Three family members are facing charges in New York City for attempting to carry out a gang-related hit outside the Bronx Criminal Court in late June.
Reputed &#8220;Slutty Gang&#8221; member Chase Lackard, 20, was charged in the attempted hit of a member of rival gang P. Laafay. His mother, 49-year-old former Mount Vernon Deputy Police Commissioner Jennifer Lackard, was arrested with him on Tuesday and charged as an accomplice. His father, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/06/us-news/ex-con-husband-of-ny-police-bigwig-in-custody-after-familys-drive-by-gang-shooting/">James Lackard</a>, 47 — an ex-con who did time on drug charges — turned himself in on Thursday.
According to a series of <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/04/us-news/ny-police-bigwig-was-getaway-driver-for-goon-son-in-gangland-shooting-sources/">reports</a> published by The New York Post, both Jennifer and James helped their gang-banging son to plan and then carry out the attempted hit on June 29. After dropping mother and son off at the criminal court building, James drove around the area and returned to pick them up.
Text messages from that timeframe showed Jennifer helping Chase work out how to carry out the next part of their plan.
&#8220;Be directly in Fromt (sic) When I Leave,&#8221; Chase told his mother in a text message.
&#8220;When? … You can’t just sit directly outside. It has to be timed right,&#8221; she said in response.
When they left the building, according to court documents, Chase got into the back seat and his mother rode in the passenger seat. They circled the block, and when Chase spotted his intended target, he reportedly fired several shots from the vehicle but missed. The family then drove away from the area, stopping a short distance away so that the parents could switch seats and Chase could change clothes in the car.
Both Chase and his mother were arrested at their home on Tuesday — after which Jennifer Lackard was immediately <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/04/us-news/new-york-police-bigwig-accused-of-driving-getaway-car-for-her-son-fired/">fired from her job</a> with the police department: &#8220;Effective immediately, the City of Mount Vernon has terminated Jennifer Lackard’s employment. The allegations are unrelated to her duties with the Mount Vernon Police Department and do not stem from any conduct associated with the Department or the performance of her official responsibilities.&#8221;
Lackard, prior to her termination, had been a boss within the Wellness Unit since 2022 and had advocated for her precinct to respond to mental health issues without resorting to traditional policing methods: &#8220;A lot of the people we encounter are in a mental health crisis. Some are combatant, some are really, really aggressive and some are not. And some are frequent fliers because they don’t have support.&#8221;
Damon Jones, who previously worked for three decades at the Westchester County Department of Corrections and now publishes Black Westchester Magazine, was incensed.
“This is f*cking embarrassing! I am embarrassed as a black law enforcement officer to see the dysfunction in a city that has a black mayor, a majority of black city council, a majority black police department that we have to see continuing dysfunction and just foolery in an organization that should be so professional,&#8221; he told The Post.

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Police Official Accused Of Helping Son Carry Out Gang Hit

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New York City&#8217;s Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani has dismissed the entire advisory board of the Mayor’s Fund, removing a roster of business executives who helped raise private money for city projects.
The Mayor&#8217;s Fund to Advance New York City is a nonprofit that pulls in private-sector donations to support city initiatives. Mamdani became the first mayor in at least three administrations to dissolve the board of advisers in its entirety, saying that he planned to rebuild from the ground up.
&#8220;I commend you for your dedication and the benefit you have brought to our City as you conclude your tenure on the Mayor’s Fund Board of Advisors,&#8221; Mamdani&#8217;s letter, obtained by <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-03/mamdani-dismisses-business-leaders-advising-nyc-s-mayor-s-fund?taid=6a7119f2fbc22200010262af&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_content=business&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter">Bloomberg News</a>, read in part.
The list of prominent business leaders ousted from their roles, as <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/08/04/us-news/socialist-mamdani-launches-new-war-on-nyc-business-leaders-kicking-them-off-mayors-fund-that-backs-city-programs/">reported</a> by The New York Post, includes Richard Born, owner of BD Hotels; Jeffrey Gural, chairman of GFP Real Estate; Alex Katz, senior managing director at Blackstone Inc.; Edward Skyler, Citigroup Inc.’s head of enterprise services and public affairs; and James Whelan, president of the Real Estate Board of New York.
Economics professor Isabella Weber praised the move, saying it reduced the influence of business interests over city government.
&#8220;One of the beautiful things about Mamdani’s renewal of NYC government is that it shows how deeply business interests are usually baked into state capacity,&#8221; Weber wrote. &#8220;Why should private equity, banks and real estate interests advise a mayor on what to spend?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
One of the beautiful things about Mamdani’s renewal of NYC government is that it shows how deeply business interests are usually baked into state capacity. 
Why should private equity, banks and real estate interests advise a mayor on what to spend? <a href="https://t.co/Mnr75JlglY">pic.twitter.com/Mnr75JlglY</a>
— Isabella M Weber (@IsabellaMWeber) <a href="https://x.com/IsabellaMWeber/status/2084575037240054001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
But Bloomberg Philanthropies head James Anderson countered that the advisory board&#8217;s role was to drum up charitable donations, not to decide how those donations were spent.
&#8220;This is a mischaracterization,&#8221; Anderson wrote. &#8220;The Mayor&#8217;s Fund is designed to bring philanthropic resources to public priorities. Its advisory board has historically helped mobilize those resources — not determine public spending. Remaking the board is the mayor&#8217;s prerogative.&#8221;
&#8220;Treating public-private collaboration as evidence of capture may be red meat for the base, but it&#8217;s a poor theory of urban governance,&#8221; he added.
Mamdani is expected to fill the positions for his new board later this year. Mamdani senior advisor Dora Pekec told The New York Post that the administration is &#8220;reimagining how philanthropy can augment, but not replace, public dollars and public goods, and we are eager to share more about our new board of advisors later this year.&#8221;

