A small Texas police department is being shut down after a state investigation found it failed to meet minimum law enforcement standards, mere months after its officers arrested a local mother over a Facebook post criticizing the town’s troubled drinking water.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement notified Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws on September 9 that the city’s license to operate its own police department was being revoked. Investigators determined that the department “failed to meet minimum standards” and “was unable to provide evidence that the agency provides public benefit to the community.”
The decision comes after the five-officer department became the center of a national controversy in May, when officers arrested Jennifer Combs and jailed her overnight over a Facebook post concerning Trinidad’s water supply.
Combs had written that she had seen reports that people had been hospitalized after drinking the city’s water. Police charged her with felony false alarm or report, arguing that the post had created “fear, panic, or unnecessary emergency response within a community.” The charge was later dropped after a Henderson County grand jury declined to indict her.
On April 21, the city issued a notice advising residents to boil their water to “avoid harmful bacteria,” according to reporting on the dispute. A separate investigation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality subsequently found problems with Trinidad’s water supply, which city officials have said they intend to address.
The department’s handling of the controversy soon generated additional scrutiny. The day after Combs’ arrest, police arrested Winston Noles after he stood outside City Hall holding a sign criticizing the police. Noles was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct. That charge was also later dropped.
Police Chief Charles Gregory, who defended Combs’ arrest and called the case against her “cut and dry,” resigned in June, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/09/16/us-news/texas-police-department-that-arrested-mom-over-dirty-water-facebook-post-ordered-to-disband-by-state/">New York Post</a>. He had previously told the Trinidad City Council that he had “nothing to hide” regarding the arrests.
After Gregory’s resignation, the judge who approved the search warrant in Combs’ case questioned the “accuracy, completeness, and reliability” of the information Trinidad officers presented to him.
The Henderson County District Attorney’s Office then <a href="https://www.fox4news.com/news/henderson-county-wont-take-trinidad-police-cases-after-controversial-arrests">announced</a> in August that it would no longer accept cases from the Trinidad Police Department following the controversy and state investigations.
The Texas Commission on Law Enforcement’s investigation ultimately found problems extending well beyond the arrests. The department lacked 18 required policies, including policies governing professional conduct, use of force, vehicle pursuits, and even active-shooter situations. The state also found that the department could not demonstrate that it provided a public benefit to the community.
Trinidad Mayor Dennis Haws said he was not surprised by the state’s decision. “There’s been a lot of neglect through the years,” Haws told <a href="https://www.fox4news.com/news/not-shock-trinidad-mayor-reacts-shuttering-citys-police-department">Fox 4</a>. “We are moving in a positive direction. We’ve got to get past all of this.”
The department’s law-enforcement responsibilities will be transferred to the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office while Trinidad considers a permanent arrangement.
For Combs, however, the state’s decision closes a remarkable chapter that began with a Facebook post about the town’s drinking water. “For months, citizens who questioned this department were dismissed, attacked and in my case arrested,” Combs wrote after the state ordered the department shut down. “We were never the problem. We were exposing it.”

Trindad_09.JPG

Police Department Shut Down After Mom Arrested For Facebook Post About Dirty Water

