Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) took to X to complain about the redistricting fight currently embroiling the Texas State House, claiming that Texas Republicans were attempting to use a newly redrawn map to &#8220;rig&#8221; the 2026 midterm election.
As the Massachusetts-based far-left Squad member complained about what she said was a &#8220;cowardly, undemocratic power grab,&#8221; critics quickly pointed out that her own district is the result of an obviously gerrymandered map created by the Democrats who have controlled her state&#8217;s legislature for more than two decades.
&#8220;What Republicans are doing in Texas is a cowardly, undemocratic power grab meant to silence voters. They know their policies are deeply unpopular so they want to rig the next election. Solidarity with Texas Democrats using every tool to fight back,&#8221; Pressley posted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
What Republicans are doing in Texas is a cowardly, undemocratic power grab meant to silence voters.
They know their policies are deeply unpopular so they want to rig the next election.
Solidarity with Texas Democrats using every tool to fight back.
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) <a href="https://twitter.com/AyannaPressley/status/1952871614611374425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The woman who represents this district wants you to know gerrymandering is a cowardly, undemocratic power grab,&#8221; Gerry Callahan posted in response, sharing a map of Pressley&#8217;s district.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The woman who represents this district wants you to know gerrymandering is a cowardly, undemocratic power grab. <a href="https://t.co/XChUXAXsqe">https://t.co/XChUXAXsqe</a> <a href="https://t.co/JkwayCdsqB">pic.twitter.com/JkwayCdsqB</a>
— Gerry Callahan (@GerryCallahan) <a href="https://twitter.com/GerryCallahan/status/1952894955497664996?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;This is what your Congressional District looks like &#8230; it is obviously quite gerrymandered! Trump got 36% of the Massachusetts vote &#8230; and Republicans got 0% of the seats!&#8221; Andrew Follett added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
This is what your Congressional District looks like&#8230;it is obviously quite gerrymandered!
Trump got 36% of the Massachusetts vote&#8230;and Republicans got 0% of the seats! <a href="https://t.co/E9qLQXgj0c">https://t.co/E9qLQXgj0c</a> <a href="https://t.co/UT8mF95hUF">pic.twitter.com/UT8mF95hUF</a>
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewCFollett/status/1952909933399400821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Former President Barack Obama weighed in as well, making it clear that the official talking points had gone out to the party. Using almost exactly the same words as Pressley, he posted, &#8220;We can’t lose focus on what matters – right now, Republicans in Texas are trying to gerrymander district lines to unfairly win five seats in next year’s midterm elections. This is a power grab that undermines our democracy.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We can’t lose focus on what matters – right now, Republicans in Texas are trying to gerrymander district lines to unfairly win five seats in next year’s midterm elections. This is a power grab that undermines our democracy. <a href="https://t.co/lBGo5aNbyp">https://t.co/lBGo5aNbyp</a>
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) <a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1952841189310300581?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 5, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) picked up on the terminology, using Obama&#8217;s home state of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-bad-look-even-chuck-todd-gets-irony-of-texas-dems-fleeing-to-illinois-to-protest-redistricting">Illinois</a> as an example and saying that Democrats used a different word for &#8220;gerrymandering&#8221; when the state engaging in it happened to be controlled by Democrats: &#8220;democracy.&#8221;
&#8220;Dems only call it &#8216;gerrymandering&#8217; when it’s in a Republican state. When it happens in Illinois, they call it &#8216;democracy,'&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Dems only call it “gerrymandering” when it’s in a Republican state
When it happens in Illinois, they call it “democracy” <a href="https://t.co/erlaF433p7">https://t.co/erlaF433p7</a> <a href="https://t.co/4ETi84C1Cs">pic.twitter.com/4ETi84C1Cs</a>
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) <a href="https://twitter.com/BasedMikeLee/status/1952918340844044396?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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A number of Texas Democrats <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-dems-cant-win-redistricting-fight-so-they-bravely-turn-tail-and-flee-the-state">broke quorum</a> several days earlier, bringing the legislative special session to a halt by fleeing to Illinois because they did not have the votes to stop the redistricting plan by legitimate means. In their absence, both Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) have threatened to take legal action, saying that they will petition a judge to declare the seats vacant if the AWOL Democrats do not return to finish the special session by Friday.
Texas Democrats attempted a similar stunt in 2021 as an effort to block certain provisions of a voting rights bill, and Abbott threatened at the time to withhold their pay.

Postmaster General To Testify To House Committee About Department’s Ability To Handle Mail In Voting

Ayanna Pressley Has A Problem With Gerrymandering In Texas. Here’s What Her District Looks Like.

Ayanna Pressley Has A Problem With Gerrymandering In Texas. Here's What Her District Looks Like.

