Our son Samuel is 15 years old, and he loves to run. When the school day ends, he laces up his shoes and heads out. Running has become a meaningful part of his life, strengthening his body, steadying his mind, and shaping habits of discipline and perseverance.
Samuel ran track and cross country through middle school. He trained hard. He competed alongside his peers. He got better.
Then he entered ninth grade, and Virginia told him to stop.
Not because he isn’t fast enough. Not because he isn’t dedicated enough. Not because he did anything wrong. Samuel was told he could no longer compete in track and cross-country events sanctioned by the Virginia High School League (VHSL) because we educate him at home.
Our decision to homeschool Samuel is rooted in our faith. It is a deeply personal choice — one Virginia law fully recognizes and protects. Each year, we file our notice of intent with the superintendent and provide a list of subjects he will study. Samuel completes assignments, reads widely, writes regularly, and takes nationally-normed, standardized tests, where he performs well. Stacie, Samuel’s mother, is a formerly licensed public educator who has taught hundreds of students across multiple disciplines. We would gladly meet reasonable academic reporting requirements if doing so meant Samuel could run alongside his peers at Northside High School.
But none of that matters under the current rules.
The VHSL’s policy, in place for nearly 40 years, requires students to be “bona fide” full-time enrollees of a member school. Homeschoolers do not qualify. Period. It does not matter how rigorous the academics are. It does not matter that we pay the same taxes that fund the very schools and athletic programs from which our son is excluded. It does not matter that more than 66,000 Virginia children are homeschooled — a number that grows every year.
The door is shut.
What makes that exclusion even harder to justify is the group permitted to pass through that door. Public school students can compete, of course. Private school students can participate in VHSL-sanctioned events. Even students enrolled in full-time virtual public school programs — students who never set foot in a school building — are eligible. But a homeschooled student who lives in the district, whose family pays the taxes that fund it, who meets every academic standard set by the state, and who simply wants to train and compete receives no such opportunity.
There is no coherent principle behind that red line, and the VHSL’s own exceptions expose the problem.
We tried to work within the system before we ever considered a courtroom. We approached the VHSL and even offered to present our case. The response, to paraphrase, was simple: the policy is what it is; the board supports it. In effect, we were told not to waste our time.
That was a difficult moment for our family. We respect authority, and we teach our children to do the same. Samuel himself has said he was raised to follow the rules — but also this: when those in authority step outside constitutional bounds, the Constitution provides a path for citizens to seek a remedy.
We are grateful to have found allies in this fight. The Founding Freedoms Law Center, the legal arm of The Family Foundation of Virginia, is representing our family pro bono. For years — decades, really — efforts have been made to fix this through the legislature. Session after session, lawmakers have introduced what is commonly known as the “Tebow bill,” legislation that would allow homeschooled students to participate in public school athletics, as they already can in roughly 30 other states.
Repeatedly, those efforts succeeded and the legislature passed the bill. Every single time, Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed it — closing the door just as it was about to open.
The legislative path has been tried. It has been blocked.
But what legislation has not yet accomplished, the Constitution already secures. The government cannot deny access to a publicly funded benefit because a family lives in accordance with sincerely held religious convictions. Nor can it deny equal protection under the law based solely on how a child is educated.
That is why, on March 30, 2026, we filed a federal lawsuit against the Virginia High School League and the Roanoke County School Board. Our case argues this blanket exclusion violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the religious liberty protections in Virginia’s Constitution, and the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act. We are asking for a jury trial in federal court in Roanoke.
We want to be clear about what this case is and what it is not.
This is not about guaranteeing Samuel a spot on a team. It is about giving him the same opportunity as any other student: to try out where tryouts are held, to participate where they are not, to earn a place, and to compete. It is about the simple principle that a taxpayer-funded benefit should not be withheld from a child because his parents, guided by their faith, choose to educate him at home.
It is not just about Samuel.
When we told him we were considering this lawsuit, his response moved us. He said he wanted to do this not only for himself, but for his friends, and for the child he has not even met, a homeschooled student somewhere in Virginia who might one day have the chance to compete because this barrier was finally removed.
Other states have already shown this works. Homeschoolers participate. Standards remain intact. Teams function as expected. The sky does not fall.
Virginia refuses to follow where the evidence already leads.
Meanwhile, Samuel’s high-school years continue to slip away. Every season he cannot compete is one he will never recover — a season of training with teammates, testing himself in real competition, and learning discipline and perseverance in ways only organized athletics can teach. He dreams of one day being fast enough to run for Virginia Tech. It’s a long shot, but it should be his shot to take. Without the opportunity to compete at the high-school level, that door is closed to him.
We have also filed for a preliminary injunction, so Samuel can run while this case proceeds. Time flies, especially for a 15-year-old who runs.
We did not seek this fight. We are a family from Roanoke County who wanted our son to run track. But when we encountered a rule that treats our child as less than equal for no reason other than where he sits during the school day, we knew we had to act.
Not just for Samuel, but for every family in Virginia who has been told their children do not belong.
Our message is simple: Let Samuel run, and let the kids play.
***
Daniel and Stacie Palmer are parents living in Roanoke County, VA.