arrest

first amendment

free speech

police

texas

This piece is part of MI x DW, a collaboration that brings Daily Wire readers exclusive commentary and research from the Manhattan Institute’s world-class team of scholars.
***
Almost every move Americans make is now caught on camera — often one we’re holding ourselves. We photograph and film our proudest and most mundane moments, uploading them to the cloud without a second thought. That’s what makes the growing opposition to automated license plate readers (ALPRs) so perplexing.
Calls for an outright ban on the technology are growing louder. Some opponents have even taken to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/30/us/flock-camera-vandalism-protests-cec">sabotaging and destroying</a> the cameras on city streets. But the pushback against ALPRs is misguided, reflecting a misunderstanding of both what the technology actually does and the benefits it provides.
One company, Flock Safety, has become the movement’s primary target. Flock cameras, like other ALPRs, capture information about vehicles — not the people inside them — as they pass. They record license plates, along with details such as a car’s make, model, color, and distinguishing features, including bumper stickers, custom paint, or visible damage. That information is stored by Flock on behalf of its customers (who actually own the data) for short periods, allowing them to track and, in some cases, intercept vehicles involved in criminal activity.
That police sometimes want to keep an eye out for vehicles of interest shouldn’t be controversial. Agencies have done that as part of <a href="https://amberalert.ojp.gov/about/faqs">AMBER Alerts</a> for years. The idea was simple and uncontroversial: widely disseminating information about such vehicles could help turn ordinary citizens into intelligence assets in child-abduction cases when time is crucial. AMBER alerts have unquestionably <a href="https://www.missingkids.org/content/dam/missingkids/pdfs/2024_Annual_AMBER_Alert_Report.pdf#page=17">saved lives</a>. The widespread adoption of advanced ALPRs would build on what has been gained from AMBER alerts by making it easier to find vehicles when time is of the essence.
But that hasn’t stopped politicians from across the spectrum — at both the federal and local levels — from announcing support for legislation banning or restricting the deployment of ALPRs. Republican and Democratic members of Congress, including <a href="https://x.com/RepThomasMassie/status/2081028050087456903?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2081028050087456903%7Ctwgr%5Ecfd78c9ba028019722f791a1e04fdd3aa18297f9%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdecrypt.co%2F374603%2Fflock-cameras-backlash-privacy-concerns-capitol-hill">Thomas Massie</a>, <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119hr9800ih/xhtml/BILLS-119hr9800ih.html">Tim Burchett</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/realAnnaPaulina/posts/i-am-working-on-legislation-to-ban-flock-cameras/1574803450676379">Anna Paulina Luna</a>, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/a-bipartisan-amendment-would-end-police-license-plate-tracking-nationwide">Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, and Scott Perry</a>, have taken up the anti-Flock cause, urged on by a host of <a href="https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2026/05/Letter-in-Support-of-Perry-Garcia-ALPR-TI-Amdt.pdf">advocacy groups</a>, including the ACLU, Amnesty International, Americans for Prosperity, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. In West Virginia, the Democratic House Caucus issued a <a href="https://wvhousedemocrats.substack.com/p/west-virginia-house-democrats-statement">statement</a> opposing the technology, and it found an ally in the GOP’s <a href="https://wvmetronews.com/2026/07/26/freedom-caucus-">Freedom Caucus</a>. In other parts of the country, opponents have gotten Flock contracts <a href="https://www.mv-voice.com/city-government/2026/02/25/city-council-terminates-mountain-views-license-plate-camera-contract">canceled</a> or had data-retention periods shortened <a href="https://legiscan.com/NH/text/HB1154/id/1426523">to the point of absurdity</a>.
Why reject a technology that helps police quickly locate vehicles reportedly used in serious crimes? Foes of ALPRs are largely united around a single objection: privacy.
On his popular podcast, comedian Theo Von <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH0U8Se89mA">captured</a> the increasingly alarmist tone of the debate: “[Y]ou mentioned like a surveillance state. . . . And it feels like sometimes in America that we’re getting to that like with a lot of these Flock cameras and a lot of these data centers . . . it feels like they’re just going to hold all the information from all this recording that’s going on in this surveillance state.” On his show, John Oliver spent half an hour <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnBPhelCdWE&amp;pp=ygUeam9obiBvbGl2ZXIgcG9saWNlIHN1cnZlaWxhbmNl">railing</a> against police surveillance tools like <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/multimedia/is-shotspotter-racist-an-honest-conversation-with-soundthinking-ceo-ralph-clark">ShotSpotter</a> (acoustic gunshot detection technology) and — you guessed it — Flock cameras, which he called “wildly invasive” insofar as they could “track your movements wherever you go, which means they can find out if you, say, attended a protest or visited an abortion clinic.”
The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s David Dunmoyer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-texan-cure-for-high-tech-trespass">recently asserted</a> in the Daily Wire that Flock cameras represent “an assault” on our “constitutional freedoms.” That sounds bad — but is it true?
For starters, there is no right not to be photographed in public — whether by private citizens or by the government. So-called <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/22/world/video/first-amendment-auditors-elections-lah-pkg-tsi-07221aseg1-cnni-us-fast">First Amendment auditors</a> take joy in illustrating this fact. There’s now a whole genre of YouTube content featuring self-styled auditors obnoxiously filming people in public to get them to call the police, who are often forced to admit they can do nothing. Filming public space is, in fact, protected activity.
In addition, the Fourth Amendment has never been understood to prohibit law enforcement officers from observing what is in plain view from a place where they are lawfully present. If an officer walking past a car sees contraband on the front seat, he may act on that observation — even without a warrant.
ALPR opponents like Dunmoyer suggest that government photographing your vehicle in public violates some vaguely defined right to privacy, and that such “privacy is a fundamental prerequisite to being free.” But by that standard, every A-list celebrity in America is a slave, and every traffic-enforcement camera is a constitutional violation.
If ALPRs are so detrimental to freedom, why haven’t these harms become apparent in jurisdictions where the technology has been in use for over two decades? A 2012 <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/09/your-car-tracked-the-rapid-rise-of-license-plate-readers">article</a> in Ars Technica warned, for example, that unregulated cameras were already “collecting millions of travel records every day.” It informed readers that the NYPD had been using ALPRs since 2006 and had deployed nearly 250 such cameras throughout the city. One can make a case that constitutional freedoms have been curtailed in New York City since that time — in recent years, courts have overturned state and <a href="https://nysba.org/new-york-gun-policies-rebuked-by-supreme-court-on-first-second-amendment-grounds">city</a> gun regulations, voting rules, and <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/judge-voids-new-york-law-claiming-nlrb-powers-for-state-board">labor laws</a> — but ALPRs have had nothing to do with it.
The notion that local governments are using these cameras to compile long-term logs of Americans’ movements runs up against several realities. For one, such an effort would quickly create enormous data-storage demands. For another, Flock cameras default to retaining data for no more than 30 days, a setting that most jurisdictions leave unchanged. Many police departments also impose their own restrictions on which vehicles can be searched and under what circumstances. To be sure, this doesn’t mean that the technology can’t be misused (as shown by a handful of cases involving police officers using department assets to track people for personal reasons). But these abuses don’t justify a rejection of the technology any more than some cases of excessive force justify condemnation of policing as an institution.
Nevertheless, defenders of the technology shouldn’t dismiss these concerns. The clearest risk, however, isn’t Orwellian surveillance but rather the use of ALPRs to create “a general enforcement dragnet for civil and code violations,” as my colleague Brandon Fuller recently <a href="https://x.com/fuller_brandon/article/2080335187716800536">warned in an X post</a>. Cities should ensure that the cameras do not become tools for generating revenue by enforcing every parking or traffic infraction. If every instance of modest speeding or rolling through a stop sign results in a ticket arriving in the mail, a backlash is inevitable — one that could undermine public support for ALPRs and prevent the technology from realizing its crime-fighting potential. That would be a real disaster.
Every technological advance brings both benefits and risks. Banning technologies in anticipation of harms that have yet to materialize is the wrong approach to policymaking. Where a technology presents genuine risks, policymakers can act to mitigate them. That’s the approach we should take with Flock and other ALPRs.
***
This is republished with permission from the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal. The original can be found <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/automated-license-plate-readers-flock">here</a>.
<a href="https://www.city-journal.org/person/rafael-a-mangual">Rafael A. Mangual</a> is the Nick Ohnell Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a contributing editor of City Journal, and the author of the 2022 book, <a href="https://manhattan.institute/book/criminal-injustice">Criminal (In)Justice</a>.