Ayanna Pressley

Chuck Todd

Illinois

Jake Tapper

Massachusetts

Media

Politics

Redistricting

Texas

The group responsible for training Massachusetts police officers listed a prominent parental rights group alongside Antifa and neo-Nazis on its list of &#8220;hate groups.&#8221;
The Massachusetts Municipal Police Training Committee, which trains more than 20,000 police officers across the commonwealth, listed Moms for Liberty under &#8220;Hate Groups&#8221; active in Massachusetts in training materials, which were shared exclusively with The Daily Wire.
Moms for Liberty obtained the training materials through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The training materials cited the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center, which labels Moms for Liberty an &#8220;anti-government extremist&#8221; group.
<div id="attachment_954177" style="width: 553px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-954177" class=" wp-image-954177" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM-2-244x300.jpeg" alt="" width="543" height="668" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM-2-244x300.jpeg 244w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM-2-469x576.jpeg 469w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM-2-768x943.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM-2-1251x1536.jpeg 1251w" sizes=" (max-width: 543px) 100vw, 543px" />(MPTC training materials)</div>
Moms for Liberty, a grassroots group that fights for parental rights in schools across the country, was formed in 2021 while parents were fighting to reopen schools after the coronavirus pandemic, and while they were being exposed firsthand to inappropriate and often sexually explicit material being taught in their children&#8217;s classrooms.
The Massachusetts police training materials said Moms for Liberty targets &#8220;books that reference race and gender identity&#8221; and uses &#8220;parents&#8217; rights as a vehicle to attack public education and make schools less welcoming for minority and LGBTQ students.&#8221;
Moms for Liberty cofounder Tina Descovich strongly disputed that definition, saying her group simply fights for parents to have a say in their child&#8217;s school experience.
&#8220;Moms for Liberty is here to show up at school board meetings, speak out against curriculum, failing schools, inappropriate books maybe in your public school library,&#8221; Descovich told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Antifa is burning down whole cities and parts of cities and rioting in the streets. These two are not equivalent.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_954173" style="width: 551px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-954173" class=" wp-image-954173" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.38%E2%80%AFPM-300x169.jpeg" alt="" width="541" height="305" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.38%E2%80%AFPM-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.38%E2%80%AFPM-1022x576.jpeg 1022w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.38%E2%80%AFPM-768x433.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.38%E2%80%AFPM-1536x865.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.38%E2%80%AFPM.jpeg 1860w" sizes=" (max-width: 541px) 100vw, 541px" />(MPTC training materials)</div>
&#8220;We want parents to have the ability to opt out of sexualized books or curriculum, things that don&#8217;t align with their religious beliefs as the Supreme Court just affirmed in their most recent ruling in the Montgomery County, Maryland case,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;We have to ask what is going on here in Massachusetts with these trainings to police officers,&#8221; Descovich said. &#8220;We are not conducting ourselves in a way that police ever need to be concerned about the way we act. As a matter of fact, our chapter chair there in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, who is the one that brought all this to my attention, said she has local members of their police force come up to her all the time and say, &#8216;Please keep going. We can&#8217;t talk about it publicly, but I have kids. I appreciate you guys speaking out. So thank you for your courage and your bravery.'&#8221;
Antifa — a left-wing political movement that has used <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/19717/7-things-you-need-know-about-antifa-michael-qazvini">criminal violence</a>, threats, and vandalism to oppose conservatives — was the &#8220;hate group&#8221; listed right before Moms for Liberty, and the training linked to an article calling it a &#8220;relatively small&#8221; threat across the country.
Meanwhile, the training linked to a PBS <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/moms-for-liberty-rises-as-power-player-in-gop-politics-after-attacking-schools-over-gender-race">article</a> saying Moms for Liberty is a &#8220;well-connected extremist group that attacks inclusion in schools,&#8221; according to &#8220;anti-hate researchers.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_954175" style="width: 556px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-954175" class=" wp-image-954175" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM-220x300.jpeg" alt="" width="546" height="745" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM-220x300.jpeg 220w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM-422x576.jpeg 422w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM-768x1047.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM-1126x1536.jpeg 1126w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Image-7-28-25-at-12.13%E2%80%AFPM.jpeg 1242w" sizes=" (max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px" />(MPTC training materials)</div>
&#8220;PBS is anything but fair and balanced,&#8221; Descovich said. &#8220;And now the state of Massachusetts is using those PBS articles to target us, to put a target on our back and tell police in that state that we are a threat. All we are is moms and dads that are concerned about our children, that are speaking up in a public forum, which we have the constitutional right to do.&#8221;
The training also noted that Moms for Liberty works to elect right-wing candidates to local school boards.
&#8220;You know, we have parental rights that were given to us by God,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We just want parents to be the driving factor in a child&#8217;s education.&#8221;

A protester holds a placard during a protest held by Philly

EXCLUSIVE: Moms For Liberty Called A ‘Hate Group’ In Massachusetts Police Trainings

EXCLUSIVE: Moms For Liberty Branded 'Hate Group' In Massachusetts Police Trainings

Education

Police

The court battle between the Trump administration and Harvard University went before a federal judge in Boston on Monday as both parties seek a final ruling on the Ivy League school&#8217;s lawsuit over federal funding cuts.
Judge Allison D. Burroughs, who sided with Harvard in another case over the Trump administration&#8217;s attempt to block the university from enrolling foreign students, will likely signal on Monday where she stands on Harvard&#8217;s lawsuit against the Trump administration, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/us/trump-administration-harvard-hearing.html">reported</a>. Harvard sued the federal government in April after the Trump administration announced it would strip more than $2 billion in federal funding from the school, citing anti-Israel sentiment on the campus and its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
President Donald Trump has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-calls-harvard-an-anti-semitic-threat-to-democracy?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Calls+Harvard+%E2%80%98An+Anti-Semitic%E2%80%A6Threat+To+Democracy%E2%80%99">called</a> Harvard “Anti-Semitic,” “Far-Left,” and “a threat to Democracy.”
“The place is a Liberal mess, allowing a certain group of crazed lunatics to enter and exit the classroom and spew fake ANGER AND HATE. It is truly horrific!” Trump added in April.
The federal antisemitism task force, established by the Trump Department of Justice earlier this year, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/07/21/trump-harvard-hearing/?utm_campaign=wp_main&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social">demanded</a> that Harvard submit to federal oversight and reform certain aspects of its admissions, hiring, and student discipline practices. Harvard refused to comply with the task force&#8217;s demands.
In its lawsuit, Harvard argues that the Trump administration is violating its First Amendment rights. Harvard also states that the funding freeze will harm essential scientific and medical research more than anything else.
“No government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue,&#8221; said Harvard&#8217;s President Alan M. Garber.
The court hearing comes as President Donald Trump continues to negotiate with the university. One month ago, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-teases-mindbogglingly-historic-deal-with-harvard-they-have-acted-extremely-appropriately?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Teases+%E2%80%98Mindbogglingly+Historic%E2%80%99+Deal+With+Harvard%3A+%E2%80%98They+Have+Acted+Extremely+Appropriately%E2%80%99">teased</a> a &#8220;mindbogglingly HISTORIC&#8221; deal with Harvard that he said would be announced “over the next week or so.”
&#8220;They have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right,&#8221; Trump said in a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114717387393069944">June 20</a> Truth Social post.
Harvard has promised to address antisemitism on its campus, and the Trump administration said it remains &#8220;confident that Harvard will eventually come around and support the president’s vision, and through good-faith conversations and negotiations, a good deal is more than possible.” Ahead of Monday&#8217;s hearing, White House spokesman Harrison Fields told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/21/politics/harvard-trump-administration-court">CNN</a>, “The Trump Administration’s proposition is simple and commonsense: Don’t allow antisemitism and DEI to run your campus, don’t break the law, and protect the civil liberties of all students.”
As Trump pushes Harvard to make a deal, he has ramped up pressure on the school to hand over information on foreign students. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security sent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-admin-subpoenas-harvard-over-foreign-student-misconduct-campus-radicalism?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Admin+Subpoenas+Harvard+Over+Foreign+Student+Misconduct%2C+Campus+Radicalism">administrative subpoenas</a> to Harvard, accusing it of “repeatedly” refusing to cooperate with the Trump administration’s “non-coercive requests to hand over the required information for its Student Visitor and Exchange Program certification.”