Mayor Mamdani Commemorates America’s 250th Anniversary

Mamdani’s Latest Shake-Up Sends Business Leaders Packing

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Jews were the targets in 70% of all hate crimes recorded in New York City last month, according to NYPD <a href="https://www.nyc.gov/site/nypd/news/PR012/nypd-fewest-shooting-incidents-shooting-victims-murders-recorded-history-the">data</a> released Monday. Of the 33 confirmed hate crimes citywide in July, 23 were antisemitic.
That figure is 53% higher than the 15 antisemitic incidents logged in July 2025. Jews have been targeted more than every other group combined every month for the past several years. In July, the imbalance was sharper than usual.
Since Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office on January 1, overall hate crimes in the city are up 9.4% compared with the same stretch last year, rising from 329 to 360. Confirmed anti-Jewish hate crimes stand at 205 so far in 2026, an 8.5% increase from the 189 recorded during the same period in 2025. 
That works out to one antisemitic hate crime every 25 hours on average. Jews make up roughly 10% of New York City&#8217;s population, yet 57% of all hate crimes recorded this year have targeted Jews, which is nearly identical to the share last year before Mamdani entered office.
Hate crimes against Asians, black people, and white people declined this year. Incidents targeting Hispanic people and Muslims rose, according to the NYPD.
Among the July cases: a Jewish man was stabbed with a screwdriver on the Upper West Side; an Asian man who is not Jewish was also injured in that attack. In Brooklyn, an assailant shoved a 64-year-old Jewish man to the ground while shouting antisemitic slurs. In Queens, a suspect threw bags of motor oil and feces at two synagogues.
Mamdani addressed the numbers at a Monday press conference, saying, &#8220;The work to uproot antisemitism out of this city is one that will continue until we see hate crimes come to an end in the city.&#8221;
City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who is Jewish and has pushed efforts against antisemitism in city government, said she remains “deeply concerned and very troubled by the unacceptable spike in all hate crimes, particularly driven by those targeting Jewish New Yorkers.”
Major crimes such as shootings, murders, robberies, and assaults are generally down in the city. The rise in hate crimes presents a challenge for Mamdani, who took office promising to combat hatred and has increased funding for hate crimes prevention. New York has the largest Jewish population of any city outside of Israel.
Jewish leaders have repeatedly warned that the mayor’s anti-Israel rhetoric risks fueling more antisemitism. Last month, several prominent Jewish leaders and groups criticized a video in which Mamdani called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal,” while noting that as mayor he lacked the power to arrest him during any visit to New York.
A global report covering <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/2025-was-deadliest-year-for-antisemitic-violence-since-1994-new-report-finds?author=Leona+Salinas&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=8&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=2025+Was+Deadliest+Year+For+Antisemitic+Violence+Since+1994%2C+New+Report+Finds">2025</a> found that year was the deadliest for antisemitic violence since 1994, with 20 people killed in attacks across seven countries that together hold more than 90% of the Jewish population outside Israel. More than 23,000 antisemitic incidents were documented in those countries alone.

Protesters Rally In New York During United Nations General Assembly

New York City Records Rising Number Of Antisemitic Hate Crimes

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A far-left activist group supporting accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione is urging supporters to pursue a controversial legal strategy ahead of his upcoming murder trial: jury nullification.
The December 4 Legal Committee, named after the day prosecutors say Mangione fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been <a href="https://x.com/d4legalcomm?lang=en">coordinating</a> fundraisers, raising roughly $1.5 million for Mangione&#8217;s legal defense while organizing protests and promoting jury nullification in the weeks leading up to trial. 
Jury nullification occurs when jurors vote to acquit a defendant despite believing the prosecution proved the defendant violated the law, because they believe a conviction would produce an unjust result. Although juries have the power to nullify, judges do not instruct jurors on the practice, and attorneys are generally prohibited from encouraging it in court. 
The tactic has surfaced at several points throughout American history, including in some cases involving slavery and prosecutions of Vietnam War draft dodgers.
The Fifth Amendment <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-5/">prevents</a> criminals from being subjected to double jeopardy, or being convicted twice for the same crime. The Amendment enshrines jury nullification by preventing prosecutors from receiving a retrial
Jury nullification has been used in the antebellum Civil War North to free slaves that were trying to be taken back to the South, and also by juries in the 70s who decided to acquit young Americans from dodging the Vietnam draft.
The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/31/us-news/luigi-mangione-could-walk-free-and-a-radical-organization-is-pushing-for-it/">reported</a> that two activists were arrested after distributing jury nullification pamphlets outside a Denver courthouse, although the Colorado Supreme Court later ruled in their favor.
New York criminal defense attorney Kenneth Belkin warned that efforts to promote jury nullification risk politicizing the justice system. 
“You don’t want prosecutions based on politics. You don’t want juries acting based on politics. You want them pursuing the truth,” Belkin <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/luigi-mangione-not-guilty-acquit-c9rnsq9xw">told</a> The Times.
Belkin said finding an impartial jury in New York City could prove difficult given Mangione&#8217;s support among some left-wing activists. 
“You have a juror pool in New York City that is particularly politically inflamed. It’s a very partisan city, and I think Luigi Mangione has a lot of support in New York City, despite the fact that he’s accused of an egregious murder,” Belkin said.  
“I think that’s concerning because if you have a large amount of people that are supporting a [suspected] murderer’s political stance in committing a murder, that raises a real possibility that you could get some jurors on that jury that may not convict, no matter what the evidence says.”
Sonali Chakravarti, a professor of government at Wesleyan University, said jury nullification gives “a jury to have true freedom to render the outcome that they think is the most just under the circumstances.” 
But she cautioned that “taken to an extreme, nullification would completely cause a breakdown of the legal system.”
Mangione is charged with fatally shooting Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in December 2024 in what prosecutors say was a politically motivated killing. The case has attracted an unusual following, with supporters portraying Mangione as a symbol of frustration with the U.S. healthcare system.
His trial is scheduled to begin on September 8.