Flock Safety camera at the intersection of West Sylvania

The Silent Side Of Flock Cameras Saving Lives

flock cameras

license plate reader

privacy

surveillance

Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes was relieved of his duties by Mayor Katie Wilson on Wednesday night following the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/family-friendly-festival-turns-into-horrific-nightmare-as-gunmen-open-fire">mass shooting</a> that took place at the Bite of Seattle food festival Sunday night.
FOX 13 Seattle first reported the news after tips from several sources. Scrutiny of the police department intensified after Barnes skipped a briefing held several hours after the shooting.
During a second press conference Monday morning, Barnes informed reporters that he&#8217;d been out of town Sunday to attend the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives Conference in Dallas. On Wednesday, Barnes abruptly canceled a media session after a silent vigil for victims, reportedly meeting with the mayor instead. Wilson asked for his resignation.
The mayor’s office has not responded to The Daily Wire’s request for comment.
Although the hourslong delay in the press briefing sparked backlash against Barnes and the department, others have raised concerns about how little time Barnes has spent in the city he is supposed to be serving.
During Monday’s conference, one reporter asked Barnes why he was not in the city during the time of the shooting, citing a <a href="https://publicola.com/2025/07/09/in-first-four-months-seattles-new-police-chief-spent-most-weekends-out-of-town/">report from PubliCola</a> that Barnes spends most of his weekends out of town. In the report, Barnes&#8217; schedule shows almost every Friday afternoon blocked off — either completely blank or titled &#8220;admin block&#8221; or &#8220;travel.&#8221; Barnes was out of town 13 of 18 weekends between February and May, according to the report.
Barnes responded to the reporter, acknowledging he was &#8220;not in town&#8221; the day before the shooting. After the media session, Barnes approached the reporter to confront him.
Some in the community attempted to mobilize against Chief Barnes&#8217; removal before Wilson acted. On Wednesday, The Seattle Medium published &#8220;<a href="https://seattlemedium.com/seattle-groups-support-chief-barnes/">An Open Letter To Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson From the Black Community</a>,&#8221; a request to Mayor Wilson not to fire Barnes. In the piece, Barnes&#8217; termination is deemed the “wrong decision,” and the authors claim it would “disrupt Seattle’s progress in public safety.”
Barnes was appointed chief of police in 2024.
During the investigation into the shooting, police identified 15- and 19-year-old suspects, with authorities on the lookout for a potential third suspect in what police have called “targeted, gang-related” violence. The 19-year-old suspect is among the three dead. Authorities are still investigating the shooting.
The Bite of Seattle event typically attracts around 350,000 people.