Harvard

Trump Administration Squares Off With Harvard In Court Over Federal Funding

antisemitism

Boston

Court

Donald Trump

Funding

Trump Administration

U.S.

The tech company Astronomer announced on Friday that they were launching an investigation into the situation with their CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot after the two were spotted canoodling at a Coldplay concert.
“Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability,” the company said in a <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/astronomer_astronomer-is-committed-to-the-values-and-activity-7352044359338373121-Fwe5">statement</a> posted to LinkedIn.
“The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.”
The statement also addressed rumors that another HR department employee was the woman captured on video standing beside the couple smiling widely.
“Alyssa Stoddard was not at the event and no other employees were in the video,” the LinkedIn statement added. “Andy Byron has not put out any statement, reports saying otherwise are all incorrect.”
Comments for the post were disabled.
The update comes days after a video of the two company execs went massively viral online, racking up more than 55 million views on the original TikTok and being shared across all social media platforms.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coldplay-fan-who-posted-video-of-ceo-embracing-his-chief-people-officer-speaks-out">short video</a> shows Byron, who is married, and Cabot embracing one another at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, when the kiss cam landed on them. The couple reacted immediately, with Byron letting go of Cabot and stepping out of frame. Cabot had a similar reaction as she immediately hid her face and turned away from the camera.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin called out their reaction. “Oh look at these two,” the singer can be heard saying. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.”
The popularity of the video spurred many fake reactions, including a faux statement attributed to Byron and images of a fake social media post attributed to Coldplay saying, “Starting with our next show, we’re introducing camera-free audience sections for people and their sidepieces.”
Byron has served as CEO of Astronomer since 2023, and Cabot was hired nine months ago.
Byron’s wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, removed her last name from her Facebook account before deactivating it entirely. Byron was on LinkedIn, but appears to have removed his profile as of Friday. They reportedly have two children.
Ry Walker, Astronomer’s former CEO, addressed the situation with an X post.
“For those asking—I’m no longer involved in @astronomerio—yes I was co-founder and early CEO—not on the team or board since 2022, and have no information on ColdplayGate.”

Byron

Tech Company Announces ‘Formal Investigation’ Into CEO After Kiss Cam Drama

Tech Company Announces 'Formal Investigation' Into CEO After Kiss Cam Drama

Business

cheating

Music

viral video

As the internet continues to obsess over the alleged affair between the CEO of tech company Astronomer and its head of human resources, the woman who initially shared a video of the two appearing to show a public display of affection at a recent Coldplay concert is defending her actions.
&#8220;I had no idea who the couple was. Just thought I caught an interesting reaction to the kiss cam and decided to post it,” New Jersey resident Grace Springer <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/35903214/coldplay-cheating-concert-fan-filmed/">told</a> The Sun of her video clip, which amassed tens of millions of views and became the talk of social media after being posted in the early morning hours on Thursday. 
&#8220;A part of me feels bad for turning these people’s lives upside down, but, play stupid games… win stupid prizes,” she added. &#8220;I hope their partners can heal from this and get a second chance at the happiness they deserve with their future still in front of them.”
&#8220;I hope, for them, my video was a blessing in disguise,&#8221; Springer added.
<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@instaagraace/video/7527910323681070367" data-video-id="7527910323681070367">
<section><a title="@instaagraace" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@instaagraace?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@instaagraace</a> trouble in paradise?? 👀 <a title="coldplay" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/coldplay?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#coldplay</a> <a title="boston" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/boston?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#boston</a> <a title="coldplayconcert" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/coldplayconcert?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#coldplayconcert</a> <a title="kisscam" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/kisscam?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#kisscam</a> <a title="fyp" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fyp?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#fyp</a> <a title="♬ original sound - grace" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7527915447535307550?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ original sound &#8211; grace</a></section>
</blockquote>
<script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>
The viral video shows married Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and the company’s Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot embracing one another, as was shown on the big screen at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, when the kiss cam landed on them. The couple reacted immediately, with Byron letting go of Cabot and stepping out of frame. Cabot had a similar reaction as she immediately hid her face and turned away from the camera.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin called out their reaction. “Oh look at these two,” the singer can be heard saying. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.”
As of Friday, the original TikTok video has more than 55 million views.
The popularity of the video spurred many fake reactions, including a faux statement attributed to Byron and images of a fake social media post attributed to Coldplay<a href="https://x.com/MikeBeauvais/status/1945865732748722537"> saying</a>, “Starting with our next show, we’re introducing camera-free audience sections for people and their sidepieces.” 
Byron has served as CEO of Astronomer since 2023, and Cabot was hired nine months ago. 
Byron’s wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, removed her last name from her Facebook account before deactivating it entirely. Byron was on LinkedIn but appears to have removed his profile as of Friday. They reportedly have two children together. 
Neither the exec nor the company has issued a public statement. Ry Walker, Astronomer&#8217;s former CEO, did address the situation with an X <a href="https://x.com/rywalker/status/1945894506160648514">post</a>. 
&#8220;For those asking—I&#8217;m no longer involved in @astronomerio—yes I was co-founder and early CEO—not on the team or board since 2022, and have no information on ColdplayGate.&#8221;

Coldplay Fan Who Posted Video Of CEO Embracing His ‘Chief People Officer’ Speaks Out

