <a href="https://twitter.com/CivilRights?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CivilRights</a> under <a href="https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AGPamBondi</a> will NOT tolerate it and we are gathering information about this incident! <a href="https://t.co/cBnAHCq986">https://t.co/cBnAHCq986</a>
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) <a href="https://twitter.com/AAGDhillon/status/1991795334855713078?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On Sunday, she confirmed that a federal investigation was underway, reiterating that the Department maintains zero tolerance for violence or obstruction near any religious institution.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Investigation is underway. <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJusticeDept?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TheJusticeDept</a> has zero tolerance for violence/obstruction around any American house of worship. <a href="https://t.co/rEEFAifj6n">https://t.co/rEEFAifj6n</a>
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) <a href="https://twitter.com/AAGDhillon/status/1992580560074723491?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 23, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The confrontation occurred when Park East Synagogue, led by 95-year-old Holocaust survivor Rabbi Arthur Schneier, hosted a legal informational event organized by Nefesh B’Nefesh, a group that assists Jews in immigrating to Israel. Protesters surrounded the building, reportedly blocking entry and shouting phrases including “Death to the IDF” and “Globalize the Intifada,” along with other hostile and antisemitic slogans.
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“Another woman shouted, ‘F***ing Jewish pricks,’ while others called the Jewish demonstrators ‘rapists,’ ‘racists,’ and ‘pedophiles,’” The Times of Israel <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/anti-zionist-protesters-chant-death-to-the-idf-at-new-york-city-synagogue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
Instead of focusing on the mob’s actions, New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s press secretary issued a statement saying he discouraged the protesters’ language, but also suggested the synagogue was promoting activities “in violation of international law.” When asked to clarify, his office argued that facilitating Jewish immigration to Israel constitutes support for “settlement activity beyond the Green Line.”
<div>
In contrast, Mayor Eric Adams condemned the protesters’ actions directly, calling the mob “sick and warped.”
</div>

National-Conservative-Convention-in-Washington

DOJ Launches Investigation After Pro-Palestinian Mob Targets NYC Synagogue

Crime

Department of Justice

Harmeet Dhillon

Pro-Palestinian

Synagogue

U.S.

A massive crowd of pro-Palestinian activists targeted a prominent Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Manhattan on Wednesday night, blocking Jews from entering and chanting “Death to the IDF” and “From New York to Gaza, globalize the intifada.”
“Another woman shouted, ‘F*cking Jewish pricks,’ while others called the Jewish demonstrators ‘rapists,’ ‘racists,’ and ‘pedophiles,’” The Times of Israel <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/anti-zionist-protesters-chant-death-to-the-idf-at-new-york-city-synagogue/">reported</a>.
The 95-year-old rabbi who is the leader of the synagogue, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, is a Holocaust survivor who witnessed his synagogue being burned in Vienna on the night of the Nazis’ Kristallnacht in 1938. He and his mother (his father died when he was six) fled to Hungary, where he was only saved from being murdered by the Nazis by the intervention of the Swiss Consul General. “Many of his family members were murdered, including his grandfather, a prominent rabbi who died in Auschwitz,” the United Nations has <a href="https://www.un.org/en/awake-at-night/S3-E28-united-we-prevail-divided-we-fail">noted</a>.
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The synagogue was hosting an event organized by Nefesh B’Nefesh, which provides assistance to Jews who want to immigrate to Israel. One activist yelled to the crowd, “It is our duty to make them think twice before holding these events. We need to make them scared. We need to make them scared. We need to make them scared.”
On October 8, 2023, the very next day after the horrific and brutal Hamas massacre of more than 1,200 people in Israel, pro-Palestinian activists celebrated the attack in New York City. They chanted, “Resistance is justified,” “Globalize the intifada,” “Smash the settler Zionist state,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
“Among the pro-Palestinian side, the mood was celebratory and spiteful,” The Times of Israel <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/pro-palestinians-celebrate-hamas-attack-as-israel-supporters-rally-in-new-york/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">noted.</a> “Demonstrators chanted ‘700,’ apparently referring to the confirmed number of Israeli fatalities in the attack so far, and held up the number seven on their hands while making throat-slitting gestures. Others flashed victory signs with their hands while shouting insults. One man held up a picture of an Israeli hostage on his phone and waved it at the Israeli crowd. Another was seen brandishing <a href="https://twitter.com/IsraelinNewYork/status/1711140059162849570">an image of a swastika</a>. Some taunted the Israelis while tearing up and stomping on an Israeli flag, or danced with a Palestinian flag.”