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Left-Wing Activists Have A Plan To Free Luigi Mangione

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A New York school district has put the rollout of a humanoid teaching assistant on hold after parents and teachers raised concerns that its manufacturer is affiliated with the company behind “hyper-realistic sexbots.”
Salamanca City Central School District <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/school-sparks-debate-after-buying-humanoid-robot-teacher?author=Trinity+Gentry&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=10&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=School+Sparks+Debate+After+Buying+Humanoid+Robot+Teacher">purchased</a> the Realbotix robot, named &#8220;Sally,&#8221; for $57,590 to assist 11th- and 12th-grade coding, robotics, and artificial intelligence classes. The stationary humanoid robot has silicone skin and long brown hair, and can move its upper body and make facial expressions 
The project, however, drew backlash after parents and teachers learned that Realbotix is affiliated with RealDoll, a company known for manufacturing AI-powered sex dolls that it bills as the &#8220;world&#8217;s most advanced sex robot,” according to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-29/school-humanoid-robot-plan-paused-links-sexbot-sister-company/106970194">ABC News</a>.
 &#8220;A robot built by a company associated with sex dolls has no business in our classrooms,&#8221; New York State United Teachers President Melinda Person said.
Parents also questioned how students&#8217; personal information would be collected, stored, and used if they log into the robot, which was designed to provide individualized tutoring and support.
Realbotix said it operates independently from RealDoll despite the affiliation, maintaining separate “management, personnel, payroll, facilities, manufacturing operations, product development, and market strategies,” per <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-29/school-humanoid-robot-plan-paused-links-sexbot-sister-company/106970194">ABC News</a>. The company also rejected suggestions that “Sally” is a repurposed sex doll, arguing that the robot is “newly manufactured” specifically for educational use. 
The district since paused the rollout last week while it works with state education officials on what it described as “enhanced student data privacy agreements.”
Salamanca City Central School District serves about 1,300 students on the Allegany Territory of the Seneca Nation of Indians. Roughly 32% of students identify as Native American, and about 79% are considered economically disadvantaged. 
State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa also expressed concerns after reviewing the proposal.
“Although you confirmed that the robot would not have any role delivering classroom instruction, a recent presentation to the board characterized the robot as a &#8216;tutoring platform,&#8217;” Rosa wrote in a letter to the district.
Lacey Pihlblad, president of the Salamanca Teachers’ Association and a teacher at the high school, said educators also worried about how student information would be handled. 
“We’re very concerned about the security of the software that they’re implementing, and whether or not the data will be stored, how it will be gathered, [and] the recording capabilities,” she said.
The teachers union also argued that students need “real relationships with caring adults” and raised the possibility that AI tools could eventually replace educators. 
Salamanca Superintendent Mark Beehler rejected those concerns, saying “Sally” was intended to serve as a virtual tutoring assistant rather than replace teachers. 
&#8220;There is no possible way a robot can replace a human in a school,&#8221; Beehler said. &#8220;Even if it were possible, it would in no way be in the best interest of students. Teaching is a human-to-human process.&#8221;
Beehler added that the district selected Realbotix because the company&#8217;s robots come preprogrammed with Woz Ed, the K-12 education platform created by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak that the district already uses.