Legs and feet on a red track

Virginia Doesn’t Let All Kids Participate In Sports; Our Homeschooled Son Wants To Change That

DW Opinion

High school sports

Homeschooling

Virginia

The teenage son of former Democrat Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax called the police after his father allegedly killed his mother before committing suicide, according to disturbing dispatcher audio. 
Audio <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2026/04/16/justin-fairfax-dispatch-audio-for-murder-suicide/">obtained</a> by TMZ revealed that 16-year-old Cameron Fairfax called police shortly after midnight on Thursday to report that he believed his father had stabbed his mother. Police later said that Fairfax shot his wife, Cerina, before committing suicide.
“Caller stating that his dad might have stabbed his mom and that she’s lying on the ground bleeding, can see holes in her shirt. Unknown where his father is now,” a female dispatcher said in the audio. Shortly after, a responding officer says, &#8220;I don&#8217;t have a pulse.&#8221; 
Later in the audio, an officer can be heard saying that he was downstairs with the son and that Fairfax had not been located yet. Police said that both of the couple’s children were in the Annandale, Virginia, home at the time of the killing. 
“I haven’t cleared the scene yet, I have the son with me downstairs. Units on scene to clear the house, husband’s car is still in the driveway,” an officer can be heard saying. 
A search was briefly initiated before Justin Fairfax&#8217;s body was found. He was described by an officer as “a black male, 5-foot-10, clean-shaven with short hair.”
Shortly after that search was launched, an officer found Justin Fairfax dead in a room from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. 
“We got another subject down in the bedroom upstairs, I think this is gonna be our subject. He’s got a firearm with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,” an officer said. 
Officials said they believed the incident was linked to a “messy” divorce the couple was going through at the time. Court documents <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/04/16/us-news/justin-fairfax-was-a-raging-drunk-who-bought-gun-with-kids-horseback-riding-money-before-murder-suicide-court-docs/">reported</a> on by The New York Post allege that Fairfax was drunk who would lock himself in a room with “empty wine bottles, trash and piles of dirty laundry” and would only leave to  “get food or smoke cigarettes.&#8221;
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said Thursday morning that the department&#8217;s top priority was the condition of the couple’s children. 
&#8220;They are interacting with us, and certainly the son was the one who called 911 during a very chaotic situation,&#8221; Davis said. &#8220;I can only imagine.”
The incident comes just a few months after police said that Fairfax falsely claimed that he was assaulted by his wife and officers were called to the home. That claim was not true, police said, adding that Cerina had installed cameras throughout the house.
Justin Fairfax served as Virginia&#8217;s lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2022 and faced sexual assault allegations in 2019 shortly after images surfaced of then-Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam wearing blackface. He later ran unsuccessfully for governor.

IMG_2097

Police Audio: Justin Fairfax’s Teen Son Called 911 After Murder-Suicide

Crime

Justin Fairfax

Another illegal immigrant is accused of a violent crime in the sanctuary state of Virginia.
This time, a Guatemalan illegal immigrant, Luzvin Orvando Garcia Moran, 28, allegedly approached a woman while she was waiting for her rideshare Sunday morning in Arlington before trying to rape her, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/04/15/ice-asks-governor-spanberger-and-virginia-sanctuary-politicians-arlington-county" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Thursday. When she initially tried to walk away, Moran allegedly followed the victim before grabbing her and shoving her into a wall, <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/man-accused-of-attempted-rape-after-woman-attacked-in-arlington" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to ABC7.
Moran then allegedly assaulted the woman before she was able to break free, according to the report. The illegal immigrant then caught up to her and continued to attack.
Good samaritans helped the woman and called the police, according to ABC7. Moran allegedly tried to run, but was eventually nabbed by authorities.
At the time of the attack, Moran had at least 25 prior charges dating back to 2020 that included nine counts of being intoxicated in public, assault and battery, disorderly conduct, attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer, and several probation violations, DHS said.
He also initially snuck into the country as a gotaway, meaning he ran past border authorities without getting caught, according to DHS.
Now, the Trump administration is calling on Democratic Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger and other sanctuary politicians in the state to not release Moran.
Spanberger, however, has signaled that ICE detainers aren&#8217;t enough for local authorities to cooperate and that federal immigration agents would need a warrant signed by a judge in such cases. Upon taking office, she ended an agreement allowing state and local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE.
Since then, the state has seen a string of crimes perpetrated by illegal immigrants.
Last week, an<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-alien-teen-convicted-of-groping-girls-as-school-response-triggers-trump-admin-probe"> illegal immigrant from El Salvador</a> was found guilty of groping multiple girls at a high school he attended in Fairfax County.
Authorities in Fairfax County have also seen three murders tied to illegal immigrant offenders in recent months.
“Virginia&#8217;s sanctuary policies allowed this illegal alien to go on a crime spree,” Acting Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said of the latest case. “Despite prior arrests by law enforcement, this criminal was released from jail multiple times before he went on to commit this attempted heinous rape.&#8221;
&#8220;We are calling on Arlington County sanctuary politicians and Governor Abigail Spanberger to commit to not releasing this criminal from jail back into our communities,&#8221; Bis said. &#8220;How many more times must they release criminals into our neighborhoods to create more innocent victims?”
Moran was charged with attempted rape, abduction with intent to defile, and assault and battery, according to ABC7. He is being held without bond.