‘No Settlers on Stolen Land’ protest outside Park East Synagogue in New York

Pro-Palestinian Protesters Block Manhattan Synagogue, Hurl Threats, Anti-Jewish Slurs

antisemitism

Kristallnacht

A Democrat will almost certainly be the next congressman from New York’s 12th Congressional District, a solidly blue seat in Manhattan. The real race is the Democratic primary, which, a year before the election, is already a circus.
Longtime Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler announced in September that he would not be seeking re-election, opening up the seat he has held since 1992, which he won with over 80% of the vote in the last two elections.
Among those Democrats vying to replace Nadler are state Reps. Alex Bores and Micah Lasher, New York City Councilman Erik Bottcher, attorney Laura Dunn, nonprofit founder Liam Elkind, and attorney Jami Floyd. Earlier this month, Jack Schlossberg — social media influencer, “Vogue” political correspondent, and grandson of President John F. Kennedy — entered the already crowded fray with his characteristic flair.
“WE NEED YOUR HELP !!! Please consider donating so we can go to Washington and FIX IT,” Schlossberg wrote on X this week. “WE ARE A MOVEMENT powered by people who know WE DESERVE BETTER.”
Schlossberg’s bizarre social media posts include a swipe at his cousin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in which he <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/jack-schlossberg-kennedy-grandson-running-for-congress-tweeted-about-drinking-jew-blood-ashkenazi-not-sephardic-and-semen-in-offensive-dig-at-rfk-jr/">references</a> drinking semen and “jew blood.” He also filmed himself performing a Nazi salute, apparently an effort to mock Elon Musk. Schlossberg has since <a href="https://freebeacon.com/democrats/kennedy-heir-and-house-candidate-jack-schlossberg-performed-nazi-salute-in-since-deleted-swipe-at-elon-musk/">deleted</a> both tweets.
Schlossberg’s <a href="https://jackfornewyork.com/12-for-12/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> boasts his full name — John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg — and lists his “12 promises to the people of New York’s 12th District,” which include “service,” “courage,” and “patriotism,” but no real policy proposals.
Gun control activist Cameron Kasky, who is also weighing a bid for the seat, warned that “If you are a Democrat running in 2026 and do not fully support an arms embargo to the State of Israel amidst their ongoing genocide in Gaza despite Trump’s fake ‘ceasefire,&#8217; Stop wasting everybody’s time. It’s over. The people have spoken. Moral clarity is winning.”
The race to represent Midtown Manhattan comes in the shadow of the election of Democrat Zohran Mamdani as New York City mayor earlier this month.
Mamdani, who has proposed multiple socialist policies, could end up becoming a key factor in the race, as some in the running have already advocated for his candidacy or have critiqued his policies.
“Mamdani is right: New Yorkers are being squeezed out of the city they love,” Floyd noted in a recent Substack post, noting that she did not vote for him. “But his rent-freeze proposal for one million stabilized apartments would backfire. It would choke investment, reduce maintenance, and shrink the housing supply. The truth is that there can be no affordable housing without those who build and maintain it.”
Others, like Elkind, have floated other controversial proposals, such as abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“It’s time to restore our commitment to liberty and justice. It’s time to defend the rule of law from those who abuse it in its name. It’s time to abolish ICE,” Elkind said in an October 22 statement.
The primary election is on June 23, 2026.