Shooting At Seattle Festival Leaves 3 Dead And 4 Wounded

Seattle Police Chief Out As City Officials Face Backlash Over Mass Shooting Response

Democrats

seattle

shooting

Leftist agitators set up a “lawless” zone in Madison, Wisconsin, to protest the fatal police shooting of a knife-wielding felon, prompting local residents to lash out at city officials for not doing anything to restore order to the streets. 
Multiple blocks of a Madison neighborhood are blocked by barricades of wooden pallets, trash cans, and boards with nails sticking out of them to protest the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-how-police-react-as-screaming-protester-takes-over-briefing-on-fatal-shooting?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=4&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Watch+How+Police+React+As+Screaming+Protester+Takes+Over+Briefing+On+Fatal+Shooting">shooting</a> of Corey Ruiz, a man with an extensive criminal history. Tents were also set up in the zone by activists, and the homeless population has moved into the zone as city officials ignore calls from locals to clear the area. 
The city is even helping the agitators, bringing in portable toilets, trash cans, and even parked trucks to block off intersections, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2026/07/29/madisons-corey-ruiz-protest-encampment-draws-frustration-as-it-persists/91084501007/?gnt-cfr=1&amp;gca-cat=p&amp;gca-uir=true&amp;gca-epti=z11xx48p004950n11----l116550c11----u003548e1124xxv11xx48&amp;gca-ft=282&amp;gca-ds=sophi">reported</a>. 
“As a resident trapped in the protest zone, I feel the protest turned into a very disrespectful occupation focused on punishing Willy Street for the incident,” one local <a href="https://www.wmtv15news.com/2026/07/28/madison-memorial-blocks-williamson-street-businesses-residents-nearly-week/">told</a> WMTV. “It is now a lawless zone and homeless encampment barricaded on all four sides with groups blocking local residences and businesses from surviving.”
The neighborhood has been plagued by people urinating in the streets, drinking, loud fights, and agitators stealing trash cans for their blockade. One sign put up in the zone reads, &#8220;There’s more of us than them. We must revolt.” 
“I feel like we are suffering and we shouldn’t be. Like [protesters] are claiming that they’re supporting the community by being down here, but they’re actually harming the community by shutting down major businesses on this stretch,” Jeff Schmidt, the co-owner of the Weary Traveler restaurant, told the Sentinel. 
The city of Madison did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire, but Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway&#8217;s office previously said officials were “exploring many avenues to reach a successful resolution without further heightening tensions and causing more harm to impacted community members, including protesters.”
&#8220;A number of different City agencies are working to meet the needs of the neighborhood to the best of their ability,” she told the Sentinel. “We ask that everyone extend grace to each other in this difficult time.”
The unrest stems from an incident last week in which police say Ruiz pulled a knife on them. Ruiz had dozens of criminal convictions, including for robbery by force, strangulation, drug possession, vehicle theft and battery of a public safety worker, resisting law enforcement, and drug paraphernalia.
Other residents told the outlet that they are “very much upset with Madison leadership,” that the area is in a “state of fight-or-flight,” and that they described the situation as “extremely stressful.” 
Sentinel reporter Laura Schulte posted photos and videos from what she said people are calling the “Corey Ruiz Autonomous Zone.” 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I don’t usually enter the encampment this direction, but there are lots of boards with nails here to keep people out <a href="https://t.co/shoLPfWxeY">pic.twitter.com/shoLPfWxeY</a>
— Laura Schulte (@SchulteLaura) <a href="https://x.com/SchulteLaura/status/2082453985131168211?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 29, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
During the height of the widespread rioting following the death of George Floyd, leftist agitators set up the so-called “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” in Seattle that quickly turned into a violent drug den.

Madison Community Protests After Police Officer Fatally Shoots Man During Attempted Arrest

City Helps Leftist Agitators Secure ‘Lawless Zone’

George Floyd

law enforcement

Madison

Protests

wisconsin

The American consulate in Toronto was hit by gunfire in another &#8220;brazen&#8221; early-morning hit on Monday, the second time the U.S. post has been targeted this year.
Around 4:46 a.m., a gunman inside a speeding, license-plate-less white Honda sedan shot a bullet that cracked the facade of the downtown building, according to police, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/world/canada/toronto-us-consulate-shooting.html">reported</a>. A lone officer stationed right outside heard the shot, prompting a high-speed highway chase that hit nearly 90 mph before cops called it off due to safety concerns.
The latest targeted attack comes on the heels of an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shots-fired-at-u-s-consulate-in-toronto-leaders-condemn-act-of-intimidation">earlier strike</a> on the same diplomatic post in March, when a pair of suspects hopped out of an SUV and peppered the consulate’s front glass doors with shots.
Authorities are trying to determine if the two consulate shootings are connected.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow decried the &#8220;brazen attack,&#8221; adding, “To the person or persons responsible, we will get you. We have apprehended the previous shooters, all three of them, and we will bring you to justice.”
Meanwhile, the city has been plagued by a surge in antisemitic attacks across the metro area. After the initial attack on the consulate in March, Chow <a href="https://www.cp24.com/local/toronto/2026/03/10/no-injuries-after-shots-fired-at-us-consulate-in-toronto/#:~:text=early%20Tuesday%20morning.-,Road%20closures%20are%20in%20place%20in%20Toronto's%20downtown%20core%20after,at%20around%205%3A30%20a.m.">highlighted</a> a disturbing trend of local violence tied to international conflicts.
“This morning the U.S. consulate was shot at. This comes after shootings at synagogues over the past two weekends. This cannot stand,” Chow told reporters. She emphasized that the city’s Jewish community and international partners have the right to live without fear, noting that &#8220;antisemitic incidents spike when international tensions rise.&#8221;
The hate-fueled attacks have pushed Toronto&#8217;s Jewish community to the brink. Over the weekend, masked vandals <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bagels-and-bullets-antisemitic-terror-wave-hits-jewish-bakery-chain">blasted bullet holes and shattered windows</a> at two outposts of the Jewish-owned bakery chain Kiva’s, marking just the latest outrage in a city where hate crimes against Jews have spiraled out of control.
Despite representing under 4% of Toronto’s population, Jewish residents were the victims in a jaw-dropping 40% of all hate crimes logged by police in 2024. An astonishing 81% of all faith-based hate attacks in the city have targeted the Jewish community. Institutions ranging from a Jewish girls&#8217; elementary school to local synagogues have endured multiple shootings, vandalism, and worshippers being ambushed with gel-blasters following Shabbat services.