Coldplay Fan Who Posted Video Of CEO Embracing His 'Chief People Officer' Speaks Out

concert

TikTok

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents face increasing threats of violence, a Massachusetts lawmaker wants to make them more easily identifiable.
Massachusetts State Representative James Hawkins on Monday introduced a <a href="https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/HD4886" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bill</a> that would require ICE agents to remove face coverings while performing their public duties — making him the latest Democrat pushing to expose immigration officials. On Tuesday, Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/07/09/dems-push-mask-bills-amid-ice-attacks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> a bill that would prohibit federal agents from concealing their identities with masks while also requiring them to &#8220;display their name or badge number and the agency they represent.&#8221;
In New York City, lawmakers — including Comptroller Brad Lander, who was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-democrat-nyc-mayoral-candidate-arrested-by-ice-at-immigration-court" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> by ICE for interfering with a deportation — <a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/new-york-playbook-pm/2025/07/09/unmasking-ice-agents-state-bill-ny-brad-lander-tony-simone-00445241" target="_blank" rel="noopener">introduced</a> a similar bill, with Lander saying ICE agents wear masks &#8220;for the purpose of striking fear into asylum seekers and immigrants in the hope that they will be terrorized by masked gangs who seek to grab and abduct them.&#8221;
But according to White House Border Czar Tom Homan, ICE agents are simply masking up to protect themselves.
&#8220;Some of you here say, &#8216;Why are they wearing masks?'&#8221; Homan <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1928093476228317221" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during a May press conference. &#8220;They&#8217;re trying to protect themselves and their families! &#8230; They&#8217;re being doxxed! … Assaults are up, and it won&#8217;t be tolerated!&#8221;
There has been a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ice-officials-slam-cnn-for-promoting-app-that-helps-illegals-dodge-federal-agents" target="_blank" rel="noopener">500% increase</a> in assaults on ICE agents in recent months, according to the Department of Homeland Security. As The Daily Wire reported, an app called ICEBlock allows users to alert one another to the presence of ICE agents, something the White House says puts agents in imminent danger. Just yesterday, Border Patrol agents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/far-left-activists-in-l-a-arrested-for-targeting-immigration-enforcement-vehicles-with-tire-spikes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> four people in Los Angeles who are suspected of planting tire spikes in front of vehicles used by federal immigration enforcement agents.
President Donald Trump also underscored why border patrol and ICE agents may need to wear masks.
&#8220;They&#8217;re great patriots,&#8221; Trump <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-seethes-dems-floating-bill-requiring-unmasking-ice-cbp-agents-must-hate-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;If you expose them because of, you know, statements like have been made by Democrats and others on the left, usually mostly, I think, probably exclusively, you put them in great danger, tremendous danger.&#8221;
Still, Democrats insist that ICE agents need to be unmasked. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ice-agents-wear-masks-after-threats-to-their-families-but-top-dem-promises-to-id-all-of-them" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pledged</a>  that &#8220;every single&#8221; ICE agent would &#8220;be identified,&#8221; &#8220;no matter what it takes.&#8221;
The Daily Wire reached out to Hawkins&#8217;s office but did not receive an immediate response.

ICE Detains Immigrants Inside New York City Courthouses

Massachusetts Bill Would Expose ICE Agents Amid Rise In Violent Threats

Face Masks

Hakeem Jeffries

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Tom Homan

The FBI busted a multi-million dollar marijuana trafficking scheme run by Chinese nationals, the Justice Department said Tuesday. 
Seven Chinese nationals were charged over an alleged marijuana conspiracy operating out of Massachusetts and Maine. Investigators said that the operation, which began in January 2020, generated millions of dollars by distributing kilogram-sized quantities of marijuana in bulk.
“This case pulls back the curtain on a sprawling criminal enterprise that exploited our immigration system and our communities for personal gain,” <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/seven-chinese-nationals-charged-alleged-roles-multi-million-dollar-money-laundering">said</a> U.S. Attorney Leah Foley. “These defendants allegedly turned quiet homes across the Northeast into hubs for a criminal enterprise – building a multi-million-dollar black-market operation off the backs of an illegal workforce and using our neighborhoods as cover. That ends today.”
Those charged are 39-year-old Jianxiong Chen, 36-year-old Yuxiong Wu, 38-year-old Dinghui Li, 35-year-old Dechao Ma, 35-year-old Peng Lian Zhu, 35-year-old Hongbin Wu, and 47-year-old Yanrong Zhu. Yanrong Zhu &#8220;remains a fugitive,&#8221; while the others were all taken into federal custody, according to the DOJ. 
They are all charged with conspiracy to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and many face money laundering charges as well. Chen, who investigators say was the mastermind behind the operation, is also charged with smuggling aliens into the United States. 
<div id="attachment_944505" style="width: 994px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-944505" class="size-full wp-image-944505" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-at-9.45.27%E2%80%AFAM.png" alt="" width="984" height="667" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-at-9.45.27%E2%80%AFAM.png 984w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-at-9.45.27%E2%80%AFAM-300x203.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-at-9.45.27%E2%80%AFAM-850x576.png 850w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-at-9.45.27%E2%80%AFAM-768x521.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 984px) 100vw, 984px" />Illegal marijuana seized: DOJ</div>
FBI agent Ted Docks said that Chen, who lived in Braintree, Massachusetts, a city about 12 miles south of Boston, smuggled Chinese nationals over the Mexican border and forced them to work at marijuana grow houses to pay off the smuggling fees and get their passports back. 
In addition to Braintree, there were grow houses in the Massachusetts cities of Melrose and Greenfield. 
In October 2024, investigators recovered more than $270,000 in cash, a Porsche, and multiple Chinese passports and other identification documents inside a safe at Chen’s house in Braintree. Investigators also seized more than 109 kilograms of marijuana, nearly $200,000 in cash, and a $65,000 Rolex watch at the homes of other alleged conspirators. 
<div id="attachment_944509" style="width: 990px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-944509" class="size-full wp-image-944509" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-at-9.16.11%E2%80%AFAM.png" alt="" width="980" height="609" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-at-9.16.11%E2%80%AFAM.png 980w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-at-9.16.11%E2%80%AFAM-300x186.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-at-9.16.11%E2%80%AFAM-927x576.png 927w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/07/Screenshot-2025-07-09-at-9.16.11%E2%80%AFAM-768x477.png 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px" />Massachusetts home at center of Chinese marijuana ring: DOJ.</div>
In the last several years, Chinese-backed marijuana operations have cropped up across the United States, and there have been major drug busts in states like New Mexico and <a href="https://www.themainewire.com/2023/11/triad-weed-illegal-chinese-marijuana-grows-are-all-over-maine/">Maine</a>. In Maine alone, Border Patrol has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-chinese-marijuana-grow-operations-worth-billions-cropping-up-in-maine-border-patrol-memo">reportedly</a> identified at least 270 illegal marijuana grow operations that are worth billions of dollars.
Congressional lawmakers have also launched inquiries into the issue, saying that the operations pose significant national security risks.