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This New York Democratic Primary Is Already A Three-Ring Circus

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Mamdani Makes History With Decisive Win In NYC Mayor’s Race

The Pundits Are All Wrong About Why Mamdani Won

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Mayor

“You did it! You really finally did it, you maniacs! You blew it up, damn you!”
The Statue of Liberty is half-buried in the sand now, and Charlton Heston is yelling at it because of what New York City just decided to do.
By an overwhelming margin, New Yorkers handed over the financial center of planet Earth to a Marxist pro-jihadist named Zohran Mamdani, who has never held a real job.
It&#8217;s a bold strategy, Cotton. We&#8217;ll see how it works out for them.
Mamdani is not hiding the ball. He intends to implement major changes in America&#8217;s financial center, the financial center of planet Earth. He intends to make a new system that is going to destroy capitalism. 
Will he be able to accomplish that? There are some checks on him. 
Many of the promises he has made are like a third-grader running for school president who promises: “Free ice cream for everybody and no homework” was basically his campaign. If he said “affordability” over and over and over and then threw out a bunch of random things that he would never be able to do, he would be elected mayor.
It worked.
We now live in a political era characterized — on both sides — by people accurately diagnosing problems and then not proposing any real solutions while saying, “If you give me ultimate power, I will solve it for you.”
It never works.
Democrats are resistant to the idea that Mamdani is the future of the party. Hakeem Jeffries suggested that he was not the face of the party. But I&#8217;m old enough to remember when Democrats said AOC, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib were not the face of the party.
And now they are.
It will be interesting to see how the Democratic Party treats him. Do they treat him as an outsider? Do they say that he&#8217;s “sort of quirky,” the way they treated Bill de Blasio, or do they embrace him and try to draft off of the energy that he obviously captured in the middle of this campaign?
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2311"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
One of the lies that is constantly told about socialist candidates like Mamdani is that they are the people who get blue-collar voters, that they excite blue-collar voters. But America and Europe are different; historically speaking, European blue-collar workers tend toward socialism, but that does not happen in America. In America, blue-collar workers have always been fond of capitalism because it is what provides their jobs. Even in the early union days of the United States, the unions were quite actively anti-communist in the United States in a way that they simply were not in Europe. That remains true today.
What drove Mamdani to victory were immigrants, extreme leftists, and college-educated young women. Some of the latter is because Mamdani, with the smarmy grin and the inability to bench-press 135 pounds, seems particularly non-threatening, as opposed to Andrew Cuomo, who was ousted from office over his inability to keep his hands off the asses of women.
If this is the future of the Democratic Party, go for it, guys. It&#8217;s playing with fire. New York City is playing with fire. Mamdani’s policy proposals are trash. If he implements any of them, the city is in serious trouble.
There are systemic checks and balances that prevent Mamdani from single-handedly destroying the city. If he wants to raise taxes, he has to go to the state level. And the state legislature is very unlikely to want to increase taxes again. He says that he wants to make all the buses free, and he&#8217;s going to pay for it. How&#8217;s he going to do any of this stuff?
He won&#8217;t be able to get any of that stuff done, and then he will rail against the system.
Mamdani will make the business climate disastrous. Crime will go up. His proposals are foolish in the extreme.
Typically when you win, you tend to quote the founding ideals of the country. Mamdani did not. His entire victory speech was about how America historically is trash and how all of the fundamental principles of America are trash, and how he&#8217;s here to change things on a radical, fundamental level.
He quoted Eugene Debs, a socialist candidate from the 1910s and Nehru, the socialist leader of the non-aligned India in the post-partition era. There was no Washington; there was no Jefferson; there was no Lincoln. He said there&#8217;s a mandate for a new kind of politics, a mandate for a city we can “afford.”
All of these plans are trash.
He says that there&#8217;s a “mandate for change.” There&#8217;s always a mandate for change. That&#8217;s what elections are.
I&#8217;m very much looking forward to never having to pay for a hotel again in New York. I&#8217;m just gonna ride the buses around. I&#8217;ll just get on and ride them for free. Why the hell not? As long as I don&#8217;t get stabbed in the face, which may very well happen in a city of New York governed by Zohran Mamdani, who thinks that the police are inhibitors of human freedom.
H.L. Mencken, the famous columnist from the early 20th century, once said that democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.
I hope you enjoy what you wrought, New Yorkers.
And I&#8217;m glad that I have some Florida real estate that is available at a fetching price.