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School’s New Robot Has A Sex Doll Problem

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Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool, just held an &#8220;emergency press conference&#8221; explaining why New York City’s democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani isn’t wanted at the 9/11 25th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony.
The millionaire social media mogul took to X Monday night to list several reasons why Mamdani should be excluded from the ceremony, emphasizing that the socialist mayor has not &#8220;hid who he is.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Hmm I wonder why the families of 9/11 don’t want Mandami at the 25th anniversary memorial ceremony. Could it be for any of the following reasons?
He campaigned with Hassan Piker who said US deserved 9/11
He endorsed Claire Valdez who also said America deserved 9/11
He… <a href="https://t.co/EH1vQMysWb">https://t.co/EH1vQMysWb</a>
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) <a href="https://x.com/stoolpresidente/status/2081922743230984620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2026</a></blockquote>
&#8220;He campaigned with Hassan Piker who said US deserved 9/11,&#8221; Portnoy began.
Portnoy is correct. In 2019, on a Twitch livestream, Piker said, &#8220;America deserved 9/11, dude. F*ck it, I&#8217;m saying it,&#8221; adding, &#8220;We totally brought it upon ourselves … We did, we f*cking did.&#8221;
Portnoy then pointed out that Mamdani endorsed Darializa Avila Chevalier, who co-founded a group at Columbia University whose <a href="https://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/anti-israel-columbia-students-call-for-total-eradication-of-western-civilization-divest-palestine-hamas-bangladesh-protests-demonstrations">mission</a> included this statement: &#8220;We are Westerners fighting for the total eradication of Western civilization.&#8221;
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrats-newest-pick-is-their-most-radical-yet">Democrats’ Newest Pick Is Their Most Radical Yet</a>
The Massachusetts native also pointed out that back in 2013 Mamdani sympathized with the Boston Marathon bombers who killed three and injured more than 250 people on April 15, 2013.
Five days after that terrorist attack, Mamdani defended one of the bombers in a <a href="https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/325639432000655361?s=20">post</a> that read, &#8220;The implications of not mirandizing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.&#8221;
Mamdani’s father, Mahmood Mamdani, justified suicide bombing three years after the worst terrorist attack on American soil in his 2004 book titled &#8220;Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror.&#8221;
The elder Mamdani said that &#8220;we need to recognize the suicide bomber, first and foremost, as a category of soldier.&#8221;
Portnoy continued with nearly a dozen more reasons why he believes 9/11 families don’t want to see Mamdani on the 25th anniversary of arguably the worst day of their lives.
Making a name for himself in sports, Portnoy hasn’t shied away from political issues over the last few years. He spoke out against Mamdani during his mayoral campaign, and is still baffled at how someone who has repeatedly refused to denounce anti-America rhetoric can be in charge of the country’s most-populated city.
&#8220;How the hell did we get here in the 1st place?&#8221; Portnoy asked Monday.
Critics of Mamdani, including Portnoy, haven’t forgotten his previous statements and endorsements, which are mentioned at length in <a href="https://www.change.org/p/please-sign-to-support-honoring-the-memory-of-those-lost-on-september-11th-with-dignity?recruiter=1421960844&amp;recruited_by_id=0999a100-7bbb-11f1-8944-997c0a94f6b3&amp;utm_source=share_petition&amp;utm_campaign=petition_dashboard&amp;utm_medium=copylink&amp;share_id=kbk5YJfjfS">a petition</a> initiated by 9/11 widower Giovanni Galante.
Galante&#8217;s petition has more than 25,000 signatures and counting in support of keeping Mamdani away from the ceremony meant to honor and remember the lives lost to the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.
&#8220;We felt that having Mamdani there would show a disrespect to our family members because of the people he supports,&#8221; Galante told CBS New York.
&#8220;Mr. Mamdani’s own father, whom he has acknowledged as having shaped his views, penned a book shortly after 9/11 in which he argued that suicide bombers should be &#8216;understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism,'&#8221; Galante wrote. &#8220;He also argued that there was a moral equivalence between the United States and al-Qaeda.&#8221;
It’s a question Dave Portnoy and 25,000-plus people are asking as Mamdani defends his right to attend the ceremony.