Untitled design – 2026-04-16T123056.565

Another Violent Attack Tied To Sanctuary Policies, Dem Gov Who Won’t Work With ICE

abigail spanberger

illegal immigrant

Sanctuary Cities

Seven years before former Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax murdered his wife and committed suicide, he faced sexual assault allegations that derailed his rising political career.
Fairfax, who was found dead Thursday morning by police after apparently shooting his wife during a domestic dispute, was once a rising star in Democratic politics before multiple women came forward in 2019 accusing him of sexual assault. Those allegations came to light after then-Governor Ralph Northam weathered his own scandal when old pictures of him in blackface surfaced.
Following Northam&#8217;s blackface scandal, some, including former President Joe Biden, floated the idea that Fairfax could become the next governor of Virginia.
&#8220;There is no place for racism in America. Governor Northam has lost all moral authority and should resign immediately. Justin Fairfax is the leader Virginia needs now,&#8221; Biden said.
Those calls quieted down weeks later after Fairfax was accused by two women of sexual assault dating back to 2000 and 2004.
Vanessa Tyson, the first woman to lodge accusations against Fairfax, said he sexually assaulted her during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. In an <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/justin-fairfax-accuser-vanessa-tyson-speaks-out-sexual-assault/">interview</a> with CBS News, she said that he forced himself on her after they started kissing in his hotel room.
&#8220;You know, and he kind of &#8230; gently takes my hands and &#8230; guides me towards the bed &#8230; And we&#8217;re still kissing, right? And it&#8217;s completely consensual,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He guides me to the bed. And then, you know, he sits down on the bed … And what happens from there, you know — we start kissing lying down, but on the very edge of the bed.&#8221;
She then accused him of forcing her head into his crotch and said she couldn’t move her neck.
The second woman, Meredith Watson, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/im-willing-to-testify-in-public-justin-fairfax-should-too/2019/02/18/d2ff73f6-31ec-11e9-813a-0ab2f17e305b_story.html">accused</a> Fairfax of raping her back in 2000 when they were both students at Duke University.
Fairfax denied both allegations and said he was being targeted, but many Democrats abandoned him and called for him to resign.
The FBI later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-investigating-origins-of-justin-fairfax-sexual-assault-allegations?author=Ashe+Schow&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=FBI+Investigating+Origins+Of+Justin+Fairfax+Sexual+Assault+Allegations">launched</a> a probe into the allegations and looked at whether there was a potential political motive at play. At the time, Fairfax said he was interviewed as part of an investigation into whether there was any benefit offered to his accusers.
During his run for governor in 2021, Fairfax compared himself to lynching victims. He accused Terry McAuliffe, one of his Democratic primary opponents, of treating him like George Floyd.
“Everyone here on the stage called for my immediate resignation, including Terry McAuliffe three minutes after a press release came out,” Fairfax said. “He treated me like George Floyd; he treated me like Emmett Till — no due process, immediately assumed my guilt. I have a son and a daughter. I don’t ever want my daughter to be assaulted, I don’t want my son to be falsely accused. And yet this is the real world that we live in.”
His claims did not garner much sympathy from Democrats, and he failed to break 5% in the Democratic primary election. After his failed gubernatorial bid, he left politics to enter the private sector.
Police suggested Thursday that Fairfax shot his wife because the couple was going through a messy divorce. They said that Fairfax was recently served papers related to the ongoing split.
“While he served as lieutenant governor, and even afterwards, was a rising star politically, not just in northern Virginia, but in Virginia, so it&#8217;s high-profile in nature,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said Thursday. “It&#8217;s tragic in nature, certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor.”

Fairfax collage

Democrat At Center Of Murder-Suicide Was Rocked By Sexual Assault Claims

divorce

Murder

U.S.

Former Democratic lieutenant governor of Virginia Justin Fairfax murdered his wife before committing suicide overnight, police said Thursday. 
Police believe Fairfax shot his wife Cerina after a domestic incident at their home in Annandale, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. Police waited hours to release the identities while they said they notified next of kin.
“Former Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax shot and killed his wife inside of their home, and then shot and killed himself,” police said Thursday, adding that the couple was in the middle of a messy divorce.
Police said that Fairfax and his wife were in the middle of an &#8220;ongoing domestic dispute&#8221; surrounding a &#8220;complicated or messy divorce.&#8221; They added that he was recently served some paperwork for an upcoming proceeding and that &#8220;apparently led to this incident last night.&#8221;
In January 2026, Fairfax claimed that he was assaulted by his wife and police were called to the home. That claim was not true, police said, adding that Cerina put cameras up throughout the house.
Local outlet Fox5 <a href="https://www.fox5dc.com/news/police-man-fatally-shot-woman-before-killing-himself-annandale-home">reported</a> that the first call to report the incident came shortly after midnight from someone who said he believed his father had stabbed his mother. Police arrived and found a woman unconscious and bleeding, discovering that she had been shot. The caller did not know where their father was, but police later found him dead in another part of the house.
The house was later identified as belonging to Fairfax and there were reportedly multiple people inside the house at the time of the suspected murder-suicide. Fairfax had two children, both teenagers, who were in the house at the time of the murder. One of the children was the person who called the police. 
The first information about the killing began trickling in shortly after midnight when police <a href="https://x.com/FairfaxCountyPD/status/2044647969354317927">posted an alert</a> on their investigation.
“Shortly after midnight, officers responded to the 8100 block of Guinevere Drive in Annandale, where they located an adult male and an adult female deceased inside of a residence. Preliminarily, it appears that the adult male shot the adult female before shooting himself in a domestic related incident. We were withholding the identities of the individuals until next of kin can be notified.”
Police added that “all parties are accounted for &amp; there is no threat to the community.”
Fairfax was the lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022 and faced sexual assault allegations in 2019 shortly after images of then Democratic Governor Ralph Northam wearing blackface emerged.
The FBI later <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fbi-investigating-origins-of-justin-fairfax-sexual-assault-allegations">conducted</a> an investigation into how the allegations surfaced against Northam and probed whether they were politically motivated.
Fairfax later ran for governor in 2021, but did not make it out of the Democratic primary. During his time in office, he pushed for gun control, including restrictions on magazine capacity and so-called assault rifles. He also supported abortion and raising the minimum wage.