CANADA-TORONTO-U.S. CONSULATE-SHOOTING

U.S. Consulate In Toronto Targeted In ‘Brazen Attack’ For Second Time This Year

antisemitism

Toronto

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Violence

Police identified a 15-year-old and a 19-year-old as gunmen behind the deadly shooting that turned a Seattle food festival into a chaotic nightmare on Sunday. Authorities also said they are looking for &#8220;a third possible suspect&#8221; in the shooting.
The two teens opened fire in a large crowd that included young children, resulting in the death of 19-year-old gunman Junior Cee Niko Semo, who was hit by multiple rounds of gunfire, according to the medical examiner. Two other people were also shot and killed: Ashley Whitehead, 56, and Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44. Four people, including a 2-year-old boy, were wounded in the shooting.
Police believe the deadly shooting could be gang-related and that the two teenagers were &#8220;associates.&#8221; The 15-year-old has not been named by authorities and is currently being held in juvenile detention.
Shots rang out at around 6:00 p.m. PT at the Bite of Seattle food festival, an annual free weekend-long event that typically attracts 350,000 people. When police arrived on the scene, two people were seen shooting at each other and officers immediately sought to chase down the suspects while other officers provided first aid to the wounded, according to the Seattle Police Department.
One suspect was taken into custody &#8220;within seconds,&#8221; Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said on Monday evening.
Three of the shooting victims were found in the direction where the 15-year-old suspect is believed to have fired, including the toddler who was with his mother when he was struck by gunfire, according to court documents, NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/seattle-food-festival-shooting-may-gang-related-prosecutors-say-rcna589412">reported</a>. The toddler is currently in stable condition and recovering well.
After the shooting, Seattle authorities have faced criticism over the city&#8217;s response to the shooting and have gotten into heated exchanges with reporters. City officials are facing questions over why they waited nearly five hours to provide an update on the shooting, especially considering one of the gunmen was at-large.
Leftist mayor opened her press conference on Sunday with a discussion on “gun violence,&#8221; arguing that the city and the country have “a lot of work to do … to make this better.”
A reporter chimed in shortly into the mayor&#8217;s spiel, asking her to get to the information on the shooting. “I get your passion, mayor, but we need to know what happened tonight, please.”
Then, on Monday, a reporter asked Shon Barnes why he wasn&#8217;t in the city on Sunday night when the shooting occurred. The city&#8217;s assistant police chief handled the immediate response and the initial press briefing on Sunday night.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t have to tell you where I go,&#8221; Barnes told a KOMO News reporter. &#8220;I have a medical procedure I gotta do on Friday. &#8230; You need to know this: I have been here working as hard as I can for this city from the day I got here. You got that?&#8221;
&#8220;There are reports that you are out of town often,&#8221; the reporter pressed.
&#8220;Their reports are wrong, you understand?&#8221; the chief shot back as another man stepped in between him and the reporter.
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Shooting Leaves Multiple Killed And Injured In Seattle

Police Identify Teens As Suspects Behind Deadly Shooting At Family-Friendly Festival