Credit: Theo Wargo/ Spencer PlattGetty Images

Dave Portnoy Goes Scorched Earth On Mamdani Over 9/11 Controversy

9/11

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Another stabbing. Another headline. Another round of thoughts and prayers followed by absolutely nothing changing.
The day before this attack, a friend of mine had his front door kicked in. His wife was home with their baby when the attacker got inside and tackled her to the ground — both of them on the floor. My friend was able to get to her in time, fight the attacker off, and get his wife and baby out safely. It could have ended very differently. It didn&#8217;t, because he was there and he was ready.
These stories aren&#8217;t rare anymore. They&#8217;re routine. And every time one happens, the same question follows: what if someone there had been armed? The answer is simple. It would have changed everything.
I grew up in California, and firearms were part of my life from an early age. My family ran a nonprofit helping families with food, clothing, and furniture — the kind of work that puts you face to face with people at their most vulnerable. It also put a target on us. Before I turned 18, my family endured 14 attempted break-ins and two attempted murders. That reshaped how I saw the world. I got serious about firearms training, earned my National Rifle Association instructor certifications, and kept building from there. Then came the Chabad of Poway shooting. Watching an attack unfold in a synagogue — a place that&#8217;s supposed to be safe — prompted me to take action. I started teaching publicly, and it grew into a full training operation. Today I run &#8220;The Tactical Rabbi,&#8221; a firearms and security training brand with a YouTube channel that&#8217;s crossed 35 million views and a growing presence on Instagram, where I break down concealed carry, active-shooter response, and security preparedness for anyone wanting to learn.
I&#8217;ve spent years watching regular people — parents, business owners, synagogue members — try to navigate the maze of legal protections. In New York, that maze is a nightmare and for many, hard to work through.
New York is technically a &#8220;shall issue&#8221; state now, post-Bruen (the June 2022 Supreme Court decision in New York State Rifle &amp; Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen recognizing a constitutional right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense). On paper, the Supreme Court forced the state&#8217;s hand. In practice, New York found a new way to make the right to self-defense functionally unreachable for most people. To get a carry license, an applicant has to complete 16 hours of classroom instruction, plus two hours of live-fire training, submit four character references, sit for an in-person interview, and pass a background process that, in my experience, takes an average of six months — and commonly can stretch past a year.
An attorney once put it to me this way, and I haven&#8217;t heard it said better: if New York actually cared about safety, the ratio would be flipped — sixteen hours of live-fire and safe-handling training, two hours of legal seminar. Instead, it&#8217;s the opposite. The overwhelming majority of mandated time isn&#8217;t spent teaching people to operate a firearm safely. It&#8217;s spent walking them through everything they&#8217;re not allowed to do. That&#8217;s not a safety program. That&#8217;s a liability shield with a permit slip attached. And that&#8217;s before you factor in the cost — training, fingerprinting, application fees, lost work hours — which adds up to something far beyond a minor inconvenience. For someone working full-time or living on a tight income, six months to a year of cost and paperwork isn&#8217;t a deterrent. It&#8217;s often a hard stop.
Even after someone clears every hurdle and gets approved, New York&#8217;s list of &#8220;sensitive locations&#8221; strips the license of most of its value. Subways. Times Square. Public transit. The exact places where violent crime is most concentrated and where the value of self-defense is most needed are off limits. The state hands you a license in one hand and takes back the protection with the other. To be clear, I don&#8217;t think every requirement is worthless. A seminar on the legal use of force has real value. Live-fire training has real value. The problem isn&#8217;t that New York asks people to be trained and responsible. The problem is how it&#8217;s built — layered, slow, and expensive in a way that has far more to do with discouraging applicants than preparing them.
New Jersey&#8217;s process, by comparison, is a two-hour seminar plus a 50-round live-fire qualification across three to 15 yards. That&#8217;s it. It&#8217;s faster, cheaper, and — frankly — makes more sense as an actual proficiency test than New York&#8217;s process. Approval times run dramatically shorter than New York&#8217;s. I still don&#8217;t think New Jersey&#8217;s system is where it should be, constitutionally. But if I had to choose between the two states as they stand today, it isn&#8217;t close. Meanwhile, most of the country has moved toward constitutional carry — which is closer to how the Second Amendment was actually written and intended to function. More states should be moving in that direction, not away from it.
People will say these hurdles exist because lawmakers want gun ownership to stay rare. That misses the bigger picture. The Second Amendment wasn&#8217;t written to manage a hobby. It was written as a check against tyranny and, just as importantly, as a guarantee that every individual has the right to defend themselves and the people they love. That right doesn&#8217;t mean much if the state can regulate it into practical non-existence while still calling it &#8220;shall issue.&#8221;
And there&#8217;s a second half to this problem that doesn&#8217;t get talked about enough: the revolving-door approach to repeat offenders in cities like New York. When people with long, documented histories of arrests face little to no real consequence, you remove any incentive for a would-be attacker to hesitate. Deterrence works both ways — an armed, trained citizen is one form of deterrence; real consequences for violent behavior are another. Weaken both at the same time, and you shouldn&#8217;t be surprised when incidents like stabbings and other violent crimes keep happening.
I’m constantly asked where to start, and I always come back to the same comparison: learning to drive. The first time you get behind the wheel, it&#8217;s intimidating — you don&#8217;t know what you&#8217;re doing, and that uncertainty is real. But with the right instructor, proper training, and time behind the wheel, that discomfort turns into competence. A firearm is no different. It&#8217;s a tool. Treated seriously, trained on properly, and understood clearly, it becomes something you can rely on rather than fear. That&#8217;s the piece so many of these processes get backward. They spend their energy trying to make people afraid of the tool instead of competent with it. Fix that, and you fix most of what&#8217;s actually wrong with the system.
There are many fantastic resources and firearms instructors across the country — people who know the laws and people who follow everything Second Amendment-related. For example, if you are worried about owning or bringing a firearm into your home, Yehuda Remer, also known as The Pew Pew Jew, has a series of children’s books that talk about gun safety and living with firearms in your home. He also has a history of the Second Amendment so you and your child can learn about its importance and why we have it. He is a Second Amendment activist living in Texas who educates children and parents about those rights. His work and advocacy span the better part of 15 years, during which he has called for everyone to arm themselves, especially Jews. Since October 7, his voice has been an important wake-up call for Jews around the country to pick up a firearm, train, and survive.
If any of this resonates — if you&#8217;ve been sitting on the fence about getting trained, getting licensed, or just learning how to think about your own safety — don&#8217;t wait for the next headline to decide for you. Reach out. Find me on YouTube and Instagram as The Tactical Rabbi, or drop me a line at <a href="mailto:info@thetacticalrabbi.com">info@thetacticalrabbi.com</a>. I’m happy to help point you in the right direction.
Or you can reach out to The Pew Pew Jew at <a href="http://www.thepewpewjew.com/">www.thepewpewjew.com</a> or email him at thepewpewjew@gmail.com.
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Rabbi Raziel Cohen is a firearms instructor and security consultant known as &#8220;The Tactical Rabbi.&#8221; His YouTube channel has surpassed 35 million views, and he shares ongoing training content on Instagram.
Yehuda Remer is an award-winning Second Amendment advocate who has published 10 books and has appeared on media outlets including Fox News, ABC News, and other publications.