Democratic Leadership Of Virginia Surrounded In Controversy After Racists Photos And Sexual Assault Allegations Surface

Ugly Divorce Ends In Murder-Suicide For Prominent Former Dem

Suicide

Bringing the United States perilously close to dismantling its constitutional foundation, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has signed <a href="https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB965">HB965</a> into law, officially entering the Commonwealth into the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). The decision has sparked immediate outrage across the state, as critics realize the measure effectively renders the individual votes of Virginians &#8220;null and void.&#8221;
By signing this compact, Spanberger has agreed to hand Virginia’s 13 electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the national popular vote — regardless of how the people of Virginia actually cast their ballots. With Virginia’s entry, the movement is now a terrifying 48 electoral votes away from taking effect. The current total stands at 222 votes, or 82% of the way to the 270-vote threshold required to fundamentally upend American elections.
It is no coincidence that the states rushing to bypass the Constitution represent a monolithic partisan bloc. To date, every single state that has joined the compact is a blue state, moving the country toward a system where a few deep-blue urban centers could dictate the presidency for the entire Union. The list of members includes:
<ul>
<li data-path-to-node="6,0,0">Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois, Hawaii, Washington, Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Vermont, California, Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, Maine, and now Virginia.</li>
</ul>
This partisan rush to ignore state boundaries flies in the face of Alexander Hamilton’s warnings in <a href="https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/fed68.asp">Federalist No. 68</a>. Hamilton cautioned that the Electoral College was not a mere suggestion, but an &#8220;excellent&#8221; system designed to protect the Republic from the very &#8220;tumult and disorder&#8221; that a direct popular vote invites.
The Founders were explicitly wary of a direct popular vote, fearing it would allow a &#8220;demagogue&#8221; with &#8220;talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity&#8221; to manipulate the masses. Hamilton argued that the presidency should not be a prize for the most famous or the most populist, but should be determined by an intermediate body of electors — men &#8220;most likely to possess the information and discernment requisite to such complicated investigations.&#8221;
By moving toward a national popular vote, Spanberger and the NPVIC proponents are discarding what Hamilton called a &#8220;judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements&#8221; proper for selecting a leader. Instead of a deliberative process, the nation is being pushed toward a system where candidates will focus exclusively on high-population urban centers like New York City or Los Angeles, leaving rural and small-state voters entirely ignored.
Hamilton was particularly concerned with the potential for national chaos during an election. He argued that by having electors meet in their respective states, their &#8220;detached and divided situation&#8221; would protect the process from &#8220;heats and ferments&#8221; that might otherwise &#8220;convulse the community with any extraordinary or violent movements.&#8221;
A national popular vote does the exact opposite. It removes the firewall provided by state lines. In a popular vote system, a dispute in a single precinct could trigger a 50-state national recount, creating the very &#8220;tumult&#8221; Hamilton sought to avoid. The Electoral College, by contrast, provides &#8220;effectual security against this mischief&#8221; by containing election disputes within individual states.
Perhaps most frightening is how this move weakens the nation&#8217;s defenses against foreign influence. Hamilton noted that the Electoral College was designed to oppose &#8220;cabal, intrigue, and corruption,&#8221; which he called the &#8220;most deadly adversaries of republican government.&#8221; He believed that a national popular vote would make it easier for &#8220;foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils&#8221; by raising a &#8220;creature of their own&#8221; to the presidency.
The Founders’ system ensured that the Executive was &#8220;independent for his continuance in office on all but the people themselves.&#8221; With Virginia becoming the latest blue state to join this compact, the &#8220;moral certainty&#8221; Hamilton promised — that the office would fall only to those &#8220;endowed with the requisite qualifications&#8221; — is under direct threat.
If 48 more electoral votes are secured, the system that has guided the nation for over two centuries will be sacrificed at the altar of political expediency.

US-NEWS-VAGOV-LEGISLATION-VP

Spanberger Pushes Nation To Brink, Signs Law Rendering State’s Votes ‘Null and Void’