crime

mass shooting

washington

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and CBS analyst Tony Romo refused to submit to an intoxication test after his arrest last week for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to new court filings.
Court records first reported by the <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/07/27/sports/tony-romo-cited-for-refusing-intoxication-test-after-owi-arrest/">California Post</a> show Romo was cited for &#8220;refusing to take test for intoxication after arrest&#8221; during his July 23 arrest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-cowboys-qb-tony-romo-arrested">Authorities previously alleged</a> Romo was operating a vehicle while intoxicated after being stopped on southbound Interstate 43 following a round at the Wisconsin Amateur Championship golf tournament.
According to the Milwaukee County Sheriff&#8217;s Office arrest report, Romo performed poorly on standardized field sobriety tests before being taken into custody, booked, and later released. The newly filed citation alleges Romo refused an intoxication test after arriving in custody. A copy of the citation has not yet been publicly released.
Milwaukee County District Attorney&#8217;s Office officials have said the case is being handled as a traffic violation rather than a criminal offense under Wisconsin law. Romo has not publicly commented on either the arrest or the newly disclosed allegation; neither has his attorney, Julius Kim. The 46-year-old is scheduled to appear in court on September 21.
The arrest also appears to have affected Romo&#8217;s golf schedule. Over the weekend, he withdrew from the upcoming M&amp;P Group Texas State Open, where he had been expected to compete.
Neither CBS nor the Milwaukee County Sheriff&#8217;s Office has commented on the new filing.
Romo retired from the NFL following the 2016 season after spending his entire 13-year career with the Dallas Cowboys, where he remains the franchise&#8217;s all-time leader in passing touchdowns with 248. Since joining CBS Sports in 2017, he has become one of the network&#8217;s top NFL analysts and signed a reported 10-year, $180 million contract extension in 2020.
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Three people were killed and four more were wounded when at least two gunmen opened fire at a bustling food festival beneath the Space Needle in Seattle on Sunday.
Shots rang out at around 6:00 p.m. PT at the Bite of Seattle food festival, an annual free weekend-long event that typically attracts 350,000 people. When police arrived on the scene, two people were seen shooting at each other and officers immediately sought to chase down the suspects while other officers provided first aid to the wounded, according to the Seattle Police Department, ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.com/US/multiple-people-shot-seattle-center-police/story?id=135108867">reported</a>.
One of the suspects was found and taken into custody on Sunday evening, but police are still searching for the other suspect as of Monday morning. It remains unclear if the gunmen were only targeting each other or if they purposely fired at other festival attendees.
While one suspect remains on the loose, Assistant Seattle Police Chief Tyrone Davis <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3lMwXrLfGA">said</a> at a press conference on Sunday night that there is no ongoing threat to the community. Police recovered two weapons at the scene of the shooting.
In a press conference on Sunday night, leftist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson opened the briefing to discuss &#8220;gun violence&#8221; and argue that the city and the country have &#8220;a lot of work to do &#8230; to make this better.&#8221; As the mayor lectured about &#8220;gun violence,&#8221; a reporter cut in, saying, &#8220;I get your passion, mayor, but we need to know what happened tonight, please.&#8221;
The mayor then turned the press conference over to the assistant police chief to go through the details of the shooting.
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene, and a third person died later at the hospital, according to Davis. Those killed were a 19-year-old man, a 44-year-old man, and a 56-year-old woman. A 2-year-old boy was among the four people wounded and is in stable condition in an area hospital. Michael Girardi, a man who witnessed the shooting, told The Seattle Times that the toddler&#8217;s mother was &#8220;in anguish&#8221; as her son was being treated by paramedics. The young boy appeared to be conscious and wasn&#8217;t crying, according to Girardi.
A 23-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman are also in stable condition, while a 40-year-old woman with minor injuries declined to be transported to a hospital.
&#8220;Thankfully, we had officers on the scene that were brave, went to those shots, and prevented more victims from being injured,&#8221; Davis said.
Estan Wakonabo <a href="https://apnews.com/article/seattle-center-shooting-food-festival-space-needle-90548c65364e742a97fb7cb0fea31209">told</a> the Associated Press that he and his girlfriend were waiting in line for a photo booth at the festival when he was pushed in the back and turned around to see chaos.
“People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling,” Wakonabo said.