Todd Settergren of Setterarms gun shop, handles pistols inside his display case on Friday Jan. 13, 2017, in Walnut Creek, Ca. Settergren says California gun laws have gone too far and he welcomes the chance that the federal government under the Trump admi

New York Doesn’t Want You Armed, The Bureaucracy Proves It

antisemitism

Chabad of Poway

Concealed Carry

DW Opinion

Gun Rights

Inc. v. Bruen

National Rifle Association (NRA)

New Jersey

New York State Rifle &amp; Pistol Association

October 7

Second Amendment

A New York town is facing backlash from residents over a proposal to place an Islamic all-boys school in a Long Island residential neighborhood. 
Residents of the hamlet of Bay Shore raised concerns over a plan from the United American Muslim Association to convert a former Catholic school building into an Islamic boarding school for boys. Members of the neighborhood <a href="https://www.facebook.com/saxonsaysno/">group</a> “Saxon Says No” showed up in force to a zoning meeting Tuesday to voice their opposition to the school. 
The group says that the Town of Islip, which oversees the hamlet, would be bypassing zoning regulations if it approves the project without input from locals. 
“This appeal is about zoning, due process, and protecting a residential neighborhood. We respect every person&#8217;s constitutional right to worship,” the opposition group <a href="https://communitywatch.ai/the-appeal/">said</a>. “This appeal is not about religion — it is about whether the Town of Islip is properly applying its own zoning laws.”
Many residents believe that the proposed 120-student boarding school would bring increased traffic to the area as well as lead to groups of roving teenage boys running throughout the neighborhood. 
“The proposed use by the new property owner is far more intensive than what is appropriate for a quiet residential neighborhood,” Saxon Says No leader Kevin Colgan said during a meeting on the project, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/24/us-news/long-island-residents-fume-over-all-boy-muslim-boarding-school-in-residential-neighborhood/">according</a> to The New York Post. 
“This is about protecting the integrity of our zoning laws — not opposing any individual or organization — zoning laws exist to preserve the character, integrity, and quality of life within our neighborhoods while ensuring that land uses are appropriate for their surroundings,” Colgan added.
The building being proposed for the school was sold to the United American Muslim Association for $5 million by the Roman Catholic Montfort Missionaries. It used to be a Catholic school, but has not been used for that purpose in decades. 
The New Jersey-based United American Muslim Association describes itself as an organization seeking to “provide permanent solutions” for Muslims in North America “primarily by providing appropriate places to worship and providing an Islamic education for the youth.”
One local, Anna Chan, said her family purchased a home in the neighborhood with the belief that it would remain a residential area. 
“When my family chose to purchase this home 10 years ago — we relied on the zoning protections when making one of the largest investments of our lives — a community of single-family homes where the zoning was intended to preserve its residential character,” she <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/24/us-news/long-island-residents-fume-over-all-boy-muslim-boarding-school-in-residential-neighborhood/">said</a>. 
Bay Shore resident Elizabeth Byrne argued that the school would completely reshape the neighborhood’s family-focused feel. 
&#8220;I just feel like it&#8217;s going to totally compromise the environment and the history that has been here for years,&#8221; she <a href="https://longisland.news12.com/2026/07/22/islip-town-to-hold-public-hearing-today-on-proposed-islamic-boarding-school-in-bay-shore/3W9QjN4ZmFuV115h2DgbLQ">said</a>. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s going to destroy it.&#8221;