Electoral College

An illegal immigrant was found guilty of groping multiple female peers at a Virginia high school.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-call-out-sanctuary-policies-after-illegal-immigrant-accused-of-groping-multiple-girls">Israel Christopher Flores-Ortiz,</a> 18, of El Salvador, was accused by roughly a dozen girls of putting his hands between their legs, touching their private areas, and groping them in school hallways, <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/illegal-immigrant-student-groping-girls-fairfax-county-high-school-assault-battery-crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to 7News.
A Fairfax County judge on Thursday found Flores-Ortiz guilty of nine counts of assault, the outlet reported. He was acquitted on three counts, while one additional charge was dismissed.
One of the victims, a ninth-grade girl, said after the verdict that the assaults have left her fearful it could happen again.
&#8220;Now I have to make sure and look around extra to see who&#8217;s around me and make sure that nobody touches me that way again,&#8221; she told 7News.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨 WATCH: a 9th grade girl tells me she feels she has to look over her shoulder now after being groped TWICE by a soon to be 19-year-old junior at Fairfax High School.
Israel Flores Ortiz was convicted on 9 charges of assault after more than a dozen girls reported he touched… <a href="https://t.co/MJ1ETAAv8n">https://t.co/MJ1ETAAv8n</a> <a href="https://t.co/tm5Bv4rvwq">pic.twitter.com/tm5Bv4rvwq</a>
— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickMinock/status/2042583657718665501?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In an earlier interview, one victim&#8217;s mothers said 12 girls ultimately came forward.
“It was all perpetrated by a single individual who is a stranger to the girls,&#8221; she told 7News at the time. &#8220;He just sneakily walked up behind them and put his hand in between their legs. It was not just a butt smack or a butt grab. It was a groping of a private area. It had been occurring for several months.”
Flores-Ortiz, who is a junior at Fairfax High School, unlawfully crossed the border in 2024 and was subsequently released into the United States, according to the Department of Homeland Security. At the time, the Biden administration was releasing illegal immigrants en masse.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer requesting that local authorities transfer him for possible deportation. The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office recently told The Daily Wire it does not “obstruct or prevent ICE from acting on their civil detainers,” but didn’t say whether it would honor the request in Flores-Ortiz&#8217;s case.
“While it is still too early in the process to know the outcome of his case, ICE has been notified of Ortiz’s location at the ADC [Adult Detention Center], and they are able to execute their detainer by responding to the ADC and taking Ortiz into custody if and when he is ordered released,” the sheriff’s office said.
The Trump administration has also launched an investigation into the school district, which is accused of failing to respond to the reports of the gropings and even possibly engaging in a cover-up of the crimes, <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/title-ix-investigation-fairfax-county-public-schools-student-groping-arrest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to 7News.
The school did not inform parents until two weeks after the incidents were reported, the outlet said. Some parents also said they were told the school system would allow the illegal immigrant to return to school after his release.
“They have attempted to sweep it under the rug,” one mother previously told 7News.
“They sent out a letter last night,” the mother said, adding, “But it was a completely sanitized letter.”
“The girls have experienced harassment and bullying from peers at school, including people that they once thought were their friends, and the letter that they sent out, referencing it only as buttocks touching, just adds fuel to rumors that they were just attention seeking,” another mother told 7News.
Fairfax County Public Schools declined “to comment on specifics due to federal and state privacy laws,” adding “we prioritize student and staff safety and we fully investigate any time someone shares that an incident has occurred at school, or that they do not feel safe at school,&#8221; according to 7News.
“We are grateful to our law enforcement partners who continue to work swiftly and thoroughly when there are safety concerns in our schools. The safety of all FCPS students and staff remains a top priority,” the school system said.

Untitled design – 2026-04-10T083347.927

Illegal Alien Teen Convicted Of Groping Girls As School Response Triggers Trump Admin Probe

deportation

Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger is touting a series of major business investments as part of a new jobs push, but each of the headline projects she highlighted was first announced under her Republican predecessor, Glenn Youngkin.
Spanberger <a href="https://x.com/GovernorVA/status/2041230913024008469">announced</a> she had signed legislation tied to several high-dollar investments across the Commonwealth, including projects from Avio USA, Hitachi Energy, Eli Lilly and Company, and AstraZeneca. 
&#8220;Attracting new companies and jobs to communities across our Commonwealth is a core focus of my administration,&#8221; she posted on social media.
Collectively, the deals represent billions in capital investment and thousands of jobs in regions like Pittsylvania, Halifax, Goochland, and Albemarle counties. The announcement lacked details, but they were found in the <a href="https://x.com/nickminock/status/2041882986514092338?s=46">press release</a> sent to local journalists.
However, each of those projects had already been publicly announced during Youngkin’s administration, in some cases months earlier.
At the time, state and corporate leaders emphasized the long-term economic impact these projects would have on the Commonwealth. Then-Gov. Youngkin described Hitachi Energy’s $457 million expansion in South Boston as a “landmark investment.” Unveiled in September 2025, the project is expected to create more than 800 high-paying jobs in a historically underserved region. Youngkin described the project as “transformational for Southside Virginia,” noting that the facility would strengthen the electrical grid supply chain.
AstraZeneca characterized its Virginia investment as a “cornerstone” of its broader U.S. manufacturing push aimed at boosting domestic pharmaceutical production and reducing reliance on foreign supply chains. Similarly, Avio USA’s planned rocket motor manufacturing facility, a roughly $500 million investment announced in late 2025, was framed by Youngkin as significant for both national security and Virginia’s growing aerospace sector. 
Eli Lilly’s project was likewise presented as a generational investment in both public health and regional growth, with company officials highlighting its role in producing cutting-edge treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases while anchoring a growing life sciences corridor in Virginia.
The move comes as Spanberger faces mounting political headwinds early in her tenure. Recent polling has shown her support slipping, particularly among independents, the very voters who delivered her victory, alongside growing skepticism about her leadership and economic agenda. As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spanberger-may-have-won-in-a-landslide-but-she-just-got-hit-with-a-reality-check?author=Drew+Berkemeyer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Spanberger+May+Have+Won+In+A+Landslide%2C+But+She+Just+Got+Hit+With+A+Reality+Check">previously reported</a>, concerns about affordability and governance have already begun to erode her standing.
Polling shows that 41% of Virginians believe Spanberger’s policies will make the state less affordable, compared to 31% who say she will make it more affordable, with independents breaking sharply negative. Even among Democrats, a notable share of respondents say her policies will either have no impact or worsen costs.
The numbers reinforce ongoing concern about economic conditions in the state. Against that backdrop, highlighting investments, even those initiated under the Youngkin administration, offers a clear political upside. Spanberger can point to job creation, business recruitment, and economic wins that were aggressively pursued, prioritized, and developed by her Republican predecessor. 
Taken together, the episode reads less like a routine policy announcement and more like policy piracy, an attempt to associate her administration with economic successes that voters already recognize, even if they were delivered by someone else. In Virginia politics, where economic development is often a long game, the timeline matters. And in this case, it points squarely back to the previous administration.