Family-Friendly Festival Turns Into Horrific Nightmare As Gunmen Open Fire

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Police in Wisconsin allowed a leftist agitator to hijack a press conference about an officer involved shooting and go on an unhinged rant against Zionism and colonialism while threatening to beat up other attendees. 
Self-described “community organizer” Carlos Lemar Dixon took over a Madison Police Department press conference on Thursday over the fatal shooting of Corey Ruiz to scream about imperialism. Ruiz, who had an extensive criminal history including 40 convictions, was shot Wednesday after <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/protesters-jump-on-race-narrative-after-video-captures-deadly-police-shooting?author=Zach+Jewell&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Protesters+Jump+On+Race+Narrative+After+Video+Captures+Deadly+Police+Shooting">police say</a> he pulled a knife on them during a confrontation caught on video. 
As Madison Police Chief John Patterson gave an update about the shooting, Dixon started shouting and walked up to the podium as the police chief stepped aside.
“You&#8217;re gonna say the same thing you all say every time a black body gets shot down in this city. This is a corrupt city. That&#8217;s right. Have no fear, the anti-Zionist is here,” Dixon said. 
Patterson stood by passively for over 12 minutes as Dixon screamed about imperialism, called the police racist, and threatened to beat up someone in the crowd. He said he wanted to give “zero power to Zionists, zero power to capitalists, zero power to colonialism.” 
“What you are doing right now in this city is continuing the disgusting nature of colonialism, the disgusting nature of imperialism. Look up the definition of imperialism. It&#8217;s all within the policies, which means when these police officers come down on the street and they decide that they want to take the life of another brown body there is no oversight for that,” Dixon said. 
As police officials watched, Dixon said he wanted to know if “those pigs” were going to jail, referring to the officers involved in the shooting. Later, when someone in the crowd pushed back, he threatened, “I’ll beat your ass in front of the police.” 
A woman who accompanied Dixon and held a sign reading, “Corrupt cops deserve to die too!” screamed at another person in the crowd, “You’re acting like a f*cking c**n.” 
Dixon, an independent write-in candidate for Wisconsin governor, has a history of incendiary rhetoric. After he got in trouble in May for filming himself pulling out yard signs of Democratic candidates, he <a href="https://bluewaterhealthyliving.com/news/national-news/wisconsin/candidate-films-himself-stealing-francesca-hong-ryan-clancy-signs/">said</a> “politician[s] should be grateful that all I want is yard signs and not their heads.”
Ruiz had 40 criminal convictions between 2009 and 2025 including for robbery by force, strangulation, drug possession, vehicle theft and battery of a public safety worker, resisting law enforcement, and drug paraphernalia, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/madison-wisconsin-police-shooting-corey-ruiz-rcna588925">according</a> to NBC News. 
Graphic footage of Ruiz being shot was captured by a bystander. The footage shows three Madison police officers wrestle a man in the street and try to detain him. A fourth officer jumped into the scuffle and drew her taser as an officer was heard yelling, “He’s got a knife, he’s got a knife!” as the suspect pulled out a fixed-blade knife and injured one of the officers during the scuffle, Patterson said.
The shooting of the career criminal drew large protests in Madison as activists claimed police were racist and the shooting was not justified. A criminal homicide investigation was launched after the shooting.

Madison Police Press Conference

Watch How Police React As Screaming Protester Takes Over Briefing On Fatal Shooting

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Protesters descended upon Madison, Wisconsin, on Wednesday after a video circulated on social media showing police as they shot and killed a black man who authorities say was armed with a knife and resisting arrest in the middle of a street.
On Wednesday evening and throughout the night, leftist protesters <a href="https://x.com/JTCestkowski/status/2080120130999095700">decried</a> &#8220;racist police.&#8221; Even mainstream Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley <a href="https://x.com/DavidCCrowley/status/2080073675001282940">said</a> he was &#8220;horrified by the reports &#8230; about a man who was shot and killed in the street by police officers.&#8221;
The video and the official account from authorities of the deadly incident tell a different story, however, and suggest that some leftists are once again jumping to a racial narrative while ignoring the details around the shooting.
The graphic <a href="https://x.com/WISN12News/status/2080093956612767765">video footage</a>, which was captured by a bystander, begins as three Madison police officers wrestle a man in the street and try to detain him. A fourth officer jumped into the scuffle and drew her taser as an officer was heard yelling, &#8220;He&#8217;s got a knife, he&#8217;s got a knife!&#8221; as the suspect pulled out a fixed-blade knife and injured one of the officers during the scuffle, according to Madison Police Chief John Patterson in a <a href="https://www.wkow.com/news/crime/man-dies-after-madison-police-shooting-near-baldwin-and-williamson-streets/article_98f43f1f-cb53-435d-83c8-cbc82793f6cf.html">press briefing</a>.
The female officer then fired her taser at the suspect at least two times before he fell to the ground. The injured officer, who Patterson described as a veteran of the police force, drew his handgun and fired three shots after the suspect fell to the ground. The suspect, a black man believed to be in his 30s, later died at an area hospital after officers performed life-saving measures on him following the shooting.
Chief Patterson said that all four officers were placed on administrative leave as the department reviews the deadly shooting, but he added that the incident was inflamed because the suspect initially fled from officers and then pulled a knife on them during the arrest.
&#8220;When a knife is produced during officers&#8217; apprehension arrests, the overall situation is clearly elevated. It becomes incredibly dangerous, and it obviously increases risks for everyone there, for every officer, for the person as well,&#8221; Patterson said. &#8220;I think it severely narrows the scope of options and possible outcomes.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m grateful there were not more serious injuries inflicted to those officers,&#8221; he added. &#8220;But I again, convey my sympathies sincerely to [the victim&#8217;s] family.&#8221;
One other police officer was also injured in the incident, but authorities don&#8217;t believe the injury was caused by the suspect&#8217;s knife.
The suspect was pursued by officers after they received a call for a person who was allegedly looking at parked vehicles. When police found the man and attempted to talk to him, he fled on a bicycle and &#8220;traveled through some nearby backyards,&#8221; Patterson said. The suspect &#8220;either fell off or was taken off of the bicycle by officers&#8221; in the street before the officers grabbed him.
Just seconds after the shooting, anger erupted on Madison&#8217;s streets as a woman was heard on the video shouting at the police officers.
“I saw everything! You did not need to kill him!” the woman yelled.
The anger festered into the evening as protesters <a href="https://x.com/simonrl18/status/2080086435164483969">disrupted</a> a free outdoor concert put on by the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. In another part of town, protesters <a href="https://x.com/SchulteLaura/status/2080056240252600567">chanted</a> &#8220;arrest that cop&#8221; as they stood next to a group of Madison police officers.
Wisconsin Democratic Governor Tony Evers suggested the protests were likely to continue in the coming days and <a href="https://x.com/GovEvers/status/2080124195657097643">said</a>, &#8220;There must be transparency and accountability&#8221; as investigations into the shooting move forward.
&#8220;We will continue to keep the loved ones and family of the individual who was killed in our hearts and prayers. His life mattered,&#8221; Evers <a href="https://x.com/GovEvers/status/2080124197087440939">added</a>. &#8220;As folks exercise their First Amendment rights tonight and in the days ahead, we urge them to do so peacefully and respectfully.&#8221;