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President Donald Trump asked a New York appeals court on Monday to overturn his felony conviction in the Manhattan hush money case, arguing that the trial &#8220;was fatally marred&#8221; by the prosecution using his official acts as president as evidence.
Trump&#8217;s lawyers submitted a 96-page <a href="https://static.politico.com/8b/9e/8663b7e849cf87d9220333fb3a36/2025-00648-people-of-the-state-of-v-people-of-the-state-of-appellant-s-brief-66.pdf">legal filing</a>, accusing the trial court of violating the evidentiary presidential immunity, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year &#8220;bars the &#8216;use of evidence about&#8217; a President’s official acts while in office.&#8221; The filing also argues that the district attorney used &#8220;a convoluted legal theory&#8221; to concoct a &#8220;purported felony,&#8221; and that the judge who oversaw the hush-money trial should have recused himself since he made political contributions to Democrats, POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/28/donald-trump-appeal-hush-money-conviction-00624382?nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&amp;nname=playbook&amp;nrid=00000172-d89e-d8b6-abff-fdff182b0000">reported</a>.
“President Trump’s legal team filed a powerhouse appeal in the Manhattan DA’s Witch Hunt, as the President continues his fight to put an end to the Radical Democrat Lawfare once and for all,&#8221; a spokesman for President Trump&#8217;s legal team said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire. &#8220;The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the Federal and New York State Constitutions, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately overturned and dismissed. President Trump will keep defeating Democrat weaponization at every turn as he focuses on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.”
If successful, the president&#8217;s appeal to the New York Supreme Court would erase his status as a convicted felon, after a Manhattan jury found him guilty on 34 counts of business fraud. The hush money case was brought by Manhattan Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and the trial was overseen by Judge Juan Merchan, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/judge-overseeing-trumps-hush-money-case-donated-to-bidens-2020-presidential-campaign">donated</a> to Democratic causes, including to former President Joe Biden&#8217;s 2020 campaign.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
The hush money trial was held in the middle of Trump&#8217;s 2024 presidential campaign, with the May 30, 2024, conviction marking Trump as the first former president convicted of felony crimes.
&#8220;This is the most politically charged prosecution in our Nation’s history,&#8221; the legal filing begins. &#8220;After years of fruitless investigation into decade-old, baseless allegations—and under immense political pressure to criminally charge President Donald J. Trump for something—New York’s district attorney (DANY) manufactured felony charges against a once-former and now-sitting President of the United States.&#8221;
The case stemmed from Trump&#8217;s hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels, which he made in 2016 to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter in 2006. Trump has maintained that he never had an affair with Daniels.
In Monday&#8217;s legal filing, Trump&#8217;s lawyers argue that prosecutors should have been prevented from pointing to conversations that were held between Trump and his former communications director, Hope Hicks, while Trump was in the White House. During the trial, the DA subpoenaed Hicks, who testified about conversations she held with Trump in the Oval Office, including a discussion she had with the president on “how he would like a team to respond to” a forthcoming Wall Street Journal story. Judge Merchan rejected the defense&#8217;s argument that the prosecution may not use Trump&#8217;s White House conversations as evidence. Weeks later, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling protecting presidential immunity in Trump v. United States.
&#8220;The trial court erroneously held that President Trump’s communications with Hicks were not official because, in the court’s view, they were &#8216;about personal matters involving an alleged affair and a sexual encounter that occurred prior to [President Trump] taking . . . office,'&#8221; Trump&#8217;s legal team argued.

‘Meritless Hoax’: Trump Asks Appeals Court To Throw Out Hush-Money Conviction

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