Beautiful green leaves of marijuana close up

FBI Busts Chinese Nationals For Multi-Million Dollar Drug Ring, Exploiting Immigration System

Communist China

Crime

Drugs

Maine

Marijuana

An education watchdog asked the Trump administration to crack down on one of the largest all-women’s colleges in the country because it admits transgender-identifying males and maintains restrooms. 
Defending Education filed a civil rights <a href="https://defendinged.org/complaints/ocr-complaint-smith-college/">complaint</a> on Friday alleging that Smith College’s admissions, discrimination, and restroom policies violate federal law. The complaint urges the department to investigate Smith College, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, for discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of Title IX. 
The complaint also argues that the university policies defy President Donald Trump’s executive orders combating gender ideology and the Education Department’s <a href="https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-enforce-2020-title-ix-rule-protecting-women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">guidance</a> that Title IX does not include gender identity as a protected class. 
“Discrimination based on gender identity is not the same as discrimination based on sex under Title IX, as this Department well knows, and the Supreme Court has never held it is,” Defending Education Vice President Sarah Parshall Perry wrote in the complaint. “In other words, to the extent Smith’s accommodations for so-called gender identity encroach upon sex-specific programs and spaces, it is in violation of Title IX.”
The complaint also says that the school is violating federal policy by allowing males who identify as females to take the place of females in admissions. For the 2023-2024 school year, Smith only admitted around 20% of those who applied. 
Its policies make clear that the historically all-women’s college allows men to enter so long as they identify as transgender. 
“People who identify as women—cis, trans and nonbinary women—are eligible to apply to Smith,” the college <a href="https://www.smith.edu/your-campus/offices-services/equity-inclusion/gender-identity-expression">explains</a>. “Smith’s policy is one of self-identification. The applicant’s affirmation of identity is sufficient.”
The decision to admit males was first made in 2015 after Smith <a href="https://www.smith.edu/president-kathleen-mccartney/letters/2014-15/admission-policy-announcement">conducted</a> a year-long study group on the topic. 
“Smith has students, faculty and staff who are trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming. Smith students are here to engage with each other socially and academically in respectful ways, and our community values the range of identities that the student body represents,&#8221; Smith says. 
The college says that it is expanding more of its facilities to allow men into women’s bathrooms and locker rooms. 
“Every single-occupancy restroom on campus is designated all-gender, and more and more multi-stall bathrooms are as well,” the college notes, adding that it has “an all-gender locker room in the athletic facilities, with private showering and changing areas.”
The complaint flagged other aspects of Smith’s embrace of gender ideology, including the Schacht Center for Health and Wellness&#8217; commitment to providing “gender-affirming primary care, including hormone therapy, labs and specialty consultations and referrals for students interested in surgeries,” <a href="https://thesophian.com/gender-affirming-care-at-the-schacht-center-amid-trump-bans/">according</a> to the college’s independent student newspaper. 
Defending Education would like to see the Education Department, which has pushed for schools to abandon gender ideology, address the &#8220;unlawful&#8221; policies at Smith. 
“At a minimum, then, Smith’s gender-identity-based Equal Opportunity Policy; its admissions policy, which accepts natal men in lieu of similarly situated female applicants; and its all-gender restroom and locker room policies, which divest female students of their privacy, safety, and equal educational opportunity, all appear to violate Title IX,” Perry wrote in the complaint.
In a statement shared with The Daily Wire, Perry added that it remains important to fight for girls and women 53 years after the passage of Title IX.
“On the anniversary of Title IX, it bears remembering that Title IX was passed after an extensive campaign from women&#8217;s rights activists and a federal court decision holding that high school girls were not entitled to the same athletic opportunities as boys. Yet today, some institutions of higher education, including those that hold themselves out to be single-sex, appear to adhere to the notion that sex is fungible &#8212; even something that arch feminist Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote was false.&#8221;
&#8220;Our organization is keenly interested in ensuring equality of educational opportunity for all students, and it is our hope that when assessing the &#8216;female-only&#8217; policies of colleges like Smith, the Department of Education will take a closer look at that college&#8217;s possible attempts to rewrite Title IX, and allow transgender-identified males access to women&#8217;s-only spaces and admission slots,&#8221; Perry said. &#8220;Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. Today and always, Title IX is worth celebrating, protecting, and enforcing so that men and women can truly be equal&#8211;and equally protected&#8211;in American education.”

Smith College campus, a women’s liberal arts college

All-Women’s College Breaking The Law By Admitting Trans-Identifying Men: Complaint