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Protesters Jump On Race Narrative After Video Captures Deadly Police Shooting

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A suspect dove off a bridge headfirst in a daring attempt to evade law enforcement following a car chase in Missouri last weekend.
In the early morning of Saturday, July 18, the deputies engaged in a vehicle pursuit of 26-year-old Missouri man, Gavin Thor Lundgren. The Stone County Sheriff&#8217;s Office released dashcam footage of Lundgren jumping out of his still-moving vehicle during a car chase, and sprinting over the bridge’s railing headfirst into Table Rock Lake. 
Despite Lundgren’s bold escape, the deputies later arrested him, charging Lundgren with three counts of third-degree assault on a special victim, which covers <a href="https://www.revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=565.054&amp;utm_source=chatgpt.com">attacks</a> on law enforcement officers, emergency teams, along with the elderly, and other vulnerable people. He was also charged with resisting arrest by fleeing, careless driving, and resisting arrest for a felony, according to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/missouri-suspect-dives-headfirst-off-bridge-wild-bid-evade-deputies">Fox News</a>.
At 1:50 a.m., deputies tried pulling Lundgren over for going 75 mph in a 45-mph zone in his 2004 Chevrolet Malibu, according to the probable cause statement per Fox News. However, the suspect refused to pull over, leading the police on a car chase until he exited his vehicle and jumped from the bridge. 
“This was definitely a first and luckily he survived the fall,&#8221; the sheriff&#8217;s office said. &#8220;He resisted arrest and deputies suffered minor injuries taking him into custody.&#8221;
Lundgren headbutted two of the three deputies in the struggle. The deputies suffered facial bruising, abrasions, and cuts on their forearms, hands, and elbows. 
Lundgren was booked in the Stone County Jail without bond.

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WATCH: Suspect Makes A Death-Defying Escape Gamble

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A North Carolina man is accused of torturing his 19-year-old girlfriend for months before she was found dead inside an apartment, according to court documents.  
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police responded to a 911 call on May 1 after Thomaz Kenon Hamilton, 24, reported that his girlfriend, Isabella Mary Alexandria Stroupe, was unresponsive, <a href="https://fox11online.com/news/nation-world/man-faces-murder-rape-charges-after-19-year-old-girlfriend-allegedly-tortured-report-torture-charlotte-north-carolina-death-homicide-investigation-killed-murdered-raped-sex-sexual-assault-blood-true-crime">according</a> to Fox 11 News. 
Officers found Stroupe dead inside an apartment in east Charlotte.  <a href="https://www.wbtv.com/2026/05/06/19-year-old-woman-found-dead-charlotte-apartment-was-tortured-months-affidavit-says/">According</a> to an affidavit cited by WBTV, she was wearing “minimal clothing” and was allegedly tied to a bed with a tow strap.
Investigators said Stroupe suffered multiple traumatic injuries, including broken and fractured bones as well as stab wounds. Her death was ruled a homicide. 
Hamilton, who authorities said was dating and living with Stroupe, allegedly told investigators they had been having sex when she suffered a heart attack. Investigators said the evidence was inconsistent with that account. 
Police said they recovered what appeared to be a bloodstained knife wrapped in cellophane, along with a sword, a baseball bat, multiple cell phones, clothing with possible blood, and a bloodstained mattress. 
According to the affidavit, investigators concluded that “Stroupe was being tortured over a period of several months and that Stroupe would have been physically unable to provide consent for vaginal sexual intercourse.”
Police arrested Hamilton on May 5 and charged him with first-degree murder and rape in connection with Stroupe’s death, <a href="https://www.charlottenc.gov/cmpd/News-Information/Newsroom/New-page-124">according</a> to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. 
Stroupe’s family later created a<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-give-isabella-a-proper-goodbye"> GoFundMe</a> to help cover funeral expenses, saying her death “has left a huge hole in our lives.” 
“I loved Isabella deeply. She was a total bookworm, always reading and sharing her favorite stories with me,” Stroupe&#8217;s sister said. “She loved fan fiction and My Little Pony, and her creativity brought so much joy to our family. Remembering her passion for books and the happiness she brought to those around her makes this loss even harder.”

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