Abigail Spanberger Is Sworn In As First Female Virginia Governor

Spanberger Rolls Out ‘New’ Virginia Investments, Except They Aren’t Actually New

Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger entered office with a decisive mandate and a carefully crafted centrist brand. Now, just months later, new polling suggests both are under strain.
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/06/virginia-spanberger-approval-poll-affordability/">A survey</a> conducted by The Washington Post and George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government shows Spanberger at 47% approval and 46% disapproval, the weakest early-term standing for a Virginia governor in decades. The erosion is particularly sharp among independents, a key bloc that powered her November landslide. Just 45% now approve of her performance, while 46% disapprove, a stark shift from the 59% of independents she carried on Election Day, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/election/2025/exit-polls/virginia/general/governor/0">exit polls</a>.
Governors in the Commonwealth have typically enjoyed relatively stable approval ratings early in their terms, if not downright charitable. Glenn Youngkin, for example, maintained a solid 54% approval rating with just 39% disapproval at a comparable point in his tenure, despite only winning Virginia by two points in the 2021 election.
45% of voters say Spanberger’s views are “too liberal,” compared to 42% who say they are “just about right,” and just 7% who view her as “too conservative.” Nowhere is the shift clearer than on the issue that defined her campaign: affordability.
Spanberger repeatedly promised to lower costs, pledging an “Affordable Virginia” agenda aimed at easing pressure on health care, housing, and energy. But voters are increasingly skeptical. The poll finds 41% believe her policies will make Virginia less affordable, compared to 31% who say more affordable, while 23% expect no impact.
That skepticism extends across party lines. While 63% of Democrats believe her policies will improve affordability, a significant share, more than three in ten, say they will either make no difference or worsen costs. Among independents, the numbers tilt negative, with 41% saying her policies will make the state less affordable versus just 27% who expect improvement. Roughly eight in ten Republicans say her agenda will drive costs higher.
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-running-on-affordability-virginia-dems-push-for-nations-highest-income-tax?author=Drew+Berkemeyer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=After+Running+On+Affordability%2C+Virginia+Dems+Push+For+Nation%E2%80%99s+Highest+Income+Tax">previously reported</a>, Democrats in Richmond have introduced sweeping tax proposals that would create new income brackets and expand taxes on investment income, potentially pushing Virginia’s top effective rate to roughly 13.8%, higher than California’s. Supporters frame the measures as a “fair share” approach to fund public priorities, but critics argue they directly undercut Spanberger’s affordability message. The tension between centrist campaign rhetoric and left-wing governing reality is becoming a defining feature of her early tenure.
Beyond taxes, Spanberger is facing mounting scrutiny over a broader policy slate. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/blue-state-dems-plow-ahead-with-dozens-of-gun-control-bills?author=Drew+Berkemeyer&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Blue+State+Dems+Plow+Ahead+With+Dozens+Of+Gun+Control+Bills">More than 30 gun control measures</a> are advancing through the legislature, including proposed bans and new restrictions on firearms and magazines. Her decision to end cooperation between state law enforcement and federal immigration authorities has also drawn criticism, as has her support for rejoining a regional climate initiative opponents say could increase energy costs.
Taken together, the policy direction has fueled a perception that her administration is governing to the left of where she campaigned, a dynamic reflected in the polling.
Political observers say the speed of the shift is notable. Larry Sabato has <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/virginia-gov-abigail-spanbergers-approval-rating-drop-gmu-washington-post-poll-immigration-affordability-taxes-voters-redistricting">warned</a> the decline is “stunning” and could become a serious liability if it continues. Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government, similarly noted that while polarization is expected, the degree of early division is “unusual” for a governor who emphasized a centrist image.
But the more compelling explanation may not be polarization at all. Spanberger didn’t win as a culture-war left-winger or a doctrinaire liberal, she won as a center-leaning pragmatist who promised cost relief and moderation. What the early polling suggests is not simply that voters are sorting into partisan camps, but that a decisive bloc, particularly independents, believes the product they were sold is not the one being delivered.
The risk for Spanberger is that this isn’t a messaging problem, it’s a definitional one. Once voters conclude a candidate has misrepresented their governing approach, it becomes extraordinarily difficult to rebuild credibility, especially when the policy record continues to reinforce that perception.
In that sense, the centrist brand that carried her to office may not be fraying, it may already be gone.

Spanberger May Have Won In A Landslide, But She Just Got Hit With A Reality Check