Islamic moon – the sign on the mosque

Former Catholic School Could Become Muslim-Only Boarding School

Education

Islam

Long Island

Muslims

New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin condemned what she described as an &#8220;apparent antisemitic stabbing&#8221; Thursday after two men were stabbed in separate attacks on Manhattan&#8217;s Upper West Side.
&#8220;The fear in the Jewish community is real. Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood, regardless of their faith or identity,&#8221; Menin said in a statement, thanking the NYPD for quickly apprehending the suspect.
According to CBS News, the stabbings occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Police said the first victim, a 57-year-old man, was found with a stab wound to the torso near West 84th Street and Central Park West. A second victim, a 50-year-old man, was found several blocks away near West 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, also suffering a stab wound to the torso.
Both men were transported to a local hospital and are expected to survive. Police said one of the victims is Asian, and the other is Jewish. 
A source near the scene told The Daily Wire that one of the victims was wearing a kippah and had just left afternoon Jewish prayer services before the attack. 
He was stabbed in the right side of his chest, according to The Times of Israel, which cited the victim&#8217;s rabbi. The rabbi said he spoke with the victim after the attack, who recalled hearing screams before &#8220;everything went blank for him.&#8221; The victim is in stable condition and is expected to be released before Shabbat, the rabbi told the outlet.
The stabbings occurred on Tisha B&#8217;Av, the Jewish day of mourning commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples and other tragedies throughout Jewish history.
After the suspect was taken into custody, Manhattan Shomrim, a volunteer Jewish neighborhood watch organization, shared a photo on Instagram that it identified as the alleged attacker. The image shows a tall, thin man with gray hair wearing a camouflage T-shirt and black pants being led away by police.
The Anti-Defamation League&#8217;s New York/New Jersey office said its security partners had been told that two men, &#8220;at least one visibly Jewish,&#8221; were attacked by a man whom witnesses allege shouted, &#8220;Allahu Akbar.&#8221;
&#8220;This kind of violence has no place in NYC and must be immediately condemned and investigated,&#8221; the ADL said, adding that it is working with the NYPD and community partners to gather more information and support those affected. The organization also called on Mayor Zohran Mamdani to take action.
Later on Thursday, Mamdani took to social media and confirmed the NYPD is &#8220;evaluating these stabbings as potential hate crimes.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I have been briefed on today’s horrifying stabbings on the Upper West Side, where an Asian man and a Jewish man were attacked. According to witness and victim statements, the perpetrator yelled “Allahu Akbar” during both attacks. I am relieved that both victims are in stable… <a href="https://t.co/0LSGtvPojx">https://t.co/0LSGtvPojx</a>
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) <a href="https://x.com/NYCMayor/status/2080420241557835992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 23, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
According to police, the suspect fled following the attacks before entering an apartment building on Amsterdam Avenue between West 88th and West 89th streets, where he barricaded himself inside an apartment. The NYPD Emergency Service Unit responded and negotiated with the suspect before taking him into custody at approximately 2:45 p.m. He was transported to a police station for questioning.
According to police sources cited by CBS News, the suspect has seven prior arrests, including two drug-related arrests dating back to 1991.
Police have not said whether they are investigating the attacks as a hate crime.

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NYC Stabbing Attack Sparks Fear Of Another Antisemitic Attack

Anti-Defamation League

Asian American

Jewish Americans

Jews

New York Police Department (NYPD)

NYPD

A tribal member living in Canada pleaded guilty Thursday to her role in planning a cross-border smuggling operation that resulted in the deaths of a family with two children who were under the age of three, The Daily Wire has learned.
Stephanie Square, 53, a dual Canadian-American citizen from the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory in Canada, ran a smuggling organization that brought illegal immigrants across the northern border via the Indian reservation, according to the Justice Department.
In March 2023, Square was contacted by &#8220;a prolific Canadian smuggler&#8221; who asked her to bring a Romanian family of four across the St. Lawrence River and into New York. Square then recruited several others to help sneak the family across.
One of the individuals Square tried to recruit refused to assist in the scheme, citing high winds on the St. Lawrence River that night. Still, Square looked for other smugglers.
Square disregarded the high winds, freezing temperatures, and limited visibility, insisting that she get paid.
“Aliens attempting to enter the United States illegally across the U.S.-Canada border are exposed to a range of dangers at the hands of human smugglers trying to capitalize on the misfortunes and misplaced hopes of others,” Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement shared with The Daily Wire.
“Here, in the face of known dangers, the defendant directed her co-conspirators to smuggle a family with young children across the St. Lawrence River on a cold, windy night with limited visibility. The dangers materialized into a preventable and tragic loss of life,&#8221; Duva said.
Dakota Montour, one of Square&#8217;s &#8220;regular&#8221; smuggling drivers, agreed to drive the family to Timothy Oakes&#8217; home on Cornwall Island, a well-known staging area used by smugglers.
The family arrived at Oakes&#8217; home around 3:35 a.m. on March 29, 2023, and left that evening. Oakes&#8217; car was seen hauling a light blue boat toward a public boat launch.
The Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service began a search, recovering the bodies of the four family members between March 30 and March 31, 2023. They also recovered the smuggling boat.
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<div id="attachment_1141715" style="width: 646px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1141715" class="wp-image-1141715 size-full" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-23T092929.434.jpg" alt="" width="636" height="379" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-23T092929.434.jpg 636w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/Untitled-design-2026-07-23T092929.434-300x179.jpg 300w" sizes=" (max-width: 636px) 100vw, 636px" />DOJ</div>
Authorities found the body of the boat captain, Casey Oakes, eight months later, according to the DOJ, though some reports say three months.
Square pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit alien smuggling, four counts of alien smuggling for financial gain, and four counts of alien smuggling resulting in death. She faces a minimum prison sentence of five years and a maximum punishment of life behind bars.
&#8220;This defendant and their co-conspirators showed a blatant disregard for human life, our laws, and the safety of our communities. We remain unwavering in our commitment to working with our law enforcement partners to protect and secure our northern border,&#8221; First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York John A. Sarcone III said.
Four of Square&#8217;s co-conspirators entered guilty pleas earlier.
Square and co-conspirator Rahsontanohstha Delormier, also known as &#8220;Storm,&#8221; 31, of the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Territory in Canada, were extradited to the United States from Canada in 2025. Delormier entered a guilty plea on June 26.