Department of Education

Transgender

Karen Read was acquitted Wednesday of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend in a case that exposed a flawed investigation and allegations that authorities conspired to frame her for his death.
The case began when Read was <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/18/us-news/karen-read-jurors-reach-verdict-in-second-murder-trial/">accused</a> of leaving her boyfriend, John O&#8217;Keefe, to die in a 2022 snowstorm after allegedly hitting him with her Lexus outside a suburban Boston house party, per the New York Post.
In her Wednesday retrial, Read, 45, was found guilty only of operating under the influence of liquor — a lesser sub-charge of the manslaughter count — resulting in a sentence of one year of probation.
Jurors acquitted her of second-degree murder and leaving the scene of an accident causing death after deliberating for about three full days, according to the New York Post.
&#8220;No one has fought harder for justice for John O&#8217;Keefe than I have — Than I have, and my team,&#8221; Read told reporters outside the courthouse, thanking her loyal advocates.
As the Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/she-was-accused-of-killing-her-cop-boyfriend-but-said-she-was-framed-a-jury-couldnt-decide-who-was-right">reported</a>, this was Read&#8217;s second trial after a hung jury led to a mistrial last year. The retrial began in April and featured key differences, including the absence of lead investigator Michael Proctor, who was fired after sending lewd texts about Read during the first trial, calling Read a “wack job c***.”
Proctor’s misconduct, combined with other <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/karen-read-is-on-trial-for-allegedly-killing-her-cop-boyfriend-but-is-she-being-framed">evidence</a> of police misconduct throughout the investigation, put the spotlight on Read’s trial, garnering her thousands of supporters who came out in droves to support her at the retrial.
&#8220;We&#8217;re all Karen Read,&#8221; one supporter <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/were-all-karen-read-hundreds-of-supporters-celebrate-verdict/3745890/">told</a> NBC 10 Boston following the trial, while another exclaimed, &#8220;God blessed Karen Read. She didn&#8217;t even get to mourn John&#8217;s death,&#8221; per the Post.
Read&#8217;s defense team argued that O&#8217;Keefe was actually beaten, bitten by a dog, and then left outside the Canton home in freezing temperatures, claiming authorities constructed a conspiracy to frame her for his death.
The jury&#8217;s decision came after a confusing sequence of events on Wednesday afternoon. The jury initially indicated they had reached a verdict, then quickly informed a court officer they had changed their minds, before finally confirming they had reached a decision shortly after Judge Beverly Cannone provided an update.
During deliberations, jurors asked several questions that suggested they were unlikely to find Read guilty of killing O&#8217;Keefe, including inquiries about the timeframe for the drunk driving charge. The jury ultimately spent approximately three days deliberating before delivering their verdict.
Several people close to O&#8217;Keefe before his death <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/karen-read-trial-verdict-jury-murder-charges-manslaughter-what-know-rcna212763">released</a> a statement decrying the verdict as a &#8220;devastating miscarriage of justice.&#8221;
“They have suffered through so much and deserved better from our justice system. While we may have more to say in the future, today we mourn with John’s family and lament the cruel reality that this prosecution was infected by lies and conspiracy theories spread by Karen Read, her defense team, and some in the media,” the statement read.
According to NBC, several people who signed the statement were accused by Read&#8217;s defense of being possible suspects in the death of O&#8217;Keefe, but were not adequately investigated due to police misconduct.

Karen Read Acquittal

Karen Read Acquitted Of Murdering Cop Boyfriend

Murder

News

Scott Hayes, 48, will likely avoid trial after shooting an anti-Israel man who tackled him last September during a protest in Newton, Massachusetts.
Hayes <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/veteran-charged-after-shooting-anti-israel-man-who-tackled-him-during-protest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was charged</a> with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and released on a $5,000 bail last year after he shot Caleb Gannon, a man wearing a pro-Palestinian pin, who allegedly charged through traffic and attacked Hayes. Hayes pleaded not guilty and said shooting Gannon in the stomach was an act of self-defense.
A judge ordered that Hayes will not go to trial for the charges of assault and battery if he completes a probationary period that was agreed upon by Hayes’s lawyer and the district attorney’s office.
The conditions of the probationary period will remain in effect until September 13 — the day after the anniversary of the incident — and require Hayes to stay out of Newton, except for attending religious services, medical appointments, or passing through the city while traveling elsewhere. He is also prohibited from contacting Gannon, must complete an online course on civil discourse, and will have his license to carry a firearm suspended until that date.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/idf-recovers-bodies-of-two-american-hostages-in-gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IDF RECOVERS BODIES OF TWO AMERICAN HOSTAGES IN GAZA</a>
Another condition requires Hayes to seek and apply for employment, including at least three job searches a week. After the incident, the Iraq War veteran <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disabled-veteran-loses-job-after-shooting-anti-israel-attacker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lost his job</a> conducting natural gas leak detection, surveys, and inspections for a company contracted by National Grid, one of Massachusetts&#8217; largest utility providers.
If Hayes violates the conditions, he will go to trial.
In March, Hayes said the office of Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/da-backs-away-from-deal-to-keep-scott-hayes-from-going-to-trial-for-shooting-anti-israel-attacker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">backed out</a> of finalizing a disposition to resolve the case outside of court after both sides disagreed on the terms of the pretrial probation. The main point of contention was whether Hayes should be barred from entering Newton — a city he has been free to visit since October, when a judge lifted his ankle monitor requirement and restrictions on entering the suburb where Gannon lives.
“Today’s agreement was the second best option,” Hayes told The Daily Wire. “The first would have been a full dismissal of the charges immediately but the DA played politics with my case instead of following the law. The Commonwealth brought a very weak case to the table that in most states wouldn’t have made it this far along the process.”
Hayes said that Ryan’s case relied on two of his social media posts from 6 months before the incident.
“I know what I did on 9/12/24 was right,” Hayes said. “I have no regrets for my actions that day as it saved my friends’ lives. My attacker was actively trying to take my firearm from me and I am sure he would have committed murder if he had succeeded.”
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/idf-says-prepared-deal-with-greta-thunbergs-flotilla-en-route-gaza?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=IDF+Says+It%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%98Prepared%E2%80%99+To+Deal+With+Greta+Thunberg%E2%80%99s+Flotilla+En+Route+To+Gaza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IDF SAYS IT’S ‘PREPARED’ TO DEAL WITH GRETA THUNBERG’S FLOTILLA EN ROUTE TO GAZA</a>
Ryan’s office said the resolution is the “result of hundreds of hours of in-depth review and analysis by our legal and law enforcement experts.”
“It is the appropriate outcome given the facts of this particular case and the state of the evidence,” the office added.
In a video obtained by The Daily Wire, Gannon is seen yelling at the pro-Israel protesters Hayes was with at a busy Newton intersection and accusing them of “supporting genocide.” He then began to charge across the street until Hayes stepped onto the street with his hand on his waistband, where his lawfully possessed firearm was secured in a holster under his shirt, according to a motion filed by Hayes’ attorney.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING: Anti-Israel man shot in stomach after charging through traffic to tackle a man at a pro-Israel demonstration outside Boston in Newton, Massachusetts.
Footage obtained exclusively by <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@KassyAkiva</a>: <a href="https://t.co/nsGN3MQVAO" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/nsGN3MQVAO</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1834398206056100156?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">September 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
“Hayes did not brandish or even remove his gun from this holster, yet Gannon knew that Hayes had a gun, shouting ‘Are you carrying a f***ing gun?” a court document reads. “Hayes acknowledged that he did have a gun.”
Gannon backed away while making obscene gestures, while Hayes started to dial 911 on his phone. This is when Gannon rushed through traffic and tackled Hayes, as caught on video.
According to the documents, Hayes was face down on the sidewalk while Gannon was on top of him and choking him with his right arm, while trying to reach for Hayes’ gun with his left. Hayes then unholstered his gun and fired one shot at Gannon’s midsection. The documents go on to claim that Gannon still tried to grab Hayes’ gun after being shot and at one point “was able to turn the gun barrel toward Hayes’ face.”
In another video immediately after the incident, Hayes used his military training to give first aid to Gannon while telling bystanders to call 911.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In another video, the man who fired the gun is seen providing medical care to the man who tackled him before first responders arrived. <a href="https://t.co/wMtoowakr9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/wMtoowakr9</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1834399006341918961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">September 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
Supporters of Hayes <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-scott-hayes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raised over</a> $267,000 on GoFundMe to help him with legal fees and the fallout of the incident.
Gannon, 31, was charged in Newton District Court in December <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/anti-israel-attacker-to-be-charged-months-after-he-tackled-disabled-veteran-and-was-shot" target="_blank" rel="noopener">and pleaded</a> not guilty to the charge of assault and battery. He was allowed to go free on personal recognizance. <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/man-shot-at-newton-pro-israel-rally-appears-in-court-on-assault-and-battery-charge/3588738/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to his lawyer</a>, he spent 38 days in the hospital and nearly died from his injuries.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gazans-flood-the-streets-to-protest-hamas-as-idf-operations-intensify?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=10&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Gazans+Flood+The+Streets+To+Protest+Hamas+As+IDF+Operations+Intensify" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GAZANS FLOOD THE STREETS TO PROTEST HAMAS AS IDF OPERATIONS INTENSIFY</a>
He has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/man-charged-with-assault-of-pro-israel-veteran-called-for-destruction-of-the-united-states" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a history</a> of inflammatory social media posts where he advocated for the destruction of the United States, refused to denounce Hamas, and labeled murdered American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin as a terrorist who “got what he deserved.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Caleb Gannon, the man who tackled Scott Hayes and was shot, has a X history of calling for the destruction of America and says he does not condemn Hamas. <a href="https://t.co/t11GcY5eFv" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/t11GcY5eFv</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1834709152964268315?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">September 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
“I don’t condemn Hamas. I condemn my family,” Gannon wrote in one post about the terrorist group that killed, raped, or took hostage over 1,000 citizens from Israel on October 7.
Gannon’s father told the police that his son is mentally unstable and possibly autistic after the incident, The Boston Globe<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/09/14/metro/newton-shooting-scott-hayes-caleb-gannon-israel-hamas-war/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> reported</a>.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
Though not Jewish, Hayes says he believes it is important to use his voice to call for the release of the 101 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and to stand up to antisemitism in the United States.
“If my life has to be ruined for trying to help the Jewish people to survive, then that’s the price,” he told The Daily Wire. “It’s a much bigger issue than me. What happened to me brought a lot of local Jewish people together and got them out and active because of the reality of what’s happening.”