Elections

Politics

Polls

Even though Democrats have obtained tens of millions to pass a mid-decade redistricting amendment in Virginia on April 21, a recent poll indicates that the race is closer than they might hope.
Registered voters support the effort 53-44%, and likely voters back the effort at a narrower 52-47%, according to a new Washington Post/George Mason University Schar School <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/04/03/virginia-redistricting-poll-trump-spanberger/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzc1MTg4ODAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzc2NTcxMTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NzUxODg4MDAsImp0aSI6ImJkNWRjMjI0LWFlZGEtNDZiNS05YzJlLWEyNTRjNGU4MmVhNCIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI2LzA0LzAzL3ZpcmdpbmlhLXJlZGlzdHJpY3RpbmctcG9sbC10cnVtcC1zcGFuYmVyZ2VyLyJ9.5Cp3nf5eFyjVD0-MekiUof7o2qRl776d86eZVkkbQws" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a>.
Those in favor of the amendment have fundraised $38 million, including from large political groups, to change the commonwealth’s congressional map from 6-5 in favor of Democrats to 10-1 in favor of Democrats, according to <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/story/virginia-voters-to-decide-redistricting-that-could-flip-4-gop-seats" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WJLA</a> as of March 27. The maps could influence who controls the House for remainder of President Donald Trump&#8217;s term, as Republicans currently hold a narrow 218-member majority.
On the opposition side, &#8220;Virginians for Fair Maps&#8221; says it&#8217;s raised about $5 million, <a href="https://www.29news.com/2026/03/18/va-redistricting-referendum-heats-up-with-uneven-fundraising-early-voter-turnout/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">29News</a> reported on March 18.
Early voting started in the race on March 6, and it will end on April 18. The <a href="https://www.elections.virginia.gov/media/electionadministration/electionlaw/4-21-2026-Special-Election-Explanation--Text.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ballot question itself</a> frames the proposal as a way to “restore fairness in the upcoming elections” while noting that it will be in place until after the normal redistricting is done following the 2030 census.
The Virginia Democrats&#8217; <a href="https://vademocrats.org/2026-redistricting-vote-yes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> says that the measure is because &#8220;Trump and MAGA are trying to rig the midterms.”
The proposal mirrors the one passed in California in November, which redrew the state’s maps to create five more Democrat-favored seats. Proponents of the California and Virginia ballot measures argue that it is a counteraction to the redistricting done in Texas, which added five Republican-favored seats, as well as the redistricting in other red states.
In an interview with The Daily Wire last month, former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) said that there’s been a “groundswell of support” for the opposition effort.
“It’s not like all this California money cares about Virginians or cares about voices of rural Virginians in Congress,” he said at the time.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) told <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/not-done-deal-democrats-start-sweat-virginias-redistricting-referendum-rcna263726" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a> on March 21 that the amendment is “not a done deal by any means.”
“We have to effectively make the case that even though this seems unfair in Virginia, it’s totally fair for America, for those of us who believe that taking back the House is the most significant thing we can do to stop Donald Trump,” the Democrat told the outlet.
The proposal has won the backing of former President Barack Obama and Gov. Abigail Spanberger, whereas some Republicans have hit the campaign trail against the measure. The special election comes at a major point of transition in the commonwealth, as Spanberger, along with Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi and Attorney General Jay Jones, flipped the statewide leadership blue in the November in a heated off-year statewide election.
“THE VOTE WILL BE CLOSE!” Republican activist <a href="https://x.com/ScottPresler/status/2040066645180239885" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scott Presler</a> posted to X last week. “Hakeem Jeffries is spending tens of millions of dollars trying to buy 4 congressional seats in Virginia.”
“Shock the nation by voting NO &amp; show Washington, DC, outsiders that they CAN’T buy the Commonwealth,” he added.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries

Latest Democrat Scheme To Take The House Isn’t Going To Plan

California

Congress

Redistricting

Former reality TV star Mark Moran has launched his U.S. Senate bid in Virginia, positioning himself as an independent challenger to incumbent Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and ripping both major parties.
Moran, best known for appearing on the short-lived HBO Max dating series &#8220;FBoy Island,&#8221; announced his campaign in a video posted Friday, saying he is “breaking free from the Democratic establishment&#8221; to run as an independent and will put &#8220;Virginia &amp; America First.&#8221;
&#8220;I’m doing that because I’m putting our country first. I’m putting it above these divisive issues that the Left, that the Right, and our corporate media control,” he said in the announcement. 
Moran has framed his campaign around what he describes as “big, bold ideas” to &#8220;simplify&#8221; and &#8220;restructure&#8221; government, arguing that &#8220;everything is wrong, and that&#8217;s because money controls.&#8221;
He has taken aim at the incumbent Democrat, calling Warner an &#8220;oligarch&#8221; and urging voters to reject establishment politics ahead of Virginia&#8217;s August 4 primary.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Today, I am putting Virginia &amp; America First, to announce that I am running as an Independent for U.S. Senate. <a href="https://t.co/NUPa5xTvd0">pic.twitter.com/NUPa5xTvd0</a>
— Mark Moran for U.S. Senate (@itsmarkmoran) <a href="https://twitter.com/itsmarkmoran/status/2039721552439066964?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Moran previously worked in investment banking and built an online following centered on what he called &#8220;Wall Street culture.&#8221; He claims to have left the industry due to moral objections.
The political newcomer has also broken with Democratic orthodoxy on some issues, including gun rights.
“After facing a personal safety issue, I got a gun. It made me realize how extreme our party’s stance has become,” Moran <a href="https://x.com/itsmarkmoran/status/2036561327699726492?s=20">posted</a> on social media. “The founders wrote the 2A to protect us from tyranny…whether that tyranny comes from Donald Trump or a state legislature trying to disarm you.”
“The Second Amendment isn’t about hunting. It’s about power…the people’s power,” Moran’s campaign website says. “It’s the final check on a government that seeks to control its citizens. It’s exactly what Jefferson warned us about.”
Moran has drawn attention for his combative online presence as well. In response to a critic on his campaign launch video, he <a href="https://x.com/itsmarkmoran/status/2039899492133089454">wrote</a>, “Read the website retard, nobody has ever talked about my ideas bc no one has had my unique experience &#8211; enjoy !!”
This was in response to an X user writing, “Yeah, cool Mark. Go ahead and TURN IT ALL AROUND once you get elected. No clue why no one else has ever thought of all these buzzwords and catchphrases before, I&#8217;m sure you&#8217;ll sort it all out.”
Moran <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/03/30/mark-moran-virginia-warner-spanberger-democrats-gerrymandering-second-amendment/">told</a> The Daily Caller that he has taken cues from President Donald Trump&#8217;s use of media and public persona. 
“It always makes me laugh when people think Donald Trump is dumb. Donald Trump understood the power of the medium of reality TV earlier than anyone else, and he saw that to have any sway over the American populace, you had to control the hearts and minds … of the American people,” he told the outlet. “This is a concept that goes back to Thomas Jefferson.”
He added that reality TV remains one of the most effective ways to reach a broad audience.
“I’ve always known that I would [run for office], and in looking at reality TV, I saw an opportunity to learn firsthand this … is the only medium right now, aside from social media, that can capture the attention of over 50% of Americans. Fox News can’t do that. CNN can’t do that, but reality TV can,” he said. “The Kardashians saw that. What you learned is you’re essentially a caricature of yourself.”
“You play an aggrandized version of yourself, which Trump does masterfully,” Moran went on. “And why people love him is he is so unapologetically American. And that is the thing that people come to love about certain reality TV individuals, whether it’s the Kardashians or it’s &#8216;The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,&#8217; all of this that they’re just themselves, and they don’t apologize for it.”