Untitled design – 2026-07-23T092622.453

EXCLUSIVE: Member Of Indian Tribe Admits To Orchestrating Deadly Border Smuggling Scheme

Border

Canada

Department of Justice

Smuggling

A repeat criminal on parole pushed an elderly woman onto the subway tracks at the Midtown station on Saturday, police and witnesses said.
Zaki Smith, a 36-year-old parolee with 14 prior arrests, was taken into custody by police during the Monday morning rush. His arrest was in relation to the attack, which took place before 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/21/us-news/violent-parolee-arrested-after-allegedly-tossing-elderly-woman-onto-nyc-subway-tracks/">according</a> to The New York Post.
The attack occurred at the subway station on 57th and 7th in Midtown, <a href="https://abc7ny.com/post/nyc-subway-crime-70-year-old-woman-randomly-pushed-behind-tracks-midtown-manhattan/19539063/">according</a> to ABC 7 NY — and police said that the 70-year-old woman was pushed from behind onto the tracks by Smith.
Bystanders who witnessed the attack helped to pull the woman back up onto the platform. The elderly woman suffered a laceration to her head but was reportedly in stable condition when she was taken to the Weill Cornell Medical Center to be treated for her injuries.
Smith was charged with felony and misdemeanor assault for what appeared to be an unprovoked attack.
In March 2022, he pleaded guilty to second-degree assault, and in June 2022, was sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting a corrections officer, <a href="https://www.bronxda.nyc.gov/downloads/pdf/pr/2022/71-2022%20Zaki-Smith-sentenced-assault-Rikers.pdf">according</a> to the Bronx District Attorney&#8217;s office.
Records show the parolee was supposed to be on supervised release until 2030. His criminal history includes the robbery of an MTA worker in May 2025, when he was arrested in possession of stolen FDNY work phones, according to a source.
His most recent prior arrest was on June 16, 2026, for allegedly stealing cleaning supplies from a Flatiron building. Several reports stated that he&#8217;d accessed the building using a service elevator.
Smith’s arraignment for the subway attack is still pending in Manhattan Criminal Court, the Post reported on Tuesday.

Crowd of people in a NYC subway station waiting for the train

Violent Parolee Arrested After Subway Attack On Elderly Woman

criminal

Subway

Sunny Hostin, the co-host of ABC’s “The View,” is facing backlash for appearing to use her position as a celebrity and former federal prosecutor to try to save her son from a police charge.
Hostin&#8217;s son, 24-year-old Gabriel Hostin, was briefly arrested June 16 in New Rochelle — a city about 17 miles from New York City. Officers spotted Gabriel “on the right-of-way of the active railroad tracks, in violation of the posted no trespassing signs,” according to court records <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/17/us-news/sunny-hostin-was-on-phone-with-son-when-he-was-caught-trespassing-on-metro-north-tracks/">obtained</a> by the New York Post. 
Immediately after being handcuffed, Gabriel asked if he could call his mother and have the police talk to her. The police agreed.
Bodycam footage received by the New York Post shows Sunny using her position as a former federal prosecutor and her son’s background as a Harvard graduate and elementary teacher to try to get the charge dropped.
When Sunny got on the phone, one police officer explained the nature of the incident.
“Besides being illegal, it’s actually very dangerous for him to be around the railroad tracks. We get people who get hit all the time,” one police officer, identified as Officer Gomez, stated.
“That’s my son. He’s a Harvard graduate. He’s not a criminal. He has no criminal record, no criminal history,&#8221; Sunny replied over the phone.
The officer replied that police had changed the charge from the usual criminal misdemeanor to a violation. “There’s nothing on his record, and he’s been very cooperative with us. But as of right now, we will have to issue him an appearance ticket,” Gomez said.
“Officer, is that really necessary? This is a kid who doesn’t do anything. He’s a Harvard graduate and a Yale researcher,” Hostin replied. “He teaches geometry to 4th graders in the Bronx. Why would you put something on his record like this?”
“It’s not anything criminal. He just has to appear. That’s all it is. It’s not a misdemeanor,” Gomez said. “He would have to appear, which is an inconvenience, but with all due respect, man, I still have a job to do, and we have to deter people from being on the tracks.”
Sunny arrived at the scene and asked for the violation to be reduced to a warning, to which Gomez said, “I cannot at this point.”
The officer <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/140.05">issued</a> Gabriel Hostin a 140.05, which constitutes a trespass violation. In New York <a href="https://www.nycourts.gov/help/criminal/types-criminal-cases">courts</a>, violations are for “non-criminal offenses [that] can still be punishable by arrest, fines and/or jail time.” However, violations do not create a criminal record and can remain off most applications. 
Gabriel claimed the gate was open to the railroad and his trespassing was “an innocent mistake.”
&#8220;The View&#8221; host has decided to represent her son in his case to try to clear him of the violation.
“The circumstances of this case do not reflect the type of conduct the New York Penal Law § 140.05 was intended to address,” Hostin stated in a letter to Assistant District Attorney Amanda Greene, <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/07/17/sunny-hostin-and-son-gabriel-on-body-cam-footage/">obtained</a> by TMZ.
She continued in the letter, stating that Gabriel was a Harvard graduate and a former Junior Olympian track athlete who was training when he “observed what appeared to be a gravel incline that could be used for his training.” Her letter alleges that the “No Trespassing” sign was on the left gate and thus not visible since the gates were open.
In response to Sunny’s claim, the Metro-North Railroad police released a photo showing the “No Trespassing” sign was visible on a pole near the open gates.
&#8220;The View&#8221; host has yet to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sunnychostin/">discuss</a> the situation on social media or broach the subject on her show.

‘The View’ Host Uses Her Privilege After Son Is Arrested

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Sunny Hostin

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