Cover images-5

Veteran To Avoid Trial After Shooting Anti-Israel Attacker Who Tackled Him During Protest

Hamas

Israel

Musician and activist Evelyn Harris returned her honorary degree from Smith College after it was revealed that she plagiarized much of her commencement ceremony speech.
According to Smith College president Sarah Willie-LeBreton, Harris “borrowed much of her speech” without “typical attribution” and decided to give up her degree.
“Ms. Harris was forthcoming about her choices while also acknowledging that she sought to infuse the words of others with her own emotional valence,” Willie-LeBreton <a href="https://www.smith.edu/discover-smith/president-sarah-willie-lebreton/commencement-follow-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a statement</a>. “With appreciation for the requirement of academic integrity so central to the values of Smith, Ms. Harris has chosen to relinquish her honorary degree.”
“I appreciate those who brought the dissonance of this moment to our attention and am very grateful for the graciousness of Evelyn Harris’s decision,” Willie-LeBreton wrote.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/zionists-dont-deserve-to-live-meet-the-leader-of-columbia-universitys-anti-israel-encampment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">‘ZIONISTS DON’T DESERVE TO LIVE’: MEET THE LEADER OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY’S ANTI-ISRAEL ENCAMPMENT</a>
Two of Harris&#8217; bandmates in the cover band Young@Heart defended her actions in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, claiming that &#8220;plagiarism works a little differently for us.&#8221;
“We sing lyrics and play music written by others without explicitly crediting them from the stage, without asking their permission, but often getting the original artist’s enthusiastic response when they eventually hear our version,” Bob Cilman and Julia van IJken <a href="https://www.gazettenet.com/Letter-61337636" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>. “We imagine Evelyn may have been doing something similar in her speech and was honoring the words of others.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Cilman and Julia van IJken accuse Smith College of attempting to humiliate Harris, as does another of Harris&#8217; acquaintances and Smith College alumna.
&#8220;I personally know Evelyn not only submitted her speech for approval to Smith College weeks in advance and received an edited version back from them in tacit and overt approval for her to give that speech,&#8221; Tolley M. Jones <a href="https://www.gazettenet.com/Letter-to-the-editor-61419478" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rubio-shares-plans-for-campus-protesters-in-fiery-senate-hearing?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=10&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Rubio+Shares+Plans+For+Campus+Protesters+In+Fiery+Senate+Hearing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RUBIO SHARES PLANS FOR CAMPUS PROTESTERS IN FIERY SENATE HEARING</a>
“Smith College hastily, with a singular goal toward shuffling unwanted negative publicity away from itself, chose to deliberately humiliate Evelyn by telling the world that she violated Smith’s academic standards by borrowing some of the words of others to encourage the new graduates to live their lives authentically.”
Harris is a longtime musician who spent 18 years as a member of Sweet Honey In The Rock, an African-American, female a cappella group founded in 1973 and nominated for three Grammy Awards. She “weaves political activism with harmony and fosters community through song, finding ways to address racism, misogyny, and other forms of discrimination with expressions of joy, hallelujah praising, and spiritual testimony,” <a href="https://www.smith.edu/news-events/news/four-honorands-speak-commencement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> Smith College.
The college added that it will distribute a new version of the highlights from the May 18 commencement ceremony, given the situation with Harris.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/homeland-security-to-screen-immigrants-and-foreign-students-social-media-for-anti-semitism?author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=29&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Homeland+Security+To+Screen+Immigrants+And+Foreign+Students%E2%80%99+Social+Media+For+Anti-Semitism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HOMELAND SECURITY TO SCREEN IMMIGRANTS AND FOREIGN STUDENTS’ SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ANTI-SEMITISM</a>
President Joe Biden’s 17th assistant secretary for health, Rachel Levine, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/an-all-womens-school-doesnt-know-what-a-woman-is" target="_blank" rel="noopener">also received</a> an honorary degree from Smith College. Levine is a transgender four-star admiral who was accused of promoting “transgender extremist policies” and “mutilating surgeries for minors,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-harris-admin-sued-for-records-on-trans-surgeries-on-minors?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Biden-Harris+Admin+Sued+For+Records+On+Trans+Surgeries+On+Minors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Evelyn Harris