Mark Moran

Failed ‘F*ckboy Island’ Contestant Launches Senate Bid

Democratic Party

Mark Warner

Senate

Virginia has become a hotbed for illegal immigrant crime following a string of recent murders.
In just over a month, three illegal immigrants have been accused of carrying out brutal killings — including one where the victim was a 3-month-old infant — in Fairfax County, which has notoriously flouted Immigration and Customs Enforcement&#8217;s (ICE) detainers.
President Donald Trump&#8217;s border czar Tom Homan is now calling on sanctuary leaders in the state to get on board to work with ICE. In an appearance on Fox News Thursday, the former ICE director encouraged authorities in the commonwealth to make deals with the feds that mimic Homan&#8217;s agreements in Minneapolis.
&#8220;Elections have consequences,&#8221; Homan said of the recent killings. &#8220;I lived in Virginia. [Virginia Governor Abigail] Spanberger took over and she moved so far left, she&#8217;s not even recognizable anymore. Look, in that city, Fairfax, they&#8217;ve been a sanctuary city. I&#8217;ve been complaining about them for years.&#8221;
&#8220;Sanctuaries are sanctuaries for criminals and for any politician, or chief of police, or the sheriff, they want to say they&#8217;re not gonna enforce federal immigration law, not their job, they can&#8217;t honor ICE detainers, they don&#8217;t think they&#8217;re legal, we can do the same thing we did in Minneapolis. We can do the same thing, talk to the sheriffs, talk to the chiefs. If you don&#8217;t want to honor detainers, I get it we can litigate that in courts,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Sanctuary politicians, like <a href="https://twitter.com/GovernorVA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovernorVA</a>, REFUSE to put the safety of American citizens first.
It is common sense. Sanctuary politicians must cooperate with <a href="https://twitter.com/ICEgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ICEgov</a> and stop releasing criminals from their jails to create more innocent American victims. <a href="https://t.co/kCo7PttMid">pic.twitter.com/kCo7PttMid</a>
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/2039803897850573136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Trump sent Homan to Minneapolis following the deaths of anti-ICE activists Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Homan took on the role of lowering the temperature with the goal of drawing down the number of federal immigration agents deployed to the Twin Cities.
By the end of his deployment, Homan had brokered what he described as &#8220;unprecedented&#8221; levels of cooperation with authorities in Minnesota, who he said had agreed to hand over illegal immigrants as soon as they were to be released. Homan said at the time that ICE officers would be strategically stationed nearby, so local authorities didn&#8217;t have to hold the inmates longer than local charges would allow.
Homan is now offering to do the same in Virginia.
&#8220;There&#8217;s nothing illegal about you calling ICE before you release them, and we&#8217;ll be there to take custody. You don&#8217;t have to hold them one minute past what you would normally hold them on your charges. Just give us a call, it&#8217;s free, and we&#8217;ll be there. We&#8217;ll even strategically locate deportation officers near those jails,&#8221; he told Fox News host Will Cain.
&#8220;That&#8217;s the success we had in Minneapolis, we got record cooperation there. We can do the same thing in Virginia. But I truly believe they hate Trump more than they care about their public safety because the common sense approach is call us and we&#8217;ll be there and take that public safety threat off the street,&#8221; he added.
Guatemalan illegal immigrant Misael Lopez Gomez, 28, was arrested Friday after he allegedly killed his 3-month-old daughter in Fairfax County, <a href="https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/crime/virginia-dad-charged-medical-examiner-blunt-force-trauma-babys-death/65-97c06d65-4c72-4a5e-b838-f58d095fe4ab" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to WUSA9.
Another Guatemalan illegal immigrant, Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, 38, was arrested Sunday after he allegedly repeatedly stabbed a man to death in Fairfax County, <a href="https://wjla.com/news/local/baileys-crossroads-deadly-stabbing-murder-anibal-armando-chavarria-muy-charged-fairfax-county-virginia-crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to ABC7.
An illegal immigrant with 30 prior arrests was arrested in February after he allegedly fatally stabbed 41-year-old mother Stephanie Minter. The Sierra Leone national, Abdul Jalloh, 32, allegedly left Minter&#8217;s lifeless body at a Fairfax County bus stop when he fled the scene.
ICE has arrested thousands of illegal immigrants in Virginia who pose threats to &#8220;public safety,&#8221; but has had to operate without the help of local authorities, according to Homan.
&#8220;We had to go out and look for them, which is dangerous for the community, dangerous for the officer, dangerous for the alien &#8230; we&#8217;re gonna keep doing it,&#8221; Homan said.
&#8220;Give us custody in your jail before you release them, and you&#8217;re gonna see the crime rate drop significantly,&#8221; he said.

Untitled design – 2026-04-02T165200.193

Homan Calls For A Deal After Sanctuary City Faces String Of Brutal Murders

Tom Homan

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