Graduation Speaker Returns Honorary Degree After Plagiarizing Speech At Elite Women’s College

Plagiarism

It’s hard to keep track of all the immigration cases that blew up once President Trump started securing our borders and enforcing U.S. immigration law only three months ago.
The latest <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25897170-chnvparole041425/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decision</a> by Massachusetts District Court judge Indira Talwani was an unjustified and baseless nationwide injunction blocking Trump’s decision last month to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-admin-pulling-legal-status-more-than-530k-migrants" target="_blank" rel="noopener">end the parole status</a> for half a million Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan nationals.
Nationwide injunctions by federal judges are based on dubious authority and threaten the separation of powers doctrine in the Constitution – the checks and balances that hold this nation together. The sooner Congress and the Supreme Court implement and enforce clear limits on this, the better.
But it’s not just the sweeping executive power that Judge Talwani, an Obama appointee, asserts is the problem. It’s also the bewildering double-standard applied to the Biden and Trump administrations on immigration.
Americans want to believe that once appointed, judges do their best to follow the Constitution and the law. But it gets harder each time we see a ruling that stretches logic and law to reach a conclusion that aligns with politics. We’ve seen so many in the past few years, including the many “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/video/series/wonder-land-henninger/wsj-opinion-the-high-price-of-democrats-anti-trump-lawfare/04D0426F-2196-433D-B6FF-56BCA3688D79?mod=bizbuysell_trending_now_video_pos1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lawfare</a>” cases brought against President Trump since his first term.
Let’s get our heads around immigration parole. Aliens who want to come to the U.S. need a visa. In exceptional cases, Congress provided a <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1182&amp;num=0&amp;edition=prelim" target="_blank" rel="noopener">limited power</a> for the executive (exercised by the President through his Secretary of Homeland Security) to parole aliens for limited periods. When that period ends, they go back to whatever status they had before.
In 1996, Congress tightened the rules, clarifying that parole could only be granted on a “case-by-case basis,” and strictly “for urgent humanitarian reasons” or a “significant public benefit.” Parole isn’t a path to permanent status.
Blatantly violating the clear limits set by Congress, Biden perverted parole to invent a slew of “McVisa” programs to benefit groups he liked and to bypass numerical caps.
Biden’s DHS started paroling illegal aliens caught at the border, arguing that they didn’t have room to detain them. This <a href="https://cis.org/Arthur/Federal-Judge-Vacates-Bidens-ParoleATD-Border-Release-Policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Parole+ATD”</a> was shut down by a federal judge who <a href="https://legacy.myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/GPEY-CPQPAB/%24file/final%20order.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> the president didn’t have the authority to give illegal aliens a free pass into the country.
In August 2021, Biden invented Operation Allies Welcome to let in thousands of Afghans. In theory, these were supposed to be the ones who’d helped the U.S. and whose lives might be in danger under the Taliban, but in practice, many got in through fraud or had nothing to do with our efforts in their country. Some were even criminals and suspected terrorists.
Then in April 2022, Biden <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/ukraine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">began</a> a Uniting for Ukraine program to bring people in from that country, even though (a) you might wonder why the men weren’t home fighting Russia, and (b) why they could not have claimed asylum in neighboring European countries instead of the U.S.
In January 2023, Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/01/05/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-border-enforcement-actions/">rolled out</a> a Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan Parole program allowing up to 30,000 nationals from those four countries per month to enter the U.S.
Then he added up to 1,400 appointments a day for nationals of any country to schedule their illegal entry into the U.S. using the <a href="https://cis.org/Arthur/Whats-Biden-Doing-Migrants-Ports-Entry">CBP One</a> phone app, as long as they claimed to be in Mexico. Nearly all of them ended up getting <a href="https://cis.org/Arthur/958-Percent-Illegal-Migrants-Who-Preschedule-Their-Illegal-Entries-Are-Allowed">paroled</a> once they showed up at a U.S. port of entry.
Finally, in June 2024, Biden tried but failed to give a de facto amnesty via parole to over a million illegal aliens who were married to American citizens. Who knows how far a “President Harris” could have continued with parole-a-palooza, had she won.
All told, Biden used bogus parole programs to bring in over 1.5 million inadmissible illegal aliens.
Even though the law specifically says a president can’t use parole to bypass the U.S. official refugee program, that was clearly the intent. The Biden administration expected them all to claim asylum and live here while their cases dragged on for years or decades. But not all of them bothered to make that claim, figuring parole would just be extended. Bad bet.
Trump revoked the CHNV parole – as was his rightful power as president – in March. What Biden did, even if it wasn’t right, Trump had the power to undo.
For Judge Talwani to now tell Trump he can’t revoke parole for 530,000 paroled CHNV nationals without a “case-by-case” review is rich indeed. Does she seriously think that every one of the 30,000 CHNV applicants Biden let in per month was examined and approved on a “case-by-case” basis? Sure, if we say every fan let into Yankee Stadium for a game has been admitted “case-by-case.” If it simply means ‘one-by-one’, then Secretary of Homeland Security Noem can certify that, and it will be just as true as it was when former Secretary Mayorkas did.
Federal immigration law is very clear that the president has wide discretion to deny or revoke visas and remove aliens on national security or discretionary grounds. He can do or undo parole as well.
Joe Biden violated the law when he provided mass parole to hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens. No judge should be able to stop a successor president from undoing the harm a prior president has done, particularly harm that was done by ignoring, twisting, and breaking the law.
* * *
Simon Hankinson is a Senior Research Fellow in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation.
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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Liberal Judge Tries To Block Trump Over Bogus Biden-Era Parole For Countless Illegals

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